Well, hey everyone. It's been awhile hasn't it? I've been busy, so I must apologize. Acting time consuming. But nonetheless I have a somewhat short chapter for you. Hopefully you'll like it, the pacing is slowing down for now so I can really develop some key things for this story to perpetuate, or else if I kept at the pace I had set (though I think I still do maintain it) I would lose you at the end with a "WTF" possible wondering. So to make sure that this story gives it's all, I present to you yet another contrasting chapter!

Lastly, you have to read the doujinshi RE-TAKE for EVA, it's brilliant. Unlike any other doujinshi that's only the typical bad one (though some are alright, but I haven't seen many good ones) this one delivers a beautiful message and is a good "what if" situation set into place. It's different than you'd think.

So I hope you enjoy this once again. Please tell me what you think by reading and reviewing. If you like it or don't like it, let me know so I can see if I need to make the story go faster. Otherwise on with the chapter, the next one'll be up soon:D


Redemption Stage 2: Collision...Heaven And Hell Combine

He gulped nervously at the doorway leading to his delivery point. It had this ominous feeling to it, one that seemed to show danger and hell. He didn't like it, nor the feel of it, and sadly he had to accomplish his task of getting the items delivered. Working a job as big as this, and getting chosen to do it was he biggest job anyone could get at his company. It was the job that, if he succeeded, would earn him a promotion…or at least it should. He gave a nervous sigh, and with a large gulp rang the bell that was at the door.

There was no response, there was no voice to confirm who it was. Instead, what happened was the door in front of him opened a little bit, allowing the man entrance into the building. He still felt himself feeling like something was wrong about the place, as if it was evil and something brewing in there. The pitch black behind the door wasn't helping out much either to clear his mind. He had to assure himself that nothing was wrong with this place. So with the most hesitant step of his career, he stepped into the darkness, rolling the package on the wheels supporting it. Once he stepped into the darkness, the doors behind him closed, causing his fear and panic to rise through his body.

"Hello? Anyone there?" was his meek and small reply, his voice echoing in the place. He continued walking forward, hoping to find a light switch or something to help himself find somewhere to go. Still, no lightswitch, no walls, no support, nothing; a blank and dark room was all that was around him.

"You're finally here…do you have the equipment I sent for?" asked a cold icy voice resonating in the room. It was a voice that would send shivers down your spine, weighed down with burden and objective. Heavy with anger, sadness, pride, blindness; it was the voice of someone who was striving for something he wanted to where he would never give up on reaching that goal. Immediately the delivery man freaked out.

"What? Where are you? I guess I brought the stuff you ordered, sir…" snapped the delivery boy, looking around and still feeling around, hoping to find that person. He was freaking from the way the man sounded but he still had to get this done. Nothing would stand in his way, not even if the man sounded deadly and cold.

"Good, it's here then, what I needed. Turn on the lights…" snapped the cold voice and immediately the room illuminated, and the guy was fascinated at the sight.

There were many hallways around, each seeming to have many mechanical doors attached the wall. Each marked with a number that represented the door and what room number it was. He looked around and realized he was only in the center of the building, the first floor. There were windows to look into what they were working on, but they were blocked by some black tint on the windows. However, only three steps ahead of him stood a man with graying hair, a rough beard and moustache, along with tinted glasses on his face.

"Excuse me sir, sorry about that…I-I didn't know you were there and…" the delivery man tried to state, feeling insignificant in the man's tired eyes. The man's eyes he stared into were as cold and harsh as his voice, etched with pain and suffering. More importantly, his eyes carried a fire that contained a desire the delivery guy couldn't figure out.

"I don't care, do you have the items I need…" the man snapped, the delivery guy completely trembling from the harshness in the tone.

"Yes, sir, just need you to sign here…" the delivery guy stuttered, putting a delivery notice in front of the man. The man didn't even blink, or move really, all he did was move his hand and sign the paper.

"Is that it?" he snapped, looking at the prize behind the poor delivery man.

"Yes it is…Mr. Gendo Ikari…" snapped the delivery boy with a fake smile, hoping to put this situation at ease.

"That is all I require from you then, now please leave…" snapped Gendo, immediately walking past the guy and grabbing the equipment and walking off, the delivery guy standing there completely shocked and feeling shameful. This was different than he had ever been treated before, and it felt weird the way he was shunned.

"Right…" the delivery guy snapped back, almost walking out, until he was caught offguard.

"Oh, and Mr. Sonori, you may not speak of anything you see here." What was there really to see? Everything was covered up with a tint if there was anything secretive. He hadn't even really seen what was in the inside of the place, he just saw the outside of it. Still, with a sigh, he humbly nodded and walked off, hearing the door close behind him. The feeling he would receive from that place would still haunt him, no matter what promotion he got.

Back inside

Gendo continued to walk with the equipment in his hand, the box containing what he needed to continue in his project. He didn't care about the man, or signing that damn paper, all he wanted was this precious equipment that would move forward the objective he had in mind. Slowly, he entered the door labeled "No. 12076," and entered into the lab that had been created behind those tinted windows.

You could see people working furiously, typing away at their computers or analyzing the information passing right in front of their eyes. They had been working tirelessly around the clock, barely taking breaks in order to move as fast as the commander had wanted it to be. It had all been falling into his plan, and all he could do was contain the malicious smile that would be on his face.

His desires, his plans, his point in all of this was coming to fruition, and he enjoyed every second of it. He would get what he wanted no matter what, nothing would stop him in his madness for his yearning.

Even if he saw the people working on their part of the work, never stopping, he never stopped inside the laboratory. Instead, he headed towards the door that lead out of this room, that bore no label, that lead to another corridor that seemed to only lead to one destination. He continued to walk that path, with no hesitation, nothing. His next step, one of the most crucial, was going to be behind the door that was labeled "REPL TR0666".

The mechanical door opened in front of him, the little dim light barely protruding out of the open door. He walked in briskly, the mechanical door closing behind him. Fixing his glasses, he kept his eye on his next target; the next part of the objective. This time, he wasn't going to allow this second chance at life to ruin any of his plans, and he wouldn't let her run away from doing it.

"I won't help you. I've done enough damage to many people, this is going too far! I won't fall for it again!" snapped his target, immediately shunning him and scolding him before he could even spit out the words.

"You will help me with this or else you'll suffer." Snapped Gendo, setting the wheels down and slowly putting the equipment he ordered in front of his target.

"I won't help you again! I won't do it again! I won't allow you to control me again!" the target snapped, not getting any reaction out of him.

"You will do as I say, or you will die as then you serve no purpose for me…"

"This is for nothing but your fucking wife who's in Unit 01! Don't play that, don't try and use that on me, and if Unit 01 is so important, where is it? Where is your precious Unit 01?"

"That is none of your concern, right now your concern is what I say. Or do you wish to die."

"So I have to get dragged into this once again, and you're making me have no choice in the matter?"

"Precisely why you're sitting there right now, in this room. Plus, you have no where to go to, you aren't even considered alive. No one will know you or that you're still alive. That is the one thing that I have made sure of."

"That's why I hate you…and I won't help you…"

"Trust me, there are ways of making you help me…and you know what I can do to make you work for me…"

"Please don't…"

"Then help me, do what I've written for you…"

"…Okay."

He smirked at the results of this conversation, turning around from her. Though he seemed to be the type to never bear emotions on his face, nor to even be a man of emotions, he had one etched upon his face. The sight of it that had caught Ritsuko's eyes for only a second drained the life from her body.

The eyes of a demon, the face of chaos, perfected in a man bound to Earth by the objective he kept inside.

Protecting what was precious to her meant the sacrificing of her pride and honor, and that was how she knew how to live life.

"Death is only the beginning of Rebirth…and when humanity messes with God's domain does it seek its retribution…Humanity only wishes to be God once more…"

Katsuragi Residence

"Misato! Asuka! Breakfast is ready!" said Shinji with a cheerful tone, setting the plates on the table. The fresh and amazing aroma filled the room and apartment immediately, causing the stampede of the two he had cooked for in the first place.

"Aah! Amazing! If it's one thing I really missed about you Shinji, it's your cooking…" said Misato with a glazed look over her eyes. She wasn't in the apartment at the moment, because for now she was in heaven thanks to the sweet smelling aroma.

"Thank you Shinji! You're actually saving my life here by cooking. Misato's cooking was death to me everyday. So for the moment, I'll actually admit you're helping me." said Asuka with excited and with her standard smirk that Shinji could always remember while in Tokyo 2.

"It wasn't that bad…" said Misato with a nervous laugh, causing both Asuka and Shinji to think "It was really that bad…"

"Misato, just admit it, the nights I cooked you couldn't help but feel like it was a great meal! Your food could never compare!" snapped Asuka with a more cocky tone, Misato started to tense up. Shinji took a deep sigh, getting up from the table acting like he was getting more food. Here it came…3…2…1…

"Are you kidding me?! It was great, but don't bet your luck on your cooking being in a different league with my cooking!" snapped Misato back.

"Heh, it's even more pathetic when you destroy instant cooked meals! Half of the food you cooked was instant stuff and you still messed it up…"

"You're asking for it you little…"

"Hey Asuka?" interrupted Shinji, causing both girls to cease from killing each other at the moment. Asuka looked at him with a weird expression on her face.

"What is it Shinji? Can't you see I've got someone to kill here…" snapped Asuka, immediately causing Misato to want to strike back. Shinji immediately replied back so he could save someone today.

"You're going to be late if you don't leave for school now…"

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope…"

"Shit!" snapped Asuka, running up and getting to her closet, grabbing her clothes and setting the record for fastest time in getting ready for school. Somehow, she managed to pull it off in fifteen minutes, with ten minutes until school started.

"I just realized that school starts earlier now…damn…" snapped Asuka, running out of the door without saying goodbye, leaving Shinji and Misato to sit and get ready to talk seriously.

"Misato, I'm going to need your help in finding where my father is, before he gets drastic with whatever he's doing. I have a feeling that he's going to be doing something soon, and it'll be worse than before…" said Shinji with a worried tone, Misato staring at him with a calm face.

"Look you'll be fine…we'll have to talk more about it later…" Misato said, taking a quick yawn in between her phrases, "I'll try and see if there's any information I can get through NERV database. There might be something there that could help us…though I don't see how fifteen year old records can…"

"Its fine Misato, I'm thankful for that, but really I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I really didn't want to…" stammered Shinji, a pang of guilt etched on his face. Misato sighted at this and put a hand on his, immediately she felt him tense up. He still wasn't used to the human touch even though Mana had given him that.

"I told you once before, I'm here for you. We're like a family Shinji and I won't anyone in my family to be hurt…and I will help them. It's a sacred promise I vowed to myself once…" Misato said with a confident voice that faded away until he noticed something odd about her actions. She had a sadness in her eyes, and when she held the cross necklace up in one of her hands, he saw something in her eyes. Maybe a memory, maybe something he couldn't see. Still, as much as he saw the pain cloud her eyes, he saw one thing.

They were connected through pain they both experienced, and finally he felt a bond between him and Misato. The once feeling that he was only useful as a pilot and nothing more had slowly faded away, and with her touch and promise, he felt a whole new connection with her.

And in that brief moment, he felt his guard slowly wither away with only the simple affection of another human being, he felt that finally, he had found a better reason to live once again.

"Thanks Misato, thanks…" was what Shinji replied with, causing Misato to smile. Even if this was a small period of time, and even if this wasn't something that important, it still showed her something she had only wished to have seen back in the past four years ago. She was ready for him to pull away from her touch, but instead she felt a warm reply back. Seemed that Shinji had finally grown up and learned to receive another's affection.

"Besides this, I have another thing I need to discuss with you…"

School

It was the only place she could consider a sanctuary from her normal life. It was the only place that she could get to if she wanted to escape her reality for eight hours. It was a place bearing nothing but a place where she could be someone else, and not the true self she so desperately seeks to hide from others. That's what her point was for school, to be someone else that bore the name Asuka Langley Soryu.

It had been known for its beautiful scenery of its front part. It was built with beautiful flowers across the front of the building, and the perfectly cut grass helped out. The building itself wasn't prestigious, it just felt like another one of those ordinary schools. With its pale blue skin and dark blue edges, the place felt colder than anything itself. Still, as much as it seemed horrible, the outside made it seem like the greatest place.

Inside, chaos only seemed to reign on it. Nothing had been done to improve the cracks in the walls, or how horrible the condition of the inside was. Nothing had been done about it, but no one complained. Everyone tried to ignore it, allow it to be there while pretending it wasn't there. That's what life was like at her school, and to think she went to a college that made this place look like shit.

"It's better than nothing…" she muttered to herself, a breath of disappointment escaping her lips. Maybe she needed her old life again, even if she had just scolded it a second ago. At least during that time period she had more to live for and more excitement in her life. Still, as much hell as it caused and could've caused, finding a reason to exist in fighting in her EVA gave her a better feeling than now. It made her feel…empty.

She couldn't describe it exactly, but empty seemed to fill up her mind when it came to describing the feeling. Without its power and the fact that she could be well known from it, she still felt this feeling like she was going to be safe in it no matter what. It was something that made her feel connected to something that was familiar and foreign at the same time. It was like the feeling of almost…maternal…but she couldn't describe it.

She wondered why it felt like that, when during the last fight she felt her mother was there with her. Even though death had almost consumed her, it still felt like her mother was still trying to protect her no matter what. Without that feeling, and without recognition, her feeling of existence vanished. It seemed this whole time she was an empty shell.

"Why does it seem like he brings out the things in me I hate?" she scolded herself in her mind, cursing the day he returned. Ever since he had returned, nothing had been ordinary to her. Instead, it felt foreign to her because it seemed that with him around, everything had become new to her. The way she talked, walked, breathed. Even her thoughts that she had feared to think about.

Longing…hope…yet fear and hatred, resentment, closeness, what were these feelings that were driving her right now? Why…around him why? She thought she liked him, but what if she didn't? What if what she thought was love and like was wrong and that she was wrong. The great Asuka Langley Soryu wrong! That's a load of bull right there…but still the possibility remained that she was wrong after all. She feared this feeling, this insecurity that she had still been holding on to, but it still wouldn't let go of her at the same time.

"Damn you Shinji…" she muttered under her breath, now just sitting down at her desk. The bell rang right after she sat down, and she felt thankful that she had at least remembered to make in into her seat on time.

"All right Stand! Bow! Now sit!" yelled the ever proud and strict voice of Hikari. Hikari stood there with her glare of death, that said "Don't mess with me or I'll be your worse nightmare." Asuka liked that about Hikari, she wouldn't take any bull from anyone at all.

"All right settle down, settle down. Get ready for another look at NERV and how they saved the world from destruction…" was the standard beginning the teacher gave. Asuka always hated this class because it was full of lies that once again the government had came up with. For one thing, there were EVAS, and the teacher never really talked about that. Well, only a save few new about the EVAS, but no one dared to talk about it. Second, NERV wasn't a military base, but a geofront. It killed her hearing that it was a base that was built secretly like a building in Tokyo – 3, it already made the guy look terrible in her eyes. Last, she was one of the people that had helped at least try to save the city…though she had gone through a lot of damage psychologically and physically. Not only that, but the embarrassment she went through back then, with losing her synch ration had destroyed her mentally. But still, even in the midst of this shouldn't she at least get credit? That was what drove her mad about this teacher, he was suckered into government propaganda like everyone else.

"Based on this, this is going to be a boring day…I wish Kaji were alive, at least then I could try and find a way to ditch this place…" snapped Asuka to herself, resting her head on her desk, and falling asleep.

Somehow, right before the bell was going to ring, Asuka woke up, feeling better than ever. She gave a light yawn that she had learned to make sure no one could hear it, and immediately sat up to look like she was paying attention now.

"So class…that ends our discussion on the almost Third Impact and how our world would forever become drastically changed…I think…just remember how lucky we are to be alive. Remember to look this up, I'm sure you'll find this on some sight…" said the teacher in his bright and cheery mood while everyone looked at him sullenly. They hated this class, the message was seen in everyone's eyes.

"Sorry I'm late! I had a few errands to take care of and forgot track of time. Is class over?" said a voice from the hallway, causing the teacher to flinch and look at the doorway with agitation.

"Yes, you missed the whole entire class, but it's okay. We've gotten information about your reasons why and you were cleared this morning?" said the teacher with a deep sigh to relax himself so he wouldn't snap.

"Well, should I at least introduce myself to the class?" said the huffing and exasperating voice from the hallway. Asuka laughed at the guys sound from being tired. She figured he must've barely ran or something.

"All right, step on in…"

As he as he stepped into the classroom, Asuka looked at him with shock and confusion.

"Well everyone I'd like you to meet our new classmate…"

"Hello everyone…my name's Shinji Ikari…"

If Asuka's sub-conscious had a voice…there would've been a loud scream emanating throughout the room…for now her sanctuary was destroyed in that second…