Evangelion: Shadō Wa Shitte Imasu

[Author0fntent]

*Disclaimer: I own nothing of Gainax, Khara, Condé Nast, or Universal Studios.*



Prologue - The Living Shadow of Tokyo-3​

She cannot believe what she's gotten herself into.

It was that line of thinking that went through her head as she kept running through the dimly-lit streets of a little-known section of the Tokyo-3 metropolitan area.

It should've been like any other evening as she returned home from work: lock her apartment door, change into something comfy, make herself a little dinner, try and decide between either channel surfing the TV or resuming her reading of the book she was on, and then off to dreamland. Yet on today of all days, she chose to be the good Samaritan when she spotted a trio of punks harassing another passenger on her train.

Normally, the young woman in question shied away from confrontation. For some reason, she ignored her instincts and tried to step in. Yet in choosing to intervene, she only made herself their new target, so when the train pulled to the next stop, she bolted immediately, not caring that it wasn't her regular stop, the punks in pursuit. She didn't dare look back, and only kept her focus on staying far ahead of them as much as possible.

Whymewhymewhymewhyme~?! she thought fearfully as she quickly turned a corner. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a wrong turn, leading into a dead-end alley dimly lit by a single street lamp that flickered. Even worse for her was the lack of fire escapes on either side of the buildings making the alley up. Feeling trapped, the young, short-haired brunette could only bemoan her circumstances as she heard the rapidly-approaching footsteps behind her. Reluctantly, she turned around, finding herself backed against the wall of the dead end as the three punks slowed down and approached her, all with smug looks on their faces.

The shortest of the three, probably the youngest, wore a purple hooded sweatshirt with the right sleeve torn off, had his hair gelled up and dyed into a spiked mohawk, and wore piercings on his nose. The tallest of the trio was bald with a striped, ripped t-shirt and jeans, and wore one black, fingerless glove with metal knuckle studs on his right hand. The middle one had a big pompadour hairstyle, a leather jacket, and a soul patch. Each of them were now brandishing a weapon of their choice, with the short one wielding a homemade tonfa; the middle one a switchblade knife; and the tall cueball a long, steel chain.

"C-come on, guys, can't we just talk?" the young woman asked, worry in her voice.

"No can do, chicky," the middle punk scoffed as he fiddled with his knife. "You interrupted our 'fun time'. Now you gotta make up for it, right, guys?"

The other two chuckled in agreement, further pushing the young woman into a panic, more so when they inched ever closer.

"P-please, I'll give you all the money I've got, just leave me alone!" the young woman pleaded desperately. "I just want to go home and get some sleep! Is it too much to ask?!"

The three punks eyed one another briefly before turning their attention back to their target. "Tell ya what," the middle punk began, "how 'bout we save you the trouble and just put you to sleep right here an' now?" The three of them got closer and closer from there, and the young woman was about to let out one hell of a scream...

Suddenly, a new sound caught their attention. It was the sound of laughter-a haunting, sinister, almost-maniacal laughter, that echoed throughout the alley. The cocky grins fell from the punks' faces as they turned to face the direction of the laughing. The only problem was, they couldn't pinpoint exactly which direction it was coming from.

​

"Th' hell was that?!" the short punk asked warily.

"Who's there?! Where are you?!" the middle punk barked.

There was no answer, only the laughter that continued to reverberate against the alley's walls. The young woman grew wide-eyed as she continued to watch, unsure of what was going to happen next. The punks continued to stand on guard, eyeing every direction in the alley, the laughter continuing to keep them on edge.

"C'mon already! Come out an' face us!" the cueball shouted.

In that instant, the laughter stopped, and the voice spoke in a foreboding rasp.

"Extortion. Theft. Intimidation," the voice listed off. "All acts committed by you, or the gang you're a part of...Junichi Hirata."

The middle punk's eyes widened with shock over the voice revealing his name.

"Who said that?!" Junichi demanded.

"Junichi!" the shorter punk said. "Who's sayin' that?! Who's there?!"

"Shaddup!" Junichi barked back. "Just shaddup! I'm tryin' to think~!"

"Quite the path you've chosen for yourself, Junichi..." the voice said grimly. "A path that leads only...to oblivion..."

"J-Junichi, I don' like this," the cueball said worriedly, sweat starting to appear on his brow as he gripped his chain tightly.

"He's right, let's beat it already!" the short punk concurred.

"Quiet! Both of you!" Junichi barked again.

"You three thought you could get away with all that, didn't you...?" the voice said. "You all thought...that I wouldn't know...?"

Junichi gritted his teeth and, desperate, pulled the pistol tucked into his waistband, clicked the safety off, and started firing throughout the alley. The sound of the gunshots going off caused the young woman to shriek as she covered her ears and closed her eyes. Eventually, Junichi ran out of ammo, evidenced by the clicking of the pistol; the only things he managed to hit were a few windows, which shattered immediately. Just when he thought he'd won, the laughter returned, wiping the cocky smirk that briefly adorned his face. The laughter then stopped abruptly, leaving them in the silent darkness for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, Junichi heard a slight footstep and turned, only to briefly see what looked like a patch of the darkness in the alley move. He didn't have a chance to react, as that patch of darkness socked him in the jaw, sending him tumbling to the ground, to the shock of his two comrades and the young woman. Junichi quickly got back up and into a fighting stance, now jumpy from the sudden blow.

"You've led quite a life of petty crime, Junichi," the voice said. "You and your 'friends' here. And now, it's going to end. When I'm finished with you, you'll be begging to be taken in by the police..."

"The hell I will!" Junichi replied defiantly, only to be met with a blow to his stomach and another couple of unseen punches to his face and side, sending him reeling against a dumpster.

"Oh, but you will, Junichi..." the voice warned, as the punk in question began feeling like something was gripping his shirt collar. "And if you don't...I will be around..." To the further shock of the others present, something threw Junichi into the air and slammed him into a couple of garbage cans. "You won't see me, but I'll be there-in every dark corner, every empty room...As much a constant as the dusk that signals each day's end..."

Junichi, staggering as he got up, his face now bloody, tried to show he wasn't impressed. "I'm not scared of you!" he shouted. "You sonova-I'll freaking gut~!"

Before he could finish his threat, more unseen blows struck Junichi, who couldn't guard against them in time. The whole time, the young woman and the other two punks thought they could see a strange mist with each blow that hit Junichi, who was backed into a corner of the alley.

"I've already summoned the police to this location, Junichi," the voice stated grimly as their blows continued to pummel Junichi. "When they arrive...you and your cohorts will surrender yourselves to them. You will do it, or I will leave you in no shape to resist them..."

Unable to take any more, Junichi caved. "All right! All right! You win! I surrender! I give up! Ohgodohgodohgod...!"

With that, one more blow knocked Junichi out cold. The voice laughed briefly, and the other two punks, horrified by what they'd just seen, turned to flee, only to be met with a couple of blows to the backs of their heads, which soon sent them into unconsciousness as they fell to the ground.

The young woman was in utter disbelief over what she'd just witnessed. It was as if the very darkness of the alley had saved her life. Her surprise increased when she witnessed a figure emerge from the darkness, with a startling form.

​

The figure standing before her looked very much the spitting image of one of Japan's most legendary warrior archetypes: the ninja. He was clad in a sleek, black as night gi, with a blood-red waist sash, bracers and leg wraps. On his head was a silvery, dragon-like head piece, and the lower half of his face was covered by a blood-red half-mask, leaving only a piercing set of eyes and a vaguely aquiline nose exposed. The figure then began to approach her, and to her further astonishment, the figure's form seemed to change before her eyes. Where once stood a ninja was now a man in an ebon suit, with a pair of black dress gloves, a grey collared shirt and a red tie. Again the lower half of his face was covered, this time by a blood-red scarf. The young woman tensed up as he got closer, and when the gap between them was met, he offered her his hand. Unsure at first, the young woman took his hand and he helped her back up. As she rose to her feet, the young woman noticed a peculiar-looking ring on the man's right ring finger. The man led her out of the alley, but before he himself exited its confines, he looked down at the unconscious three punks, and noted that the short one had a can of spray paint in his sweatshirt's pocket. The man took it out, and upon examination learned it was a green, glow-in-the-dark variety. Deciding to leave a message, he quickly sprayed a couple of sentences on the leftmost wall of the alley. The young woman observed him, and gaped when she saw what he'd written:

犯罪の雑草は苦い実を結びます。 犯罪は割に合わない。*​

When he finished, the man laid the can next to the punk he'd taken it from and walked back to the young woman. The moment he did, a Toyota-model taxi cab pulled alongside them. The man opened the right-side rear passenger door and bade the young woman enter. Nodding, the woman got in and sat herself down in the back seat, and was followed by the man, who closed the door.

"Drive," the man said. "The scenic route."

"Got it, boss-man," the driver replied, revealing herself to be a young woman as well. The cab was soon on its way; moments later, a police squad car arrived, and the two officers got out to look over the three punks.

While on the road, the rescued young woman finally spoke up to her rescuer. "Th-thank you," she said. "I-if you need directions to my place, I-"

"1st Lt. Maya Ibuki," the man began. "Born November 7, 1991. Graduate of Kyushu University with a degree in computer science, at the top of your class. Joined up with NERV as a computer technician one year ago, and in addition currently serves as chief deputy to head of NERV's Technical Division-1, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi."

Maya's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "That-that's all true. How-?"

"I saved your life today," the man said as he turned to face her, "and now it belongs to me."

Hearing this stunned Maya. "It...does? Why-?"

"You will become one of my operatives," the man instructed, showing little emotion. "Like many who call this city home, and the few living abroad..."

Maya swallowed a bit nervously. "I'm sure I can...fit it into my schedule, maybe..."

The man's eyes narrowed. "You cannot tell anyone else about this. NO ONE must know..."

As if to emphasize that point, the driver swerved the cab as it made a corner, startling Maya.

The man then pointed to the driver in question, who tipped her newsboy's cap with a slight grin. "Tomoe here will provide further instruction in my network's means of communication, should I have need for your aid. When you hear an operative of mine say 'the lights are on', you will reply with 'but nobody's home'. It will ensure that you know of your mutual connection. Is that understood?"

Maya nodded slowly. "'The lights are on...but nobody's home'," she repeated carefully.

Nodding in affirmation, the man then handed Maya a ring similar to his. "This will also serve to identify a fellow operative," he clarified. "Only they have rings like these." Taking it with slight hesitation, Maya slipped the ring onto her finger, bewildered by how perfectly it fit.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked warily. "How did you know I was in trouble? About my background? How-?"

The man laughed softly, though it unnerved Maya, before he turned to face her again. "Shadō wa shitte imasu, Ibuki-chan," he said, before laughing again.

Before long, the cab had arrived at Maya's apartment building, and the weary computer tech exited the vehicle, briskly making her way to the building's lobby. The cab soon continued on, towards the man's own destination.

"You sure about this one, boss-man?" Tomoe asked. "Seems like she's not cut out for this sort of thing."

"I believe in her," the man replied. "For our purposes, she will be essential, if we are to succeed in stopping the catastrophe to come."

Tomoe shrugged as she kept driving. "Whatever works for ya," she said, just as she reached the man's destination. "I'll be keepin' my ear to the ground. See ya."

The man nodded as he got out of the cab. "Till then..." he said as Tomoe and her cab departed. The man then walked into the alley behind him, disappearing into the darkness. The one who emerged from the other end of the alley, however, wasn't the ebon-garbed figure. Instead, it was a 15-year-old boy with dark blue eyes and chestnut brown hair, wearing a white, short-sleeved button-up shirt, dark slacks, and white sneakers. The boy walked another block until he arrived at the apartment building he called home, a place located fairly distant from the city center of Tokyo-3. Once there, he entered the lobby and proceeded to call the elevator up. Once he reached the floor he was looking for, he walked till he arrived at apartment 11-A-2. A quick swipe of his card, and the door opened.

"I'm home," he said quietly to himself, not wanting to disturb the other occupants.

End of Prologue.

*Translation: "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay."​

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 1 - The Crime Oracle/Return of the Shadow​

A relatively-isolated estate in Hokkaido, 2001, early February...

He cannot believe what he has just seen!

In all the years, if not decades he'd lived, and of all that he'd experienced, none of them had been anything like what he'd just witnessed within his mind's eye.

Of all the skills and abilities the man learned and acquired in his lifetime, one the Tulku passed on to him had seen very little use, the times where he's called upon it quite rare...and oftentimes, the results unpredictable. The ability in question?

Precognition. The ability to see into the future.

Upon entering a certain meditative state, he could look forward in time, the length of which could vary, from mere seconds to an entire decade, perhaps even more. For the vision he'd experienced, he was given a glimpse of fourteen years from now. And what was to come in the year of 2015 was horrifying beyond belief, much more than the great catastrophe that befell the world only a year before, whose scars ran deep.

Seventeen unearthly creatures, each worse than the last, descending upon the Earth in a specific sequence. Japan-specifically, the emerging 'fortress city of tomorrow' known as Tokyo-3-as the battleground. Humankind fighting back by developing and utilizing their own monsters, partially-derived from the progenitors of the very same menaces they would face. In the background, all these events guided by a clandestine cadre of conspirators, bent on achieving godhood at the expense of not only the remaining human population of the planet, but at the cost of the lives of three young children, each scarred in their own ways throughout the conflict. A blue-haired girl with origins too fantastical to comprehend; a flame-haired girl whose entire life was dictated by her over-indulged pride, arrogance, and anger; and a boy whose life would be defined by timidity, isolation, and despair.

It was the boy that he took great interest in, as he detailed everything he saw in his vision onto the recording he was making.

"From what I've been able to recall of the vision," the man recounted, "tragedy will hang over him for most of his young life to come, beginning with the loss of his mother-in a twist of cruel irony, to the very man-made monstrosity he will eventually be forced to operate. From there, he will be abandoned by his father, who will then see to it that the boy's life of misery and pain molds him into the keystone of his own twisted ambitions. The boy's state of mind-driven to near-insanity by the abandonment and isolation he suffers-will play a significant part in the climax of the conflict to be."

It is then that the man remembered the part of the vision that filled him with the utmost horror: in addition to the boy's plight, he saw the redheaded girl face her own demise, as her behemoth fell before nine white, eyeless, winged abominations, which promptly devour and tear her red giant to shreds; and a giant woman of white, bearing a strange resemblance to the blue-haired girl he had seen earlier in the vision, cradling a great black sphere while a red, crystalline cyclone was absorbed into her palms, as her avatars spread across the world, dissolving those they encountered into puddles of an odd, orange liquid.

"It is a crime of unimaginable scale," the man continued. "The ultimate genocide, done at the behest of men blinded by their greed and disillusioned with their lives, fearful of their own mortality...or, if the boy's father were to have his way, committed in the name of love, no matter how misguided he is."

The man, at that point, took a glance at a framed photograph on his desk. It depicted him in his younger years, and with him was a beautiful woman, clearly the love of his life. She'd been gone for a while now, one of the many casualties of the disaster known as Second Impact. She was not the only one-those who he called his longtime friends had perished as well. It was at that point that the man had decided to retire to Japan-a country he'd long admired-living out the remainder of his days, until he would finally join them. For what seemed like a whole other lifetime ago, the man, when he was younger and much bolder, fought evil in many forms, be it pedestrian or sometimes fantastic. He'd walked along a path where he used the darkness to give people light. He used all that he'd learned all those decades ago in Tibet to help others, and through them, help to make the world a better place. Sadly, those days were long gone, and he'd all but resigned himself to quietly fade away, feeling that his time was done. But this vision had made him realize that before he could shuffle off his mortal coil, he had one last act to perform, one that would save the lives of the people who still lived, and those still to come.

"If I am to ensure that the apocalypse my vision showed me is averted," the man declared, "then I will need to change one key element in the sequence of events. I know now what must be done: I must transform the boy who would become the world's inadvertent destroyer...into its savior. As my own time grows limited, it is clear that by the hour of my final breath, the boy must have all that he needs to thwart his father's scenario, and that of the men he pretends to call his masters." The man then stopped recording, and reached for his phone. "To prevent the growth of this deadly weed of crime known as genocide," the man solemnly swore, "the Shadow must live again..."

From that point forward, Kent Allard, the man once known as the Shadow, reached out to his network of agents across the world, for the first time in a long time. He gave them a new set of orders, all with a simple purpose: the gathering of key information. With that information in-hand, the Shadow began to formulate a plan of his own, starting with the saving of the boy's soul...

2004...

He cannot believe this is happening to him.

Minutes ago, he was sitting on a train, riding with his father. When he asked him where they were going, his father only told him it was to meet someone. An 'old friend', he said. He had also told him to pack a small bag full of his belongings, which he did. When their train finally pulled into the station, they disembarked and were soon met by the person his father hinted at. He was a dour-looking, middle-aged man, who slightly grimaced as soon as he saw the boy's father. After a brief exchange of words, the boy's father--one Gendo Ikari, formerly Gendo Rokubungi--turned and walked the other way, back onto the train.

As the boy, four-year-old Shinji, watched his father disappear into the boarding crowds, he began to realize that his father would not be coming back for him. Upon that realization, Shinji began to cry, pleading for his father to come back. Once Gendo was out of sight, however, the man he had left Shinji with dropped his dour façade, and sat Shinji down on a bench, allowing him to cry it all out.

Eventually, Shinji regained a bit of his composure, though a few sniffles escaped now and then, and the man led him to a waiting town car. When the two got into the back seat, the car drove off towards their destination. The moment it left the station, to Shinji's astonished eyes, the man dropped his illusory guise. Instead of the dour-looking mid-lifer that had spoken with Gendo Ikari moments ago, sitting in his place was an elderly Westerner with a thin mustache, wearing a short-sleeved button-down shirt, dark slacks, and brown loafers.

"Who-who are you?" Shinji asked.

The man turned to face the young boy, and his features softened as he spoke. "My name is Kent, Shinji," he replied in flawless Japanese. "Kent Allard. It's nice to meet you."

Shinji, for a brief moment, was speechless. "B-but what about-?"

"The man your father was to meet?" Allard replied. "He never received the phone call or the letter your father forwarded to him, as I have arranged. As it is right now, he has no idea that you and your father ever showed up at the station. In any event, living with him would not have done you any good, my boy. You would not be happy under his roof." His face became solemn as he continued. "Speaking of your father, I am sorry, but this is the truth: he had every intention of leaving you all alone there, Shinji. But know this-you are not at fault for it, not at all. It is all on him. I promise you, in due time, I will explain the reasoning why. For now, I guarantee that you will be cared for, that you will not suffer. I promise that you will have a good childhood, under the watch of myself and my staff. All I ask, in return, is that you be prepared for the lessons I will impart to you, following your 10th birthday. Can you accept that?"

Shinji thought about the man's words. On the one hand, he was a stranger to him; yet still, the man had not admonished him for crying back at the train station, had actually comforted him by allowing him to indulge his grief. Most importantly, whatever reason his father had for leaving him alone back there, the man had assured him that he was not to blame. It was then that Shinji decided to take a chance with the man named Allard, as he looked back up at the old American, and nodded his head.

"I...I will," Shinji said with a nod.

Allard gave him a small smile in turn, and gently pat him on the head. "Good," he said, before looking out the window to see that they had reached their destination: Allard's estate. "Ah, we've arrived. Shinji, for the time being, this will be your home..."

For the next six years of young Shinji's life, Allard lived up to his promise. Shinji went to school, learning and playing with other kids his own age, making friends in the process. At the same time, Allard and his staff helped to nurture the boy's intellect, which was considerable, given his being the son of two accomplished scientists. Allard at one point mused to himself how much the boy's intellect would have been stunted had he lived with the old teacher as Gendo Ikari had intended. Under their guidance, Shinji found his aptitudes in both music and the culinary arts. On the music side of things, he at first developed a preference for mostly classical and a skill with the cello, though Allard managed to get him to broaden his musical tastes. The end result was Shinji, at a young age, becoming an equal devotee of both classical and jazz, and capable of playing both with his instrument of choice. The culinary end of things stemmed from his curiosity upon observing the staff of the estate's kitchen; in turn, they offered to teach him all they knew, which he took to highly.

2010...

Finally, on the evening following Shinji's tenth birthday, Allard called the boy into his study. It was time to inform him of the challenge that would await him. It began when Allard heard a knock at his study's door.

"Come in, please," Allard responded.

The door opened, and Shinji entered, closing it behind him as he went. "You wanted to see me, Allard-san?" he asked.

Allard nodded. "I did. Tell me, Shinji, do you remember what I asked of you in the car six years ago?"

"Yes, sir," Shinji replied. "You said you would be imparting a series of lessons onto me, once I turned 10."

Allard nodded again in affirmation. "Before I do so, I felt it only appropriate that I provide some proper context." It was then he got up from his chair, partly-assisted by the ornate cane he held in his right hand. "We have lived under the same roof these past six years, and not once have I told you anything truly substantial of my background, where I came from. Today I intend to remedy that. Shinji, what can you infer about myself, based on how we've interacted all this time?"

Shinji collected his thoughts before he answered. "You are American, I know that off the top, based on your accent and the bits of dialect I've picked up, whenever you uttered them. In your time, you traveled around the world, and are well-versed in a variety of cultures. You're a veteran of what seem like a lot of conflicts, and have a strong sense of justice and purpose." He gave it more thought before he continued. "I've also noticed that it seems like a part of you is weary, tired almost, both physically and spiritually. Of what, I'm unsure of."

Allard smiled as Shinji finished. "For the most part, your intuition is correct, my boy. You've grown quite sharp under my care." Allard then faced a bookcase on one of the opposite walls of the study. "You are right in that I am a veteran of many a conflict, going back to my service as an aviator during the First World War."

Shinji's eyes widened with surprise on hearing this. "World War I? Then...You'd have to be a little over a century old."

"Indeed," Allard said. "I flew for the French, before the United States formally entered the war itself. Following the War's end, I continued on as a mercenary, considered by many to be one of the most ruthless. One job took me to the Far East, where I was forced to crash my plane. To survive, I continued on, going from hired gun to criminal warlord on the borderlands near Tibet. I would've continued on that dark path, were it not for the servants of the Tulku, who abducted me from my dwelling one night and brought me before the holy man himself..."

Shinji grew very surprised. He never expected the kind old man he'd been living with to have led such pursuits in his youth.

"The Tulku's power, contrary to most skeptics, was very much real," Allard continued. "He offered me the opportunity to redeem myself, to become a force for good in the world. At first, I scoffed at his offer, refusing it outright; the Tulku's Phurba dagger flying at me--under its own power, to my great surprise--helped to change my mind. As a student of the Tulku, I was taught a variety of martial arts, skills, and techniques, which I would over time master. The most significant of these was the ability to 'cloud' the minds of others." He then turned to face Shinji at an angle. "With this particular skillset, I became able to hypnotize people and bend their perceptions, enabling me to appear in other guises, or even completely invisible in darkness, save only for my shadow." Shinji appeared unsure of that particular claim. "You have seen me utilize this skill before, on the very day we met. It was through that ability which allowed me to appear before your father as the man he intended to be your caretaker. Before I eventually left the Tulku, he instructed me to hone myself further in the company of the Xincas, a hidden tribe in the jungles of Guatemala, who he had maintained contact with via the spiritual plane. When my time with them was finished, I took all the knowledge and skills I mastered and returned to my homeland in the United States. There, I adopted a new guise when I began to wage war on the criminal underworld. A guise known in many a hushed whisper as..."

Before Shinji's astonished eyes, Allard appeared to change. Standing in place of the centenarian appeared to be a much younger man, clad in an ebon long coat with matching gloves and a slouch hat, along with a cloak hanging from his shoulders. Covering the lower half of the man's face was a blood-red scarf, exposing only a piercing set of eyes and an aquiline nose.

"...The Shadow."

Then, just as it appeared before Shinji's eyes, the Shadow vanished, leaving Kent Allard standing before him.

"For many decades, I fought against and terrorized the criminal element in its many forms," Allard recalled, "from mobsters of the lowest tier to masterminds with astronomical ambitions. I was not alone in my endeavors, for I recruited and organized a great network of agents, made up of people from many different walks of life. They served as my eyes and ears, and offered their expertise when called upon. Few of them were not only great allies, but were even greater friends." He paused for a moment as his gaze turned to one framed photo on his desk in particular, which Shinji also noticed. "Only one became something more to me."

Shinji knew who he was referring to. "Margo Lane?" Shinji asked.

"Mmm-hmm," Allard replied. The man had told Shinji of the many people he'd met over the span of his life, and of all of them, he had the most to say about the graceful, intelligent, and strong-willed Margo Lane. She was one of Allard's best operatives, and also his closest companion and confidant. Sadly, she was among his few remaining loved ones who perished during the chaos of Second Impact.

"I spent most of my life besting one enemy after another," Allard said. "The one enemy that I will never overcome, however, is time. As I grew older, I began to slow down, and when I became more advanced in age, I began to rely more upon my agents-each generation of them-carrying out missions. Part of me had also grown tired of the struggles, and wished to eke out my remaining years in peace. For a time, I got exactly that. Then one day, a year after Second Impact, I deigned to use an ability taught to me by the Tulku that I held little need for: precognition."

"The ability to see the future?" Shinji asked.

"The very same," Allard answered. "It was my intent to see what humanity's path would look like, following the cataclysm the world had been subjected to the year prior. What I saw, instead, was a vision of the build-up to a man-made catastrophe--a Third Impact."

Hearing those words shocked the boy. "Third Impact? Man-made?!" he asked.

Allard nodded grimly. "Before you were born, your parents joined a scientific consortium whose stated goal is to prevent this from happening. But what the world does not realize is that it is the intent of the organization's very backers to bring it about. They are known as SEELE, and are a secret group of cruel, wealthy old men obsessed with attaining immortality, who are willing to sacrifice the rest of humankind at the altar to attain it." He paused again for a moment. "It becomes even worse with the case of your father, Gendo, who has never truly gotten over the loss of your mother. Even now, he has been appointed as the new director of the organization. But while he defers to this hidden cabal on the surface, in truth, he seeks to take control of the man-made Third Impact for himself for one purpose: to reunite himself with your mother, the rest of the world be damned. As part of his plan, which overlaps in some respects with that of the cabal's, he intended to ensure that you grew up an isolated, miserable wretch, until your teenage years, when he would summon you to his domain. You will know it as the fortress-city of Tokyo-3."

Shinji grew appalled upon hearing this revelation, and then became angry when hearing of what his father intended to do. "H-how could he?!" he cried. "He can't do this! Someone's got to stop him! Stop all of them!"

"Calm yourself, Shinji," Allard said as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder, upon which Shinji took a few breaths. "It is because they must be stopped that we are having this very conversation. We have the advantage of foresight, and the element of surprise on our side. I took a great number of precautions to ensure that. Had things gone according to plan, your father would have had his own agents surveilling you throughout your childhood, sending him back status reports on how far along you'd developed into the walking pit of misery he expects to see when he finally summons you, and what obstacles they removed to keep you on track. But that is not the case--when I picked you up at the station that day, I had my own agents neutralize and replace the initial wave he'd sent ahead. They've been feeding him false intelligence all this time, and will continue to do so until the appointed day."

"But why are you telling me all this?" Shinji asked.

Allard removed his hand from the boy's shoulder before he answered. "Those lessons I intend to impart unto you are more than just that. With my remaining days, I shall train you, passing on everything I was ever taught. Shinji, I want you to succeed me as the Shadow. When your father summons you, you will be prepared. The Shadow shall descend upon Tokyo-3, and bring both your father's, and SEELE's, mad ambitions to ruin."

Shinji was stunned. "M-me? But I-I'm just a kid. I don't know if I can-"

"You are more than capable, my boy," Allard said encouragingly. "Your sense of right and wrong knows no bounds, and you have shown a willingness to stand up for others." He smiled as he continued. "Think of all the times where you've helped out classmates who were bullied, or have seen random strangers in distress and stepped up to assist them. I believe you will grow into a good enough candidate to take on my mantle." Allard then kneeled and put his hand on Shinji's shoulder, looking him straight in the eye. "Shinji, by the time we are finished, you will have everything you need for the trials ahead, and then some. Will you do it? Will you grant an old man's last request as he faces the remaining twilight of his years?"

Shinji looked down at his feet, not knowing what to think or say at first. It was an enormous responsibility to put upon such a young boy, but after hearing of what his father was mixed up in, and what he himself was planning to do, how could he not look away? So many innocent people were unaware of what was going on under their noses, and if successful, the entire world would pay the price. On a more personal level, Shinji couldn't help but want to stop his father, and also get back at him for the fate he'd intended for him. A look of grim determination now on the boy's face, Shinji faced Allard, and gave him his answer:

"When do we start?"

End Chapter 1.​

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 2 - The Third Skull, Part 1 of 2​

2015...

"...A special state of emergency has been declared for the Kanto and Chubu regions surrounding the Tokai district. All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters immediately. Repeat..."​

Those were the words heard from the citywide public address system as Shinji exited the train and headed out of the station, his backpack draped over his shoulder. As he examined his surroundings, despite knowing the state of affairs ahead of time, he was still awestruck by how deserted the area was. The warnings on the PA system aside, it was dead silent throughout his first steps into Tokyo-3. Spying a payphone a few feet ahead of him, he walked over to it and picked it up. An automated voice said the following:

"Due to the state of special emergency, all lines are currently unavailable. Again, due to..."​

Shinji hung the phone back on the receiver. Though not surprised by what he found, he had to hear it for himself, to help him further take stock of his surroundings.

The intel was spot-on, it appears, Shinji thought to himself as he took out a photo from his shirt pocket. The photo was of the person who was going to meet him at the station: she was a dark-purple-tressed young woman in her late 20s, wearing a yellow tank top and cutoff-styled jean shorts. She was standing in a slightly-suggestive bend, holding up her two right fingers in a 'V-sign'; she'd also winked when the photo had been taken. On the photo itself was a short message from the woman, along with a lipstick imprint, presumably from her own lips. The message read:

"To Shinji-kun,​

I'll be picking you up, so wait for me, okay?"​

She'd also drawn an arrow pointing to her cleavage, with a small note urging him to 'Check this out!'.

Seems like an unusual woman, Shinji thought. Heh, even so, who does she take me for, Edward Furlong? He then took a brief glance at his watch. Still, looks like she won't be long, based on my estimate...

At that moment, something tugged at Shinji's senses, and his eyebrows narrowed as he turned in the direction of what poked at his attention. What he saw in the distance, standing in the middle of the street, appeared to be a girl about his age, wearing the uniform of the local middle school. What was most unusual about her, he noted, was her very pale complexion, bright ruby-red eyes, and a head of hair that was a pale shade of blue; all of that, and she almost appeared to be a mirage. When she gazed back at him, a look of astonishment appeared on her face, as if she was surprised that he could see her...and that he had an inkling of just what she was. Then, just as quickly as their gazes met, she vanished.

Something I'll need to look into while I'm here...he mentally noted for later. It was then that he heard the sounds of artillery fire in the opposite direction, along with noticing the VTOL craft flying overhead towards those same sounds. Off in the distance, he could vaguely make out an enormous, ominous shape...

NERV HQ, the bridge...

"Unidentified object's still approaching our position!" 2nd Lt. Kaede Agano reported as most eyes viewed the tactical display.

"We've got a visual on the target," 1st Lt. Shigeru Aoba added from his console. "Transferring to main screen now."

"Irregular magnetic field detected in the target's environs," 1st Lt. Aoi Mogami noted. "Commencing with precise measurements as we speak..."

A video feed of the target soon appeared on the larger main screen of the bridge, with NERV Commander Gendo Ikari and his second-in-command, Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyustuki, taking the most interest in what was presented before them. The creature that was seen was like something out of a nightmare-it was a gigantic, bipedal monstrosity with green skin. Bony protrusions appeared on different parts of its body: two dome-shaped 'shoulder pads', two small spikes on either side of the inner shoulder, what looked like a ribcage surrounding a gleaming red orb in the center of its torso, and most unsettling of all, a skull-like face with a beak slanted downwards.

"It's been fifteen years, hasn't it?" Fuyutsuki noted.

"Indeed," Gendo replied. "There can be no mistake. It's an Angel."

As if hearing that, the monster in question seemingly turned to face the camera that was trained on it.

The train station...

Looks like the fun's just beginning, Shinji noted. As he watched, the VTOL craft opened fire on the gigantic creature that appeared over the hillside in the distance. After their volley had hit the creature, the pilots of the craft were shocked to find it unharmed, as it lifted its right arm up and proceeded to fire a narrow-length beam of light, which sent the craft-a heavy fighter-falling to the ground. The creature then made a leap, leaving a massive shockwave in its wake that leveled the urban environment it was in. Shinji felt some of the breeze resulting from the shockwave as it finally made it his way, just as he heard the sound of a car braking as it pulled up to him, the passenger side door flung open by its driver.

The car itself was a blue 1970s-model Renault Alpine A310, and looked like it'd been well-taken care of. Shinji then took notice of the driver, who matched the description of the woman in the photo he held, save for the black-with-white-highlights minidress, gold rectangular earrings, black sunglasses, and professional demeanor she was wearing.

"Captain Katsuragi, I presume?" Shinji asked.

"Right on the nose," the woman replied. "Glad you made it, and thanks for not wandering off. Now hop in."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Shinji replied as he got in, threw his backpack in the back seat, and buckled his seat belt. "Not like I'd go wandering through the middle of a warzone just for fun."

With that, the Alpine-Renault sped off from the train station to NERV HQ, as the monster in the distance continued to endure the hail of gun and missile fire from the VTOL fighters that managed to stay airborne.

NERV HQ, the bridge...

"Target's still intact," Shigeru reported. "Currently advancing towards Tokyo-3 city limits."

"Air Self-Defense Force unable to stop it," Lt. Satsuki Ooi added.

Observing all this, seated near Gendo and Fuyutsuki, were a trio of JSSDF generals, hoping to prove that they needn't rely on NERV to handle the menace. So far, their odds didn't look good.

"Hit it with everything we've got!" one general ordered. "Commit all units from Atsugi and Iruma!"

"Don't hold anything back!" another general, this one bespectacled, added. "Destroy the target at any cost!"

Outside, on those orders, multiple armored artillery and aircraft launched more volleys at the Angel, only to be met with direct hits that barely fazed the creature, which then proceeded to wipe out an entire tank battalion. The generals were not pleased at all with the outcome, if the number of mashed-out cigarette butts in the ashtray in front of them indicated anything. Gendo and Fuyutsuki, on the other hand, remained calm and in-control.

"The AT-Field in action?" Fuyutsuki posed.

"Indeed," Gendo answered. "Conventional weaponry is useless against an Angel."

At that moment, a hotline phone (one of three) rang in front of the generals, the furthest on the right. The general in question, a dark-haired man in his mid-40s, swiped his card, authorizing him to answer.

"Understood, Sir," he said as he was given new orders. "We'll deploy it as planned."

Outside, a highway in the direction of NERV HQ...

Misato was observing the action going on in the distance through a pair of binoculars. Suddenly, to her surprise, the fighter squadron engaging the Angel scattered in all directions. It didn't take long for her to figure out why they'd done so.

"Captain?" Shinji asked curiously. "What's going on out there?"

"Oh, god..." Misato said as she promptly got back in her seat and floored the gas, sending them speeding as far away as possible. "They're really doing it. They're sending an N2 mine..."

Shinji's eyes widened slightly on hearing that. "Are you serious?! Why would anyone authorize them?!"

"They must be pretty desperate, that's why," the older woman answered. "Shinji, now I'm definitely grateful you didn't wander away from the station. Sure, we wouldn't be in the blast zone, but the shockwave would've been hell for us. (Not to mention my car...) Whatever you do, don't look back."

Just as she said that, an intense light erupted from where the mine was dropped, and a powerful explosion rose from the feet of the Angel. Being far away enough, the only part of the shockwave that managed to graze the Alpine-Renault felt like a strong gust of wind, but not enough to turn it over. Taking a moment to park, Misato and Shinji gave the aftermath a brief glance, awestruck by the unspeakable power and brutality behind such a weapon.

NERV HQ, the bridge...

On the central monitor, flames danced before the eyes of those watching. One of the generals then stood up, feeling a sense of triumph.

"Yes!" he said. "We did it!"

"Looks like we won't be needing you after all," another general, this one balding with gray hair, added with a hint of smugness.

Gendo and Fuyutsuki didn't react, only smiling faintly in response.

The highway...

Deciding not to linger and wanting to get a move on, Misato and Shinji got back in the car and continued onward towards their destination.

"I remember my class being shown footage of Hiroshima," the boy said, bringing to mind that which ended World War II for Japan, "but that seemed like a firecracker compared to this."

"Kind of makes one wonder why we spend so much time building bigger and better weapons," Misato said in turn.

Shinji nodded in response. "Captain..."

"Misato's just fine," she said as she removed her sunglasses. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ikari."

Shinji smiled a bit. "Just Shinji, please. Mr. Ikari's my..." He grew serious at that moment. "Your commanding officer."

Central Dogma...

Static was still on the main screen as everyone anticipated the result of the N2 mine deployment. The generals were absolutely confident that, based on the size of the explosion, the target was as good as finished. After a few moments, the screen and sensors was restored. To the shock of the generals, the creature was still standing, and even now regenerating the damaged parts of itself.

"Damn it!" the general with the crew cut swore as he slammed his left fist on his desk. "That was our last resort..."

The highway...

Misato was on her car phone, communicating with the bridge as she and Shinji were nearing the closest entrance to NERV HQ.

"...Don't worry about it," she said reassuringly into the phone. "We're good and safe, I know getting him there is a top priority. Have a car train ready for us, and I mean a direct one." She paused while listening to someone on the other line. "Meeting him was my idea, I'll take full responsibility. See you soon!" She then hung up the phone.

"They're worried we'll be late?" Shinji asked.

"Guessed right," Misato replied. "You know, considering what we managed to get away from, I'm surprised how well you're taking all this."

Shinji shrugged a bit. "Things were a little hectic where I was living, I've learned to not panic at every little bit of chaos heading my way."

"Ooh, tough guy, aren't ya?" Misato teasingly asked. "And such a cute one, too."

"Thanks, but I think you're a bit mature for my tastes," Shinji said, a tiny grin slowly appearing on his face. "Though the photo was a nice touch..."

Misato gave Shinji a twitchy sneer. "Oh, a wiseguy, eh? Well, don't get any funny ideas. Fair warning, teasing's one of my areas of expertise."

Shinji laughed upon hearing that. "No problem, I'll be on my best behavior," he said, just as they came upon the tunnel entrance they were looking for.

Misato chuckled a bit. "Gotta say, you're nothing at all like your father."

"Misato, you've no idea how happy that makes me to hear you say that," Shinji said in a grateful tone.

The bridge...

On the screen, all eyes observed as the Angel finished regenerating itself, before proceeding to look up at the Osprey capturing the footage and raising its laser lance at it, causing the screen to be filled with static again.

"Impressive," noted Fuyutsuki. "It seems its abilities were amplified with that regeneration."

"Along with its awareness," Gendo added.

Meanwhile, Misato and Shinji had arrived, with the former pulling the car into the train, just as two sets of blast doors closed behind them, one of which bore the logo of NERV.

"So this is UN special agency NERV," Shinji noted as he examined his surroundings.

Misato nodded. "I see you've been going through the 'literature' I brought for you," she said.

"Growing up, I'd always been told my father had some important government job," Shinji said. "Didn't realize till recently that it wasn't just for the Japanese government."

Speaking of said father, Gendo was facing the three generals stoically, in spite of them being his 'superiors' on the military side of things. One of them spoke up after setting a phone down.

"All right, Ikari," the gray-haired general reluctantly said. "From here on out, command of this operation's entrusted to you. Show us what you can do."

"Yes, sir," Gendo replied.

"We'll admit, you were right," the dark-haired general on the right said. "Conventional weapons won't work. However, are you certain you can beat this thing?"

Gendo, as he responded, pushed his glasses slightly back into place with one gloved finger. "Sir, it's for that very purpose that NERV exists."

The gray-haired general nodded. "Don't let us down." The moment he said that, the desk all three generals were sitting at lowered out of the bridge, taking the three generals along with it.

Fuyutsuki then turned to face Gendo. "It's in our hands now. Orders?"

Gendo, brimming slightly with self-confidence, only said the following: "Prepare EVA-01 for activation."

Fuyutsuki was slightly surprised by this. "Unit-01? But it doesn't have a pilot at the moment."

"It is not a concern," Gendo replied. "A spare will be arriving shortly, if my estimate is correct."

Back on the car elevator, Shinji continued to go through his paperwork bundle, along with taking note of the new ID card he was issued. He briefly eyed Misato, his thoughts turning back to one of the last briefings he had with Allard and a couple of his agents, just a couple of months or so before the former Shadow passed on.

"The next key personnel you will need to familiarize yourself with," Allard explained as he opened a folder on the table he, Shinji, and two agents were sitting at, "is this woman: Captain Misato Katsuragi, age 29. Former soldier in the UN special forces, she is currently head of tactical operations for NERV. She also is the lone survivor of the Katsuragi Expedition, which was in Antarctica at the very center of Second Impact. According to reports we obtained, she was rescued by her father, Professor Wataru Katsuragi himself, just before he passed; up till then, the two had a very strained relationship. Based on psychological profiles we've obtained, she feels unable to fully reconcile her two conflicting views of her father, and sees defeating the menaces NERV was formed to face as her way of avenging him, though in the process, she may become akin to Captain Ahab..."

"Shinji?"

Shinji was snapped out of his remembrance by Misato speaking up. "Yes, Misato?"

"Something I wanted to ask earlier," the woman said, some slight concern in her voice. "It was the way you referred to your father. I'm guessing you're not too fond of him, right?"

Shinji nodded. "It's the same with me," Misato said as she laid her hands behind her head.

"How so?" Shinji asked, though already aware of what exactly she felt towards her late father.

"...It's...something I don't bring up that often," Misato said with some reluctance. "Maybe I'll tell you later, if you're still curious."

Before Shinji said anything, the elevator finally entered the brightly-lit interior of the Geofront. Shinji was awed by the sight.

"I've only read about these," he said. "Never thought I'd find myself in one..."

"Well, this is our hole-in-the-ground headquarters," Misato said. "Humankind's underground fortress."

A few minutes later, after having parked the car, Misato and Shinji were now walking the halls of NERV HQ to where they were needed. Unfortunately, in spite of the spots Misato had circled on her map, they weren't making much headway on the lay of the land. While on a moving sidewalk headed towards level 20, the suddenness of the doors opening blew a gust of wind that swept over the two of them.

"*Sigh* And this is why I hate wearing skirts here," Misato grumbled.

"Can't be that bad," Shinji said while perusing his operations manual. "Worked for Marylin Monroe."

Misato blinked before looking at Shinji a bit incredulously. "Marilyn Monroe? You kidding? She's even way before my time! How's a kid like you even know about her?"

"My previous guardian liked his fair share of American movies," Shinji answered. "The Seven-Year Itch was a favorite."

Hearing that made Misato even more puzzled. Just what kind of life was he living before he got here...? Pushing that aside, Misato turned her focus back to the map. "Ritsuko, where are you...?" she asked herself quietly. Hearing her question made Shinji look back at her. "Sorry about this, I still haven't really gotten used to the layout yet."

"Honestly?" Shinji replied with a reassuring smile. "It's okay if we need to ask for directions. Never hurts."

Moments later, the two of them were riding an elevator car, which finally stopped at a certain level. The doors opened, revealing a blonde-haired woman wearing red earrings and a blue one-piece swimsuit under a lab coat. She didn't look too happy to see Misato, who grew a bit sheepish under her gaze.

"Heh-heh, sorry, Ritsuko," Misato apologized as she stepped back to let her colleague in.

"Cutting it a bit close, weren't you, Captain?" Ritsuko sternly said as she shook her head. "In case you didn't notice, we're a bit short on time and personnel!"

"Again, I'm sincerely sorry," Misato said, making a gesture of appeasement.

Ritsuko, in response, let out a weary sigh before her attention turned to the elevator's other passenger.

"So, this is the boy in question?" she asked, slightly-incredulous.

Shinji, in response, allowed a slight smirk on his face as his eyebrows slightly narrowed. "This boy has a name, thank you," he said, looking her over briefly. "Huh, had no idea the world's leading scientific minds also spent their downtime skin-diving. Find any sunken treasure?"

It took a lot of effort for Misato to suppress whatever laughter threatened to break free. Ritsuko, on the other hand, flushed slightly, in spite of a slight smile slowly making its presence known while she studied Shinji's face.

"Heh, touché," she said as she put her hands in her pockets. "Not bad, Mr. Ikari. Not quite what I expected at all."

"Just Shinji. Please," Shinji replied as he closed his booklet, his face growing a bit serious. "Unlike my father, it pays to have a bit of a sense of humor. Something he apparently lacks."

Ritsuko didn't have anything to say at that, instead looking at Misato, who shared a similar feeling. The rest of the elevator ride was silent as they descended to their intended level.

Back on the bridge, Gendo stepped onto his own private lift, which began its own descent after he ordered Fuyutsuki to take charge. Fuyutsuki, figuring where he would be heading and who he'd be meeting with, mused on how it'd be the first time they'd seen each other in three years...

"Sub-Commander, target's started moving again!" 1st Lt. Makoto Hyuga reported.

Fuyutsuki nodded as he turned to face his subordinates. "Right then-all personnel, assume battle stations, Level 1!"

That order wasn't lost on the trio currently on a moving platform some levels below.

"Sounds like things are getting serious," Shinji noted. Both Ritsuko and Misato nodded, just as they passed an object that Shinji caught out of the corner of his eye. "I don't suppose there'll be an explanation for the giant hand we just passed?"

"There will," Ritsuko replied nonchalantly. A minute later, they briefly stopped at a locker room where Shinji could drop his things off on the men's side, while the women could change into their uniforms on the ladies' end. They then resumed their trip to the EVA cages, with Misato and Ritsuko arguing briefly over the probability of Unit-01's activation, with Shinji continuing to 'peruse' his operations manual, while really listening to their conversation carefully. It brought him back again to the same briefing with Allard...

"Dr. Ritsuko Akagi," Allard explained as he pointed to a photo of the woman in question. "Age 30, head of NERV's Technical Division 1, making her the chief scientist of NERV. Expert in robotics, computer technology and genetic engineering. She is also the daughter of the organization's previous chief scientist, the late Dr. Naoko Akagi. Both share one unsavory thing in common, in spite of the fact that the daughter very much wants to get out from her mother's shadow. Each woman is also--or rather, was, in the case of Naoko--your father's mistress. Like her mother before her, Ritsuko is a highly-intelligent woman with a strong work ethic and a detached attitude. Also quite a chain-smoker. Based on profiles we obtained, it appears there are two things she gets along better with than people: technology, and cats..."

He was snapped out of his recollection when they finally reached their destination, which was currently dark. The lights snapped on soon after the door closed behind them, revealing a sight Shinji did his best to look startled by: an enormous, purple-helmeted head with a central horn, halfway submerged in the magenta liquid below the walkway they stood on, which Ritsuko had mentioned to be Bakelite. Things were quiet for several seconds, before one of the two women spoke.

"Shinji Ikari," the scientist started to say a bit pridefully, "allow me to introduce you to mankind's ultimate fighting machine. The synthetic life form: Evangelion. Specifically, this is Evangelion, or EVA, Unit-01." Shinji didn't react as he kept his eye on the face of the purple giant in front of him, its eyes appearing to return his level stare. "Constructed here in secret, this is humanity's last hope."

Shinji nodded on hearing that before raising his head towards the direction of another part of the cage, one that was at a higher level. Both women realized that Shinji's gaze was aimed at the silhouette of a man backed by lights on the ceiling above.

"So, this is what you've been working on all this time...Father," Shinji noted coolly, despite speaking somewhat louder than necessary in the company of the two women beside him.

Gendo, on hearing this, stepped forward. "That is correct," he replied. "It's been a while, Shinji."

Unknown to those next to him, Shinji could make out a slight instance of surprise and uncertainty in his father's voice. He'd figured that his father was planning on surprising him with a sudden appearance, in the hopes of intimidating him, based on the falsified psych reports he'd been receiving for some time now. Oh, how it felt good to get his father off-balance.

"Could've been longer, if I honestly wished," Shinji said coldly, eyes locked on his father's gaze. "I wouldn't be here if my guardian hadn't convinced me to hear you out. So far, I'm not impressed."

Misato and Ritsuko slightly cringed at the sight of the frigid reunion between father and son, both a bit apprehensive over what would happen next. Gendo, on the other hand, remained stone-faced, though internally he was bewildered.

Something doesn't add up...he thought, before turning his attention to Misato. "We're moving out."

"WHAT?!" Misato protested, shocked by his orders. "But sir, Unit-00's still in stasis. Unless..." She briefly eyed the purple Unit and quickly put two-and-two together, turning her attention to Ritsuko. "Unit-01?! Are you serious?!"

"It's our only option," Ritsuko answered in a flat tone of voice. Misato knew that instant that she was being serious.

"But Rei's still injured, we don't have a pilot!" Misato countered, before realization dawned on her. "You mean..."

"Yes," Ritsuko answered. "You just delivered him, in fact."

Shinji's reaction immediately following that took them by extreme surprise: he laughed. First it came out softly, but then got louder, with a more defiant edge to it. Gendo hid his further confusion as he looked down at his son. Ritsuko became confused; while she'd heard little about the commander's son, straight from the man himself, according to her perusal of his report from the Marduk Institute, Shinji Ikari was supposed to be a timid boy with very little confidence, who was conditioned to follow instructions without question. The boy she saw before her, however, was a different story altogether.

"...I don't hear from you for ten years..." Shinji began. "And then, I finally get a letter from you--most of it blacked out, I should mention--telling me to come here. No explanation. No rhyme or reason." He then leveled a dangerous-looking gaze back at his father. "And now that I'm here, you ask--no, order me to step into this thing?" He pointed at Unit-01. "The very same monstrosity that took my mother's life?"

For a brief instant, Gendo's eyes flashed with shock as Shinji's revelation echoed throughout the cage, the flurry of technicians briefly grinding to a halt as his words registered with them. Ritsuko became incredibly pale, and Misato, at first confused, started to feel a sense of dread.

Shinji continued, undaunted by the silence he left in his wake. "You thought I forgot what happened that day?" he asked his father. "That I'd repress this face?" He again gestured towards Unit-01. His voice grew a bit more emotional, but he managed to keep it going in a way he planned-he wanted to throw his father off deliberately, after all, while also sowing a bit of distrust in those who worked under him. "Your wife, my mother, was devoured by this beast. It haunts me every time I go to sleep, while you...You look like you've been doing your best to let it slide. Do you even care at all?"

Silence continued to reign throughout the cage, as those last words sank in for everyone who listened. The silence lasted until a voice broke in through the sound system.

"Battle stations! Battle stations!" the voice of 1st Lt. Maya Ibuki sounded off. "This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill! All personnel, we are now at a Level 1 alert! Prepare for surface-to-surface combat!"

This was enough to spur the technicians in the cage to resume their work, which also gave them an excuse to try and move past the familial drama occurring in the center of the room.

"Very well," Gendo said quietly, glaring briefly as he looked over the activity in the room from his position. Shinji didn't let it show, but he was pleased to see his father, no matter how much he hid it, rattled by a part of his plans going out the window. Gendo then called up Fuyutsuki via one of the monitor banks.

"Fuyutsuki, awaken Rei," Gendo ordered.

"Can we use her?" Fuyutsuki grimly asked.

"She's not dead," Gendo coldly replied. "Having her pilot will be better than trying to reason with the boy."

"Understood," the Sub-Commander replied, before the display returned to its focus on Shinji. Wanting to get out of the path of the verbal crossfire, Misato and Ritsuko moved off to the side of the cage, the latter ordering technicians to reconfigure Unit-01's settings to those of this 'Rei' Shinji heard his father mention. Soon, an elevator car arrived and got Shinji's attention. As he looked past Ritsuko, he saw a team of medics hurriedly wheeling out a gurney carefully towards him, or rather, Unit-01. Shinji's face softened as he looked the person on the gurney straight in the face.

It was a girl around his age, a blank expression on her face despite twinges of pain making her grimace. She had a head of light blue hair, skin that was deathly pale, and the one eye that wasn't covered by a bandage was a deep, ruby red. Her arms were also heavily-bandaged, and had IV lines hooked into them.

"Hold it," Shinji said to the medics, who halted the bed carefully. Shinji walked up until he was next to the head of the bed; Rei tried sitting up, whimpering in pain in the attempt. Shinji motioned for her to lie back down. "Please, stay down. Just rest--you'll need it."

Rei, her uncovered eye focused on him, showed a bit of surprise, and even if she did not understand, she allowed him to guide her back onto the gurney.

Shinji's gaze, once again furious, turned back to his father. "So this is how low you'll sink, isn't it, father?" He did his best to suppress a small smirk that threatened to appear on his face. "My teacher--your old roommate--was right. You weren't called the 'bastard king' for nothing." He then turned to face Misato. "Can you please make sure she gets back to the medical ward?"

Misato cast a glance briefly where Gendo stood above and, apparently getting an affirmative nod from the commander, looked back at the boy, an assured smile on her face. "I promise," she said as she stepped towards the medics and the gurney. "She'll be in good hands." Soon she and the medical team were heading back to the elevator, while Shinji looked up at his father one more time, his face unreadable. He then turned to Ritsuko.

"Dr. Akagi, what do I have to do?"

End Chapter 2.​

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 3 - The Third Skull, Part 2 of 2​

The purple liquid that Evangelion Unit-01 was immersed in drained as multiple start-up sequences were cued up and executed. Up on the bridge, Lt. Ibuki, flanked by Misato and Dr. Akagi, signaled that the plug ejection had been completed, allowing for the EVA's entry plug-now with Shinji inside-to be inserted into the purple giant. Once inserted fully, the armor plating on the back closed up, and technicians began initiating the connection sequences.

Shinji, a determined expression on his face, saw the plug's lighting change through various colors before getting into a default setting. On his head was a band that featured two white objects that were described to him as A-10 connectors, which according to Dr. Akagi would allow him to control the EVA. Amid the chatter over the comms, Shinji picked up one thing he was quite curious about:

"Filling the entry plug."

Soon, he felt something wet at his feet, and then noticed an amber-colored liquid beginning to fill the entry plug.

"Dr. Akagi, what's going on here?" he asked, a slight hint of surprise in his voice. "What's this stuff supposed to be?"

"Don't panic, Shinji," the bottle blonde answered. "It's called LCL, Link Control Liquid. Just let it fill your lungs, and you'll be supplied with oxygen directly. It's completely harmless."

"If you say so," Shinji said as he opened wide and allowed a good portion of the liquid inside. He then let out some air bubbles, and immediately noticed the odd taste. "Blech, what's this stuff made of..."

"Again, nothing to worry about," Ritsuko chided him lightly, "You'll get used to it soon."

"You can deal with it," Misato added. "I mean come on, what happened to the tough guy sitting in the car with me twenty minutes ago?"

"Easy for you to say," Shinji said. "You're not the one learning what it feels like to get pickled."

Meanwhile, a crane had just finished attaching Unit-01's umbilical cable, fully-powering the giant. At Dr. Akagi's cue, Lt. Ibuki and the other computer techs began the second contact stage. Shinji soon saw the interior of the plug go through an almost fantastical array of lights and colors, making for an almost kaleidoscopic visual experience. On the control side of things, Ibuki reported no abnormalities as the A-10 nerve connection was made. Dr. Akagi confirmed it, and had the thought patterns adjust to Japanese. Soon, Shinji was now looking down on the cage, as if he'd grown several stories high.

"Synchronization rate is 45.5%," Lt. Ibuki reported.

"That's incredible," Ritsuko noted as she looked over her assistant's shoulder at the monitor. "And all on his first time in the plug."

"Say, Doctor?" Shinji asked over the comms. "Why'd I experience the equivalent of the climax of 2001 just now?"

"Huh, the kid's got good taste in movies," Ritsuko commented to herself before answering him. "Just part of the start-up procedure, Shinji. It's to help the pilot and EVA orient themselves visually." Turning her attention back to the monitor, when she was confident in the all-clear signs she was getting, she then faced Misato and gave her a nod. "We're good to go."

Misato nodded back before giving the order. "Prepare to launch!"

"Beginning launch sequence," Lts. Hyuga, Aoba, and Agano said in turn, as they and the rest of the crew continued the launch cycle amid the encroaching advance of the monster outside.

"All restraints clear, internal batteries charged," Aoba reported as he went through his checklist quickly, and proceeded to give Ibuki a thumbs-up. Maya nodded back and her fingers soon danced across the keyboard.

"EVA Unit-01 moving to launchpad," she said, as the hydraulic lift began raising the EVA towards the catapults. When the magnetic induction system's charge reached 100%, Maya then armed the system and had a series of blast doors quickly open in sequence. "Launch path's clear, all systems go.

"Evangelion's ready for launch," Lt. Mogami confirmed to Misato.

"Understood," Misato replied before briefly facing Commander Ikari, her mind still processing all that she'd witnessed in the verbal sparring some minutes before. "Are you still sure about this, sir? Sending an untrained kid up to what could be an early grave?"

"I am," Gendo replied stoically. "If the Angels are not defeated, then all of humanity will be sent to an early grave."

Not entirely satisfied by the answer, Misato turned back to the main screen. Sub-commander Fuyutsuki, on the other hand, leaned in close to Gendo.

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Ikari?" he asked in a quiet tone. Gendo didn't bother with a response, merely smirking at the screen as Misato stepped forward and gave the order loud and clear:

"EVA LAUNCH!"

In a burst of sparks and energy, the platform holding Unit-01 launched, sending the purple behemoth rapidly towards the surface. Within the entry plug, Shinji felt the kick of the g-forces until it slowed down, eventually clanging loudly to a stop. Shinji soon found himself on the nighttime-set streets of Tokyo-3, facing the approaching Angel-which had been dubbed 'Sachiel' by the MAGI supercomputer-at eye level.

"Shinji?" Ritsuko's voice said over the comms, "You'll need to concentrate for this. Imagine yourself as the EVA's brain-from there, you'll move it as you would your own body. Start with a simple walk."

Shinji, however, didn't do as he was told, as he was currently utilizing the sensor and magnification array of the entry plug. As those on the bridge watched, the EVA's head moved in a way that it appeared to be searching for something, until it confirmed no one was directly in front of him. He then proceeded to set the audio sensors to max levels and enhanced the vision of the external retinal cameras in the EVA's eyes.

"Shinji, what're you doing?" Misato wondered as she picked up a headset and spoke into it. "Shinji, didn't you hear Ritsuko? Why are you still standing there?"

"Trying to make sure there aren't any civilians still in the area," Shinji replied. "The Angel hasn't noticed me yet, I'm almost done here."

Gendo, frowning from his chair and with a cold look in his eyes, wasn't amused. "You are finished as of now, Pilot Ikari," he stated in a commanding tone of voice. "Advance on the target and destroy it."

"Sorry, Commander," Shinji bit back venomously, "but I for one don't believe in 'collateral damage'. As I said, I'm almost done with my sweep, so give your subordinates a good example and show some patience, why don't you?"

Misato and Ritsuko's eyes widened with surprise, as did those of a number of staff on the bridge. The Commander, on the other hand, scowled at this show of defiance.

"Clear!" Shinji indicated, causing the others to snap out of their surprised state.

"Right," Misato said. "Release final safety lock!"

With that, the restraints on the EVA's shoulder pylons disengaged. Shinji did as Ritsuko had instructed earlier, and made for his EVA to take a step. Slowly, the giant did just that, taking a small step, one foot in front of the other. Then, unexpectedly, Shinji let a small smirk appear on his face as he then willed the EVA into a crouch and then launched itself right for Sachiel's mid-section, surprising both the Angel and the staff down in Central Dogma. Sachiel was sent tumbling to the ground, caught off-guard by the sudden assault from its new opponent.

The shock further increased when Lt. Ooi noticed something on her monitor.

"Ho-ly...Shinji's sync ratio spiked up to 63.48%!" she reported, while the voices of her coworkers overlapped as they reported other surprising readings at their stations. Ritsuko, Misato, and even Fuyutsuki shouted "WHAT?!" simultaneously as they witnessed Shinji's actions.

"Unit-01's AT-Field-it's neutralizing the Angel's!" Maya quickly reported, just as a wavy pair of line graphs cancelled each other out on her monitor.

"Forget that, the EVA's field just eroded it!" Ritsuko corrected her protégé.

Shinji didn't stop at a tackle though; from there, he proceeded to lift the dazed Angel up and quickly brought a knee to its face, further stunning the creature and sending it staggering back. Shinji then landed a series of jabs, hooks and punches akin to those of a professional boxer. Sachiel then whipped its clawed hands up and tried to grab the EVA. Shinji, seeing this, countered in a way that further surprised the bridge crew: maintaining his focus, Shinji had the EVA grip Sachiel's right wrist tightly and quickly sent the creature flying with an impressive judo throw. Not giving the creature a chance to recover, the EVA leaped into the air and landed a right jump kick straight onto Sachiel's face, further pressing the Angel into the ground. As the EVA held the dazed Angel down, Shinji picked up the sound of a small child's scream across from the area. Focusing on the source of the scream, the EVA's retinal cameras showed Shinji a little girl and a boy around his own age, the latter having just rushed her out of the way of some falling masonry.

"There's a couple of kids out here!" Shinji said with alarm. "I've gotta get them away, I'll be quick!" He then had the EVA off the Angel and moving towards the two kids, and it soon lowered its hands right in front of them. "Both of you, get on!" Shinji shouted through the EVA's external speakers. "I'll move you to the city's edge, you'll be safe! Trust me!"

The boy and the girl-respectively, Toji Suzuhara and his sister Sakura-couldn't believe what was happening in front of them. Still, after briefly giving each other a look, Toji then lifted Sakura into the giant hands, and then pulled himself up after. The EVA then stood back up, covered them with its hands, and dashed to one of the edges of the city. There, it knelt back down and put them back on the ground.

"That was close," Shinji said, addressing them through the speakers again. "Stay here and wait until help arrives. I've gotta go back and make sure that thing stays down. Okay?"

Toji nodded in appreciation. "Thanks for the save, man!" he shouted up at the EVA. "If I ever meet you outside your robot, I owe you one, big time!"

The EVA gave the siblings a quick thumbs up and then ran back into the city, just as Sachiel staggered back upright, its face cracked.

On the bridge, the comms cracked to life as Shinji quickly spoke. "Misato, does this thing have a weapon I can use?" he asked.

Snapping out of her reverie while watching the action on the monitor, Misato just as quickly answered him. "Definitely," she said. "Left shoulder-there's a progressive knife built in!"

"Great!" Shinji replied. "Now, million-yen question-what's the weak spot on Ugly here?"

Ritsuko was the one to quickly answer him. "It's the core!" she briskly explained. "The big red orb in its chest, just below the ribcage!"

"Thanks!" Shinji said in turn. Quickly finding the knife sheath's release control, Shinji triggered it and grabbed the knife's handle with the EVA's right hand, the blade roaring to life and glowing brightly as it emerged. Just as Sachiel attempted to fire off an energy blast, Shinji again struck at its face using a swift leopard blow with the EVA's left palm. Shinji then slashed Sachiel's face with a quick stroke of the knife, and then immediately made for the core. When an initial stab didn't penetrate it, Shinji thought fast and hit it with another leopard blow, followed by a powerful left hook, causing a series of cracks to appear on the core's surface. Shinji then plunged the knife into the center of the cracks, and the blade sunk in successfully. Shinji then twisted the knife, splitting the core in the process. Sachiel began to spasm in its death throes, its skin appearing to bubble. Getting a pretty good idea of what was going to happen, Shinji pulled the knife out of the core and had the EVA jump back far enough for it to re-deploy its AT-Field, just as the fallen Sachiel exploded, leaving a cross-shaped blast in its wake that lit up the skies over Tokyo-3, until it faded after a few moments.

The bridge and command staff were left stunned by what they'd just witnessed, an awestruck silence hanging in the air. It was broken when Lt. Hyuga finally spoke.

"Target...Target's been destroyed," the bespectacled tech reported, just as the rumble of the explosion finally quieted down. Hearing this motivated Misato to get things moving.

"Stand down to second stage alert," she ordered before speaking into the mic on Hyuga's console. "All tactical recovery teams, scramble!" Her thoughts then turned to one person in particular. "Shinji? Shinji, do you read me?"

"I read you, Misato," Shinji replied on the other end.

"You all right?" she asked.

"I'm good," Shinji replied. "My hand's a bit sore, but I'm good. Those two kids I moved, can you send someone out to pick them up?"

Misato nodded. "We will, right away. In the meantime, we're sending you a retrieval route, and then we'll bring you back in." She smiled on thinking about the selflessness he showed in spite of his father's protests, before continuing. "You did really well today, Shinji, for your first time in the EVA. Normally I'd say something about disregarding orders, but honestly? You made the right call when you moved those kids out of the way. I can confirm there weren't any other casualties."

"Thank you," Shinji said.

Outside Gendo Ikari's office, some time later...

Shinji had a carefully-managed neutral look on his face as he walked to the pair of wooden doors only mentioned in hushed whispers throughout NERV HQ, where a security guard noticed his approach. Explaining that he intended to speak with his father, the guard swiped his card through the reader on the right side of the doorway, and with a quiet thud, the door unlocked, allowing the guard to open it and gesture the boy to enter. Shinji gave Misato, who'd accompanied him, a quick glance; she in turn encouraged him with a smile. Returning the gesture with a slight smile of his own, Shinji took a deep breath and proceeded to head into the office.

​

Shinji looked around inside the enormous office of his father, NERV's supreme commander. It was a long, semi-rectangular room that overlooked the Geofront interior through a series of floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows. On both the ceiling and the floor below was a strange, intricately-arranged carving resembling an odd tree. At the far end of the office was his father's desk, the light from behind serving to render the man himself as a sinister silhouette, with only the orange-tinted lenses of his glasses providing any indicator that he was there.

Quite a way to keep your underlings intimidated, Shinji thought to himself as he kept a steady pace towards the desk. Silently, he warned himself to not get cocky and show his hand. It wouldn't do any good to underestimate the two men awaiting him. Finally, he reached the front of the desk, his father sitting behind it with his gloved hands tented. Fuyutsuki sat on the far right of the desk, looking less hostile than his superior officer. Shinji inferred that Fuyutsuki was more of a people person than his father ever was-good to note, since what he had in store would be more favorable to the old man.

Returning his father's gaze, Shinji finally spoke up. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to add a bit of color here," he said. "A fresh coat of paint, some flowers, maybe a couple of throw pillows...And maybe it'd be a friendlier place to be in."

"What is it you want?" Gendo asked with a cold voice.

Shinji smirked a tiny bit as he answered. "I'll be blunt-thanks to me, nearly half the entirety of NERV knows I don't like you and you don't like me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just your 'soldier', so with that in mind, I'd like to make the terms of my being a pilot known."

"Is that so?" Gendo asked, a slightly-arched eyebrow expressing the tiniest bit of skepticism.

"Very much so," Shinji replied. "Now, given the, shall we say, hazardous 'part-time job' you've otherwise roped me into, I only think it's fair to define and honor certain conditions by which I'll do the job."

"If I were to refuse your terms?" Gendo probed further.

Shinji shrugged nonchalantly. "Then I grab my things and head back to where I was living before, and we never speak to each other again."

Gendo slightly furrowed his brow. "How childish of you," he said in a voice full of scorn. "Even if you attempted to do so, I could revoke your guardian's custody rights and assume it myself-"

"Now that, right there, gives me more reason to pass on the piloting thing altogether," Shinji countered. "Sure, I could be 'forced', but do you really want to try that while I've got control of-how did Dr. Akagi put it?-'mankind's ultimate fighting machine'?"

Fuyutsuki, though he wasn't showing it, was impressed and amazed at how the young man was dealing with his father. He'd known how little Gendo cared for the boy, and any little bit of affection he would've shown him he gave to Rei instead. However, the Shinji Ikari standing before him was nothing like what Gendo had led him to believe. Here was a young man possessed of wit, a great sense of subtlety, confidence...All of which reminded him more of the boy's mother and his former student, Yui.

Gendo didn't appear fazed by the threat. "Do not think you are indispensable. Even without you here, we still have Rei."

Shinji didn't flinch, instead merely dropping the slight smirk and furrowing his own brows. After seeing the state that Rei was in when she was wheeled out on a gurney, he knew his father might sling something like this at him.

"...I rest my case," Shinji said. "You really would sink that low, wouldn't you, Commander? Threatening to send a teenage girl--one who was already seriously-injured, at that--to what would be a guaranteed death sentence, unless I did your bidding without question. Why am I not surprised?"

Fuyutsuki, taken slightly aback by the accusation Shinji lobbed, tried to come to Gendo's defense. "Shinji, hold a moment, he never meant-"

"Oh, he certainly did, Sub-commander," Shinji said with a touch of anger. "You don't need to say anything on his behalf, he's a grown man, let him justify dangling Rei in front of me like bait. Everyone and their mother here knew she'd have been toast in only a few seconds if she'd been sent out, and truthfully..." He turned his gaze back to Gendo as he continued. "He wouldn't have cared at all." Fuyutsuki clammed up as those last words sank in. "You may not have shown it, but I could tell how desperate you were for a pilot if you had to ask me over here. From a little chat I had with Captain Katsuragi while I was being debriefed, I know about the Second Child--I'm surprised you didn't think of transferring her over here from NERV-Berlin, and she's been training for this conflict her entire life. And I'm betting that even if Rei was at peak health right now, you still couldn't find a better replacement for me."

Things went quiet in the office again as more of his words made left an impression on the two commanders.

"You've essentially conscripted me, being 14 years of age," Shinji kept going, "into fighting in a war to determine humanity's fate, going up against monsters from places of the mind that men fear to tread, which have already demonstrated how absurdly effective they are against conventional weapons and troops. Given all that, any conditions I set should be reasonable, especially considering the amount of resources this place has access to."

Gendo frowned slightly, realizing that it'd be like going through the same tit-for-tat with the Committee.

"Very well then," he said with an almost-impatient sigh. "What are your terms?"

Shinji let a small smile appear on his face. "A monthly, tax-free stipend, around two million Yen, with hazard pay included, to start with. The same for both the First and Second Children as well."

Hearing this made both Gendo and Fuyutsuki's eyebrows rise. "The Second I can understand," Gendo said, "but why the First as well? She has no need for such an income."

Shinji challenged that as he stepped closer. "The First is a human being, one whose whole life is still ahead of her. Sure, she probably won't need it right now, but she shouldn't have to worry about her future plans. I mean, it's not like you have some grand destiny planned out for her, right?"

The commanders exchanged glances, as if they were wondering if the boy had an inkling of the Commander's plans for Rei.

"Aside from compensation," Gendo said, "is there anything else?"

"I'll need to make arrangements to live separately from you," Shinji replied. "It's clear any interaction outside HQ wouldn't be advised. I personally don't want any others caught up in our little 'Cold War' as it were."

"Other than that?" Gendo asked, seemingly bored.

"Nothing else, for now," Shinji answered with a slight shrug. "If I come up with something more, I'll let you know."

"In exchange for all this?" Gendo asked, a minute hint of mockery in his voice.

"Simple," Shinji replied. "I pilot the Evangelion, stay in Tokyo-3, follow your orders, and be on my best, professional behavior around you in public, at all times. And of course, I won't bring up what happened to my mother."

After a moment's pause, Gendo spoke. "I accept your terms," he said as he turned to Fuyutsuki. "Fuyutsuki, you will handle the rest of this. Make sure the paperwork is drawn up accordingly." He then looked back at Shinji. "You are dismissed, Pilot Ikari."

With an acknowledging nod, Fuyutsuki got up and gestured for Shinji to follow him out the door. Once they left, Gendo picked up his phone and pressed a number on his speed dial. A woman's voiced answered on the other end.

"Prepare a full training and harmonics schedule for Pilot Shinji Ikari, designation Third Child. He will be assigned to Unit-01; Rei will act as his backup when she recovers, until Unit-00 is returned to active duty." Once he hung up, Gendo resumed his preparation for the forthcoming meeting with the Committee.

Outside Gendo's office...

Misato stood at attention as Shinji and Fuyutsuki exited the office.

"Sir," she said with a nod.

"Captain," the older man replied with a nod in turn. "I'll leave Pilot Ikari in your hands. We managed to get enough from the debriefing earlier, so I believe he should get some well-deserved rest, don't you agree?"

"Of course," Misato agreed. The Sub-commander then exchanged a nod with Shinji and then headed off towards his own office down the corridor. Misato then faced Shinji as they headed to the elevators. "So, what'd you speak to your father about?"

"Ah, that?" Shinji replied. "Just laying down the terms of my employment here. And making it clear I wasn't going to live with him."

"Wait, really?" Misato asked with surprise. While she was glad that Shinji was staying on, she was worried about what he'd just implied. "Then what's your living situation going to be like?"

"Not sure yet," Shinji replied with a shrug. "It's likely the Sub-commander will have me room somewhere in the barracks down here. Who knows?"

The elevator let out a 'ping' and opened into another section of Central Dogma filled with a number of personnel milling about as they went to take care of their specific duties. As they walked along the hallway, Misato took a look at Shinji, carrying a backpack filled with what few valued possessions he had, and felt something click in her mind. Making her decision, she quickly brought out her phone and speed-dialed the Sub-commander.

"Can you wait here for a moment?" she asked Shinji, motioning him to a bench. "This won't take long."

Shinji nodded and sat down, quickly taking out a book to read. Misato, as she stepped around a corner, noted mentally with a bit of curiosity that it was a tankobon-sized translated collection of the European comic book Corto Maltese. As he perused through the pages he'd left off from, Shinji thought to himself how great it felt standing up to his father after all this time. He and Allard had worked out how he'd accomplish such a feat, and the fact that he'd be making a bit of coin at the NERV Commander's expense didn't hurt either. After several minutes, Misato walked back up to him, causing him to look up from his reading. Misato had a satisfied look on her face as she hung up her phone.

"Interesting reading tastes you've got there," she noted, eyeing the book.

Shinji smiled a bit. "The library back in the town I lived in had a wide selection. You recognized it?"

"I was stationed at NERV-Berlin for a while," Misato replied. "Had a co-worker who read a lot of those. Anyway, got some good news for you."

"And that is?" Shinji asked as he raised a curious eyebrow.

"You're gonna be my new roommate!" Misato enthusiastically answered.

"Huh? Who allowed that?" Shinji asked.

"I just spoke with the Sub-commander," Misato explained. "I mean, you shouldn't be living on your own yet, and my apartment's pretty big. The Sub-commander understood the situation, so he appointed me your new legal guardian. Besides, it's clear the Commander-"

"Wasn't feeling up to the task?" Shinji posed. "Fine with me. Far as I'm concerned, the man's just my higher most commanding officer. And besides, you seem like you'll be fun to live with."

"Good to hear!" Misato said as she took his arm and started heading towards the garage. "We'll definitely need to have a housewarming party for you, even if it's just us. Then we can get the rest of your stuff shipped here from your previous guardian's..."

Shinji smiled as he let Misato ramble on a bit more. With any luck, I'll be able to get the lay of the city, he thought, already planning a sweep in the evening as his more...darker alter-ego. He'd see what the underworld situation was like in Tokyo-3, as well as begin a little 'recruitment drive' of new operatives. Given the resources he'd just negotiated for, he was now set for establishing himself here. It wouldn't be long now, before a new Shadow fell over the fortress of mankind...

End Chapter 3.​

Omake - Rejected Crossover Candidates Cavalcade: Neo-Noir Edition, Part 1 of 3

Author0fntent looked at us from his desk, his computer to the side.

"Hey, there, loyal readers!" he greeted. "I know this story's a bit different from my usual comedic repertoire, but after getting the idea to cross the Evangelion mythos over with something that hasn't been done before, I knew I wanted to try my luck with a more serious story. Now, eventually I went with bringing in The Shadow as the latest in a long line of 'EVA's catastrophe thwarted by outside forces' stories, but before I settled on that particular franchise, I went through a number of potential crossover candidates, all fitting under the neo-noir umbrella. Here to demonstrate the three contenders will be Shinji himself."

Shinji walked into the author's office, if a bit reluctant to do so. "I thought we were just doing this for your Freakazoid! story!" he complained. "You said I wouldn't need to do another thing like this."

"Relax, kid," the author said reassuringly. "Your female co-stars endured a lot of these in Mike313 and OrionPax09's stories, so surely you can put up with just a few, right? It won't be so bad, and the threads you'll sport in each one are pretty stylish."

Shinji rolled his eyes a bit. "All right, fine. Let's just get on with it."

"Thank you," the author said as he faced us. "Now, these three contenders I hinted at all had one thing in common aside from a neo-noir aspect. All are examples of some of the best independent, creator-owned action/adventure type comics of the 1980s, and featured concepts that were pretty well-regarded by their respective readerships at large. The first of these comes from a fan-favorite writer/artist known for his extensive work with DC around this time period, and my crossover idea also featured the 'Shinji-mentored-by-someone-else-turns-him-into-a-bolder-guy' trope. (Yikes, that was a mouthful.) In my initial plans, it was similar in the relationship between Shinji and his Western-born alternative guardian/father figure, but had a more grounded approach to the young man our Third Child becomes. The first candidate, to make a long story short, was Mike Grell's Jon Sable, Freelance."

​

With a snap of the author's fingers, Shinji's clothes changed. He now wore a black long-sleeved turtleneck and pants, black boots and short gloves, and a brown leather belt with a right thigh holster. On his face appeared shadowy war paint, looking almost like a mask. Shinji removed from the holster what turned out to be a customized Mauser pistol, much to his surprise. At the author's additional snap of his fingers, a small target range appeared in another part of the office, and Shinji, with a shrug, walked over to it and slipped on a pair of earmuffs as he tried his luck with the firearm.

The author then proceeded to explain his choice. "With Jon Sable, you have a man whose backstory included the loss of family, which would have made him perfect to take Shinji under his wing. The trick, from there, would be figuring out how a highly-skilled bounty hunter/detective/bodyguard-for-hire who moonlights as a children's book author and was a former Olympic athlete and game warden fits into the EVA situation. At one point, I felt I could draw a connection via fanfic author ArujeiGo's "On the Threshold We All Stood" by having Sable be an acquaintance of that story's protagonist, Charles Tallman. Another connection I could make would have been Yui Ikari reading to Shinji as a toddler translated editions of the 'Leprechauns of Central Park' books written by Sable's alter-ego B.B. Flemm. Eventually, I decided that the logistics of it didn't pan out as I'd felt."

Shinji, having finished his target practice (the results of which weren't that good), then walked up to the author while he holstered the Mauser.

"Good thing you did," he said. "Truth is, I hate guns anyway."

"That too," the author quickly added, before giving us a small wave. "Tune in next chapter, when we'll look at who I next considered Shinji to be the successor to, as well as continue the trend of Mr. Ikari here looking pretty spiffy in black."

"I'll give you that," Shinji said. "But fingers crossed the next one's not too ridiculous..."

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 4 - Hands in the Dark​

Gendo Ikari, his hands in their usual tented position, sat as he observed the five men in holographic form talk amongst themselves. Together, they weren't ordinary men, and they were only half of their total number present. Even this half dozen alone could be considered some of the most powerful men on the planet. Of those present, four were highlighted in certain colors that seemed to greatly contrast with the severity of their discussion. One was highlighted in blue; another, yellow; a third, red; and the fourth, green. On the opposite ends of the virtual 'table', only two men were highlighted in plain white: Gendo himself, and the undisputed head of the whole group, the cybernetically-enhanced Lorenz Kihl. Kihl, along with the four highlighted in color, made up the U.N. Human Instrumentality Committee, public face of the organization Gendo secretly answered to: SEELE. And right now, the topic of discussion was the progression of their plans for the very world they claimed, on the surface, to be serving.

"The Angels have returned, at last," the man in red said, breaking the silence. "Albeit much sooner than we'd anticipated."

"Yet very much in line with what we determined fifteen years before," the man in yellow said in turn as he eyed his comrades.

While all this went on, Gendo silently thought of the hypocrisy of those statements, considering that thanks to the Dead Sea Scrolls, in spite of their incomplete nature, they'd been given plenty of warning. Why bother even feigning surprise over what they'd predicted would happen? Such hypocrisy appalled him and made him feel contempt for these so-called 'masters of the universe' who had every one of their claws sunk into governments, conglomerates, and military forces the entire world over.

"Thankfully, the timing could not have been better," the red one said. "Our rather enormous investments have proven not to be in vain."

"How's the old saying go?" the man in blue posed. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch. We still have quite the labors ahead of us."

"Indeed we do," the man in yellow concurred. "The appearance of the Angels is now in the public sphere, so we must act quickly to ensure our narrative is the one embraced by the populace at large. If the truth of these events were to come out, all our efforts would become worthless."

Gendo's contempt grew more upon hearing this. It was rather pathetic, seeing them still worried about their reputations, their public perceptions, at this point in their long game. "Be assured, gentlemen," he began to say, "we have already taken measures to ensure a proper public relations campaign will sate the U.N.'s worries and curiosity, and from there allow them to cow the rest of the global population."

"So you say, Ikari," the man in green snorted as he looked over a report. "I for one see reason to question the effectiveness of NERV and the Evangelions. Just look at these costs: repairs to Unit-00 and Unit-01, along with Tokyo-3 alone, are enough to completely bankrupt one or two developing nations!"

"In spite of all those, the operation was a success, you cannot deny that," Gendo countered flatly. "Even more so, considering that Unit-01's repair costs are quite minimal, compared to our own predictions for the outcome of its first sortie. And lest you forget, Tokyo-3 is designed as a fortress city, therefore collateral damage is to be expected. Need I also remind you that our total expenditures so far are a pittance compared to the UN response."

"Still, there is another concern amongst ourselves," the man in yellow said as he stepped in. "It is our understanding that you gave control of the most powerful weapon ever created...to your own son, correct?"

"Yes," Gendo replied with a nod. "He is the only one capable of piloting it, which he did so in a very effective manner. He succeeding in not only terminating the Third Angel--within 62 seconds, at that--but also proved to the world that NERV is the only force that stands a chance at dealing with the threat of the Angels."

"Even so," the blue man replied, "from here on out, we must focus all of our effort in ensuring the Human Instrumentality Project's commencement."

"Indeed," the man in yellow concurred. "the Angels are only going to become stronger with each engagement, so we must see that the Project is complete--it is our true, last hope."

"Be that as it may," Kihl finally spoke up, "any delays in the Project's schedule will not be tolerated, Angels or no."

"Then thankfully, we do not anticipate any delay at this time," Gendo said.

"In light of all this," Kihl continued, "we will look into increasing NERV's budget going forward, in order to accelerate the development and deployment of the Evangelions."

"Now then, with all that out of the way," the man in green said with a nod to Kihl, "the rest of today's meeting concerns only committee members. You are excused, Ikari." With that, the four colored holograms vanished, leaving only Kihl and Gendo facing each other.

"There is no going back from here, Ikari," Kihl warned. "Remember that."

"Duly noted," Gendo said with a slight nod. "Humanity is living on borrowed time, after all." His own hologram then faded out, and he stood up and returned to his office, where Fuyutsuki was waiting for him.

"The meeting?" the former professor asked.

"As expected," Gendo replied with a scoff. "The old men are getting restless now."

"Not entirely surprising," Fuyutsuki said with a shrug as the two men took their respective seats.

"How goes the cleanup operation?" Gendo asked.

"It's going rather well, all things considered," Fuyutsuki replied. "Though a bit of in-house damage control will be needed, in regards to the revelations Shinji unloaded in the EVA cages."

"Which will be dealt with," Gendo assured. "Still, the attitude he presented, coupled with the boldness and skill he displayed in the battle with the Third Angel, is troubling. Something isn't right about it at all, and that could prove costly to the scenario. It would appear that the surveillance we've had on him was compromised--for how long, I'm unsure of. It bears looking into..."

Rei Ayanami's hospital room, around the same time...

Rei lay in bed, uncomprehending of the boredom that would normally overtake someone in her position. Then again, she did not dwell on the subject of emotions for lengthy periods of time. She didn't know exactly how to enjoy the little things in life many people would take for granted. All she knew was that her purpose was two-fold: pilot Unit-00, and help Commander Ikari fulfill his scenario's designs. She would recover and return to duty. But all this was not what was on her mind at the moment.

Instead, despite her usual blank expression, she thought about someone. A someone new to her life. According to a brief conversation with the Commander earlier, he simply stated that the boy was the Third Child, yet she suspected it was more than that. When the Commander left, he'd unintentionally left something behind for Rei to mull over. Like Pandora of ancient Greek mythology, Rei now was beset by curiosity, specifically about the Third Child. The boy who, when she was wheeled out to pilot Unit-01 when he initially refused, changed his mind, talked her back down onto her gurney, and willingly stepped up to the task. What was she feeling? She couldn't understand...

Her contemplation came to an abrupt halt as her hospital room's door opened. Turning her head slightly, her uncovered eye focusing on the spot, she expected it was probably a nurse coming for her afternoon check-up, or even Dr. Akagi. The person who entered, however, was neither; instead, it was the very subject of her recent pondering. Shinji walked in unannounced, looking her over with an expression she couldn't put her finger on.

"Ms. Ayanami? May I come in?" he asked.

Rei had never been asked that particular question before. "You may," she answered after quickly giving it some thought. With that, Shinji closed the door behind him and walked to her bedside, where he pulled up a chair. "You are the Third Child," she stated simply.

Shinji nodded in affirmation. Internally, he hated the thought of what went down that put Rei in such a precarious condition, and knew his father had a hand in it. He could already tell that the man had done enough to shape Rei into an obedient tool, for whatever his plans entailed. Oh yes, he was going to relish seeing if his father could still feel fear...

"Are you all right?" Rei asked in a near-whisper, making Shinji realize he'd been clenching his fist.

"It's nothing, really," Shinji answered. "More importantly, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"...My recovery is going well," Rei replied. "I shall be ready to leave by the end of the week, and from there, be able to return to piloting duty." She went silent for a brief moment before speaking up again. "Why did you do it?" Shinji raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she meant. "Why did you prevent me from piloting Unit-01?"

Shinji paused a moment before answering her. "You're aware who my father is, right?" Rei nodded in turn. "Before he brought you into the EVA cage, I actually was planning to leave without a second glance. The man doesn't speak to me for over eleven years, then sends me a letter bearing only the word 'Come'." He then looked squarely at Rei as he continued. "He said he'd finally found a 'use' for me, as Unit-01's pilot. No 'long time, no see, Son', no wanting to make up for lost time...All he saw was just the replacement part he'd ordered sent here, free delivery included." Rei's expression underwent a very, very subtle change on hearing this, which didn't escape Shinji's notice. "I refused him. Honestly? I wanted nothing to do with the...the thing that had taken my mother from me."

Rei remained quiet, even when he finished, and after a couple of minutes, she repeated the question asked earlier.

"You still have not answered my question," she reminded him. "Why did you decide to pilot the EVA?"

Shinji gave her a sad smile before he replied. "You'd have been sent in my place, and...that would have been it for you. You'd be dead. I couldn't let that happen."

Hearing this gave Rei pause. "You did it...to protect me," she said slowly, seeming as if she couldn't grasp the reasoning behind his words.

"And I still plan to," Shinji affirmed.

"...When I have fully recovered," Rei began, "do you plan to leave then?"

"I don't," Shinji answered.

"...Why?" Rei asked, not understanding the sincerity behind his words.

"I'm not leaving you as the lone defense against the Angels," he slowly answered her. "I'll stand by you throughout this conflict. I won't abandon you, not like my father does to anyone he deems...useless. Ayanami, you're worth protecting-most life is worth protecting."

Rei could tell that he meant what he said, as she looked into his eyes. There was conviction behind his words, even if she didn't completely understand them. Oddly, they still felt comforting to her, in spite of her knowledge that the Commander could easily replace her.

"Ayanami," Shinji started to say, "would it be all right if I visited you again? You look like you could use a friend, and I haven't met anyone else our age yet. From what Misato's told me, I'll be doing a week of initial training here before starting at the school, so I'll be around."

After giving it some thought, Rei made her decision. "I would not mind," she said softly. Shinji smiled, gave her a nod, and then got up to head out of the room. Before exiting, he imparted some last words to her.

"Ayanami, don't let anyone, especially my father, use you as a tool for coercion ever again," Shinji said firmly. "You're a human being. You shouldn't be made to dance to anyone's tune. Sometimes, you're better off dancing to your own." With that, he left and shut the door behind him. Rei took those words and thought about them, even as evening approached...

Misato's apartment building, a half-hour later...

After making a brief stop by a small grocery store to pick up some instant dinners (along with a minor detour so she could show him the city resurfacing at sunset), Misato and Shinji finally arrived at the captain's humble abode. When Misato opened the door, the sight before him made Shinji's eyes widen.

The place was almost a total pigsty. Then again, the three empty Yebisu-branded boxes outside her door might have given him a clue about what was in store. Frankly, it matched what other details Shinji had gone over with Allard when they went through Misato's file in particular.

"Captain Katsuragi juggles more than a few coping mechanisms in order to escape her longtime trauma," Allard recounted. "Our psychological profile describes her as a woman who lives life so lightly as to barely allow the possibility of human touch. She protects herself by keeping relationships on the surface-in a sense, running away. It manifests itself primarily in the disparity she maintains between her professionalism by day and her homebound slovenliness by night. Combined with her alcoholism, and you have quite the, to use an odd phrase, 'controlled powder keg'. As part of your overall mission, you will need to help her regain more control of her life, 'de-fuse the bomb', as it were. You must help her become Misato Katsuragi, not your father's Captain Ahab..."

"Shinji? You there?" Misato asked, lightly waving a hand in front of his face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry--what'd you say?" he replied.

"I said not to mind the mess, I actually just moved here recently," the captain said.

"Er, yes, I think I can see that..." Shinji said warily as they entered the apartment, where more and more of the mess continued to appall Shinji as he took it all in. Allard wasn't kidding when he said straightening out Misato would be challenging...This thought was made more apparent when he saw the state of the kitchen. After putting away most of the food, Misato went to go change into her at-home attire; when she returned, Shinji got full confirmation of the 'disparity' her profile mentioned, as her casual wear proved to be a bit more revealing, consisting of a yellow top and cutoff-style jean shorts. A little later, Shinji had managed to make something edible out of the instant meals they'd brought home, and they sat down for dinner. Seeing as how it'd been a long day for the both of him, he decided he'd have a talk with her tomorrow morning, as he'd already begun formulating a way make a more positive change in her life.

When they finished, Shinji took their plates and rinsed them off in the sink. He then asked where the bathroom was, to which Misato pointed him towards down the hall. Shinji then headed towards it, only to stop when he noticed the light on and the water running. Slightly suspicious, he knocked on the door, and heard a very unexpected sound.

"Wark!"

Becoming confused, Shinji nonchalantly opened the door, only to make an interesting discovery:

A penguin with red-crested feathers, along with a little metal nameplate hanging around its neck, was bathing in the tub. Shinji blinked, slowly closed the door, and then looked out into the hall, catching Misato's gaze.

"Misato?" Shinji asked. "Since when does a penguin a) live in warm weather, and b) live here?"

Before any response came from her, said penguin opened the bathroom door (towel around its neck) and waddled out towards the kitchen, specifically to the lower door on the refrigerator.

"Oh, him?" Misato replied casually. "That's just Pen-Pen. He's originally a test animal from the lab I worked security at. (That was one of the jobs I held before joining NERV.) Anyway, he's a new species, called a hot springs penguin." Her smile took on a slightly sad countenance as she continued. "When the experiments were finished and they were set to euthanize him, well...I felt bad for the little guy, so I took him in."

As Misato finished her explanation, Pen-Pen pressed a switch on the fridge, causing the little door to open, revealing a custom living quarters for the avian denizen of the apartment. Pen-Pen then gave Shinji a look, before shrugging and waddling inside, the door closing behind him. Shinji then gave Misato a look, before shrugging and heading back towards the bathroom.

"Eh, not the strangest thing I've seen so far," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Later that night...

After checking to make sure that Misato was sound asleep (which, given the beers she'd downed, was a given), Shinji decided it was time to get the lay of the city as his more...darker half. Quietly slipping some shoes on, along with a unique ring with a red stone onto his finger, he then exited the apartment and made his way to the elevator, which he entered. When the elevator reached the ground floor, Shinji was no longer in it, for instead exiting the car was a man wearing an ebon suit, black dress gloves (with the same ring on their right finger), and a crimson scarf covering the lower half of his face.

​

The Shadow soon found himself strolling through Tokyo-3's nightlife, evidenced by the people who were courageous enough to be out and about enjoying themselves, in spite of the danger that had reared its ugly head just hours before. At first merely blending in with the crowds, he then began making his way to one of the more grungier areas of the city, appearing to meld with the shadows from which he derived his moniker. As he got further in his wanderings, he picked up the sounds of a struggle nearby. Moving stealthily among the dim street lamps, he soon spotted the source of the ruckus.

What looked to be a quartet of low-level yakuza had surrounded a young woman next to a Toyota-model taxi cab. The woman herself appeared to be in her early-20's, with fair skin, full lips, and brown eyes. She sported a slender frame, with curvy hips and well-defined, muscularly-toned legs, indicating she was quite a fighter in spite of her average height. Her black hair was shiny and unkempt, partly-covered by a blue newsboy-style cap; she wore a short-sleeved t-shirt with an a-shirt showing underneath, a pair of jeans with the right leg mostly torn off and the left one mostly torn from the thigh down. On her feet were ankle-high boots, and on her hands were a set of dark-colored fingerless gloves.

"I told you mugs already, I'm not lettin' you rope me into your funny business!" the woman barked back at her tormentors, still in her defensive stance, indicating she'd been in her fair share of scraps with guys bigger than herself. "So go find yerselves another set of wheels, 'cause you're not gettin' your grubby hands on mine!"

The four yakuza looked at one another, grinned, and proceeded to laugh at her show of defiance.

"Sorry, babe, but we never said anything about you getting a choice here..." one of them said, as he repeatedly flipped a switchblade open and closed, before ultimately keeping it open.

Just as he started approaching her, she quickly struck and knocked the blade out of his hand with a hard high kick from her right leg. She then proceeded to land a kick with her other leg and planted a foot in his face, making him recoil in pain and fury.

"Don't just stand there!" the goon barked. "Get her!"

The other three then started to gang up on the woman, who did her best to fight back, and seemed like she was handling herself well. Unfortunately, these thugs fought dirty, as one snuck up and had her in an arm-lock from behind, much to her frustration. With her immobilized, the mook that she'd kicked initially paid her back with a punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of her. Just when he was about to land a second blow on her, suddenly, he heard laughing.

​

Not just laughing, but a very ominous, almost-maniacal laughing.

"And here I thought that yakuza were supposed to have some code of honor..." a new voice taunted. The four yakuza looked around warily, unable to see where the voice had come from.

"Who's there?!" the bruised one said as he quickly drew his gun. "Who are you?! Where're you hiding?!"

"Who, me?" the voice replied. "I'm over here..."

The yakuza proceeded to fire off a shot in the direction he'd heard the taunt coming from.

"Why are you shooting that way?" the voice taunted again. "I'm over here..."

The yakuza then fired a shot in the opposite direction, but still heard no impact.

"No, no, right here," the voice said. "I'm sure you won't miss this time..."

"Wha-wha-?" the yakuza uttered, as he grew more confused and terrified.

"Actually...I'm right here," the voice said directly behind the yakuza, who turned quickly and found himself on the receiving end of a leopard's paw strike to the face, knocking him down and causing him to drop his gun.

The three other thugs were shocked by the sight of their comrade seemingly being given a swift beating from the very darkness around them. The two not holding the woman drew their own guns and clicked the safeties off, but never got the chance to even aim as they soon found their wrists struck by powerful, unseen blows, followed by a couple more that got one in the knee and another in the chest, sending them both collapsing to the ground. Seeing an opening, the woman kicked backwards, hitting her captor in the groin and then following up with a toss over her shoulder that sent him flying onto his back. As the others tried to get up, the unseen assailant struck again, leaving each with either a broken arm or a fractured ankle. The injured yakuza, now huddled together as they limped away from the woman, began to panic.

"What-what's going on?" the first yakuza said. "Who's out here?!"

"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit, gentlemen..." the unknown voice stated grimly. "Crime does not pay. The Shadow knows..."

"Sh-Shadow?" another of the yakuza said, eyes wide.

"And oh, how fun it will be making your lives, and those of your bosses, a living hell..." the Shadow said, before breaking into another sinister laugh. He then allowed the four thugs a brief glimpse-showing him looking very much the part of a deadly, black-and-crimson-clad ninja-before disappearing into the darkness again, the laughter resuming. This, in turn, caused the quartet to scream in terror and flee, tails between their legs, leaving the woman alone with her cab...and her surprising savior.

The woman stood there, gaping as the Shadow entered her view, his ninja form shifting before her eyes into his more debonair, suited look. After a couple of moments of silence, the woman regained her composure and folded her arms over her chest.

"I could've handled those guys," she stated. "I've been in a lot of scrapes in my time."

"I never knew how much street fighting was a part of the taxi service industry," the Shadow said, little humor showing in his words. "Even so, I've never liked unfair fights...Unless I'm the one making them unfair."

"Well don't you sound like a piece of work," the woman said with a slight scoff. "What's your angle, here, if you don't mind my askin'?"

"I saved your life," the Shadow answered matter-of-factly. "Now, it belongs to me."

The woman raised her hands defensively. "Whoa there, tall n' dark, I was just tellin' those scumbags I don't do funny business with creeps."

"I'm not asking you to commit crimes on my behalf," the Shadow clarified. "Quite the opposite. My mission is to prune the weed of crime in this city. Yet I am just one man...To do so effectively, I need eyes and ears...and occasionally, fists. I've only recently come to this city, and intend to start up a network of operatives. Ones who can be in places that the police can't get to. I wish to make you the first."

The woman raised her eyebrow skeptically. "What're you, some kinda vampire or something?"

"Nothing of the sort," the Shadow replied. "As stated, I cannot go at this alone. With your particular profession, you would provide quite an edge in my endeavors. Think of it as a way to repay me for coming to your aid. I need someone with your experience and expertise with the city's streets. Plus, for reasons I will share later, you'll have a stream of guaranteed steady customers."

The woman allowed a small grin onto her face at that detail. "Since you put it that way..." She then held out her hand, which he then shook.

"Your name, if I may?" the Shadow asked.

"Tomoe," the woman replied. "Tomoe Ichijima. Friends call me Tommi."

"Tommi," the Shadow started to say. "As a wise man of the movies once said, I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship..."

End Chapter 4.​

Omake 2 - Rejected Crossover Candidates Cavalcade: Neo-Noir Edition, Part 2 of 3

"Welcome back, folks!" Author0fntent greeted from his desk, as if he'd been anticipating this. "We're now at part 2 of my 'Rejected Crossover Candidates Cavalcade: Neo-Noir Edition', where I look at which franchises I opted not to cross Evangelion over with. Specifically, three 1980's action-adventure independent comics titles whose protagonists Shinji would've been successor to."

Shinji, standing next to the desk, looked non-plussed by the whole thing. "The turtleneck I wore last time was okay, but the war paint wasn't really my thing."

"Now, previously," the author elaborated, "I explained why I didn't make Shinji the protégé of the title character of Mike Grell's Jon Sable, Freelance. For today's installment, my next candidate leaned more on the truly antiheroic side of things, as he was essentially a villain that was the star of his own comic. This concept originated from the mind of another fan-favorite writer/artist in the great Matt Wagner, creator of Mage, DC's third Doctor Mid-Nite, and the title character of candidate number two for possible mentor of Shinji...Grendel."

​

With a snap of the author's fingers, Shinji was now clad in a black form-fitting costume, with white ankle-high boots and gloves. On his head was a black mask with large, diamond-shaped white 'eyes' and twin tassels at the back, and held in his right hand was a black staff with a silver, twin-pronged blade at the top. At another snap of the author's fingers, a sparring area with training dummies appeared in the corner of the office. With a nod from the author, Shinji walked over and proceeded to practice his fighting moves against the dummies.

"Grendel has an interesting history, story-wise," the author explained. "The Grendel name, over the course of the comic's publishing history, goes on to last hundreds of years. But the bearer of the mantle I'd focus on, for my narrative purposes, would've been the man who started it all, author and sadistic genius Hunter Rose, who starts out as an assassin but winds up taking control of the entire New York City underworld. Shinji would've had quite the unusual upbringing were he taken under Rose's wing, as well as being given a skillset one wouldn't share with their peers. I also thought that, with the theological symbolism prevalent throughout the EVA mythos, especially given that the monsters in it are named Angels, that it might bring an interesting contrast if one were to introduce a player whose legacy would become the literal embodiment of the Devil. But therein lay the big issue for me-the Grendel mythos are just as complex and varied as Evangelion's and I really didn't want to find myself trying to put two cans of worms together for this one."

As he finished, Shinji walked back in, the dummies all totally demolished at his hands. "Not to mention, and I should've said this at the start," Shinji said as he pulled the mask off his face, "but this costume kind of chafes."

The author shrugged at this statement and then looked back at us. "That's all for today-tune in next time for the last candidate in this cavalcade! I'm sure you'll be quite surprised..."

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 5 - The Eyes of the Shadow​

The following morning found Misato waking to the smell of something quite the opposite of the dinner she and Shinji ate yesterday evening. Quickly getting out of bed and making a brief trip to the bathroom to wash up, she walked into the kitchen to find her new ward cooking up what appeared to be a delicious meal. Specifically, a couple of omelets with a very, very alluring aroma. She also noticed Pen-Pen contentedly eating his usual fishy breakfast, which she guessed Shinji had prepared. Shinji himself picked up on her movements without turning around.

"Morning," he greeted.

"Good morning," Misato replied, her mouth starting to water as more of the scent overtook her.

"I'm just about finished here," Shinji said. "Hope you're hungry, 'cause I made us some frittatas."

"Really?" Misato asked, her reverie broken at the unexpectedness of Shinji's revelation. "We didn't even get--"

"I know, I know," Shinji said. "Woke up a bit early and decided to go for a little walk. Wound up finding a nearby market with decidedly fresher ingredients, so I thought I'd surprise you with something you could truly call a home-cooked meal. Think of it as a token of my appreciation for you taking me in."

Misato felt genuinely touched by the gesture, a small smile appearing on her face. "Aww, thanks, roomie!" She then proceeded to open the fridge. "Out of curiosity, why frittatas? I almost expected tamagoyaki, based on the smell."

"Wanted to spice things up around here," Shinji replied. "Sort of a prelude to how we'll divvy up the chores. (More on that later.) Plus, I was in a Big Night mood this morning."

Misato blinked for a moment in slight confusion. "Big Night?" she asked as she got out her morning can of Yebisu.

"American movie," Shinji clarified. "One of my personal favorites. It's about two brothers running a small Italian restaurant. The ending scene's what inspired breakfast here. Speaking of..."

He proceeded to lay down two plates on the table in front of them just as Misato sat down. He then urged Misato to wait on the beer and drink some tea instead. Indulging him, she accepted the offered cup of hot tea. Upon her first bite of the frittata, it was as if her taste buds were in heaven, and before long, her plate was cleaned of every morsel by the time she finished. She then proceeded to pick up where she'd left off and brought out her morning Yebisu, but when she was about to take her first sip of the day, Shinji, eyeing the opening he'd been saving since last night, spoke up.

"Gotta say, after seeing you last evening, you sure can put them away," he said. "Reminds me of someone I used to know."

"That so?" Misato asked cheerfully, the can now inches away from her lips. "Who in particular?"

"...A girl I went to school with, back in the town I was living in," Shinji replied, now adopting a more serious tone. "Her older brother, actually. He could chug down a couple of six-packs, nearly one a day, and barely looked like he was hammered. It was amazing, in a way."

"Must've been a great guy if he could stand that," Misato said. "Although, I'm detecting a bit of past-tense here. How come?"

Shinji deliberately paused a moment, before finally answering her. "It's because he's dead, Misato."

Hearing those words caused Misato to stop the advance of her beer can abruptly, her eyes going wide with shock. "D-dead?"

Shinji nodded. "All that drinking caught up to him one day. By the time he'd been hospitalized, both of his kidneys and his liver were completely ruined beyond belief. The doctors treating him had him hooked up to machines for a long while. They did all they could, but in the end, he passed away at 28. My friend and her parents were devastated."

Misato almost dropped the can onto the floor, but managed to catch it hastily before its contents could spill out. "...Oh my God...Shinji, I..." At that moment, an image was beginning to form in her head...One of the same fate befalling herself, at the rate she was going right now.

Shinji was very much aware of what was going through her head. The tragedy he'd described did happen, and when it did he made sure to comfort his friend through her grief. Allard had anonymously helped pay for the funeral, and when he and Shinji were working to familiarize the latter with NERV's personnel, Shinji brought up the idea of telling Misato this story as part of the plan to rob his father of one of his 'chess pieces'. Shinji, admittedly, wasn't entirely comfortable with using someone else's tragedy like this, but on the other hand, if it kept another soul from succumbing to the most fatal and final of alcoholism's effects, so be it. Getting a sharper, more focused Misato out of this wasn't a bad prospect either.

Shinji, at that moment, noticed Misato begin to get a little green around the gills, so he 'leaped' into action. "Hold on a sec, let me get you something to settle your stomach. Don't want you puking up the delicious breakfast I made now, do we?"

Misato slowly nodded as he handed her a glass of water, the tablets already fizzing away. She took a slow, deliberate sip of the concoction, and then took some deep breaths. The very thought of what Shinji had described had been permanently imprinted onto her mind, and it didn't look as if she was going to get rid of it any time soon. What she could get rid of, on the other hand, was right in front of her. She stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter, can in-hand, and looked at it intently, cursing her active imagination. She then looked momentarily at Shinji, who was finishing the last few bites of his own frittata. Though she didn't show it, she was pretty upset with him, but knew that he'd done it out of concern for her well-being in spite of knowing her for only a day, and she actually appreciated it. Forgoing a harsh rebuke over how his story had now effectively wrecked her alcohol tolerance for life, she proceeded to pour the can's contents down the drain, while ruminating on just what she would have to do with her remaining supply of the brew. It was then that another thought occurred to her--if she was going to actually make an effort to quit drinking, there was only one person she knew who could help from a medical standpoint.

God, Rits is gonna have a field day with me...she thought, already predicting just what kind of regimen her scientifically-inclined friend would come up with and put her through. The fact that it would at least be coming from a friend was a small consolation.

NERV HQ, later that morning...

"Morning, Shinji," Dr. Akagi greeted as the boy in question entered. "Just right this way and we'll get this show on the road. So, how was your first night at 'Hotel Katsuragi'?"

"Well..." Shinji began with a exaggerated shrug. "Not gonna lie, the atmosphere could use some improvement, the amenities are serviceable at best, the dining options are quite limited, and the proprietor appears to have a pet penguin, no shame, and is an alcoholic to boot. Er, check that, was an alcoholic, if the story I told her earlier this morning left any lasting impact on her psyche."

Hearing this caused the scientist to raise a skeptical eyebrow. "Let me get this straight--you're saying you scared Misato out of having her usual morning beer? And that whatever you told her was so shocking that she's contemplating quitting drinking altogether?"

"More or less," Shinji replied nonchalantly as the two of them entered the examination room.

Ritsuko didn't say anything at first, until she broke out into a sharp laugh. "HA! Oh, that'll be the day. This I've got to see--I've known her since college, and she'd never turn down a cold beer as much I could an unlit cigarette." Shinji, on hearing that, remembered the ashtray in her office, and the many butts that lay in it.

"Being partly the medical professional that you are, you do realize the dangers of chain smoking, don't you?" Shinji posed with a skeptical eyebrow of his own.

"Look at it this way," Ritsuko said in turn. "If the Angels manage to destroy the world, at least cancer's been beaten to the punch. Tell you what, we manage to defeat all the Angels coming our way, I'll quit smoking."

"I'll take that bet," Shinji replied as Ritsuko then began giving him his physical.

One hour later, Ritsuko finished with every part of his exam, which included the fitting for his plugsuit and being given an outline of his week of initial pilot training, and Shinji exited the room, where Misato was waiting for him outside the door, a slightly-smug smile on her face.

"How'd it go?" she asked coyly. "She didn't poke and prod you too hard, did she?"

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Funny. Could've been worse. Laugh all you want, there's still the matter of divvying up our house chores, something I'm certain you'll enjoy..."

Misato's smug look faded at the implications of that statement. Me and my big mouth...she thought.

Tokyo-3 Municipal Middle School, a week later...

After spending all of the previous week settling into the EVA program, which included all manner of drills, weapons training, VR simulations, and getting to know some of the other key staff at NERV (per his designs), it was finally Shinji's first day at a new school. As he strolled towards the front doors to the building, all around him students were either heading inside or milling around, laughing and chatting about either what they'd done over the long weekend or trading the latest gossip. Very few spoke about a friend or classmate who'd been evacuated out of the city by concerned parents. Once inside, Shinji immediately made his way to the principal's office, where he was given a school-issued laptop (among other things) and directed to his home room of Class 2-A. Once there, he was greeted by a girl with brown hair done into low-hanging twin tails, sitting by the door.

"Oh, hello there!" the girl greeted. "You must be the new transfer student I was informed about."

"That I am," Shinji said with a polite bow. "Shinji Ikari. Nice to meet you."

"Hikari Horaki," the girl introduced herself. "Class representative. It's honestly great having someone actually transferring in rather than out for once. Anyway, there's plenty of spare desks, so take your pick."

"Thanks," Shinji said, "Here's hoping we--"

"I don't believe it--IT'S YOU!" a voice suddenly shouted. "THE ROBOT PILOT! I'd know that voice anywhere!"

The room abruptly went silent as all eyes focused first on Shinji, and then the one who shouted towards him: the tracksuit-clad Toji Suzuhara, in the back of the room, now on his feet and pointing at Shinji. It took Shinji a moment to remember that this was the kid he'd saved along with his sister when he first piloted Unit-01.

*Sigh* So much for the anonymity I was going for so far...Shinji thought to himself resignedly, while every student in the classroom immediately began crowding him and peppering him with questions or comments. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to endure such a verbal onslaught for long, as Hikari immediately stepped in, glared at the crowd, and ordered in a loud, clear voice:

"THAT'S ENOUGH! EVERYONE BACK TO YOUR SEATS THIS INSTANT!"

This, in turn, was enough to stop everyone in their tracks and cause them to back away slowly till they returned to their chairs. Only one student-resident otaku and military geek Kensuke Aida, he of a mop of sandy brown hair and a pair of glasses, plus a video camera that seemed to be always recording-was still in his seat the whole time, typing away on his laptop. Still, it didn't exactly stop the students from chatting with one another, excited by the new face among them and his impressive feat. Shinji, as he finally took his seat, noticed that Toji still had a stunned look on his face as he quickly switched to staring at his desk, as if wanting to avoid eye contact. Looking to a desk by the window, he saw it was occupied by Rei, still with some bandages on her face and arm, staring out the window. She did momentarily make eye contact with him before resuming her gaze.

At that moment, the teacher finally entered the classroom, causing Hikari to stand up and issue the following command:

"Stand! Bow! Sit!"

All students, Shinji included, did as she ordered, without fail. From there, after Shinji was asked by the teacher-an elderly, bespectacled man-to give the class a more formal introduction, the lesson fully began, as said teacher proceeded to not so much as lecture but ramble on about Second Impact and the history following it. From the rumblings he'd heard around the school grounds earlier, Shinji knew it was going to be quite a snooze-fest consisting of the same information seemingly over and over again, to the point where many a student could recite it by heart. Instead of dozing off like most of the class was apt to do, however, Shinji decided to break in his newly-issued laptop. Specifically, adding a new app to the desktop. While he did so, he thought back to the previous week, and how very productive it had been, both for himself and his Shadow-y alter-ego...

​

In his week training at NERV HQ, the one embarrassing thing about it was his plugsuit fitting-a garment that he could wear only without anything on underneath. It brought to mind a certain joke from a certain episode of some American cartoon he'd caught a while back. Still, those who helped him with his fitting assured him it wasn't that revealing. (Also, it actually was pretty comfortable for what it was.)

On the personnel side of things, he took the time to actually ingratiate himself not only with the maintenance crews of his Evangelion (the most senior of whom knew his mother back when NERV was known as GEHIRN), but with the tactical/technical crew, especially the six 'bridge bunnies', each of whom turned out to be interesting people to talk to.

Maya Ibuki was a very likable young woman, acting as the level-headed 'middle sister' compared to Misato's 'cool, but firm' big sister figure. (Privately, Shinji marked her for possible future recruitment as the Shadow, given her position as aide-de-camp to Dr. Akagi.) Makoto Hyuga, one of the two resident otakus of the sextet, was fun to chat with about Western pulp stories, of which he was a fan, having complete Japanese-language editions of the John Carter of Mars and Conan the Barbarian tales. Shinji also could tell, based on the more subtle tics of Hyuga's, that the tech had a thing for Misato. Shigeru Aoba was a nice guy, if sarcastic and a bit cynical, but also was quite a guitarist, playing in a 'garage band' with his friends during his downtime. He and Shinji had many a chat where they traded a few comparisons of great guitarists, with Aoba complimenting his choices of underrated jazz greats like Earl Klugh, Larry Carlton, and Russ Freeman; Aoba may have been a metalhead, but he could appreciate contributions from the jazzier end of the music spectrum.

Aoi Mogami was fiercely intelligent and an avid reader of the 'hard' subgenre of science fiction, a fan of both Japanese legends such as Komatsu, Aramaki, and Tsutsui, and Western greats like Heinlein, Asimov, and Crichton. Satsuki Ooi--who Shinji could tell had a very quiet crush on Hyuga-had a taste in reading that was a stark contrast to either Maya or Aoi; her genre of choice happened to be hardboiled crime fiction, and she counted among her favorite movies Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog. Kaede Agano acted a bit as the 'kid sister' of the four women bridge techs, and was as much of an otaku as Hyuga when it came to the 'magical girl' archetype of manga and anime, with a childhood favorite of hers being Corrector Yui; a fitting choice, given her profession.

Shinji also got himself acquainted with another senior member of Technical Division 1, Dr. Hitomi Kaga. Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki thought highly of her, as he'd been good friends with her physicist father. Second only to Dr. Akagi in terms of talent and expertise, she aided in the further development of the operating systems of the Evangelions. In spite of all that, she self-admittedly was a bit clumsy and, unlike Akagi, tended to wear her emotions on her sleeve, in spite of prioritizing living as a scientist and not as a woman.

In the sea of adults that was NERV's staff, the only person his age that Shinji ever interacted with at HQ was Rei, who he continued to visit in her hospital room. In his talks with her, he sought to get to know her better (a bit difficult, considering she wasn't much of a conversationalist), and gave her something to bond with him over by loaning her a book or two from his own personal library (which thankfully, along with his other possessions, managed to make it to Misato's apartment intact). Specifically, thanks to him she found herself fascinated with mystery novels-their pacing, characterization, the way clues were left to see if the reader could figure things out before the central character (usually a detective) did. Discussing character motives, as Shinji suspected, also helped Rei understand a bit more about human nature, since he figured she'd been quite sheltered and isolated in her time at NERV, no doubt thanks to his father. If he played his cards right, he'd bring Rei out of her shell, and out from under his father's thumb, through a love of the printed page--especially if it concerned puzzles that needed solving.

At home, Shinji more or less settled in at Misato's apartment, thanks in part to having some of his things to personalize his new room. He kept his word to Misato and laid out the chore division in a way that was effective and beneficial to both of them. Though a bit peeved over how he'd managed to outdo her in rock-paper-scissors to make it happen, she begrudgingly accepted handling laundry duty and cleaning the bathroom while Shinji took over as house chef; the two would work together when it came to keeping the rest of the apartment spic-and-span. Shinji managed to get her to stick to those two duties thanks to her having become already hooked on his cooking, warning her that anything instant would only be devoured as a last resort.

Speaking of Misato, since resolving to quit drinking, she struggled to maintain her composure at times, thanks partly to strong withdrawal pains, which in turn gave her an irritable mood. In spite of those, she was getting better as the days progressed. Shinji chuckled internally when he remembered the look on Ritsuko's face when he saw Misato ask for her help in getting clean and dry after all this time. Ritsuko, in spite of the minor laughs she got out of seeing her friend this way, eagerly prescribed a medicinal regimen that would help ease Misato's symptoms, which contributed to her getting better. Shinji helped her further by giving her a different drink of choice: coffee, specifically a deliciously-scented blend he'd found at the same market where he'd gotten his frittata ingredients the other day.

​

Every night of that week was a different story, compared to Shinji's time at NERV. When he was sure Misato was fast asleep, he would covertly exit the apartment as the Shadow, meet up with Tommi (1) at a designated spot on the opposite side of the block the building was on, and patrol Tokyo-3's streets. The Shadow would thwart crimes in progress or find people who almost became victims or pawns of another's schemes. Some of those people he saved would become new additions to his ever-growing network within the city.

​

There was Yoshito (2), who was the second person recruited by the Shadow into his network. Yoshito was a systems administrator for a small software company who nearly became the fall guy for an embezzlement ploy by its CEO; he wound up utilizing his skills with wiretapping and hacking to help the Shadow expose his boss's crimes, leading to the man's arrest. In return for his help, Yoshito became the new Shadow's communications expert and information broker, who would help all agents maintain contact with one another via a web app he developed exclusively for them; at the Shadow's suggestion, Yoshito dubbed it "The Switchboard".

Then there was another Hitomi, along with her sisters Ruriko and Aika (3), who ran the Cat's Meow, a café frequented by a number of underworld figures. The daughters of a former professional art thief, they were threatened by a local arm of the Zaibatsu into nearly becoming a front business for their activities, until the Shadow helped them turn the tables, launching their own sting operation that netted the Zaibatsu for an investigative agency of the Japanese government not on their payroll. As repayment for his help, the sisters granted him the use of their café as a meeting hub for his agents, or to hold suspects until the authorities could come in. They would also pass along info they overheard from certain unsavory customers to Yoshito via The Switchboard, so he in turn would ensure it got right to the Shadow himself.

Another interesting recruit was Hideki 'Bandit' Tanaka (4), a large, muscular man with slightly-dark skin who was a professional auto mechanic. He was brought to the Shadow's attention through Tommi, since she regularly came to him for repairs to her cab. A former courier-for-hire frequently employed by either Yakuza or Zaibatsu, he maintained a personal code of engagement when dealing with underworld types, which clashed with those who sought out his services. His chief exceptions were never taking any job related to drugs, or anything that harmed children or noncombatants. He kept a few ties to some low-level gangland folks, and would help the Shadow utilizing those connections either as an infiltrator or informant.

And then there was Kumiko (5), a nurse at Tokyo-3 General Hospital with extensive medical knowledge. Her meeting the Shadow stemmed from when he helped get her older brother, an amateur boxer, out from under the thumb of a Yakuza lieutenant who was forcing him to throw fights for money. As thanks for his exposure of the Yakuza lieutenant's dealings and getting her brother cleared, Kumi would be on-call whenever the Shadow or one of his agents needed medical attention discreetly.

In addition to Tommi, it was a very eclectic bunch that Shinji had managed to get into his employ, and soon he had the beginnings of a network that would thrive and continue to grow as the Shadow's reach expanded throughout Tokyo-3.

Shinji's reminiscence was abruptly halted when the bell rang, indicating it was lunch time. As the students got up, some turned to him, probably to again pester him with questions. Before he could even utter a plea for a little space, Toji spoke up from behind.

"Yo, new guy!"

Shinji turned to find Toji, fists balled at his side, standing behind him, staring for several seconds, until he unexpectedly bowed to him. Shinji was speechless.

"You saved both me and my sister," Toji begrudgingly admitted, "when you got us out of the way of that thing. We owe you a debt of honor, big time!"

Shinji composed himself before replying to the jock's declaration. "It was nothing. I don't like seeing people get hurt, that's all. Listen, you want to talk somewhere private?"

Minutes later, Shinji and Toji, Kensuke and Rei (at Shinji's invitation) in tow, were at a little-visited portion of the schoolyard. As soon as they found a spot to stand, Shinji spoke.

"Here's the thing," Shinji said in a calm yet firm tone of voice. "You really don't owe me anything. I do what I do to protect people, you and your sister included, from Angels."

"Well, yeah..." Toji said, feeling slightly awkward. "But still, there's gotta be somethin' I can do..."

Shinji smiled a bit. "There is. Other than Ayanami, I don't really know anyone here. So a couple of friends would be nice."

Toji gave it a bit of thought, scratching his head, before returning the smile with one of his own. "Deal," Toji said with a nod.

"Same here," Kensuke said as he quickly shook Shinji's hand.

Shinji then nodded towards Rei. "Ayanami's pretty good when you get to know her."

"Really?" Toji asked. "A lot of us just thought she was a bit of an ice queen, an' a weird one at that. No offense, Ayanami."

"None taken," Rei said. "Ikari visited me while I was in recovery. He kept me company, and even lent me books to read. It is thanks to him that I have taken to mystery novels especially."

"Well, funny you should say that, 'cause have I got quite a mystery for you all," Kensuke hinted as he pulled a tabloid out of his bag. It was a copy of The Shinjuku Scribe, a small-press publication. The headline made Shinji's eyes widen a bit, for it said:

THE 'SHADOW' STRIKES! UNKNOWN VIGILANTE STALKS THE STREETS!​

"Aw, c'mon, not this again!" Toji said almost exasperatingly.

"What are you talking about?" Rei asked curiously.

"It's been all over the news since last week!" Kensuke enthusiastically answered. "First we get giant robot vs. monster battles, and now we've got our own Batman running around at night! But, no one knows what he looks like-only his voice was heard! Tell me that doesn't make you wonder-"

"He's been ravin' about this for days..." Toji said with a shake of his head as Kensuke continued to ramble on. "He's just as obsessed with it as much as as anything NERV or the military, and he's been drivin' me nuts about it!"

Shinji sighed and followed it with a chuckle. For him, things were certainly going to be interesting from here on out...

End Chapter 5.​

Omake 3 - Rejected Crossover Candidates Cavalcade: Neo-Noir Edition, Part 3 of 3

"Aaaaannnnd, we're back, for the final round!" Author0fntent said with a clap of his hands. "We're down to the last of the candidates I nearly crossed over with EVA, with Shinji as successor to the title character from a 1980's classic independent comic."

Shinji, standing next to him, looked indifferent as he leaned against the author's desk. "At least the costumes weren't that gaudy," he said with a shrug.

"Well, for today's last installment," the author began, "we're going to change that, if only slightly." He then faced us again. "When we were here last, I'd presented to you Shinji as first the more down-to-earth hunter of the urban jungle that came with succeeding the title character of Mike Grell's Jon Sable, Freelance. The second time around, I played with the idea of him being the protégé of Matt Wagner's cult-favorite villain protagonist in Grendel. For this third go at it, I actually contemplated taking things in a really...cosmic direction with this next possible candidate. One that would've given Shinji superpowers but leave in plenty of the angst that par for the course in all things EVA. The candidate in question being Mike Baron and Steve Rude's Nexus."

​

With a snap of the author's fingers, Shinji's clothes quickly changed, and he now wore a somewhat-subdued, but form-fitting costume. It consisted of a blue bodysuit with a black V-shape that stretched all the way from front-to-back, covering his shoulders, with a yellow lightning bolt shape draped over the front and back of his left shoulder. Shinji also now wore black fingerless gloves that covered most of his forearms and thigh-high boots. His head was enclosed in a black cowl that only left the lower half of his face exposed, and his eyes were covered by a red opaque visor. Shinji himself began to glow and float in mid-air. The author then directed him to another practice ring in a corner of the office, where Shinji immediately flew off to in order to try out his new powers.

"To me, Nexus seemed like a good fit for a crossover," the author began to explain, "since its quirks would make for an interesting predicament to put Shinji in. Basically, he gets his powers from another space alien hidden beneath the ground, only this one's a guy called the Merk. In return for these powers, the Merk requires whoever bears the mantle of Nexus to seek out and kill a certain number of human mass murderers per 'cycle'."

Shinji abruptly stopped when he heard that. "Say WHAT?!"

"When the Merk identifies a target," the author continued, "Nexus receives a premonition from the Merk, which manifests as intense headaches and dreams that could drive you mad, showing the victims of the murderer's crimes. They'd only cease once Nexus did his duty and dealt with the killer, usually vaporizing them with one blast."

Shinji then flew towards the author, quite peeved. "Are you nuts?! I'm not a killer!"

"Well, unfortunately," the author said semi-apologetically, "if you want to both keep your power and stay sane, you kind of have to be. It's how it worked for Horatio Hellpop." The author then faced us as he continued. "I also figured that Shinji, as Nexus, would be a bit justified in his actions, since the Merk would know exactly which murderers to send him after: the members of the SEELE council. The setup, as I figured it, would be that each time an Angel was defeated, Shinji, some time after that battle, would be sent after one of the 12 members of the council. When he was finished with them, the Merk would then throw a curveball his way with his final target: his own father, Gendo. At some point though, I realized a slight flaw in my idea: it'd probably make for a pretty short story. And I say this as a fan of Mike313's "Superwomen of Eva 2: Unfinished Business", where he managed to do all of the council and Gendo in, in a single one-shot." The author snapped his fingers again, and Shinji's garb returned to his normal, everyday clothes. He also no longer had powers, so he fell to the floor with a slight *thud*. "Thus, I decided to look for a better crossover candidate that'd allow me to play the long game more, and for that, I turned to the pulps, and eventually, The Shadow, which would also let me play with noir tropes within the EVA mythos and still try something not done before."

"I'll admit, it's a decent change of pace so far," Shinji admitted as he stood back up. "And anything that lets me be in-control of my life for once is always a plus."

"See? Thought so," the author said before facing us again with a wave. "And that's it for my Cavalcade! Enjoy the rest of the story as it moves along! And for those of you brave enough, feel free to send me your ideas for pulp-themed guest omakes!"

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 6 - Teeth of the Dragon, Part 1​

"'On being questioned by the police, the three men--all alleged to be members of the Kiyoyama branch of the Yakuza--fearfully stated that they couldn't see their unknown attacker, and the only way they could even tell said attacker was there was the sound of their voice, which seemed to come from everywhere they looked...'"

Makoto was reading from the day's paper yet another story describing 'alleged' criminals encountering the new vigilante in town, as he sat with Misato, Ritsuko and the other bridge bunnies in one of NERV HQ's break rooms. Maya, Kaede, and Satsuki listened in with curious looks on their faces. Shigeru, Ritsuko, and Aoi bore more skeptical expressions, while Misato kept an air of neutrality about her as they all watched Makoto read through the article intently, his glasses occasionally sliding down the bridge of his nose a tiny bit.

"'In the midst of the struggle, the attacker identified themselves only as 'The Shadow'," Makoto continued, "and eventually scared them into surrender, but not before leaving them slightly-bloodied and with few broken bones, all delivered as if with the precision of an expert martial artist.' Man..."

"If it weren't for the fact that they were Yakuza, I'd almost feel sorry for them," Satsuki said, brushing a lock of her long, sandy brown hair away from her face.

"So, basically, the guy who beat them up, along with who knows how many other crooks in the city, is a ninja?" Shigeru posed. "'Cause they sure sound like one. The voice thing kinda throws me off, though-last I checked, ninja are supposed to be the silent type."

"Maybe he's a ventriloquist with a lethal move set?" Kaede surmised, the short-haired brunette shrugging her shoulders as she did.

"They didn't say anything about them carrying a dummy," Shigeru replied.

"A ventriloquist doesn't necessarily need a dummy to be such," Aoi chimed in, adjusting her own pair of glasses as she raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Ventriloquism primarily allows the one performing it to create the illusion that their voice is coming from somewhere else. Props like a dummy are just for when they perform onstage. Outside that context, the person can 'throw' their voice all over the place if the conditions are right."

"Like dark and empty alleys?" Maya guessed.

"Not a bad example," Aoi replied. "The acoustics would probably be good enough for this mystery fighter to utilize their particular intimidation tactics."

"Name could use an improvement, though," Kaede said.

"I'm not so sure," Makoto said in turn. "It's certainly worked out for them for 80 years."

Hearing that remark got Misato's attention. "What do you mean?"

"I did a bit of digging online a little while after these stories started appearing," Makoto explained as he brought out a tablet, already with a number of bookmarked pages open. "Turns out the Shadow's been around for decades, going all the way back to America in the 1930s."

"Definitely makes sense," Satsuki started to say, "since that time period in American history was sometimes called the 'Dirty Thirties' because of all the mob activity just before Prohibition ended. All those gangsters would've been prime targets for the Shadow."

"The Shadow's been described as an American urban myth," Makoto continued, "terrorizing the underworld at home or abroad. And anyone questioned about the vigilante gave the same remark: couldn't see them, but only heard a voice that sent a chill down their spine."

"So, all that aside, he's basically Batman?" Shigeru pondered.

"Funny you should say that," Makoto replied. "Some of the essays I've read point to the Shadow's exploits actually inspiring Batman's creators. Anyway, reported sightings of the Shadow started tapering off around the early 1970's. Things only got quieter from there."

"And now this 'American urban myth' is back and roaming around on our side of the globe, frightening and kicking the crap out of our own underworld's denizens," Misato stated. "It's almost funny, for a while I thought us fighting giant creatures out of a nightmare was as weird as things could get."

"Speaking of," Ritsuko started to say as she eyed the clock hanging above the break room's door, "looks like it's back to work we go."

The others nodded and got up from their chairs, a few taking a last drink of the swill NERV's catering department deigned to call coffee before chucking their Styrofoam cups into the garbage. They then filed out of the room and headed towards the bridge, with Ritsuko and Misato tailing behind them. The two longtime friends had done so on purpose, as there was something Misato had been needing to speak with Ritsuko about for a while now, having put it off during the week of Shinji's training and orientation.

"So, how are things at home?" the scientist asked.

"Honestly?" Misato answered. "Feels like Shinji's been one of the best things to happen to me in a long time. The place has never been cleaner, he cooks like a pro, he-"

"Got you to quit drinking?" Ritsuko threw in slyly.

"...That too," Misato said, unamused. "Overall, he's been funny, polite, and even Pen-Pen's warmed up to him-and that bird never takes to anyone new that quickly. He's really gotten on with Rei, and he's also made friends at school already. I kind of envy him like that, considering..."

"Right," Ritsuko figured solemnly, knowing of Misato's years as a catatonic teenager following her firsthand experience at Second Impact. She shifted the tone of the conversation almost immediately in response to that. "He's actually surprised me too-he's nothing at all like the Marduk report I read on him."

"Which was?" Misato asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Well, among other things, it described him as suffering from the 'Hedgehog's Dilemma'," Ritsuko started to explain.

"You mean like Sonic?" Misato asked.

"I mean like the actual hedgehog, not the blue critter in red sneakers," Ritsuko said with a slight eye-roll. "It's an old philosophical fable sometimes invoked by psychologists in terms of interpersonal relationships. Basically, even though a hedgehog may wish to get close to another hedgehog, the closer they get, the more they'll hurt each other with their spines."

"...Rits," Misato began, "please pretend for a moment that I don't know anything about philosophy, psychology, or metaphors, and just tell me what you're getting at?"

"(You never studied)," Ritsuko muttered at first. "Basically, the initial profile presented by the Marduk report was that Shinji was supposed to be quite an introvert, afraid of other people because if he got too close, they'd hurt him. But this more outgoing, wittily-observant Shinji is nothing like the picture the report painted of him."

Misato shrugged at that statement. "Maybe they took their eye off the ball for a moment," she theorized. "While we're still on the subject, there's something about Shinji that I wanted to really talk to you about."

Ritsuko immediately knew what she was getting at. "Any way I can convince you it might not be worth knowing?" she asked seriously. "Too many secrets just add to the pressure, and you won't be able to get it off easily."

"I could say the same for you," Misato replied after a brief moment of consideration. Ritsuko eyed her friend for a brief moment before letting out a slight sigh of resignation.

"I suppose you won't stop till you get an answer," she admitted. "Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you." She then thought back to the letters she'd received from her own mother, which contained details that hadn't made it into any report filed during NERV's time as GEHIRN, let alone with SEELE. "Basically, when Evangelion Unit-01 was first completed, it was used for the first-ever full-power synchronization test of its neural interface system. The one who volunteered to be the test subject-"

"Was Shinji's mother, Dr. Yui Ikari," Misato guessed, which Ritsuko affirmed with a nod.

"Correct," the bottle blonde replied. "It was the first time it'd been attempted; Unit-00 was being used mainly as a test bed for the other technological components of an EVA. Unit-01 would build upon whatever results were achieved with Unit-00. Anyway, on the day of the synch test for Unit-01, Yui actually brought Shinji along to watch it. From my mother's recollection, she wanted to show him the 'bright future' they were working towards."

"Let me guess-something threw a wrench in those prospects," Misato said, a hint of impatience telling Ritsuko to get to the point.

"When the process started up," Ritsuko continued, "none of the safeguard systems we now have in place had been developed yet. They're what protect a pilot's mind from getting sucked in too much into the connection. When it reached the third level...Yui's synch ratio went past 100 in a mere matter of seconds."

Misato's eyes widened slightly. "Guess a penchant for high sync rates runs in the family, at least on the mother's side."

"It wasn't a matter of talent," Ritsuko elaborated as if she were leading a lecture. "It was all the EVA. The lack of safeguards meant that the EVA kept pulling at Yui's mind, meaning she was effectively merging with the EVA. And the more further you go, the greater the risk of mental contamination is. In exactly fifteen seconds, Yui's ratio hit 400%. When that happened, her mind couldn't take the strain-her ego borderline collapsed, and her physical body turned into a primordial soup of sorts. Basically, she ceased to be; all that was left when they opened the entry plug was her prototype plugsuit."

Hearing all that gave Misato a very, very eerie feeling, not helped by how calm and detached Ritsuko sounded as she recounted all this.

"And he saw it all happen from the control room..." Misato mulled as she processed all of this, before something else came to her mind and accentuated the astonishment on her face. "Asuka's mother-the same thing happened to her, didn't it?"

"Not exactly," Ritsuko said. "NERV-Berlin used the data gleaned from that day to refine their ideas of buffer systems for the interface. Back then, Unit-02 wasn't as complete as 00 and 01. Even so, they were able to conduct an actual test and-"

"And they let Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu actually go through with it, in spite of what happened to Yui Ikari?!" Misato stated with a hint of anger in her voice. Ritsuko quickly looked around the hallway they were walking through, to make sure no one else heard that, since it was really a matter of 'need-to-know'. When Misato regained her composure, Ritsuko continued.

"Sohryu was also as brilliant a scientist as Yui Ikari," Ritsuko elaborated. "She had every bit of confidence that their improvements would ensure things would go smoothly, and allow the pilot to maintain a one-to-one synchronization. She succeeded...Partly. Her mind wasn't destroyed like Yui's was, but instead..."

"I know the rest," Misato said before Ritsuko finished. "I read all the reports on Asuka's mother when I was at the Third Branch."

"Point being, we gained a lot of insight from those incidents," Ritsuko stated. "Thanks to their efforts, while we won't see repeats of what happened with our current pilots, the fact that it's difficult for them to reach 100% at the most is a good thing. It's why we do regular synch testing." She then held her chin for a moment. "Yet Shinji's synch ability is astonishing to me..."

"So who tested out the 'final product'?" Misato asked.

"Rei did, following years of low-level testing," Ritsuko answered.

"Even so, there's still something bugging me," Misato said. "Remember last week, when Shinji said he thought he sensed his mother during the test?"

Ritsuko nodded, mentally shuddering at what would happen should either Shinji or Asuka ever know the truth of the EVAs. "Just wishful thinking," she stated. "Right now, it's harmless. But if he took it far enough...I would keep an eye on him, Captain."

By the time they'd finished their conversation, they'd reached the bridge and taken their respective places. A few minutes later, alarms started going off.

"Give me a status!" Misato ordered.

"An Angel's been confirmed in Siberia by the Russia branch," Makoto reported.

"Target is being tracked and is currently moving to the East, towards Irkutsk," Aoi added.

"United Nations Strategic Reconnaissance Unit No. 1303 initially sighted the Angel, but lost it before further analysis could take place," Maya further added.

"Are their communications still up?" Misato asked.

"Patching through to them right now," Shigeru replied as some quick keystrokes established a connection to the Russian branch. On one of the main monitors, the image of a barrel-chested man in his mid-50s appeared, wearing the standard uniform jacket of a high-ranking NERV officer, along with a fur hat on his head that covered his graying hair.

"This is Commander Grigori Nikolayev speaking," the man said. "How may we help our comrades at Central today?"

Oh, boy...Misato grumbled to herself. Like their respective home countries historically, there was some tension between the Japanese and Russian branches of NERV, but it was limited to mostly what could be at best described as 'friendly' competition. Up until a year or so ago, the Russian branch had an Evangelion unit, until it was destroyed in an accident and their pilot reassigned to NERV-2 in the United States; since then, the Russian branch had been looking for ways to one-up the rest of the branches on their own, so to call the relations between them and NERV-Central 'frosty' would be putting it lightly, at best.

"We just received an alert of an Angel sighting in your backyard," Misato replied. "We request that you forward to us any detailed information you have on the target so we can prepare an appropriate response for when it inevitably reaches our shores."

Commander Nikolayev smirked ever so slightly before he responded. "I guarantee you, Captain...Katsuragi, is it? We are handling this situation ourselves and do not require your intervention. If we have any major updates, we will send you a quick response."

Misato furrowed her eyebrows at this. "Really, Grigori? Like the one you sent about that accident at your Bethany Base facility last year? Your stonewalling led to-"

"The deaths of nearly the entire research team there," Nikolayev quickly replied with a frown, cutting her off. "I remember quite well. Such regrettable losses. But that is then..." He paused a moment before resuming. "Actually, we do have some data on the target that might prove useful. We will send it your way on a single condition."

Is he fricking serious? Misato thought in frustration. "What's your condition?" she asked.

Nikolayev let a small smile grace his lips before he answered. "It is our understanding that the Nevada branch has been recently assigned the task of studying the core of a fallen Angel in an attempt to reverse-engineer the capabilities of the so-called S2 engine. We would...appreciate it if you would instead delegate that research project to us. Our scientific team is more than qualified and quite capable of handling the responsibilities involved."

Hearing that got something of a rise out of Ritsuko, of all people. "A world-ending monster is heading our way, and you're asking us to give you command of an important research project at a time like this?!"

"Dr. Akagi, stand down," Misato sternly ordered, maintaining as much professionalism as she could muster. She then turned to the command deck occupied by Gendo Ikari, sitting in his usual position with his gloved hands tented before his face; Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki was standing dutifully to his right. "Your decision, sir?"

Gendo eyed the mauve-haired captain, unmoving from his position, before he replied. "Grant it," Gendo commanded. "We will make the arrangements once this crisis is dealt with."

Misato, surprised at how quickly the Commander had made the decision, blinked briefly before turning to face Nikolayev, her professional demeanor returning promptly. "The project's yours," she stated. "We'll get everything set up for you when this is over."

Nikolayev smirked before responding. "I'm glad we could come to a mutual understanding," he said with a hint of smugness. "The data shall be transmitted to you shortly. Nikolayev out." The screen then returned to its previous window as the communique ended.

Up in the command perch, Gendo and Fuyutsuki quietly conferred.

"Was that the right call, Ikari?" the former professor inquired. "The Americans won't be too happy to have that project taken from them so swiftly."

"Let them stew over it," Gendo replied. "Whether the experiment is carried out in Nevada or Russia is of no import. Either way, the Scenario proceeds. In the meantime, I have something to attend to." He then got up from his chair and headed off the bridge. "Fuyutsuki, you have the bridge until I return."

Tokyo-3 Municipal Middle School, around the same time...

"...You can't be serious," Kensuke said quite skeptically. "THAT'S your theory?"

Shinji nodded. "It is, and I stand by it," he affirmed. "The entirety of The Big O is basically The Truman Show as an anime-no one but a few certain people know that their 'reality' is a TV show, and that everyone in the 'world' is an actor playing a part. I mean, come on-how could the object that fell from the sky in that one episode not be a stage light?"

Kensuke seemed to consider this for a moment, only to shake his head. "Nope. Still sticking with my 'weird rework of The Wizard of Oz' theory."

Toji, utterly baffled, looked between his two friends. Hikari was just slightly confused over what they were discussing. Rei, still bandaged around the head, merely observed the back-and-forth between them.

"...Oh-kay, my brain hurts," Toji said with resignation.

Before Shinji could offer a retort, both his and Rei's phones buzzed. Soon it was followed by the sound of the Angel alarms blaring throughout the city. Shinji looked to Rei, who only uttered two words:

"Emergency alert."

Nodding in response, Shinji then faced Hikari. "You three help the others get to the shelter. We'll head to NERV." He then turned his focus on Kensuke. "Whatever you're thinking about doing, don't. Stay in the shelter, listen to Hikari, no questions. Got it?"

Kensuke could tell from the tone of voice Shinji adopted that he honestly, truly meant it. "R-right. Got it. Listen to the class rep, don't leave the shelter. Easy!"

With that, he, Toji, and Hikari immediately moved to help evacuate the other students, while Shinji and Rei hurried to the front of the school, where their Section-2 security detail would be waiting with a vehicle to get them to HQ swiftly.

The bridge, moments later...

The bridge was buzzing with activity as technicians worked away at their stations to monitor all battle preparations.

"Target's been sighted," Satsuki reported. "It's already penetrated our territorial waters, and appears to be coming in for a low approach. Nothing higher than 20 feet above the ocean's surface."

"All personnel, assume battle stations, Level 1," Fuyutsuki ordered.

"Roger," Misato responded. "Prepare for coastal and ground defense."

"Tokyo-3 switching to battle formation," Kaede confirmed.

With many keystrokes and multiple switches thrown, Tokyo-3, the fortress city of tomorrow, began to live up to its name as numerous buildings, from the tallest high-rise to the most unassuming single-story structure, begin retracting into the ground, while varying roadways, bridges and other man-made landmarks shifted, folded, and turned, giving way to barriers and other stopgaps designed to protect humankind from the approaching menace.

"Government and other related ministries have been notified," Aoi reported.

"Surface-to-surface interception system's current rate of operation is at 48%," Satsuki added.

"Status of noncombatants and civilians?" Misato asked.

"Evacuation of both have been completed," Shigeru confirmed.

Geo-Shelter 334, around the same time...

The shelter had become packed full of civilians, all sitting or laying atop blankets that gave them their own little piece of real estate while they waited out the emergency. Among the middle school students, Kensuke sat with Toji as he attempted to get some information via the function on his handheld camera that allowed him to tune in to TV broadcasts. Unfortunately for him, all he got was the same still image of a landscape, accentuated with the voiceover of the emergency broadcast system, interspersed with, strangely enough, easy-listening music.

"Nuts!" Kensuke complained. "Same thing on every channel! What a rip..."

"Text-on-trees?" Toji posed.

"*Sigh* News censorship, I'm telling you," Kensuke said. "The action's happening up topside and they won't show us a thing!"

"It's called 'trying not to cause a panic', genius," Toji chided his otaku friend.

A fishing harbor in Manazuru...

The scene at the harbor was eerily quiet. Boats remained motionless upon the surface of the still water. A lone, white lighthouse stood tall like a sentinel overlooking the people under their watch. It would almost be quite a picturesque setting, were it not for the lone disturbance that made its presence known mere moments later, as a gigantic, white shape hovered by, strangely leaving the harbor unfazed. It looked like an enormous stone, with three long protrusions sticking up and in a triangular, outward position. In the center of the object's front was a strange, eye-like design, the bottom 'stem' flanked by two black spots on either side. The object moved as if with purpose, passing over a ridge of hills as it made its way towards Tokyo-3...

The bridge, at the same time...

The object's movements had been captured on the larger monitor, as NERV's camera drones tracked its progress over a forest.

"Of course the Fourth Angel would show up while Commander Ikari decides to step out for a smoke..." Misato said with a shake of her head, before resuming her intrepid gaze at the screen. "Definitely got here a lot sooner than we expected."

Makoto, on hearing that, turned to face her. "Look at it this way," he said nonchalantly. "Last time they gave us a 15-year break. This time, only three weeks."

"Yeah, they never come when it's more convenient for us, do they?" Misato replied sarcastically. "They're the type us ladies hate the most."

Observing from the command perch, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki observed the action on the monitor. While maintaining his composure, internally, the sight of the Angel shocked him. He'd seen the Dead Sea Scrolls enough times to know the progression of Angels nearly by heart as much as his former student-turned-commanding officer. But the sight of this particular Angel was enough to make him question the validity of the Scrolls ever-so-slightly. This was better exemplified in his first thought upon seeing the object on-screen:

That is not Shamshel.

End Chapter 6.​

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 7 - Teeth of the Dragon, Part 2​

The face of a remote mountainside opened up to reveal a series of missile launchers, which unleashed a full salvo's worth against the approaching creature at a rapid pace. Over at the Hakone Ropeway, anti-aircraft clusters disguised as cable cars did the same with bursts of machine gun fire. Neither of these did anything as the creature continued in its advance, even as explosions rocked its shell.

"What a waste of the taxpayers' money," Fuyutsuki said with a shake of his head. "Considering how many kaiju films comprised our country's cinematic output over the years, you'd think they'd have learned a thing or two."

"The Committee's demanding we dispatch Evangelion Unit-01 again," Shigeru reported to Misato.

"(Took 'em long enough, the pesky bastards)," Misato grumbled. "I'd have sortied it without their approval anyway!"

Unit-01's cage, that moment...

The entry plug was inserted into the back of the purple EVA's neck as Shinji began to concentrate.

Another day, another beast from 20,000 fathoms to tackle, he thought to himself. And of course, the Commander chooses an oh-so-convenient time to excuse himself to do who-knows-what...

Geo-Shelter 334, around the same time...

Toji caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye as he noticed Kensuke inching slowly away, camera in-hand. The jock quickly got a hold of his friend's shoulder with one hand, startling him.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" Toji asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Er, I, uh, I just was gonna use the bathroom..." Kensuke replied.

"Don't screw around with me, Ken," Toji warned him. "You know what Shinji told us. I don't care if you're dyin' for some footage, you're stayin' put so you don't wind up actually dyin'! Got it?"

Kensuke slowly nodded, before moving back the inch he originally left and, with a sigh, pulled out a tankobon to pass the time with instead.

Toji, satisfied, turned and surprisingly found himself face-to-face with Hikari, who'd actually witnessed the whole thing.

"Somethin' up, Class Rep?" he asked.

Hikari gave him a small smile before she answered. "Thank you for saving me a bit of effort," she said. "I really appreciate it."

Toji, at first dumbfounded by her words, offered back a smile of his own. "No big deal. Like I'd let my best friend wander out into a warzone just so he could get some video. Not after Shinji made it clear he'd kill us."

Unit-01 EVA cage...

"Shinji, you ready to move out?" Misato asked over the comms.

"As I'll ever be," Shinji replied.

"Good enough," Misato said in turn. "Here's the starting play: neutralize the enemy's AT-Field and then fire a volley from the pallet rifle, just like we practiced. We need to gauge the enemy's defenses before we come up with a better strategy."

"Roger," Shinji said. Misato then gave the order to launch Unit-01, and soon the purple giant was rocketed to the surface, where it emerged on the city streets.

At the same time, the creature finally came to a stop as it hovered over one intersection, and finally made its true face known. Two panels on either side of the shell opened, as a pair of reptilian-looking legs with three clawed toes on each foot emerged and extended; a single bony-looking spike protruded from the knee joint on each one. A panel on the back opened, allowing a long tail that ended in a trio of 'fingers' gripping a shining red orb to appear. Lastly, a central panel on the front opened and the beast's head came out; it looked like that of an eyeless turtle, and had two sharp front teeth and a long, sharp tooth on each side of the lower jaw. The creature let out a roar, at which point a single eye on a long stalk emerged from its mouth, much to the shock and disgust of those observing in Central Dogma.

"Status?" Misato asked.

"Pattern blue confirmed," Makoto answered.

"MAGI has classified it as the 4th Angel," Maya reported. "Codename: Iblis."

The Angel of wrath, is it? Fuyutsuki thought to himself.

Out in the city, Shinji had Unit-01 arm itself with the fully-loaded pallet rifle, and from there the purple EVA nimbly rushed to the side of a building for cover. Taking a chance, Unit-01 then proceeded to move from the side and began firing off at Iblis, engulfing the Angel in gunfire, only to stop after three short bursts. As the smoke cleared, the Angel was revealed to be unscathed, the shimmering familiar orange of an AT-Field making it apparent. However, there was something quite different about this AT-Field.

"Pallet rifle showing no effect," Shinji reported over his comms. "Tried reaching out with my own AT-Field and so far it hasn't done a thing to neutralize it. I could use some info here!"

Central Dogma...

"Just hang in there, we'll have something for you soon," Misato said as she turned to Ritsuko. "Anything from the data Nikolayev sent over?"

Ritsuko thumbed through pages on her tablet as she replied. "Nothing you'll like," the bottle blonde said. "According to what NERV-Russia initially gathered, those three humps on Iblis's shell are capable of generating a separate AT-Field, in two separate modes. For its defense mode, it generates them as a three-layered barrier-Shinji would probably burn himself out mentally if he tried to break all three layers with his own."

"What about its attack mode?" Misato asked.

Before Ritsuko could reply to that, a voice was heard among the consoles.

"Look!" Kaede exclaimed as she pointed towards the main screen. As all eyes witnessed, two of Iblis's humps began to glow brightly with the same orange shade as the AT-Field. Suddenly, two spinning disc-shaped projectiles shot out of the humps-straight towards Shinji.

"Crap!" he muttered in surprise before sending Unit-01 into a dive away from the discs at nearly the last minute. While having missed their target, the discs did hit one of the dummy buildings, sending it crumbling to the ground. "That answer your question, Misato?!"

Ask a silly question...Misato thought to herself. "Shinji, keep testing its limits, but maintain cover-stay out of the Angel's sight and keep an ear open for new orders."

"Got it!" Shinji replied as he switched to a 'hit-and-run' approach, firing short bursts and quickly ducking for cover when Iblis responded in kind.

"Any ideas, Rits?" Misato asked.

"Just the obvious," Ritsuko answered, "We'll need to find a way for Shinji to destroy all three of those humps on the shell before it can generate its threefold AT-Field. With those out of commission, it should make things a tiny bit easier for him to go for the core on the tip of the tail."

"Do we have anything in our arsenal powerful enough to do that?" Misato asked further.

Ritsuko pulled up a checklist on her tablet before replying. "We have three low-yield N2 warheads, one of them should suffice."

Misato nodded before speaking into her headset. "Shinji, we've got an idea."

Unit-01's entry plug...

"Sounds great," Shinji replied, "'cause I think Gamera's uglier third cousin twice-removed is catching on to my stalling tactic!"

As he said that, the three humps on Iblis's shell began to glow in tandem, and then the glows seemed to cascade down the surface until they funneled into the eye-like pattern on the front of the shell. Suddenly, a strange aurora-like beam fired out from the 'eye', forcing Shinji to make a dash to the right as multiple structures were immediately razed by the beam's length.

"Geezus," Satsuki muttered under her breath in awe.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fuyutsuki noticed Rei-suited up in her plugsuit despite being ordered to stand by-observing the battle intently. As she watched Shinji dodge and keep out of the Angel's line of fire, Fuyutsuki saw that Rei had, on her right hand, two of her fingers crossed. He could tell that deep down, Rei was hoping for Shinji's success. He made a note to himself that, should they all live through this battle, he would have a quiet talk with Rei, to see how hers and Shinji's friendship was progressing. He knew that if they moved any faster it could complicate Gendo's plans. His attention was then drawn back to the battle as Ritsuko spoke up.

"That must be its most powerful attack," Ritsuko speculated. "An 'AT-Field resonance beam', created when the Angel concentrates its three fields into one deadly beam."

"Sempai, I just noticed-" Maya started to say as she quickly forwarded Ritsuko some data from her console. "When the Angel fired that beam, neither its defensive or attack modes activated. Most likely due to the amount of power required for the blast."

"Then that's the opening we'll use," Misato said as she spoke into her headset. "Shinji, make your way to the building highlighted on your map right now, we've just sent up a low-yield N2 warhead!"

The surface...

"I think I got the idea!" Shinji said briskly as he had Unit-01 dive for cover again. "Grab the nuke, run like hell towards the Angel when it's firing its death ray, quickly slap the nuke right in-between the humps! Sounds crazy enough to work!"

He then had the purple EVA break into a run towards the building in question while dodging more of Iblis's energy discs, just barely dodging one that was close enough to slice off a portion of Unit-01's horn, which was sent flying until it lodged itself into another dummy 'hi-rise'. Shinji managed to reach the weapons locker in time, open it, and grab the warhead and run just before another pair of energy discs sliced the locker to pieces. When Shinji noticed his internal battery timer begin to count down from 5:00, it became apparent that more than the weapons locker had been cut-his umbilical cable had been severed as well!

"Well that's a fine kettle of fish..." he muttered to himself as he broke into a mad dash straight towards Iblis.

The Angel, taking notice of its quickly-approaching opponent, started to charge up its AT-Field resonance beam again as Unit-01 grew closer and closer. Finally, when the creature fired off its beam, Shinji leaped into the air when Unit-01 was a few feet in front of Iblis's head. Landing on the giant shell and grabbing onto one of the humps, Shinji quickly slapped the warhead onto the center of the shell's top and quickly pressed the timer, before proceeding to vault off of the shell in a backwards arc and draw up his pallet rifle. On firing another three bursts, he saw Iblis, with a growl, shift its AT-Field into defensive mode, encasing itself within the barrier...just in time for the timer on the warhead to reach zero.

The barrier served to unintentionally contain the full power of the N2 warhead's explosion, leaving the part of the city the two giants were fighting in relatively unscathed (doubly so, as Shinji had deployed his own AT-Field). When the smoke cleared, all eyes saw that the three humps had developed great cracks on their surface, which then grew larger, until they finally shattered. Iblis roared in anger as it charged towards Unit-01. Shinji, briefly eyeing the countdown timer for his battery power, easily dodged the larger, slower creature and soon made his way to its backside, the tip of the monster's tail in his sights. Not wanting to waste a moment, Shinji had Unit-01 make another jump and aimed a high-diving kick at the core on the tail's tip. The impact of Unit-01's right foot on the core left a great spider web of cracks on the orb's surface, and Shinji proceeded to unload the rest of the pallet rifle's clip right into the center, pouring it on until the core shattered from the continuous hail of ammo. Iblis let out a roar of pain, blood beginning to dribble out of its mouth as the beast finally collapsed to the ground, the stalk with its lone eye hanging out of its closed jaw.

Not a word was spoken as the entire bridge watched Unit-01 cautiously walked towards its defeated opponent, rifle at the ready, just in case. When it was clear that Iblis wouldn't be getting back up any time soon, Shinji took another brief look at his countdown timer, just seconds away from shutdown, and, with a tiny smirk, said one thing into his comms that was heard throughout the bridge:

"Who wants turtle soup?"

The minute he finished that line, Unit-01 shut down and the giant collapsed onto the side of the dead Iblis's shell, but not before he heard the sound of the many members of NERV and the UN's personnel burst into laughter after so much tension built up during the battle.

Well, many save for Rei (who let a brief smile grace her face before leaving the bridge); Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, who silently shook his head over the embarrassment NERV would no doubt suffer for the pilot's little quip; and Misato, who smiled with relief over both her charge's victory and survival, before issuing the order for the recovery teams to head out and bring him back to base.

End Chapter 7.​

Guest Omake 1 - "Shinji Plays Black Jack" by YourBlandestNightmare

"Hello there, loyal readers!" Author0fntent addressed us from his office. "Welcome once again to another omake session, where we make Shinji's life (if not those of the rest of the cast) weirder than it already is! This time, however, I won't be your guide through the magical world of potential crossovers. Please welcome our guest, fellow fanfic author YourBlandestNightmare!"

The aforementioned writer then walked into the office, accompanied by a chorus of applause coming from a tape player sitting on a stool, which Author0fntent sheepishly nudged aside with his foot out of the camera's view.

"Greetings, Author0fntent!" YourBlandesNightmare said, shaking the author's hand as he sat down. "Thank you for having me!"

"So, what have you prepared for us tonight?"

"Well, with your permission, I would like to pitch a crossover with a manga from 1973, because I'm all about the classics."

"Ah, interesting! But first, let's invite our favorite perpetually-melancholy anime teenager, so that he may help us with the demonstration!"

Shinji Ikari then appeared through a different door to the office, but as soon as he saw who was sitting next to Author0fntent, his face went pale.
"Oh, no!" he shrieked. "Not him!"

The boy tried to run away, but Author0fntent pushed a button on his desk, and all the doors and windows of the office were sealed with thick steel plates. Still, Shinji kept as much distance from the guest as he could.

"Nope, no way, no how, I refuse!" he said, pointing a trembling finger at YourBlandestNightmare. "Whatever it is he intends to cross me over with, I don't want any part of it!"

"Come on, Shinji," Author0fntent sighed. "This is highly unprofessional of you."

"You told me the last omake we did was the last time I'd be put through that kind of thing! Besides, you have no idea of the kind of weird stuff he has me doing in his stories!"

The host turned to his guest, raising an eyebrow.

"What exactly is he talking about?" Author0fntent asked, with one skeptical eyebrow raised.

"Oh, he's just exaggerating," YourBlandestNightmare said as he dismissed the accusations with a handwave. "The content of my stories is wholesome and harmless: friends playing D&D, happy weddings, kissing, hugging, cuddling, Shinji being eaten alive by giant bat-demons…"

"Wait, what was the last one?"

"Cuddling. Now…" pulling a curved and exaggeratedly long wooden cane out of his pocket, YourBlandestNightmare dragged a reluctant Shinji to the center of the office. "Let's get this show started. The manga in question is Black Jack, created by the godfather of manga, the master himself, Osamu Tezuka. It's the story of an unlicensed physician and his many strange cases, some of them stranger than others. Jack himself is an aloof person, and he might seem heartless at first, since he charges outrageous fees for his services. However, at the end of the day, he has a good soul, and more often than not he twists his own words so that his poorest clients don't have to pay anything."

Shinji listened to the explanation, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"That…" he said hesitantly. "That doesn't sound all that bad, actually. And what would the plot of the crossover be?"

"I'm glad you asked! The point of divergence is none other than your mother Yui's contact experiment." YourBlandestNightmare then faced us again. "In this take on things, it ends with an explosion that causes four-year old Shinji Ikari to lose most of his skin."

Shinji, on hearing this, grew a horrified look on his face and ran towards the nearest exit, where he started to desperately bang on the steel plate with both fists, demanding to be let out. Once again, YourBlandestNightmare used the cane to bring him back to the middle of the office.

"Calm down, it gets better," he said as he turned to face us. "Little Shinji is saved by an elderly Black Jack, since the original manga took place in the early seventies. Alas, the scars of the accident remain, and now he looks like this…"

YourBlandestNightmare snapped his fingers, and the boy's appearance changed. His school uniform was replaced by a debonair black suit with a white shirt underneath. He also had a high-collared black cape, not unlike the one worn by Dracula in the old black-and-white movies. His face changed as well: it was now crossed by a diagonal scar with stitch marks, and the skin in that area was significantly darker in tone. Furthermore, some flocks of his brown hair were now red.

Shinji walked to a nearby mirror and took a good look at himself.

"It's kind of cool," he said, although he didn't sound all that convinced. "But why's this patch red?"

"It would be revealed later that Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu was visiting Japan at the time of the contact experiment, and out of concern for her late former college roommate's kid, she donated some of her hair to you," YourBlandestNightmare addressed us again. "Anyway, Black Jack becomes Shinji's guardian, teacher and paternal figure, and trains him in the ways of medicine. After a decade of hard work, Shinji becomes a medical prodigy at the tender age of fourteen--sort of like an anime Doogie Howser, M.D., but a little edgier. It's then, of course, that he's called to Tokyo-3 by Gendo. Not just to pilot the Eva, but also to operate on a badly-wounded Rei."

"You're kidding!" Author0fntent gasped. "What happened to her?"

"The incident with Unit-00 was more severe in this universe. Shinji eventually agrees to do both things, on one condition: Gendo has to use his influence to make sure that he never, ever, ever is issued a medical license."

"What?" Shinji asked, walking away from the mirror. "Why not? If I want to become a doctor, I need a medical license!"

YourBlandestNightmare smirked.

"Because," he explained, "if you get a license, you'll have to take the Hippocratic Oath, and that would prevent you from taking revenge on your father. Of course, you don't tell him this last part."

"Oh…Oh…"

"Yep. Thus would begin the adventures of Shinji Ikari: unlicensed doctor, teenage medical genius, and EVA pilot. In-between the Angel battles, he would help the people of Tokyo-3 be cured of all sorts of diseases. While such a crossover seemed nonsensical at first, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Evangelion actually provides many opportunities for medical drama. For example: Misato getting hepatic cirrhosis due to her drinking habits, Shinji operating on Touji's sister, Ritsuko getting lung cancer from her chain-smoking, Shinji reattaching Touji's arm and leg after the Eva-03 incident, Shinji defeating Ireul by performing surgery on MAGI's organic components…"

"That...Actually sounds awesome!" the boy's eyes were now sparkling. He now seemed fully on-board with the idea.

"I know!" YourBlandestNightmare grinned. "And if we run out of inspiration, we can always adapt chapters and plots from the original Black Jack manga! For example: Shinji performs a successful surgery on an alien!"

"…Wait, what?"

"Shinji performs a successful surgery on a ghost!"

"How…How would I even–"

"Shinji operates on himself while being attacked by a pack of dingoes!"

"Waitaminute, dingoes aren't even a species native to Japan!"

"Shinji spends hours memorizing a patient's insides, and then performs a successful surgery while in complete darkness, because he remembers the position of every organ, vein, bone and muscle!"

"Somehow, that sounds more implausible than the ghost one."

"Shinji removes a sentient, psychic cyst from a patient and then builds an artificial body so that the cyst can live as a human!" YourBlandestNighmare turned to look at us. "I'm not making it up, that actually happens in the manga. The cyst even becomes a main character. Look it up!"

"Ahem," Author0fntent cleared his throat. "Well, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today," he snapped his fingers, turning Shinji back to normal. "Thanks for being here with us tonight, YourBlandestNightmare. Anything else you wish to add?"

"Join us next week, when we'll give Shinji a sentient, shapeshifting alien right arm as we cross over with the 1988 manga Parasyte! What do you think, Shinji?"

Shinji gave himself an exasperated face palming in response. "Why can't you just write lemons like normal people...?" he asked rhetorically as he shook his head.

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 8 - Treasures of Death​

The days following the defeat of Iblis proved to be a bit uneventful for all involved, even as efforts to clear the corpse of the creature stuck out to any who looked on their way to either school or work. The work, and life in general, continued on, rain or shine. For one particular day, it was definitely set on rain, or more specifically, downpour. At the school, as lunch rolled around, no student made their way outside due to the dreariness soaking everything in sight, down to a lone, abandoned tennis ball near one of the athletic fields. Thus, some students ate in the cafeteria or in the classrooms. In the case of the latter area, a quintet of friends were sitting together, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. It was, in the case of Shinji, a more quiet contrast compared to the day after he defeated Iblis, where upon his walking into room 2-A with Toji and Kensuke, he was met with a standing ovation from the rest of the class. Toji accepted the thanks in a comically-dramatic fashion, only for Shinji to cut him off with a well-timed line from The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!. Presently, amid the idle chatter, Rei was carefully going through a new book, one whose cover got Shinji's attention. It depicted a beachside surf shop at night, with surfboards leaning against the storefront and a white station wagon parked in front, a couple of boards strapped to its roof. The title's font was done in the style of neon signs.

"What're you reading this time?" he asked.

Rei looked up from the book before she answered. "Inherent Vice, by the American author Thomas Pynchon," she said. "It has been a rather fascinating read so far, though I am unfamiliar with some of the customs mentioned."

Shinji smiled a bit. "It's a lot of Americana not a lot of us know about. Anyway, never could get into Pynchon's stuff--don't get me wrong, I like dense and complex stories, but his are a bit too complex and dense for my tastes."

A small smile appeared on Rei's face in turn. "To each their own then," she said.

Kensuke and Toji eyed each other briefly, confused looks on their faces, before either spoke.

"That clinches it," Kensuke admitted. "You two definitely read way above our levels. And I say this as a man who's trudged through Jojo's Bizarre Adventure right from the first volume. (Thank you, big brother's hand-me-downs...)"

"Don't be hard on yourself," Shinji said. "I mean considering how much of a military otaku you are, something tells me you'd really enjoy something like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy if you gave it a chance."

Kensuke's eyebrows rose on hearing that title. "Actually have heard of that one--it's been on my 'to-read' list for a while."

"Personally, I'm more of a 'visual' guy," Toji said. "too much text usually turns me off. It's why I've been a longtime City Hunter fan."

"Sure, that's entirely why..." Kensuke said sarcastically, earning him an elbowing from Toji in response.

Shinji then looked at Hikari. "What about you? Where's your taste in mystery stories lie?"

Hikari gave it some thought before she answered. "Well, my sister Kodama and I have been watching Case Closed for a long time."

"Not a bad choice, Aoyama's got some good influences in his work," Shinji affirmed.

Hikari nodded back. "We always have a lot of fun trying to figure out who did it before an episode ends."

"By the way," Shinji started to say, "I read in the paper that the movie theater's doing a showing of Perfect Blue--anyone interested?"

"What's it about?" Hikari asked.

"Glad you asked..." Shinji started to say, as he gave them a brief primer on one of Satoshi Kon's masterworks.

NERV HQ, around that time...

"I just think, it seems so cruel, making him bear the burden of humanity's fate."

Those words were spoken by Misato to Ritsuko while the two chatted in the latter's office. Misato leaned against the wall, arms folded across her chest, a solemn look on her face.

"Unfortunately, we have no choice but to entrust piloting the EVAs to teenagers," Ritsuko replied clinically as she typed away.

"I know," Misato said in turn. "Doesn't mean I have to like it." She then slightly narrowed her eyes in Ritsuko's direction. "And don't start singing "That's the Way of the World" at me, tempted as you might be."

Ritsuko, saying nothing, merely hid a tiny smirk behind her computer monitors as she started humming the song in question quietly. While she may have not shared a lot in common with her late mother--Project-E's original head scientist, Naoko Akagi--they did share a bit of a taste in the same music, a carry-over the elder Akagi had from when she and Ritsuko's father first dated. Despite how quietly she hummed, Misato's ears did perk up a bit.

"I heard that," Misato grumbled pointedly, eliciting a slight chuckle from Ritsuko. "*Sigh* Times like this, I wish I still drank."

"So how have you been compensating?" Ritsuko asked. "You don't seem like much of a coffee achiever, so have you been doing anything more...constructive?"

"Well..." Misato said hesitantly, "I've found pummeling the punching bag in the gym's been a good way to blow off steam. Target practice at HQ's range too."

"Whatever works..." Ritsuko said as she resumed her typing. "In all seriousness, Misato, I'm actually proud of you for doing this. It's nice seeing a bit of progression in our lives every now and then. I mean, there were times when we were out that I was worried one more drink might be it for you."

Misato gaped for a moment at what Ritsuko was saying. "Really? You mean it?"

Ritsuko nodded. "Some things we'll disagree on, but I'm still your friend, and I do still care."

Misato smiled on hearing that. "Awww, thanks, Rits!"

After a few minutes in silence, Misato this time posed a question.

"So the Unit-00 reactivation test is coming up soon..." Misato started off. "Something I've wanted to know--what caused the accident during the experiment last time?"

Ritsuko only slightly tensed at the question, but managed to come up with something resembling an answer. "We still don't know, but we surmise that the pilot's mental instability was the main cause."

Hearing this really surprised the mauve-tressed captain. "Mental instability? In Rei, of all people?"

Ritsuko nodded briefly as she continued typing. "Yes. She was almost unbelievably disturbed. 'It's always the quiet ones', you know."

"Why?" Misato asked. While she was in charge of the pilots, among her other duties, she hadn't really spent as much time getting to know Rei, and got the impression that Ritsuko had more insight into the blue-haired girl.

"We still don't know," Ritsuko answered. "Though it seems like Shinji's become a bit of a stabilizing influence on her." Mentally, Ritsuko thought back to the conversation she had had with Gendo during one of Rei's memory upload sessions in Terminal Dogma, where she'd been asked for her opinion on the activity seen in those same scans. Ritsuko had chalked it up to her developing some level of feeling and emotion, even while still suppressing them, all due to her mostly-human genetic makeup (in spite of the DNA of Lilith the Second Angel being spliced into her), and the fact that, like most girls her age, she was starting to go through puberty. From the way Gendo had responded to each of her conclusions, Ritsuko began to feel that, deep down, he was starting to become 'jealous' of his own son, though thankfully she was tactful enough to not say that to his face.

The next day, a NERV temporary pre-fab base...

The following day was sunny and dry, as all manner of heavy equipment moved about, carrying pieces of important cargo. The cargo in question was the remains of Iblis, being carted off for study by NERV's science teams. The majority of the carcass had been tarped off inside the structure. Shinji observed the personnel going on about their duties, wearing a white hardhat. Misato was soon next to him, wearing a black t-shirt and the lower half of an orange jumpsuit (the upper half tied by its sleeves around her waist) and work boots. Her own hardhat hung by a strap on her back as she joined Shinji in his observations.

"So this is mankind's greatest threat up-close, huh?" Shinji mused, hands in his pockets.

Misato nodded. "Ugly mother, isn't it?" she posed rhetorically.

"Ugly, yes, but as a specimen, magnificent!" Ritsuko acknowledged cheerfully from the five levels above the two. "I mean aside from its core, and the humps on the shell, it's pretty much intact, which will give us plenty to work with! So if I didn't say it already, thanks!"

"No problem," Misato answered for the both of them, not-too-plussed by her friend's eagerness. "Find anything in that pile of mutant turtle remains yet?"

"Well...something, and nothing, really," Ritsuko answered loudly back. "I'll explain in a bit, you're timing's good anyway." She then descended to the level they were standing on via a cherry-picker, jotting down notes on her clipboard as she did. All the while, the gears in Shinji's head turned as he pondered just why NERV would even spend all that money and effort on studying the corpse in the first place. It would be something he'd have to look into when he got the chance.

Moments later, he and Misato were in Ritsuko's field office as she showcased some of her findings on her computer to the two of them. Eventually, the screen became black, with only the green digital number 601 showing in the center.

"And this means...?" Misato asked expectantly.

"Inconclusive," Ritsuko replied.

"So even you don't know what this thing is?" Shinji asked nonchalantly.

"Basically," Ritsuko affirmed. "From what we've been able to glean so far, Angels are composed of an unearthly substance containing properties both in wave and particle form, like a beam of light, for instance." She then took a sip of her coffee.

"But you've found its power source?" Misato asked.

"Something like it," Ritsuko answered. "Even so, we're still unsure of just how exactly it works."

"The sphere of ignorance increases ever further, it seems," Shinji chimed in.

"Well, the world's full of all sorts of mysteries, isn't it?" Ritsuko posed.

"Certainly," Shinji replied, briefly taking a sip of his own drink. "Like Stonehenge's purpose. Or why so many people claim Andy Kaufman's not really dead. Or who the Shadow really is..."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrow on hearing that. "Someone's been watching the news, haven't they?"

Shinji shrugged a bit. "I find the commentary from some of the talking heads amusing. Plus, my friend Kensuke's been grabbing every tabloid that mentions our unseen dark avenger he can. Practically can't go a single minute without hearing questions about the Shadow."

"On the subject of more scientifically-grounded mysteries, here's one stemming from our studies of the late Iblis," Ritsuko hinted at as she pointed them back to her monitor. Misato and Shinji leaned in to get a closer look. Misato, upon closely examining the data, then grew a bit nervous. "Well?"

"This is..." Misato began to say.

Ritsuko finished her thought for her. "Indeed. Even though their makeup's different, their signal distribution and coordinates are strikingly similar to human DNA. 99.89% similar, in fact."

"Huh," Shinji said as he began counting off on his fingers. "So humankind, it appears, shares similar ancestry with primates, Neanderthals, and now eldritch horrors from another dimension. Who knew?" Out of the corner of his eye, he briefly spotted his father and Fuyutsuki pass by the office without stopping. Eventually they reached the site where a fragment of the Angel's core was being lowered under the guidance of two workers, which they then looked over. Shinji narrowed his eyes slightly as he noticed his father put both hands, un-gloved, behind his back; he then realized that both of his father's palms bore nasty-looking burn scars.

"That's putting it lightly," Misato said as she eyed her charge.

"And yet again," Ritsuko said in turn, "we're forced to accept that our knowledge is highly incomplete." It was then the two of them noticed Shinji looking out the doorway.

"Something up?" Misato asked.

"I noticed the Commander and Sub-Commander walk by, they're looking over one of the core fragments," Shinji said. "Any explanation for the burns on the Commander's palms?"

Misato seemed to be surprised by this detail. "Burns?"

Shinji nodded before turning his focus to Ritsuko. "Well?" Misato then faced her friend, wondering what her answer would be.

Ritsuko, a quiet, yet gentle look on her face, saw no reason to hold anything back. "Some time before you got here, Unit-00 went berserk during an activation test. You've heard about that, right?"

"I have," Shinji replied. "Rei told me a bit about it. She was trapped in the entry plug when it happened. You enacted emergency shutdown procedures to halt it, and wound up force-ejecting the plug." A more solemn look appeared on his face as he continued. "It didn't clear the ceiling though, and had a hard landing."

Ritsuko nodded affirmatively. "Commander Ikari rushed to where the plug had fallen, and saved her by forcing the superheated hatch open."

"So he did..." Shinji said. "Hence the scorched palms." And hence Rei being wrapped around his finger. Severing her trust in him is going to be more difficult than I thought.

Tokyo-3 Municipal Middle School, the athletic areas, hours later...

Cheers erupted from the pool area, where girls rooted for one another as they raced or swam laps in the water. All, that is, save for one blue-haired girl, who sat against the fence, idly observing the goings-on. Some levels below, Shinji and the other boys were in the middle of a basketball game, with the Unit-01 pilot occasionally eyeing Rei from down below. With one round over, Shinji's group sat on the hillside looking up at the swim area while another group rotated in. Already he could hear some of the girls chatting about their 'unwanted' onlookers.

"Man, some of them are stacked," he heard Toji mutter.

Shinji rolled his eyes a bit. He was then surprised when he heard one girl call out his name, followed by a few others, causing him to look their way confusedly.

"Dude, I envy you right now," Toji said with a shake of his head. "How do you do it, Shin-man?"

Shinji, a slight smirk on his face, merely shrugged. "No idea, really. Just have one of those faces, I guess."

"Probably explains it," Kensuke chimed in. "Girls do like the cute and quiet ones..."

Shinji sighed at that remark, before taking another quick look at Rei.

"Ah, Ayanami's your focus, isn't she?" Toji teasingly asked.

Shinji blushed. "Cut it out, it's not like that at all!" Shinji denied quietly.

"Suuure it is..." Kensuke replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious," Shinji stated matter-of-factly. "I'm just curious about why she's almost always alone. I mean, aside from us and Hikari, who else does she hang out with?"

Both Toji and Kensuke, confused looks now adorning their faces, sat back upright.

"Come to think of it," Toji started to say. "Before you got here, she never made any friends since transferring here in first year."

"I dunno why," Kensuke added, "but she was kinda hard to approach." Kensuke then smiled. "Now look at her. I mean, at least she's proven the four of us wrong so far, who knows?"

"My thoughts exactly," Shinji said.

Misato's apartment, that evening...

The Katsuragi residence was a tiny bit lively this evening, as Misato had invited Ritsuko over for dinner, wanting to share with her the culinary experience of dinner prepared by Shinji. Needless to say, Misato's boasts were proven valid as soon as Ritsuko took a bite of the katsu curry Shinji had prepared.

"Omigod," Ritsuko said, slightly muffled by the bite of food in her mouth. "OMIGOD, this tastes like nirvana on my tongue compared to some of the stuff you used to subject me to!"

Misato rolled her eyes over that remark. "Oh, come on, my stuff wasn't that bad."

Ritsuko raised a skeptical eyebrow as she swallowed her bite. "Misato," she started to say as she went for another bite with her chopsticks. "When you fed some of your cooking to Pen-Pen, of all creatures, you had the poor bird lying on its back barking at the ceiling. Barking. If that wasn't a sign of your cooking having the potential to take someone on an acid trip, I don't know what is."

"Hey now, you may be our guest here," Misato chided back as she took a sip of her soda, "but I reserve the right to brush aside any and all complaints."

"Come now, Misato," Shinji said as he passed a plate towards her. "You have to admit, quality-wise, things have improved since you delegated the chef duties to me, haven't they?"

"Well..." Misato started to say before biting into her curry, from there proceeding to make an approving sound as she savored the taste. "I'll admit, it's gone a long way to rehabilitate my taste buds. At this rate, I may as well give up on instant stuff altogether..."

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Shinji said.

In the background, Pen-Pen contentedly gobbled on the fishy dinner Shinji had prepared for him ahead of time.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," Ritsuko said as she reached for her purse. "Shinji, could you do me a small favor?"

"Depends," Shinji replied. "What's the favor?"

In response, Ritsuko handed him a card that had Rei's photo on it. "This is Rei's renewed ID card. I meant to give it to her the other day but never got around to it. So, I'm sorry to impose, but do you--?"

"Say no more, I'd be happy to do it," Shinji answered as he took the card.

"By the way," Ritsuko said, "interesting reading she's been getting into lately, I've noticed. I mean, Thomas Pynchon? Shinji, what have you been feeding her brain?"

Shinji nonchalantly shrugged. "Rei may be a bit 'clumsy' when it comes to living," he stated, "but she's a very curious, very analytical girl. Anything that sharpens her mind further, I'm happy to share with her."

"Hence the mystery novels I've seen with her every time she's come in for testing of late," Ritsuko replied.

"Yeah," Misato chimed in. "Makes me wonder, what's with you and mystery stories anyway?"

"My prior guardian was heavily into them," Shinji replied. "He wound up passing it along to me. The progression, the twists and turns, the motives, how they're not always cut-and-dry...I like all of that, and then some. It's pretty fascinating."

"Eh, closest thing to mystery stuff I enjoy were old imports of Columbo my mom and I used to watch together," Misato said as she took another sip of soda.

"Anyway," Shinji said as he got up from the table, "I can take Rei's card to her right now, if that's okay, Misato. There's still a little bit of daylight left, and I won't be gone long. Dr. Akagi, do you know her address?"

"Are you sure about this?" Misato asked as Ritsuko scribbled Rei's address on a small piece of paper, which she then handed to Shinji. "I mean, you could do it tomorrow before you come into HQ..."

"It's all right, really," Shinji insisted as he slipped his shoes on. "Better to do it sooner rather than later. Anyway, like I said, I won't be long. Dr. Akagi, in case I don't see you when I get back: have a nice evening."

Old Hakone, minutes later...

Tommi's taxi cruised carefully through the run-down streets of old Hakone. Sounds of demolition could be heard as the view of the rows of nearly-abandoned apartment buildings went by Shinji's gaze. After a minute and one turn later, Tommi cruised into the area where the building that was Shinji's destination lay and stopped.

Tommi glanced at her teenage passenger with a skeptical look on her face. "Ya sure this is the right place, kid?"

"Honestly, I'm starting to wonder that myself," he said, eyes narrowed in the direction of the building as he got out of the taxi. "Keep the engine going, I'll be right back."

Shinji then began walking towards the building, utterly appalled at the condition it was in. It really looked like it had seen better days, something he noted as he walked up the stairs. Before he got any further, something tugged at his senses and he carefully peered over the veranda of the stairwell. Down on the ground, he could make out, even with the dim street lamps starting to come on, the familiar blue-topped girl that was Rei, walking towards the dwelling she called home. It was then he also noticed a couple of men--one tall, one stocky, both looking as if they came from a whole other part of Asia, since they didn't appear entirely Japanese--who were tailing Rei. At first he figured them to be members of Section-2, NERV's intelligence division that also pulled double-duty as bodyguards for the EVA pilots. (He himself had carefully figured out his own detail whenever he walked to school.) However, it soon became apparent to him that they weren't, and aside from the initial details he noted before, it all came down to their postures and body language. Shinji knew there was a stark difference, and knew right then and there that something was wrong. It was then that Shinji slowly slipped back into the shadows of the stairwell, just as the sun finally set.

​

"Ms. Rei Ayanami?" one of the men asked after a lengthy silence.

Rei, her face never leaving neutral, stopped and turned around to face the two men behind her. "You are not with Section-2," she noted.

"We're special investigators with the United Nations," the second of the two men stated as he produced an official-looking badge and ID. "We'd like to ask you a few questions if you can spare a moment of your time."

Rei didn't flinch as they came closer. "Official inquiries have to be cleared with either Commander Ikari or Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, and inspectors or other officials will need to clear a background check with Section-2. Both of which you appear to have not done in advance." Her eyes then narrowed very slightly. "You are not who you say you are."

The two men looked at each other, and though they didn't show it, were actually astonished she saw right through their façade. They then faced her, now with determined looks on their faces.

"Quite perceptive, I'll give you that," the taller man said. "I'm afraid you'll still need to come with us, since we do have some questions for you..."

Before either of them could lay even a finger upon the unperturbed Rei, the sound of sinister, haunting laughter was heard all around them, audible even with the sounds of demolition and construction nearby. The laughter caught the two men off-guard, as they looked around apprehensively, trying to discern the source. Rei herself showed slight surprise upon hearing the laughter for the first time.

Could it be...? she wondered to herself, thinking back to what she had heard from Kensuke of late. Her answer soon came when the laughter ceased.

"Kidnappers..." the voice said. "Now there's prey I've yet to cut my teeth on. Thank you, gentlemen, for giving me the opportunity this fine evening..."

Before either man made a move, the taller one found himself on the receiving end of a hard-hitting punch to the face; his stocky partner then found himself tripping due to a leg sweep that came from out of nowhere. When the tall one un-holstered his pistol, pain erupted from the back of his hand, courtesy of a shuriken that he was surprised to find sticking out of it, causing him to drop the gun. He soon was met with a punch to the gut, followed by a blow to the back of the head that knocked him out. His partner soon fell in a similar fashion, leaving both would-be kidnappers incapacitated.

Rei, who had been following all this visually, couldn't believe it. Though she had great night vision, she could not make out just who or what it was that had taken down her would-be abductors. Her eyes widened a bit more when her savior finally emerged from the darkness, at first looking like one of the ninja of old, before assuming the form of a man in a black suit, the lower half of his face covered by a crimson scarf. Rei showed no fear as the man came closer and bent down to her eye level.

"Are you all right, Ms. Ayanami?" the man asked.

"...I am. Thank you," she replied. "How do you know--?"

"The Shadow knows, Ms. Ayanami..." he said in turn.

"I see," Rei said, her face back to its usual neutrality. "My Section-2 detail did not respond in time."

"They're over in that alley," the Shadow said, pointing as he stood back up towards said alleyway that was nearby. "I believe these two incapacitated them before they could begin their watch." It was then the Shadow looked closely at the back of the tall one's neck. Tattooed on it was a symbol: it resembled a reversed letter S with a small horizontal straight line through the middle. The stocky one also had that tattoo. The Shadow took out a small piece of paper and quickly copied the symbol onto it, before placing it back in his pocket. His focus then returned to Rei. "I will accompany you the rest of the way to your apartment, if it isn't a bother."

Giving it some thought for a moment, Rei nodded and, after the Shadow had quietly tipped the local police off about the two kidnappers, the two of them boarded the rickety elevator, which just barely managed to take them up to the floor Rei's dwelling was on. Then then walked to apartment #402, where Rei opened the door. The Shadow noted that the lock was broken, and had not been repaired for some time. Stuck in the door's mail slot was unopened pieces of mail. As he crossed the threshold after Rei, he noted more pieces of unopened mail on the floor of the entryway and the shoe rack. Looking around at the interior, he further noted the dirty, bare concrete floor, the lack of wallpaper or paint, the indoor light that only had two out of four bulbs installed, and burned-in soot marks leading from the wall to the ceiling. Her bed--consisting of a thin mattress, an old pillow, and a single sheet--sat in one corner, with a small plastic chair sitting nearby. In another corner was a small refrigerator, with a cardboard box full of bloody bandages next to it. On top of the fridge was a beaker of water, and pills in bottles next to it. Hanging from the side of the fridge was a bag full of empty cans.

The Shadow looked over the environment laid before him with a discerning eye. It was then he spotted a chest of drawers, along with a few books on top of it. Upon closer examination, he noted they were German medical books, with several pages either marked or dog-eared. Another object he spotted was a pair of glasses, the lenses bearing a single crack on each.

"Yours?" the Shadow asked the blue-haired girl, who picked up the glasses and put them into a case.

"No," she replied. "They are from the one who gave them to me."

"Why did they give them to you?" he asked.

"...He had saved my life," she said, a small smile appearing on her face.

"I see..." he replied, as he looked around at the state of her apartment again. "Ms. Ayanami, given the kidnapping attempt, I think it's time you made a change of scenery, as it were. Move into cleaner, more safer lodgings."

Rei turned and faced the Shadow, one eyebrow arched. "Why do I need to move into new lodgings? These are the ones I was assigned."

The Shadow was silent for a moment, before replying. "And who was it who assigned you to live here?"

"Commander Ikari," she replied. "This place has all that is needed--a bed to sleep in, basic necessities."

Again the Shadow fell silent for a moment, before speaking up again. "Unfortunately, this place is neither safe nor healthy to live in. I strongly insist that you arrange for a change in abode, especially after reporting the kidnapping attempt. That alone should convince your superiors of the merits behind such a move." He then seemed to focus on the doorway for a moment. "I have the feeling your friend Shinji will be arriving shortly. He may echo my sentiments, so it'd be wise if you began packing what possessions you have." He then turned to leave, only to pause mid-stride. "One other thing," he said as he turned back to her. "I have something you should hold onto, if you don't mind." He then reached into his pocket and held out an object that he unveiled to her when he opened his hand. Rei's gaze was locked onto the object, which caused a curious look to appear on her face.

​

The metal object was attached to a small, necklace-length chain, and resembled a tiny ceremonial dagger. The blade had three sides, and the pommel had three demonic faces sculpted on each side of it. A dragon's head poked out from the top of the pommel.

"A phurba," Rei noted.

"You recognize it," the Shadow stated, curious over how she knew it.

"I once wrote a report on Tibetan culture for one of my classes last year," she elaborated. "I have seen pictures in some of the textbooks I consulted. A religious object used by lamas to exorcise evil spirits."

"Indeed," the Shadow affirmed as he unwound the chain. "As I said, I would like you to hold onto this." He then placed the necklace around Rei's neck, to which she did not rebuff. In fact, she appeared fascinated by the tiny dagger that hung from it as she held it in her palm.

"Thank you," she said as she looked up, only to realize the Shadow was no longer there. A moment later, the door to her apartment opened, and Shinji entered.

"Rei? Are you in here?" he asked as he got a good look around the apartment. "I hope I'm not intru--oh my god! This place is a mess!" He then looked in Rei's direction. "Are you seriously living here?!"

Rei, surprised by Shinji's reaction to her apartment, felt a tiny blush appear on her face over the concern he was expressing. "I...I was assigned here by Commander Ikari." The blush disappeared when a new question came to her mind. "Why are you here?"

"Dr. Akagi forgot to give you your updated ID card," he replied. "She was having dinner with me and Misato when she asked me to give it to you. She gave me your address." He then looked over the apartment again. "I couldn't believe it when I got here, but seriously? This won't do at all!" Shinji declared with a shake of his head. "Can you get your some of your belongings together? I'd really feel better if you stayed the night in a safer place. I've got a taxi waiting for me downstairs, I'll take you back to Misato's place with me. We can then do something about your living arrangements in the morning. Would that be okay with you?"

Remembering the Shadow's words, Rei nodded 'yes' and immediately got to work gathering up her things to take with her. While she did that, Shinji took a moment to look at the paper Ritsuko had given him, on which he'd copied the symbol tattooed on the two kidnappers' necks. He then decided that this warranted investigating going forward, in addition to his mission. Something that indicated another player was out there, somewhere, with designs on Tokyo-3--and now he needed to find out who it was...

End Chapter 8.​

 

[Author0fntent]

Chapter 9 - The Plot Master​

Shinji couldn't help but muse over how NERV could be so efficient when it came to not only getting Rei a new apartment, but getting her moved in right away, if given the right incentive. As he and the aforementioned First Child headed to NERV HQ one day, he thought back to the previous 48 hours that led to this particular train of thought...

Misato had been quite surprised to see Rei accompanying Shinji when they returned to the apartment, more so that she had a packed bag with her. She then became at first mortified, then furious when the two of them explained not only the state of Rei's dwellings, but how the bluenette had been nearly kidnapped by a couple of unidentified thugs who'd managed to incapacitate her Section-2 detail. No surprise, Misato allowed Rei to spend the night at the apartment, even loaning her an old t-shirt of hers to wear while she slept. The following morning, Misato made the drive out to Old Hakone to get a better idea of just what Shinji had brought Rei back from, and sure enough was appalled by the conditions the First Child had been living in, leading to a very visceral conversation with NERV's HR department. Shinji and Rei also appeared at the meeting, with both commanders present, to give their testimony regarding the kidnapping attempt. What came out of these talks were a change of residence for Rei, who would now be occupying the apartment next door to Misato's, while also giving the Captain more scrutiny over the pilots under her command; and an increase in security for all pilots, given the feeling that abduction of the pilots could be attempted again.

From there, Shinji and Misato helped Rei fill her new apartment with not only furniture, but new additions to her wardrobe (something Misato had a lot of fun with when she dragged Shinji along to the mall to act as their porter), and items to instill some personality within. It was during all this that Shinji and Misato got more of an idea of how much Rei was repressed, in spite of the progress Shinji himself was making in helping her out of her shell. All this made Shinji remember his debriefing he had with Allard over the key NERV personnel he'd be interacting with, when he brought up the subject of the First Child.

"Here we have Rei Ayanami," Allard explained, pointing to the open folder with Rei's photo among the papers. "According to what information we could gather, she is the First Child, in other words the first test subject chosen by the so-called 'Marduk Institute', a front division secretly controlled by NERV. She is the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-00, the first working monstrosity developed by GEHIRN before it became NERV. Her past, unfortunately, is a total blank slate, with everything wiped clean. We have reason to suspect that it was by design. What we do know is she plays a key part in your father's plans, and that up until last year, Rei had not been allowed outside the confines of the Geofront, until your father assigned her to live in a derelict apartment in the part of Tokyo-3 known as Old Hakone. It is here that, even on the surface, the careful pattern of isolation and repression of Rei continued under your father's guidance-she does not live so much as exist. As a result, she is something of an outcast at the middle school she attends; while she does the required classwork, she is not as much of an active presence in the student body, who in turn give her something of a wide berth. Among the parameters of your mission, you are to help Rei overcome this conditioning and help her become more of a part of normal society. In other words, you must bring out the social butterfly trapped in the cocoon your father enveloped her in..."

Shinji was brought out of his reminiscence (and the reminiscence within that) when he heard the train he and Rei were on stop at their destination. After clearing the gate, the two found themselves taking one of the many escalators down into Central Dogma.

"You settling in at your new place okay?" Shinji asked her.

"I will admit, it has taken some getting used to," Rei replied, "but it is certainly agreeable."

Shinji smiled a bit on hearing that, also noting that she was still wearing the phurba charm around her neck. "Good to hear," he said. "Oh yeah, I should've said this myself: I hope your reactivation experiment goes well, compared to last time." Shinji hadn't been the only one to wish her luck, since Hikari, Toji, and Kensuke had also given her their best wishes after hearing about the test, a gesture Rei had mulled over as she and Shinji left school; it was something that made her ponder if things like that were what it meant to have friends. "All the same, I have to know-aren't you scared?"

Rei looked at Shinji, the most minute of quizzical looks on her face. "Should I be?"

Shinji adopted a more concerned expression before answering. "The last time Unit-00 activated, you wound up hospitalized and spent weeks recovering from it. Wouldn't you be apprehensive about getting into that plug again?"

"Do you not have faith in the Commander's work?" she asked.

Shinji briefly furrowed his eyebrows, before he replied. "I'm just saying it's okay to be scared. I'll admit, I am worried Murphy's Law may choose a very inconvenient moment to muck things up. However...I have faith that things will go off without a hitch. I have faith in Dr. Akagi and the techs. And I have faith you'll be able to pull it off successfully. Rei, you know how I feel about the Commander, but that doesn't mean I don't trust the people that work under him."

Taking a moment to comprehend his answer, Rei, with a faint smile, nodded back at him as they reached their floor. Minutes later, Rei was getting her plugsuit on when she paused a moment to ponder the phurba charm that hung around her neck. She remembered some of the details from when she wrote her paper, how as a tool for exorcism, it could be employed to hold demons or thoughtforms in place. While she herself was not one to believe in superstition, something told her that maybe wearing it could be beneficial. Having made her decision, she then donned the rest of her plugsuit and pressed the wrist control to pressurize, causing it to tighten and conform to her frame. On looking in the mirror, she noticed that the phurba necklace was barely visible, meaning no one would bat an eye over her wearing jewelry underneath her plugsuit.

Moments later, the First Child was sitting in her entry plug, waiting for the test to begin.

"Rei? Can you hear me?" Commander Ikari asked over the comms.

"Yes," she replied.

"We will now begin Unit-00's reactivation experiment," Gendo said to everyone in the pribnow box, as he readjusted his glasses with one gloved finger. "Begin primary connection."

Soon, Rei felt a familiar series of tingles as parts of Unit-00 were brought online, one-by-one, the technical crew painstakingly keeping track of their checklists. After the order was given by Dr. Akagi to shift to phase two of the procedure, Rei saw the kaleidoscopic pattern and color shift on the display panel of the plug, before settling into a clear external view. She could now see all faces in the pribnow box, from the command staff present to the same techs at their consoles. The only difference was the addition of a new face, as she eyed Shinji off to the side next to Misato. Upon closer magnification, Rei could see that Shinji had a small but reassuring smile on his face, as he held a thumbs-up in her direction. Though no one on the other end could see her, Rei gave him a slight smile of her own back.

As more and more of the procedure neared the final phase, Rei could feel the Evangelion, and with it, the presence deep within the core. Though the safeguards Dr. Akagi had installed kept it mostly under control, the presence still made Rei aware it was still lurking.

However, before a single 'thought' from the presence could snarl its way into Rei's mind, something happened that was not picked up by the technicians or the MAGI. Underneath Rei's plugsuit, the eyes on the forward-facing face of the phurba's pommel briefly glowed. Rei could feel it, and was careful to mask her surprise as she briefly looked inward. There, she felt the presence within the EVA just as it attempted to crash against her mental barriers, only for it to be cowed by another presence--one that felt considerably more ancient, almost...mystical. Realizing what this afforded her, Rei seized the moment to 'settle' things with the EVA-presence that had plagued her for so long.

Please listen to me, she said to the EVA-presence. I know not what this is that has cowed you, but now that it has, I must 'clear the air' as it were.

Do not make demands of me, doll! the EVA-presence replied.

I am not a doll, Rei replied with slight defiance.

You say that, the EVA-presence countered, but we both know who you are to him-a disposable tool, a placeholder for a dead person!

Rei, before now, would not have paid the insult any heed, merely suppressed it to force the EVA into activation. Now though, she decided it was time to put her foot down.

No, she firmly stated with no lack of certainty. I am I. I am not that person. I am not replaceable. I am a unique individual, and that cannot--will not be changed.

Hearing this left the EVA presence taken aback. The ancient presence, on the other hand, seemed to grin with approval. The EVA-presence, taking a moment to pull back a little, reasserted itself as it tried to make its case again. He will do away with you when your usefulness has ended. He can always get a replacement ready...

Maybe, Rei answered back, feeling as if she were growing a bit stronger with the ancient presence backing her up. Even so, I will no longer be his puppet-and I am forever grateful to the one who cut those strings. Rei was then able to willfully send the EVA-presence packing and take full control of the Evangelion.

Out in the real world, more good news was delivered. "-One point zero and rising!" Maya reported, a hint of triumph in her voice. "Unit-00 reactivation successful!"

From her vantage point, Rei could see the visible sighs of relief from a number of people within the pribnow box, which filled her with a sense of satisfaction. "Beginning interlock tests," she said over the comms, as the rest of the experiment continued on. Back in the box, Shinji himself was glad things went off without a hitch, thanks in part to the little 'good luck charm' he bequeathed to Rei the other evening. Allard had entrusted it to him well before he came to Tokyo-3, so he knew of its particular 'quirks'. He had a feeling that whatever his father's plans for Rei were, having the phurba in her hands would be a trump card he could save for later, just for that right time...

His train of thought was interrupted when a phone on a nearby console rang, which was answered by Fuyutsuki. After responding to the call, the Sub-Commander hung the phone back up. "Ikari, an unidentified flying object is approaching. It's probably the fifth Angel."

"Stop the test," Gendo ordered. "All personnel proceed to Level 1 Alert."

*Sigh* Something told me the other shoe was going to drop soon...Shinji thought resignedly as he made for the locker room.

In the near-24 hours that followed, Shinji and NERV found themselves up against the aforementioned Fifth Angel, dubbed Ramiel, a juggernaut resembling a blue, crystalline, perfectly-shaped octahedron with a powerful particle beam weapon. When initial attempts to attack it failed due to the Angel's total battlefield awareness (and the Angel itself began to drill into the ground just above the Geofront), Misato concocted what became known as Operation: Yashima, where Shinji (in Unit-01) would snipe at the Angel using a prototype positron rifle created by the JSSDF, powered by the entire electrical grid of Japan. Rei (in Unit-00) would act as his protection, using a shield crafted from the chassis of a decommissioned space shuttle. While things got hairy for a moment due to his first shot missing, thanks to Rei's intervention, Shinji was able to pull the second shot off, taking out Ramiel right through the center.

There were, however, a few quiet moments in-between the planning session and the actual operation where Shinji spoke with Rei. It was here that he got to see a slight manifestation of the influence he was starting to have on her, when she vowed to keep him safe during the operation. The way she said it, he actually believed her. Then there was the moment right before they entered their respective EVAs to get Operation: Yashima underway, when he asked her why it was she piloted the EVA. Taking a moment before answering, Rei described it as being a bond to everyone...though lately, she'd begun to reconsider her reasons why. When the operation was ordered to begin, Rei gave Shinji a farewell, which he immediately rebuffed. She attempted to reassure him by saying that if something were to happen to her, she could be replaced. Appalled by this, Shinji countered by reminding her of what he told her the day they met in her hospital room. He reminded her that her own life is precious, that she shouldn't think so little of it. If something were to happen to her, she would be missed, greatly. Not just by him, but those she had befriended in the time since he'd arrived. Hearing these passionate words, she realized they were very true. She would have to reevaluate what little remainder of her fatalistic attitude was still present, compared to Shinji's defense of her life's worth. A sentiment reinforced when, before making the shot that did Ramiel in, Shinji asked her to cover him, an act that affirmed for the Third Child that she'd done so not because she was ordered to or was indifferent when it came to her life, but because she genuinely trusted him.

If all this didn't indicate that he was getting through to the First Child, then he didn't know what would.

One week later...

It was evening in the Geofront, and in the cavernous office of Gendo Ikari, he was in the middle of a phone conversation with someone over more covert subjects.

"...Once again, I owe you," Gendo stated.

"Not that you intend to repay me," the man on the other line said. "About the materials they've been pressing for using the Freedom of Information Act...I took the liberty of mixing in some falsified data to keep them off the trail." He was referring to the documents Gendo was looking at on his computer screen, with details that had been blacked out. "Anyway, behind closed doors, the government's preparing legal action, but I suspect it'll fall through in the next few days. So, what do you say-want me to handle a certain other project as well?"

"No," Gendo replied. "Based on what you've provided, there shouldn't be any problems." Gendo's gaze then briefly fell on an image of something big and mechanical.

"Then I'll proceed according to plan," the man on the other line affirmed. With that, Gendo hung up the phone, got up from his desk, and proceeded to exit his office. As he closed the door, he failed to notice a patch of the darkness within the office move, as the Shadow then walked over to the desk and turned the computer back on. Typing in the Commander's password--which he'd been able to glean based on the sounds of certain keys being pressed--the Shadow went over the materials that Gendo had been looking over as he'd spoken with the mysterious other man over the phone.

Studying up on the competition, are we? the Shadow thought amusingly. Quite cunning, Commander. Quite cunning...

Misato's apartment, the following morning...

The toaster popped its contents up, each slice of bread a golden brown, which Shinji deftly grabbed with a set of tongs and laid out on a couple of plates. From there, he spread equal amounts of butter and blackberry jam on each slice. Off to the side, Pen-Pen dug into the fishy breakfast prepared for him. It was then Misato, not quite awake just yet, lumbered slightly into the kitchen, where she let out a huge yawn.

"'Morning," she greeted with a sigh.

"Morning," Shinji replied, as he quickly poured her a cup of coffee, which she took and immediately downed with as much gusto as she would have with a beer.

"...I didn't even get to tell you it was hot," Shinji said after a surprised pause.

"Guess I'm really getting used to this stuff then," Misato said before taking a bite of her toast. "Let's just say I've trained my tongue to be a bit 'fireproof' over the years."

"Must. Resist. Urge to make. Innuendo," Shinji jokingly replied in a stereotypical robotic voice.

Hearing this, Misato paused a bit before devolving into a series of stifled giggles. "Ah, s-shut up!" she said, a bit embarrassed that she walked right into that one.

Moments later, Shinji was washing their plates and cups when he brought something up. "Oh, right, you're coming to school for my career guidance meeting, right?"

Misato nodded in affirmation. "No doubt about it," she said with a cheery look on her face.

"I'm surprised you'd be able to do this, given your busy schedule," Shinji noted.

"Well, believe it or not, it's part of my job too," the captain stated.

It was at that moment that the doorbell rang. Misato answered the intercom in the kitchen in response. "Hello?...Oh, sure, thanks for coming all this way. One moment..."

Shinji, now with his backpack on, held Misato back a bit, Pen-Pen observing from behind the copy of the newspaper he was perusing.

"Think you could put something on before answering?" he asked. "If they're who I think they are, I'd like it better if you didn't greet a couple of wolves at the door."

Misato feigned a pouty look before heading to her room. "Aw, you're no fun," she said. "You know, for a kid you're a bit old-fashioned."

"Let's just say my life's already something of an upside-down mecha anime," Shinji said. "I don't want it turning into a Tex Avery cartoon while I'm at it." Shinji then proceeded to head to the front door and opened it. No surprise, as he'd predicted, Kensuke and Toji were standing on the other side.

"Morning, Shinji!" they both greeted enthusiastically.

"Morning, guys," Shinji greeted in turn, before noticing the strap for Toji's bag hanging from the jock's forehead. "Uh, Toji, why are you carrying your bag like that?"

"Oh, no reason," Toji replied as he and Kensuke stuck their heads in the door. Before they said anything else, they both spied Pen-Pen reading the newspaper, confusing them momentarily and causing them to exchange a brief look.

"Have a great day, Miss Misato!" the two boys enthusiastically greeted.

"You too, boys!" Misato called out from the hallway, offering a wave with one hand. As soon as the boys left the apartment, Misato immediately got on the phone to signal Shinji's Section-2 detail to get to work.

The school, hours later...

It was the middle of the afternoon when Shinji's ears perked up at the faint sound of an approaching car outside. One look out the window confirmed his suspicions as Misato's blue Alpine-Renault sped into a parking space and came to a stop, just as Toji and Kensuke (camera in-hand) joined him suddenly at the window.

"YES! She's here!" Toji said excitedly.

The driver's side door opened, and a set of beautiful long legs emerged first, followed by the rest of the woman they were attached to as Misato stood up. In sharp contrast to her appearance earlier that day, she wore a dark blue skirt, white pumps, a white top under a goldenrod short jacket, and a pair of sharp-looking sunglasses, along with a pair of cross-shaped earrings. In her right hand was a green purse.

Shinji watched mirthfully as the male population of the classroom soon came up to the window, all their eyes on Misato as she walked towards the building. He began whistling a certain ZZ Top song as Kensuke began a bit of running commentary while focusing his camera's lens on the vision of beauty that served as Shinji's commanding officer and legal guardian. His whistling ceased as soon as he noticed that the female half of the population (well, save for Rei) began to look highly displeased at the scene before them.

"Everything okay, ladies?" Shinji innocently asked.

The girls looked at Shinji for a moment, before continuing to glare at the other boys.

"*Sigh* Morons..." Hikari muttered to herself as she shook her head. Shinji, out of the corner of his eye, noted that Toji had apparently turned at the sound of Hikari's quiet remark and appeared a bit sheepish. Shinji smirked a tiny bit, already knowing it was clear there was something between those two that was just trying to get to the surface, but appeared to be in a bit of a slog in doing so. He'd have to fix that at some point.

Toji, not noticing the smirk, then looked back towards Shinji. "Shin-man, how do you do it?" he asked. "You're livin' with such a babe--how have you not taken a shot already?"

"Because she's my guardian and my commanding officer, that's how," he replied nonchalantly. "Also, she's not really my type."

"Then just what is your type?" Kensuke asked teasingly.

"I ain't sayin' a word," Shinji answered in slight imitation of a typical movie gangster, to the groan-filled chagrin of his two friends.

NERV HQ, later that day...

Shinji and Misato (now wearing her red jacket) were with Ritsuko on a moving walkway, as the scientist was revealing to Shinji the true cause behind Second Impact. Shinji listened intently as she revealed the discovery of Adam, the First Angel, in Antarctica; out of the corner of his eye, he could briefly glimpse Misato averting her gaze at times. To him, no doubt it was stirring up bad memories of her experience at the epicenter of the disaster.

When Ritsuko finished, Shinji spoke up. "So based on what you've just explained, NERV's purpose is to prevent a Third Impact from happening, correct?" he asked, in spite of already knowing the answer.

"Indeed," Ritsuko replied, before deciding to change the subject. "On another note, I understand the demonstration's going to be held tomorrow as scheduled."

"You understand correctly," Misato replied, as she held a gray folder in her right hand.

"Demonstration of what, exactly?" Shinji asked, a curious eyebrow raised.

"Oh, Japan Heavy Chemical Industries' newest 'innovation'," Ritsuko answered with air quotes. "Their own take on an anti-Angel weapon, the 'Jet Alone'. Believe it or not, it's a real-life giant robot. Misato and I will be attending tomorrow as representatives of NERV."

"Interesting," Shinji said as he held his chin in contemplation, as he started connecting the dots to the files he'd perused on the computer in his father's office the preceding evening.

The following morning, the scene played out almost exactly like the previous day, save for one detail. The Misato who greeted Shinji and Pen-Pen was in full-on 'professional mode', evidenced by the sharp, black NERV formal uniform she was wearing. Pen-Pen stared wide-eyed at his owner, his beak hanging open in astonishment. Shinji, on the other hand, offered her a small, friendly smile.

"Good morning," Shinji greeted. "All set for today, are we?"

Misato nodded. "I'll be in Old Tokyo for most of the day," she responded in a more serious manner. Shinji noticed, briefly, that she'd used a shoehorn to get her feet into the heeled shoes. He figured, at that moment, that she was normally quite unaccustomed to situations like this. "So I'll be late getting back. Don't wait up. Have a good day, Shinji."

"Um...thanks," Shinji replied. "You too Misato. And hey--don't feel too bad about this. You'll be fine."

Misato, for a brief moment, offered him a friendly smile of her own as thanks for the confidence boost, before resuming her more serious countenance and heading out the door, purse in-hand.

When Misato left, Shinji let the friendly expression leave his face, exchanging it for a more ponderous one. Something told him that things at the Jet Alone demonstration would go wrong, if his eavesdropping on his father's phone conversation indicated anything. Thankfully for him, as the Shadow, he'd already recruited an insider at JHCI to alert him about anything troublesome, and not just the greedy executives that seemed to populate corporate environments like that one. Shinji gave Pen-Pen a look, which the bird returned, curiously. A slight smirk appeared on Shinji's face as he then mimed the action of holding an old-fashioned pipe and pointing it upwards.

"Watson, old boy," Shinji said in a mock British accent, "it appears the game is afoot!"

Pen-Pen, seemingly raising an eyebrow at the boy's statement, shrugged and went back to perusing his newspaper.

In the hours that followed, Shinji's suspicions proved true, though they weren't as bad as he'd figured. Misato had returned home earlier than expected, and was back to her cheery self as she told Shinji about what went down.

Apparently, JHCI's demonstration of the Jet Alone--the gigantic, nuclear reactor-powered robot Ritsuko had mentioned yesterday--had not gone according to plan. She had thought it pretty funny as she explained it to him: when the technicians turned the robot on, it had immediately proceeded to run wild, destroying its own hangar in the process; crushed the very expensive helicopters various politicians and industrialists had flown to the event in; and kicked the central facility several times before bashing itself on the head, at which point it fell flat on its face before shutting down. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but JHCI's credibility (as well as their pride) had taken a huge hit as a result. According to what she'd heard as soon as the dust had settled, the entire Jet Alone project would be scrapped, meaning all that hunk of metal would be good for now would be as an enormous paperweight collecting dust in some warehouse. Any funding that would have gone to Jet Alone had now been redirected towards NERV, to pour further salt in JHCI's wounds.

However, the fact that Jet Alone had gone berserk that easily raised a couple of questions for Shinji, which he kept to himself in front of Misato. He decided that it bore looking into as the Shadow, so as soon as night fell and Misato went to sleep, secure in her job still being around, Shinji went out under the cover of darkness and reached out to his agent at JHCI. Soon, thanks to a rendezvous with Tommi's taxi, the Shadow met with his operative at the Cat's Meow, who provided him with a flash drive containing the data taken from Jet Alone's onboard computer systems. From there, the Shadow knew who would be capable of deciphering the data, and had Yoshito send a message via the Switchboard app to his latest operative. It was time to test her mettle in his crusade.

Maya Ibuki's apartment...

Maya was just drying off her glass, having finished a satisfying dinner, when she heard her phone buzz. Setting the glass and dish towel down, the NERV tech picked it up to see that she'd gotten her first notification from the Switchboard app she'd been instructed to download. She was nervous at first, but ultimately unlocked her phone to access the notification. According to the message, she was to bring a laptop with her and catch a cab to the Cat's Meow café, where she was to meet another operative to go over something regarding the Jet Alone incident. Swallowing, Maya took off her apron, slipped on her shoes and a light jacket, and, laptop in-hand, proceeded to exit her apartment, locking the door as she left. On leaving her building's lobby, she found Tommi and her cab waiting for her. Exchanging a mutual nod, Maya got into the back of the cab while Tommi took the wheel in front, and was soon transporting Maya to the more grungy part of Tokyo-3 where the café was located. Once there, Maya was let out at the curb, and waited at the entrance to the café until the other operative she was to meet arrived.

Eventually, Yoshito did, as he walked towards Maya. He stopped as soon as their gazes met, and Maya found herself face-to-face with a bespectacled man about her age, wearing a light hooded zip-up sweatshirt and dark slacks.

"The lights are on..." Yoshito said.

"...But no one's home," Maya finished, getting the confirmation she needed according to the instructions she'd been given all those weeks ago.

Yoshito nodded for her to follow him inside, where upon finding a booth, they were then served by Aiko, the youngest of the sisters who ran the café. Each ordered a coffee, and soon got down to business. Maya fired up her laptop, as did Yoshito with his own, and they began going over the data recovered from Jet Alone's systems--specifically, the portions that had been ravaged by what looked to be a computer virus. As they went through the various lines of code, Maya began to notice a certain aspect of them, that there was something familiar about the strings and threads that made up the 'bite marks' where the virus had struck. The closer she examined them, the more recognition registered with her, until finally, it came to her with a sudden realization. The sequencing had a signature style to the code for the virus, and she knew just whose it was.

"Sempai..." she said in quiet, shocked disbelief. She just couldn't believe it--Jet Alone had been sabotaged, and it had been Ritsuko Akagi who had done the deed. The only question she had following this revelation was very simple:

Why?

End Chapter 9.​