I've been out the Evafic game for years, but Advice and Trust (and @SeptimusMagisto's Raising...
Rebuild of Mistakes Were Made: An [NGE] New Game++
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1-A: Babylon Angel's Verse
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
I've been out the Evafic game for years, but Advice and Trust (and @SeptimusMagisto's Raising Project Quests) brought me back. If you want to blame anyone for this, blame them.
So yes, this is @Strypgia's fault.
Suffer.
✚✚✚
Track 1 A-Side: Babylon Angel's Verse
It began with Sachiel.
It always began with Sachiel.
It came in with the fish, scores of them, cherubs heralding an Angel of destruction. Slick with water, bird skull mask blinking at the light, it took the same first steps it always takes. It trudged through sands stippled with old blood, passed stone idols of a forgotten time. The detritus of Tokyo-3s past served as the first wall of defense, a wall between old and new. Sachiel slouched through; desecrating what came before with thoughtless ease. Sick green skin shone with oil-spill rainbows, a new Godzilla in greasy reality. The VTOLs launched to intercept it. They were rent apart without effort. The missiles flew in a three-ring Itano Circus. They met AT-Field, explosions played against technicolor tragedy. The tanks flanked, circling into position, spiraling towards their noble deaths. They were crushed underfoot, the JSSDF members inside buried without ceremony. And Sachiel didn't notice, it was too busy staring at its hands, waiting for a show.
The bridge bunnies at WILLE, formerly NERV, certainly noticed. Red emergency hexagons screaming Pattern Blue meant showtime.
Miasto Katsuragi, driving a car Rally Vincent would kill for, howled through the tunnels of the Geofront. Gunmetal turret buildings rose with her, civilian buildings fell by her wayside. With the poise of a racer and the mind of a speedrunner, she drove her French muscle off the main road, ramping it off an anti-Angel restraint turret. She flew like Superwoman, landing with a box office smash. Tires squealed with her, adrenaline blowing away her two beer lunch haze. Knuckles white, Renault Alpine A110 rumbling, scenery blurring, Misato Katsuragi felt like a demigoddess.
"This must be how the Children feel when they pilot," she said. "Or at least how the Fifth feels."
Interrupting her reverie, an annoyed and quite naked Rei appeared in Misato's passenger seat. "Lt. Colonel Katsuragi?"
"JESUS SHIT!" Misato yelled, swerving. Her car hops skips and jumps all over the road. "Dammit Rei, you know I hate when you do that."
"And you know the Commander hates when you aren't punctual," Rei said, materializing clothing, NERV military dress in black, green and gold. She grabbed Misato's jaunty red beret and put it on her own head. "Given how the Commander is currently indisposed, I am legally allowed to act as his liaison. "
"You know the dress uniform changed, right? We're blue and white, not black and red." Misato said, weaving through APCs driving towards the front. She was wearing her tight black vest and miniskirt, a blue armband completing the ensemble. "Wait, when did you become a liaison? Did Fuyutsuki finally disappear in a puff of irrelevance?"
Rei chuckled softly. "No. Commander Ikari deputized me. I have a badge. Would you like to see it?"
"Gotta keep my eyes on the road," Misato said while aggressively cutting off a military Jeep. She cusses him out, her head out the window. "Man, drivers these days."
"Indeed."
"You never used to do stuff like this" Misato said, gunning the engine, speeding down a rare straight in the winding Tokyo-3 outer limits.
"I had no reason to."
"So what's changed? Getting lonely for Shin?" Misato teased, drifting through a hairpin turn. "Wanna ride his baloney pony?"
Rei pursed her lips, her projection transforming into Kaji. "The truth is, Ritsuko was the better lay. That's why the Commander warms her bed, while a bottle of sake warms yours."
"Your impression's gotten better," Misato said, executing a bootlegger turn hard enough to fling Rei's projection out of the car. It phases through the side door, turning back into a startled Rei before disappearing.
Commander's little girl Rei may have been, deputized liaison the Commander may have made her, this was an Angel attack. And in an Angel attack, Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi had divine mandate to do whatever she wanted, no matter how stupid. It was written in her contract. No law, no authority, no breathalyzer would keep her from her mission.
Not that she would drink while driving. Only alcoholics did that.
She saw the dropoff point; a straight drop from her position if she hopped the cliff. If she was in a hurry or two more beers in, she'd take the shortcut. She was making good time, Rei be damned, so she continued to take the scenic route.
Until Sachiel smashed its way through a department store slash munitions depot. It stomped through both building and battalion like bugs, making a beeline for the dropoff point.
For Shinji.
Misato put pedal to metal, smashing the guardrail and sailing through Tokyo-3. "Hang on Shin, Mama Missy's comin'!"
***
Rei Ayanami, one of many, counted the dead around her and sighed. Lt. Col Katsuragi had flung her into an active warzone. Her current body was a projection, so she didn't fear injury. Even if this were her flesh, she would not fear it. Being a projection meant she didn't even need to acknowledge such human concerns. She did need to concern herself with the lost souls, glittering ruby fireflies circling the corpses they used to be.
"Redshirts, red souls," Rei said.
Being a psychopomp for untold red shirts was depressing work. But it was a duty, and Rei Ayanami always fulfilled her duty. It might not have been pleasant (she rubbed at her pale neck, it was always her neck) or fun, but she was used to it. The more she did, the more she had fun, allowed herself to have fun. At first, she would do puppet shows with the corpses as their souls entered the Chamber of Guf, but after enough complaints about desecration, she stopped. Then, she changed the projection of her soul to different characters, like but unlike her. Sometimes she would be Yuki Nagato or Ruri Hoshino or R. Dorothy Wayneright. Sometimes she would be Key, asked the disembodied souls to be her friend and subscribe to her channel. Nobody got the joke. One time, when Lt. Col. Katsuragi ended up dying in a car accident, she appeared to her as Inspector Kaji. The Lt. Col. was clearly still mad about that one.
A fey smile played on Rei's lips, the more she experienced, the more she learned the joys of humor. Preferably at others' expense. This time, she had chosen to appear to each soul in a differed costume: from bunny suits to cheerleading uniforms to yukata. Though the summer was no longer endless, it was still summer and she felt festive. Tanabata was yesterday, after all. Checking to see if no human eyes were watching, Rei Ayanami, clad in a pure white yukata, danced with the dead.
She ran a pale hand through her short blue hair, sighing happily. She had collected all the souls here; they had danced with her, now they were a part of her. Mission complete and the Lt. Col. accounted for, Rei could get back to work on her passion project; bending Evangelion Unit 00 to her will.
Rei nodded to herself, proud of a job well done. "I should requisition an extra dessert ration."
Before she could return her consciousness back to base, she noticed two virgin souls shining brightly as they clung to life. It was rare to see such luminary souls escape her notice. Something like excitement flashed upon Rei's face. She closed her eyes and her consciousness shifted. When she opened them again, she was surrounded by broken things. The souls of two girls, on the cusp of college age like her, were the only things left intact. This close, she could feel a familiar resonance. It was weak, diluted by the new soul and a lack of presence. A snatch of memory played in Rei's head, one about cyborgs and boys' love. She decided to appear to them both in a robotic maid outfit, chrome elfin ears wagging at the edges of a deadpan face.
The auburn haired one recognized Rei immediately, wolfishly plain face lighting up. "I can't believe I'm getting Tanged by Mahoro. Thanks for remembering my codename, though."
Rei's eyebrows quirked up in amusement. She liked this one. "Salutations. You two have been promoted to mauve shirts." Rei closed her eyes, softly radiating smugness. "Rejoice."
"Yaaaaay," the auburn one said. "Wait, does that mean I've been a redshirt this whole time?"
The black-haired one, moon-faced and frightened pale, held on to the auburn-haired one. Or what was left of the auburn-haired one. Most of her body had been turned to mush; the light of her soul was all that kept her in this world.
The auburn haired one nuzzled against the black haired one. "It's okay, Yumi." The auburn-haired one smiled at Rei, shifting the river of blood running down her face. "She's a friend."
Realization dawned on Rei. "Ah. Kirishima-san," Rei said. "I didn't recognize you in uniform." And missing half her body.
"I wasn't that irrelevant as a soldier, was I?" Mana Kirishima, a now very squishy Girlfriend of Steel, laughed a warm death rattle. "Mr. Kaji said all those nice things at the melon patch..."
"Ryoji Kaji says a lot of things. Some of them are true." Rei nodded to the black haired girl. "Who is she?"
"M-Mayumi Yamagishi, JSSDF." This one was much more intact, but the hole in her chest was disconcerting. Rei pressed her AT-Field against Mayumi's chest to staunch the bleeding, she felt her soul blueshift, as an Angel would. Someone like her, Rei wondered, or who will be like her?
Interesting.
Mayumi's voice was soft, breathy. "Um, your AT-Field is squeezing my boobs."
Before she could dwell on this, one of Rei's eyes went black and sketchy, a laser point of red in the center of it. "It's coming."
"If you mean the Angel, you might as well Tang us." Mana gestured to what was left of herself and Mayumi. "We're in no condition to fight. Stray missile caught our convoy, messed us up R18-G bad."
"If you are not dead, fight," Rei said, manifesting an AT-Field, just before Sachiel's webbed foot made like Monty Python on top of them. "But first, heal." She hustles the two of them into an APC, renders the empty vessels inside the APC into LCL for a makeshift life support system, and closes the doors. Her good deed done for the day, she closed her eyes, expanding her consciousness down and out.
The Lt. Col. may have been picking up the Third Child, but Rei couldn't wait. It had been ever so long since she saw him. Now that he was in Tokyo-3, she could see him everywhere.
So yes, this is @Strypgia's fault.
Suffer.
✚✚✚
Track 1 A-Side: Babylon Angel's Verse
It began with Sachiel.
It always began with Sachiel.
It came in with the fish, scores of them, cherubs heralding an Angel of destruction. Slick with water, bird skull mask blinking at the light, it took the same first steps it always takes. It trudged through sands stippled with old blood, passed stone idols of a forgotten time. The detritus of Tokyo-3s past served as the first wall of defense, a wall between old and new. Sachiel slouched through; desecrating what came before with thoughtless ease. Sick green skin shone with oil-spill rainbows, a new Godzilla in greasy reality. The VTOLs launched to intercept it. They were rent apart without effort. The missiles flew in a three-ring Itano Circus. They met AT-Field, explosions played against technicolor tragedy. The tanks flanked, circling into position, spiraling towards their noble deaths. They were crushed underfoot, the JSSDF members inside buried without ceremony. And Sachiel didn't notice, it was too busy staring at its hands, waiting for a show.
The bridge bunnies at WILLE, formerly NERV, certainly noticed. Red emergency hexagons screaming Pattern Blue meant showtime.
Miasto Katsuragi, driving a car Rally Vincent would kill for, howled through the tunnels of the Geofront. Gunmetal turret buildings rose with her, civilian buildings fell by her wayside. With the poise of a racer and the mind of a speedrunner, she drove her French muscle off the main road, ramping it off an anti-Angel restraint turret. She flew like Superwoman, landing with a box office smash. Tires squealed with her, adrenaline blowing away her two beer lunch haze. Knuckles white, Renault Alpine A110 rumbling, scenery blurring, Misato Katsuragi felt like a demigoddess.
"This must be how the Children feel when they pilot," she said. "Or at least how the Fifth feels."
Interrupting her reverie, an annoyed and quite naked Rei appeared in Misato's passenger seat. "Lt. Colonel Katsuragi?"
"JESUS SHIT!" Misato yelled, swerving. Her car hops skips and jumps all over the road. "Dammit Rei, you know I hate when you do that."
"And you know the Commander hates when you aren't punctual," Rei said, materializing clothing, NERV military dress in black, green and gold. She grabbed Misato's jaunty red beret and put it on her own head. "Given how the Commander is currently indisposed, I am legally allowed to act as his liaison. "
"You know the dress uniform changed, right? We're blue and white, not black and red." Misato said, weaving through APCs driving towards the front. She was wearing her tight black vest and miniskirt, a blue armband completing the ensemble. "Wait, when did you become a liaison? Did Fuyutsuki finally disappear in a puff of irrelevance?"
Rei chuckled softly. "No. Commander Ikari deputized me. I have a badge. Would you like to see it?"
"Gotta keep my eyes on the road," Misato said while aggressively cutting off a military Jeep. She cusses him out, her head out the window. "Man, drivers these days."
"Indeed."
"You never used to do stuff like this" Misato said, gunning the engine, speeding down a rare straight in the winding Tokyo-3 outer limits.
"I had no reason to."
"So what's changed? Getting lonely for Shin?" Misato teased, drifting through a hairpin turn. "Wanna ride his baloney pony?"
Rei pursed her lips, her projection transforming into Kaji. "The truth is, Ritsuko was the better lay. That's why the Commander warms her bed, while a bottle of sake warms yours."
"Your impression's gotten better," Misato said, executing a bootlegger turn hard enough to fling Rei's projection out of the car. It phases through the side door, turning back into a startled Rei before disappearing.
Commander's little girl Rei may have been, deputized liaison the Commander may have made her, this was an Angel attack. And in an Angel attack, Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi had divine mandate to do whatever she wanted, no matter how stupid. It was written in her contract. No law, no authority, no breathalyzer would keep her from her mission.
Not that she would drink while driving. Only alcoholics did that.
She saw the dropoff point; a straight drop from her position if she hopped the cliff. If she was in a hurry or two more beers in, she'd take the shortcut. She was making good time, Rei be damned, so she continued to take the scenic route.
Until Sachiel smashed its way through a department store slash munitions depot. It stomped through both building and battalion like bugs, making a beeline for the dropoff point.
For Shinji.
Misato put pedal to metal, smashing the guardrail and sailing through Tokyo-3. "Hang on Shin, Mama Missy's comin'!"
***
Rei Ayanami, one of many, counted the dead around her and sighed. Lt. Col Katsuragi had flung her into an active warzone. Her current body was a projection, so she didn't fear injury. Even if this were her flesh, she would not fear it. Being a projection meant she didn't even need to acknowledge such human concerns. She did need to concern herself with the lost souls, glittering ruby fireflies circling the corpses they used to be.
"Redshirts, red souls," Rei said.
Being a psychopomp for untold red shirts was depressing work. But it was a duty, and Rei Ayanami always fulfilled her duty. It might not have been pleasant (she rubbed at her pale neck, it was always her neck) or fun, but she was used to it. The more she did, the more she had fun, allowed herself to have fun. At first, she would do puppet shows with the corpses as their souls entered the Chamber of Guf, but after enough complaints about desecration, she stopped. Then, she changed the projection of her soul to different characters, like but unlike her. Sometimes she would be Yuki Nagato or Ruri Hoshino or R. Dorothy Wayneright. Sometimes she would be Key, asked the disembodied souls to be her friend and subscribe to her channel. Nobody got the joke. One time, when Lt. Col. Katsuragi ended up dying in a car accident, she appeared to her as Inspector Kaji. The Lt. Col. was clearly still mad about that one.
A fey smile played on Rei's lips, the more she experienced, the more she learned the joys of humor. Preferably at others' expense. This time, she had chosen to appear to each soul in a differed costume: from bunny suits to cheerleading uniforms to yukata. Though the summer was no longer endless, it was still summer and she felt festive. Tanabata was yesterday, after all. Checking to see if no human eyes were watching, Rei Ayanami, clad in a pure white yukata, danced with the dead.
She ran a pale hand through her short blue hair, sighing happily. She had collected all the souls here; they had danced with her, now they were a part of her. Mission complete and the Lt. Col. accounted for, Rei could get back to work on her passion project; bending Evangelion Unit 00 to her will.
Rei nodded to herself, proud of a job well done. "I should requisition an extra dessert ration."
Before she could return her consciousness back to base, she noticed two virgin souls shining brightly as they clung to life. It was rare to see such luminary souls escape her notice. Something like excitement flashed upon Rei's face. She closed her eyes and her consciousness shifted. When she opened them again, she was surrounded by broken things. The souls of two girls, on the cusp of college age like her, were the only things left intact. This close, she could feel a familiar resonance. It was weak, diluted by the new soul and a lack of presence. A snatch of memory played in Rei's head, one about cyborgs and boys' love. She decided to appear to them both in a robotic maid outfit, chrome elfin ears wagging at the edges of a deadpan face.
The auburn haired one recognized Rei immediately, wolfishly plain face lighting up. "I can't believe I'm getting Tanged by Mahoro. Thanks for remembering my codename, though."
Rei's eyebrows quirked up in amusement. She liked this one. "Salutations. You two have been promoted to mauve shirts." Rei closed her eyes, softly radiating smugness. "Rejoice."
"Yaaaaay," the auburn one said. "Wait, does that mean I've been a redshirt this whole time?"
The black-haired one, moon-faced and frightened pale, held on to the auburn-haired one. Or what was left of the auburn-haired one. Most of her body had been turned to mush; the light of her soul was all that kept her in this world.
The auburn haired one nuzzled against the black haired one. "It's okay, Yumi." The auburn-haired one smiled at Rei, shifting the river of blood running down her face. "She's a friend."
Realization dawned on Rei. "Ah. Kirishima-san," Rei said. "I didn't recognize you in uniform." And missing half her body.
"I wasn't that irrelevant as a soldier, was I?" Mana Kirishima, a now very squishy Girlfriend of Steel, laughed a warm death rattle. "Mr. Kaji said all those nice things at the melon patch..."
"Ryoji Kaji says a lot of things. Some of them are true." Rei nodded to the black haired girl. "Who is she?"
"M-Mayumi Yamagishi, JSSDF." This one was much more intact, but the hole in her chest was disconcerting. Rei pressed her AT-Field against Mayumi's chest to staunch the bleeding, she felt her soul blueshift, as an Angel would. Someone like her, Rei wondered, or who will be like her?
Interesting.
Mayumi's voice was soft, breathy. "Um, your AT-Field is squeezing my boobs."
Before she could dwell on this, one of Rei's eyes went black and sketchy, a laser point of red in the center of it. "It's coming."
"If you mean the Angel, you might as well Tang us." Mana gestured to what was left of herself and Mayumi. "We're in no condition to fight. Stray missile caught our convoy, messed us up R18-G bad."
"If you are not dead, fight," Rei said, manifesting an AT-Field, just before Sachiel's webbed foot made like Monty Python on top of them. "But first, heal." She hustles the two of them into an APC, renders the empty vessels inside the APC into LCL for a makeshift life support system, and closes the doors. Her good deed done for the day, she closed her eyes, expanding her consciousness down and out.
The Lt. Col. may have been picking up the Third Child, but Rei couldn't wait. It had been ever so long since she saw him. Now that he was in Tokyo-3, she could see him everywhere.
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
I get that a lot
Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
BRING IT.Suffer.
Dromeosaur
Feathery Raptor of snowy planes and frozen sea
- Location
- The land of Trees and Squirrels
It is always refreshing to see a lively Rei. And now I can't stop imagining her as a Shinigami from Bleach. I wonder, what would be her Zanpakto?
- Location
- On a Journey Through The Decade
My guess would be one that could liquefy things called "Asa no Kyūjo"
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
That would be a meguca's Zanpakuto
Rei'd get something godly, feminine, and prone to rotting. So Izanami. And the release would be "Cry, Izanami."
Never tempt me
Although speaking of Morning Rescue, if you want to tempt fate in a MadoMagi world, check my sig and check Majokko Without Honor or Humanity.
Last edited:
- Location
- Surrey
Shinji: I remember the days when I could enjoy my right to privacy.
Rei: You've never enjoyed anything.
Betting that everyone except Shinji got the new game plus treatment.
Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
That entirely depends on the amount of snuggles he has access to.
1-B: Shinji Goes To Babylon
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Thanks to everyone who read the first part, your asspats and huggles fuel me towards greater atrocities.
✚✚✚
Track 1 B-Side: Shinji Goes to Babylon
Shinji Ikari sat against a blown out military phone, listening to music.
Angel attacks didn't phase him. Nothing really did, anymore. He'd been through so many things, so many repetitions of the same thing, that it took something amazing to get his notice. Ignoring the fact that one of his first childhood memories was watching his mom become a giant robot, the cascading trauma of this particular foray into mechaphilia awoke memories of countless past lives. He'd seen the world end, caused the world to end so often that everything else felt like marking time. His classmates in Tokyo-2 called him gloomy; he liked to think of it as enlightened apathy. It's not like he didn't like people, they just didn't feel real. Nobody outside of NERV (WILLE now, he corrected himself) did.
He wondered if that was how his father felt and shuddered. Mom had told him the two of them were alike, he was never around to confirm but avoidance was a skill Shinji had down pat. Shinji adjusted his earbuds and turned up his jams, not wanting to think what his father did to drown out the world. Or why he was known on the Internet as one of the Harlem Globetrotters of women.
As the music began to take him away, Shinji felt a finger across the nape of his neck. He yelped, body tensing, hands up to protect his face.
A projection of Rei stood atop the military phone, looking eagerly down upon him. She was in her plugsuit, droplets of LCL glistening along the contours of her body. She Mona Lisa smiled, her red eyes gleaming in the light. "Greetings, Shinji."
"Ayanami?" Shinji squeaked, trying not to follow a droplet of LCL from Ayanami's pale neck run down her body.
Rei leaned in close, hovering slightly off the phone. "Were you expecting Shikinami? Or perhaps Soryu?"
"That look feels more Makinami," Shinji said, diverting his eyes.
"Who?" Rei blinked, feigning ignorance.
"The crazy one. Glasses, big boobs, sniffs people."
"Oh. Her." Rei sat down on the military phone in butterfly pose, hands clasping her feet. "The Fifth Child."
Shinji sat down in front of the phone and tried to relax. The two of them sat silent, enjoying each others' presence as cicadas cried in cacophonous chorus. This was the first time they'd talked to each other without a screen involved. Sure, Rei wasn't physically present and her projection was translucent (which Shinji really noticed in spots), but the idea was there.
Shinji pulled his eyes from male gaze and onto Rei's intense ruby one. "So are you gonna sortie in Mom this time?"
"I'm currently doing deep harmonics with Unit 00," Rei said, hand to her chest. "I cannot pilot. My bandage-clad body cannot be used to coerce you. A shame, for I was planning on wearing only the bandages."
Shinji blushed, instinctively covering his crotch with his hands. His bland black slacks felt uncomfortably tight.
Rei closed her eyes, the edge of her mouth curling up in amusement. "It's nothing I haven't seen before, Shinji. We've been one, remember? Several times."
"Do you have to put it like that?" Shinji mumbled, shying away from Rei. She was a beautiful girl, the added years had made her more beautiful, and his memories said they had spent a lot of time tangled up in each other, but they were related in a way Shinji never wanted to fully explore. So he did what every teenager does when they don't want to face something.
He pulled out his smartphone.
"Asuka? Yeah, Misato's running late so could you pick me up?" Shinji said, frowning at the darkening sky. He looked up, saw Sachel's curiously tilted head look down at him.
"Ah." Rei said, AT-Field covering Shinji on instinct.
Shinji gulped. "Make it fast, Asuka, or this'll end faster."
Before disaster struck, a baby blue Renault Alpine A110 struck Sachiel's face. The Renault's rear wheels scrabbled for purchase on Sachiel's slimy hide. The green giant fumbled with its AT-Field (Rei was interfering) and stumbled into more buildings. It got tangled in construction cranes, warbling sadly as a stray face laser scythed through a wing of bombers.
Misato, guided by Rei's AT-Field, sticks the landing in her Renault. She beckoned for Shinji with a hand out the window. "Yoo-hoo, Shin! Come with me if you want to live!"
It took a lot these days to render Shinji Ikari speechless, instead of willfully silent. His father writing "Come!" on a heavily redacted letter which included a risqué picture of Asuka and Rei together was one of them. Watching a car drive vertically on the face of an Angel was another. He looked to Rei. Rei shrugged. Shinji shrugged back. He guessed there wasn't a choice in the matter, so he decided to go with the flow and got in the car
Misato shooed the Rei projection away before giving Shinji a massive hug, resting his head on her chest. "I missed you so much. And you've grown, too!" She pulled down her aviators and gave Shinji a cheeky smile. "Break any hearts in Tokyo-2?"
Shinji blushed again, teenage embarrassment winning out over teenage hormones. It took more than a bit of willpower to break Misato's hug. "Do I look like a heartbreaker, Misato?"
"You'd kinda look like Kaji if you grew your hair out more."
Shinji looked away; he was going for the Kaji look.
Misato mussed his hair. "We can talk more on the way back. Rei, her original body anyway, is harmonizing with Unit 00 and we're finishing up Asuka's clearance levels, so you get to save the day this time."
"I'm so enthused," Shinji said, slumping. He looked at his smartphone. "Or I would be if I hadn't called Asuka on the way. She should be here in about…"
Sachiel untangled itself, warbling with annoyance. It thrashed an apartment complex into dust, kicked down a combini. Getting back on steady legs, it diverted course towards the Song it heard.
And got punched in the face by a purple and green oni.
"…Now."
Speakers deployed from the shoulders of Evangelion Unit-01, the oni in question. "Shikinami's Speedy Superhero Service, at your, uh, service. Scheiße!" A cutesy clarion of a girl's voice came loud and clear.
Shinji looked around for a Rei who was no longer there, then up at the titan. "You'll get it right one of these days, Asuka."
"Asuka?!" Misato dramatically tore her aviators off. "How in God's name?"
"I learned a few tricks from the Other Girl," Asuka said, bored as Unit 01 roared.
"Never mind how you got into the Eva," Misato said, "how are you physically piloting Unit 01?"
"Dr. Ikari let me," Asuka said, as Unit 01 smoothly hit a leaping knee to Sachiel's core, drawing red ichor from the blow.
"Dr. Ikari is in the Evangelion!" Misato hissed.
"Duh," Asuka said, as Unit 01 parrying Sachiel's blows with Unit 01. It grabbed Sachiel by the face, snapping Sachiel's neck backward as it charged up a beam. "Even I know that now. I told her I was coming to get Stupid Shinji and she let me right in. I'm not even doing anything here, it's all her. It sucks."
"Was it seriously that easy? Has it always been that easy?" Misato frowned. She felt a headache coming on.
"No. Mom's just being Mom, I guess." Shinji looked up at Unit 01 stabbing Sachiel with a Prog Knife over and over as UN bombers circled above like vultures. "Also, can we please get out of here before they drop the N2 mines?"
"Don't worry, Shin. JSSDF has orders not to deploy N2 ordinance without joint WILLE authorization." She gave him a thumbs up, showing off the blue armband tied around her bicep. "Ain't cooperation great?"
"Cooperation's great and all," Shinji buckled himself with a silent prayer to the Black Space God. He saw a wing of bombers dip, preparing to make a strafing run. "But I'd rather have a blast shelter. Please floor it, Misato."
Misato sped off, the throaty roar of the Alpine sounding like a berserk Eva. "Aw c'mon, Shin. Don't you trust us? Trust Asuka?"
Shinji looked back to Unit 01. It was crushing Sachiel's core with its bare hands. Sachiel warbled, screamed and shifted, its form deforming in Unit 01's hands. Before the core could be crushed, Sachiel's face detached as the rest of it exploded, cross blast marking its own grave. Blood and rainbows filled the sky; heat and light making Evangelion Unit 01 nee Yui Ikari look a monster in the mist.
It, she, watched Shinji go.
Shinji kept his eyes on her until she was out of sight. "You're not the ones I'm worried about."
✚✚✚
[Next Time]
Shinji Ikari returns to the Geofront with fresh eyes and old wounds. Will understanding bring him hope or despair? The actors of Tokyo-3 take their places for one more performance.
Next time, on Rebuild of Mistakes Were Made: Tokyo-3 Bambi. We'll have lots more fanservice for you, too!
✚✚✚
Track 1 B-Side: Shinji Goes to Babylon
Shinji Ikari sat against a blown out military phone, listening to music.
Angel attacks didn't phase him. Nothing really did, anymore. He'd been through so many things, so many repetitions of the same thing, that it took something amazing to get his notice. Ignoring the fact that one of his first childhood memories was watching his mom become a giant robot, the cascading trauma of this particular foray into mechaphilia awoke memories of countless past lives. He'd seen the world end, caused the world to end so often that everything else felt like marking time. His classmates in Tokyo-2 called him gloomy; he liked to think of it as enlightened apathy. It's not like he didn't like people, they just didn't feel real. Nobody outside of NERV (WILLE now, he corrected himself) did.
He wondered if that was how his father felt and shuddered. Mom had told him the two of them were alike, he was never around to confirm but avoidance was a skill Shinji had down pat. Shinji adjusted his earbuds and turned up his jams, not wanting to think what his father did to drown out the world. Or why he was known on the Internet as one of the Harlem Globetrotters of women.
As the music began to take him away, Shinji felt a finger across the nape of his neck. He yelped, body tensing, hands up to protect his face.
A projection of Rei stood atop the military phone, looking eagerly down upon him. She was in her plugsuit, droplets of LCL glistening along the contours of her body. She Mona Lisa smiled, her red eyes gleaming in the light. "Greetings, Shinji."
"Ayanami?" Shinji squeaked, trying not to follow a droplet of LCL from Ayanami's pale neck run down her body.
Rei leaned in close, hovering slightly off the phone. "Were you expecting Shikinami? Or perhaps Soryu?"
"That look feels more Makinami," Shinji said, diverting his eyes.
"Who?" Rei blinked, feigning ignorance.
"The crazy one. Glasses, big boobs, sniffs people."
"Oh. Her." Rei sat down on the military phone in butterfly pose, hands clasping her feet. "The Fifth Child."
Shinji sat down in front of the phone and tried to relax. The two of them sat silent, enjoying each others' presence as cicadas cried in cacophonous chorus. This was the first time they'd talked to each other without a screen involved. Sure, Rei wasn't physically present and her projection was translucent (which Shinji really noticed in spots), but the idea was there.
Shinji pulled his eyes from male gaze and onto Rei's intense ruby one. "So are you gonna sortie in Mom this time?"
"I'm currently doing deep harmonics with Unit 00," Rei said, hand to her chest. "I cannot pilot. My bandage-clad body cannot be used to coerce you. A shame, for I was planning on wearing only the bandages."
Shinji blushed, instinctively covering his crotch with his hands. His bland black slacks felt uncomfortably tight.
Rei closed her eyes, the edge of her mouth curling up in amusement. "It's nothing I haven't seen before, Shinji. We've been one, remember? Several times."
"Do you have to put it like that?" Shinji mumbled, shying away from Rei. She was a beautiful girl, the added years had made her more beautiful, and his memories said they had spent a lot of time tangled up in each other, but they were related in a way Shinji never wanted to fully explore. So he did what every teenager does when they don't want to face something.
He pulled out his smartphone.
"Asuka? Yeah, Misato's running late so could you pick me up?" Shinji said, frowning at the darkening sky. He looked up, saw Sachel's curiously tilted head look down at him.
"Ah." Rei said, AT-Field covering Shinji on instinct.
Shinji gulped. "Make it fast, Asuka, or this'll end faster."
Before disaster struck, a baby blue Renault Alpine A110 struck Sachiel's face. The Renault's rear wheels scrabbled for purchase on Sachiel's slimy hide. The green giant fumbled with its AT-Field (Rei was interfering) and stumbled into more buildings. It got tangled in construction cranes, warbling sadly as a stray face laser scythed through a wing of bombers.
Misato, guided by Rei's AT-Field, sticks the landing in her Renault. She beckoned for Shinji with a hand out the window. "Yoo-hoo, Shin! Come with me if you want to live!"
It took a lot these days to render Shinji Ikari speechless, instead of willfully silent. His father writing "Come!" on a heavily redacted letter which included a risqué picture of Asuka and Rei together was one of them. Watching a car drive vertically on the face of an Angel was another. He looked to Rei. Rei shrugged. Shinji shrugged back. He guessed there wasn't a choice in the matter, so he decided to go with the flow and got in the car
Misato shooed the Rei projection away before giving Shinji a massive hug, resting his head on her chest. "I missed you so much. And you've grown, too!" She pulled down her aviators and gave Shinji a cheeky smile. "Break any hearts in Tokyo-2?"
Shinji blushed again, teenage embarrassment winning out over teenage hormones. It took more than a bit of willpower to break Misato's hug. "Do I look like a heartbreaker, Misato?"
"You'd kinda look like Kaji if you grew your hair out more."
Shinji looked away; he was going for the Kaji look.
Misato mussed his hair. "We can talk more on the way back. Rei, her original body anyway, is harmonizing with Unit 00 and we're finishing up Asuka's clearance levels, so you get to save the day this time."
"I'm so enthused," Shinji said, slumping. He looked at his smartphone. "Or I would be if I hadn't called Asuka on the way. She should be here in about…"
Sachiel untangled itself, warbling with annoyance. It thrashed an apartment complex into dust, kicked down a combini. Getting back on steady legs, it diverted course towards the Song it heard.
And got punched in the face by a purple and green oni.
"…Now."
Speakers deployed from the shoulders of Evangelion Unit-01, the oni in question. "Shikinami's Speedy Superhero Service, at your, uh, service. Scheiße!" A cutesy clarion of a girl's voice came loud and clear.
Shinji looked around for a Rei who was no longer there, then up at the titan. "You'll get it right one of these days, Asuka."
"Asuka?!" Misato dramatically tore her aviators off. "How in God's name?"
"I learned a few tricks from the Other Girl," Asuka said, bored as Unit 01 roared.
"Never mind how you got into the Eva," Misato said, "how are you physically piloting Unit 01?"
"Dr. Ikari let me," Asuka said, as Unit 01 smoothly hit a leaping knee to Sachiel's core, drawing red ichor from the blow.
"Dr. Ikari is in the Evangelion!" Misato hissed.
"Duh," Asuka said, as Unit 01 parrying Sachiel's blows with Unit 01. It grabbed Sachiel by the face, snapping Sachiel's neck backward as it charged up a beam. "Even I know that now. I told her I was coming to get Stupid Shinji and she let me right in. I'm not even doing anything here, it's all her. It sucks."
"Was it seriously that easy? Has it always been that easy?" Misato frowned. She felt a headache coming on.
"No. Mom's just being Mom, I guess." Shinji looked up at Unit 01 stabbing Sachiel with a Prog Knife over and over as UN bombers circled above like vultures. "Also, can we please get out of here before they drop the N2 mines?"
"Don't worry, Shin. JSSDF has orders not to deploy N2 ordinance without joint WILLE authorization." She gave him a thumbs up, showing off the blue armband tied around her bicep. "Ain't cooperation great?"
"Cooperation's great and all," Shinji buckled himself with a silent prayer to the Black Space God. He saw a wing of bombers dip, preparing to make a strafing run. "But I'd rather have a blast shelter. Please floor it, Misato."
Misato sped off, the throaty roar of the Alpine sounding like a berserk Eva. "Aw c'mon, Shin. Don't you trust us? Trust Asuka?"
Shinji looked back to Unit 01. It was crushing Sachiel's core with its bare hands. Sachiel warbled, screamed and shifted, its form deforming in Unit 01's hands. Before the core could be crushed, Sachiel's face detached as the rest of it exploded, cross blast marking its own grave. Blood and rainbows filled the sky; heat and light making Evangelion Unit 01 nee Yui Ikari look a monster in the mist.
It, she, watched Shinji go.
Shinji kept his eyes on her until she was out of sight. "You're not the ones I'm worried about."
✚✚✚
[Next Time]
Shinji Ikari returns to the Geofront with fresh eyes and old wounds. Will understanding bring him hope or despair? The actors of Tokyo-3 take their places for one more performance.
Next time, on Rebuild of Mistakes Were Made: Tokyo-3 Bambi. We'll have lots more fanservice for you, too!
Last edited:
- Location
- Surrey
Are we sure this is an Angel and not just a very large drunk who got lost on his way home?
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Who says it's not both?
VC Project
Infinite Possibilities at the Point of No Return
Plot Twist: This run's Sachiel is actually a supersized PenPen clone trying to out-emo Original Flavor Shinji and lamenting his inability to find a large enough can of Yebisu to get drunk on. The Face Laser thing is an involuntary reflex triggered every time he blinks.
2-A: Tokyo-3 Bambi
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Shit, you found me out.
✚✚✚
The trip to the Geofront progressed in silence.
"OH GOD MISATO SLOW DOWN ASUKA AYANAMI MOM HELLLLLP!"
Correction: the trip to the Geofront progressed with Shinji's screams echoing through the tunnels over ludicrous engine noises.
Why ludicrous? Because Misato, being a speed freak and sufferer of survivor's guilt, had decided electronic speed limiters were for chumps. They had outrun Sachiel's death blasts and the itchy trigger finger N2 deployments on Unit 01. The sheer terror of an impromptu launched Unit 01 and the savagery of its battle against Sachiel was enough to make at least one high-level general blink.
Misato groaned, stomping the gas pedal. She would have to do the paperwork for the launch, the cleanup, the damages to the city and to Unit 01 later. Since Asuka was her direct subordinate (and roommate), her insubordination was going to roll uphill.
Asuka wasn't even meant to be here until Unit 02 was finished but Germany pushed for one of their own to be stationed at the Tokyo-3 branch of NER...WILLE, for accountability's sake. Since Tokyo-3 had already poached Misato, Germany went with their tsundere crown jewel. Captain Asuka Shikinami Langley, the youngest Captain in the history of the German Air Force; she beat the previous holder, Captain Lehrgen-Degurechaff, by three months. Back in 2015, she and Misato were the same rank; the only reason Misato pushed for her current rank as Lieutenant Colonel was so Asuka would respect her authority.
And now Asuka had piloted the notoriously fickle Unit 01, hopping the chain of command because someone taught her how to hotwire a goddamned Eva.
Misato slammed the brakes, skidding into the parking lot like an 80s rocker into heroin addiction. Now there was silence, save for heavy (panicked, from Shinji) breathing.
"Misato," Shinji said after he gained enough of his wits to speak again. "What the fuck is going on?"
Track 2 A-Side: Tokyo-3 Bambi
The two of them took a trolley leading down into the Geofront, a ski lift trip to hell. The sterile military industrial black and orange of alien tech gave way to a verdant Eden. Shinji couldn't help but gawk; the shift always took his breath away.
It felt like coming home.
"Well you aren't technically cleared for everything," Misato said, sitting across the way from Shinji, he and she were the only two people in the trolley car. "But what the hell, you're a part of the family. What do you want to know first?"
Shinji reclined in his plastic seat, still NERV black and red. "When my father wrote "Come", did he mean to Ayanami, Asuka, or both?"
Misato choke-laughed. "Jesus, he really wrote that?"
Shinji showed Misato the letter, neatly folded in his white dress shirt's front pocket. "Only part that isn't redacted."
Misato looked at the picture, hand over her mouth. "And I thought my picture was too much."
"Thanks for that, by the way."
"You're welcome, Shin."
"Seriously though, what did he mean by this?"
"Well, the picture's fanservice. But he wanted you in Tokyo-3. Given he's been court marshaled, everything else you probably didn't have clearance for."
Shinji's smile betrayed his elation. His father actually wanted him for something?
The moment quickly passed. "Court marshaled? Then who's the Commander?"
"Uh, it's a triumvirate now." Misato waved her hands apologetically. "Fuyutsuki is still Vice-Commander, Ritz commands the science department, I'm commander in chief of TacOps..." Misato trailed off, mumbling.
"And?" Shinji stared at Misato until she squirmed.
Misato hid her face in her hands. "Kaji's Strategic and acting commander of WILLE."
Kaji being commander wasn't surprising, he seemed the most useful and together adult in Shinji's life. Kaji being alive surprised him more than anything.
He looked out the window, saw the lone boat in the Geofront was flying a new, blue and white flag. "So why are we WILLE again?"
"Someone leaked SEELE's whole death cult thing. Paper trails, front companies, bought politicians, everything. It was about four years ago, in 2015 I think. Huge mess, had JSSDF storming the Geofront."
Shinji shuddered. He remembered a dream of blood, tears and other fluids as gunfire heralded the apocalypse.
"Luckily, we had just finished a push towards increasing our defensibility, thanks to the former Commander. We managed to establish a ceasefire, then Kaji and Dr. Illustrious had enough favors to not only save their own asses but establish WILLE out of the ashes of NERV. We convinced the UN that the Angels hadn't come and somebody needed to fight them, so why not us?"
Shinji held up a hand. "Wait, Dr. Illustrious?"
"Yeah. Dr. Mari Makinami Illustrious, Metaphysical Biologist. A pioneer of Eva harmonics and synchronization and developer of the MAGDALENA System. Apparently, she was a friend of Dr. Ikari in college."
"So crazy girl's Mari Jr, then?"
Misato gave Shinji a complicated look. "Dr. Illustrious is the Fifth Child too. She's in her thirties, but stopped growing at 17."
Shinji threw his hands up in the air. "How does that even work? Are you sure her middle name isn't Sue?"
Misato shrugged. "Iunno. Something about LCL and the Evas arrest growth. Ritz can explain better," Misato smirked. "She bathes in LCL every day to keep the wrinkles away."
The trolley reached its destination with a cheery jingle. On the other side of the door was a not at all cheery Ritsuko Akagi, sopping with LCL, wearing nothing but a one piece and a lab coat.
She invaded Misato's personal space, forcing the hardened soldier into retreat. "You're. Late."
Misato bowed to her, praying for forgiveness. "I ran into some stuff..."
"I hope you don't mean that literally."
"Well I did ram the Angel with my car," Misato looked at Ritsuko like a kid caught smoking her cigs.
Ritsuko glared then slumped, relenting to Misato's apologia. Worrisome she may be, Misato was her only friend. "As long as you both are in one piece." She looked at Shinji. "You are in one piece, right?"
"I think so," Shinji flashed a nervous smile. "Wanna check?" He didn't want Ritsuko to do it, but it seemed outrageous enough for him to get a laugh.
Sure enough, Ritsuko barked out a laugh. After her brain rebooted from Shinji (of all people) making a dirty joke to her (of all people), of course. "Got some of the old bastard in you after all."
Shinji's face darkened, the mood going with it. Ritsuko and Misato shared concerned looks; Shinji in a dark mood was almost always cataclysmic.
"I want to speak to him," Shinji growled, clenching his fists. "Take me to Father."
✚✚✚
In a dark windowless cell, deep in the Fifth Malebolge, Gendo Ikari waited. His face was scuffed like a boxer's, he hadn't shaved in weeks, his gloves were torn from fighting, his NERV military uniform was threadbare and stained with blood. But his sunglasses, the lynchpin of his outfit were pristine.
He knew the Old Men wanted him dead. They couldn't get him here. He knew Doctor Akagi was the first to turn against him. She was trying to save him. He knew Kaji had orchestrated the leak and the coup. All that meant was he couldn't scurry away when judgment came. The truly damning evidence against Gendo was already gone, he'd had Fuyutsuki get rid of it. Since Fuyutsuki wasn't here too, he had succeeded. He knew the Section 2 detail was ordered to kill if he escaped, that all NERV loyal non-critical personnel had been retired or "retired". It didn't matter.
All that mattered was his Scenario.
All Gendo needed to ensure his Scenario was family.
The door to his cell opened, he knew it was the boy from the unsure footsteps. "All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again."
"You being in a cell is new, Father," Shinji said cooly.
Gendo smirked. "You never saw me in college."
"You never told me about college. You never told me anything." Shinji smoldered with Oedipal rage.
Gendo didn't care. What was one more person who hated him?
He sat up in his prison bunk, legs crossed, hands tented. "You never asked. Or you weren't cleared for it. And what would you have done if I told you? Throw a tantrum? Run away? I don't understand why Yui spoiled you so."
"Not everything I do is because of her, Dad," Shinji grit his teeth. "I can stand up for myself, despite your best efforts."
"You expect far too much from me. The Scrolls say you will rise to the occasion, no matter what we do. You will falter, you will dither, you will only seize your power when spurred by the destruction of a maiden. You know this, you've seen this in your dreams. The same story told and retold endlessly."
"How do you know about my dreams?" Shinji tensed, flight and fight suddenly warring in his head. His past repetitions came in dreams; some happy, some sad, some ugly. But they all returned to one point, a final Impact, five giants of light, and a sketchy end.
"It was all foretold in the Dead Sea Scrolls," Gendo smirked. "Your heroism is a certainty, so why expend effort on a certainty?"
Shinji's reason left him in a red haze. When he came back to himself, his knuckles were raw and bloody. He had his father by the collar, fist raised to strike.
"Atta boy," Gendo said with a proud smile and several new bruises.
"Seriously," Shinji screamed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"The only woman I ever loved is a giant robot and conspires to remain as such," Gendo said flatly. "You're also orders of magnitude more than balls deep inside her on a regular basis."
Shinji let Gendo down, turning green at the thought of going balls deep in Unit 01. "I never thought of it like that. I never want to think of it like that again."
"You can't un-think it," Gendo said, picking his glasses up from the floor. "She constantly rejects me for you. As does Rei, who shares her face."
Shinji was deeply uncomfortable sympathizing with his old man this much. Or thinking how much Rei looked like Mom sometimes. "Man, that does suck for you."
Gendo put his glasses back on, adjusting them until they laid perfectly on his face. "It truly does. Would you like to know what else sucks?"
"No."
"Doctor Akagi."
"Dammit, Dad."
Gendo smirked. "Would you like to know one more thing that sucks?"
Shinji flexed his hands. "If you say Ayanami I'm snapping your neck like Kaworu-kun did that kitten."
Gendo chuckled in surprise. "Public schooling served you well. But it's not that. Nor is it Katsuragi or Fuyutsuki."
Shinji winced.
Gendo sat back on his cot, hands tented. "The Scrolls. Or your place in them. Do you know why it took so long for them to get you?"
"Because using child soldiers is insane and the Angels didn't come until now?"
Gendo stared Shinji into silence. "Because WILLE was avoiding you. You are not a part of their scenario. Honestly, if it weren't for my urging, they would have left you in Tokyo-2"
Shinji winced again. The sting of abandonment pierced his chest.
He played it off. "Well, maybe they realized I don't need to pilot. Asuka's a better pilot than I ever was and Ayanami can do things I don't really understand. WILLE doesn't have to force me to dance like you and Mom."
"Paranoia doesn't suit you." Gendo chuckled darkly, stroking his beard. The shadows of his cell seemed to pool around him.
"Well then," Shinji said, petulant. "If you know so much, why did you call for me? Why did you tell me to come with a picture of Asuka and Ayanami?"
"The picture amused me. And I summoned you because you are much more important than you think."
Gendo stood up and over Shinji; it was the first time Shinji realized how tall the man was. Full height and unshaven, he looked like a mad asshole Abe Lincoln.
It terrified Shinji.
Arms outstretched, in a basso profundo voice, Gendo Ikari preached the new gospel to his only son.
"And lo, the first shall be made as key and gate. The third, astride the Mother Beast, shall become a legend, beyond heart and mind, soul and synapse. With his hands, worlds are born. In his grasp, worlds are ended. With his heart, our fate is sealed."
"What are you saying," Shinji yelled, panic cracking his voice. He felt a whole heap of shit about to land on his plate. "You can't possibly mean-"
"The Dead Sea Scrolls are our story and you're the protagonist. We live and die on your decisions." Gendo gave Shinji a victorious, shit eating grin. "No pressure, boy."
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- Location
- United States
Well this was a thing. The whole scene with Gendo had me laughing so hard I actually fell out of my chair.
I think that this might be my second favorite Gendo in fanfiction.
I think that this might be my second favorite Gendo in fanfiction.
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Well now I gotta know; who's the first?
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
You know that moment in a show when you realize its gonna be awesome.
This chapter is that moment.
This chapter is that moment.
Wait,wait, wait is Rei Yog-Sothoth?
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Rei: "I am a great many things."
- Location
- United States
The Gendo from the fanfic Under New Management. Gendo dies in a car crash, and through some staggering amounts of legal bullshit leaves the entirety of NERV to Shinji in such a way even SEELE can't take it from him.
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Unless there's a Zombieland Saga situation in that fic, I'm claiming number one for living Gendo.
Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
I must disagree.Unless there's a Zombieland Saga situation in that fic, I'm claiming number one for living Gendo.
- Location
- Surrey
Gendo: Also because you'd do pretty much anything to be around either of those girls. So a picture of them both was bait you couldn't resist.
Shinji: ...damn you and your unassailable logic.