Eva Cages, NERV

Shinji felt very uncomfortable wearing the skintight plugsuit when both Ritsuko and Misato could see him through the camera feeds. Right now, he was seated in something apparently called an entry plug, about to enter the neck of the monstrous thing called "Unit-01". He was shocked to see the purple-armored humanoid for the first time, but Zone Fighter simply stated that he had "fought freakier things." That statement didn't comfort Shinji very much. He began to question what he got himself into by bonding with Zone Fighter when the plug began to flood with a reddish liquid that smelled like blood.

"Don't panic, Shinji, that blood-like substance is LCL. It's a specially-designed oxygenated liquid. You can breathe it," Ritsuko said over the communications link. "It'll feel like drowning at first, but you'll get used to it."

You heard her, Shinji. There's no need to panic, Zone Fighter said.

The alien's words had a calming effect on Shinji, and he let himself breathe in the LCL, despite some trepidation. It tasted like blood as well, and the boy wondered whether or not it actually was blood. He sensed motion as the entry plug began to descend into the Evangelion. For some strange reason, he felt... secure. As if he was back in the arms of his-

"Entry plug is secure. Synchronization will begin shortly. Try to relax, Shinji," Ritsuko said over the commlink, breaking Shinji's reverie.

Shinji could hear the sound of machinery shifting through the LCL, and then... nothing. The plug remained unchanged.

In the testing center, Misato frowned. "That can't be right at all. Everyone synchs at least a little with the Eva, even if it's only two or three percent."

"The equipment doesn't lie, Misato," replied the blonde scientist. "Shinji's synch ratio is a perfect zero. Technically speaking, that shouldn't be possible."

"Something tells me that Commander Ikari won't be pleased with that," Misato said. "The only other pilot available is Rei, and I don't think she'll be piloting for a while with her injuries."

Sighing, Ritsuko pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'll inform Commander Ikari about our situation. Just to be sure, we'll check the equipment again and schedule a few more tests for the week."

"Where is Shinji going to stay in the meantime?" Misato asked. "On base?"

"That'll be for the Commander to decide," Ritsuko replied. "Let's eject the plug and get Shinji back to the medical wing for further examination. Something seems off."


NERV Medical Wing

Shinji was confused. Zero synch? If what he heard from Dr. Akagi was correct, that wasn't supposed to be possible. What was wrong with him?

Zone Fighter, can you think of anything that might explain what happened? Shinji asked mentally.

The response was almost like that of a child caught reaching into a cookie jar. Well, I might've changed your DNA a bit. Only a little, though, Zone Fighter replied guiltily.

How? This is obviously something very important, Zone Fighter.

I gave you increased regenerative abilities for that head wound, and I made some changes so that your body would be more receptive to the transformation.

Transformation?! That sounds like something you should have told me earlier! Shinji replied nervously.

It would be only temporary. When the time comes for you to use the power, you'll transform into a cyborg of sorts. It's what will allow you defeat the monsters, like the one that attacked earlier, Zone Fighter replied matter-of-factly.

Shini's mind returned to the memory of the charcoal grey monster. Did the other monster beat it? It looked as though they were going to fight, he asked.

I wouldn't be surprised. It was Godzilla, after all.

What's a Godzilla? Shinji asked, confused at his mental guest's familiarity with the grey monster. You know that thing?

It was Zone Fighter's turn to be surprised. You don't know who Godzilla is? The King of the Monsters? Gojira? Gigantis? He has a bunch a names.

I've never seen that thing in my entire life! Shinji replied.

Zone Fighter was quiet for a while before he spoke again. Shinji, who's the Prime Minister of the Earth Union?

Earth Union? Shinji asked, his confusion growing by the second. What's the Earth Union?

Never mind. Have you ever heard these names before? Mothra. Rodan. Anguirus. King Ghidorah. Do any of them ring a bell?

I have no idea what you're talking about, Shinji replied.

Zone Fighter did the mental equivalent of a sigh. It looks like we have a lot to talk about.


Commander Ikari's Office, NERV HQ

Gendo read the reports from Dr. Akagi regarding the Third Child. If he was surprised in any way, he failed to show even the smallest amount of it. He simply stared at the papers on his desk with the usual stony glare.

"It appears that the Third Child is incapable of piloting," Fuyutsuki said, standing behind Gendo as always. "How will this affect the Scenario?"

"The Third Child was a valuable component of the plan, but he is not irreplaceable. Another can fill his role," Gendo replied. "However, we shouldn't relinquish him just yet. Have Dr. Akagi continue tests on him. In the meantime, prepare to have the Second Child and Unit-02 flown over to Tokyo-3. If the tests continue to fail, we will still have a pilot ready."

"That'll be a lot of paperwork," Fuyutsuki commented.

"We'll manage. I've also been informed that Captain Katsuragi is concerned for the well-being of the Third Child. Have him moved to her apartment. We'll be able to keep close tabs on him from there and make the captain feel more at ease. We don't want a distracted Operations Director." Gendo rose from his desk. "In the meantime, I have to speak with the Committee again."

Gendo left the room, and Fuyutsuki couldn't help but feel a bit fearful at what the future held.


Misato's Apartment, the next day

"This is 'a little mess'?" Shinji asked quietly upon entering the apartment. "This is absolutely filthy."

I've known kaiju with cleaner habits than this, Zone Fighter commented. Anyway, how are you holding up?

After being told that there's an entire universe where Second Impact never happened and there are monsters everywhere? I've had better days, Shinji replied.

Are you going to ever tell me what Second Impact exactly is? Zone Fighter asked.

Shinji didn't answer, and simply began to clean up the pigsty known as an apartment. Zone Fighter decided not to press the matter. He could search the boy's memories, but such a thing would be immensely intrusive and he didn't wish to alienate his host.

A squawking noise drew both of their attentions. "Was that in the bathroom?" Shinji asked aloud. Opening the door with trepidation, he found himself looking down at a penguin with a collar on and claws on its flippers.

"Wark."

"What is that?!" Shinji exclaimed, backpedaling and falling down into some trash on the floor.

Misato simply walked past him to fetch some more groceries. "That's Pen-Pen. Don't be scared, he's friendly."

Pen-Pen simply regarded Shinji for a moment, shook its feathers free of moisture, and returned to its freezer. Shinji could've sworn he saw a TV inside. He decided not to give the matter much more thought, he had enough on his plate already.

He kind of reminds me of a cuter and smaller version of Barakidon, Zone Fighter said.

Misato walked into the kitchen with some microwaved meals. "Let's eat!"

You know, it'll be nice to experience taste again. I haven't had a meal in 40 years, Zone Fighter said.

Once Shinji ate a mouthful of Misato's cooking, he reminisced that he actually didn't miss taste much.


Tokyo-3 Airport, 2 weeks later

Asuka Langley Soryhu looked through the airplane window as the massive aircraft carrying Unit-02 landed on the runway. She was growing impatient, having waited an hour after landing for some security reason. Ryouji Kaji, her guardian, wasn't faring so well either, considering the fact that he was seated next to her. It wasn't that he didn't care for her, he almost thought of her as a daughter. It was just that spending several hours next to her was a bit... much.

"What's taking so long?" Asuka asked angrily. "I've been in this plane forever. Why are they making us wait?"

Kaji tried his best to pretend he didn't hear and discreetly turned up the volume on his music player as he continued to read the reports on the battle between the Angel, codenamed "Sachiel", and the mysterious "LSO-01". He was, to say at the very least, surprised upon learning some giant animal had slain the Angel. It had managed to do it without an AT-field, something that was supposed to be nigh-impossible. The very fact that something could get that big without an AT-field was also an impossibility in itself.

That was when he heard the sound of cannon fire. Turning in his seat, he saw clouds of smoke rising over the horizon. In his gut he knew it was an Angel, there was no other reason for the military to be taking action. A squadron of VTOLs flew overhead, ready to join the fight. Kaji hoped their pilots' deaths would he painless. They needed to get out of here, and fast.

"Kaji, it's coming this way!" Asuka said excitedly. "I need to get into my Eva and score my first kill!"

"We need to get away from the fight, Asuka. Unit-02 isn't fully prepped for combat just yet, and I don't think the UN has even given us official clearance to combat the Angels," Kaji replied.

Asuka grumbled but otherwise stayed quiet. Suddenly, Kaji's phone rang. Picking it up, he spoke into it, turned a tad bit paler in the face, and shoved it back into his pocket. "Get down!" Kaji shouted, tackling Asuka to the floor of the plane. If the situation hadn't been so dire, he would likely have realized how awkward of a position he was in.

There was a bright flash of light, followed a few seconds later by a shock wave. The plane, thankfully, didn't roll, but it did rock considerably. Kaji could hear debris hitting the metal like a rainstorm, and a few windows cracked from the pressure. After some time, the howling wind abated. After seeing that Asuka was alright, he rose from the floor.

"An N2 mine. They hit it with a goddamn N2 mine," he said, coughing. He walked toward the cabin, careful to avoid the broken glass. "Stay here," he told Asuka.


Elsewhere

"What! It's still alive!" one of the generals exclaimed, shocked at the failure of the N2 mine. The video feed came in from a nearby VTOL, and it clearly showed the Angel standing in the crater caused by the blast. Although a good portion of its flesh had been burnt off, it was already regenerating its wounds at an alarming rate. Soon it would be on the move again, and unless they wished to repeat the blast it appeared that they were out of options.

Gendo smirked slightly under his tented hands. Even if he had been unable to convince the JSSDF the first time around, seeing their most powerful weapon fail would do the trick. So far, everything was going to plan this time around.

Another general sighed and turned to Gendo. "We'll let you have a shot, Ikari. You have full permission to use your Evangelions on this... thing."

"Thank you, general," Gendo replied without a hint of any emotion.


The cabin was a mess. There was no need to check the pilots for life, Kaji could tell from where he stood that they didn't survive the blast. Swearing to himself, he looked outside of the broken windows. Already a mushroom cloud was forming in the distance, and he could see a dark shape within. The Angel had survived the blast, just as he feared. If what he knew was correct, it was probably already regenerating its wounds. He had no idea how long that'd take.

Exiting the cabin, he was about to tell Asuka to gather her things when he realized that she was nowhere to be seen. There was, however, a door that hadn't been open when he entered the cabin. He didn't bother muting his swearing then.


A few miles away

"Shit!" Misato let the binoculars drop. "They hit it with an N2 mine!"

Shinji gulped nervously. What had started as simply picking up the new pilot from the airport had turned into a nightmare. An Angel was attacking, and it just survived the most powerful conventional weapon known to humanity. The outcome for the pilot down there was a grim one. However, he felt a resolve harden within him. He didn't know if it was from him or from his guest, but either way he felt it. He wasn't going to stand by when someone had given him the power to do something.

"Oh crap, Unit-02's activating!" Misato shouted. "Doesn't she know that she only has 5 minutes of battery life? She'll die out there if she decides to fight the Angel." She set the binoculars down. "Come on, Shinji, we have to-" her sentence halted when she turned and realized that the young boy was nowhere to be seen. "Shinji?"


Elsewhere

Shinji stopped running and ducked behind some bushes, panting. All right, how do I transform? he mentally asked his alien guest.

Just hold out your hands then bring them together, yelling out "Zone Double Fight!" Zone Fighter replied. In English.

Shinji halted briefly. Are you serious? My English is terrible!

It has to be in English, otherwise it won't work. Trust me on that, Zone Fighter said.

Shinji sighed. "Fine." Holding out his hands, he folded them together. "ZONE DOBURU FIGHTU!"

There was a blinding flash of light, and Shinji figured that either everything but him shrank, or he just became a lot taller.


Tokyo-3 Airport

The Angel emerged from the mushroom cloud, fully healed of its injuries. It reminded Asuka of something that isn't said in polite conversation, considering its slender and long body topped by a bulbous head. It had no visible eyes to speak of, and the core was inside something resembling a human ribcage. Glancing at the timer, Asuka saw that she had four minutes of power left. Plenty of time to beat the Angel and show off her superior piloting skills, right?

Asuka lunged, fully prepared to beat the Angel to a pulp with her Eva's hands. That was when the energy whips appeared. She barely had enough room to dodge, and she could feel the heat as they sliced through the air. Before she could turn around, the whips took hold of her ankles. It felt like hot iron was being pressed into her skin, and she had to repress a scream of pain. The Eva's legs were pulled out from under it, causing it to fall and smash into the tarmac. The Angel towered over her, ready to attack once more with its whips. She had no doubt that the whips would be able to melt right through the armor, and prepared to fight to the end. However, neither she nor the Angel could have predicted what came next.

A silver blur smashed into the Angel, smashing through its AT-field and sending it flying a good 200 meters. The Angel smashed into the tarmac with a resounding crash, creating a sizable crater in the ground and crushing some thankfully unoccupied planes. As Asuka rose, she got a good look at her unexpected savior. At first glance, it almost looked like an Eva, except taller and more muscular. However, it lacked any shoulder pylons, its armor looked more like spandex with the occasional metal plate on it, and its head was different, with some metal antennae topped by a red gem. She also noticed that the wrists appeared to have missiles around them, almost like bracelets. Overall, it looked almost like a cartoon superhero than anything else, and she had to repress a laugh at its ridiculous appearance.

The Angel rose from the ground, ready to engage its new enemy in combat. The silver giant turned and threw a clumsy punch, hitting it in the chest and cracking a few of the ribs. Asuka almost winced at how bad the giant had thrown it, it was as though it had never fought before. Nonetheless, the Angel went flying once more. Straightening its posture, the giant began to produce a bright glow from the red gem on its head. Before she could figure out what it was doing, a bright blue beam shot forth and hit the Angel in its head. A good chunk of flesh was blasted away, and the alien monster collapsed, obscured in smoke.

The battle appeared to be over. The giant relaxed noticeably and turned to face her. To her surprise, it actually waved at her awkwardly. Instead of gratitude for it saving her, however, Asuka only felt angry. Her first kill was usurped by some silly giant in silver spandex! It was utterly embarrassing for the great Asuka Langley Soryhu. She was about to activate her external speakers and berate the thing when the Angel proved itself to be far from dead. Energy whips wrapped themselves about the giant's throat. The silver humanoid fell to its knees, and actually cried out in pain. The Angel began to pump more energy into the whips, and smoke began to rise from where it made contact.

Asuka was almost tempted to let the giant choke for a little, but decided that it had saved her life, she might as well make it even. Pulling out her prog knife, she lunged once more. All it took was two swipes for the whips to be cut in half, freeing the giant from the chokehold it found itself in. Turning about, she jabbed the core with her knife, imbedding it about halfway. She began to push, but found that it was taking too long. The Angel would regenerate its whips at any time. Suddenly silver hands enveloped her own and pushed as well. The giant had recovered and was helping her. She could feel the raw strength coming from the thing by her side, it was unbelievable just how strong it actually was. With their combined force, the knife split the core. The Angel exploded into a cloud of LCL, spraying a great deal of the surrounding area.

When the LCL stopped coming down, Asuka found that the silver giant was nowhere to be seen. It didn't really matter to her, she had gotten her first kill! Sure the giant helped, but that was all it did: help. The Eva's power finally ran out, but not before she put it in a position that made recovery a lot easier. All the while she grinned to herself, thinking how pleased everyone would be with her.


A few miles away

Shinji landed back where he started, a human-sized version of the form he took fighting the Angel. With a flash of light, he was back to his normal self. He rubbed his throat where the whips had wrapped themselves and winced. "I didn't think I actually had it in me to fight like that," he told himself. "I actually punched an Angel in the face!"

I knew I chose well, Zone Fighter said. There was a brief pause, and then suddenly Shinji heard laughter in his head. I can't believe you actually said "Zone Double Fight!"

Are you telling me I didn't have to do that whole silly routine? Shinji asked.

Of course not. I'm from outer space, why would the magic words be in English? I just wanted to have some fun with you, I don't have many opportunities to do that.

It wasn't that funny, Shinji replied.

I thought it was hilarious. My old host never realized he didn't need to actually do that, you just need to think of transforming. For 7 years he did the whole routine when a Terro-Beast came around. Zone Fighter paused briefly. I just wanted to do it for old time's sake. It's been too long since I last fought, it brings back old memories.

Shinji sighed. Will it make you feel better if I do the routine?

Yes, please.

There was some shouting in the distance, and Shinji realized that Misato must still be looking for him. Sighing once more, he headed to where the purple-haired woman had parked, although with a little more spring in his step.

A few minutes later

The car pulled into the airport, or at least what was left of it. The red Evangelion was in the middle of the tarmac, being attended to by recovery crews. Shinji could see the hole in the ground where he had tackled the Angel, and smiled a bit to himself. Aside from having to explain to Misato where he was (hiding after seeing the N2 mine go off, per Zone Fighter's suggestion), the ride had been uneventful.

Misato parked in one of the few spaces untouched by the battle and exited the vehicle, Shinji following after her. Soon they came to where they were told the new pilot and her guardian would be waiting. Sure enough, they were there. Shinji's breath caught in his throat at the sight of the red-headed beauty in a yellow sundress, and had to take care not to stare.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Misato said, shaking the pilot's hand. "You've grown quite a bit."

"I know, my figure's filled out since last time," the pilot said. She turned to Shinji and frowned slightly. "This is the washout, huh?"

"Now, now, don't be so rude," the guardian, a young man with stubble, said. He extended a hand, which Shinji shook. "Ryouji Kaji, glad to make your acquaintance."

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Shinji replied uneasily. He extended a hand to the pilot. "I'm Shinji Ikari, the Third Child."

Asuka reluctanly shook his hand. "Asuka Langley Soryhu. Second Child." As she shook Shinji's hand, she couldn't help but notice the red marks around his throat that seemed awfully familiar...

100 miles away, the Pacific Ocean

Godzilla paused briefly as he swam towards Japan once more. He could no longer sense the monster he had detected over the ocean. It was as if something else had killed it. Reaching out with his senses once more, he could detect two other beings. One was like some strange mixture of monster scent and human, something he had never smelled before. The other scent, however, was a most familiar one. Apparently he wasn't the only one to have found himself in this new world. Seeing that he needn't head to Japan, he changed course to the area he had sensed to be rich in radiation. If he was to protect this world, he needed power.