Heh, well this was supposed to be Take the Red and Run, but unfortunately I hit some nasty writer's block and I am finding myself unable to continue with it. Instead I'm bringing you another side project of mine. Though this is a crossover, I'm not putting it in the crossover section because I think that it will get more views in the main section.
Also of note, I'm basing this story more around the events as they are depicted in the manga, as that is what I am familiar with. Well, more of a mix of the two mediums actually, both manga and anime. If I miss something or things seem incorrect, you can point it out, but please try and not be a total pain about it.
And before any of you start, yes I seem to write a lot of new stories without finishing old ones, yes I'm still working on said old ones, yes I'm working on the next chapter of ToT. The current order of updates for the moment is this one, A Kitsune in Nerima, and then ToT. So be patient my friends, and if you get antsy, just check my profile for the current status on every story.
But, back to the story, I hope you enjoy it. I've always been a fan of the 'Shinji raised by so and so' fics, and that's how this one came about. So, how would Shinji turn out, if he was raised in what many consider to be a hell on earth? And no, this is not a Buffy crossover... though that would be interesting...
A five-year old Shinji stood sniffling, a large suitcase on the ground next to him and a waiting train behind him. He turned his bleary eyes toward his father who was crouching in front of him, a hand resting on his shoulder as he was given a stern look.
"Shinji, I know that things may seem rough, but I'm sure your uncle will take good care of you. Now I want you to be strong for me alright?" His father gave a wan smile as Shinji managed a small nod. Gendo gave Shinji a pat on the shoulder as he stood up. "Good, now you should get going, you don't want to keep your uncle waiting too long."
"B-b-but Daddy, what about mommy?" Shinji's teary heartfelt voice snagged something in Gendo, freezing him in place. He took a deep breath as he thought of how to respond to such a deep question.
"Shinji, my son. There is nothing on this Earth that can ever stop me from getting back your mother. " Gendo began to move to leave, before pausing and retrieving a small box from within his jacket. His hand began to tremble as he put it into his son's hands. " Take good care of that Shinji, until your mother returns, it was hers after all." Shinji's eyes went wide as he stared at the small box, before clutching it tightly to his chest. Gendo gave him a sickly half-smile as he turned and left, giving the other man, Shinji's uncle on his mother's side, a nod before heading off to the street and the car that awaited him.
Shinji's uncle sighed as he watched the boy's father head off. While he could understand some of the reasoning behind the decision, the fact remained that he was completely unprepared for taking care of the boy, and he had an important assignment that would be taking him out of the country soon, or so his superiors told him. Well, he could always take the kid with him, after all what was the worst thing that could happen?
Shelving those thoughts for later, he walked up and put rested a hand on Shinji's shoulder, the contact causing him to look up. "Why don't we get going, after all the train won't wait forever. In case your father or mother didn't tell you, and considering how my sister used to be, I doubt she said much about us, my name is -
"Attention all travelers! We will be arriving in Tokyo-3 in two minutes!" Shinji gave a start as he was shaken out of his memories by the computerized voice of the train announcement." Please make sure you have all your personal belongings gathered before exiting the train. Thank you and have a nice day!"
Blinking away the last bits of his memory, of the last time he had seen, let alone spoken to his father. Carefully smoothing out his white dress shirt, as well as making sure his tie, a joke gift from his aunt due to how he tried to mimic his uncle, Shinji slung his only piece of luggage up over his shoulder, the black duffel bag resting comfortably on his back.
Stepping off the train he pulled out a couple of objects from his pocket. The first was a simple envelope, the ever so brief note inside read several times over already, that he stuffed angrily back into his pocket. The other though, he couldn't help but give it a more appreciative look over. She wasn't the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, though in her case it was probably all natural, unlike a large portion of the women back home. And he had to admit, the colour of her hair was certainly unique. A small part of him wondered what her relation was with his father, considering that he received the photo in the same envelope as his father's 'message' to him.
Pulling out a cellphone he dialed the number written on the back of the picture. He frowned when all he received was an out of service message and a repeat of the automated warning to find an emergency shelter. Yeah, lot of good that did when it didn't tell where to find them. Sighing he put the phone back into his bag as he stepped towards the curb, looking either way along the road for any sign of life amongst the abandoned cars and buildings.
He took a step forwards towards the edge of the curb and looked down the street. For a moment he though he saw a figure in distance, but when he tried to focus it was gone. hearing a loud noise he craned his neck skyward and watched as a fighter jet, a Canadian built Avro-X3 the part of his mind his aunt had drilled the information into noted, built for high speed low maneuverability combat with a generally small loadout, soared past, its passage causing the windows of the nearby buildings to rattle.
A second later he was forced to clap his hands over his ears as the fighter's payload blasted through the narrow streets. Following the trail to its target, Shinji's jaw dropped. 'That, that's just not right.' What Shinji was refering to, of course, was the fact that the missile that had just past him had impacted against what could only be termed a godzilla movie reject, and the additional fact that the missiles detonations seemed to have had no affect on the monster only served to enhance Shinji's growing apprehension.
From his position he watched as the monster walked through the last traces of the explosions before spearing a nearby gunship, a Chinese designed Huǒǒo yīng VTOL combat model, with what looked like a beam of light. The gunship quickly began to fall out of the sky and Shinji watched it for a second before he realized that it was falling towards him. His mouth dropped open as he back-pedaled as fast he could from the falling aircraft. He was knocked off his feet by the impact of the aircraft crashing into the ground and he landed on his back, allowing to watch as giant skull faced thing took to the air itself.
Shinji scrambled backwards on his hands and knees as the giant began to come back down to the ground, its foot landing on crashed VTOL. Shinji closed his eyes as he saw the flames begin to appear within the seams of the aircraft as it started to explode, only to open them again when he heard the loud screeching of tires in front of him. Shinji stopped stunned at the somewhat incongruous tableau in front of him.
Behind the car was a rising plume of smoke and fire from the downed gunship that swirled around the leg of the giant in the wind. And then there was the car itself, or rather its unlikely appearance in such a strange place with its driver, the same woman from the picture, though dressed a touch more conservatively. Shinji noticed that her lips were moving and from her expression and increasingly energetic beckoning, she had been trying to get a response from him for a while. Shaking his head to clear it, Shinji jumped into the offered seat and threw his bag into the back.
The violet haired woman gave him a look and slammed on the gas as soon as he was seated solidly in the car. As soon as they had gotten out of sight of the giant's leg she gave Shinji a glance out of the corner of her eye as she handled the narrow streets of the city with what some might consider excessive amounts of speed.
"So kid, you're Shinji Ikari right?" The sudden question snapped Shinji's focus from the ongoing battle against the giant to his driver. His only response however, was a tentative nod, as he had to brace himself as the car swerved around a tight corner. The nod caused the violet haired woman to give a relieved sigh. "Ah, that's good. for a second I was worried that I'd picked up the wrong kid."
Shinji just stared at her after she said that, not even bothering to turn around when another one of the VTOLs was destroyed, this time exploding in midair. As she began to sweat under his intense scrutiny, which thankfully for her didn't carry nearly the same amount of ill intent as his father's gaze, she tried to change the subject. "Uh, well anyways, the name's Misato Kasturagi. Captain and Chief of Tactical Operations at NERV HQ." She gave Shinji a considering look and a small smile. "You're taking this all pretty well. I'm quite impressed."
Shinji rolled his eyes, at least her earlier statement put to rest his worries about her and his father, as those thoughts were far too disturbing for long term contemplation, let alone the possibility of them being real. There was something though, something about her name that tickled a memory in the back of his mind. "Please, compared to some of the shit I went through back home this is nothing. Though I will admit, the giant rampaging monster is new. Speaking of, what the hell was that thing back there?"
Misato's smile slipped as she glanced at the Angel in the rear-view mirror. "That, monster, was an Angel." For a moment her eyes took on a far away look, before they snapped back into focus and the smile returned to her face. "Ah, I'm sure Ritsy can tell you more than I could about them, so why don't we talk about something else. Anything you want to ask me?"
Shinji cocked his head to the side, his eyes widening as he suddenly recalled exactly where he had Misato's name before. "Uh, yeah actually. You said you were a Captain?" Misato looked confused at the odd question but nodded nonetheless. Shinji continued, "So that means you must have some combat experience right?" Another, more tentative nod, as Misato wondered at the purpose of the current line of questioning. "Where did you fight then?"
Shinji froze as Misato tensed up slightly, and he wondered if he had maybe gone a bit too far, but Misato relaxed and the moment passed. "You know what kid? You're the first person to ask that in quite a while. I fought in the war for the Middle East, started out as a grunt too and worked my way up." Shinji nodded, while so far his suspicions were proving accurate, there was one last piece he needed to confirm.
"So, uh, Independent or National?" Misato blinked and turned her eyes from the road to stare curiously at her passenger.
"Independent, but how would you know about that anyway?" Shinji chuckled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the dashboard in front of him.
"Well, thanks to Aunty and Uncle's business we kinda run into them every once in a while. Sides, Aunty thinks I could take over after she retires and she's been making sure I know as much as I can. Well that, and she fought in the war too, though she doesn't tell me any of the details." Misato's face had an odd look to it as she watched her quite mature for his age, up to this point at least, passenger pout. Misato just shook her head and turned to look out her window to see how the battle was going, only to notice the remaining aircraft breaking off and retreating.
It took her a split second to realize what was going to happen next, and in that moment she could already see the barest glimmer of light from the deadliest weapon in the United Nations arsenal, the N2 mine. Shouting a curse Misato braked hard, before trying to throw herself over Shinji and bring him to the floor. Her actions had come at just the right time as the ensuing shockwave from the mine's detonation picked up and threw the car through the air like a limp rag doll.
Shinji slipped out of Misato's currently limp grasp, due to her being knocked unconcious from the blast and subsequent tumbling around, and got of the car. Taking a look around he winced at the amount of destruction the bomb had caused. Turning back, he was happy to find that the blast, while it had ended up putting the car onto its side, had left the car on small hill. Moving around the car until he was standing up above it thanks to the incline, Shinji took a step back before slamming his shoulder into the car as hard as he could manage.
The car rocked for a moment before tipping over and landing on its wheels with a loud crash, the movement and noise causing Misato to wake. She sat up with a loud groan as she rubbed the top of her head. Blinking she looked around with a slightly confused look on her face. On seeing Shinji heading back towards the car she gave a relieved sigh. Not only would it have looked really bad if she had lost the Commander's kid, but she had been growing to like the little guy.
As he sat back down and redid his seatbelt, Shinji spared Misato a wry look, a hint of a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. "You know, maybe this will teach you not to be late when picking up VIPs." Misato blinked and paled, before realising that the humour dancing in his eyes meant it was supposed to be a joke. Face flushing at being gotten to, Misato gave her passenger a small smile. Reaching over she ruffled his hair as he ineffectively attempted to keep her hand away. Chuckling she sat back and turned the car back on, giving a relieved sigh when it started without too much trouble.
Once back on the road she gave Shinji a look and chuckled once more when she found him trying to fix his messed up hair. "Alright I guess I deserved that, but don't forget, I could have just as easily left you behind." They both shared a wince as they imagined what might have happened had Misato not arrived when she had. "Uhh, then again... How about we just wait until we arrive before we talk more." Misato sheepishly smiled at Shinji, who nodded in agreement.
After having arrived at the entrance to NERV HQ, or at least that was where Shinji guessed they had arrived at, based on the designation on the gate they had entered through, Shinji and Misato gawked at the sight of the Geofront as they traveled along the car train, well Shinji gawked. Misato had been working at NERV long enough that the initial wonder had worn off, replaced with a measured fascination.
After Misato had parked the car, and handed Shinji a 'Welcome to NERV' booklet, they had ventured into the labyrinthine depths of the HQ. And then they had promptly gotten lost. Shinji had made more than a few snide remarks regarding Misato's ability to navigate the facility, as well as her ability to read a map, but for the most had calmly followed Misato's lead while he read through the official booklet he had been given.
Unsuprisingly it didn't contain anything beyond what could easily be termed propoganda, with a lot of repeated terms such as, "The last line of Humanity's defense', and other things along those lines. What it also didn't contain was what made NERV so important, or anything as to why he had been called here. As he and Misato passed by yet another one of the many doors that lined the hallways, it opened with a hiss.
The pair turned to face the source of the noise, and seeing who was standing in the now open doorway caused Misato to pale. Shinji however gave the blonde woman a quick look up and down, taking in the still somewhat wet swimsuit, and the coat with name tag thrown on over top. Before either of the pair of women could say anything, Shinji couldn't help but comment on the blonde woman's, a Dr. Akagi according to the tag on her coat, current state of dress.
"Well, if everyone here has looks like you two, I think I'll be more than happy to stay a while." The comment snatched the attention of both of the women. Misato blushed at the compliment, while Ritsuko took a second look at Shinji, comparing the person she saw in front of her to the one that the commander had said would be arriving, and finding few similarities between the two. "I do find myself wondering just what kind of experiments a scientist is conducting that requires the wearing of a swimsuit, though I must say if my science class did the same I wouldn't have found it nearly so boring.
Misato had to cover her mouth in order to keep the laughter that threatened to escape contained, while Ritsuko merely stared at Shinji with a mix of confusion and curiosity "You are not quite what I was expecting you know."
Shinji quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really, and just what were you expecting then? Me to try and jump your bones instead, because that outfit is endearing me to the idea more and more. " Misato was now bent over double as tremendous shakes racked her body, her face bright red as she thought of how much teasing material the boy was giving her.
Ritsuko looked caught off balance by Shinji's response, which had been aided with another long appreciative look. Face heating, she tried to draw her lab coat closed over top of her swimsuit. She coughed into her hand as she tried in vain to hold onto some semblance of her dignity. "That's not what I meant, and I'm sure you know it. But anything more will have to wait, we are running late enough as it is."
Still blushing she moved past Misato and started off down the hallway, before stopping and turning to face her friend. "Oh, and Misato, if you don't get a hold of yourself I will have to report to the commander that you managed to get caught in the N2 mine's blast, and considering you were supposed to be back at HQ well before it went off..." She trailed off with a knowing smirk as Misato straightened up, her breathing firmly under control at the thought of what punishment she might get if the commander knew that she had almost killed his son, and herself too, but that wasn't the point.
Quietly, Misato and Shinji followed closely behind Ritsuko, Shinji still wondering just what exactly they were late for. The three stepped into an elevator that carried them downwards, before depositing them in a cavernous , from the way the sound echoed, and pitch black room. The trio continued on for a little while into the chamber, before stopping abruptly. Shinji opened his mouth to ask why they were still in the dark, when the lights switched on to their most brilliant setting.
When Shinji reopened his eyes he had to fight back a shout of surprise at the massive monstrous and mechanical visage in front of him. He still stumbled back a step, allowing him to better take in the full scale of the immense, thing, in front of him. Stunned as he was, his mind still managed to make a connection to his mouth, though it failed to go through any of the normal filters between thought and speech.
"Its a mecha. A damn big mecha." Misato made a suspicious choked noise as Shinji basically rendered down NERV's greatest weapon and the cutting edge of many different sciences to an Otaku's wet dream. Ritsuko spun around to face her college friend, but found her perfectly composed as Misato gave a reproving look towards Shinji. As Ritsuko turned to the one who had made the comment, she failed to notice the smirk and knowing wink Misato gave Shinji behind her back.
"In a way I suppose you could call a mecha, though only in layman's terms. To be more accurate, this is the multi-purpose combat designed artificial humanoid Evangelion. Humanity's last and best hope for survival against the Angels." Ritsuko finished her speech with a flourish, her arms wide as she gestured towards the Evangelion. Her eyes were closed as she awaited the imminent comments of awe from the commander's son, but opened them quickly when the expected comments failed to arrive. Instead Shinji was staring at the Eva with a mix of bored disinterest, and the slightest bit of confusion.
"Okay, so what does this," Shinji stepped forwards and pointed towards the Eva, "have to do with me?" Ritsuko opened her mouth to answer, but closed it as she realized that she didn't actually know why the Commander had called his son to NERV, which was quite odd considering how much of his plan he had given her knowledge of. Misato to, was stumped as to the reason, though she had written it off as a father wanting to see his son again.
"It has quite a bit to do with you actually." The voice caused the three in front of the Eva to freeze, before all turning to face the source of the voice. Shinji began trembling, though he hid it well, as he stared up at the face that carried so many hateful memories with it. Completely unaffected by his son's glare, Gendo simply smirked down from on high. "It's been a while, hasn't it Shinji?"
Shinji had to bite his lip to keep from instantly going into a rage-filled rant towards his father, instead he kept his mouth shut tightly until he had a handle on his anger. That's not to say the anger wasn't there, but it was simply pushed down, left to lurk deep beneath the surface, providing heat and energy that could be controlled and used. "Yes, it has. And personally, I don't think its been nearly long enough. I could have gone the rest of my life without having to see your ugly face again. So skip the bullshit already and get to why I'm here."
While Ritsuko and Misato goggled at Shinji, both wondering, though with slightly different thoughts behind them, what kind of iron balls the kid had to say that to the Commander. Gendo himself was taken aback by his son's words, though his shock was mixed with anger towards the people who had been feeding him false information. The boy's guardian, the delightful Yui's brother, was a plain business man, and Gendo had made sure to pay the higher ups at the company to give Shinji's uncle the worst jobs, in order to help break his son's spirit by showing him the dreary existence that most likely awaited him.
And he had been receiving reports that had indicated success towards that end, though the information they contained was obviously falsified. Still, he couldn't help but feel a small amount of pride in the way his son handled himself. Shaking his ever so slightly he crushed that thought, he couldn't let himself fall from the Scenario, he wouldn't let himself. Instead he pointed towards the Eva.
"You are to be the Pilot for the Evangelion. The wielder of the greatest weapon mankind has ever created." Shinji stood frozen as his father's words registered. He couldn't help but look opened mouthed towards his father while he tried to construct a reasonable response. Misato though, had no such issues.
"I'm sorry sir, but are you out of your mind? Rei took nearly seven months to just activate her Eva, and you want some kid," She turned and gave Shinji an apologetic look,"no offense." Shinji gave an understanding nod, before returning to stare silently at his father, Misato doing the same, though not so quietly on her part. "Some kid that has never even heard of an Evangelion before today, to pilot one?"
Gendo frowned towards his subordinate, who was showing an uncharacteristic amount of disrespect towards his rank and position. "Unless you have a better idea, Captain, I suggest you let your superiors deal with things. Understood?" Misato swallowed nervously as she realized just how close she was to losing her job, before shakily giving a nod of the head. Satisfied that he wouldn't hear any more from Misato, Gendo turned his eyes towards his son.
"Now, are you going to pilot the Evangelion, or will I be forced to use, alternative methods?" Shinji blinked, while the part of his mind that had been trained and taught by the experiences of the town where he called home began to work overtime. A smile slowly made its way onto his face as a fiendish gleam came to his eyes, the sight causing Ritsuko to shiver as she look between father and son.
"Very well, Commander." Shinji spat out his father's apparent position as if it were something vile that had crawled into his mouth and died. "I'll pilot your weapon for you, like a good little soldier. But, I'm not going to do it out of the bottom of my heart, nor will I do it in the empty hopes of receiving any acceptance on your part." Gendo raised his brow, he had, even from just interacting with him for such a short period of time, been expecting to need to bring out Rei to push his son into piloting.
"Oh, so tell me boy, why will you pilot then?" While he kept his voice cool and controlled as always, there was still a hint curiosity in it. Shinji's smile turned into a downright vicious smirk at his father's question.
"I'm so glad you asked. You see, Aunty always told me that if your going to do a job, make sure your getting paid for it. So I want five hundred million yen, monthly, as well as a place to stay. Otherwise I'm perfectly willing to walk out of here and to never see you nor this NERV place ever again, though it'd be a damn shame, after all I'd be missing out on seeing Misato-san's beautiful looks, but that is a heavy burden I'm willing to bear." Shinji let out a dramatic sigh as he hunched over, while Misato fought down the blush that threatened to overtake her face, a feat made easier by the fact that she was still slightly stunned by the way the kid demanded to be paid more than she made Chief of TacOps.(1)
Gendo made a show of considering Shinji's surprisingly useful offer, as it gave him a much better way of controlling his son, using money instead of the boy's emotions, something that could have potentially backfired on him, especially with how different his son compared to the one he was expecting and planning on meeting with. "Very well, I'm sure your salary can be arranged, as well as suitable living quarters. Now then, Dr. Akagi." The good doctor stood straight as she was adressed. "Get the Eva prepped for deployment. Time is of the essence."
As if to illustrate his point a particularly large explosion racked the base, the shockwave sending several support columns tumbling down from the ceiling. Shinji looked up with wide eyes, before taking off at a dead sprint towards Misato. She had just begun to look up when Shinji crashed into her, his flying tackle sending the pair barely past the landing zone of the falling debris. Misato inhaled sharply as the dust cloud from the falling rubble cleared to reveal a massive pile of broken chunks of concrete and torn steel beams. Her action as served to point out to her a distinct weight on her chest, her registering of said sensation forcing her eyes downwards.
Misato was glad for the pile of rubble and the dust it had kicked up, as the dust on her face helped to conceal the blush that rose from the fact that Shinji had his arms thrown tightly around her waist, and his head nestled comfortably between what many of the workers called "The Two Most Powerful Weapons of NERV". Shinji groaned and began to get up, inadvertently placing his hands in front of him and pushing upwards, his hands just so happening to be atop Misato's breasts. Suffice to say, when Shinji tried to push himself upwards, only for his hands to sink into the soft and strangely warm surface beneath them, he reacted quite well.
In a blink Shinji had leaped backwards from his position, assuming a low stance while he panned his surroundings. Once he realized where he was, he relaxed, before stiffening as he saw Misato, and realized just who he had accidentally felt up. Sheepishly he walked forwards and offered Misato and hand up, as she had was still lying on the ground with a bemused expression that quickly gave way to a blush as she accepted his help and got to her feet. Misato let out a truly tremendous sigh of relief as she realized that the falling debris had thankfully cut off Ritsuko's line of sight, as she would have never heard the end of the teasing if that hadn't been the case.
She patted Shinji on the shoulder as she began to head towards the door. "Come on kid, we need to get you all prepped and ready to go." Shinji nodded and quickly moved to follow, though he stopped as soon as they reached the door.
"Uh, Misato, you do know where we're going this time, right?" Misato froze, before blushing as she pulled out her map of the facility. Thankfully for all parties, the ready room for the pilots was outlined with a directional markers along the floors and walls, which left little room for even Misato to get lost in.(2) After checking to make sure she had the right colour, as there different ones for the main labs, the bridge, and various other places in the facility. Though oddly enough, the only one missing was one directing to the Eva cage.
Misato chuckled sheepishly as she returned her map to her pocket. "Real funny kid. Now come on, we got places to be already." Shinji nodded, though he still kept his smirk up. As they walked down the hallway, Misato gave him a sidelong look. "By the way, I couldn't help but notice while you lying on top of me, but you seem pretty well built for a kid your age."
Shinji blinked and let his smirk slip, letting it be replaced by a embarrassed half smile. "S-sorry about that. But I couldn't think of any other way to get you clear." Misato gave him a beaming smile and a large pat on the back.
"Hey, lighten up, I'm not complaining. Consider the free touching you got payment for saving my life. But you still didn't answer my question." Shinji gave a sigh.
"Well, back home you need to be fit to survive, so I spend about as much time working out as I do working on my school work. Oh, could you hold onto something for me, while I'm piloting?" Misato nodded, her eyes curious as they followed Shinji's hands in pulling a simple black string from around his neck, her eyes widening in something approaching catatonic shock, as they saw the plain silver cross that dangled at the bottom of the string.
Shinji was completely unaware of Misato's reaction as he wrapped the string tightly around the cross, pausing a moment to rub the back of it, where there existed a small engraving. He sighed wistfully as he stared entranced with the dancing light reflecting off the silver. "This was my mother's you know? The last thing I have to remind me of her. She'd probably kill me if anything happened to it, so keep it safe alright?"
As Shinji held the wrapped cross out to her, Misato couldn't help but flinch as her mind overlapped another man's face, that of her father the last time she had seen him, over top of Shinji's. She blinked her eyes and the image vanished, leaving her still standing in the hallway at NERV, far away from collapsing research in memories. She smiled at Shinji, though it was a shaky and forced one, as she accepted his mother's necklace.
She carefully put it into one of her button-able pockets, to make sure to keep it from falling out or getting lost. Forcing herself forwards she started walking again pausing just a moment to make sure Shinji was following her before continuing on, her steps become more sure and her smile less forced as they covered more distance.
They quickly reached the door to the ready room and Misato stopped there. She took a step back and gave Shinji a push forwards. As he stumbled forwards she gave him a wink before turning to follow the directions to the Bridge. As she started walking, she called back to Shinji over her shoulder. "Good luck out there kid, we're counting on you." And with that Shinji pushed open the door and headed within.
Shinji sat within the Entry Plug, twiddling his thumbs as he tried to distract himself from the clips they had attached. While he waited, outside the technicians were running through the last few system checks, while a group of workers did a quick check over of the external equipment. After getting the all clear signal, Ritsuko smiled as she activated the communications to the Entry Plug. It was time for a little payback for the kid's earlier remarks.
"Shinji, were ready to begin, but first we have to ready to Entry Plug for synchronization." Shinji opened his mouth to ask what she meant when liquid began to fill the container, a liquid that had a distinct coppery aroma to it. Taste too, as he spat out a mouthful that landed on his tongue. He opened his mouth to let out a panicked protest, when the rest of the container was filled with the liquid as the pumps suddenly disgorged a tremendous downpour. Standing calmly at her terminal, Ritsuko let herself smirk smugly.
Shinji began vainly to try and hold his breath, and when he could he closed his eyes as he prepared himself to drown, wishing that he could have at least managed to do something with his life before this. When the light at the end of the tunnel failed to arrive as he expected, Shinji opened his eyes to find himself still floating within the Entry Plug, the liquid somehow allowing him to breath without air.
"Why the hell didn't I drown?" Shinji blinked in surprise at the fact that he could actually he his words clearly, something he was not expecting considering his lungs and surroundings were filled with liquid. He gave a start as a small screen appeared next to his head, the image of Dr. Akagi appearing clearly despite the surrounding liquid.
"You didn't drown because you are currently suspended within a special fluid designed to aid in synchronization, it not only oxygenates the blood and is breathable, but it will also cushion any impacts you might sustain." Shinji gave nod of appreciation, after all he'd hate to be bouncing around inside the Plug with nothing to soften the impacts, he'd end up pulped in no time.
"That's cool, but why does it have to be so much like blood, I mean, it smells like blood and tastes like it too." Ritsuko sighed, it wasn't the first time she had been asked that question, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but it certainly would do her no harm to run over it again.
"It's not blood, its a completely artificial fluid specially made for the purpose of aiding in piloting the Evangelion. And do you have any idea how much blood it would take to fill the Entry Plug anyway?" She couldn't help but add the last question in, her voice laden heavily with sarcasm. She, and the rest of the bridge crew were thus completely unprepared for Shinji's response.
"I dunno, maybe three or four adult males, give or take one or two." Those listening in on the conversation, something not hard to do considering it was being broadcast, quite loudly, across the bridge, stared at Shinji with slackened jaws or pale green faces. Misato was the first to recover, as she reached over grabbed a small microphone and ear-bud and thumbed them on.
"What in God's name gave you that kind of idea?" Shinji winced at the volume of her shouted demand. Chuckling weakly, he rubbed the back of his head as he began to explain.
"Weeell, a little while back a group of gangsters from one of the South American cartels came into town, and they stirred up a whole heapload of trouble with the local underworld. So, to send a message to any other outsiders, they gathered up all the gangsters and hung them by their feet before slitting their throats. At least all the gangsters that survived to be captured that is. And they had the leader of the gangsters in a class tank with a funnel on top, so all the blood ended flowing down and filling it. The boss ended up drowning in his own follower's blood."
Once more the bridge crew regarded Shinji with a stunned, and quite sickened, silence. Even his own father had paled with the seemingly nonchalant manner in which his son had spoken of such an atrocity. Misato gave him a half-lidded look as she considered just how much alcohol she would need to drink to forget about this day after she got home.
"You know kid, one day you're really gonna have to take me to this town of yours, it sounds like an absolute riot." She delivered her statement snarkily, to which Shinji couldn't but respond to with surprising cheer.
"Yeah we've had a couple of those too, riots that is. But they don't usually cause too much trouble, unless out of towners are involved, then things get kinda messy."
Misato contemplated trying to snipe a comment back at him, his cheerfulness grating on her nerves, but decided that it was more than time enough to get on with the reason he was in the Eva anyway. Stomping angrily over to the terminal, she gave it a look over before finding what she was looking for, the launch button conveniently placed in the middle and colored a nice bright red.
"Oh Shinji." The addressed pilot perked up as he heard his superior over the comm, "Launch time!" Before he could blink Misato slammed her palm down onto the button, and any response Shinji might of made died in his throat, before being sent downwards into his stomach from the intense G-forces his body was experiencing. All too soon he reached the surface and the rather abrupt stop caused his stomach to leap into his mouth.
Gritting his teeth, he turned to snap at Misato over the comm-link, but as he whirled around he caught sight of the Angel emerging from around the corner of a skyscraper, forcing him to shelve his response for later. Willing the Eva forwards, he nearly collapsed to the ground, but caught himself just in time, thanks to a handy nearby building that he used to brace himself.
Getting his feet under him, he turned to face the enemy, only to get a face-full of bright, painful energy. The beam slammed into him with the all the effect of a sledgehammer between the eyes, the Eva's, and by extension Shinji's, head snapping back and smashing into a nearby building. As he groggily got to his feet, he slipped and barely missed getting hit by another beam, this one packing a lot power behind it as it essentially vaporized the building behind Shinji, and the one behind that one too.
Shinji scrambled away as fast as possible, only fully getting to his feet once he was a fair distance away from the Angel. As he stood there recovering, he punched up the comm and began shouting at Misato.
"Dammit, why the hell didn't you tell me that thing could shoot fucking laser beams?" His eyes widened as he saw the Angel come into sight again, the Eva already in motion when the Angel turned to fully face Shinji's previous position, and thus out of the area when another one of the Angel's blasts slammed into the ground where the Eva had stood.
Shinji barely heard Misato shouting at Ritsuko over the comm, as she had also been unaware of that capability of the Angel. Shinji took a deep breath, only to exhale sharply as he saw the Angel floating midair, and turning towards him. Once again, he shot into motion, like a player in a sick and twisted version of laser tag.
"Do I have any weapons or anything?" He swore, that if anyone said no, then he would kill them later, damn the consequences. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as Misato assured him that yes, the Eva did in fact possess weapons of its own. Quickly, he followed her instructions and retrieved the weapon, holding it out in front of him so that he could see it, only to begin twitching as he realized what exactly he was holding.
"Excuse, but how the hell is a dinky little knife supposed to help me against a flying laser cannon?" The question caused the bridge crew, sans Misato for once, to blink, as they hadn't thought about that. Misato on the other hand, was smiling toothily as she stared at the stats displayed on screen.
"Shinji, listen to me, okay? The Angel seems to have taken up an anchored position in the air, and it doesn't look likes it planning on doing anything other than turning to face you. That dinky little knife, as you oh so kindly put it, is designed to penetrate the Angel's AT field. So tell me, how good are you at throwing knives?" She finished off with a crazed grin, a grin that Shinji shared as he stared at the knife with newfound interest.
After dodging another Angel blast, he ducked behind a building before testing the balance on the knife. One of his Uncle's friends had taught him how to properly throw a knife a couple of years ago, the trick being in finding the point at which the blade will twist around, and calculating how many spins it needed to end up going into the target blade first.
Smirking, Shinji swung out from behind the skyscraper he had been crouched behind, the Angel already swiveling to face him. Shinji could see the light beginning to gather in the center of the red gem that the Angel seemed to have grown around, and finding his target he quickly tossed the Prog knife, flicking his wrist at the last second to add the necessary spin.
With baited breath, he and the bridge crew all watched as the blade tumbled end over end, before it embedded itself into the Angel's core. For a long moment, it almost seemed like the Angel stared down at its own chest, and the blade protruding from it, with intense disbelief, before looking up to see the face of its killer. Then the moment was lost, as the world turned white.
Shinji opened his eyes and he couldn't help but feel confused by the white ceiling he was greeted by. Frowning as he sat up, he looked around himself, unsurprised to find all the equipment and general accessories of a hospital room. He looked down at himself and quickly cast a look out around the room for any observers before checking to see if he was dressed, which, of course, he wasn't.
It was to this scene, that of Shinji with the sheet lifted in both hands and his eyes pointed down, that Misato and Ritsuko walked in on. If Shinji had been in a hospital room anywhere else than NERV, than he would have heard the sound of the door opening, but considering the fact that NERV had some of the most advanced technology available, and because of how much Gendo enjoyed terrifyin his staff with surprise appearances, practically all the doors in the facility operated with complete silence.
Misato, being Misato, she couldn't pass up such a prime opportunity for teasing. "Hey Shinji, me and Ritsy just wanted to come check and see how you were doing, but I can see we're interrupting, so we'll come back later." Shinji, who's head had snapped up when Misato had first spoken, quickly put the sheet back down, his cheeks flushing red in embaressment.
Standing at Misato's side, Ritsuko allowed herself a quiet chuckle, and while she didn't always approve of her friend's antics, she definitely didn't mind getting a little indirect payback for Shinji's earlier comments. "Well, Misato's unhealthy interest in your personal actions aside, we did come to see how you were doing. You gave us quite a nasty scare when the Angel tossed that last blast at you, somehow it managed to carry the Prog knife with it, and the knife caught the Eva hilt-first in the head. From what we could tell, the feedback was higher than we expected for your first synchronization and we didn't have all the proper empathy filters on."
Shinji blinked, before he deciphered the meaning behind Dr. Akagi's words, the somewhat sheepish expression on her face as she mentioned the filters helping him to reach the proper conclusion. Smiling, he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, the other waving off Ritsuko's concern. "Ah, it was mostly that it caught me unaware is all that happened, it's not like I haven't had worse, in fact," He paused before rubbing his chin in thought, "I know I have had worse. The blast, and getting hit with the knife, was way less painful than any of the time's I got shot."
Misato's jaw dropped as Shinji causally dropped that little bomb. Ritsuko on the other hand merely raised a brow, she had seen the scars and various other evidence of past physical trauma that spotted his body when she was doing her diagnosis, but had made sure not to mention anything until she could talk to Shinji. And though the fact that he had gotten shot was appalling in and of itself, the way in which he mentioned it put to rest the more disturbing possibilities her mind had conjured as to the quality of his guardians, though their responsibility was still in question.
"What the hell is a kid like you doing that's getting him shot at in the first place?" Both Shinji and Ritsuko shared a wince at the volume of Misato's shout. A shout that Ritsuko was proud to notice contained more than a little bit of concern for Shinji. In Ritsuko's mind it was more than about time that Misato started to care for someone outside of her, quite small, circle of friends, all of her family long dead.
"Well, it's kind of a part of the charm of home. Sure things can get a bit ugly at times, but its never boring, heck it makes most tv shows dull in comparison." Misato still wasn't happy with Shinji's answer and continued to press her point.
"You still haven't answered my question yet. What were you doing, no better yet, where the hell were you living that you were involved in stuff like that?"
Shinji closed his eyes and tensed up underneath the sheet, the movements going largely unnoticed by the other two in the room. "It's a nice place along the coast of Thailand actually, a port city called Roanipur." Misato's jaw dropped as she stumbled backwards in shock. Ritsuko gave a strange look, while wondering what it was that she was missing.
"Y-you live in that hell-hole? Is whoever raised you insane?" Again, Shinji winced, though this time it was due more to the fact that he occasionally questioned his Uncle's general mental well-being himself.
"Er, its not that bad once you get used to all the shooting and stuff."
"Shooting and stuff huh? I bet there's a lot of shooting, considering how much happens in that town, I swear, the whole world went crazy after Second Impact, I swear it!" Ritsuko leaned in and interrupted before Misato could get too much momentum behind her.
"Excuse me, but for those of use who don't know every little place on the map, we could use a little help here." Misato blinked and cast a glance at Ritsuko, having forgotten she was present.
"Allow me to explain, Roanipur is lawless city that's home to the worst of the worst of people, and its ruled over by three major criminal organizations. Hell the local government won't get involved with anyone that comes out of that place, no matter what they do. You remember a couple years back there was a big stir in news about a group of pirates that had raided a luxury cruise liner?"
Ritsuko frowned but nodded, that particular incident had made international news, especially considering the fact that no-one tracked down the pirates responsible, nor did any local coast guard or naval ships respond to the liner's distress calls. "Yes, it was quite big news for a while, but then it simply petered out when nothing seemed to be happening with it."
"That's because those ships were all well known associates of the largest of the three organizations, a splinter group of the Russian Mafiya that's mostly made up of former military men and women, and wwll known for their ruthless tactics against any competition. Unfortunately, no-one knows who runs the operation except for those who deal with whoever he or she is, or those who live in Roanipur. And so far no-one's been willing to talk."
Sighing, Misato let herself fall backwards into one of the chairs along the wall near the door. Ritsuko stood where she was, looking between Misato and Shinji with surprise and a small amount of curiousity. Curiousity as to what Shinji's life was like, and curiousity directed towards Misato's surprising knowledge. She gave her head a shake as she looked down at the chart in her hands.
"Anyway, other than a few previous marks, your body is in tip-top shape and you can leave any time." Shinji gave a small breath of relief, and he began to move to vacate the hospital bed, getting more than half-way before he realized that both Misato and Ritsuko were still standing there. He froze, and his head turned stutteringly towards them, before his eyes caught sight of a his bag on a nearby table.
Before they could blink, Shinji grabbed the bag and ducked behind a nearby curtain to get dressed, unavoidably giving the women a free show. Misato raised a brow, still too concerned about Shinji's previous habitation to try to tease him, while Ritsuko couldn't but give an impressed whistle, she had seen his 'equipment' when she was checking his body earlier, but she knew the good stuff from the bad, and after that one time she had gotten drunk and slept with the commander, and what an utter mistake that had been, she hadn't been expecting anything like, that, on his son.
As Ritsuko compared Shinji against the various other, conquests, in her life, Misato was thinking about a different matter, that held no less import for her. The Commander had already told them, when they had met with him after the battle and recovery of Unit-01, that Shinji would not be staying with him, and considering how well the two had gotten along together when they had met in the hangar, Misato couldn't blame him for wanting to keep a healthy distance from his son, though part of her felt otherwise, considering how little she could remember of her own mother and how she clung to her father when she was younger.
But she couldn't, in any good conscience, leave Shinji on his own in the NERV employee bunking, it was no place for a teenager, no matter who he was. And it also wouldn't be good for him to be without a positive role model, although she wasn't sure quite yet how his Uncle rated, but that didn't mean there wasn't someone who couldn't take him in with them. She ran through those she was familiar with and immediately crossed most of them off the list, it wasn't a dig at them, but they didn't have the necessary skills for raising a teenager. The only three she could think of were Ritsuko, who was probably a bad choice considering how little time she actually spent at her apartment, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, who again most likely wouldn't be a good choice, although for him it was because the Commander would veto that idea, which left her.
Misato froze in her seat, feeling caught off guard by that possibility. There wasn't anything too wrong with her taking him in, but she was pretty sure that she'd be a bad role model for the kid. A flirtatious alcoholic who couldn't drink enough Lethean elixir to get rid of her bad memories, if she took the kid in he'd probably end up getting a liver transplant by the time he was her age. Either that or he'd be dead from her cooking within the week.
But if she was honest with herself, having him stay with her would probably do her some good as well. It would be nice to have someone else in the apartment, other than Penpen of course, but she could get more than a little lonely. Her face slowly settled into a content smile as she mentally nodded to herself. She pulled out her UPad, built by Orange, and quickly typed in a few lines and signed off her signature before closing it and putting it away.
As she stood up, Shinji came out from behind the curtain, his eye twitching as Misato practically stuffed her hand into her mouth to keep from laughing at the bright pink and green Hawaiian shirt he had on. "Oh laugh it up, Onee-san switched up my clothing when I wasn't looking alright. It's not like I wanted to wear this."
Misato couldn't help the snicker that escaped her, but Ritsuko managed to keep herself much more controlled, enough so that she could ask about something that Shinji said that bothered her. "Shinji, I thought you were an only child, correct?"
Shinji paused in his annoyed patting of his shirt to look up at Ritsuko. "Huh, oh yeah, there's just me. But back home there are a couple of girls, one of them who works with my Uncle, and they wouldn't let me call them anything else, couple times I did earned me a bump of the head, that or they'd steal my clothes or stuff along those lines. This particular piece is Revy-neechan's work, and I probably shouldn't have swapped out the ammo for blanks in her guns last time we played paintball."
Misato chuckled as she casually draped an arm over Shinji's shoulders. "You know, you're really going to have to introduce me to your friends one day, they sound like really interesting people. Once you get all your stuff together I'll take you to where you'll be staying, that good with you?" Shinji shrugged, before he smiled teasingly.
"Sure thing, but I'm the one who gets to drive, I don't want to die in a car accident just after killing a giant rampaging monster." With that he ducked out from under Misato's arm and scooted out the door, Misato following closely behind him.
"Hey, get back here you! I'll have you know my driving's not that bad! Are you even listening to me? You litt-" Ritsuko laughed out loud as the door closed, cutting off Misato's shouting. That pair was simply two of a kind, and she wasn't sure who would end up having a heart attack first, her or the Commander. Still laughing quietly as she turned off the lights, she almost wasn't surprised when the intercom began to page her.
As Misato and Shinji walked down the hallway to her apartment, they were surprised to see several large boxes and one especially large crate stacked next to Misato's door. Misato let out an impressed snort. "I'm surprised they got your stuff here so quickly, ah well we can move it in after dinner. Welcome to home sweet home."
Shinji stepped in and fumbled around in the dark before finding the light switch, turning it only to immediately wish he hadn't. He'd seen the inside of Revy's room once, and even that mess paled in comparison to the horror that unfolded before his eyes. Frozen where he stood, Misato easily stepped past him and moved into the apartment, absently tossing her keys into a small bowl near the door.
"Come in and make yourself at home. And I'm sorry about the mess, but I wasn't expecting a guest anytime soon, or I'd have cleaned up a little. Your room's down the hall and to the left, and mine's at the end of the hall. " Misato's voice called out from the kitchen. Shinji opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and instead turned to grab some of his stuff.
As he stepped through the detritus that littered the floor, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he would have been better of staying at NERV. HE shrugged as he set down the last of the smaller boxes, it was too late to change anything now, so he might as well not let it get him down. He paused in his walk back to the main door, when he was hit with the aroma of food cooking, which for some reason surprised him. He just chocked it up to Misato not quite like the kind of woman who would cook, but considering the fact that she lived alone, he shouldn't have been so surprised. As he stepped past the door, he heard Misato's voice call out from the kitchen.
"Hey Shinji! Once this is done cooking I'll come out and help with that big crate, okay?" Shinji smiled and moved to go sit at the table, he hadn't been expecting the offer for help, but it was definitely appreciated.
"Sure thing. By the way, what are you making?" Shinji called back as he sat down. Instead of immediately responding, Misato came out of the kitchen with two steaming bowls of what looked like curry. Smiling she set them down before quickly ducking back into the kitchen, coming back with a couple of cans of took a look at her poison of preference with a a frown, before digging into his duffel bag, which he had tossed near the sofa when he had come in, and pulled out a small bottle.
He set it down on the table, accidentally bumping it against his bowl, the noise causing Misato to look up from her food. Lifting her spoon, she pointed at the bottle as Shinji reached down and pulled out a couple of shot glasses. "What's that?" Shinji chuckled at Misato's question.
"It's a drink." Misato shot him a withering look, before heaving a dramatic sigh.
"I know that, I meant what kind of drink, and don't go giving me another generalization either." Shinji shook his head in amusement as he carefully opened the bottle.
"It was supposed to be a gift to my father for what I had originally figured was an attempt to reconcile our relationship, now that it's obvious that's not the case, I figured we might as well share a celebratory drink over my victory against the Angel, unless you'd rather let it go to waste?" Shinji smirked as one of the shot glasses disappeared, only to re-materialize in Misato's raised hand. "Guess not, anyway make sure you take your time and enjoy it, finding good scotch like this is hard to do, especially if it was made pre-Second Impact. Cheers!"
Before Misato could protest, Shinji raised his glass and drank his shot glass. She opened her mouth to offer her view on the subject, but decided that her time was better spent drinking and put back her own shot, after all who was she to talk. She set her glass down and Shinji was immediately refilling it. As she downed another shot, she couldn't help but think that maybe having him around wouldn't be so bad after all, as well as noting that she really owed his Uncle Rokurō Ikari a drink of his own.
An Omake, of sorts.
"Behold the defender of humanity, the Evangelion!"
Shinji stared stunned before pointing at his father.
"Oh my God, you're the Freakin' King Otaku!"
Gendo stared down from his office filled with cat-girl posters with a steady glare.
"Damn right I'm the King." And all of NERV bowed...
Another Omake, this one with a bit more thought behind it...
If Sawyer met Rei:
Sawyer stared at the girl seated across from her, one of her little brother's friends if she recalled correctly.
Rei stared at the woman sitting opposite herself, she was one of Pilot Ikari's friends she thought.
"..."
*Rei blinked her eyes*
"..."
"..."
*Sawyer blinked*
"..."
Finally they both shared a small smile as they stood up and went their own separate ways. Leaving those watching completely confused as to what just happened. The only thing Rei would share on the matter was the rather odd comment of, "She was a, a nice conversationalist."
The, why I did not include this scene, Omake.
"It seems that finally the Angels have returned. "
"Yes, the moment we've been waiting so long for has finally come. Would you like the honours?"
"Thank you old friend." Gendo stood up and cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Shit just got Real."
The, It could have been worse, Omake.
Gendo frowned, he had been hoping that he wouldn't have to resort to such measures, but he was prepared. "Retrieve the First Child."
Ritsuko's eyes widened in shock." But He's still injured from his failure to activate Unit-00! How can we expect him to-" she cut off as Gendo leveled his glare at her.
At the sounds of a door opening, those gathered in the hangar turned to face the source of the sound, Shinji cocking his head to the side as a gurney was wheeled in. Once it got close enough for him to see the features on the figure lying on it, he froze. Twitching, he reached around Misato's waist and deftly relieved her of her pistol without anyone noticing.
Then, before anyone could react, he aimed and fired, slamming a shot fight into the forehead of the mini-Gendo clone that was on the gurney, before turning and squeezing off another pair of shots at his father. As his father slumped to the ground, clutching at his chest, he raised a hand to Shinji.
"W-why?"
Shinji stared wordlessly at his father. And during that final stare, he died. And there was much rejoicing.
Yeah, no idea where that first Omake came from. The last one came to me while I was reading the Usagi Evil scenes from Shinji Powers, a fic that never got off the ground by DB Sommer. Anyway, hope you liked them.
(1) *sweatdrops* Guess I've been reading too much Harrington lately. Ah well, David Weber is one hell of an author.
(2) Ryoga Hibiki on the other hand, would have gotten lost at least three times before even exiting the Eva hangar.
So as you can see, this won't be a curbstomping god-like Shinji, he'll get some licks, but he'll keep on going until the jobs done. And I also decided to flesh out Misato's background a bit more, to give her a touch more flavour. After all, I can't imagine that she got her position at NERV simply because she was Ritsuko's friend and she had been on the expedition that caused Second impact. Although, considering the original series, that's probably what happened. XP
And you can also see that I'm laying the ground work for some interesting possibilities later on. *Smirks* Oh I just can't wait till Kaji meets up with this version of Misato.
Hope you liked it,
Fellgrave.