Well finally got this one done. It took a lot longer than i expected because I had a hard drive failure...meaning I lost the original draft of this and had to start from scratch...along with the other 60GB of stuff I had. So things are moving slow right now. I gotta redownload all my Evangelion stuff, and trust me, its a lot.

Not sure if I'll manage to get another chapter posted before college starts, but lets see...


The third day since the last angel Tabris died.

The third day since Shinji discovered he was the child of the being known as Adam.

The third day since the conference of Seele, in which the number one gave the order that no man, woman, or child would be left alive in Tokyo-3.

The third day, the ending of the old age, and the beginning of a new….


"Damn it, I almost wished that they would hurry up and attack," mumbled Shinji as he threw the stone from his hand into the lake.

Since those three days prior, Shinji had spent little time around anyone else, which suited him just fine. He had briefly talked to Fuyutsuki about where he would be when Seele attacked, but Fuyutsuki had told him they'd discuss it at a different time. Instead, he had given Shinji a cell phone which would automatically have a text sent to it if they needed him at the command center. During there discussion, he had been rather tempted to ask about that bastard, but figured he wouldn't get an answer either way. He had talked to Misato though, but that wasn't really worth mentioning.

Bending down, he chose another smooth stone among the many littering the shores of the man made lake inside the Geofront and picked it up. Turning it several times in his hands, he smirked slightly as he threw it outward like a Frisbee, making it skip several times across the water before it finally sunk.

"All this waiting is making me impatient," he said, finishing his earlier thought.

Picking up another stone, he threw it with his left hand, while simultaneously slicing his right arm through the air. His AT-field shot outwards, cleanly slicing the stone in half so it that it dropped into the water with a plunk. Feeling somewhat satisfied, he threw his arms behind his head and turned around to walk back up the embankment he had slid down to get to the shore. As he did this though, he descried the elevator far off in the distance where he had talked with Kaoru those few days ago. It all seemed like a distant memory now.

Reaching the top of the embankment he turned and looked at the giant pyramid like structure in the middle of the Geofront. The headquarters of Nerv seemed so impenetrable and formidable, but Shinji knew otherwise. They could not live long against a siege, which he wouldn't be surprised if that actually happened. After all, it had never been created with the intention of fighting other humans.

Walking down the paved walkway that circled around the Geofront, he kicked randomly and several stones he had seen of his earlier walks. He had spent most of his time walking around the Geofront, but he was strictly forbidden from entering Tokyo-3 for obvious reasons. It had come to the point now, that when he walked; he was able to recognize cracks in the asphalt that he had seen at earlier times.

It was almost as though he was thinking these things, so as to not let his mind stray to other matters. But unfortunately they seemed to be.

He hadn't talked to Asuka once since he had essentially rejected her those three days ago. Though they saw each other often enough in the hallways, Asuka acted as though Shinji was part of the wall, which Shinji was perfectly fine with. Misato was supervising much of the defense that would be in place to stop Seele, so Asuka was stuck at Nerv almost as frequently as Shinji was. But if Asuka ignored him, then he would reply the exact same.

Shinji couldn't forget what he had said to Asuka, nor could he forget the desperation that she had shown on her face, as though he was the last person that she had expected…believed. It hurt Shinji to do what he did, but it was better this way. He hated Asuka, so that he could protect her. He didn't want to see her hurt anymore. What he had not expected though, was for Asuka to ask him about her memories.

He had always known that Asuka was exceptionally bright, even if she didn't show it often, and that he was comparatively dumb, but what she said threw him for a loop. He had never in his craziest dreams thought that she would ask such a thing. But she had, and for a brief instance, he had wondered whether some portion of her memories remained intact. What she said about the earrings he had given her though…he had honestly completely forgotten about those. When he had thrown all his stuff out when he ceased to live in Misato's apartment, he should have thrown those out along with the rest of his things. But it wasn't just that, small things seemed to trigger memories about the times they spent together.

Shinji also supposed though that it wasn't just his fault that Asuka seemed in such a bad mood. The report on her Unit 02 had come back, and it hadn't been pretty. Though the right arm had been repaired, it was only possible because they neglected the other damaged areas of Unit 02. Because of that, it was impossible to consider it battle ready…no matter how much Asuka screamed and yelled at the technicians in both German and Japanese. Instead, both Asuka and Rei would be kept at a secure underground bunker deep inside Terminal Dogma.

The Evangelion pilots would be targeted first; everyone knew this, which was why Misato had decided on a possible escape plan. During the creation of the Geofront, many tunnels had been delved underneath the mountains surrounding Tokyo-3. With these tunnels a group of guards had been given the task of escorting Asuka and Rei to The United States. It seemed to be the only safe passage for now, since it seemed likely that other nations would partake in the attack.

Shinji though, on the other hand, had no intentions of running away.

"It's not my place to do such a thing," muttered Shinji

As he said this, he felt a vibration in his pocket. Reaching into it, he pulled out the cell phone and read the text message displayed across the screen. Frowning slightly, he looked towards the large pyramid and thought, 'A chance to surrender?'


"Correct," answered Misato as Shinji asked his question.

Shinji looked back at Misato with a surprised look on his face before he folded his arms and asked, "What exactly is this bullshit?"

"To be honest, we rather expected this," said Fuyutsuki as he turned away from the monitor displaying the entirety of Tokyo-3.

Shinji had come to the commander center as he had been instructed to, but he didn't expect this. Looking around at the many faces inside the command center, he saw that most of the faces looked hopeful, as though they expected Fuyutsuki to accept the terms of surrender, whatever they may be. Shinji didn't think they had an inkling about how ruthless Seele was.

"What do you mean you expected this?" asked Shinji

Fuyutsuki paused for a minute before he said, "Earlier today, the government of Japan issued a statement saying that the city known as Tokyo-3 was no longer part of their nation, and that it should be viewed hostilely, and that the Evangelions were a threat to mankind."

Shinji blinked several times; this statement seemed like such a contradictions compared to three days ago.

"But they completely supported us three days ago," he said, speaking his thoughts.

"It just goes to show how much influence Seele has on the nation of Japan. But that's not all," said Misato. "We were right in assuming that other nations would partake in the attack, since each member of Seele is a well known person within their nation, some even within the cabinets of foreign nations. Many nations have given their support to Japan, including armed troops. The United Nations themselves sympathizes with the government of Japan, and fully supports them."

"But the bad news doesn't stop there," continued Fuyutsuki. "The United States is no longer an option to send Asuka and Rei to."

It was then that Shinji realized that both Asuka and Rei were present in the command center. He was rather surprised that he had missed their faces earlier. Asuka was ignoring him as usual, but Rei was looking straight at him. Shinji tried to smile, but found that he couldn't force it no matter how hard he tried, but Rei didn't seem like she cared. Shinji then remembered what Ritsuko had told him before, and knew that Rei didn't even remember who he was anymore.

Turning back to Fuyutsuki, he asked, "What happened with America?"

"We don't know what changed their minds so suddenly, but they have decided to back the efforts of many countries financially. The only plus is that they wont be sending armed troops."

Shinji couldn't help but laugh inwardly at that.

"So now what?" he asked finally after Misato and Fuyutsuki were done talking. "Don't tell me that you plan to accept this surrender?"

"Don't be absurd," scoffed Fuyutsuki in nothing like his usual manner. "They wouldn't give us a chance even if we did surrender. We have already given our answer, but they gave us an hour to rethink it."

As Fuyutsuki said this, Shinji looked around at the faces that had been full of hope minutes ago. They seemed depressed and dejected now.

"What about the mayor of Tokyo-3?" asked Shinji. "Didn't he comment on this whole thing?"

"It seems like the mayor has been in the pockets of Seele for a while now," said Misato. "He moved to Tokyo-2 yesterday."

"Great…just great," muttered Shinji as he ran a hand through his hair. "And…so? Where exactly should I be?"

"…What do you mean Shinji?" asked Misato.

"For the defense! Won't they hit hardest at Gate 1?"

"Well, that is what we expect but-"

"Great, then I'll go there now."

As Shinji turned to leave though, Misato shouted after him.

"Hold on Shinji! I have something else I want you to do first!"

Pausing for a minute in mid step, Shinji asked without turning around, "What is it?"

Misato hesitated for a second. She knew how against this Shinji would be, but she couldn't turn to anyone else.

"Shinji…I need you to escort both Rei and Asuka to the elevator that will take them into Terminal Dogma."

Shinji heard her words, but they didn't really register with him.

"What did you say Misato?"

"…You heard exactly what I said Shinji," she replied simply without a hitch in her voice.

"I did…and so? Why me exactly?"

"Because I can't entrust this to anyone other than you Shinji."

Shinji finally turned and looked at Misato, before settling his eyes on Rei…and then Asuka. Finally resigning himself to what Misato had asked, he said, "Fine…whatever."

Turning around, he didn't even bother to check to see if Rei and Asuka were following him. Misato however, motioned to both Asuka and Rei to follow Shinji. Rei followed obediently, but Asuka threw Misato a dirty look as she remembered their conversation from earlier.

Rei entered the elevator first, with Asuka shortly behind her. Asuka then backed herself up against the furthest wall away from Shinji and crossed her arms so tightly it looked as though they'd be stuck that way. She didn't see the need for precautions like this, and thought Misato was being too paranoid.

As Shinji pushed the down button on the elevator, he looked straight ahead to Misato who was watching him. He knew that she had heard about what had happened between him and Asuka, so he wasn't pleased about having to do something like this. But since she had asked him, he supposed he had to. And he didn't think she would ask if she didn't have a very good reason.

As the doors closed in front of him, he watched as Misato's face disappeared in front of him.

With the doors closed, and the noise from the command center silenced, the silence in the elevator started. It was rather difficult to decide who was giving off the stronger feeling of loathing: Shinji or Asuka? But the tension in the air was stifling.

When the elevator doors finally opened, Asuka darted forward. She didn't want to spend anymore time with this bastard than what she absolutely had to, so she intended to make a beeline straight for the elevator to take her down into Terminal Dogma. But surprisingly Shinji stuck out his arm to stop her.

Turning towards him, Asuka snarled as she talked to him against her will, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Misato had a reason that she wanted me with you two," said Shinji, his voice laced with annoyance towards Asuka, "but I don't know why. So I don't intend to let you barge ahead of me."

"Do I look like I care?" asked Asuka angrily.

"No, you don't. Nor do I honestly care what happens to you, but it's not just you, its Ayanami that's here also. So I'm only going to say this once…stay right behind me…both of you. You first," he said pointing at Asuka, unwilling to speak her name. "And then you Ayanami. And Ayanami-

Since she was being addressed, Ayanami turned her head slowly to Shinji and looked at him.

"If you feel like someone is behind us, let me know immediately. If you hear something like a click…don't hesitate to deploy your AT-field."

At Shinji's words, Asuka wheeled around to stare at Rei. She had always known that Rei was different, but an AT-field? Even Rei seemed somewhat surprised at Shinji's statement, because her eyes widened slightly, but she simply nodded her head instead of saying anything.

"Good. Glad we got that out of the way," said Shinji as he turned away from both of them and peered out of the elevator. After being sure that he didn't see anybody, or feel someone approaching through his AT-field, he walked swiftly out of the elevator and turned to walk down the hallway.

He could feel Asuka and Rei walking behind him, but he could almost feel the anger emitting off of Asuka. He was rather surprised she hadn't bitten his head off. But maybe the events from before were still weighing heavily on her mind.

'I wonder what everyone will do after this is all over?' Shinji suddenly thought.

As he thought this, he stopped in the middle of the hallway, meaning that Asuka almost crashed into.

"Why the fuck did you just stop moron!" she yelled at his back.

Looking over his shoulder at the angry Asuka and passive Rei, he said, "Sorry…I was just thinking what everyone would do after this is all over. Well, at least is if everyone is alive after this I suppose."

"What kind of a question is that?" retorted Asuka. "I'm not dying!"

Shinji watched her for a few seconds, during which Asuka realized that he was staring at her, and quickly turned her head away from him.

'What an idiot,' she thought while staring at the blank wall next to her.

"What about you then Ikari-kun?" asked Rei surprisingly speaking up.

If Asuka was surprised at the way Rei addressed Shinji, it was nothing compared to what Shinji felt.

"I honestly don't expect to make it through this," said Shinji without bothering to pause.

"What? So you expect to die?" asked Asuka with a slight laugh.

"I do actually," replied Shinji without any sign of hesitation. The smile on Asuka's face however dropped when she saw how serious Shinji was about dying.

'What do I care though,' she thought. 'It's not like it matters to me one way or another.'

Though as Shinji started walking forward again, it was Rei who stopped him this time.

"I do not think you should be thinking about dying Ikari-kun," she said

Shinji stopped in mid step as Rei said this, but didn't turn around. Asuka however who stood between them was turning from one to the other with a suspicious look on her face.

'Since when were they able to talk to each other in such a fashion?' she wondered.

"Never mind," said Shinji eventually, "just forget I said anything."

An indignant 'humph' escaped Asuka's lips as Shinji said this. Muttering slightly, she said, "Then why the hell did you bother stopping us for in the first place? Idiot!"

Many more minutes passed, during which they came closer to the elevator which would take Asuka and Rei down into Terminal Dogma.

"We should just continue on ahead," said Asuka, interrupting the silence from the last few minutes. "It's not like we have far to go anyway."

"Misato wanted me to escort you two, so that's exactly what I'm doing," Shinji replied.

"What part of 'I can't stand another minute with you' do you not under-WAHH!"

Shinji suddenly grabbed Asuka's right wrist and dragged her to the far right of the hallway. Many doors lined the hallway on either side, though Shinji had no idea what was concealed behind them. Thankfully though, the wall jutted out slightly so that three people could lean against the door and remain concealed from anybody walking down the hallway.

As Shinji pushed Asuka against one of the corners of the door he looked beside him to see Rei there. It seemed that she had seen his brief gesture before he had grabbed Asuka.

Spitting hair out of her mouth, Asuka scowled at Shinji as she raised the volume in her voice.

"What the fuck are you do-"

But Shinji cut her off with a sharp hiss that escaped between his teeth.

"Shut up for a minute," Shinji said quietly.

"What the fuck are you going on abou-"

But then Asuka heard footsteps coming from down the hallway. Thinking of peering around the corner silently, Shinji stopped her though as he tightened his grip on her wrist. He hadn't bothered to let go yet. Asuka glared back at him, but remained silent. Shinji meanwhile inhaled deeply before he looked carefully around the corner.

Far down the hallway were two security guards with submachine guns. They were walking towards Shinji and the other two.

"There are two security guards walking towards us," said Shinji the second he leaned up against the door again.

"So? Then they can help us," said Asuka.

Shinji was silent though. He didn't know why, but he was feeling paranoid all the sudden. Earlier, just before he grabbed Asuka's wrist, he had had a brief flash of a vision. It wasn't something he'd care to see happen. And Misato's words were weighing heavily on his mind.

Asuka, however, thought otherwise.

Breaking free of Shinji's grip on her, she darted out into the open hallway and stood in front of the two guards. If they were surprised to see her, Shinji felt equally surprised at how stupid a thing Asuka had just done.

"Dear God am I glad to see somebody helpful," started Asuka. "I'm the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02 and with me is the First. We were ordered to head towards the elevator that would take us to Terminal Dogma. However, our escort is rather retarded, so I was hoping that you could lend your assistance."

It was amazing how formal Asuka could be while talking to an adult.

The soldiers looked at each then and nodded their heads as though coming to an agreement on something. Asuka, however, took that as them willing to help her.

"Thanks a lot. You have no idea how much help this-"

Both of the guards simultaneously raised their guns and pointed them at both her eyes, so that the crossfire would explode out different sides of her skull.

Asuka had just enough time to realize her mistake before she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Hearing the sound of the discharged bullets leaving the barrel of the guns, she opened her mouth to scream, but when she opened her mouth, it was not her voice that resonated through the hallway, but the voice of a male in his early thirties.

As Asuka slowly opened her eyes, she saw a strange scene in front of her. Shinji was standing directly in front of her, being so close that she could have reached out and placed both her hands on his back. Rei was standing slightly to the right and in front of him; both of them had their AT-fields deployed, while the guards were on the ground with bloody stumps for their right hands.

Shinji winced as blood trickled down his right shoulder and left arm, staining his white shirt. He had almost been too slow. As the guards fired their weapons, Shinji moved directly in front of Asuka while deploying his AT-field. Shinji had managed to split the bullets in half, but the velocity from the front part of the bullets still managed to lodge themselves in his upper shoulder, and lower arm.

Rei had actually been the one that had disarmed the soldiers. As she saw what Shinji was doing, she reacted also. Moving in front of Shinji, seconds after he deployed his AT-field, she deployed hers. She had sliced the right hands off both the guards, making them drop their guns and rendering themselves useless.

Shinji now walked away from Asuka who was still standing shell shocked where moments ago, she had almost been shot. Standing beside Rei, Shinji looked down at both of the guards. One of them seemed to have already passed out from the blood loss, but the other still seemed to be conscious. Shinji quickly remedied that by smashing the heel of his shoe on the face of the guard, sending him quickly into unconscious. Shinji now understood why Misato had wanted him with these two. Rei could take care of herself, but Asuka was a different matter.

"It seems that the enemy has already infiltrated," said Rei, surprisingly speaking before Shinji.

"Yeah, and they've placed spies on the inside that carry guns. I just hope that not many more of them have been bought."

It was strange how easily money and a promise could change the allegiance of someone.

Turning around to face Asuka, Shinji couldn't hurt but feel a little sorry for her. However, it had entirely been her fault.

Walking up to her, he waited till her face was not pointed to the ground. Eventually, she raised her head up to look at him.

"Are you hurt?" was the first thing that came out of Shinji's mouth. But it didn't sound worried or sincere.

"No…I'm not," said Asuka after realizing that she was not

"That was very stupid…what you did. Didn't I say earlier not to barge ahead of me? If I had been one second late, you would have died."

"I know…" said Asuka as her face dropped back to facing the ground. "Sorry," she eventually mumbled.

Though Asuka didn't see it, relief seemed to wash over Shinji's face. Choosing that it would be better not to say anything, Shinji turned away from her and started walking towards there destination when he heard Asuka mumble words that were barely audible.

"Thank you…"

Shinji ignored her, knowing that it was better not to reply. Asuka however wasn't done talking.

"Misato told me something like this would happen…"

Shinji, against his will, turned around to face her and asked, "What did she say?"

"That Seele may have placed spies within our own ranks to find out what we were planning and the passages of Nerv."

"You should have told me this earlier, we would have been more careful."

"I know," mumbled Asuka.

"Forget it…it's in the past. Anyways…let's go already," said Shinji.

Rei nodded and started walking in step with Shinji, leaving Asuka to watch both of their retreating backs. She didn't know why, but she felt oddly resentful towards Rei. Maybe it was because she and Shinji were similar; that Rei was able to walk beside Shinji because she understood him.

'What kind of bullshit thinking is that?' wondered Asuka.

Hurrying up so that she was directly behind Shinji and Rei, she said, "I thought we were supposed to go in line?"

"You're right," replied Shinji without thinking about it for a minute. Nodding towards Rei, she paused to let Asuka in front of her, and resumed her position in the back.

"Much better," said Asuka as though she was mocking Rei. Shinji frowned inwardly at her superior attitude, but next second winced as he felt several sharp splinters of pain hit his body.

"Oi, move forward idiot! Can't you see I'm ready?"

But still Shinji didn't move as the bullets were forced out of his body as new flesh caked over the wounds. The ends of the bullets fell to the floor with a clatter, making Asuka jump slightly.

"What was-" but then she looked down at the floor and saw the bullets. Though she couldn't see the front of Shinji's face, she saw that he had been in pain moments before.

'Idiot,' she thought. 'If he was hurt, he should have just said something…we could have waited.'

Without saying anything about his wounds, Shinji continued walking towards the elevator with Asuka and Rei behind him. Though nobody talked, there was an air of understanding between the three of them.

As they neared the elevator, Shinji became increasingly anxious. Several times he had them pause and hide somewhere as he felt the AT-fields of people near them, but nothing like before happened again.

Finally reaching the elevator, Shinji paused for a minute to be sure that nobody was around before he pressed on the down button that would take Asuka and Rei down into Terminal Dogma. When the elevator arrived, he nodded towards both Asuka and Rei while mumbling, "Get it."

Rei followed obediently, but Asuka for some reason stayed back. Shinji was rather surprised by this, considering she had been desperate to get away from him earlier. After waiting for a few minutes though, he said, "Get in already. Weren't you just wanting to get away from me a while ago?"

Asuka frowned at him and said, "Why should I really? I'm an Evangelion pilot like yourself. I can help!"

"First and foremost," started Shinji, "your Evangelion is out of commission, and you are nothing like me. I am able to help in different ways because I am not entirely human."

"I can still help other ways!" shouted Asuka. "I learned how to fire a gun and had hand to hand combat training at the Nerv headquarters in Germany."

"Can you kill somebody up close with a gun? Can you choke away the life of another human being?"

Asuka opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She was rather startled at Shinji's question, but it was all the hesitation he needed. Grabbing her again by her right wrist, he dragged her in front of the elevator before pushing her roughly through the door where Rei surprisingly caught her by the shoulders.

"What are you-" Asuka shouted at both Shinji and Rei.

"You'll be too much of a nuisance if you stay here and try to help. Its better if you go down into Terminal Dogma," said Shinji.

"You bastard! Just because I'm not you-"

"You should be glad you're not me," retorted Shinji angrily. "As I said, you can't be of any help. So just say down there until somebody either calls you up, or until…"

Shinji didn't want to think of that possibility, but it wasn't as though he could rule it out.

"Forget it," he said hurriedly.

Though as he stepped back so that Rei could push the button that would close the doors and send them on their way, Asuka suddenly drew her fist backwards and shouted with every intention of hitting Shinji, "Just because I'm not special like you doesn't mean I can't help you…you…YOU IDIOT!"

Swinging her fist forward, Shinji easily caught it without batting an eyelash and twisted it upwards, making Asuka's eyebrows twitch with pain.

"I don't have time to deal with this," mumbled Shinji.

Leaning down next to Asuka's ear, he inhaled her scent which he had been so accustomed to smelling early mornings in Misato's apartment just after she took a shower.

"If you tried to do what I'm going to do, you wouldn't last a second moron." Though he said moron, his voice held no malice or spite in it.

"Furthermore…I couldn't be looking over my shoulder every second to be sure you were okay."

"You wouldn't have to, I'd-"

"Enough!" said Shinji silencing her quickly.

Placing both his hands on her shoulders he pushed her back into the elevator. But it was different than the other times he had pushed or shoved her. It was both caring and gentle, something Asuka had never felt before from him. And something else…it was almost…pleasant?

Feeling as though she was walking on air, Asuka fell back a few steps before she caught her balance and looked up into Shinji's face. He was smiling.

"See Ya….Ayanami…Asuka…"

Asuka's eyes widened as he spoke her name. She was certain that he had never used it before, and without knowing it herself, her feet started to carry her forward, as though they longed to be on that side with him, even if it put her in danger. But before she could get to him, the elevator doors closed in front of her, cutting off the boys smiling face in front of her.

Wheeling around to one side of the elevator, Asuka saw that Rei was standing next to the elevator and had her forefinger pressed down on the down button.

"Bring the elevator back up this instance!" Asuka shouted angrily at her.

"I am unable to do that," replied Rei.

"Why the fuck not?"

Rei was silent for a minute before she said, "Because Ikari-kun has made his decision."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean!" yelled Asuka. "You know what, I don't care. I'll bring the elevator back up there myself and drag his sorry ass down here with us."

As Asuka reached for the control panel though, Rei stopped her by grabbing the same wrist that that boys hand had held onto moments before.

"LET GO OF ME DAMN IT!" Asuka roared back at Rei

"I can't do that," replied Rei simply, not even raising her voice at all.

"WHY THE FUCK NOT?"

"Because Ikari-kun has made his decision."

"Who the fuck are you to decide what his decision is. How could you….but I…"

It was then that Asuka finally understood something. What Shinji had been talking about earlier…about dying…and what the First had said.

"Don't tell me…that idiot…plans on dying?"

Asuka stared back at Rei, waiting for her to give some sort of answer, but when she didn't, Asuka grabbed her by the front of her school uniform and shouted at her-

"ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"

Just as she said this, the elevator doors opened, revealing many soldiers with assault rifles watching the confrontation in front of them. Asuka however seemed to notice that they had a group of people watching them now, because she let go of Rei's collar and took several steps back before turning around, making her hair whip across her face.

As she walked towards the soldiers, they created a path for her, as though Asuka had just created an invisible wall between her and the soldiers.

Continuing to walk down the corridor, she eventually saw an orderly waiting for her and nodded slightly towards him. He understood, and pointed in the direction of the bunker she and Rei would be residing in until further notice.

However, as Asuka neared the door at the end of the hall that was slightly ajar and leaking white light into the darkened hallway, she only thought one thing.

'I won't ever forgive you if you die Shinji.'

Though she didn't know it, she had spoken similar words before, but she couldn't remember them.


"Was there any trouble?" asked Misato.

"There was, as you thought," replied Shinji.

He was back in the command center and just telling Misato about the run in with the two 'guards.'

"And? What happened? Was anybody hurt?"

"Meaning Ayanami and Asuka? No, neither of them were hurt, but there are two guards who will have to learn to eat with their left hands most likely.

Misato smiled slightly at Shinji's joke, but continued on in a business like tone. This was after all not a time to be making jokes.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that, because I have another job for you to do."

Turning away from Shinji, she crossed her arms and bit her lip as she looked at the monitor.

"I was right in guessing that they had placed spies on the inside a while ago," said Misato, "but I hope that my next hunch is right also…"

"…Meaning?" asked Shinji after Misato didn't continue talking for a few seconds.

"We never expected them to give us the full hour to rethink the surrender, and this attempted attack as you were escorting Asuka and Rei is understandable now. I'm guessing they planned to catch us off guard, though I can't understand how they expected that to work."

"What does this have to do with me exactly?" asked Shinji.

Misato turned back around and addressed him as she said, "You said before that Gate 1 would most likely be the first to be attacked, and while this is true, I am more worried about Gates 5 and 6."

"Is it because of the Evangelions?"

"Precisely! Gates 5 and 6 are closer to the Evangelions, with Gate 5 being the less defendable of the two. Shinji, I want you to go alone, and man the defenses of Gate 5. This is something that only you can do. I give you full authority to act as you see fit. If there is ever a time when you feel like you are being overwhelmed, I want you to retreat to the Evangelions chamber and board Unit 01. Though there is one thing I have to ask you to do. When you board Unit 01, you will need to destroy Unit 02, otherwise if another nation may capture it will be-"

"What!" asked Shinji cutting her off angrily. "You want me to destroy Unit 02, after I did my best to protect it."

"Shinji, other nations may try to capture Unit 02. We can't let that happen."

"So! What about the other combat models like Unit 03? I thought that they were developing other Units in other nations?"

"While that is what I had assumed," replied Misato, whose voice had risen slightly, "it seems that at some point in the productions of the other Eva Units, all personal and resources were moved over to work on the mass produced Eva Units. Unit 01 and Unit 02 are the last remaining models since the Prototype and Unit 03 were destroyed."

"I don't care," said Shinji refuting both of Misato's statements. "I can't destroy Unit 02."

"Why?" asked Misato. "Or are you suggesting that Asuka pilot it again?"

"I never said that!" yelled Shinji lashing out at her, but Misato held her ground.

"Weren't you the one who didn't want her involved with the Evangelions anymore?"

"I was…but…"

Taking a rather deep breath, Shinji said-

"Misato I…while I was fighting Unit 02 when Kaoru was controlling it, Unit 02 broke free of his control over it and…something happened. Asuka…Asuka's mother is residing in Unit 02…it's the same thing as my mother…"

Misato blinked several times to hold her surprise instead of shouting out. She had met Asuka's mother several times during her trips to the Nerv branch of Germany, and even at one point wondered abou the connection between Unit 02, Asuka, and her mother, but had always thought her suspicions had been groundless.

"Did you…talk to her?" Misato finally asked.

Shinji had to think back to that instance when he had thought he'd heard her speak. Everything had happened so fast, that even now, it seemed like a blur.

"I didn't really talk to her," said Shinji after a moments pause. "It was more like…I just understood what she was trying to tell me."

"What was that?"

"Well…after Unit 02 broke free of Kaoru's control, or he let go of it, I don't really know, it seemed…angry at me, or I should say Asuka's mother was angry at me, for what I did to Asuka."

Misato nodded her head to show that she understood.

"I realized then how important this was to Asuka, and how important Asuka was to her mother. I couldn't bring myself to destroy it…and I still can't do it. I don't know if this is a favor to Asuka from me, my last, but I still can't destroy it. It's like…a part of her…"

Misato understood well enough Shinji's feelings on the matter, but she still thought that it would be better to destroy Unit 02, as cold hearted as that sounded. Unit 02 held no value to Nerv, but it held great value to other nations. It was probably the reason that so many nations took part in the attack on Nerv: they all wanted to capture an Evangelion and strengthen there nation with it. But if Shinji was going to stand in her way…after all, only another Eva could destroy Unit 02 at this point.

"Fine then," said Misato after resigning to Shinji's request. "You can do what you see fit with Unit 02."

"Thank you Misato," said Shinji before he turned around and started walking towards the elevator that he had just been in.

"Shinji…wait just a minute," said Misato to Shinji's retreating back.

"Yes?" asked Shinji as he looked over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry that…I ask all this of you, but I can't-"

"Don't worry about it Misato," replied Shinji as he continued walking away from her. "Just consider this as me paying off my debt from living in your apartment for those six months"

And with that, he disappeared through the door of the elevator, leaving Misato standing there in the command center.

Misato however issued a silent prayer then, having never prayed before in her life. She wished that her, Asuka, and Shinji could go back to the days before all this, when they blissfully spent there days living together in her apartment.

Her prayer was never founded however…


Shinji stood in front of a giant metal door with the word Gate 5 in red letters spewed across it. This was where the enemy was expected to attack first if they were headed towards the Evangelion Units. Shinji would fight all alone here, as he preferred it. Nobody would be injured in case he went out of control.

Walking away from the gate though, he walked some ways to the far right side of the wall and propped himself up against it. If he had to be honest with himself, he was rather looking forward to fighting against armed soldiers whose only purpose was taking his life. He even rather wished that they would drive a tank through the gate. At least then his AT-field would have something to do other then blocking bullets.

He held no qualms about injuring the enemy if it prolonged his own life and weakened them. It was simply easier to refer to them as the enemy now, or the opposition. If he started thinking about them as other human beings, his resolve may waver.

He wondered about many things as he leaned against the wall and waited for the attack, how he would die, what would happen to everyone if Seele won, and what that bastard would do.

He didn't think about him that much admittedly. He knew that he had his own version of Third Impact that differed from Seele's, but he couldn't really know what his actual intentions were. He figured it had something to do with the DNA he had stolen from him though.

As he thought of that bastard though, his thoughts turned towards his mother. Even since he had come to know that his mother was right beside him every time he stepped into the entry plug of Unit 01, he had found it easier to pilot, even enjoyable sometimes. But he now wondered whether his mother had known what she was putting her son through when she…well…it was best not to think about the specifics. But Shinji did remember how she had never referred to Gendo as 'your father' when they had briefly talked. She had only referred to him as 'Gendo' making it seem that they held no special attachment except for being in the same college class. So Shinji often wondered why that bastard was so determined to see his mother again.

Though as his mind wandered farther, they eventually settled on a certain someone. He didn't want to think about her right, because if he knew, then he would start to lose concentrating. He wasn't sure even how, but she still managed to get under his skin and make him drop his guard.

'And what had earlier been all about?' wondered Shinji as he continued thinking about Asuka.

She was obviously angry that she wasn't able to help out in anyway, but her actions had seemed different then what he had expected. Maybe he had been too nice to her? Maybe he had talked too much with her? All Shinji knew was that those last few moments spent with Asuka standing in front of the elevator, were incredibly hard for him.

He had meant what he said when he said she would be a nuisance if she came with him, but he was surprised at how persistent she had been. And those last few moments as she seemed to waver, and her feet seemed to start carrying her towards him…he was just glad that Rei had activated the elevator before she had made it to him. It was likely that she would have followed him all the way back to the command center, and would be leaning against this wall with him as they waited for the enemy to attack.

But above all else, he couldn't help but remember that brief feeling that had welled up inside him, as though a sliver of the former Shinji Ikari had broken through.

'After all….I suppose that I still lo-'

Everything froze as Shinji stopped his chain of thought. He suddenly noticed several AT-fields moving to him on the other side of the gate.

'About time too,' he thought, 'I was starting to get all sentimental about my former self.'

Pushing himself off the wall, he walked over to the Gate and stood forty feet away from it with his hands in his pockets.

As the AT-fields converged around the gate, Shinji felt that they were placing something directly in the middle of it and wiring something together.

'Must be C-4,' thought Shinji as he took his right hand out of his pocket and let it hang at his side.

As the soldiers moved backwards, Shinji smiled slightly just as the explosion went off, pushing the metal inward and spraying metal and shrapnel inside the hallway. If anybody had been standing directly in front of it, they would have been decapitated. Shinji, who had been a good forty feet away still caught some of the debris, but everything that hit his AT-field immediately disintegrated.

Next second though, a serious of clicks sounded and the soldiers high powered rifles went off, creating a hail of bullets that peppered the inside of the hallway. The C-4 had mainly been used as a means of disorienting the enemy, while the bullets would be used to finish them off. Of course, neither of them really had an impact on Shinji.

With the breaking in finished, the first soldiers started to walk towards the large gap that had been made in the middle of the gate. Unhesitatingly, Shinji swung his right arm projecting his AT-field and cutting the gate off at the very top where the hinges normally opened it. The gate fell straight down, instantly cutting off the heads of several soldiers who were the unlucky few to be the first to enter Nerv. The others wouldn't be so quick die to the same way.

The gate now fell backwards towards the soldiers, creating something like a plank so the soldiers could walk up it and enter Nerv. Though seeing this suddenly gave Shinji an idea. Bending down, he grabbed a twist piece of metal that had been part of the door and threw it several into the air before he caught it again. Suddenly, his arm shot outwards as he flung the metal piece towards the soldiers. It struck the one in front, startling him so much that he accidentally discharged a round from his rifle which struck a buddy close to him. Shinji could even hear the hollers and screams of pain from this distance. It seemed that he had thrown the enemy into disarray, making him wonder if these were really soldiers, and not just regular policemen.

'I don't think its really going to be this easy though,' thought Shinji as what seemed like the leader of the group started to get his men under control.

The soldiers seemed even more cautious now. Going in single file with four in front, the crouched down as low as they could go, and started slowly making there way up the makeshift plank.

'Now what,' thought Shinji as he looked around as though expecting somebody to be standing there and handing him a machine gun. But of course, all he had was his AT-field to rely on.

The first four soldiers reached the top of the plank, and fired a three round burst from each of their guns. Shinji reflexively deployed his AT-field, easily blocking the bullets that neared him. There was still some dust and smoke in the air from when the Gate 5 door and crashed down, but the soldiers could now see a definable enemy, and it looked like only one person.

The four soldiers that reached the top fanned out as the ones behind them made their way up and over the plank before rolling down and looking for a suitable place for cover. Soon, Shinji was taking fire from every place but behind of him.

'Shit,' he thought as he saw the situation unfolding in front of him. 'I can't let myself get boxed in.'

Taking several steps back, he took the risk of not blocking any bullets for a brief instance, and brought his right arm searing downward through the air. His AT-field shot outwards, slicing a path directly on either sides of the fighting soldiers, instantly dissipating the smoke and dust that had been circulating in the air moments before. The rain of bullets stopped almost as quickly as it had started, as the soldiers witnessed the bright flash of orange in front of them. Shinji was revealed to them then, and he didn't look like a scared boy at all; he was more like a terrifying god who had descended from the heavens in order to punish the wicked. Many of the soldiers looked to the other next to them, unsure of what to do. They had heard reports that the enemy used strange and evil weapons that held enormous power to defeat there enemies, but they had never believed any of it. Now though…

The commanding officer though of the company of soldiers didn't believe in mythical powers of any kind, and knew that it had to be a trick of some kind. Yelling at his men closest to him, he told them not to be afraid of the little boy in front of them. They had orders to kill everyone they met after all.

Shinji however heard what he had said also, and mercilessly dealt out his punishment. With a speed surpassing normal humans, his right armed turned into a blur in that brief instance, as he brought it down to attack the office. His AT-field seemed to jump from himself to the officer, so that to the soldiers watching, it looked almost like he had thrown a grenade or something. Shinji's AT-field sliced into the left wrist of the officer who had his left hand placed underneath the barrel of the gun as he held the trigger guard with his right hand. The barrel of the gun was sliced clean off along with his left hand, creating a shower of blood as he yelled with his maimed arm over his left. Squeezing off a few rounds as he tried to aim his gun at Shinji, almost all of them missed him except for one, which only managed to graze his cheek. Shinji still wasn't fazed by almost having his head taken off.

Lashing outward with his AT-field again, he sliced into the upper bicep of the man's right arm this time, cutting apart the muscle so that it dangled halfway off the bone. The officer screamed in pain as he lost the feeling in his entire right arm, dropping the gun as it became too heavy for him. Blood continued pouring out of both wounds before his eyes turned upwards as the whites shown, and he passed out.

All the soldiers that had seen this still had there guns pointed towards Shinji, but as Shinji looked towards each of them, they slowly started lowering their guns. As word spread from soldier to soldier that the commanding officer had been taken down in a matter of seconds by some unknown power, all the fight went out of them. Eventually, Shinji had all of them rounded up in front of them. Their guns he had taken, and just to show them a glimpse of what he was capable of, smashed them all in seconds as he crushed them with his AT-field. He told them that if they moved so much an inch, or gave any sign of fighting back, they could join the officer who seemed to have died from the blood loss. Shinji wasn't exactly pleased by the death, but if it had only taken one death to reign in the others; he supposed it was a good trade off.

"Now then," Shinji said as he addressed the soldiers in front of him. All of them were sitting on the ground a good ways in front of him. Shinji told them that they didn't need to bother with putting their hands behind their heads, as even if they did try to strike him, their fist would vanish before it could even reach Shinji's face.

"I want to know which nation you are all from…"

This wasn't a question, it was a demand, so Shinji hoped they understood.

"Ger-Germany Sir," spoke one of the soldiers nearest to him.

"Is that right?" asked Shinji as he looked towards the soldier. "Is everyone here from Germany?"

"Yes Sir…"

Shinji smiled slightly at being addressed as sir. He could get used to that.

"I see," mumbled Shinji more to himself than to the others.

He had somewhat guessed that the first nation to try to attack the Evangelion Units would be Germany. Germany, after all, was where Unit 02 had been manufactured and produced, so it was understandable if Germany would want their Eva Unit back. It wasn't to far a stretch to guess that they were the ones most knowledgeable about where the other Units were kept either.

"What about the Nerv facility in Germany? What happened to it?"

"It was stormed yesterday, but the combatants gave up without a struggle."

"So then why go to the trouble of killing just us?"

"I-I don't know sir. I've just a soldier after all. I-I just follow orders."

Shinji could sympathize with that, because he had sort of been a soldier himself. Just blinding following the orders of someone he thought was once his father.

"Fine, I don't have anything else to ask you."

As Shinji turned away from them, almost all the soldiers flinched as though they expected to die at that instance. But Shinji had no intention of doing anything of the sort. Instead, he went back to the wall he had been leaning against earlier, and folded his arms as his head dropped to his chest.

The soldiers seemed to realize then that he didn't have any plans for them, and they all stood up rather confused at what they were supposed to do now. But Shinji gave them an idea nonetheless.

"Why are you still sticking around here you idiots? Most people are unlike me, and won't hesitate to kill if it means prolonging their life. I don't like killing, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stand aside and let you hurt the people who are important to me. Surely most, if not all of you have a family, or somebody important to you in your lives. Don't be so eager to throw your life away just because some told you to."

"Then…you have somebody important to you also sir?" asked one of them, not only surprising the others but Shinji as well.

"Yes and no," he replied after a pause. "I have people who are important to me, but the difference is that I'm likely not going to see them again."

"…Why is that sir?" asked the soldier, now feeling rather nervous about having a conversation with somebody who could kill them all in an instance if he felt like it.

"Because the mark of death has already been placed on me," said Shinji cold heartedly. It was a matter of how easily Shinji spoke this, that made the soldiers take a few steps away from him. They all knew the risks about being in a firefight of any kind, but this fifteen year old boy had already accepted the fact that he would die soon, and didn't seem that all put off about it.

"Now if you're done asking stupid questions, you'd better clear out, before I have a change of heart."

All it took was this simple sentence to have the soldiers scrambling amongst each other as they tried to be the first one out, as if the last one out would die. But Shinji laughed silently at how quickly they had thrown away their pledge to their country.

'A human is still a human after all,' thought Shinji. 'Strip away his pride and his power and he reverts back to his meek self.'

Even so though, the conversation he had had with them was rather refreshing, that is, being able to talk to other humans that he didn't know.

"I hope the next batch of armed forces is going to be similar," mumbled Shinji. "At this rate, I may be able to get away with only a few casualties, though I suppose that's only wishful thinking."

The first group of soldiers they had sent in had been from Germany, meaning that they may be somewhat sympathetic with Nerv's cause. The next though wouldn't be like that.

"Looks like I've got a long road ahead of me," sighed Shinji as he picked up a small piece of metal, and threw it over the fallen down gate where it fell out into the open sunlight.