A child is crying.

The hangar is in a loud panic. Technicians are running to and fro, tools and things at hand to try and rectify what is increasingly obvious as a lost cause. A man is on his knees, face blank with disbelief at his loss. And a child is crying for his mother.

"Sir! Please, don't int-"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" roared a labcoated man. On his shoulders were hoisted exposed cables – crackling in blue arcs of rage and collectively nearly as wide across as his torso. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" He heaves, nearly crushed by the weight, but heaves closer. "GODDAMMIT!" his voice roars in nearly unspeakable wrath. Yet more others are thrust aside with his shoulders as he heaves the crackling lightning high above him.

"GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER."

Contact.

And the world was white.

ERA OF EVANGELION: AMBITION AND DIVINITY

Chapter One – Big things, little things

The city was silent but for the padding of two feet and the rhythmic clack of a cane against asphalt. The summer-like weather cast mirages across the blacktop.

"Uncle, shouldn't we try the phone?" asked Shinji as he repositioned the strap of his backpack. He looked behind them at the road leading to the rail station.

"No, no need. The city's in emergency lockdown – phones are off. …mm? Something bothering you, Shinji?"

Shinji glanced back. "Sorry, I thought I saw somebo-"

A sudden escalation of noise – the loud droning of VTOL crafts as they slowly retreat against an unseen presence. Then, aghast, Shinji knew what they were backing away from:

A giant, mossy-green skin, impossibly thin for its size, and earthshakingly implacable with every step.

"Wh-what the hell is-"

"Sachiel," murmured the elder man. "The Coverings of God."

Unnoticed and hidden by the cacophony of the rampaging angel, the squealing of wheels against pavement encroached closer to them.

CENTRAL DOGMA

"Tank squadrons eight and ten confirm locks."

"Missile banks are ready. Network latency is low. Pinpoint lock achieved. Predicted impact spread is at fifteen milliseconds. We are ready to fire!"

"Engage!"

It was known already that, individually, the best that conventional armaments short of an N2 bomb can do is slow the beast down.

At least, on an individual basis.

Across Tokyo 3, as VTOL aircraft distract the monstrous form with heavy fire, turrets and missile banks rear up like the synchronized heads of a steel hydra. A semicircle of orange fire roared around – and for a moment, there was deafening silence.

Then chaos.

"HAH!" yelled a military commander in celebration as the dust settled, revealing the Angel crumpled upon the earth. "Sorry, Ikari, but it looks like you won't have much to-"

A flash of light, and the screen was all white.

"Shit! It's still alive! Fire! FIRE!"

OUTSIDE

"Hoh, that worked better than expected," said the older man as he patted Shinji's shoulders. "If they don't panic, we might not be needed after all. At least, not… Shinji, cover your eyes."

Hellfire, and a great purple cross. The shockwave struck the car, nearly causing it to crash into the embankment. The air was littered with the corpses of VTOL craft.

"Ah, I spoke too soon."

"What is that thing?" yelled Shinji in a panic. "What do you mean 'we might not be needed?'"

"Is he always this excitable?" asked Misato through grinding teeth as the car drifted through a curve. Shinji was thrown violently into the door, though his guardian merely smiled.

"Please give the commander's son a break," he said politely. "It's his first time in a firezone.

Another bone-jarring explosion struck, and the wailing of the injured and dying could be heard not terribly far off.

"Ah, a pity. I requisitioned automated howitzers for the exercise, but it looks as if they're using manned tanks instead."

"Feh. Waste of lives and taxpayer's money," said Misato. "…wait, why are the VTOLs retreating?"

She ripped out a pair of binoculars. "…don't tell me…!"

"May I suggest we drive very quickly towards cover?"

FIRE ZONE

A multi-stage rocket is many things.

There's a lot of fuel, for one. Especially for a model such as this. An ignition source to utilize the fuel is, of course, necessary. The fuselage has to be designed to withstand atmospheric turbulence yet remain flight-worthy. With this design, it was more than possible to achieve orbital flight.

There was also the warhead. A non-nuclear device, containing within it an almost microscopic quantity of antimatter – an expensive, yet hideously powerful weapon, capable of leveling country-sides, yet without irradiating them beyond the point of rebuilding.

There was, technically, a second warhead. An iridium spike, right at the forefront. This hit the Angel's AT field with a loud, reverberating clang. The impact traversed down the length of the warhead's caging, and triggered the explosive release of the outer fuselage.

At about this point, the blue flame of the exhaust turned an incandescent white, and the Angel suddenly realized that the missile wasn't going to just go away…

CENTRAL DOGMA

"YES!"

Again the screen was a blazing white, the cameras at-hand overloaded by the magnitude of firepower on display.

"Shockwave approaching," declared a technician, and all was static.

"A multistage hypervelocity rocket," murmured Fuyutsuki. "Your brother-in-law's work with the Americans is showing."

"Itsuki put this together as a last-minute olive branch to the JSSDF," muttered Gendo. "To give them enough to calm their collective egos."

"Do you think it'll fail?"

"No-"

The static cleared, and around the upper table, celebratory cigars fell out of hands and mouths.

The Angel loomed. Fins breathed in and out amidst the hellish flames. They could see its skin squirm, twist… regenerating. The only clear damage was an arm turned to cinders.

"I know it will." Gendo turned to the generals above him. "Gentlemen, you have demonstrated clearly that human technology is not to be trifled with. However, the enemy remains, and it will approach. With your permission…"

"…w-we relinquish control to NERV. Where are you going?"

Gendo approached the elevator. "To see my son."

OUTSIDE

"Just one more shove, Ikari-kun!" grunted Misato as they tried to right her car. "One… two… HEAVE!"

The sedan crashed upright, the springs of its suspension squealing in protest.

"Ah, lovely. We'll still be on time," said Itsuki as he picked up his cane and stood back up, dusting off his brown hair. "My apologies, lieutenant colonel, for the lack of aid, but given my disabilities…"

"It's not a problem, Director. Shinji-kun, are you alright?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Katsuragi-san." Shinji helped his uncle into the car. "Will we be seeing my father soon?"

"Very soon. He'll be meeting us at the end of the elevator."

They drove off, Shinji slightly less perturbed by the violent recklessness of her driving now that he's survived the overflow of a shaped antimatter charge going off against the side of an Angel… and his uncle as unreadable as ever.

TIME: .XX

"You wished to see me, Gendo?"

The chair was turned away from Itsuki. Gendo's profile could barely be seen. "I need you to take care of my son."

Itsuki sighed. "No."

"…then I will contact Professor Ikiyama-"

"Calling in a favor, Gendo. Just a small one. Hear me out."

"…fine."

"So do you want the emotional appeal or pragmatic appeal?"

Gendo turned his chair, staring at his brother-in-law. "…pragmatic."

Itsuki scratched his bald, scarred head with a gloved hand, and shrugged. "Easy. The pilot's psychological stability is key to the operational values of the Evangelion unit. Since we know that Shinji has a high compatibility profile to the test unit – no doubt due to my sister's incident – there is a certainty that we'll be forced to utilize his talents. For that, he needs to have as close to a normal childhood as possible."

"Then you, his uncle, can-"

"I'm not done. Actually, my earlier question was a trick – there's an emotional facet either way. Tell me, Gendo – how did parental abandonment work out for you?"

The air chilled by ten degrees, though Itsuki remained unfazed. He shrugged and tapped his cane against the floor.

"You're not abandoning your son. Furthermore, if you loved my sister at all, you're going to raise him right, given that he's her son as well. I will reconsider the issue of his guardianship when NERV headquarters've been established – you will be too busy at that point to balance both your duties and your son, I think. But you're not abandoning him."

Gendo slumps into the chair, his distant and stoic form broken as he takes off his glasses, hands covering his weary expression. "Itsuki, I don't think I can do it."

"I don't give a damn what you think you know," said Itsuki as he hobbled away. "Only what you know."

PRESENT

"…so how much have you been told about what your father does?" asked Misato as their elevator lowered.

"Er… not much. It has to do with Second Impact, right?" replied Shinji as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I know he's NERV's commander, but neither him nor my uncle discusses work much."

"You weren't cleared for it until now," said Itsuki as he hummed quietly to himself. "Much of it is, after all, military in nature, and rather sensitive."

The door stopped, and Misato blinked as Ritsuko stared at her, a small smile on her face.

"Ah, Professor Akagi. Good to see you," said Itsuki as he stuck out a gloved hand. "You look well."

"Research Director Ikari Itsuki. It is an honor to finally meet you."

"No, not at all. The honor's all mine. Your work on the MAGI mainframe has been of much interest to me. Shinji, this is NERV's chief of engineering, Akagi Ritsuko."

"A-ah-"

Ritsuko smiled at the boy. "The commander's son? I see the resemblance. Hello, Shinji."

"H-hello…"

Itsuki chuckled. "He's a bit shell-shocked from earlier. Tell me, how fared the conventional arms?"

"Better than expected, due to the networked targeting program," said Ritsuko as the elevator slowed again to a halt. "But not well enough. I'm afraid the thesis holds true – that thing cannot be harmed through conventional means."

"Mm. 'Conventional' means. I suspect I'll already have a requisitions form for you soon, Akagi-san."

"Oh dear. If it's going to cost as much as the multistage rocket…"

"Hah, no, of course not." Itsuki's cheerful eyes hardened. "The missile will be cheap in comparison." The elevator dinged as it touched down.

"…ah. Hello, Father."

PAST: 2010-XX-XX

A sake bar in Kyoto. Enka's playing in the background, the lights are dim, and the sake's pleasantly warm. Despite the scent of old wood and the old-fashioned kitsch, the bar's fairly new – made after Second Impact and the resultant wars as a fond recollection of tradition and history. Itsuki thanks a waitress as she serves two trays of skewered meats.

"Unbelievably delicious," groaned Itsuki as he bit into a skewerful of fried chicken skin. "You have no idea how much you can miss Japanese food after being abroad for a year. I don't mind German food, but this is incomparable."

"How is NERV-Bethany doing?"

"You'd know better than I, Commander," retorted Itsuki as he gnawed on a stick. "But to offer my own perspective: Shikinami's work on bio-quantum entanglement processes will delay the development of future models by some years, due to the complications of the procedure."

"We will need it done faster."

Itsuki gave Gendo a steady look. "We know what happens if we do it faster. In fact, we only don't know what happens if we do it slowly."

A silence as both men sipped from a flattened saucer.

"How is Shinji?"

PRESENT

A rough, scarred hand patted Shinji on his shoulders. "You've grown much in the last three years."

"Th-thank you. Um, how did your hands-"

"No time, no time. We'll reminisce after we've beaten the Angel," said Itsuki as he prodded them along. "Shinji, how would you like to pilot a giant robot?"

"…what?"

The lights of the hangar flickered on, and Shinji yelped.

"Your uncle and I had the Japanese government soften the target up for you," said Gendo with a straight face. "It did, however, hurt your sister in the process, I'm afraid."

"Rei? She's involved in this?"

"Everybody's involved with this," said Misato softly. "The entire world, for whole generations. But, for many reasons, only you can pilot it."

"Wh-why?" stammered Shinji in fear. "Why me?"

The entire complex shook as an explosion rocked the geofront. The lights flickered madly, casting odd shadows across Itsuki's impassive face. Though everybody else crouched, he stood still amidst the sudden thunder.

"Because it was accidentally imprinted to you. Because only the young can stand the shock of piloting such a monster. Because we've run out of weapons to toss at the monster above us."

The great purple oni face loomed above Shinji like an impassive god of war.

"Because we're all going to die horribly if you don't. Including you. That reason enough?"

OUTSIDE

The great beast groaned, causing entire buildings to shake, scattering glass across what is already the ruins of the city. The fiery scars left by the antimatter explosion were healing but slowly – embers could still be seen smoldering. It crawled almost listlessly towards its target, itself deep underground.

"Alright, Shinji. We parked you some distance away so you can get used to the controls," said Ritsuko over the line. "The Evangelion unit moves as you will it, not think it. Basically, don't imagine the word 'move,' but imagine your leg actually moving."

"Shinji, just pretend that you're two hundred feet tall," said Itsuki over the same line.

"I've never been two hundred feet tall!"

"Then pretend all the buildings are toys!"

"That… I guess I can do that." Shinji gulped as he gripped the controls. "Alright, taking a step… whoa. Whoa!"

The Eva crashed face-first.

"…that hurt. Why does that hurt?"

"You're neurologically synchronized with the Eva," explained Ritsuko. "You have as much control over it as you can make yourself believe you do. But you also feel what it feels."

"I-I see… shit!"

In an unexpected burst of grace, the Eva leapt up – barely in time as a lance of purple speared where it just was.

"Good!" barked Itsuki. "It's only got one arm, and if it sees you it can fire a weapon from its eyes – what do you do?"

"I-"

A jet of purple light. The shriveled, burnt arm… quickly grew to full, as if nothing had happened. Eva 01 was launched back, slamming into a building. The light retracted, and its head slumped forward, just before blood sprayed out from the gouged hole.

"Shinji!" yelled Misato. "Commander-"

Gendo looked impassively at the screen.

The Angel approached. An arm, long and impossibly thin, snapped out and aimed its palm at the Eva's core. The rod of light snapped back… and slammed straight through the building.

Only through the building.

It got lifted a good three hundred feet as an uppercut slammed against its core.

PAST: 2010-XX-XX

"He's been reading some of my old manga," admitted Gendo as he reached for a yakitori. "Actually, I didn't know I still had those copies – they've been in the closet since I started dating Yui, and I forgot about them."

Itsuki laughed. "You better not let your underlings know that. It'll be damn near impossible to keep your intimidating façade."

"No worries about that. I'm transferring them over to your place."

"…ah."

Gendo chewed slowly and thoughtfully. "Tokyo-3's construction is nearly complete. The labs, the research projects; everything needs to be supervised. I'll stay in contact. I'm thankful for these last few years, Itsuki."

Itsuki scratched his head and shrugged. He reached for his jacket, and pulled out a pair of black gloves, covering his steam-scalded hands with them, but one remnant of that fateful day during Eva 01's test activation. "Sure thing. I could use the company. Explain to him why you're doing this before you drop him off, though." Gendo nodded. "Oh, yes. What is the boy reading anyhow?"

"He seems rather engrossed by Hajime no Ippo as of late…"

PRESENT

Body shots. Perfectly accurate body shots against all sides of the Angel's core. It had attempted to blast him once already, missing harmlessly as a fireworks display against the night sky. Cracks appeared across the blood-red surface of the gemlike core – and now…

A straight. An armored fist sank through.

"I… I got it. I got it," breathed Shinji painfully as he clutched his left eye. "Father, I did-"

"Shinji!" yelled Misato! "It's not over!"

The broken gem pulsed – and suddenly, it was all Shinji could see. The Angel wrapped its torso entirely around the Eva, and now the core glowed, inflated-

Hellfire. Somebody screaming his name. Pain. Pain. Agony.

Then, nothing.