Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. They belong to Anno and his crew at Gainax.


Gendo lay back on the recliner, almost horizontal. He looked straight up at the roof which was a pale shade of grey. The walls of the room were a pallid white and the carpet was a rich royal blue. Gendo's recliner was placed centrally in the room and near him was Dr Ritsuko Akagi, sat in a large armchair. "I think…I am losing it," Gendo said slowly.

"I see," Ritsuko said, jotting some notes down in her notepad, "and what makes you think that?"

"Everything in general, really," Gendo replied with a sigh. "I've been having really bad luck recently and it's driving me crazy. It's like somebody is always playing pranks on me."

"I thought you didn't believe in luck," Ritsuko pointed out.

"I don't," Gendo said. "But I have no better explanation."

"You believe luck has nothing to do with it, yet luck is the only way you can explain it to yourself," Ritsuko mused.

"That is…vaguely it," Gendo said.

"Vaguely?" Ritsuko asked. "Does the word 'vague' come to mind because it best describes your situation?"

"What do you mean? The word vague has nothing to do with it," Gendo answered in an annoyed tone.

"I just have to explore all possibilities," Ritsuko pointed out with a frustrated huff.

Gendo had willingly asked for a psychiatric evaluation from NERV's head scientist who was thrilled at the opportunity to try some of the things she had learned from reading psychiatry and psychology textbooks. It would be interesting for her to break down the layers that formed Gendo Ikari in order to reveal to him what his problem may be, however large or small. It was an exciting prospect for the blonde doctor. So exciting, in fact, that she got the dreaded pictures of blobs in order to perform a Rorschach inkblot test on the commander of NERV.

"What do you see in this picture?" Ritsuko inquired, holding up a white card with black ink splattered over it. Gendo sighed and began to regret ever even thinking about going through this. "Don't give me that, commander," Ritsuko said firmly. "What do you see in this picture?" Gendo shrugged his shoulders in exasperation and scrutinised the picture. He looked at it very hard and suddenly, an image formed in his head. It was such a shocking image that he had to pull away from the picture card, seemingly repulsed by what he had seen in that image. However, he was wondering if what he had seen in the blob was just a one off. However, when he took his tinted glasses off and closed right in on the picture of the blob, he still saw the same image in his mind and was dumbstruck.

"Well, what do you see?" Ritsuko asked.

"I see…" Gendo said before stopping for fear of embarrassing himself.

"What do you see? There is no need in hiding. Everything you say is in the strictest confidence. I won't tell a soul," Ritsuko said.

"Well, what I see is…penguins," Gendo said.


"And then he told me that he saw penguins!" Ritsuko exclaimed with a martini in her left hand.

"Penguins?" Misato asked in surprise, taking sips out of a bottle of beer. The two women were sat inside a massive bar area that overlooked the Geofront. "That's right," Ritsuko said.

"So what did you say to him next?" Misato inquired.


"Penguins?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes, penguins," Gendo replied. "I look into that seemingly meaningless blob of black ink and what I see is penguins."

"Plural?"

"Yes, plural. Many penguins. Standing on ice," Gendo added.

"One ice? Where do you see ice?" Ritsuko asked, wondering how the commander could have construed ice from a blob of ink.

"The white paper," Gendo answered. "The blob on the paper is like lots of penguins on ice."

"I see," Ritsuko said, never having read up on how to deal with a patient who managed to see penguins in a Rorschach inkblot test. She grabbed a psychology book from the table next to her and flipped it open before scanning through the desired page. However, she could not find anything about penguins. She also found that she was doing the Rorschach test totally wrong. However, she could not let the commander know that she was doing the test wrong. That would be detrimental to Ritsuko's position at NERV. "What should I do then, doctor?" Gendo asked.

"Uh, well…" Ritsuko murmured uneasily.


"What did you say to him?" Misato asked.

"I was getting to that," Ritsuko said. "At first, I wasn't sure what to say at all. Then, an idea struck me that would make the commander feel better and get me off the hook at the same time."

"So what was your bright idea then?"


"Well…I recommend you take a holiday," Ritsuko managed to say.

"A holiday?" Gendo said in surprise. "Doctor, I am the commander of NERV. There is no way I could take a holiday."

"Well, that's my recommendation, Commander, and I heartedly suggest you follow it," Ritsuko said in her most firm and authoritative voice.

"I…well…uh…I guess I should just follow the doctor's orders," Gendo said weakly.

"It's for your own good. Two weeks holiday, starting from now," Ritsuko said, relieved that she managed to stop Gendo finding out that she had no clue about both psychiatry and psychology. The commander stood up and left without any words of thanks and left the doctor on her own in the room. "I need a cigarette," she muttered.


Shinji and Toji both sat up on the roof of the school at lunchtime, trying to avoid a certain individual who was overly infatuated with all things Evangelion-related. "Do you think he'll find us here?" Toji asked.

"I hope not," Shinji replied with a tired sigh. "There is just no way of getting Kensuke to shut up so running away seems the best option."

"I just hope you're right," Toji said. "Also, you won't guess what happened."

"What?" Shinji asked.

"I found out that Hikari likes me, so I ended up asking her out," Toji answered with a coy grin.

"You're going out with Hikari? When did this happen?" Shinji inquired.

"Just this morning. Also, you won't believe who told me that Hikari liked me," Toji added.

"Who?"

"None other than Mrs Asuka Ikari," Toji replied with a chuckle.

"Asuka Ikari? Is that supposed to be some lame joke?" Shinji asked with an unimpressed face on.

"Well, you two are barely ever apart and when you are together, you're all over each other," Toji pointed out. "Some even say, although I'm not mentioning names, that you two are made for each other."

"That was Hikari who said we were made for each other, right?" Shinji said.

"Yeah, it was," Toji confirmed, knowing that it was obvious from the start.

"Oh well. It's a compliment," Shinji said with a slight smile. "I didn't think Asuka would tell you about Hikari liking you."

"What? You knew?!" Toji exclaimed

"Of course I knew. Everybody knew. I think you were the only person that didn't know!" Shinji pointed out as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Jeez, that sucks a bit," Toji muttered.

"It's okay though, because you're going out with Hikari so the end result works out for you," Shinji added.

"That is true," Toji said.

Then, when the two were just getting into conversation, Kensuke appeared up on the roof. "Oh shi-" Toji began to say before being cut off.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO GUYS ARE EVA PILOTS AND I'M NOT! WHERE'S THE FAIRNESS IN THAT??!" Kensuke screamed, running after the two pilots.

"Go! Run!" Shinji cried. The two then bolted and spent another fifteen minutes trying to get the crazed and psychopathic Kensuke away from them. It wasn't easy either. Kensuke didn't really know what he would achieve from chasing Shinji and Toji but chased them anyway because they both were Eva pilots, leaving him with nothing.

As Shinji ran, he considered using his powers to stop Kensuke but that seemed a rather drastic course of action so he decided to keep on running away along with Toji. However, they were suddenly met with a dead end and the two turned around to see Kensuke, seemingly ready to explode. "PLEASE!" he cried. "TAKE ME TO NERV! TELL THEM TO MAKE ME A PILOT!"

"Uh, I'm sorry buddy, we just can't do that," Shinji pointed out with a sweat drop appearing over his forehead.

"BUT YOU GOTTA! PLEASE!" he grovelled.

At that point, it was far too much for Shinji. He used his powers to turn Kensuke's opinions on war on its head. At first, it seemed as if nothing had happened and Kensuke was about to open his mouth to continue yelling and babbling but stopped. Instead, a lethargic smile appeared on his face and he said, "Dude, war sucks. Screw piloting Eva." And with that, Kensuke turned around, put his hands in his pockets and sauntered off away from the two Eva pilots. Toji was dumbstruck, "What was…what was that all about?!"

"I don't know," Shinji lied, shrugging his shoulders for effect. "Maybe he had a change of heart."

"Maybe he's lost his mind," Toji added, still utterly bemused by his bespectacled friend.

The two headed back to class as the bell for the end of lunch rang. When they entered, they were shocked to see that Kensuke had attracted a crowd. "…so in 1975, the American army got their asses handed to them by the Vietcong. And you know what sucks more? People died. I mean, totally, people died. War sucks. The Gulf War. It sucks. The Second Impact wars. They all sucked. This Eva fighting. It sucks," Kensuke said.

"Oh my god," Toji muttered to Shinji. "Kensuke's a frickin' hippie!"

"Kensuke, aren't the Evas fighting to save the world and stuff?" asked a boy in the class.

"That's what they're telling you! That's what The Man is telling you! It's those big corporations, I'm telling you. Sure, it looks like we're fighting for the survival of mankind and everything, but look at those angels. They mean no harm. We could easily get along with them. It's the government that fights them, man. And because they are, the corporations are lining their pockets. It's all a big conspiracy, I'm telling you," Kensuke ranted.

"That makes you, what, a moron? You have it all wrong!" Asuka cried.

"Well, for your information, you're on the inside. The Man has you under his thumb, girl! You don't know it, but they're using you," Kensuke pointed out.

"Who exactly is using me?" Asuka inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"The corporations! You're just a tool for them to spread their lies. And when this war with the angels is all over, the corporations will be richer and everyone else will be poorer!" Kensuke said.

"How exactly are they making money from this?" Asuka asked, getting slightly annoyed.

"You're in more of a position to know than me. All I know is that it is a big conspiracy. It was like JFK. Lee Harvey Ostwald didn't kill Kennedy, it was totally the CIA. And they blamed it on the Russians who blamed it on Oswald who got shot by Jack Ruby who was employed by the CIA to silence their scapegoat and who wasn't really in the Mafia. And Second Impact, that was a big conspiracy as well. They tell us a big meteorite hit Antarctica and stuff but if you look Antarctica is still actually there! This was an excuse for the corporations to start lots of wars and makes tonnes of money! The corporations are out to kill you and take your money. They have no morals. They just have fat wallets they want to make even fatter! And that's the truth I tell you, the truth!"

By that point, Shinji had enough of Kensuke's hippie ramblings and decided he was better the way he was. With a nod of Shinji's head, Kensuke returned to normal. At first, he was confused as to why there was a crowd surrounding him. However, he noticed Shinji and Toji standing at the doorway and got up. "Hey you two! Let me be an Eva pilot! Please! Shinji, ask Misato for me!" Kensuke said, waving his arms. The crowd that was listening to Kensuke was displeased by his sudden changed of tone.

"I thought he was anti-war."

"He had a few good ideas but went back on them."

"He ranted for ages and changed his mind so quickly."

"What a hypocrite."

"What a nerd."

"Nut-job."

"I guess these corporations are figments of his loony imagination."

"What a loser."

Shinji blew a sigh of relief, knowing that Kensuke was back to the normal military-obsessed nerd he had always been. A Hippie Kensuke was slightly too much to deal with. Shinji wasn't exactly one to say that he preferred things to be normal but some things were like they were for a reason and having them any other way would just be plain weird.


The phone rang in Gendo Ikari's office. It was a lone telephone on his desk, connected to one direct line only. It rang loudly, alerting the deputy commadner of NERV. Fuyutsuki went to answer it, annoyed that he was taken away from his newspaper. He picked up the handset and said, "Hello."

"This is SEELE," said the deep, dark voice over the other side of the line. "Put Gendo Ikari on the line. We need to speak to him."

"Gendo Ikari is on holiday," Fuyutsuki pointed out with a tired sigh.

"Oh," said the member of SEELE who was roped into calling NERV. "We'll, uh, call back later."

"Yeah, you do that," said a miffed Fuyutsuki. The deputy commander then proceeded to slamming the phone down before continuing to read his newspaper.


Gendo Ikari turned on his TV and checked what movies were being shown. The first of the movies was 'March of the Penguins'. For his sanity's sake, he switched the channel, only to find that the movie on that channel was 'Happy Feet'. He hastily changed channels to find that the movie on this one was 'Surf's Up'. Gendo then threw his remote straight through his TV and began to scream and writhe in mental agony. It was all too much for him. He began to feel that the penguins were out to get him.


Kaji was stood with his left hand is his pocket and his right hand clutching a watering can. At his feet was a quaint garden where he was growing melons. He quietly hummed a tune as the water gently sprinkled out onto his small harvest. It was satisfying for the man to have grown something and looked after it from when it was simply some seeds into something worthwhile. Nobody else except Kaji knew about this little spot in the Geofront. When Kaji wasn't double-crossing the people he was double-crossing, he would come out to his melon garden to continue to water and nurture it. "Melons are nice," Kaji noted to himself. "Although these aren't as fun as Misato's melons," he added with a chuckle.

As he continued to water, he heard an explosion way over in the centre of the Geofront, where NERV headquarters was located. It was in the roof of the Geofront, and Kaji knew immediately that they were under attack. However, this angel seemed to have moved much quicker and was more audacious that any other angel he had seen and it was the first angel to actually physically break into the Geofront. As his eyes locked on the angel, the water in his can ran out and only drips came out. Kaji looked down at the watering can, wondering if his water running out like it did was an omen of bad fortune to come.


"Angel! And it's in the Geofront!" cried Makoto Hyuga.

"Fire all rockets and guns! Buy the pilots some time to get out there!" Misato ordered. "Where are the pilots?!"

"Dr Akagi abandoned the synch test as soon as the angel appeared and the pilots are currently getting into their Evas," Shigeru Aoba reported.

"What's the status on our countermeasures?!" Misato asked.

"Firing, now!" Makoto exclaimed.

Kaji watched the rockets fly from launchers surrounding NERV headquarters and the 30mm cannon emplacements fire at the angel. He knew that it would be useless against the angel as it possessed an AT-Field and this angel appeared to have a very strong one. After twenty seconds of incessant rocket and 30mm cannon fire, smoke surrounded the angel. When it cleared, the angel was still unsurprisingly exactly where it stood previously, completely unfazed by what could only be deemed small arms fire.

Then, the angel seemed to prepare some sort of energy beam attack as there was a visible build-up of energy in front of it. Just before the angel could fire, Eva Unit 02 exploded out of one of the Geofront Eva launch sites and propelled itself towards the angel at high velocity. It knocked the angel back just in time and its energy beam was sent towards the roof of the Geofront.

"That energy beam just escaped out of the Geofront and destroyed a building up in Tokyo-3!" Makoto cried. "It's incredibly powerful!"

"Come on guys," Misato said quietly to herself. "I know you four can win. You can do it."

Unit 02 was soon joined by the three other Evangelion units, all posed to make an attack on the angel. "This is unfair," Asuka noted. "Four against one."

"It's just SOP," Shinji pointed out.

"I know it's SOP, but that doesn't make it any less unfair," Asuka said.

"Approach this one with caution," Misato said from HQ. "You just saw what it was capable of with its energy attack."

"Yes ma'am," Shinji said.

The teenaged God was sitting, trying to use his powers against the angels but nothing was happening. Divine intervention would have no place during this battle. Shinji gritted his teeth and prepared for the worst.

It was incredibly tense with the four Evas standing around the angel, neither seemingly wanting to make the first move. Inside HQ, Misato could barely summon the courage to breathe as the Evas shifted about slowly and tentatively, whilst the angel stood as still as a rock. Central Dogma was as quiet as a tomb.

Then, before any of the pilots could react, the angel shot its foil-like limbs out, straight towards Unit 02. Asuka could not have possibly and humanly reacted in time. The angel sliced through the red Evangelion's arms and was about to go for its head until Unit 01 stood in its path and caught the angel's appendages in its arms. As Unit 01 increased its grip on the angel's arms, the Evangelion drew blood from the palms of its hands.

Then, Shinji realised he was in for it. "Huge energy readings coming from the angel!" Makoto cried.

"SHINJI! WATCH OUT!" Misato cried.

The designated pilot of Unit 01 watched in horror as the angel began to charge up its energy beam before firing it straight at him. Shinji summoned all the strength he could and using his Godly powers to assist him, he forced out an AT-Field as a last ditch effort to protect himself. The energy beam didn't travel far to reach Unit 01, but when it did, the beam was deflected in several directions, leaving Shinji unharmed.

"I've never seen an AT-Field that strong, even from the angels!" Maya exclaimed.

"What?! How did he do that?" Ritsuko asked.

"I don't know! That AT-Field just appeared out of nowhere!" Maya replied, stunned at what Shinji just did.

Units 00 and 03 lunged for the angel with their prog knives drawn and poised to strike. However, in the space of less than a second, the angel pulled its arms free of Shinji's grasp, taking a few of Unit 01's fingers with them before sending its arms straight through both Unit 00 and Unit 03. The two Evas were sent flying back whilst the angel used its arms to eviscerate the Eva's insides. "Pilots Ayanami and Suzuhara have both ejected!" Shigeru reported.

"What about Asuka?" Misato asked.

"She's still inside Unit 02, but its gone silent," Shigeru replied.

"Force the ejection of her entry plug. She might be unconscious," Misato ordered.

"Yes ma'am."

However, Asuka was not unconscious. She was in her entry plug with her head down and her arms clutching the handles inside of the plug. She felt like she had lost everything with the arms of Unit 02. "I can't believe it…I lost…so easily," she muttered. She tightened her grip on the handles, wanting her unresponsive Eva to move. She wanted to continue fighting. She wanted to win. She wanted to validate herself. However, there was no chance of that. As the tears began to flow from her eyes, her entry plug flew free of Evangelion Unit 02.

Shinji had felt a sharp pain in his hands when the angel broke free of his hold and now, he felt a strange numbness in several of his fingers. He watched in horror as the angel took out both Eva Units 00 and 03 brutally and efficiently. It was now just him and the angel and having just seen what the angel was capable of, it was not looking good. "Mother," Shinji whispered. "Please help me."

And at that moment, Shinji felt a surge of energy rush through his body. He felt newfound determination and set his Eva off towards the angel. It responded by shooting its arms out at him and Shinji managed to move out of the way. However, the angel struck again, and this time, it sliced Unit 01's left arm off cleanly. "ARRRGGHH!" Shinji screamed through a mix of adrenaline and pain as he smashed the angel hard with Unit 01's right fist. The angel couldn't summon an AT-Field in time and felt the full force of the blow, sending it flying backwards, away from NERV HQ.

Shinji then pulled out his prog knife and leapt up into the air towards the angel, ready to plunge his knife right into its core. The angel managed to quickly fire its energy beam at the fast approaching Unit 01 but missed, allowing Shinji to land right in of the angel. "TAKE THIS!!!" Shinji roared, sending the Prog Knife right into the angel's core. Shinji felt the angel go limp on the other side of his knife and as suddenly as the angel appeared, it was dead.

"Thank god," Misato managed to say. Everybody in Central Dogma blew a sigh of relief. Shinji had managed to pull through for them once more and despite the carnage the angel had caused, it was nothing they couldn't repair. "Send out the recovery teams. Get the pilots back into HQ ASAP," Misato ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Makoto acknowledged. He was about to enter the orders into his computer terminal until he saw that something wasn't right. "Major!" he yelled. "The angel…it's still alive!"

"What?!" Misato cried in horror.

The angel's arms shot out and sliced off Unit 01's right leg off from the knee down before decapitating the purple Evangelion. "SHINJI!!!" Misato screamed. Everybody in Central Dogma watched in absolute horror as Unit 01 collapsed backward, its red blood spraying out of its neck and right leg. Then, its head slammed into the ground next to the annihilated body of Unit 01. "The pilot is showing no life signs," Makoto said in forlorn dismay.

"I guess…this is it," Ritsuko noted. "We've lost."


Shinji opened his eyes and found himself lying on a beach in the blistering sun. The waves were softly brushing against his feet. Shinji got himself up to a standing position and looked around, finding that nobody was there. It seemed that he was marooned on a tropical island where there was only a small cluster of palm trees making up the middle of the island. It wasn't much bigger than Misato's flat and Shinji couldn't see anything for miles around him except ocean.

"Hello Shinji," greeted God. Shinji snapped his head around to his right to see God just appear out of nowhere. It was then that a certain thought dawned on Shinji. "Am I dead?" Shinji asked.

God chuckled and said, "No, not quite."

"Then why am I here?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, I just wanted a chat, that's all Shinji," God answered.

Shinji looked out at the azure waters and wondered why he was saved from certain death just to have a chat with God. He looked back at the battle and wondered how he was so incapable of helping Asuka, Rei or Toji, despite having Godly powers. He couldn't even help himself. He had allowed the angel to slaughter his Eva.

"I know what you're thinking," God said, "and there is nothing you could have done about it."

"It doesn't feel that way," Shinji said. "I just feel like I've failed."

"You've done well to get where you are so far," God pointed out.

Shinji's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember when I told you about the other forces that I created to go along with mankind?" God asked.

"Yeah, I think I do," Shinji said.

"Sometimes, these forces, fate, if you will, will try to make something happen because of the result of something else. You see when Asuka was trapped inside that angel? She was supposed to die, yet you still managed to save her. You beat fate," God explained. "And nobody has ever done that before."

"I…beat fate?" Shinji asked.

"Yes Shinji, that's right. And now, fate wants you and the rest of humanity to die," God said.

Shinji stood there, pondering God's words. And the more he thought about it, the tighter he clenched his fist. Why would these forces, or fate, want something like that to happen? "When you first saw me, all the angels were defeated, yet now, in this alternate timeline where I have all of God's powers; fate wants to kill me and humanity. Why? Why does that need to happen?" Shinji asked.

"This fate was sealed as soon as I gave you my powers, Shinji," God answered. "Things were going to be very different from how they would have turned out had you not recieved my powers, so these forces are trying to intervene."

"I thought you allowed humans to choose their own destiny," Shinji said.

"Humans can and do choose their own destiny. Fate only plays a small part in the lives of human beings." God pointed out. "However, this is slightly different. These forces are dealing with a God on earth. Your presence on Earth has made fate take action and by doing so, fate will destroy the human race."

"Is there anything I can do?" Shinji asked.

"Well, there is something I can do for you," God replied. "I can do one of two things. I can either send you back to where I had found you, on that beach just after you killed Kaworu with no memory of anything that happened here or I can send you back inside the brutalised body of Evangelion Unit 01 where you will battle against fate itself to try and once again defy those forces that are conspiring out to kill you."

Shinji was left with an incredibly difficult choice. He looked up and God and asked, "Why did you create these forces?"

"Why? Because it stops me from interfering with mankind's course. It allows mankind to go where it wants to go," God answered.

"Even it's a path to certain doom?" Shinji inquired.

"Yes, even if it is a path to certain doom," God said. "I intentionally limited my powers over mankind. It is because mankind is special."

God knelt down and picked up some of the white sand before letting it run through his fingers. However, it turned into water before returning back to the ground. "Shinji, are you familiar with some of the miracles depicted in the bible?" He asked.

"I guess," Shinji said.

"Moses parting the Red Sea. Jesus turning water in wine and emerging from the dead. Would you consider these miracles?" God inquired.

"Well…yeah, I guess so," Shinji answered.

"To be honest with you, Shinji, these miracales are simply words on a page. Stories from a fable. The real miracles happen all the time right here on earth," God explained.

"Real miracles?" Shinji asked.

"Like when a single mother works extra hours so she can afford to give her child an education. A man giving up one of his organs so that someone else, a complete stranger, can live. A couple of troubled fourteen year olds asked to perform one of the most difficult tasks in mankind's history and performing that task and defying the odds in order to survive and learn more about themselves to become better people. These, Shinji, are the real miracles. This is the reason mankind is special. This is the reason I do not and can not interfere."

Shinji was greatly moved by God's speech on mankind. Yet, one thing still got him. "There is still so much evil in the world, though," Shinji said. "Can't you do anything about that evil?"

"Another of mankind's miracles is its ability to triumph over evil," God said. "Despite all the evils in the world, I am confident that mankind will eventually triumph over evil."

"But what about the people who die because of evil?" Shinji asked.

"They all have a place in heaven, Shinji," God replied. "The people who are evil do not."

God looked out to the ocean and motioned to Shinji to look in that direction. "Over there is Tokyo-3, thousands of miles away. Over these is where either of your choices will take you. The question is, what is your choice?" God asked.

"I can't go back to before you gave me powers," Shinji said. "That would just be like…that would just be like running away. I mustn't run away. I have to go back to Eva Unit 01 and defeat the angel."

"You know if you're doing that, you're trying to do battle with fate itself," God pointed out.

"I know," Shinji said. "But I've done it before. Who's to say that I can't do it again?"

"You're taking a big risk," God said.

"Well, if I mess up," Shinji said, "then you'll have a lot of new people needing a place in heaven."

"That's one way of looking at it," God said with a chuckle. "But if you succeed, not only will you have defied fate, you will have saved mankind itself. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be," Shinji said.

"Good luck to you, Shinji. I hope it goes well for you."

"So do I," Shinji said with a smile.


"I guess…this is it," Ritsuko noted. "We've lost."

Everybody in Central Dogma watched the angel move over the decapitated and dismembered Unit 01 and approached NERV HQ itself. The feeling of bleak loss of hope ran through all of the staff inside Central Dogma. Misato couldn't help but feel that time seemed to go slow as the angel approached them. She knew that they had lost, despite giving it their all.

Then, Makoto cried, "Eva Unit 01 is moving!"

"What?!" Misato cried. "What about the pilot?!"

"No signs of life from the plug," Makoto said.

"Unit 01 is still incredibly damaged. It doesn't even have a head. It doesn't stand a chance, even if it is going berserker," Ritsuko said.

"Shinji, please don't do this to yourself," Misato pleaded quietly.

The angel stopped and turned around to face the body of Unit 01 shuddering on the ground. It deduced that the Eva was not completely dead and shot its arms out to try and finish the job. It was then, to the surprise to both the angel and everybody in Central Dogma, Unit 01 stuck its right arm out and caught the angel's arms and ripped them right off of the angel with ease. It then used the angel's limbs to regenerate its lost appendages and to grow and new head out of its body. The NERV staff watched in both amazement and horror and what Unit 01 was doing. And it was the second time that they had seen Unit 01 without its distinctive helmet.

The Eva stood up and roared up towards the roof of the Geofront, showing off its might to everyone around it. "Oh my god!" Maya cried. "Shinji…his life signs…he's alive!"

"He's definitely alive?" Misato asked.

"Yes, he is," Maya answered. "And he has a synch ratio of over 1000 percent."

"What the…" Misato said in stunned disbelief. Ritsuko was similarly shocked. That synch ratio was ten times more than what they though had been previously possible.

Unit 01 charged at the angel and its motion was very similar to that of an ape's, or a gorilla's. There was something so primal about the Evangelion that was beginning to scare the NERV staff. The angel fired its energy beam at the charging Eva. Unit 01 simply created and AT field which deflected the beam straight back at the angel. As the angel was struck by the sheer power of its own attack, Unit 01 leapt on top of the angel and began to pummel it with its fists, sending the angel's blood flying all over the ground of the Geofront. It was a horrific sight which was made much worse by what Unit 01 began to do next; it began to eat the angel.

"Dear god…" was all Misato could manage to say. Never before had she thought the Evas were capable of anything so brutal, so animal-like. She looked over to Ritsuko who looked just as horrified as she was. They both watched Unit 01 continue to ingest the angel and begin to break through its own armour. "No! It's breaking through the bindings!" Ritsuko cried.

"Bindings?" Misato asked.

"That isn't just armour around that Eva. It also constricts it and allows us to control it. Without the armour, the Eva is completely out of our control," Ritsuko explained.

Unit 01 then looked up from the decimated body of the angel before roaring and growling. Unit 01 had saved them all once again, yet they were now all terrified of it. It had become something out of a nightmare. It was a creature, not a weapon. And it was fast becoming a creature out of their control. "Unit 01 has finally awoken," Kaji noted from his little patch of garden. "The committee won't be very happy," he added with a chuckle.

Unit 01 roared and bellowed before suddenly going silent as it stood. There was a full ten seconds of silence in Central Dogma where they just stared at the still Evangelion. "Send out the recovery teams. The pilots have priority," Misato ordered. The technicians nodded while Misato looked at the motionless form of Unit 01. What the hell are you? Misato thought before looking over at Ritsuko. And Dr Akagi, what aren't you telling me?


Shinji opened his eyes and this time, found himself inside NERV's hospital. He sat up and looked around and after feeling that nothing was wrong with him, he got up out of his bed and wondered out of his room. He didn't remember anything of the fight. The last thing he remembered were God's last words to him before he was sent back into this reality. That fact that he was still alive was proof that he had won his battle with the angel but how, he did not know.

Shinji went out and saw both Toji and Rei sitting in the waiting area. They both looked towards him and Toji smiled. "Looks like you did it, man," he said.

"Yeah," Shinji said. "I just don't know how." Toji didn't have anything to say to Shinji after he said that. Toji had witnessed the brutality of Unit 01 firsthand and so did Rei. Toji was somewhat relieved to know that it had not been Shinji at the controls when that was happening but what Unit 01 had done was hard to ignore.

"Are you two okay?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, we're both fine," Toji replied. "We got our asses kicked by that angel, but we're fine."

"That's good to hear," Shinji said. "Where's Asuka?"

"She's in the ward next to yours," Toji said. "She's not in a good way."

"Is she hurt?" Shinji asked worriedly.

"No, she's not hurt, but she's not like she usually is," Toji pointed out. "You should go and see her."

"I will do," Shinji said. "Thanks man."

"We should be saying thanks. We all owe you one for beating the angel," Toji said.

Shinji headed off to Asuka's ward and found that she was sitting up, staring out of her window. She then turned to face him and said nothing, only looking at Shinji. He approached her and stood by her bed. No words were exchanged; they simply looked at each other. Shinji didn't know what to say. He wanted to speak but the words just weren't there. All of a sudden, Asuka wrapped her arms around Shinji and for the first time in many years, Asuka began to cry. As she did, she began to feel relief. Instead of hating herself for crying, she felt that any past inhibitions she had about herself were going with her tears. She was glad that Shinji was there. He really meant it when he said that he would always be with her and Asuka felt that her tears would pave the way for more happiness with Shinji by her side.


Gendo Ikari cut his two week holiday down to one day having spent the day off of work being mentally tormented by penguins. He gave every penguin he walked past through NERV and evil glare to which the penguins responded with indifference. Gendo just wished that the penguins would be moved to their new habitat that they were constructing within NERV. The sooner, the better.

He arrived at his office and found Fuyutsuki sitting behind his desk, reading 'New Scientist'. "You're back early," Fuyutsuki noted.

"I decided that I did not need a holiday nor had any reasons to justify it," Gendo said. "What has happened while I was away?"

"Quite a lot actually," Fuyutsuki said. "Another angel attacked and Unit 01 defeated it before proceeding to eating the S2 organ and becoming like a living God."

"WHAT?!" Gendo cried. "I STAYED AT HOME TO MISS THAT??!!"

"It's okay. We have video highlights," Fuyutsuki pointed out.

"ARGH!!!" Gendo yelled regardless. "I STAY AT HOME, FIND THAT EVERYTHING ON TV IS ABOUT DAMN PENGUINS, ONLY TO DISCOVER I HAVE MISSED ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN OUR PLAN!!!"

"Is that all?" Fuyutsuki asked with a hint of wryness.

"I'm going to kill some penguins, and then I'm going to get very drunk," Gendo muttered.

"Can't kill the penguins," Fuyutsuki said. "UN Animal Protection laws."

Gendo felt ready to explode. "I…I…ARGH! Screw it! I'll just get drunk then!" he screamed before storming out of the room.

"Fine, whatever," Fuyutsuki said before returning to his 'New Scientist', reading an interesting article about anti-matter manipulation. At that moment, a penguin entered the office and squawked at the deputy commander. Fuyutsuki looked up at the penguin and said, "Yes, I know. Gendo is crazy."