I Don't Feel a Thing

by LightningStorm98

Shinji was left by his father to make him weak and willing for when the time came for Gendo to carry out his plan. But what happens if leaving him backfires, and only makes him stronger? Rated M for Violence, language, possible mature themes. NO LEMONS

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I (as said before) do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its characters, storyline, etc. All of it is property of Gainax.

So thanks for waiting. Been caught up in the holidays and other things these past few weeks but I've finally got this done and have posted this up. As I did earlier in the first chapter, I listened to one song during the writing of this chapter which I suggest for listening along with reading, namely with the fight scene, and I give all credit to Slicerness for suggesting the song and getting me to buy it and listen to it while writing the chapter.

The song is called "City" by Hollywood Undead (which I don't own either; owned by OctoScope Music, LLC 2008). Fair warning to readers; as is all music by Hollywood Undead it has violent themes, similar underlying themes, and some language, so don't listen to it if you don't like that stuff.

Without further or do the second chapter in "I Don't Feel A Thing"

**********

"ARGH! WHERE THE HECK IS IT?!"

Misato's voice rang out through the hallways of the base as she and the group of friends tried to find the area of where they needed to go. Since the drop of the N2 mine Misato had quickly driven them along, taken them down into something she had rushed along calling a "geofront" and into the base where she had rushed them out of the car and into the base. The halls were eerily quiet and empty as the group walked through them except for the occasional outbursts from Misato. Despite all of that and the concept of them being in a base for reasons unknown, the group seemed unfazed and for that matter uncaring about what was going on and what may possibly happen to them. Tyler had already pulled out his last toothpick from his mouth, the end chewed down and splintered, and had replaced it, still chewing away at it looking ahead, face straight. Julie was just looking bored in general as she stretched her neck. Arik had his hands in his pockets head down simply walking straight ahead, and Shinji had previously put on his headphones, music blaring out of them after fifteen minutes of walking through the area.

"I should know where it is!" said Misato looking down hallways as the group passed them.

The group stayed quiet at this, not speaking. The fact of the matter was the group had passed this point in the base about five times, this making it their sixth time. A grin spread across Shinji's face as they made for another pass and looked at his friends behind him. Julie rolled her eyes, Arik suppressed his snicker with a cough and Tyler threw down the toothpick only to replace it with a slight silent laugh. They said nothing; they found it amusing that the Captain had no idea where she was going though the point they had passed had signs with arrows pointing and telling where each area was.

As the group continued down the hall a shout was heard. "Misato!"

Misato spun around. "Ritsuko?" she called out. From the hallway that had had the signs pointing to the bridge appeared a woman with blonde hair dressed in a lab coat carrying a clip board. She was about the same height as Misato, same age, and pale skin with high heels. The heels of her footsteps hitting the floor as she walked sounded through the hallway as she walked over to the group.

"Where have you been Misato?" asked the women named Ritsuko. "You called us saying you had the third child in your possession almost an hour ago!"

"Sorry," said Misato. "I couldn't find the bridge."

Ritsuko shook her head. "We just had signs put up! Don't tell me you forgot about that!"

Misato's cheeks turned a slight red at this. "Maybe…" was all she got out.

Ritsuko shook her head. "You're impossible Misato. But at least you got here." She looked over the group. "Which one is Shinji Ikari?"

"ITACHI," said Shinji, his voice venom laced. "Shinji Itachi."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrows at his tone. She looked over his shoulder noticing the strap across it and the knife sheath peeking over it. Her eyes spun to Misato her eyes narrowing. "Why does he have a knife with him? Didn't you go through security?"

"There were no security guards at the entrance," said Misato. "I didn't know he had one."

"You didn't see that on his back?" asked Ritsuko her eyes narrowing even more.

"No," said Misato. In all truth, she knew, she had seen him with it in the car in plain view testing the sharpness with his thumb, and she had thought and knew she should have confiscated it even if the guards weren't there, but she was kind of in a rush to find the bridge and everything that it slipped her mind.

Ritsuko looked back over Shinji. "You're going to have to give that to Misato so she can have it held for you while you're here."

Shinji's grin appeared on his face. "No."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrows once more. "You cannot be on the premises with unauthorized weapons Shinji. Hand it over to Misato."

Shinji's grin widened as he shrugged. He reached behind him pulling the knife out of his sheath and holding it out. "Well here you go. Take it."

Ritsuko reached out to grab the knife but as she did so her eyes met his face and suddenly her hand paused as she suddenly froze. His grin and eye seemed to bore right into her, motionless and still, as though daring her to take the knife and that if she did, the consequences would not be worth it. Her mind went blank as she couldn't tear her gaze away from his as his gaze seemed to swallow her whole then drill into the very depths of her mind. It was a terrifying, burning, haunting, horrible, evil, dark; any and all of the words described it; it was the type that brought up buried memories back to the surface of the mind, the type that wanted to make you crawl into a corner and cry. But above all else his gaze was… dead. She couldn't do anything until his voice brought her back. "No? Then I think I'll just keep it thank you." Her body seemed to jump start at this as he quickly sheathed the blade and looked away. She suddenly became very aware of her heart hammering in her chest, that she was unconsciously holding her breath, and that her knees and the rest of her body were feeling very weak. She felt her breath get released and she had to consciously hold her hand back from going to her chest to try to get her heart to calm down.

"Uh, well…" She felt a small shudder crawl down her spine and it took a great mental strength to compose herself. "If you will all follow me." She'd leave the knife to security… if they'd be able to take it from him for that fact.

"What's the status so far?" asked Misato, she clearly not seeing what had happened.

Ritsuko took a deep breath her body still shaking slightly. "The N2 mine had no effect,"

"That was obvious," said Tyler under his breath.

"But it did seem to stun it slightly. It's movements in the beginning are jagged and uncoordinated. The angel seems to be recovering from it for the moment. It's given us a good time to prepare for the counterattack. We've just been waiting for you," said Ritsuko as the group got into an elevator.

"I bet the commander isn't very happy…" said Misato grimacing.

"Not anymore then he usually is," said Ritsuko pushing in the floor number and the elevator engine turning on and the elevator starting downwards. She looked at the kids, eyes moving from one to one, her eyes glancing at Shinji then moving away, the same shiver as before crawling up her back once more.

"So… Ritsuko was it?" asked Shinji.

"Dr. Akagi," said Ritsuko, mentally struggling to keep her voice calm.

"Sorry. Dr. Akagi," he said. "I take it the reason I've been called down here has something to do with that Angel out there." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Yes," said Dr. Akagi. "You've been called to take it down." She turned around to look at Shinji directly, expecting at least some surprise or shock on his face or maybe for some sign that would provide comfort to her after what he did to her. However his grin was still on his face, his face low.

"Hmm," he said simply.

Ritsuko cringed. How… how was this kid so calm? Was this person even a kid? She looked up at Misato whose face betrayed the same thoughts running through her mind.

"And how do you suggest he do that?" asked Tyler. "I hope you have a better plan then everything else you've been doing."

Ritsuko glared at Tyler but he seemed unfazed and he simply stared back and at her as he moved the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. She didn't like this group already. "All previous actions haven't been done by us. We've just been granted control of the situation however."

"Still doesn't answer our question," said Arik as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to a dark room.

"Shinji… is supposed to defeat it…" began Ritsuko as the group walked out onto a metal catwalk. "With this."

At this a whirling noise was heard as generators were kicked on and the lights from above turned on revealing the room. The group was on a large metal plank in a large square room. The walls were white tiled simply and bland. The metal bridge was suspended above a lake of yellow, orange, liquid, seeming still, the noise of liquid gently lapping about echoing around the room. This and the details of the room escaped the group however as they all stood starring at what was in the middle of the room.

A purple monster was how they would have described it. They were standing right in front of the beasts pointed face, it colored a dark purple with green accents the material seeming to be some type of metal, layers of it upon different layers. Bright yellow lifeless eyes stared at the group underneath the metal armor, two large vent like tubes underneath the eyes on the sides of the face colored green, and a horn protruding from in between the eyes, the chin coming down into a similar point. Various other accents of colors showed, an orange neck, large fin like structures on the shoulders, purples armor on its legs and arms which seemed to bulge underneath with muscles, half of the monster underneath the liquid below it

The four teens seemed to step back slightly as they saw what was right next to them. "Damn," said Tyler looking over it.

"Looks like that thing outside," said Julie.

Shinji stepped forward starring at the beast before him as Arik walked up next to him. "Should have known," said Arik. Shinji looked at him questioningly. Arik simply looked back at him. "Classic anime stuff. Only way to defeat a giant robot is with another giant robot." Shinji grinned.

Misato looked over at Ritsuko after hearing the joke, shock on her face which spoke what she was thinking instantly. What was wrong with these kids?! Ritsuko cringed once more as the same thoughts ran across her own mind. Ritsuko had to agree with her friend's thoughts. The group had seemed surprised at first but they had taken it in stride it seemed and were already cracking jokes. This wasn't like she had been informed Shinji would be.

Shinji turned around to look at the two. "So, what is this I'm looking at?"

"It's called an Eva. And you're going to pilot it."

Shinji put his head down low as his mouth turned into the widest grin he had on yet as he heard the voice. His chest shook silently as though he was laughing, his shoulders heaving. Ritsuko and Misato felt themselves take a step back at the sight, not having any idea what was happening. Shinji finally stopped and he turned around looking up to a viewing window above the Eva. A man with black hair, orange square glasses, and a black beard in a suit stood there looking down at the group. Shinji's grin widened even more at the sight. "Why hello… father. What has it been… 13… 14 years? I've lost count."

Gendo Ikari starred at Shinji below him his eyes drinking in the details his son, moving up and down the boy. Something… something was wrong. Gendo would have never imagined Shinji dressing like this, like some street punk. He didn't plan that Shinji would be standing so tall. And that grin… why was he grinning? Shinji shouldn't be grinning. And he had friends with him, three looking in the similar manner, each one starring up at him. He would have thought that Shinji wouldn't have any good friends, nor any that would come with him. He had made sure the people he had dumped Shinji with wouldn't have come with him, and that should have in turn, along with other consequences, should have left him with no good friends either. Gendo breathed in deeply. No matter however. Shinji would break to Gendo's will. He may look different then thought, but he would be as weak as Gendo had made sure he would be when he left him those many years ago. Gendo ignored the question. "We need you to pilot the Eva."

Shinji continued to grin. "What? No hello? No how have you been?" He let out a small laugh. "I'm hurt..."

"We have no time Shinji," said Gendo. "The Angels will soon recover its strength and start rampaging through the city once more."

Shinji put a hand up to his chin and started to rub it as though in deep thought. He pursed his lips then the grin reappeared. "No."

Gendo raised an eyebrow. "No?"

Shinji shook his head letting his grin disappear. "No. I will not pilot your… Eva was it?" He shook his head. "I won't do it."

"You are the only one we have able too pilot it," said Gendo calmly. He had known that Shinji may resist at first, but Shinji would break. "We need you to pilot it as it's the only thing able to take down the Angel."

Shinji shrugged. "No."

"Perhaps you don't understand the severity of it all," said Gendo. "If you don't pilot the Angel destroy the city, kill all of us. The world may try to fight it, but they will fail and fall as well until the Angel destroys all humans."

Shinji's eye narrowed. "I owe this city nothing. I owe humanity nothing. And above all else I owe you nothing." He grinned. "I still won't pilot it."

Gendo starred down at Shinji who starred back, his grin still plastered on his face. Gendo made no movement his mind moving into action. The angel would start up again soon. They had to hurry or else the scenario would fail. He would have to push harder.

"As weak as ever," said Gendo. He looked down at Ritsuko. "Get Rei here. Our back up plan has failed. She'll have to pilot and take down the Angel."

"Sir, Rei is still recovering…" began Misato.

"We have no choice. Get Rei here," said Gendo shortly.

Ritsuko grabbed her cell phone and dialed in a number. "Bring in the first child," she said to whoever was on the other line.

The doors on the opposite side of the room burst open to reveal two medics coming in with a gurney, an occupant on it hooked up to a few IVs, an oxygen mask on her face. The group came to a stop short from them, the group of teens not able to see the patient.

"Rei," said Gendo. "Our backup has failed; the third child cannot pilot. You'll have to go out in his stead."

A weak quivering voice was heard. "Y-y-yes sir…" From the gurney the figure stirred, then moved slowly trying to get up. Blue hair appeared as the head slowly moved upwards and the body slowly got off the gurney revealing its occupant. It was a slender young woman, about the same age as Shinji's group. She had pale white skin, light blue hair short and choppy, and blue strands hanging down over her face, a few being stuck to her head as though doused in sweat. She was wearing a skin tight white jump like suit, a zipper running straight down the front, no real designs adorning it except a few variations on the shoulders, wrists and legs. In the middle of the chest area in black was the numbers "01". Over all of this however were layers of wrapped bandages over various parts of her body including over her head and one eye. The girl slowly grabbed the IV lines put into her and pulled out, small groans of pain occurring as she pulled each out. She struggled as pushed herself up off the gurney her teeth bared slightly, her elbows shaking visibly as they struggled with their load. She finally got into standing position and started to struggle forward but let out a cry of pain as she collapsed to the ground.

Misato stepped forward as Rei started to push herself up once more despite having fallen. "Sir! Rei can't pilot like this!"

"We have no choice Captain," said Gendo. "We have no one else that can pilot and the Angel needs to be stopped. Rei will be fine." As he said this, Gendo looked at Shinji who was starring at the girl named Rei. Shinji's grin had disappeared, his face straight as he watched the girl struggle upwards once again. She made a few more steps with whimpers of pain then let out another cry of pain and started to fall. Shinji rushed forward and slid underneath her catching her. He gently turned her over so he could see her face. His eye met her one free eye; a blood red orb focusing in and out on his face, her face drenched in sweat, her body quivering and shaking in his arms.

Shinji looked up at his father. "You will not make her pilot."

"There is no one else to pilot the Eva," said Gendo. "It's part of her duty and she knows so."

Shinji's one eye narrowed once again. "She's about to die."

"It's her duty. And if she dies, so be it," said Gendo coldly. "She'll die for her duty"

Arik suddenly stepped forward his hand dashing into his jacket then coming back out a pistol in hand, pointed straight at Gendo. The medics and Ritsuko let out cries of surprise and Misato's hand rushed down towards her gun only in the next instant to find herself starring down a gun barrel held by Tyler. "None of that Captain," he said. She growled and Tyler slowly reached down and took the gun from her holster. Julie came up and grabbed the gun from him and pointed it at the medics and Ritsuko.

Gendo's face remained calm on the outside but on the inside his mind was racing, the same as Misato's and Ritsuko's. What had just happened? One moment he was arguing with his son, the next his friend had a gun pointed at him and the others had his other personnel under watch as well. How did they come in with guns? For that matter why did they come with guns?!

"What's going on here?!" growled Misato.

The group didn't answer as Shinji continued to stare at his father. "I didn't come here to help you father," said Shinji calmly. "I didn't come here to become a tool of yours. And this girl doesn't deserve to be treated as such either."

"I'm not forcing her to pilot Shinji," said Gendo his heart racing in chest, but keeping his straight face, hoping that he could recover from this turn of events. "You are."

Shinji looked down at the girl, her body shaking uncontrollably from the pain. She let out a low whimper, her red eye blinking rapidly, the pupil focusing in and out on Shinji's face. It was at this moment that Shinji noticed a single tear gather at the corner of her eye and slowly run down the edge of her nose.

"Shinji," said Arik. "I have a clear shot." His thumb pulled back the hammer with a loud click. "I can end this now." His voice was steady, straight and clear to everyone, but Shinji could hear what was behind it. Hatred. Hatred for Gendo and what he was doing. Clearly what Arik had heard about Gendo and what Gendo was doing right now was pushing him a bit farther then it should be. Arik barely let any emotions leak out; the fact that Shinji could pick up on this hatred only went to show how much Arik's hatred was. Arik wanted to take the shot. Shinji knew that at that moment Arik would like nothing more then to put a bullet straight between Gendo's eyes. But…

"No Arik," Shinji said as he watched Rei. He looked up at Arik. "Arik, stand down." Shinji watched as Arik lowered the gun as soon as the words left Shinji's mouth, though Shinji knew Arik was having a hard time with it. Shinji looked back down at Rei and gently pulled her closer. Her hands immediately grabbed his coat trying to pull herself closer to him, burying her head into his chest as though he was what was going to be the thing to alleviate the pain. He looked up at Gendo. "I'm sure as hell not doing this for you," he said. "I'll pilot it. But she gets immediate care."

Gendo felt his heart relax as he nodded. The plan was safe for now. "Fine. Ritsuko get the Third Child into the Eva and ready."

Julie and Tyler slowly lowered their weapons and Misato quickly relieved Tyler of his weapon and pointed it at him. "Up against the wall, all three of you," she said pointing looking at Julie and Arik as well. "Now." She jerked her head to a wall. Arik and Julie slowly let go of their guns and the three slowly got up against the wall as Misato called security. Shinji slowly lifted the girl to the gurney and placed her down gently where the medics started to hook back in the IV lines.

"Follow me," said Ritsuko starting to walk away, her body shaking slightly. Shinji looked back at his group, the three up against the wall, legs and arms spread out as they were being patted down by Misato. Shinji caught Arik's eye. Arik simply nodded. Go. We'll be fine. Shinji gave one last look at his father, who was still starring uncaringly down upon him. Shinji's straight face curved up into the familiar grin as he pulled his hat down lower covering his eyes. He raised one hand up to his father forming a gun with his fingers then flicked his wrist back as though firing a bullet. Without another word he lowered his hands and walked after Ritsuko.

Gendo felt a shiver crawl down his spine and his heart begin to become still into its normal beat as Shinji disappeared from sight. He closed his eyes, suddenly conscious that he had resumed breathing. That wasn't the Shinji he had planned… that wasn't part of the scenario. But once again… it didn't matter. Shinji had after a while given in to Gendo. This first step was a success and that's all that mattered at the moment. That's all he could focus on at the moment. Shinji may not be what he had planned, but he could adapt if necessary. All that mattered now was continuing the plan, and that plan depended on Shinji beating that Angel.

**********

"Captain, we're almost ready!"

Misato walked into the command post, the computer technicians typing away on their computers and preparing the Eva for launch, the large screens made up of individual triangle screens put together surrounding her, the main showing the Angel in the dark outside. Another showed the Eva in its containment locks, being prepared for launch. "Thanks Maya," said Misato letting out a sigh as she grabbed a pair of headphones.

"You okay Captain?" asked Maya noticing Misato drinking a whole can of soda in one go.

Misato shook her head. "Today isn't my day. An angel attacks, I gotta pick up and babysit some kids, only to have them point a gun at me and almost kill me, then have to throw three of them in the cells." She growled as she threw the empty can down. "And I want a beer. Not this soda crap."

"Did the kids give you trouble?"

Misato shook her head. "No actually. They were silent as stones, let me cuff them, put them in the rooms and lock them up without a word or struggle." Misato put on her headset. "Enough chit chat. What's happening?"

"The angel is showing signs of recovery," said Maya. "The Magi estimate we have ten minutes before it starts up once again."

"What about the Third Child?" asked Misato. "What's his status?"

"He's currently being loaded up into the Eva. Ritsuko has already passed him on being able to pilot in his condition, and has given him a rough sketch of how to pilot the Eva. She should be joining us any time soon."

"How much longer until he's ready for action?"

"We need to load him up on the ramp and launch him. Estimated 8 minutes."

Misato's mouth curved downwards and she bared her teeth slightly. It was going to be close. As Shinji got up there the monster should just be re-activating, considering nothing went wrong.

"Tell the mechanics to get a move on. I want to get him out there before the Angel starts again," barked Misato.

"Yes mam!"

The double doors on the side of the room slid open and Ritsuko came walking in, clipboard in hand still, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her free hand. She came up next to Misato shaking her head. "He's ready as he'll ever be."

"How's his sync rates?" asked Misato.

"Higher then we expected, I can tell you that. That of course will change in the middle of battle when he'll lose focus of it simply trying to survive."

"How else is he doing?" asked Misato grabbing another can. "Scared?"

Ritsuko actually visibly shivered. "No… he doesn't seem scared at all. For that fact he had on that grin when he climbed into the entry plug."

Misato frowned. "Seriously?" she asked.

Ritsuko nodded. "He just listened to me, let me do what I needed and got in without a word." Her body visibly shivered again. "Right as the entry plug closed I saw him sitting hands on the control with that grin upon his face." She shook her head rapidly as though trying to shake the image out of her mind. "It was almost as though he was looking forward to what's going to happen."

"That'll change when he gets out there," said Misato turning away from Ritsuko. She turned to look high above her at where the Commander and Fuuyutski stood. The Commander had already taken his usual seat and position, the usual hands clasped in front of his face bit as he looked at the screen, listening to the operations and overseeing it all. If he was disturbed or scarred by the early encounter with Shinji and his friends about to kill him, he showed no signs of it. He looked his usual self, ready and waiting for the battle. She had been given command of the situation for the moment however, so no point in waiting for him to cut in at all. She turned back to the screens. "What's Unit 01 status?"

"On the ramp, loaded and hooked to power!" said Shigeru. "Ready for launch."

"Shinji can you hear me?" asked Misato as she looked at one of small windows on the large view screen showing the inside of the entry plug.

Shinji was sitting there stone still in the vat of LCL, hands on controls, clothes still on, head down low. He made no movement showing signs that he heard her but his voice came back over the intercom. "Yes Captain."

"We're getting ready to launch you! The angel is about to reactivate, but you may have a few moments to attack it first if you hurry."

"Launch crew says everything's a go," said Makoto. "On your mark."

"Status is green," said Misato. "Unit 01, launch!"

**********

Shinji felt his stomach lurch downwards into his feet as Unit 01 launched upwards through the ground towards the surface and the battle. The view screen in front of him showed crossed beams of metal flying past him as he shot up the launch tube at incredible speeds. A bridge tech was counting down the seconds until the Eva surfaced, though Shinji wasn't particularly caring. He simply sat there breathing in the liquid about him, waiting.

"Ten seconds to surface!"

Shinji stretched his fingers, flexing them unconsciously, breathing in deeply as the countdown continued. As the bridge tech yelled out five seconds his hands stretched one last time and clenched down hard upon the controls, and the grin formed on his face once more.

"Unit 01 has surfaced!"

Shinji felt the Eva grind to a halt as lights from the buildings surrounding the Eva suddenly twinkled into view of the view screen. The previous day time sky had suddenly become night, the lights from the buildings all around on and bright despite the state of emergency, making it almost seemed like a stage for what was to come. Across the street standing there was the Angel, the large black muscular beast standing there, grey bone like structures about it, the small two eyed face on the top above the red core. It still seemed to be recovering from the shock, for it wasn't moving at the moment.

"Shinji are you ready?"

"Hai, Captain," said Shinji simply.

"Release the final safety lock! Unit 01 deploy!"

Shinji heard the snapping of metal and the release of metal holdings snap back and off of the Eva, and it seemed to lean forward slightly as it was released from its holdings.

"Shinji, I want you to concentrate on walking right now," Ritsuko's voice instructed. "Think it, concentrate on it."

Shinji ignored her voice. She had explained what he was going to be doing before hand. The Eva was controlled by a combination of both mental and physical thoughts. The Eva was supposed to be synched to his body, so that the Eva was like his body, thus when you move, thoughts would go through your body to initiate the movement and the Eva would thus interpret those thoughts as its own. Or at least, that's how Shinji took it. He breathed in deeply once more then let his thoughts focused on the Eva and walking. The Eva seemed to suddenly react to the thoughts as it lifted one of its legs and stepped forward.

"It's… it's walking! He's doing it!" said one of the tech crew members.

Once again, Shinji ignored it as he took another step forward, getting used to the sensation. He gripped the controls as he moved the arms. They reacted just as well moving back and forth as though he was stretching and put him up to his face watching as he moved his fingers. He moved his head back and forth as he clenched his hands back and forth into fists.

"How… how is he so adapt at this?!"

Shinji barely heard Ritsuko's voice as he let his hands drop to his sides focusing on the Angel before him as though expecting what came next. The red core seemed to flash red for a second and the Angel seemed to let out a groan as it moved slowly. The spikes protruding from the elbows seemed to extend out even more as though stretching and its three fingered hands stretched out as well. Suddenly it threw its face back as it let out a roar to the sky.

"The Angel has recovered!"

"Shinji attack it! Get to that red core and destroy it!" yelled Misato.

The Angel walked forward slowly, a lumbering giant in a city. Shinji could imagine Tyler's response to that. "Only in Tokyo." He almost laughed at the thought, despite the situation and got ready as he rushed forward. "Bring it on!" he hissed through his teeth.

**********

"He's handling the Eva with amazing skills!" said Ritsuko as she watched the Eva charge forward at the Angel.

Misato was just as in shock as Ritsuko. He had never been in an Eva, never practiced before, had never HEARD before of an Eva, and yet he was handling the Eva with ease! She watched with amazement as the Eva charged forward through the city at the Angel. Right as he was about to get towards the Angel, the Angel shot its hands forward towards the Eva trying to grab it.

"SHINJI DODGE!" yelled Misato, but a split second earlier, the Eva ducked underneath, pulled back it's arm, hand curling into a fist and threw it forward into the core of the Angel. The Angel let out a roar of pain as it was thrown backwards skidding into the ground. The Eva ran forward taking its chance and jumped getting ready to land on the Angel. The angel's eyes suddenly glowed and a blast of energy erupted from them hitting the Eva in midair and throwing it backwards.

"Shinji!" yelled Misato as the Eva flew backwards and landed into the ground with a huge crash. "Shinji get up!"

Before the Eva could react the Angel pulled itself up and threw its hands forward grabbing the Eva by the head and lifting it upwards. The next moment it grabbed one of the arms of the Eva, its arms suddenly bulging as though morphing its muscles and started to pull the Eva apart.

"SHINJI! GET OUT OF THERE!" yelled Misato as Bridge techs started to yell as the Eva system started to give out system warnings.

"With all due respect Captain…" came Shinji's strained voice. "Be quiet."

It took a moment to register exactly what Shinji had said, and when it did the possibility of the Angel killing the Eva and winning disappeared from her mind.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU LITTLE BASTARD?!"

**********

Shinji struggled against the controls as his arm "felt" itself be ripped apart, the entry plug silent for once. Surprisingly it was simple to turn off the communications. As with everything in the Eva so far, it was a simple matter of thought process, such as "Turn off the damn communication system" was what Shinji had thought. He was sure that the Captain and whoever had designed the Eva's hadn't planned that the pilot would be able to do that, but it sure came in handy now.

He looked down at his arm, the veins in the arm bulging and the whole body part shaking as he felt the pain. He focused away from the pain. It was NOT his arm. It was the Eva's. His arm was fine. First thing's first though. Stop the Angel from ripping off his… no… the EVA'S arm. Best way? Go for the arm doing the job. He let his arm go limp as he immediately went for the knife in the Wing of his Shoulder. Despite what Ritsuko may think, he did listen to what she said, and she had said that there was a knife in the shoulder blades. And that's exactly what he need right now. He quickly pulled the large knife out of his with his free arm and slammed it forward into the arm of the Angel. Blue blood splattered out at the entry wound and the Angel let out a roar. Shinji felt the grip loosen slightly on his arm and despite the still existent pain he grinned and pulled back the knife and stabbed again and again. More and more blue blood splattered out at each stab wound, and with each stab the grip loosened until finally Shinji was able to move his other arm and wrench lose of it. The next moment he grabbed the arm with both hands, and pulled and pushed in opposing motions. A large sounding crack was heard as the arm snapped going limp as the Angel roared in pain. Shinji kicked the monster to the ground quickly, trying to get some distance so he could regain the focus needed. It skidded along the ground once more away from Shinji.

Shinji was sure that the Captain and tech members on the bridge or HQ were probably yelling out what to do, yelling out details of how something was probably wrong with the arm, or how he was failing miserably, but in all truth, he didn't particularly care at the moment. He quickly flipped the knife about in his hand flicking the blue blood off it and charged once more at the Angel who was already getting up and recovering. Right as he was about to hit it full force head on and as the Angel stood up completely he suddenly slammed into some sort of invisible field, orange sparks and light sparking up at the contact. Shinji's eyes narrowed as he pushed forward again only to hit the orange field. He slammed forward again with the same results. It was, for lack of a better term, a force field like thing; a self defense mechanism that the Angel could activate at will. An impenetrable wall it seemed. Well, every wall had a weakness, and then it would come tumbling down. Without thinking he curled his hands in fists and started to hit the wall as hard as he could. With each punch waves of orange light would flash at the impact site and more electricity could be seen. Shinji continued to do so punching and hitting as hard as he could, the angel standing there seeming to take the beating. Maybe it was because the Angel needed all of its energy on the wall at the moment? Shinji hit again and again and started to feel it the field like it was starting to push inwards. Shinji's grin appeared once more as he went back to attacking with a new zeal. The more he punched the more it felt like it was a something like very thick sheet of stretchable material stretched around the Angel. Shinji pulled back once again flipping the knife in his hand, raised it above his head and brought it down with all his might on the field. Along with the sounds of electricity, the sounds of the field being hit, and the visible reaction of the field, the knife actually SANK IN a few inches. Shinji quickly pushed in with all his might as the Shield seemed to bend around the knife and point of impact as he pushed trying to get it in the field even more. Finally he let go of the knife and reached into the corners around it with his fingers and started to pry. Pain erupted through his arms at the contact of the field but he continued to pull, harder and harder, creating a large and larger hole as Shinji continued. He grinned even more, beads of sweat forming at his head as he pulled watching the field pull apart farther and farther, his grin widening with each inch gained until finally he let out a beast like roar and ripped the field apart. The orange light seemed to flash once more then disappeared, the feeling of the field fading from his fingers. The angel must have been waiting for it because its unbroken arm flew forward towards him once more a flash of white light erupting out of its palm. The next moment the spike from its elbow flew forward through its arm and out of its palm at Shinji. Shinji's body automatically kicked in and pushed his head to the side, the spike flying right past his head. He quickly grabbed the spike pushing it to the side as he grabbed one of the rib cage like spikes around the core and put his foot against the core. He slammed it forward and pulled with both hands in one swift motion, a ripping sound being heard as he ripped the Angel's arm back and the rib ripping out of the skin, more blue blood spurting out of the wounds as the Angel crashed to the ground. The angel tried to move its arm once more but Shinji slammed its foot onto the arm to prevent it from moving and grabbed it with his hands once more ripping it apart his armor and hands already covered in blue liquid. He ripped the rib completely out and brought it down on the core driving the end into cracking the outer part. He pulled up and stabbed down again and again striking the core with more and more force, more and more cracks appearing in the orb.

As he pulled back for one final strike the Angel's eyes glowed once more as it roared, whipping its broken arms forward and around the Eva launching itself forward the red core gleaming white. Shinji let go of the broken rib just as quick as the Angel jumped forward and pushed its hand forward grabbing the core of the Angel before it could connect with him and with a roar used the inertia of the Angel to throw it backwards over his shoulder and into the sky. The next instant a bright white flash followed by a deafening explosion was heard as the Angel self destructed sending a pillar of white into the air around it, and blinding the view screens of Shinji's Eva as he felt the waves of heat wash over him, the Eva sent flying backwards.

**********

"SHINJI!" yelled Misato as she and the members of the HQ watched the view screens go white and blind from the self destruction of the Angel in the sky. Despite Shinji having turned off the communications, it hadn't stopped Misato, Ritsuko, and the techs to yell out status changes information and the like though Shinji couldn't hear them. It took them quite a while to figure out he had taken down the communications, and when they did Misato broke her original headset in her fury, and had to get a whole new one. It was only when they saw that Shinji was starting to be able to handle himself that the instructions started to come down less. When they saw Shinji break the arm of the Angel uncaringly, few status changes were given out at all. When Shinji finally broke the Angel down and was delivering the final blows, the room had gone silent. And finally a deathly silence and a cold atmosphere had settled down upon the whole bridge at the move of desperation by the Angel, watching as the Eva flung the Angel high into the sky and the preceding explosion light up the night sky as well as the white light engulf the part of the city, the Eva and the camera they were using to view the events. White noise engulfed the screen shortly thereafter, the camera seeming to have been either destroyed or shorted out. The bridge stayed silent minutes after the events until Ritsuko was the first one to recover.

"Get the systems back online!" she said shakily. "I want to know what's happened out there!"

"The… the blast shorted out our cameras in the city mam!" yelled one tech.

"Get them back up and running!" Ritsuko instructed. After a few minutes of no one making a move, still sitting in the stunned silence she yelled the order again. "NOW!"

Misato walked up to Makoto and grabbed his shoulder. "Shinji… what's the pilot's status?" she said weakly concern overwhelming her for the pilot who had just saved the city.

Makoto seemed to jump back to reality at the touch of her hand and started to type away at the computers. "I… can't tell. The blast disconnected us from the Eva's system momentarily... I'm trying to get it up again."

"Cameras are back online!" yelled Maya.

The large view screen in front let out a burst of white noise across the screen then the image of the city appearing once more. Fire lined the streets located below the explosion, the fires already starting to die out.

"Where's… where's the Eva?" asked Misato. "Where's Shinji?!"

"Changing Cameras," said another tech member.

The same burst of static and white noise was seen and heard and the view changed to the middle of the street. Standing there in the middle was the Eva in the midst of the fire, slight burn marks lining the armor, but no visible damage anywhere on the armor. It stood there slumped over, arms and legs limp, the eyes still glowing in the floating embers of the fires as they seemed to dance around the Eva.

"Unit 01 is still standing!" said Makoto.

"And Shinji?" asked Misato.

"Trying to reestablish system connections…" said Makoto his fingers typing furiously away at the computer. "Eva status is established; minimal damage over the body. Eva is still active."

"The pilot! What about Shinji?!" asked Misato gripping Makoto even harder.

"Pilot status is up, all vital signs normal! Connecting to sound and camera feedback… sound should be coming up… now…"

The next moment a low sound could be heard throughout the bridge, something sounding like a mixture of heavy breathing and muffled voice.

"What… what is that?" asked Ritsuko.

"Is… that laughing?" asked Misato after a moment.

"Camera is… connected…" said Makoto after a moment.

The view screen showed the interior of the entry plug and Shinji sitting there in the pilot's seat, his hung low once again, hands still clenched over the controls. The bridge watched as the pilot made no movement, the low laughter still ringing. Misato wondered where the laughing was coming from until she saw Shinji's shoulders heave up and down in rhythm as the laughing started to grow louder.

"Sh… Shinji?" asked Misato slowly.

If he heard her, he made no move or signs of acknowledgement continuing to laugh still, his whole body now shaking with the laughter. The laugh finally became a full blown laugh, Shinji throwing back his head showing his face. Misato's blood ran cold as she saw the smile on his mouth as he threw his head back laughing to the sky almost manically like. The laughter filled the bridge as everyone sat stock still in their seats watching the pilot, most of the faces reading fear at the sight before them and some of them had turned away clenching their eyes shut at the sight of how pilot Ikari was reacting to it all. Everyone stood as through frozen in place until the sound and the camera suddenly turned off. Misato's eyes spun over to Ritsuko who had leaned over to one of the computers and had turned off the camera and sound. Her hand was shaking as she withdrew it from the console and she visible swallowed before continuing. "Begin… recovery and damage control operations immediately. Get the fires in the city out immediately and get the Eva and…" She paused and swallowed visibly again before speaking "…and the pilot… back to base."

This time instead of sitting and standing frozen there the tech crew and members in the bridge jumped immediately too it giving commands through he computers and their headsets, as though eager to get busy and forget what they had just seen on screen.

Ritsuko pushed back her hair with a shaky hand and walked over to Misato sharing a glance, her eyes showing a disturbed look after what she had just seen. Misato was sure she had the same things in her own eyes and let Ritsuko pass her without saying a word, afraid that she wouldn't be able to speak still. She glanced back up at the Commander. He still sat there as still as a stone, hands clasped in front of his face, head down low, his face unreadable. She glanced over at Fuuyutski who was at the moment looking away quietly breathing in deeply as he tried to undo the collar of his shirt, seeming to try to get more air in to his lungs. Misato glanced back at the commander, still in his position still unmoving. Perhaps he was the only one in the room that didn't seem to be affected at all by what had just happened.

Like father like son

The thought ran like a chill through her brain and she quickly pushed it away. Point was they won with minimal damage both to the Eva and the city surrounding it. That's all that mattered for the moment, and what was important was now getting the Eva and Shinji back safely before morning hit and the civilians returned back to their homes. She quickly straightened herself and started to give out orders over the headphones.

"I want a recovery team out there now. Get a hold of Shinji and tell him to pilot the Eva back to the ramp…"

**********

Gendo sat still looking at the screen where the image of his son had been moments before.

"Gendo… your son…" began Fuytuski as he tried to recover his breath, the full scene and events of the battle seeming to have taken a toll on his heart.

"I know," said Gendo shortly. He understood what was affecting Fuytuski so much. Fuytuski had seen just as much killing as Gendo had. What had bothered him was what he had just seen which didn't follow how Shinji had been planned to be at all, but in fact was almost complete opposite. The skills his son portrayed in piloting the Eva, the ferocity and unmerciful way he attacked the Angel and damaged it, and the chilling scene of what could only be described as Shinji laughing at it all at the end of the battle. He and Gendo had seen it all, and it had shaken them down to the depths of their souls. This was not the Shinji Gendo had planned him to be! He was supposed to be a spineless weakling, a coward easily bendable to the will of Gendo, a tool that would be sharpened with proper practice and training, but would remain a TOOL nevertheless, not someone with such a strong will as this. And what was even more disturbing was his efficient way of killing. Gendo had watched him handle the knife, watched how he took out the weak point when the Angel attacked and how he efficiently eliminated said attacking mechanism quickly and brutally with no hesitation as well as any other threats, and then finished off the Angel with a part of the Angel itself after ripping that part out of the Angel. He displayed a talent with violence as well as a liking and unmercifully swift way of carrying it out. Combine that with the fact that he was laughing after it all, and not weeping uncontrollably or showing any signs of regret, and it only pointed to one thing. Shinji was a killer. And that only lead to the most disturbing thought floating in Gendo's head at the moment. If he had not been concerned for Rei the moment Gendo had imposed her and his plan upon him, Shinji would have and could have easily killed Gendo without a second thought as to why, whether he had commanded his friend to simply fire, or if he had grabbed the gun from his friend and unloaded the full clip into Gendo's body.

He held his body back from shaking as he realized that the full plan was in jeopardy. The first Angel may have been destroyed but this was not counted on as an unknown risk/ factor. The plan may fail soon and quickly simply by the hands of his son, and he could not allow that. He would need to revise it, re-factor in his son's new behavior. He almost groaned on the inside. The planned scenario he had laid out however had taken years and with plenty of free time on his hands, and the way his son was the whole thing may unravel by dawn's breaking. He would not be able to change his plan so soon. He breathed in deeply calming himself. Not everything was at a fail yet. Gendo knew himself a genius and while it may take a while to reconstruct it all and get things rolling back into a way he could control, he would have to roll with the punches, something he had done well before, and had no doubt that he would continue to do so, so long as his reunion with Yui was still on the line. And if it meant going toe to toe with Shinji his son, so be it. While Shinji may be ruthless on the battle field, Gendo was ruthless in the commanding field. He will break Shinji of his will and gain control of him once more… and when everything was said and done… he would reunite with his beloved once more…

Gendo let the thoughts fade from his mind as he stood up. "Fuuyutski, I leave you in command. Make sure everything goes smoothly, and when the cleanup is done give the clear for all civilians to return to their homes."

"Yes sir," said Fuyutsuki.

Gendo started off towards his office for the report when he paused. "When Eva is back safely and the cleanup crews are done I want to see you, Ritsuko and Captain Kutsuragi in my office immediately afterwards. We have things to discuss."

Gendo barely heard the usual "Yes sir," from Fuuyutski as he walked back into the elevator. He will win. He will commence the third impact, become a god, and see Yui once more. NOTHING, not even his son, will stop him.

**********

First off, sorry for taking so long. It's become apparently clear to me I don't know this series as much as I would like too so I've been going back and forth between writing and studying up on the series a bit more most of this time I haven't written anything so I apologize for that. Still studying up on a few things so bare with me through the story.

Few things really quick… fine a lot of things really quick.

As usual, explanations for certain things. The setting for the Eva may wrong, it being half in LCL. I like the setting myself though so yea… sorry. First off, in the series when Shinji meets Rei and Unit-01, the base is under attack and part of the ceiling falls down to hit them, and Unit-01 blocks the falling debris with its hand. I have nothing like that in the story simply because it didn't seem to work for me, and I have other reasons which I'll reveal later of course in the story. Second, I apologize for such a short and puny argument between Shinji and Gendo. I tried rewriting it all, but nothing seemed to work or at least as well as this one, so I kept this one. I know that a lot of people won't like the idea of Shinji and his friends suddenly pulling guns out of nowhere and gaining control of the situation, so quickly, and without reason. Rest assured, there are specific reasons for them having guns, one of which I will reveal in the next chapter. AND LASTLY, is the battle between Unit 01 and Sachiel. I followed the anime series fight rather closely, which of course would mean writing that part would be completely unnecessary. I wrote it down however trying to put a different spin on it with different actions and a different ending to show part of Shinji's personality and style as well as set up a few more things that will of course, come in later chapters. Oh and Shinji going crazy at the end? Yea, something else to explain in later chapters of course

FINALLY. Done with that. So really quickly, I want to give thanks to certain people, namely the Nine that reviewed my story.

Solid JJ: Thanks for being the first to review the story always good to hear people's opinion and the fact that you're the first makes it even better. Hope you liked this chapter.

Blackmoon7875: Thanks for pointing out the small details I got wrong, it's those things that make or break the story quite often, so feel free to keep on pointing them out whether through e-mail or reviews, I'm always willing to listen and improve on my writing! As for Ikari and Shinji having Itachi, I guess we'll just have to find out what happens with that later in the story now won't we? Heh heh

Slicerness: Yea, I did and still am freaking out a bit about the story huh? Well thanks for saying its good so far. Yea, I'm trying to make sure I don't have Shinji be quite a dick, but at the same time I don't want him to be some regular guy being pushed around. I know OCs aren't particularly cared for, however when I came up with the idea I had three friends for Shinji in my head for later ideas in the story again as well as the fact that friends always make life easier. As for the song THANK YOU. When I went to look it up I got hooked on it and listened to the song throughout writing the chapter. I hope you saw the credit I gave you for the song above. Any other songs you got throw them at me; always looking for new music to write and listen to in general.

Dylanredefined: Details make or break a story, but in my case I really do over do the details a lot like you said, and I'm trying to work on that more. As for the OCs well, I'm still trying to refine those a bit more too haha.

Knyght: I'll be the first to admit I'm not a BA at all so of course me trying to write like one doesn't really work now does it? Haha However your right, I'm trying to pull them off like that and I'm probably not doing a very good job. However again, hopefully this chapter did that a bit more justice then the first one. Hope you like this one a bit better.

21xxkiller: Glad you like it. Like I said before, that's what I'm trying to shoot with for the characters, guys that are punks, but not ones that readers completely hate. I'm hoping to keep it that way, and if I don't tell me so I can fix it up.

Dinoboy48: Thanks for the praise! Always good to hear it, and the comment about fanfics the way I want it, really helped me calm down a bit before I posted this chapter.

Sonnes-Loco77: Uh… lo siento, pero, no hablo espanol…. Well not a lot anyways. If I understood correctly, you said something about Shinji pairings with Asuka or Rei. I don't know the pairing yet to be honest. I know its not with Julie that much is certain. And yea, my history (if I'm reading right) isn't too good. But keep on reading! Hope you continue to like it!

Straximo: Thanks for the tips! I do notice I don't go with the environmental descriptions too much, and when I do, I overdo them like the character descriptions, but I'll make sure to work on it. Part of the problem is, I'm not too familiar with the environmental settings of NGE, but that's one of the thigns I'm studying. I can already tell you have this down by the sentence example you gave haha and I'll try to do things better. The whole development of the characters with the negative and positives I am trying to do as you can hopefully tell with this chapter. I plan to do that concept with their personalities, histories, and how its all come into how they are now. With the nightmare thing; you again make a good point. I haven't thought of it that way. I'll be sure to work on it. And seriously, thank you for saying I'm pretty good for a beginner. Stuff like that is what keeps me going. And nah, I didn't just get lucky with the typing… or… so I hope… haha. Thanks again for the kind review, hope you keep on reading and continue to review. Like I said earlier to Blackmoon7875 details make a story, so just keep on giving tips if you would, whether through review or email!

Lastly, thanks to all those who read. Keep on reading, and if you would please review. And as I said earlier, if you guys just have song suggestions for listening to while writing, throw those out at me, and I'll give you credit if I use them and suggest them for the story.

Have the next Chapter up soon, or sooner then this one took hopefully.