Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ True Angel ❯ Enemies of Shadow ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6

Enemies of Shadow

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

 

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

 

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One week ago...the day of the dinner...

 

Ritsuko stepped out onto the balcony, lighting a cigarette. She was somewhat thankful that Shinji had been able to make her some edible food, while Misato had been distracted with taking PenPen to the vet to ensure the hot-spring penguin had not endured permanent injuries.

 

But then again, a foaming penguin attacking both its owner and Rei had been a very amusing form of entertainment to her.

 

“You okay, Doc?”

 

She blew out the smoke in her lungs, turning towards the winged boy who had stepped outside. “Worried about me, Shinji-kun?”

 

Despite her hopes, he hadn't reacted in a shy way when she called him such, further causing to wonder what events had happened to this child to keep him so damn collected. “Well, considering what the food did to PenPen, I thought I'd make certain you didn't go psychotic as well.”

 

They shared a little laugh. “You know you shouldn't smoke, it'll kill you.”

 

She smirked. “So will giant beings from space.”

 

They stared out into the city for a bit, both enjoying the quiet, but curiosity was getting the better of Ritsuko. “So...the wings...”

 

Shinji sighed, deciding it would be better if the woman who would most likely have to be pulling his ruined form out of a cockpit to heal, had some knowledge of his...history. “What has my... What has Gendo told you about me?”

 

“Not much, I'm afraid. He does wish to know more about your unique abilities. It's also why he's pushing for your sync tests with Unit 00 as soon as possible after Rei retries.” It was the truth. Gendo had been hounding her for answers, almost derailing all their work on Project E for that purpose, but had been fully blocking any attempts to learn about how Shinji might have acquired the wings. The man was only interested in results, not causes.

 

Sighing, Shinji began. “Not that I expected him to admit it, but I suspect he knows exactly what did this.

 

“It began shortly after my mother's death. He told me I was sick, and started injecting me with what he claimed were drugs to help `cure' me.” Shinji snorted. “Bastard didn't care the shit made me feel like my body was on fire, or that I puked for days, having to be fed by an IV. No, he kept up the damn injections, kept testing me with every device the damn place had. I swear it was a cycle: inject, scan, take samples, repeat.

 

“After about a month or more—I can't really remember—he sent me away, claiming I was useless to him now. About a month later, my wings showed up after my guardians informed me that my Father wasn't coming back for me, that he'd abandoned me.”

 

Ritsuko didn't need to be a psychologist to see the pained and angry look in his eyes. She knew as well as anyone, perhaps more, that Gendo was at the best of times cold, a heartless bastard at the worst of times. She did feel some need to comfort the boy, but squashed it. Right now, he was as much a source of information to her problems as well as a pilot, and personal involvement like what Misato was trying to form with him—that of friendship and perhaps a big sister/little brother approach—was not something she could afford while remaining objective. “How long before you could withdraw them into yourself?”

 

“About two years. If I had any extreme emotional reactions, they'd sprout out. Had to spend a lot of time homed-schooled.” He paused, returning to look over the city. “Ritsuko, I don't know what my...what Gendo's like now, but I do know one thing: he's nothing but an abusive, self-important asshole who will do anything and screw over anyone to get what he desires.” He turned towards Ritsuko, surprising the older woman with the fire in his eyes; a fire she knew was directed at his abusive father. “Never trust that man. He doesn't have a heart.”

 

As he walked away, Ritsuko took a final drag on her cigarette. Before tossing it off the side of the balcony, and slowly blowing out the smoke. “Well, that raised more questions than it answered.

 

But, she was no longer feeling a strong need to win Gendo over...even if only the strength of such needs had died slightly.

 

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Shinji slowly felt the world through his senses, not feeling the pain or agony he would have expected with the last battle.

 

A call...

 

A flash of light...

 

Wings of an angel forming once again...

 

The shot to save Rei...

 

Then nothingness, as if all of existence had ceased for him.

 

His senses built upon themselves, revealing the world to him. He could smell the faint scent of LCL, feel it surrounding and enveloping him. Taste was far from what he expected. In it, he could taste what was like a cross between an all-purpose vitamin and medicine.

 

“Welcome back,” came a warm but somewhat distant reply.

 

His eyes slowly opened, seeing the tinted view telling him that he was once again suspended in LCL, or at least a new type.

 

“In case your wondering,” said the voice, which he thought sounded like Ritsuko Akagi, though his eyes still seemed to have trouble focusing, “the LCL was treated to accelerate your healing process. It has some medicine to alleviate pain, as well as nutrients to accelerate your body's recuperative abilities.”

 

“Sight...can't...”

 

“I see, the medicine is sedating you. Give me a moment and I'll have the filters remove it and add a stimulant.” As he heard the sound of a keyboard being typed upon, he slowly felt his senses begin to sharpen once again. “You know, Shinji, if this works, you should be able to internalize your wings again and return to school.”

 

“Should have...let me...die. Test...tomorrow...didn't...study.”

 

She smiled, though he couldn't see it. “You have no idea how truly close you did come to dying. You were clinically dead for three minutes before they were able to get your heart going again.”

 

“I...died?”

 

“Yes. The way we figure is that you expended too much energy to protect Unit 00, more than your EVA could provide. It overtaxed your system and your heart stopped.”

 

“Is...is everyone okay?” He felt his body strengthening, his metabolism quickly finishing off the sedative and beginning to work on the stimulant as well. “Did we win?”

 

“Thanks to you,” said Ritsuko, her appearance now crystal clear to him, making him wonder what this tube was made of to correct for the refraction of light through LCL. “That last shot took out the Angel. If you'll look to your right, you'll see the cot she's been sleeping on.”

 

He turned his attention to it, seeing the telltale sign Rei had used it: it was still a mess. “She says being near me lets her dream.”

 

Ritsuko nodded, placing that bit of knowledge away for later use. “Well, right now she's undergoing a sync test with Unit 00 again, but she and Misato did ask to be told when you woke up.” Her demeanor turned a little more serious, and a little more caring than many would come to expect from her. “Are you ready to see them?”

 

“Not certain, yet.”

 

She smiled as she continued to type away. “Take your time, coming back from the dead tends to cause one to overexert themselves.”

 

What she didn't tell him was the scans and readings that were continuing to fill her console. When the team working on Unit 01 had informed her of what they had discovered, her interests demanded she examine Shinji to confirm if the link was producing similar results. She just didn't have a way to tell him...yet.

 

Like Unit 01, Shinji's body was constructing and developing its on S2 unit.

 

And like with Unit 01, she had no idea why.

 

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In a holographic chamber, several monoliths representing the ruling council of SEELE presided.

 

“What of our plans for the testing of the new technologies?” asked the high and nasal voice of SEELE 05.

 

“They have all been implemented with minimal incursions,” said SEELE 09. “Has Ikari been...convinced...to have his son attend?”

 

“Yes,” said SEELE 02. “He believes the boy is needed there due to some interpretations of the scroll. If all goes as planned, the anomaly will be contained.”

 

“And if not?” asked SEELE 01.

 

“Then we will know how our preparations to contain the anomaly have us standing.”

 

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Shinji sighed as the helicopter continued its course to the proving grounds for Jet Alone, near Old Tokyo.

 

He knew all about the old city, having come here on several occasions with his guardians, enjoying his night flights around the abandoned skyscrapers.

 

So much death...

 

Not that Tokyo had been the worst example of death for Japan. During Second Impact, accompanying earthquakes had sunk several cities. Instead of the tidal surge of a few dozen meters, those cities sunk kilometers under the waves, becoming present day stories of Atlantis. One reminder of such would require you to take a boat off what was the new coastline a few hours out to where the old coastline had been.

 

But now, the flooded city was being used as a staging ground for an alternative to the EVAs: the Jet Alone project. Since he had been...asked...to attend by Ritsuko, Misato, and strangely enough...his own father, he decided to brush up on the competition.

 

Early prototype designs had not inspired much confidence. The Mark I was little more than a walking automaton. It had no offensive or defensive weaponry, relied on a fission power plant, and wasn't even a quarter as maneuverable as an EVA.

 

But the one they were to see today: the Mark VI; was light years beyond that. It had an internal fusion battery, had several offensive laser batteries that were able to pull off shots seventy percent stronger than the energy weapons created for the EVAs. The defensive abilities were classified, even to him. But they were promised to be able to go toe-to-toe with an AT Field.

 

But then again, the EVAs couldn't house the power plants like JA could. The biologic components would be exposed to radiation, as well as temperature constraints. Basically, they were two divergent paths.

 

From an objective point of view, Shinji could appreciate the goliaths, seeing that they could function as mobile dolls, sentries to support the EVA. A few of them in the last battle could have spared him having to test what a sync rating of over a hundred percent could do to an EVA, and he suspected the wings like his own was only the tip of the iceberg.

 

Of course, he doubted things were really that simple. After all, if his Father had insisted he be here, then it was most likely his Father had some stake in this. If so, then Shinji knew he recovery was about to end.

 

He just hoped Ritsuko would make Rei take some showers this time. Her bedding was a little foul from her lack of showers after sync tests to check on him.

 

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Rei sat in her room at the apartment, looking at the pillow Shinji had left for her, filled with his feathers.

 

She felt...undeserving...of such things.

 

He was always protecting her, even when her job was to protect him.

 

He was...special...to her. She did not know how, and perhaps wondered if it had to do with the Angel abilities he had shown. It made her wonder about her own abilities, her own power that she had the potential to tap into.

 

Why didn't she? Why did she stay stagnant while Shinji continued to grow?

 

Was what she sensed in him of Adam, and if so, why was the part of her that was Lilith not showing similar attributes?

 

It was her phone ringing that snapped her out of such thoughts before any sense could be reached.

 

Rei Ayanami; report to NERV for sortie.

 

The text message was simply enough. Maybe I can use this opportunity to repay Shinji-kun for my earlier failure to protect him.

 

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They four sat inside a small room on the transport jet, Unit 00 attached to it. “Rei Ayanami, this is Dr. Senada, head designer and programmer for the Jet Alone project. Doc, this is the First Child.”

 

The two nodded at each other, showing little in the need for discourse.

 

Misato sighed, wondering why she always got stuck with the quiet ones. “The mission is simple. First, you'll pilot Unit 00 with the battery packs as we drop behind the target, modulating your AT Field to the specified parameters given to you by Dr. Senada, so as to both hide us from the JA, as well as block the internal defense systems of JA.”

 

“Why do we simply not destroy JA with an N2 mine?” asked Rei. “It is far enough away from inhabited areas.”

 

Senada appeared to be ready to yell, but it was Ritsuko who stopped him. “The fusion power plant inside JA uses a fuel similar to what powers an N2. Any breach would result in an explosion likely to vaporize a quarter of Japan's remaining land mass.”

 

Sighing, Senada explained further. “There are several fail safes to ensure such an event doesn't happen should the core be breached, but the drone currently in control of the JA disabled them.”

 

“Drone?”

 

“A construction drone was apparently modified to infiltrate and reprogram JA,” said Misato.

 

“We used them to help facilitate the faster constructing of JA with the rapid upgrades and retrofits our development teams produced.” He looked wearily at the girl, showing how much mental anguish his creation's rampage was causing. “They aren't much faster than you or I, but they're a hell of a lot tougher. Katsuragi will take it out while Dr. Akagi and I try to regain control.”

 

“My mission is to reduce the mobility of the unit, use my AT Field to hide our presence; but what about Shinji-kun?”

 

Misato smiled. “He's acting like a mosquito, buzzing around it to keep it from getting closer to any inhabited areas. But I'm afraid he hasn't been able to land on it.” She sat down beside Rei, handing her the specifications for the pseudo-AT Field of JA. “It's knocking him back, and readjusting itself continuously to keep him from adapting.”

 

“Then how will the EVA get through?”

 

Ritsuko smiled. “Shinji will attack from the front, causing JA to shift more energy to that portion of its barrier. The EVA's AT Field will be far stronger than Shinji's, and be able to neutralize the back, as well as the rear weapons platforms. Sadly, this will cause you to use up one of the battery packs, which is why we can't fully neutralize the entire defense grid.”

 

“I still don't understand how a pilot can generate an AT Field,” said Senada, “let alone how one can generate angelic wings.” Senada hated mysteries.

 

Ritsuko smirked. “Trade secret.”

 

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As Shinji flew around again, he saw Unit 00 drop to the ground, followed by it making a mad dash towards the berserk robot.

 

He smiled, enjoying the battle that was about to begin, as he was tired of merely playing. He whipped his sword out again; wanting to ensure JA was focused on him to ignore any sudden attacks from behind, and released several Spirit Cuts towards the target.

 

Sadly, like those before, they impacted on the green barrier, causing no damage.

 

But they had allowed the EVA to pierce the weaker back of the field, since it concentrated power to the front to further ensure that Shinji's attacks didn't get through.

 

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The three dropped down the ladder, Misato in the lead with a gun drawn. It wasn't internal defenses she was worried about, as Unit 00's AT Field was blocking those sensors. It was what they had seen assisting in the control of JA: a construction drone with what appeared to be a processing enhancement package on its skull.

 

It proved to be a smart move, as she soon fired off several shots as the drone had leapt from the console and tried to attack them. She relaxed only after emptying her clip into the beast of metal. “We need to get this thing out of here now!”

 

“There's an emergency dump chute behind this panel, in case we needed to get out during testing.” The Dr. Senada decided it was in the best interest to save his creation to help them. After all, they could always come back later and pick up the damaged drone to discover who had tampered with it.

 

They each fell to the floor as Jet Alone. “Rei, what happened?” screamed Misato over their comm. Unit.

 

“I have smashed the shoulder-mounted laser cannons to assist Shinji-kun. Was that an incorrect action?”

 

“WAH! MY BABY'S BEEN HURT!” screamed Senada.

 

He was largely ignored as Mistao and Ritsuko dragged the damaged drone to the chute and chucked it, only to be shaken again a few seconds later. “Rei?”

“The drone self-destructed, however it was far enough away to do no damage. However, Unit 00 will require a new paint job on its left foot when this is over.”

 

Ritsuko began to chuckle as Misato made an exasperated sigh. “Our little Rei is becoming quite the comedian.”

 

“Har har,” said Misato. “Now, can we concentrate on stopping this thing? I really don't want to be here in case JA decides to self destruct and take out a good portion of Japan with it.”

 

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“So, how were your tests today, Rei?” asked Shinji as he continued to fly randomly in the hopes of evading the receiving of a laser into a painful area of his body: such as any part of it. He was grateful that Rei had disabled the shoulder cannons, as they were beginning to work in tandem with the chest ports.

 

“My sync score has increased by three points,” came the cool reply over his headset.

 

“That's good,” he said, doing a barrel roll to avoid a triangulated attack.

 

“Shinji-kun, why is Jet Alone Mark VI attacking you specifically?”

 

“Not really certain, might have to do with the backers who helped advance JA so fast.”

 

“This will be investigated after we are finished here.”

 

Shinji nodded, wanting to respond that he might have several ideas of a group interested in pulling this off, when Misato interrupted over the comm. “Shinji, we've got a problem.”

 

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“What's the problem?”

 

Misato sighed and continued to talk as Ritsuko and Senada worked on shutting down JA. “Well, the computer is focused on you, but not enough for us to bypass the security features. We need to computer to be so consumed with you, that it'll ignore us. That's about the only thing that drone's left us as an option.”

 

“So basically I need to get the CPU to let itself be consumed with the all-fulfilling rage of killing me? That about right?”

 

“I do not like that idea,” came Rei's reply. “We need an alternative to putting Shinji-kun in further danger.”

 

“Give me a moment, you'll know when I'm moving,” said Shinji, before disconnecting from the conversation, before any of them might be able to talk him out of it.

 

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Shinji knew of one way to help them: he had to keep the OS and power flows of Jet Alone so busy, that the others could deactivate Jet Alone's AI protocols.

 

That meant...he had to be a target that JA would dedicate everything to defeating.

 

So, he stopped evading the laser pulses, and threw all of his energy into his AT Field.

 

Jet Alone would never resist the challenge.

 

He was right, as his world soon lit up in pain.

 

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“Hurry!” cried Misato, watching on the viewing monitor as the lasers tore into Shinji's barrier, trying to fry the target it was so intent on eliminating. She swore that if Shinji had one scratch, she would track down whoever set this up and kill them.

 

“Almost...almost...THERE!” screamed Ritsuko, as JA began to shut down, Dr. Senada moving quickly to pull out key circuit boards before the AI might try and compensate.

 

It did little in the minds of the two NERV employees, as they watched their friend reappear from the attack...and begin to plummet to the ground.

 

Ritsuko screamed out first. “REI, CATCH HIM!”

 

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It had been the hardest thing that Rei had ever been asked to do: stand by and do nothing. In her mind, it should have been her, as she was easily replaceable. But he had ordered her to stay there, holding JA, and preventing the team inside from being tossed around.

 

She wasn't even allowed to use her own AT Field to dampen the attacks, as it was being used to keep internal defense systems inside JA from attacking their team.

 

She knew she was crying when the beams ripped out towards Shinji, she knew she felt...sadness and pain that it was him suffering once again, that she was still unable to protect the light within her life, the light that made her feel...human.

 

Then the attack faded and...

 

“REI, CATCH HIM!”

 

Quickly, she released the AT Field from JA, leaping over the robot, and racing, hands outstretched to catch the falling bundle. As her timer began to tick away the final seconds, she made a mad leap, putting her faith in her EVA.

 

She screamed out in frustration as her screen went black, shuddering as the vibrations of her impact rang out throughout the plug, before moving with practiced and desperate easy to activate the emergency ejection system.

 

As she emerged onto the back of Unit 00, she raced along the body and arms towards her hands, desiring Shinji to be in them, and hopefully not under her EVA.

 

And there he was; most of his clothes gone from the blasts, but breathing and looking towards the sky...laughing. “Shinji-kun, what is your status?” she asked, trying to reaffirm her professional attitude.

 

“Tired, burnt, sore, and winded,” he said, turning towards her. “And I recommend as pilot of Unit 01, that we purchase several Jet Alones for use in the defense of Tokyo-3.”

 

“Rei, what's your status? Is Shinji okay?”

 

Rei shook her head, reaching up to touch the Comm. Unit still attached there to communicate with Misato's team. “Pilot Ikari is alive...and laughing. He has also recommended the purchasing of the JA series for the assisted defense of Tokyo-3.”

 

“Rei...did Shinji hit his head?”

 

“Yes, but I do not see how that affects his recommendation.”