Alright, you all might be saying, "DUDE! WTF! You have like nine billion fanfics already and we ignore them anyway and pay attention to horribly clichéd romance fics!", and I'd say, "Maybe so, but I finished The Mysterious Stranger, so I no longer need to write for that, now I can make a new fanfic…and also, can you pass me some pizza"

And so…well, I lost my train of track…I mean, thought…train of thought…

Anyway, in other news, I won't tell you a damn thing about this fanfic, just enjoy, it'll be Rei/Shinji romance! Oooh!

Frankly though, to tell you the truth, I'm currently into Hikari/Shinji…the few H/S fanfics here are extremely well-written, better than the average A/S or R/S fanfic. A/S will always be my favorite pairing, but I'm currently more into H/S, Hikari's awesome. Ehehehe…

Well, let's start the show. Chapter one!

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or its characters. Gainax does, and they rock. Who else could create both Evangelion and FLCL!


Unknown Location

Gendo Ikari stood, staring at his son emotionlessly as his brother and sister-in-law took the crying child into their small car, waving at the boy's father as they bore him away.

Shinji Ikari seemed to be almost screaming within the car, and although Gendo could no longer hear the noises, he knew very well what his child was saying.

"No! Where's mamma! Don't leave me! Please! Stop it! No!"

Gendo turned away, a moist tear flowing down his left cheek, making him enraged, wiping away the wetness in distaste.

Suddenly he locked eyes with an approaching man, short and gruff, with a shock of graying black hair and dark black shades.

Keel Lorenz looked at Gendo Ikari with an unreadable expression, and then turned away, speaking, his voice almost too quiet to hear.

"What had to be done…was done, Gendo Ikari. You know of what the Scrolls say…that child was destined to fail you…to kill you… It was admirable that you attempted to cling to the boy as a product of love from your former wife, and care for him in a way you could never truly understand. We are different from them, you understand. Sending him away is the only choice, since you are too human to give the poor boy the comfort of death."

Gendo turned around, walking away from the older man, although he seemed to nod to himself, ignoring the strange wetness gathering under his eyes.


Eleven Years Later

Tokyo 3, Japan

Tokyo 3 shook under yet another rumbling explosion, the city empty and dreary in the cool sunlight.

Shinji Ikari sighed as he leaned against a wall which occasionally shook every few minutes, sending a cloud of dust onto his dark hair.

Why did I return again? Just because he asked me to? Do I really believe that he'll treat me any differently?

The young man listlessly strolled to the telephone booth, staring at it as he slowly picked up the phone.

I won't ever forget what he did…I promised it to myself…No matter what he's like now, it changes nothing.

He sighed once more as he tried to dial the numbers on the unresponsive telephone, receiving only an automated voice.

"All normal lines are out of order due to the state of special emergency."

Shinji shook his head angrily, slamming his fist into the pay phone.

"Dammit, why did I even come back? I knew this wasn't a good idea."

"Do you always talk to yourself, Mr. Ikari? That is one of the first signs of schizophrenia"

"Eh?"

Shinji Ikari turned around to see a blonde woman next to a small black car, smiling slightly at him.


Tokyo 3, Japan

NERV Headquarters, Control Room

"We have visual image of our target, transferring it to the primary monitors."

The technicians around the control room began typing frantically on their consoles as data screens flashed around the great chamber, showing a great hulking black creature with gray plate like shoulders and a large crimson orb at its center.

The creatures was batting away floating military VTOLs with apparent ease, their missiles and machine gun fire having no visible effect.

"The identified moving target is still rapidly approaching our position."

Gendo Ikari stared at the creature, his hands folded in front of his face, silent, brooding as the gaunt gray-haired man beside him spoke.

"It's been fifteen years…"

"Indeed…"

"They have returned."

Misato Katsuragi stood, pacing in front of the screens, staring at the Angel before her with calculating eyes.

Fifteen years ago…They've returned, father…And I'll get the revenge you deserve.


Tokyo 3, Japan

Shinji Ikari let out yet another yelp as countless shockwaves rocked the city around him, sending foundations crumbling and stone and rubble to the ground.

In the distance he could see what was causing it, his eyes widening as he realized how large it was and how close it was, relative to its size.

The Angel batted away another floating VTOL, sending it flaming down into a building below, and continued making its stalking, hunched advanced.

"What…the"

"That is an Angel, Mr. Ikari."

Shinji barely stopped himself from jumping in surprise, having forgotten completely about the women behind him.

He spun around, peering at her.

She seemed relatively young, dressed in a white lab coat, with obviously dyed blonde hair over dark eyebrows and a single freckle.

"And you are?"

"You're obviously the boy, Shinji Ikari, the Third Child."

"Uh…Yeah…Third Child? But you didn't answer my ques-"

"I am Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, head scientist of the Evangelion Project; I'll be your escort for today. Come with me."

Shinji felt another rumbling shockwave and turned around, noticing worryingly that the creatures was getting closer and closer, and getting into the car was his best bet, no matter how hesitant he was to meet his father.

He clenched his fists, peering at the creature and then Ritsuko, who was in the driver seat of her small black sedan, tapping her nails impatiently against the steering wheel.

Finally he nodded to himself, quickly running into the passenger seat as another shockwave shook the city.

Ritsuko sighed, starting the car, not looking at the boy.

"I thought you'd never come…"

Shinji peered at her curiously, wondering what the statement meant and how well this woman knew him and his father.


Tokyo 3, Japan

NERV Headquarters, Control Room

"Target is intact, it's continuing inside Tokyo 3."

"It cannot be stopped by U.N. Air Force power."

The screen showed the black creature dodging a large missile, then taking an even large weapon in the chest, resulting in an enormous explosion that seemed to do little more than faze the unstoppable monster.

Three men were crowded around a table, adorned in U.N. regalia.

One of them, the taller of the two, stood up with a snort.

"Decimate the target! Commit all divisions at Atsugi and Iruma Bases to the battle!"

"Hold nothing back; destroy the target at all costs!"

The technicians continued to type frantically on their consoles, shouting out reports at random intervals, although everything could be see quite clearly on the screen.

The great creature strode forward, raising its hand and firing what seemed to be an energy beam towards a group of VTOLs, decimating them instantly.

"Guided missiles and shells are having no affect on the target! More than half of the air brigade and the entire tank battalion have been completely destroyed!"

One of the U.N. Commanders slammed his fist into the table, growling.

"It's useless! What can we do against it with the firepower we have!"

Suddenly the ring of a telephone interrupted the old man's tirade, and he picked it up, answering.

"Yes…yes…understood. It must be deployed then…as previously arranged."

Gendo peered at the screen as the older man standing next to him leaned in, speaking in almost a whisper.

"So, it's protected by an A.T. Field, as we thought?"

"Yes…their weapons will have no affect against the Angels."


Tokyo 3, Japan

Shinji peered out of the corner of his eye at Ritsuko occasionally as they sped down the rubble and road.

What kind of person is this Dr. Akagi? What does my father do? And what the hell was that creature!

Ritsuko's eyes passed over Shinji for a second as she stepped harder on the gas, the car accelerating.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Shinji. But right now, we've got a major problem on our hands. Hopefully we're far enough to escape the explosion."

"Explosion? What's-"

Ritsuko glanced at Shinji once more, before speaking, her voice firm.

"N2"


Tokyo 3, Japan

NERV Headquarters, Control Room

One of the U.N. Commanders stuck his fist in the air, roaring in approval as the metal cylinder made a direct hit on the creature, an enormous explosion rocking the creature, all the screens in the chambers going off and on with static.

"Yes! Contact has been made!"

"Shockwave inbound!"

The commander smirked triumphantly, turning to Gendo.

"Well, I suppose there was no need for you after all, Mr. Ikari, now there won't be anything left for you. The N2 Tactical Nuclear Weapon is quite good, if I might say so myself."

The Commander of NERV simply remained silent, peering past the man at the video screens behind him.


Tokyo 3, Japan

Shinji held tight onto his seat as he felt what seemed at first like a miniscule gust of wind, then a powerful bubble of heat slam into the car, not overcoming it yet apparently, as Ritsuko drove furiously.

"Dammit, I'm losing control of it…Why did those fools have to use the N2…Don't they know that…"

She was cut off as the car swerved from the shockwave, slamming into a nearby pole, the windows shimmering as they exploded, shards of glass flying into the air.


Tokyo 3, Japan

NERV Headquarters, Control Room

The U.N. commander stared at the technicians running about in the control room with a smirk as the data screens all showed static.

Hmph. This entire NERV operation was foolishness, since the beginning. I'll be sure to nominate budget cuts now that it's become apparent that their usefulness is minimal.

"What is current condition of the target?"

"It's undetermined due to radio wave interference, our visual is down."

"Hmm, it was such a massive explosion; the end result is not in doubt."

Suddenly the bridge crew looked up as their consoles lighted up, displaying odd waves and frequencies.

"Sensors again operational."

"There's a large energy source at the center of the explosion site!"

"What the hell!"

"Visual image restored."

The screen displayed the Angel, its slightly melted plates coming through a great cloud of smoke and ash, apparently not neutralized at all.

"What!"

"That was our trump card…"

"Dammit…this is unbelievable…"

"It's a monster!"


Tokyo 3, Japan

Shinji Ikari groaned, the dark numbness around him clearing as he felt a warm drop of blood flow down his forehead.

"Hmm, you seem relatively unhurt, we were both quite lucky, I suppose."

To his right, Ritsuko Akagi shook the dust and broken glass off her clothes, looking through the now nonexistent windshield to the point where her car had collided into the steel support pole.

"Your car…"

Ritsuko wiped the dust and blood off her chin, turning the ignition, the car coming on with a muffled roar, to Shinji's surprise.

"Hmm, at least it still drives..."

She put the broken car into reverse and then continued to drive down the road she had gone, not paying any real attention to the enormous crater in the distance, or the regenerating monster in the background.

She spoke into her cell phone, rapidly, her eyes listlessly on the road.

"Yes, I've picked him up. No, he's alive; his life is my highest priority at this time. Prepare a train car for us, a linear one. Right, I'll be delivering him in approximately ten minutes."

Shinji sighed, turning his head to look out the window at the destroyed buildings around him.

Deliver? I'm just an object to him; I suppose…What do they want from me?


Tokyo 3, Japan

NERV Headquarters, Control Room

Everyone in the control room, from the NERV technicians to the U.N. Commanders stared at the video screen silently, as the black creature seemed to shed the little flesh damaged from the N2 explosion, apparently regenerating it fresh from within.

Fuyutsuki leaned forward and spoke, as Gendo remained silent, his hands still folded in front of his face.

"It's regenerating itself. Once again, as expected."

"Indeed…If it was incapable of that it would be useless as an independent weapon."

"Hmm, I'm impressed with it, it seems to be able to amplify its own functions and grow in power."

"In addition, it has inevitably gained intelligence from experience."

"Yes…the next invasion is only a matter of time."


Tokyo 3, Japan

Shinji remained silent, peering out the window as the car-transport began departing from the station, Ritsuko having finally managed to maneuver the shattered sedan onto the designated platform, a recorded female voice playing loud.

"The gate is closing. Attention, please. The train is about to depart. This train ..."

Shinji stared silently at the black booklet Ritsuko had handed him only seconds later.

"The NERV agency?"

"Yes, it's an organization directly tied to the United Nations…"

"And…that's what my father belongs to, correct?"

"Correct, do you know what he does, Shinji?"

Shinji turned away again, for a moment, his face distant.

"Supposedly some important job, protecting the human race…at least that's what my uncle told me."


Tokyo 3, Japan

NERV Headquarters, Control Room

Gendo Ikari stood silently and emotionlessly before the three seated U.N. men, as they stared at him with clearly visible distaste.

"You have command of this operation from this point on. We'll observe how you handle the situation."

"Yes, sir."

"Ikari, considering our available weaponry, I must admit that we have no effective defense or offense against the target."

"And you are confident that you are capable of defeating it?"

"It is for that sole purpose that NERV exists."

"Indeed, we shall not tolerate failure."

The commanders nodded their farewells as the platform bearing them and the table they sat behind was lowered down, away into the darkness, disappearing completely from view.

The technicians began rapidly typing on their consoles as the Angel continued striding forward, now no longer hindered by ineffective U.N. attempts and apparently completely healed from the nuclear attack.

"No change in target…"

"Present effective rate of interception is seven point five percent."

Fuyutsuki strode towards Gendo Ikari, his face somber.

"The U.N. can no longer assist us…What will you do?"

Gendo locked eyes with the old man, although his eyes were hidden slightly by his shimmering glasses.

"I will activate Evangelion Unit 01."

"Unit 01? But we have no pilot. Rei is still quite injured."

"Not a problem, another pilot is being delivered as we speak."

"What?"

Gendo looked away, silent, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Don't tell me…No, Ikari, don't tell me you're sending for him? After all these years? You remember what the Scrolls decreed! You abandoned him for a reason, you understand that, returning him could have horrible consequences"

The Commander of NERV smirked.

"The Scrolls! I put no faith in that antique garbage any longer…You remember the Antarctic incident…We have no choice."

Ikari paused and then strode forward, staring at Sachiel's nightmarish form.

"Indeed…as I said before, a new candidate is being delivered as we speak."


Well, this is the first chapter…and it may have gone by the book really (literally, in some cases), with some minor differences, but things will be splitting away from the original timeline of events increasingly as we go about the next few chapters.

And remember, R/S fans, this is a Rei/Shinji romance fic in part, we'll get to it eventually…I haven't even introduced the young albino yet. Hehehe.

Well, see you next chapter.