Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of it's characters. All characters are the property of Gainax. However, I do own my demons. I make no profit by writing this story so please don't sue me because I have no money.
AN: Alright so here we go again right? Yet another attempt at fan-fiction which will probably fail but hey...I got better. I hope. Reviews will keep me going people so tell me if you like it or even if you don't like it.
"LAUNCH EVA!!" and so it began. The inexperienced Shinji Ikari was launched up to the surface of the Geo front without any instruction on how to control the enormous bio-mechanical war machine. Sachiel's ominous black body and bird-like mask of a face was advancing on him slowly, yet the poor boy knew not how to defend himself. Cautiously he attempted to move the mechanized creature's gigantic purple armored foot but alas, he only managed to make it trip and fall on its knees. "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'M GONNA DIE!" Sachiel moved as though to strike a finishing blow to the Eva's horned head but it never got that far. Instead it and the rest of the world around the boy simply froze in place.
A profound and maddening silence filled the air until at last someone spoke though it was a voice Shinji had never heard before. "Young Shinji Ikari… One meek of heart and without courage… Why do you not defend yourself? More importantly…Would you allow that girl that you just saved to be killed so soon after her rescue? I am a being that sees all things but is sworn to tell only what a mortal already knows. What you know is that Rei Ayanami should have died today, along with the rest of mankind." Shinji looked around for the source of the voice but could find none in the small cockpit. "Who are you!?" Shinji wanted to sound strong and demanding but instead his voice sounded frightened and weak. The voice laughed, a deep and rich sound.
"I am called Courage and I am your inner demon. I represent the features you most lack young Ikari. You have been chosen and are the bearer of the true strength of humankind, a True Demon. Though that is not entirely accurate it is the closest explanation I can give while using your language." Shinji looked around him again, still searching for the source of the strange voice. "A demon? I thought demons were supposed to be evil…Why would demons want to help us?" Courage laughed heartily and spoke as though explaining something very simple to a small child. "If the angels win then what of us demons? There must be shadow to balance the light. If humans are gone then there will be no wrongs committed. No sin and no hate. No greed or lust. How would we survive in a world solely of light? You humans too need these things though… they are what drive you whether you believe it or not." Shinji shook his head and gave a small smile. "No I understand perfectly. Whether one strives to not feel those things or embraces them, they still drive them forward one way or another."
The demon gave a booming laugh, but it was a warm and charitable sound. "So the boy is not without wisdom after all! Very good! However, there is a stipulation for receiving the aid of a demon. You must make a pact with me Shinji Ikari. A pact forged of blood. Just a drop will do though, you needn't cover yourself in it like so many of your kind believe. Just bite your thumb until it bleeds and ask for my aid when you need it." Shinji nodded solemnly and moved his thumb up to his lips, then slowly placed the tip of it between his teeth and bit down hard. The pain was immediate but he tried not to pay it any attention.
"Good…Farewell then Ikari. Remember…Call my name when you require my aid." Shinji nodded again and smiled briefly, then looked at the monitor in front of him as the world slowly began to pick up speed, Sachiel's clawed hand moving more and more swiftly toward his Eva's chest. "Courage! Come to my aid and abolish this light with the darkness of humanity's shadow!" Shinji's eyes rolled up into his head the moment he said this and his skin began to darken, going from a faint tan, to pale, to ash gray swiftly. His top canines lengthened and curved until they extended past his lower lips. His body began to age rapidly until it ceased to be that of a fourteen-year-old boy and became that of a man of medium build. His hair rapidly lengthened until it reached his waist, growing black and floating around him in the LCL. His clothes ripped and tore until they were nothing more than rags draped over him, revealing bright red tribal markings as they slithered their way over his skin.
When Sachiel struck the Eva it gave before him and collapsed in on its self in a rain of bodily fluids and grotesque giant organs. Somehow Shinji Ikari stood atop this mess, pristine and untouched. He was completely immaculate and moreover he radiated inhuman amounts of power. From his back sprang two black wings, bat-like in appearance that were as long as he was tall. The curves at the tops of his wings started at his shoulders and the tips stopped at his ankles. He spread them wide as his eyes unrolled, now a bright and fiery red, making his form seem immense and powerful, if small compared to the massive angel. His nails hardened and lengthened into razor sharp claws, completing his transformation. "You're going down." With those words spoken he flapped his mighty wings and rose rapidly into the air so that he was before the angel's bright red core, with a wicked grin he darted forward and in an instant was on the other side of the angel, a gaping hole in the creature's core behind him.
With a shriek it fell to the ground, crushing several buildings and sending a shock-wave through the city that sent debris flying everywhere. Shinji Ikari gently touched down on the asphalt near the angel's foot and collapsed, falling into the deep blackness of unconsciousness.
"Sir, was that part of the scenario?" Fuyutsuki looked to his commander with a mildly concerned look on his face. He knew the answer to his question but felt better having it confirmed. Gendo frowned behind his neatly folded hands and watched the monitors on his desk closely, watching the first child closely as well as the new pilot who had just lost his Evangelion unit and yet had still killed the angel and ripped through its AT field as though he didn't even know it was there at all. At length the commander of NERV spoke. "It is not, but perhaps we can still use this to our advantage if we play our cards right. Get him restrained and sedated heavily Fuyutsuki." The tall man nodded and backed away into shadow to issue the orders as quietly as possible. It wouldn't do to have a lot of people knowing that their savior was bound and drugged in some lab at NERV.
Shinji woke up screaming. He was screaming at the top of his lungs mindlessly. It was a sound of immense suffering and unbearable pain, almost inhuman. When he finally quieted he looked around at his surroundings, his head turning quickly as his eyes darted about. He was in what appeared to be an enormous glass tube with large machines above and below him serving as the top and bottom. Thick nylon bindings held his wrists and ankles and prevented him from moving, suspended in the LCL filled tube. Outside of the tube was darkness save for one place. A large desk with a monitor and equipment he could neither name nor truly describe. "Where am I!? What's going on!?" His voice was full of fear but also a hint of rage. He was nude and as he looked down at himself to realize this he also noticed that his body had returned to its previous condition. "Was it all a dream? Is this… a dream?" "I'm afraid not third child." The cold voice of Shinji's father could be heard from speakers inside the tube. In the silence that followed that statement Gendo walked into the light and stood beside the desk with a small microphone in his hand.
"You are an oddity and must be studied. We will understand the power you wield or you will die from our attempts. If you live you will fight as our weapon against the angels. If you do not then the small explosive in the back of your head will detonate and you will die. Do you understand?" Fear filled Shinji's body as Gendo held up a small detonator in his free hand, his thumb hovering over the button that would end his son's life. Though terrified beyond the ability to think he managed to give a slight nod of understanding and to his relief this seemed acceptable to the dark man. "Good." With that Gendo receded back into the shadows. Shortly after that the blond woman he had met earlier with Misato Katsuragi appeared, holding the same microphone Gendo had been holding. "Let's get started then shall we Shinji?" With a smile she sat at the desk and began typing something on a keyboard he couldn't see. A loud whirring noise came from above him and two mechanical arms descended from above him, one ending in what seemed to be a large pair of tweezers and the other in a scalpel. "We'll need a tissue sample of course…"
Thus began a long series of tests and scans that caused the boy immeasurable amounts of pain and anguish. For almost thirty-six hours this went on. He begged and pleaded with her but she seemed to be deaf and perhaps she had actually turned off the microphones in the tube he was in. Finally, it all came to a sudden halt and he heard her speak into the microphone, his mind barely registering what she was saying. "I think I deserve a break don't you?" With that remark she left him alone as she walked into the darkness, leaving the microphone on the desk. Shinji passed out soon after that, feeling himself slip into the comfortable darkness of unconsciousness.
"He awoke with a start, lifting his head to look at the desk where the girl he had protected sat, looking at him with a cold curiosity. She was dressed in her school uniform and most of her bandages were gone now, only the one over her forehead and her left eye remaining. "You are the third child correct? The pilot of unit one?" Shinji somehow found the strength to nod an affirmative and Rei tilted her head to one side in curiosity, showing an unusual amount of expression. "Why is it you are being held here?" With all the strength he possessed he managed to utter a single word. "Study…" He rasped but Rei only frowned and pressed a button he could not see. "Repeat." She commanded but he shook his head slightly and looked at her with dismay. Rei sat down and looked at the monitor, then began typing on a keyboard he could not see as Ritsuko had. He flinched but when no pain came to him he opened his eyes to see that she was looking at the monitor intently, studying his test results apparently. "Subject Shinji Ikari for study by Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. You are being studied?"
Shinji managed to nod his head again but only just, the last of his strength seemed to be gone. Rei looked at him, then at the monitor again with an empty look on her face, a cold and expressionless mask. "I have gone through the same. You will survive even if only just." Shinji's eyes flicked up to her and they were full of shock. He found himself able to speak again if only for a moment. "Survive? There is an explosive in the back of my head!" He rasped out his reply and fell silent again, his throat burning with need for water. The LCL appeared to be continuously filtered thankfully but it still could not keep him hydrated forever. Rei looked at him carefully then spoke. "I will point out your physical needs to Dr. Akagi." With that she turned to leave him alone once again in the darkness but he called after her and she stopped. "Wait!" She turned and looked at him quizzically. "Yes?" the microphone on the desk picked up her voice fairly well from the three feet she was away from it. "Stay with me please? Just until… Until it starts again." Rei frowned and half turned toward what he supposed was the exit. "I can't." Shinji's eyes fell to the floor as she said this but lifted again when she continued. "But I will return tomorrow." With that said she disappeared into the dark again.