Neon Genesis America

by Shimo Arashi Reikon. Kage

Ever wonder what a Shinji, dumped on the streets of a city in America with a horrible crime rate, would end up like, and how this would make a difference in the regards to how Evangelion ended? Well, this is my take on this set of circumstances.

1. An Unfamiliar Ceiling

First off: the disclaimer: I own nothing related to Evangelion or any other franchise you may recognize, this is simply for my own curiosity and enjoyment. I simply wondered what a Shinji, dumped on the streets of a city in America with a horrible crime rate, would end up like, and how this would make a difference in the regards to how Evangelion ended. I'm watching the episodes as I go along, so most of this you may recognize, though later on in the fic, probably around chapter fifteen or twenty, things will begin to diverge from the original timeline quite a bit. A warning, this Shinji has grown up on the streets, all alone. He's self sufficient, and not afraid to speak up if he feels something is wrong, but he's learned not to be reckless. He knows how to defend himself, and has been in more than his share of knife fights. He's far from flawless, as he is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, jumping head first into fights, and has trouble trusting other people. I expect this will change quite a bit, as in the original he didn't know how to fight at all, and hated fighting. One more warning, I'm not sure who I'll pair Shinji with, if I do pair him with anyone at all. I don't write romance. I write action/adventure/angst/mecha/whatever. Seriously, I'm not even sure I can write romance. Anyways, this is Shimo Arashi Reikon. Kage. Enjoy the show, or G.T.F.O. I hope you enjoy it, but if you don't, well, sorry. Here we go:

Neon Genesis America: Chapter one: "An Unfamiliar Ceiling..."

"English/normal speech."

"Japanese."

"Radio transmissions/phone conversations."

A familiar scene. A boy, about fourteen years of age, is standing in a telephone booth with a confused look on his face and holding a phone. He has dark hair and dark blue eyes, and his looks seem timid at first glance, however, his posture doesn't convey meekness, simply a desire not to be noticed. His clothes consist of a dirty baseball cap jammed low over his eyes, a plain grey t-shirt, a pair of ripped jeans, and a pair of worn sneakers on his feet. All in all, you could see him in a crowd and not even notice him, if you weren't looking for him.

As he stands there, glaring at the phone in his hand, the message playing through hidden loudspeakers asking residents to get to their designated shelters, not that he can understand the words, as they're spoken in Japanese, he hears... something... and then a massive shockwave rips through the air, sending the power cables waving and causing multiple windows to shatter. Glass shards rain down onto the tarmac as a large number of assault helicopters fly into view, pursued by a sixty-foot tall giant, it's misshapen arms swinging as it walks, it's head sunken down into it's chest, striding on legs far too thin to possibly support this monstrosity. It's bone white, bird skull shaped face turning to face the choppers as they fire a barrage of missiles, seemingly curious about the strange flying contraptions.

The missiles impact, sending the creature reeling, before the smoke hides it from the waist up, seemingly injured. One of the pilots starts celebrating, screaming, "Direct hit!" before the being's right arm flashes up out of the smoke, a beam of light ripping its way out of the creature's palm and shooting through the chopper, sending it crashing to the ground a mere twenty meters from the boy. The boy runs, hoping to disappear between the buildings, as the monster jumps, landing on the crashed chopper and causing it to explode in a plume of fire and a shockwave that knocks the boy to the ground forcing him to attempt to shield himself with his arms. However, he's shielded not by his arms, but by a blue sports car screeching to a halt between him and the explosion, the door open and the driver shouting a quick "Get in!" By then, the boy's already in the car and shutting the door behind him.

One of the surviving choppers aims at the creature and fires a barrage of missiles, the driver of the car that rescued the boy shifting it into reverse then slamming on the gas, barely avoiding the creature's foot slamming down as they peel out with a screech of burning rubber and a scream.

[Ten minutes later]

"So... you're Shinji?"

The driver of the car turns out to be a rather voluptuous purple-haired woman wearing a red jacket and a brown dress, with a large white cross on a cord around her neck. The boy, Shinji, turns to the woman, confusion written all over his face at the her question, before he replies in the language he knows, having not heard any Japanese since he was four.

"Pardon? I'm sorry, but I don't speak Japanese. I never had the chance to learn, back home. The only language I know is English."

The woman blanches, before repeating her question in slightly broken English, stuttering slightly as she tries to find the proper words, as it's a language she hasn't had to use in weeks.

"I said, 'So, your name is Shinji?'"

"Yeah. And you are...?"

"Misato. Call me Misato. Looks like I was just in the nick of time when I came to pick you up, huh?"

"Yeah. Hey, what was that thi- Why are all the choppers flying off?"

And lo and behold, the V-Tols all fly back, save one which ascends above the creature before dropping something, flying off as fast as it can once the object clears it's bay doors. At Shinji's question, Misato turns, just in time to see the final V-Tol fly off.

"What! It can't be... THEY'RE DROPPING AN N-2 MINE!"

"THE TUNNEL UP AHEAD! IT'LL PROTECT US FROM THE BLAST WAVE!"

The car screeches into the tunnel just as the shockwave hits, barely clearing the tunnel's opening as a miniature sun is born at the point of impact, the shockwave bringing the mouth of the tunnel crashing down behind them, leaving them only one way to go. Forwards.

[In the Geo-front command center]

A phone rings, and is answered, held in a gloved hand. The man who answers the phone, his dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and the structure of his face, lending credit to the theory that this is the father of the boy rescued by Misato, scowls, as the voice on the other end tells him that they have lost track of his son and the person charged with bringing him to the Geo-front. A barked order, the words: "Find them." has the person on the other end blurting out apologies before the phone is placed back in it's cradle by a white-gloved hand, the owner of the hand glaring at the screen in front of him.

"What's the status of the target?"

"Unknown. The external cameras aren't online yet. External sensors back online... ENERGY READING FROM THE EPICENTER!"

Off to the side, the three men who ordered the N-2 mine's use gape, as the large screen shows static for a moment before it clears to show something out of a nightmare. The creature, standing in a large crater with flame leaping up in the background, begins regenerating, a bit of muscle and skin on it's upper body bubbling for a moment before returning to normal, save the fact that the creature now has two bird-skull shaped masks where it only had one before, and the bone armor plates on it's shoulders, formerly inert, begin flipping out like the gills of a fish, venting heated air from the creature's respiratory system as it works to regenerate the damage.

"That was our last resort."

"It seems nothing we have can beat this thing, short of dropping a nuclear bomb on it!"

"And dropping a nuclear warhead on it is simply not an option. Ikari."

At this, the three men turn to the one who answered the phone earlier, his gloved hands folded in front of his mouth, the light of the large screen reflecting off of his glasses as he turns to them. His eyebrow rising in a questioning gesture, Commander Ikari nods to them, while the aged man standing next to Ikari gazes impassively out over the people working at the various computer terminals located throughout the room.

"Yes?"

"We're turning command of this operation over to you. Can you beat that thing?"

"That is why Nerv exists. To destroy the Angels."

"Very well. We'll leave this in your hands. Don't fail us."

The desk that the three men are sitting at descends, and then they're gone, the floor closing up as they are shuttled off to some other area of the Geo-front.

"Fuyutsuki. I'll leave this to you."

The aged man, Nerv's second in command, turns to Ikari, surprise clear on his face for but a moment, then he salutes his superior officer, who boards a lift similar to the one the three men just took, and turns to his underling.

"Very well sir. I will not fail you."

"Good."

And with that, Commander Ikari is gone, riding the lift down out of sight, as Fuyutsuki turns to the rest of the staff on the bridge.

"Assume level one battle stations."

[With Misato and Shinji]

"So, did your father send you an I.D. card?"

"Yeah. Here it is."

Shinji pulls a crumpled piece of paper out of the bag sitting at his feet, a card taped to the corner of it.

"What... what was that back there?"

"That was a being known as an Angel. Nerv is the primary defense force against them."

"So... My father... fights those things?"

"You don't know what your father does?"

At this, Shinji's expression sours, and he glares out the window at the buildings as they drive past.

"I haven't seen him or heard from him since I was dumped in America. Honestly, I didn't even know if he was still alive, or if he even knew I was alive either."

"Oh. Huh, you have issues with your father... you seem a bit like me in that regard."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

The silence is uncomfortable, to say the least, until Shinji breaks it to ask a question that's been bugging him since he got to Tokyo-3.

"Am I going to be working with my father?"

"I'm... not sure. I suppose we'll find out when we get there."

"I see."

While they were having this conversation, the car pulls onto a train like structure and parks itself in the middle of the platform. The tram, for that is what it is, pulls out of the station and begins it's trek underground to a station similar to the one it just left, though that station is connected to a parking garage in the Geo-front. The walls fall away, showing a view that is breathtaking for most. Shinji's quite a bit more jaded than most though.

"Well, whadda ya think? This is the Geo-front, Nerv's secret underground base."

"Well... it sure beats the smog over LA."

"I'd think so! It's the geo-front! Nerv's main headquarters!"

"It's pretty... but, it's so empty... and there's a pyramid on the floor."

"Huh, there's just no pleasing you!"

"Whatever."

And back to the uncomfortable silence again.

[Twenty minutes later]

"I'm pretty sure it was this way..."

Shinji and Misato ride a moving sidewalk as it goes through the tunnels of one of Nerv's upper levels, Misato trying, and failing, to lead them to the elevators that THEY JUST PASSED, a fact Shinji points out quite readily.

"Are we looking for the elevators? Cause they're back that-a-way."

Shinji gestures over his shoulder with his thumb, and Misato looks back to see the lifts they were supposed to be on right now.

"Ahaha... yeah, thanks. We'll just switch sidewalks at the next intersection."

"I can't believe you got us LOST. I thought you worked here."

"Hey! It's a big place and I'm still learning the layout!"

"Whatever."

"Hmph! No respect for your elders!"

"Respect is EARNED. Not given. Plus, I doubt you would last a week back home."

"Oh?"

As this conversation is happening they return to the lifts and board them, Misato pressing the button for a floor quite a few floors below them.

"Yeah. Back in LA, the streets were dangerous no matter what the time of day. The only way to survive is not to stand out, and to be lucky. Guess what I had to get good at?"

"I... wait, you grew up in LA?"

"Yeah, you didn't kno-"

That's right about when the lift stops and the lift's doors open to admit a blonde woman wearing a lab coat... and a bathing suit.

"R-Ritsuko!"

"You got lost again? I swear Misato, that's the third time this week."

"Sorry! Plus, it's not all my fault! He was distracting me!"

"It's rude to speak a different language if not everyone in the room knows it."

Ritsuko turns to him, annoyance written on her face.

"You don't speak Japanese?"

"I never learned how. You tend to not need to be able to speak Japanese when you live in a city where everyone speaks English."

The lift stops and they step out, going down a hall to another moving sidewalk, which takes them through a tube, suspended in some orange liquid.

"I see. Well, sorry, I didn't know."

"It's fine. I didn't expect anyone here to know. After all, this is Japan. Everyone speaks the native language here."

"Most people do, yes. Why didn't you take Japanese as a second language back in LA? At school, I mean."

"If I'd gone to school, I probably would have."

Ritsuko turns to Shinji, disbelief written all over her face.

"What do you mean you didn't go to school? What about your guardian? Didn't they make you go?"

"Can we drop this? Thanks. I'd rather not talk about the past with a couple of old ladies, thank you very much."

"WHY YOU! Hmph."

With that, Misato and Shinji turn to face opposite sides of the lift, Misato with her arms crossed indignantly, and Shinji with his hands in his pockets, staring out into the liquid surrounding the tube, trying to make sense of the shapes he can see through the haze of orange. Finally seeing something, he blanches, as he's able to make out the shape of a large hand.

"What is THAT!"

Misato looks over, seeing the hand, and shrugs.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

[Five minutes later]

"This way."

Ritsuko leads the other two through a large doorway, which closes behind them plunging the room in darkness.

"Um... Can you hit the lights? I can't see a thing!"

The lights come on, and revealed is... well, it's a giant metal head and set of shoulders.

"What is THAT?"

"That is Evangelion unit 01, mankind's last hope of survival. And the primary defense we have against the Angels."

"It's also purple. With neon green accents. Who thought that would be a idea again?"

Shinji turns to look at Misato and Ritsuko, glaring at them from under his hat.

"Don't look at me! I'm not the one in charge of that kind of thing!"

"I work on the technical aspects. I design upgrades and weapons for it. I don't decide the paint job."

"It looks lame. You should have painted it dark blue and neon green. It would have looked better."

"Shinji."

The lights in an observation room behind the Evangelion light up, revealing the silhouette of commander Ikari, his hands folded behind his back as he stares down at the three people on the cat-walk near unit-01's head.

"Father. Why did you call me here?"

"Because I have a use for you."

"Because you have a USE for me? Hah, that's rich. I should have expected this from you, after you dumped me to rot on the streets of a city with one of the worst crime rates on a global scale."

"Such matters are of no concern to me. I called you here to pilot the Evangelion. Will you do it or won't you?"

Shinji glares up at his father, his hat shadowing his eyes, before he turns to the door and walks over to it.

"You won't pilot it?"

"I told you. I won't be used by ANYONE. Least of all the sorry sack of skin who left me for dead."

"I see."

The commander turns to his right and presses a button on the console next to him, the screens switching from a view of Shinji to Sub-commander Fuyutsuki's visage.

"Prep Rei to pilot. The spare is unusable."

"Can we... can we use her?"

"She's not dead yet. Let me speak to her."

The screens switch, showing the words 'Sound only', the labored breathing of someone in horrible pain coming through the speakers.

"Rei?"

"...Yes, Commander?"

"The spare is unusable. You will pilot unit-01 in his place."

"Understood."

The screens go blank and Commander Ikari turns back to the observation window, looking down into the holding cage for unit-01, to see Shinji staring up at him in annoyance.

"The doors won't open."

"They're keyed to an electronic lock. A card reader."

"I noticed. However, as I don't have a card..."

"And the one hanging from your shirt doesn't work?"

Shinji blinks and looks at the card he has pinned to his t-shirt, noticing the black magnetic stripe along the bottom for the first time.

"..."

Shinji just glares up at the elder Ikari, as the doors on the opposite side of the cage open and a trio of nurses wheel in a stretcher. Shinji looks over, surprised, and then dashes over to the stretcher, pushing the nurses out of his way as he gets a good look at the girl laying on it.

"You're hurt."

"Who are... Who are you?"

"Oh right, most people here don't speak English. Great."

"What are- AH!"

As the girl moves to get off the stretcher, the room rocks as the blast wave from an explosion on the surface, caused by the Angel, shakes the ground, and the building with it. The girl falls, Shinji catching her and gently lifting her up, just as another shockwave sends a chunk of the roof of the geo-front falling onto the main pyramid where Nerv's headquarters is located. The fluorescent lights above rattle, then the wires holding them up snap and they fall towards the two teens on the catwalk below, Shinji leaning over the girl in an attempt to shield her.

"SHINJI NO!"

With a screech of tearing metal, the right arm of the Evangelion rips itself free of the restraints, shielding Shinji and Rei from the falling debris which bounces off the armor on the back of the mecha's hand, sending it into the reinforced plexi-glass of the observation window, cracking it, then falling into the orange liquid below. A technician calls down to Ritsuko, panic evident in her voice.

"It ripped itself free of the restraints!"

"What! That's impossible! That just can't happen!"

"AH!"

Shinji, suddenly made aware of the pain the girl in his arms is in, gently lowers her onto the stretcher, then stares up at the man who he calls his father.

"You'd resort to blackmail to get me to pilot it? That's pathetic, even for you."

"Well? Will you do it?"

"I'll pilot the damn thing. But so help me if she isn't in a hospital bed, getting the best care available within the next five MINUTES I'm going to hunt you down and end you myself!"

Commander Ikari says nothing, turning away and walking off, as Ritsuko barks orders for Rei to be returned to her hospital room and the Evangelion to be made ready for launch.

[Five minutes later, in the entry plug]

"So how does this thing- WHAT THE HELL!"

The entry plug is screwed in to Unit-01, filling with the orange liquid from before, Shinji doing his best to hold his breath as it fills the cockpit.

"Relax. You can breath it, it's a hyper-oxygenated liquid to absorb impacts and improve the connection with the Eva."

"What do you mean impro-"

"No time. Just concentrate on what you want it to do, the Evangelion will respond to your thoughts."

"So I think, and it moves?"

"Basically, yes. We're launching in ten seconds. Misato?"

[In the control center]

"Are you ready Shinji?"

"I'm ready."

"Good. Status of the magnetic rails?"

"Charged. Course plotted, Eva going up through shaft seventeen. All doors are open."

"His Sync score is sixty-seven point three percent! What the heck is with this kid!"

"Is there any feedback or contamination?"

"No ma'am, it's all green, right across the board."

Misato nods, then turns to the Commander, who has assumed his position at the head of the control center.

"Right. Can we really do this, Commander?"

"There is no other choice."

"Very well. Shinji, brace for impact. We're sending you up along shaft seventeen. Five, four, three, two, one. EVA LAUNCH!"

"HELL YEAH! THIS IS BETTER THAN A ROLLERCOASTER!"

The Evangelion rockets up the rails, reaching the surface in mere seconds, the last door opening above it, revealing the night sky as the Evangelion, with Shinji at the helm, is deployed at the intersection of two streets, just as the Angel walks into view from behind a building.

"Final lock bolts, deactivate! EVANGELION UNIT-01! MOVE OUT!"

The Eva is released from the rails that carried it to the surface, slumping forward as the Angel across from it stops and stares at the new threat.

[In the cockpit, with Shinji]

"So, I think, and it moves? Let's see if it works."

The Evangelion's head snaps up, it's body shifting into a balanced stance with one arm drawn back, it's legs set apart, then it rockets at the angel, a wicked hay-maker aimed directly at the center of it's chest. However, a hexagonal field shimmers into view, and the fist is stopped just in front of the Angel, which lifts it arm and fires one of it's energy lances directly into the center of the Evangelion's chest, sending it flying into a building.

"ARGH! Dammit! Doesn't this thing have anything USEFUL for fighting?"

"You obviously mean beyond the fact it's sixty meters tall and weighs proportionally? It has a pair of progressive knives stored in the shoulder fins."

"And how do I access those?"

[On the bridge]

Misato turns to one of the bridge staff, barking an order at them.

"Deploy unit-01's progressive knives!"

"Deploying the progressive knives."

[In the cockpit, with Shinji]

The mecha's shoulder fins flip up, revealing the knives, unit-01 quickly drawing them and switching them into a backhand grip, seemingly intending to fight using them as trench knives.

"Alright, here we go. Let's see what you've got!"

Shinji yells his challenge as he sends the mecha lurching towards the Angel, which brings up its arms as it's AT field shimmers into view.

"TAKE THIS!"

Unit-01, it's eyes flashing, dashes at the monster before it, plunging both knives into the field and dragging them apart, just as the Angel's left hand whips up and grabs the Evangelion by it's head. It begins powering up it's energy lance, then sends it pile driving into the armor over unit-01's eye, over and over, Shinji bringing the knives in and stabbing the arm just as the lance breaks through the Evangelion's head armor. The lance slams through the Eva's head and out the back, sending it flying into the building behind it once more, leaning forward as red-ish liquid, the consistency of blood, blasts out of the holes in the mecha's armor, while blue blood sprays out of the remains of the Angel's arm.

"ARGH!"

[The next morning]

"ARGH!"

Shinji sits up in the hospital bed, overbalancing, and falling out onto the cold tile in nothing but his under-clothes.

"C-cold."

He shivers as he gets back into the bed, leaning back and letting his head flop onto the pillow, the bright sunlight shining into his room nearly blinding him. He stares upwards, sighing, as he realizes that the ceiling he's staring at is...

"An unfamiliar ceiling..."

And thus ends chapter one of Neon Genesis America.