Novus Anima Evangelion (NGE)

[Spartan Altego]

Novus Anima Evangelion
Prologue: The Red Demon​

[September 21st, 2014]

Winds murmur softly in the cool light of the dawn, bird singing and chirping among themselves along the edges of the shore. Aligned in rows along the sand, they stare transfixed out into the deep blue ocean, gazes set on a sight too far or too abstract for human eyes to see. In the distance, battleships patrol the waters, the men within sweating and swearing as they hustle about.

They know what is coming. The reports had estimated the target would make make landfall by dawn. Orders were to delay the threat for as long as possible, until the asset from Nuremberg arrived on scene. The sun rises along the horizon, grey clouds painted against an orange sky. The eternal summer had roused from its rest, and was stretching its limbs over this part of the world again, running hands over all in its domain.

It is almost time.

The wind picks up, murmurs sharpening into whistles that beat against the eyes and sting the ears. A flag of gold, and black, and red flutters and snaps with the currents. Alarms whine in the distance as the people of Amsterdam evacuate into shelters, confused, tired, and fearful. The gulls grow quiet, their chirping ceasing with the sudden quiet in the air. There are no more alarms. The waters rolling against the sand have grown still.

There is a flapping of wings beating into the sky. The flock of gulls turn east and dart away, the sound of their haste thumping loud against the breeze-less air.

Silence.

****************************************************************************************

An instant later, there is chaos.

The HMCS Antediluvian, forty-thousand tonnes of firepower, state-of-the-art armor plating, and thousands of men and women are lifted into the air by the whims of a great, indomitable surge of force. The bottom hull caves in, taking on water between the gaps of the great holes punched in the metal by thick, ivory teeth.

Milky white eyes, larger than cars, peer up inquisitively at the prize caught in its jaws. Klaxons wail, messages frantically being sent between the incredible fleet that had been so effortlessly infiltrated.

There is a pregnant pause, panic warring with confusion while the warship sits in the beast's clutches, thoughts filled with questions like How the hell did it get past our scanners?! and What is it waiting fo-

With a toss of its bulbous, tumor-ridden head, the creature sends the Antediluvian soaring into the air, spinning lethargically with the force of the throw. For a brief, ponderous moment, the warship hangs in the air, impossibility warring with reality. Reality wins, and the unfortunate member of the German-manned naval defense crashes point-first into the beach shores, crumpling in on itself like so much tin-foil. Missiles and artillery crash into the foamy waters that no longer held home to the threat, warning coming too late as another ship finds itself in the jaws of the target.

It was fast. Faster than anything of its shape or proportions ought to be, yet it seemed that someone had neglected to inform it of this detail. Rail-fired shells and mortars that burned at temperatures that would turn flesh into a soupy mass detonate uselessly against a centimeter-thick barrier of will, the water monster violently whipping its head from one side to the next, uncannily similar to a dog with a particularly prized toy in its mouth.

The not-whale's prized toy found itself wanting against the pleasure of its owner, and was rent in two by the force. One half fell into the water, while the remaining half was crushed in the monster's mouth and rolled down between jagged teeth to join its kin. The fleet keeps up its attack, fighting a hopeless struggle all for the sake of keeping those dead eyes fixed on them, and not on the vulnerable city just off-shore.

Unfortunately for them, it was happy to entertain.

****************************************************************************************

"Oxygen tanks filled, turbine tests cleared. C-Type rig has been installed without incident. Unit software has successfully shifted to meet the additional tasks."

A contented sigh, blue eyes closed in relaxation. She feels a great weight slide off her shoulders, chains carried for so long bashed off her body and sliding into the dark. It's been too long, Unit-02.

For the first time in a week, her smile is genuine once more.

"We're half a mile from the target's position. The Orange Guard is being torn to pieces out there, Major. Reports indicate they've been reduced to 33% strength in the last five minutes alone."

"Dammit, I told them that they shouldn't have bothered with a delaying tactic. We've just lost more lives than they could possibly have saved with five minutes. Unit-02, readiness? How are you feeling?"

Lips curl in a small smirk. "Ready to have myself a fish-fry, Major. The Angel won't know what hit him."

"Asuka," the woman growls warningly, snapping into view on the plug's heads-up display with a foul glare on her face.

Asuka's smirk dissipates, eyes opening to stare coolly at her purple-haired handler. "Yes, ma'am," she deadpans, slipping into a familiar monotone. "I'm ready, ma'am."

"Good." Misato nods curtly, irritation taking a back-seat to urgency. "The Second Angel, designation 'Galgaliel', is dangerously close to the shore of Amsterdam. If it makes landfall, the thousands that are dying as we speak to buy you time to be deployed will be nothing compared to the havoc it will wreak on the populace. You're to engage the target and destroy it by any means necessary, and minimize civilian casualties where possible."

"They barely told me anything before I was shoved into the plug," Asuka grunts, fingers tapping anxiously against the grips of the induction levers. "What's my load-out? Please tell me I'm not stuck with that piece of scheiße pallet rifle again. The simulations were enough for me, thank you."

"You're in luck," Misato drawls. "The submersion-cleared variant wasn't delivered when expected, so you're left with your two progressive knives and your wits. The charge on the extended battery pack will last you six minutes at full power, so you'll need to get in there and end this quickly. If you fail-"

"I won't." Asuka replies flatly.

"-then an N2 mine will be dropped on the target," the older woman continues. "Unit-02's armor plating should hold up to most of the blast, especially with the C-Type armor's additional plating. But if the mine proves ineffective, you'll be left in the open ocean with an Angel bearing down on you. There's no telling how long it could be before a team could be sent to retrieve you."

The auburn-haired pilot nods seriously, hair swishing up and slowly descending back down in the thick soup of LCL that filled the plug. She reaches a hand up to push it to the aside, out of her view of vision. I should've put it into a bun. She thinks irritably. The last thing I need is hair getting in my eyes while I'm fighting my first Angel.

"Remember, the Angel's weak-point is its core. Find the core, destroy it, and the target will die. It's your only shot of taking it out quickly enough to make it back to shore."

Asuka nods again in response, grip tightening on her control-sticks.

"We've arrived at the designated drop zone. Waiting to disengage magnetic clamps on your mark."

Misato meets Asuka's eyes, an unspoken reassurance passing between them. Asuka smiles confidently, heart pumping with a nervous energy. I can do this.

"Mark!"

Evangelion Unit-02 drops from its crucifix, a descending devil crashing into the ocean depths. Lightened of their load, the VTOL squad that had carried the red demon this far turn tail and dart off with all the speed they could muster.

It was no longer safe for them to be there.

****************************************************************************************

Asuka inhales a lungful of rusty LCL and turn on the C-rig's diving lights, eyes widening with shock.

"Gott in himmel…" she whispers.

They'd dropped her into a ruin. Everywhere she turned there was the carcass of another warship, the scraps of some great weapon or frigate. Tiny figures floated still in the depths, dozens upon dozens visible and who knew how many more waiting to be discovered. Swallowing, Asuka moved onward, struck cold by the grotesque reality of her situation.

"Spreading A.T. Field,"she declares, pushing out the Evangelion's absolute defense to hover about its body. She feels a little safer almost immediately, the warm, manic energy of the plug magnifying.

"Asuka!" the girl in question jumps, glaring in the direction of the sound.

"I'm here, Misato." she responds, biting back an annoyed remark. She presses onward, Unit-02's head rolling about. "But the Angel doesn't seem to be…"

"I know, it's just vanished from radar," the scowl can be seen even without video connection, Asuka muses. She'd been on the receiving end of it more than once. "The rest of the Orange Guard has been wiped out, and there's no eyes on Galgaliel anywhere near the coast or in your area. It might be concealing its signature from us."

"What?" Asuka exclaims, incredulous. "How could it know how to do that?"

"We don't know," Misato growls. "You're going to have to rely on line of sight. I'm having the science branch work on a solution right now, but I'm not expecting miracles."

"Right…" Asuka mutters, swallowing. She regrets that impulse immediately, face scrunching with distaste. Damned LCL. Breathing the stuff was one thing, but swallowing it made her stomach churn and her throat clench uncomfortably.

Unit-02 descends further down, its mounted lights becoming less and less effective with every passing moment. The local MAGI weren't finding anything according to Misato, but that didn't mean there was nothing to be found. It was here, and close. She could feel it in her bones, skin tingling with the certainty she was being watched.

A flicker of movement catches her eye, a dark shape moving in the water farther below. Twin orbs of white blink at her from below, before lidding shut and vanishing. A moment later they reappear, having moved east and upwards, hovering some distance above. Its eyes gleam with cruel intelligence, and Asuka can just make out the shadow of its bloated, malformed body.

​

Was it baiting her? Were Angels even intelligent enough for that kind of behavior? Misato's radio silence indicated she was wondering much the same thing.

Asuka slowly, deliberately extends the hidden slot in Unit-02's left wing-holster, reaching with careful pace to grasp the progressive knife stored within. She feels its fingers brush the handle just before Galgaliel charges her, a great shock wave passing through the water as it explodes forward with impossible speed to slam into her midsection. Automated warnings of structural damage burst to life as she gags, feeling as though she'd been punched.

Her midsection twists up, her lungs struggling to breathe even though it wasn't her who had been hit.

Misato's voice. "Asuka, power through the pain! Attack!"

The knife flashes white in the darkness, dragging across the Angel's face in a line of heat and boiling water. Galgaliel screeches - an unearthly, keening wail that makes Asuka's blood run cold. Shaking its head fervently, it retreats, glaring hatefully from a distance with stringy orange tissue exposed along the cut she had made.

"Good," She hisses, grabbing her second knife from its slot and brandishing her set threateningly. "Bleed."

The Second Angel spreads its jaws wide, exposing curved and crooked teeth, a pus-coated and disgustingly human tongue. The cancerous polyps along its form glow sickly green. In the depths of its mouth she can see a glimmer of crimson. There's the core!

"Asuka, Galgaliel's energy output just spiked!"

Elation turns to panic as a jet of boiling white energy propels outwards from the enemy's maw, the barely maneuverable C-Type armor slowing her efforts to dodge. The shot, aimed for her head, instead slashes across the left shoulder-wing, melting away the thousands of layers of armor and separating the extension from the EVA with contemptuous ease.

"God damn you!" Unit-02 charges forward, trajectory slightly off-target to compensate for the damage done to the propulsion systems. It barrels into Galgaliel head-on, the Angel seemingly too winded by its energy blast to avoid Unit-02's body check. Asuka drives both her knives into the the sides of the thing's ugly face, sawing the ultra-sharp progressive blades along the jawline, roaring all the while.

Galgaliel screeches, pushing against her assault to snap its jaws down on the red demon's elbow. Asuka screams, left arm ablaze with pain, but presses her attack with her free hand. She stabs into its skull over and over, punishing it for every second its teeth tore into her (no not mine, its not mine) flesh and bone.

Her endurance wins out over her quarry's, and Galgaliel releases its death-grip, orange muscle tissue coating the end of her knife and floating in clumps in the water. At least half a dozen stabs directly into its skull, a full Glasgow grin to complete it's ugly mouth, and yet there was no blood. Just masses of rent, infected flesh.

No blood but ours… Asuka doesn't dare look at her EVA's arm, fearing the damage she would see. Her own flesh felt raw beneath the plugsuit, peeled layer by layer. The pain was dizzying, and her sync-ratio faltered as she heard technicians over the communications calling for it to be lowered.

"Belay that!" Misato commanded, her stony-tone cutting through the haze. "Unit-02's barely keeping up with the target! She can't afford to be handicapped by a lower sync, every point counts! Asuka, hang in there! You're doing great!"

Asuka was pretty sure Misato just contradicted herself, but was in no position to be pointing that out. 210 seconds.

Galgaliel was shuddering, dorsal fins lighting and fading with each tremor of its body. Asuka grit her teeth, waiting for the next lance of white-death, but the Angel continued to seize. Was it dying? Had she done enough damage for the core to be unable to support its body's functions? Better not give it time to decide for itself. Unit-02's thrusters light up to begin a charge, but her foe turns tail and flees in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Get back here, feigling! I'm not finished with you!" Hot on its heels, the Evangelion rushes after the Angel, who is simultaneously rising to the surface. Its dorsal fins spread wide like some grotesque parody of flowers in bloom, pulsing with yellow light. The tumor-like growths along its body spread into similar forms, and grow larger as the Angel breaks the surface.

"It's heading for the shore!" Misato warns, uncharacteristic panic bleeding into her tone. "Your armor isn't made for that kind of engagement! You need to catch it before it gets to land!"

"Dammit! C'mon Unit-02, don't let me down now!" Focusing her thoughts, she wills her champion faster, molding it's A.T. Field to reduce resistance and increase her speed. The distance begins to be overtaken.

Too little, too late. Forty precious seconds of intense, impossibly-fast pursuit later, and Galgaliel has exploded onto shore, its bulk dragging great gouges into the earth. The fleshy petals on the Angel's back spread over its form like a cocoon, hiding its visage beneath layers of twisted, mottled tissue. Blue veins of light spider-web across the chrysalis, blinding even at the moderate distance Asuka had left to cross.

Something roars from within the organic shell, and rips free just as Unit-02 makes it to shore.

****************************************************************************************

The command center of NERV-Germany was a crypt. Deathly pale faces with empty gazes stared unblinkingly. Bodies stool stock-still upright. At the throne of command, only one person yet lives enough to speak, clutching an object to her chest.

"So this… is its true form."

****************************************************************************************

On the shores of Amsterdam, Germany, Unit-02 stared still ahead, the discarded gadgetry of its diving suit piled at its feet. Exposed joints and segments, covered by thinly-made armor, are all that remains to protect her where her thrusters and fins had rested. The progressive knives tremble in her hands, once a burning lash towards her enemy...now feeling so utterly insignificant.

"M-Misato…" Asuka stutters, eyes wide. "Did you happen to still have those useless pallet rifles on hand?"

The new beast that was now Galgaliel lifted its head, flesh no longer vomit-brown but void-black, lit only by veins and spines of iridescent sapphire and gold. Resting in the center of its thick, gargantuan chest, is an equally huge red sphere the size of Unit-02's head. The wounds dealt beneath the waters had vanished, knit tightly back together by the power of the sun stored within.

Galgaliel's eyes, empty white turned hungry aqua, set upon the Evangelion. And Asuka saw undeniable glee in its gaze.

150 seconds.

​

 

[Spartan Altego]

Author's Note: The previous segment was mis-labeled as Chapter One and has since been fixed to its real title as the prologue. In addition, minor edits have been made based on reader feedback.

Novus Anima Evangelion
Chapter 1/1.11: Refutation (Part One)​

[June 13th, 2016]

"...is not available at this time. Please-"

Shinji sighs, slotting the phone back into its place and resting his head against the booth. It was no use, the phone network looked to have been completely shut down, and with it any chance of at least getting directions.

Maybe it's some kind of drill? He muses, looking about the empty streets, quiet save for the chirping of birds. He racks his brain, thinking back to his history lessons. Old Tokyo was destroyed by N2 Mines… so this is probably just a routine thing. A safety drill.

...Right?

He suddenly felt very, very nervous about being in the open. Picking up the phone again, he punches in the number for the operators, getting the same automated message.

"Damn it, at least tell me where I'm supposed to be!" he yells, slamming the phone back down. "So I'm not left standing here like an idiot!"

The phone opts not to comply.

Looking around once more, his eyes catch a splash of blue against the drab gray buildings lining the sidewalk. Shinji squints, looking down the street. It was...his eyes widen in relief, and he waves fervently at the strangely blue-haired girl a block down, who stares back at him.

"Hello!" he calls. "I could use some help finding a shelter! Can you help me?"

She doesn't respond. Shinji squints harder. That's weird...the sun must be in her eyes or something. Unless she's the type to wear colored contacts-

Brrrring! Shinji gives a startled cry, tripping over his duffle bag and falling hard onto his rear. The pay-phone continues to ring, indifferent to his hisses of pain. Red-faced, he pulls himself to his feet, hoping the pale girl wasn't laughing. Laughter cut deeper than insults.

...She was gone.

Great, there goes my guide. Stepping gingerly over his luggage, he picks up the phone, holding the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"

"Shinji."

His breath catches in his throat. The slightly baritone, cool voice in his ear had frozen him solid, all of Shinji's preparation and reassurances freezing with him. "F-" he hated himself for stuttering. "Father?"

"Yes," Gendo Ikari agrees, as if noting the sky was indeed blue. "Shinji, there is little time. You are in extreme danger. I need you to go west from your current location until you arrive at Shinjuku Station and wait there. It is not safe where you are."

Not safe. Shinji's blood went cold. "Are we being bombed?!" he blurts out, heart beating erratically.

"No." Shinji's breathing slows. "The situation is far worse than that."

And there it went again. "Worse?!"

"Get to Shinjuku," his father repeats. "I'll have an escort sent to retrieve you and bring you to where I am."

"Somewhere safe, I hope," Shinji mutters, both sarcastic and sincere. There is no response; the line has been disconnected.

"...."

Shinji very slowly, very deliberately, picks up his things. He checks his bag, ensures nothing had been broken by his fall, and slings it over his shoulder over the course of about twenty seconds. A rather slow-paced endeavor by all accounts.

His mad, half-mile dash to Shinjuku Station is much quicker.

********************************************************************************************************
Gendo Ikari sets the phone beside his desk, gloved hands tented in thought. Katsuragi was a valuable asset in battle, normally too useful to risk on playing delivery service. In other circumstances, Section Two would've sufficed for retrieval of an important party.

SEELE's agents were everywhere, however, and while he could not be certain of whom they were, he was somewhat certain of who they weren't. The major was a soldier, not a spy. Her heart was worn on her sleeve, not made for deception.

His companion, on the other hand...

"An unexpected reunion," Kozo Fuyutsuki notes, looking somewhere between amused and concerned. "Father and son, both key in ultimate designs of Third Impact, reunited at the return of the enemy of humankind. Almost poetic."

"And dangerous," Gendo grunts. "Zaazenach has awoken, which means that the Second Angel has finally been terminated. One herald cannot come before the other has had its due. That means that SEELE has likely managed to construct or harvest a solenoid organ from its body, and will be working to implant it into an Evangelion. They are now one step closer to their plan."

"And you believe your son's arrival has placed you one step behind."

Perceptive as usual, professor. Gendo keeps his face carefully controlled. "Shinji's presence is a complication. SEELE may see fit to use him against me, as leverage in their game. He will have to be removed."

"Always the pragmatist," Kozo hums wistfully. "I wonder, however, if Rei will share your view. She was always curious about him, after all."

Gendo narrows his eyes, tone sharp. "Rei's curiosities are of no concern, and I will advise you to cease with your machinations. Else I may have to find myself a new confidante, professor."

"Oh, Ikari," Kozo's lips curl into a cold smile, dark eyes twinkling. "We both know you'd be lost without me."

Gendo remains silent, mind already moving to other tasks. Orders were to be given, Unit-01 sortied before the Angel reached the city. It was just as well that there was no time for a reunion, despite Kozo's unspoken judgments.

Shinji was no longer a part of this story. He walked away from his place in it a long time ago.

********************************************************************************************************
In the flooded ruins of Old Tokyo, a battalion of tanks, aerial bombers, and naval forces stand ready to meet the enemy. Briefed on the capabilities of the threat, none of them expected to fire the shot that would fell the Angel - the point was distraction. Attack, retreat, keep the enemy focused on you until the big guns arrived. It was a stinging blow to an organization like the JSSDF, with men and women who prided themselves on being the big guns.

But NERV had opted to show them the footage of the Galgaliel incident, and the mutterings quieted quite quickly after that. Now they waited, they listened, and most pleasingly to NERV's appointed commander, they obeyed.

The eternal summer of the world post-Second Impact meant that it was rarely a day where the temperature dropped below twenty degrees Celsius anywhere in the world, including Japan. It was comfortably warm, occasionally blisteringly hot, but never so much a sauna. Yet over the still waters of the expanded Tokyo Bay, a heat wave approached. Rippling waves of air bound about in a curious manner.

Their local scans detected nothing unusual. NERV's MAGI were still deciding whether or not this was indeed a Pattern Blue, the distance and lack of on-site equipment making their task more difficult. But one bright soul decided that on the off-chance they were wrong, it wasn't like the ammunition was limited. A barrage of thermal shells zoom across the water and slam into the faux-heat wave, detonating mid-air as if swatted down by the will of God.

The rest of the battalion opens fire, kindly thanking NERV for informing them that a Pattern Blue had been detected. The mass of shimmering air cracks, and the transparent rippling effect slides off the Angel like an old skin, revealing an infinite, twisted labyrinth of hooked tentacles and toothless mouths. Its disguise forsaken, Zaazenach surges forth, contemptuously wiping away the tiny lives that presumed to test it. Each tendril sang through the air, every note ending with the screams of the dead.

********************************************************************************************************
Shinji snaps his head up, distant thundering catching his attention, He strains his ears, but the noise seems to be coming from every direction. He nervously checks his watch. "Twelve minutes…" he murmurs. Hearing his own voice was a little comforting, if also a reminder of just how silent the area was without it. Until now…

Father said the city wasn't being bombed, Shinji contemplates, shifting from his position against the stairs leading into the underground station. But the way he said it...as if it was too bad that it wasn't. What have I gotten myself into?

His father had specifically told him to come to this location and stay...but those explosions sounded like they were getting closer. The ground trembled every few minutes, and Shinji could've sworn that he heard what sounded like airplanes flying about. Something military was going on...and it was headed straight for him.

If you wanted to kill me, I think a little less than a small army would've worked too, Dad. The unspoken jest eases his nerves a little, but he feels himself rapidly losing confidence. What if his pickup ran into whatever skirmish was going on? What if nobody was coming at all?

The rumbling noises cease.

Shinji looks back into the dark of the station, wishing that the power was still on. He could always run down there and hope for the trouble to pass over. Of course, I'd be stumbling around in the dark with no way of seeing until then…

He whips his head around at the sound of a horn, and runs out into the street, eyes wide. Yes! There was a car speeding towards him, emblazoned on the front with the logo of NERV. His father's employers. "Hey, right here!" he yells excitedly, waving his arms. Silliness be damned, he was not taking any chances.

The driver must've noticed his flailing, because they beeped twice again. Thrice. Long, protracted honks. Shinji lowered his arms, but the sounds continued. "Okay, yeah, I see you...too?"

A shadow falls over the street, too deep and too dark to be natural, and bringing with it a sudden chill that raises goosebumps over his skin.. Shinji blinks at the sudden, almost night-like darkness and glances up curiously.

His eyes widen, pupils dilating in absolute horror.

It didn't make sense. How could something so utterly massive be so impossibly silent, so expertly unnoticeable despite being a black, writhing stain on the natural order? Shinji screamed shrilly, falling over as he scrambled backwards, trying to avoid the sight of the monstrous, tendriled thing that was floating through the gaps between the buildings.

​

The ground shakes with furious energies, and suddenly a massive figure looms in opposition to the shadow, clad in purple and emerald and wielding a white, shimmering dagger in its hands. It was easily one hundred meters tall, if not more. The shadow halts in place, ripples spreading from the center of its shape outwards. Thorns grow on the edges of its tendrils, and a sickening wave of something spreads outwards, slamming into Shinji and driving him to his knees as his head erupts in pain.

The metal titan stands unperturbed, sending a cool wave of its own to meet and neutralize the shadow's. They charge at one another, the shadow's tendrils poised, the titan's knife held aloft. There is a loud crash, two huge entities warring with one another for dominance, knives and tentacles slashing and clawing in a vicious, wild tangle.

I have to get out of here… Shinji thinks dazedly. I need to run.

But he couldn't - his body refused to listen to his commands, and he could only watch as the armored giant gained the upper hand, gripping a bundle of tendrils at the ends and cutting across with its knife. Jets of black blood spray from the severed limbs directly into its eyes, and it steps back, temporarily blinded, and receives a vicious whip to the head from the shadow. The giant sways with the blow, stumbling into the building adjacent from Shinji's position.

The building crumbles, yielding against the weight of the combatant and tumbling forward as it falls to its knees, rubbing the stain from its golden eyes and shaking its head warily, eyes falling momentarily on Shinji. The giant holds its stare for an instant, before turning back to the threat, lifting its knife. The shadow has retreated back and curled into itself, now a black, flat hole in the air that looked almost two-dimensional in a way that made Shinji's head erupt in pain just to look upon it. A red glow builds in its center, taking the shape of a fiery crucifix.

The giant hesitates, halting mid-movement to avoid whatever attack was coming. It turns to look down at Shinji, and then pounces, curling itself over him in a great ball. He is plunged into cool, but reassuring darkness. He can hear a whisper at the edge of his mind, a soft reassurance. You won't die. I will protect you.

There is a roar and rushing of air, and something explodes with tremendous force. Shinji can hear, feel the pain of the giant as if it were his own, and he screams as the armor plated to its back melts and fuses with flesh, nerves on fire. Still, he-she-they grit their teeth and bear the pain, determined to save the life of this tiny individual. The barrage ceases, and the giant rises itself shakily to full height, smoking with heat.

A huge, sizzling cable falls from the giant's back to the ground, crushing a car with its weight. The shadow trills, and another wave of will passes across the area, an almost taunting show of force.

Shinji blanches, vomit rising in his throat. His chest burns as if invisible fingers were foraging in his chest, tightening about his heart with hateful strength. His ears ring with the sounds of memories long forgotten, and he curls up into a ball. The monster's very presence was smothering him, sapping the will from his bones.

"H-help…" he croaks, vision blurring. "Father...mother. Anyone."

Darkness.

********************************************************************************************************
He wakes to the sounds of destruction about him, staring at the ground as it swims before his vision. Someone is carrying him, rushing across the now sun-lit street. He groans, mouth filled with a bitter taste, and he tilts his heavy head to catch a glimpse of raven-locks with a violet hue to them.

"-experiencing severe A.T. Field sickness and is in need of medical attention! En-route to HQ!"

His rescuer - a beautiful, concerned-looking woman with brown eyes and raven-hair, sets him in the passenger seat of her car and looks him over -her head is bleeding-, waving a finger quickly before his eyes. He follows it sluggishly. "Can you understand me?!" she demands, a deep crashing and rumbling coming from somewhere behind them. Monsters. "Do you know your name?"

My name… "S...Shinji. Ikari."

She nods, satisfied, and runs to the opposite side of the car, piling into the drivers seat and slamming on the gas. Shinji watches as the metal titan drives a great knife into the inky monster's body, eliciting a bone-chilling scream and a jet of black fluid. The shadow responds in kind, driving two tendrils directly through the giant's abdomen and out through its back.

Distantly, Shinji can hear a girl scream.

 

[Spartan Altego]

Novus Anima Evangelion
Chapter 1/1.11: Refutation (Part Two)​

She's losing… Ritsuko Akagi thinks grimly, watching through Unit-01's eyes as the Angel again presses its advantage, driving the now heavily damaged and cordless EVA back with a relentless flurry of stabs and slashes. Each bladed and barbed tendril that was blocked was followed by the connection of two more, the pilot's vitals spiking with each strike. The Angel was somehow extending itself from a Sea of Dirac into the known dimensions, striking with a shadow form while keeping its true form and core hidden inside. Although the progressive knife had dealt hissing, bloody wounds to the projection, the Angel was every bit as intact as it had been at the start of the incursion.

The girl was fighting a losing battle, that much was clear. The Angel fought as if it knew she were running out of time, recklessly taking wounds to keep its enemy from retreating. Once she would have dismissed such a line of thought as impossible, anthropomorphising an inhuman entity in a futile grasp at understanding. But then she'd watched the footage of the Second Angel's arrival...and her eyes had been opened. The Angels were not the mindless creatures she'd thought. And now Unit-01 was being made to learn as well.

And yet… She looks upwards to the command center, where Gendo Ikari watches without expression, eyes hidden behind his orange-tinted glasses. Beside him, the Sub-Commander wears a mask of concern, his eyes twitching sympathetically with every scream of pain. And yet Gendo said nothing. Yet there you are, letting it happen.

What was he waiting for?

Unit-01 took another blow, a vicious slash across the belly, and another shrill scream echoed through the room. Ritsuko glanced around, seeing the disturbed expressions of her colleagues. Ibuki looked ready to vomit, and even the stoic Aoba seemed unsettled. Every strike the Angel dealt was transferring to its pilot, opening flesh on two-fronts with a single stroke. Somehow, the connection between EVA and pilot was being exploited far beyond what had been anticipated, nerve feedback and psychological pain transferring into physical injuries. It was amazing the girl was still alive.

Yet still, the Commander said nothing.

Ten infinitely long seconds passed, Unit-01's power ticking down beneath the minute mark. The Angel simply hovered out of reach of the EVA's weak attacks, biding its time. Ritsuko's patience finally gave out. "Commander Ikari!" she yelled.

"Unit-01, retreat to rail-port 3A immediately," the Commander states coolly, either not noticing or caring for the science head's outburst. "Local sonic-cannons will provide cover."

"Y...yes, sir," the pilot weakly responds. Through the view-screen Unit-01 sluggishly backs away from its target, bleeding from multiple points. The Angel, sensing weakness, lunges forward only to be pushed back by a dozen streams of hyper-sonic waves fired from hidden turrets throughout the city. Zaazenach screeches, tendrils waving wildly as it attempts to extend itself past the waves to strike the turrets.

No visible damage was being dealt, and the cannons weren't meant to be fired for longer than a few moments on their limited charge...but it was enough. Unit-01 made it back to its entrance point and descended beneath the city.

A moment later, the cannons' charges ran their course and the emplacements were obliterated by the inky-grasp of the Angel.

"Unit-01 en-route to repair bay, sir," Ibuki reports. "MAGI detect severe structural damage throughout the abdominal and cranial zones, as well as multiple bone fractures and burns. Pilot lifesigns are weak, synchronization dropping."

"Prepare a medical team and direct all efforts towards repairing Unit-01," the Commander declared, rising. "Sub-Commander, inform the JSSDF that we have failed. Authorize N2 strike."

Ritsuko blinks, mouth opening halfway before closing abruptly. Turning on her heel, she walks to the repair bay with a blank face, shrugging off her lab uniform.

There was work to be done...and precious little time to do it.

********************************************************************************************************
His rescuer's eyes widen, binoculars dropping to the floor as she slams on the brakes, car skidding to a halt. Before Shinji can question, she is on him. "They're dropping an N2 Mine!" she exclaims, covering him with her body, the two of them huddling beneath the seats. "Stay down!"

There is a brilliant flash of white, purer and more radiant than any he'd ever seen….

********************************************************************************************************
In a flash of post-nuclear fire, the outskirts of Tokyo-3 are swept from the landscape like scattered ants, their destroyed carcasses being broken apart at the molecular level, reduced to nothing but insensate, suffocating heat in its wake. The entity known as Zaazenach senses the coming fire too late, and the wave of destructive energy, humanity's last spiteful blow, strikes it heavily, heat and shock waves beating against the light of its soul.

A hollow decahedron of radiant sepia houses the shadowy form of the threat, a deep ball of crimson glowing from behind the protective tendrils of its shadow body. Within its cold, infinite stronghold, nothing of this realm could touch it. Only its meaningless artificial flesh would burn, and that too could be reconstituted with time. Its cage shudders, infinitesimal cracks running along the surface. Already its projection was beginning to boil, bleeding from every orifice in great black spurts.

Greater cracks spider-web across the field, lesser portions of the Angel's body melting into burbling, hissing mass. Writhing puddles of black pool at the bottom of the construct. It was no matter. This defeat was only a delay of the inevitable. Another shape would be molded before the moon shone in the sky.

The cage shatters entirely, and the shadowed monster's flesh blasts apart into the wind.

********************************************************************************************************
"A direct hit!"

A cheer rises among the various JSSDF liaisons, congratulations and relieved sighs exchanged as the Angel's signal vanishes from scanners. Its body had fallen apart before their eyes, its strength meeting the true wrath of the Japanese and being found wanting.

Kozo Fuyutsuki narrows his eyes and orders the feed to be zoomed in, the screen dimming the blinding light of the N2 blast to acceptable levels. Within the white-gold storm of energy, a flat hole of darkness remains entirely untouched, colder and bleaker than the void between the stars. A fleck of bloody red glows within, a heart left untouched, safely nestled inside its domain.

The room falls silent, no words exchanged beyond those quiet, horror-struck mutters of disbelief.

"This was no victory…" the man proclaims, gaze unwavering from the sight. "This was a stay of execution."

********************************************************************************************************
There was a horrible ringing in his ears. Shinji gasped in pain and he lifted his head, feeling something hot and wet run down his nose and drip into his mouth. Blood… he thinks dizzily, vision swaying. I'm alive.

The car had been flung from its position, the shockwaves throwing it into the lobby of some apartment complex to rest overturned on its side. The dark-haired woman lay heavy on his chest, unmoving. Shinji swallows, wincing at the taste of blood. "M-miss?" he croaks, shaking her lightly.

She doesn't stir.

Please don't be dead. Please please please don't be dead don't be gone. Heart pumping wildly, Shinji closes his eyes, trying to still his panic. A hand is snaked under her shirt, pressing against her chest. There's a scar... He feels a pulse beating weakly and sags, eyes reddening with relief. She was alive. And so was he.

"Oh my god…" he shivers, pressing his bloody palms against his face. "Oh my god."

Some part of him noted weakly that Father had been wrong about the city being bombed after all. The rest of him beat that part screaming into submission. "...Okay, Shinji," he breathes. "Be strong. Be strong. There's a person counting on you."

He checks her jacket, noting the military pin above her NERV symbol, engraved with a name. "Misato Katsuragi…"

He tries to push her up, arms burning in protest. He grits his teeth, tears mixing with the blood on his face.

"Her name is Misato Katsuragi, and you need to help her. Get up. Get up." Shinji lifts the woman off his chest, wiggling out from under her to rest against the now vertically-aligned dashboard. Misato slumps into the place he'd been pinned, head rolling to expose a nasty, purpled head wound. Shinji winces, but refrains from trying to touch her, instead climbing through the shattered windshield and rolling down to the floor of the building.

"Need to find something to carry her on…" he mutters to himself, stumbling out through the gaping hole the car had made and back out onto the street. "Take her to...somewhere. Someplace safe."

He stops in his tracks, eyes staring uncomprehendingly into the distance.

A mushroom cloud larger than any skyscraper billows into the sky, debris and particles raining down in equal measure like flakes of snow. The surrounding area for kilometers in every direction is completely leveled, heat roiling from the ground and into the air in thick, shimmering waves.

And floating above it, a sucking black wound in the world, colorless save for the burning red glow in the center, staring back at him like a great, hateful eye.

 

[Spartan Altego]

Author's Note: Sorry, shorter update than usual. This was going to be the start of Chapter 2, but it ended up working better as the end to Chapter 1. Hopefully the next update will come a few days quicker than this one.

Novus Anima Evangelion
Chapter 1/1.11: Refutation (Part Three)​

Misato awakens to the feeling of rain on her skin, goosebumps raised where the water had soaked through her dress and jacket. The sky had turned dark and cloud-swept, raining cool drops down on the city. Her head pounded dizzyingly and there was a foul taste in her mouth, but she managed to look around. I'm being carried, she realizes, testing the ropes binding her. Someone had tied her to the hood of her own car and was dragging her down the streets.

"H-hey!" she exclaims, before coughing. "I'm awake."

The sledge is set down and her with it, the dirtied face of her rescuer leaning over her. "S-sorry," he stutters, face briefly twisting with annoyance, although it seemed directed at himself rather than her. "Sorry, I didn't know what else to do. Your head…"

'Her head' felt like an anvil had been dropped on it, but she decided to keep that to herself. Smiling weakly, she gives him a thumbs-up. "Good thinking on your feet. Although I'm pretty sure it was my job to save you."

His cheeks redden slightly, and he averts his eyes. "Here, let me…"

"Where'd you get the rope?" she asks as he works on freeing her.

"I, ah," he looks bashful. "Broke into a store and found some cables."

"Hah!"

Misato sighs with relief as he cuts her bindings, feeling circulation flow back into her numbed limbs where the cables had been tied too tight. She rises shakily to her feet, fighting to stay still against the waves of nausea crashing into her. Come on, Katsuragi. You've been through worse than a car wreck. "H...how long have I been out? What happened?"

"I think thirty minutes, Miss," he swallows, looking shaken. "You said...you said they dropped an N2 mine."

"Oh, damn it…" Misato hisses, swaying as the knowledge causes her head to erupt in greater pain. Her memories were muddied and faint, but Shinji's confirmation brought her last sights back to clarity. "Don't," she snaps, waving off Shinji's concerned approach. "I'm...I'm fine."

He retreats, stricken, and her gaze softens. He's only trying to help, she reminds herself. Let him. She sighs, gesturing for him to come forward, and leans gratefully against his side. "You're tall for your age…" she murmurs, eyeing him over. He was almost up to her height, reaching just up to her chin. His dark hair, deep brown eyes, lanky shape. He was a near spitting image of his father, in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable.

He smiles, and her discomfort fades. Commander Ikari never smiled, and seeing it on his son... something in her prized that expression. He has a nice smile. "My uncle made sure I ate right and slept enough, so I wouldn't be stunted." he explains, letting her direct their steps. "Always had to take away the television and books so I didn't stay up all night."

"You? A book-worm?" she ribs, nudging him teasingly. "I wouldn't have guessed."

He rolls his eyes, but the smile remains. They walk in silence, Misato occasionally gazing back in the direction of the wreck grimly, where on the horizon a twisting black hole grew larger and more distinct with every passing minute. It's not dead. It's just licking its wounds.

Rei must have been losing, and badly, for the Commander to authorize an N2 strike so close to the city. The risk for collateral was lessened with the civilian shelters being hardened and set underground, and the majority of the architecture itself had retracted into the geo-front...but still. All the years of preparing for the Angels to come, and we're still not ready.

"Ms. Katsuragi…" Shinji begins slowly, frowning as he turns to her. "What's going on here? When I got to the city all my father told me was that it wasn't safe. Said that I should go to the station and wait for you to pick me up. But...he didn't say anything about giant robots or...things like that," He shivers, turning to face forward. "But he knew it was coming. And...and you work in the same place he does, so I thought..."

He trails off, giving an air of guardedness that had the NERV member puzzled. Is he expecting me to scold him? She wonders, incredulous. For questioning why he's in a war-zone? Who the hell has he been living with to have that kind of mentality?

Of course, she realized, she'd answered her own question by asking it.

Well, Misato decides, it's nothing he won't find out anyways. She takes a breath, and begins explaining. "It's...a long story," when he doesn't reply, she continues. "Years ago, a group of scientists found a very old, very powerful entity buried in Antarctica. They called it Adam, the First Angel, and were going to use its power to revolutionize mankind."

Bitterness swells in her, thinking back to the excited way Gehirn's people had run about, fervently discussing the 'possibilities' and 'potential' of their discovery. I doubt they included the 'possibility' of near-human extinction in their reports. The 'potential' to wipe out life as we know it.

"The short version is that the Angel ended up dying, but it left behind others like it - other Angels. The thing that is attacking the city is one of them, and you've seen what it can do."

"Y-yeah…" Shinji swallows audibly, eyes going vacant.

"NERV is the organization tasked with stopping the Angels - our mission is to protect the world from them, at all costs." The rest of the information being either classified or irrelevant, Misato doesn't continue, letting the boy process the disturbing information he'd been given. A pang of sympathy wormed into her chest as she watched his expressions cycle between shock, horror, disbelief, and fear. He looked utterly lost, and very afraid.

Shinji looks up suddenly, surprised at the hand squeezing his shoulder gently. "Breathe," Misato commands, not unkindly. "It's a lot to take in, I know. Face the truth, but don't let it overwhelm you. The world hasn't ended."

"...The fuck." Shinji breathes out.

Misato nods understandingly. "Yeah. That was my reaction."

"What…" his eyes narrow dangerously. "Why the hell didn't they say anything to anyone?!" he explodes, furious. "There's giant tentacled...things just running around blowing up cities and fighting giant robots and nobody thought it might be a good idea to spread that knowledge around?! Six o'clock news, have you heard of it?!"

Surprised at the ferocity of his outburst, Misato finds herself struggling to respond, each justification seeming less and less likely to sway the indignant youth. "The U.N. has been aware since the Angels were discovered, and they decided it would be best to keep the information close to the chest. People wouldn't have wanted to believe it. Or worse, they would have panicked-"

"You mean like the panic I felt when I saw that thing coming right for me and had no idea what it was or why it was here?" He counters, teeth bared in a snarl. "I could've died, just because nobody decided to tell me that there was a giant goddamn monster taking a holiday in Tokyo! I-"

He falls silent when she directs a withering glare his way, his aggressive energy falling back into meekness. "I understand your frustration, Shinji. But you need to understand that there are more factors at play than I can explain to a fifteen-year old civilian in ten minutes. Decisions were made that were thought to be best at the time, and there's no room for second-guessing when the survival of millions of lives is at stake. You're going to have to accept that."

Shinji breathes deeply and nods, staying quiet. The explosive, virulent rage in his eyes had vanished, and in its place returned the distant, but approachable bookworm. Misato resists a frown, suspicious of the sudden change in attitude. His rapid shift between emotional highs and lows could be waved off as teenage emotional instability.

She'd faced violent anger enough before, and it was hardly a surprise to see a budding boy grow aggressive at the drop of a hat. But something about the intensity of that look unsettled her. The way he bared his teeth, the way his eyes grew detached, as if his mind was being smothered underneath some malign smog. That was something you saw in soldiers, not teenagers.

Her introspection is cut short when salvation comes into view: their way back to headquarters. "Phew!" she sighs, nodding towards the building ahead, one of many quick-routes to the geo-front scattered around the city. Rising slowly from her lean against Shinji, she gingerly steps forward, wary of any weakness in her muscles.

She smirks, knees staying strong under their own power. Things are finally coming up my way. Let's hope Rei is ready. "I think I can walk from here. There's an underground lot that'll take us into HQ, to your father. I guess you've got a lot of catching up to do," she turns back to him. "Home at last."

"...Yeah," Shinji agrees distantly, glancing back down the road they came, littered with debris and dust-filled air. "Home at last."

 

[Spartan Altego]

Author's Note: Fans of @EarthScorpion will spot a shout-out to his work in this bit, and a lot of my Angel descriptions in the text are stylized after his Harbinger and Herald descriptions to help make them seem alien and godly. Credit where it's due: that guy writes some great hard-ish sci-fi and cosmic horror. Now, on to the story!

Novus Anima Evangelion
Chapter 2/2.22: Reunion (Part One)​

Frozen in space above the outskirts of Tokyo, the gap through which the Angel reached through grew wider, spreading and curling back in on itself with barbed fingers. A flat space of transparent force stretches forward, tested by the powers lingering in Zaazenach's pulsing heart. A small tear opens in the membrane, the reasserted will of reality being torn asunder once more. Nameless particles and theoretically impossible shifts occur in the dead space around the portal, losing a siren call to all those with ears to hear.

Time had run out.

********************************************************************************************************

Gendo watches as the blue-haired child is hoisted from the LCL bath, the viscous contents having mixed with her blood into a dark crimson, almost black syrup. The doctors cut away Rei's plugsuit, peeling back the latex to expose savage, ragged gashes along her chest and arms. The worst of her wounds: two clean punctures directly above her breasts and out her back, and a four-inch slice across her belly. Tubes are forced down her throat, oxygen pumped into a body too weak to pull any in itself.

A single ping in his left ear - a call waiting his approval. There was only three people allowed to contact him at the moment, and only if the situation had vastly declined or improved: Dr. Akagi, the professor, or Lieutenant Ibuki, who has been placed on temporary assignment over the MAGI. Akagi had only just entered the repair bay's healing tank to assist with repair of Unit-01. Kozo was busy entertaining the Japanese government, managing communications between the U.N.'s military and arranging for evacuation in case of mission failure. That left only one likely possibility - unless Seele had been truly rattled by the Angel's display. He raises a finger to the earpiece, clicking the surface twice.

"Speak," he intones coldly, watching without expression as the surgery begins.

"Commander Ikari," Ibuki's voice is steady, but tinged with fear. "The target's entropy shell has ruptured and pattern blue signal strength is rising. Melchior and Balthazar posit breach of the geo-front within forty minutes. Casper predicts twenty-five."

Twenty-five? How cynical of you, Naoko.

Behind orange lenses, his eyes narrow. Seele ought to have attempted contact by now - with the Scrolls having proven inaccurate a second time, panic should have set in. Perhaps they took the arrival of the Third as a sign their predictions were only misaimed, rather than utterly worthless as they truly were. If so, they are bigger fools than I believed. And we have already failed.

Katsuragi had not reported in since her departure to retrieve his son over an hour ago. Given the proximity that Shinjuku Station had held in relation to the N2 drop, it was likely she never would. Which led to the conclusion that...

"...Commander?"

"Your report has been noted. Inform me if the situation changes." he ends the call, eyes never leaving the prone girl on the table, being stitched, stapled, and bandaged back together. An unfamiliar sensation pricks in his chest, feelings long buried threatening to resurface. Gendo entertains them for the tiniest fraction of a moment, thinking back to a summer-lit day and warm brown eyes staring into his own, ever so curious and full of life.

With a thought, he banishes the image, cold clarity and focus returning to his mind. Melancholy was the trap of a beaten man, turning his eyes from the present to hide in the past. He would not hide from anything, or anyone. This Angel posed no threat to his scenario, so long as Unit-01 remained functional. Rei would meet his expectations, as she always had, and NERV's authority would swell with the success. From there funding would be secured for the latest array of experimental upgrades to weapons and armor, and Unit-02 would be transferred to the city to supplement the defense. With two Evangelions NERV would command enough power to conquer a nation, if it so chose.

Yet the cold could not disguise the grievous flaw in his projections, dispassion only enhancing awareness of the problem he faced. Yui had not awoken. Gendo had always been certain that if Rei should fall in battle, the spirit in Unit-01 would surface to defend the girl. Rei had not been begotten of her flesh, but she was of the same blood. At the very least, Yui should have asserted control long enough to defend the scenario they had worked towards, delaying the death of humanity until its due time.

But his assumptions meant nothing against the truth he'd seen. The Angel had savaged all threats before it. Rei had been recalled, hemorrhaging and battered, and Unit-01 remained dormant. Something was amiss.

A chime sounded in his ear. "Yes?"

Fuyutsuki voice, sounding relieved. "Ikari, there's good news. Security has informed me of the use of an emergency access in the business district, with elevator access into the geo-front. Cameras show Major Katsuragi and your son are inside, both relatively unharmed. I'm sending an escort to greet them."

"Good. Katsuragi's presence will be invaluable for the reengagement of the Angel. See to it they are brought to the repair bay."

"They, Ikari?"

"I have little patience for coyness, professor. Yui appears to have rejected Rei, and the Angel stands unopposed. We will need to use a substitute. Continue managing the operation in my stead." he pauses. "I will see to it the boy cooperates."

"The boy," Kozo echoes, amused. "Even Seele would see you're trying especially hard to remain distant."

Gendo ends the call with a tap of his finger, gloved hands falling smoothly to his side. His eyes linger on the operating table for a moment longer, before he turns on his heel and strides away. The Sub-Commander's weakness, as always, was sentimentality. He saw this as a fortuitous reunion, a dramatic confrontation bringing father and son together again. It was almost amusing, the thought. And misguided.

Shinji was a tool, little more. He would bend to the role fate had assigned him, or he would break. Either way, the scenario would go on.

********************************************************************************************************
The cool air of the elevator makes Shinji shiver, hands rubbing against his exposed arms. The lights above were dim, making the space seem tight and suffocating. In the darkness, he sees Misato's concerned eyes staring back at him, hidden half behind shadow. So cold… The lights grow darker, space in the elevator falling away into darkness until he stands alone, standing on a single platform of light.

The cold grows deeper, cutting through his lungs and carving his throat like shards of glass. He chokes, calls for help bloody and strangled. His platform shrinks, and shrinks...and he falls into the abyss.

Falling, falling, so cold

The air screams with heat. She grits her teeth, bearing the pain. She had to - or the boy would die.

father don't leave me I'll be good

He bit into the doll-faced threat's bleeding, rent torso, tasting the power of its heart and taking it for his own. He rises, feeling himself swell. Crimson burns in his chest.

mother-!

Light. Sick, gleaming crimson. Bright and harsh and evil. He floats before the gaze of a god and is found wanting-

"Hey!"

Shinji blinks, chocolate eyes looking into his own reassuringly, hands warm on his cheeks. "You're not out there anymore," Misato says slowly, comfortingly. "You're safe and sound. Nothing can hurt you here. Right?"

"R-right…" He flushes, the intensity of her stare making him avert his gaze. "...Thanks."

She flashes a smile and retreats, folding her arms and leaning into the wall. "Don't mention it. A.T. Field sickness - what closeness to an Angel causes - is nasty stuff on its own, even without everything else you've been through," she runs her tongue over her teeth wistfully. "Besides, I owe you one."

Owe me? He realized what she means and blanches. "It was nothing," Shinji protests. "Anyone would've done the same."

"An adult, maybe. Most fifteen year old boys wouldn't have," she counters. "Most would've curled up into a ball and cried, or taken advantage. But you didn't. You carried me through the city on your own, with nothing but your wits and your muscles. You were able to think clearly under pressure, tackle a problem, and save a life. That's not any old thing, Shinji. That's strength."

Shinji gapes at her, surprise in his face. But the surprise curdles, and he grimaces. "I'm not strong."

Misato opens her mouth to speak, but then they finally pass the threshold of metal shaft and the dark windows along the elevator are awash with color. They'd finally entered the geo-front, with forest and lakes running for miles in all directions, banishing the darkness with the light of human ingenuity. Shinji turns, curious.

"...What?!"

Agape, Shinji rushes to the window and presses his face against the glass, eyes wide with disbelief. Light - precious, wonderful light, so warm on his skin. And beyond....

​

"There's no way…" he breathes reverently, a hesitant grin splitting his face. "I thought the geo-fronts weren't even being constructed yet!"

"NERV's example was the test-bed to get funding for the rest," Misato beams, bathed in the orange glow of the artificial sunlight. "A fully functional biosphere, capable of supporting animal and human life alike, running the distance of the entire city. If the surface ever became uninhabitable, this geo-front and others like it would be the ark in which humanity would survive."

"...It's beautiful." Shinji whispers, turning his eyes skyward. Arrayed along the roof of the cavern, dozens upon dozens of towers and blocky constructs hang above the forests and lakes, supported by beams and clamps. The bunkers… How many lives were being held in those safe-zones, taking sanctuary beneath the city from the Angel? Were they scared? Did they even know what was really happening up there?

"They've been informed that the city is under attack," Misato answers knowingly, following his gaze. "There's about a hundred thousand people populating the city, a fair bit of them being NERV personnel or family of someone working here. When this is over, the U.N. will release a statement explaining the situation with the Angels to an extent, so no teenage boys will need to be rescued by gorgeous ladies again."

"Their loss!" they both chirp at once. Shinji smiles despite himself and Misato huffs amusedly, glad to see whatever melancholy had overcome him fade. They both watch the sprawling lands slowly be overtaken by the darkness of the elevator shaft, and all is quiet for some time after.

Misato looks to the camera situated in the corner, lenses fixed pointedly on the both of them. Security was certainly aware of their presence by now, which meant that Commander Ikari had been informed his son was alive. Was he relieved? Did he even care? If not, then why had she been sent out to retrieve him? Sure, I'm not as susceptible to A.T. Field sickness as a section two grunt, but I'm also the EVA operations director.

The fact of it was that she wouldn't have been selected if it wasn't imperative that Shinji make it into the geo-front. Boasting aside, she was too valuable to be risked on anything else, especially with the Third Angel right on their doorstep. Commander Ikari didn't strike her as someone given to familial sentiment, though. If he wanted his son, it wasn't for a happy purpose.

Her smile fades, dawning realization closely followed by a small twist of sickness. He can't really intend for him to…

"Misato…" Shinji begins tentatively, brow furrowed contemplatively. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm? Sure. Ask away."

"My father...he's been working here for a while? Helping prepare for the Angels."

"Yes," she nods, curious. "For many years, from what I know."

"I see…" he's quiet for a moment, something old and hurt flickering across his eyes, vanishing as quick as it came. "This will sound weird, but...does a girl stay with him? Blue hair...red eyes, or red contacts? She's probably about my age."

Misato stiffens. How does he know about…?

The elevator dings, and the doors part to reveal two guards, clearly section two by their dark attire, and a familiar blonde-framed face watching expressionlessly. She's covered up that beauty mark of hers. Misato notes sadly. I liked that little thing.

She forces herself to beam, giving a big toothy grin. "Heya, Rits. Here to welcome me back?"

"The commander wants both of you in the repair bay," Dr. Akagi replies curtly, tightening her labcoat around the LCL-slick swimwear clinging to her skin. "I volunteered to come along in case your inability to navigate the base somehow infected the escorts."

You weren't always immune yourself, Rits.

Part of her former friend's words circles back around, hitting her from behind. "Both of us," she repeats, getting a short nod in return. Misato frowns, glancing at a rather distracted Shinji, who appears to be struggling between the options of paying attention to the conversation or trying to subtly peek at the head scientist's chest. So I was right. They want to use him as a substitute.

Her smile melts into a frosty glare, disapproval radiating off her to ineffectually batter against the stone-carved Akagi. "Will he be meeting us there?"

"Yes," Ritsuko confirms, smirking. "I'm sure the both of you can talk things out." she turns to Shinji, who stares back with narrowed eyes. "...Hm. Yes, you'll do."

"Shinji, this is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi," Misato grits out. "She's the head scientist of the Project E division."

"Quite so," Dr. Akagi turns and begins leading them down the halls, closely followed by a storm-faced Misato. Shinji swallows, following behind the older women and glancing back nervously at the armed guard. They were taking him to his father, if he was understanding right. But the way that Misato had reacted, and the way the blonde woman had smirked...he didn't like that look.

His eyes flit between fiery Misato and icy 'Rits', measuring the likelihood of getting a straight answer out of either of them. He bites his lip, chewing away bloody and dead skin, and decides to keep quiet, lowering his head. They walk briskly through winding, seemingly randomly designed halls - he didn't understand the blonde-woman's disdainful attitude towards Misato. You could get lost easily in a place like this!

He said as much and got an approving look for his efforts, but was otherwise ignored. Shinji chews his lip again, finding it hard to stop. When he'd come to this city he'd been...thought he'd been prepared, coming on his own terms, brimming with indignant and just anger. He wouldn't run away this time, he told himself. He'd stand his ground and make his father explain himself, once and for all.

He almost laughed. It didn't matter what Shinji did, or how hard he tried to gain the upper-hand. His father always reduced him to a tired, insignificant brat. Granted, he hadn't expected the way of accomplishing that would involve giant robots and screaming monsters. But I suppose I should've.

"You can go," Akagi waves off the guards dismissively, then switching to her other tag-alongs. "We're taking a lift the rest of the way. Get on."

They obey, and Misato and Shinji look at one another before following suit. The lift begins to rise, the occupants shadowed and outlined only by ominous rays of amethyst to the sides. Shinji blinks, eyes straining to see in the odd mix of light and dark. There was something in that light, he realized, squinting. His eyes could just make out the outline of some outstretched shape, far larger than him.

...Is that a hand?

"We're here."

The lift reaches its destination and they are plunged into darkness. Shinji looks around anxiously, hands reaching out. "Ms. Misato?"

There is a hissing noise, and the world is plunged into white.

The lights were bright, harsh. Shinji raised an arm, trying to block out the glare, as he blinked furiously, through tear-blurred eyes. They were in some kind of chamber, vast in scope and surrounded by dark-tinted windows through which could be seen dozens of moving figures.

A face could now be seen to be staring back at him. A vast, inhuman, monstrous face, mounted on titanic shoulders that protruded from a sea of dark, orange liquid, ripples lazily propagating across the surface. It was wrought in purple and green, with a horn the length of a telephone pole cresting atop its head, the tip gleaming sharp.

Golden eyes staring right at him. Shinji felt his skin crawl, and he knew in this instant that he was being measured - dissected.

It wasn't just staring at him.

It was looking at him.

He let out a yelp, and jumped backwards, back into the reassuringly solid figure of Major Katsuargi. He clung to her, unthinking, as he gasped for breath, shivering and trembling.

"I got ya," Misato says, eyes gleaming with repressed amusement. "Don't worry, it doesn't bite."

Ritsuko glared at Misato, eyes narrowed, and then cleared her throat. "Behold," she said, with more than a little hint of pride. "The zenith of modern engineering and innovation; a Capital-Grade Titan-Class Bipedal Arcanocyberxenobiological War Machine," she took a breath. "Evangelion Unit 01."

The boy could only stare up at the thing.

"This is the prototype model, outfitted with the best technology and defenses the world has to offer. And we believe this is the best hope we have for killing the Third Angel."

Shinji stepped away from Misato, who merely looked a bit amused, and coughed. "So... uh, this is some kind of...giant mecha, then?"

Ritsuko looks at Shinji pityingly, eyes disdainful. "Giant robots are ridiculous fiction and would be worse than useless in combat against an Angel. They lack the Absolute Territory field to penetrate its defenses, rendering any attacks useless. Only the Evangelions are equipped with a field of their own, enabling them to harm the enemy without use of an N2 mine, not to mention providing first-layer protection against A.T. Field sickness and Ego erosion."

"...." Shinji stares uncomprehendingly. "Uh huh."

"It lets you punch Angels in the face without going crazy," Misato sums up helpfully.

"Oh," Shinji swallows, loosening his death-grip on the major and stepping forward. His fear had abated, now that he could more clearly recognize the giant that had saved him back in the city, bearing the scars of its efforts. "So this is what my father has been working on…" he whispers.

"Quite so," a familiar timbre declares from above, the chilled tone passing through Shinji's heart and leaving frozen ruin in its wake. Eyes turn upwards to a suddenly clear window, through which Gendo Ikari stands visible, a confident smirk on his face.

"It's been a long time, Shinji," he says, as if one might note the weather.

Shinji's eyes narrow, meeting his gaze with clenched fists. "...Father."

 

[Spartan Altego]

There was no explanation for the alteration that resulted in a completely different Angel attacking Germany and Asuka deploying to fight it(and we still don't know how that fight ended since the scene ended with, IIRC, about two & a half minutes left on her battery and having been forced to jettison most of her armor since it wasn't designed for battle on land, and then Shinji's arriving in Tokyo 3 many moths later)

Click to shrink...

There is a plan here, and I've already ironed out why what's happening is happening. Explanations will come eventually. Not immediately, but there should be enough clues along the way to tie in to the big reveal. Some have already been placed, and you might spot them if you look back through the last chapter.

Asuka's fate will be revealed down the line.

Edit: Here's a hint that might help you out. If Shinji is unconsciously remembering things that are altering his behavior, who is to say that he's the only one being affected by those 'echoes' of the old timeline? And who's to say if they haven't lived their whole new lives being nudged by those memories?

And if humans can, very very deep down, remember the past? How much do you think the Angels remember? Are they truly different entities, or just old faces with new shapes?