Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. The show and its characters and property belong to Gainax, ADV films, and Hideaki Anno. Should they ask, I will remove this story from public view.
I also do not own anything connected to Marvel Comics. Should they ask, I will remove this story from public view.
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
Savage
By CenturyChild533
Shinji Ikari closed the apartment door behind him as he followed Rei Ayanami out the door. He was still blushing after what had just occurred, and the girl's silence was not helping his awkwardness any. After going to her apartment to deliver her ID card, he had found her completely nude and, through an unfortunate accident involving a slippery floor and the strap of his backpack, he had ended up on top of her covered in the blue-haired girl's undergarments. The girl's lack of reaction to the event had not done anything to relieve Shinji's nervousness, and the boy was still preparing for her to turn around and smack the daylights out of him. Fortunately, she had not done so. Yet. Instead, Rei had remained silent and was now leaving the apartment building in what Shinji recognized as the direction of NERV headquarters.
Shinji then remembered that Rei was supposed to undergo a reactivation test in Unit 00, and worry clouded his mind at the thought. He had heard about the incident during the previous activation test, when the Evangelion unit had gone berserk. Rei had been seriously injured when the Entry Plug had ejected, and his father's hands had been burned when he forced open the hatch of the superheated plug. Shinji did not fully understand his apprehension about Rei's upcoming test, but he felt it nonetheless, and he found himself unable to shake the sensation. He looked up from the pavement, about to speak, when he realized that he was at the entrance gate of NERV. Rei swiped her identification card, and the reader made an annoying beeping sound, rejected the card. Her lips pursed somewhat, a look of mild annoyance crossing her face as she swiped the card once again, to no avail. Shinji reached into his pocket and removed her new one and ran it through the track. The door rumbled as it began to open.
Rei looked up to him for an explanation, and Shinji said, "This is the card I went to your house to deliver. Ritsuko-san said…"
Rei did not allow him to finish his sentence, plucking the card from his grip and walking inside. Shinji followed, his head hanging and his hands in his pockets. He followed the girl as she entered the complex, the heavy security doors closing behind him and sealing off the noise from the outside world, plunging him into a sound setting governed by the low resonant hum that seemed to be constant within NERV's bowels. She stepped onto an escalator that would eventually lead to the lower levels, where the Eva testing facility was. Quickly, so as not to lose the opportunity,Shinji stepped onto the conveyance as well. He was not entirely sure was he was following her, but the young man decided that he was too far to turn back now.
Shinji broke the silence that he found to be increasingly uncomfortable. "Um… I heard that you have an activation test with Unit 00 today. I hope everything goes well."
Rei nodded, saying nothing. Shinji continued, "Listen… I wondered something. Aren't you afraid of getting into Unit 00 again?"
Rei spoke but did not turn to face him. "Why would I be?"
"Well," Shinji said, swallowing to moisten his now dry throat, "I heard about what happened during the last test, how you were injured and everything. I just noticed you don't seem to care that much about it."
"You are Commander Ikari's son, are you not?"
This question caught Shinji off-guard. "Yes," he said, almost stumbling over the relatively simple answer.
"How can you not trust your father's work?" the girl asked in her unsettlingly quiet voice.
Shinji scoffed slightly. "How can I trust him after everything that's happened?"
Rei at first turned her head, looking at the young man over her shoulder, and then she turned sharply around on the escalator step, a look of irritation in her now blazing red eyes. Shinji froze, the glare that she was giving him fixing him in place. With almost blinding speed, her right hand lashed out and impacted his cheek sharply, making a light cracking noise that echoed off the walls of the space.
Shocked, Shinji recoiled as the girl turned back around, returning to her recently broken silence. As his hand rested on his cheek, he felt a conflicting blend of embarrassment and anger well up inside him, twisting his guts for a few seconds. His breathing slowed, and he attempted to calm himself, releasing the deep inhalation in a slow stream of air. He felt better already, except for the embarrassment, which was not so easy to get rid of.
The escalator stopped, and Rei turned to the right, disappearing down the hallway as Shinji simply stood at the base of the escalator. He turned in the opposite direction and began walking, not really knowing where he was going. Soon, he found that the hallway was an alternate route to the locker rooms, and he entered it without thinking, taking a seat on the bench. Soon he reclined, laying on the bench and facing the ceiling as he retrieved his SDAT player from his pocket. Shinji inserted the headphones into his ears, his movements feeling exceedingly languid, and he pressed the play button, a stream of slow and eerie music flowing into his ears. He tapped his finger to the beat, feeling the song's calming effect coming over him.
Why did I get angry just then? The question was one that should have had a relatively simple answer, and yet it did not. He knew that his remark had been out of line, but what he could not understand was the level of Rei's indignation over it. Why does she jump to defend him so quickly, I wonder? Shinji had seen them just a few days before, talking happily in the Eva cages. He had not seen his father act like that in years, and he could not help but feel a bit of envy over the blue-haired girl's apparent relationship with him.
Again, as was his ritual when he became irritated or angry, Shinji inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting the breath go as slowly as possible. When he finished, his mind was clear, and he felt many times better. Again, he began tapping his finger to the beat of the song, humming along with the spine-chilling melody of it, eventually giving way to singing softly, his soft tenor voice reverberating back off the tiled walls of the locker room.
As the minutes passed and the songs changed, Shinji stopped singing, feeling lethargy beginning to overtake him. As it did, however, it was swiftly shattered by the shrill screaming of the Angel alert klaxon. Quickly, Shinji was up, the SDAT player stowed in his locker. He rushed himself out of his clothes and quickly slithered into his plugsuit, pressurizing the rubbery garment and rushing out of the room.
Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, Shinji thought to himself.
He reminded himself never to think that ever again.
( 0 0 0 )
Misato Katsuragi looked up at the monitor that was displaying the Angel floating toward Tokyo-3, and she raised an eyebrow at the curious structure of the monster. It was shaped like a pair of four-sided pyramids, stuck together and forming an enormous floating blue diamond. Its AT Field had already manifested, as Misato had expected, and it was now inbound for the area directly above NERV headquarters. This too had already been predicted, and Misato had already gotten Unit 01 and Shinji into position for sortie.
"Evangelion Unit 01, launch!" she cried, watching the monitors as the purple behemoth rocketed toward the surface along the high-speed catapult.
Her vision abruptly shifted to another monitor on the giant screen, showing the point where Shinji would exit, roughly six-hundred yards away from the Angel. She watched as the catapult holding the mammoth form of Evangelion Unit 01 jerked to a halt, its horned-head snapping to attention as the lift stopped.
Almost as soon as this occurred, one of the technicians cried out frantically, "Ma'am, I'm detecting energy buildup inside the target!"
Misato's eyes widened, and she rushed to the console. "What?"
"The circumferential parts of the Angel's core are spinning and concentrating! Levels of unknown radiation detected!"
Misato's vision shifted to the monitor once again. "What the hell…" Suddenly, realization came to her, but it was a second too late. "Shinji, move!"
Shinji looked up and prepared to follow Misato's order, but it was too late. A burst of light flashed from one of the points in the center of the Angel's geometric body, and a thin beam of light lanced outwards toward Unit 01, plowing into a building and instantly melting a hole in the structure then slamming into the Eva's chest. There was a slight hiss, and Shinji felt his chest searing, as if someone were drilling a hole in his heart.
Shinji screamed, feeling his lungs and organs bombarded by intense pain. The LCL bubbled frantically, boiling under the heat of the beam, and Shinji could feel the agony spreading to the rest of his body. His muscles felt as if they were on fire, and every inch of his body was in a state of unbearable torture. His screams continued, changing from a scream of shock to one of pained anger, rage. Finally, abruptly, it stopped as the Plug was pulled underground, and Shinji gasped for breath, clutching his chest, feeling the sensation of his rapidly beating heart. Adrenaline flowed through his veins, and he felt lightheaded, dizzy. He panted, his breath slowing to a normal speed, and finally he slumped into the seat of the Entry Plug, fatigue overwhelming him in one fell swoop.
As he drifted into unconsciousness, Shinji was vaguely aware of a tingling sensation along his skin, a curious feeling that did not seem painful but rather… exhilarating.
( 0 0 0 )
Misato stood at the window that allowed her to peer into the medical ward where Shinji was being held. The young man was encapsulated in a black box that looked suspiciously like a coffin (which wasn't doing anything for Misato's nerves), awaiting a final verdict on his state of health. She released a slow sigh, realizing she had been holding her breath, and ran a hand through her deep violet hair, turning away from the window and sitting on the bench near the door. When he had been extracted from the Entry Plug, he had been unconscious, and his nose had been bleeding rather severely, and he had not yet regained consciousness. Misato looked up as she heard the door open, and Ritsuko Akagi stepped out into the hallway, still looking at a clipboard that presumably held information regarding Shinji. The blonde-haired scientist removed her glasses, tucking them into her pocket, and met Misato's eyes.
"How is he?" Misato asked immediately, a note of panic evident in her voice.
"He's still unconscious, as you can see. When the Angel fired that beam, we detected an unknown kind of radiation emanating from the Angel's core, possibly tied to the AT Field. I don't know what kind of an effect it will have on him, because I can be assured he got a pretty heavy dose of whatever it was. His brainwaves are slightly erratic, but nothing beyond reasonable limits. He should be fine to pilot again when he wakes up."
Misato breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I was worried."
Ritsuko nodded, sitting down next to her and setting the clipboard between them. "Any progress on the capability analysis of the Angel's defenses?"
Misato nodded. "We mounted a dummy on train tracks and drove it near the Angel. It fired the same beam it hit Shinji-kun with, destroyed the train. I'm guessing it automatically attacks anything that moves within a certain distance of it." Her expression became grave. "Unfortunately, we've got another problem. The thing's positioned itself directly over NERV headquarters, and it's drilling through to the Geofront."
Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "It's drilling?"
Misato nodded. "We've got about ten hours before it penetrates the Geofront, just after midnight."
Ritsuko swore quietly. "We'll have to accelerate the repairs to Unit 01. The chest armor was melted down to the third level, which is going to be a bitch to fix in time. I think I can manage it, though. What are you going to do about the Angel?"
"I've got a plan worked out; I'm clearing it with the MAGI right now."
Ritsuko nodded and lifted herself from the bench. "I'll keep you posted on his condition; I have to go back in to monitor him some more." Ritsuko opened the door and stopped, a mild look of shock on her face.
"What is it?" Misato asked, curiously. She turned and looked in through the glass, and her eyes widened.
The black medical analysis unit slid open, and Shinji sat up, looking perfectly normal. He looked around the room for a few seconds, and finally he spotted Ritsuko. "Dr. Akagi? What's going on?"
Ritsuko was stunned. "Shinji-kun? I hadn't expected you to wake up for a while. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Just a little confused. Where am I?"
"You're in the analysis chamber in the medical bay. We were checking to make sure you're okay, but…" She paused. "I'll have to run some tests on you to make sure, but you should be all right."
The young man nodded, tiredly running a hand through his hair. "Yes, ma'am."
Misato turned away from the window, mildly shocked at Shinji's sudden awakening. This helped her a great deal, since she would not have to rely entirely on Rei for her plan to destroy the Angel. Still, the woman was worried about her charge's condition and was not going to put him into harm's way until she was entirely assured of his stability. She breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, heading down the hallway.
Time to go to work.
( 0 0 0 )
Several hours later, Shinji lay in a bed in the hospital wing, still awake. He had tried to rest up for the operation he had been told about, but he had found himself unable to do so. Presently, all he had been able to do is stare out the window at the sunset, attempting to focus on the orange and purplish hues and not on the sinking feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. Sleep had eluded him for a number of reasons; his period of unconsciousness, he thought, had rendered him restless, but he also suspected he was keeping himself awake. While he had been knocked out, he had dreamt, and the dreams had not been pleasant. The sensation of being boiled alive inside the Entry plug… the feeling of a white hot lance being shoved into his chest… the unusual rush of adrenaline that had awoken every nerve in his body… these things had been enough to keep him alert.
Shinji turned his head and faced the ceiling once more, and as he did so he heard the gentle rush of air as the door opened. Surprised, he turned his attention to the portal and saw Rei enter the room. She was pushing one of the metal hospital trolleys, the clanking of the plastic wheels against the tile floor impossibly loud when contrasted against the silent room. She wheeled the cart to a stop at the side of his bed and looked at him.
The young man fidgeted slightly under her penetrating gaze. "Hello, Ayanami," he said.
"I am here to inform you of the plans for Operation Yashima," she said in her quiet monotone, without a greeting of any kind. The girl extracted a notebook from the pocket of her skirt and opened it, reading the notes she had written. "The operation will begin at 0:00 hours. Pilots Ayanami and Ikari will be present at the cage at 17:30 hours today. At 18:00, Units 00 and 01 will be prepared for launch. At 18:05, launch. At 18:30, we will arrive at the emergency base at Mt. Futagoyama and await further instructions."
Rei closed the notebook and reinserted it into her pocket, and she reached under the cart and grabbed a plastic bag. She placed it on Shinji's bed. Inside it was another one of his plugsuits. "Here is the new one."
Shinji nodded weakly, speaking a quiet gratitude.
Rei nodded toward the tray on top of the cart, which carried his dinner. "Your meal is here, as well."
The young man shook his head. "I don't feel like eating anything."
"Very well," Rei responded, seemingly unconcerned. "We must depart in sixty minutes."
"Do I… really have to pilot the Eva again?" Shinji asked, not meeting her eyes now, his gaze instead focused on the window.
Rei nodded. "Yes, you do."
Shinji bristled at the frankness of her comment. "You just…" He took in a deep breath and released it. "If you'd gone through what I just did, you wouldn't want to do this either."
"Then stay here."
Shinji turned and looked her in the eyes, surprise evident in his features. "What?"
"I will Pilot Unit 01. Doctor Akagi can reconfigure the data for me."
Shinji broke eye contact, guiltily staring at the sheets instead. He had not thought his last comment through at all, and he realized just how stupid it had been. He looked up to Rei again, but she was no longer facing him. Instead, she had gone to the door of the room and opened it. "I must go," she said, her voice still uninflected, unchanged. "Goodbye." With that statement, she stepped through the door, and it hissed shut.
Shinji sighed, smacking a palm to his forehead. "Idiot," he muttered angrily. "She's probably been through a hell of a lot more than you have." Quickly, he tossed the covers away from himself and tore the plastic wrapping off of the plugsuit, donning the garment as quickly as he could and following Ayanami out into the hall.
( 0 0 0 )
A few hours later, Shinji sat in the locker room at the reserve base that had been set up at Mt. Futagoyama. Attempting to avoid looking at Rei's shapely silhouette behind the screen in the room, his vision was focused on the locker in front of him. The incident in her apartment had returned to Shinji's mind with an almost painful clarity, and an unwilling blush crept into his cheeks despite his best efforts to suppress it. Unfortunately, by doing so, his mind drifted to the dangerous mission that lay ahead of them. How am I supposed to get this right on the first try? I've never done anything like this before, he thought despairingly to himself. We… we could…
Unintentionally, Shinji spoke out loud. "We could die…" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Why do you say that?" Rei responded, unaware that he had merely been thinking aloud.
Shinji did not respond, unable to think of a suitable reply. He heard the sharp hiss of a plugsuit being vacuum sealed.
"You will not die."
Shinji turned his focus to the form behind the screen, her statement confusing him somewhat.
Rei spoke in her quiet, almost ethereal voice. "I will protect you." With that, she stepped out from behind the screen and headed for the locker room door.
Shinji hastily stood and followed the blue-haired girl as she turned and began walking toward the docking area for the Eva units. The hallway made a few more turns before they arrived at an elevator. Rei pressed the button and stepped inside once the doors opened, and Shinji followed, the doors closing and the lift beginning to rise.
The elevator's rumbles were the only sounds that penetrated the enclosed space, as both of the pilots were maintaining a somewhat tense silence. Shinji took a few deep breaths, trying to clear his head, but he found himself unable to dismiss his nervousness. He glanced over at Rei, who was not giving any indication that she was bothered by what was about to happen. Shinji found this odd and mildly unsettling. He wondered how she could be so calm in the face of such a dangerous mission. Something about the degree of the girl's introversion bothered Shinji; he had met quiet people in his time but no one who held a candle to Rei Ayanami.
The elevator jerked to a halt and opened. The two pilots followed a narrow walkway on the frame structure connecting the two Evangelion units, knelt in a somewhat reverent looking posture, the Entry Plugs open and waiting for their masters to board them. Rei looked at the built in watch on the plugsuit, seeing that they still had a few minutes before their deployment began. She sat down on the gantry, and Shinji followed suit. He looked out over the landscape, admiring the utter darkness that the blackout had plunged the city into. Now, the only light came from the stadium-like fixtures on the launch platform.
The brown-haired boy turned his head to look at his fellow pilot, the silence practically driving him mad with a feverish anxiety. Talking, he thought, would help him relax. Shinji asked the first question that came to his mind. "Why do you pilot?" Immediately, he regretted the inquiry. The subject of Eva was not one he was fond of talking about, but he felt a desire to get a momentary insight into the thought processes of his enigmatic colleague.
Rei was silent for a moment before she finally responded. "Because it is my bond."
Shinji looked confused. "A bond?"
"Yes."
Believing he understood her statement, Shinji questioned, "You mean, with my father?"
"With all people," she replied in a quiet voice.
Shinji nodded, even though he did not fully comprehend her words. "You're a strong person, Ayanami," he said, a definite note of admiration in his voice.
"I have nothing else."
Shinji's expression turned to astonished incredulity. "Nothing else?"
Rei did not offer any further explanation. "It's time," she said, standing up and looking out to the area that was soon to become a battlefield. "Goodbye."
Shinji watched as she climbed into the Entry Plug, the note of finality in her voice leaving a knot in his chest. He bit his lower lip apprehensively and stood up, boarding his own Entry Plug. As the hatch closed and the LCL began filling the cylindrical cockpit, Shinji took a moment to close his eyes and relax, attempting to clear his mind of his doubts.
Like ravenous locusts, they continued to feed, growing ever larger.
( 0 0 0 )
3… 2… 1… Midnight.
Shinji listened to the communication system as the technicians began making the preparations for the positron rifle. He heard the countdowns as they made the connections, one by one, sending incalculable amounts of energy to the massive firearm that Unit 01 had clutched in its grip. The targeting computer above his head lowered itself over his eyes, giving him a rudimentary image of the Angel's angular form as well as crosshairs and other targeting data. Shinji began zeroing in on his quarry, watching as the crosshairs moved together, finally focusing in on the center of the Angel's body. Once they locked together, Shinji pulled the trigger, feeling the Eva shudder under the recoil of the positron rifle as it discharged, shooting a bright shaft of light toward the Angel. He heard the warning systems blare suddenly, watching with mute horror as the Angel shot its own energy beam. The two beams went straight at each other and warped in midair, sending each one into a helix motion and spinning out of control. His shot missed its target, flying to the far right and slamming into the hillside beyond the city. The Angel's beam impacted the area behind him, sending out a shockwave that rocked the Eva.
Shinji struggled to maintain control, managing to keep his composure as he scrambled to ready a second shot. Panic flooded him for a moment as the rifle ejected the spent fuse and loaded another one into place. The warning system blared again, and he realized that the Angel was going to fire another shot before he could get ready. Shinji yelped as the Angel's point flared, sending another lance of light toward him. His eyes shut reflexively, fearing the pain of being boiled alive inside the plug again, and he froze.
To his surprise, the pain never came. Opening his eyes, Shinji saw the form of Evangelion Unit 00 standing in front of him holding its colossal shield. The Angel's purple energy discharge showered off the surface of the metal bulwark, a cascade of lavender illuminating the battlefield. Shinji's eyes widened. "Ayanami…" he said in a breathless whisper.
Suddenly, Shinji felt the adrenaline in his body begin to rush anew, his anger and frustration at the Angel mounting with the passing milliseconds. His jaw clenched as he felt an unfamiliar sensation of power coursing through his veins, an irrepressible shudder shaking his body as he emitted an involuntary feral growl. The noise increased, becoming a thunderous roar of rage. Thrusting the control yokes forward, Unit 01 dropped the positron rifle and leapt into the air, passing directly through the path of the Angel's blast. The armor on Unit 01 wrinkled under the heat as it forcibly grabbed Unit 00 and tossed it out of the path of the beam. The ray sputtered, fading, as the Angel prepared to fire a third shot.
Shinji snarled, the Eva lunging forward and plunging into the lake separating the sniper position and the Angel's location. The water came up just below the Eva's knee, and it rushed forward through the water toward the floating monstrosity. Unit 01 hit shore, its speed increasing now that it was out of the water, and the Angel fired its third shot toward Unit 01. To the astonishment of all, the Eva quickly dropped to a crouch and leapt, soaring over the beam and landing on one of the top faces of the diamond-shaped creature. With another animalistic growl, Shinji reared the Eva's fist back and then pitched it forward, plunging it through the Angel's surface. A shower of crystalline debris flew up from the wound, along with a fountain of purple blood. Unit 01's arm came back up, sending more shards of the Angel's brittle body into the air. Clutched in its fist was a large red orb covered in amethyst gore – the Angel's core. Its source of energy now gone, the light around the creature's perimeter vanished, and the body fell to the ground, crumpling under the weight of its attacker.
Unit 01 spun around, leaping from the now decimated remnants of its prey, and it plunged into the lake once again, racing toward the spot where Unit 00 still lay, unmoving. The purple mecha reached the shore, and its arm shot out, seizing the plate on the back of its yellow compatriot and tearing it off, triggering the Entry Plug's automatic ejection. The LCL purged, and Unit 01 took hold of the white cylinder and tore it free, setting it on the ground. Unit 01 crouched and deployed its own Entry Plug, the door opening after the LCL had drained.
"Ayanami!" Shinji shouted, frantically scrambling down from Unit 01's shoulder until his feet hit the ground. He sprinted to the Entry Plug and found the hatch, grasping the handles firmly. The searing metal hissed as it burned the rubber of his plugsuit and made its way through to his skin. Shinji forced himself to ignore the pain, and the muscles in his arms flexed as he pulled on the handles. He did not notice as the metal whined, the hinges squeaked, and the door itself was wrenched completely off the Plug. Shinji dropped the offending chunk of metal and crawled in the newly made hole.
Inside, he found Ayanami lying unconscious in the pilot's seat. She appeared uninjured, but this did little to satiate his worry. "Ayanami!" he cried again. "Are you all right? Ayanami!"
The girl's slowly opened her red eyes, her vision blurred as she did so. As everything came into focus again, she saw Shinji crouched in the hole in the side of the Entry Plug, an expression of distress and panic on his face. But something was not right about him. She thought hard, finally realizing what it was.
Shinji's eyes were green.
Slowly, the piercing emerald irises darkened, returning to their normal cobalt color as Shinji's eyes filled with tears. "Don't…don't say you have nothing else," he said, his voice shaky as he began crying. "Don't say goodbye when we go on a mission… It's too sad…"
After this, the boy broke down, his uncontrollable sobs echoing in the confined space of the Entry Plug. Rei sat up in the seat, eyeing him curiously. "Why are you crying?" she asked. When he did not reply, she looked away. "I apologize. I do not know how to express myself in situations like this."
The brown-haired boy looked up at her, a smile on his face despite the tears in his eyes. "Maybe… you should smile."
A silence presided over the pair for a moment, until the corners of Rei's lips rose into a small smile. It may have been only a small gesture, but to Shinji it made a world of difference.
( 0 0 0 )
Inside the control room, many of the spectators of the battle were still slack-jawed, utterly shocked by what they had just witnessed. Misato was one of them, finally managing to shake herself from her disbelieving trance and looking over to Ritsuko. "I hope you have a better idea than I do about what just happened."
Ritsuko pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to focus. "All I have is the data from during the fight."
"What happened? Did the Eva go berserk again?"
"Actually, it didn't. That's the strangest part of the whole thing. I watched Shinji-kun's vitals and synch ratio the whole time. His synch ratio only increased a few points, but his vitals went crazy. His heartbeat was extremely elevated, and his adrenaline levels were off the scale. I don't know for sure, but…"
"But what?" Misato prompted as the woman trailed off.
"I think whatever just happened… came from Shinji-kun himself."
Misato was silent, trying to process the seemingly insane information Ritsuko was giving her. "But how do you explain him tearing the door off of Rei's Entry Plug? I've never seen anything like that!"
"I'm going to find out. I'm going to conduct a scan on Shinji-kun's brain again; maybe this time we'll find something that will help us figure this out."
Misato sat down. "I hope you do. This is going to cause no end of headaches."
"Well, the Second Child will be arriving soon, at least. That will give us someone to fall back on in case Shinji-kun is unstable."
Misato perked up at this last statement. "'Unstable'? What do you mean 'unstable'?"
"You saw what he did out there," Ritsuko replied. "Not only did he tear the door off the Entry Plug, as you pointed out, but something else was wrong, too. The Plug was extremely hot after it was first ejected; I know you saw what that kind of temperature did to Commander Ikari."
The purple-haired woman nodded. "Yeah?"
"Well, when we recovered Shinji from the site, he had no visible injuries on his hands."
Misato's eyed widened even further. "Nothing?"
"Not a thing, the plugsuit was melted, but his skin was perfect. No sign of scarring or any kind of injury at all."
Misato leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. "This just gets weirder and weirder."
After a few minutes of tense silence, Ritsuko spoke again. "He's going to be released in a few minutes," the scientist said, looking at her watch. "If anything unusual happens, give me a call immediately."
Misato gave her a weak thumbs-up. "Will do."
The blonde woman nodded and turned, her lab coat ruffling gently as she strode to the door and opened it, disappearing down the hallway. Misato, meanwhile, let out a sigh of exhaustion, the day's events rendering the operations director extremely fatigued. "God, I need a beer," the woman remarked, clenching her fist, miming the gesture of pulverizing aluminum. She stood up, and prepared to go meet her charge.
As she walked, Misato wondered about what had happened. Her mind kept returning to the image of Shinji, his muscles undulating as he forcefully ripped the door off of the still smoldering Entry Plug, and the animalistic snarl that, she suspected, he was not aware he had made. It was frightening to watch the normally timid young man in such a storm of rage. The operations director had not known Shinji that long, but it had never seemed to her that he was a violent type, even a secretive one. Probably just combat high, she told herself. But no matter how she tried to justify it, something was amiss with the Third Child, and she was going to find out what it was.
When Misato stepped into the hospital room, she found Shinji dressed in his normal clothes, sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at his right hand like he had unexpectedly grown extra fingers. He made no indication that he had noticed her entrance. He simply sat there, staring emptily. Finally, after a few tense moments, he let his hand drop, and he turned his gaze to Misato.
"Hey there," she said with a smile, hoping to enliven him a bit. Shinji smiled, and Misato could tell it was forced when it disappeared but a moment later.
"They told me about what happened," Shinji said, breaking eye contact and looking down at the floor. "I don't… I don't remember any of it."
"You saved Rei's life, you know."
"She saved mine," he said, with a bit more conviction. "That I do remember. I remember her jumping in front of me… and then the next thing I know, she's smiling."
Had it not been for Shinji's actions during the battle, this fact would have been the most surprising thing Misato had ever heard or seen. "She smiled at you?" When Shinji gave a nod, Misato cross her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you're moving in on the First Child, eh, Shinji-kun?"
Shinji blushed. "N-n-no! Why would you think that?"
Misato laughed. "Shinji-kun, you're so much fun to tease. Come on, let's go home, it's late."
( 0 0 0 )
In an office inside NERV headquarters, Gendo Ikari stared at the images from the battle with the Fifth Angel. He watched, impassive as always, Shinji's feat of superhuman strength, rewinding the footage to watch that particular snippet of film multiple times before fixing his gaze upon Ritsuko, who stood in front of his desk. "You have an explanation for this, Dr. Akagi?"
"Not as of yet, Commander. I am going to be conducting an examination of the Third Child within the next couple of days to ascertain the origin of this… phenomenon."
Gendo nodded. "Very well. In the meantime, have the Third Child placed under surveillance. I want any and all suspicious activity reported to me immediately."
Ritsuko bowed. "Yes, sir."
"You are dismissed, doctor." Gendo watched as Ritsuko left the office, then the man turned his chair to face out of the immense window behind him. He made a thoughtful noise, prompting the older man beside him to speak.
"So," Kouzou Fuyutsuki said, looking down at Gendo, "what do you make of this?"
"I think it is too early to form an opinion. I will wait for the doctor to perform her analysis of the Third Child before making a judgment."
It had never sat well with Fuyutsuki that Gendo referred to his son as the "Third Child." Something about it seemed wrong. Then again, a lot of things that went on in the organization were not exactly what one would call "right." "Yes, I suppose so. You don't think this will compromise your plans at all?"
"I very much doubt it. The Scrolls are precise; I find it difficult to believe that anything could disturb the scenario."
Fuyutsuki sighed at Gendo's persistence. It was a quality he both admired and despised about his former pupil. On one hand, the man could do anything he set his mind to, but on the other hand, what he had his mind set on was dangerous and, some would argue, evil. "In that case, I think I'd better head home, if we're finished here."
Gendo gave an almost imperceptible nod. "We are. I will see you tomorrow, Fuyutsuki-sensei."
The older man also left the office, leaving the commander of NERV alone with his thoughts. Gendo stood, walking toward the window and looking down at the Geofront below, his eyes drifting shut as his mind began working.
What has happened to you, Shinji?
With a thoughtful humph, he too left the office.
( 0 0 0 )
Author's Notes: So yeah, I'm hoping I dropped enough hints about what happened to Shinji. If you still haven't figured it out, a full reveal will be happening in the next chapter.
This idea sprung from a trend I've been noticing on , about stories featuring Shinji as a superhero. I wanted in on that, being a big fan of comic books, and this idea fulfilled two important criteria for me.
It hadn't been used yet (so far as I'm aware).
It made sense for Shinji as a character.
With June 13th coming upon us, I thought now would be a good time to finish and post this story that's been sitting in my computer for a while.
Again, if you haven't figured it out yet, wait for the next chapter.
Thanks go out as always to my prereaders, Scout and That Other Guy.