Disclaimer: See the Prologue
In case you've noticed every time I add a new chapter I move the story away from the Crossover section back to the Evangelion section, then a few days later put in back in Crossovers. It's just my way.
By the way I'm not making Shinji out to be invincible. He had help killing the xenomorph queen and subsequent future chapters will expand on how he came to be so good with a nodachi.
Oh and I edited Chapter 5 with regards to Shinji's rank. To any Predator aficionados I hope I've got the clan ranking system right.
Chapter 6 – Curved Blade
Two years ago…
The wet sounds of one's balled fist making impact with another one's face echoed throughout the canyon walls, followed by the sounds of a body landing on rock were heard. Youthful, inhuman laughter followed, then silence.
Spitting blood the young human of twelve years tried pushing himself up off the rocky ground, briefly glancing at his bloody reflection in the water. Pain and exhaustion forced him back down, his face inches from the water, almost touching the scar on his right cheek, which matched the scar on his left cheek. For his age he was in formidable shape beyond his years. His small muscles were built from years of strenuous activity, particularly his biceps and abs; his baby fat completely burned away. His black hair was arranged in a topknot, a few strands held together with gold ringlets. His manner of dress complimented his wild, almost feral look: A brown-coloured loincloth, sputtered with blood that was dripping from a cut on his chest.
A crude fishing rod broken in half laid nearby next to a wire basket full of caught exotic, edible fish, while standing behind the young boy were three other humanoids, around his age but significantly taller. They wore loincloths, were dreadlocked (though were shorter then adult hunters) and had scorpion-like faces, their mandibles flared in both amusement and contempt for the only one of their kind to stand out.
"Aww…I don't think the little ooman can get back up," one of the humanoid said mockingly.
One of the bullies stepped up to the 'ooman' and gave him a sharp kick to the side, rolling him over and causing his eyes to bulge out and he cry out in pain. He then closed his eyes tightly and went into a fetal position to try and dull the pain in his gut.
"No, I don't think he can."
The tallest of them was next to step towards him. He snorted, "Not so tough without your breeder guardian looking out for you, eh Shinji?"
Shinji's eyes flew open at the mention of his guardian being referred to as a breeder – a grave insult.
"It has a name?" another chided in.
"Yes, it's ooman name," the tall bully looked over his shoulder at the one standing back. "It insists it be referred to as 'Curved Blade' after that freakish sword he swings around."
The bullies now surrounded Shinji, looking down at him and deciding what to inflict upon him next.
Shinji expected this to happen. Those same three Unbloods – Kur, Ty'rae and S'yvar, would use every opportunity possible to make his life hell and he would always fight them off, sometimes even brutally. Usually Gaun or one of the Arbitrators came along to break up the fight, and the Arbitrators would reprimand all four of them, despite the three of them always picking the fight. The predator children would always accuse the ooman of starting the fight, which would always fail, as everybody knew how much of a gentle soul Shinji was when he wasn't using a weapon – which was a sign of massive weakness.
Shinji looked up at the bullies and hissed pleadingly, already knowing the answer, "W-why?"
"What a stupid question," the tallest bully, Kur, squatted so their faces were level. "Because you're a Pyoda Amedha living on our world, and with that damn Lou-dte kalei. You have no right to be here!"
The boy glared and struggled to get up, "W…why does everybody h-hate her?"
He felt Ty'rae's foot on his chest and push him back down, "Another stupid question! She's softhearted. My bearer says she lets her prey live if they can't fight anymore. That's being weak!"
"And she took you and that other ooman in," S'yvar growled. "Damn the Elder for giving you something to breed with. You oomans will overpopulate our world in no time."
Still glaring, Shinji shouted, "You leave Mana out of this!"
Kur smirked and clicked his manidbles, "I think I know a way to make sure that doesn't happen."
"What?" Ty'rae took his foot off Shinji's chest. "That the oomans won't spread."
Nodding, Kur glanced at Shinji's face before tracing his body down to between his legs, "I say we cut his balls off, that way he won't make that female bear his pups."
Shinji's eyes widened in horror.
Ty'rae grinned, "And any of our females. A couple of the Unblood females have being giving him strange looks. Very strange looks."
The boy then resumed glaring at his tormentors, gritting his teeth angrily.
"Not just his balls," S'yvar chimed in as he pulled out a knife hidden in his loincloth. "His organ too. We have to make double sure he doesn't contaminate our race with either more oomans or half-breeds."
Kur grabbed the knife out of S'yvar's hand and growled, his mandibles flared. He then reached for Shinji's loincloth with intent on acting on his threat towards the human. He was promptly taken by surprise when Shinji leapt forward and headbutted him.
"RAAARGHHHHH!"
Kur wailed in pain, dropping the knife that landed in Shinji's left hand. Furious, the boy then slashed the bigger hunter across the chest, spilling green glowing blood all over the rock and causing Kur to suddenly wail out even louder. S'yvar grabbed Shinji from behind, wrapping his arms around his chest in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground with the intention of crushing the smaller human to death.
Undeterred, Shinji bared his teeth and bit into the flesh of S'yvar's right arm, drawing blood and making S'yvar scream and loosen his hold on him immediately. He then wriggled his way out of his grasp and balling his right hand into a fist and delivered a straight punch to S'yvar's crotch region. The hunter eyes appeared to bulge out of his skull and he collapsed to his knees, clutching his shattered genitalia with moisture pooling in the corners of his eyes. He then toppled forward onto the ground and passed out.
Shinji then turned his attention to Ty'rae. The horrified hunter eyes quivered in his skull, seeing the supposedly weak and frail human now turned feral and had just taken down his two friends. With Kur's eyes angrily gazing at him he turned and run away. The boy watched him run, then turned his attention back to Kur. He saw him on his knees with his arm across his chest wound and glaring dangerously Shinji and the knife that had his green blood on it in his hands. Shinji glared back and gripped the knife.
"Do you worst, ooman!" Kur exclaimed. "My sire will bring hell down on you and your handler, mark my words."
Kur's mandibles crossed in a smirk.
"He will make good use of her, that's for sure."
Shinji frowned at the hunter, then turned towards the river and tossed the knife into the water and watched it get swept away by the current. Kur swore he saw red at seeing his sire's prized hunting knife get swept away and possibly lost forever. In an instant he got up, growled angrily and lunged at Shinji, knocking him down near the wire basket and his broken fishing rod.
The boy instinctively reached for one half of the broken rod and jabbed it forward.
"!"
The next thing he saw was Kur standing up and roaring in agony, the piece of fishing rod through his right eye. He reached for it and yanked it out, taking his eyes with it and spilling green blood all over Shinji.
"Uh…uh…"
Shinji's eyes widened, horrified at what he had just done to Kur. He had defended himself against these bullies plenty of times but never this savagely, and they had never insulted his own guardian beforehand. Quickly blinking away tears and without thinking he got up, grabbed his steel cage and ran for it, disappearing out of sight.
Kur eyes covered his empty eye socket, his remaining left eye watching Shinji disappear. He bellowed angrily at the retreating form of the human and immediately swore vengeance.
"Ooman…you die…you die…!"
(SSJNYH)
Holding the cage over his shoulder with a rope he trudged down a dirt road beside the canyon river, sniffling slightly as he replayed over in his mind the bullies threatening to castrate him and his vicious retaliation against them that caused him to be horrified with himself. Six years living amongst these people and he had adapted to the customs, speaking the language that consisted of clicks and throaty grunts no longer hurt his throat, embraced the attention he received for his progress as a warrior, and yet he still had a gentle soul.
The other hunters had commented on it. That when he was not in a battle stance he was the same, sensitive gentle ooman that had been liberated from his dreary existence back on Earth. The same goes when he drew blood, that it would immediately put him off and he would have to stop himself from apologizing to whoever it was that was training. His guardian Gaun understood but the other hunters looked down on him for it.
"Curved Blade," his name echoed around him with glee.
Still walking, Shinji looked around himself, "Merl'we…?"
De-cloaking alongside him was a tall eight-foot female with yellow skin with green speckles and dreadlocks all the way down to her waist. She had her bio-mask on, fully armed and was dressed in an exotic manner pertaining to females of the species including armor and mesh, except she only wore a thin strip of leather to support her admittedly large breasts, leaving nothing to the imagination.
And Merl'we liked that, liked the attention he received from almost every male in the clan. Shinji glanced up at the female predator as best he could.
"Eyes up here, pup," Merl'we said teasingly, pointing at her face as he noticed he had to glanced past her assets just to see her face. "Little pervert."
Shinji looked away from her, trying to keep himself from blushing.
"M-Merl'we," he stuttered embarrassingly as he looked over his shoulder. "I thought you were g-gonna stop that."
She chuckled, "Stop what? Making you interested in females? I think not."
Merl'we looked at him, noticing his despondent look and sighed. She enjoyed the attention males, young and old, gave her; and was annoyed that Shinji didn't pay her the same mind, and was embarrassed about doing, and to her that was a cause for concern. She knew ooman males youth went through puberty it at a much longer pace then hunters, where they hunter matured quickly during their perceived adolescent years. She wished he stopped being so embarrassed around her, especially that he was living amongst beings expected to partake in the mating rituals as soon as they become Blooded, and he was no exception.
"You really need to stop acting so…embarrassed when you're around me," Merl'we stated, crossing her arms. "The other males don't."
"Gaun says I-I should only concentrate on being a great warrior," Shinji countered. "And leave females for when after I've claimed my first skull. They're a distraction, she said"
"She said that?" Merl'we sounded outraged.
Shinji turned red and tried to not smile, searching through his memories, "Remember th-that one time you weren't wearing anything over your…you know…while I was training with Gaun and that t-threw me off and I almost sliced through her with the sword?"
The female predator snorted, remembering that quite vividly, "Yes, she told me to start wearing something while I'm around her place. She's such a killjoy."
Shinji adverted his eyes when she adjusted the cloth around her breasts.
"And it's sooo uncomfortable, don't you agree?"
She then noticed Shinji walking at faster pace, as if to avoid her. She rolled her eyes and tried to keep up.
"I saw you fight those three Unbloods," she tried striking up a conversation. "Impressive."
"You saw that?" he faced her looking outraged, no longer embarrassed about being around her. "W-why didn't you help me?"
She smiled inwardly, pleased that he was looking at her with a straight face. "You seemed to be able to handle yourself. The way you dealt with drawing blood from Kur, however…"
She sounded serious.
"You need to grow out of that."
"Out of what?"
"Looking so apologetic when you draw blood. Your prey will not appreciate your tears."
Shinji looked down, "I'm trying. I really am. I-I just don't like hurting anyone here."
"Do you feel bad for Kur now that you have blinded him in one eye?"
Shinji shook his head vehemently and exclaimed, "No! He had it coming for a long time! He should have left me alone!"
He then appeared solemn and lowered his voice.
"Just when I hurt you, Nam and Gaun during training I feel bad afterwards. You tell me I shouldn't, but I just do."
"I know that," Merl'we replied sincerely. "And so does Gaun…whom I going to see right now."
"Y-you are?"
Shinji was surprised that someone was actually travelling to Gaun and Shinji's place in order to converse with the warrior in person. Merl'we noticed this and went right back to teasing mode.
"What's wrong, Curved Blade? I thought pups your age would be thrilled to have three beautiful females within their home."
She chuckled when Shinji's face turned red and thought he was going to pass out from blood pooling in his head.
(SSJNYH)
For a young human girl of twelve years she was considered gorgeous. She had long reddish-brown hair all the way down to her waist where some strands were tied together with rings, giving her an almost Amazonian appearance. Complimenting her were her grey-coloured eyes and her manner of dress consisted of brown material that covered her torso just above her navel and a bikini hidden by a loincloth.
She was smiling lightly and humming to herself as she cleaned the nodachi sword with a moist cloth by the river's edge, just outside the cave where she, her lord and his guardian inhabited.
Out the corner of her eyes she saw Shinji and Merl'we approaching, the boy holding a steel cage full of fish over his shoulder, but he was without his fishing rod. Regardless, Mana smiled widely and sheathed the nodachi in it's sheath.
"Blade-dono! Merl'we-san."
Placing the sheathed sword against a nearby rock, she ran towards him with a smile still etched on her face. It slowly faded when she got closer to him and saw he was covered in cuts and bruises.
"BLADE-DONO!" she cried, alarmed to see the extent of his injuries. She immediately gripped Shinji by his shoulder, before immediately inspecting his wounds. She then pleaded, "What happened to you? Please tell me, Blade-dono."
Shinji sighed and gently pushed her off him, "Just a small skirmish with the terrible three, Mana."
"Kur, Ty'rae and S'yvar?" Mana said. "But the Elder told them to stay away from you."
"But they didn't, and now they've paid for it," Merl'we stated gleefully and patted Shinji's shoulder, making him wince slightly with pain. "Kur will be seeing out of one eye, Ty'rae's officially a little loin-cloth wetting kwei and breeding for S'yvar is going to be little difficult for him when the time comes."
As Shinji let his basket drop onto the rocky ground, Mana queried, "What about Ty'rae?"
"Ran away like the little coward his sire was," Merl'we said, bitterly remembering Merl'we's father and the act of cowardice that got him killed by his own prey.
Shinji gripped his teeth as his wound begun to flare up and he begun limping towards the cave, Mana quick to help him walk.
"Gaun-sama's not going to be happy, Blade-dono," Mana reminded him as her wrapped her arm around his back to keep him level. "She said to just turn the other way when those three try to harass you."
"I did."
Shinji and Mana's head shot up to see the dark-skinned Gaun in casual wear (large triangular piece of cloth around chest and what appeared to be a small skirt) leaning against the entrance of the cave with her arms crossed and frowning at Shinji.
Merl'we smirked behind her mask when she saw her oldest friend. "Warrior Gaun."
(SSJNYH)
"…you did fight them off, and that is what counts."
Within the cave in the main room the small fire illuminated the dark cave as the hunters sat around it, the fish cooking on a grill propped above it. Bandages around his head and chest Shinji was quietly eating his share, biting the fish off a small stick shoved through the cooked meat as Mana still tended to his wounds, dabbing ointment on his small wounds.
Shinji winced, hissing, "That hurts."
"Don't fidget then, Blade-dono," Mana sounded stern.
Merl'we enjoyed how Shinji's servant was acting like his mate, "Yes, Blade-dono. Don't fidget."
Shinji glared over at Merl'we, before looking at his guardian.
"It should, yau-th," Shinji bit off the last of the fish on his stick before he threw it onto the fire and letting it burn. "They should leave me alone, otherwise I wouldn't have…you know…hurt them so badly."
"Badly is an understatement," Merl'we's now unmasked mandibles folded into a smirk. "One of them is probably not going to be breed or even walk straight…ever again. As far as I'm concerned, his line has ended."
"And what's the big deal about that, anyway?" Shinji questioned loudly, curious as the child he is. "They always kept talking about siring young once they're Blooded and today they wanted to stop me siring pups, oomans, half-breeds, whatever they keep saying and threatened to cut my…"
He stopped himself talking and winced slightly, not from the pain as Mana treated the last of his cuts, but from remembering those threats of castration he kept receiving in the past.
"It is a big deal, Curved Blade," Gaun said, holding a cup of cn'tlip in her left hand and extending with her right hand another cup to Shinji, who accepted it and immediately took a sip. "Once you are Blooded, not to mention much older, you will be expected to start siring children with as many females as possible."
Merl'we added, "So it's best if you kept your balls."
Shinji blushed, about the prospect of his future duties once he was Blooded, not to mention older, "I-I really have to do that, yau-th?"
"It is expected of every male hunter of the clan," Gaun stated matter-of-factly as she drank from her cup, eyes closed. "You are no different."
"W-who would I have to do that with?"
Mana's face lit up and stared hopefully at her lord Shinji. Merl'we noticed this and hoped Shinji did as well. However Shinji still looked ahead towards Gaun and the human girl's smile faded and sadness itched across her face. She then stood up and bowed at Shinji.
"Your wounds should heal now, Blade-dono," Mana stated plainly. "I'll be outside completing my chores if you need me."
Shinji looked up at her and nodded, smiling at her. She turned towards the entrance of the cave and stepped out, eyes narrowed in sadness and discontent. Merl'we growled lightly and shook her head, which was noticed by Gaun.
"There's nobody I would want to…do that with anyway," Shinji said, once again emphasizing that, "Even if I wanted to."
Merl'we was about to suggest Mana when she received a stern look from Gaun. The younger female hunter shivered a bit as she was on the receiving end of one of Gaun's infamous death glares.
"We could always take you back to Earth," Merl'we instead said with a playful indication of her mandibles. "Give you a week to find yourself some females of your species and sow your seed…"
"No."
Shinji shook his head before drinking his cn'tlip, gasping a bit from the bitter aftertaste as he lowered his cup and glared at it.
"I'm never going back there."
"Eh?" Merl'we was surprised.
Still frowning, Shinji said, "I don't want anything else to do with…that planet. I've lived here longer and that makes it…"
He sniffed.
"…my home."
Gaun and Merl'we looked at one another, before the older female spoke, "And if going to Earth would mean your becoming Blooded?"
Shinji looked at Gaun thoughtfully then muttered solemnly, "Maybe, yau-th."
Why I am back on the homeworld? I was fighting the Kainde Amedha a minute ago on…that planet?
Didn't this happen in my life once already?
Unless…yeah, I'm dreaming…
I want to wake up now…
Shinji felt like he was lying on something soft, something that he had laid on for many years: A mattress. He felt his head rest on something equally soft and something cover his body up to his chest, where his arms laid at his sides – a pillow and blanket. All he could hear was the sound of computerised beeping, prompting him to open his eyes and find himself staring up at a unfamiliar, white ceiling.
He groaned slightly as slight pain shot through his body and he saw under the blanket that his whole body was covered in badages. He tried moving his left arm, but found it was immobilised. Still in a haze he saw that it was handcuffed to the bed he was lying on, and attached to him were several medical apparatuses.
"C'jit…" he muttered to himself as he laid his back down, sighing in defeat.
Apart from his wrist devices his technology and clothing had been completely stripped from him, and until he got them back he would be in trouble with the clan, most likely his life would be forfeit and not even Gaun would be able to protect him. As he turned his head to the right he found that he wasn't the only person incapacitated.
His eyes lit up when he saw an albino, blue-haired young girl his own age lying in a bed some feet opposite his own. She was attached to several medical apparatuses as well as her injuries made her look like the victim of a vehicular accident. Despite said injuries she looked peaceful, and Shinji felt touched by the serenity radiating from the sleeping girl.
He then looked at his shackled hand then at the albino, as if longingly.
(SSJNYH)
"Is this everything, Ritsuko?"
"Everything that was confiscated following him being admitted into the Emergency unit at NERV's hospital unit."
Misato was bandaged around her head, neck and left shoulder as stood near the table where the Hunter weapons were laid out within one of NERV's expansive laboratories. She noted the nodachi, frisbee-like circular blade, the exotic-looking knife, the shoulder-mountable cannon and it's supposed battery pack, the speargun, numerous spearheads and shuriken, armour shards including pauldrons and knee-guards, the now torn mesh-ware, scarf...and the bio-mask.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the mask. She reached forward and grasped it, studying it closely. She immediately thought back to a quarter of her life ago…
That…that wasn't a dream.
And she was worried about the owner of those weapons.
Did they take him too? And they decided not to bring him back until today?
Or it one of them we've got lying down in the hospital? And behind those masks they actually look like human beings?
He was a mess when they rushed him to NERV's trauma unit, and had ignored Misato's pleas to get him to the regular hospital on the surface above the GeoFront, which would have been faster. Then she herself had passed out when they gave her the sedative. She woke up two hours later and promptly returned to duty despite pleas from the medical staff.
"See anything you like?" Ritsuko asked bemusedly.
Misato's face fell flat, "Seriously he was carrying all of this on him? Looks like he was trying to start his own war…"
She noticed Ritsuko and her clipboard.
"What are you reading?"
"The surgeon's report on our guest," Ritsuko said. "He came out of the operating theatre two hours ago, and the doctors successfully established that he is definitely human."
Misato snorted, "Huh…that much is obvious."
She then noticed something.
"Where are those wrist devices?" Misato looked over at the scientist. "He had these…mechanical things on his wrists and arms."
Ritsuko stood nearby reading from a clipboard, her head also bandaged but otherwise she had suffered less then Misato and had been released from the hospital an hour earlier then the captain; where she immediately went back to work as if nothing had happened.
"It says here…that upon attempting to remove devices around arms and wrists that subject went into severe cardiac arrest. Amidst his other heinous injuries sustained he almost expired," Ritsuko read with any hints of emotion. "Upon further investigation the devices were discovered to be hard wired into his nervous system."
"Wh-what?" Misato was stunned.
"You heard me, Misato," Ritsuko stated, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Whoever put those things on him wanted to make sure he couldn't take them off."
Misato reached for one of the spearheads and examined it closely, noting the look and type of metal it was. At first glance it looked like stainless steel, but there was something definitely inhuman about it.
"He said his name was Shinji," Misato said. "Any follow ups on that?"
"I've pulled up missing persons records," Ritsuko put the clipboard down and sat down at her computer. "About ten-thousand missing people with first name 'Shinji'…I don't need to tell you how hard it would be to…to…"
She then realised.
"Unless it's Shinji Ikari."
Misato's eyes widened, "Ikari? As in…Commander Ikari?"
She was stunned.
"Commander Ikari has a son?"
She then downcast her eyes and bit her lip.
I'm already feeling sorry for this kid.
Ritsuko inwardly cursed at Misato's outward emotions towards this kid as she stared at the image of a six-year old boy on the monitor. "One and only. He was living with his aunt and uncle outside Tokyo-03 when their home burned down. Sifting through the ashes…"
She saw that the names of the aunt and uncle were 'withheld.'
"…Shinji's aunt and uncle were found and identified, while Shinji just disappeared. Vanished. A full investigation was launched, but was called off after a week."
"A week?" Misato said. "Why?"
"No visible leads. Nothing to go by," Ritsuko said. "It went cold."
That was a lie. Ritsuko decided not to mention that Commander Ikari himself had the investigation shut down. Instead he decided to dedicate resources to finding another suitable subject for Project E, not for someone that quite possibly could be dead or to take years to find, which would have put a dent in Gendo's plans. However interestingly enough that didn't yield any results as no suitable candidate matching Shinji's profile was found.
But with Gendo not bothering to search for Shinji, she thought that was something Misato didn't need to know.
"How's Shinji anyway?" Misato asked. "He just got out of surgery, right?"
"About an hour ago," Ritsuko said.
She then began reading from the clipboard.
"Subject suffered four broken ribs, one collapsed lung, two dislocated fingers on his left hand, several lacerations on his chest, numerous acid burns…"
Misato's eyes widened.
'Oh shit.'
"…and that's the extent of the kid's injuries…before today."
Misato's head shot and her eyes widened, "B-before today, Ritsuko?"
Ritsuko nodded and continued to read, "After surgery it was noted that the subject's bones, namely the arms, legs and ribs, had been either been cracked or broken and healed numerous times before. Also mass scarring was found on the torso, arms, legs and both cheeks, possibly inflicted years before."
"Shit," Misato muttered. "What the hell happened to this kid?"
Ritsuko sighed, "Almost everything."
"Almost?"
Again reading from the clipboard, Ritsuko explained, "Despite the aforementioned pasts cracks and breaks to bones surgeons noted that their strength, durability and density is much stronger than the average adolescent male. If the kind of injuries the subject were suffered were inflicted on anyone else than the result would be immediately fatal."
Misato was speechless, "But…how is that possible?
Ritsuko was thoughtful, "A incredibly rich diet, maybe? It would have to have been monstrous in calcium. Or it could be Wolff's law – repeated use and strain through the years just made him naturally stronger, which leads to the next point."
"What's that?" Misato was now definitely curious about this kid."
"His muscle mass – particularly in his biceps, adomibales and triceps, is abnormal for a teenage male," Ritsuko continued. "Intense physical exercise is agreed to be the cause. I'd guess he's as strong as a full grown man."
"Yeah, I noticed," Misato said.
She smiled, drawing Ritsuko's attention.
"For his age he's pretty ripped."
"You noticed?"
"Wha…what?" Misato shot back, face turning red as she went on the defensive. "I-I did, alright? He was right there in front of me barely wearing anything 'cept a loincloth and those bits of armour…y-you know!"
"Relax, Katsurgai," Ritsuko deadpanned. She then continued, "Overall, Intense martial training is believed to be the reason for subject's abnormal physical state."
"What about the scarring?" Misato asked, frowning. "Any clue about who inflicted those on him?"
"Unknown," Ritsuko explained. "However the size and angle of the wounds would indicate a combination of knifes and other bladed weapons."
Misato rubbed the side of her head as he begun to feel uneasy about the boy.
"Misato, it's obvious what the deal is with this boy," Ritsuko faced her seriously, "Whoever abducted Shinji made sure to cover their tracks by murdering his guardians and destroying his home, just to transform him into a human weapon."
"Super soldier more like. Or damn near close to one," Misato growled, angry at the thought of child being subjected to something so horrific; to have their childhood stripped away, to lose their innocence. "You should have seen him in action. He killed that monster, and it was three times bigger than he was. He just sliced it in half with..."
She indicated the long-bladed nodachi – the notorious sword of Japanese origin.
"…a sword that's basically impractical to fight with in real-life."
Ritsuko nodded, then became bitter, "That's according to my understanding."
"Who'd do this, though?" Misato demanded. "Kidnap a six-year-old child and put him through…all this?"
"Whatever they were, they couldn't have been human," Ritsuko stated, then pointed at the technology. "What's lying on that table is proof enough. And Misato…"
She looked at her seriously.
"…we can't rule out Shinji's mental state."
Misato nodded, recalling how the boy behaved during his bout against the alien. His screaming in a language that sounded like a combination of grunts and clicks; his war cry when he, quite possibly insanely, charged the beast and he kept on fighting despite suffering harrowing wounds. If indeed Shinji had been built up to be a fighter then that leave some definite psychological scarring more damage then the ones he had on his body.
Those creatures that showed up at Second Impact, they did this to him…
….
….
Why?
"Ritsuko?"
"Yes?"
"You said almost everything happened to him. What do you mean?"
Ritsuko stood up as she walked over to the coffee maker, "No physical visible signs of sexual abuse. Everything happened to him except that."
Misato shuddered, "The way you just said it it's not comforting at all."
"No apologies, captain."
Misato sat down and continued staring at the alien arsenal on the table as Ritsuko made coffee for herself, contemplating the exotic weaponry that belonged to the boy identified as Shinji Ikari, disappeared eight years ago amidst flames and ashes. And now he has returned, and now at Gendo Ikari's mercy.
"Has the Commander read the report?"
"Not yet," Ritsuko replid. "I haven't forwarded it yet."
"Do you think he'd be happy his son's back?"
Ritsuko poured her coffee into a cup, "If he still has plans for him."
Misato frowned, "Plans?"
The captain then decided to change the subject, much to the doctor's relief.
"You sure it's safe putting him in the same ward as Rei?"
"Why not?" Ritsuko took a sip of coffee. "It's not like he's going anywhere."
She then thought, 'And if he did, he wouldn't get far either.'
(SSJNYH)
It doesn't hurt.
Whenever I lie here, out of the EVA, it doesn't hurt. Whenever I'm performing my duty, I feel pain. I do not wish to feel pain, yet I must perform my duty. And that pain… that has been with me for almost a week.
A week? Has it been that long? Dr. Akagi told me that it's been a week since EVA-00's startup experiment and the accident. Time seems to slow whenever I lie here in the hospital, healing from my injuries sustained during the accident.
It feels like an eternity, rather then seven days, since then.
I'm not suppose to be thinking, yet I know I'm sleeping. How is that possible?
I want to wake up now.
Rei Ayanami, age fourteen, opened her eyes slowly. She expected to see the white ceiling of the trauma ward. Instead she was greeted by the impassive face of a heavily bandaged, teenage boy with spiky black hair that had some ornaments holding some of the strands together. Upon seeing that she was awake the boy smiled brightly.
Who is this person?
"H-Hel..lo," the boy greeted her, his Japanese broken.
"Wha…?" Rei groaned, noticing that the boy's left thumb appeared dislocated.
Shinji noticed what she was looking at, and suddenly remembered that he had dislocated his own thumb in order to slip off the handcuff that had held him to his bed. He closed his eyes, sighed, and moved his right hand towards his left thumb. One pop of the joints later the thumb went back to normal, Shinji moving it about and showing no evident pain or even discomfort.
Rei was intrigued.
Did he feel pain when he did that? Or did he just not show it?
"Who are…you?" Rei asked him.
Shinji looked back at her, smiling once again. It faded when her question registered in his brain and he appeared to panic slightly.
"C-c-cu…" Shinji struggled to say. "Cur-cur…"
He closed his eyes and sighed with resignation.
"Shin-ji," he said, almost forced.
Could he only pronounce that? What is his real name?
"Name?
Rei looked at him curiously. Shinji smiled at her once again.
"You…" he pointed at her. "Name?"
"A-Ayanami."
"Aya…nami," the boy repeated her name. "Ayanami."
Shinji stood there for some time, just observing Rei quietly as the girl stared back just as silently. He then suddenly keeled over forward, left arms covered his chest while his right hand reached forward and grabbed the rail to Rei's bed. Quietly, she blinked curiously at the kid, noticing the bandages on his chest beginning to bleed as the sutras keeping his wounds closed were reopened. Rei then glimpsed at the security camera on the ceiling near the corner of the room.
How long will it take the medical personnel, or security, to respond to this?
She then turned back to Shinji, who was now on his knees stricken and struggling to breathe, his hand gripping the rail. She continued to stare emotionless at him.
Who are you?
(SSJNYH)
Shinji felt himself becoming delirious as he lost blood, knowing that through his eagerness to see the girl he had reopened his wounds.
And being delirious came with thinking deliriously…
I…have to…get out of here. Find…weapons…reclaim honor…
(SSJNYH)
"Is this report accurate, Dr. Akagi?"
"According to Captain Katsuragi and the doctors who treated him."
Gendo had finished reading through the report, and was once again appearing indifferent.
"His weaponry, armor and equipment have been confiscated?" Gendo inquired as he put the report down on his desk.
"They're all sitting in one of the secure labs, sir," Ritsuko responded. "The subject is currently recuperating following surgery."
"I see," Gendo said, hands folded before his face. "And you can establish that he is completely human?"
"Yes," Ritsuko replied.
"And that he has definitely undergone some form of mental conditioning, evident by his 'feral-like behavior' while fighting the creature?"
"The evidence is there, sir."
Ritsuko paused.
"Is there anything else you like to add?"
"Sir, I must ask you to take part in a paternity test," Ritsuko stated.
"And why is that?" Gendo asked, a hint of intrigue in his tone of voice.
"It could be possible that the subject in question is Shinji Ikari, reported missing eight years ago...your son. We would like to confirm this."
Still indifferent, showing no outward emotion which was not surprising to the faux-blonde, Gendo said, "I see. That will not be necessary, Dr. Akagi."
"Sir, I think…"
"We will discuss what to do with this supposed extraterrestrial at another time, Dr. Akagi. You are dismissed."
Ritsuko turned to leave, stepping out of Gendo's office and immediately deducing what could be going through the Commande's head. Gendo watched her leave, then glanced down at the report a flicker of interest now evident in his eyes.
"It would appear they have decided to give back your child, Ikari," Fuyutsuki said. "And I am concerned about what they have done to him."
"It is of no consequence," Gendo replied. "His resumed presence will complement the Scenario."
"Right away? Don't you think he's being through enough already?"
"It's irrelevant. How he will fit into our grand scheme will be gradual," Gendo said. "I perceive he has no feelings at all for humanity and does not care what will happen to it. We will have to cultivate those such feelings within him."
He then paused.
"Then we will be better able to control him, or at least influence his actions to our benefit."
(A/N: Damn, Gendo's speech and mannerisms are so hard to write...at least for me. Hope I'm doing this right – GJ.)
"How we will go about doing that?"
"Katsuragi, Fuyutsuki."
"Our new captain?" Fuyutsuki asked, intrigued.
"She will have another use besides tactical," Gendo stated. "It will under her direct supervision that we will integrate…the Third Child. Figuratively speaking she will put a leash on him."
Fuyutsuki sighed inwardly. Ikari's son would not be spared his destiny after all. The desk intercom suddenly beeped and Gendo answered it.
"Yes?"
Commander, we have a situation…
(SSJNYH)
The alien's out of bed. He just dislocated his own hand to free himself. He's moving towards the First Child.
He's down. He's on his knees and bleeding bad.
Stand by, security. Section One with captain Katsuragi will deal with it.
Upon hearing that Shinji had awaken and somehow freed himself from his bed and was currently bleeding all over Ayanami Misato found herself rushing through NERV's hospital unit followed by two members of NERV's Security Force and two medics. Bewildered, all the while she was trying to figure out how he had managed to find the strength to make his way across the trauma unit floor towards Ayanami, let alone escape from being cuffed to the bed and to stand on his own two feet so soon after surgery.
'I shouldn't be surprised,' Misato thought embittered, 'He's practically a living, breathing weapon. By rights nothing should keep him down, without it killing him eventually.'
She then wondered.
'But what he does want with Rei, anyway?'
They stopped in front of the ward, with security drawing .50 pistols. Misato turned to them and waved them down.
"I'll handle this," she said. "He knows me."
She then turned to the medics.
"Be ready to dispense immediate treatment."
They nodded, "Yes, captain."
She opened the door, expecting to see Shinji's empty bed at the end of the room, but instead there was Shinji himself covered in bloodsoaked bandages where his reopened wounds were and look on his face that spoke both sadism and delirium, indicated by his weak smile and half-opened smiles. The female medic gasped at the sight while Misato was in disbelief.
"Oh my…"
She saw that the smile was for her, which then faded when he turned towards the guards who each had a pistol in their hands. The men, fazed immensely by his bloody appearance, froze in place as if waiting for Shinji to make the first move. Misato kept still as well, as did the medics.
A full minute passed…
…then the male medic suddenly sneezed.
"RAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
And Shinji hurled his bloody self at the guards, knocking them both down and grabbing them both their left and right hands respectively which held their guns, and two quick wrist movements and snaps of bone later the men were screaming in pain, their pistols cluttering to the floor.
What the hell…what the hell…?
Misato instinctively drew her H&K but froze when blades shot out of the right wrist device and Shinji now turned on her, fury marked on his face and freezing Misato in place with fear, as if staring into the eyes of a wild, feral beast. It suddenly lost intensity when he eyes closed and he passed out on his feet, falling forward towards Misato who caught him in her arms. Panicking, she turned to the medics.
"Don't just sit there! Help him!"
Hesitantly they got up and begun to treat him as Misato laid him carefully on the ground. They tore away by tearing away his bandages to temporary reseal his wounds so that they can bring him back into surgery. With quivering eyes Misato looked at her hands to find them once again covered in the boy's blood.
He looked like he was going to kill me. No…he was going to kill me.
She then looked at the boy sadly.
What did those…things…do to you?
(SSJNYH)
It was three days later when Misato accompanied a doctor into the trauma unit and they stepped up to Shinji's bed. The boy wounds had healed completely, leaving more scars on him. It was interesting to note that his wounds healed at much faster rate than for normal humans. To make sure there wasn't a repeat of what happened earlier he was put under heavy sedation, and it was now they had decided to wake him up.
"Are you sure we don't need security in here?" the doctor asked. "Or at least strap him down first?"
"No…I'm sure if he see me without reaching for my gun, he'll…"
She shook her head and growled in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Misato sighed, "Let's just see what happens."
The doctor nodded and produced a hypodermic needle, injecting it into the boy's drip. A minute later the boy's eyes shot open, pupils wide, and he begun exclaiming in a language composed of throaty clicks and growls as he shot out of bed, startling both Misato and the doctor. Misato immediately grabbed Shinji by the shoulders.
"Calm down!" she cried, hoping he would understand. "No one's going to hurt you! Please…just calm down…"
Sweat rolling down his body and panting from a combination of exhaustion and shock, Shinji sat there for a few moments, looking straight ahead past Misato and the doctor. The captain glanced worriedly at the wrist device, hoping the blades wouldn't jut out and he wouldn't go into the feral state again. He didn't, however, as he looked directly at Misato.
She smiled at him, "Yeah…just…relax, just breathe. You…understand me, right?"
Shinji was still, then nodded hesitantly.
The doctor took a step back and instead decided to just witness the interactions between the feral child and the captain. He begun to write on a clipboard as Misato released Shinji and took a seat next to the bed.
"Do you remember how you got here?"
Shinji shook his head.
Misato cleared her throat, "Well, after you killed that monster…what you called the Kainde Amedha, right?
Shinji nodded, "Kainde Amedha."
"Yeah, you sliced it right in half, and it what left of it dissolved in it's own blood," Misato said. "Left no trace at all. You were hurt badly afterwards, though. So we took you down here and fixed you up. You understand me?"
Shinji nodded again. Then his eyebrows raised themselves in surprise, "Down…here?"
Misato cringed, 'Dammit. Shouldn't have said that. Can't give him any reason to panic.'
The boy looked around, cringing, "Where…?"
Misato sighed and thought about choosing her words carefully, "We're beneath the city, in a safe place."
"S-safe?"
"Yes," Misato said. 'God, this is hard.'
Shinji glanced at his blanketed feet, before turning his head toward Ayanami's bed…to find she wasn't there. His breath caught in his throat and he turned back to Misato, panicking.
"A-A-yanami?"
"What?" Misato said.
"Where…where Ayanami?" Shinji asked, his broken Japanese making him sound pathetic.
Sensing he was about to start up Misato got up from her seat and held his right hand, giving it a firm squeeze. Shinji immediately calmed down and looked at her, or more accurately, into her eyes. Immediately he felt a sense of calm spread over him as he sat there on the bed, and Misato herself found herself relaxing as well.
'Rei's about to undergo the synch test with EVA-01,' Misato thought. 'Should I let him see her? It might relax him.'
She then mentally added.
'Just her, and not 01. Him and the sight of that damn thing…ah, don't wan to think about it.'
"Shinji?"
The boy blinked as Misato let go of his hand and he stared directly at her.
"Do you want to see her?"
Shinji nodded his head almost immediately and without stuttering, "Yes."
Misato smiled, and realized that apart from his bandages he was bare underneath those blankets, "Alright, just let me find you some clothes first, alright?"
Shinji smiled back and felt compelled to lie back down on the bed and relax. Misato turned to the doctor and the both of them left him alone. The boy realized that she was leaving quickly looked up to see Misato go and was immediately downcast as the door closed behind, disappointed with seeing her go.
She's nice…in every way possible way. Katsuragi.
He then thought about that blue-haired girl, Ayanami?
Why do I feel drawn to her? Ayanami?
He then wondered some more, and sighed once again…
You're right, Mother. Females are a distraction after all…
He then smiled again and blushed lightly.
But not after I'm become Blooded. Your exact words…
Japanese suffixes
Dono – Lord
San – Sir/Ma'am
Sama - Highest
Predator
Cn'tlip - Alcoholic drink
Kwei – Coward
Yau-th – Guardian / Family Member
So what you think? I could really use your opinions on this one.