Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ EVANGELION: 2035 ❯ child of destiny ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: diabloelmo 
Anime/Manga: Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.03.2003 | Updated On: 01.27.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 527 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.03.2003 | Updated On: 01.27.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 527 | Status: Completed
EVANGELION: 2035
allrighty, this fic has been completely edited for my return to fanfiction writing! The next chapter of EVANGELION 2035 (beta version) should be along shortly. But for now, I would like as many reviews as possible, wether they be good or bad. I'm still a bit of a newbie at this, you know……
allrighty, this fic has been completely edited for my return to fanfiction writing! The next chapter of EVANGELION 2035 (beta version) should be along shortly. But for now, I would like as many reviews as possible, wether they be good or bad. I'm still a bit of a newbie at this, you know……
CHAPTER ONE: CHILD OF DESTINY
Night. The time of parties for some, a time for... business... for others. But for most people, it is a time for sleep. And that is exactly what a sixteen-year-old girl living in the outskirts of Tokyo-3 was doing. It was plain, however, that she wasn't sleeping well. For the sake of the story, we shall delve into the mind of this particular child.....
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" The girl screamed. She was running, her hair flailing about her face, legs aching with the effort. Down the footpath outside her home, she tried desperately to flee whatever it was that followed her. Crack. The lithe teen stared up at the brick wall that had prematurely ended her flight from danger.
Where the hell did that come from? She wondered, until a menacing growl behind her brought her to her senses, and before she could start running again, a clawed hand turned her around and held her, preventing escape.
"The messengers have awakened, the prophets of doom return,"
"Wha...huh?" was all she could say in reply, scared shitless as she was.
"The Devil shall stir, Lillith's child shall inherit Ikari's mantle"
"Eeeppppp...." The thing that spoke to her was jet black, and against the starry sky, its shape was impossible to make out. However, the two features the shaking teen could make out was a teardrop shaped face, with only two, hollow eyes, and a glowing red sphere underneath it.
"The apocalypse approaches..."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
That night, peace was broken as one Usagi Ikari screamed and sat bolt upright in bed.
**********************
Usagi trembled, partially from the terror of the nightmare, partly from the breeze that blew in from her window, chilling her sweat-coated figure. She took in the surrounding features of her bedroom, the one she had lived in her entire life. The bookcase, full to the brim with fantasy books and girlie magazines. The desk, in a similar condition, except with homework. The great big mirror that her godmother had given her two years ago as a surprise birthday present.
She got out of bed, and walked over to it. Looking at herself, she regained her composure. It was just a dream, she told herself. Dammit, I haven't had a nightmare for years, Usagi scolded herself in the mirror. She took the time to study her reflection. Long legs that belied the strength hidden in them had caught the attention of every guy at school, even some of the teachers. A firm, straight body, built for the track and trained for it, she could leave most other competitors at the school athletics days for dead. The rest of her body was the same: well toned and graceful. She could have had any number of boyfriends, if it wasn't for her face. Not that it wasn't beautiful, but so eerily that most people avoided her, save for a few close friends. It was her eyes.
They were blood red.
She had been told that it was a freak, harmless genetic mutation in her mother's side of the family, and it had passed on to her. "Oh well, what can you do?", she sighed, flicking her long, brown hair from her face. She had inherited that from her father, Shinji Ikari, just as she had her eyes from Rei Ikari, her mother.
Bringing Usagi back to reality, were the voices of her parents in the next room. Better go see them, I must've woken them up she thought, tip-toeing out the door across to her parent's bedroom. She could now make out the words her mother was saying, and she froze, her hand inches from the doorknob.
"This dream, it seems Usagi had it too, Shinji."
"That's impossible! Karou was the last, wasn't he?" Usagi's father replied.
"It is apparent that Tabris was not the last," Rei Ayanami Ikari's soft, almost dispassionate voice sent a shiver down Usagi's spine. She didn't use that voice except when there was something serious going on. And the young Ikari believed that having the same dream as your mother was probably serious, but her mother didn't know that, did she?
"It stated that it would be Lillith's child to inherit the mantle of the Ikaris. That does not leave a lot of guesswork in order to form a conclusion about the identity of the sixth child, does it?”
There was a choking sound coming from Shinji, and then it went quiet. Creeped out to say the least, Usagi went back to bed, knowing she wouldn't sleep.
***********************
"Hey princess, wake up!"
Usagi groaned. Her dad had taken to calling her a princess about eight years ago, and hadn't stopped, no matter how many times she told him she was too old for it. She opened her eyes, and they fixed on the alarm clock on her bedside table. She rubbed her eyes, but the time stayed stubbornly the same. Turning slowly towards the person whom had woken her from her sleep, she slowly asked "dad?"
"Yes princess," with a big grin on his face.
"Why am I awake at four-thirty AM?" she inquired, her eye twitching with supreme annoyance, and a look on her face that would have made her godmother proud.
"Get dressed, we leave in ten." Was all the reply she got, before he left.
"Damn." She muttered.
Precisely ten minutes later, the Ikari family was in the car, with one very irate teen in the back.
"Where are we going?" she asked, as there was nothing very interesting going on in Tokyo-3 this early in the morning. All she got was silence.
"Fine." She growled, sitting back in her seat. After a short drive through the centre of the city, made short because they were the only car on the road, they pulled up in front of a set of heavy-duty blast doors set into the side of a hill. On it was a familiar logo; NERV. It was the company her mom and dad used to work for, and it designed specialist defence weapons for the UN. Confused, and knowing to ask a question would be futile, she pondered on the problem ahead of her. Why am I here? She asked herself. Because your dumb-ass parents made you, she replied to herself. Ooookkkaaayyyyyy. She wasn't going anywhere with this conversation, so she stopped and looked out her window. They were in an elevator of sorts, with the glass sides showing rock, rock and more rock. Suddenly, the image opened out to show an enormous cavern, with an odd collection of buildings on the floor of it. There was even a lake, situated right next to an enormous structure that looked like a pyramid. Everywhere she looked, there was greenery, and trees everywhere. And, on the roof, there were some odd outcroppings that hung down, but they were obviously man-made. "Wow." Was all she could say.
"This is the Geofront, Usagi," her father said the first words he had since they had left. "It is a fortress for all mankind."
"Fortress? Against what?" the young Usagi asked. "What could possibly happen that man would need this? Except another meteor, like what happened thirty-five years ago."
"Second Impact was not a meteor, Usagi." Her mother said. "It was preset by mankind, and initiated by an organization known as SEELE."
"What did they do? Set off a million N-2 mines?" joked Usagi, not believing a word.
"No, they awoke something lying dormant under the ice. It was known as Adam, the first Angel."
"Angel? Like, halo and harp?"
"No. The angels were monsters, sent to test man. The Dead Sea scrolls told of their coming, but now I believe it was miss-interpreted. There were only meant to be seventeen angels, and each has been defeated. They attacked Tokyo-3, but only because it had been specifically build to fend off the Angels. Deep down in NERV, in a place called Terminal Dogma, rested the second Angel, named Lillith. Any angel to come into contact with either Adam or Lillith would automatically initiate Third Impact, the apocalypse."
At this, Usagi remembered the dream she had.
"Mum, last night I had a weird dream. I was being chased by a monster, and it said that the end of the world was coming, and something about 'the child of Lillith' What did it mean? I was going to tell you last night, but you were telling dad you had the same dream, and I kinda freaked out."
Two pairs of eyes regarded her, one red, the other brown.
"In a way, you are the child of Lillith. In the literal sense, Lillith is not your biological mother, but her blood flows strongly in your veins. I cannot explain it to you, as I do not know it fully myself, but you are part angel. In a way, I am but am not Lillith." Her mother spoke softly then turned around, leaving one very confused, babbling teenager to her own troubled mind.
***********************
The rest of the trip was made in silence, Usagi barely noticing the various tunnels and roads they travelled upon. Is that what I am? She thought, a monster? No wonder everyone thinks I'm weird! Oh god what am I going to do now?
Her self-degrading thoughts stopped with the car, and her parents got out, motioning Usagi to follow. After a long, confusing walk through what had to be miles of corridors, they came out in a large room, which could only be the command centre. Fully half the room was taken up by a giant holographic display, whilst the other half was home to the famed MAGI, the three supercomputers that ran most of Tokyo-3. At the many workstations, Usagi could see technicians at work, along with a few familiar faces.
One of the computer techs was one her dad's oldest friends, Kensuke Aida. The slightly nerdy tech seemed to be enthralled by something he was working on, and didn't look up. Usagi tore her gaze from him and sought out the other two familiar figures in the complex. One, whom was sitting in the commander's chair, was Misato Katsuragi, the woman who had been almost a mother to her dad. Standing next to her, in the role of second commander and tactical commander, was Usagi's godmother, Asuka Langly Soryu. She had grown up with her dad, and were close, although neither would admit it. Asuka, unlike the previous two people, saw her old companions and their daughter come in. With a cold stare at Rei, a triumphant smirk at Shinji and a warm smile for Usagi, she left the side of the commander and came down to them.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" she asked, her usual smirk held in place. "Why, it must be the Ikaris!" she exclaimed, loud enough for everyone in the room to look up, even Kensuke. "On what do we owe this little visit?" she asked, but quieter, this time.
"Shinji, you haven't been around lately. I started to think you didn't love me anymore." Commander Katsuragi joked, walking up to them. Of course, Shinji Ikari went bright red at this, while his wife stayed impassive as ever.
"Rei, you should let him out to play more, you know, he needs to have the exercise." Came the remark from Kensuke, grinning. "Have you come back, or is this just a social visit?" he inquired, shaking his friend's hand.
"It is neither, in fact." Rei interjected. "The angels have returned, and the first shall arrive soon. We have come first to warn you, and second, to deliver the sixth child."
Everyone in earshot, including Shinji, looked at her in amazement.
"Impossible, Shinji destroyed the last of them." Said Asuka icily. 'The Dead Sea scrolls said there were only to be seventeen, and we destroyed them all."
"You forget who I am, pilot Soryu. I had a vision, which my daughter shared." Rei replied flatly. "It specifically stated that the daughter of Lillith would inherit Ikari's mantle, and the 'devil' would awaken once again. Usagi is the pilot, and she will be able to synch with unit one."
At that, Asuka was ready to throw one of her legendary bouts of anger, but was prevented from doing so by the aging Misato.
"I am the commander, and I believe Rei."
"Fine." Turning back to the married couple she said, "I only hope you remember what it is like to pilot. What you are putting your daughter into."
"Yeah. I remember. If it were up to me, she wouldn't even be here." Shinji said. "However, my wife is... persuasive."
Asuka's face hardened. "You know the way."
*****************************************
"Dad?"
"Mmmmmm?" came the reply.
"Whom or what is unit one?" asked Usagi, as the three of them walked down yet another deserted corridor.
"See for yourself." Her father stopped in front of a large set of doors, which he opened and stepped aside for Usagi to enter. It was pitch black, except for a double row of tiny lights on the floor. She walked for a short way, and muttered under her breath "what the hell am I supposed to see, genius?"
"I heard that." Came the indignant voice of her father, who seemed to be right behind her. "And in answer to your question, this." At that moment, the lights came on, and Usagi took an involuntary step back.
"Evangelion Unit One!" came a proud voice from the doorway. Tearing her eyes from the gigantic helmeted face, she saw a woman in a lab coat that looked vaguely familiar walk towards them. Recognition played across the elder Ikari's face. "Maya, what a surprise! You still work here?"
She had short black hair and a roundish face. "Of course, someone had to take over project E when Sempai Akagi left." At the mention of that name, she sighed. "So its Doctor Ibuki now." Looking down at Usagi, the doctor smiled. "Evangelion, or EVA for short, is a biomechanical fighting machine. To work, however, it needs a human inside it to pilot it. This particular Eva is the only surviving member of the fourteen units ever created. Unit zero was the prototype, and it was piloted by Rei Ayanami, the first child, your mother. It was destroyed when your mother self-destructed it to eliminate the first angel. These Evangelions are the only thing that can successfully battle and destroy the angels. Unit two, which was destroyed defending the Geofront in a massive battle against UN forces, was piloted by Asuka, the second child." She sighed miserably at the memory of the battle. " it was all because SEELE lied to the UN, saying we were the ones trying to start third impact, which was a load of crap.
Unit one here was piloted by Shinji here, the third child. Out of all of them, this has had by far the most combat experience, even though it was only the test type. Unit three was piloted by Touji Suzahara, but..."
"Hey, mister Suzahara's my gym teacher!" Usagi exclaimed, cutting into the doctor's little speech. "You mean he actually fought those angels?"
"Err, not quite," doctor Ibuki suddenly became very interested in her shoelaces. "Turned out to be that unit three was an angel, and Touji was badly injured when we had unit one... deal with it.
Unit four never even had a pilot, because it blew up while the American branch of NERV were testing its S2 inner system engine."
"It had a pilot" Shinji suddenly interjected, startling Usagi, who had all but forgotten he was there. "Karou Nagisa, the fifth child." The words seemed to hurt her father, but she didn't know why. "He was an Angel, the seventeenth, and I... killed him."
Usagi looked up at him, wondering why he took it so personally with this particular Angel, and not the others. Trying to break the uncomfortable silence, she asked "and the others?" and prepared for a lot of talking. Instead all she got was " they were controlled by SEELE, and piloted by clones. We destroyed them." The doc looked grim. "Anyway, enough past history. We don't have a plug suit made for you yet, but you'll need these," she said, throwing what looked to be a pair of hairclips to her. Putting them in her hair, Usagi felt very uncomfortable, with the doctor, the Eva, even her father.
"We will test your synch rate in the Eva to start with, but that won't be necessary the next time. But for now, hop in."
"Hop in where?"
From a pocket in her lab coat, Maya Ibuki brought out a remote control, and pressed the button. A large chunk of armour on the thing's back moved, and a long, white cylinder came into view. A hatch in said cylinder opened, revealing a reclining seat and a pair of control sticks.
"get in, and get comfortable." Was all her dad had to say. Usagi gulped.
"Well, this isn't too bad." Was all Usagi said, once she had been settled into the strange 'plug'. "I would of thought that the controls were more complex, but this looks easy!"
"Err, not being to bad is about to change, princess," came her father's voice over the comlink "And Eva is controlled mainly by the mind. Those controls are only as a guide while your synch rate is low."
"Worse?"
"Just breathe normally. LCL may taste bad, but you'll get used to it."
"LCL?"
"It helps your synch rate, and oxygenates your lungs directly."
Before Usagi could ask any more questions, the plug began to fill with a thick, amber liquid. When the level reached her head, she automatically held her breath.
"Just breathe it in. It won't hurt you." The elder Ikari's voice on the other end of the comlink sounded strange, due to the LCL. "I know it tastes bad, but we can't change the flavour. Sorry princess."
Indeed, once she had taken a few tentative lung-fulls of the LCL, Usagi had to agree. It did taste bad. Almost like....blood!
"Daddy, this tastes like blood. Why?"
The other voice on the bridge went quiet in a trail of mumbling. However, doctor Ibuki must have taken the com, as it was her voice Usagi heard next.
"We will be starting synch tests now. You will see the walls of the plug turn different colours, and if you successfully synch with the Eva, you will be able to see outside the Eva."
The walls of the plug Usagi was in started swirling with changing colours, leaving the teen with a blazing headache, so she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she found that the doc had been quite accurate. For not only could she see outside the Eva, the LCL had turned perfectly clear. If every breath didn't remind her it was there, she would have sworn there was only air between her and the walls.
"Well done, pilot Usagi. Your synch rate is higher than your father's was when he first piloted, if that means anything to you."
"Yeah, well NERV isn't being attacked by an angel now, is it?" returned her dad on the intercom. "Little different from my first time, don't you think?"
"What? They sent you up in this thing to fight on your first time?" Usagi was dumbfounded.
"Heh, well, they didn't have another pilot capable of taking my place. Before I came, your mother was the only pilot in the building, and she was injured at the time."
"Ok, Usagi, time up. Take a shower, and go home. You better get a good night's sleep, 'cause Eva pilots still have to go to school. And then there is all the synch tests, battle training, weapon management classes, and you need to memorise all the different supply depots situated around Tokyo-3, just to say a few things you'll need to learn."
Usagi groaned.
**********************
The door opened.
Susami Suzahara looked up, as a very, tired and dejected- looking Usagi walked in, and practically feel into her seat. After which her head hit the table, and started snoring slightly.
"Err, are you ok, Usagi?"
"...Mmpphh..."
"I'll take that as a no, hmm?"
"..."
"C'mon, Usagi, class starts any minute now, so get up!"
With that, Usagi lifted her head off the table, and said slowly and clearly, so it was impossible to mis-understand,
"If you don't let me sleep, I will find some way of torturing you until you wish you were dead."
Susami only smirked at her friend, and continued to bait her. She knew that Usagi's constant death threats were hollow, so she sure as hell wasn't scared this time.
"Dammit, Susami, just 'cause your dad is our gym teacher doesn't mean you can just torment your own best friend to death. I'M TIRED!!!!"
"So?"
"Jezz, this is all I need. First dad wakes me up at four-thirty yesterday, then he makes me get int..." Usagi's skin paled at the secret she had almost let out.
"Get you into what?" Susami asked suspiciously. She could always tell when someone was hiding something from her, and Usagi was a terrible liar. She fixed her gaze straight onto Usagi's face. "Well?"
"Ermm, nothing?"
"Wrong answer. Nice try, girlfriend, but ya gotta do better than that to fool me. Actually it was a lousy try, so ya gotta do even better, for thinking I'm an idiot."
Her friend just cringed, and whispered back to her in a guilty voice,
"Ok, but it's a secret. You can't tell anyone."
Sasami glanced up as the teacher walked in.
"Tell me at lunch."
"Fine" was the answer to her friend, as they started to fall into a deeply boring geography lesson.
****************************
"Bullshit."
"It's true! Honest!"
"You've got ten seconds to either change your story or make me believe you, or some of my dad's old 'interrogative' techniques will get practiced."
Usagi gulped. She had seen these same techniques used firsthand, and had no desire to experience them. She started umming and ahhing whilst Sasami started an impatient countdown.
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
"Sev en."
"Six."
"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One. Sorry Usagi, but liars must be punished." She grabbed her, and pinned her down. Usagi half-screamed, half-whimpered as her longest, best friend started to build up saliva in her mouth.
BAMMPPP, BAMMPPP, BAMMPP!!!!
"What the hell?" Usagi started to breathe a sigh of relief as Susami spun her head away from her, but caught it again as she realized the implications of that loud, blaring alarm that had begun to play across Tokyo-3. She could feel the blood leave her face, and a cold sweat run down her back.
"An..An.. ANGEL!!!" she screamed, as she finally got hear voice back under control. "You don't believe me, come and see for yourself!" Usagi put as much venom as she could in her voice, considering she was still under the receiver of the verbal assault. She pushed Sasami off her, grabbed her hand, and dragged her at a run to the nearest NERV entrance.
***********************
"Ok, Ok, maybe you were telling the truth." Came Susami's voice, panting from the run. They were in an elevator, heading straight for the Eva cage. The elevator that was near the school had only two destinations: where they were going, and the surface.
"No shit, Sherlock. You think the inside of an elevator looks cool, jut wait till you see what's at the end of it." As Usagi shot this remark at her friend, she took out the dark green nervelinks out of her pocket and put them in her hair.
BING!
When the elevator stopped, the doors opened and the two girls ran out. Straight down the corridor and through the door was the Eva cage.
"WHOA!"
Usagi smirked at Susami.
"Go to the bridge, and watch the show!" she said, climbing into the plug.
"Where's the...." Susami was cut off as the white capsule closed, cutting out all sound. There was a slurp as the plug was drilled into the Eva, and the armour plating closed.
"...Bridge?" she finished. Obviously not getting an answer, she picked a random direction and left.
************************
"Coolant draining complete."
"Removing primary restraints."
"Removing secondary restraints."
"Moving Eva to the launch pad."
Misato grinned. It was just like twenty years ago, only the voices were different. Twenty years and the launch sequence is almost the same, she thought.
"Clearing launch path"
Correction, exactly the same.
"Evangelion unit one is ready for launching." This time instead of Maya Ibuki, it was Kensuke Aida.
Taking a deep breath, first commander Katsuragi began,
"LAU... Mmph!"
"Sorry Misato, but that's my job now." Second commander Soryu stated, removing her hand from the mouth of a very irate Misato.
"LAUNCH EVANGELION UNIT ONE!"
At that command, Usagi Ikari shot upwards in her Eva towards her first battle, and felt damn queasy from motion sickness.
***************************
END CHAPTER ONE
Will Usagi triumph in her first ever battle, with only a single day of training, or does she launch to her doom? Find out in the next chapter of Evangelion: 2035, Rage Of Lillith!
Author's notes: well, maybe this version makes a little more sense than the old one, no? Well, I hope you have enjoyed this, now on to the next chapter! *big drumroll*
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" she asked, her usual smirk held in place. "Why, it must be the Ikaris!" she exclaimed, loud enough for everyone in the room to look up, even Kensuke. "On what do we owe this little visit?" she asked, but quieter, this time.
"Shinji, you haven't been around lately. I started to think you didn't love me anymore." Commander Katsuragi joked, walking up to them. Of course, Shinji Ikari went bright red at this, while his wife stayed impassive as ever.
"Rei, you should let him out to play more, you know, he needs to have the exercise." Came the remark from Kensuke, grinning. "Have you come back, or is this just a social visit?" he inquired, shaking his friend's hand.
"It is neither, in fact." Rei interjected. "The angels have returned, and the first shall arrive soon. We have come first to warn you, and second, to deliver the sixth child."
Everyone in earshot, including Shinji, looked at her in amazement.
"Impossible, Shinji destroyed the last of them." Said Asuka icily. 'The Dead Sea scrolls said there were only to be seventeen, and we destroyed them all."
"You forget who I am, pilot Soryu. I had a vision, which my daughter shared." Rei replied flatly. "It specifically stated that the daughter of Lillith would inherit Ikari's mantle, and the 'devil' would awaken once again. Usagi is the pilot, and she will be able to synch with unit one."
At that, Asuka was ready to throw one of her legendary bouts of anger, but was prevented from doing so by the aging Misato.
"I am the commander, and I believe Rei."
"Fine." Turning back to the married couple she said, "I only hope you remember what it is like to pilot. What you are putting your daughter into."
"Yeah. I remember. If it were up to me, she wouldn't even be here." Shinji said. "However, my wife is... persuasive."
Asuka's face hardened. "You know the way."
*****************************************
"Dad?"
"Mmmmmm?" came the reply.
"Whom or what is unit one?" asked Usagi, as the three of them walked down yet another deserted corridor.
"See for yourself." Her father stopped in front of a large set of doors, which he opened and stepped aside for Usagi to enter. It was pitch black, except for a double row of tiny lights on the floor. She walked for a short way, and muttered under her breath "what the hell am I supposed to see, genius?"
"I heard that." Came the indignant voice of her father, who seemed to be right behind her. "And in answer to your question, this." At that moment, the lights came on, and Usagi took an involuntary step back.
"Evangelion Unit One!" came a proud voice from the doorway. Tearing her eyes from the gigantic helmeted face, she saw a woman in a lab coat that looked vaguely familiar walk towards them. Recognition played across the elder Ikari's face. "Maya, what a surprise! You still work here?"
She had short black hair and a roundish face. "Of course, someone had to take over project E when Sempai Akagi left." At the mention of that name, she sighed. "So its Doctor Ibuki now." Looking down at Usagi, the doctor smiled. "Evangelion, or EVA for short, is a biomechanical fighting machine. To work, however, it needs a human inside it to pilot it. This particular Eva is the only surviving member of the fourteen units ever created. Unit zero was the prototype, and it was piloted by Rei Ayanami, the first child, your mother. It was destroyed when your mother self-destructed it to eliminate the first angel. These Evangelions are the only thing that can successfully battle and destroy the angels. Unit two, which was destroyed defending the Geofront in a massive battle against UN forces, was piloted by Asuka, the second child." She sighed miserably at the memory of the battle. " it was all because SEELE lied to the UN, saying we were the ones trying to start third impact, which was a load of crap.
Unit one here was piloted by Shinji here, the third child. Out of all of them, this has had by far the most combat experience, even though it was only the test type. Unit three was piloted by Touji Suzahara, but..."
"Hey, mister Suzahara's my gym teacher!" Usagi exclaimed, cutting into the doctor's little speech. "You mean he actually fought those angels?"
"Err, not quite," doctor Ibuki suddenly became very interested in her shoelaces. "Turned out to be that unit three was an angel, and Touji was badly injured when we had unit one... deal with it.
Unit four never even had a pilot, because it blew up while the American branch of NERV were testing its S2 inner system engine."
"It had a pilot" Shinji suddenly interjected, startling Usagi, who had all but forgotten he was there. "Karou Nagisa, the fifth child." The words seemed to hurt her father, but she didn't know why. "He was an Angel, the seventeenth, and I... killed him."
Usagi looked up at him, wondering why he took it so personally with this particular Angel, and not the others. Trying to break the uncomfortable silence, she asked "and the others?" and prepared for a lot of talking. Instead all she got was " they were controlled by SEELE, and piloted by clones. We destroyed them." The doc looked grim. "Anyway, enough past history. We don't have a plug suit made for you yet, but you'll need these," she said, throwing what looked to be a pair of hairclips to her. Putting them in her hair, Usagi felt very uncomfortable, with the doctor, the Eva, even her father.
"We will test your synch rate in the Eva to start with, but that won't be necessary the next time. But for now, hop in."
"Hop in where?"
From a pocket in her lab coat, Maya Ibuki brought out a remote control, and pressed the button. A large chunk of armour on the thing's back moved, and a long, white cylinder came into view. A hatch in said cylinder opened, revealing a reclining seat and a pair of control sticks.
"get in, and get comfortable." Was all her dad had to say. Usagi gulped.
"Well, this isn't too bad." Was all Usagi said, once she had been settled into the strange 'plug'. "I would of thought that the controls were more complex, but this looks easy!"
"Err, not being to bad is about to change, princess," came her father's voice over the comlink "And Eva is controlled mainly by the mind. Those controls are only as a guide while your synch rate is low."
"Worse?"
"Just breathe normally. LCL may taste bad, but you'll get used to it."
"LCL?"
"It helps your synch rate, and oxygenates your lungs directly."
Before Usagi could ask any more questions, the plug began to fill with a thick, amber liquid. When the level reached her head, she automatically held her breath.
"Just breathe it in. It won't hurt you." The elder Ikari's voice on the other end of the comlink sounded strange, due to the LCL. "I know it tastes bad, but we can't change the flavour. Sorry princess."
Indeed, once she had taken a few tentative lung-fulls of the LCL, Usagi had to agree. It did taste bad. Almost like....blood!
"Daddy, this tastes like blood. Why?"
The other voice on the bridge went quiet in a trail of mumbling. However, doctor Ibuki must have taken the com, as it was her voice Usagi heard next.
"We will be starting synch tests now. You will see the walls of the plug turn different colours, and if you successfully synch with the Eva, you will be able to see outside the Eva."
The walls of the plug Usagi was in started swirling with changing colours, leaving the teen with a blazing headache, so she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she found that the doc had been quite accurate. For not only could she see outside the Eva, the LCL had turned perfectly clear. If every breath didn't remind her it was there, she would have sworn there was only air between her and the walls.
"Well done, pilot Usagi. Your synch rate is higher than your father's was when he first piloted, if that means anything to you."
"Yeah, well NERV isn't being attacked by an angel now, is it?" returned her dad on the intercom. "Little different from my first time, don't you think?"
"What? They sent you up in this thing to fight on your first time?" Usagi was dumbfounded.
"Heh, well, they didn't have another pilot capable of taking my place. Before I came, your mother was the only pilot in the building, and she was injured at the time."
"Ok, Usagi, time up. Take a shower, and go home. You better get a good night's sleep, 'cause Eva pilots still have to go to school. And then there is all the synch tests, battle training, weapon management classes, and you need to memorise all the different supply depots situated around Tokyo-3, just to say a few things you'll need to learn."
Usagi groaned.
**********************
The door opened.
Susami Suzahara looked up, as a very, tired and dejected- looking Usagi walked in, and practically feel into her seat. After which her head hit the table, and started snoring slightly.
"Err, are you ok, Usagi?"
"...Mmpphh..."
"I'll take that as a no, hmm?"
"..."
"C'mon, Usagi, class starts any minute now, so get up!"
With that, Usagi lifted her head off the table, and said slowly and clearly, so it was impossible to mis-understand,
"If you don't let me sleep, I will find some way of torturing you until you wish you were dead."
Susami only smirked at her friend, and continued to bait her. She knew that Usagi's constant death threats were hollow, so she sure as hell wasn't scared this time.
"Dammit, Susami, just 'cause your dad is our gym teacher doesn't mean you can just torment your own best friend to death. I'M TIRED!!!!"
"So?"
"Jezz, this is all I need. First dad wakes me up at four-thirty yesterday, then he makes me get int..." Usagi's skin paled at the secret she had almost let out.
"Get you into what?" Susami asked suspiciously. She could always tell when someone was hiding something from her, and Usagi was a terrible liar. She fixed her gaze straight onto Usagi's face. "Well?"
"Ermm, nothing?"
"Wrong answer. Nice try, girlfriend, but ya gotta do better than that to fool me. Actually it was a lousy try, so ya gotta do even better, for thinking I'm an idiot."
Her friend just cringed, and whispered back to her in a guilty voice,
"Ok, but it's a secret. You can't tell anyone."
Sasami glanced up as the teacher walked in.
"Tell me at lunch."
"Fine" was the answer to her friend, as they started to fall into a deeply boring geography lesson.
****************************
"Bullshit."
"It's true! Honest!"
"You've got ten seconds to either change your story or make me believe you, or some of my dad's old 'interrogative' techniques will get practiced."
Usagi gulped. She had seen these same techniques used firsthand, and had no desire to experience them. She started umming and ahhing whilst Sasami started an impatient countdown.
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
"Sev en."
"Six."
"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One. Sorry Usagi, but liars must be punished." She grabbed her, and pinned her down. Usagi half-screamed, half-whimpered as her longest, best friend started to build up saliva in her mouth.
BAMMPPP, BAMMPPP, BAMMPP!!!!
"What the hell?" Usagi started to breathe a sigh of relief as Susami spun her head away from her, but caught it again as she realized the implications of that loud, blaring alarm that had begun to play across Tokyo-3. She could feel the blood leave her face, and a cold sweat run down her back.
"An..An.. ANGEL!!!" she screamed, as she finally got hear voice back under control. "You don't believe me, come and see for yourself!" Usagi put as much venom as she could in her voice, considering she was still under the receiver of the verbal assault. She pushed Sasami off her, grabbed her hand, and dragged her at a run to the nearest NERV entrance.
***********************
"Ok, Ok, maybe you were telling the truth." Came Susami's voice, panting from the run. They were in an elevator, heading straight for the Eva cage. The elevator that was near the school had only two destinations: where they were going, and the surface.
"No shit, Sherlock. You think the inside of an elevator looks cool, jut wait till you see what's at the end of it." As Usagi shot this remark at her friend, she took out the dark green nervelinks out of her pocket and put them in her hair.
BING!
When the elevator stopped, the doors opened and the two girls ran out. Straight down the corridor and through the door was the Eva cage.
"WHOA!"
Usagi smirked at Susami.
"Go to the bridge, and watch the show!" she said, climbing into the plug.
"Where's the...." Susami was cut off as the white capsule closed, cutting out all sound. There was a slurp as the plug was drilled into the Eva, and the armour plating closed.
"...Bridge?" she finished. Obviously not getting an answer, she picked a random direction and left.
************************
"Coolant draining complete."
"Removing primary restraints."
"Removing secondary restraints."
"Moving Eva to the launch pad."
Misato grinned. It was just like twenty years ago, only the voices were different. Twenty years and the launch sequence is almost the same, she thought.
"Clearing launch path"
Correction, exactly the same.
"Evangelion unit one is ready for launching." This time instead of Maya Ibuki, it was Kensuke Aida.
Taking a deep breath, first commander Katsuragi began,
"LAU... Mmph!"
"Sorry Misato, but that's my job now." Second commander Soryu stated, removing her hand from the mouth of a very irate Misato.
"LAUNCH EVANGELION UNIT ONE!"
At that command, Usagi Ikari shot upwards in her Eva towards her first battle, and felt damn queasy from motion sickness.
***************************
END CHAPTER ONE
Will Usagi triumph in her first ever battle, with only a single day of training, or does she launch to her doom? Find out in the next chapter of Evangelion: 2035, Rage Of Lillith!
Author's notes: well, maybe this version makes a little more sense than the old one, no? Well, I hope you have enjoyed this, now on to the next chapter! *big drumroll*