The Gods Within - 1/3

[fanfic_mausoleum_n_grill]

The Gods Within
A Neon Genesis Evangelion
elseworlds fanfic by Scriviner


Part 1: Welcome to Tokyo: Men in Black, Boy in Blue

      She sat on the largely unused bench, fidgeting
impatiently while all around her, Tokyo moved its own
crowded dance. Near solid masses of people rushed
back and forth, busy with their own concerns and
worries, utterly (one might venture to say
studiously) ignoring the girl who was idly nibbling
on a ragged thumbnail without even realizing it.
      Her clothes consisted of baggy, no-brand name
jeans, sneakers, a denim jacket and a loose t-shirt.
It was a comfortable, though shapeless, ensemble that
draped over her fourteen year old figure. Not that
she had much of one, she often been told. At her feet
was a largish leather back pack that looked as if it
had seen better days.
      She was remarkable perhaps only in that only
she wasn't partaking of the hustle and bustle all
around. Everyone else moved confidently, giving the
impression that they were intent on destinations that
only they knew. To them this place was nothing more
than a way stop to be passed by quickly, not a place
for lingering. She looked painfully out of place and
terribly lost.
      The trains slid to slow halts, disgorging more
crowds, even as a confused welter of people struggled
past them to get into the cars.
      The girl continued to wait, scanning the crowd.
Her heart was beating hard. Everything was so noisy
and chaotic, like nothing she'd ever experienced
before. So many people in one spot...
      All of this was hardly more than a blur to her.
What bothered her most was the noise. The messy hub-
bub that was the cacophony of the city, the roar and
screech of the trains that mingled with the confused
babble of several thousand voices all talking at
once, counterpointing the asynchronous rhythms of
feet pounding the concrete. There wasn't anything
even remotely approaching this back home. She
wouldn't even be here if things had turned out
differently, she mused. She squinted impatiently into
the crowd again. She didn't realize there could be so
many people here. How was she supposed to spot a
single face in all of this?
      She dipped her hand into her jacket pocket, and
pulled out a three by five glossy, her damp thumb
leaving a mark on the photo. It showed a handsome
man, clean shaven, muscular and well-built wearing a
tanktop and board shorts, grinning cheerfully. He was
holding a surfboard with one hand and had a pair of
sunglasses on top of his head, holding back an unruly
thatch of short, brown hair. There was a bit of
writing on one corner of the photo, in a messy
scrawl, 'Looking forward to seeing you again' it
said. It was signed, but she couldn't quite make out
what the signature said. The handwriting was that
bad. Of course, she knew who was supposed to meet her
here, but... she glanced up and around at all the
people streaming around her. It would be so easy to
miss him, she sighed to herself.
      She felt a hand on her shoulder and she
stiffened. She closed her eyes and bit on her lower
lip to stifle a scream. Please, God, if there is one,
don't let it be a perv, she thought to herself. She
caught a whiff of an unfamiliar, musky aftershave and
felt a breath near her neck. A voice, light and
playful, yet somehow cutting through the noise of the
city like a knife spoke into her ear, "I'm glad you
like the photo, Asuka."
      She reddened, jumping immediately to her feet
and whirling around to face the man who'd spoken. He
grinned easily at her. He had the right face for it.
The kind that could brighten a room just by smiling.
His eyes had a merry twinkle to them as he seemed to
size her up. His hair was cut very short at the back
and sides, but was long in the front and slicked back
to keep it out of his eyes. He wore a gray three
piece suit, but the top button of the shirt
underneath was undone and his tie was loose.
      "I... I... I mean, um..."
      "You're Asuka Langley Soryuu?"
      "Um... yes?"
      "Grew up nicely." He jerked a thumb, still
smiling as he put on a pair of sunglasses, "Come on,
I'm double parked outside."
      "Uh... sure," she replied uncertainly, reaching
down for her bag. "Ryouji Kaji, right?"
      "One and only," he replied and she knew he had
winked at her from behind his shades before he
proceeded to break a trail through the crowd for her
to follow him out.

      His car was an old model black Paseo, a classic
design, but fifteen years out of date. By the sound
of the motor's smooth purring it was obviously in
excellent condition and it had a gleam that could
only have come from two coats of wax and a good
buffing. He pulled away from the curb and drove at a
speed which was only just barely under the speed
limit, cutting in front of other drivers and weaving
expertly through the surprisingly light Tokyo
traffic.
      Asuka clung hard to the seat, closing her eyes
every so often to calm herself down and trying not to
pay attention to how dangerously close he drove to
the other cars. She was glad they were both buckled
in tightly. The radio had been tuned to a rock
station and it was churning out a cheerful snuff-rock
pop song that was beginning to get on her already
frayed nerves.
      It took a while for her to adjust, but finally,
she glanced over at him hesitantly, "Um... Kaji-san?"
      "Call me Ryu," he replied casually, not taking
his eyes off the road, nearly sideswiping a biker.
      "Okay... Ryu-san... I... I hope you don't mind
my asking..."
      "What is it?"
      "Should you really be driving this fast?"
      "Don't worry. You get used to it. Trust me." He
flashed her a grin.
      "Um... I've... I have another question?"
      "Yes?" He asked, this time glancing at her.
      She shut her eyes tightly and said in a tight,
nervous voice, "Please watch the road!"
      He shrugged, narrowly missing a van, "It's
okay, I'm used to it. What's the question?"
      She finally peeked and saw that they were still
intact and were now on one of the freeways. She took
a deep breath and asked the question which had been
bothering her since she found out. 
      "Why you? Why are you my guardian?"
      He glanced quizzically at her for a moment,
before his face sobered. "I knew your parents years
ago. I was a good friend of your dad... he knew I
could take care of you, I guess. I'm sorry..."
      She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, then
moved her hand up to gnaw on her fingernail as she
tried to set things in order in her mind. Trying to
think of the next question to ask. Or the next thing
to say...
      "I just... I mean... um... I expected my
grandparents would've... or something. You know?" she
looked apprehensively at him.
      He smiled at her again. It wasn't the brilliant
smile that he'd greeted her with earlier. But
something warm and thoughtful, as though trying to
share something with her. "Honestly, I didn't expect
it either. I mean I certainly didn't expect your
parents to name me your guardian..." he trailed off
uncertainly, looking at her.
      "After the accident. It's alright, you can say
it."  She replied softly. She blinked at him and
began to gnaw furiously now on her thumbnail. She
paused, realizing what she was doing and dropped her
hand to her lap immediately, embarrassed at herself.
      "I wish they'd told me I was in their will." He
murmured after a moment.
      Asuka looked at him once more and said softly,
"That's... that's okay. If I'm a bother, you can
always send me to my grandparents..."
      "No... I'll honor your parents' wishes. It's no
bother. It just took me off guard that's all. I'm not
used to being surprised." He glanced at her and
winked, "I'm actually looking forward to it."
      She blushed at a sudden thought that occurred
to her, "What do you mean?"
      "I've never been real, honest to goodness
parental authority figure before," he grinned
playfully, obviously trying to lighten the mood, "I
figure it'll be good practice for when I have kids of
my own."
      "Oh."
      His face became serious, "There's actually a
bit more to it than that, to tell you the truth, but
we'll have time enough to talk later."
      She gave him a confused glance but nodded, "If
you say so, Kaji-san."
      "It's Ryu, Asuka," he smiled pleasantly at her,
"If I'm going to be your guardian, there's rules to
follow, and one of them is that when we're alone
together or with family, you call me Ryu."
      She glanced over at him, uncertain by his tone
whether he was serious or not, but couldn't help
smiling, "Alright, Ka... Ryu-san."
      "Better," he nodded, glancing over at her,
"Definitely an improvement. You should smile more
too. You're prettier when you smile."
      She blushed and looked down at her lap, "No I'm
not..." she said uncomfortably.
      "Yes, you are. Oh, yes, very pretty..." he
paused thoughtfully as though thinking over what he'd
just said, before continuing. "No turning down
compliments either. Okay, that's in the rules. More
smiles and accept compliments when they're given.
Clear?" He looked at her mock seriously and waggled
his eyebrows at her over his shades.
      She giggled a little and blushed again as she
fought down the urge to go for her thumbnail once
more. He was making her nervous... she'd never had
anyone compliment her like that before. Or try to
make her laugh. Certainly not a guy. She glanced at
him again. A really cute guy. Who she'd be living
with. She blushed even deeper as those thoughts
popped unbidden into her mind. He seemed nice enough,
she told herself. Young too, he couldn't have been
older than thirty. Not what she expected at all from
her new dad. No. Guardian. She gave herself a few
mental slaps to clear her head. Shouldn't be thinking
such things, she said to herself.
      His eyes narrowed suddenly as he glanced at the
rear view mirror and his face darkened.
      "Damn," he muttered.
      "What's the matter?" Asuka looked back. The
only vehicle easily visible behind them was a black
sedan. An even older model than Kaji's Paseo. The
windows were heavily tinted, but she could barely
make out the driver and passenger, both men in a
black coats and ties, wearing dark sunglasses.
      "Gimme a moment would you, Asuka?" Kaji asked,
flashing her a smile, obviously trying not to alarm
her, but he looked somewhat tense.
      "What's wrong?" Asuka frowned worriedly.
      "Maybe nothing," He replied vaguely, "Maybe
everything." Kaji pulled a cell phone out from his
breast pocket and flipped it open, keying in a number
hurriedly on the LCD display. He spoke in a flat
tone, "This is Kaji, you know my voice," he paused,
nodding his head impatiently while glancing at the
rear view mirror again.
      "Hello, Nobu? Forward me to Ops would you?
Priority... Okay, okay... Yeah, hi honey, it's me.
Did Makoto send some guys in a black sedan to babysit
me?
No? Uh-huh, okay, we've got trouble then. Yes, she's
with me. No, I wasn't late... I'll handle it... Yes,
I'll be home for dinner. No, I'm cooking. Just make
sure to send me backup, alright?"
      Asuka blinked, "What... what was that about?"
      "Definitely trouble," he replied grimly,
flipping his phone closed and dropping it into his
breast pocket, "Duck down a bit. You're going to have
to trust me."
      She looked at him worriedly, then back at the
sedan. Kaji gestured impatiently to her to get down
even as he glanced in the rear view mirror. She sunk
into her seat, trying to get as low as she possibly
could. He reached into his coat, drawing a small
snub-nosed pistol and thumbing the safety. Asuka's
eyes widened in fear.
      "Oh my god! What're you doing?"
      "These guys want you and they're probably not
going to take a simple no for an answer." He floored
the gas, shooting forward and weaving recklessly
through the other cars. Behind them the sedan also
accelerated, tailing them closely.
      "Why would they want me?!"
      "It has to do with your parents," Kaji replied
in a distracted tone, his eyes firmly on the road,
constantly scanning ahead for a turn off he could
take. Behind them the sedan was closing in. It jerked
suddenly to the right, narrowly missing another car
and began to pull level with the Paseo. Kaji added in
a murmur, "It's a long story and I really have to
concentrate right now, so don't worry about it."
      "Easy for you to say!" Asuka shot back, her
voice tight with panic.
      Kaji brought the butt of the gun down on the
button for the driver side window, lowering it. The
wind tearing at his hair as he grinned at the sedan's
passenger, another man who looked almost exactly the
same as the driver. The man on the passenger side of
the sedan already had his window down and was in the
process of aiming a gun at Kaji's head.
      Asuka couldn't help but notice the weird
similarity between the passenger and Kaji. Both were
in suits and ties, both had sunglasses and they even
had similar hair cuts. Only the cut and color of
Kaji's suit, and his wide manic grin really
differentiated him from the man in black.
      Kaji gave his wheel a hard yank to the right,
slamming the side of his car against the sedan and
jarring the gunman. The black suited passenger shot
wildly, missing Kaji entirely, but the bullet passed
through the car, shattering the window on Asuka's
side, sending her screaming, as she tried to sink
even deeper into her seat. Kaji reached out of his
window and across the narrow space between the cars
to slam the butt of his pistol on the hand of the
black suited passenger. The man gave a grunt of pain,
his fingers reflexively releasing the pistol, leaving
it far behind as the two cars sped onwards, neck and
neck.
      Kaji pulled his hand back quickly and gave his
wheel another hard yank, not giving the man a chance
to withdraw his hand before the two cars ground
against each other. The man in the black coat
screamed as his arm was crushed by the collision of
the two cars. Without pause, Kaji extended his hand
into the other car's open window, discharging his gun
into the screaming man's face, the wind tearing the
sound of the gunshot and Asuka's screams away.
      Their car pulled away from the wildly careening
black sedan. Asuka could see that the bullet had
passed clean through the first man and had also hit
the driver, splattering the contents of their heads
all over the interior. The passenger was leaning out
the window, the exit wound that had torn out the back
of his skull bleeding copiously.
      Kaji floored it, his car peeling away from the
other, but not before Asuka caught a glimpse of the
man, who by all rights should have been dead, pushing
against the outside of his door with his shattered
hand to right himself. She could see his the grayish
pulpy mass inside the open skull trembling feebly in
the strong wind, the gaping wound between his eyes
twitching obscenely as the flesh moved. There were
even fragments of his sunglasses stuck in the flesh
around his eyes.
      "Oh my GOD! What are they?" Asuka screamed.
      Kaji glanced back catching his own glimpse of
the man in black's furious, blood spattered face.
"Even worse trouble." He tossed his gun onto the
dash, before pulling his phone out of his pocket and
thumbing the redial display.
      He spoke briskly, weaving his car past further
traffic. "Priority override. Emsit twelve. I've got
two, I repeat, two L-types on my tail. I am
authorizing immediate deployment of Unit 01." A
pause, "Yes... I take full responsibility," A longer
pause, "Launch him, dammit! I'll take care of
explaining to Dr. Ikari."
      Asuka was afraid to speak for fear that the
moment she opened her mouth she'd do nothing but
scream. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the
black sedan was again behind them and closing fast.
The man at the passenger side window was in the
process of pulling himself back into the car.
      Kaji smiled tightly, trying his best to look
reassuring, "I see them, Asuka. Everything will be
fine. We've got help arriving."
      "You shot him!"
      "He was going to do the same to me."
      "But he's not dead!"
      "Well, there's some debate about that actually-
"
      "I don't want to hear about it!" Asuka screamed
at him, her voice verging on hysteria. She buried her
face in her hands, "This has all got to be a bad
dream."
      Kaji glanced at Asuka, a mild look of surprise
passed across his features for a moment before he
smiled, "Wake up call is coming really soon. Don't
worry."
      The radio in Kaji's car suddenly crackled in
the middle of the annoying song's chorus and a
confident voice came across the speakers. "Major,
this is Unit 01. I'm pacing your car and your pursuer
from about a hundred feet above you. Orders?"
      "Who's that?" Asuka looked worriedly at Kaji.
      He only grinned, "The cavalry just arrived,
Asuka." He raised his voice, "Shinji, take out the
pursuers. There's two of them and they're L's, so
there's no need to be gentle. On the other hand
there's also to be no grandstanding, got it? We want
a low profile."
      "Yes, sir!" the voice crackled again.
      "No Nova Flux, got it?!"
      "Awww... but, Major, you said--"
      "Don't go quoting what I said to you back at
me, we're in the middle of a metropolitan area. No
Nova Flux. Don't forget to activate Compression,
alright?"
      "Yes, sir. I remember the simulations."
      "Good boy," Kaji smiled just as their car
jolted forward suddenly. His eyes widened as he
looked back, the sedan had rammed them from behind
and the passenger side man in black was in the
process of clambering out of his window. He looked
none the worse for wear despite having lost the rear
of his head.
      Kaji snarled, "Why those lousy... they broke my
tail lights!"
      Asuka snapped out of her panic to stare at him,
"They're trying to kill us, they shot out your window
and you dented the side of your car on theirs and
you're worried about your tail lights?!"
      "Hey you don't get into trouble with the cops
for a broken window." He shrugged, no longer looking
worried, but now simply annoyed. He raised his voice
again, "Shinji-kun... I changed my mind... use
Singularity on the bastards.
      A second voice crackled on the radio, this one
a woman's voice, the tone gently chiding, but
definitely not a voice which could be ignored,
"Major, what have I told you about using profanity
while directing Unit 01?"
      "Sorry Doctor..." Kaji said sheepishly, "Got
carried away. It's kinda stressful..."
      "And he's almost on our trunk!" Asuka called
out, looking back.
      The woman's voice continued, "You're obviously
quite busy right now, so I'll leave you to it... but
you should set a better example for the children
alright?"
      The first voice came back on the radio, "Sorry,
sir. She asked to patch in on my transmission."
      "Nevermind," Kaji replied distractedly,
gripping tightly onto his steering wheel to keep from
totally losing control, "Just get them off our tail,
Shinji-kun. Kick it."
      "Kicking their tails now, sir." The voice
replied. Asuka could've sworn she saw a blue and red
blur streak past the car that sent a massive rush of
air into the windows. There was a tremendous crash
from behind them and she winced involuntarily
expecting the man in black with the hole in his head
to suddenly start blasting at any moment. It took a
second to register that nothing else had happened.
She turned around in her seat, trying to see more of
what was happening and managed to catch a glimpse of
something red and streaming in the wind in front of
the now wrecked sedan. Were those handprints on the
sedan's front? There were more gunshots, but none
which came anywhere near them.
      "Ka-- Ryu! What was that?"
      He glanced up into his rearview mirror and
smiled easily, now relaxing again. "The cavalry
arriving."
      He still hadn't slowed down by much as they
took a turn off and entered into a busier commercial
area.
      There was brief pause before the confident
voice continued, "The L-types have been neutralized,
Major."
      "Well done." Kaji replied and glanced at his
watch, "You can come in and rest in the car after
you've cleaned up. I don't think you'll have enough
time to get back to home base."
      "What just happened?" Asuka asked, her voice
rising and her eyes on Kaji, "What in the world just
happened?"
      He smiled gently at her, "There will be time
enough for explanations later."
      Asuka sighed, looking worriedly at the damage
to the vehicle. It was a mess in here. A few
fragments of glass... and she could see reddish-
brownish-grayish spots and spatters on the sleeve of
Kaji's otherwise immaculate coat. He pocketed the
pistol and thumbed his window back up.
      She shivered trying to calm herself down. Her
heart was hammering in her chest and she realized
belatedly that she had her teeth around her thumbnail
again. She turned trying to disguise her fear, but
how could he have been so casual about an attempt on
his life? How?
      As their car came up to another turn, for no
reason she could understand, a brunette woman in a
suit and shades standing casually on the curb a short
distance ahead of their car caught her eye. With an
almost casual motion the woman dipped a hand into her
pocket, pulled out a large gun and pointed it at
them. Kaji hadn't even noticed, as Asuka was about to
scream at him to duck...
      She watched, her body still tight with fear, as
the scenery which had been blurring past them
suddenly come into focus... almost as though their
car were pulling to a halt, but that was impossible.
Kaji, and in fact, everyone else around them seemed
frozen, but she could see a slow motion flare of
light erupt from the barrel of the woman's gun, and
then something small approaching their windshield.
She heard nothing, but there was a constant bass
rumble that she could feel in the pit of her stomach.
      She watched as the small object, the bullet,
because it couldn't have been anything else, approach
their car oh so slowly. She could see it flatten
itself against their windshield, see the shockwaves
radiating through the glass as it slowly, very slowly
stretched from the impact and for a moment she could
swear that it looked as though it were about to stop,
but no. The glass shattered around the bullet,
leaving a still growing spiderweb of cracks as she
saw it moving through the interior of the car at a
leisurely crawl, heading straight for Kaji's left
eye.
      It was only eight inches away from him when,
without thinking, she reached for it. She tried to
catch it in her hand, but she jerked it back as she
realized how hot it was. She pulled a spare shirt
hurriedly from her backpack, and wrapped it around
her hand, before grabbing at it again. She could feel
the resistance and the heat of it as she held it. It
was almost as though it were fixed in the air, but
moving ever so slowly for his eye still. She winced,
and desperately tugged at it. She'd forgotten her
fear and the strangeness surrounding her. At that
moment the only thought was to keep the fatal bullet
away from her new guardian.
      It kept trying to move in the direction it had
started off in, but she could feel it begin to give.
Her face twisted into a grimace of effort, she poured
everything she had into moving the bullet. With one
last powerful tug, she ripped it free of whatever was
holding it to its course.
      With a sudden shock, she found herself holding
the bullet in her hand. She stared at it in total
confusion. Outside everything was frozen stock still,
but she saw something blue and red in the side mirror
coming up to the car. Another bullet? That seemed to
be the only thing that could still move aside from
her.
      She turned her head again, but there was a
sudden wrenching sensation as suddenly sound and
movement flooded back into everything. The sound of
the car's engine and the remaining echoes of the
gunshot slammed into her ears, causing her to wince.
Their car sped past the woman sniper as Kaji suddenly
slammed on the brakes, seeing the bullethole in his
windshield. "OH shi--!"
      Asuka shivered once more, she felt dizzy and
overwhelmed by everything. She managed to grin at him
and hold up the bullet, "I got it... I don't know
what just happened but I got it..."
      Kaji stared at her for a long moment and
started to reply when he was interrupted by an almost
familiar voice from the back seat.
      "Hi..."
      Asuka glanced back, but the motion only made
her dizzier. She found herself staring at a slender,
fairly handsome boy about her age. His hair was short
and somewhat spiky, as though he hadn't bothered to
comb it properly. His eyes were a soft brown. He was
wearing an elaborate, skin-tight gray, blue and black
costume. He also had a long, flowing red cape that
was draped carelessly all over the back seat. He wore
a self-satisfied, though tired grin, but strangest of
all, on his chest was a red and black stylized 'S'
inside a five pointed shield shape.
      "I'm Shinji," the boy said in a friendly voice,
It was the confident voice from the radio earlier,
but more tired now. He paused then asked, "I saw what
you did with the bullet. Are you a superhero too?"
      Asuka stared at the bullet once more and
noticed little electrical arcs crawling up and down
her fingers... she looked at the two others in the
car with her, then with little else she could say,
her eyes curled up into her head and she fainted.

End Part 1