Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction / Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Fullmetal Evangelion ❯ The Fourth Angel ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

is Chapter 7 of Fullmetal Evangelion.

~NERV Headquarters – Training Facility~

Maya blinked at the scene that lay before her. Both Warrant Officer Armstrong, and Second Lieutenant Mustang were able to manipulate matter in front of them, they were also able to control it! “I couldn’t believe that alchemy really existed! I mean when I read it, it was just…wow!”

Ritsuko glared at her subordinate from the corner of her eye. “Wasn’t that information classified even to you Second Lieutenant?”

“Uh…” Maya melted under Ritsuko’s glare. “I just…peeked?” Maya replied in a very soft voice. In a much stronger voice, she tried to defend herself. Though it came out as nothing more than babbling. “I mean, I didn’t mean to…besides, we’re umm…”

Ritsuko grinned. “Don’t worry Second Lieutenant. I won’t hold it against you. Especially since you were going to find out anyways being my subordinate.”

Maya sighed in relief. “Thanks ma’am.” Though she wasn’t sure what Ritsuko might have done, she was certain that it wasn’t good. “Anyways, yeah, I can’t believe this alchemy really exist!”

“I couldn’t believe it myself until they transferred here.” Ritsuko commented to her subordinate.

“I can’t believe the German Branch would keep their abilities a secret to us.” Maya continued. “Shouldn’t the German Branch have told us about them given that we basically control them?”

‘Well, it’s not that surprising given that they weren’t from Germany…’ “Well, we’ll deal with the German Branch later. Besides, now that they are under my jurisdiction, all information about them is now ours.” Ritsuko replied. She then turned to Armstrong. “Warrant Officer Armstrong, so you can basically turn a normal boulder into a projectile weapon with alchemy and physical strength.” Ritsuko said to the massive man next to her. “And instead of writing down the array every time, you simply have it imprinted on your gauntlet that you wear.”

Armstrong nodded. “Yes! It obviously saves time on my part. Some people have it tattooed onto their body. However…” Armstrong ripped open his shirt. “I do not dare ruin this with permanent body ink!” Armstrong started flexing his muscles. Sparkles appeared all around him.

Maya’s eyes widened and nearly bulged out of her head. ‘Did he just…’

Ritsuko sweat dropped. “Do you have to do that every time?”

Armstrong continued to pose. “I want everyone to see the awe of my impressive physic!”

Maya’s was stuck wide-eyed and were fixed on Armstrong.

“Oooooookay. Anyways…” She turned to Roy. “And you Second Lieutenant, you have it on your glove I see.”

Roy nodded. “And not just any gloves. These gloves are made with special fibers.” He made a snap. “Make a spark…”

“Use alchemy to condense the oxygen around it, and you get a fireball.” Ritsuko finished. “You showed me before. Especially when you were OFF duty.”

Roy scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “Hehehe…oh yeah that!”

“If alchemy could be applied to the Evas, we can simply imprint the alchemic circle into the armor.” Ritsuko surmised.

“Sounds about right.” Armstrong replied. “IF of course they can be applied to the Evas.”

“True.” Ritsuko then thought about another issue. “By the way, if you don’t have to write down the array if you have it imprinted somewhere, then why do people still write it down then?” Ritsuko asked. “I mean, besides losing that article of clothing where it’s on of course. Heck, why doesn’t everyone just tattoo it to themselves?”

Roy crossed his arms and grinned. “Simple really. Depends on what you want to transmute, skill level, and how you want to do it.” He showed his gloves. “These are good at making fireballs, but not so good with fixing a broken pot for example. And this is especially true if you want to transmute something big. Even Fullmetal, Ensign Edward Elric, who doesn’t need a transmutation circle, still needs to make one in certain cases.”

“Yeah.” Ritsuko then blinked as she remembered something. “Speaking of Ed, how can he transmute without a circle? And can anyone else do it?”

Roy shrugged his shoulders. “All we know is that only a select few can actually do it. His professor for example, is one of them. But how they do it is still a mystery to most of us. If anyone can answer that, it would be Fullmetal. Speaking of which…”

“Where exactly is…” Ritsuko was cut short as an alarm sounded off.

The alarm also snapped Maya back to reality. “Huh?”

They all look around as the alarm sounded throughout NERV Headquarters.

“Looks like the next Angel is upon us.” Ritsuko commented. “Maya, Go back to your station and await for Shinji to arrive.”

“Right ma’am!” Maya nodded and instantly ran to her station.

“As for you two…” Ritsuko turned to Roy and Armstrong. “Come with me. I want you two to see the Angel attack from our perspective.”

“Yes ma’am.” Both Roy and Armstrong replied and followed Ritsuko to the command center.

~334th Underground Shelter Tokyo 3 Disaster Prevention Department~

Ed looked around the shelter. Many of them were students, but not all of them. They seemed to all be from the surrounding areas. They were all on blue mats as they wait out the crisis. To a certain extent, he was not supposed to be there. But given the persistence of the Class Rep, here he was. He sat down at one of the mats and closed his eyes. “Well, I guess there’s nothing to do except wait for Shinji to defeat that Angel.”

Hikari sat next to him. “So, you know Shinji?”

Ed eyed Hikari for a second, before closing his eyes again. “Yeah, you could say that.” Ed replied off handedly to the Class Rep. “We work for the same people.”

Hikari eyes widened. “You’re telling me that you work for Nerv?”

Ed nodded. “Yup! Don’t ask me what I do there…” Ed placed a hand to the side of his mouth and whispered to Hikari. “It’s classified!”

Hikari nodded vigorously. “Yes! I won’t ask! Oh wait! Does that mean…”

Ed sat back. “Sort of. But don’t worry. My services aren’t really needed right now anyways.” His right arm made a sound.

And that sound, the sound of metal moving against metal caused Hikari to stare at his arm. Suddenly, she sees a bit of Ed’s cuff was no longer on top of the glove, exposing his metallic arm. “Oh my! How did you…”

Ed looked at where Hikari was looking, and then to his arm. “Oh this?” He rolled up his sleeve and took off his glove. “It was…an accident when I was young. I lost an arm and leg…” He rolled up his left leg, exposing his automail leg to her. “During that ‘accident’.”

“I see.” Hikari replied off handedly. She was both amazed and saddened at this revelation. ‘I can’t believe someone as young as him, as young as me, could suffer such an injury.’ Then her eyes widened as she realized what she just said. “Oh, I’m sorry. It probably brought up bad memories! I didn’t mean to…”

Ed chuckled. “Don’t worry! It was bad, but I’m not going to let it bother me.”

“Edward?” A certain woman spoke from above him.

Ed instantly turned to the voice. “Miss Hawkeye? This was the shelter they sent you to?”

“Apparently so.” Riza replied as she sat next to him.

Hikari looked at Riza. “Oh hi! Do you know Edward? Are you from Germany too?”

Riza looked at Hikari. “Yes and…yes. And who’s your friend Edward?”

“Oh her?” Ed turned to Hikari. “She’s the Class Representative of our class.”

Riza gave a hand to Hikari. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Riza Hawkeye. The…wife of one of Edwards co-workers.”

“Oh how nice!” Hikari took Riza’s hand and shook it. “My name Hikari Horoki! Class Representative of Tokyo 3 District 13 Class 2-A!”

“You’re quite the energetic one.” Riza commented.

“Well, I am Class Representative for a reason!” Hikari proudly proclaimed. “So, did you come to Japan before Edward here?”

“Actually, we both came at the same time. We were here three weeks ago.” Riza replied.

“Three weeks ago?” Hikari raised an eyebrow at this statement. “Isn’t that the same time Shinji arrived?” She turned to Ed. “Then how come you just transferred to our school today?”

“Well…” Ed scratched the back of his head. “There was a little problem with the paperwork so…”

“Ah!” Hikari replied. “Guess transferring from a foreign country is different then simply transferring from another part of Japan.”

“Pretty much.” Ed replied. “Especially since we sort of…lost our paperwork.”

Hikari blinked at that statement. “You did?”

“There was an accident on the airplane that we were on.” Riza butted in.

“That stinks.” Hikari commented. She looked at Ed and smiled. “Well, glad things all worked out in the end!”

Riza looked at Hikari, and then back at Ed. She grinned. “Ed, wouldn’t Winry be a little jealous with you hanging out with Hikari?”

Ed eyes widened. “What…what do you mean?”

Hikari looked at Riza. “Winry? Who’s Winry?”

“Oh her?” Ed looked at Hikari. “She’s the one that gave me this arm. And leg.”

Riza grinned. “Yup! She would.”

“Wow! She must be really talented.” Hikari noted.

“What are you implying Miss Hawkeye?!” Ed looked at Riza with a pissed off expression.

Hikari frowned a bit. Although she doesn’t know anything about this Winry, she was a little…jealous of her? ‘Why should I be? It’s only Ed. I just know him from today! A little short but cute…oh my god! Did I just think that?’

Suddenly, a rumble went through the place.

“Looks like it started.” Ed commented.

-Meanwhile…

“What? Are you nuts?” Touji pointed at Hikari and Ed. “Look whose she’s with!”

“Crazy robotic arm kid?” Kensuke replied. “Don’t worry! We won’t be dealing with him right now!”

Hikari turned away from the woman she was talking to, to the excited two boys behind her. “What do you guys want?”

“Ah!” Touji and Kensuke stood up right.

Ed glared at the two.

“Oh hi robotic arm student!” Kensuke waved at him.

‘Robotic arm student? That’s new. At least he didn’t call me short.’ Ed thought. “Hi.” He replied in a deep slightly harsh tone.

“So what is it that you two want from me?” Hikari asked a little annoyed.

“Uh…” Finally, Touji composed himself. “We need to go to the bathroom.”

Hikari closed her eyes in an attempt to suppress her growing aggravation of the two. Although she did hold a certain fondness to Touji most of the time, this was not one of them. “You were supposed to do that before you came here.”

“Well…” Touji looked around. “We didn’t have to go then…but now…” He grabbed his privates and frantically went from side to side.

“I get it fine. Go already!” Hikari replied.

~NERV Headquarters – Command Center~

“Impressive.” Roy commented as he sees the city sink below the surface. “I haven’t seen anything like it.”

“So the city is built in preparation for this.” Armstrong said as he looked at the state of Tokyo 3.

“Pretty much.” Ritsuko replied as she assessed the situation. “We knew the Angels would attack. Though we weren’t sure exactly when.”

“And speaking of which, the Fourth Angel would show up while Commander Ikari is away.” Misato said annoyed. “It’s a lot sooner then we expected.”

“A lot sooner?” Armstrong repeated.

“I said that we weren’t sure when the Angels would attack.” Ritsuko reiterated. “I never said that we didn’t have our estimates.”

“And Commander Ikari is away?” Roy asked behind Ritsuko and Misato.

Ritsuko nodded. “He’s currently in the South Pole doing some research.”

“Where it all started.” Armstrong commented.

‘Too bad Ed isn’t here.’ Roy thought. ‘He would probably be glad that Commander Ikari wasn’t here. Even for the day.’

Makoto looked back at the group. “The last time they gave us a fifteen years break. This time it’s only three weeks.”

“They never care about our situation do they? They’re the type we women hate the most.” Misato replied.

“I am not like those men Captain Katsuragi! For I…” Armstrong was about to rip his shirt off again.

Ritsuko put a hand up. “I don’t think so. And that’s an order.”

They all watch the monitors where they see missiles and machines guns firing at the sea animal-like Angel with absolutely no effect.

“It’s a waste of the taxpayers money.” Kozou said behind them.

Aoba replaced the phone and turned back to Misato and the others. “The committee is demanding that we dispatch the Evangelion again.”

“Oh, they get on my nerves.” Misato replied annoyed. “If they hadn’t asked for it, I’d have mobilized it anyway.”

“It’s too bad I didn’t ask Edward to teach Shinji alchemy three weeks ago.” Ritsuko commented as Shinji was being prepped into his Evangelion. “This could’ve been the perfect test subject.”

“Unfortunate indeed.” Kozou replied behind them.

“Alchemy ma’am?” Aoba replied with a questioning look.

“We’ll fill you in later.” Misato looked back at the monitors. “Anywise, Guess we’re have to do this the old fashion way!”

~334th Underground Shelter~

“So, even you’re here Hughes.” Ed waved at him.

“You can call me Maes if you want Ed!” Hughes waved back. “Yup. Being a common everyday civilian, I can’t go anywhere! Even a press pass has its limits!”

Riza sat holding her legs on the ground. “Well, I’m just glad you’re safe from the Angel attack.”

Hikari looked around the group. “Say, aren’t Suzuhara and Aida finished yet?”

“Maybe they really REALLY had to go! You know when you just have one of those days!” Hughes joked.

“Ha ha ha. Very funny Hughes.” Riza said dryly. She was not amused by Hughes’s joke.

Ed frowned. ‘What are those two up to?’ “I’m going to check on them.” Ed got up from his seat.

“Thanks Elric!” Hikari smiled at him. “They better not be in any trouble!”

Ed grumbled. “And if they are, they are going to have something coming to them.” Ed walked down the hallway that led to the bathroom that was near the exits. Suddenly, he sees the door to the shelter, open. He investigated the door. “Don’t tell me…” He next walked out and saw the stairs next to him.

~Outside the Shelter~

Ed looked up the stairs and sees the two losers on top of them, over looking the city. He sighed. While he didn’t like them, that didn’t mean he wanted them dead either. And given Shinji’s mental state, losing innocent civilians because of something he did wouldn’t be good either. ‘Better get both of them before they get themselves hurt.’

~NERV Headquarters - Command Center~

‘Why do I have to pilot it even though my father isn’t even here?’ Shinji thought, as Unit 01 was placed into the elevator, ready to launch. ‘I even got beaten up today.’

“Shinji, are you ready?” Misato said over the com-link.

“Yes.” Shinji unenthusiastically replied.
Ritsuko was the next to speak up. ”First, neutralize the enemy’s AT Field, then fire a volley. Do it just like we practiced. Can you handle that?”

“Yes.” Shinji again replied unenthusiastically.

“So, by the book I see.” Roy commented.

“Pretty much.” Ritsuko replied. “As long as he does that, he shouldn’t have any problems.”

“Of course, this is only the second time he fought an Angel with an Eva.” Armstrong added.

“Well, that’s true…” Ritsuko conceded.

‘And so it begins.’ Misato thought. “Launch!” She yelled.

Unit 01 was shot skyward in the elevator shaft. While he waited to reach street level, he repeated the procedure that was given to him over and over again. “Target in the Center, pull the switch. Target in the center…” Unit 01 reached the surface, and the doors of the building sized elevator opened.

“The AT Field has been deployed.” Maya reported from her station.

“Target in the center, pull the switch.” Shinji repeated.

“What is he saying?” Roy said in a whisper to Armstrong.

“He’s repeating the training instructions that were given to him.” Armstrong whispered back.

“That doesn’t sound good. What if…” Roy began.

“Do it just as planned, okay, Shinji?” Misato said through the com-link.

“Right.” Shinji replied. Shinji moved Unit 01 and fired at the Angel with everything he got. Smoke covered the Angel who stood up with his tentacles waving.

“You idiot! You hit the enemy with your own smoke!” Misato frantically yelled.

‘Uh oh.’ Roy and Armstrong thought at the same time.

The gunfire died down. Shinji was breathing hard. All that can be seen was smoke. Suddenly, through that very smoke, the Angel’s tentacle sliced up Unit 01’s gun and a nearby building. Unit 01 had to drop back in order not to be hit.

“Ah!” Shinji yelled as the Eva fell back to the ground.

Misato gritted her teeth. “I’m sending you a spare rifle!” Outside, a massive building sized elevator opened, exposing the gun. “Take it!”

Shinji was shaking in fear.

Armstrong lowered his head. ‘Not a fighter.’

“Shinji? Hey Shinji!” Misato yelled.

~On Top of the Hill~

Touji and Kensuke watched as Unit 01 dropped back. Kensuke was videotaping the whole thing.

“Jeez…being beaten up must have really messed him up.” Kensuke said offhandedly.

Touji was scared with what he saw. Kensuke’s comments did not help matters either. “Shut up!”

“Hey you two! Get back into the shelter!” Ed replied through breaths as he slowed his sprinting up the stairs to a near crawl. He was breathing hard as he reached the top of the stairs.

Touji and Kensuke swung around to see Ed.

“Ahhhhh!” Touji screamed. “It’s the mid…I mean, the robotic arm kid!”

Ed glared at Touji. Fighting an urge to just leave him there, he grabbed the two with a strong grip.

“Ow!” They both said as Ed grabbed them.

“Look, it’s dangerous for you two to be out here. If you come with me…” Ed looked up to see the fighting going on.

Unit 01 was frantically running away from the Angel. The Angel’s tentacles were slicing up buildings nearby as Unit 01 ran away from the attack. Ran away like…

Ed lowered his head. “I knew it. He should’ve never piloted that thing.”

Ed’s hold on their arms started to loosen. Touji and Kensuke looked at Ed with awe.

“Robotic arm kid?” Touji said.

Suddenly, the Angel grabbed Unit 01 and tossed him aside. As the three looked up, they could see that the Angel was flying.

Flying straight towards them.

“It’s coming straight at us!” Kensuke yelled as he pointed the camera at it.

Ed, Touji, and Kensuke’s eyes widened as they saw Unit 01 coming at them. All three screamed. “AHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Ed stopped his screaming for a second knowing that screaming won’t save them. ‘Shit. Think fast Ed! Oh we’re all be crushed.’ Ed panicked thoughts as he instantly clasped his hand and placed them on the ground.

BOOM! The ground rumbled as Unit 01 crashed to the ground. A completely terrified Shinji was shaken around inside the plug. He woke up with the frantic yells of Misato asking about his status. As he looked down the cockpit, he could sees three people a ways off from where his hand was. His eyes widened as he saw who they were. If Ed wasn’t there, the only way they could have survived would be if they miraculously survived by being in between the fingers. But since he was there, the only thing Shinji thought that had saved them was alchemy.

Ed used the ground under him as a kind of conveyer belt. With the help of alchemy, they all sank a few feet into the ground, and with a little molecular movement, moved them all away from the Evangelion.

Touji and Kensuke were shaking in fear. Kensuke was the first to look at what happened to them. “How, how did that robotic arm kid do that?!”

~NERV Headquarters – Command Center~

“Shinji’s classmates? And Ensign Elric?!” Misato yelled.

“What are they doing there?” Ritsuko went up to the computer and pressed the speakerphone option of Unit 01. “Ensign Elric, what are you doing with those civilians?!”

Through the monitoring screen, they could see both Touji and Kensuke look at Ed, whose pony tale was blowing in the wind at the time, tough and strong looking.

‘So he did work for NERV.’ Kensuke thought while still very frightened of the situation.

Ed stood up instantly. “Sorry ma’am. But while I was in the shelter, these two bozos decided that they wanted to see the action! I came to get them out of the way and back to the shelter.”

“Good thinking Ensign. Do it!” Ritusko yelled. “And tell those bozos that they have something coming after this!”

Touji and Kensuke shivered in fear even more.

Suddenly, the Angel was flying above them.

Shinji saw this and instantly grabbed the tentacles.

The still shaken Touji and Kensuke stared at the scene.

‘Why isn’t he fighting?” Touji yelled.

“Because of you two idiots! Now, let’s go!” Ed yelled as he grabbed the two.

‘Shit!’ Misato gritted her teeth. “There’s no time! Shinji! Let them into the cockpit! Once you got them, make a temporary retreat. We’ll start again later!”

Ed stopped as he looked at Unit 01 as it was struggling with the Angel.

“You hear that Edward?” Misato yelled.

“Belay that order Ensign and continue to get the civilians to safety!” Ritsuko yelled back.

“There is no time!” Misato yelled back. “Wait for Shinji to open the plug and get them in!”

Ed was confused about who he should follow. He looked back down the hill to the shelter, and then backs to Unit 01 wrestling with the Angel. He decided he’d take his chances up here. “Yes Captain.”

Ritsuko anger boiled. “Edward Elric! You’re supposed to…”

Misato took speakerphone off. “Do you have your orders Shinji?”

Shinji watched in awe as he looked at Ed. While his friends were shaking with fear, Ed seemed to be completely composed, and brave. Of course, Ed was still scared, he just did not let it affect him at the moment. ‘Why…why can’t I be like him?!’

Ritsuko was mad at Misato’s order. “Ensign Elric had the situation under control! Besides, since when do you think unauthorized civilians can be allowed into the entry plug?!” Ritsuko yelled at the top of her lungs.

Misato glared at Ritusko. “There was no time Ritsuko! And I’m authorizing it!”

“Bullshit Captain Katsuragi!” Ritsuko yelled back. “You’re exceeding your authority!”

“Three minutes remaining.” Maya said through the commotion.

Roy and Armstrong simply watched the two fight it over with themselves. Neither one dared to interfere. One thing they both knew was not to get in the middle of two superiors fighting. This however, simply left them to their thoughts.

‘It wasn’t smart sending someone out who doesn’t have the spirit to fight.’ Armstrong thought.

‘I hope things turn out well in the end. Because from our position, it isn’t pretty.’ Roy thought.

Misato glared back at Ritsuko. She didn’t respond to her and simply looked back at Shinji. “Hold Eva on your current commands and eject the entry plug. Hurry up!”

Shinji complied and ejected the entry plug.

Misato turned the speakerphone option back on. “Edward Elric! Get you, and those two into the entry plug. NOW!”

~Eva Unit 01 Cockpit~

“What is this? It’s water!” Kensuke replied.

‘It’s breathable, it’s breathable, it’s…’ Ed, after reflexively holding his breath, took a big gulp of the LCL. After a strange feeling of breathing liquid instead of air, he started to calm down as his system got the needed oxygen from it.

“My camera!” Kensuke yelled as his camera was now in something wet.

“Oh would you forget about that for a moment!” Ed yelled at him. “Nerv probably won’t allow you to keep it anyways!”

Kensuke frowned as he just realized that. ‘Damn! We really shouldn’t have…’ Then he looked at Shinji in the cockpit as everything around them lit up.
Touji and Ed did the same as they see the Angel over them.

Shinji appeared to be struggled to keep the Angel from hitting him. The tentacles seemed to have an energy field around it, an energy field that was melting the armor around the Unit 01’s hands.

Ed could see a countdown number next to him. ‘The doctor said that without a continuous power supply, the Eva would run on its own internal battery. That battery has only five minutes of power. ‘We got to get out of there before those five minutes are up! And from the looks of it, we have less then two and half minutes left!’

“Abnormal conditions occurring in the nervous system.” Maya report was heard through the com-link.

‘Our presence must be affecting Shinji’s ability to ‘link up’ with the Eva.’ Ed thought.

“Of course.” Ritusko replied peeved. “It’s because YOU allow three foreign bodies into the matrix!” Obviously indicating to Misato. “They’re being detected as noise in the nerve impulse systems!”

Shinji continued to hold on to the Angel with Unit 01. Suddenly, first, moving his arms up, and then down, and letting go, the floating Angel was sent down the mountain and away from him.

Misato saw this as an opportunity. “Retreat! NOW! Utilize recovery route 34, retreat to the east side of the mountain.”

Ed got up next to Shinji. “You heard the Captain! Get us out of here Shinji!”

Shinji looked up at Ed. His face showed of only determination. He was the definition of courage. Something Shinji did not have. ‘Why? He’s as old as me, yet, he isn’t afraid like me!’ Shinji closed his eyes. ‘I mustn’t run away! I must be like Edward!’ Shinji pushed a button.

“Progressive knife has been engaged!” Aoba reported.

Misato frowned. “Obey my order Shinji! You’ve got to retreat!”

Ed looked at Shinji. “Shinji, what are you doing?”

“I mustn’t run away, I mustn’t run away. I MUSTN’T RUN AWAY!” Shinji yelled as he sent Unit 01 hurling towards the Angel. The Angel rammed a few of its tentacles into it, but that didn’t stop Shinji’s attack.

“Idiot!” Misato said to herself as the computer next to her read one-minute.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Shinji yelled as he rammed the progressive knife into the Angel’s core.

The core, reminding Ed of a round Philosopher’s Stone somehow, started to spew some sort of energy from the wound Shinji inflicted upon it. Ed watched in awe as the kid he saw who was completely shaken, now attacking the Angel with everything he got.

Maya read down the countdown. The systems started to go black as the power started to fail. “3…2…1…” Maya’s voice fades as all power in Unit 01 goes out.

Shinji was holding onto the controllers. He was shaking and started to cry.

Ed, Touji, and Kensuke stared at Shinji.

Ed went up to Shinji. “It’s okay Shinji. You did good.”

~NERV Headquarters – Command Center~

“I’ll be damned.” Armstrong spoke up. “Shinji actually did it.”

“Yeah.” Roy replied. “However, he disobeyed orders. He may have defeated the objective, but he sill disobeyed a direct order from the Captain.”

Misato lowered her head. “That’s right Second Lieutenant. There won’t be any kind words when he comes back.”

-Three Days Later…

~District 13 Tokyo 3 Junior High School Class 2-A~

It was raining outside. The injured Rei Ayanami looked outside the window. A few people chatted amongst themselves in the mostly empty room. Kensuke was at his computer typing down something. Touji was sitting at his desk with his head down. Ed was contemplating the events of the last three days.

Ed looked back at Rei. ‘I wonder if she’s worried about Shinji as I am. She seems so quiet back there.’ Of all this time that he has spent at NERV and at school, he could barely get a word out of Rei. She seemed to just ignore him.

“It’s been three days.” Touji said as he thought about the missing student. Touji had his head down on the desk.

“You mean, since we were chewed out?” Kensuke offhandedly commented.

“No!” Touji then looked at Ed who also had his head down. “Though he didn’t get chewed out like either of us.”

“Well, he did work for Nerv.” Kensuke replied offhandedly. “And while he wasn’t yelled at, that fake blond woman sure wasn’t happy either…”

“Yeah.” Touji commented a little more excited. “But that’s not what I meant! I mean…” Touji calmed down a bit and continued in his morass tone. “It’s been three days since he stopped coming to school.”

“Who’s he?” Kensuke replied.

Touji got up from his chair. “The new kid! Of course.” He then looked away. “I wonder what he’s been doing?”

“Probably being detained since he disobeyed orders.” Ed said on the side.

Touji and Kensuke looked over to Ed.

“Do you know where he’s been robotic arm kid?” Touji asked a little worried.

Ed eyed Touji. “First, my name is Edward. Second, the ‘new’ kid is Shinji Ikari. As for where he is…” Ed looked away. “I don’t know. They won’t tell me anything.”

Touji dropped his head. “I see.”

Ed eyed Touji again. “Why? Are you worried now given what you did?”

“Um well…” Touji looked down. “No, not exactly.”

“Touji, for someone who’s so tactless, you’re pretty stubborn.” Kensuke said. “If you had apologized to him back then, you wouldn’t be agonizing over it for three days.”

Ed glared at Touji. “I think he needs more then just an apology. You saw how he was like.” He took out a piece of paper. “But apologizing to him would be a start. Here, if you’re so worried about it, you can just call him.”

Touji looked at the paper in front of him. “Uh…”

“I’m not sure if you can get through.” Ed frowned. “He hasn’t been answering my calls. But you can at least try.”

Touji nodded. “Okay…” Touji left the classroom to make the call.

Ed sighed. “Shinji, where are you?”

-Two Days later…

~Elrics and Armstrong’s Apartments~

“So, do you know where Shinji is?” Al worriedly asked.

Ed shook his head. “The doctor said that Unit 01 is now repaired and is ready for Shinji to pilot it. But he hasn’t shown up for the last five days.”

Armstrong sat down at the couch next to Al. “Given his performance, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had second thoughts about piloting it again.”

“Yeah.” Ed sighed. “He was never…” Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Ed turned to the source of the sound. “I’ll get it!” He walked up to it and opened the door. He frowned when he saw who it was. “What do you two want?”

“Um…” Touji and Kensuke were a little startled.

Then, Kensuke composed himself and answered Ed. “We’re wondering if you could take us to see the new kid, um…Shinji Ikari, Edward.”

“Couldn’t you have done it yourself?” Ed asked as he looked at the two.

“Well…” Touji looked away a bit. “We could but, you know, given what I did to him…”

Ed sighed. “I understand. Besides, I wanted to find out how he’s doing as well.”

-Later…

~Misato’s Apartment~

It was another rainy day. The three boys, Touji, Kensuke, and Ed were standing in front of Misato’s Apartment. Touji was the one ringing the doorbell.

Suddenly, the door opened at that moment. “Shinji!” Misato asked with a worried expression.

Touji, Kensuke, and Ed were all startled by Misato’s sudden appearance.

Misato looked at the three slightly confused. “Huh?”

Ed was the first to speak. “Sorry to bother you Captian. But…”

However, Kensuke cut him off. “We’re Shinji’s classmates. Aida and Suzuhara!”

“Aida and Suzuhara?” Misato repeated.
“Ye…” Kensuke started but was cut off.

“Yes ma’am!” Touji composed himself. “I’m Suzuhara.” He said with a bit of suave.

Kensuke eyed Touji with a slight annoyance.

“Oh, you’re the boys that got into Unit 01’s entry plug.” Misato replied as she recognized the two, she already knew Edward.

“Yes ma’am.” Touji and Kensuke replied. Touji bowed down.

Touji then looked up and spoke, not letting either Kensuke or Edward to get in edgewise. “We’re really sorry for causing so much trouble. The reason we came here today was that Ikari’s has been absent since then.”

Ed eyed Touji as well. ‘Hello! We’re here for Shinji! Not the Captain!’ Ed then turned to Misato. “Captain, we’re just concerned about Shinji.”

“Shinji?” Misato blinked. “Oh! He’s at Nerv training facility right now.”

“Oh, I see!” Touji and Kensuke replied at the same time.

Ed however, was not buying it. ‘I was just there this morning and I didn’t see Shinji.’

Kensuke took out a stack of papers from his bag. “These are the printouts that were building up on Shinji’s desk.”

“Oh…” Misato took the papers from Kensuke’s hand. “Sorry for your trouble! Thank you!”

“Well, we’ll be leaving right now.” Touji said.

“Please say hi to Shinji for us!” Kensuke followed.

“Yeah, I will.” Misato smiled. “Oh, and Edward, I need to speak with you for a moment. It concerns, ummm…a future experiment that we’d like to run at Nerv!” Misato grabbed Ed and pulled him in.

“Huh?” Ed blinked in complete shock. “What the…”

Touji and Kensuke’s eyes widened as they watched Misato grab Edward. Their mouths were wide open as well.

Once Ed was inside her apartment, Misato turned back to the two boys. “Bye!” She waved at them and closed the door.

Touji and Kensuke were left stunned.

“This is an unexpected development.” Kensuke finally said.

“She’s a babe!” Touji commented. He then frowned as he remembered what happened. “And she took that short kid in! Lucky bastard.”

Kensuke sighed. “Yeah. But remember, he works at Nerv! Not to mention the fact that he’s a little ‘attached’ to the Class Rep. We shouldn’t be too worried.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Touji replied uncertain. “That better be the case! Or I’ll…”

“Get beat up with his robotic arm?” Kensuke grinned.

Touji frowned. “Oh shut up!”

~Inside Misato’s Apartment~

“So, he ran away.” Ed frowned as he sat down. “I’m not surprised.”

Misato frowned. “Yeah.” Her scowl deepened. “Idiot!” She kicked the door with her bare foot.

Ed sighed. He couldn’t blame Misato’s concern. But at the same time, a part of him thought that this might be the best for Shinji. “Maybe it’s for the best.”

Misato lowered her head. “Maybe.”

Ed looked out the window. It was raining hard. “I just hope he’s okay.”

-------End of Chapter 7

Next Chapter…Shinji ran away! What will this do to the FMA group? And other madness might happen during this time? Until then…later!