6 Biblically accurate murder
The strong should be restricted and monitored.
The inside of the Evangelion felt comfortable, it didn't look like it was in the show, but everything was perfectly ergonomic. Small slits between parts inside acted as small rails that adjusted the seat and levers' length, width, and height. Everything was dark inside though, which didn't help my nervousness.
I had entered a giant cylinder-shaped cockpit hanging by a giant metal crane. If that crane malfunctioned, I could get dropped into the water or the ground. I was the kind of person who didn't trust rollercoasters, so the lack of seatbelts was a dealbreaker for my -- already fast-beating -- heart.
"Are you comfortable?" Katsuragi's voice rang through some kind of intercom inside the small cylinder.
"Uh...no," my voice came off a lot more confident than I expected it to. I took a deep breath and felt the giant cylinder be lifted off the ground. The creaking metallic sound and the general decrease in weight as I was lifted sent my stomach into the depths of Tartarus. I was lowered with extreme quickness and I heard something spinning, like a screwdriver when it's turned on in its maximum setting.
My darkness turned immediately into light. Screens opened photographically in front of me, showing me a small panel with the EVA's data, and lights slowly went from dim to bright so my eyes had time to adjust. It was a lot more spacious than it felt like a while ago. An orange liquid filled the capsule.
I knew it to be LCL, and I knew I could breathe through it, but my body did not want to believe my mind. My breathing shut down and I held my breath as it reached my nose and covered my body. It had the viscosity of water, maybe slightly thicker which also forced me to shut my eyes.
"The LCL will link you to the EVA, you can freely breathe in it, it's fully oxygenated," Akagi's voice was calm and collected, and would calm down a lot of people, not me. I only stopped holding my breath because I was no Olympic champion. I breathed in and felt the liquid enter my lungs, and not drown me. It was a weird feeling as if it were not really there. It still had a taste though. It tasted and smelled like blood -- probably because it was.
"You know what else can be oxygenated? Water and the result is Hydrogen Peroxide," I shut my mouth and clicked my tongue, tapping it on the roof of my tongue as I got used to the strong taste and smell.
"He's got a sense of humor, he's fine," Akagi told, probably a worried Katsuragi. I grabbed the two handles of the Evangelion. There were triggers, but other than that there was nothing else other than that to hold on to. More odd than that, I felt cursed energy leak out of my body into the liquid surrounding me. It seemed to be somewhat merging with it.
"Set the thought configuration to Japanese." They were already in the last two processes of the EVA start-up and my heart began beating extremely fast. I felt like I would break a world record: the fastest beat per minute rate possible before your heart explodes world record.
"Synchronization rate at 0.3%," a woman said in the communication. "Synchronization is too low." There were only two possible reasons for a low synchronization rate. One of them was a lack of understanding, sympathy, or general connection with the EVA. I was scared this was the case for me since it meant Shinji's mom, Yui, knew I wasn't actually Ikari Shinji, and as such rejected me. The second reason was something so simple, it was stupid.
"Set the thought configuration to English," I said over the communication line while keeping my eyes closed. I hopped to any god of jujutsu out there that it would work.
"It's incredible Synchronization rate is at 57.1%!"
I gave a sigh of relief and disappointment. Relief because it meant Yui would not reject me, which as such meant I would not get instantly killed in the fight against the angels, and disappointment because I thought my synch rate would be much higher thanks to my understanding of Evangelion. I thought it would reach a solid 70%. I wasn't too far off from Shinji's 41%.
The EVA's orange cockpit brightened up and suddenly I saw the exterior as if I were not inside a cockpit full of primordial blood.
"Prepare for launch!" Katsuragi's voice activated a chain reaction which led to the EVA being launched. It must have sped up faster than a bullet train because the G-Force I felt had me screaming like a roller coaster. "... Ikari-kun... are you alright?"
"Sorry... I'm not... the biggest rollercoaster fan out there," I managed to weakly breathe out while clenching the small levers in front of me. "Do I have to do this... every single time?"
"You'll get used to it," Akagi's voice was the least reassuring thing I've ever heard in my two lives. "For now focus on walking."
I heard Katsuragi say something about bridges being ejected, but I wasn't too focused on that. My mind shut down when I saw the giant monster in front of me. My feet felt like they were on the ground -- they were not, but it felt like they were. I could swear I felt the wind brush against my skin despite being inside a closed room with no windows.
The image in front of me felt like it was being seen with my own two eyes.
With a skull in its chest, right above its ribcages poking out, the giant mass of death looked a lot less big than it did before.
Maybe it was because the smaller buildings at the EVA's feet looked like blades of tall grass, and the skyscraper like short trees that came to the EVA's height. My perspective had changed and now I was looking at the Angel eye to eye.
Still, it had an imposing figure and a monstrous silhouette. Akagi told me to focus on walking, but the first thing I did when the EVA was released was raise its fists. I hadn't done it on purpose, it was a subconscious action drilled into me by Tokita.
"Keep your guard up. If there's a monster in front of you don't look away even for a second."
The EVA's movements were slow and felt heavy. No, that'd be incorrect, they weren't slow or heavy. I knew EVAs could move at Mach speeds, they were incredibly powerful, but due to my low synch rate and experience, it didn't move as I intended it to.
Sachiel, the monster, moved first. It ran to me, causing small quakes with each step, and then grabbed my arm. With my low reaction speed and slow movements, it easily dragged my arm away from my body.
More shocking than that I could feel it. It was painfully grasping my arm and pulling it away. I noticed my arm also move alongside the EVA, following its movement. I tried pulling my arm down, but it wouldn't budge.
"Water Kata: Screwcutter Jizo"
The sound of Tokita speaking during the training week came back to me. Memories I had hidden in the subconscious of my brain resurfaced.
"Oh, during the first three days, I'm etching this style into your brain."
I used my other arm and punched the Angel in the face. As my fist neared its white, beaked mask a large hexagonal barrier stopped my hand. It felt like hitting a brick wall. My hand recoiled back in pain. Its A.T. field had been deployed.
"It's got a forcefield! Suggestions needed!" I raised my leg and pushed it against the barrier while it held my arm, using it as a wall. The angel -- not the brightest thing ever -- kept increasing pressure on my arm, but its lack of focus on my legs made it easy to pull my arm off.
"It's deployed it's A.T. field! Use --" Akagi's words fell on deaf ears. The angel grabbed my face with its other arm. I saw a beam of energy strike my eyesocket. The excruciating pain was something I had never felt before. My mind and vision whited out. I was tossed somewhere, but I couldn't feel the impact.
I screamed, but couldn't hear my own voice. I grabbed my eye, what had just been struck, but I couldn't feel anything on my face. I was in so much pain I couldn't perceive things around me. My sight, hearing, and touch were all interrupted.
It was a different kind of pain than when I was with Tokita. Back then, the pain was controlled by him to help me understand when I had to dodge, and when I was supposed to block, it was educational. This was unfiltered and uncaring power thrown at me to cause as much damage as possible.
My vision slowly came back to me.
The EVA and I. There was no difference, we both felt the same. We both stared at the same thing as our vision cleared up. The dark sight of dusk. I had two visions, one was blaring system alerts telling me the EVA's helmet had been damaged, and I also saw through the EVA's eyes.
I had two methods of hearing. I heard Katsuragi speak about pulling me out for my safety and Akagi initiating safety protocol, but I also heard through the EVA, the sounds of the Angel stepping toward me.
Our senses are synchronized entirely.
I got up and raised both my hands. My heart beat like it was an overclocking CPU, and the adrenaline pumping through my veins could be considered doping. Maybe that's why I felt so courageous. After so much pain, I would normally turn away and run, but nearing death, or feeling like I was about to die did something.
It was like a light switch flipped in my brain.
I had clarity. The angel dashed toward me, it grabbed my head and attempted to smash my head with its light attack again. I punched him but was stopped by its A.T. field again. I felt a warm comfort in my chest and a pat on my shoulder, as if the EVA was telling me to leave this part to it. Both my fists were brought to the barrier and grabbed it like it was cloth. With some struggle, it was ripped in half.
Now that the EVA had done its part, it was my turn. I blinked, the lines were so clear. I jabbed its arm, a small line was struck and I felt like part of my energy was drained. The angel didn't have a mouth, nor did it have facial expressions, but when I punched it, I could feel the arrogance coming off it.
THWAP
It was like a wet cloth slapping a huge rock, that's the sound made. The arm of the angel exploded into bits and my head was let go. Before, moving my cursed energy was hard, manipulating it took effort, but now, I must have been in the zone, because it felt as easy as breathing. I opened my fist into a palm and struck its large broad shoulders.
THWAP
Instead of exploding, the angel split into two. The only thing intact was the giant crimson rock in its chest. The angle took the hit like it didn't concern him, it healed so fast it looked like it was never damaged to begin with. The angel tried taking hold of my arms again, I took a step back.
"Seven to Three," I jabbed the inside of its arm while backing away. My knuckles slid on its forearm until it found the two possible ratios of Seven to Three.
The arm exploded out of the Angel's shoulder and then exploded again.
I grabbed the other arm, taking a step forward this time, I turned, kicked its legs, and used all of my strength to throw it to the ground before putting my knee on its mask.
"Use the enemy's flow of power against them. Weeping Willow, remember it. Scrawny people like you get the most use of it. Bulk up and we'll talk adamantine." Tokita's words rang in my mind.
The angel grabbed my legs and tried using its laser beam to attack them, but it was already over. The line on top of the crimson sphere was set. "Next time, try not to have your Majora's Mask Remake weak spot in your chest!" I chopped the crimson orb in half.
The Angel below me convulsed, shaking before it exploded in a bloodbath that overtook the buildings surrounding the area like a dam being broken near a forest, it flooded everything in sight.
