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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Occurrence at Tokyo-3

Shinji Ikari stood in the empty train station of Tokyo-3 and wondered what he was doing there. The day before he had come home from school to his Uncle's just like any other day and found a message awaiting him. The message had been from his father, requesting that Shinji make his way to Tokyo-3 immediately. The excitement Shinji had felt had eclipsed anything else he had felt before.

Following the instructions in the message, Shinji had packed that night and left first thing in the morning on the train. His excitement had ebbed during the three-hour trip. The train and all the stations had all been empty of everyone except him, so he hadn't even had anyone to talk to. He had just sat quietly the whole time listening to music on his SDAT.

The train had pulled into the Tokyo-3 station, also completely empty, and Shinji had disembarked. The instructions had said to wait there for someone named Misato Katsuragi. A picture of a dark haired woman making a flirtatious pose and a phone number on back had also been included. Shinji guessed it was the same person but he had no way of knowing for sure.

It had been fifteen minutes since the train had dropped him off and no one had appeared. Shinji saw a payphone across the street and decided to call the number on the back of the picture. He walked over and was about to pick up the receiver when the sound of birds taking flight made him look up.

Suddenly everything started shaking and a large green giant walked into view. Shinji thought it had to be taller than 15 meters. The thing had boney protrusions all over its body and had shoulders, but no head on top of them. It turned to face him and he saw that it had a weird bone white mask as a face coming out of its chest. More bone covered a large red orb in the middle of the monster's chest. Weird green protrusions came out of the back of its hands adding to the strangeness.

Shinji heard the roar of jets and the next moment two fighters flew overhead. They each launched several missiles and then veered away from the target, one to the left and the other to the right. The giant just stared as the missiles hit it.

Shockwaves blew through the area and Shinji stared, frozen in horror, as a nearby telephone pole toppled towards him. He knew he was about to die. All he could think about was how little he had accomplished in his life, about how he had never fulfilled a higher purpose. Shinji closed his eyes, expecting an impact, but after a few moments, he opened them to find the poll lying right next to him. The boy could hardly believe his eyes. Another shockwave brought him back to reality, and looking up he saw that the green giant was still unharmed. Shinji heard a screeching sound, and looking to his left, saw a blue sports car hurtling towards him.

He dived out of the way and the car came to a halt right where he had been standing. The passenger side door opened up and Shinji saw the same woman from the photo beckoning him into the car.

"You're Shinji Ikari, right?" she asked. "Get in the car, we need to leave now!"

The giant took a step towards them and that was all the motivation Shinji needed. He practically jumped into the car. The woman had already floored the gas and was zooming away before he had even managed to close the door. He pulled it closed and yanked the seat belt over his chest, clicking it into place. Shinji heard more jets fly overhead and the woman next to him swore.

"Damn it, those idiots almost got you killed!" she then turned to Shinji and smiled at him. "Glad I found you when I did. I'm Misato Katsuragi. Your father has put you in my care for now."

The mention of his father snapped Shinji out of the panic induced coma he found himself slipping into. He turned to Misato and asked:

"My father? He sent you?" Misato nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. "Why did he call for me?" another, more pressing question occurred to him. "What was that giant monster?"

"I can't tell you much right now, plus everything will make more sense when we get to our destination."

"Why? Where are we goin-" Shinji was cut off as Misato took a sharp right turn, throwing him against his restraints.

"Sorry about that," she apologized.

Shinji looked out the window and saw tanks up on a hill firing at the giant. Not even fazed by the barrage, the monster picked up rubble and threw it with unnerving accuracy and strength at the tanks, crushing them all in a matter of moments.

Another jet flew overhead and launched a large missile from its belly, then veered away. The monster reached up and punched the missile. Shinji saw it crumple, and then explode. The flash of light was bright and Shinji was forced to look away. Next to him, Misato swore again.

"Shit! Those morons, they dropped an N-2 mine!" As she finished speaking, a shockwave came barreling through the city streets, flipping cars and breaking windows. It hit their car and flipped them into the air. The car rotated four times, but somehow managed to land on all four wheels. They continued driving like nothing had happened. Looking back over his shoulder, Shinji saw that the monster was still standing. It wasn't moving though and actually looked slightly injured. The car entered a cavern and screeched to a halt.

"Ok, this is our stop," said Misato, stepping out of the car.

Shinji exited the car and saw that they were in a large man made room. He walked over to Misato and together they entered an elevator and started to descend. Neither said a word and as the minutes ticked by Shinji wondered how far down they were going to go. Finally the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a ding.

Together they walked down the white, brightly lit corridors. Men and women in white coats stepped out of the way as they approached. The two made their way to the end of the corridor and didn't even stop as a door opened with a whoosh of air in front of them.

They emerged onto a walkway suspended far off the floor. Shinji stared in surprise at the room's only occupant, a purple and green giant that stood taller than even the green giant from before. This one was more human like, just scaled to massive proportions. It also had a large horn sticking out of its head.

"Good work Katsuragi, now we can proceed with the operation." Startled, Shinji looked back down the walkway and noticed a man standing right next to the purple giant. Next to Shinji, Misato snapped to attention, giving the man a salute.

"Commander Ikari, as requested I have brought your son."

"You may leave now Katsuragi," he replied, dismissing her. Misato turned around and walked out of the room, but not before giving Shinji a look that suggested she didn't want to leave him there alone with his father. Once the door had closed shut behind her, Gendo Ikari finally addressed his son. "Put these on," he said, taking out some weird clips and throwing them to Shinji.

Shinji grabbed them out of the air and stared at them blankly. His father saw his hesitation and jumped on it.

"What are you doing? Put them on your head. We don't have all day," snapped Gendo. Shinji clipped them onto his head, still wondering what they were for. His father seemed to be in an impatient mood and spoke up again. "Now get into unit-01. We're running out of time. The Angel has almost completely healed from the N-2 mine the military dropped on it earlier."

His father spoke as if this was all the information Shinji needed to understand the situation, but all it did was confuse him even more. Questions swam around inside his mind, but they were being droned out by the anger building up inside of him. Shinji was fed up with being dragged around without being told why and finally spoke up.

"No."

"No?"

"I won't get into that thing until you explain to me what's going on. First you demand I come here without explaining why. You didn't even ask nicely. Then when I do get here, I see a giant green monster destroying the city! I almost get hit by a telephone pole and blown up by missiles. Then I get brought to a weird underground facility and find a giant freaking robot down here. Oh, and your first words upon meeting your son in almost three years aren't even addressed to him. When you did address me it was to demand I wear some weird hair clips and get into the same giant freaking robot I mentioned before! What is this place? What is with the robot? What is that thing outside? You mentioned something about an angel, is that what it is?" The words tumbled out after having been shut away for so long. The boy glared at his father who was still mostly expressionless.

"None of that is important right now. You need to get into the Evangelion. This isn't the time to act like a selfish child."

Shinji couldn't believe his father's nerve. Accusing him of being a selfish child? Why couldn't someone else pilot the robot instead? He hadn't asked to be dropped in the middle of a war zone. He was just a kid, why did he have to put his life on the line? Why didn't his father pilot the robot instead if he wanted it to move so badly? The boy made his displeasure known by just standing and glaring at his father. The older man stared back, his gaze and expression never wavering. He took a device out of his pocket and spoke into it.

"Bring Rei down here," he said his voice emotionless.

After a few more minutes of their staring contest, a door opened up behind Gendo on the opposite side of the walkway from where Shinji had entered. Nurses rolled in a gurney with an IV drip attached to it. As it got closer, Shinji was stunned to see that there was a person laying on it.

The gurney stopped next to Gendo and Shinij finally got a good look at its occupant. It seemed to be a blue haired girl around his age. She was wearing a strange white skin tight body suit that sent his teenage imagination into overdrive. After he got over the suit he realized that she was had bandages wrapped around her stomach and half of her face, obscuring one eye, with the other closed. Her right arm was wrapped in even more bandages, making a sling, indicating that it might even be broken.

"Rei, you'll be piloting Unit-01. Shinji, you can leave now. If you won't pilot, then I have no need for you." The girl, Rei opened her closed eye and Shinji got a glimpse of the blood red orb underneath. Rei attempted to sit up but grunted in pain and fell off the gurney instead.

To Shinji's surprise, no one made any move to help her up. Gendo and the three orderlies just stood there silently, watching. Rei tried to push herself off the floor with her good arm, a grimace of pain on her face. Shinji could feel his heartbreaking at the sight of the girl trying to get into the robot at his father's command. He didn't want to be a tool for his father to be used on a whim, but even his anger and disgust at the old man couldn't beat out his urge to protect this girl. If he walked out now, it would fall to her to fight the green monster outside. With more strength than he had ever shown at any other moment in his life, Shinji spoke up.

"I'll do it. I'll pilot the robot against that monster."

Gendo didn't even turn to look at him when he answered.

"Get in then. We don't have time for anymore childish games."

Within a few minutes Shinji was suited up in a suit similar to the Rei's and sitting in the cockpit of the robot. A voice rang though the robot's comm.

"Engaging all systems." The cockpit lit up at the words. "Filling with LCL fluid." Shinji didn't have time to inquire on what the 'LCL fluid' was. A weird orange liquid flooded the cockpit. Shinji grabbed at his throat instinctively. Are they trying to drown me? He wondered fighting back panic. The voice sounded again, still unnervingly calm. "Breath normally please. The LCL fluid will simulate a normal breathing atmosphere and is perfectly fine to consume."

Shinji took a breath and found to his astonishment that he could breathe just like in air. He was disturbed though that the fluid tasted unnervingly like blood. In front of him in the fluid popped up a screen. The screen showed the view outside right in front of the robot, just like he was seeing through its eyes. He caught a glimpse of his father gently helping Rei up off the floor and onto the gurney. On the older man's face Shinji saw gentleness and caring that had never been, and probably never would be, directed at him. A smile appeared on Rei's face also, showing that the feelings seemed to be mutual.

Anger and jealousy flooded Shinji. Somewhere deep inside he had been hoping to earn his father's love and impress Rei. In their eyes he saw no room for himself though, making him wonder why he shouldn't just leave. He felt he needed an outlet for his feelings and the robot he was in, Unit-01 his father had called it, seemed to agree with him.

"Initiating catapult launch of Eva Unit-01," said the voice over the intercom. Before Shinji could ask what was going on, he was yet again cut of short as Unit-01 was launched upwards. The boy felt the force of the launch pushing him downward into his seat making him glad he had a seat belt on to keep him in place.

The trip seemed to last for just a minute but the next thing Shinji knew he was standing outside on the Tokyo-3 streets staring straight at the green giant; an Angel his father had called it. It turned to face him with its weird bone face. A monstrous scream filled the air from its direction, though Shinji wasn't sure that the thing even had a mouth.

"We just finished installing the experimental S2 engine into Unit-01 which means you should be able to run on internal power for the duration of the fight," said the voice over the robot's comm. again. "If at anytime during the fight you start running low on power I suggest you run to a recharge station and grab an umbilical to attach to your back."

Heedless of the voice which was still talking, the Angel charged at Shinji who started franticly looking around the cockpit.

"How does this thing work? I need to move!" yelled Shinji, ignoring the voice which was now rambling on about gun caches spread throughout the city.

The wind was knocked out of him as the monster impacted Unit-01, knocking it into a building. The building collapsed around Shinji as he tried to move. The Angel towered over him and just looked at the downed robot. It held out its right palm and Shinji saw a hole in it. The next second the hole in the palm lit up and the protrusion in the back of the Angel's hand shot forward like a piston. The protrusion hit Unit-01 directly in the head, shaking the cockpit.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" yelled Shinji in pain, reflexively clutching his head, feeling as if he had been the one hit instead of Unit-01. The inside of the Eva suddenly went dark as power left it. "Crap crap crap….." muttered Shinji. "Work! I need to move!"

He couldn't see outside anymore but he could feel the vibrations as the Angel took a step towards him, probably with the intent of finishing him off. Shinji was struck by fear for his life, but it was soon replaced completely by anger at the situation. All he had wanted was to please his father. He had never wanted to pilot a giant robot in a death match with a monster. The only reason he was here was because he had wanted to protect Rei and maybe even impress her. She was pretty cute after all.

Even that seems to be out of my reach, he though darkly to himself. My father and Rei don't even seem to notice me past the other. I'm just a pawn to stop this thing. I'm going to die and for what! He sighed, not even trying anymore to get the Eva to move. First my mother dies, and then my father leaves me. My aunt and uncle tried hard to raise me but they were always busy with other stuff. Probably were afraid of my father which is why they never got close to me. I was never outgoing at school, I don't even have any friends to mourn me when I die.

His anger had all evaporated now, replaced with self-pity and sadness at the unfairness of life. He could feel the Angel approaching as if in slow motion but couldn't get himself to even bother to try to move. His thoughts just kept getting darker and darker.

The lights stayed dark but the screen popped back to life, allowing him to see his executioner standing right above him. The Angel's eyes started to glow red and looked right at Shinji. Before it had the chance to fire though something barreled into it, knocking it out of the way and saving Shinji.

Shinji stared in awe at his savior, a large red robot, similar to the one he was in except for the color scheme and the fact it had four eyes and no horn. A voice boomed out from the robot, which must have been unbearably loud outside of Unit-01.

"You can just lay there and leave everything to me now that I've arrived," said an arrogant and energetic sounding female voice. Just the sound of the voice seemed to energize him again and suddenly Unit-01's systems turned back on. Another screen popped up showing the face of a girl around his age. She had red hair and bright blue eyes. The girl was also wearing a jumpsuit, similar to the one he and Rei were in, which was unsurprisingly red. He couldn't help but think that there seemed to be a very obvious theme going on with the girl. The girl looked at him from the screen, noticing that his power was back on.

"Hmph, not very impressive looking, are you? Oh well, at least now I'll have another person to watch as I, Asuka Langly Soryu, wipe the ground with this Angel," she said with a smirk. The next second her robot was pulling out a knife from a shoulder holster and charging at the Angel. "I and my Unit-02 will show you how a professional Eva pilot does things!"

The Angel tried to block, but Unit-02 ducked underneath its guard and stabbed upward. The knife struck a weird orange hexagonal field that seemed to be made of light. A force field? wondered Shinji.

Just when it looked like the knife had been stopped, Asuka pushed once more and the knife burst through, stabbing into the Angel. It embedded in its side to the left of the red orb in the middle of its chest. The Angel swung one of its massive arms and knocked Unit-02 away from it.

"Sheiss!" swore Asuka, making her Eva stand up. "I missed the core!" Unit-02 reached its arm out as a building opened up revealing an oversized gun. Asuka grabbed the gun and leveled it at the Angel. She pulled the trigger and let loose on the green monster. The rounds impacted the same orange field as before. Asuka kept firing but soon the gun gave a click indicating the clip was empty.

As she dropped the clip and attempted to put in a new one, the Angel started to move. Its eyes glowed and lasers shot out. Asuka dodged to the side, but the gun and the building it had come in were destroyed as the energy flared up in a giant purple cross. As she rolled to her fee,t the Angel came barreling into her, smashing her through another building.

Shinji felt panic embracing him. What was he doing just lying there while this girl was out fighting? She had saved him and he was just sitting there. He grabbed the controls and attempted to stand up, but failed, collapsing back down.

"Damn it!" he yelled. "Stand up you stupid machine! I need to help her!" The Eva seemed to respond to his feelings and he was suddenly on his feet. Moving Unit-01 suddenly started feeling just like moving his own body. It felt natural and without the need for conscious thought.

Shinji snapped to action and ran full tilt at the Angel, tackling it to the ground. He tried to punch it but felt his fist impact the same field from before. The field shot out and blasted him upwards. He smashed down into the ground but managed to slowly get back up. He heard gunfire and looked up to see Asuka with another gun, firing at the Angel and keeping it at bay. She edged over to Shinji and addressed him without looking.

"I don't need your help rookie, stay out of this!" she yelled at him.

Shinji felt himself getting angry at her. I save her life and this is how she thanks me? He thought to himself. Not even a 'thank you'? Oblivious to his thoughts she continued speaking. "I'll show you how we do things at NERV Germany."

Another building opened up and Asuka discarded her empty gun and grabbed a giant axe from inside it. Unit-02 twirled the axe and then charged forward at the Angel. The Angel swiped at her with its left arm but Unit-02 just jumped up over the attack and swung the axe down. It impacted the same orange hexagonal field from before and paused for a second before finally cutting through. The Angel managed to move to the side during the brief pause though and only lost half of its left arm. Its eyes glowed and the monster's laser beams blasted Asuka. She crashed through several buildings, but managed to end up standing with her axe at the ready. Shinji could hear her shouting over the comm and figured that she was swearing in German.

The Angel roared and suddenly its arm regenerated, a new hand sprouting from the severed stump. It then rushed forward at Asuka again, its eyes glowing and firing again. Asuka dodged by rolling to the side, but the Angel was right in front of her by the time she had rolled to her feet. A rocket exploded on impact with the Angel and Asuka took the opportunity to do a back flip and give herself more room.

She looked and saw Unit-01 holding a still smoking rocket launcher, trying to figure out how to reload it.

"Ditch that thing, it's only a single shot per launcher!" she yelled at him while kicking at the Angel trying to close distance with her. She struck the orange field again but the force of the blow pushed the monster back anyways.

Unit-02 jumped over several buildings, giving her more breathing room from the monster. While she did so, Shinji had found another machine gun and opened fire on the Angel, most of his shots going wide due to inexperience.

"Dummkopf! Don't you know how to aim! Get the target in the center of the sight and hold the gun as stable as possible." He followed her instructions and found more of his shots hitting. Asuka continued berating him though. "And stop trying to help me! I don't need a rookie who hasn't even piloted an Eva before getting in my way!"

Shinji ignored her and just kept firing at the Angel. The boy heard the gun click empty as bullets stopped coming out of the muzzle. He fumbled with the gun like he had seen Asuka doing before and managed to eject the empty clip and put in another one. As he looked back up and prepared to start firing again he saw the Angel looking at him, its eyes glowing.

"Aw crap…." he muttered, unable to move due to shock.

The Angel's eyes flashed once and the beams shot straight at Unit-01. The robot put its arms up, reacting instantly to try to block the shot. Shinji closed his eyes expecting to feel the hit but only felt a minor shockwave along with a loud boom. He opened his eyes and saw Unit-02 standing in front of him, arms extended, axe held forward. The orange glow of the same hexagonal field that had protected the Angel was blinking in front of her.

"What are you doing standing still you dummkopf! Do you have a death wish or something?" Asuka berated him.

"Th..that field in front of you, wh…what is it?" Shinji took a breath, and managed to continue without stammering. "The Angel had the same thing, why do you have one?"

"Didn't they teach you anything before putting you in there?" asked Asuka, seeming honestly surprised at his question. "This is the AT field, the Angel has one and so do the Eva's. It's why conventional weapons don't work against it, only the Eva's own field can neutralize the Angel's. Now don't just stand there, we need to move!"

While she had been talking the Angel's eyes had started glowing again. Unit-02 rolled to the left while Unit-01 jumped to the right. As soon as she rolled to her feet Asuka surged forward with a yell, axe in hand, at the Angel. Shinji oriented himself to face the Angel and saw a gun cache sliding open to reveal a rocket launcher and machine gun. He grabbed up the launcher and aimed it at the Angel. I'll be damned if I let her do this by herself, I won't run away. He vowed to himself.

"Asuka, out of the way!" he yelled. The red head must have seen his movements in her peripheral vision, and stopped charging forward, instead jumping out of the way. The Angel had moved to confront her and had suddenly found itself without a target. It was unprepared when a rocket impacted its AT field, followed directly after by a rain of bullets.

"We need to hit the red core!" yelled Asuka, her image appearing again on the screen inside his cockpit. A close up shot of the Angel's torso showed the red orb at its center, Asuka's knife still embedded right next to it. "You distract it while I get behind it and destroy the core. The signal will be right as you run out of ammo."

While Shinji kept it pinned down with a constant stream of bullets, Asuka crept behind the Angel, signaling Shinji when she was in position.

Shinji's gun clicked to indicate it was empty, and both Eva's leapt into action at the signal they had agreed on. Unit-02 jumped out from behind the building and swung downward with its axe. The weapon cleaved through the Angels weakened AT field and straight into its body. It only stopped when the force of the blow buried it several meters into the ground. Sadly the Angel had noticed her at the last minute and turned, causing the blow to just miss the core. Instead of dropping dead like most sensible creatures in this situation, the Angel halves started to stitch back together.

Luckily, Shinji was there to stop it. When Asuka had made her move, he had discarded the gun immediately and pulled out his knife from his shoulder. He had spurred Unit-01 into action and ran towards the Angel. Unit-01 had finally closed the distance right as the Angel had been chopped in half. Before the monster could react, Shinji drove his knife straight into the Angels core.

The knife went in with ease, and for a moment nothing seemed to happen and no one moved. Suddenly with another mouth less scream the Angel exploded showering blood and gore everywhere. The Evas were painted a crimson color like some sick artist's dream. They both just stood there for a few moments, neither speaking.

It was over, it was finally over, and Shinji could hardly believe it. The fight had felt like it had lasted for an eternity. His whole world and memory seemed to be dedicated only to the fight against the Angel and the red headed pilot whose robot stood in front of him.

Still without speaking, both pilots lowered their Evangelions to the ground and exited from the cockpits. Shinji walked towards Asuka through the blood covered streets. The distance of a step in the Evangelion was a few blocks but Shinji didn't care. Without conscious thought his feet carried him towards the red headed pilot who he could see was also walking towards him. They stopped when they were within just a meter of each other. Finally meeting face to face for the first time, they just stared, sizing up the other.

Unsurprisingly, Asuka was the first to speak up and break the silence.

"Aren't you a little short to be an Eva pilot?" she asked, her teasing tone and smiling face indicating she was just messing with him. Shinji felt himself smiling back at her, feeling giddy in victory.

"You're not much taller than me you know."

"I'm a girl; I'm not supposed to be tall. I guess they just grow them short in Japan."

"Tall enough to take you," he shot back, a smirk on his face. He had never felt this happy or bold before, and he planned to ride the high as far as he could.

"Ha! You wish you pervert! Whether it is a fight or anything else I'll always be on top."

"Want to bet?" he asked, adrenaline coursing through him. He was no longer thinking, just going with the flow. The Shinji of a few hours before would never make the statement he was about to, but that Shinji was overpowered by the new one. Fighting the Angel besides Asuka had changed something in him, and he felt that it was for the better. "I bet you aren't brave enough to kiss me then?"

Asuka looked shocked for a minute, but then regained her composure, a cocky smile appearing on her lips.

"Ha, did you really think that would work on me?" she asked. The girl looked at him for a second, seeming to consider something. "I have to say, I was worried when they shipped me here from Nerv Germany that the pilot chosen for Unit-01 would be a wimp. I'm glad to see you proved me wrong. Although they could have warned me you were a pervert, but I guess that's to be expected of a teenage boy." She gave an exaggerated sigh as if displeased but the smile never left her face.

"I am a wimp," responded Shinji despondently, the smile disappearing from his face. "I always let people walk over me and get want they want. Before you came I had given up and decided my life was worthless. However something about you just made me feel instantly better. I won't run away anymore. I want to fight by your side, to protect you if I can."

"What makes you think I need you to protect me?" she asked, hostility returning to her voice.

"I don't think you need my help. I know you don't, but either way, I want to be there to relieve as much of the burden as I can. I want to stay by your side." A smile appeared on Shinji's face again. "I figure if I stay next to you I'll get to see you smile again, and that would be worth any amount of pain."

Asuka looked stunned for a minute, but eventually seemed to find the words to speak.

"No one has ever said that to me before…" Shinji watched as tears started forming at the corners of her eyes and see seemed on the edge of crying.

"Well, I…I'm glad to be the first," stammered Shinji, once again thrown off. He didn't know how to deal with girls, let alone ones crying, and the unfamiliarity of the situation had knocked him off the wave of cockiness he had been riding since the death of the Angel. "Do…do you ne…Is there anything I can get you?"

She looked at him again, and then suddenly moved forward, closing the distance between them. Shinji flinched at the close proximity of the red head but managed to stand his ground. This close up he could smell her and thought that he had never smelled anything as nice before in the whole world.

They just stood there for a few minutes staring into each other's eyes. The red headed girl leaned in for a kiss, and without hesitation Shinji pulled her towards him and kissed her. His mind went blank as he did so, and he felt being a joy like none other. Everything dissolved into blinding white light and the world just slipped away. Shinji felt something impact his chest, and then all was darkness and silence.

Shinji Ikari lay dead; his body crushed underneath a fallen telephone pole as the Angel named Sachiel rampaged around Tokyo-3.