Chapter One
The Boy who came to Tokyo 3
It swam past the sunken remains of man's arrogance. It stomped on the streets of
their renewed hope. The military put up a valiant effort, but everyone that
mattered knew they wouldn't be able to stop it.
Meanwhile, the completely automated railways system continued to roll on. It
stopped automatically, and its single passenger got off.
"I hope there were no security cameras in that thing..." said Shinji.
"You should have thought of that before you started to run on the cushions and
then slide and swing on the handrails just because no one else was around." a
stately female voice in his mind replied. "Truly, you show all the signs of your
mon-keigh ancestry."
"...wait. Mon-keigh is supposed to be monkey, right?" the teen noted with some
disbelief. "You've been calling me a monkey all this time?"
"We have been calling your kind the mon-keigh, the wild ones, for as long as
your race have stood upright. It saddens me, to be sure, that you took this long
to realize this. Some... never do."
"So, that's why you refer to me as a metal-skinned brute!" quoth the Space
Marine. "That my genetic enhancements only return me to my true mental state!
This armor, these geneseeds are the finest fruits of the God-Emperor's will. I
thought you Eldar might have actually respected His mighty intellect. That was
an insult all this time?!"
"See, Shinji? Disappointing."
"BE SMOTE for your HERESY, foul xeno Eldar witch!"
"It's heresy only if I follow your religion! And I do not!" She seemed to grin.
"Gorilla."
"Let me out, commander! Get us out of this pack. There must be smiting!"
"So much grunting. Would you like a banana?"
An unarticulate roar filled Shinji's mind, with a 'oohho-ho-ho' weaving in and
out. "Hush!" he said. There was was silence. There was too much silence. He
looked about, and all the activity he could see were the blinking street lights.
It was odd enough that a train would have no one but him, but now everybody was
gone. Tokyo 3 was supposed to be a bustling city and the center of Japan's
industrial and commercial efforts. "...where is everybody?"
Shinji Ikari stepped out of the terminal and walked down the streets. The shops
were all closed. There was not a single moving car to be seen. He took out a
card from his pocket; and there was a red symbol, half of a fig leaf. NERV.
Below that, a telephone number.
He saw a row of public phones some a distance away. He went over and dialed it
in.
"Hmn. No answer." He set the reciever back. "Now isn't this just like father? To
send for me and make sure no one's there to meet me?"
"I doubt your father would clear out an entire city just for the purposes of
insulting you further..." the Farseer said, to hide that she had no idea of what
was going on either.
The speakers were saying something. Don't panic. Proceed to a shelter.
He looked down at the photo sent to him, a woman in tight clothing leaning
forwards; an arrow in marker was drawn pointing to her breasts. LOOK HERE! it
said. Shinji quirked his lips. What sort of person would send something like
this?
"It's no good. Maybe I should go to a shelter? Not that I know where one is,
anyway..."
Wait, is that...
He saw standing across the street, a girl, staring at him. Her blue hair was what
drew his attention, and her red eyes seemed to see into his soul. He felt a
certain longing, and faintly, almost unheard... 'we are reunited'.
A flock of birds suddenly flying off drew his attention for an instant, and when
he looked back, she was gone.
"What was that? Did I... imagine it?
"IT COMES!" screamed the voice of Chaos.
Shinji turned and felt a wall of... something. It felt as if squeezing his heart!
What... what is this? His inner voices were suddenly all unable to speak. It
came as a gust of wind. He saw a gyrocopter slide into view, discharging its
missiles at something behind the buildings. It came as cleansing fire, as he saw
that same battlecopter be speared by a bolt of energy, attached to massive
black arm.
He shielded his face as it fell, whipping the air, to land chopping up the
pavement near him. The giant strode on, unconcerned.
"I *know* this!" Shinji shouted out for reasons he couldn't explain. "I feel I
should *know* this!"
Its gargantuan foot came down, close by. A sports car screeched to a halt between
it and him. The door opened, and a woman in a tight purple one-piece shouted at
him, her face hidden behind large tinted driving sunglasses. "Get in!"
He ran to it, sensing that the next step might actually land on top of it. The
car sped out with maniacal speed and turning.
"W-what was that?" he said between frantic gulps of breath. So pure. So much
purposeful hatred. What was that?! What can man do against such black hate?
"That was an Angel, Shinji." Misato said nonchalantly. "That is what your father
fights."
Shinji looked back. "An angel..." My father fights that? The expression was more
linked to avenger, or punisher. There was nothing intrinsically holy about it.
Even so, he felt strangely at peace.
"We might be getting into something we would not want to be in, Commander." was
the Space Marine's warning. "I can feel it. We all can."
"Deres stompins dat gots that be done." added the Ork warboss.
"There is blood." hissed the Chaos Marine. "I can taste it. Blood waits for us
here. Blood to FILL a God to satisfaction."
"Are you afraid?" he asked them.
The Farseer pulled deep into herself. "Are you not? Your thoughts are our
thoughts. Shinji... The future is closed to me. I feel it. We are at the cusp of
a scenario. We cannot see it, for we are part of it."
The young teen turned his head back and sighed. He slumped against his seat. 'I
can't escape it now. I have to *know* it. What are you up to, father?' He looked
up and at the woman beside him. The large shades hid her eyes, she seemed serious
and professional and nothing like the picture she sent. He felt his eyes drifting
down to the streched folds near her chest, and looked away sharply. He felt a
certain amusement from her. Damn! So she was looking at him, instead of the road.
He really needed those orange sunglasses.
Shinji faced forwards, slumped back some more and obstinately jutted out his
chin. He tried in this way to fight back his embarrassment. That only made
Misato smiled visibly. The young teen just couldn't pull off a tough look.
"So, you're Ikari Shinji, huh?" she said, eyes back to the road.
"And you're Katsuragi Misato-san." he replied. "P-pleased to meet you."
"Yes, I'm sure." she added impishly. Nice kid, she thought. Still so innocent.
He's going to be so much fun to tease. Who knows? I might even do something might
enjoy. She begun to chuckle lightly, which for some reason made Shinji feel even
more uneasy.
Her eyes widened suddenly. "That plane... it can't be! They wouldn't?!" She
turned and yelled right at Shinji's face. "GET DOWN!"
The car swerved wildly away.
And the sun came down from the sky.
Misato Katsuragi shielded him with her body. She pulled him tight to her as the
car was thrown off the road by the blast. Through it all, Shinji thought "Maybe
coming to Tokyo 3 wasn't such a bad idea after all..."
"I should be feeling outraged" said the Farseer, miffed. "But your thoughts are
our thoughts."
"I am SURE such perversion is not surprising in the ones who spawned Slaanesh.
Enough. We care not. Get your foot out of my face, woman."
"My foot, as you put it, is connected to my base. So, stop kissing my plastic stand."
She paused. "You are trying to look up my skirt, aren't you? Aren't you?!"
"Damnation! Stop kicking me, woman!"
His imaginations were always the most lively when he needed to take his mind off
something. He felt grateful for their timely distraction.
"Hear your most devoted follower, oh bright lord. Save me! HELP!"
"Die, die and die again. Be resurrected by your Dark Gods to be killed by me
again!"
****
After a while, Misato let him up from his breath-starved position.
"That was an N2 mine. It seems to have stopped the Angel for a while. Come on...
Let's get moving."
"Aren't we going to die from, like... radiation?"
"No, Shinji. N2 means Non-nuclear. It has all the power of a nuke without the
nasty side-effects."
They pushed the car back to rest on its wheels. Misato bewailed her beautiful car.
Shini patted her back and said "The spirit of this machine is the same no matter
what face it wears." He took his hand away and stared up at her. "Aren't you a
soldier, Misato-san? This is a soldier's car. Let it wear its scars proudly."
She scrunched up her face at him. "But Shinjii-kun. I still had payments on
this! People won't respect me if I'm driving around a piece of crap."
"This piece of crap got those bumps saving their skins." The young teen nodded,
his face so serious. "Misato-san! Screw 'em!"
That did it. She had to laugh. He was just too serious, and yet she could tell
he meant well. She hugged him, pressing his face to her bosoms again. "Aren't
you just adorable? Hah! You're right, Shinji-kun! Screw 'em! Or... don't screw
'em! I'm a soldier, dammit!"
They went on their way.
The car rolled, rolled, slowed, and.... came to a stop.
Silence. Misato turned her head and pointedly looked at the young teen sitting
beside her. Shinji grinned weakly and rubbed the back of his head. "... maybe the
spirit is willing but the metal is weak?"
"Maybe you're not as cute as I thought, after all." she huffed.
Smash!
Misato chuckled as she hefted a bundle of heavy-duty batteries in her hands.
Tokyo 3's hyper-efficient ideals worked against her; the electric car might be
clean and cost-effective, but ultimately easy to knock out of proper working
order. She didn't have time to fiddle around with the insides; hopefully these
would provide the additional power she needed for the existing engine lines.
"Um... is it really okay if we take this? We did break into a store, after all.
Isn't that stealing?"
She huffed again. She just knew the kid would be one of those unimaginative law-
abiding types. "It's fine. It's fine. NERV will take care of it, no problem. Now
let's get go-"
The young teen finished placing his armload of batteries into the back seat.
"Really? Awesome! Can I go get something for me too, then?"
Her head turned with such unbearable slowness that it filled Shinji's heart with
dread. Her gaze was grim and judging. He began to back away. Then, all of a
sudden she cheered up and said "Sure! But remember this is an emergency so be
quick!"
"Thank you, Misato-san." Shinji bowed.
"Maybe the kid won't be so boring after all..." said the Nerv officer. "I wonder
what he's going to get out of a hardware store?"
The kid came out holding a mini-chainsaw.
He was practicing sword-like motions with it. Misato stared at him.
Shinji felt her stare and grinned weakly. He held it out for her to see. "May I
have this?"
"Shinji..." she said blandly. "Why, out of all things in the store (and by that
I include the dirty magazines they hide behind the counter) did you choose a
CHAINSAW?"
"Um, because I've always wanted one and it'd be really useful where we're going?"
And that it's the closest thing to a chainsword I've seen so far. It's not a
proper choppa, but better suited for me since I don't have to swing hard with
each cut.
Really. Useful. The words seemed to hit her face. Misato rubbed her cheek and
straightened back up. "Useful? What do you mean useful? How could it possibly be
useful where we're going?"
"You know! We could be be thrown off the road and we have to cut our way out of
a mangled vehicle! Or we might find a fallen tree blocking our path! Or we might
need to fight off scavengers and looters operating while the city is under
attack!" Shinji took a deep breath. "A rippa's always useful when you need to
resize a room or things to more manageable bits."
"Heh, heh..." Misato chuckled oddly. Unimaginative, you say, Misato? I'm riding
with a psycho!
She pulled herself together and pointed. "Put it back, Shinji. I took those
batteries for a reason. We're not here to pick up toys for you."
"B-but... Misato-san."
Misato crossed her arms over her chest. "Shinji, as a ranking officer of NERV
and an authority over this city, you *must* obey me."
His face fell. He let the mini-chainsaw drop to the ground. It was such a perfect
size for him, too. He woodenly walked over, complying. However, rather than
entering the car, he simply stood before her. He kept his head down and his face
under shadow.
"S-shinji?" asked Misato, slightly nervous.
The young teen merely leaned forward and pressed his head into the flesh of her
arm.
"Please, Misato-san..."
His voice was so tiny. She felt as if she crushed his dreams.
"Oh, all right!" she retorted hotly. "Go get whatever you want. But it stays in
the car, until you can pay it back with your own money!"
He looked up at her and his face just... beamed! "Thank you, Misato-san!" he said
with such honest rapture. He slid over to the chainsaw, dumped it in the backseat,
and rushed back into the store. She heard him say "Lookz at dat! NAILGUN!" with
unbridled joy.
Misato stood there rubbing the flesh where he'd touched. It still tingled. She
shivered for no reason. "What is it with this kid?"
They didn't speak at all on the rest of the way towards NERV.
****
"What was that about, Commander?" the Space Marine asked. "Did we just impose
our will on this woman? Have we not sworn never to do such again?!"
"I- I don't know. It just seemed so *right* at the time...."
The warboss snorted. "Well, I gots me stuff, so I'm happy. Wot's it matter?"
"It was a way to keep her off-balance. She sent her picture to us in a forced
act of intimacy, that was designed to send us confused. We simply returned the
favor." was the Farseer's helpful reply.
"It was a Slaaneshi greeting." said the Chaos Marine after a while. All beings
in Shinji's mental landscape turned to look at him, in wide-eyed horror. "Flesh
to flesh, NEED to need. Can you not hear her soul? It SCREAMS in anguish, calling
out for comfort and acceptance."
Shinji had to nod. "That sounds more like it."
"She has been HURT before, and badly; so much so that she wears her skin and her
sexuality as a shield. She is a soldier. Her first reaction is ALWAYS physical."
"I see. She shares her body but not her soul? She aches for intimacy and yet
always spurns it when given." Shinji shook his head. "How do I know this?! She's
still a stranger... since when could we judge other people's hearts?"
"Since the time you started to be comfortable with calling yourself 'we'." was
the Eldar's dooming answer.
****
They entered NERV. Shinji obediently followed Misato as she wandered about the
admittedly impressive complex. Moving walkways conveyed them from one section to
the other.
"Let's see..." mumbled Misato. "If we came in there then we should be coming out
...here!" The door opened with a whoosh, and air rushed up from below. It was a
walkway over a tall pit. "This is why hate wearing a skirt around here!" she
complained while adjusting at her noticeably more exposed legs. "I wonder where
in the heck Ritsuko is...ö
Mentally, the Space Marine collapsed to his kness. "It's like campaigning with
Leeman Russ all over again!" he blubbered out to the heavens.
"I doubt Leeman Russ had thighs that..." That thought was interrupted with an
internal thwap to the head. He felt a disapproving tendril from his female
advisor.
"That's true." said the Space Marine, his eyes slightly glazed. "If only Leeman
Russ had -" She thwapped him next.
Finally, exasperated, Misato went over to a phone and yet again paged her friend
for help. As she did so, Shinji held the map. It was amazing! It completely
failed to make any sense at all! Why did section 3-A lead to 6-F and only then
to 3-B? It was like it was purposely made to confuse any invaders (and/or
hapless visitors) gathering information about the facilities!
She had them enter yet another elevator, in the hopes of going deeper somehow
managing to strike gold location-wise. She yelped as the door opened to reveal
someone waiting there, her face showing all the impatience banked over the
years of knowing Misato Katsuragi.
"Why are you wasting my time, Captain..." she said flatly, moving forwards with
an intense look. "DonÆt you know weÆre short on time AND manpower?"
Misato backed away from the force of that glare. "Heheh, sorry..."
Ritsuko Akagi turned to face Shinji, and asked "So, is this the boy?"
"Yes, according to the Marduk Report, he's the Third Child."
Ritsuko saw the young teen quirk his left eyebrow at being regarded as he wan't
there. He had if just briefly reacted to the words 'marduk' and 'third'. "Pleased
to meet you." she said, a small smile crossing her face.
Shinji smiled back. "'Ello dere." He coughed. He'd been distracted by wondering
how a swimsuit and a lab coat found their way together. "I mean, pleased to meet
you too." He said in Japanese and bowed. "But, I don't know your name."
"I think he might even be worse than his father..." Misato said with a grimace.
To this, Ritsuko could only lift her eyebrow in much the same way as he did a
few moments ago and experimentally said back in English "Ah, that was impolite
of me. My name is Ritsuko Akagi. What's yours?"
"S'aright. M'name's Shinji Ikari, but I think yaz already knew dat. Amma happy
to meets ya, Akagi-sensei." He bowed again.
Ritsuko's smile grew a fraction. "That's an... interesting accent you have there.
Where did you learn it?"
"Here and dere. Books. Nevva seen anyone with blond hair before."
"I'm not actually an American, even if I know English, Shinji." she replied. Of
course, she wouldn't share so easily that it was dyed. My, what an uncouth boy
he could sound like; lacking the daggerlike diction she knew from the other
Ikari.
Misato could actually understand English; having been raised to an multicultural
expedition and been to many international postings, but had to say "I didn't
understand that at all! Was that even English?"
"Oh, sure." Ritsuko nodded and turned away from the young teen. "Purer English
than most I hear around here, since it actually sounds like it comes from
England." Granted, the very roughest parts of England, but who really cares?
Practically the entire island was under the sea these days.
The elevator went back up, and the women spoke ignoring Shinji. He took his time
to listen and deduce. The geofront was at battle stations, but something known
as unit 01 was under refrigeration. It was supposed to be pretty important, but
they didn't know if it would even work. There was a rather plain pun in the
Japanese language, but he learned that yes; it had never worked before. The
chance of it working was abysmal. And yet they had to keep it under cryogenic
supression. What was it that they made that they were afraid of?
They went into a dark room. As soon as he asked why it was so dark, it snapped
on; shocking him with the view of gargantuan purple face.
He felt a strange pressure.
"A giant robot...?" he muttered. He started to leaf through the booklet they gave
him, but decided to just toss it into the orange sea of coolant. At Misato's hey!
he answered "This thing wasn't even there, was it?"
"No. But it could have had a lot of useful other info and rules."
I sense something here, the Farseer whispered. A soul that is not a soul. A mind
that is not a mind. And rage. Such aimless rage! The complex shook as the Angel
unleased its energy attack upon the city. "I have a feeling all the rules just
ceased to matter."
"You'd be correct at that..." Ritsuko muttered under her breath. "This is
humanity's last and best hope, the artifical human Evangelion!"
Shinji quickly turned to her, and leaving no space after she finished talking
asked. "What is its gender?"
"What?!"
"I noticed you said artificial human with much practice. If this was an android
or a battle machine, it would be genderless. You would have said HUMANOID. But
you were careful to emphasize artificial HUMAN." His eyes, dark and focused,
seemed to plunge into her. His tone was all too familiar. "The natural guiding
characteristic of humanity is its duality, which allows for emotional attachments
and beneficial mututation."
Misato scratched her cheek. "It's a big fighting robot, Shinji. There's no male
or female about it. Ritsuko's just being... scientist-y. They tend to get poetic
that way."
Ritsuko could only stare down with horror, as Shinji reminded her too keenly of
just whose son he was. Two of them! she screamed with him. Oh god, oh god! There
are two of them! Here! Two of them! She felt couldn't truly appeal to the gods
for help after all she'd done. But suddenly; my god!
Gendo Ikari appeared in a blind passageway above the Evangelion. "Hey Shinji." he
drawled out, his words friendly, his expression not. "It's been a while."
Shinji Ikari stared up at him. "Yes, father." he replied with the same faux
friendliness. "It has."
Ikari and Ikari stared at each other; motionless, unblinking, for what seemed like
minutes etching away.
"What are they doing?" Misato whispered to her friend.
"Oh, no. Not here. Not now..." was all the response she could give, her voice
breaking. "Not two of them..."
It was a paltry trick, to set oneself higher than another, a contest of wills and
patience. Shinji was stunned that his father would have the sheer gall to resort
to such a basic idea of intimidation. Part of what kept him staring was sheer
wonder at the man's apparent immaturity, when it all boiled down.
"What are we doing?" said the Space Marine? "The city is under attack and he
wants to play these games?! Your time is MUCH more valuable than his, commander."
"Why have you sent for me, father?" he shouted up. "For years now, you ignored
me, and now you want me again?! Why!" He put the right amount of childish anger
into his voice and gods be; the bastard actually looked pleased!
There was the briefest nods. "We're moving out."
Misato yelled something about a unit zero being in cryo-statis, which further
confirmed Shinji's impression of something inherently dangerous in that thing
they called an Evangelion. Then; "You're using Unit One!" she turned and shrieked
at Ritsuko.
She nodded impassively. "There's no other way."
"But we don't even have a pilot! Rei can't do it... can she?"
"We just recieved one..." Ritsuko added numbly, still only barely managing to
accept it.
The women argued about how Shinji just has to sit on it. There was something
about any chance at anyone getting a synchronization. Shinji barely paid any
attention. He only stared back up at his father, who stared blandly back. Sure
it was childish, but HE was the child. This is your scenario isn't it, you utter
bastard. All that just to make me come here and do this. Why, damnation upon
you! Why?
Misato was telling him to get into the Eva.
"No, I won't do it. Isn't there someone else?" He asked softly. He could see it,
faintly. He had to get out of the scenario to affect it. "I just got here! Why
can't you do it?"
"Shinji... I would if I could..." she said softly, pained. "But I can't! You're
our only hope! Humanity needs you, Shinji. WE need you."
Humanity? He bristled at their appeal. How dare she put humanity to him! He knew
just how much he was willing to give up for humanity - everything! But this! This
is ridiculous! "Then maybe you people shouldn't have been so stupid as to design
a weapons system so picky about its pilots in the first place!"
One could almost hear the creak in Ritsuko's neck as she turned her head to bring
her blazing eyes to bear. ".... what did you SAY?!"
"I don't believe you!" he shouted up to his father. "You had me come all the way
just for this?! What if I didn't answer your summons? You never cared before!"
He turned to Ritsuko and frowned. "I don't believe it. Me? It can't be me! You
*must* have something else...! Why this thing you're not even sure will even work?
If this is the best that humanity can come up with, then maybe it needs to reap
the fruits of its stupidity!
I mean... that THING! Is attacking us. It's coming here. Even I can tell it wants
something here. Why don't you have a giant cannon the size of a house, the size
of a mountain! to meet it? Why don't you just drop one of those buildings I saw
on top there... why not? Why...?
Why me? I'm just a boy. You're all adults. Why don't you have the power to solve
your own problems?!"
Ritsuko actually SNARLED at him. "No! There is no other way! The Evangelion...
the Eva...!" Her rage was such that her intellect fled, leaving her grasping for
words. He fingers twitched, as if one someone's neck.
Misato placed her hands on his shoulders. Her voice was gentle, caring. "Shinji,
I can't really explain right now, but there's an important reason why an Eva is
the only thing that can fight Angels. Please, Shinji..." though she did turn to
Ritsuko and asked. "... why don't we have a giant cannon big as a mountain down
here to meet it anyway? It has to break through the geofront at some point..."
"... the bas-... Ikari thought it would be too expensive." she could only reply dully.
"We had a lot of other secondary defenses planned, but the primary function of
NERV is to field and maintain Evangelions... that was our only purpose, anything
that could divert attention from the Evangelions..."
The place shook as one of the Angel's energy blasts pierced the outer shell of
the Geofront.
A static massive defense cannon would surely have been useful by then.
"Shinji, get inside, we don't have much time!" Misato was starting to lose her
patience.
He deeply regretted it, but... "No!
I don't believe it! My father had to have known I could just HATE him that much.
I don't think he'd risk the world on me. He never even knew me! If I was supposed
to do this, shouldn't he have told me anything before now? I would have been glad
to do it, to be needed by him! But now.. there must be something else!"
He bit back his next words, for it might insult all those she already saw die. I
don't believe we're actually in any real danger!
Gendo didn't like the way the conversation was turning. "This pilot is useless."
he said to the bank of monitors near him. "Send out Rei."
"Are you sure, Ikari?" Fuyutsuki, his elderly second-in-command, asked from it.
"We both know she isn't ready."
"She's not dead yet." he replied.
And into the Unit 01 cage they wheeled in Rei Ayanami, already in her plug suit,
still bandaged and hooked up to an IV bag. Shinji looked on, up to his father,
then back to her.
No way. No way he would be this crude. This is raw emotional manipulation!
"Rei. The pilot is useless." said Gendo. "You will pilot the Evangelion."
"Y-yes sir." said the girl, who weakly tried to sit up. She winced from the pain
and faltered, but pressed on.
She had blue hair. She had the finest pale white skin he had ever seen. She was
a broken doll. His father... his father! Had taken this girl and broken her! He
was going to let her die to prove a point! The depth of the man's calumny far
surpassed his worst expectations...!
Once more the chamber shook, but this time the Angel had actually broken through.
A cross-like pattern of directed energy pierced the geofront armor and stabbed
down the space in between the shell and NERV proper. A building, a large one,
separated from its locks and came crashing down into the lake.
It shook them off their feet; pity that the blind corridor was actually shut in
glass, or Gendo might have fallen all the way to his death. Shinji fell back and
saw Rei knocked off her gurney. She struck the ground and the pain must have
been intense. Her back arched in agony.
He ran up to her and held her up. She grit her teeth, squirming painfully even
in his arms. He held her and she seemed so small, her bones so tiny and bird-
like, even if the objective part of his mind noticed they both had pretty much
the same build.
He took one of his arms away from her side, feeling the wetness. He stared at
his palm and saw blood.
'I.. am going to KILL my father!' Shinji raged within. He held the girl in his
arms and watched her writhe in pain. 'How could he do this? She would have gone
out and bled for him, died for him. How could he use her to force me into acting?!
"Kicks him in da teef, lil'boss. Boots ta da head!"
"Well, that might be hard considering he's taller than I am." he had enough
attention to spare for that, even as he parted some of the girl's hair away from
her tightly-shut eyes. She was so familiar... like that brief vision he saw at
the street? It couldn't have been this girl, but still he felt as if he should
*know* her somehow.
"How is that a problem? Remember, plan sequentially." the Farseer said far too
calmly. "Kick him in the shin, first, and when he lifts that leg to rub it, you
may punch him in the genitals. THEN when he is kneeling is WHEN you may kick him
in the teeth."
Silence met her declaration, stretching out in the timeless nature of the mind.
"... when you say things like that" the Space Marine was finally brave enough to
say. "Is when I am reminded as to why your Race ruled the galaxy for eons before
humanity had even evolved out of our primate ancestors."
"At least you admit it..." she replied, but it lacked her customary haughtiness.
"Look out!" someone yelled, as another strike by the angel sent Nerv shaking. A
large metal beam broke from the ceiling and began to drop right over the Children,
spinning on axis in its descent. Misato shut her eyes, not wishing to see the
carnage.
Shinji didn't really notice. He stared at the blood on his hands.
"Impossible..." Ritsuko gasped. "The Evangelion can't move on its own!" Not while
cooled! Not without power!
But the Evangelion Unit Zero One not merely shielded the Shinji and Rei, it
brought its palm up and caught that beam, twisting it easily to a V-shape in its
powerful grip.
Shinji carried Rei up, bridal-style, to her gurney. He placed her there leaning
against the turned-over bed.
"I'll do it!" Shinji shouted out to no one in particular. He licked at Rei's
blood on his palm, leaving a red track across his face; which disturbed nearly
everyone. He made sure to swallow some of it, to fix the taste in his mind.
"I'll pilot THE EVANGELION!"
-cue Evangelion theme-
Rise up, young man, and become- a- legend!
