Let's get this trainwreck moving.


"Shinji, are you okay?" Asuka poked at her fellow pilot's arm.

"Class is over, ya need ta wake him up an' get goin'."

"I don't see you going anywhere, Suzuhara."

"I'm his friend too, ya kraut-eating-" Touji didn't get to finish his sentence, Kensuke's hand muffling the rest of the words.

"Touji, no picking fights." The blond admonished, removing his hand.

"Jackass."

Kensuke shrugged. "Better than a guy who picks fights he can't win."

All the while, Shinji remained completely still.


"Your power is natural dominion, MacGendo. Creatures, plant life...down to the bacteria within your body, you can control them on a whim."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"What you did against Njordr is the most basic facet of your current abilities. You do not merely have the ability to command flora and fauna, but to change them, to make them grow. Your power thrives on change within the natural world. A seed becomes a sapling, and then a full-fledged tree. A genome splits, and reproduces."

Shinji listened, fully intent on learning all he could. It might prove to be vital in the next battle, and he certainly didn't have anything else worth doing.

"Metamorphosis. Mutation. Evolution. At the height of your power, perhaps you and your fellow...pilots...can succeed where others have before you. The creation of life, of a species. Ragnarok has come. It arrived with the passing of the Fimbulvetr, and the prophecies all say that some few must survive to create a new world of peace and freedom. It began with the Elder Gods, at the dawn of time and space, and it may end with you. Just as the Elder Gods created the Primordials, who created the Titans, who created the Forerunners, who created the Ancients...so did we create humanity through Adam and Eve. When they failed in their appointed task, we cast them from the blessed lands of their forefathers' halls and made a race in their image. Forever would they know the shame set upon them for their disgrace. By that token, in the end of all things, you may choose afterwards to continue the cycle of creation and destruction that universal existence is based upon."

History lesson aside, it made no sense to him; still, he accepted the words. If others had come before the Ancients, then it stood to reason that they had done what he, Rei and Asuka were now attempting.

"Teach me."

"Later, MacGendo. Your friends are waiting."

As he faded back into consciousness, blinking his eyes at the sensation of being poked in the arm, he barely restrained the growl in his throat. For the last several days, he'd gotten nowhere with honing his abilities, due to interruption or Cernunnos' own long-winded way of speaking.

"Huh?"

"Finally!" Asuka cheered for herself. "You fell asleep, idiot, and we couldn't wake you up!"

"Well, I'm awake now. Let's go."

Shaking off the ache in his legs when he stood, Shinji waved goodbye to Touji and Kensuke. "Wait, where's Rei?"

"She had to go to the bathroom."

"I'm right here." Rei's voice came from behind them, in the hallway. Turning, the two pilots knocked their heads together and fell back.

Shinji rubbed his jaw, which had made contact with Asuka's forehead; the redhead put a string of swears together, all in German.

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?" Rei was puzzled.

"Don't sneak up behind us." Shinji clarified.

"It was not my intention. You were ready to go, so I came. Would you rather leave me behind, so that I could catch up?"

"I guess not." He said. "Come on, let's go."


"The web was woven long before the Ancients came. Now that Ragnarok approaches, it burns from front and back. The blind eagle is laughing at us all...the three-in-one is rising. Has the Fourth Child been located yet?"

"Yes, sir. We have his file here."

Gendo opened it, seeing the photograph and biopsy.

"Excellent. Deliver the news tomorrow. Whatever terms he wants, agree. We do not have the time to play a bartering game."

"Yes, Commander."

"I leave the details to you, then, miss Katsuragi. Good evening."

Misato bowed and left the office, a deep sense of disturbance settling into her mind.

He didn't ask about Shinji once. He'd already gotten the report from Kaji, he didn't need it from me. Does he have no regard for his only son?

She wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer to that question.

She was afraid, however, that she already knew.

Her footsteps echoing down the hallway as she walked towards the elevator, her growing discomfort with Gendo Ikari's style of leadership weighed heavily on her thoughts.

He claims he's doing what's best for humanity, but...if they're supposed to be our greatest hope, then why doesn't he treat them that way? They deserve more than silent acknowledgement...Shinji in particular, especially from his own father.

The man was all about his business, and he never had time for his only child...just like another man who had been in Misato's life, many years ago.

The sins of the past were doomed to repetition by those who would not learn from them.

Opening her door, she found all three Children doing their homework. At a second glance, however, she realized that Asuka was already done. The redhead correcting the mistakes of the other two, explaining the problems in detail.

Perhaps it really was a poorly thought-out decision to send her back to high school. Benefits of cultural immersion aside, she probably found it demeaning, and she was clearly bored without a challenge immediately in front of her. However, she couldn't be put in another division of NERV, and she couldn't be placed in a university without being several hours away from Tokyo-3. On top of that, with the school video footage she'd seen, Asuka seemed to be making friends with some of the people in her class.

The gods are in their golden realm, all's right with the world...

She debated whether or not to say something when she got home.


The school's PA system turned on without warning. "Touji Suzuhara to the principal's office. Touji Suzuhara to the principal's office."

"Aw, man, what'd I do?"

"What haven't you done, Touji?" Kensuke's words brought laughter to a few students around him. "...okay, but for real, what did you do?"

"I don't know!"

He left the room, silently praying. The other students talked quietly among themselves, and Asuka moved beside Hikari.

"Don't worry."

"What?"

"He's not in trouble. He can't be, right? We'd know."

The brunette's shoulders loosened up as she took a deep breath, and fell as she exhaled. "I guess you're right."

It was no secret that in the few days she'd been present, Asuka hadn't exactly forged a friendship with Touji. Not quite the opposite, but they clashed quite often...and with her advanced learning, she always came out on top in their arguments.

Not that Touji would ever back down from her challenges.

Of course, where would the fun be if nobody tried to stand in her way? It was just another way to prove herself. Rei was better at using her power, and Shinji was probably a better fighter, but she had more book-smarts than both of them combined.

Now, she just had to sit and take Hikari's mind away from idle thoughts.

In opposite corners, Shinji and Rei watched her, and one another.

Rei knew that Shinji had been training, trying to keep pace with her. It was in his nature, as the saying went. She knew that he would likely overtake her, in time, but for now she could likely beat him back if they actually came to blows. Unless he'd grown far more in power than she'd previously seen, control of the bladefish against Njordr nonwithstanding, she truly did believe that. He was a soldier who would strike where he was told. She was a strategist, she set the battlefield so he could win. That was how they worked, at the moment. Only time, and their respective efforts, could change that.


"Yer kiddin' me, right? Ya gotta be jokin' here. I'm a blacksmith's kid, ain't no way I can play in the big leagues like the others."

"No, I'm absolutely serious. Do you have any terms or conditions for joining? I'm sure Commander Ikari would be more than willing to agree."

Touji was silent for several moments, his eyes closed and his hands folded in his lap. "Yeah."

"Hm?"

"Got two conditions for ya. First, ya gotta get my sis the best treatment ya have. NERV staff, not the Tokyo-3 shmucks. They're good, they keep her alive, but they're feedin' offa my pa like wolves on deer. I want her healed, or as good as ya can do for as long as ya can do it, or no dice. The other thing...if I'm gonna live in the Geofront, I'm gonna need a forge, and all the tools, and a hell of a lot of iron. That's my offer. We gotta deal?"

"Yes."

"Well...shit. I didn't think ya'd agree to that."

"Fair is fair, Touji Suzuhara."

"Alright, alright, we got the terms and all. What now?"

"Tomorrow, we're moving your sister to the NERV hospital inside of the Geofront. You, and ostensibly your father, will move as well; he's already a steelworker for NERV, it should be no trouble to transfer him closer to the operation site."

"Y'all really scoped me out, huh? Damn."

"Our eyes and ears are everywhere."

Touji had decided, at this point, that Shinji had told the truth; there was no way he would willingly live with someone who was this distant, this...business-oriented, no matter how attractive she was.

"Alright. What now?"

"You go back to class. From there, it's your decision. They'll all find out eventually, but Unit-03 won't arrive from the Arizona base for at least two more weeks."

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

He stood and left the room, and Misato was alone with the school's principal.

"Thank you, sir. I'm sorry I had to take him out of class, but..."

"No, I understand. We're all NERV employees, after all, Commander Katsuragi."

"Still, I apologize. Please, have a pleasant rest of your day."


"Have the MAGI determined where the third will rise?"

"Yes, sir. The ruins of Belfast, in Ireland." After Second Impact, Ireland had seen its chance, annexing Northern Ireland and cutting all ties with the former United Kingdom. Doctor Akagi delivered the news without pause, her face neutral.

"Excellent. Ship the Children out tomorrow."

"Sir?" One of the few times she'd displayed shock, particularly to his face.

"Inform Commander Katsuragi."

She was silent for a moment, absorbing the information. "Yes, sir."

Fuyutsuki stepped out from the shadows, having hidden behind a bookcase, after the Research Branch's head was gone from the room.

"SEELE wants to talk with you."

"Of course they do. Their sole purpose is to nag and needle me even further than the United Nations and the Self-Defense Force already manage."

"That's not a very kind thing to say about our benefactors."

"I am not a kind man."

Clearly, but I didn't need you to tell me that. Your son would have sufficed. Fuyutsuki's rebuttal went unsaid.

As Gendo headed towards the back room to trade verbal blows with his monolithic opponents, Fuyutsuki moved towards the door, and the elevator outside.

At least that ill-fated mission to Antarctica, all those years ago, hadn't been for nothing.