Chapter One

And Become Legend part1

=][=

It swam past sunken skyscrapers, the stripped bare bones of mankind's arrogance. Arrayed along the shoreline were rows of warships and tanks along the highways. As the creature made its first step out of the waters, its foot crushed their renewed hope. Fifteen years of ignorance died at that moment. Fifteen years passed, the innocence of the world was raped out of it by the ambition of men who would become gods, and now the Earth felt the touch of angry abandoned children.

This was the being known as [SACHIEL]. It was a giant, vaguely shaped like a man, with slick black skin like that of sea mammals and for some strange reason, its rib bones seemed to be on the outside. Curving wedges of bone jutted out of its shoulders like pauldrons. Most distinctive about it, other than its maddening size, was the bone mask on its neckless head. The mask looked faintly bird-like, and behind the eyeholes there was nothing but untold darkness.

It stepped out of the waters of Sagami Bay, moving its spindly yet powerful limbs in punctuated jerks, and utterly unconcerned at the assembly of forces ready to receive it. The full might of the military was brought to bear on the intruder. The first hot salvo came from the Type-110 tanks of the Japan Ground SSDF lined along the highway. To [Sachiel] the rain of 140mm rounds, a mixture of long-rod penetrators and high-explosives, did not even rate the sensation of even pinpricks. Then, the warships of the Marine SSDF added their voice, booming out with larger-caliber automatic cannons. Explosions rippled across the Angel's back, but it did not bother to even turn around.

It seemed that not even all the machines of men would fail to break its stride. Yet, Japan of 2015 was not the innocent nation of 2000. While constitutionally they still avowed war, theirs was now a much more varied and much more potent military force.

Rising from behind the mountains, coming in from the bases in Gotemba and Odawara, the two cities next to Tokyo-3, it was the air force, having to close in to near suicidal range just to target the immense creature. For some strange reason, radar and even laser rangefinders were fuzzing up around it. The JASSDF sent out a large number of VTOLs for this purpose.

[Sachiel's] masked face quivered. Unlike the previous two massed attacks, the incoming forces were deliberately putting themselves between it and its objective. A massive missile, almost as large as the strike fighter carrying it, was released and shot forth towards the Angel. It was one designed to destroy hardened bunkers buried tens of meters underground. [Sachiel] raised its clawed hand for the first time, and caught it. The missile crumpled in its palm, and engulfed the giant in flame.

[Sachiel] walked out of the billowing flames, unscathed, undaunted.

Behind the mountains lay Hakone, and beneath Hakone was the call of a being older than worlds. [Sachiel] could not feel the light of the soul from all the things that tried to impede its progress, and all were therefore irrelevant.

=][=

Meanwhile, the completely automated railways system towards Tokyo 3 continued to roll on. The high-speed rail from Tokyo-2 to Tokyo-3 slid to a gradual stop. Its single passenger got off. "I hope there were no security cameras in that thing…" said Shinji Ikari. He could not help it. Being so alone felt so liberating, as a teenager he wasn't supposed to give in to such childish urges anymore.

'You should have thought of that before you started to run on the cushions and then slide and swing on the handrails just because no one else was around.' A stately female voice in his mind replied. 'Truly, you show all the signs of your mon-keigh ancestry.'

He looked at those bars, and thought; Why not? What did he have to lose but his dignity? There was nothing to be scared of, and if he did end up being scolded he was prepared to accept it. "…wait. Mon-keigh is supposed to be monkey, right?" the teen noted with some disbelief. He was smiling indulgently. "You've been calling me a monkey all this time?"

'We have been calling your kind the mon-keigh, the wild ones, for as long as your race have stood upright. It saddens me, to be sure, that you took this long to realize this. Some… never do.'

'So, that's why you refer to me as a metal-skinned brute!' quoth the Space Marine. 'That my genetic enhancements only return me to my true mental state! This armor, these geneseeds are the finest fruits of the God-Emperor's will. I thought you Eldar might have actually respected His mighty intellect. That was an insult all this time?'

'See, Shinji? Disappointing.'

'BE SMOTE for your HERESY, foul xeno Eldar witch!'

'It's heresy only if I follow your religion! And I do not!' She seemed to grin. 'Gorilla.'

'Let me out, commander! Get us out of this pack. There must be smiting!'

'So much grunting. Would you like a banana?'

An inarticulate roar filled Shinji's mind, with a 'oohho-ho-ho' weaving in and out. "Hush!" he said, suddenly alert. There was silence. There was too much silence. He looked about, and all the activity he could see were the blinking of street lights.

There was perhaps no danger for a fourteen year-old to travel all the way from Sendai, to Kyushu, but one of the mayor's friends had accompanied him to Tokyo-2. Once there, he found out that there was a train waiting for his arrival. The train official there looked irritated at the reserved line, but the train was not allowed to leave without him and only him and only at a certain time.

It was odd but not too implausible that his father's connections would have a train only for him (for what, he could not understand – it was a foolish waste of time and money, if maybe just to impress one perplexed teenager), but for the terminal to be without any people was simply unthinkable. Tokyo-3 was supposed to be a bustling city and a nerve center of Japan's industrial and commercial efforts. "…where is everybody?"

Shinji Ikari stepped out of the terminal and walked down the streets. The shops were all closed. There was not a single moving car to be seen. The speakers were saying something, along the lines of [Please remain calm. Proceed to the nearest shelter.] For some reason he was feeling a heavy weight over his shoulders.

He looked down at the photo sent to him; a woman in tight clothing leaning forwards, an arrow in red marker (maybe to remind of red lipstick?) was drawn pointing to her breasts.[LOOK HERE!] it said. Shinji quirked his lips up. He had to admit, as much as his father's message made him insulted and indignant, this one tickled his curiosity. What sort of person would send something like this?

For years now, the voices in his mind had counseled him, berated him, told him things that should be outside of his knowledge and awareness. For most people, it would have faded into harmless fancy as they realized they were basically just talking to themselves. Shinji, who had never even entertained the notion that the voices were each their own identities separate from his own, was comfortable with asking them to double-check even his own senses.

He took out a card from his pocket, and there was a red symbol, half of a fig leaf. NERV. Below that, a telephone number. He saw a row of public phones some distance away. He went over and dialed it in.

"Hmn. No answer." He set the receiver back. "This doesn't make sense. Why go to all this far and not have anyone to meet me? Getting here was all pre-arranged, I had no real choice anywhere. So why just let me get off here and then expect me to manage on my own?"

'I doubt your father would clear out an entire city just for the purposes of insulting you further…' the Farseer said, to hide that she had no idea of what was going on either.

"It's no good. Maybe I –should- go to a shelter? Not that I know where one is, anyway…" Also, he mused, why were there shelters in the first place? Maybe he should have been paying attention to the news. Maybe there was a storm or tornado or something. That would nicely explain it; he nodded to himself. Quick enough to suddenly appear all the while the train trundled toward Tokyo-3 in all ignorance. He looked up at the sky. Unfortunately the crystal calm belied that hypothesis.

He felt something icy cold run up the back of his neck, a feeling of being watched.

Shinji blinked. Wait, what, is that…

He saw standing across the street, a girl in a school uniform, staring at him. Her blue hair was what drew his attention, and her red eyes seemed to go straight into his soul and out his back, leaving his being a flayed but exultant mess. He felt a certain deep yearning settle over him, and faintly, almost unheard… 'and we are reunited'.

A flock of white birds suddenly flying off from a power line drew his attention for an instant, and when he looked back, she was gone.

"What was that? Did I… imagine it?

In the distance, something exploded.

'IT COMES!' screamed the voice of Chaos.

Shinji's mind rang with a roar. He turned and felt a wall of… something. The pressure! Squeezing his heart! 'What… what is this?' His inner voices were suddenly all unable to speak. It came to him as a gust of wind. Shinji saw a tilt-wing rotor combat helicopter slide into view, discharging its missiles at something behind the buildings. It came as cleansing fire, as he saw that same gunship speared by a bright pink bolt of energy, withdrawing back to massive black arm just now coming into view.

He shielded his face as the aircraft fell, whipping the air, crashing and chopping up the pavement near him. The giant strode on unconcerned.

"I know this!" Shinji shouted out for reasons he could not explain. "I feel I should know this!"

Its gargantuan foot came down close by, and Shinji could feel a slight breeze just from the air being pushed out of the way by its sheer mass as it walked. Shinji wondered if he should run away, except that something paralyzed him. It was not fear, even as the animal part of his brain felt so small and insignificant, foremost in his mind was this puzzling feeling of familiarity. It was like trying to make sense of a dream, trying to remember it in the moment just before consciousness fully engages back into wakefulness.

Conveniently a sports car screeched to a halt between it and him. The door opened, and a woman in a tight purple one-piece shouted at him, her face hidden behind large tinted driving sunglasses. "Get in!"

He ran to it, sensing that the next step might actually land on top of the hapless vehicle. Once inside, the car sped out with maniacal speed and reckless turns around sharp street corners. They sought sufficient cover behind several building blocks.

"W-what was that?" he said between frantic gulps of breath. 'So pure. So much purposeful hatred. What was that? What can man do against such black hate?'

"That was an Angel, Shinji." Misato said nonchalantly. "That is what your father fights."

Shinji looked back. "An angel…" My father fights that? Technically, the word she used was shito. The expression was more linked to avenger, or punisher. There was nothing intrinsically holy about it. Even so, now he felt strangely at peace.

'We might be getting into something we would not want to be in, Commander.' was the Space Marine's warning. 'I can feel it. We all can.'

'Deres stompins dat gots that be done.' added the Ork warboss.

'There is blood.' hissed the Chaos Marine. 'I can taste it. Blood waits for us here. Blood to FILL a God to satisfaction.'

'Are you afraid?' he asked them.

The Farseer pulled deep into herself. 'Are you not? Your thoughts are our thoughts. Shinji… The future is closed to me. I feel it. We are at the cusp of a scenario. We cannot see it, for we are part of it.'

The young teen turned his head back and sighed. He slumped against his seat. 'I can't escape it now. I have to know it. What are you up to, father?' He looked up and at the woman beside him. The large shades hid her eyes, she seemed serious and professional and nothing like the picture she sent. He felt his eyes drifting down to the stretched folds near her chest, and looked away sharply. He felt a certain amusement from her. Damn! So, hidden by the reflective shades, she was looking at him instead of the road.

Wait, wasn't that… dangerous?

Shinji faced forwards, slumped back some more and obstinately jutted out his chin. He tried in this way to fight back his embarrassment. That only made Misato smile widely. The young teen just couldn't pull off a tough look.

"So, you're Ikari Shinji, huh?" she said, eyes back to the road.

"And you're Katsuragi Misato-san." he replied. "P-pleased to meet you."

"Yes, I'm sure." she added impishly. 'Nice kid', she thought. 'Still so innocent. He's going to be so much fun to tease. Who knows? I might even do something might enjoy.' She begun to chuckle lightly, which for some reason made Shinji feel even more uneasy.

Misato angled her neck to get a better look at the sky. "That plane… it can't be! They wouldn't?" She suddenly turned and yelled right at Shinji's face. "GET DOWN!"

The car swerved wildly away.

And the sun came down from the sky.

=][=

Misato Katsuragi shielded him with her body. She pulled him tight to her as the car was thrown off the road by the blast. The car tumbled up and over to its side and skidded off the highway, throwing sparks, as the shockwave passed over them. There was only the vague feeling of heat, but they could feel their ears pop from the sudden change in pressure. Through it all, Shinji thought 'Maybe coming to Tokyo-3 wasn't such a bad idea after all…'

'I should be feeling outraged' said the Farseer, miffed. 'But your thoughts are our thoughts.'

'I am SURE it is no surprise that perversion flows from one of the Race that spawned Slaanesh. Enough. We care not. Get your FOOT out of my face, woman.'

'My foot, as you put it, is attached to my base. Stop kissing my plastic stand.' She paused. 'You were trying to look up my skirt, weren't you? Weren't you?'

'Damnation! Stop kicking me, woman!'

His imaginations were always the most lively when he needed to take his mind off something. He was only grateful for their timely distraction.

'Hear your most devoted follower, oh bright lord. Save me! HELP!'

'Die, die and die again. Be resurrected by your Dark Gods to be killed by me again!'

After a while, Misato let him up from his breath-starved position.

"That was an N2 mine. It seems to have stopped the Angel for a while. Let's get moving."

Shinji stared blanky at the rising mushroom cloud. "Aren't we going to die from, like… radiation?"

"No, Shinji. N2 means Non-nuclear. It has all the power of a nuke without the nasty side-effects."

They pushed the car back to rest on its wheels. Misato bewailed her beautiful car. Shinji patted her back and said "Um, it's not that bad? The spirit of this machine is the same no matter what face it wears." Misato stared back at him with incomprehension. The boy smiled sheepishly. He took his hand away and stared up at her. "Aren't you a soldier, Misato-san? This is a soldier's car. Let it wear its scars proudly."

She scrunched up her face at him. Not that she wasn't guilty of applying personifications to machines too, but it's not the time to be joking around pretending that machines had identities. "But Shinji-kun. I still had payments on this! People won't respect me if I'm driving around a piece of crap."

"This piece of crap got those bumps saving their skins." The young teen nodded, his face so serious. "Misato-san! Screw 'em!"

That did it. She had to laugh. He was just too serious, and yet she could tell he meant well. She hugged him, pressing his face to her bosoms again. "Aren't you just adorable? Hah! You're right, Shinji-kun! Screw 'em!" She slapped at the steering wheel, as if urging a horse to run.

They went on their way.

After a while down the road, the car rolled, rolled, slowed, and… came to a stop.

Silence. Misato turned her head and pointedly looked at the young teen sitting beside her. Shinji grinned weakly and rubbed the back of his head. "… maybe the spirit is willing but the metal is weak?"

"Maybe you're not as cute as I thought, after all." she huffed.

=][=

Smash!

Misato chuckled as she hefted a bundle of heavy-duty batteries in her hands. Tokyo-3's hyper-efficient ideals worked against her, the electric car might be clean and cost-effective, but ultimately easy to knock out of proper working order. She didn't have time to fiddle around with the insides, hopefully these would provide the additional power she needed for the existing engine lines.

"Um… is it really okay if we take this? We did break into a store, after all. Isn't that stealing?"

She huffed again. She just knew the kid would be one of those unimaginative law- abiding types. "It's fine. It's fine. NERV will take care of it, no problem. Now let's get go-"

The young teen finished placing his armload of batteries into the back seat. "Really? Awesome! Can I go get something for me too, then?"

Her head turned with such unbearable slowness that it filled Shinji's heart with dread. Her gaze was grim and and judgmental. He began to back away. Then, all of a sudden she cheered up and said "Sure! But remember this is an emergency so be quick!"

"Thank you, Misato-san." Shinji bowed. Then only painfully suppressing himself into as to look too much like a looter during an inner city riot, he rushed back into the store. Score! The boy had always been fascinated with hardware and construction tools, ever since he realized that it was the only way to build a 1:10 scale Battle Titan. His childhood knew friendship and camaraderie, but association with the Boyz and their independent attitudes also taught him the joy of building things with his own bare hands.

Oddly, it was the Warboss and the Meks who'd admonished that building stuff was just as much fun as destroying it. Looting was, after all, gathering the scrap needed to make something bigga' and betta'.

"Maybe the kid won't be so boring after all…" the NERV officer mused while waiting. "I wonder what he's going to get out of a hardware store?" The kid came out holding a mini-chainsaw.

He was practicing sword-like motions with it. Misato stared at him.

Shinji felt her stare and grinned weakly. He held it out for her to see. "May I have this?"

"Shinji…" she said blandly. "Why, out of all things in the store (and by that I include the dirty magazines they hide behind the counter) did you choose a CHAINSAW?"

"Um, because I've always wanted one and it'd be really useful where we're going?" 'And that it's the closest thing to a chainsword I've seen so far?' It was not a proper choppa, but better suited for him since he did not have to swing hard with each cut. Really. Useful. The words seemed to hit her face. Misato rubbed her cheek and straightened back up. "Useful? What do you mean useful? How could it possibly be useful where we're going?"

"You know! We could be thrown off the road and we have to cut our way out of a mangled vehicle! Or we might find a fallen tree blocking our path! Or we might need to fight off scavengers and looters operating while the city is under attack!" Shinji took a deep breath. "A rippa's always useful when you need to resize a room or things to more manageable bits."

"Heh, heh…" Misato chuckled oddly. Unimaginative, you say, Misato? I'm riding with a psycho!

She pulled herself together and pointed. "Put it back, Shinji. I took those batteries for a reason. We're not here to pick up toys for you."

"B-but… Misato-san."

Misato crossed her arms over her chest. "Shinji, as a ranking officer of NERV and an authority over this city, you must obey me."

His face fell. He let the mini-chainsaw drop to the ground. It was such a perfect size for him, too. He woodenly walked over, complying. However, rather than entering the car, he simply stood before her. He kept his head down and his face under shadow. "S-Shinji?" asked Misato, slightly nervous.

The young teen merely leaned forward and pressed his head into the flesh of her arm.

"Please, Misato-san…"

His voice was so tiny. She felt as if she crushed his dreams.

"Oh, all right!" she retorted hotly. "Go get whatever you want. But it stays in the car, until you can pay it back with your own money!"

He looked up at her and his face just… beamed! "Thank you, Misato-san!" he said with such honest rapture. He slid over to the chainsaw, dumped it in the backseat, and rushed back into the store. She heard him say "Lookz at dat! NAILGUN!" with unbridled joy.

Misato stood there rubbing the flesh where he'd touched. It still tingled. She shivered for no reason. "What is it with this kid?"

They did not speak at all on the rest of the way towards NERV.

=][=

'What was that about, Commander?' the Space Marine asked. 'Did we just impose our will on this woman? Have we not sworn never to do such again?'

'I- I don't know. It just seemed so right at the time…'

The warboss snorted. 'Well, I gots me stuff, so I'm happy. Wot's it matter?'

'It was a way to keep her off-balance. She sent her picture to us in a forced act of intimacy, that was designed to send us confused. We simply returned the favor.' was the Farseer's helpful reply.

'It was a Slaaneshi greeting.' said the Chaos Marine after a while. All beings in Shinji's mental landscape turned to look at him, in wide-eyed horror. 'Flesh to flesh, NEED to need. Can you not hear her soul? It SCREAMS in anguish, calling out for comfort and acceptance.'

Shinji had to nod. 'That sounds more like it.'

'She has been HURT before, and badly, so much so that she wears her skin and her sexuality as a shield. She is a soldier. Her first reaction is ALWAYS physical.'

'I see. She shares her body but not her soul? She aches for intimacy and yet always spurns it when given.' Shinji shook his head. 'How do I know this? She's still a stranger… since when could we judge other people's hearts?'

'Since the time you started to become comfortable with calling yourself "we".' was the Eldar's dooming answer.

=][=

NERV was inside a geofront. Shinji couldn't help to gasp, impressed, as the elevator bringing them down showed the dome lit from above by rays of reflected sunlight. It was huge. He could see buildings hanging off the roof, like the stalactites of a cave. Though an enclosed space, it felt even larger. The ground, he could see, was green and forested. There was even a lake!

A ropeway train line carried them to the geofront surface. Entering NERV itself, the golden pyramid undeground was just the tip of an iceberg. Much of it was apparently even deeper than that, behind levels and levels of metal. Moving walkways conveyed them from one section to the other. Shinji looked around with undisguised awe.

"Let's see…" mumbled Misato. "If we came in there then we should be coming out …here!" The door opened with a whoosh, and air rushed up from below. It was a walkway over a tall pit. "This is why I hate wearing a skirt around here!" she complained while adjusting at her noticeably more exposed legs. "I wonder where in the heck Ritsuko is…"

An awe that shortly turned to frustration as it became clear they were thoroughly lost. They had yet to see anyone else around.

Mentally, the Space Marine collapsed to his knees. 'It's like campaigning with Leman Russ all over again!' he blubbered out to the heavens. 'How can you get lost three sectors on foot? How?'

'I doubt Leman Russ had thighs that…' That thought was interrupted with an internal thwap to the head. He felt a disapproving tendril from his female advisor.

'That's true.' said the Space Marine, his eyes slightly glazed. 'If only Leman Russ had –' She thwapped him next.

Finally, exasperated, Misato went over to a phone and yet again paged her friend for help. As she did so, Shinji held the map. It was amazing! It completely failed to make any sense at all! Why did section 3-A lead to 6-F and only then to 3-B? It was like it was purposely made to confuse any invaders (and/or hapless visitors) from gathering information about the facilities!

She had them enter yet another elevator, in the hopes of going deeper somehow managing to strike gold location-wise. She yelped as the door opened to reveal someone already waiting there, her face showing all the impatience banked over the years of knowing Misato Katsuragi.

"Why are you wasting my time, Captain…" she said flatly, aggressively entering Misato's personal space with an intense look. "Don't you know we're short on time AND manpower?"

Misato backed away from the force of that glare. "Heheh, sorry…"

Ritsuko Akagi turned to face Shinji, and asked "So, is this the boy?"

"Yes, according to the Marduk Report, he's the Third Child."

Ritsuko saw the young teen quirk his left eyebrow at being regarded as if he wasn't there. He had, if just briefly, reacted to the words 'marduk' and 'third'. "Pleased to meet you." she said, a small smile crossing her face.

Shinji smiled back. "'Ello dere." He coughed. He'd been distracted by wondering how a swimsuit and a lab coat found their way together. "I mean, pleased to meet you too." he said in Japanese and bowed. "But, I don't know your name."

"I think he might even be worse than his father…" Misato said with a grimace.

To this, Ritsuko could only lift her eyebrow in much the same way as he did a few moments ago and experimentally said back in English "Ah, that was impolite of me. My name is Ritsuko Akagi. What's yours?"

"S'aright. M'name's Shinji Ikari, but I think yaz already knew dat. Amma happy to meets ya, Akagi-sensei." He bowed again.

Ritsuko's smile grew a fraction. "That's an… interesting accent you have there. Where did you learn it?"

"Here and dere. Books. Nevva seen anyone with blond hair before."

"I'm not actually an American, even if I know English, Shinji." she replied. Of course, she wouldn't share so easily that it was dyed. My, what an uncouth boy he could sound like, lacking the daggerlike diction she knew from the other Ikari.

Misato could actually understand English, having been raised to an multicultural expedition and been to many international postings, but had to say "I didn't understand that at all! Was that even English?"

"Oh, sure." Ritsuko nodded and turned away from the young teen. "Purer English than most I hear around here, since it actually sounds like it comes from England." Granted, the very roughest parts of England, but who really cares? Practically the entire island was under the sea these days; she thought.

The elevator went back up, and the women spoke ignoring Shinji. He took his time to listen. The Geofront was at battle stations, but something known as Unit-01 was under refrigeration. It was supposed to be pretty important, but they didn't know if it would even work. There was a rather plain pun in the Japanese language (oni and 0.009), but he learned that yes, it had never worked before. The chance of it working now was abysmal. And yet they had to keep it under cryogenic suppression. What was it that they made that they were afraid of?

The moving walkway went into a dark room. As soon as he asked why it was so dark, it snapped on, shocking him with the view of gargantuan purple face.

He felt again that strange pressure.

"A giant robot…?" he muttered. He started to leaf through the booklet they gave him, but fumbled his grasp. It fell off into the orange vat of coolant. He shrugged. No big loss.

To Misato's indignant 'Hey!' he answered "That thing" he pointed to the giant robot "wasn't even there, is it?"

"No. But it could have had a lot of useful other info and rules."

His amused look implied '… that you don't even follow?'

'I sense something here,' the Farseer whispered. 'A soul that is not a soul. A mind that is not a mind. And rage. Such aimless rage!' The complex shook as the Angel [SACHIEL] unleashed its energy attack upon the city. 'I have a feeling all the rules just ceased to matter.'

"You'd be correct at that…" Ritsuko muttered under her breath. "This is humanity's last and best hope, the artificial human Evangelion!"

Shinji quickly turned to her, and leaving no space after she finished talking asked "What is its gender?"

"What?"

"I noticed you said artificial human with much practice. If this was an android or a battle machine, it would be genderless. You would have said HUMANOID. But you were careful to emphasize artificial HUMAN." His eyes, dark and focused, seemed to plunge into her. His tone was all too familiar, peeling away other people's barriers. "The natural guiding characteristic of humanity is its duality, which allows for emotional attachments and beneficial mutation. I suppose it could be neuter, but people have called weapons from tanks to ships as he and she before." He smiled a bit. "What is his or her name?"

Misato scratched her cheek. "It's a big fighting robot, Shinji. There's no male or female about it. Ritsuko's just being… scientist-y. They tend to get poetic that way."

Ritsuko could only stare down with horror, as Shinji reminded her too keenly of just whose son he was.

At this silenced point, Gendo Ikari appeared in a blind passageway above the Evangelion. "Hey Shinji." He drawled out, his words friendly, his tone and expression completely not. "It's been a while."

Shinji Ikari stared up at him. "Yes, father." he replied with the same faux friendliness. "It has."

Ikari and Ikari stared at each other, motionless, unblinking, for what seemed like minutes etching away.

"What are they doing?" Misato whispered to her friend.

"Oh, no. Not here. Not now…" was all the response Ritsuko could give, her voice breaking. "Not two of them…"

It was a paltry trick, to set oneself higher than another, a contest of wills and patience. Shinji was stunned that his father would have the sheer gall to resort to that level of intimidation. Part of what kept him staring was sheer wonder at the man's apparent immaturity, when it all boiled down to it. Shinji was angry when he first read Gendo's letter, but through the journey had come to realize he didn't really know much about his father at all.

"What are we doing?" said the Space Marine? "The city is under attack and he wants to play these games? If his time is so valuable that he would not acknowledge you for so many years, then he has better concerns now than this posturing."

"Why have you sent for me, father?" he shouted up. "For years now, you ignored me, and now you want me again? Why!" He put the right amount of childish anger into his voice and by the Emperor, Gendo actually looked pleased!

There was the briefest of nods. "We're moving out." Gendo Ikari said, ignoring his son's outburst.

Misato yelled something about a Unit-00 being in cryo-stasis, which further confirmed Shinji's impression of something inherently dangerous in that thing they called an Evangelion. Then, "You're using Unit-01!" she turned and shrieked at Ritsuko.

She nodded impassively. "There's no other way."

"But we don't even have a pilot! Rei can't do it… can she?"

"We just received one…" Ritsuko added numbly, still only barely managing to accept it.

The women argued about how Shinji just has to sit on it. There was something about any chance at anyone getting a synchronization. Shinji barely paid any attention. He only stared back up at his father, who stared blandly back. Sure it was childish, but HE was the child. This was all a setup, he realized.

Misato was telling him to get into the Eva.

Shinji tilted his head to the side, remembering what happened outside. "No, I won't do it. Isn't there someone else…?" He asked without looking back. He could see it, faintly. He had to get out of the scenario to affect it. "I just got here! Why can't you do it?"

"Shinji… I would if I could…" she said softly, pained. "But I can't! You ARE our only hope! Humanity needs you, Shinji. WE need you."

Humanity? He bristled at their appeal. How dare she put humanity to him! He knew just how much he was willing to give up for humanity - everything! But this! This is ridiculous! "Then maybe you people shouldn't have been so stupid as to design a weapons system so picky about its pilots in the first place!"

One could almost hear the creak in Ritsuko's neck as she turned her head to bring her blazing eyes to bear. "… what did you SAY?"

"I don't believe you!" he shouted up to his father. "You had me come all the way just for this? What if I didn't answer your summons? You never cared before!" He turned to Ritsuko and frowned. "I don't believe it. Me? It can't be me! You must have something else…! Why this thing you're not even sure will even work? If this is the best that humanity can come up with, then maybe it needs to reap the fruits of its stupidity!

I mean… that THING! It's attacking us! It's coming here. Even I can tell it wants something here. Why is this the only real defense? Why don't you have a giant cannon the size of a house, the size of a mountain! To meet it? Why don't you just drop one of those buildings I saw on top there… why not? Why…? This doesn't make sense! I don't believe you people who could build a base this big and complex could be so incompetent. At least, why couldn't you have called for me earlier? Now it's just too inconvenient to all of us that I arrive during an attack.

Why me? I'm just a boy. I don't have any training! This is completely wrong! Why are you relying on me? You're all adults. Why don't you have the power to solve your own problems?"

Ritsuko actually SNARLED at him. "No! There is no other way! The Evangelion… the Eva…!" Her rage was such that her intellect fled, leaving her grasping for words.

Misato placed her hands on his shoulders. Her voice was gentle, caring. "Shinji, I can't really explain right now, but there's an important reason why an Eva is the only thing that can fight Angels. Please, Shinji…" though she did turn to Ritsuko and asked. "… why don't we have a giant cannon big as a mountain down here to meet it anyway? It has to break through the Geofront at some point…"

"… it would be too expensive. Hard defenses are impractical, specially in this enclosed space." Ritsuko could only reply dully. "We had a lot of other secondary defenses planned, but the primary function of NERV is to field and maintain Evangelions… that was our only purpose, anything that could reduce the focus from the Evangelions would diminish our primary combat potential."

The place shook as one of the Angel's energy blasts finally pierced the outer shell of the Geofront. Any defenses down in the geofront would have been useful, even just to buy some more time; Misato thought, then shook her head. "Shinji, get inside, we don't have much time!" She grit her teeth and glared, losing patience.

He deeply regretted it, but… "No!"

I don't believe it! My father had to have known I maybe could just HATE him that much. Why take a chance? Why me? I don't think he'd risk the world on me. He never even knew me! If I was supposed to do this, shouldn't he have told me anything before now? I would have been glad to do it, to be needed by him! But now… there must be something else!" He bit back his next words, for it might insult all those she already saw die under the monster's onslaught. "I don't believe we're actually in any real danger!"

It was too convenient. A hero should leap at the chance, but he just could not grasp that it was real. There had to be a trick. It simply could not be all about him; not even his father would waste all that time and effort. He understood, from his teachers, that for the sake of survival there was very little that could not be sacrificed, and that in the end even children must fight. The clash of armies had also led him to appreciate however, that grown men made for an effective fighting force simply because they had the physical and mental resilience necessary for the task. If you were down to using child soldiers, something had already gone hugely wrong somewhere.

'So it is the implausibility that deters you, commander, not the duty in itself?' asked the Space Marine. 'To choose not to fight for humanity, it is inconceivable.'

'Maybe it is just bad luck that it's attacking at the exact moment I arrived… maybe they did expect to give me some time to acclimatize… but damn it, I still can't get over it! Even father should know it's sub-optimal as a defense. Is he being forced into doing this?'

Gendo liked the conversation was turning, but did not show it. As expected, the boy was emotional and could not see the big picture. Throwing a childish tantrum was well within the boundaries of the scenario. "This pilot is useless." he said to the bank of monitors near him. "Send out Rei."

"Are you sure, Ikari?" Fuyutsuki, his elderly second-in-command, asked from it. "We both know she isn't ready."

"She's not dead yet." he replied.

'Why not simply cooperate, my Bright Lord? Trying to demand explanations or open terms at this point leaves you at a disadvantage.'

'I'm no Amuro Rei. If you send a total neophyte out to fight, you'd just end up with your expensive weapons system and its pilot dead. This should be basic. They should know this already! Why would they even build a weapons platform that requires unreliable children instead of professionals?'

'Perhaps it is your destiny. It is a giant robot. You are a teenager. There is no other way this can end except you getting into that pilot seat.'

'I know that! I just wish… is this why father called me? Why couldn't he just explain that there was a job for me to do? Hitting me like this out of nowhere, I know this! Trying to drive me emotionally off-balance. Why? He didn't have to go this far. Just some basic decency, just some information like I'm a person instead of just a tool... it's inept, that's what it is. Unwilling soldiers are not so effective soldiers. I just don't believe my father would make a mistake like that. So it has to be intentional."

'But you will, of course, pilot that… Evangelion?'

'Of course I'm going to fight. I'm going to let father think he's pressured me into it. When Misato-san asks again, I'm going to say okay. I don't want my own father as my enemy anyway, if I survive this maybe I should apologize. It's a good enough excuse for us to talk, right?'

And into the Unit-01 cage they wheeled in Rei Ayanami, already in her plug suit, still bandaged and hooked up to an IV bag. Shinji looked on, up to his father, then back to her.

No way. No way he would be this crude. This is raw emotional manipulation!

"Rei. The spare is –useless-." said Gendo. "-You- will pilot the Evangelion."

"Y-yes sir." said the girl, who weakly tried to sit up. She winced from the pain and faltered, but pressed on.

She had blue hair. She had the finest pale white skin he had ever seen. She was a broken doll. His father… his father! Had taken this girl and broken her! He was going to let her die to prove a point! The depth of the man's gall far surpassed his worst expectations…!

Once more the chamber shook, but this time the Angel had finally broken through. A cross-like pattern of directed energy pierced the Geofront armor and stabbed down the space in between the shell and NERV proper. A building, a large one, separated from its locks and came crashing down into the lake.

The earth shuddered and shook them off their feet. The blind corridor above was actually shut in glass, or Gendo might have fallen all the way to his death. He staggered, but kept an alert eye on what was happening below. Shinji slid up on his back and saw Rei knocked off her gurney. She struck the ground and the pain must have been excruciating. Her back arched in agony.

He ran up to her and tried to hold her up. She grit her teeth, squirming painfully even in his arms. Her jaw quivered with unvoiced agony. He held her and she seemed so small, her bones so tiny and bird-like, even if the objective part of his mind noticed they both had pretty much the same build.

He took one of his arms away from her side, feeling the wetness. He stared at his palm and saw blood.

'This makes even less sense! Is there really no one else? No adults, no professional soldiers to ride that… artificial human? Father!' Shinji raged within. He held the girl in his arms and watched her writhe in pain. 'How could he do this? She would have gone out and bled for him, died for him. Instead of just explaining himself… use someone's pain as leverage? How could he use her just to force me into acting?'

'Kicks him in da teef, lil'boss. Boots ta da head!'

'Well, that might be difficult considering he's taller than I am."\' he had enough attention to spare for that, even as he parted some of the girl's hair away from her tightly-shut eyes. She was so familiar… like that brief vision he saw at the street? It could not have been this girl, but still he felt as if he should know her somehow.

'How is that a problem? Remember, plan sequentially.' the Farseer said far too calmly. 'Kick him in the shin, first, and when he lifts that leg to rub it, you may punch him in the genitals. THEN when he is kneeling is WHEN you may kick him in the teeth.'

Silence met her declaration, stretching out in the timeless nature of the mind.

'… when you say things like that' the Space Marine was finally brave enough to say. 'Is when I am reminded as to why your Race ruled the galaxy for eons before humanity had even evolved out of our primate ancestors.'

'At least you admit it…' she replied, but it lacked her customary haughtiness.

"Look out!" someone yelled, as another strike by the angel sent NERV shaking. A large metal beam broke from the ceiling and began to drop right over the Children, spinning with deadly force in its descent. Misato shut her eyes, not wishing to see the carnage.

Shinji didn't really notice. He was still staring at the blood on his hands.

There was a loud metallic crunch.

"Impossible…" Ritsuko gasped. "The Evangelion can't move on its own!" Not while cooled! Not without power!

But the Evangelion Unit-01 had not merely shielded the Shinji and Rei, it brought its palm up and caught that beam, twisting it easily to a V-shape in its powerful grip. The Eva's clenched hand remained utterly still over the two teens, having moved so imperceptibly fast that the coolant spray kicked up by its motion was just now starting to sprinkle down.

Shinji carried Rei up, bridal-style, to her gurney. He placed her there leaning against the turned-over bed. Looking at her pained face sent his heart pounding with outrage. It was utter simplicity. He did not know this girl. But it was a boy's job to make sure a girl doesn't get hurt. A man's job, even – though still he felt there was more in life he wanted to enjoy yet with childish shamelessness.

She's hurting.

"I'll do it!" Shinji shouted out to no one in particular. He licked at Rei's blood on his palm, leaving a red track across his face, which disturbed nearly everyone. He made sure to swallow some of it, to fix the taste in his mind. His mind cleared, as if a plane of mirrored glass. Only the black rage of the Angel above sending ripples through the surface. It had all become absurdly simple. There was danger. There was injustice. Okay.

If the adults were going to push it onto him, then all the voices in his head agreed that he should just man up and try. He would fix it. He would fix it so people would not be hurt by his inaction ever again!

Unit 01's eyes glowed. Its jaws were still clamped shut, but it was like it wanted to laugh.

"I'll pilot THE EVANGELION!"

End And Become Legend part1

Changes in this version:

Added more information as if the reader hasn't heard of NGE before, for sake of introducing the crossover to those unfamiliar with either settings.

Shinji Ikari does long for some parental affection. He came to Tokyo-3 hoping to get to know his father, and even if Gendo was aloof then at least Shinji was prepared to act like a dutiful son. He had a personality that treated studies seriously anyway. He was wondering just what his father expected from him.

He didn't have any antipathy for Gendo Ikari until he saw just what his father was willing to do to further his scenario. It's not as a father that Shinji loathes Gendo, but as a leader. While a commander had to accept that the men and women sent out to fight may die, there was no reason to intentionally cause loyal soldiers suffering before battle.

AdEva Campaign notes:

The tank I used here is the completely fictional Type 110. It carries a L55 140mm cannon due to improvements in armor as a practical advancement from Project E. The NGE universe is more advanced than ours in several ways, and alongside practical fusion power (Tokyo 3 alone has three such reactors), completely unsupported by anything in canon I'm going to presume that defensive technology has temporarily outstripped weapons tech.

There are very few things that can take a nuke to the face and survive unscathed. Evangelion armor is one of them.

Hence, they needed a larger caliber main gun to defeat armor made of such things. There are several theories right now as how to make superstrong materials, but that's rather irrelevant to the point.

A drawback of the larger gun is of course, that the tanks carry less ammunition. Heavier shells also mean that autoloaders are required. The big guns would also have a rather hefty kick.

I'll discuss the VTOLs they use later.