Notes:

This chapter contains some heavy discussion of beliefs and points of view. A character I think most readers like at this point argues one side, and the other by a character I am basically writing to be disliked. I am not endorsing one view or another by giving those views to either character, those are just the views of the characters and they are more reflective of their life events than an inherent

That said, Shinji is a bit of a jerk and Asuka is really no better in this chapter. Re gets her own bitchy moment.

Warning: like, heavy stuff man. But its just like, the character's opinions, so don't freak out…man.

Chapter 21

The inside of the entry plug was dark, lit only by dim red emergency lights. They were stuck for now and would need to wait for extraction. Asuka Langely Soryu sat in the pilots throne. Before her, buoyant in the pressure of the plug, was a boy who called himself a god. It had been silent for a while now and Asuka was becoming uncomfortable.

Shinji floated in the LCL with his legs cross and his hands on his knees. His eyes were closed and he was putting extraordinary effort into trying to relax. In previous battles he had passed out or lost concentration soon afterwards. Either way his body left the peak state, or shiva state as he thought of it, soon after. Today was proving different and he was trying everything he could think of to get the accelerated state to go away.

He was not in pain or uncomfortable or anything like that. It was just so incredibly boring to do nothing when your perception is fast enough to watch a bullet fly or a fly's wings beat. Shinji also knew he tended to be really hungry afterwards and was worried about what would happen if he held it for a long time. Mostly though, he was bored.

"So… that was pretty intense, huh?"

She was speaking again. Shinji was initially annoyed but decided that any stimulation was better than nothing. It could even make help him to forget his body and calm down. He opened his eyes and looked at the white girl a yard away from him, sitting in the pilot's chair.

"Yes."

"Is it always like that?" She asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"This was different."

"How so?"

"With the first, I barely knew what I was doing."

"I know what you mean, its easy to forget training under pressure."

"No, you clearly do not know what I mean. I had received no training at that point, nor any instruction on how to fight the angel."

"No way, that's impossible, I watched the tape of that battle. I mean you had a start up problem but once the eva was active you did great!"

"The problem was not with the evangelion. I was a fool and thought I was to go through life without hurting others. A friend spoke to me and explained to me that I must fight the battle, as my brother once explained to his dearest friend. It was then that I began to fight."

"Oh… um, I didn't know commander Ikari has other children, besides you know Rei but that's different."

"He does not."

"But you said your brother..."

"Do you know the story of Arjuna?"

"Uuuuh no. Is that in the Old Testament? I mean I will admit I'm not super good with some of the prophets and…"

Oh for fuck's sake she was going to start rambling again.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you know, the old testament? The bible?"

"The Christian holy book?"

"Yeah."

"This story was ancient when Jerusalem was mud huts and a garbage dump." He snapped and snickered when she gasped. He didn't know when the bible was written, but he did know, in the he-was-there-but-not-him sort of way when Krishna spoke to Arjuna and it was a reaaaaaaaally long time ago. He had not met many white people in his life before now, but digging at this girl was fun.

"Arjuna was a warrior who ended up having to fight another branch of his own family. He did not want to kill his own kin and wished to quit the battle. His best friend, whose name was Krishna but was really my brother Vishnu in human form, told him why he had to fight, starting with the purpose of the universe and the gods and bringing it all the way back down to Arjuna in that very moment. My friend, Vasuki, spoke to me in the evangelion that day and gave me the first reminder of who I really am. That was when I began to fight."

There was silence in the plug for a moment. Asuka moved as if she meant to speak several times but stopped. After several minutes, or what felt like it as there was no perception of time in the plug, she spoke.

"What… the… fuck… are you talking about?"

Shinji cocked his head, brow furrowed.

"I know who Vishnu is, he was one of the Indian gods. Had an elephant head or something. Do you actually think you are the brother of a god? So what, divine father human mother, think you are Heracles or something? Who do you think you are?"

"Didn't you hear me before the battle began."

"Yeah, I prayed and so did you."

"You prayed, I introduced myself to the angel. I am Shiva, the destroyer, and I have taken human form to destroy the angels and save this planet."

Her laughter was annoying.

"Oooooookay, I get it now. You're like one of those adrenaline junkies right? Like, you get all high when you are in danger or something like that and you feel like you are king of the world afterwards. So is Shiva your call sign then? In the air force my callsign was crusader, so you know I passed it along to my eva here." She said and patted the wall of the plug.

Playing back his own words in his head, Shinji realized what he said could have sounded incredulous. He considered what display might convince her of his truthfulness then came to the conclusion he did not care. Belief or lack of belief in his identity and his power was inconsequential.

Shinji knew little about religion. He even supposed he knew more about Hinduism than Buddhism or Shinto by virtue of being part of it, but it honestly wasn't much more. He had gotten the feeling that gods must really enjoy being told how wonderful they are, but he didn't really get it.

"Um… Since I don't know how long we are going to, like, be stuck in here, and I know we just kinda got to say hi at chapel before this all happened, why don't we talk about ourselves? We are going to be working together so it would help if we could be friends, right?"

Shinji kept silent for now. He held onto some hope that the gaijin would shut up if he did not respond.

"Okay, so I'll start. So I got picked up for the program when I was really little, along with Ayanami. I dunno how well you've gotten to know her but she is just a little shy. I heard about her having a freak out a few years ago but I'm sure she is fine now and…"

"Rei is my girlfriend, I know her well."

"Oh…" Asuka responded, a little disappointed. She hadn't dated at her age of course and she wondered if the commander chaperoned their time together or maybe Misato. She was happy for Rei though, even if fourteen was a little young to have a boyfriend.

More silence passed. Asuka figured Shinji must be a little shy himself under all the bravado and tried to move it on again.

"So, um, my mama wasn't around and daddy has been really busy the last few years, but I've been with Master Kaji since I was seven and he is really the best family. I finished highschool a few years ago and just finished my bachelors last year. I am working on my master's thesis, still at the start though. I am a captain in the UN Air Force, but its pretty much just because I'm an eva pilot. SO, um, what about you?"

She wasn't going to shut up. May as well steer the conversation.

"I don't wish to discuss my childhood. My life since I began to fight the angels is all that concerns me." It was a lie, but he told himself it in the hopes it will help it to become true.

"Oh, um…"

"What do you study?"

"My bachelors was in mathematics, I am writing my thesis on quantum computer science. I know I know, you are probably thinking the same thing all the professors said…" Asuka said and waited for Shinji to put voice to it but continued on when it became clear he had no intention of doing so.

"So math and computer science tends to draw a lot of people away from God because they start seeing the world as totally reasonable and why look to God when you can understand everything is numbers, ya know? Me though, I see numbers and math as God's language and when we program we are creating the same way God did. Infinitely more simple system of course, even with a quantum computer, even with a cluster system like the MAGI. Now when you tackle a system like the evangelions, with traditional silicon systems integrated into synthetic nerve tissue, the problems grow with the processing power…"

She began to ramble again, but Shinji let her go. He still couldn't get his body to stop and slow down, but as she switched to English it all became white noise that he could at least meditate to.

"Hey wannabe, where ya goin'?" Viral yelled over the din of the flight deck.

Ryoji Kaji had just entered a UN fleet helicopter while several sailors loaded a long crate into the passenger cabin.

"Got a delivery to make to Commander Ikari! Tell Misato we will hook up when you all catch up!" Kaji said and waved goodbye. Viral returned his gesture with a one finger salute.

"Oh Damn, damn, damn, damn the fishmen!"

BLAM

"Bug-eyed ass-ugly cabrones!"

BLAM BLAM

"Beneath steel by the ton, we'll civilize'em with a gun.

And return us to our beloved homes!"

Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara were with one of the clearing teams being flown around to clean up the remaining sea creatures. Every ship, deck by deck, bulkhead by bulkhead, they searched.

While thought relegated to history, boarding actions had resurged in the impact wars and so detachments of marines aboard Navy ships were reformed to fulfill their very original purpose. Special ammunition had been developed to dump energy on impact and not ricochet around the steel cabins.

"Okay everyone, second verse, same as the first!" The one eyed fourteen year called and banged twice on the next pressure hatch before another sailor grabbed the wheel to open it.

"Oooooh Damn, damn, damn, damn the fishmen!"

The boys' ears were probably burning as they sang, but they were having far too much fun to notice.

Ritsuko Akagi picked up the ringing phone on her desk. She was going over the reports on the latest angel that had been transmitted from the fleet.

"Science Division, Dr. Akagi speaking."

"Hey Rits, its me."

"Oh hey Misato, I heard the battle went well, you must be pleased."

"Yeah I didn't get a chance to watch the big show, too busy fighting the little ones."

"I am sure you did fine, you have experience with invading crabs after all."

"Bite me. I was down to one bullet before Shinji's friends bailed my ass out. That's actually what I am calling about. Give it to me straight Rits, whats the deal with Aida Kensuke and Suzuhara Toji?"

"NERV has no connection with either Mr. Aida or Mr. Suzuhara…"

"Okay, you know what Akagi? Its shit like this that makes me wonder if we are friends anymore. These two handle guns like the damn SEALs, wanna know how I know that? Cause the goddamn SEALs are onboard and they are comparing notes with them! Those two kids are out there with best of the fucking best special ops teams in the world cleaning up the last of these freaks. They didn't get that way playing video games. Now I want both their files on my desk by the time I get back, classification be damned!"

Meanwhile, Viral was beating back sailors at the telephone booths while he made his own call.

"Hey Ssem, can ya hear me?"

"Loud and clear, what do ya got?"

"Good news and bad news. Good news we got another dead angel. Bad news, that little fucker Ryoji Kaji was here."

"Oi vey, of course he shows."

"Gets better, he is the second child's teacher. He left this morning on a helo, so I bet you are going to be seeing him real soon."

"Yeah I'll keep an eye out. He say anything about, you know?"

"No, no mention of his master either. Suppose you are going to have to ask him yourself."

It was two days after the angel attack and the fleet was again underway. Some ships had lost enough crew and equipment that they would have been scuttled in the past. There were not enough dockyards in the world to build warships like they used to be though, so skeleton crews were put in place and equipment consolidated.

On one such ship, a hold had been given over to the NERV personnel. With the huge overhead doors open, Viral stood between Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu, one hand raised in the air. Asuka wore a slim fitting red outfit not unlike a jogging suit, a lowered hood swinging behind her as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Her hands were raised in fists in front of her and her hair was held back with a band. Shinji wore his uniform pants and a green t-shirt. He was simultaneously light on his feet and planted like a tree into the rubbery mat that covered the steel deck plating. His hands were raised, but open with fingers clawed.

Today was supposed to have been like Shinji's first day with Sinanju: breathing exercises and movement. But the damn gaijin had to turn everything into an argument. Viral had gotten tired of it and given in to her demands that they face off.

Oh well, thought Shinji, at least now I can put her in her place and she might shut up.

Asuka caught herself grinding her teeth as she waited for her barbaric looking new instructor to let them begin. Why did Kaji have to go and leave? Now she was stuck here with these two! Misato wouldn't even step in Viral was being mean and calling Master Kaji a fraud and an amateur. Who the heck was he to talk that way?!

She would show Viral though, and this arrogant little heathen who dared call himself a god. She thought the Japanese were supposed to be polite, but this jerk seemed like he was constantly on a power trip. Probably got coddled being Commander Ikari's son.

To Viral, it was simple. Let Shinji knock her a few good ones, calm her down, and then she will listen to him when he tries to fix what Kaji fucked up.

"Alright you two, this is sparing. Half speed, no killing each other. I will declare when its over, you got that?"

"Yes sensei!" They both replied. Asuka was growling like she was angry, Shinji was even, but loud enough for Viral to hear the frustration in his voice.

"Alright, on my go. Three… Two… One…"

"GO!" Came a voice from above. Viral looked up to see Misato standing on the edge of the enormous cargo hatch that currently served as their convertible ceiling. Her arms were crossed across her chest and she wore one of the navy's long winter coats around her shoulders, a habit she had picked up over the past two days.

Before he could think to stop them, the pilots were on the move. Asuka was charging forward at a dead run and led with a flying kick for Shinji's chest with her left leg. Shinji cupped his left hand and caught her heel. He twisted and swung his right hand around, fingers pointed in a knife hand to strike her on the thigh, just below the hip.

Between the twist and the pin point strike, she fell face down on the mat, yelping in pain. Shinji just stood over her with his hands on his hips as she cringed and held onto her left thigh.

"Half speed bai chi." He said. Among her seemingly endless rambling about herself, Shinji and learned Asuka spoke five languages: English, German, Spanish, French, and Japanese. She had called him an idiot in all five, which Shinji knew because she would gleefully inform him of what the words meant. Shinji Ikari spoke two languages: Japanese and Chinese, and mostly the impolite bits of the latter. He found it was so much more fun to not tell her what Chinese insults meant, it drove the little bitch nuts.

"What did you do to me?!"

"He hit a nerve running all the way down your leg with a knife hand strike. You should be able to move it in a few minutes." Viral said, now standing over Asuka.

"Isn't this a little much, goddamn it this hurts."

"Stop whining, you ain't dead. Shinji, go get her some ice, it will help."

"Oh come on Sensei…"

"Now, Shinji."

Shinji jogged off with a grumble, passing Misato. She too came to stand over the whining girl on the floor.

"You know Asuka, I said half speed for a reason…"

"Blow it out your ass!"

"Asuka!" Said Misato. "Show some respect. Nobody did anything wrong but you here."

Asuka was ready to say something else but kept her mouth shut.

"ANYway, I said half speed for a reason girl. I've been teaching Shinji from the start, I know what he can do and you have just confirmed everything I thought about what that loser Ryoji had taught you."

"Don't talk about master Kaji like that!"

"His teachings and your bad judgment got you where you are now. Going slow you might have been able to use strategy and find an opening but all out like that you can't win. Shinji is just too fast for you. The sooner you start listening, the sooner you can catch up."

Shinji brought the ice in a bag a quarter of an hour later. He had had to run all the way to the galley and "got lost" on the way back. Once she could move again, Asuka was happy to start with breathing and basic movement.

Some time later, the pilots were taking a break up on deck. It was early afternoon and though the sun was high in the air and there were no clouds, a cool sea breeze kept them comfortable. They were both leaning on the railing and looking out at the water.

"Shinji, what is Remo like?" Asuka asked.

Shinji shrugged. "Remo-sensei just is I guess. He isn't even that big, but he just looks so solid its like he is more real than everything around him. He is a nice guy though, long as you don't try to deceive him, he hates that."

"Ah…"

They sat in silence and watched the waves for a while. Asuka had learned that Shinji preferred silence to pointlessly filling air. She was mindful that that was something she did, her time in Germany had taught her it was an American thing.

"It is beautiful out here."

"Ay."

"Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good…"

"Aaaand you had to go and ruin it."

"How it talking about god and the glory of his creation ruining it?"

"Because now you are going to talk about the bible again and try and get me to read it, or pray with you, or what the fuck ever."

"I am trying to help you, why are you holding it against me?"

"Just stop, okay? I don't want your damn book, I don't want your lectures, and I sure as hell don't want your god, or his mercy." Shinji snapped. He had tried being nice about it, but she just wouldn't let up. He didn't even really hate the religion, he just hated that she wouldn't stop talking about it.

"Well why don't you talk about it with me instead of just denying it from the start?"

"Fine, you want to talk about it, lets talk about it. Go for it, give me your best material, but if I still say I don't want it after you say everything you have to say, you leave it be, deal?"

"Sure… but what if I make you think about it? What if I get you just a tiny bit curious, what will do?"

Shinji thought about it for a moment, still staring out at the waves. "I'll read your book, front to back."

"Oh I like that, we can do it together. If that won't get some light in your heart I don't know what will."

"Whatever, get on with it."

Asuka ran through all her youth group discussions and teen ministry outreach as best she could. She could do this; she could show him goodness and get him to come into the light.

"Well, I guess I need to start with a question. Do you believe there is something beyond us, beyond the material world?"

"Yes."

"Well that's a start. What do you believe?"

"We are here to talk about your beliefs, not mine."

"Faith is universal, ultimately most religions revere the same things."

Okay, thought Shinji, fair point given what little he knew. "I am the destroyer, my brothers are the creator and protector. Brahma makes the world, Vishnu watches over its life, and in the end I am there to make it anew. Just like a life, the universe is born, lives, and will one day die and lose its form. What made it up will become the next universe and so and so forth."

"Okay this isn't going to work if you keep insisting you are a god, that's just silly."

"If your argument had any strength, who you are arguing with shouldn't matter."

"Okay fine… I have studied other religions, and I happen to know the hindus believe all their spirits and gods are in fact part of one greater being within whom all reality exists, called Brahman. What is to say Brahman did not make a part of himself to come down and shoulder the sins of the world on himself, and that man died so that all might be saved?"

"I suppose nothing would prevent it."

"So you admit it is possible?"

"To admit a thing is possible is not to say it happened. Would you say that to have one such man bear the sins of the world truly means all those beings are saved and without fault?"

"Not without fault, just without sin. What we do with our lives is still our choice."

"So you believe in free will then?"

"Yes, god gave us all choice."

"But this savior we are supposing existed, he took all the sins of the world upon himself?"

"Yes, selflessly, and suffered in our place for them."

"So all people, past present future?"

"Yes."

"So when did he ask?"

"… what?"

"Your savior took the worlds sins upon himself, right?"

"Well, uh yeah."

"So did he ask every single person if that was okay?"

"What… why would he ask that?"

"You said you believe in free will, right?"

"Yeah."

"So if your savior took everyone's sins from them, isn't that also taking their free will? At the very least it is taking their sins without asking."

"You can't be serious."

"I think it's a valid question. I'd like to hear your god's answer, from one god to another."

"Dammit, I should of known you were just going to be a troll, whatever, burn in hell like a pagan, I don't care."

It took four more days to reach port on the east coast of Japan and the air between the pilots remained awkward. Shinji still couldn't get his body to slow and it became the most frustrating thing, even more so than dealing with the gaijin girl speaking, to slow down to what felt like a snail's pace to train with her.

All that went away when he walk down the gangplank and saw Rei was there. She was wearing her green cammies just like Shinji.. The way down was crowded so Shinji leaped onto the handrail and ran down that way, stepping on a couple hands along the way. He took the last ten yards in one jump and just made the edge of the concrete dock. He thought he was going to fall in when Rei rushed him with a hug, but she held him up after letting him tilt to the water for a moment.

"I missed you warrior." She said

"And I missed you wildflower." He replied and squeezed her tight.

"You killed another without me. To arrange a battle in the middle of an ocean, your cheating knows no bounds."

"Sarcasm becomes you beloved."

"To spend time alone with Remo-sensei is to receive an education in it. How was your journey back?"

"It was…"

"AYANAAAAMI!" Came the shrill cry of the second child.

"…Frustrating…"

"I remember the second from some time ago, we met once as children. She did have a tendency to speak too much."

"You have no idea."

Asuka was down the gangplank in a flash, sailors happily getting out of her way. She was wearing her yellow dress again, but had left the sweater in her bag, which was hoisted over her shoulder. The breeze was not nearly as chilly on land.

"Oh my god its been so long, you look great, how are you?" The redhead said and dropped her bag to hug Rei, who did not return the gesture, letting her arms hang straight at her sides.

"You know he is going around claiming you are his girlfriend? As if right. Did you know he thinks he is a god? Oh I am so happy to see you, we can finally talk to another pilot without having to speak to the weirdo. That was cool of you to catch him when he almost fell off after trying that stupid move though." Asuka said, her face turned and eyes closed. When she opened her eyes she found the very angry crimson gaze of Rei upon her.

"What?"

"Ressentiment." Rei said. "German, from French, the bitterness one feels to another for being superior."

"Um…"

"He is my boyfriend and he is noble beyond your imagination. If you find him 'weird' it is for your own lack of culture, not his lack of worth."

"Nobody is my superior, we are all equal in god's eyes."

"The morality of a slave, and as worthless." Rei said and turned from her, taking Shinji by the arm with a huff, leaving Asuka stunned.

"That was… bold." Shinji said when they were a distance away from the now fuming red head.

"I have been reading quite a bit in your absence, and my new mentor does not tolerate weakness. Have you read the works of Nietzsche?"

"Never heard of him."

"Kensuke suggested him before you all left, I have enjoyed his works. I think you would as well. How are Kensuke and Toji, I heard they faced some combat as well?"

"That's an understatement. I only had to kill one big one, they were scouring the fleet for days looking for any remnants."

"I heard also that you fought with that one in the cockpit with you." Rei said, gesturing with her head to Asuka.

"Yeah, she was a burden more than anything, her thoughts got in the way at first until I got her thinking about the same things as me. Her eva is nice though. She named it, ever thought about a name to call Unit Zero?"

"No, to me it has just been the eva. Perhaps a name would not be so bad... if it were sufficient to the honor of course."

"Of course."

Four days before…

"Report agent Kaji."

"Yes, commander. I was able to use my contacts in the European intelligence community to track the Chinese expedition into the South Asia Exclusionary Zone. They were not probing, they knew exactly what they were looking for. They recovered the artifact near Indore and exited by sea. From what I can tell they then spent several months at sea, receiving supplies by air drop. I believe this time was spent undergoing decontamination."

"A reasonable assumption, continue."

"The artifact was brought into Istanbul after that. Chinese State Security was attempting to use their underworld contacts to transport the artifact back to China overland. This is where I intercepted it. I diverted the package to Germany and got it on the fleet from there."

"Excellent, all is as planned."

"About my compensation Sir…"

"Yes yes, your activities will be overlooked while you are in the city, I will see to that."

"Thank you commander Ikari."

End

Author notes:

Okay so I want to talk about this chapter a little.

It is my intention to keep my personal views out of this particular story. Also, a big part of the overall character arc in this story is how we deal with moralities different from our own. Shinji goes from being powerless to being incredibly powerful, and sees all sorts of ways of using power along the way. How he chooses to use his power will be important.

Asuka's arguments and reactions are not supposed to represent a mature, reasoned adult. She is a spoiled 14 year old for goodness sake. Likewise, Shinji is not arguing the Hindu perspective; he is trying to get her to leave him alone. I would say don't crucify me, but someone might take that as a dig. Neither should be taken to be a comment on either religion.

In the same vein, I am not saying Rei is right. However she, more than Shinji, is embracing being a divine being. This makes her fond of Nietzsche's idea of "master" morality. She does not respect a system of rules outside of what she defines as good and bad. Good and bad are equal synonymous with good for Rei and harmful to Rei. She likewise does not see others as inherently equal. To be seen as an equal by someone like that, one has to show themselves to be equal.

Christianity, and so what Asuka claims to believe, is defined in this sense as a slave morality and that sort of fits with Asuka's canon character. She acts very superior, but in fact feels completely worthless inside. Her poor attitude and insults seek to make others like her. She imitates the thing she hates and resents as she sees it, those better than her. It should be pointed out that this is not how Christianity fits this idea, just Asuka. Christianity was said by Nietzsche to be a slave morality because it promoted equality, we are all equally wretched, that sort of thing.

On a lighter note, I am going to start posting some writing exercises I have been doing under the title The Shinji Ikari One Shots. Some of these reflect ideas I had for this story and just didn't fit, but all of them are in response to a comment I received that called the first several chapters of this story too slow. I agree with that assessment, so each of these little one shots is my attempt to do basically the first two episodes worth of a crack crossover in a single chapter without them feeling contrite or like they couldn't go anywhere, or be overly long. I am trying to write each so that they could be the start of a good story. If I get positive feedback, I will expand a given one out.