"He is late." The raven-haired woman looked at her watch unconvincingly, quickly rapping her fingers against her forearm. Leaning against the wall of the train station, she eyed the clear sky of the city. The sun was shining in all strength, and the Nerv official uniform seemed more cumbersome as moments went by. Captain Misato Katsuragi, chief of NERV Tactical Operations sighed heavily as she carefully took off her jacket, trying to alleviate the heat somewhat as she mentally went through the profiles of the pilots she had to pick up. She never knew how Commander Ikari had managed to waiver all sorts of international treaties and pool five Evangelions at once inside the NERV HQ. Oh well, friends and high places. She probably wouldn't even want to know. All she needed to worry about was how to reign the squad of 14 year olds, and she doubted they were like Ayanami.

That girl was odd in every regard.

Okay, let's see how this goes.

Taro Tamotsu. Has anger issues. He kinda lashes out at everyone, so I have to be firm with him. He probably still has other issues since the ...incident. I will have to remind Ritsuko to run more comprehensive psychological examinations on him.

Yeshua Howitzer. Or Horowitsu. Gaah, Horowitz. Why does he have such a complicated name? I don't even know where to begin with this one. He is ...feral. What kind of education did they give to this guy? It's not Ayanami, thank god for that, but still. I think i will have to have a lot of patience and explain things several times if need be.

Adam Brave. Geez, three out of three, eh, Misato? I wonder if we could weaponize his ego instead of making him pilot Evangelion, that way we could squish all Angels in one go. I will have to be really stern with this one.

Helen Alexander. I think I know who my favorite will be. I have to protect her sanity from the other three. Plus I am glad there is another girl in the team. Ayanami barely even blinks, so who I am going to drag around for shopping and pancakes?

Misato's eyes wandered over the platforms, where the train had stopped. There they were, the four pilots. To be fair, she had never wanted them to be shipped on the same train all at once, but given the massive drain on resources that five Evas were, Section 2 had suffered budget constraints, and had decided to just put them all together for safekeeping. What had happened with not putting all eggs in one basket, anyway? If an Angel was to attack now, they could be very much in trouble.

Her attention was distracted momentarily as she saw a small sized bus powersliding into the main entrance of the station, all while an awfully racket played from the vehicle's loudspeakers. Some kind of rock song, if the singer was somehow inebriated or something. Misato's gaze narrowed at the display, while muttering under his breath. "You're late, Aoba". She cursed under her breath. And they said she was the one who drove like crazy.

While Aoba opened the door and waited for the pilots, Misato tried to put her best face and waved at the assorted kids who would be getting out of the platform anytime soon.

"Wel-"

It was then when the characteristical sound of a cruise missile deafened whatever what was about to say, as a UN fighter plane flew suspiciously low, adding noise to the racket as it unloaded its weaponry. They were going all out with their intended target, and the whole station, nay, Tokyo 3 had become a warzone in a matter of seconds. Their target? A single one. Odd in shape, several stories tall, with a humanoid form, and that was tearing apart the attacking forces like if they were made out of rice paper with glowing energy piledrivers that shot out of elongated claw arms. Its eyes glistened for a second, and a cruciform explosion shook the city. Luckily, the station was far from the blast, but the aftershock of it could still be felt.

"GET IN THE BUS!" Misato said, her eyes going wide. They were back.

To say it had been one hell of a day before now would be an overstatement in the mind of the American girl. Still, the train ride after arriving in Japan in the first place by plane was a thing that had been...unpleasant to an extent for multiple reasons. Hot people, sweaty conditions in the steaming traincar as they rode to Tokyo-3, seeing the psychos er, Shinji's? boys she was supposed to work with as pilots doing their own seemingly schizophrenic "thing". To see Misato's friendly face and a bus playing rock music she recognized from the sorts of stuff her father listened too, she felt had been about to literally jump into the woman's arms and thank her for not being a member of the sausage-fest she had rode here with, and then turn to thank the guy who had the music on for turning on a familiar tune (even if not on purpose) from home.

ven her usual more-relaxed self was having to make an adjustment to things, after all, as was normal for any person. Though truthfully, for the latter few minutes of the trip on the train she had thumbed over her coin for good luck at that.

'Mother, help me live through this,' the teen had thought in her mind at the time.

But jumping into arms of the Japanese woman in a NERV uniform would have been more than a little off. Especially since it was a different country, all things considered. She had to be considerate of that at the very least. But before she could think any more on the people around her, Misato, the boys, whoever had turned on that sweet music to her ears, there was a highly important thing to take into mind. A highly important thing that would need to be taken into account before all others in regards to importance. This would be: Taking into consideration the development of, oh,.......a giant bloodthirsty monster of humanoid shape that was wrecking missiles and the military like they were wet paper. This giant humanoid was what she assumed was one of the "Angels" she and the others were supposed to fight. Kids, in giant robots, fighting monsters from space.

It all seemed like a dream job for some anime-bum sitting around at home, but to her it was a reality. Hey, she liked anime a bit as well, to be honest. Yet now, that reality of her situation and that of the other pilots was being driven in heavily by the sights and sounds in the distance, the vehicles, the cruciform explosion, as well as by the giant humanoid that was moving seemingly in their direction. It was not the time to think or to question, but a time to act if anything. So throwing aside initial thoughts and such for the time being, the lone female pilot that had been on the train bolted for her life towards the bus to clamber into it. This was not a thing she was questioning, just reacting to as was fit for this moment in time.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE!!!" the American shouted as she did exactly what Misato had said without any amount of hesitation in the process, her face wearing a panicked look as she hoped this would go well. Or that at least she could get to her giant robot. After all, chicks dig giant robots.

What an incredibly shitty week...

I mean, Taro's whole life was rather shitty to begin with ever since he was born. After all, his family was arguably one of the most dysfunctional in the entire Saitama district. He had a crack-addict for a father and a mother that was just barely getting by off of a salary that just allows them to live in a run-down little apartment. They just only had barely enough money to live off basic food and to pay rent, which even then was part of a sympathetic offer coming from the landlord. He was a nice enough landlord to offer his family a little breathing room. While he enjoyed hanging out with his mother and having her drive around to the mountains on Sundays, the same couldn't be really said about his father.

Especially due to what happened just two nights ago...

Taro knew his father was a psychopathic maniac... he knew the physical and verbal violence he would do to his mother. He can remember the screams and pleads coming from his mother for him to stop, he remembers the rapid drilling noises of plywood being stuck to the door, and he remembers the insanity oozing from his father's very mouth, from every word, letter, syllable, even his breathing was unbearable. But not even that could prepare him for the day when everything went straight to hell...

A hell he doesn't belong to in the grand scheme of Satan's bile evil.

But of course, 'Angels of Life' had other plans for the vengeful Taro. Now here he is, inside a small, cramped-up bus, alongside several other similar misfits with the sound of some American Rock Band singer coming from the speakers, all while on their way to work for NERV... the same place where his mother worked at. If it weren't for Misato finding him in such a disgusting and infant position just after trying to protect his mom from the devil's rage hours before, he might've just accepted death right there in his room. But maybe he should've stayed. He couldn't get the freshly cut wound from his mind... it just felt too raw for him to recover at the moment...

If he can ever recover that is.

However, before he might've just gotten up and punched the nearest person next to up, Taro hears the bus stop by a station. With a silent sigh, the boy picks up his duffle bag, courtesy of NERV itself, and carried his stuff outside the bus. His face was grizzled and harsh, clearly not interested in talking at that moment. His mouth didn't move an inch upwards as he walked down the steps to meet with the Captain, the same one who found him in his miserable state just earlier.

Suddenly, Taro pauses to look up as he sees a UN Fighter Jet roaring by overhead, followed by the sounds of a missile being launched. Shortly after he feels the violent shockwave coming from where it faintly exploded. Misato roared panically for the pilots to get into the next bus as the rest quickly got into the bus. But Taro didn't enter immediately, as he takes a second to find out what the missile was hitting... granted the buildings made it impossible for him to tell. His mind instantly played back a faint voice almost after the aftershock hit...

"I'm... HOOOOOooooome!" the voice echoed while having an ugly twisted and corrupted tone, followed by the cackling of some insane and creepy chuckling that echoes through his head as if it was a cave.

That voice... that voice made the boy cringe to the point where he felt his lips flare up in anger. Did that voice really belong to him? Before he can confirm this or not, his mind suddenly warps back into the reality of the situation. Of course, he didn't just stand there like some deaf person as he immediately entered the bus right afterwards.

"Where's my Unit?" Taro hears coming from one of the other teenagers.

Oh they're there alright... and Taro would be lying if he wasn't thinking the same thing...

Try.

Words flashed in Yeshua Horowitz' mind throughout the anemic train ride to NERV headquarters. While the metal cylinder had been as devoid of life as he thought Japanese engineers would have intended, the people aboard it were anything but dull. One, sporting a purple flame on his head that emanated heat the closer he approached him, had already made the train ride hell. Another boy, seemingly a junior in body but unbearably senior in mind, was close to falling into the framework of the train. The constant haunted sound of the train chugging along the tracks was enough to allow his mind to wander, like the steady breathing of a sleeping giant. Thoughts raced faster than the train, but the rails were much too divisive. The sun had begun to hit the thick window at such an angle that the corner of his eye was on fire, like looking through water but not quite. The heat he embraced, as his eyes drifted from the sparkling floor.

In a foreign land, he was promising to himself that the opportunities within it would be seized, despite his difficulty in flicking the hair out of his eyes. He was making promises to his father, his mother -- and most importantly, himself. Nobody would save him in the coming months. People would be payed to watch over him, or try to surpass him, but he had only one person to trust. But that trust was starting to fade. The hair was still in his eyes.

The breathing of the train continued, the meandering images placed inside his head flooding his mind. He . . . was suffocating. He couldn't breathe. He hated what he was doing to himself. He -

Saw someone at the back of the train. She was wisely sitting away from the fools by his side. Her hair covered her features. Her posture was nonchalant and eyes a grainy filter. She had much more important things to do than just sit down on a train, slugging through her anxieties. Just for a second, it seemed like the rest of the world didn't matter. All the water and the breathing melted away, leaving behind bubbling marble fractures and stalactites. It was cushioning, it was free, and it was . . . over.

The train had arrived at its destination.

The rhythm of the past god-knows how long was rudely interrupted by silence, one that bore the release of the tension of the boys in the carriage. The shakes were finally over, as his destination was so close now. There was only so far he had to go, guided by their Captain and Chief . . . Ms. Howeveryousayhername. Katsaruki. Katatachi. Katastrophe. Yeshua giggled a bit at the name; it was pretty clever of him, and he knew he'd definitely bring it up in conversation, and get a laugh from everyone. That would be nice.

Despite the hyperbolic sun rising on his metaphorical horizon, Yeshua decided to take his next step off the train as one of excitement, of a new opportunity, where he could finally be the person he knew he could be. No more would the German boy exist, left behind on the train. There would be no doubt, but action. There would be no peace, there would be --

A screeching UN fighter jet, stabbing across the sky. Almost blinded by the sun when snapping his head up, a flurry of missiles flew from the metal harpy at an unknown target. The Captain made herself very obvious, her purple hair and quickly flustered face making her easy to find. The only thing more obvious that her was . . . that creature. Its features were absorbed by the crackling of explosives and a large thunder in the earth that almost toppled Yeshua. It was the one thing he was afraid of the most, but the one thing that he had to confront. He was so small, again. The bookcases towered around him. He couldn't do it. Right then, as the UN raised hell upon it and his fellow pilots rushed to the bus, Yeshua froze like a deer in headlights. He was drowning, again.

@Cassowarysaur@Lmpkio@Renny@Holy Grail

The explosions and noise became a symphony in perpetual crescendo, as the oily yet bony abomination cranked its neck, the beaked mask that formed sort of face blinking with infantile, yet harrowing curiosity. Upon closer inspection, the explosions never grazed the creature, all sorts of munition being prematurely detonated as if through an invisible force. It blinked, and raised its arms slighty, deciding to simply ignore all laws of physics and common sense and lift itself up in midair out of nowhere, a mighty, opressive wind being formed at its feet while ethereal ripples warped even light itself.

The creature was having the time of its life. Although humans were not exactly keen on reading the emotions of unblinking amphibian monstrosities, so that much context was lost.

On the ground,Misato clutched her chest tightly, as she eyed at her young charges. Definitely one bad day to start a pilot job. If she made out alive, she swore by inexistant gods, that she would show Section Two how to section in two. The pilots for the most part... well, they weren't dying, but only one, Helen. It was decided. Next time she would ask for an all girl team. Taro seemed to be reliving his own version of the Shining, while being blissfully unaware of the exploding UN budget at their backs, and then got in. Well at least he was not -completely- hopeless. Adam was being one hell of a little rude gaijin bastard by demanding the Evangelion unit. And the last one...er...seemed to have been gawking?

Yup, Taro definitely needs a hundred or so psychological tests and drugs more. The captain snapped back into her serious mode, as the mere sight of the angels brought the ruthlessness in her persona forth. They had scarred far too deep. "SHUT UP AND GET IN!" She snapped both at Yeshua and Adam, only to see that much to her chagrin, only the latter had obeyed.

Misato, channeling all of her mother hen instict, managed to break several running records as she clung to Yeshua, holding him firmly against her chest as she ran towards the bus only to launch him into the other two male pilots. The three boys were sprawled in some backseats, as Misato slammed the door shut, sitting right next to Helen. Grasping the girl's form against herself, she yelled directly to Aoba loud and clear.

"Aoba, Mode G!" She yelled at top of her lungs, as Aoba nodded somberly. His deft hand, used to typing at fast speeds on a Magi keyboard, found its way to the glove compartment...only to find a couple of white gloves. Frowning, he put them on, as a pair of tinted sunglasses followed.

The final touch was himself resting his hands against his chin for a brief moment, before calmly hitting the gas until it nearly broke, a slight aseptic humming sound as he switched the radio to an even more infernal tone. And then he drove through a lampost. And a second lamppost. And a third. Then a car. At some point an adult magazine had to be scrubbed off the windshield with the wipers.

"Acceptable losses." He mumbled every now and them, as he started to drive with no care for collateral damage or property destruction, while doing his best Gendo Ikari impression. Misato gritted her teeth as the tension of the whole situation caused her to squeeze helen against her chest even harder, as she did her best effort to do angry backseatdriving.

Neither of them, had noticed that most of the UN forces were turning tail now, leaving not even reconaissance units...

Helen could not say she enjoyed having the very life being squeezed out of her right now by a highly stressed and seemingly angry Misato. Though the woman's mood was far more reasonable and understandable than that of the three schizophrenic-looking boys that were sprawled on the back seat of the bus. There was a giant alien attacking, the military or UN or something had been fighting it to no end, and the four pilots needed to get to their EVA Units as quick as possible at this point. Especially since now she could not hear the sounds of exploding missiles and bombs going off anymore, which was a concern.

Yet lingering, ignoring orders from their superior, going on mental trips or something or whatever had delayed them, the boys seemed to be on a bad start to her perspective, and already were not among her..."favorite people" right now. However, she could only guess at their reasons for what they had done, though her first impressions of them from the ride here were factoring in. It wasn't "nice", especially since they would likely have to work together here as pilots, but it was all she had to run with right now without understanding any of these people very well at all at the moment.

However, at the very same time it was a highly important fact to note that Helen....didn't say she wasn't enjoying being squeezed tight against the plump, luscious chest that was possessed by one Misato Katsuragi. She had never really spoken of her own preferences to anyone else, but in the end the enjoyable aspects of the tight hug were not lost on her at all. However, the tightness of being squeezed even more was not exactly conducive to...well, breathing at all or getting any blood flow to her brain. This being noted, whilst her body noted the experience in the back of her mind, the rest of her was focused on far important matters. Like attempting to cope with the tension and not wanting to die by a giant alien before she even got into her robot.

Glancing up at the mirrors of the bus, especially the rearview mirror, the American felt a drop in her stomach. Beyond the boys in the back and terrain immediately around them, she saw small dots in the distance moving through the sky...away from where she had seen the Angel standing. She had no idea what that meant, but her gut told her it might not be a good one.

"Hey. Look. At. Mirrors. Behind. Us. Things. Moving," the teenage girl choked out to Misato as best as she could whilst in her current position as the Japanese woman's favorite teddy bear for stress relief, attempting to make herself comfortable in the position so as to not disturb the woman's concentration or such on the current matter at hand.

@AtomicNut

To Yeshua's dismay however, this wouldn't be the case.

As Taro was just about to get situated from within the bus, he suddenly finds himself colliding with another boy that just came in at the last second. His face contorts into a violent-looking snarl as he growls viciously at Yeshua before winding both of his arms back and unleashes an adrenaline rush off himself.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" roars the violent one as he heaves him off to the side by the nearest seat column and towards the respected window and probably into the other boy as well.

Hopefully he wouldn't smash the window and fly out, but Taro didn't care as the bus lurches forwards into maximum overdrive. He was breathing heavily as if he's trying to regain his composure, but how ever he's doing it it remains futile. In fact, it might be making him even more angry in the process. He then hears the girl student mention something that's going on in the bus' mirrors... something moving.

Curious to see what's going on, Taro struggles against the speeding bus as he makes his way towards the nearest window. And as he looks into the reflection... he sees HIM...

In the form of a GIANT KAIJU DESTROYING THE CITY.

His vision of the lumbering fluctuates between reality and fiction as he sees the face of a certain somebody in one second with contorting laughs and screams, to the real face of the plague-mask lanky and silent Angel, as he may find out later. At first, Taro's face was in utter shock only to turn into pure vengeance and anger as he issues a frustrated roar by punching the side of the bus uncontrollably.

Why is he back? How can he possibly be back? These questions and more are just the tip of the iceberg at whatever things the boy was thinking in a rush of confusion of rage. He doesn't even know what to think anymore...

Screeching tires, burnt rubber smell, the g-forces of the bus rocking all the passengers back and forth. A NERV leaflet stuck in the windshield, as minor showers of broken glass and high pitched sounds of things being run over were heard over. Shigeru Aoba's face was still frowning, as he kept gripping the steering wheel without so much as battering an eyelid.

Misato for the most part, had allowed Helen a slight reprieve from her grip, thus thankfully allowing the pilot some room for her to breathe. Suffocating one of her charges was definitely not on Misato's book. The female captain eyed the back of the van and the three boys, particulary one of them, Taro. He was apparently...punching the window and screaming?

Has he already lost it? Before even setting foot on an Eva? Goodness sake, Rits, where does Marduk find all of these people!? She contemplated, as she heard the complaints of the other boys after being manhandled. Well, they could probably afford getting a little rough, being boys at all. A female voice besides her called her attention, just barely in time. Helen, in between gasps for air, had pointed something about the planes and "things moving". She eyed the landscape at her back, just for the briefest second. Realization made her eyes go wide as a gut feeling weighed more than ten Evangelions in her stomach. "No..." She said in a small voice, before springing once more into action.

The firm hand of the captain latched the steering wheel from Aoba's hands, swerving the transport off the road, rattling the contents significantly until it slammed on one side against an underpass. Aoba's surprise expression was choked by the commanding voice of the woman, who wasted no time in instructing all of the occupants. "N2 INCOMING! DUCK!" She said at the top of her lungs, her own body tackling both Aoba and specially Helen against the seats, doing her part with those who were within her reach. She had hoped the boys had done the same.

The world became wind, light and fire. Overpressure still broke all the windows of the bus, exploding in a shower of glass, one by one as a sickly hot, roaring wind cut through everyone, moving the bus several paces from its standing position, menacingly about to tilt the entire vehicle to one side. When the explosion shockwave subsided, Misato stretched, her question one obvious.

"Is...is everyone okay?" She hoped that the boys had taken her advice to their heart, after all, losing the pilots to friendly fire on her first operation was something she did not relish. The communications system of the bus sprung to life.

"PT06 respond. Please. PT06 respond." The crisp voice of Makoto Hyuga could be heard on the other side loud enough to be heard by everyone, clearly citing the codename of Aoba's transport, albeit muffled by static. Aoba nodded grimly, as he tried to stablish contact back, but in vain. The commmunication was not cut, however, and allowed some talk to be filtered through.

"They're not responding commander, they must have been caught in the explosion." Hyuga said.

A grim, serious older male voice answered. Gendo Ikari. "Fuyutsuki. Go wake up Rei."

"Can we use her?" The wizened, aging voice of the Vicecommander chimed in.

"She isn't dead" The male voice answered in a chilling callousness.

"Understood." The older man agreed, as even more noises were heard in the background.

"Transfer First Children's data to Unit 01." The voice of an adult woman commanded.

"Stop that, Ritsuko!" Misato chimed in, gripping the intercom so hard it barely avoided smashing it. Apparently, not due to an small amount of luck, the message seemed to get through, as signs and voices of surprise could be heard on the other side.

"Katsuragi, status report." The calm, dispassionate voice of the commander indicated.

Misato fumbled for a small split second. "All pilots are safe. We were caught in the N2 explosion thought, so it might delay us a bit." The captain asserted giving a quick look at the state of her charges.

"Unacceptable. Make haste, captain." The commander shot back. "The Third Angel is approaching the Geofront as we speak." The man known as Gendo Ikari retorted back, as he continued on. "Rei." He seemed to address someone else.

A weak female voice, seemingly from the other corner of the room answered. "Yes?"

"Get ready. You may have to pilot regardless."

"Yes." Said the weak voice of the other female pilot. Katsuragi clutched her chest with no small amount of discomfort and pain. Ikari's actions could not be more clear. Bring the pilots, or we will send a wounded Rei. She had little room of maneuver in that regard. "Aoba." She said in a whisper. "I will drive now."

Aoba didn't even bother answering, instead flinched in reflex as he moved out and in the back, trying to tend the male pilots after the explosion, while Misato deftly stepped in the driver's seat, her eyes narrowing as she adjusted the broken rear mirror. "Kids... hang on tight." She cursed under her teeth, as she brought the bus back to life. And then proceed to make Aoba's Gendo driving impression seem tame by comparison.

"We will get there. And we will sortie soon!" She beckoned as she speed through the ruined road.

@Lmpkio@Cassowarysaur@Renny@Holy Grail

The world had gone white, whilst light and fire had visibly shined above them like a terrible things trying to claw down at them and lick them with its fiery, thirsty flames that desired to consume them all one one greedy gulp. And yet...she and Misato and the driver were alive now, at the very least. Misato had used her body to cover her up right away, whilst pulling the current driver of the bus down as well, and this had definitely been a thing the American girl was thankful for, if not endeared a bit by when it came to this woman she had just met and was already willing to protect her life. Though as Misato had tackled her down, she had grasped onto the woman without thinking, albeit while having attempted to duck down herself even more as the cry for the boys in the back to get down had gone out from the Japanese NERV employee's lips. Regardless, as she had sat back up once more, she had quickly surveyed the bus visually to ascertain just what the state of things were.

Beyond all of the windows being shattered and the glass scattered everywhere (including some on herself and in Helen's own hair), however, and the hot feeling that lingered briefly within the bus' confines, it seemed that they all and the bus were intact. Though immediately after this the communications cut back on, and soon a new set of voices rung into the bus that instantly drew Helen's attention away from the small group's own plight at the moment. Between the two main voices that were there, one seemed to be a woman Misato called "Ritsuko", whilst a cold, dispassionate, and admittedly calm voice of the man who was being called "Commander" was another that seemed to chime in. But the topic of debate was something that got under her skin a bit. Another voice, that of a weak-sounding girl possibly about her age, chimed in as she was ordered to get ready to...pilot a damned EVA in that sounded to not be exactly a good condition.

"So help me, that asshole better not send someone hurt out there to fight instead of us....," the American girl said, attempting to lower her voice to talk to herself as her frustration was bubbling up at the situation, though amidst Misato's far more wild and untamed driving than even Aoba had shown himself just prior, she was quickly trying to focus back on the situation.

After all, if the Commander was the asshole he sounded, she did not need to start pissing at a superior. That was one way to get her butt sent home or killed or otherwise in the end, though that didn't mean she had to like whoever was on the other end and willing to send a wounded other pilot out amidst all of this. Gripping the metal pole near the bus door with one hand and her seat with the other hand, Helen used these actions to unleash her momentary anger, before looking back at the purple-haired woman who was now right in front of her in the driver's seat.

"Here's to hoping they don't drop another explosives on where we are before we get there," Helen said to Misato, attempting to show her fingers crossed on one hand for a moment, before a bump in the road nearly left her falling out of her seat and quickly putting that hand of hers back on the metal pole.

@AtomicNut@Lmpkio@Cassowarysaur@Renny

Adam forced himself to sit up. A malicious worry for his own life showing itself. There it was, so vivid, and so sudden that it had almost startled the lad. However, instead of expressing said fear, Adam simply righted himself in the vehicle, pushing off whichever lump of flesh was beneath him, and awaited for the Japanese woman’s conversation to be done with.

He folded his arms over his chest, holding all of his fear inside. “We need to hurry and get to our Units. I refuse to die here in this forsaken shit hole.” he told everyone, anger lurking in those youthful eyes. “I was carried here to fight, Angels. N-Not…”

His grip on himself tightened. “Not to die outside the cockpit of Unit 3,”

The moment Misato took over and started driving, which was just as maniacal as he was prideful, Adam smiled. He looked ahead, so the terrain mostly cleared, and stuck his body out the window to view the Angel. He would be sure to take it down before anyone else. That was what he did back in the States and it’ll be what he did in Japan too. He slid back inside and pulled himself over Helen's shoulder. "How much longer?"

Within the unstable rage of his subconscious, Taro suddenly hears Misato scream in panic about the arrival of a blinding flash of light. Indeed, an N2 missile was launched and it made direct contact with the ground. In an instant, the boy's sensed returned to earth and he proceeded to take cover under one of the bus' seats. In just a few short seconds, the explosion hits the bus and almost rams it over to one side.

"Shit!" Taro cursed as he finds himself getting tossed around by the shockwave as his vision became severely distorted once again for a brief momentary instance.

As the blast subsides, all the boy can hear was the sound of an intense ringing. Life seemed to slow down as he glances at the others who where struggling to get up. Several cries can be heard within the vicinity, but they sounded muffled... almost as if they were actually far away. He hears faint laughter echoing at the back of his head... something evil-sounding. He wanted to go back into a rageful fit, but his body was too rattled to regain another adrenaline boost. However he does hear the concerning words coming from Misato, asking if everyone was ok. Taro raised his hand slowly as he slouches over the seat, breathing heavily as he slowly regains his composure and the laughter slowly disappears into the void of his mind.

Within another seemingly long minute, his senses eventually went back to normal. He gets up and coughs twice, ridding his body of the harmful smoke that was stuck in his parched throat. As Misato took control of the bus, Taro remembers hearing the voice of the callous, almost ominous male voice echo through the communications radio. It felt cold... calculating... yet also familiar. Was this the man his mother called her "boss"? It didn't matter anyways. Still having control of his body, he slowly approaches Misato as he hangs over a railing.

"What the hell was that?" he asks firmly with a hint of raspiness to him as he tries to shake the minor grogginess that still hangs over him, "What the hell was that... that THING?"

Misato gritted her teeth as she kept showing examples of how not to drive safely. The large vehicle seemed to tilt and crash a couple of times, but she kept driving, undeterred, sight on the road. She registered the vocal concerns of two pilot of hers, yet she did not turn her attention fully nor her sight. Only one of them seemed a question, so she bothered replying to that one.

"Third angel. Can't talk. Driving." She added, curtly, as she hit the brakes once more to do a tight turn, while she spun the driving wheel like a casino dealer spins a wheel. Aoba was watching silently, trying to hold for his dear life, as the woman let her wrath be the guiding judgement of her driving. "What she means is that this is the opponent you pilots will have to fight." She addressed Taro and Helen, before noticing something in the corner of the eye.

"Captain! Left!" He snapped as a falling aircraft was on a direct collision impact towards the bus. The cruciform explosions had resumed, with newfound vigor and intensity. Misato let a curse as she tried to avoid the direct hit, but the debris impacted the rear of the bus, with a soundly crunch.

"Status!" Misato said, as Aoba gasped.

"We're down two pilots!" His voice dreadfully gasped, as he saw the mangled figures of Adam and Yeshua in the back rear. They were still alive, but given the looks of their wounds, it would be a miracle to have them battle ready. Hell, he was confident that if it wasn't for Misato's mad speedy drive, both pilots' life would be in peril.

"Tell a trauma team to wait on our way down." Misato gritted as she pushed the bus on its last meters, before slamming it in the Geofront's lift belt. The gargantuan machines barely acknowledged its existency as the bus disappeared in the mechanical maw underground. Cursed, she slammed the steering wheel visiblely angry.

"DAMN!" She uttered. "Whose idea was to collect all pilots in one go?" Her gaze was serious as Aoba nodded. "Kids, I hope you are not squeamish, but i need you to help me keeping the pressure on the wounds of your peers. It'll be for a while only, and we will reach the medics team below." Misato reassured as she gritted their teeth. The massive display of artificial and surreal landscape that the underbelly of the Geofront contrasted with the stark situation. Misato eyed Aoba, who informed of the new changes of the situation.



On the way down, an entire medical squad was awaiting, with Ritsuko Akagi directing them. The procession of the people in white scrubs was efficient and fast, carefully driving the wounded two pilots out of the bus, all while she sized up the remaining ones.

"Can we do with two?" She asked Katsuragi, as she frowned, arching her brown eyebrows which were a stark contrast with her bleached blonde hair.

"We will have to. I am going to rip some Section 2 heads off after this." Misato added, furiously stomping, her factions becoming more severe as she went towards the center of NERV.

"Misato...that way." Ritsuko Akagi kindly reminded Misato where the Eva cages were. Followed by Aoba and hopefully the two remaining pilots, they were greeted in a dark room which held the Evas, their machines, in stasis. Four of them, all together. Yet only two of them would be operational. The menacing appearance of Unit 01 loomed in opposition to that of Unit 04. The two remaining units were being kept in lockdown.

In a corner, a wispy blue-haired female was in a bed, her crimson eyes gazing the new arrivals with detached dispassion. And on top of them, in a well lit room, there was the Commander Gendo Ikari, of Nerv.

"Captain, explain the situation." The man said in a somber voice.

"We're down two pilots due to accidents in a battlefield." Misato answered somberly. "We can make it with two."

"I expect you to. That is why I have designated you as the Director of Operations." He turned his back."Failure is not an option." He added as he walked away from his perch, his words having been said.

"Yes sir." Misato added as she eyed both Helen and Taro. "Get ready for combat. We will sortie shortly." She added, before a rumble shook the entire section, nearly throwing Misato off her feet. However, no such luck was with the girl in the bed, who despite her wounds and lacerations, was thrown in the cold floor, her voice yelping in pain weakly.

"Bastard knows where we are." Misato bitterly concluded.
@Lmpkio@Holy Grail