[Standard Disclaimer and Author's Notes: Greetings All! Let the constantly reiterated legalities commence! As you've likely already guessed, i don't own the characters or situations of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and i claim no rights to their reproduction, so please don't sue me! This is my first foray into non-Ranma fanfiction, and I'm still sort of uncertain about it. Whether i continue it or not depends upon whether i get enough response calling for more; i have enough unfinished fics on my plate already, without adding too many more projects. ^_^; As usual, i could never have done this without my wonderful and insightful prereaders; thank you all! Any comments or criticisms or anything that you'd like to sent my way about this or any of my fics would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!

~Eimii]

Her travel bag falling heavily at her side, Katsuragi Misato seated herself at the foot of the steps outside of the station with a weary sigh. "I can't believe this! First I miss my train out here, and then, right before my last transfer, all of the lines shut down." Leaning back, Misato regarded the clear blue sky. A small frown crossed her face as she recalled evacuation warning that had been blaring across the station's PA system just minutes before. I wonder what the hell's going on...

Reaching into her bag, Misato searched around for a few moments before extracting a crumpled piece of stationary, flattening it out and holding it up for inspection. It was a pretty simple message, giving and a time and a place where she was supposed to meet her escort. After noting the time, Misato stole a glance at her wristwatch. A groan escaped her lips. "Damn, three hours late already! And the phones in the station aren't working either," she lamented, hanging her head, a pained expression on her face.

Well, I guess there's nothing for it... With another sigh, Misato got back to her feet and re-shouldered her bag. She took another look up at the sky. "At least it's a nice day for a walk..." As she watched the clouds roll by a large gray fighter jet streaked across her field of vision. Shading her eyes with her hands, Misato traced its path across the heavens. "Hmm... that thing was flying pretty low..."

Suddenly, with a thunderous roar, a flaming silver dart tore the air less than fifty feet above her head. Blinking away the dust raised in its wake, Misato clutched her ears to block out the sound. A- a cruise missile??!

As she watched, the missile broke left, angling upward as it turned to spear off into the ruins of old Tokyo, barely visible behind the station. Or, to be more precise, towards something that was now emerging from those flooded ruins. Misato gaped in astonishment at the colossal, green... thing, that rose on the horizon, water streaming off of it as it towered before her.

"W- wha- what the heck is that?!" Misato screamed, staring up at the monster with a completely poleaxed expression on her face.

A multitude of white, bone like protrusions decorated the forest green skin of the monstrosity, one of which looked vaguely like the skull of a bird. A blood red sphere was positioned below its 'head,' in the center of the thing's ape-like body.

Then, with short, ponderous strides, it began advancing. If she hadn't been so terrified, Misato would have burst out laughing at the sight; giant, city-destroying monsters shouldn't be allowed to waddle in real life. Now it reminded her more of a penguin on steroids.

The cruise missile, as well as several others approaching from different directions, quickly converged on the creature, exploding against its body without any visible effect. A low whirring sound from behind her forced Misato to tear her gaze from the creature, as she turned to look back.

Approaching high and fast, several hover-jets streaked overhead, all the while showering smaller missiles upon the giant green bird-ape. None of this seemed have any effect on it at all, until suddenly it drew one of its spindly, three-clawed arms back and thrust it forward in the direction of one of the jets still hovering over Misato's head. A beam of light streaked out from the center of the arm, lancing through the jet with a bright flash.

Oh Crap!!! With a strangled cry, Misato scrambled away from the station as the crippled jet fell from the sky, crashing upon the steps behind her.

On impact, the plane exploded, sending wreckage flying in all directions. Misato was thrown to the ground, where she sat, desperately holding her arms before her face. The plaintive screech of abused tires didn't register in Misato's ears until she realized that she hadn't been perforated by a cloud of shrapnel.

Daring to open her eyes again, Misato found a large, black sedan interposed between her and the flaming wreck of the jet. The windows were tinted, so Misato couldn't see who was inside, but suddenly the front passenger side door popped open, just missing her legs as it swung out.

Inside the car, the driver leaned across the seats to glance down at her. He was a young-ish looking man, probably in his mid twenties, wearing a black suit with a button-down white shirt and a black tie. A silver and red tie-pin bearing a peculiar half-leaf symbol and the letters 'NERV' provided the only color that his clothing held.

The rest of him, on the other hand, was much easier on the eyes. He had short cut brown hair and handsome, clean-shaven face. A pair of narrow, oval framed glasses, balanced rakishly at the end of his nose, complimented the sharp lines of his face. The tinted lenses failed to hide the deep-ocean blue of his haunting gaze.

Taking stock of the trembling young girl before him, the man pushed the glasses back up on the bridge of his nose and offered her a hand with an apologetic look. "Katsuragi Misato? I'm Major Ikari Shinji of NERV. I'm sorry about this mess, but I was sent to pick you up. We have no time to waste, so please get in the car."

*****

Fun With Nyanniichuan Productions Presents...

A work of Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction...

- H - I - S - T - O - R - Y -

Chapter 1: Deja Vu

April 16, 2029

Standing amidst the rice fields fifteen miles outside of Osaka-2, like a lonely sentinel guarding the frontier, the gas station appeared to be long abandoned, yet another casualty of the modern age. Most cars didn't use gasoline anymore. Instead, electricity and fuel cells supplied all of the power necessary for most modern vehicles.

Some, however, still yearned for the raw power of a rumbling, gas guzzling internal combustion engine. Car manufactures, ever more sensitive to wants and needs of their limited customer base, had complied; several of the more rugged gar lines now supported hydrogen-burning engines.

This simple fuel was cheap, clean burning and, most importantly, packed quite a kick. The designers even claimed to have solved most of the difficulties surrounding the tendency of hydrogen-powered cars to explode when they got into accidents. Most hydrogen-car drivers didn't really care if they had or not.

Spitting gravel from under its fat, double-thick tires like a localized hail storm, the black hum-vee rumbled to halt in front of the pumps, giving one final, almost feral roar before falling silent. Like the vacant eye sockets of a skull, the darkened, broken out windows of the gas station stared out at the car. The gaping, empty maw of the garage waited to swallow up any who would disturb the ghosts of the past. There was no gas to be had here today.

The man that stepped forth from the fire-breathing beast was not looking for fuel. Smoothing out his suit and tie, the driver of the hum-vee took a moment to adjust his glasses and run a hand through his slightly disheveled brown hair before turning and marching purposefully toward the side of the station. Ignoring the pumps and the office entirely, he angled toward the rather newer-looking phone booth that stood off to the side, entering it and shutting the door firmly behind him.

After rooting around in his coat pocket for a moment, a small frown crossed the man's face as he came back empty-handed. The frown disappeared quickly, however, with a few moments of searching his pants pockets.

Extracting a small silver disc and a well-worn leather wallet, the man picked up the receiver, placing it between his shoulder and his ear. Carefully, he ran the silver disk up and down along the sides of the phone until a quiet beeping noise emitted from it and it adhered itself magnetically to the green casing of the phone.

A small smirk crossed his lips as he selected a card from his wallet and inserted it into the pay-slot. He didn't even look as he dialed the number, for he knew it by heart. After two rings someone on the other end of the line picked up. A soft female voice whispered through the ear piece.

"Yes?"

"I've found her." If you listened close enough, you could actually hear the satisfied smile Aida Kensuke wore as he spoke into the receiver. God damn, but I love this job...

*****

Hanging up the phone, Rei turned her chair to face the rather impatient-looking young man that was standing in the corner of her office. "That was the Marduk Institute. They have located the Third Children."

The tone of her voice didn't change, but the corners of her mouth quirked up, just a little, into something that could have been mistaken for a smile. She peered inquisitively at her visitor. "I assume that you will compose the invitation yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll take care of it." Shinji replied, scratching the back of his head thoughtfully. A pensive look occupied his features for several moments, before it finally succumbed to encroachment of a rather infectious grin. A relieved sigh escaped Shinji's lips. "We've really found her, haven't we?"

Rei didn't reply immediately, but a little bit of the younger Ikari's grin began to creep into her almost-smile. Her piercing, red-eyed gaze softened for a moment before she turned back to her desk and began to shuffle papers around, shaking her head slightly. "Yes, it appears that we have..."

*****

May 5, 2029

The combined UN command center was a whirlwind of activity. Technicians rushed back and forth across the floor, consulting and coordinating with special UN taskforce NERV, the JSDF, and the visiting US tactical command unit. Projected before them on the main screen, the Angel pressed its inexorable advance on Tokyo-3 as UN and SDF units continued to pound it with air and ground fire to no appreciable effect.

Staring impassively up at the observation dais from the command deck, Rei adjusted the small microphone that was pinned to the collar of her white lab coat. "You know that they will fail, commander. You should have your forces withdraw."

Gritting his teeth in frustration, the commander of the US-JSDF joint forces stood up and glared back down at her. "Dammit, isn't there any other way to do this?!" he growled, tearing off his hat and throwing it down on the table.

"You know that there is not, however we may wish that there was," the albino woman replied, her cold words carrying through the mic to the group of uniformed observers that was assembled on the platform above. "This is why NERV was created."

The commander flinched at her tone, but stood his ground. He stared down at her for several moments longer, the air in the control room filled with the sounds of battle and the urgent voices of technicians and military aides. Still, the casualties continued to build.

A pained look crossed the commander's features, and finally he straightened and walked to the end of the table, picking up the receiver of a red phone. "This is OPS. Do we have authorization to use our countermeasure? ... Good. Proceed according to the mission objectives outlined in emergency packet B. That is correct, emergency packet B."

A small frown formed on Rei's lips as the pickup in her ear caught the commander's words. "Your countermeasure will not be sufficient to eliminate the target."

"I'm not trying to eliminate the target!" Commander Suzuhara Touji barked, cracking the casing of the phone as he slammed the receiver back into its cradle. The red plastic crumbled under the tightly clenched fingers of his glove-sheathed left hand. "I'm buying you some time. But you and Ikari had damn well better not screw up this time!"

Turning away from the men above, Rei peered up at the lumbering behemoth that was steadily advancing upon their position, inscrutable and unstoppable. "Indeed..."

*****

Peering out of the passenger-side window through a pair of binoculars that Major Ikari had lent her, Misato suddenly noticed something that didn't make sense. "Ikari-san?"

"Shinji is fine, if you like." Shinji replied, gunning the engine as they approached a stretch of straightaway. Man, I'm glad I let Kensuke talk me into a gas car. "What's on your mind?"

Smiling slightly at Shinji's easy manner, Misato turned to the window and pointed out at the giant green thing that was smashing its way through the city. "It looks like all of the jets that were shooting at that 'Angel' thing decided it was time to run away, but they haven't even slowed it down. Do you think they're gonna try something else?"

"Well, I-" Suddenly, Shinji felt every hair on his head stand on end. That was all the warning that either of them got before three columns of searing, bluish-white light lanced down from the sky, striking at the Angel in quick succession. "Oh shit! Brace yourself!" the Major cried, as he slammed on the breaks and grabbed Misato, pressing her down on the seat below window level.

"Wha- what?!" Still dazzled by the flash of light a few moments ago, it was all Misato could do to rub her eyes blindly as Shinji wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down. "What the-"

The rest of her question was lost to the howl of the wind and the screech of tortured metal, as a massive column of air rolled over the sedan, blowing out all the windows and tossing it through the air like a child's toy. The car flipped over several times in midair before finally hitting the ground and skidding to a halt on its side, propped against an embankment. Dust and debris continued to fly by for several more seconds, as the winds of the shock wave continued to rage around them.

When it finally blew itself out, and she could hear again, Misato began to hear a high pitched whining noise. It took her a few moments to figure out that the noise was, in fact, the sound of her own screaming. Funny, she couldn't remember screaming. Shutting her mouth with an audible click, Misato tried to calm herself and take stock. Thankfully, it appeared that she'd at least managed to keep from wetting herself; that certainly wouldn't have been a good start.

Peering around the inside of the car, she determined that they were currently flipped on their right side. Feeling a few new bruises, Misato wished that she had listened to Shinji when he had told her to put on her seat belt. Hey, where is Ikari-san, anyway?

Shifting about in her awkward position at the 'bottom' of the car, Misato glanced around the interior, but couldn't find the Major anywhere. Then a quiet groan from behind her alerted Misato that she was, in fact, on top of him. "Aah, sorry Ika- Shinji-san! Are you alright?" she cried, as she tried to turn around and look at her erstwhile escort.

Misato could tell that Major Ikari had seen better days. Several small cuts decorated the side of his face that was pressed against the ground outside of his window, and it appeared as though he had used his own body to keep her from slamming into the side of the car. He was turned at an uncomfortable-looking, halfway out of his seatbelt, with his back pressed against the car door. Misato gasped, even as she felt a slight heat rising in her cheeks. "Oh no, Shinji-san..."

At the sound of her voice, Shinji released another groan, and his eyes fluttered open behind the cracked lenses of his tinted glasses. "Ugh... Mi- Misato-san? Are you alright?" he questioned groggily.

"I'm fine, thanks to you." Misato replied, casting a worried and somewhat flustered glance at the disoriented, handsome older man beneath her. "Are you okay?"

"I... think I'm okay." Shinji replied slowly, as he lifted his left arm from Misato's side to remove his glasses. "Nothing feels broken, anyway. But could you get off of me anyway; I think those binoculars are poking me in the back."

*****

After much embarrassment and several false starts, Shinji and Misato had finally managed to extricate themselves from the Major's car. Unfortunately, the huge black MHI sedan had proven to be far too heavy for the two of them to right by themselves. Panting heavily as she leaned against the embankment, Misato peered up at Shinji as the agent dabbed at his cuts with a handkerchief. "Okay, since we're obviously not going to be able to go on in this thing, you mind telling me what that was that they shot the 'Angel' with?"

Turning to look down at Misato apologetically, Shinji sat beside her and continued to hold the handkerchief to his cheek. "Nuclear missile defense system; orbital particle beam satellites. They're usually pointed perpendicular to the atmosphere since they're not designed to hit targets on the surface," he explained, pointing up at the sky. "Still, it looks like they did hit, for what good it will do them."

"Are you kidding?! What could possibly have survived a blast like that?" Misato cried in disbelief.

"An Angel could," the major replied wearily. "Plus, if that shock wave was any indication, I'd say that they didn't do any special modifications on the satellites at all." Glancing at the uncomprehending expression on the young girl's face, Shinji continued. "Since the satellites are designed to shoot down targets that are on the outer fringes of the atmosphere, the beams they fire wouldn't need to be as coherent or as well shielded as a planet-based particle beam weapon would be. Because of that, if they tried to fire into the atmosphere, something like half of the energy would inevitably be wasted, dissipating into the atmosphere as heat, thus the shock wave."

"Soo..." Misato began, staring off towards the towering dust cloud that had risen in the center of the city. "It's still alive, then?" she murmured, fear and incredulity vying for dominance in her voice.

"Probably..." Shinji confirmed, standing up and staring at the Angel's last position. "Which means that we're still in a hurry."

As Misato groaned and glowered at him Shinji reached in through the empty frame where his windshield used to be and groped around inside the glove box of the car. Finding what he was looking for, he withdrew his arm, holding a large manila envelope. "Here, this is supposed to be for you, but first," Tearing open the envelope, Shinji extracted a folded city map and began to scan it quickly.

"There! I thought I remembered an entry point around her somewhere," he exclaimed, pointing at a nearby building. "Okay, it looks like we can leave the car behind, for now." Nodding resolutely, Shinji reached down to help Misato back to her feet. "We're not out of the forest yet..."

To Be Continued...?