[FFML] [XOver][EVA/Lovecraft] Fear Chapter One: Look To The Sky

[Timothy Groves]

Disclaimer

Shin Seiki Evangelion was created by Hideki Anno, and is owned by
Gainax.  Use of th characters and situations therein are not intended as
any challenge of their copyrights.

Mythos  elements  were created by H. P. Lovecraft  and  owned  by Arkham
Publishing;  Byatis was created by Robert Bloch.



"Release me!"

Ikari Yui grabbed the uniformed man's wrist, and bent it backward until
the bone cracked.  A second guard tackled her about the waist;  she
brought her fist down on his skull, caving his skull in and dropping him
lifeless to the ground.  She turned and ran towards the water.

"Mommy!"  Shinji twisted in his father's grip, but the man was far too
strong for a five-year-old to break free.

"Let her go, Shinji.  She's not your mother anymore."

Shinji  stopped  struggling,  and  watched  as  his  mother  dove
headfirst into the waves.  He waited, watching for her to surface, for
long minutes, before turning and burying his face into his father's
jacket.

Only to be shoved away, tripping and falling.  He looked up at his
father's cold eyes, and shivered.

"Never come back, Yui..."


- - - - -


Tail Kinker Presents

Fear

Chapter One

Look To The Sky


- - - - -


"Five minutes to Tokyo-3 Station.  All passengers, please ensure that
your luggage is ready and prepare to de-train."

The announcement brought Shinji to wakefulness.  He flipped off his
S-DAT, and grabbed his brown canvas bag.  He unzipped it, and pulled out
an envelope.

The letter had arrived quite unexpectedly;  only once since his mother
had drowned had his father communicated with him.  This time, it looked
to be just as messed up.

~What a stupid idea this was.  Why would my father, or her parents,
arrange an engagement for me?  She must be a real freak if her parents
had to resort to an arranged marriage.~

The letter had had two photographs paper-clipped to it;  he had removed
them in the course of trying to figure out what was on his father's
mind.  He looked down at the first one now.

The girl didn't look at all bad;  if it wasn't for the expression on her
face, she might even be cute.  The angular lines of her face were offset
by the mop of pale blue hair.  From the colour of her hair, her pale
complexion, and her eyes, he figured she had to be an albino.  The red
eyes were more than a bit disturbing, but the really scary part was her
expression.

Or rather, her complete lack of expression.  She almost looked bored,
but even 'bored' was too strong an emotion to assign to the face in the
picture.

He shuffled the second photograph to the top.  The woman in this photo
was visibly more animated than his 'fiancee'.  A tall, leggy woman,
wearing a loose top and leaning towards the camera, placing her not
inconsiderable assets on display.  Just in case the viewer was
completely oblivious, she'd drawn an arrow on the photo, pointing at her
cleavage and labelled 'Look here!'

He flipped the photo over, and read the words written on the back.

'Hi!  I'm Misato Katsuragi, and I'll be picking you up from the train
station!  Aren't you the lucky one?'

~Yeah.  Lucky me.~

The brakes screeched like a tortured cat, and the train ground to a
halt.  The doors slid open, and Shinji stepped hesistantly out onto the
platform.

The deserted platform.  Not only was this Misato person not here to meet
him, but there was not another living soul anywhere in the station.  He
jumped as the train's whistle sounded, and turned to watch as it pulled
out of the station.  And sighed.  He pulled out the letter again, and
glanced at the letterhead.

He kept the hundred yen coin in his pocket for emergencies.  At the
moment, he was stranded in a city that he didn't know at all, in a
deserted train station, with no ride to wherever he was supposed to go,
and his only line of retreat had just rattled out of town.  If this
didn't qualify as an emergency, he had no idea just what would.  He
dropped the coin into the pay phone and dialled the telephone number
listed in the letterhead.

'Due to the current emergency, no line is available to complete your
call.  We do apologize for the inconvenience.'

The machine dutifully spat out the hundred-yen coin, and he collected it
mechanically.

~At least my emergency isn't the only one.~

He looked around the station again.  The wires hanging tiredly overhead
were heavier than in most towns, and he could only assume that whatever
this city was using them for, it was more than just telephone and video
signals.  Massive transformers sat atop the poles, much heavier again
that he was used to seeing.  And not a person moved in sight, nor were
there any cars.  In fact, he couldn't hear even the slightest sound.

It was as if the entire city was dead.

Then abruptly, there was too much sound.

The four tilt-wing aircraft were flying far too low.  One paused
overhead, swinging its engines to hover directly overtop of him.  The
downblast of the jets nearly knocked him over, and he clung to the pay
phone to keep his balance.  The deep roar of the engines found a
counterpart in the snarl of rockets, as the VTOL rippled off a salvo of
missiles.  He couldn't see what they were firing at, but heard and felt
the rumble as they detonated.

But he did see a tank, as it was launched into the aircraft.  The VTOL's
wing was ripped off, and it started spiralling downward.  He turned and
ran as fast as he could, as the VTOL smashed into a nearby building. 
The blast as its fuel cells exploded propelled him bodily across the
deserted parking lot.

A blue sports car came to a brake-screeching halt inches from his head. 
The passenger-side door popped open, aand a voice yelled at him from
within.

"Sorry I'm late.  Get in, quick!"

He needed no prompting, and scrambled into the car, slamming the door
shut behind him.  The driver - he realized it was the woman from the
photo, Misato - stood on the gas pedal and peeled out.

"Jesus, they're taking a pounding."  Misato shifted gears as they pulled
out.  "Don't look at it, whatever you do."

"Don't look at what?"  He craned his neck to look out the back
window...and froze.

The VTOLs were still firing rockets, but a massive form strode through
the smoke and flame, obviously unhurt.  It walked on four segmented
legs, and in one crablike claw it carried a bus.  Its head was a
deformed mass of tissue, one eye glaring balefully from the center.  A
writhing mass of tentacles, each as thick as a man, hung like a beard
beneath the eye.

A scream forced itself from his throat.

"Oh, shit.  Eyes front, kid.  I told you not to look."  Misato was
keeping her eyes fixed forward.  "The very sight of that thing can drive
a person mad."

"No kidding."  Shinji dragged his eyes forward.  "What the hell is it?"

"It's the enemy.  Your father calls them the Old Ones."


- - - - -


"All artillery and rocket units have proven ineffective."

The General slammed his fist down on the table, causing the overflowing
ashtray to bounce and disgorge its contents all over the surface.  "What
do we have that might affect it?  The laser cannons?"

"Not yet operational, and I'm not sure that it'd work anyway."  The
Colonel shook his head.  "Most of the weapons we've hit it with pack
more punch than the lasers."

"Conventional weapons are of no use against the Old Ones."

The General glared at the interruption.  "And I'm certain you believe
that your -toy- can stop it?"

"Only my -toy-, as you put it, has any chance at all."

"I don't think so, Ikari.  We've still got one trump card left."  He
glanced over at the Colonel.  "Launch the B-2.  We'll hit it with the N2
Mine."

Ikari adjusted his glasses, and turned back to the monitor.


- - - - -


Misato stood on the brake pedal, and gaped at the black form moving
overhead.

"They can't be...Oh, shit, they are."  She grabbed Shinji, forcing his
head down.  "Shield your eyes!"

The world turned white.

All Shinji knew was that the car was tumbling along its side.  When his
world stopped spinning, he hazarded a look, and realized that the car
was on its side.  Misato was suspended above him by her seat belt,
looking dazed.

"What was that?"

"N2 Mine.  A boosted thermonuclear warhead."  She fought with the
buckle.  "Gimme a hand with this, and we'll get the car back on its
wheels."


- - - - -


"Got it!"

The table full of brass jumped to its feet.  Around them, dust was
falling from cracks in the ceiling, and the lamps overhead were swinging
wildly.

"EMP has knocked out telemetry.  Circuits will be restored in thirty
seconds."

Ikari kept silent, staring at the screen.

The Colonel raised a defiant fist.  "Do not mess with the JSSDF!"

"Visual contact re-established."

The screen cleared, to show the monster in the middle of the blast
crater.  Still intact.

The General sat down, dismayed.  "That was our trump card..."

The Colonel shook his head.  "Looks like he over-trumped us."

The Brigadier collapsed into his chair.  "Gentlemen, we have no weapon
in our arsenal more powerful than an N2 Mine."

"You're right."  The General glanced over at Ikari.  "It's in your hands
now."

"Do we have authorization from the JSSDF to deploy?"

"Yes."  The General pulled a notebook from his pocket, and scrawled on
it.  "Here.  Written and signed.  Deploy."

"Thank you."  Ikari turned to his assistant.  "Fuyutsuki.  Prepare Unit
01."

"We don't have a pilot yet."  Fuyutsuki watched as Ikari turned and
walked towards the elevator.

"One is on his way."


- - - - -


Misato stared at the map and pursed her lips.  She glanced over at
Shinji, then inverted the map.

"Now you are holding it upside-down."

"I was afraid of that."  She folded the map back up and stuffed it into
her purse.  "I hate to admit it, but I don't really know this base as
well as I should."

"I can tell."

"Well, all systems exist to be used, right?"  She laughed.

Shinji looked pointedly at a telephone mounted on the wall.  "Maybe you
should use this system over here, and call someone who knows where
they're going."


- - - - -


"Paging Dr. Akagi.  Line fourteen internal."

Ritsuko set her breath mask down on the deck, and pulled herself out of
the pool.  "Since Misato is late, I can assume that's her."


- - - - -


"I have a good feeling about this door."

Shinji sighed. "You've said that for the last four doors.  Maybe  we
should wait for this Dr. Akagi to find us."

"Don't worry, I can get us out of--"

The door opened  suddenly, to reveal a tall blonde woman.  She wore a
bathing suit with a lab coat thrown over it, but managed not to look
terribly silly.  The look that she gave Misato was one of long-suffering
amusement.

"Lost again?"

"Well...we were on the right track, right?"  Misato laughed.  "After
all, we caught up with you."

"You were considerably off track, and I had to double back to catch up
with you."  She glanced over at Shinji.  "Is this him?"

"Yes."

"Good we're running out of time."  She turned and strolled briskly down
the corridor.  "Commander Ikari has ordered the activation of Unit 01."

"Really?"  Misato had to hurry to keep up with the taller woman.  "What
are the odds it will work?"

"The latest calibrations give it a 0.0000000001% chance of working." 
She smirked.  "Zero-Nine might be a good name for it."

"So we're done for, is what you're telling me?"

"Don't be rude."  Dr. Akagi tossed her a cold look.  "I didn't say the
odds were zero."


- - - - -


The doors closed behind them, plunging them into total darkness.

"It's pitch black in here."  Shinji rubbed the gooseflesh on his arms. 
"I can't see a thing."

The lights switched on.

Shinji found himself facing a monster.  He yelled, and took a step back,
only to meet Misato's hand.  She said something about a bridge, but he
could only stare at the beast in front of him.

It was covered in purple armour of some sort.  The head was flared out
at the base, and a single horn projected from its forehead.  Two eyes,
dark and closed, sat beneath armoured ridges, and its teeth appeared to
be made of solid steel.

It took a moment for it to sink in that this was not a creature, but a
machine.

"What the hell is that?"

"NERV's Armoured Humanoid All-Purpose Fighting Machine.  Code-named
EVANGELION."  Dr. Akagi looked up at the robot.  "We still don't
understand half of the technology that went into this creation.  It is
your father's greatest work."

Shinji took a hesitant step towards it.  "Does it need a pilot?"

Before Dr. Akagi could answer him, a voice floated down from above.

"Yes.  It does."

Shinji looked up, to see his father.  He stood in a small observation
deck, about fifteen feet above the bridge.

"Good to see you again, son."  He smiled down warmly at the boy.

Shinji blinked. 

"I'm glad that you have decided to join us today."  He held a hand out
towards the Evangelion.  "But our time is limited.  The Old One
approaches, and must be stopped.  I need you to pilot this machine."

"Pilot--"  Shinji looked up at the robot.  "You've got to be kidding
me!  I haven't had any training, I never even saw it before five seconds
ago.  I can't drive this!"

The building shook beneath his feet, waves forming in the liquid around
the bridge.

"You feel that?"  Gendo pointed upwards.  "The Old One has found us. 
And unless you do something about this, it is going to destroy everyone
here.  Only you can stop it."

"That's insane!"  Shinji shook his head.  "There's no way I can do
this."

"Unfortunate."  Gendo looked down.  "I was hoping that you were ready to
be a man."  He turned, and addressed someone through communications
device.

"He's too much of a coward.  You'll need to wake up Rei."

"Will she be of any use?"

Gendo glanced down at Shinji.  "At least she isn't pissing herself in
terror."

Shinji scowled down at the deck.

The doors at the far end of the bridge opened again, and two people
wheeled in a gurney.  A plasma bag was suspended from the gurney's
rack.  As the gurney approached, Shinji realized with some surprise that
its occupant was the albino girl from his photograph.

He turned back to his father.  "You're gonna make her drive it?"

"Since you are too much of a coward, yes."

He looked back at the girl.  One eye was covered with a bandage, and her
abdomen was completely wrapped.  One arm was splinted tightly.

"She can't!  Look at her."

"Be quiet.  You had your say."

The room shook again, and the gurney tipped over, dumping the girl on
the deck.  Shinji ran up to her, alarmed.  He reached down to touch her,
and she shied away.

"No!"  She shook her head, fear showing in her one good eye.  She took a
wild swing in his direction with her hand, and he pulled hió back® 
"No¡  Don'ô toucè me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you."  He reached forward again, but she rolled
over, shivering, away from his touch.  He knelt down and put his hand on
her shoulder.

She screamed.  Just once, a short yelp like a kicked puppy, and he
snatch his hand back as though it had been burned.

Shinji stood slowly, and turned again to his father.  "This girl is
Rei?  And she's the girl you engaged to me?"

"Yes"

He squeezed his eyes shut.  ~I can't do this.  I don't know how.~  He
thought of the girl.  ~But if I run now, I'll be proving I'm a coward. 
-She- will think I'm a coward.~

"Bastard."  He spat the word, for once forgetting his fear of his
father.  "I'll do it."

Gendo smiled.


- - - - -


His misgivings returned when they sealed the tube, locking him in pitch
blackness.

~What  the  hell am I thinking?  I don't know  jack  squat  about
piloting  giant robots.~  He nervously fingered the clips  they'd put 
in  his hair.  ~And going out to do battle  with  some  evil monster 
that  can take a nuke hit and keep going?  I  must  have been out of my
mind.~

Lights  switched on in the tube, and liquid of some sort  started
rushing into the compartment.

"Guys, this tube is filling with water or something."

"Don't worry."  Dr. Akagi's voice was not reassuring, but he grasped at
the words.  "The Link Connection Liquid will oxegenate your blood
directly, and help absorb impacts."

"But it's..."  He watched in horror as the liquid reached his knees. 
"I'm gonna drown in here!  Help!"

"Be a man!"  Misato's voice reached him.

"No!  I've changed--Help!  Open this fucking thing!"  He clawed at the
hatch, but it was sealed tightly from the outside.  "OPEN IT!"  The
liquid reached his neck, and he scrabbled up onto the top of the seat. 
"I'm gonna drown!"

"Calm down, Shinji.  You breathed liquid for the first nine months of
your life."

"NO!"

The liquid washed over his head.  He held his breath until his lungs
burned, then gasped.  He coughed, choking as the liquid filled his
lungs, but somehow, he was still able to breathe.  The liquid smelled
and tasted vile, but he could breathe.

"Sit down.  We're going to start the activation."

His heart still pounding in his chest, he sat back down in the seat. 
The tube flooded with colours.

"Set command interface to Japanese.  A20 Nerve link established."

The sides of the plug glowed, and cleared, to show his surroundings.

"Thirty-nine percent sync rate.  That's a lot better than we expected,"
said Dr. Akagi.  "Release the locks."

There was a dull thud from outside, and Shinji felt something on his
arms, as though someone had been grasping them and had just released
them.  Then he shifted, as the EVA began to move.

"Clear to catapult two."

There was another thud, and the EVA stopped moving.  Then the feeling of
constriction returned to his arms.

"Catapult locks engaged.  Route to surface confirmed cleared by visual
inspection."

"Shinji?"  It was Misato again.  "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be."

"Good.  Evangelion Unit One, LAUNCH!"

With bone-crushing suddenness, the EVA rocketed towards the surface. 
Twice, the gee-forces lurched forwards and backwards during its ascent,
and then, with equal suddenness, it reached the top.  Shinji shook his
head, trying to recover from the acceleration.  A door sprang forwards
in front of him, causing him to blink in the sudden brightness of the
day.

A short distance ahead of him stood the Old One.

"All right, Shinji.  I want you to concentrate on walking.  Just one
small step."

Shinji stared at the Old One, shaking.

"Shinji, come on.  Just one step."

The creature reached for him with one vast crablike claw, and he
screamed.

-- 
http://www.tailkinker.net                      ICQ# 66022322
"Love...this mad distemper that strikes down both beggar and 
king.  Never again!  Never!"  --Merlin