The teenager slipped his duffel bag off his shoulder, putting it on the ground as he used it for an impromptu seat as he contemplated the empty street.
Teenager ... no, it was more appropriate to call him a young man. Dressed in a crisp tan singlet and pair of dark blue jeans, one could see the clearly defined physique, wiry yet exceptionally sculpted and toned, pure lean muscle. His icy blue eyes flicked from side to side, regarding his situation with cool, calm deliberation, no indication on his mature face of his growing restlessness.
Where is she? His eyes briefly flicked to the phone across from him for only a moment before he disregarded it, already knowing the lines would be down due to the evacuation. And even if it weren't, he doubted they would be of any help.
As Shinji glanced up, he saw a strange girl, just out of his field of vision, and he narrowed his gaze at her. A flock of birds went off in the distance, but though he was careful he wasn't jumpy, and he watched as the girl simply disappeared from view.
A raised eyebrow was the only response to this before the ground began shaking, the telephone lines wobbling from the severe tremor.
Coincidence? Shinji mused as he rose, grabbing his duffel bag.
Suddenly, an explosion thundered off in the distance, followed by several VTOL jets as they fire off a volley of missiles, sending several shockwaves rumbling through the air.
The JSSDF? Then he saw it – a gargantuan, monstrous humanoid, towering easily over the buildings, lumbering through the streets.
Most people would have screamed, but Shinji was not an average person. Instead, he merely smirked. So this an Angel eh? As it grabbed a jet and threw it into a tank, his smirk grew imperceptibly wider. Guess this won't be boring after all?
The sound of a car roaring towards him caused him to take a step back as it braked sharply next to him and a door was thrown open. "Get in! Am I real late?"
As Shinji swiftly jumped in, his mind racked through the information in her file. Misato Katsuragi, rank Captain, Operations Director at NERV. He controlled himself from glancing at her body. She's not just good looks either.
All the while, Misato was shooting looks at the supposedly teenage boy. No way. He looks like he's eighteen. And his body... NO! Bad thoughts Misato! He's just a kid! But man, those arms look good enough to... ARGH!
Ignoring her internal conflict, Misato stopped, pulling out a pair of binoculars, focusing them on the Angel. "Now let's see here... NO! They're going to use an N2 Mine! Get down!"
As she jumped on him, Shinji had only the barest moment to realise that they were one hundred percent natural before a shockwave sent the car tumbling. Not bad. Shinji looked out the window, watching the massive smoke cloud rising to the sky. They should see what our universe can do.
"You alright?" Misato asked as the two of them crawled out.
"Yeah." Shinji gave himself a quick dust off. "Let's get this car back on its wheels."
Several minutes later they were cruising down the road again, the car worse for wear but fortunately still working.
"Thanks for hotwiring those batteries Shinji," Misato said with a grin as she glanced behind her, switching her phone off. "You know for a moment there I thought that you'd have a problem with us 'borrowing' them."
"Well you are a Government Official right?" Shinji questioned. "And it was an emergency."
"Too right! You know Shinji, for a kid, you're pretty cute!" How about damn gorgeous... STOP IT MISATO!
"Thanks," Shinji responded with a charming smile. "And I can tell you're not just good looks either."
"Well thank you! You know I'm betting a sweet-talker like you gets all the girls!"
At this Shinji lightly chuckled. "No, not really. Some of the girls my age aren't too... mature."
I do not jump fifteen year olds; I DO NOT jump fifteen year olds...
Their vehicle was taxied through NERV by the car train and Misato glanced again at the Commander's son for the umpteenth time. They really looked nothing alike. While the Commander was aloof and cold, Shinji seemed warm and friendly, with sparkling blue eyes and a slightly cheeky grin – it would never occur to Misato that this was merely a cleverly schooled illusion. "So I'm guessing it'll be quite a surprise to see your father?"
Shinji shrugged. "I suppose you know he's not the nicest person. Frankly I'm just here to see what he wants.
"But he's your dad! Don't you want to know what he's like?" Misato pressed.
Shinji chuckled. "Not really. I was pretty happy where I came from, though it got boring. But if all goes well... I might just stay a little longer..."
His malevolent gaze did not go noticed by the Captain.
-"The prince must consider, as has been in part said before, how to avoid those things which will make him hated or contemptible" -
"What on Earth!" Misato groaned. "Isn't this the right way?"
"Haven't we passed this spot several times already?" Shinji questioned, rubbing his temples in exasperation.
"Well... it's not like I've been here for very long!" The excuse sounded feeble even to Misato as she tried to figure out the complex map.
"Here," Shinji sighed, "let me try." In reality Shinji had already memorised the layout several weeks ago, but acted like it was new to him as he quickly led them to a lift.
Suddenly it stopped as the door opened, revealing a tall blonde woman dressed in a labcoat over a one-piece swimsuit.
"Uh... hi, Ritsuko..." Misato stammered as she stepped in with an annoyed look.
"Why are you wasting my time captain? We're already short on it, not to mention manpower!"
"Sorry..." she scratched her head sheepishly as Ritsuko turned to regard the young man beside them.
"So is this the Third Child?"
"Actually it's Shinji," he said with a smile, "Shinji Ikari. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Ritsuko Akagi, of the first engineering division, a pleasure," she greeted, shaking his hand in a firm grip.
"As you can see, he's a lot friendlier than his father," Misato said with a grin.
And a lot better looking too. Ritsuko thought as the elevator door closed and they went down.
Shinji tuned out the rest of the conversation after garnering what was important, turning instead to look to the purple fluid where a massive arm was clearly visible through the depths. So this is the weapon everyone's been trying to keep so secret. Well... it's certainly big.
Tunnelling a backdoor into the MAGI certainly hadn't been easy with second-rate equipment. When he had arrived in this world, naturally as a test he carried very little with him to test his resourcefulness. However he had more than just a few tricks up his sleeve and once he did acquire the files he needed it was immediately obvious the holes in them alluded to some sort of weapon, some sort of robot by the sounds of it. Now he had an opportunity to hack the system directly, and figure out exactly what was going on in this mess of a world where things weren't adding up.
Led into a dark room, Shinji feigned surprise as he came face to face with an almost demonic robot head. "W-What is this?"
Ritsuko stepped up beside him. "This is mankind's ultimate fighting machine, the synthetic life form known as Evangelion. Built here in secret, it is mankind's last hope!"
The pride in her voice was obvious, though then again, it was very impressive. Even to Shinji. But he quickly noticed her choice of words. 'Synthetic life form' huh? "So... is this what the old man's been doing?"
"Correct!"
Shinji looked up with a sneer. Heh, if he were at home he would be lobotomised on sight. "Hello... father." The last part was said with an icy drawl. This is the first and only time I address you as such. Enjoy it, bastard.
Gendo smirked. "We're moving out!"
"Moving out?" Misato gasped. "But Unit 00's still in cryo-stasis... wait, you're going to use Unit 01?"
"There's no other way." Ritsuko answered coolly.
"But Rei can't do it yet can she? We don't have a pilot!"
"One has just been delivered." Gendo informed her.
As Misato looked at them aghast, Shinji narrowed his eyes. "Well. This is a new low, even for you. So why me huh?"
"Because there is no one else who can."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Now that's interesting." And a nice bargaining chip. "So you really think you can abandon me for fifteen years, then call me out here and force me into a giant robot to fight some monster I've never seen before?" He glanced behind him to Misato, who looked away at his gaze. Good. She may be clever but she's able to do what's necessary. This will make it easier. "Fine."
He almost laughed at his father's look of brief shock. "But..." he raised a finger. "I'm not doing it for free."
Gendo narrowed his eyes. "Name your terms."
"Well money for the first thing, I expect to be well-paid."
"As a pilot you will have access to certain privileges..."
"That's not good enough for me." Shinji answered. "I expect to be compensated for my time. And so I expect to be well-paid, on a regular basis. I'm sure we can work out the details later."
Gendo turned to his monitor. "Fuyutsuki! Wake up Rei!"
"Can she do it?"
"She must." There was a brief pause. "Rei?"
"Yes?"
"The spare is useless. You will do it again."
"Yes, sir."
Shinji suppressed his burst of anger when they wheeled out a badly injured girl onto the walkway, through years of discipline. That was an important lesson, one reinforced in the harshest way – always be in control of your emotions. Inner battle was the most important battle to win. It's the girl I saw before. She's important in this, that's clear enough. "Considering how you treat your pilots, that might cost a little extra."
Suddenly another shockwave rocked through the base, knocking the girl off her gurney – with a burst of speed Shinji raced over, softening her fall. He had already seen the steel beams break off, and was about to leap out of the way –
When a massive purple hand rose from the liquid, knocking them away.
"Unit 01 activated!" Someone over the intercom cried in shock.
"But how?" Ritsuko gaped. "The entry plug wasn't even inserted!"
"Then is it possible it was protecting someone? Protecting... him?" Misato realised. "It's him..."
Shinji grimaced mentally at Gendo's smirk as he quickly checked the girl over. She's badly wounded and in no condition to fight. Silently he jabbed a few points in her neck and shoulder to help in numbing the pain, and putting her to sleep. Grimly the young man stood up, holding her tightly in his arms. "Let me lay down the ground rules. I pilot if, in addition to those privileges you mentioned, I get paid well. Not to mention my own apartment... with Rei here."
"What?" Gendo uttered, his voice showing the barest flicker of emotion for the first time as it shifted to a growl.
"Either that, or I take the girl with me, out of here." Shinji threatened. "It's clear she'll be better in my hands anyway considering her injuries."
"You won't get the chance to," Gendo snapped, clearly restraining his anger. "You'll be shot dead..."
"...With Rei?" Shinji retorted. "It's obvious we're too valuable to lose... and even if I fail, it'll cost you time, time you don't have."
"The Angel is rapidly advancing!" The voice over the intercom stated.
"Think quickly, old man, after all I don't owe you anything."
There was a short pause. "Done."
Shinji smirked. "Then let's get this show on the road."
-"The Romans never allowed a trouble spot to remain simply to avoid going to war over it, because they knew that wars don't just go away, they are only postponed to someone else's advantage."-
"So what is this stuff?" Shinji grimaced as yellow liquid began filling the entry plug. "And more importantly, does it stain?"
Ritsuko's voice piped in. "It's LCL which will help you to pilot – once the entry plug is filled your blood will be oxygenated directly. And to answer your question... you might need some strong laundry powder."
"Figures," Shinji chuckled, taking a deep breath of the stuff. The strong, all-consuming smell of blood would have made many wretch but during his training many of the courses he had been forced to undergo were filled with animal blood and guts in order to get him used to the smell. And now it was almost like coming home.
In HQ, Ritsuko watched over the proceedings. "What's his sync-ratio at?"
Maya's eyes widened. "It's at... 55%! No, 12%! Wait, now it's 25%!" She paused. "It's stabilised at 85%!"
Ritsuko shook her head in amazement. This day was just full of surprises. "He can set the sync-ratio to any depth he wants? It's like he's the perfect pilot!" she gave Misato the thumbs up. "We can do this!"
Shinji looked around the entry plug, memorising the placement of the controls as they unlocked the restraints. This is really impressive. I'm going to have to obtain a full blueprint of the Eva. How many are there? And do they have different capabilities?
There was a mechanical whir as the Evangelion was moved to the launch pad.
The young man closed his eyes, steadying his breathing as he had been taught before a battle. Let's do this.
"EVA LAUNCH!" Misato screamed.
Shinji was unaffected by the high speed as the giant Evangelion came rocketing to the surface. His enemy appeared in his sights as the restraints were released.
There was a collective pause before his intercom crackled. "Shinji, just focus on walking for now."
As he thought, the machine was mostly controlled by thought – as if the neural link clips weren't an obvious indication.
Shinji smirked. Run.
NERV could only gape in astonishment as the Eva tore off at a breakneck sprint, its footsteps thundering through the street before it leapt into the air, executing a powerful flying kick that launched the Angel off its feet, sending it staggering back into the building.
"Incredible!" Ritsuko gasped as the Angel got up and threw a punch, only for it to be sidestepped and kneed in the ribs. "I've never seen anyone with such instinctive control! It's as if he's been piloting Eva for a lifetime!"
"Maybe your son is worth the bargain," Fuyutsuki commented.
At that Gendo grimaced. There was no possibility it could hold up. He would find a way to control the boy.
Is that all you've got? Shinji ducked out of the way of a kick and used his momentum to execute a deadly front sweep, knocking the Angel on its back before he leapt onto it, trapping both its arms. "Ritsuko, this thing have any weapons?"
"Progressive knife in your right shoulder. Second button on your left control stick!"
"Perfect." Unit 01 grabbed it, and before using it to hack into the core as the blade sunk into it with lethal precision.
"Massive energy building! In the Angel! It's going to self-destruct!"
"Shinji deploy your AT-Field!"
The screen suddenly went white as the Angel exploded.
Misato whitened. "T-The Eva?"
Like a demon emerging from the depths of hell, the Evangelion walked calmly through the inferno, stopping to pause and contemplate its surroundings before it sat down; almost contemplating the city it helped to save as it stared into the dawn.
-"Discipline in war counts more than fury."-
"Are you fine with living by yourself, Shinji?" Misato asked in concern as he received his apartment card.
He turned around and gave her a cheeky grin. "Don't worry, I'll have Rei to keep me company. And besides you're just a short walk away from us, we're practically neighbours!"
She winked. "Don't worry; I'll be able to make sure you two aren't getting into any... trouble!"
Shinji 'blushed' as he immediately recognised the innuendo. "Well since you're giving me a lift, can you give Rei one as well? We can pick up the things from her old apartment later."
"That sounds fine Shinji. I'll be waiting in the car park."
Shinji left with a brisk pace – he needed to get the girl out from under Gendo's thumb before the old man noticed his manipulations, after all.
Misato observed the young man thoughtfully. There was clearly more to him than one expected. He was intelligent, kind, charming, tough when need be, mature beyond his years – and that kindness extended to others as it had with Rei.
Though she was at first suspicious, Shinji explained that his bargain with the Commander was so he could take care of himself, and now Rei, adequately (though she would never know how much he had organised to get). She didn't doubt his sincerity and it was clear that he was disgusted at how his father had forced Rei to pilot, hence why he had organised to have her living with him.
One thing was for sure though, the Third Child was clearly going to shake things up around here.