Well, here I am again, folks. Not much feedback from the last chapter but hopefully this one will get better attention. As I said, this story contains contents from the Rebuild movie series, and the original anime, so we'll see a few different things happening. Now on with the show!

3: The Fourth Angel

Touji frowned as he and Kensuke climbed out of the shelter, the military crazed teenager in at the front, his camera primed. 'How'd I let him talk me into this?' Touji wondered as he was slightly blinded by the light over taking him as he stepped outside. Most of the buildings had already been sunk into the GeoFront below, leaving only a few standing, which made little sense if the area was about the become a battleground.

"Touji, come on!" Kensuke shouted at him, "I can already see something going on in the city!"

Touji shook his head, "I don't know about this, Kenny," he said, frowning, "I nearly got squashed by one of those things, and now you wanna see one up close?"

Kensuke turned around to look at him, grinning widely, "Damned right I do!" He said, "Ever since we found out Shinji was the pilot, I've been dying for a chance to see his machine in action!" He said, pointing his camera toward the near flattened city. "This is my dream, Touji, you gotta understand that!"

"What I understand is that our friend is about to fight another one of those monsters," he said, coming up next to his friend, looking out over the city. A great deal of JSSDF air crafts were hovering around, and he was certain that he could hear cannon fire off in the distance from heavy ordinance weaponry. Whatever was going on just over the mountains was not good at all. "You really think he wants to fight that thing?"

Kensuke then frowned, putting down his camera, "Honestly, I'd be scared out of my mind if it was me out there," he admitted, looking back at his friend, "I know you would be because you've got Sakura and Horaki to look after."

"Hey, the only reason I look after her is because she's always trying so hard," the boy defended himself whilst crossing his arms, "But, yeah, I'd be terrified of fighting, because I'd be worried about fucking the whole thing up and getting myself killed."

Kensuke gave him a crooked smirk, "But you'd do it to protect them, wouldn't you?"

Touji nodded, "In a minute." He said as he sat down on the grass.

"Thought so," the other boy said as he aimed his camera back out, a shaft rising out of the ground, "Oh, man, here it comes!"

.

The catapult shot the Eva to the surface with a jarring start as usual, but Shinji had it in his mind now that he had to completely annihilate Shamshel, or lose another Eva. And then there was Touji and Kensuke, who he knew would be watching the battle from the hill-side, so once again, he had to keep the Angel away from them.

As the Eva came to a thundering halt, and the restraining bolts were released he saw the vault with his weapon open up. He knew it wouldn't work, but he needed to at least try.

.

Touji stood up to get a better view of the Eva as the familiar giant appeared out of the elevator hangar, but noticed something else coming over the mountains. "Hey, what the hell is that?" Kensuke whipped around and trained his camera on the approaching object. It was was long and head a heart-shaped head and bloody red the entire length of the body except for the underside which looked pink with what looked like ribs encircling a red sphere in the center.

"Oh, man!" Kensuke said, "That's gotta be his target!"

"You gotta be kiddin'!" Touji's voice wavered, "That thing's huge!"

"Big robot for a big monster," Kensuke reasoned, keeping his camera on the advancing beast.

.

"Shinji, you have permission to engage the target," Misato said of the link, "Be careful, though, we still don't know what this thing can do yet."

"Roger," Shnji said, and stepped out from behind his building, pulling the trigger on the gatling gun and firing a short spray of bullets instead of going all out on the thing, then stepped back to put some distance between his Eva and the angel.

Shamshel advanced, not bothered at all by the bullets hitting it, the sheen of its AT-Field gleaming over its body. Shinji had just started another volley when the Angel let its whips uncoil and sent them slicing through the gun, leaving him unarmed.

Unit-01 jumped back as the whips came at it again, keeping the umbilical cable well out of their reach. "Misato, the gun didn't work, I need something else!"

"We're going to sent up a positron rifle, just be careful with it, it's meant for long-range combat, so the blasting power of the beam will be powerful!"

"Understood, just hurry!" Shinji yelled, ducking under another whip-lash.

{Shinji, you need to use the Eva's power!} Abraham shouted, {The rifle won't get there in time!}

"Great," muttered Shinji, "Misato, I'm raising the AT-Field to max!"

"Shinji, don't! The strain will be too much!" Ristuko shouted.

"No choice!" Shinji roared, letting his mind begin to merge with the Eva, "I just have to take the chance! Keep me posted on the percentage!"

After that, the NERV personnel were all scrambling about as the sync rate for Shinji started to rise drastically. "Doctor Akagi, Eva Unit 01 is now at one hundred and fifty percent!"

"Shinji, slow down!" Maya cried, "You'll kill yourself at this rate!"

Inside the Eva, the LCL began to change from yellow to red as the liquid began to bubble around the pilot's body, "As long as the angel is destroyed, then that's all I need!" Shinji roared over the link, the strain in his voice obvious.

"Are there any signs of contamination yet?!" Ritsuko yelled, checking the heart monitor for the pilot.

"None yet, but the sync rate keeps climbing!" Aoba yelled.

"Shinji, please stop!" Misato cried, "Destroying this angel isn't worth destroying your humanity!"

On the screen, the neon green parts of Unit 01's armor began to glow brighter. "Thanks for the concern, Misato, but that's the whole reason I pilot this thing, you know?" Shinji's voice crackled, "The pay's great, yeah, but now I just wanna protect the one's I care about...including that bastard of a father I have."

Maya gasped back tears as she heard this from the boy, then looked over at her mentor, "Sync rate is leveling out at three hundred, ma'am."

Back with Shinji, his whole body felt heated up with the effort to sync with the Eva. His eyes were no longer the grey-blue hues they had been, but a bright glowing iridescent blue. "This is it!" He growled, "Now it's time to show them what we can do!"

With that, Unit-01 snapped open its mouth and let out a guttural roar, the AT-Field expanding around the giant as it shattered the ground beneath its feet just as Shamshel descended on them again. The AT-Field whips lashed at the Eva, only to meet the solid form of its AT-Field. The Eva's eye glowed brightly, just like the pilot's as Shinji directed the machine to his will.

The pulsing orange shield boiled out, and slammed into the Angel, sending it careening onto the streets. The purple Eva was after it in a second, the field folding around its arms forming giant claws around the fingers as it went on the attack. Shamshel didn't waste any time in retaliating and shot the whip like appendages at the Eva's chest.

Shinji didn't react fast enough, or else he would have focused his shield on the spot, but the whips impaled the chest area near the core and entry plug, missing both by just inches as the Eva bore down on the fallen Angel. With the AT-Field claws Shinji tore into the angel with a monstrous shout that could have rivaled his Eva's roar, sending sprays of blood in all directions in his attempts to get at the Angel's core.

Shamshel rammed into the Eva with its head, forcing it back, and knocking the wind out of Shnji. "Oh no you don't!" Growled Shinji, Grabbing the angel's head, "You're dead!"

Before he could attack, however, the Angel's whips tore from his wounds, and wrapped around his arms, searing them with heat. Struggling, the Eva was lifted from the ground and hurled through the air, sending the unfortunate teen flying toward the hill side.

.

"Kensuke!" Touji roared as the Evangelion was sent airborne, and hurtled toward them with frightening speed, "We need to get outta here now!" He yelled as the two of them began to flee, but ran into someone they didn't expect.

Hikari Horaki was stomping toward them with a furious look on her face as she caught the two of them outside where they weren't supposed to be. "hey, you two, what the hell are you - ?!"

"GET DOWN!" Touji roared as he raced toward the girl and tackled her to the ground just as the Eva came crashing back down to Earth, barely missing the three teens as its left hand smashed the ground mere inches from where they were.

Shinji's head smashed into the console, opening up a gash on his forehead, darkening the LCL with the red coloring, making his vision swim as he shook his head to clear his sight. He stiffened as he realize where he had landed, training the head of his Eva around to find...three of his classmates cowering on the ground next to him!

The cry of the Angel alerted him to Shamshel's presence as the Angel's whips sped toward him again. He heard Hikari scream as the Eva moved, catching the whips as they came down on them with its bare hands.

"Misato, I've got civilians on the ground!" Shinji shouted, "I need an evac-route, now! This battle's not going well!"

"Understood, let those three into the cockpit for safety," Misato said, much to the annoyance of Ritsuko whom he could hear in the background, "After that, we'll clear a path for you using drones."

"Got it," the teen said, dropping his sync rate back to normal, and ejecting the entry plug.

Touji was helping Hikari back to her feet as the plug came out of the Evangelion's back while Kensuke was still filming, trembling as he was. "TOUJI, KENSUKE, HIKARI!" Shinji's voice roared loudly, "GET YOUR ASSES UP HERE AND IN THIS MACHINE! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

Kensuke didn't hesitate to move toward the Eva, helping Touji support the frightened girl. "We can't get in that thing!" The girl protested, "We're gonna get in trouble!"

"We're already in trouble!" Touji growled, "He can't fight while worrying about hurting us while we're out here, and the entrance to the bunker got smashed when he landed!"

Hikari whimpered as she nodded in understanding.

Shinji hissed in pain as the whips burned at his hands, and heard the splashing of LCL when his friends dropped into the plug. All of them started panicking and complaining at once, the thought noise making his frame tremble as he tried to maintain control over the Eva, but his sync ration had already dropped well below two hundred percent, and was still dropping.

"Don't worry," he told them, "This stuff is called LCL, and lets you breathe while submerged in it," he said, gripping the controls, "Now, close your mouths and hang on tight. We need to move!"

"Drones inbound, Shinji, we're opening up an elevator shaft for you to take back down to hangar seven." Ritsuko said, "After we've taken care of the children, we'll repair as much damage as possible before sending you back up."

"Alright!" Shinji snapped, throwing the Angel off of them, "Here we go, guys!"

Kensuke wanted to film as the Eva rose, but his camera had already shorted out, not being water-proof, while Hikari clung to Touji, both of them watching the ocular cameras as the Eva fled the battlefield.

The drones buzzed in and started bombing the Angle, but Shamshel had already identified Unit-01 as the only real threat. The Angel sped after the Evangelion, the whips slashing and slicing through anything in its path. Shinji cursed as he felt the umbilical cable get sliced off. "Misato, the cable's cut, I'm gonna have to fight!"

"Don't do it!" Mistato yelled, "Your sync rate's dropping too fast to last logn against that thing!"

"And I won't last long enough to get to the elevator if I don't do something!" Shinji roared, turning about on the Eva's heel, whipping the Prog-Knife from his shoulder pylons, "Trust me, Misato, I know what I'm doing!"

"I hope so!" Touji said, scared out of his mind.

Shinji ignored him, knowing that he had to end this fast, or else he was dead where he stood. As Shamshel sped toward him he ducked low, and out of the whips' range, dashing straight toward the Angel. As he neared it, he jumped, flipping over on his back and thrusting the blade up into the core as he passed underneath it, jamming the Eva's knee into the pommel as he did, and smashed the core to pieces.

The Angel howled in pain for a moment before the body began to bubble and bulge sickeningly. "Oh, God," Hikari gulped as she saw the creature die, choking back bile. The Angel then exploded in a shower of red, gone from the world.

Shinji, breathing heavily from the strain, sighed in relief, "Misato?" He said, looking over at his activation time, barely fifteen seconds left on the clock, "This is Pilot Ikari, reporting in," he smiled tiredly, "Mission accomplished. The Angel's been destroyed."

"Are you okay?" Misato asked, worrying for the teen.

Shinji was about to say that he was fine before Hikari herself piped up, "No, he's not alright!" She yelled, "He's bleeding from his head, I can see all the blood floating around in this stuff!"

Hearing the girl's frantic tone Misato was going insane with worry for her charge's safety.

"Get a recovery team out there, now!" Misato roared, "Eject entry plug and purge LCL, I need varified life signs on the pilot!"

Maya turned around with small smile and a trickle of tears down her face, "Pulse, respiration, and EEG are weak, but steady. He'll survive, Major."

Misato sighed in relief, "Thank God, that could have been bad." Then she growled, "Wait til I get my hands on that little punk!"

.

"Fuck, you're bleeding pretty bad, Shinji!" Touji growled, helping the boy out of the pilot's seat, and hauling him out of the Entry Plug. Kensuke slid down the Eva first to catch Shinji as Touji lowered him down to Hikari, then took his white school shirt off and ripped a few pieces into bandages. The cut wasn't all that bad once he got it cleaned out, but it continued to bleed. The girl was on the verge of panic, but Kensuke knew better. Head wounds bled profusely until a clot formed to stop the bleeding, causing a large swell around the wound.

Both boys had him wrapped up tight with his head in Hikari's lap by the time the recovery team arrive. But upon seeing the two boys and girl with the pilot, their guns left their holsters and were trained on them. Now Kensuke panicked.

"W-wait, don't shoot!" Touji yelled, "We were just helping him! He was bleeding all over himself!"

Luckily for them, the Major had tagged along for the ride, as she came rushing forward to the pilot's prone figure. "What happened to him?! How did he get that injury?"

"He must have hit his head when the robot landed," Kensuke pipped up shakily, "I'm sorry if we're not supposed to be here, or see this thing, but we just wanted to see our friend in action."

Misato looked down at the children, questioning them with her eyes, but nodded, "Alright, but we'll have to bring you three in for debriefing. I hope you realize that what you've seen could mean your execution - "

"No," they heard Shinji rasp. All four of them whirled around to see him looking up at them with one eye open, "T-they're m-my friends, Misato...The ones that I want to protect...and they could be pilots...I wanted to bring t-them in for a s-sync test."

"These three?" Misato asked, looking back at the two boys, "Shinji, this doesn't seem likely that all of these kids could be pilots like you."

"Heh," Shinji chuckled weakly, "If I'm wrong, then you can cut my pay in half for a solid month."

Misato gaped at him, then sighed in defeat, "Alright, Shinji, we'll bring them in. I'll have Ritsuko set up the test, but you'd better hope you're right."

Shinji just grinned at her before drifting back to unconsciousness.

(*)

Shinji was rushed to the examination room to have his wound patched up, and to be checked for any contamination from the abnormally high sync ratio he'd initiated. To Ritsuko's surprise, he was healthy except for the blood loss from his head.

His three classmates wanted to stay with him until he was awake, but having heard about Shinji's suspicions, Ritsuko had whisked them away to be put into a simulator to test their compatibility with the Unit-00 prototype. Kensuke was thrilled about the idea, and Touji was accepting the test as punishment for letting himself get talked into the whole thing with Kensuke, and putting Hikari in danger.

The girl, however, was less than pleased about the whole thing, especially when she saw the Plug Suit she would have to wear. But, given the choice between the skin-tight suit, and possibly jail, or execution, Hikari relented.

It took four hours for the tests to be run on all three students, but Ritsuko was pleasantly surprised to see that both boys had a strong forty percent sync ratio with the simulator. What stunned her, however was the fact that the girl, Hikari, had a solid and strong sixty percent ratio with the Unit. Again, Hikari was less than pleased.

"This is horrible," the girl moaned, her face covered by her hands, "This means I'm going to have to learn to pilot one of those things!"

Touji wanted to console her, but he didn't really know how to do so, considering it was partially his fault that she had gotten mixed up in this mess. Sighing, he contented himself with patting her on the shoulder, "I'm sorry, Class Rep, this is all our fault," he said, frowning as he looked across the hall at a beaming Kensuke, "I guess I can accept this, but maybe you can refuse it?

"How?" Hikari looked up at him with tears in her eyes,and an angry blush on her cheeks, "You saw what happened out there. How he fought so hard, even before he had to take us with him, and then he had to risk his life even further to keep us safe!" She cried, her tears falling freely, "And now you're going to have to fight, too! And you expect me to just sit by while you all put your lives on the line?"

Touji gulped, "But...I don't wanna see you hurt, either...Hikari." The blush that arose to their cheeks as he spoke her name was near blinding.

Kensuke smiled at them a little jealously, but chose not to say anything and let them have their moment. But it was at that moment that Dr. Akagi came back to them.

She smiled at them a little sadly, "Alright, you three, the Commander will see you all, now."

(*)

Shinji opened his eyes to find himself in a strange forest with mist swirling around his body. He sat up and looked around, and found himself staring at Abraham sitting on a stump, smiling cheerfully.

"It was good of you to come, Father." He said, "I must admit that I was worried for a little while. You've been lying here for some time." Shinji blinked in confusion, shaking his head.

"Where am I?" Shinji asked, "And why am I here. I don't remember calling out to you."

Abraham chuckled, "Well, the truth of the matter is that you came here on your own." He sighed, gesturing with his small arms, "This place is the Crossroads between Life and Death, you see." He pointed down to a small dusty path beneath the mist, "If you were to follow this path, then you would be led to the Lilim's versions of Heaven or Hell," He said, and tapped his finger to his head, "That blow to the head nearly turned your brain to jelly. Any harder, and even I couldn't give you the choice of going back again. Even angels like us can be killed."

Shinji sighed, "I guess I really am still an Angel, then?" Abraham nodded, "But I thought I was just superhuman?"

Abraham waved that off, "If you don't use your AT-Field, then you'll eventually become human again, but that'll happen over a little more time, though you'll still have your mental powers." The Angel smiled then, "Now, as you know I have to offer you the choice of moving on to the next life, or going back to your old one, though I think I already know the answer."

Shinji nodded, "You're right, I still need to go back and help everyone. My job's not done yet."

"Plus you have to watch out for your friends, now as they are destined to be pilots after this last battle." Abraham smiled happily, "I must say that was quite creative of you to use the AT-Field like that. I'm impressed!"

"Glad you liked it," Shinji said, getting to his feet, "Sorry, but I think I should get going."

Abraham nodded and jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "You'll need to go that way if you want to go back to your body." Shinji nodded once again, and started off down the misty path before Abraham stopped him, "And be wary of the next Angel, Shinji. Ramiel appears to have grown stronger now for some reason. He will not be as easily defeated this time. He will arrive in one month. But by this time, Unit-04 should be ready, and Unit-00 will be repaired. You will have enough power to back you up."

Shinji smiled, "Thanks, Abraham, I won't let you down."

"Just remember to practice with that new power of yours," Abraham reminded him, "But I'd stay out of sight when you do. You were right when you thought your father and the good doctor may dissect you."

Shinji smiled nervously as he continued down the misty path, and soon everything went dark again.

.

Again, Shinji opened his eyes and found himself staring at a now familiar ceiling, groaning as a sharp pain in his head started throbbing. "Argh," he groaned, sitting up, "I do not want to do that again."

"That would be a wise decision, Pilot Ikari."

Shinji jumped at the sound of Rei's voice beside him, and he found her there with a small book in her hands, read half-way through. "Rei? How long have you been here?"

"Since doctor Akagi allowed visitors." She said, closing her book.

"Then how long have I been out?" Shinji asked.

"A full thirty-six hours," Rei said, "Many of the NERV personnel were worried about you when the sync rate of Unit-01 started rising. Major Katsuragi also mentioned something about strangling you for being so reckless."

Shinji laughed nervously, "I guess that's what I get." He sighed and sank back into the bed, "What about the three students that found me? What happened to them?"

"They are under observation for the time being until the Marduk report comes through." She said dully, "Though I do not see the sense in putting the data through since they already have fairly descent sync ratios with my Unit-00."

Shinji smiled, "Then they'll be fine?" She nodded, and he sighed in relief, "That's great. At least now you and I won't be fighting alone."

Rei, for the most part, looked as stoic as usual, but he noticed that a slight glimmer in her eye that told him that she was bursting with unanswered questions.

"Ikari - "

Shinji reached out and touched her hand, "Didn't I tell you to call me Shinji?" He asked gently, "After all, we are brother and sister."

That threw her for a second, unfamiliar as she was with human touch save for the Commander and Ritsuko, whose touches were normally cold, and meaningless to her. But Shinji's touch was warm, and pleasant. {Is this what having a brother feels like?} She wondered. "Shinji, how did you find out about our parents?"

Shinji's lip quirked, "A little angel told me."

Rei frowned, "That is not an answer, Shinji."

He smiled then, "Yes it is," he said, "It's my answer." He watched her normally emotionless face drop into something he thought he'd never see. Rei started pouting

"My...brother is so mean to me," she said sadly, and the boy turned a light shade of red.

{Is she actually trying to tease me?!} He thought in surprise, and smiled at her, "Rei, c'mon, I'm not being mean," he said, raising himself back up, "It's just going to be a while before I can tell you how I learned about it."

Rei looked at him, a small tint of pink on her cheeks, "But you will tell me?"

He smiled and held out his right hand, extending his pinky, "I promise." Rei looked at his hand curiously, but mimicked the action, and was surprised when Shinji wrapped his finger around her's and shook it. "And if I break my promise, I'll swallow a thousand needles."

"But would that not cause you pain?" Rei asked, clearly not comprehending the gesture.

"All the more reason for me to keep the promise, right?" He asked, before turning his head toward the door, hearing a loud racket coming down the hall. "Hehe, that's gotta be either Touji, or Misato."

Rei nodded, "I suspect the latter, Shinji as Suzuhara and the others are currently meeting with Doctor Akagi."

Shinji sighed, "Then I'm either in for a lecture...or a longer stay in the hospital."

Rei tilted her head slightly to the side, "I do not think that the major will risk further injury to you, since Unit 00 is still being repaired."

The door slammed open. "SHINJI IKARI!" Misato roared.

Shinji cringed, "Wanna bet, Rei?"

A small ghost of a smile appeared on her face, "I believe I would lose."

(*)

Commander Ikari along with vice commander Fuyutsuki looked over the files that Ritsuko had given them. "And these three are the Third's classmates?" Gendo asked the blonde.

"Yes," she said, "All of them had fairly descent sync rates with Unit-00, though I decided against running a test with Unit-01 since its so temperamental." She took a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it, "As you can see, the Marduke report states that this Touji Suzuhara would be most compatible with Unit-03, while Kensuke Aida would suite Unit-04." She smiled, blowing out a puff of smoke, "The girl, however, has a strong sync rate with Unit-00, and could easily be stationed here as a back-up pilot for Rei when she is undergoing tests, or injured. I've put her information up against future Units, but I have yet to get anything back from the Marduk system about which Unit she would be most suitable for." She said, "But when the new Units are complete, their pilots will be waiting."

"So it would seem," Gendo said tonelessly, "And it was pilot Ikari that fingered them out as potential pilots?"

"He did," Ritsuko said, nodding, "But I think it more to save them from the firing squad than anything else."

Gendo nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, you could be right. Either way, these three children are now back-up pilots until their units arrive. We've already had clearance for Unit-02 to be sent over to us by sea, I'll just have another cargo ship pick up the other two Units as well, but it'll take a while longer."

Fuyutsuki frowned, "Why not have them flown over?"

Unknown to the three humans, a certain Angel had entered the room, and now stood behind the commander. He leaned over his shoulder and whispered, {No, I believe that the cargo ships would be safer. Most of the angels we've seen so far have had the ability to fly. I don't want to risk the safety of the new units.}

"No, I believe that the cargo ships would be safer. Most of the angels we've seen so far have had the ability to fly. I don't want to risk the safety of the new units." The commander repeated stoically, not knowing he was being persuaded.

"That does make sense," Ritsuko amended, "Alright, I'll tell Misato to get those three on the payroll, as Shinji would say."

Gendo resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "That boy has certainly grown into a plucky character."

Fuyutsuki chuckled, "Like father like son."

"Really?" Gendo asked, "I see more of his mother in him than I do myself."

Smiling to himself, Abraham drifted out of the room, passing through the wall as he went. {Well, that's one small disaster averted." He said, "But I doubt that Bardiel will sit idly by and simply wait for a host.}

Again, not much changing in this newest chapter for the re-write, but the battle has switched up to mirror the original, and Miss Hikari has been pulled into the life of a pilot much sooner than before. You'll see her Ranking below.

First Child: Rei Ayanami - Evangelion Unit-00

Second Child: Asuka Langley Shikinami - Evangelion Unit-02 enroute

Third Child: Shinji Ikari - Evagelion Unit-01

Fourth Child: Kaworu Nagisa - Evangelion M.6 (Mark.06) Under construction

Fifth Child: Mari Illustrious Makinami - Evangelion Unit-08 under construction

Sixth Child: Kensuke Aida -Evangelion Unit-04 under construction

Seventh Child: Touji Suzuhara - Evangelion Unit-03 enroute

Eighth Child: Hikari Horaki - Evangelion Unit-00 Back-up Pilot

Ninth Child:(?) Mana Kirishima - Unknown Evangelion

Now, since the last chapter got nothing, I really wanna hear what you thought of both chapters. Abraham's appearance has changed, as well. So I'd like to hear what you think on that without him being a Kaworu look-alike. Also, are the battles and the lighter scenes better. Please people I wanna know!

Review, pretty please!