Two more updates of around the same size as this and I should be finished
with this fic and series^_^
If you missed previous parts/chapter this series/fanfic, you can find
iton my webpage at http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~jeffwong/
Enjoy^_^
Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
"How far along are we?" he asked, "Will it take a while to activate
Unit-01?"
Ritsuko shook her head, "Not really. We've figured out how to activate
the speaker system around Nerv. It's best that you head down there and
wait for us. When we get Unit-01 activated, we'll contact you,"
Shinji said, "That's sounds like a good idea,"
Together, Shinji and Ranma left the room.
<new stuff 12/26>
Shinji had a big smile on his face when he and the Angel entered the
bay and caught sight of Unit-01 in all her glory. From where he was, he
could stare straight ahead at Unit-01's face, her body submerged
completely up to its shoulders.
"You seem happy," Ranma commented.
"Man, it's been a while since I last saw Unit-01," Shinji commented,
"You have no idea how happy am to see her. Seeing her indicates that I'll
be soon returning back home,"
Shinji didn't have to wait around long around within EVA bay five.
After hanging around there for around fifteen minutes, he heard
Ritsuko's voice coming from a speaker located right by the entrance to
the giant chamber area.
"Shinji," the voice said, "This is Ritsuko. I can see you from the
command center. We can communicate back and forth. You should find an
intercom located right by the EVA bay's entrance,"
Shinji walked over there where there was indeed an intercom.
"Everything came out okay?" Shinji asked in to the intercom.
"Hi, Shinji," came Asuka's cheery voice.
"Um, hey," Shinji gave a shy reply.
"Yes, everything is okay," Ritsuko replied, "We've found out how to
activate Unit-01. It wasn't all that difficult. The language barrier was
the main hurdle. Nerv's computer interface is completely in German and it
takes time to have everything constantly translated,"
"Have you guys thought about what we should do with Adam?" Shinji
asked. He had dropped the case containing Adam off at the command center.
Misato had taken it upon herself to keep herself occupied trying to think
of a suitable way of disposing of Adam.
"Yeah," Misato's voice came over the intercom, "Before we leave for
your world, we can destroy Adam over a large body of water. Ranma said
that that it'll take an enormous energy to destroy Adam so it's best we
destroy him where there's no chance anyone could get hurt,"
Shinji was silent for a moment, "So that's the decision, to destroy
him, just like that?"
"There's no other way," Misato said, "So long as Adam exists, humanity
is in danger. If there is another way of solving this problem, we're all
open to suggestions,"
Shinji turned toward Ranma.
"It's okay," Ranma said, "I have nothing to suggest. It's for the
better anyway,"
Shinji sighed. It was most unfortunate that it would lead to the
destruction of Adam to preserve the human race. However, something like
this was for the better.
"I guess you're right," he said.
Shinji turned toward Ranma.
"I'm sorry," Shinji said.
Shinji, within the cockpit of Unit-01, rode the giant elevator that
lead to the mountain surface. Gripped in Unit-01's hand was Ranma. He was
expected to meet Misato by Nerv's entrance.
From within the cockpit, Shinji was staring at the screen in front of
him where he could see Ranma staring back at him, as if they were
actually looking at each other face-to-face.
"It was nice knowing you," Ranma smiled slightly.
Shinji said nothing. He had dreaded what he was about to do ever since
he had left Tokyo-3.
"Don't feel sad about what you're about to do," Ranma said, "I know you
have to kill me so that Unit-01 will becoming self-sufficient,"
"I don't want to do it though," Shinji said.
"There's no other way," Ranma said.
"I'm sorry," he said, "Truly, I'm really sorry. If there was some other
way, I would gladly do that instead,"
Ranma shook his head, "There is no other way,"
Shinji became silent.
Tears starts to form around his eyes, disappearing as they were diluted
in LCL in which he was submerged.
"It's better off this way anyway," Ranma said, "You gave me free will
and I have decided I would rather take this path,"
"W-what?" Shinji was confused.
Ranma smiled slightly, "I could've come in contact with Adam if I
wanted to. You gave me free will before we reached him and I could've if
I wanted to. However, I've decided I would rather suffer this fate so
that it could help you instead. Besides, I don't trust myself anymore
around Adam. I don't want to disappoint you,"
Shinji said nothing.
"Goodbye, Shinji. Even though we knew didn't know each other for long,
I considered you a good friend,"
Misato and the others headed out of Nerv.
They had planned to meet just outside of Nerv where Shinji would,
reluctantly, allow Unit-01 to take in one of the Angels so it could
attain the S2 core that would allow it to be self-sufficient and no
longer need a power supply.
Misato looked at the suitcase she carried as she walked along with the
group. She couldn�t help but feel a sense of pity toward one of the three
Angels escorting them. They would most likely be sacrificed so Unit-01
could attain the S2 core and they walked along side them with no form of
dread or fear.
Everything was finally coming to an end. Just a few short hours from
now, they will be leaving this world forever.
When they finally made it outside, they saw Unit-01 standing very
still.
Inside Unit-01, Shinji sobbed, grateful that he could not be seen
within the entry plug, embarrassed to show such as lack of control over
his emotions. But then again, considering what had just happened, perhaps
anyone could understand why he was crying.
Misato looked around. Looking up toward Unit-01, should couldn't help
but feel at awe at just how massive and impressive Unit-01 was. Towering
so high that it stood nearly as tall as the mountain range where Nerv was
located, Misato had to crank her head back quite a bit to be able to look
up at Unit-01's face.
When she looked up, she couldn't help but notice that Unit-01 looked
different. It looked exactly the same as what she last remembered it, but
there was something different to Unit-01 she could seemingly feel.
Looking around, she noticed the Angel that was supposed to be
accompanying Shinji was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Ranma?"
Shinji had a sad look on his face as he piloted Unit-01 north.
Because of Unit-01's gigantic size and the distance of its every step,
it would only take a short time before he would reach the North Sea,
where he would dispose of Adam.
Within the cockpit was Ritsuko, Asuka, and Misato, all of them squeezed
together behind his seat. Flying alongside Unit-01 were the three
remaining Angels, breaking formation every here and there to dispose of
attacking aircrafts.
"Shinji, are you okay?" Misato asked, noticing Shinji had been silent
for the past ten minutes. It doesn't take Shinji all that much
concentration to make Unit-01 walk and he seemed very preoccupied.
"I-I'm fine," Shinji said softly, "I'm just upset over what I had to
do,"
"I'm sorry it had to come to that," Misato said, "But it couldn't be
helped,"
Shinji sighed, "I guess you're right. It just feels so wrong to have
done what I've done. Ranma's done nothing but help me all this time. And
what do I do in the end? I have Unit-01 kill him and eat him,"
Everyone was silent. There was nothing they could say to him.
Misato regarded Shinji's back, feeling a heavy weight on her chest. She
was an adult and should share in burdening such burdens. Unfortunately,
she would be of little use. Something so burdensome could only be
burdened by someone like Shinji.
She wiped at her eyes, hiding her tears.
The young man she first met was no more. He had been replaced by a man
burdening a burden that no human should ever burden.
Shinji stood sadly on Unit-01's shoulders as he stared off toward the
horizon. Unit-01 was kneeling on the shoreline lining at the northernmost
part of Germany, looking north and over the North Sea. Sticking out from
the back of its neck was the entry plug, partially ejected so everyone
could step out and on to Unit-01's shoulders for the time being.
Standing by his side were Ritsuko, Misato, and Asuka.
Hovering around them, a short distance away, were two remaining Angels.
The third Angel was no where to have been seen, having been chosen to
carry out the task of destroying Adam.
Shinji had told the Angel to take the suitcase out around a hundred
miles north from shore and throw it in to the North Sea. There the Angel
was then expected to use all of its energy conjuring the most powerful
energy blast it could muster and destroy Adam, even if that meant its own
life.
He waited patiently, already knowing the outcome. He would see an
explosion, even from such a distance. Waiting their for the Angel to come
back would be useless because it would have died in the explosion.
"Do you think the Angel will come back?" Misato asked, her head popping
out from the entry plug door.
Shinji shook his head, "No,"
The sounds of incoming jet fighters could be heard from the south. When
they turned around to look, one of the Angels had taken off south, to
intercept the incoming jet fighters. The other Angel had been requested
to stay, to watch over the three girls, their protection of higher
priority. Shinji had told one Angel to protect the three girls while the
other Angel was allowed to break from formation to attack anything that
attacked them. Basically, one Angel was the group's offence while the
other Angel was their defense, just in case they needed it.
Shinji never bothered to turn around, continuing to gaze north and out
to sea.
The three girls decided to climb back in to the Unit-01. It was safer
in there than outside. Although the Angel protecting them was very
competent, there was no telling that the Angel could protect all three of
them at once. One stray bullet could kill either one of them and they
didn't want to take the chance.
Shinji looked down at his hands.
He couldn't believe how much he had changed in such a short time.
Showing up on this world had probably been both the best and worst thing
that had ever happened to him. Now, people might think that it wasn't
possible for a situation to be considered the best and worst at the same
time.
Shinji smirked. He knew that it was possible.
Being on this world had been the best for him because it made him grow
up and become a man very capable of handling extreme situations. It made
him realize how Ranma because what he became. Ranma had suffered through
the 'Nerima Massacre' which had changed him from the young man he
probably was and in to the man he was today.
Growing up and becoming a man was also what he considered the worst
part about showing up on this world. Because of what he had gone through,
he would never be the same. Much like the way a sheet of paper was
creased and straightened out, he would never be the same. That was
something he considered to be the worst. He had liked what he was back
then, a young and somewhat awkward college student trying to live a
normal life.
Shinji sighed.
He banished the thought from his mind. It was no use feeling bad about
himself.
None of this could be helped.
Shinji caught sight of a flash of light in the far off distance. The
horizon, now darkening as the sun started to set, was light brightly from
the explosion. Shinji knew what had caused it. The Angel that carried the
suitcase all the way out from shore had succeeded in completing its task.
Without saying a word, Shinji walked over and climbed in to the entry
plug, ready to go back home.
Thanks to him, this world and humanity were now safe from destruction.
Inside the entry plug, Shinji smiled toward the girls.
"Let's go home. There was no need to stay here anymore,"
In a world Shinji had left only a few days before, the sky was black.
It was so black that the people that inhabited that world had no idea if
it was day or night, the clouds having expanded and covered the entire
world.
In a world full of darkness, light appeared in the form of a portal
somewhere over the devastated city that used to be MegaTokyo.
Emerging from the portal were Unit-01 and two accompanying Angels.
From within the Unit-01, Misato gazed at the screen.
"Are we really on a different world?" she asked.
Shinji nodded, "Yeah. This is my world. Actually, it's the world I call
home,"
"You're not lying, right?" Misato asked, "This is really a different
world? I feel no different than before,"
"Yeah, this is a different world," Shinji said, "You're now existing in
a world where you never existed before,"
"Man, this is your world?" Misato asked, "No offense, but it looks like
a wasteland,"
She couldn't help but figure that that was why Shinji was such a person
of strong character. To live in such a world like this usually made a
person strong. It had made her wonder if she had made the right choice in
coming to this world. She had a really good feeling that she would not
survive in such a wasteland-like world. But then again, what choice did
she or the others have? If they went back to their world, they would
eventually be captured and executed by whatever Seele or Nerv people
there were still looking for them.
Shinji said, "This is what this world looks like after Ranma went
crazy. Where we are now is MegaTokyo. It used to be a city similar to
Tokyo-3. What you see is what remains of it after Ranma basically blew
everything up. Funnily enough, all this destruction wasn't even caused by
him. It was caused by Urd attempting to kill him. Of course, he
survived,"
Ritsuko gulped nervously. However this Ranma person was Shinji would be
fighting against, Shinji definitely had his work cut out for him. The
amount of power needed to create such devastation was probably equivalent
to two to four N2 mines.
"Man, I can't even tell if it's day or night here," Shinji said,
looking at the screen, "Lettme make the clouds go away,"
He closed his eyes and basically 'willed' the bad weather to disappear.
The sky started clearing to reveal sunny blue sky and a bright sun,
indicating that they had arrived on this world sometime around noontime.
"Yes, that was me that did it," Shinji answered Ritsuko's question
before she could ask, "I learned how to control the weather not too long
ago,"
Shinji piloted Unit-01 toward a giant crater.
"What caused that crater?"
"Ryoga," Shinji said, "Ryoga committed suicide trying to kill Ranma.
The crater was what remained after the failed attempt,"
Everyone was silent.
Shinji made Unit-01 come to a stop as it neared the crater.
Before any of the girls could ask, Shinji said, "You see that mound of
dirt on the screen?"
"Yeah," they all nodded.
"That's where I buried all of my friends," Shinji said.
Without waiting to hear a response, Shinji had Unit-01 kneel down,
extending an arm toward the ground. He then powered down the EVA and
ejected the entry plug.
"Where are you going?" Asuka asked as Shinji squeezed by her and exited
out through the entry plug exit.
She peeked her head out where she caught a glimpse of him as he ran
down the length of Unit-01's angled arm and hopped off the hand and on to
the ground.
Not wanting to just wait around, the three girls climbed out of the
entry plug as well, slowly heading down the arm as well. As they did so,
they couldn't help but notice the two remaining Angels hovering close to
them, keeping constant vigil over them, ready to reach in case they
slipped and fell off the EVA.
When they reached the ground, the headed over to where Shinji was.
He was keeping himself occupied fixing Rei's makeshift tombstone. It
seems the bad weather had caused it to start breaking apart. When he
stepped away, the makeshift tombstones consisted of nothing much more
than a pile of rocks indicating that someone rested there.
Shinji pointed over toward three makeshift tombstones, "You see those
three mounds over there. That's where the three of you were buried,"
The girls looked at one another.
Because his back was toward them, the three of them didn't see the
tears streaming down his cheeks. He made a nonchalant swipe at his face
to wipe away the tears before turning his attention toward a lance-like
object sticking out of the ground.
The girls watched as Shinji placed a hand on it and tried to shake it
while it stuck in the ground. It didn't budge.
"How come I'm not surprised," Shinji sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Ritsuko asked.
Shinji turned toward the group, a hand gripped on the weapon, "Guess
what this is?"
"Is it this world's Lance of Longinus?" Ritsuko guessed.
Shinji shook his head, "No. This the Lance that Ranma created that is
to be used to kill him. In a sense, this is the Lance of Ranma,"
"I don't understand," Misato asked.
"This weapon was created by Ranma before he went crazy," Shinji said,
"I'm supposed to use this to kill him. Unfortunately, there's one
problem, it's so heavy it's physically impossible for me to lift. I just
tried to lift it and it didn't even budge. Whatever strength I gained on
your world, it's still not enough to wield this weapon,"
"You're kidding me, right?" Misato asked.
Shinji shook his head, "No. That's the whole reason why I got Unit-01
in the first place. Because she is gonna be the one that will wield it
since I am physically incapable of it,"
The girls were silent.
"The problem is that due to Unit-01's size, it's equivalent to a human
wielding a weapon with the relative size of a toothpick if not smaller,"
Shinji chuckled slightly.
"T-that's insane," Misato said. She quickly stopped when she realized
what she had said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that,"
Shinji waved a dismissive hand, "Don't worry. It doesn't bother me. I
know it's insane. The problem is that, as long a shot as it is, it's the
only one I've got,"
Everyone was silent.
"So, what do we do now?" Misato asked.
"I'm gonna wait for Ranma to show up," he said.
"What about us? What should we do?" Asuka asked.
Shinji gave a sad smile, "You guys do nothing. You'll be no where near
here for when I hafta fight Ranma,"
In the far if distance, a lone Angel could be seen approaching the
group, unseen by no one but Shinji.
"What do you mean by that?" Misato asked, "We'll be here to help you
fight,"
Shinji walked forward and gave all three girls a hug, "I'm sorry, but
that's not going to happen. You guys will be far away from here,"
The lone Angel reached the group, hovering down and taking place
standing next to the other two Angels.
"We're in this together," Misato said, "You don't expect us to part now
after all that we've been through,"
Shinji stepped away from the three confused girls. He glanced toward
the three Angels.
"Take them far away from here," he commanded the Angels, "See that they
come to no harm. Protect them with your lives,"
"Waitaminute!" Misato said.
The three Angels stepped forward and picked up the three girls in his
arms.
"Hey, let go!" Misato struggled against the Angel, much to no avail,
"We�re not going anywhere!"
"Sorry, but this is no longer your fight," Shinji said, near the brink
of tears, "It's been nice knowing you guys. Farewell,"
"No! Wait! I don't want to go!" Asuka struggled to free herself as the
Angels started to take to the skies.
"I hope things turn out well for you all," he said, waving them
goodbye.
"W-will we ever see you again?" Asuka shouted.
"No," he said.
Before long, the three girls was too far away for their protests to be
heard.
It was then Shinji fell down to his hands and knees and began sobbing.
Shinji had cried for a few hours. When he was able to shed no more
tears, he realized that he needed to prepare for the inevitable battle.
Unit-01 was able to lift the Lance as Shinji had expected.
Unfortunately, the Lance didn't mysteriously morph in to a giant version
of itself much like the Lance of Longinus would. It remained in its
constant state, a weapon seemingly meant for human hands.
Shinji waited patiently within the cockpit of Unit-01 for what was to
come. He had no idea when he would have to fight, but he had a funny
feeling that it would not be long from now.
Knowing that he would be fighting an omnipotent opponent before long,
Shinji had summoned close what probably amounted to billion Angels, all
of them currently standing by the feet of Unit-01, waiting to be sent in
to battle.
From inside his cockpit, Shinji looked about, noticing the sea of
Angels in every direction. It gave him a rather queasy feeling and a
sense of claustrophobia. It wasn't because the entry plug was
claustrophobic but rather the sense that if he made Unit-01 step in any
direction, several dozen Angels would get crushed under her giant feet.
"Um, wait in the sky," Shinji said.
All at once, the Angels did his bidding, their wings opening up as they
took to the sky. When Shinji looked up, he noticed that the sun was
partially blocked due to the vast quantity of Angels hovering high above.
"I guess that's better," Shinji told himself. He still felt a bit
weirded out. This was because looking up at the sky, it looked like a
blanket bodies was covering the entire world, Angels hovering in the sky
for as far as the eye could see.
With the ground free of Angels, Shinji made Unit-01 pace back and
forth, a way of keeping his mind occupied. He was so nervous that he
wondered if he should stick a finger down his throat and force himself to
throw up. Perhaps that would help get rid of that queasy feeling he was
getting.
Deciding against it, Shinji continued to wait with anxious patience.
Shinji ran up to the Lance and tried to pick it up.
When he realized that he still couldn't lift it, he turned back around
and ran up the angled arm of Unit-01 and got back in.
A full had had passed since he came back to this world. Since he came
back, every few hours, Shinji would have Unit-01 place the weapon on the
ground where he would then climb out of the EVA and run up to the weapon
and attempt to lift it. When it failed to budge, Shinji would then head
back in to Unit-01 and continue waiting. As he waited, he wanted to makes
sure the he couldn't lift the Lance every few hours. This was because he
truly believed that that more time that elapsed, the greater his strength
became. It would only be a matter of time before he would be able to
wield it with his own hands.
In the meanwhile, it seemed like he was far from being able to do so.
Standing on the shoulder of Unit-01, Shinji summoned for one of the
Angels to approach him. Two days had passed before he decided to give
something different a try.
When the Angel hovered down to come, Shinji asked, "Do you think it'll
be possible for me to fly if, say, I attached your wings to my back?"
"Yes," the Angel replied, "You can do whatever you want and it will
happen,"
"If I can do whatever I want, then how come I can't do something like
lift that one weapon I need to be able to lift?"
The Angel said nothing.
"Can you lend me your wings?" Shinji asked.
The Angel reached behind his back and ripped of his own wings. Before
gravity had a chance to take its course, a new pair of wings sprouted out
from the Angel's back, flapping and allowing the Angel to continue
hovering.
Shinji was rather surprised to see that but composed himself. He took
the wings from the Angel and pressed it up to his back. When he let go,
it just fell down on to the armor plating of Unit-01's shoulder where
Shinji had been standing.
Shinji sighed. He figured something like that wouldn't work. He picked
the wings back up and pressed them once again against his back,
envisioning those wings attaching itself to his back.
When Shinji released his hold of the wings, it yielded the same
results.
He did a series of trial-and-errors, varying each successive attempt
ever-so-slightly. Before long, Shinji was shirtless facing his back
toward the Angel as the Angel tried to put the wings on him.
After a while of trying, Shinji sighed and decided to give up.
"I'll never get it," Shinji sighed.
"It'll simply take a matter of time," the Angel commented, "Your powers
are only slowly beginning to surface,"
"Time is something I have no idea how much I have of," Shinji said.
"Unfortunately, being able to help you surface your dormant powers is
something I can't do," the Angel said.
Shinji said, "It's okay. Don�t worry about it. Thanks anyway,"
Three days passed.
By then, Shinji was wondering if he was even in the right place.
Perhaps he was supposed to be out looking for Urd and Ranma. But then
again, there was a chance that Urd was looking for him. Since she didn't
really know where he had been all this time, she would most likely show
up here, hoping that he would be here.
One late afternoon, just as Shinji was climbing back in to Unit-01
after yet another failed attempt at lifting the weapon with his own
hands, his curiosity of when Urd was going to show up was answered.
Shinji hit his head on the top of the cockpit when a massive beam of
light shot down from the heavens and struck an area in front of Unit-01.
"What the?" he asked.
Looking at the screen, he saw an image of a freshly created crater
around fifty-feet in diameter a few hundred feet in front of where he
was.
His heart started racing at a mile a minute as he maneuvering Unit-01
forward and up to the edge of the crater.
Peering in to the center of crater, Shinji was shocked to see Urd
slowly getting up to her feet. Her clothes were partially torn and she
looked hurt.
"Urd!" Shinji called out to her, pressing a button to the exterior
speakers.
Urd looked up. For woman that was basically all-knowing, she seemed
awfully surprised to find herself looking up at Unit-01 as Unit-01 looked
down at her.
"It's me, Shinji," Shinji called out.
Urd slowly got to her feet. She had trouble responding, still
disoriented. Although a woman would most likely consider it a cheesy
pick-up line if a man ever made a comment like that, she really did fall
from Heaven. The impact had actually knocked the wind out of her.
Shinji, in a moment of concern, forgot of what was sure to come after
Urd's arrival, powered down Unit-01 and ejected the entry plug.
Climbing out of the EVA, Shinji made his way to the ground and down the
crater to where Urd was. He grabbed a hold of her as she staggered toward
him and fell forward.
"Urd, are you all right?" he asked, concern in his voice.
Urd looked up toward Shinji, a look of relief on her face, "Y-you're
finally back. You are one heck of a sight for sore eyes,"
She back away from Shinji and took a moment to compose herself. She
straightened her hair and dusted some dust from her clothes.
"Are you okay?" Shinji asked, noticing the trickle of blood coming down
the side of her forehead.
Urd nodded, "Yeah. It's not much. Just a small cut," She regarded
Shinji for a moment, "Man, you sure grew up since I last saw you,"
"Um, t-thanks," he said, "But that's besides the point. What's going on
here? How's everything going?"
"Ranma's hot on my tail," Urd said, "He'll be here any minute. This is
the first time I've had to catch my breath in over a week. What the heck
is Unit-01 here?"
"I can't wield the weapon by myself," Shinji said, "I'm using Unit-01
to wield it,"
Urd's eyes widened, "What?! You can't do that!!"
"I-I can't?" Shinji's eyes widened, the blood draining from his face.
"Only God can kill God," Urd said, "You need to fight him, not have
Unit-01 fight him,"
Shinji nodded, "I know about God only being able to kill God. However,
I had Unit-01 take in an Angel before I came here,"
Urd thought for a moment, "Oh, I didn't realize that. Unit-01 taking in
an Angel gives it God-properties so it is possible,"
"That's what I was hoping," Shinji said.
Urd seemed impress, "Not bad, Shinji. Good thinking. However, there's
no real need to use Unit-01. You can wield the weapon yourself. All you
need is time so that your dormant powers could surface and you could
wield it. Considering how long it's been since we last split, you
should've had plenty of time,"
Shinji shook his head, "No, I can't lift it. It's too heavy,"
Urd was confused, "What? That shouldn't be possible. You're more than
strong enough to lift it. You can lift Unit-01 if you wanted to,"
"What? I can?" Shinji's eyes widened, "That can't be possible. I just
tried lifting it, the weapon that is, and I can't even budge it,"
"That doesn't make sense," Urd said, "All you need to do is just accept
what you have become and simply 'will' yourself to possess the strength
to do so,"
"I tried," Shinji said, "But it doesn't seem to work. I also tried
picturing the Lance being really light and myself being really strong and
I still can't budge it,"
Urd shook her head, "That shouldn't be possible,"
Shinji shrugged, "I haven't a clue why I can't lift it,"
She waved a dismissive hand, "It doesn't matter anyway. You have
Unit-01. With that, you're more than a match for Ranma. I guess now is
where we together make our stand against Ranma,"
"What do you want me to do?" Shinji asked.
"What else, pilot Unit-01 to the best of your of your abilities," Urd
said, "You need to kill Ranma using the Lance. However, you only have one
chance,"
Shinji gulped, "O-one chance?"
"C'mon, you know Ranma," Urd said, "Once you try and use something on
Ranma, you can never use it again,"
Shinji sighed.
Although he hated to admit, Shinji knew Urd was right about that. Ranma
was extremely adaptive and could only be fooled once.
"I still don't know what I should do," Shinji said.
"I can't help you on that," Urd hovered to the skies, "I don't even
know what I should be doing also. As to what you should do, you need to
figure it out on your own. You can't expect to have people walking you by
the hand anymore. I'm sure you learned that wherever you've been all this
time,"
Shinji said nothing.
Urd looked up in the sky where she finally noticed the billions of
Angels hovering around high up in the air, blocking out most of the sun.
She couldn't help but smile at Shinji's plan. It was a good idea to
summon Angels to his aide, but dealing against an opponent as powerful as
Ranma, they would be of little use.
"I summoned 'em," Shinji said, figuring Urd was going to ask where they
came from, "I learned to summon Angels and figure they can be of use.
With this many around, they can be of good use,"
Urd smirked, "Remember the other God-version of Ranma, the one that
couldn't fight?"
"Yeah, what about him?" Shinji asked.
"He killed billions of Angels and he didn't know how to fight," Urd
said, "This Ranma's just as powerful. But this time around, he knows how
to fight,"
Shinji said nothing.
Urd looked up toward the sky where she saw Ranma.
"Shinji, you better get in to Unit-01, and fast," Urd said.
"Why?" Shinji asked.
Urd pointed upward.
"The Final Battle is at hand,"
Shinji was terrified about what was in store for him but he knew he
could not run away.
"I mustn't run away," he told himself over and over. Whether or not it
helped calm his never, not even Shinji knew.
Urd was forced to dive out of the way as a dark object landed right by
where she was. She quickly hovered high in to the air, looking over her
shoulder toward the center of the crater.
Within a tiny crater within the larger crater, Shinji and Urd saw Ranma
in a kneeling position.
From within the cockpit of Unit-01, although Ranma looked exactly like
the billions of Angels hovering high above, Shinji knew that that Ranma
was the one he would be fighting. There was an easy distinction between
Ranma and an Angel. There was this pervasive aura to Ranma Shinji could
sense and see.
Shinji found himself paralyzed with fear as he watched through the
screen Ranma standing up and looking toward him. Ranma's face showed no
form of emotions, a mere mask hiding whatever torment that he kept
bottled deep inside. Seeing him made Shinji realize that the Ranma he
knew was no more. This Ranma only looked like the Ranma he knew. That was
it.
The Ranma looking back at him was the one Ranma Shinji feared and
respected. His friend's personality had been replaced by the same
personality as of the God-version of Ranma, a man that grew up with a
hated name, a personality very similar to the one that had recently
killed himself with the weapon originally intended to kill this
particular Ranma.
In a world where something such as good and evil existed much like
black and white, Ranma was neither, more along the lines of a shade of
gray. That was the way the real Ranma was and the way this Ranma was as
well. It was hard to explain how that was possible. It was clear, from
anyone's point of view, that he was best considered evil. However, if one
thought about it some more, would him becoming what he became could be
justified. It was all because of his upbringing and how humanity treated
him. Had he not been treated so badly, perhaps he would not have so much
resentment about living.
Shinji was startled when Urd's voice entered his mind telepathically.
"Shinji, now's your chance!" he heard Urd's voice, "He doesn't
recognize you or consider you a threat. Use the element of surprise to
catch him off-guard,"
Shinji looked down at his hands and noticed them twitching as he
gripped at the controls. He found himself unable to move, even unable to
respond to Urd's command.
Shinji's opportunity was lost when Ranma turned his attention away from
Unit-01 and up toward Urd as she hovered high above him.
"How long do you intend to run?!" Ranma sneered, slicing a hand through
the air in front of him in the direction of Urd.
With lightning speed, Urd hovered backwards, away from the blade-like
energy blast that shot for from Ranma's hands, growing exponentially as
it got farther and farther away from him, eventually stopping expanding
when it looked like a hundred meter curved blade.
Her gaze followed the direction of the energy blast upward toward the
sky. When the energy blast struck the blanket of Angels still hovering
high above awaiting command, several thousands of them were sliced in
half, the energy blast continuing to travel skyward, disappearing beyond
the heavens where it would travel onward for infinitely.
Urd had to hover away as the dismembered bodies of the Angels rained
down from above.
"Shinji, what are you waiting for?!" he heard Urd's voice again.
"I-I-I c-can't m-move!" Shinji shouted within the cockpit, not really
knowing if he was going to be heard. He was too terrified. He didn't know
why his body wasn't moving. He had dealt with life-or-death situations
like this and had never been paralyzed with fear before. Why was it
happening to him now? After a second, Shinji realized why. All those
life-or-death situations paled in comparison to what he was facing.
"A-a-attack!!" Shinji shouted, commanding his army of Angels to attack
Ranma.
Shinji threw up within the cockpit of Unit-01, the contents of his
stomach emptying out in to the LCL fluid where it floated around in front
of him. The sight of seeing his own vomit made him even more sick and
want to vomit again.
Fighting back the urge to vomit a second time, Shinji clicked on a
button that force drained the interior of the entry plug of all its LCL
fluids and the piece of that lunch he had in Germany via an opening by
the base of the entry plug. Outside of Unit-01, the contents were spewed
out of a small opening located right by the EVA's right armpit.
Shinji coughed a couple times to rid his lungs of the LCL fluids as
well, wondering if he made the right decision. Without the LCL fluid
inside of the entry plug, he could easily get banged around a lot within
the cockpit since the fluid usually kept him from being bounced all over
the place within the entry plug.
Not really caring about his decision, Shinji looked at the screen and
caught sight of millions and million of energy blasts converge on Ranma
right where he stood.
Unit-01 was blown bodily backward when a massive explosion erupted took
place, the shockwave sending the EVA flying backwards a good hundred feet
where she ended up landing on her back and coming to a sliding halt.
When Shinji sat upright and looked at the screen, he was shocked at
what he saw. The screen was bright white, the Angels continuing to shoot
energy blasts at Ranma, the explosion seemingly growing larger and
larger.
Shinji made Unit-01 get back on to her feet where he was forced to back
away from the growing explosion. Unfortunately, Shinji couldn't back away
fast enough from the growing explosion and was eventually consumed as
well.
Inside Unit-01, Shinji could see nothing but white on the screen as he
was being shaken around within the cockpit. Unable to really do anything,
Shinji held on to the controls tightly while he prayed that Unit-01's
armor was powerful enough to survive this.
This continued on for several moment, the Angels not letting up on
their barrage of energy blasts.
Before long, Shinji found himself getting pretty banged up within the
cockpit as the ground suddenly fell out from below Unit-01's feet. This
was because the explosion was so massive that it eventually melted
through the ground all the way down in to this world's GeoFront.
Unit-01 crashed on the floor of GeoFront with bone shattering force.
Within the cockpit, several of Shinji's bones were broken from being
bounced around so hard within. Of course, he never felt it, his powers
kicking in and healing the instant he got hurt.
Out from inside of the explosion, being banged around the cockpit
breaking that his paralysis, Shinji made Unit-01 get up to her feet and
looked around. Looking up, he could see a giant opening in the ceiling.
Raining down from that opening were millions of energy blasts as they all
converged on the area of GeoFront where Ranma had fallen down to.
Not wanting to get caught in the blast again, Shinji made Unit-01 run
away from the growing explosion, running as far as he could, eventually
stopping when he reached the wall.
Turning around, Shinji yelped in surprise when he noticed the explosion
continuing to expand and would eventually reach him where he was.
"Stop!" Shinji shouted.
In an instant, the shower of energy blasts stopped and the explosion
started to subside. When the dust cleared up, Shinji found himself
looking down in to a giant crater where he saw Ranma standing in the
middle of that crater, unscathed.
The blast had been so intense that it basically created a crater so
large that it made GeoFront look more like a gigantic spherical chamber a
mile in diameter with a massive hole on the top instead of what it used
to look like, an upside-down bowl. In actuality, the hole that lead to
GeoFront made it look much like an hourglass, GeoFront being the bottom
half and the giant crater on the surface being the top half.
"Oh my God!" Shinji gasped at the destruction.
In a matter of seconds, probably without breaking a sweat, the Angels
managed to cause the amount of destruction that required five high-yield
N2 mines, perhaps even more.
The blood drained from Shinji's face when he saw Ranma.
He was unscathed.
Looking up toward the opening in GeoFront, Ranma sneered.
He then leapt up in to the air, taking to the sky in flight much like
Urd, disappearing through the opening.
When he realized what had happened, Shinji made Unit-01 jump up in to
the air as well, landing on the down slope of the topside crater.
Once there, he took a moment to look around to find out where Ranma and
Urd were, immediately spotting Ranma. Ranma was hovering high in the air,
attacking the Angels with his own energy blasts and killing off tens of
thousands at a time. The Angels didn't retaliate, staying where they were
and awaiting their next commands.
"Attack!" Shinji shouted, realizing he had made a mistake.
The Angels began attacking. All the Angels shot at Ranma with energy
blasts once again, all of the projectiles converging on him where he
hovered.
The sky was lit brightly from the massive mid-air explosion.
Even though Shinji had trouble seeing through the brilliant light, he
was able to spot Urd as she hovered down to where Unit-01 was.
"Urd," Shinji said in relief, his voice sounding on the external
speakers, "You're safe,"
"Thanks to you," Urd's voice popped in to his head, "Good job on
distracting Ranma. His attacks are getting harder and harder to dodge.
Anyway, Ranma's distracted, use this opportunity to finish him off,"
He looked at the weapon still held firmly in Unit-01's hands.
"Um, o-okay," Shinji said.
Fighting back the extreme sense of fear he was feeling right now,
Shinji made Unit-01 do a running jump, reaching upward and grabbing Ranma
with her free hand.
When he landed safely on the ground, Shinji looked at Ranma as he was
held firmly in Unit-01's hands. Ranma was held in a way such that his
arms were by his side while Unit-01's hand was holding him, only his head
being out from the top of the clenched fist.
Ranma had this rather confused look on his face. He had no idea why he
had suddenly started getting attacked by all these creatures that looked
much like him. Didn't they realize he was busy trying to kill Urd? Due to
his vindictive personality, Ranma wanted to destroy all the Angels that
had attacked him, that being all of them. However, as he was fighting the
Angels, he found himself suddenly grabbed by this giant purple robot.
He didn't do anything for several moments, regarding the robot in
annoyance. If the robot knew what was good for it, it would let him go or
risk being destroyed.
"Kill him!!!! Now!!!!" Shinji heard Urd's voice loudly, "Now!!! Now!!!!
Now!!! Stab him with the Lance!!!!"
Shinji found himself distracted.
He couldn't believe it. He was going to kill Ranma. He was going to
kill the man that trained him. All that he had been through had finally
lead to this particular point in time. Although Ranma had trained him
well to be a competent fighter. It was his experience on the world where
he had just come from that had made him ready to do what he was about to
do.
"Goodbye, Ranma," Shinji said, tears starting to fall down his cheeks,
"Farewell,"
The half-second hesitation was a half-second too long. Before Shinji
was able to plunge the weapon in to Ranma's chest as Unit-01 held him,
Ranma sneered.
"Enough!" he said.
Shinji's eyes were blinded by a bright light as Shinji released an
energy blast from his hands, a massive explosion occurring.
Even though his arms were up against his side, Ranma didn't seem to
care about being within such proximity.
The blast erupted within Unit-01's gripping hand and was so powerful
that it blew the EVA's hand right off at the wrist. When the light
subsided, Shinji started in wide-eye shock at the screen in front of him.
He found himself looking at a stump at the end of Unit-01's forearm,
Ranma hovering in mid-air right where the hand used to be, a smirk on his
face.
"Now it's my turn," Ranma said.
Ranma waved a hand in Unit-01's general direction.
In a brilliant flash of light, Unit-01 self-destructed.
Shinji opened his eyes. He found himself lying on his back and looking
up at the dark sky. It seems the dark clouds had blanketed the world once
again and was raining heavily.
He sat upright, his head hurting him. He was disoriented and had no
real idea where he was. All he knew was that he was wet. He wasn�t cold,
but he was wet.
It took him a moment to gather his thoughts. He had no real idea how he
got wherever he was in the first place. The last thing he remember was
being in the cockpit of Unit-01 and seeing a bright light one second, and
then finding himself waking up amidst pouring rain in a location he had
no idea where.
He looked around and saw nothing. All he could see was flat land for as
far as the eye could see, given what little light there was due to the
bad weather.
He noticed that Unit-01 didn't seem to be anywhere nearby.
Thinking things over, he came to the sudden realization that he never
had the chance to kill Ranma. When he realized that Ranma was most likely
very much alive, he realized what probably happened to him.
"Oh my God! Ranma blew up Unit-01 with me in it!" he gasped.
He looked down at himself and noticed that he seemed perfectly fine. He
had no wounds and wasn't bleeding anywhere. As he checked himself out, he
suddenly realized something.
He was stark naked. Funnily enough, he didn't seem to cover himself up
right away in embarrassment. Instead, he looked around to see if there
was anyone around. There were none.
Still a bit disoriented, Shinji looked around. He had no idea where he
was and needed to find out.
The first thing he did was make the bad weather go away. When it went
away, it reveal the morning sun. Seeing the sun made Shinji realize that
he must've been out for quite a while. He must've been out for close to
an least one day. This was because the battle against had taken place one
late afternoon and it was now early morning.
Shinji wondered why he had been out for so long. He figured he could
never get knocked out anymore. Then again, perhaps the fact that he most
likely got incinerated at an atomic level meant it would take longer for
him to wake up.
He noticed the sky was clear, not a single Angel found. He assumed that
Ranma had killed them afterwards. Little did Shinji know that all the
Angels were killed in the same explosion that Shinji had been in as well.
Getting up to his feet, he wondered what he should do next. Since he
was still around, he had a good feeling that after what had happened, Urd
ran away while Ranma chased after her.
Curious as to exactly where he was, he decided he wanted to get a
bird's eye view of the surrounding area.
He summoned an Angel.
When the Angel arrived Shinji didn't seem to make all that much an
effort to conceal himself. Something like that was trivial given the
current situation. Besides, it wasn't as if there were any girls around.
That would be different.
"You summoned me?" the Angel asked.
"Yeah, um, first off, you wouldn't happen to have any spare clothes you
can lend me, do you?" Shinji asked.
"I have no spare clothes," the Angel said.
"Um, can I borrow your shirt then?" Shinji asked. He figured he could
wrap the shirt around his waist to help keep a sense of modesty.
The Angel said, "I'm sorry but I have no clothes. The clothes you see
is actually a part of me,"
"Oh," Shinji said, "Um, nevermind,"
"Would you like me to get you a pair of clothes that fit you?" the
Angel asked.
"Yeah, please," Shinji said, "It doesn't matter what kinda clothes
though,"
"Very well," the Angel acknowledged. Saying nothing more, the Angel
turned west and flew off at well beyond supersonic speeds. Shinji
realized this when he heard the sonic boom always heard whenever the
sound barrier was broken.
"Hm, it seems like Angels can move faster than the speed of sound,"
Shinji said, "I guess they only moved at that speed so it could allow us
to talk while traveling if we ever needed to say anything,"
With on task delegated to an Angel to fetch him some clothes, Shinji
realized he still needed to figure out where he was.
He summoned a second Angel.
The Angel arrived in no time.
"You summoned me?" the Angel asked.
"Yeah," Shinji said, point up, "Can you fly me high up in to the sky. I
wanna get a good look at my surroundings from the sky to see where I am,"
"Very well,"
Shinji was speechless when he looked down at the world from his high
vantage point.
There was a giant crater where Japan used to be. Unit-01's
self-destruction had been so powerful that it vaporized the country
completely along with all of Korea. The crater was thousands and
thousands of miles in diameter, stretching outward and reaching as far as
parts of China and Russia.
As he looked down at the crater, he could see the sea water from the
Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, and East China Sea rushing to fill in the
crater. What amazed Shinji was that he had been out for almost an entire
day and the waters had been rushing in since then. The crater was simply
that big that that waters hadn't even managed to make it up to where
Shinji had woken up. It would take weeks for a crater that big to be
filled up with seawater. It was that big.
"Oh my god," Shinji gasped, "I can't believe I'm seeing what I'm
seeing,"
What Shinji was seeing was just the tip of the iceberg. The explosion
had been so powerful that it slightly altered Earth's orbit around the
sun, altering it just enough that the seasons would begin several weeks
earlier than usual. An example would be unseasonably warm weather in the
dead of winter. Because of something like this, the world would have to
alter the expected time of when a season would begin.
Tsunamis had wiped out the entire west coast of North and South
America. Hundreds of Tectonic plates had formed around Asia which would
inevitable result in a higher frequency of earthquakes. Because the
explosion managed to reach the coastline of China, the casualty was
actually worse than the initial result of Second Impact, over a billion
people killed in the explosion itself.
By the time Shinji was looking down at the devastation of the
explosion, the world had suffered a far worse fate than Second Impact.
This was because the first resulting shockwave from the explosion was
likened to that of an earthquake of 9.3 on the Richter Scale. The second
shockwave, which occurred seconds afterwards, had similar effects of an
earthquake of around 5.6 on the Richter Scale. The actual explosion and
the two resulting shockwaves had resulted in more than the deaths of
seventy-five percent of the world's population. What was funny was that
more deaths were to come since the full effects of the explosion had yet
to be felt.
"I think I'm gonna puke," Shinji commented when he noticed just how
much destruction had occurred.
He turned toward the Angel.
"All right, I've seen enough. You can set me down now,"
Shinji wondered if Misato, Ritsuko, and Asuka were all right.
He had no idea if they were. He believed that they were, what with the
fact that they each had an Angel watching over them and protecting them.
Unfortunately, all he could do was speculate that they were all right.
Not long after touching back down on the firm soil at the center-most
portion of the crater, Shinji was surprised to be approached by the first
Angel he had sent off to fetch him some clothes.
The Angel did indeed have clothes in his hands, clothes that seemed
perfectly suitable for him. After he got dressed, he noticed he was
wearing what looked like a traditional kung-fu outfit, similar to the
clothes Ranma liked to sport.
Shinji wondered exactly where the Angel got the clothes from and so
quickly but he decided against asking. He assumed the Angel actually flew
all the way to China, swiped some clothes, most likely looting a store in
the anarchy that the world was experiencing at the moment, and flew back.
The task had taken the Angel no more than an hour to carry out.
"Um, thanks," Shinji said, "Um, you may go now,"
The Angel graciously said goodbye and took to the skies, disappearing
beyond the heavens. With one Angel still remaining, Shinji felt at ease.
He knew it would be soon before the seawater rushing in to fill up the
crater would eventually reach where he was.
"Damn, what the heck am I gonna do now?" Shinji asked, pacing back and
forth, "How am I gonna defeat Ranma? The Lance is gone. It was blown up
along with Unit-01,"
The Angel pointed toward something several hundred feet from where
Shinji was.
"I don't think the Lance was blown up as you say," the Angel said,
"Isn't that the Lance?"
Shinji looked over toward where the Angel was pointing. Unable to see
what the Angel was pointing at, he headed in that general direction. As
he walked, he caught sight of something sticking out of the ground.
When he realized that it really was the Lance, his eyes widened,
"You're right! That's the Lance!"
It seems like the Lance landed only a short distance from ground zero.
This was because when Unit-01 blew up, the weapon was blown straight up.
When gravity finally took effect and brought it back down, it landed very
close by.
"It seems like it wasn't blown up," the Angel commented, "The Lance
looks intact,"
"Maybe I might still have a chance," Shinji said, walking up to the
Lance.
Before he touched the Lance, he closed his eyes and stood there in deep
thought.
"Please let me be able to wield this Lance," he said as if praying to
an unseen God. He knew that this was his last chance. If he could not
wield the Lance, then he would be out of luck. There was no way he could
defeat Ranma one-on-one, and if he was unable to use the one weapon that
would give him an advantage, then he would be screwed.
Placing a hand on the Lance, Shinji took several deep breaths.
After a moment, Shinji tried to lift the Lance.
It didn't budge. For several long minutes, Shinji tried to lift it with
all his might, thinking whatever he could think to 'will' the Lance to be
wield, much to know avail.
Before long, Shinji leaned his back against the Lance and slid down to
a sitting position on the ground, the back of his head resting against
the shaft of the Lance.
"I'm screwed. My wielding the Lance is outta the question,"
"What does that mean?" the Angel asked.
"It means the only option I have left is fighting Ranma in hand-to-hand
combat,"
<all ive got so far...>
(Ranma is gathered with group. He is trying to prove how men and women
think differently)
Ranma: Girls, if you were a guy, and you had two options, which one would
you choose? Which one would you rather have happen to you. A)Getting
kicked in the balls really really hard. B)Getting shot by a gun? There is
ONLY one response to such a question that all guys would say....
Misato: I'd rather get kicked in the balls. You can die from a gunshot.
You can survive getting kicked in the balls.
Sylia: I agree. Gunshots can be fatal.
Ranma: Shinji, which one would you choose? A)Getting kicked in the balls
really really hard. B)Getting shot by a gun.
Shinji: Well, where would I get shot?
Ranma: Bingo!! Right answer!! (To girls)Y'see? Only guys would ask about
where they would get shot. They would rather contemplate getting shot
over getting kicked in the balls. That's why it's just wrong to kick a
guy in the balls.
(Ryoga shows up)
Ryoga: Yo.
Ranma: Ryoga, I have a hypothetical question I wanna ask ya.
Ryoga: Okay.
Ranma: Which one would you choose? A)Getting kicked in the balls really
really hard. B)Get-
Ryoga: (Interrupting)'B'
________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'