Shinji and Warhammer40k Chapter 9: A Farewell to Peace part2, an Evangelion + Warhammer Crossover fanfic

A Farewell to Peace part2

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Misato was giddy when they did not return that night. She was ready for a whole load
of teasing and accusations when they come through her door. It only intensified when
the two didn't arrive by morning. By mid-day she was worried. By sunset she was
ready to kill a whole lot of people.

"You lost them? How could you just lose -one of the most important people on this
planet- like that?"

"Captain Katsuragi, other than avoiding notice from other civilians, Pilot Ikari has so
far been very cooperative with our surveillance. We give him as much privacy as he
needs. We don't follow him indoors, for example. Nor do we monitor his conversations."
was the Section 2 chief's icy reply. "There are moments when we simply lose sight of
him, despite our efforts to the contrary... but he always just shows up soon and
unharmed later. Sometimes he even tracks us down to apologize. This time... three
of my people are DEAD. That's why we didn't know he was just -gone-."

"So... it was deliberate. Kidnapping?"

"Possibly. We haven't received any demands yet, but since both Pilot Ikari and
Lieutenant Ibuki are missing, we can rule out random attacks or... assassination."

Misato winced at the last word.

"Rest assured, Captain, we are doing our very best to track him down."

"Does... his father know yet?"

The bland, sunglassed man nodded. "Yes. We have informed Commander Ikari of the
events."

"Well, whatever he said, make it double from me. You'd better not fail."

"... actually, he didn't threaten us at all."

Misato looked disbelieving. Then, finally "... that bastard."

There was no reply from the Section Two chief. That was the furthest he was allowed
to express his own dissatisfaction. There were very few in NERV who disliked Pilot
Ikari, if simply because he offered such a contrast to his father. Given the levels of
sheer dastardly vibes Gendo could exude, by comparison Shinji was all but the second
coming. It was also no secret that father and son both pissed each other off on some
fundamental unseen level.

NERV was in a panic. They tried to keep a tight lid on it, but it was inevitable the
situation got out. And when NERV is in a panic, the JSSDF goes into epileptic fits.
Eventually the news even reached the Strategic Defense Ministry.

"What the hells is wrong with those morons at NERV?! Now they lose the only person
in that place that has actually any shred of competence?!" was the general idea.

"We'd better not have had anything to do with this..." growled out the general that
supported the Jet Alone project's absorption into the NERV supply infrastructure.

"Of course not, sir!" one of the lesser officers replied. "I mean... why would we? We
already have mister Ikari's cooperation, and frankly he serves us best over there right
with his Evangelion."

The entire military intelligence network went active, but furtively. If the media got
wind of it, the entire nation would freak out. The army itself prepared to mobilize at
an instant's notice. Whoever kidnapped Pilot Ikari could be anyone; from a splinter
group within the JSSDF up to another nation.

Everyone searched, but found no immediate clues.

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They were shoved into a small room with a bed. So far they hadn't been restrained,
as the kidnappers attempted to maintain some measure of civility. Maya was very
frightened, but leeched off some emotional control from the simply unnatural calm
that Shinji exuded.

"You can't possibly be expecting to get away with this..." he said. "I mean, you didn't
even bother to take us out of the city boundary."

The leader of the group, whom Shinji had started to dub 'Pointybeard' due to the
spindly growth under his nose, smirked. "And why do you think you know that?"

"Seriously, black suits? Black van? You can't paint yourselves any more suspicious to
the JSSDF patrols outside. Inside Tokyo 3 the black suit and sunglasses can get you
anywhere; everybody knows that's NERV spook and this is a NERV town." The pilot
shook his head. "People both respect and fear it."

Another kidnapper, who in Shinji's mind was 'Babyface', since he looked the youngest,
made a sucking sound. "How long did it take upstairs to figure that out? This kid's
smart. Maybe too smart."

"Is it okay if we just let him see our faces?" asked another, dubbed 'Rednose' for an
obvious reason.

"Why not?" answered Pointybeard. "After all, we're going to be real good friends soon,
won't we; Mister Ikari?"

"You want to me to work for you." Shinji replied dully. That, or you don't expect me to
live long enough to remember your faces. "You had best have an Evangelion, then."

"That's not as much of a problem as you may think, Mister Ikari..."

"Then... let Maya-san go. She has nothing to do with this."

The men in black suits laughed. "You don't really expect us to comply, right? I suppose
we could let her loose, but then shoot her in the back to keep her from running to
NERV." Pointybeard laughed. "Or... we could get bored."

Maya's eyes widened in fear at the implication. Shinji narrowed his.

"Fine; I'll cooperate. Treat her as a princess and I'll treat your words as that of a
prince."

Pointybeard had a face that was easy to remember, but at the same time, impossible
to find. One he shaved off that distinctive facial mark, which would stick in people's
minds, he could be anyone among millions. It was this that made Shinji decide he was
the most dangerous, and the focus for all his counterpsych.

"Well said, Mister Ikari." He was obviously pleased. "Let's see how long we can uphold
this deal."

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Rika Izuna was in her element. The disappearance of Shinji Ikari was a major scoop
and it was she that broke it to the public. It was done simply by her seeing a worried
look in Misato's face, in one of her cameraman's many candid shots. From there she
began an interview of others in the building, careful to do so without approaching the
building itself. Simple enough; all it took was a look through the telephone directory.

She could be very ingratiating when she needed to be, and thus she learned that
while the residents no longer too any special notice of Shinji Ikari's comings and
goings, they knew his visitors. Maya Ibuki hasn't been seen anymore going into
Misato Katsuragi's place, when it was known she ate there almost every day.

A little bit of research, and there she is- Maya Ibuki. High grades, works at NERV, has
no real social life to speak of...

Now, Misato could simply have been worried about her subordinate, and it was the
weekend...

Rika tapped her pencil on the screen and grinned. Now whose personality profile did
this remind her of...?

By Monday she was ready with a lurid tale of escape and forbidden fruits. Incidentally,
Shinji Ikari didn't show up at school that day. Or the day after that. Half a week
passed and she brought speculations to the limit! Rika Izuna! Reporting here. Asking
questions there. Rika Izuna! The one who saw it first, giving you the truths they're
trying to hide!

"Dammit, Misato! You can't shoot her!" Ritsuko snapped.

"But... the things they're saying about Shinji-kun and Maya-chan! You can't seriously
say you're not angry too." Misato put her head to the desk and groaned. "If it was
just that, I'd be okay... but she has no right to make up all these lies...! After all the
things Shinji-kun has done for this city, he deserves more than this crap."

"Unsightly as it is, NERV as no choice but to let it go on, even subtly encourage it.
It's better than having it be known that he might be the hostage of a foreign power."

"Who do you think?"

"The Americans are closest to having a new fully-functional Evangelion. The German
branch already has its own Eva and pilot. China's project has effectively stalled, and
they're reduced now to manufacturing spare parts for our Evas." Ritsuko shrugged.
"Of course, that's all too obvious. It could be any number of other factions."

She lit up another cigarette. Damn the boy. Maya was more important; she had
access to the MAGI and most of the Evangelion files. Shinji's effect was mostly on
the morale side. Maya opened up a direct attack upon NERV itself. Besides, the
bridge of NERV seemed all the more dreary without her naive influence. Makoto's
fumblings and Shigeru's nihilism tried; but just couldn't compare.

With all the smoke coming out of her, Gendo had thankfully been absent in his
attentions. Good; because if he had so much as asked for it in her harried state,
Ritsuko knew she would not be able to resist just punching him in the face.

Beside her in one of the corner cafeterias of the geofront, Misato sat playing with an
unopened can of beer. Her fingers drifted to the tab now and then, only to send the
can rolling away. Back again. How she ached to open it up and just let the old habits
blunt the pain... but drunk she wouldn't be able to search for Shinji. Misato hadn't
tasted anything which alcohol for four days straight; which had to be some sort of
record.

Her home seemed barren, in all its cleanness so unlike her. Misato was forced to go
back to instant meals; after all the daily gourmet cooking in the past months it was
like eating carboard.

Damn it; it hurt. The shock, the loss, of her surviving Second Impact had driven her
to silence for years. She could still function in the midst of Shinji's disappearance but
that seemed to cut away a piece of her all the more. She had never again invested
so much of herself into another person, not since Kaji, and Shinji made it easy. He
was as family... always there, always ready to help. Gods! She stabbed her food with
her chopsticks. Only then did she realize it... it was like having a husband, only
without the sex. 'What the hell; Shinji? Why must you be so damn meek? A shota is
one thing, a butler is another.' There was the horrid contrast with how he behaved inside
the Eva. 'It's not right! Not right at all...'

A butler uniform. Damn. 'I really should have thought of it earlier. Could have been fun.'

There was a knocking at the door.

Misato wiped her eyes and opened it. There, stood Ayanami.

"Oh. It's you Rei..."

"Captain Katsuragi." She bowed slightly. "I come seeking advice."

A slight smile crossed Misato's face. "Of course, Rei. You should know my home is
always open to you. Shin-chan... do you want to talk about it, Rei?"

Rei nodded again, and followed her in. Instead of sitting down to join Misato at the
table however, she went right past and into Shinji's room. The NERV captain blinked,
confused, and got up to see. There, Rei sat on her knees and facing Shinji's figurines,
her head bowed in an expression of such utter emotionless desolation.

Misato's heart softened. "Odd girl..." she whispered sadly. "But I guess we have to
deal with it in each our own way..."

She closed the door to give Rei some privacy.

Within, Rei thought out 'You who have been Pilot Ikari's companions since he was a
child... I seek your advice.' She recalled carefully what Shinji had told her, and how
their voices had seemed to appear then. Believe; said Shinji. Believe they shall speak
and they will.

'Ask, and we shall answer.' replied the Eldar.

The Chaos Marine seemed to grin. 'For the bright lord, let no door remain closed.'

Rei took out the Warboss and placed it amongst them. She imagined him saying 'Ello
ya borin' grots. Miss me?'

'... no.' said the Farseer, still miffed.

'We have known each other long enough, that xeno you may be, I believe I may call
you comrade.' The Space Marine seemed to bow. 'If only your return was not at the
behest of such dire circumstances.'

'Well, girl? What do ASK of us?'

Rei turned to the Chaos Marine. 'Shinji-kun has been taken. However, I can feel he
has not been taken far.'

'How long has it been since you could sense our young king?'

'... always. I do not understand, but it seems as if I have known him... always. He is
still within this city, I am certain of this. However, I am not certain upon how to act
upon this knowledge.'

'What have you considered so far, child?' the Farseer asked gently.

'I propose we level this city section by section until we find him. I am capable of this
and can begin within the next hour. I estimate it will only take me two days and four
hours until it is completely assured that I have isolated where Ikari-kun may be.'

'WHAT HAVE YOU TWO BEEN DOING?!' the Farseer screeched at the Warboss.

He laughed coarsely. 'We's been havin' FUN!'

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On the fifth day, a videodisc arrived at a Hakone TV station; incidentally one owned
by the direct competitor of the media chain Rika Izuna worked for.

At precisely noon, all over the TV sets and the big-screen displays up on the buildings
showed Shinji Ikari's face. The producers know they'd catch flak from not giving NERV
any advance warning, but what the hell.

"Greetings, people of Tokyo 3, Japan, and the world. My name is Shinji Ikari."

People dropped whatever they were doing, fled lines at fastfood restaurants and just
halted right there on the street. Fortunately, there were no accidents. NERV had the
collective thought of 'This can't be good!'

"I am being held under the... hospitality... of the Exalted World Society. I am being
treated well and am under no duress to speak this announcement."

Shinji looked down apparently at a script then with some amused disbelief at someone
off the camera. The image flickered, and the pilot began speaking again. However, he
seemed somewhat groggy.

"... the people of the Exalted World deeply regret the... necessity of their actions but
my continued well-being cannot be assured unless the following demands are met.

The following prisoners are to be freed from SSDF control and given free passage into
High Pakistan:

Jane Hoffman
Abwal Marendu
Doctor Gillian Sing
Doctor Wen Lung-Shi
General Peter Burradol
and Ivan Sanford Doigh"

What? Those in the government could barely believe the utter gall. Those were all top
six in the top ten of worst terrorist masterminds in the SSDF list! Letting them loose
would be a disaster of apocalyptic proportions.

"Additionally, a sum of five hundred million US dollars are to be deposited in a certain
account to be revealed later."

Shinji looked offscreen for a moment, and took a deep breath. He looked down to read
and gasped.

"You can't be serious..." he whispered. "This is... impossible! Insane!"

The image froze, then began again. Though the place was the same, people could
tell some time had passed. The circles under Shinji Ikari's eyes were that much darker.

"... and Gendo Ikari, and his crony Kozo Fuyutsuki shall immidiately be relieved of their
command of NERV, and be deported from this country, to trouble its citizenry no more.
Whatever other nation is so foolish to accept them, is of no concern. This is non-
negotiable. They must leave, or the boy will die."

Shinji Ikari looked up, and his eyes were full of hate. "This completes the demands.
We will not speak this way again." He looked to beyond the camera again. "There. Are
you satisfied? Touch her and I will -KIL- " blip.

Tokyo 3 as if imploded.

There was shouting, finger-pointing, and many many tears. Rika Izuna could only grit
her teeth. In one simple act, Shinji Ikari had taken it all away. Her reputation was now
permanently damaged. It was as if he existed to take away the joys of simple working
people like her. She wouldn't be able to walk the street without being taunted or
spat at. This also filled her with aimless anger.

She had no pity; it would do the boy good to experience some real-life hardship
instead of being treated like a prince at NERV. The obvious nepotism there was the
sure sign of a sick society.

Wasn't it?

Her cameraman made no reply.

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It was the NERV command center, and up on the tactical holographic matrix the
demand video was played once more. Gendo and Fuyutsuki remained impassive up
there on their command section, but those below had reactions mixing murderous
rage and anxious fear.

"What is the current status of the search?" asked Fuyutsuki.

"The Japanese Intelligence Services have found Lieutenant Maya Ibuki's wallet in
Tokyo-2." Makoto tried hard to keep his voice level. "Currently, the JSSDF, Internal
Affairs and various other groups are cooperating to search the city and its environs."

"I notice that we kept Section Two close to home."

"It's out of our jurisdiction." Misato put in. "Besides... we have reason to believe that
Shinji is still in this city. As long as we don't make it obvious, we can track down the
location; if they think we're concentrating far afield."

"What makes you think this, Captain Katsuragi?" Gendo asked blandly.

Misato nodded to Makoto, who began to play another recording. She continued "We
received this late afternoon yesterday. It's been scanned and it checks out as 100
percent genuine."

It began from "... you can't possibly be expecting to get away from this."

Everyone there listened impassively as Shinji's situation slowly became clear. The
playback was paused a few minutes in by Ritsuko.

"Someone, at some point, must have placed a monitoring device on Pilot Ikari's
clothes." Or put it in himself; but surprisingly of all there only Ritsuko had that thought.
"Misato?"

"Not me...!"

"Why a sound recorder and not a tracking device, I'm not sure..." Because Shinji
couldn't find the hardware to track his own transponder without tipping off the JSSDF
to what he was up to. "but it recorded -days- of signal. Given the storage capacities
we have now, this is not unusual. However someone must have edited it all out, for
what we have here are only the most important parts of the recording.

This; is immidiately after the recording of the demands..."

Shinji's voice was heard, amplified, all around the command center.

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"... I still think you're all insane. My father would never abandon his post at NERV."

"Not even for his own son?" The other voice was uncharitably amused. Pointybeard
sat behind the camera, smoking a cigarette. "Not even for the pilot of an Evangelion?"

"Never."

"Heh. Well, it doesn't matter. It's not his decision. The Japanese government, the
masses, or the UN will force him out his position. You have noo idea how many people
your father pissed off over the years."

"... making them all think you're all unstable. This is planned well... even hitting me
was calculated to drive public opinion." His voice grew louder and shrill. "Why?! Why
do this?! Right when humanity needs to stand together...!"

"You don't really believe all that crap, do you? Saving us from Angels, hah! Kid, no
matter what, it's all just politics."

"I've seen the angels. I've fought them. They want us all -dead-. When all the world
is coming together... to destroy this unity, is suicide!" There was a grunt, as Shinji
tried to turn around while tied to a chair. "It doesn't matter how much you hate my
father, nothing is worth your lives and the safety of humanity! Just please, end this
foolishness. Let us go and we won't even look back..."

Laughter. "You really sound sincere! I guess that's why you're popular with the kids
and the old fools. If I didn't know better I'd think you were setting yourself up to be
even higher than your father." Footsteps. "Well, you're going to learn that this is the
big game for the big boys, and if you're going to play you've got to be ready with the
high stakes..."

"People... are not meant to be played with."

"Really? Do you think so too, Miss Ibuki?"

There was a muffled sound.

"Let her go! I did as you asked!"

Laughter again, but this time from many men. "Yeah, but it's been days... such boring
days, all cooped up in here." It was a different voice. This was someone Shinji dubbed
'baldy', though his hair was simply cut very short.

"Coward!" Shinji yelled. "You're not even worthy of being called a man!"

More laughter. "Little boy lecturing me on what it means to be a man." There was a
loud female whimper over the recorder. "Well, did you two even kiss at least once?
No?" Baldy's hands began to drift down her waist.

"You think you're strong, but you're not. You believe you have power, but you're
weak! Even tied to this chair I'm more a man than you'll ever be; faithless coward!"

"Hey, chief..."

"What?" Pointybeard looked over his shoulder.

"This kid's starting to bore me."

"Fine. You want him loose?" There was a brief silence. The leader took out a knife and
cut the scotch tape pinning Shinji to the chair. As long as the others held Maya, he
had no fear of retaliation. "There. Now step up or shut up you little punk."

"Maya-san!" Clattering sound. Footsteps. "Maya-san... you look like you can't breathe.
Let me help you." Shinji removed her mouth-gag.

"Hey, hey! Remember me!" There was a meaty thwack. The pilot dropped, his face
striking the floor hard. "Keep your head in the game lover boy. Hah! Or get another
one like that to it."

"SHINJI-KUN!"

"... I'm fine, Maya-san." Shinji spat aside. "So be it." He felt a loose tooth. "Have at
you, then."

"Yeah, that's it, little boy. Show me what you g- gaak!" The muscular goon began to
heave for breath, as Shinji went directly to punching at his lower ribs. Then, of course,
the headbutt. "Fuck y-..." If he was expecting the young man to show any fear or
hesitation whatseover, he was sorely mistaken.

"You will -not-!" And Shinji kneed him in the face. "HURT MAYA-SAN!"

The others began to hoot and jeer. Incensed, Baldy looked up and snarled. "So that's
how you want to play it, huh?" He bullrushed forward and tackled the much lighter
young man to the ground. Once there, he began punching at the pilot's face again
and again. Shinji's head snapped left and right. "HAaa!"

"How do you like THAT!" shouted Baldy, amid the cheers of his peers.

Shinji abruptly grabbed at one of the goon's hands, shoved some fingers in his mouth
and bit down HARD. Baldy screamed. Blood began to pour out of the pilot's mouth.

The others rushed to help. They kicked at him, punched at him, forced him to let go.
Baldy lay hunched over there, cradling his fingers. He looked up and murder was in his
eyes.

Pointybeard moved there between them. "Enough. You asked for this. Nobody touches
the girl until I say so." He turned towards Shinji, there looking defiant. He gave the
pilot a strong backhanded slap.

"Know your place. You have -nothing- over us. We owe you -nothing-. Count yourself
lucky that I'm even tolerating you this far..."

Shinji slumped.

"Not so tough without your big toy, aren't you...?" sneered another goon, who actually
-was- bald, but was dubbed 'Pigseye'.

Another, a tall lanky man that was known as 'Yellowstooth' in the mind, added "Be nice
and we'll let you have a turn when we're done." That was an awesome freak-out. Let's
see that again!

Shinji said nothing.

"Nothing more to say...?" Pointybeard asked. "Goo-..."

"mgrlth..."

"What's that?"

"murgllth kos sakos..."

The goons all actually bent closer to hear.

"...morguluth kaos aksos TZEENTETH!" Shinji began to scream. "You will all fail, all
your little plans torn asunder! You and your masters! I will see to it!"

He got sucker-punched in the abdomen. He purposely vomited all over their feet.
"Morguluth KAOS aksos NURGOLTH!" He snapped his head up and then slammed it into
someone's jaw. "Touch her and Suffer! Suffer and Die!"

"This kid's gone psycho!" yelled out Babyface.

"Then beat some sense into him!" Both Yellowstooth and Pigseye grabbed Shinji's
arms and wrestled him into a lock. Pointybeard grinned and lifted his fist... just as he
was about to strike, the teen spat at his eyes and threw his aim off. It hit Pigseye
and let the teen loose.

"Morguluth KAOS AKSOS SLAANETH!" Shinji lashed out with his foot and caught Pointy-
beard right at the gonads. "You will hide and I will find you! You will run and I will
always be right behind you!"

His voice rose to as like a thunder. "MORGULUTH KAOS AKSOS -KHORNATH-! I WILL
SEE YOU ALL IN -HELL-!"

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Those in NERV command winced as the sounds of a truly painful beating commenced.
Someone in the recording shouted. "Fuck this! Maybe we should play with you then?"

"I have walked AS A GOD. I HAVE FOUGHT AS A GOD." Shinji laughed. "YOU WILL NOT
FRIGHTEN ME, -LITTLE MAN-!"

Crack!

"Is... is he dead?"

"Maybe... no. He's still breathing."

"Hey... what's this? It's... ! The kid was wired! Nice equipment here... folds right into
his clothes."

"Damn. No wonder the kid was so mouthy. That gibberish might be some sort of code."
A loud sigh. "Get the girl out of here. I'm not in the mood anymore. Nobody gets at her
before me. Stupid kid..."

"What should I do with this, chief?"

"Break, it you fucking moron. Break i-..."

Static.

Silence descended heavily into the NERV command center.

"That is as far as what we have." Ritsuko said, calmly.

"Shinji-kun!" Misato was at near panic. "What do we know from this?! We've got to
get him and Maya out of there!"

"Well, all that nonsense Shinji was saying COULD be some sort of code, indeed. Of the
four words he stressed, I can reasonably guess they are the four cardinal directions.
Offhand I'd say NURGOLTH is North, SLAANETH is South, TZEENTNETH is East and
KHORNATH is West. Now, the phrases before that were repeated, so I can't assume
they're of some coordinate system..."

"Kaos... I have a feeling it means unknown..." said Makoto. "Changing. Unspecified."

"Yes, it fits." Misato nodded. "Shinji won't exactly know where he's being held. Thank
you, Hyuga-kun."

"You're welcome, Katsuragi-san."

"I don't know... as for me, I feel aksos means underground." Misato looked at Ritsuko.
"Does that make sense?"

"Tokyo 3 is far more complicated underground than aboveground. It would be more
secure, and all that noise could be hidden well." She nodded. "It sounds logical. Now
all we have to figure out is what Morgoluth means. Anyone? Anyone?"

Silence.

She sighed. "Let's hope section 2 can crack this. It's our only hope right now."

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Everyone had their own way of dealing with their uselessness in the Search for Shinji
Ikari. Kensuke seemed the most enraged out of it, and went off... somewhere... to
vent. Nobody could find him. Toji grumbled about losing two friends in a week and
was seeing pacing around like a caged bear.

Classes attempted to go on as usual, and Hikari in her class representative role was
far more vicious than normal. As for Rei...

It was not a good week to be a rule-breaker in Tokyo 3.

Hikari felt tired from even the daily rituals. It all felt so strange without Shinji there,
even if the city had known him for only so few months. Everything seemed so bleak,
gone was innocent optimism that characterized his stay. Without Toji and Kensuke
fooling around, her daily duties was lighter... and tedious.

She wasn't ashamed to admit she cared for Shinji. He was like a walking paradox; of
stability in chaos and chaos in stability. He was a deep friend, who brought her even
closer to Toji. Under his influence she saw Toji grow from a sullen young teen into the
dedicated young man he could be. He was intelligent enough that just by hanging
around him, Toji too was beginning to craft his own brand of wisdom.

She pushed open the door to her home and sighed. Now she actually had competition
for Toji. Unlike the others, she wasn't going to do the 'must have them both!' dance.

"Hikari-neesan!" Nozomi ran across the hall and latched onto her dress. The little girl
pointed deeper into the apartment. "Make elder neesan give it back!"

Kodama, eldest of the Horakis, poked her head through a vanity window cut into a
wall. "Oi, hi Hikari. Oekari." Her hair, unlike of her sisters, was left to hang free over
her shoulders. Though she had the same air of competence as her sisters, having to
work to support them had given her a certain playfulness to deal with it all.

"Make her give it back!" Nozomi said again, nearly crying.

Hikari sighed. She opened her eyes and gave her elder sibling such a Look. "Sister,
what have you done now...?"

"Hey, no fair going Inquisitor Horaki on your own family!" complained Kodama.

Hikari didn't relent.

Finally, Kodama sighed and came out of hiding. She showed a strange book made out
of bond paper sloppily glued together... and raised it high up as Nozomi rushed to grab
it. "Oh, come on..." she said to the youngest. "You should be glad I actually deem
anything of yours as interesting."

"Gibbet, sis! Dat's not for you!"

"Sheesh. Just let me photocopy it and I'll never bother you again."

If anything, Nozomi became even more horrified. "No way! Da Book is supposed ta be
for us kids, and only us kids can make it! That's cheating! It's not for you big'uns!"
Her eyes began to tear up. "Just because you're bigger... doesn't mean you can just
steal..." She started to wail. "Gots no respect!"

Kodama winced at that. Having read to Dat Part of the Book, she knew it was the
harshest condemnation the kids could bring to bear. And it was justified. She was
inches away from being Mobbed.

"Okay, okay... here."

"No! You wants it, then you gots it." Nozomi looked up, her face all scrunched up in
seriousness. "If yaz willing to STEAL from your own sister... then I respects your need.
You... you're WEAK, Kodama-neechan. It's not propa to stomps on the weak."

"I.. I'm not... I'm sorry!" She began to push the book as if it might poison her, while
Nozomi just as unwilling to accept it.

Hikari's irritation faded into gentle amusement. "What's all this about anyway?" she
asked.

"I'm giving it to Hikari, is that okay?" Kodama looked begging. "Is it all right?"

Nozomi paused. "Well... Hikari-neechan does work for (with; Hikari corrected) with
Shinji-sama, it's okay for her to read it." She crossed her arms cutely again. "Da only
propa way for any of you big'uns to know Da Book is to hears it. If ya wants da Book
then ya better be ready to live it, too."

"Live it...?" That made Hikari curious, and a little apprehensive. "What have you been
up to, Nozomi-chan?" She took the book and began to flip through it. "This is..."

Kodama nodded at the expression on her sister's face. "Yep, that's what I thought at
first too. It's written in both some form of English AND very basic Japanese... and in
crayon! Now why would these children go to all that trouble...?"

Hikari began to read out loud. "In the beginning, the boss was walking down..."

"No! No! Gimme!" Nozomi reached out for Da Book. "Dat's the problem with you big'uns.
Dis is why we don't let yous read it... you don'ts know how to read it propa."

Hikari winced at the mangled words. "Please... use proper speech, Nozomi-chan."

"Proper? Hah! You big'uns make all sorts o' rules at what's proper and not and forget
about the simple things. Instead of makins everybody happy, ya just make all sad.
Respect ain't about rules. Honor ain't nothin' about whos betta. Dis is what's propa!"

She took a deep breath and read Proparlee.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

In Da Beginning, Da Boss was walkin down dis road, see? Some people takes the low
road, some people takes the high road, some take the easy ones oddas already
walked through while odders make der own roads.

Da Boss walked his own road, and dis three were followin' him widdout his knowins'.
Dere was Round Boy and Thin Boy and Short Boy. Dey shouted out to Da Boss ta stop
and he did.

Dey made fun of Da Boss, sayin' he was small and weak. Dey wanted Da Boss' stuff
coz' dey was bigga. Dere was no one else on dat road, and Da Boss was silly ta go
where no ones would hear him and help. Dey wanted ta push him around coz it was
fun.

And da Boss said.

Ya thinks yar strong but yer not. Ya thinks ya got powa coz ya got numbers but ya
dont. Ya gots no respect for odders, because ya thinks its enough dat your respect
yaselves...

And he gave dem such a Thump.

I says ya don'ts have any respect. Nor for yaselfves, not for anyones. Ya don'ts got
da strength. Ya don'ts got da power. No ones gonna respects you.

Ya ain'ts strong.

And Round Boy asked.

Yaz strong. How do we become strong?

Ya become strong troo respect. Fear is weak. Its not enough. It eats at ya, but
respects feeds ya. Respect makes ya stronga. Wot is dis respect ya asks? Its da
-knowin'-...

Da use of strength is ta protect da weak. Da worth of powah is ta protect dat which
is right en true. And da weak can be strong wen dey needs ta be.

Do ya getz it?

Dey gots it.

En Dat was how Round Boy, Thin Boy and Short Boy becames Da Boyz.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Nozomi shut her eyes, closed the book and exhaled. She smiled with self-satisfaction
as she looked up again. "Dat's how it's supposed ta be read. Wats propa is wots real.
Don'ts lie, don'ts cheat, don'ts steal. Keep to wots real." She gave the book back to
her elder sister.

"That was..." Hikari took it, her hand slightly shaking. "Where did you get this, Nozomi-
chan?"

The little girl shrugged. "Made it. Dat's how Da Book is supposed to be. Ya aintz of da
boyz until ya makes Da Book wid yer own hands."

"But... there's like fifty pages of this thing." Kodama pointed out. "And, you're a girl."

"Da Boss said; respects da gurlz in da Mob, coz deyr gotta be meaner and tougher
dan a whole lots of ya grots. I'm not gonna help ya when you gots stomped for doin'
or sayin' somefin' stupid. We's gonna laugh and points fingers at yas."

Kodama laughed. "How ironic. Feminism rampant in something called -The Boys-."

"Who... who first made this Book, Nozomi-chan?"

She shrugged. "Dunno." Ayane Mitsugane, after Shinji left. "But it's ours. It don't
matter who first wrotes it. Dat's my hand, and dat's my truth."

Hikari opened the book and continued the reading. She had to fight deep within
herself to be deliberately sloppy.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Da Boyz had no respect. Da Boss was right, nobody wants anythings ta do with dose
who pushes da weak around. Dose who woulds talks to dem don't really gives any
respects. Dey would use Da Boyz, and da boyz wanted ta be Free.

One day Round Boy went to Da Boss and said

Boss, dere's dis squig tryin' ta push us around. Wot should we do?

Stomps some respect back inta him

But he knows da big'uns don't likes us. He says if we don't follows him he's gonna say
fings ta da odders. We'z weak now. We can'ts do nothing, coz he protected by Da
Rules.

Izzat so? Da Boss said. Den dis is wot we'll do.

So den da squig gots to tauntin' Round Boy again. Round Boy asks him first ta stop.
Da squig calls him stupid. Round Boy asks him ta find his own powah, and leave him
alone. Da squig calls him fat. Round Boy asks him to go away, or hes gonna get
thumped.

Da squig dares him ta.

Round Boy gave him such a thump.

Da squig was hurts and shocked, but den begans ta laugh. Now yer mine, he saids.
I gots proof. Wot I says now goes.

Dats wen Da Boss showed hisself.

Ya ain't got nottin'. he said. I saws him ask ya once. He asks ya twice. Three times
he asked ya, and ya refused. You is not gonna say anythin'.

No ones gonna believes ya; said da squig ta da boss. Peoples gonna think yaz scared
of Round Boy.

Thump him again; said Da Boss.

So Da Boss stand over da squig and says

You can be strong in da hand or strong in da head. But wen you cants be either, den
be strong in da heart. Dats when you needs it most. Dats when you can give to da
odders.

Youz trying ta steal the strength of odders for ya own. You fails coz strength ain't
somefin' you can steal. Ya either has it or ya don't. Da big'uns always tries ta think
ya can only be strong in one 'fing, not all three. Wez' gonna prove 'em wrong. Deyz
gonna look and deyz gonna see.

Git outta here, ya squig. Da boyz don't need yas. Yaz gonna destroy yarself one of
dese days.

We are Da Boyz. We are strong. And wez gonna change da world wid dis strength.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Hikari found herself exhaling as she shut the book. She took a few deep breaths to
slow down the beating of her heart.

Kodama grinned. "It's like Applied Morality for Children." she said. "Us; we; no thou
must. It's simple and effective." She patted the head of her youngest sibling. "So, you
think Da Boss is actually real?" It doesn't really matter anyway.

Nozomi nodded. "I..." She stopped. No, da boss is for da boyz.

She looked up to see Hikari standing her, clutching Da Book to her chest. The class
rep had her eyes shut, and shaking almost imperceptibly. She nodded. 'Yep, big sis
is strong in da hand, da head and da heart. She's figured it out already. Ya can only
see it if ya have all three.'

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

A door slammed open. "Boss, we got.. urk!"

The thug slid forward, unconscious. Those inside reached for their weapons. As the
thug kissed the floor, revealed behind her was a slight blue-haired girl. She was
smiling.

'Oh, shit!' was everyone's terrified thought.

And there was was much kicking of ass. Ayanami kept her AT-field at an intentionally
low level, just enough to barely deflect their attacks and not to be detected at NERV.
She had never really used before her AT-field other than to float and heal herself...
but -Principio Eternus- had taught her several more efficient uses for the light of her
soul. All that was needed for her to believe, as Shinji had said for her to.

She believed in -him-, and by his word to -her- all things were possible.

The leader was pressed to a wall, crying and gibbering with fear.

"I would like to know of hiding places in city where one might stay underground for an
extended period of time." Rei asked softly.

"That's... I can't...!" was the gang leader's reply. "The others will -kill- me if I rat out
our holes!"

He screamed as Rei, very casually, reached out and broke his wrist.

"There are many more bones in your body. I will end with your neck. Now, will you
provide the information or must I need to wake someone else who will...?" she said in
the same dispassionate tone as before.

The thug nodded.

Within her pocket, the Farseer exulted. 'Not even the young king learned so quickly
and so well! Ork, I take back all of what I said or thought against you!' She paused.
"Most of it... some of it... one or two words.'

The Warboss merely laughed. 'Da gurl is good, ain'tshe?'

The Space Marine and Chaos Marine could only nod, approving of her dedication.

It was not a good week to be a lawbreaker in Tokyo 3. The hospitals were swamped,
and so far there had been three fires and two buildings that collapsed for no readily
apparent reason.

The criminals were all fearfully determined not to speak out against whoever stomped
on them so hard. Not only was it humiliating, it was certain no one would believe them.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Kensuke worked at the bookstore under full approval of his father. The two still had
that generation gap, but at least were not longer quite so confused by each other. The
reason the elder Aida could be so content with working with numbers, was because of
the things he'd seen people do during Second Impact. He just could not understand his
boy's fascination with instruments of death.

The glasses-wearing teen got a check in the mail, as advance salary. The first thing
he did was to buy a white hooded jacket and gave the rest to his father to deposit in
a bank.

They shared something now. To defend, not to attack. To help save lives, not to end
them. Kensuke called home from the bookstore phone and said to his father he won't
be coming home for a while. It was approved. A bookstore nearby was much better
than one of the long fantasy camping trips he used to take.

Kensuke didn't go to class. His father made the appropriate excuses.

Packages arrived everyday. Most were aply enough, books. Kensuke brought out the
ones most interesting, with a mind to actually getting the store to open someday. The
ones on engineering, machinery and military equipment were set aside. One of the
boxes, marked Children's Fairytales, had inside a smaller container made out of tough
black plastic.

He opened it up, and inside that were large silvery slugs, thirty-six of them. Bolt
rounds. Real, deadly bolt rounds. It was shipped from Shinji's hometown, courtesy of
its police department. Ayane, so far from her own emotion-charged failure of those
years ago, was incredibly persuasive when she wanted to be. Not that her father and
the gunsmiths he knew needed much convincing.

Kensuke saw his vision muddy again, from angry tears. He closed up shop and rushed
down to the basement. He ran through the connecting door and towards the machine
shop. In there, surrounded by sound-dampening walls, he let out a scream. He threw
down a wrench, chipping off the reinforced concrete and sending a loud clang around
the room.

"Damn it, Shinji..." he whispered. "You've just got to be alright..."

He'd sent out the recording he'd found, and it was horrendous having to listen through
it over and over just to make sure he chosen the important overheard pieces.

He took out the Adeptus Mechanicus figurine. 'Let not anger cloud your mind' he could
nearly hear it say. 'There is much work to be done. The machine spirits require your
attention.'

Kensuke walked over to the table, and the wooden model Shinji had already made. He
opened up the official Bolter plans. He looked at the half-finished metal casing he'd
done so far.

Notebooks, drawings, all the things the boys had done in that rooftop; he had taken
it, duplicated, and put to safety. So many things, Shinji. The machine spirits will be
well pleased with their new forms.

Someday... he hoped; someday let them all be used. Let their anger be unleased upon
your enemies.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Maya sat alone in the dark crying. It was almost a week since she was taken. She felt
cold and lost, and so utterly helpless. "Shinji-kun..." she breathed. The kidnappers no
longer even kept them in the same room, depriving both of whatever emotional
comfort each other could provide. All pretense at civility had vanished; so far she
hadn't felt any abuse... but Maya knew it would arrive one day.

The door was unlocked. The light switched on. She winced at the sudden change.

Pointybeard locked the door again. He grinned lopsidedly.

"It's been a long time, girl. Looks like no one really cares about you out there. Time to
be useful; I guess a young boy's body isn't really built for that sort of thing."

Her eyes widened. No! He can't mean... Shinji-kun!

Maya pulled deeper into herself, as Pointybeard sat on the bed near her. He leered
at her short skirt and tight white pants. "Now are we going to have problems?"

The lieutenant cried. "Shinji-kun..."

"Yeah, the kid's been through a lot for your sake. Now don't you just feel guilty?"

"I hate you..." Maya whispered. "How could you do this... to another human being?"

She yelped as he grabbed at her arms and spoke directly to her face. "Humanity this,
humanity that! I've had enough of that from the boy. You're all fools! Humanity is an
animal! We take what we want, when we want it. The world is made for -us-. Wreck
it or not, it's there for whoever is strong enough to take what they want!"

He pushed her down. She struggled, but it only seemed to excite him more. "Now
listen to me. The boy's given up a lot for you. Any more and he dies. If they don't
follow our demands, he dies. The question is: Are you ready to follow him?"

She whimpered. "Shinji-kun..." 'Living for me. Suffering so much for my happiness. I'm
sorry! Why must I be so useless!' They hadn't even bothered to keep her in restraints.
'I can't do anything but cry...'

Shinji-kun...

Shinji-kun!

She felt the kidnapper's hands roam all over her body. She just closed her eyes and
let him; he even let go of her arms. 'Will I just cry when you're dead?'

She felt warm breath on her neck.

SHINJI-KUN!

And something in her... broke.

Maya sobbed. "A-all right.." she stammered, tears running freely. "P-please... I don't
want to die. Please stop hurting Shinji-kun."

The kidnapper looked fiercely pleased. He stood up to unbuckle his belt, but Maya in
strange energy got up and gently stopped him. She got off the bed, knelt in front of
him and began to remove his pants herself. Pointybeard bared his teeth in expectant
glee.

She pulled his pants down. Then his briefs. She stared at it, quivering. It smelled
somewhat rancid. Hesitantly, she touched it. She stroked it. She opened her mouth
and let out her tongue...

And she punched up HARD right at the scrotum. There was a squishing sound.

Pointybeard's eyes widened, and he let out a 'gleep?!' Maya let out a loud, pleading
"OH! PLEASE NOO...!"

She reached up, grabbed a fist-hold of his shirt and pulled him down. She headbutted
up, breaking his nose. He slumped over her shoulder. ".. i work for NERV." Maya
whispered to his ear. "Did you really think I wouldn't know The Ikari?"

"... you little bitc-..."

Maya struck at his windpipe. As he choked and gasped for breath, she screamed out
"IT HURTS! IT HURRTS!" Then to his ears; "It had better hurt, you bastard..."

For Shinji-kun. She knew she wasn't strong enough to twist his neck around, so she
just lashed out again and again at his throat. For Shinji-kun!

He gurgled out and spat blood over her chest.

For Shinji-kun... you will not hurt him anymore. She was breathing heavily. She made
loud sounds of resistance and grunting.

Maya felt light-headed. She felt like laughing. Sure, she'd just... she checked. Yes,
she'd just killed a man, something she thought she'd never do, and it all felt so right.
She had thought even if being shot at, she wouldn't be able to hold a gun and even
so far as to point it at another person.

She took Pointybeard's gun and checked its ammo. She nodded. They actually saw
her as that much of a non-threat. Of course. She was just pathetic little Maya Ibuki.

For Shinji-kun. Please, help me. What should I do?

She felt as if his voice was beside her. 'Be what they expect, and you can predict
how they will react...'

She took off her bloody clothes, stripping naked. She wiped up all signs of blood and
positioned the fresh corpse to what looked like a relaxed position on the bed. Maya
then ran around the room, working herself into a sweat, all the while making more and
more noises.

After a few minutes, she let out an anguished scream. Listening through the door, she
could hear laughter.

She let a few more moments pass and made sure the chain latch on the door was
secure. She unlocked it and cringed as she opened it partway.

"Um..." She looked back and then again to the goons leering outside. "He says... he
doesn't want to see your scrawny arses any more than he needs to. So, if... if you
want your turn..." She sobbed. "Take... take it somewhere else. Please! Don't hurt
Shinji-kun anymore!"

Maya thrust her hip out a little, and touched her breasts with her left hand. Tears
glistened on her eyes. "So... do... you like what you see?"

"Yyyeah!" they all exclaimed.

She unlatched the door. "So come and... take it." She stepped back. As she pulled
open the door and they crowded through, they didn't see the gun until it was too
late. Bam! Bam! Right to the chest. Her fingers ached from the unexpected recoil.
Bam!

Yellowstooth managed to take a few steps inside before collapsing in a puddle of his
own blood. Pigseye's gun fell from his limp fingers.

Maya sneered. 'I don't care if I die.' How could she have let herself believe her own
life was of any worth, unless it could be used to defend those she cared for? She
swore on his pain never to be so helpless again!

"Shinji-kun!

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Babyface looked at his watch, and took another suck at his cigarette. "It's almost
midnight. Looks like your father really doesn't want you, kid..."

At a table a distance away, Rednose and Baldy were playing cards. The latter had an
eager look, as the time ticked by.

Tick. Tick.

Babyface threw away the half-finished stick and brought out his gun. "It's nothing
personal, kid." he said. "You can blame your father when you meet each other again
in Hell..." He looked at his watch.

Shinji was barely conscious. So... all those plans. All the people he wanted to protect.
In the end, he was just one. It was all useless. Without his Evangelion, he had no
power at all...

Such a waste.

He grimaced.

So this is how it ends.

He opened his eyes as the goons began to count down from sixty.

He bit his tongue and spat out a dollop of blood and saliva at the floor. The kidnappers
paused as they saw what he was up to.

"What's he doing...?" asked Rednose.

"Hell if I know..." replied Babyface.

So trussed up, the only thing Shinji could do was to push the blood around with his
nose. He could make anything big, but it was enough to have one round blot. A dash.
A misshapen circle around that. Below, a wavy line.

'I'm sorry everyone...' he thought. 'I failed after all. I'm sorry I can't live up to my
promise..." "REI!" he shouted, his voice breaking with regret.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

At NERV, Shigeru shouted. "Blue pattern detected!"

"What?!" Ritsuko and Misato rushed to the screen. "Where?!"

"It's somewhere above Tokyo 3, moving at high speed. And..." He frowned at how
little it made sense. "...below us?! It's all overlapping... detection's gone! We can't
make out any precise location!"

Ritsuko hissed. Not good. Not good at all.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Bang! Bang!

Bang!

The kidnappers all turned. "What the hell was -?" asked Rednose.

CRUMPLE-SMASH!

Dust and plaster flew everywhere as one of the basement walls crumpled inwards.
There was a low humming sound, like slow crackling lightning. Two red orbs glowed
from behind the cloud of dust.

Baldy already had his gun out, and shot at whatever it was. His spread of bullets
merely bounced off a hexagonal red pattern in the air. A blue-haired girl stepped out,
her expression tight and resolute.

She looked down at the ground, and there Shinji looked back at her with an expression
of both relief and wonder. She felt no fear or disgust from him. She looked up, and her
eyebrows slightly grew closer. She stretched out her arm and twitched her fingers.

The air vibrated, with a noise that sounded similar to 'waaaaaaaaaaahh...'

Baldy abruptly went to pieces. Literally.

"Shinji-kun..." Rei breathed. She turned to see that he had already somehow broken
free of his restraints. He had Babyface pinned on the ground; one hand keeping the
gun away, the other at the throat. The goon struggled but against that sudden
berserker strength he could only die. Rei didn't know what to feel as she stood there
watching him strangle someone to death with his bare hands... but the closest would
probably be respectful pride. And sorrow.

Rednose was trying to run away. She gestured, and he was nothing more than a red
smear on the wall.

Shinji stood up, breathing heavily. He felt filled with sudden, unnatural strength.
Something laughed. He turned and smiled weakly. "Hello... Rei."

"Pilot Ikari... Shinji-kun. I am sorry. I was too late..." she said softly. She felt fear.
Now that she had revealed the Angel within her, she was his enemy as well.

"No, Rei. I should have believed in you." He walked towards her, limping, and her AT-
field just broke apart at his approach. "I'm never alone. I should have believed... in
the other half of my soul."

He fainted into her arms.

"Shinji-kun..."

"Shinji-kun!" Maya pushed through the rubble and into the carnage. She saw there...
Rei? The girl glowed as if with an inner light. Her eyes glowed eerily. And there; was
Shinji! How... at least he seemed in one piece. The kidnappers were angry indeed
when they found out he was wired. He was too injured to do anything more, or have
anything more be done to.

All her fault...

She lifted her gun. "I don't know and I don't care what you are... but let him go!
Shinji-kun!"

Rei merely looked past her to the bodies at the end of that corridor. "You... Ibuki-san.
You have fought for him."

She nodded.

"You have killed for him."

She nodded again, more slowly.

Rei extended her other arm. "Then you are my sister in battle. Please, Ibuki-san. Take
my hand so we may depart."

Maya hesitated. She went over more to Shinji's sake than any decision on her part.
She let Rei hug her around her bare waist, and held on tight both to the smaller girl
and Shinji.

Rei focused her AT-field again. All the upper floors might as well have been made of
paper by the way she ripped right through them.

Shinji woke again, the cold night air hit him. He saw Tokyo 3 spread out beneath him
and smiled. He felt four familiar voices return insistently to his mind.

"rei..." he mumled. "...corner... 200... higurashi street"

The girl could see it in her mind. She zoomed down at such speed that no one could
tell just what the hell just passed. She floated them down at storefront and broke the
lock. She entered the gun shop, still unfinished and onto the back rooms. Again with a
lock broken through the controlled creative use of an AT-field's slicing edge. Down.
And down again.

Maya sighed in relief as she saw the bed. She laid Shinji out on it.

Rei frowned slightly. She began to undress and climb onto the bed.

"What are you doing?!" Maya asked, more in dismay than anything. Her own nudity
was put out of her mind, but of others...!

"He is going into shock. His injuries are severe. We must warm now him with our own
bodies."

Maya nodded and slid under the sheets as well. And... for the first time she noticed...
she too was so...

very...

tired.

Shinji-kun. Two voices murmured in the rushing darkness.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

Kensuke noticed the broken locks immidiately upon morning. He ran right in, into the
machine shop and opened up a hidden stash. Good, it was still there. He jumped out
the elevator shaft yelling "Yaaaaaaarrghh!" and Bolter at the ready.

Maya and Rei woke up, and rose out of the sheets. Sandwiched between them was
Shinji.

"Goddamn you, Ikari!" shouted Kensuke. "YOU LUCKY BASTARD!"

"Ungh." Maya clutched at her head. "Not so loud, please..."

It was then Kensuke realized that yes, she IS naked; but that's Maya Ibuki. There
were contusions and dried blood all over Shinji's face. Oh, hi Rei. "What... what
happened?"

"Pilot Ikari is severely injured. We have only just recently recovered him from his
criminal detainment." Rei got out of the bed and began to pick up her clothes from the
floor.

Sense returned to Maya just at hearing his name. She pressed a hand to his forehead
and sighed in relief. His temperature had returned to normal and he looked to be
breathing normally, if still unconscious.

"Thank goodness..." she murmured. "Shinji-kun..."

She got out from the sheets and patted it smooth around him. Maya yawned and
stretched out; Kensuke let out a 'gurk!' and looked away. "... I'm hungry." she said.

The teen rushed to the refrigerator and took out out a microwavable box of spaghetti.
He hurriedly pushed that into a nearby microwave, and tried to get his heart-rate
under control as he watched it spin slowly inside. He nearly jumped as the appliance
let out a 'ding!' of completion.

He turned, and nearly slipped, at seeing Maya hadn't even bothered to cover herself.
He handed over the food, shakily, blushing heavily. He sat down on the floor nearby,
fighting not to follow the line of her thighs up to... head, meet floor. Floor, meet head.

Maya chuckled lightly. She supposed she should be feeling very embarrassed, or in
female outrage... but after everything, it seemed so very inconsequential. Even so
strangely hilarious. The old Maya would have blushed and tried frantically to cover
herself up. For the moment, she broke her chopsticks and began to eat. There was
nothing, absolutely nothing, she felt she had to be ashamed of.

She looked at her own fingers, so dainty there... and remembered the feel of life
being crushed by them. She felt almost like gagging, but she was just too hungry.

"...you're beautiful, you know that..." she heard Kensuke say after a while.

"Hm?"

"You and Rei..." He stammered and coughed. "I mean, yeah. You're beautiful. But it's
also the WAY you're beautiful. You're just sitting there like on display and it's not lewd.
You're like a tiger, beautiful, awesome... but from a distance." He dared to look up and
meet her eyes. "Shinji... you had to kill, didn't you? You and Rei. You had to kill to
defend him."

She sighed. "...yes."

"How did it feel?"

"It was horrible. It was intoxicating. In the end it felt like nothing at all..." She looked
aside to Rei, and remembered the frightening spectacle. However, the other girl looked
so delicate, standing there in front of the microwave... Maya felt protective of her as
well. "... you shouldn't long for that feeling, Aida-kun."

He nodded. "I think I've learned that too. I could be satisfied with just staying behind
the scenes. I don't need any of that war glory."

"There is no glory." said Rei. "There is only death. I know death."

Ding!

After a while, Maya said "Now I'm cold." She shivered and hugged herself, pressing her
breasts together. Kensuke had to pinch his nose. "Do you have any clothes around
here?"

Kensuke shook his head. Yahoo! I mean; darn! "I was supposed to prepare this as a
safehouse, but I never got that far into it. There's a few shirts and pants, but it's
across the street." He looked up. "Although..."

"...yes?"

"There is something. Let me..."

"No, no... I've imposed on you enough, Aida-kun. Just tell me where it is."

"Over there, at that drawe - gack!" He shut his eyes as Maya abruptly stood up. He
heard her giggle. No; he had his principles. He might be a pervert, but he had such
respect for Ibuki-san. "Did you find it?"

"Yes... it's... black. Is this leather?"

"No, it's some form of polymer, actually. It's full-body and enviro-sealed, so it should
be comfortable no matter what." He heard rustling and stretching sounds.

"It's... kinda loose." Maya said.

"It looks familiar." Rei added. "Press the button."

Fsshk! "Oh!" Maya yelped as the black suit shrank and contorted to fit her body and
various cold electrodes pressed to her skin. Kensuke deemed it safe enough to open
his eyes. "What is this...?" she asked him.

"Prototype armored plugsuit." he replied. "It's supposed to be unisex and fit nearly
anyone. I don't know from where or from whom Shinji gets this stuff. I just put it all
aside and remind myself I might not like the answers."

There were rasping sounds as Maya twisted her waist from side to side. "Mou! I guess
I just never really considered how -tight- your plugsuits are, Rei." At the other girl's
nod she went over to a nearby full-length mirror. "It feels so -naughty- in sheer black."
She ran her hands over her curves. "It's worse than being naked!" She turned around
a bit, and spanked her buttocks. It was a loud thwack.

Kensuke passed out with a truly impressive nosebleed.

When he awoke, Shinji too was up and about. "hello, Kensuke..." said the pilot.

"Shinji! Oh, man! I'm sure glad to see you. How do you feel?"

"... I feel like crap itself." He laughed weakly. "But it's getting better. It's good to see
you too, Kensuke."

The glasses geek looked around. Shinji sat up on the bed with the sheets still covering
his stomach and below. His body was a mass of purple and red above the white cloth.
Rei sat nearby, content with watching Shinji. Maya was on the floor sitting crosslegged
and leaning upon its side, while reading from one of the science fiction books Kensuke
stashed away as first priority in the safehouse.

He then looked up at the clock. No way, he was out for hours! "Why didn't anyone
wake me?"

"Well... you seemed so happy in your dreams." said Shinji. "Giggling like that. We didn't
want to spoil any fantasies you might have..."

"Hey! I resent that! I had no such thing...!"

Shinji tapped his head. "I can read your mind, you know. It's useless to lie to me."

Gasp! "Really?" Oh shit! He looked from Rei to Maya then, frightened, up to Shinji.

"No."

Kensuke groaned. Yeah, he'd just provided all the testimony against himself.

Rei tensed suddenly. Shinji looked pensive, out into the distance. "Say... you finished
the Bolter, right, Kensuke?"

He nodded and reached into his white jacket. The Bolter was still shiny. "It works."
said Kensuke. "Damn, it really works. I wouldn't want to be at the other end of this
thing."

"Please give it to Maya-san."

The lieutenant put aside the amazing stories to stand up and take the gun. Her walk
was that of a great predatory cat. Kensuke shook under the burning readiness of her
gaze. It fit so easily into her hand; as if it was fated to belong there.

The elevator descended and slid open.

Two men in black suits exited. "So... you are here after all, Mister Ikari." said Agent
Kentaro, in such a flat, emotionless tone.

"Section two." said Rei.

"They work for my father." Shinji sighed and closed his eyes. "Maya... if they say
anything at all you don't like, shoot them. Kensuke; are the garbage bags still there?
Remember that one of those doors open out into the sewer line. We can easily dispose
of them that way."

The younger of the two agents merely whistled. "Daaamn, Ikari! I don't know what the
hell you're up to, but I want -in-!"

Shinji didn't react. "Rei. Subdue them."

Both agents looked slightly nervous as Rei got up off the bed. They felt a great weight
as upon their shoulders, and both were forced to their knees; as if paying obeisance
to a king.

"You do realize she's half-Angel, right?" Agent Kentaro asked.

"...what?!" Kensuke yelped.

"Of course." was Shinji's reply. "She admitted as much. Portions of her DNA have been
spliced with Angel DNA to allow her certain... abilities. She is the product of a sick
experiment by my father and his puppet-masters." He opened his eyes and smiled at
her. Rei stood beside him and put her hand on his; he squeezed it. "She is human
enough for me... "

Shinji stretched out his hand, and the agents' guns sprang out of their holsters and
impossibly held up in the air between them. He closed his fists, and the weapons were
so much mangled metal.

"It seems I can... synchronize with Rei as much as I can with an Evangelion. I know
her, and I know she is no danger to me or humanity as a whole." He made a slight
wave, and the ruined guns clattered off into the far corners of the room. "Humanity is
about choice. Too many have died for color, race, creed, and the notions of what is
worthy to be called a true human... and I say he or she that chooses to be a human
shall be treated as one."

Agent Jiro had a sudden, enlightened look. "So... you can sync? You can direct her
AT-field because she lets you?" He grinned. "So... just by thinking about it, can you
make her o-"

Fortunately Agent Kentaro was quick enough to elbow his partner before he could say
something they would all deeply and painfully regret.

"Impressive, Mister Ikari. But you might have just triggered the MAGI sensors. These
were all afire last night... now they might have a fix on this location."

Shinji lowered his hand and exhaled. "No. I can't do much of what Rei can do, but by
filtering it through -my- soul, I seem to have better control in the small scale. My own
actions leave such a minute trace in comparison to hers for the same simple tasks."

There was also that he was doing things the AT-field was never meant to be doing,
such as showing similarities to electromagnetic or gravity fields, but then as Rei would
have it it was all just the pure light of their souls combined. Or quantum magic. 'It is
best not to let Ritsuko-sensei know of this.' he thought. 'She has enough headaches
as it is.'

The pressure eased and both agents got up. Maya still kept her bolter aimed at them,
though.

"So, how did you find us?" Shinji asked.

"We followed Mister Aida. He seemed rather in purposeful hurry." Kensuke groaned. So
obvious. He'd just broken Shinji's big rule about the safehouse.

The pilot frowned. So, this was compromised now. NERV could trace the property
purchasers and to the other safehouse locations. That left him with the two provided
by the JSSDF, but they could hardly be considered as secure.

"Did you make your report yet?" he asked, his tone controlled.

"Uh, if we say no, are you gonna kill us?" asked Agent Jiro. "How about if we say yes?"

"No." said his partner.

"Why not?"

"Because we too, must make our choice, to be considered as members of humanity
rather than tools. Did you know your father was entirely unwilling to negotiate for your
release?"

"They were about to kill me, when I was... rescued." He nodded. "So, yes."

"Your father seemed entirely convinced you wouldn't be killed. Do you know why?"

Shinji closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He frowned. He let it circuit through his
mind. "It is... too big for a scenario. Too many variables." He opened his eyes, and
there was stunned disbelief. "No. Impossible. He thinks... I'm part of a prophecy?"

Agent Kentaro shrugged. "If you believe in that sort of thing, then yes."

'Prophecies...' the Farseer whispered. 'Are extremely annoying things...'

"Angels. Second Impact. NERV." said Rei softly. "It is all meant to be one great self-
fulfilling prophecy..."

Shinji turned to look at her, and his expression was as that of the infinite depths.
Something great and merciless swam in the darkness of his gaze. "Tell me, Rei. Tell me
everything. What has my father done...?"

And so, there under the streets of Tokyo 3, she told them. All that she knew; about
the Evas, the Angels, herself, and Gendo's plans for human immortality. Even those
she knew that lay in wait behind him. She held back only one piece of knowledge, that
part of her DNA was taken from Yui Ikari; out of selfish, entirely human reasons.

Kensuke was in shock. Maya lowered her bolter and looked ready to burst into tears.
"No... it can't be..." she said, in such a small voice. "It was all useless? Our lives are
nothing more than just stepping stones to one futile end... it's so cruel!"

"Goddamn Gendo." snarled Agent Jiro. "All this time we thought NERV was to prevent
another Second Impact when all along he wanted a Third?"

"Why would Gendo entrust you with all this information?" Agent Kentaro asked her.

"It was his intention that if ever he was killed, then I would initiate Third Impact on
my own."

"How?"

"I am formed using the genetic material of Lillith, the second Angel discovered by
humanity. Under select conditions, I may be used to trigger a Third Impact."

"What are those conditions...?" Shinji asked.

"The first; returning to Lillith and setting her free, thereby fulfilling her wish to dissolve
humanity into a new form of existence and continuing her war upon Adam.

The second; being united with Adam, creating a self-harming Impact that would
destroy both of us, incidentally also destroying much of the Earth and all of humanity.

The third, being united with both Lillith and Adam, creating an Impact that may be
controllable. The end result would be a select portion of humanity shaping its next
form, as unto like a God."

Agent Jiro tsk'ed. "So... why shouldn't we just kill you so it can't happen?"

Maya raised her Boltgun.

"Okay. Other than that. Though it IS a VERY good argument."

"The Angels also wish to initiate an Impact, to unite with Adam their mother and
destroy all of humanity. They would then kill Lillith, expand upon this world, and leave
to seek out new worlds to tend into their form of life."

Kensuke raised his hand. "Isn't Adam supposed to be a man?"

"These are mere nomenclature decided upon by NERV. Angels have no gender. I..."
and Rei touched over her womb. "Have a human form, and thus with gender."

"Human; with accidental Angel." Shinji squeezed her hand again. Maya had a similar
understanding expression.

"So your reason for being is to be used against the Angels born of Adam; a weapon
made of Lillith? Using fire against fire?" Agent Kentaro continued.

"No. That would be the Evangelion. My purpose has always been to initiate Third
Impact."

"Then you're a risk to humanity just by existing."

"I am -made-. I am but one of many. This one you see before you contains the soul
of Ayanami Rei, but it is not her only vessel. Commander Ikari has provided spares that
I may be used to pilot the Evangelion remotely or as replacements in case I must die
for a certain objective."

"Wait... you're a -clone-?!" Kensuke gasped. "That's... cool? Sad? I don't know."

"I am going to -KILL- my father."

"Hah!" Agent Jiro pointed. "Now -there's- an idea I like."

Rei shook her head. "There are yet more Angels to defeat. He is still yet necessary for
NERV to function, if we are to prevent a Third Impact."

"Which brings us back into the question of why you should be allowed to live." The
white-haired agent withstood Shinji's glare. "If you truly want humanity to survive,
then is your own temporal happiness worth the indescriminate destruction that others
may use you for?"

"I may also be used to reverse an Impact as it is happening."

Agent Jiro grabbed his partner by the lapels. "Old man, we need to get some body
armor. 24-hour sniper protection. Poison testers. This girl has to -LIVE-!"

Rei raised her hand. "AT-field."

Agent Kentaro met Shinji's calculating look. He gave voice to a thought they both
shared. "Gendo is going to kill her as soon as she returns."

Shinji nodded.

"No!" Maya cried. "I'll kill him first!"

"I have a few more bolter molds!" Kensuke added.

Shinji squeezed Rei's hand again. He reached over to touch Maya's shoulders. His
eyes were closed, and sweat was starting to drip from his forehead. "Maya-san..." he
said, his voice acquiring an odd timbre. "How much access do you have to the MAGI?"

"Um... I am directly tasked under Ritsuko-sempai to monitor and program it."

"You have something in mind, Mister Ikari?" the aged agent asked.

Shinji grit his teeth. "Yes."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"Will you work for me, instead of my father? Will you trade the manipulations of one
Ikari for another?"

The agents were silent.

Shinji sat there in meditative style as if a wise old yogi; but pale, bruised, and nearly
skeletal. However, his resemblance to Gendo Ikari was unmistakable. They could see
the nearly fanatic dedication he pulled out from the hearts of those with him. It was
frightening. Children were not meant to carry such things. Just that it could happen
was harsh condemnation upon humanity itself. How far had they fallen since Second
Impact? How much more sin could they possibly make?

It was Agent Jiro who spoke first. "Sorry, but I've got to go with my heart on this.
Sorry, man. I'm with them. There's just too much -wrong- in this world."

"I've been in this business for a long time, kid. I've seen things. Done things. I don't ever
expect to be forgiven." Agent Kentaro sighed and took off his sunglasses. "But I came
here knowing I still don't understand everything about this goddamn game. Sometimes, you
just gotta take things on faith.

I've just got faith that wherever you're heading, it's got to be a better place than
what that piece of shit that nature punished you with being your father is driving us
all towards."

'BEHOLD, my bright lord. It lies before you now. This world shall CRY your name!'

'We must protect humanity. We must protect Ayanami. We swore an oath. We must
embrace the faith of our battle-sister Ibuki. We must -prevail-!'

'Stomps da blighter Gendooo!'

'I... I don't know. It all seems so big, so real, so near now. I just wanted to help
people. Now, I've killed. I'll send others more to kill. I'm slowly turning into my father.
I won't have all these people as my pawns!'

'Then use your queens, my young king! Use your bishops, your rooks, your knights!
Grant them power and protection even as they give you might through their service!
The world is yours! The future is now!'

Shinji opened his eyes. "Then let's play the Great Game..." He tried to stand up, and
had to be helped to his feet by the two young women. "My life is too small to stake
on this. Let us gamble upon the fate of the world and the salvation of humanity!"

His mind rolled on, through tomorrow. Misato. Ritsuko. Toji. Fuyutsuki. Gendo. They
would all act that way, yes. What if. Yes.

He was so small, indeed. What did he really have? How could he possibly break the
the titanic forces arrayed against him? The only thing he had was the -knowing- that
he knew exactly what they didn't want him to know, and that they had no idea of it.

"We are now in a war, fighting for our own survival."

He felt himself grin. He felt the adrenalin rise. He felt the purpose fill him.

"Let the enemies of humanity die. Let the opportunists burn. Let the betrayers perish."

We have no other choice. Only we stand against oblivion. I cannot afford mercy.

Father. Farewell. Let the world see that I am Shinji Ikari.

And I -know- what I must do.

---------------------------------------------------o-------------------------------------------------------

-end chapter six part two-

No, I will not have an cerebellometer to count how many heads have exploded from reading this fic. Stop asking (you know who you are).

As always; still in beta state. Entire blocks of plot could yet be changed. Thank you all for having read and supported this admittedly flawed story thus far. Not everything here has meaning, sometimes things just have to happen for the lulz of it.

Well, I could end a 'season' right here since I split up an anime episode into two parts anyway. Shinji now has an idea of just how massive the task before him is. He has gathered the very core of his efforts. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen! On this side; The Utter Bastard! Controlling NERV, filled with such dastardly designs, and having set into motion a scenario that involves the whole world. On this side, The Old Farts, controlling the UN and most of the world's conventional military. And over there; Da Young King! Whose effective assets are limited to a few houses, a few friends, Vigilante Rei, Battlesister Maya, Techpriest Aida, Stormtrooper Suzuhara, Inqusitor Horaki and two Men in Black from Section Two.

Who will in the end Rule Da World?

... yeah, sucker bet. Still, a long ways to go. Anything could still happen. ^_^

Next up; 'season two': Asuka Strikes Back!

It might be a while.