His world shattered in an instant.

Breaths came out shaky and horrified. Bloodied bodies soaked the ground in a sinister fashion. His family joined the rubble. No one else noticed.

The mobile suits in the air dispersed, and brought their fighting somewhere else. Somewhere else he didn't care about. For where he was, where he stood, was hell. His feet could barely support him, and his eyes held testimony to the horrors he faced. Nothing more than crimson shatters, and mutilated corpses.

His scream pierced the remnants of what used to be his home. His life.

It marked the beginning of his sad, cruel life.

"If you forget that while you're out there and use that power for the sake of your own logic and self righteousness, you'll be nothing but a destroyer."

But scars ran deep.

Captain Todaka was a kind man who clearly saw more than Shinn ever had.

His hand gently clasped the young man's shoulder, and he brought as many words of comfort as he could. He brought him back to his feet, and offered to take care of him. He was desensitized to what he saw, delivered on a bloody platter. But that didn't mean he was heartless one bit. He was just used to it.

Shinn knew that he would have to learn to get used to it as well. To his family dying in front of him. To the war. To everything. To the new nightmares that waited for him.

He wasn't ready. But nothing was patient enough to give him time to recuperate. It was the same for everyone else.

"I'm sorry, boy," the man said, as he held the shaking boy to the rescue boat. "I'm so sorry."

"No!" Shinn cried out, as he reached out. As if everything was a sick joke. Mayu was waiting for him to bring her back her phone, he thought. He tried to remove himself from the grip of his patient savior, but collapsed in a shuddering mess. "She's... she's there. Please..."

"We have to go, boy. Please, let me-"

BANG!

Todaka pushed Shinn behind him, and placed his hands in the air. "Who... who the hell are you?"

"None of your business, do you think?"

Shinn peered over Todaka's shoulder, and saw the person in front of him. He was wearing a mask and a casual smirk. He showed complete ignorance of the battlefield behind him. Either that, or he didn't care. No one cared. Or maybe they died before they could give a damn.

"Tut, tut." He pressed the barrel of his gun to Todaka's steeled face. He let out a breathy chuckle, before cocking his head to his side. "This boy doesn't happen to be a Coordinator, right?"

"Why does it depend? Huh?" Todaka shook his head, with detailed ambivalence in his voice. "Are you one of those pro Natural psychos wanting to wipe off countless more innocent citizens off the map?"

Shinn didn't know what to do. This kind man was about to lose his life to protect him. He didn't know whether or not to declare it altruistic or plainly stupid, as the rescue boat was waiting for him. For them. The refugees were too busy rushing into the boat to pay attention.

"Even if I was, you can't deny that Coordinators were born under unnatural means. Don't you pay attention to labels?"

"But they are unneeded! This boy right here just lost his family, and you have the audacity to prolong his suffering?"

"Which brings us back to my point. Is. He. A Coordinator?"

"Yes," Shinn let out in a strangled whisper.

"What?" The captor tightened his grip on the trigger. "Speak up, boy. I wouldn't want this old man's brains to join the rest of whatever's left of this hellhole. Or even..."

Troops marched in the battlefield and aimed at the rescue boat. Shinn could hear screams of panic permeating through the atmosphere, as the mobile suits continued fighting on.

"I said yes, you bastard!"

"Kid!" Todaka grimaced. "Don't-"

"If this means letting this man live, if this means leaving these refugees alone... then take me." He stepped out from behind Todaka, and held his hands up in the air. "I have nothing left to lose."

"Kid, please don't-"

"Sir, if I don't give myself in now, everyone will die. You will die. And for what? For nothing."

"Please, boy-"

"It's Shinn." He smiled bitterly. "Shinn Asuka. Thank you for all you have done, but let me go."

Before Todaka could protest, Shinn walked over to the side of his captor. The man set aside his gun, and gestured for the boy to follow him.

And he did.