Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium

by Xed Alpha

An incident during the fight between the Third Angel and Unit-01 lands NERV with two Saiyan children stranded far from home and not in the mood to do as they're told. With their fathers following on soon thereafter, a chain of events is about to unfold that even the Kais themselves could not have foreseen.

14. Chapter 14: Allegiance

[A/N] Funny how much can happen in short chapters. While this one certainly isn't as long as some of the chapters past, and certainly not the ones to come, I still hope you'll enjoy it anyway. I'll be closing the poll two days after this chapter is posted, so last chance to cast your opinion in that. Nice for all your kind words too, I do value your opinions and they have indeed forced changes in the story in the past. Anyways, enough rambling from me, let's get on with it.

Crowd: YES, GET ON WITH IT!

Chapter 14: Allegiance

"Dragonballs?" repeated Shinji with a raised eyebrow as the elevator he was sharing with Gohan descended.

"That's right," said Gohan with a nod, "I gathered all seven up and summoned the eternal dragon, Shenron, "he explained, leaning back against the elevator wall.

"You have dragons?" asked Shinji dryly.

"Magic dragons," clarified Gohan, as if it would help clear up his disbelief.

It didn't.

Shinji just shook his head, believing that you could either let the crazy turn you into a jabbering wreck or just go along with it. He chose the latter, "So Shenron, what? Does he have the power to switch people between worlds or something?"

"Not just that," explained Gohan, "he can grant any two wishes the finder of the Dragonballs desires."

Shinji's eyes widened, "Any two wishes?"

Gohan shrugged, "within reason, there are a few limits, but it's pretty much your heart's desire."

Shinji looked off to the left shiftily, "So, these Dragonballs. I…don't suppose they'd be in our world too, would they?"

"That depends…"

"On what?" asked Shinji.

"Well let me ask you this: Do you have a green-skinned guy with pointy ears and magical powers living somewhere on your planet?"

Shinji blinked, opening and closing his mouth a few times as words failed him for a moment, finally settling on, "…not that I know of."

"Then no."

"Damn," said Shinji, "So, this Shenron, is he some kind of genie or something?"

"I suppose you could call him that."

"Then why don't you just keep summoning him and make wishes all the time?"

"Because, Shinji, once we make our wishes, the balls scatter to the four corners of the earth and turn into stone for an entire year before they regain their power and can be used again. Luckily we have a device that can detect the subtle energy signature they give off once they become active again, but even then we only use them in cases of emergency," he explained.

"I see…" said Shinji, trying to ignore his common sense's objections over the fact that he was having conversations about magic dragons and their balls, "So what was your other wish?"

"I didn't make one," he said, "You see, there's this clause in the whole deal that says if we choose to only make one wish, then we need only wait four months before we can make another, as opposed to wasting the second."

"So these Dragonballs could only send you here, but not take you home?"

"Afraid not," said Gohan, "That was the first thing we tried, but it seems that whatever is preventing Gotenks and Gogeta from forming a dimensional hole home is also blocking the dragon's abilities to take people back too. It's a bit of a one way street if you know what I mean."

Shinji nodded, assimilating the info. His brow creased into a frown a moment later, "Wait a minute, who's Gogeta?"

"Huh, oh you mean you haven't seen that yet?"

"Seen what?"

"Well, you know how Gotenks is the combination of Goten and Trunks?" He asked, Shinji nodding a second later, "Well split up Gogeta's name and guess."

Shinji blinked as realisation hit, "You mean Goku and Vegeta can-"

Gohan cut him off, "Vegeta hates using it, and my dad sees it as unfair; fighting two on one, so it's not something that happens often. It was my dad fused with Vegeta who came into this universe originally, using a combination of his power and the same device my dad now uses to communicate back home; it's kind of a dimensional aimer as far as I can tell."

"Well how did he aim it in the first place, since they were on the other side at the time?" asked Shinji, barely managing to grasp the concept.

"We just went out to where my dad last sensed Gotenks' position and Bulma took some readings of the residual energy in the area. Once she'd worked out what had happened and where they went, it was just a matter of her devising a machine that could follow after Trunks and Goten. To put it simply, she held the nail, and my dad just hammered it through. We only managed to open a tiny hole, but it was all dad needed to teleport through with his instant transmission technique.

Shinji was quiet for a moment; he knew Gotenks was stronger than either Goku or Vegeta individually, so the combination of the adults must've been a fearsome thing to behold.

The Third child returned to the subject of the Dragonballs, "Still, you'd better keep those Dragonballs a secret while here," he said, "Jeez, the power to grant wishes…that seems a bit of a dangerous thing to have lying about any world."

"Well, you do need to find all seven from around the world and bring them together in one spot, so I guess that kind of helps, but it has backfired on us in the past. The dragon doesn't really discriminate over who he grants wishes to."

Shinji shook his head in exasperation, "I shouldn't believe a word of this, but lately nothing seems too surprising anymore, be it dead people's souls in giant robots, Angels raining down their divine retribution on us, Aliens from other universes or magical wish granting dragons."

Gohan grinned, "Must be nuts to be you."

Shinji smiled weakly, "Gohan, you have no idea."

Silence descended for a moment, which Shinji chose to break, "Right, I've got a harmonics test coming up, so that should at least keep some of the people you want out of the way busy."

"Gotcha, and while that's going on I go hunt down this Adam thing, right?"

"Right, we know where the second angel is, but we need to find out where father is hiding the first. If we can keep tabs on both then we can at least have a Sword of Damocles hanging over both Father's and Seele's plans," explained Shinji carefully, ignoring the fact he was casually plotting against his father and the ultra-secret organisation that practically ran the entire world.

"Sword of what?"

Shinji opened his mouth to explain, then thought better of it, "Never mind, it's just a saying. It means we'll be able to effectively put a smack on both plans whenever we need to."

"Ahh, got you," replied Gohan, "So, umm, what's this Adam thing look like anyway?"

Shinji raised his index finger and opened his mouth to explain, then froze. He hummed to himself in through for a second, "You see…the thing about that-"

"-You have absolutely no idea, do you?" cut in Gohan dryly.

"Not as such, no…" he admitted, "all we know is that it's probably being kept in a bio-containment case somewhere. My guess would be in a cold storage facility. They call it an embryo; therefore It's probably really small, maybe only a couple of inches long." Explained Shinji, remembering what details he could from the top secret document entitled 'The Object Known as Adam'

It was a very dull read.

"An embryo?" echoed Gohan, "How am I supposed to find something like that?"

"Well," began Shinji uncomfortably, knowing the Saiyan wasn't going to like the next part, "I suppose there's only one place in this whole base where they would keep something like that stored up."

"And where's-"Gohan began to ask, but Shinji saw realisation dawn as he stopped talking. He let out a groan and wiped his face with a palm, "Oh god, not there…"

After reading up on the data, Gohan wasn't particularly looking forward to sneaking around in the depths of NERV's basement alone, even if he was a Super Saiyan.

"Here," Shinji said, balancing on one foot so he could pull the small scouter capsule from his sock, "You'll need this to get in."

Gohan grudgingly took the capsule and slid it into his uniform pocket, "Alright then," he sighed, "I'll go take a look around."

"Great…" Shinji said, clapping the dejected looking Saiyan once on the shoulder as the elevator doors opened. He stepped out, "Have fun, Gohan," he said, smiling and leaving a somewhat scowling Gohan behind as the doors closed, separating them.

-Z-

Gohan smacked himself on the forehead in frustration, "Aaaw, why is it always me?" He groaned as he reached over and hit the very lowest button on the elevator control panel. Slowly, the elevator began it's descent. , "Oh well then," he sighed, "Terminal Dogma, here I come…"

-Z-

'As relaxing as these tests may be, they're still so damn boring…' Shinji mentally moaned as he sat in the test plug linked to his EVA.

The pilot suddenly felt the machine's embrace that he was in slacken somewhat. The EVA seemed somewhat…pushed away, 'Well, they are,' thought Shinji back apologetically, shrugging his shoulders and just praying no one was watching him

'It's nothing we can do anything about, short of asking them to pump some music through.' Shinji found himself on the verge of laughing at the concept of mentally talking to his EVA, as if he had somehow hurt its feelings.

Shinji's grin settled back into a smile as the EVA came back to him. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously, 'You know, If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were pouting. That's very immature,' he thought, relaxing deeper into the embrace of the EVA as the test continued.

'Well I've got to do something to keep myself entertained, little one…'

"What the hell!" Shinji yelped, half-choking on the LCL as he shot bolt upright, looking around in terror for the source of the amused whisper.

Ritsuko moved quickly forward and pressed down on the microphone control, "Shinji, what's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked, a rare note of concern in her voice.

Shinji's eyes settled finally on the doctor, asking in a spooked voice, "Did you say something?"

"Well, I asked what's wrong?"

"No, no, before that," he said, his face an almost perfect albino-white.

"Nothing…" replied Ritsuko.

"You sure?"

"Very."

"Oh," said Shinji, "Okay, never mind then," he said, sounding suddenly dismissive and sitting back down, plastering a look of disinterest on his face.

"Shinji?" Rei's voice sounded over the intercom, the worry oddly clearer in her voice.

"It-It's okay, Rei," replied Shinji, trying to keep his voice as level and reassuring as possible, "I'm fine, just got a little…startled, is all."

Rei inclined her head, seeming to accept his explanation and then went back to her concentrations.

"Are you sure, Shinji?" Ritsuko enquired.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'm fine. I guess I slipped into a daydream or something. I must've just startled myself."

"Okay then, Shinji," replied Ritsuko, not sounding entirely convince, " just try and keep your mind focused from now on."

"Will do," replied Shinji, shuffling back and settling back into his seat, closing his eyes.

Once the screen went dead, Ritsuko turned to Maya, "Well, Maya?"

"Don't ask me how ma'am, but whatever he's been doing since the last test started has pushed his sync ratio up to ninety-eight per cent."

"What?" breathed Ritsuko in disbelief, turning to the monitor image of the three pilots.

"What does it mean, Sempai?" asked Maya.

"I don't know. I'm not truly sure what the outcome would be of someone breaching the synchronisation threshold and hitting, or even worse, exceeding, one hundred per cent," said, Ritsuko, genuinely worried about just what kind of situation was developing right under their noses.

"It should be a good thing though, right, Sempai? I mean, it could at least help Shinji fight better, couldn't it?" asked Maya uncertainly, not used to seeing her senior so confounded by a situation.

Ritsuko said nothing, now deep in thought, 'yes, I have no doubt about that, Maya.' Thought the doctor grimly to herself, 'What I'm doubting is who will be fighting at that point…'

'I gotta stop eating Asuka's cooking,' thought Shinji, feeling his heart rate settle, 'Misato's cooking is normally bad enough, but just what was with that mushroom soup she made?' Shinji contemplated as he felt the synchronisation peak out in his mind again.

'I try to say hi' the voice said. Shinji opening an eye and glancing around himself ,'and you say 'what the hell?' Where did you learn manners like that, young man?'

Shinji took several long, calming breaths, 'Okay, I'm not going to panic this time…'

'Good...' replied the voice happily.

"Because I know what you are…'

The hauntingly familiar female voice sounded gleeful, 'That's great!'

'You're a mushroom, aren't you…'

There was a long, long pause, and Shinji could feel the confusion resonating back, 'I'm a what?'

'Well, I refuse to be victim to any food-related hallucinations. I've got enough voices in my head as it is.'

There came a patient sigh, 'Shinji-Chan… I'm no hallucination. You know who I am, what I don't understand is why you're being so evasive.'

'No, No, No… You're not her.' Shinji thought, exercising great restraint to stop himself from shaking his head.

'Then what am I, a mushroom?' retorted the voice with exasperation and sarcasm.

'It's easier to swallow – no pun intended – than what you're trying to feed me.'

'Shinji…' the voice breathed out tiredly.

'Alright then,' began Shinji

'Yes?' sounded the voice with a note of expectation.

'If you're her, then…' Shinji paused to think on a non-internal-monologue level.

'Yes?' she pushed.

'How many memo groups are there in human DNA?'

'You're asking a woman with a first class honours degree in evolutionary biology a question from middle school general science?'

'You didn't answer-'

'-Forty,' she cut in with a note of smugness.

'Okay… then…what's the meaning of life?"

'Bacon'

'How is the meaning of life bacon?'

'Ever had a hangover?'

'Of course not.'

'Then you're obviously not qualified to debate the issue.'

'Okay, The square root of three million, four hundred and twenty-two thousand, five hundred and thirty-six?'

'One thousand, eight hundred and fifty,' she replied without hesitation.

Shinji blinked, 'Really?'

'Yup… Seriously, when it comes to sums I'm like Rain Man...only a woman…in a giant robot.'

'What's the weather like in Tunisia?'

There was a pause, 'What?'

'Don't you know?'

'Of course I don't.'

'Ah hah, caught you!'

'how on earth do you expect me to know that, either way?' she demanded.

Shinji shrugged his shoulders 'I dunno, my cell phone does, for some reason I thought you might too.'

Shinji could've sworn he heard the voice facepalm itself.

'Shinji!' The voice groaned.

Shinji's tone changed instantly, becoming quiet, slightly thick with emotion, 'I'm sorry, I just wanted to hear your voice some more,' he said, trying with great restraint not to shed any tears, 'Hello, mother… how've you been?'

Shinji felt the smile on the source of the voice, 'I'm fine, little one… And, thank you…'

'Thank me? What for?'

Yui's voice softened, 'for calling to me… I've been so desperate to be with you for so long… You've come so far without me. I've missed you so much…'

'Come on, we can't go getting all emotional here. What would the NERV guys say?'

Yui choked a laugh, 'I have a few ideas, though judging from that image shooting through your mind you seem to imagine it involving three men in black suits banging on your door.'

'You're reading my mind?' Shinji asked, shocked and suddenly fighting to control what thoughts went through his head.

'Only the best bits,' Yui replied cheekily, as if it were a consolation.

Shinji was not consoled, 'Gyah! You're incorrigible, you know that?'

'hmm, like mother like son, I guess. You've been developing your 'incorrigibility' lately too, it seems.'

'Only to cause the downfall of NERV and Seele from within and prevent the destruction of all mankind, you know, nothing serious. At least I'm turning in all my homework on time…'

Yui chuckled softly, 'It seems you've become gutsy too, you're kind of like your father in that way…'

'I'll take that as a compliment,' muttered Shinji.

'Don't worry, little one, It'll all be over soon. Just wait a little longer, I promise. Everything's going to be okay…' whispered Yui comfortingly.

'I know…' Shinji began, pausing to decide if he should 'say' the next part. He decided to bite the bullet, 'I won't let it go his way… You know that, don't you?'

Shinji could somehow see his mother's weak smile in his mind, 'I know that, son. Don't worry, I'm on your side, I always have been, and I always will be. That's what moms are for, after all.'

Shinji smiled widely, 'Thanks, mother.' he said, pausing to think on what to say next, 'so… are you always watching?'

'In what way?'

'You know, from Unit-01.'

'In a way, I'm always watching you. I can feel when you're in pain, angry, happy or scared no matter where you are. But if you're asking whether I watch as things go by through Unit-01's eyes, then yes, I do. I've got to keep myself busy somehow.'

'Umm… Always watching? Even last week when I was here-'

'-with Rei?' cut in Yui, her tone borderline mischievous.

'Well… Um…that is… heh heh.'

'Oh I'm so proud!' cooed Yui, 'My little boy's becoming a man!'

Shinji growled, finding her tone a tad too loving. He knew when he was being teased, 'Mom! Nothing happened!'

'Not until later on anyway…' Yui muttered, and Shinji imagined that, if she had a face, it would have a cat-like smirk on it right now.

'Wh- Stop reading my mind already!'

'I'm not,' she retorted, 'it's the only thing that's been going through your head ever since I mentioned her name.'

'N-no… It was just-'

'Rei's soft lips-

'Mother…'growled Shinji, grinding his teeth.

'-Rei's slender skin-'

'Mom…'

'-Rei's firm-'

'MOM!' Shinji barked as loudly as one could inside their own head, 'I can't believe you've got a Misato complex…'

'A What? Oh, yes, Dr Katsuragi's daughter. Such a nice young woman, I like her.'

'You would,' Shinji mentally grumbled, 'I bet you have an opinion on just about everyone…'

'Oh, pretty much…' Yui replied, nodding in precisely the same way that disembodied people can't.

-Z-

"Sempai, look!" exclaimed Maya, the doctor approaching a moment later, "Look at his brainwave patterns!" she breathed, pointing at the graph data displaying the pilot's ego borderline data.

'Please, no more mysteries,' sighed the doctor to herself, polishing her glasses as she bent down, "What's this?" she mumbled, replacing her spectacles to make sure she hadn't misread the information, "They're…fluctuating? It's as if there's…another pattern in there. And yet his synchronisation level is remaining steady." She felt the colour drain from her face slightly, "What the hell is happening to him?"

She then dared to add 'or should I say to them?' mentally. She leaned slightly closer to her assistant, "Maya, don't tell anyone about this… That's an order."

The lieutenant glanced at her Sempai, and then nodded once silently.

-Z-

At the same time, in the non-too cosy area at the bottom of the shaft of Central Dogma.

Gohan's eyes traced over the huge steel form known somewhat grimly as 'Heavens Door'.

"This is it…" he whispered, pausing to regard the sign which kindly informed any trespassers that they would be shot on sight or be locked up for the rest of their days.

Or both.

"Okay, now let's just see how this works," lamented Gohan as he positioned the scouter over his right ear. He did his best to ignore the tinge of discomfort that came felt from wearing a device that he had most commonly seen on the faces of people who'd tried to kill him in the past. He aimed the green screen in the direction of the overly imposing and complex locking mechanism to the right of the door.

"Right," Gohan recanted, doing his best to remember off the top of his head, "Three quick pushes for interface mode; one to cycle between targets; then double press to initiate action…simple enough, I hope…" A few button pushes later, a thick yellow line encircled the large locking mechanism on the green screen. He then double pressed the button afterwards, standing back as the device whirred and worked to transmit the required security codes.

The lock's display fluctuated as if experiencing an error. An instant later the scouter completed the lock override and the display blinked to a large green 'Open', the security device having been tricked into thinking that Commander Ikari's access card and security code had just been entered.

Gohan sidestepped left until he was directly in front of the middle of the door as the great heaving mass of steel opened before him.

The Saiyan took a calming breath as the door finished opening. He quickly entered, turning about to close and lock the entryway behind him.

Gohan decided to now look around, having been apprehensive to even glance at what NERV would go to such lengths to hide so deep under the earth. It was a glance at the ground, followed by a circling glance at the walls that showed the general greatness of the room. This was the room the Angels were after, the most defended and hidden room on the planet, and it indeed had an air of finality; the floor itself ending in a platform over a lake of LCL, as if all roads lead and ended in this one place. He then glanced up at the far wall…and at what lay waiting for man at the world's beginning and end…

Gohan took a sharp intake of breath, feeling like his heart had just jumped into his throat. He scowled as he switched into an immediate defensive posture, eyes locked on the giant white form looming over him.

The Saiyan teen allowed himself to regain some lost oxygen, never taking his eyes from those engraved into the mask attached to the giant's face. He made slow left and right beeline towards it as he calmed down, a morbid curiosity overcoming him once he was certain that the great hulk was indeed dormant.

He glanced up at the mask affixed to its face, wondering what identity was hidden just behind that plate, if any...

Using as little ki as possible, Gohan levitated straight upwards, hovering around to the left and right behind the form's head. He regarded the attachments digging into the back of 'her' head and then down at the multitude of human torsos protruding out from its severed midsection. He felt revulsion as he regarded the crucified form, 'I've never seen anything so…horrible.'

Gohan took a moment to look down at where the excess LCL bled down out of Lilith's back and into the pool around her. He had to fight the urge to throw up from both the sight and the raw stench of blood that held thick in the air, this made all the worse by his enhanced Saiyan sense of smell. The tech in disguise dropped back onto the platform below, turning back once more to face the form.

"So… Lilith, I presume?" said Gohan out loud with a frown. He almost winced at how sharply his quiet voice severed the gaunt quiet that was in the air; the place really was as quiet as a grave.

The Saiyan's face remained serious as he studied the crucified form, pacing back and forth across the square floor, "Is it alive, or isn't it?" Gohan whispered; baffled at the ki the legless form was giving off. "It's as if its life force were…frozen…no, that's not right. No, dormant is closer. No… waiting. Yes, that's it. You're waiting, aren't you? Waiting for him to return to you…" he hypothesised quietly as he stopped dead in front of the suspended Second Angel. He shook his head in disbelief, "And they think they can control a power like this? Vegeta was right; they are a bunch of fools." He said, almost sneering at the thought before walking off toward the elevator platform in the distance.

-Z-

Gohan lost track of how long he had been in the elevator as it descended further and further into the depths of the planet. He wondered idly in silence why they had modelled the glass elevator and its shaft to resemble a long strand of DNA. NERV really did have a macabre sense of theatrics, thought Gohan.

'Just how far underground have I come?' mulled the Saiyan, trying to calculate how deep he was below the earth's surface and, considering he had already come all the way to the base of Central Dogma, which was in itself in a base deep below the ground, he wouldn't be shocked if the elevator had to be specially designed to take the pressure.

'I must be miles deep by now… and just who did they hire to decorate this place? It's like a cross between a lift and a museum exhibit,' he wondered, not being entirely aware of the fact that much of the structure of the Geo-front – or Lilith's Egg as it's true name goes— had been as it was for thousands, if not millions of years.

Suddenly the elevator jerked to a halt, revealing a long and dimly lit corridor.

Gohan exhaled a tired breath, 'dark and scary...why is it not surprising me?' he thought with exasperation, grudgingly leaving the elevator, but not before sending it back to the top level –if someone entered Terminal Dogma while he was down there, he didn't want to make his presence obvious due to the lift being at the bottom, as opposed to waiting at the top for an occupant.

The teen's Saiyan vision allowed him to easily make out the details around him in the dim light as he walked down the darkened corridor.

He stopped at the first set of doors, which was opposite another pair on the facing wall, 'Right, let's see what's behind door number one,' he thought to himself, retraining his scouter on the door and unsealing it before stepping inside.

'This whole place is like a cross between a vault and a house of horrors,' contemplated Gohan grimly as he entered the unlit room, "They should charge admission to the public. They'd have the adults running off screaming for their mothers," he muttered out loud, surveying the new area.

The Saiyan walked forward onto a balcony, overlooking what appeared to be a vast dumping ground for what seemed to be copies of EVA Unit-00 in various stages of development, "I defer to my previous statement…"

He frowned in morbid curiosity, regarding the various husks, 'It's like some giant EVA morgue…'

Gohan glanced around. The room appeared as though it had been retrofitted for its current haphazard-looking purpose, as the wall still had written on it in long-faded letters 'Primary Testing Chamber'. He also noticed there were empty spaces lining the balcony, spaces which appeared to have been for banks of monitors and computer equipment. "So this was where Unit-01 was born…"

Satisfied his target wasn't here, and also desperately wanting to escape this chamber of dead monsters and lost mothers, Gohan turned about and left the room to continue his search.

He entered the room across the corridor. He cocked an eyebrow as he realised it was little more than a disused laboratory crossed with a hospital room, 'Why would they lock up rooms like this? It's completely empty,' he contemplated curiously, "And why does that only seem to freak me out all the more," he mumbled out loud, leaning back out of the room and locking it again, his spine chilling for the umpteenth time in as many moments.

Gohan decided to keep going onwards until something at least looked promising. He chose to walk as far as he could, right to the end of the long corridor, and work systematically backwards. He guessed anything of note would probably be concealed deepest.

The first set of doors he came to were another double set, similar in design to the ones that had led into the EVA graveyard. He also noted that the door had what appeared to be a much more upgraded locking mechanism than the earlier ones.

Swallowing a gulp, Gohan unlocked the doors, which then slid open. He paused on the threshold. The room was perfectly circular, dark and apparently empty. He noticed the walls were all made of a transparent material, with whatever was beyond it being concealed in the darkness.

Reaching up to his scouter, Gohan prepared to trigger whatever lighting mechanisms may be behind the glass.

His hand froze.

Gohan realised he was shaking: something was wrong, and it had to do with whatever was in the darkness behind that glass.

Irrational fear tightened in the Saiyan's chest. He could sense something, multiple somethings… just barely, all behind that glass surrounding him. Gohan didn't know what might be there, but for some reason he found that he really didn't want to look at it directly.

The Saiyan turned quietly about and left the room and, just as they doors slid shut, in the darkness of that room, a muffled, soulless giggle resonated from within the emptiness.

A bolt of primal terror struck Gohan's very core as his hand fumbled desperately to lock the room back up once more.

His hand went to grasp his chest, suddenly realising he was out of breath, and also that a cold sweat was running down his brow.

Steeling himself, Gohan backed away and carried on, but still, he found himself keeping that door fixed in his peripheral vision for as long as he could until it was out of sight.

A mechanical resonation became audible in the gaunt quiet. The noise, Gohan realised, was coming from the next set of doors, whose outline he noticed had a distinctly blue hue to it, indicating light inside.

Gohan unlocked the doors, these hissing open as a hermetic seal was released. The Saiyan found himself hit by a blast of cold air from the inside. He immediately hugged his arms around himself, 'It's like a meat freezer…' He thought, entering the frosty chamber. The room was indeed illuminated.

In the far right corner was what oddly appeared to be a hospital bed. There was an attachment on it which looked the ones you'd see for supporting an arm when donating blood. There were multiple surgical implements on a tray next to it also. Gohan passed by this with only a slight curiosity, wondering who would want to be operated on in such low temperatures, and why only their hand.

The Saiyan moved to the source of the light in the room, which in this case took the form of a three-foot tall pedestal sat just in the centre of the floor by the rear wall. The light was coming from a blue rim of neon installed into the pedestal's top, and Gohan felt the room become colder as he approached, realising it also must have been the source of the cold temperature. What was more important was what rested atop it:

A biohazard containment case.

"And what have we here?" asked Gohan as he approached the pedestal, pausing to pull his uniform even tighter around himself against the cold. He blew hot air into his hands to get some circulation back before reaching down and undoing the clasps on the case, exposing the contents.

As satisfied smile pulled at the Saiyan's lips as he regarded the contents, "Pay dirt…"

I guess what they say is true,' thought Gohan to himself, 'It's not the size that counts…'

He shook his head, staring down at the embryonic form of Adam for a few more seconds until, satisfied, he closed the case and resealed it. He quickly left the room, locking it back up behind him.

The teen Saiyan basked in the comparatively warmer air for a few seconds, mulling on what he found. 'They wouldn't have set that room up if they were only intending to keep Adam stored for just a few days,' thought Gohan, 'I think it's safe to say the Commander is going to be keeping it here until nearer the end of the Angel attacks.'

Turning about, Gohan began walking back toward the elevator back up to Central Dogma; he felt that this was more than enough for one day.

Unfortunately, he was forced to stop once more as a pair of footsteps became audible, heading slowly toward him from within the dark further down the corridor.

Glancing around in a moment of panic, Gohan slipped quickly into the shadows of a corner and out of sight as the form approached…

-Z-

Kaji's eyes were glancing left and right as he headed deeper into the forbidden depths of Terminal Dogma. In his right hand he gripped a service issue pistol, the weapon's presence offering scant comfort –being forced to pass by that white giant every time he entered never seemed to get any easier.

Suddenly he stopped. It looked as if he were doing so merely to get his bearings. With speed one wouldn't think the laid back man capable of, he swung about and levelled his firearm into the shadows behind him. He held it there for a minute, slowly reaching into his other pocket for his flashlight.

With a twist of the Maglite's top, he switched it on and illuminated the shadows…

There was nothing there.

Kaji's eyes narrowed as he frowned into the empty space. He had always had a sixth sense about certain things, one had to in order to survive in his line of business, and he could've sworn that he wasn't alone, and that somebody was watching him.

The triple agent exhaled a breath and put his flashlight away, rubbing a few beads of cold sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. 'Must be my nerves, I've gotta calm down. Death by high blood pressure isn't one I had envisioned.'

-Z-

With a silent blur, Gohan skidded to a halt near the lift platform. He had barely managed the burst of speed when Kaji turned his back, zigzagging his way all the way back to the elevator at a blinding pace.

His heart was racing, and it wasn't entirely the sudden dash which had caused it. It seemed this place was out to give him a heart attack. He sent a prayer of thanks that Kaji hadn't been as foresighted as he and sent the elevator back to the surface. The Saiyan stepped quickly aboard and hit the button for the top level.

Gohan leaned back against the transparent elevator wall as it ascended, his mind on the man who he had just barely evaded, "Ryoji Kaji… I knew he was an agent with some kind of link with Seele, but I didn't know he had such easy access to Terminal Dogma. I wonder what his true agenda is.'

Needless to say, Gohan was more than relieved once the imposing bulk of Heavens Door was safely locked shut behind him, putting an end to his first, and what he hoped to be last, trip into the bowels of NERV's true existence…

The Mystic Saiyan entered the nearby surface elevator and pushed the button leading to the geo-front surface, desperate just to see the light of day again…

-Z-

'Why do I feel light-headed?' enquired Shinji as the test continued.

'Our minds are closing together' said Yui, 'While we are synchronised like this it's almost as if your physical form is me, and my form is you, and yet both of us occupy our actual physical bodies at the same time. It's… rather confusing. Why, Does is upset you?'

'No, nothing like that,' replied Shinji, 'I was just curious, that's all. It's very…pleasant,' he said, suddenly feeling a slight swell of warm approval in the connection around him at the reply.

'I'm glad…' replied Yui in her soft tone.

'The test is almost over. I wonder what my score is this time.'

'I could tell you right now if you'd like.'

'Okay,' said Shinji, a little curious to see if she could actually do it, 'Surprise me with your wisdom.'

Yui sounded like she was grinning, 'hmm, okay. Your, or should I say our, current synchronisation ratio is now at a very healthy ninety-eight point four two five per cent.'

'I'm up another four points,' thought Shinji, his tone almost concerned.

'You're worried what will happen if you reach towards one hundred per cent, aren't you?' said Yui.

'I think… I am. I don't know what it will mean if I do. Do you know what will happen?'

'I'm afraid I don't, Shinji...' said Yui in that consoling, yet reassuring voice that only a mother seemed able to pull off, 'But I won't let anything bad happen to you. Just know that, okay?'

'I will,' replied Shinji, 'besides, mom, I think it might just be an interesting experience,' he smiled internally, 'It's time to go. I'll see you later. Well, umm, that is I'll…you know what I mean.'

Yui laughed, 'Yes, stay safe, son.'

'I'll try…' he replied, his tone holding a note of mischief.

"Okay, people. That's us for the day, good work everyone."

Shinji's eyes blinked open at the sound of Ritsuko's voice over the comm. system.

"So, any news then?" asked Asuka, stretching her arms upward.

"Well, your ratio's up a couple of points and holding steady. Well done, Asuka" Ritsuko commented, "you too, Shinji, you're still progressing well. You're up just over four points from…from your previous score."

Shinji sighed in his usual way, "A good day for all, I suppose." 'pfft, lucky guess, mom…'

"Indeed," chimed Asuka as she climbed out of her test plug and headed off to get changed.

-Z-

Shinji walked out of the changing room, shaking his hair free of excess water, almost running square into the waiting form of Rei Ayanami. And he only realised a second too late that flailing to a halt on a wet changing room floor was not the wisest thing to do from a safety perspective. Needless to say, he wasn't in the least bit surprised when he lost his footing and ended up flat on his back.

'Oh, look; another unfamiliar ceiling…' he thought from his position sprawled out on the tiled floor.

"And down I go again…" grumbled Shinji as Rei stepped forward to offer a hand back up.

The pilot blushed as he regained his footing and composure, Rei seeming completely unaffected by his discomfort.

"S-sorry about that, Rei…" Shinji said with an uneasy smile as he rubbed his head.

"There is no need to apologise, Shinji. The fault was mine, it would have been more proper to announce my presence. I shall endeavour to do better in future," said Rei, inclining her head slightly as Shinji focused his attention fully on her.

"Still… Well, anyway, what can I do for you?"

"I have been thinking," began the First child, "we do not spend much time together; is this not odd considering the nature of our apparent relationship, Shinji?" enquired Rei in her usual, yet thoughtful voice.

Shinji glanced off to the side in thought as he spoke, "Yeah…" admitted Shinji sheepishly, "I guess we don't get much time together, with the exception of school and these tests."

In fact it was true, Shinji and Rei had spent absolutely nil time together with those scant exceptions. "But, hey!" said Shinji, "We've got no tests tomorrow, and since its Saturday why don't we…umm, do something together…or something?" stammered Shinji with all the grace one might expect of a teenager his age asking a girl out on their first date. His fists were rigid at his sides, unsure as to why it made him so nervous just to ask out his own girlfriend.

"That would be most… Enjoyable." Rei commented, the last part being an almost seductive whisper as she passed him the briefest of smiles.

Shinji was now blushing furiously, even more so than expected, 'why does she have such an intense effect on me,' he wondered, observing as Rei suddenly paused, as if thinking on something.

"What? What's wrong, Rei?" Shinji stammered as Rei abruptly turned round, still gripped to his hand as she regarded him intently, as if waiting on him to take action.

Shinji hid his shock when he noticed the small blush on her pale cheeks as she opened her mouth to say something. She held back however; held back from the request that had been on her mind for days now…

'What does she-' began Shinji, as suddenly a suspicion hit him, 'No way… Does she want to- No… yes, I think she does…'

Shinji debated this to himself as Rei waited patiently, and it was clear now what she was waiting on, 'Come on, Shinji…' he mentally egged to himself, 'You can do this…you can do this. Being a bit bold never hurt anybody… But what if I'm not right? I think I'm right…but what if I'm not….yaargh, screw it, I'm going for it!'

Rei blinked unsurely as she mustered the strength she needed to take the initiative, yet was stopped dead when Shinji brought his left hand up and softly brushed his fingertips over her rapidly heating cheek. He slid the hand down behind her back and gently drew her non-resistant body closer, her head tilting up as he gently moved closer and pushed his lips over hers…

Rei let out a soft whimper of pleasure in the form of a small "mphp!" as she gripped her arms behind her boyfriend's back.

Shinji was in no fitter a state as Rei gripped onto him tighter and suddenly probed her tongue into his mouth, meeting his own, matching his effort and deepening their embrace to a level neither could've imagined possible…

It took a second for Shinji's higher brain functions to battle their way back up to a level to where they could communicate a warning, 'Shinji! This is your brain speaking! I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you are currently French kissing Rei… in the middle of NERV headquarters! Kindly cease offending action immediately!' Shinji's eyes slowly opened to find Rei very immersed in their activity. He slowly, and with massive reluctance, managed to force himself to gently push away.

Rei's eyes opened as Shinji broke the bond they were engaged in. She looked questioningly at her partner, "Umm…perhaps we should pick this up at a more appropriate time and place, Rei…" Shinji whispered, swallowing a gulp as he felt the echo of that softness fresh on his lips.

"Yes…" replied Rei simply, her voice little more than a breathless monotone whisper. Shinji couldn't help but notice that her cheeks were blushing a shade of red that one would've thought impossible for someone with the albino girl's complexion. They backed, or to be more accurate staggered, away from one another, turning about and heading off in opposite direction.

'And boldness prevails…' Shinji thought with a note of gleeful triumph, smiling widely to himself as he walked off down the corridor.

"Good evening, Maya…" said the pilot absentmindedly, the tech in question frozen to the spot and looking more than a little slack-jawed.

Shinji managed another four steps before his sub-conscious sent an emergency stop command to his feet.

The pilot squeaked to a halt, his brain kicking back in a second later as he turned rigidly about to face the lieutenant.

He heaved a long sigh, 'God, at least no one else knows. Small consolation, I guess.'

"Good evening, Shinji… How are you?" Maya replied, her tone forcibly void of any surprise, as if she were ignoring a herd of elephants stomping around the room.

"Oh great, fine, excellent," Shinji stammered, more than a little hastily.

"I'll bet you are," Freudian-slipped Maya under her voice.

"Come again?"

"Nothing!" She snapped back, quickly correcting herself.

"Yeah… well, umm…" Shinji began.

"I know the drill," sighed Maya, "It didn't happen, that was just some bizarre, passing hallucination."

"That's the size of it…"

"One hell of a hallucination," she muttered again.

"What?"

"Yeah, well…" said the lieutenant hastily, deciding to cut her losses, "You're probably too tired to talk anymore, so I'll just leave you be…"

"Y-yeah…well I'll catch you later, ma'am."

"Right…" Maya said as she headed off, reclaiming the clipboard she had dropped in shock from the floor before back, "And, Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time…"

"Hmm?"

"Get a room," and with that, she smirked, spun round and marched off...

Shinji stood dumbfounded in the hallway for a few seconds before laughing out loud and heading onwards, a slightly smug spring in his step.

-Z-

It was in the elevator upwards that Shinji bumped into a familiar black-haired technician, "Hey there, Gohan," said Shinji as the Saiyan entered the elevator, a pair of overly large sandwiches in each hand.

"mpmh," he mumbled around his food, bending down to press the floor button with his nose, "hey, Shinji. How wash your tesht?" he slurred, swallowing down half the sub in one go.

"Extremely odd…" replied Shinji, "What about you? How was your little trip into NERV's basement?"

Gohan gulped down his food before answering, "First of all, I am never, ever, going down there alone again!" he said, pausing to shudder, "I've fought aliens and bio-engineered monsters less scary than some of that stuff."

Shinji took a step forward, "What did you see? Did you find it?"

And so Gohan gave a brief explanation of his somewhat unpleasant journey to the depths of Terminal Dogma.

Shinji was silent in thought for a minute before talking, "Well it seems we at least have the full picture now…"

"Yeah, one hell of an ugly picture at that," Gohan said, again with a small shudder.

"And Kaji," began Shinji, biting the tip of a fingernail in thought, "So he is a triple agent then. That's one dangerous occupation, all things considered."

"I'll have to keep my eyes on him then," said Gohan.

Shinji laid back against the elevator wall with his hands behind his head, "At least we have the last piece on the board now. Now all we have to do is sit back and wait for a while to see how they move…"

"Before we have to intervene," Gohan added, "Well, I'm ready pretty much at any time. Just give the word and I'll end it in one."

"An army on the outside and a Trojan horse on the inside…all is going according to plan," commented Shinji quietly, his tone disturbingly like the only other living member of his family.

Gohan quirked up an eyebrow, "A Trojan what?"

Shinji glanced at him, then simply shook his head, "Never mind…"

-Z-

"What do you think it means, Ikari?" enquired Fuyutski as Dr Akagi went over the brain pattern analysis data from the sync tests.

"It means that the Third Child may not have been telling us quite as much as he truly knew," replied Gendo, his eyes still flicking over the graph printouts, "We must have this mystery solved as quickly as possible before the situation spirals beyond our control. Fuyutski, have-" Gendo turned and stopped mid-sentence, noticing the sub-commander already walking out his office.

"Don't worry, Ikari," sighed the old man, "I'm already doing it…"

'I'm starting to think Shinji was right; why doesn't he just call him here. Ikari, you're a cold man…'

And so Commander Fuyutski left the office, pulling out his phone and pressing the number for Section 2…

-Z-

Shinji laid on his back on the couch in deep thought. Days had become so eventful and bittersweet lately. There were so many new revelations, so many things he knew he had not yet completely accounted for in his long-term plans.

All of them personal

Between EVA and the Saiyans, Shinji knew he could handle everything else. And then there was his mother…

'She says I've called to her, awakened her. What does she mean? Talk about a surreal conversation. Well at least I've avoided any more of Misato's interrogation. It seems she's forgotten about her little suspicions… I hope.'

"Hey, Shinji!" Asuka suddenly shouted, startling the young pilot back into focus

"W-what? What is it, Asuka?"

The redhead looked dejected for a second, "What's wrong with you lately anyway, Shinji? You've been becoming quieter and quieter ever since we first met."

"Quieter?"

"Well not quieter. I'd say…scarce; you're barely ever around, and when you are, you're either laying on your back in perpetual silence or just plain dying to get out of the room from me."

Shinji turned to face the Second Child as he sat up," It's not anything like that, Asuka," he said, "I like you, I really do. It's just… I've been…" Shinji's eyes fell, trailing once more off into silence.

"What?" Asuka prompted, tilting her head to keep the Third's eyes in view.

"…Distracted."

Asuka raised an eyebrow, "By what? The First Child?" And Shinji sensed it was more of an accusation than a question.

Shinji blushed furiously at that remark, "R-Rei, no! Nothing like that…"

"Uh huh…" said Asuka, her tone dubious, "I've seen you two at lunch together. You two have become so close she's effectively become the fourth stooge. Any closer and you'd be lip-locked. You seem to always have time for Rei."

Shinji tried his best to force the lip comment from his head, "I said it's not like that. It's more like…she allows me to confide in her, that's all," and no, this wasn't the entire truth, alright…it was a blatant lie, but he really wasn't sure if it was time to reveal his relationship with Rei to anyone else yet.

"What?" demanded Asuka, "and you can't confide in me? The one you live with; the one who's usually never more than one room from you?"

"What?" snapped Shinji back, "Without you either calling me dim-witted, stupid, an idiot, a pervert or just plain weak just because I might have something to worry about? Be serious, Asuka…" said Shinji, flopping back down and turning away again.

Asuka however was now looking even more dejectedly than ever, "But… I wouldn't… If you just asked me to…" She mumbled, feeling worse and worse as she couldn't even find words to say that she would believe herself, "Try me…" she finally managed to get out, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"What?" Shinji blinked, rolling back over to glance back at the girl on the floor.

"I said try me!" she shouted, clenching her eyes shut, "Just…talk to me… I've got no one else to, except Hikari…"

Shinji's eyes widened for a brief second, a pang of guilt and pity stinging him as he realised he had been virtually ignoring her with the exception of when they were piloting. This coupled with the fact she only really had one friend that Shinji knew about only made that worse, "Umm, what do you want me to talk about?" he asked unsurely.

"I don't know," she snapped back, "just talk to me about something like you do with Ayanami; confide in me. I do have ears you know."

"Okay, but I'm really not sure what to-"

"Just talk to me…" she repeated in a whisper, her eyes closed, and Shinji could tell her resolve was weakening.

'Confide in her?' Shinji asked himself, 'About what? There's nothing I can think of that's not classified way beyond her level that I can-' Shinji's thought process was rudely interrupted by a familiar

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Asuka winced in sympathy opening her eyes to look at Shinji, whose concern for her had switched to exasperated rage, "You want a depressed, moaning and frustrated Shinji to talk to?" he asked, standing up heading out the room, "Give me half an hour…"

Asuka's eyes followed Shinji towards the door as he slipped his shoes on and headed to the doorway, looking back once more, "In fact, I've got just the subject!" he called back, opening the door to reveal a trio of black-suited men, "Patricide: the underrated pastime!"

-Z-

The door closed behind Shinji, his shoulders sagging as he looked up to regard his usual three-man escort, "Chief Hideki, Mister Kaido, Mister Sainoji…" he said, nodding to each in turn, pausing to realise how sad it was that he'd taken the time to memorise the name of his usual trio of hired goons.

"Mister Ikari…" Hideki, the Eurasian man with the blonde hair replied, nodding respectively.

"Just Shinji will do…" he sighed in response, "Well, come on, let's get the usual stuff out the way first," he said, beckoning for Hideki to proceed.

He smiled weakly, "Commander Ikari requests the pleasure of your attendance."

Shinji sighed, walking along with the man, "At least you tried to make it sound nice this time. Well, come on. Let's go see what the old man wants this time. Probably something pointless and overcomplicated; Oh, I dunno, that man…he'd get dizzy if he tried to walk in a straight line." The man chuckled as they boarded the elevator, "By the way, do you guys have a union?"

-Z-

From his vantage point on a nearby building, Gohan; dressed in the traditional green and black attire of the great Saiyaman (complete with sunglasses and bandanna), had taken sentinel over the Third Child.

He a distinctly bad feeling about what was on the horizon…

-Z-

To be continued…

-XA-

[A/N] And that's chapter 13, special guest starring Yui Ikari as the voice of Evangelion Unit-01. I hope you enjoyed this instalment; next one might take about the same length of time unfortunately. We'll just have to see how it pans out. Anyways, liked it, disliked it, any particular opinions you feel need to be raised, let me know. Until next time, when we plunge right into:

Chapter 15: Light and Dark