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Description[]

Neon Genesis Evangelion VS Akira!!

Living in a future world, abandoned by their parents, these two teenagers are gifted with powers, by science, beyond their control! Forced out of their shells, these two rise up to decide the fate of humanity, whether they like it or not! But which one of the two would come out on top?!

(FULL SPOILERS FOR BOTH NEON GENESIS EVANGELION AND AKIRA ARE BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.)

Interlude[]

Cues: Invader (Theme of DEATH BATTLE!)

Wiz: Science. A profession - that I myself - take great part in. However, as much as I hate to admit it, there are those of us who are steered down the wrong path.

Boomstick: And these two boys are basically what would happen if those scientists said: “Fuck it! Give this shit to teenagers! Hope the end of the world doesn't happen!”

Wiz: Shinji Ikari, the Third Child from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Shinji Intro (Sharaku)

Boomstick: And Tetsuo Shima, the psychic-powered teenager from Akira! He’s Wiz and I’m Boomstick!

Tetsuo Intro (Sharaku)

Wiz: And it’s our job to analyze their weapons, armor and skills to find out who would win… a DEATH BATTLE!

Sharaku's Notes:

Be prepared for utter confusion on Shinji's section. Neon Genesis Evangelion must be seen to be believed. I'll mainly be sticking to the original series, and not Rebuild or ANIMA. This means I will not include their weaponry and obviously feats from those series, due to them being completely different continuities. I'll use the original series and nothing more.

Tetsuo's section is a combination of the anime and manga. Both are technically the original version of the story, as they were both written by Katsuhiro Otomo. Manga Tetsuo and Anime Tetsuo ultimately don't contradict each other in levels of power or character at their highest.

Shinji Ikari Must Not Run Away from a DEATH BATTLE![]

ShinjiDB (Sharaku)

(Cues: Marking Time, Waiting for Death - Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)

Wiz: The year is 2000. A massive cataclysmic event known as the Second Impact rocks the Earth, destroying Antarctica and flooding the oceans, as well as knocking the entire planet off of its own axis.

Boomstick: Wow, we’re off to a great start already. Anyways, a year later, on June 6th, 2001, a boy named Shinji Ikari would be born to his parents Gendo and Yui, who may or may not have had a hand in Second Impact happening due to some freaky alien shenanigans. Yikes.

Wiz: When Shinji was only three years old, his mother mysteriously died, and Shinji was abandoned by Gendo at a train station, and he was sent off to live with a tutor for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, this ended up potentially being one of the catalysts for Shinji’s passive, and even sad nature as he grew up.

Boomstick: THAT SON OF A BITCH!

Shinji Section 1 (Sharaku)

Wiz: Shinji lived for 11 long years with his tutor. Admittedly, not much is known about his time with him. Eventually, after Shinji had turned 14, he was finally called back to Tokyo-3 by his own father.

Boomstick: Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, maybe Gendo decided to get over himself and wanted his son back. Maybe he realized that sending him away and only seeing him at his mom’s grave wasn’t the right thing to do.” … No. He didn’t think that. Wiz, please tell me there’s some non-depressing stuff somewhere in this?

Wiz: Ehhh… Anyways, Shinji was sent back to Tokyo-3 for a very important reason. As predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls, soon, alien beings designated as Angels would arrive on Earth and attempt to end all humanity on it. Obviously, that wasn’t good. But the organization that Shinji’s father had been the commander of for some time now, NERV, had been preparing for this day for years.

Boomstick: Like any good secret government organization, in order to combat the threat of aliens nuking the world, they built massive robots in order to fight them! The Evangelion Units!

Wiz: Well, they aren’t technically robots, but organic clones of the First Angel, Adam, that have been heavily enhanced by technology. Anyways, after the Third Angel started attacking Tokyo-3, Shinji was brought into NERV headquarters by Misato Katsuragi, who’d pretty much become his guardian. There, he found out that he would be the one piloting Evangelion Unit-01 against the Angel.

Boomstick: He reacted, well, let’s be real, like any kid would. He was fucking terrified. Hey, man, I don’t blame him. I mean, I wouldn’t jump into a big weapon of mass destruction if my father told me to… wait, no, I definitely would. That sounds awesome.

Wiz: However, after seeing the extensive injuries of the other female pilot, Rei, Shinji offered to be the pilot for Evangelion Unit-01, and remained so throughout the rest of the series. Shinji would go on to pilot Evangelion Unit-01 alongside the likes of Rei Ayanami, pilot of Evangelion Unit-00, and Asuka Langley Sohryu, pilot of Evangelion Unit-02-

Boomstick: Love interest! Love interest! Love interest!

Wiz: Uh, right. Anyways, Shinji remains the loyal pilot of Unit-01. Admittedly, he did try to run away a few times, but honestly both times were pretty justified. And yet, time and time again, Shinji will always return to pilot the Evangelion.

(Cues: NERV - Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)

Shinji Section 2 (Sharaku)

Boomstick: The Evangelion Unit is a beast! While its size usually varies, the average is usually around 250 feet tall, and clocking in at 60,000 tons. It’s way bigger than your usual gigantic anime robot. But that merely adds to the sheer badassery of it. I mean, just look at it! It looks so cool!

Wiz: The Evangelion is a fighting machine, and directly connects to its pilot with the use of A2 Neural Clips on their head. Evangelion pilots have to be in sync with the mech itself, in order to even move it. This becomes a double-edged blade, as the higher their synchronization ratio is with the Evangelion, the faster and stronger they become, as well as how easily they can move around. At the same time, however, they will also feel more of the pain sustained by the Evangelion the higher it goes. At normal sync ratios, the pilots don’t actually suffer the injuries that the Evangelion suffers. However, if a pilot’s sync ratio is abnormally high, they will sustain the exact same injuries as the Evangelion, as seen during the events of End of Evangelion.

Boomstick: Evangelions have exceptional regeneration, being able to grow entire limbs back even after they’ve been severed or completely destroyed. Usually, it takes a good while, but at high sync ratios, they regenerate really damn fast. The Evangelion can also produce something called an A.T. Field, which is an orange field that protects Shinji from attacks. However, anything stronger than the Evangelion and Shinji’s own durability will be enough to break through it.

Wiz: Standing for “Absolute Terror Field” - inviting, I know - the A.T. Field is supposedly created from the light of the Evangelion Unit’s own soul… which we’ll get to in a bit.

(Cues: Evangelion Unit-01 - Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)

Boomstick: The Evangelion is pretty good in hand-to-hand combat, but it is supplied with a variety of special weapons perfect for killing Angels, or sometimes, unmanned mechs.

Wiz: The Progressive Knife is a massive Bowie knife that vibrates at a high frequency, so much so that it can even cut on a molecular level. With it, Shinji can easily tear through almost anything that tries to attack him.

Boomstick: The Pallet Rifle is the standard long-ranged weapon that Shinji uses. It fires large bullets made out of depleted uranium, which not only harms the opponent, but can give them some sick radiation poisoning. Well, I don’t think that’s ever happened… but it should! Or maybe not, that’d be kinda gross to see in animation.

Wiz: The Evangelion has a variety of other weapons as well. It can use a Handgun, seemingly based off of a Desert Eagle Mark XIX. The Positron Rifle is a long-range shoulder mounted gun that can fire shots all the way up into low orbit, but the intensity of the shots do decrease after a certain distance.

Boomstick: The Sonic Glaive is my personal favorite. It’s pretty much a long spear-like weapon that will slice through almost any material, due to it using the same kind of technology as the Progressive Knife.

Wiz: But these all pale in comparison to the most powerful weapon Shinji has access to, the Spear of Longinus, sometimes called the Lance of Longinus.

Boomstick: Yeah, you know how the rest of Shinji’s weaponry in the Eva is pretty damn big? Well this thing is massive, and I mean it. This thing came from space, and was supposedly made by the First Ancestral Race, which are basically alien life-makers who go to planets and, well, make life. Incidentally, Adam, the being that all Evangelions are cloned from, had the very same Spear that was used by NERV.

Wiz: The Spear of Longinus is immensely powerful, able to tear through A.T. Fields with ease. It was used to restrain Lilith, the Second Angel that also came from the First Ancestral Race. It can even be tossed into outer space and still retains enough power to destroy Angels.

Boomstick: Man, Evangelions must rock at baseball. Wait, don’t tell me that they actually did that-

EVA-x-NPB-TOP

Evangelion Merchandise moment

Boomstick: GODDAMN IT! Why the hell does Evangelion have so much merchandise? And a lot of it is hella weird, too!

Wiz: Well, as a famous man once said… “We’ve got to have… money!”

Boomstick: Damn Gainax. Well, we can safely say that Shinji’s got a hell of a lot of weapons to choose from anytime he throws down. But we haven’t talked about some of the best parts in Shinji’s arsenal, and it’s the shit that comes directly from within the Evangelion itself.

(Cues: The Beast/Berserk Unit-01’s Theme - Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)

Wiz: After an… incident with Zeurel, the Fourteenth Angel, Eva Unit-01 now houses an S2 Engine, standing for Super Solenoid. Before, the Evangelion had to be connected to an Umbilical Cable at all times, otherwise it would only have a few minutes of power to move around. This organ-like object gives Shinji a limitless supply of energy while the Evangelion enters… its Berserk state.

Boomstick: Perfect segway! The Berserk State is exactly what it sounds like. The soul within the Evangelion goes fucking nuts, and kills pretty much anything that stands in its way in order to protect Shinji, boosting its strength, speed and regeneration. Now. You may be wondering exactly why Unit-01 goes berserk. Well, uh, remember how Shinji’s mom mysteriously died? Well, when Shinji was three, his mom performed what was called a “contact experiment” with the Evangelion… and uh, yeah, she got completely absorbed into it. Now, her soul lies within Unit-01, ready to fight alongside Shinji. Man, that’s just… kind of cool and poetic… but also really damn sad.

Wiz: Indeed. Sometimes what we’ve been looking for our entire lives were right under our noses. But that isn’t the final piece in Shinji’s arsenal. Once the Evangelion kicks into overdrive and elevates itself to its full power, it enters the God Evangelion state. In this state of being, Shinji’s senses heighten as his sync ratio increases with Unit-01, and he gains massive orange Wings of Light, allowing him to fly. And, as comes with any anime transformation, Shinji gets a massive power boost - and presumably speed boost - from it.

Boomstick: Shinji also gets an Anti-A.T. Field in this form, which is used to break down other A.T. Fields. It can pretty much erode almost anything in its path, and in this state, he should pretty much be stronger than all of the other Angels that came before.

Wiz: Speaking of which, it’s really no surprise that in a series like Evangelion, Shinji is prone to achieving incredibly powerful feats of strength, speed and the like.

(Cues: Angel Attack - Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)

Shinji Section 3 (Sharaku)

Boomstick: Shinji’s been responsible for the direct deaths of several Angels. One in particular, Israfael, decided to fucking nuke themselves, and created a massive explosion, worth around 112 megatons of TNT, enough to destroy a mountain!

Wiz: Since Shinji can harm Angels that have caused damage to him in the past, Shinji should thus scale to this level of strength. Shinji also scales through to Asuka and Evangelion Unit-02, due to them basically being equals in their Evas. Asuka previously reacted to an exact replica to the Spear of Longinus, which was able to move from orbit within seconds. Given the distance from the Moon to the Earth, and the amount of time that passed, it can be determined that the Spear was moving at around 18% the speed of light.

Shinji Snippet (Sharaku)

Wiz: However, the most notable of Shinji’s feats come from End of Evangelion, where he unlocks the God Eva form and, alongside the help of Rei, who had merged with Lilith, initiated a Third Impact, where all human souls were turned into LCL and combined into one massive being, known as Human Instrumentality. This would be a state of being where every human’s minds would be interconnected and live in a paradise unlike any other.

Boomstick: Yeah, uh… Shinji during End of Evangelion kinda… does away with the entire human race. Now, uh, we aren’t excusing the mass murder of all life, but to be incredibly fair, Shinji was pretty much a walking pile of depression at this point. He had to kill his new friend, who turned out to be an Angel, Asuka pretty much turned away from him completely, and uh, Shinji did something in a hospital room that I’m not exactly comfortable with explaining. The poor bastard really, and I mean REALLY wasn’t in the right state of mind.

Wiz: While in the God Eva state, Shinji and the Evangelion uncovered the Black Moon - a massive planetoid embedded within the Earth - with their Anti-A.T. Field. Considering the size of the Black Moon in reference to the Earth, as well as accounting for the spherical shape, the Anti-A.T. Field would be generating 1.96 teratons of TNT in order to fully uncover it, enough to level a small country.

Boomstick: But easily, Shinji’s strongest feats come from him scaling to the massive Lilith-Rei thing. The Evangelion and Shinji directly scale to Lilith-Rei due to, well, him literally killing her after he rejects Human Instrumentality.

Wiz: Just Lilith-Rei’s sheer size is enough to encompass much of Earth. Even the kinetic energy of her spreading all of her wings at once is around 2407 exatons of TNT, enough to eradicate a small planet. And, by proxy, Shinji gaining the S2 Engine in addition to having the Spear of Longinus would put him at least equal to or above Adam, who upon initiating Second Impact, wiped out Antartica, generating 18 pentatons in power output.

(Cues: Rei II - Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)

Boomstick: Some pretty powerful stuff, eh? Well, as strong as that is, Shinji isn’t without glaring faults. The guy regularly avoids major conflict and usually is forced into battle. Sometimes he has an incredibly hard time controlling or confronting his own emotions, leaving them bottled up until they eventually explode and violently break free. And sometimes, he simply chooses to completely shut out the world around him.

Wiz: In regards to the Evangelion itself, Unit-01 usually has to be plugged into an Umbilical Cord, otherwise it’ll lose power within minutes. Of course, once Shinji gained the S2 Engine, this no longer became too much of a problem. And, while the Evangelion is in its Berserk state, it is immensely animalistic and uncontrollable, often destroying the environment around it just to tear apart whatever gets in its way.

Boomstick: And yet, after Shinji faced his own actions in his paradise, he realized that he’d been completely wrong to wipe away all humanity. He decided that, even if humanity did hate him, at least it would be real and not some illusion. So, he allowed humanity to bring themselves back, but only if they wanted to.

Wiz: After awakening on a beach, next to Asuka, they look out on an empty world devoid of humans in a sea of LCL. While it may seem bleak, humanity has a strong will, and there’s hardly any doubt that they will rise up again. And who knows? After their shared experiences, perhaps the young, timid Shinji and the fiery Asuka will be able to work something out between themselves?

Boomstick: Man, that was an emotional rollercoaster.

Wiz: Yeah, uh… it really was. But overall, Shinji has more than proved himself as the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01.

“Don't run away... don't run away... I MUSN'T RUN AWAY!!”

Tetsuo Shima E.X.P.L.O.D.E.S into DEATH BATTLE![]

TetsuoDB (Sharaku)

(Cues: Requiem - Akira OST)

Wiz: On July 16th, 1988… Tokyo exploded. Nearly immediately afterwards, World War III began, causing devastation across the Earth.

Boomstick: Well, that’s certainly one hell of a way to start a story. This massive explosion was caused by a young boy named Akira. See, the Japanese government was experimenting on kids in order to reach the next stage of human evolution. Apparently, that meant juicing up their brains with salt water solutions in order to get them psychic powers.

Wiz: One of these children, officially called the Espers, Akira, fully gave in to what was known as “The Power” and let loose. As a result, not only did his personality completely disappear, but he ended up causing said massive explosion, destroying much of Tokyo.

Boomstick: So, the government did their usual thing and covered it up. According to them, it was just a bomb. HARD CUT to 31 years later, in the year 2019. Neo-Tokyo, as it’s called now, is… uh, well it’s not the best place to live, but it’s probably better than where I live. I gotta deal with those damn mutated squirrels all the time.

Wiz: In this sprawling, dirty metropolis, biker gangs roam the streets. One of these gangs is the group of young boys known as the Capsules. The Capsules were, let’s be real, delinquents. They regularly fought against rival gangs in the streets of Neo-Tokyo.

Boomstick: And two of the boys within the gang would end up deciding the fate of the world. One directly, one very indirectly. Shotaro Kaneda… and Tetsuo Shima.

(Cues: Exodus from the Underground Fortress - Akira OST)

Tetsuo Section 1 (Sharaku)

Wiz: Tetsuo Shima was abandoned by his parents when he was incredibly young, and was hardly able to remember them at all in his later years. The young boy was sent to live in a bit of a pseudo-orphanage. There, he was bullied by a lot of kids there, but he continued to persevere, mostly because he had the support of his now longtime friend, Shotaro Kaneda.

Boomstick: Even as they grew up, Kaneda and Tetsuo remained good friends. Kaneda ended up getting Tetsuo into motorcycles, and they, along with a few others, ended up forming the Capsules. However, slowly but surely, a bit of an inferiority complex came from Tetsuo, as he always needed help from Kaneda any time he got himself into trouble.

Wiz: One night, the gang was driving along the outskirts of Neo-Tokyo, close to where the bomb originally fell. Tetsuo… got a bit too carried away, and he ended up riding his motorbike incredibly close to a young boy named Takashi, who was walking in the middle of the street. This boy, incidentally, was one of the children that were experimented on by the government, and had escaped.

Boomstick: Aaaand once Tetsuo got really close to crashing into Takashi on his bike, Takashi pretty much blew it up with his telekinesis. This psychic contact not only really hurt Tetsuo, but the shock inadvertently granted him his own psychic powers.

Wiz: Tetsuo was brought in by the government and tests were run on him. As it turned out, his abilities were developing at an incredible rate. Tetsuo showcased incredible potential, enough to rival even the likes of Akira, according to the scientists. Now, this is where the anime and manga differ. While both have Tetsuo escaping the government facility due to the intervention of Kaneda and his friend Kei - a member of the resistance against the Japanese government - , as well as the unleashing of Tetsuo’s psychic powers, it ends up a bit different in both versions.

Boomstick: Regardless of whether he’s becoming the prime minister of a ruined Tokyo, or is just dishing out some good old fashioned destruction, Tetsuo’s always got the same psychic abilities.

(Cues: Doll's Polyphony - Akira OST)

Tetsuo Section 2 (Sharaku)

Wiz: Tetsuo developed a wide array of psychic-based abilities while regularly fighting against whatever gets in his way of finding out what Akira is. He’s developed telepathic abilities, allowing him to read the minds of people he comes across.

Boomstick: Tetsuo’s also got some sick telekinesis, allowing him to stop tank rounds, toss massive structures around, can blow people up from the inside Mortal Kombat-style, and if he concentrates enough, he can create psychic energy bursts that can demolish buildings in seconds.

Wiz: Tetsuo also has a limited form of clairvoyance, allowing him to see brief glimpses into the future. Also, he can fly and breathe in space, as well as having complete immunity to bioweapons.

Boomstick: Tetsuo’s also got some sick forcefields. With these, he’s blocked lasers, attacks from other psychics and he’s even survived massive blasts from an orbiting laser cannon called SOL. He can teleport long distances as well, which is useful for scaring the shit outta people.

Wiz: Tetsuo also has a degree of control over gravity, able to crush objects or even people within themselves with ease. He can also teleport, and can temporarily become intangible to phase through objects. He can also regenerate wounds, and even entire limbs at the heights of his psychic powers.

Boomstick: Normally, this would be all, but after Tetsuo lost his arm in a laser attack and got a metal one, Tetsuo kinda slowly began to head on a downward spiral. As his psychic powers grew, the worse his physical and mental state became.

Wiz: As a result, he kinda merged with the technology in his metal arm and during the manga, he was able to corrupt, absorb, and affect pretty much any technology he came into contact with, even with highly complex data systems like an American aircraft carrier vessel. He could even expel foreign things that got into his body in an admittedly really gross way. But when he loses complete control over his powers, Tetsuo morphs into a massive, disgusting pile of flesh in the shape of a baby. Dwarfing a section of an Olympic stadium, Tetsuo will absorb practically anything that comes into contact with him in this form.

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I think I might be sick...

Boomstick: I don’t think I’m sleeping tonight. Or eating, for that matter.

Wiz: Me neither. In this…eugh… “form”... Tetsuo can hardly control his own abilities, and his psychic level continues to rise and rise, eventually reaching the levels of Akira himself. It’s also immensely painful for Tetsuo, as he feels all of whatever’s happening with his body.

Boomstick: Still, him reaching Akira levels of strength in that form is damn impressive, even if it is for a massive gross blob of flesh. Speaking of which, Tetsuo is no slouch in combat at all. He’s done some pretty great feats of strength, speed and the like.

(Cues: Tetsuo - Akira OST)

Tetsuo Section 3 (Sharaku)

Wiz: After Tetsuo pretty much just got his psychic powers, Tetsuo was able to solidly overpower and incapacitate the three Espers, Takashi, Masaru and Kiyoko, psychic children that had way more experience than him with psychic abilities. This only further improved, as Tetsuo soon began to be able to blow apart building sized structures with ease.

Boomstick: Tetsuo, while fighting the army, as well as eventually Kaneda, was consistently and casually able to dodge and react to real lasers. Damn, the army’s fuckin’ packing some real heat. Well, I guess it is the future, after all.

Wiz: We can be sure that these are indeed, real lasers, as they fire in straight lines, burn on contact instead of exploding, and are technology based. Plus, they’re directly referred to as beams of light, all pointing towards the fact that they are real.

Boomstick: Pretty cool, huh? Well, at a later point in the manga, Tetsuo, in order to show an awesome display of his power, did something completely badass. The scene incidentally has two feats within it, so let’s break it down.

Wiz: First, Tetsuo jumped to the Moon. Yeah, really. We can confirm that it was him jumping and not teleporting, due to the fact that the floorboards underneath where Tetsuo was standing were broken from the impact, presumably of him jumping incredibly high. Obviously, this is an incredibly quick feat, but it has a bit of a difficult time frame, due to it being in manga form. However, we can assume that it didn’t take long for Tetsuo to reach the moon, not only due to how little pages in the manga it takes for it to show him at the moon - there were around four - and due to the fact that his followers in the Olympic Stadium, didn’t grow restless while waiting.

Boomstick: With this in mind, we gathered differing ends for how long it took Tetsuo to reach the Moon, ranging from ten seconds to three. Generally, the average for Tetsuo’s moon hopping was around 26% percent the speed of light. Damn impressive!

Tetsuo Snippet (Sharaku)

Wiz: This only covers one part of the scene, however. The second feat is much easier to cover.

Boomstick: So basically, Tetsuo, using a bunch of his psychic power at once, decides to just blow a massive hole in the Moon! Ho-holy shit, things just got real!

Wiz: As expected, this has big ramifications on the tides of Earth. Regardless, in order to cause said massive crater in the moon, Tetsuo must have exerted a psychic burst worth around 9.8 pentatons of TNT, enough to eradicate multiple continents!

Boomstick: But this ain’t even close to Tetsuo’s full power. While Tetsuo was approaching Akira’s level of strength, Lady Miyako, a psychic herself, stated that if Tetsuo continued to grow in power, the Earth itself would not be able to contain his power. This is consistent throughout translations, too. However, this is, quite literally, nothing compared to Tetsuo’s final feat of power.

Wiz: Tetsuo had essentially become a shell of his former self, mutating and had gone completely out of control. However, thanks to the intervention of Akira, Tetsuo performed two similar, yet different feats in both the anime and manga.

Boomstick: In the manga’s final act, Tetsuo ends up creating a singularity that is compared to a big bang, with one scientist even stating it's pretty much a new universe being born.

Wiz: In the anime, however, after getting transported into a void by Akira, at his absolute peak of power, Tetsuo just straight up creates a new universe.

Boomstick: Doesn’t get any more blatant than that.

Wiz: Do keep in mind that this is Tetsuo at the absolute height of his power. It takes a very large amount of time for him to be able to reach such levels normally. And, Tetsuo definitely isn’t without his share of flaws, either.

Boomstick: Tetsuo’s kind of an arrogant dickhead. When he got his powers, it all kinda went to his head. Due to the psychic power messing with his head, he’s also become pretty short tempered.

Wiz: Tetsuo also has a hard time controlling his psychic powers at high levels of stress. If he mutates and gets out of control, it only gets worse for him. It’s also worth noting that while he is in his mutated form, he is much more susceptible to lasers. If he doesn’t keep his powers under control, Tetsuo could potentially go berserk, being nearly unable to do anything about it until he can mentally regain control.

Boomstick: But still, in the end, Tetsuo realized he had fucked up severely. He knew that he did horrible things, and that he probably wouldn’t ever be able to make up for them. But he also knew that he could at the very least try to. So, off he went with Akira and the rest of the Espers into the new universe, where Tetsuo would start anew.

Wiz: Indeed. Despite the physical and psychological torment, Tetsuo realized that even if he may never become a better person, he knew that he would try to be better. He knew that he would always be one thing, and one thing only.

“I am… Tetsuo…”

Pre-Battle[]

Fight![]

Chapter 1: Genesis[]

On December 6th, 1992, at 2:17 PM, a massive explosion caused by a new type of nuclear bomb tore through Japan’s major metropolitan areas. Hundreds of thousands of people died in the blast. Thanks to the investigations of the government, it was uncovered that the explosion was caused by a group of war criminals and extremists, who also lost their lives.

Approximately nine hours later, World War III began, roping in over eighteen cities into the war. New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Hamburg, and even Japan’s own Okinawa all fought in the conflict across several different countries. The war was notable for being unprecedented, as it was the most devastating war in recorded history. About 10% of the world’s entire population was wiped out-

Shinji’s eyes darted back and forth between the two paragraphs, the phrases burning themselves into his retinas. He made no further progress, reading the same words over and over. Not intentionally, no. He wasn’t even sure why he was continuing to read. He had already seen these exact topics before when his tutor taught him before he came back to Tokyo. Everybody in the country knew about it, if not everyone in the world. Shinji thought that the start of an entire World War was a big enough thing for everybody to know at this point.

But the lines kept repeating, over and over. 10% dead. Total devastation. They repeated and repeated and repeated. December 6th. Hundreds of thousands of lives, gone in an instant. Tokyo wrecked. Terrorist cell. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It really felt like he was doing a lot of repetition these days.

The textbook made a quiet slamming noise as Shinji closed it shut. The brown-haired boy silently sighed as he lifted his head from the massive volume of modern history. The low hum of Shinji’s laptop, which was lying open on his desk, continued as his eyes drifted around the quiet classroom. Today had a self-study period, as the teacher was absent for some unknown reason to the students. It was typical by this point. The desks in the class were half-filled, with students quietly reading, sleeping, or typing something on their computers.

Turning his head slightly, Shinji looked back. Toji was fast asleep, and Shinji could hear him snoring lightly. No surprise. Hikari looked as if she was studying hard, taking down notes in her journal while flipping through the pages of a textbook rapidly as reference. Also, quite unsurprising. To the left of Shinji, Kensuke typed away on his laptop. Shinji couldn’t make out what was being reflected off of the lens of his glasses, but knowing him, it was probably something to do with the military and technology and whatnot. He turned back and began to recall something that his friend told him. He had previously asked Kensuke if he wanted to join the military as a soldier, to which he gave a rather mixed and vague response.

“You know, I have thought about it for a long time. Heh, I mean you saw it yourself; all those war simulations I do out in the mountains. And I’m still interested in a lot of the technology! That sort of thing is really cool to me. But… I dunno. I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth it in the end.”

Shinji flashed back to the day when he stopped the Fourth Angel, with Toji and Kensuke in his Entry Plug. They had wandered too close to the battleground, and Shinji had to make the save with the Evangelion. The boy still remembered the scream he let out when he ruptured the Angel’s core. He could still feel the grip of the Entry Plug’s controls as his hands clenched their grips. Or maybe that was just him being so used to how they feel after spending hours in there on end. At the very least, that experience helped him grow closer with those two, and gave him two people he could trust and call friends, of which he had none before coming to Tokyo, even while he was living with his tutor for so many years. Then again, maybe that experience was the reasoning for Kensuke’s vague answer. Shinji didn’t blame him, really, but he couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible.

Shinji turned around again. Like every other day, Rei kept a neutral expression on her face, gazing out the window. Shinji thought he had a somewhat decent understanding of Rei. She was always alone, but that didn’t really seem to bother her too much. To Shinji, Rei radiated an aura of loneliness and mystery - especially with the massive amounts of injuries she regularly received for some unknown reason - but one that… strangely enough, seemed self-imposed, if that made any sense. Which… Shinji could comprehend... unlike...

Shinji turned to his right. Just behind him, he saw… her.

Asuka.

Unlike how Shinji thought he had, at the least, somewhat of an understanding of Rei, he had no idea how the hell Asuka… well, functioned, for lack of a better term. Whenever she said anything to him, she’d either be as direct as possible or say something that could be interpreted in a myriad of different ways. It screwed with his brain. Problem was, asking her what she meant was utterly terrifying. Her glare felt as cold as the LCL-filled Entry Plugs when he was wearing his Plugsuit.

Shinji realized, all too late, that he was inadvertently staring back at Asuka for far too long. The redhead’s eyes shifted from her shredded notebook to Shinji. At that moment, eye contact was made between the two of them, and immediately, Shinji stopped moving, the pupils in his eyes quickly shrinking to the size of pins.

Oh, shoot.

Shinji turned around quickly, suddenly becoming very interested in the cover of his closed history book. He couldn’t see it, but behind him, Asuka smirked. Shinji flipped open the textbook again, trying - and failing - to look as inconspicuous as possible. He tried to find the pages he had been on. No luck. He could feel the stare of Asuka burning into the back of his skull. The silence within the classroom, which before was somewhat comforting to Shinji, now felt immensely oppressive, almost as if it was crushing him.

It had been only a few minutes when Shinji’s computer buzzed and received a notification. He looked up from his book, which he had pretended to look at, to check the screen of his laptop. A new message… from… A_Sohryu. His hands hovered over the mousepad, shaking slightly. Steeling his nerves, he opened it, preparing for whatever unpredictable message that Asuka had sent him.

Third,

Remember to remind Wondergirl after class that we’ve got a Sync Test. I sure as hell ain’t going to talk to her, so you do it. Don’t be late, otherwise Misato and Akagi’ll do their whole song and dance again. It'll wear on my nerves. Also: what the hell were you staring at? Don’t even try that again!

Anyways, don’t forget.

~Asuka

Okay, less terrifying than he had expected. Shinji hoped that her statement was an empty threat, yet he could never be sure with Asuka. The boy read the message several times over, thinking about the second line. Why didn’t Asuka want to talk to Rei? Was it because of Rei herself? Or did it have to do with Asuka’s… nature? He put those questions to the side for later. It was probably better to ask her when she wasn’t threatening him.

An hour or so crawled by, and the hard ring of the metal bell finally passed through the building. Students completely flooded the hallways as they rushed out of the school, finally free from their classrooms - or their prisons, depending on who you asked. Viewing the deluge of students filling the student courtyard outside, Shinji gathered his things from his desk calmly. He still had another hour before the Sync Test was supposed to start, and there wasn’t any real rush. Looking around, it looked as if Rei did not share a similar mentality, as she was already ready to leave. Stuffing his books and laptop into his backpack, he approached the blue-haired girl, who was making her way towards the door. She had passed in front of Shinji when he called over to her.“Ayanami,” Shinji called. “Uh, we have a Sync Test in about an hour. Please don’t be late.”

Rei, her back turned to Shinji, tilted her head and looked back towards her fellow pilot silently. If Shinji didn’t know any better, he could have sworn that Rei’s red eyes were shining, though maybe that was just sunlight reflecting off of them. Fully turning around, Rei spoke for the first time that day. Just like every time Rei spoke, it was straight and to the point.

“I am aware. I will not be late.”

She turned back around, and continued to make her way towards the door. But before she moved outside, she hesitated.

“It was unnecessary, but I appreciate your concern, Ikari.”

She didn’t look back once as she left the room. Giving a slight smile, Shinji looked out the classroom’s window, which faced the student courtyard at the front of the school. When he first met Rei, she showed almost no signs of emotion - one who was indifferent to anything that befell her. So it was nice to see her show a bit of visible concern now and then.

Something caught Shinji’s eye. In the courtyard of the school, a red-haired girl blazed through the crowd of students in a rush to leave. Asuka was running, and fast, despite that the Sync Test was in an hour. An idea occurred to Shinji. One he was actually confident in. Making his own dash out of the classroom, he ran through the now-less crowded halls of the school. In his haste, he accidentally bumped into Toji and Kensuke, who had already begun to take leave.

“Hey Shin-man!” Toji shouted. “Where are you going in such a rush?!”

“Sorry about that!" Shinji called back. Running as fast as he could, Shinji eventually faded away into the crowd as he ran towards the school's main entrance, his footsteps becoming quieter. The two friends that remained looked on as he continued his run outside.

"That guy's gonna crash into the wrong person one of these days," remarked Toji, shaking his head as Shinji fully disappeared from sight. Making his way outside, Shinji strained his eyes and saw Asuka in the distance, at the main gate of the school. Sprinting faster, he wove his way through other students, doing as best he could to not bump into other students. Finally catching up, he found himself doubled over right beside Asuka, breathing hard and working up a sweat. The girl, now aware of his presence, looked down at him with mild contempt.

"How come you were running so hard?" asked Asuka, giving a mildly confused expression. "We've got an hour left before the Sync Test starts."

"Yeah well… I figured that I wouldn't be late if I went with you…" said Shinji. "Right?"

Asuka’s face was unreadable to Shinji, who was silently calculating his chances of survival. Silently turning her head away, her face softened. Internally, Shinji felt a sense of relief wash over him. He got lucky.

"Yeah, I guess that's a smart idea. Good job, Third. You managed to show some intelligence. If you're coming with me, at least you won't goof off with the stooges," Asuka responded.

"I've… never done that before a Sync Test, and I don't plan on doing that. Why were you running anyway, if there wasn't any rush?" Shinji questioned, now having caught his breath after his sprint.

"I ran out 'cause I wanted to get outta here,” replied the girl, who had begun to walk outside the gates. “Gets too stuffy in there for my liking. Besides, school's supposed to teach you stuff, not bore you to death. I’ve been here for almost two months now, and I haven’t learned anything.”

Almost as if to prove her point, Asuka then began to walk away from the school and down the street, Shinji trailing right behind her. Mostly devoid of other people, Shinji and Asuka were almost alone. The sun was beginning to creep lower, and the air was clear. Both had paced their way towards the crosswalk and were waiting for the light to turn on.

“I’m sure you’ve learned something,” said Shinji, who had now fully caught up and was standing beside Asuka, albeit cautiously. Sudden movements were dangerous around someone like her. “I mean, a month is a decent while, right? There’s probably been something that you haven’t seen or heard about.”

The crosswalk’s light flashed a bold green, signifying that the pedestrians should cross. As they did, they continued to speak.

“Come on, Third,” replied Asuka. “Have you ever noticed that you see the same stuff every year? How they teach the same stuff we’ve already learned ages ago? It’s either that or basic things that anyone would know.”

Shinji fell silent for a moment, as she wasn’t wrong at all in that regard. Now having crossed the street, both took a few more paces down the sidewalk before the boy spoke up again.

“Yeah I… guess that’s fair,” Shinji finally spoke. “But, there’s always something that’s nice about school. Like, I dunno, friends. I mean, I see you hanging with a bunch of people during lunchtime. Big crowds and everything.”

It was Asuka’s turn to fall silent momentarily.

“A lot of those people… aren’t exactly my friends,” she muttered quietly. “A lot of the people who I sit with at lunch are people I don’t really know. Hikari is the exception; she’s pretty cool. But the rest… I don’t know. I don’t consider them my friends. They just go along with whatever I say, and I hate that. People who can’t think for themselves and just… exist… Those are the people I wanna get away from.”

“I… see…” Shinji said, slowly taking in her words. He wasn’t expecting Asuka to be honest with him. It was a little jarring. “But I mean, you at least have one good friend, right? That’s good. But… if you don’t mind me asking, what do you consider a friend, anyways?”

Asuka considered it for a moment, her expression changing a little. It was a question that she was legitimately interested in. Shinji had struck something.

“I’ve never really thought about that. I’d say the best way to explain it is… I think a friend should be someone who’s like me in some regard. Someone who’s just as good. Hikari’s my friend ‘cause she’s damn smart. Well, that, and just being generally nice to be around. So yeah, I guess that’s it. I dunno how else I would describe it… Hmph! I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this, Third!”

Shinji considered this for a moment. He was about to pose another question to Asuka when an unexpected flash of light distracted him, momentarily blinding him. The two Evangelion pilots looked around, and noticed that it wasn’t just one light that had turned on, but every light on the street. The shops turned on their signs and the street lamps turned on as well, illuminating the dark corners of the avenues. Shinji and Asuka both knew that the streets lighting up all across Tokyo was a sign that it was beginning to get late. Silently coming to an agreement, the two began to walk faster..

Shinji remained silent. The question he had wanted to ask had faded into the back of his mind. He figured he’d have plenty of time to ask it later on. For now, he was just trying to get to the Sync Test on time. As Shinji ran along Asuka through the streets of a new Tokyo, now partly illuminated by harsh neon lights, he couldn’t help but shift his view. In the far distance, across the landscape, there was a large, barren area with a massive crater, nearly large enough to fit an entire city within it. Because at some point in the past, it did.

While Shinji continued to run, he almost wanted to veer himself over and run all the way over to the crater in the far, far distance. He knew that was impossible, but for some reason, he felt… almost drawn to the place, even though the area was essentially the beginnings of a world-wide massacre. It was a strange feeling.

But Shinji’s train of thought slid to a halt, yet again. It was starting to irritate him. This time, however, it was due to the screech of rubber against the asphalt-covered road. Both Asuka and Shinji turned around, and saw four kids around the same age as them speed down the streets of the city on motorcycles. One of them, wearing a blue hoodie and riding on a similarly colored bike, raced after the one in the lead, who was completely clad in a vibrant red, his bike having the same coloration.

Two more bikes followed in his stead, riding close behind. The duo behind caught up to the one in blue, who had slowed for a moment in the middle of the road. After having a brief conversation that was too far away to hear for the Pilots, they started their bikes back up again and continued driving. The sounds of the motorcycles were still audible, even after they had vanished from the sight of the two Pilots.

Asuka and Shinji slowly watched the bikers fade into the abyss that was the city. They looked like they were having a lot of fun, and just being themselves. It sounded nice to Shinji, in a way. Returning to his thoughts, he remembered the question, but… decided not to ask. Hopefully, when the Sync Test was over, Shinji could work up the courage to ask Asuka the question he had begun to think about, as the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to know the answer. But he would have to wait. For now, the two of them regained their focus, and continued to walk down the streets, making their way towards NERV.


Noise was everywhere in the place that the teachers considered a classroom, when the exact opposite might as well have been true. Dirt and garbage coated the floors, constantly being kicked around by one of the many students in the crowded space. The sound of glass shattering pierced through the air as one of the students in the grimy space tossed a bottle across the room and hit the floor on the other side.

“Who the fuck threw that?!” one kid screamed, but it was lost in the endless commotion. From the perspective of anyone else, this would have been a shining example of how many poorer school establishments have no public funding. For the kids in this high school though, this was a completely normal day.

“Hey, give that back, you asshole!”

“Good lord, what the hell is that thing?!”

“...You got the stuff, right?”

“Go fucking kill yourself.”

“Where the hell is the money you borrowed?! I’m due 900 yen, you cheap bastard!”

Such were the kinds of conversations that could be found within the class. Sitting on elevated rows with connected desks, nearly every student was either sleeping or doing whatever they wanted. It was a complete mess. In the upper right corner of the room, a particular group of students were talking among themselves. The four students, all dressed in jackets, were planning out something for later.

“So, what do y’all say we head over to Harukiya tonight?” questioned one of them, whose clothes were all colored a bright shade of crimson, an emblem of a pill emblazoned on the back of his jacket.

“Dunno, man. I hear those Clown assholes have started to hang around there,” replied another, who wore a tie underneath his jacket, making him look a bit out-of-place in comparison to the others in the group. The one dressed in red smirked when he heard this.

“Clowns, huh?” the teen mused. “Aw, come on, Kaisuke. Since when have we ever been afraid of those scumbags, huh? If they stick their noses where they don’t belong, we’ll hand them their own asses.” Two out of the three students sitting near him nodded their heads in agreement and smiled.

“Yeah, that’s true,” responded Kaisuke, who began straightening his tie.

“What about you, Tetsuo?” asked the boy to the student sitting next to him, who was wearing a light blue sweater. “Can you go tonight?”

The student shifted his eyes back down towards the tattered book that he was holding.

“...Probably not for too long, Kaneda,” he said. “I’ve gotta go… somewhere else.” Kaisuke turned to face him, seemingly knowing why Tetsuo had to go somewhere else. The other student, on his far right, who was reading the sports section of the newspaper, faced Tetsuo as well, out of curiosity.

“You’re going to go see Kaori, right?” asked Kaisuke, who had an understanding look on his face. Tetsuo remained silent, and broke eye contact from his questioner.

“Yeah, what about it?” he asked. Kaisuke just raised his hands up in defense and shook his head.

“Nononono, don’t worry, that’s fine,” he hastily responded.

“You know, I’ve never actually seen you with a girlfriend before,” voiced the student who was reading the newspaper.

“Unfortunately for me, Yamagata, not all of us have the time to find one,” Kaisuke responded. Yamagata smiled evilly, as Kaisuke had perfectly set himself up.

“Or maybe you don’t know how to keep a girlfriend for a longer period than a week, not how to get one. Maybe that’s why we don’t see them-”

Immediately, Kaisuke exploded at Yamagata, but the sound was lost in the chatter of the classroom.

“You’re one to talk!” he shouted, getting up and trying to smack Yamagata, who merely blocked his strikes with his arm, grinning while doing it.

“Hey, hey, hey,” cautioned Kaneda, swiftly getting up from his seat and stepping in between the two students before they could go any further. “Come on, guys. If you wanna throw hands, then save it for the next time we see the Clowns. Don’t lose your heads. Don’t fuck around with Kaisuke, either. Ain’t his fault he’s gay.”

Subtly doing exactly what he warned not to do, Kaneda gave a knowing smirk as Yagamata held Kaisuke back from trying to floor him. Turning back to Tetsuo, who was watching the exchange with a subtle morbid interest, Kaneda sat back down.

“What time do you gotta go see her?” asked Kaneda.

“Around seven, I think,” responded his friend.

“We get outta this place by 3, which is in…” Kaneda looked at the clock mounted to the wall at the entrance to the class. “Twenty minutes. We don’t exactly have to go to Harukiya tonight, but are you good to drive around the city for a bit? I’m sure you could probably make it in time to see Kaori. Tomorrow’s better to go, anyways. Kuwata, Takeyama and Watanabe are off somewhere else today. Bastards ditched school without telling us first, but they told me they’d come tomorrow.”

Tetsuo thought about the prospect for a bit. “...Yeah, I'm good to go with you guys for a bit. Don’t really have anything going on tomorrow, so I could come then, too,” he responded.

“All right, cool,” nodded Kaneda. “Once we get outta here… well, I’ll show you where we’ll go. There’s nobody around the place, so we don’t have to worry about anyone else.”

“...All right, fine by me. Is that good with you guys?” asked Tetsuo to the other two. Both of them nodded in agreement. Coming to a general consensus, they all sat back down. Tetsuo picked up his worn-out book again, and began to read. He didn’t like to read often, but when he did, it usually was something that actually held his interest. Sometimes, he wasn’t entirely sure why he found interest in them; it was almost an instinctual process. Whatever the case, Tetsuo found the page that he was on, and resumed reading about the events of Second Impact.

A good few minutes later, the digital chime of the dismissal bell rang with a pathetic and distant sound. Almost instantaneously, the doors to the classroom’s entrance practically broke off from the students leaving, all in a rush to do whatever they possibly could. Kaneda and his friends were some of the last ones out of the room, as they knew better than to step outside now. All four of them knew from experience that the school hallways were one of the worst places one could be in school, outside of the classroom itself. Sometimes they’d see blood on the floors from either fights, or from whichever poor student who had gotten trampled. Staring out the hallways, Kaisuke waited until they had been mostly void of people.

“All right, it’s clear!” Kaisuke shouted back at his friends. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

The four-student crew burst out of the doors and rushed down the tarnished and garbage-coated corridors of the school. Making a left, they sprinted their way to a door at the far end of the hallway. Opening it revealed a stairway, which they made their way down. Thankfully, they were some of the only people who used this stairwell, as hardly anybody else outside of the staff knew about it. Grinning, Kaneda yanked open the door that was at the bottom. Light momentarily flooded through the exit as the four friends stepped out into a small parking lot, which was almost completely barren, save for a few cars and their own vehicles. Again, usually reserved for staff, but during the day, all of them kept their bikes in this space.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” shouted Kaneda, tossing a brown colored tarp off of his bike. Covered in stickers, Kaneda’s red bike glinted in the sunlight. The other three were quick to uncover their own bikes, folding up the tarps that they had covered them with and stuffing them into their backpacks. Putting their helmets on, they quickly got atop their bikes.

Almost simultaneously, the engines kicked into overdrive as they accelerated out of the small lot, leaving the sounds of tires screeching and four trails of skid marks in their wake. The four drove their way out of the more enclosed areas of their school and into the open, even going as far as to drive through the school’s courtyard with no regard for the other students that were unlucky enough to be there. As he was driving, Yamagata’s left foot clipped an overflowing trash bin, effectively creating hell for whoever had to clean up the mess.

“Whoops!” Yamagata laughed. Leading the others, Kaneda confidently rushed towards a flight of stairs near the entrance to the school’s courtyard. Grinning like a madman, he drove the bike over the top of the stairs and began to fall from around ten feet onto solid concrete. Momentarily flying through the air, Tetsuo saw Kaneda and quickly brought his bike to a halt, staring at the airborne biker with an expression of bewilderment.

The other two hastily pressed the brakes on their bike handles and stopped. Tetsuo opened his mouth to call Kaneda a moron, but he didn’t get the chance, as the red-clad biker had somehow managed to perfectly stick the landing on the sidewalk, startling a few pigeons who had been wandering in the streets. Turning around, Kaneda gave another one of his smug grins that he was infamous with the teachers for.

“You guys gonna drive? Or will y’all just stand there?!” he shouted, before turning back around and driving off the sidewalk and into the street.

“That’s enough,” muttered Tetsuo before getting on his bike again. Cranking the handle all the way back, the motorcycle made a screeching sound with its tire against the concrete, causing black markings to appear on the ground, and smoke began to emanate from the back of the bike. Speeding off, Tetsuo was able to make the jump off the stairway and landed safely, and continued to speed off after the now ahead Kaneda. The other two behind him followed closely behind. Tetsuo caught up to him, who was still smiling.

“Problem with you, Kaneda, is that you take way too many chances!” Tetsuo shouted at his friend.

“And the problem with you, Tetsuo, is that you wanna live forever!” cried out Kaneda in return.

With that, the four sped away from the school, disregarding any speed limit laws that existed anywhere within the city. Twenty miles per hour. Forty miles per hour. Sixty miles per hour. Moving at blistering speeds and the wind blowing in their faces, all four felt a renewed energy surge within them. It was on his bike where Tetsuo truly felt alive, and he was sure that his friends felt the same.

Everything around him blurred as the city around him streaked past, the only things with a solid shape being his friends and the road he drove upon. Lights flew by, all in an array of colors that gave the city the appearance of a kaleidoscope spinning out of control. The bikers briefly passed by a school, which blended in with the rest of the hazy landscape. Cars were nothing but minor obstacles in their path to keep driving. He not only felt alive, but unshackled from things like his daily life at school and sometimes fights with rival gangs. When he was driving, he felt-

“Hey Tetsuo, you gonna keep lagging behind or what?!”

-Free. Yeah. Tetsuo, upon hearing these words, grit his teeth and skillfully weaved through the traffic in the street to catch up to Kaneda.

“Y’know, one day you’re gonna crash into something, right?!” shouted Tetsuo, now just behind his friend.

“Probably!” Kaneda cried back. The handles on Tetsuo’s bike shuddered as the grip he had on them tightened as his hands closed around them further. His own reaction slightly disturbed himself. Why was he getting angry? Just focus on the road and don’t get killed by anything.

Kaneda proceeded to bank right and headed down another street, with Tetsuo and the others not far behind. The light trails of the bikes’ headlamps streaked across the air. Slowing down as they turned, more of the city briefly came into vision. Something caught Tetsuo’s eye - a student with long red hair walking down the street with another by her side. That was certainly a different sight than what Tetsuo was used to. Usually there weren't many people with red hair in Japan.

Tetsuo returned his eyes to the road, and once he noticed the direction that Kaneda was heading in, the slight frown on his face lessened. Yamagata and Kaisuke pulled up to Tetsuo and drove at the same pace as him, shouting at each other in order to better get an idea of where Kaneda was heading.

“Do you have any idea where he’s headed?” asked Kaisuke, watching Kaneda continue to drive down the streets. Tetsuo nodded, a slight smile forming on his face.

“He’s going to the old city.” That got the others’ attention pretty quick.

“So, basically, if we follow him, we’ll be breaking and entering into a flooded and closed off place that the government directly said NOT to go to?” asked Kaisuke.

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” answered Tetsuo, who cranked back the handle on his bike.

“I’m down, let’s go,” responded Yamagata, with Kaisuke also nodding in agreement. “The government hardly checks around there anyways. Also, uh, Kaneda’s getting pretty far from us.”

“Shit…” Tetsuo muttered, before accelerating even further into the distance after his friend. The other two looked at each other quizzically as they also followed after Tetsuo, but neither spoke about it. Speeding off after the two, Tetsuo, Kaisuke and Yamagata had all caught up to Kaneda. Upon seeing this, he nodded to his friends and continued ahead slightly in front of the other three, leading the path to where he wanted to go.

Driving down the streets of Tokyo, the wind rushed past the four as they continued to speed up. Weaving their way through cars and the occasional pedestrian, the front lights of the boys’ motorcycles turned on, shining faintly as the sun began to go down. Thankfully, the student protest that Tetsuo had heard about was scheduled for tomorrow. Those gatherings got incredibly violent. That’s why Tetsuo didn’t go to them.

That, and he didn’t really care much anyways. Why should he risk his life over something like school? Education was free, at least for now. Darkness began to surround their corner of the Earth as night slowly began to crawl towards Japan. The endless noise of the city faded away, as the only sounds that he could hear were the engines of four motorcycles. Time seemed to skip ahead and Tetsuo felt as if he had somehow detached himself from his own body, now only acting on his own instinct.

The old city, or what little remained of it, was a very long way away from their school. It’d take an hour and a half to get there, the same amount of time to get back to Tetsuo’s dorm, and ten minutes to walk to Kaori’s place. Tetsuo didn’t mind the long drives. It was something he was pretty used to, and he knew that his friends felt the same way. But something about today felt unnatural, and Tetsuo had no idea why.

Ever since the two back-to-back cataclysms that happened twenty-something years ago, the Japanese government had made sure to shove the idea that Japan was safe down people’s throats. Between the new city regulations, riot-preventing police force, the giant multi-colored robots that he saw in the news, and the massive alien bodies that he’d see sometimes while walking through the streets, Tokyo had begun to feel like an abomination of a city. At least to Tetsuo.

Tokyo had undoubtedly been the equivalent of a massive garbage heap when he was a lot younger, but somehow it felt like it got even worse. Especially with the rumors that the aliens were here to destroy the world. That was honestly pretty fucked. Tetsuo’s standards for quality living were exceptionally low, sure. But even he could see how the city had become a shell from what happened in the past. Ugh, philosophical thinking. Anytime he thought about this sort of stuff, it always ended up in him feeling depression and spite.

He never admitted it to any of his friends, but Tetsuo sometimes had his own visualizations of leaving Tokyo altogether. They were fleeting, but it didn’t feel like something that Tetsuo could ignore for long. At the same time, it wasn’t something he wanted to share with his friends either. Well, to all of them except Kaori.

Tetsuo didn’t know what it was, but any time he was around Kaori, he felt like he could be honest with her. He had noticed that he had begun to speak less and less to his friends about things that bothered him. That wasn’t the case with Kaori. It was strange. She would say that Tetsuo would always have interesting things to say and talk about. But he couldn’t tell if that was her being nice or if she actually thought so. So at one point when he was hanging out with her, he asked her. But, to Tetsuo’s mild surprise, she quickly reaffirmed her earlier statements without hesitating at all.

“You’re always nice to talk to, Tetsuo.”

Those words rang through his head. Ironic, how in the past his friends had poked fun at him for not having a girlfriend. But somehow, he was the one who was in the most stable relationship with one. Especially in comparison to Kaisuke. That guy couldn’t keep a hamster alive for a week. The thought amused him.

“Tetsuo! Make a right!” Kaneda shouted, jolting Tetsuo out of his own reflections.

“Yeah, got it.” Tetsuo echoed, mimicking Kaneda’s movements. Quickly looking down at the small console of his bike, he flicked on the switch for the radio. Some music right about now would be good.

“...”

Great, hardly anything came through except static and a few scattered melodies here and there. The old city must have had awful reception in terms of receiving radio signals. Tetsuo couldn’t really imagine why. All of the radiation that was emitted from the bomb had been cleared out from the place years ago… at least, he hoped so. The flooding there shouldn’t really affect radio waves in the air, either.

He continued to slam his closed hand against the side of his bike in a futile attempt to get the radio working. Out of the corner of his eye, Tetsuo noticed the bright lights of the city slowly burn away into near-obscurity, being replaced by flickering street lamps on both sides of the cracked highway.

A sign with several scattered bullet holes in it read: “旧市街:勝手に入るな (OLD CITY: DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT PERMISSION),” but all four ignored it. Only just now realizing that his radio was still on, Tetsuo shut it down. The constant static noises were getting to him.

They continued driving. Eventually reaching a long stretch of a bridge surrounded by water, they’d begun to reach the old city. Not only was this place absolutely trashed by the bomb, but global warming, too. As such, it was not only fucked up but also massively waterlogged. Not a great look. Up ahead, the boys noticed a derelict toll booth, the area around it was covered in broken glass and rusted metal, with the insides coated with layers of dust.

In the past, after the war was over, these toll booths on the highways were re-converted into small stations where soldiers would sit and prevent anyone from moving into the old city without an official pass from either the government or the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force. Guess they’d forgotten about that, because there wasn’t a soul in sight. Pulling up to the enclosure, Kaneda noticed that, even though nobody was there, whoever had last been there had barricaded the road. Bringing his bike to a halt just close enough so that the lights could brighten up the dark enclosure, Kaneda noticed that a lot of the obstruction had rusted over.

“Yo, can I get a hand with this?” Kaneda shouted at the other three, who had also stopped. Yamagata stepped down off his bike.

“What do you need?” he asked. Kaneda gestured to the roadblock with his arm.

“Thankfully, this old pile of rust is pretty broken down. Mind helping me break off some of these boards?” Nodding, Yamagata and Kaneda approached the barricade. Grabbing a worn wooden board that was nailed to the outer wall of the station, both of them wrenched the plywood off of the rusted gate. Both then repeated this action again, and set two planks against the metal barrier at an angle on both sides. The wooden pieces made for a serviceable makeshift two-way ramp.

“Does nobody watch this place?” Kaisuke wondered aloud. Climbing back on his bike, Kaneda quickly restarted his vehicle and drove straight for the small incline, making his way across the wooden board and over the metal gate in one smooth motion. The other three followed suit soon after. Tetsuo could now check off “blatantly disobey the government’s orders” on his list of things to do.

Since the highway was entirely empty, the only limit to the speed that the bikers moved at was the maximum speed possible on the bikes themselves. It was impossible for most things to move even somewhat close to the speed of light without turning into nothing but raw kinetic energy and setting off an explosion that could wipe out a city. But to the four, it felt like nothing in the universe was faster than they were. Almost like it was accommodating to their needs, the highway stretched on for miles on end, branching in a number of directions. The water around the high-rising roads grew deeper and deeper below. This maze of highways was one of the few things left from old Tokyo. Not exactly the ideal landmark to leave behind.

But the exhilaration that Tetsuo felt from driving had begun to wear off. His focus slowly but surely began to shift towards his meeting at seven with Kaori. Despite how short his drive had felt, it was around 5:30, and it had already grown dark. He knew that Second Impact had shifted the Earth’s axis, but it was something Tetsuo had known since he could… well, remember.

He began to wonder if he could make it on time. Between driving back through the highway and making a small stop in the city near the school to pick something up, Tetsuo began to grow concerned. He was about to pull Kaneda over when his friend brought his bike to a halt, tilting to the side, almost like he was preventing himself from falling. Removing his helmet, Kaneda turned back to the group, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Whew, looks like that’s about it, guys. We’ve reached the end of the line.”

“End of the line? But we just got started,” said Yamagata, who had also taken off his helmet. “Looks like we’ve hit a dead-end,” responded Kaneda, who began to turn his bike around. “And when I say ‘dead-end’, I mean it.”

Tetsuo and Yamagata stepped off their bikes, the pebbles underneath their feet shifted as they stepped towards the edge of the highway. The two peered out into the darkness. Elevated on a huge stretch of land above the flooded city, what greeted them was a massive crater that was completely unparalleled in scope by anything that any of the bikers had ever seen. Small rivers, that were likely much larger up-close, trickled into the basin. Stretching for what was undoubtedly miles out into the night, the sight was instantly recognized by all four.

“This is the heart of destruction. We’re right at the place where the bomb was set off.”

The words settled for a few moments before the silence was broken.

“Why’d you bring us here, Kaneda?” asked Kaisuke, who had stepped back towards his bike. “Just being here freaks me the hell out. I keep thinking about all the people who died here. We should leave.

Despite him putting his crimson helmet back on, Kaneda flashed a grin that was visible to all three of his friends.

“What’s the big hurry? Afraid of the dark or something?”

Turning his own bike around, Yamagata stared back out into the abyss. “I hear they’re gonna make some big changes around here pretty soon. I dunno if they’re true, but there’s a lot of rumors going around that this is where they’ll hold next year’s Olympics. Y’know, since it’s Japan’s turn to host and all…” his voice trailed off. Mildly surprised at this, Kaneda tilted his head.

“You’re kidding, right?” he asked.

“Nah, man,” responded Yamagata. “Tell him, Tetsuo.” Upon having his name mentioned, Tetsuo turned away from looking at Tokyo’s faint lights in the distance and faced his friends.

“Huh…? Oh, it’s true. I heard about it in passing from one of the guys at school. You definitely can’t see it from here, but they’ve already started work on it. They’re starting to build some stuff.”

“Huh… kinda funny in some way,” remarked Kaneda.

“Why are we hanging around here anyway?” asked Kaisuke, who was ready to turn back.

“Eh, no real reason,” said Kaneda. “Come on, we’re outta here!”

Restarting their engines and bringing sound back to a lifeless space, the four readied to leave the desolated crater. Realizing that he had to go immediately if he didn’t want to be late to his meeting with Kaori, Tetsuo shouted over to Kaneda.

“Hey, Kaneda! I’ve gotta go now!” Understanding his situation, Kaneda nodded his head.

“Sure thing, Tetsuo!”

Facing back from where they came, the four friends drove away from the crater across the cracked highway. Jumping the ramp at the empty barricade once more, the gang picked up speed as they accelerated.

“Let’s head to Harukiya now!” shouted Kaneda, his voice slightly muffled through his helmet. “And the last one there is the guy who picks up the check!”

Not wanting anything to do with that, Tetsuo split off from his friends at the next branch in the highway’s weathered road. He thought he knew a way to get back to the school dorms quicker.

Watching his three friends fade from sight out of the corner of his eye, Tetsuo recounted the events of the day so far in his head. It was hardly past 5:30, and yet it felt like much longer had gone past. Driving really messed with his internal clock. The slight feeling of anxiety that Tetsuo felt in the pit of his stomach hadn’t faded. There was nothing to be worried about at all, so why did he feel like something he couldn’t do anything about was going to happen? After a few more minutes of driving, he chalked it up to hunger. He hadn’t eaten in a while, which made him glad about being able to execute a certain idea he’d been meaning to do. The thought made his blank expression lighten a bit. Satisfied, Tetsuo returned his attention to the road. He had to make sure he met Kaori on time.


OSTs Used:

“Apple Kid” ~ Mother 2/EarthBound OST (Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka)

“Kaneda” ~ Akira OST (Geinoh Yamashirogumi)

“Super Dry Dance” ~ Mother 2/EarthBound OST (Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka)

“Behelit” ~ Kenpuu Denki Berserk/Berserk 1997 OST (Susumu Hirasawa)


I'd like to thank SuperSaiyan2Link for beta-reading the chapter and giving me pointers. I would also like to thank SoMaShadow. You know why.

Chapter 2: Earth[]

In Production


OSTs Used:

Coming Soon

Shinji Ikari VS Tetsuo Shima Fight Knife Arm (Sharaku)

Post-Analysis[]

Custom Album Cover[]

I WAS (NOT) CHOSEN (Sharaku)

Trivia[]

  • The connections between Shinji Ikari and Tetsuo Shima are as follows:
    • They are young teenagers living in futuristic worlds that have been hit with a major, life-changing cataclysm (Akira's Awakening and WWIII, Second Impact flooding much of the Earth).
    • Both were abandoned by their parents at a young age (Shinji by his father as his mom was dead, Tetsuo presumably by both of his parents).
    • Years later, they were given incredible science-based abilities for unjust reasons (Tetsuo's psychic abilities were drawn out by the Japanese government for bad purposes, Shinji was told to pilot the Evangelion Unit-01 because Gendo Ikari, his father, wished to initiate Third Impact in order to reunite with his dead wife, Yui Ikari.)
    • Both characters developed an inferiority complex to someone close by (Tetsuo with Shotaro Kaneda and Shinji with Rei Ayanami), influencing all of their future decisions.
    • Eventually gaining the powers of a God, they kickstarted a cataclysmic event that was far beyond their comprehension that changed the world again (Akira's final act with the birth of a new universe, Third Impact in The End of Evangelion).
    • Both characters also come from some of the most influential and profitable manga and anime series to date and are known for being masterpieces of art and storytelling.
  • This is Sharaku's preferred matchup for both, and it is also his most wanted matchup of all time.
Sharaku Jr.'s Death Battles
Ness VS Frisk True Final (Sharaku) Krohnen McDougall VS Surge the Tenrec Another (Sharaku) Zero VS Alita ~ Legendary Hero & Rusty Angel (Sharaku) Ryuko Matoi VS Sho Fukamachi Another (Sharaku) Piccolo VS Nemissa Another (Sharaku)
Lucky Chloe VS Honey the Cat (Sharaku) Shiki Tohno VS Hyde Kido (Sharaku) Alfred Pennyworth VS R. Dorothy Wayneright (Sharaku) Morrigan Aensland VS Bayonetta (Sharaku) Kirby VS Bolt Crank (Sharaku)
The Hero VS Ben Tennyson (Sharaku) Tessa VS Uzuki (Sharaku) Filia VS Kei Sagami (Sharaku) Nameless VS Fukua (Sharaku) Akira Fudo VS Akemi Nakajima (Sharaku)
Puss in Boots VS Ruliya of Perla (Sharaku) Kyo Kusanagi VS Avatar Korra (Sharaku) Geno VS Blaze the Cat (Sharaku) Pit VS Princess Athena Another (Sharaku) Beerus VS Hades Another Version (Sharaku)
Ryu VS Kenshiro Another (Sharaku) Alucard VS Giorno Final True (Sharaku) Samurai Jack VS Violence Jack (Sharaku) Princess Devilotte VS Emperor Pilaf Another (Sharaku) Frieren VS Lina Inverse (Sharaku)
Scorpion VS Asura (Sharaku) Ryougi Shiki VS Boogiepop Another (Sharaku) Joe Shimamura VS Takeshi Hongo (Sharaku) Marth VS Erdrick AD (Sharaku) Spawn VS Demi-Fiend (Sharaku)
Trunks VS Cable (Sharaku) Squall Leonhart VS Tatsuya Suou (Sharaku) Sakura Kasugano VS Shingo Yabuki (Sharaku) MegaMan.EXE VS The Nahobino (Sharaku) Guts VS Clare Another (Sharaku)
Shadow the Hedgehog VS Sol Badguy (Sharaku) Lilith VS Dark Pit (Sharaku) Cloud VS Serge (Sharaku) Sans VS Marie Korbel (Sharaku) Beatrice VS Maki Sonomura (Sharaku)
Shinji Ikari VS Tetsuo Shima Addition (Sharaku)
Collaborations
Arcueid Brunestud VS Vampire Hunter D New (Sharaku) Dio Brando VS Michael Roa Valdamjong (Sharaku) Sigma VS Sephiroth (Sharaku) Lucina VS Crono Secondary (Sharaku) Roshi vs Scathach
Eva-01 vs White Tigerzord Ichigo vs Yusuke (MSZX 2023) Iori Yagami VS Akiha Tohno New (Sharaku) Goku VS Seiya FFO Repurposed (Sharaku) Captain America Solid Snake Fake Thumbnail
Soma Cruz VS Alone Another (Sharaku) Griffith VS Berkut (Sharaku) Hit Cygnus Hyoga v2 Thumbnail Overlord VS Satan (Sharaku) Android 21 VS Morrigan Aensland (Sharaku)
King Boo VS Haunter Ghastly and Gengar (Sharaku) Shiki Tohno VS Moon Knight (Sharaku)
Origins
What-if Death Battle Ness vs. Sans MVSC2 Mega Man VS Ryu Sharaku's Greatest Fight (Sharaku) Kirby VS Broly V4 (Sharaku) Sans VS Geno (Sharaku) Sans VS Ness Remastered Final TN True (Sharaku)
Archie Mega Man VS Kirby Definitive (Sharaku)
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