OK Everyone! Here we go again!
Thanks to all the folks who prooread, insulted, advised, support, bent, folded, spindled,
or mutilated this in any way. Hopefully Corel will let me send it properly.
You may notice that this is substanstially larger than the lastincarnation, and that several things have been changed.
I'm still on the lookout for a title..how does "The Book of Eva" sound?
Eva: New Genesis- Chapter 1 "In the Beginning..."
_ - + * Prelude * + - _
There was a terrible, ghastly silence.
There was a terrible, ghastly noise.
There was a terrible, ghastly silence.
Somewhere in between these three events, an entire
battalion of troopers, six fighter squadrons, a dozen heavy
artillery batteries, four tank divisions, and a full wing of
AB-21 N2 bombers underwent the transition from fully-
organized UN task force to a smoldering pile of rubble.
Sachiel cocked its head. It was an almost comical
movement, save the sheer fact it was done by a 60-foot
tall nightmare out of a Japanese monster flick. It
regarded the little broken machines, scattered and burning
at its feet, as little more than a slight delay. After
all, SHE called. And when Mother called, her children
would return to the mortal world to greet her.
Or die trying.
*********************************************************
Book 1, Chapter 1 of the New Genesis of Man
-"My first thoughts on how this all started?
Honestly, I wanted to get to Tokyo-3, or die trying. If
my Fath...er, Holy Father Ikari, wanted to speak to me
that badly, after all that had happened in the past,
then it was time I confronted him and that sick, twisted
dementia he called a religion. Little did I know I'd end
up its poster child."
-Interview with Shinji Ikari, roughly 5 months
before his assassination in 2020.
The phone continued to stay dead, despite Shinji's
continued attempt to glare it into submission. A whiny,
"Oh, man..." did little to convince it to work either.
Shinji sighed. "It figures," he said, "That my father would ask for me, then schedule our meeting on a day when
everything breaks down....there aren't even any trains
running. How strange."
Apparently, all of the Kanto district, maybe even
all of Tokai, was under some sort of special alert. No one
was around, the lines were all dead, the trains weren't
even running. So here he was, stuck in the middle of
nowhere, in an abandoned city, waiting for a ride, from a
total stranger, who was supposed to meet him two stops
down the line from here, and whom he couldn't contact.
So far, situation normal, as far as Shinji Ikari was
concerned.
********************
At that moment, the person Shinji was looking for
was uttering a few choice phrases that, if he had been
there to hear, would have permanently turned him beet
red.
So far, it was situation normal, as far as Misato
Katsuragi was concerned. Anyone unfortunate enough to
be riding in her brand new blue sports car would likely be
more concerned with the fact they were hurtling down
train tracks, the opposite way any potential trains might
be coming, at something in excess of 120 mph. The fact
that there were no trains running in this district mattered
little.
Misato was an accident waiting to happen, all by
herself.
********************
Sachiel would have parted his lips in a smile, had it lips,
or even a mouth for that matter. It was almost there. It
redoubled its efforts at pushing past the pesky mites in
its path.
Misato grimaced and cursed again. She was almost there.
Shinji HAD to be at Goura station, as that was were he
was scheduled to pick up the train in the first place.
She cursed louder and pressed down on the accelerator, hard.
Shinji sighed. Just when he thought things couldn't
get worse, the boom of thunder and bright flashes from near
the sea let him know a big storm was headed his way. Funny
though..they almost looked and sounded more like explosions...
*********************
"What I thought of Shinji the first time I saw him
was..'Well, he's cute enough..kind of lonely-looking
though, with those sad puppy eyes of his'. So strange how
he turned out, seeing how quiet and shy he was then..a
total change from now. I think he liked me though."
-Misato Cardinal Katsuragi, July 2018
All of the sudden, things had gone straight from bad to
pure Hell. One minute Shinji was huddling under the
awning at Goura station, waiting for this crazy priestess
woman of his father's to show (Are priestesses really
allowed to wear bikinis? He wondered, glancing at the photo
she sent him). And the next, the awning lay crushed under the
remains of what may have once been a fighter plane, now a
burning wreck.
Luckily for Shinji, several odd things happened in
that one moment. First, an odd whistling roar from above
caught his attention. Second, a 60-foot tall monster-flick
refugee on his left caught his attention. Third, a shiny
blue sports car caught his attention by roaring up the
tracks, over the bank, onto the station, and popping the
door open. Lastly, a pair of arms grabbed him, yanked him
into the car, and crushed him between two rather large,
round, soft objects. This definitely caught his attention,
and held it this time. Misato would have been proud to know
she had cured Shinji of ADD, but she was busy speeding back
DOWN the track, while half-holding, half-glomping a rather
startled teenage boy.
"Hi Shinji, nice to finally meet you, I'm Misato!" she
remarked casually.
"Mrmplgh mm mmrmm grphl mrf. MRGHF GRF!!," was
Shinji's muffled reply. (For those of you that don't speak Mrphlf, the translation
goes something like, "Nice to meet you too. LEMME GO!")
Misato blinked, then noticed Shinji was turning blue,
at least, where he wasn't turning red. Not wanting him to
die of suffocation (or embarrassment), she did as asked
and released him. This would do much to reassure Shinji,
especially because now she might use her hands instead of her
left foot to steer the car with.
Maybe.
*************************
"She's NUTS! I mean, positively off her rocker!"
-Attributed to Shinji Ikari, on being asked by
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi on his first impression of Misato.
The rest of the drive back up the Goura line to Tokyo-3
went uneventfully, giving Shinji a moment to study his
driving companion. Misato Katsuragi was tall, in her late
twenties, with cascading purple hair ("Purple? Well, I
guess if he lets his priestesses wear bikinis...") and a
snug-fitting black silk dress, covered by an oversized red
leather jacket. Dangling from somewhere Shinji's head should
not have been, but had been earlier, was a small gold cross,
the only religious-looking thing about the woman. She
noticed him staring at her and smiled.
"I don't look like a priestess much, now do I?" she
asked sweetly.
"Well, no..it's not that..just that..."
"Oh, don't worry, I won't get offended that easy. You
shouldn't worry so much. Things are fine!"
"Fine? I hardly call a giant whatever that thing was
fine!" Shinji exclaimed, a look of disbelief on his face.
"Just what was that thing, anyway?"
Misato blinked and raised an eyebrow at him. "Tense
little thing, aren't you? But, I guess you have a right
to be, huh? That 'thing', as you call it, is an Angel."
"Angel? You mean, a 'messenger from God'?"
"Well," Misato frowned, "Not quite. Pontiff Ikari would
call them, 'Fallen' Angels, but I don't know. We're still not
sure WHAT the Angels are, or why they are attacking. What
we do know is that they are almost impervious to conventional
weapons, and incredibly destructive. This one just...
appeared..about an hour ago, out in the ocean near Goura.
It's headed to Tokyo-3, but the JSSDF is keeping it occupied
while we get ready to launch our OWN ultimate weapon."
"Ultimate weapon?" Shinji asked <This is beginning to
sound like Mazinger or something..weird.> He thought.
"Yes. It's why the Order of the Red Maple was formed, in
conjunction with a paramilitary scientific group called NERV.
I'm the Operations Manager on site; and your father, Pontiff Ikari,
is general overseer of the project, among his other duties."
"My father.." Shinji seemed about to say more, then
became quiet once more.
"It'll be the first time you two have seen each other
in a long time, right? I bet you have a lot to say to
each other."
Shinji's expression turned dark suddenly. "You have NO idea." he said.
Misato just started at him, astonished at the change
his father's name brought upon Shinji, and kept driving.
***************************
"My first glimpse of an Eva was... scary. More so than
the Angels themselves...it worries me when a weapon is more
terrifying than the enemy you use it on."
-Shinji Ikari
"Good. Then you'll be here soon, and he's with you,
safe and sound. Good. Yes, we're just about ready here.
Loaded up, and ready to launch. Radar shows the target
only five miles behind you, and catching up. Hopefully
she's ready this time. Bye."
*click*
"That was Misato, your Holiness. The Third is with
her, and the Angel right behind them. Unit-01 is ready on
your word."
"The word is given, Dr. Akagi. Bishop Fuyutsuki, I
leave all this in your hands. Proceed."
"Yes, your Holiness."
A moment later, after the Pontiff had left the control
room, Kozou Fuyutsuki sighed. "His first meeting with his
son in six years..It could get ugly."
Ritsuko nodded, "Yes."
**************************
For the next couple of minutes, Shinji's car trip was
silent and dull.
That didn't last.
Misato cursed as suddenly, a huge shape loomed behind
her in the rearview mirror. Shinji stole a glance back
and gasped.
Sachiel had tired of playing games with the little
things beneath its feet, and decided to employ its stronger
weapons. A glance to its left, and a cross-shaped beam of
light erupted, taking out a whole company of troops and
several tanks that had been annoying it. Looking around,
it saw only one more pest, a small blue thing that was
rapidly running away. Sachiel concentrated on it, only
another second and the pest would be so many cinders...
"Priestess! That things is about to fire again!"
"Damn, this sucks! why isn't she up here fighting yet?
And call me Misato already!"
"Who?"
"Me, Misato, that's who!"
"No, I mean who's supposed to be up here fighting?"
Misato swore again. "Our pilot..the pilot for Eva-rgh!"
An brilliant light surrounded the car for a moment,
then a concussion wave lifted it and turned it over. Misato
swore again and kicked her door open, half-dragging Shinji
out with her. They both gasped as events unfolded before
them.
Sachiel tilted its head confusedly. It wondered why
it had missed, but at the moment, it was too busy watching
a massive figure come charging at it from the side. The
purple, vaguely human-like giant hit Sachiel dead-on from
the side, carrying them both into the side of a hill. They
struggled for a moment, then Sachiel grabbed the arms of the
creature fighting him, and felt the power of it's soul-light.
<What is this? Are you of Adam as well? Are you my brother
then? Why do you fight me? Let us kill the nuisances together,
and joyfully return to Mother!>
If Sachiel expected a response, all it got was an armored
knee in the jaw. It seemed stunned for a moment, then retaliated
by ramming its energy lance into the attacker over and over.
<You are not of us...you are a product of THEM, made to be
like US! You shall be destroyed!> It waved a hand, and another
cross of light blasted the purple giant, knocking it back.
"Whatever that purple thing is, it's losing," Shinji said,
glancing over the wreck of Misato's car to watch the fight.
"WHAT? Oh, great, now we have to get to headquarters.
Rei's not ready yet!" Misato angrily hunted around for something
unknown, while Shinji watched her confused. "What are you
looking for?"
"A way to headquarters..there should be an emergency
elevator around here...AHA!" Misato grinned triumphantly,
gesturing to a small phone both by the side of the road.
"It's..a phone booth." Shinji looked at it, confused.
"I..urp!" That was the sound of Misato dragging Shinji into
the booth with her. The space was cramped, but it was nowhere
Shinji's head hadn't been before. Misato frowned and hoped
none of the blood pouring out of Shinji's nose would stain
her dress.
"Sorry about the cramped quarters..these were really
made to be one-man exit hatches," she said. Shinji merely
muttered to himself in Mrphlf and seemed content to wait for
the elevator to reach its final destination.
********************
It was only five minutes from the time Shinji entered the
elevator,and already, he had already seen three impossible things.
First, as the elevator descended, was the massive cave
hollowed out of the earth around him. Misato referred to it
as "the Geofront", and seemed fairly used to a spheroid cavern
bigger than most cities in Japan.
Second was the ceiling of said cavern, which seemed to
resemble an upside-down city, complete with a monstrous complex
of spires and domes dominating the center. That must be the
world famous, "Hanging Cathedral", which his father was said
to have designed personally, and was considered the ninth
wonder of the world.
Third was the elevator to his left, several hundred square
feet in all, descending somewhat faster. Not so much the
elevator, but what was on it, got Shinji's interest.
It was his first good look at the purple Giant.
It was the size of a multi-story office tower, and shaped
more or less like a human, but with gangling limbs and a
somewhat emaciated profile. Bulky plates of what seemed to be
armor covered it from head to toe, though they were cracked
in several places. Overall, the thing looked pretty worse for
wear.
Misato noticed Shinji looking at it. "That's Evangelion
Unit-01," she said. "That is the weapon by which we hope to
save Mankind."
"Are you sure? I mean, that thing looks pretty beaten up."
Misato frowned and looked out into the distance of the
Geofront. "You'll see, soon enough," she said.
Not long after, the elevator dropped into a pyramid-like
building near the center of the Geofront, cutting off Shinji's
view of the Evangelion. It came to a stop on a floor marked,
"Level 32-no unauthorized persons allowed past this point." Misato
sighed. "Remind me to get you an ID card..I'll just have to
vouch for you for now." Shinji just nodded, and the two walked
down a long, winding steel corridor. Doors and corridors
branched off every few feet, and after five minutes, Shinji
was lost. He had a feeling Misato was too.
As if reading his mind, Misato frowned, "I'm NOT lost!"
she snapped.Shinji just stared blankly ahead, and kept walking.
"Well, maybe a little," Misato sighed.
"Of course you are..you can't find your way out of a
paper bag, Misato! That's why Bishop Fuyutsuki sent me after
you!" rang a new voice from behind them. The owner of that
voice was a tall, thin, rather cold-looking blond woman in a
white labcoat. She nodded briefly at Shinji, then glanced at
Misato. "The Third?" She inquired. Misato nodded briefly,
"According to the Marduk Institute's findings, yes.
Shinji Ikari,meet Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, director of the scientific
division of NERV." Shinji bowed politely, and watched Ritsuko
intently. <Haven't I seen her somewhere before?> he wondered.
"In case you are wondering, Shinji, your father is
overlooking Unit-01's refit. If you'll follow me?"
Misato looked confused. "Refit?"
"Yes, Misato, refit. Rei just isn't ready to pilot yet,
so we had to reset the configuration to our other pilot's
system."
"What other pilot? All we have is Rei..no..wait a minute!
You can't expect him to.."
Ritsuko smiled, but somehow it only intensified the
coldness in her demeanor. "I don't, but Pontiff Ikari and the
Council do." She glanced at Shinji. "Come on now,you have to
meet your father before we get you ready."
Shinji looked confused. "Ready for what?" he asked.
"To pilot her." was Ritsuko's only reply.
*************
If this came out badly to anyone, layout wise, gomen nasai. Corel
and Outlook aren't getting along well.