For once, Shinji at least partially listened to Asuka's advice. He reluctantly placed the Collar of War on Pen-Pen. The giant warm-water penguin instantly had this strong urge to fight something! He just wasn’t sure what! It was good thinking on Shinji's part that he had directed the collar’s other end to outside their town.
Demon Asuka of course was pleased: her demonic wings spread out in full casting a shadow of fear. “Yes! Go our Creature! Stomp’em flat! Smite all those who defy our divine will! Get’em! Get’em! Hey! What are you doing?!”
Asuka was referring to Shinji as the god proceeded to build walls around their settlement out of stone and boulders himself, know it would take far too long for the villagers to build a defensive wall themselves.
Shinji for once dared use reason with Asuka. “Pen-Pen –is- our only way to fight back, and we don’t have time to train and equip warriors. So we’ve gotta buy some time while we can!”
“Ugh! Don’t you know surrendering to a siege line always leads to defeat? The best defense is a good offense! We’re not in a good tactical position to rely on defense! And in case you forgot 'Boss', our worshippers go, we go! I’m too young to cease to exist!”
“We do have –some- soldiers Demon Soryu-Langley.” Angel Rei pointed out. “You seem to have forgotten about the Norsemen who have already left their own settlement to join ours. We should make the most of our converts.”
Asuka would have said how they were likely spies and demand that they be sacrificed in Their name if that Norseman chief hadn’t spoken of the defectors himself with no knowledge that Shinji and the others were there.
“Yea! Actually good thinking for once Wonder Angel! Let’s get’em to teach the rest of these yahoos how to fight and fast!”
Shinji knew it was better than doing nothing and agreed to Asuka’s suggestion while Rei fell silent. It seemed in times of conflict, Asuka was in her now natural element.
The converted Norsemen were quick to follow their new deity’s commands and begin to teach the Greeks of their village forms of combat. Shinji meanwhile continued to build the wall around their town, only hoping they had enough time.
As hours passed since that fateful visit to the enemy’s camp, Shinji completed the wall around His settlement with no sign of the enemy or their Creature on the horizon. At Asuka's increased urgings, Shinji began to work on barracks for the Converts to better whip into shape their fledgling army, though Shinji was sure they’d attack before dawn. The enemy didn’t attack before dawn, and just by sunrise Shinji had finished what would have taken mortals weeks to put together at best even with the most skilled craftsmen on the island.
Pen-Pen meanwhile had stomped a ditch between the town and the opposite side of the island, still wearing the Collar of War and frustrated that he didn’t have anything to fight with. For once Asuka sympathized with the Creature.
When the sun reached the position that indicated that it was midday, Asuka’s excitement had started burning out. “Ugh! If the swine are gonna attack us then I wish they’d hurry up and do it already!”
“We should be grateful that they have been delayed, Demon Soryu-Langley. The more time we have to prepare the better.” Rei logically pointed out.
“I don’t care! I’m sick of waiting! It’s driving me crazy! And we have to float here on our butts while Shinji does everything! The great Shinji-baka protecting us as always!”
“It is our purpose here to give two separate points of view so Leader Ikari will be able to choose the best course of action between them.”
“Purpose? Purpose?! I decide what I’m worth! And no one else!” Asuka floated as far away as possible from the others, which wasn’t nearly as far as she would have liked.
Shinji, in spite of herself knowing the knee jerk nature of this hell cat, felt pity, truly for the first time wondering precisely what had happened to her that had made Asuka so defensive about her own meaning. Shinji knew that whatever it was, it had to do with her mother from what little he had gathered. In that one way, the two of them were alike.
Rei also felt worried, in her emotional distressed state, it was unlikely Demon Soryu-Langley would be inclined, or willing to give any sort of advice to Leader Ikari. While Angel Rei did prefer it when Leader Ikari listened to her own suggestions, Rei understood that Demon Soryu-Langley was needed for Leader Ikari to make truly sound decisions.
“Demon Soryu-Langley...” Rei began. “While we did not choose to be in this current situation, one must make the most of what one has. And…” Rei stumbled over her next words: they were not something she was used to saying. “You will always have worth to us.” Rei’s angel wings seemed to glow just a little bit brighter.
Asuka, not saying a word, and still with a sour expression on her face, floated back next to Shinji on the opposite side of Rei.
Shinji hadn’t said anything during all of this: he was just staring dumbly at the ridge that separated the two sides of the island. At last Rei and Asuka took note of Shinji’s stare and dull pointing.
“… and I thought our Creature was lame.” Asuka said blinking.
Slowly tugging along, with a platoon of Norse warriors behind it, was a gigantic hot springs turtle. It was shorter than Pen-Pen, but at the same time had more mass as its foot prints left behind deep holes in the Earth that Shinji would have to fill in later.
“This should be –easy-!” The brash redhead grinned. “Hey Pen-Pen! Turtle soup!”
“Do not judge it solely on appearance,” quoted Rei.
“Come on, it’s just a turtle! Even Pen-Pen should be able to take that on!” Asuka said, her old, confident, tallyho-self returning in force.
“Leader Ikari, we should gather the troops and foot soldiers behind Creature Pen-Pen for battle, with the more experienced fighters first.”
“No way! Put the expendable grunts first! We can’t replace those experienced warriors yet,” retorted Asuka.
“If they are in front of the line, the less experienced warriors will be inspired to fight that much harder.”
The townsfolk weren’t sure what was up. But they had a strong feeling the Aztecs had returned. Why else would their god build a barrier around their settlement, begin to train warriors to defend them and their god’s creature would take on such a dark mood?
As soldiers were called out to inside edge of the wall, the people were sure this was going to be it. Thus the majority of the population either hid in their homes, or got on top of the wall to better view the battle that would decide their fate. They were confused when the invaders didn’t look a thing like Aztecs.
“If you wish to command your Creature to do battle with the enemy Creature my Lord, connect the other end of the Collar of War to the opposing creature!” exclaimed the same summoner as before when they had first summoned Pen-Pen.
“That’s basic know how!” Asuka muttered. “Anyone should know that!”
Shinji said nothing. He was getting an uneasy feeling in his stomach, well, another life and death fight, just like an Angel attack, so here they went.
Shinji connected the other end of the Collar of War onto the giant hot springs turtle. Pen-Pen didn’t have a clue why, but he suddenly just didn’t like this turtle’s face!
The Norsemen were feeling uneasy at the sight of the bird. “The Greeks have a Creature too?!”
And so the titans clashed with Pen-Pen pushing hard against the giant turtle. However the turtle acted like an irresistible force and Pen-Pen was unfortunately not the immovable object. Pen-Pen began to be pushed further and further back towards the city walls, much to the dismay of the people who scattered from that part of the wall.
“Come on you stupid bird do something!” Asuka snarled. “You’re –our- Creature! You’re not allowed to lose!”
Pen-Pen shot Asuka a dirty look. However the bird did get an idea, and instead of pushing against the turtle, it… began… to… lift!
With what had to be a truly Herculean effort Pen-Pen began to lift up the mighty living tank. In a warp sense, he was grateful that his ‘owner’ had put him through all that hard work right now or he would have never been able to lift this crawling suitcase. The Norseman, and Asuka, and pretty much everyone else couldn’t believe their eyes. The bird Creature pushed, and pushed, lifting the turtle up higher and higher… until his wings gave up, having reached their limit. The turtle was pulled down by gravity and landed squarely on top of Pen-Pen’s head which in a strange twist of events, held the turtle in place.
Proving just how stubborn the bird could be, Pen-Pen pushed using only his skull and beak. The turtle quickly found itself utterly unable to mount a defense for this predicament. At last, the turtle fell backwards while Pen-Pen fell back onto his rear, with a headache and two very sore wings.
The Norsemen behind the turtle, screamed, panicked, and retreated in all directions, more than a few of them getting squashed underneath the turtle’s giant shell on impact. The turtle, now totally on its back, flayed helplessly. Pen-Pen and Asuka both looked very satisfied with themselves.
“Retreat!” The remaining Norsemen started running for their lives, ranting about the ‘Black and White bird of death.’
“Ha! And don’t come back! We’ll come to you! Just you wait! We gotta turn that mass of sticks and mud you laughingly call houses into a –pile- of sticks and mud and unless you wanna end up bird food it’s time for you lot to worship a new deity!” Asuka called out to the retreating troops, proclaiming her victory speech with incredible zeal.
The people too cheered as this time as their homes were safe from obliteration for the moment.
"We should now attempt to make peace, and possibly convert the remaining Norsemen before they can regroup," stated Rei in her usual monotone.
"No way! Let's kick'em while they're down! That's the safest way!"
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(Posted Mon, 21 Aug 2006 05:37)
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