"Okay Shokaku," Asuka's voice buzzed, "the Angel will have a giant red core that you'll see on its chest. That's your target. It's its life source. Break that, you beat the Angel."
"Simple enough," Shokaku said, "and what about this AT field?"
"This is going to be the hard part. The AT field isn't a function programmed into the Eva. It comes from you. You need to really connect with the Eva and project it from inside yourself."
Shokaku nodded. At face value, it didn't seem like very helpful or guided advice. But he had been a pilot for 5 years and he knew there was more to this machine that he piloted than met the eye. There was a connection he had always felt with it. A strangely ethereal one.
A connection.
Synchronization.
Becoming one.
He often dismissed these feelings in the past, but maybe he wasn't just imagining things.
"We have visual on target. 500 meters out."
Shokaku wished he had time to practice or something, but it seems the moment was here.
Episode 4
First Contact
Shokaku took a second to get his first good look at his new enemy.
The Naga always just seemed like wild animals to him. Really big and wildly dangerous ones, but animals nonetheless.
The Angel was odd. It wasn't particularly any bigger than the Naga that he fought and it wasn't particularly horrifying or grotesque. In fact, it was probably less disturbing to look at as a whole.
However, it had an uncanny aura around it. Like something seemed off. Maybe because of its more humanoid appearance. Or its hollow eyes that he struggled to determine if it exuberated any intelligence or not. It was so alien, so foreign, he couldn't help but feel his skin crawl as it slowly trudged in his direction.
Shokaku shook his head, trying to maintain his focus.
None of that mattered.
This was the enemy.
An enemy that wanted to harm people.
And he was here to stop it.
"Let's test the waters a bit shall we."
His eyes were immediately drawn to the red core, front and center on its chest, just like the woman had described. He kept his focus there. Trying to ground himself. Eyes on the prize.
He lined up his pallet rifle and squeezed the trigger. The huge gun blared as he emptied the clip. He could see the glowing tracer bullets fly right at it, but none seemed to make contact.
"There, that's the power of the AT field. You can't hurt it without neutralizing its AT field with your own," Asuka said, "Feel it within yourself and let it just flow out of you."
Shokaku clenched his jaw and tried to mentally project a shield in front of him. He strained his mind, envisioning breaking through the Angel's.
"Stay relaxed," Asuka said, "don't tense up too much."
Shokaku heard his rifle click as he expended the last round in the magazine. The Angel was still moving forward as if nothing had happened.
Shokaku clicked his tongue and retreated a few paces back while reloading.
Amagi watched the screen, biting on her thumb, "is this really going to work…?" she muttered.
Asuka nudged Shinji and whispered to him, "hey, do you have any advice? When we piloted it just kind of came naturally, don't you think?"
Shinji silently watched as Shokaku tried shooting at the Angel once more, but again to no effect. At this rate, he would get cornered against the wall with no place to go. Shinji's mind raced for a good answer. No, a better answer.
Toji shifted positions in his chair, leaning forward, ready to try.
"I heard you're a pretty skilled combatant." a voice crackled through his comms. It was a man this time.
"You could say that," Shokaku said, "This isn't my first rodeo."
"You think you can hold your own at melee range? Projecting an AT field at a distance could be the issue here. It might be easier up close."
Shokaku nodded. He took a deep breath as he dropped his pallet gun to the side and withdrew his Prog knife, "worth a shot. Or should I say, taking a stab at."
He nimbly feinted to one side and charged the angel. The Angel blankly watched as he approached and stared as Shokaku thrust the knife at its chest.
Shokaku felt his knife jam into something, a force recoiling back up the arm of the Eva. But when he looked down he saw that once again, his attack was stopped short. His Prog knife grating against what looked like thin air.
"Come on, come on," he muttered, trying to push forward.
"Energy reading detected." the automatic voice in his Eva said.
"Shokaku watch out!" Amagi's voice rang.
Shokaku looked up and saw the Angel was staring right at him, its eyes beginning to glow. His reflexes kicked in and he quickly dove out of the way as a beam of energy fired through the air where he was just standing.
The blast arced behind him and erupted, the ground shaking from the explosion.
"It shoots lasers?" Shokaku couldn't help but yell out in surprise. Suddenly, he looked around as his entry plug was flushed in red lights.
"Damn, did I get hit?" Shokaku asked. He hadn't felt anything. He scanned around the indicators in front of him trying to find the problem.
"No, it nicked your umbilical cord!" Amagi shouted.
Shokaku's eyes landed on the timer now counting down.
Great, well this was going well.
"How much time does the pilot have with only its internal battery?" Asuka asked.
"Just 15 minutes," Amagi said, "that's the limit of our technology."
Toji shrugged, "better than ours."
Shinji's eyebrows furrowed.
"Good going, Suzuhara," Asuka said, "close range, huh."
"How the hell is that my fault? Nothing's working, god dammit."
Asuka had no response to that. As committed as they were to fighting Angels again, without their own Evas, there was only so much they could do. The rest was really up to the pilot.
Shokaku disengaged from the Angel, jumping back to get some distance.
The Angel gave him a fleeting glance before turning back and heading towards the wall again.
It fired another blast, this time straight at the huge metal wall. Another blooming explosion put a huge crater in it. It stood there and began firing blast after blast at the wall.
"Sector 02 of the wall receiving significant damage. Integrity down to 74%."
Amagi turned to address her command room, "Batteries A-01 through A-09, open fire on target."
The huge mechanized guns lined up against the top of the walls turned towards the invader and began blasting fiery salvos at the invader, albeit in vain.
"Shokaku, pull back to the far West Entrance. Let's regroup inside the city. The wall can buy us some time while you get a new umbilical cord."
"No, I can't," Shokaku said, "If it gets into the city, who knows what could happen!" Shokaku yelled, "I'm reengaging, I got this."
"Shokaku, don't be stupid, if you run out of power out there, it's game over!" Amagi yelled.
"But…"
"That's an order, Shokaku!"
The pilot gritted his teeth, "alri-"
"Shokaku," Shinji cut in.
Amagi looked over at the sudden interruption. Shinji was now on his feet.
"Shokaku," Shinji said, "why do you pilot Eva?"
There was silence across the channel.
"I don't know if we have time for this right now-"
"You mentioned that you were in commercials or something. Is it for that? Is it for the money?"
"No! Of course not."
"Then fame? You like the attention. You seemed bothered that I didn't know your name when we met."
"No! That wasn't it. I mean, it's just weird when people have no clue who I am, but it's not like it annoyed me or anything."
"Okay, so what are you in that pilot seat for?"
"...To help people."
"Help people?"
"Yes! Help people. Save them. Protect them. You know, be a hero."
"Right, like with me? When we first met."
"Yeah, I mean, we're 's supposed to be our duty."
"Shokaku, listen to me closely. That Angel has the capacity for unbelievable destruction. You're seeing what it's capable of. By the time you retreat and reengage, half the city is going to be ash."
"So what are you saying?"
"Don't let it get into the city."
"What the hell are you trying to make him do?" Amagi spat. She looked at the communicator and tried to shout over Shinji, "Shokaku, pull back, you have an order!"
Shokaku didn't say anything.
"You could die!" Amagi pleaded.
"You put your life on the line everyday," Shinji countered, "you did it for me today when you disengaged your entry plug to let me in when there was a Naga right behind you. Listen, I'm here helping you guys fight these things because I want to help everyone too. Don't let them down."
"Sector 2 has been breached," one of the technicians shouted. Everyone turned to see that the Angel fired one final blast that now tore a hole in the giant wall of the city.
The Angel began to move again.
Shokaku watched as the Angel lazily started forward, straight toward the city. The city he had protected for 5 years. The thousands of people he had protected for 5 years.
One more push.
"Shokaku, you mustn't run away."
Shokaku took a deep breath and looked at his power supply timer. He's completed missions with less time on the clock. He's killed dozens of Naga. This person was counting on him. Everyone was.
This person believed in him.
Shokaku pushed forward on his control sticks and his Eva sprinted forward back into the fray.
"What the fuck!" Amagi tried to interject, "Shinji, no!"
The Angel turned and faced him once again.
With a shout, Shokaku threw all the weight of the Eva against it, but his mech came to a cold stop, slamming into the invisible barrier of the AT field.
"Come on you son of a bitch, let me through!" he yelled. He brought the knife down again aiming for its head but again it was deflected. He brought his knee up trying to hit two places at once. He kicked and stabbed, desperately trying to land a blow.
Shokaku kept a close watch on its eyes, anticipating another energy beam, but he was caught off guard when the Angel swiftly raised one of its hands. From its wrist, a beam of light projected out.
It was fast. He tried shifting right to dodge, but he watched the beam spear into his shoulder. It took a second, but then the pain set in. A sharp burning pain that completely enveloped his shoulder. He felt his entire arm tense up.
"Damage to the left shoulder. It's been completely pierced."
Shokaku stumbled backwards trying to get away when he saw its eyes begin to glow again.
"Energy spike detected!"
He couldn't dodge this time, he didn't have a footing, and his arm was shot. His vision was filled with a bright light.
"No!" Amagi yelled.
The Angel fired another energy blast that hit the Eva point blank, sending it flying through the air.
The giant mech crashed into the ground with huge force, tumbling a good distance, spraying dirt in every direction. It came to a stop and lay there, smoldering.
Everything burned. Everything hurt. It was blinding.
Shokaku groaned. Even thinking about moving was sending fiery pains coursing through his entire body.
He heard the man's voice. Ikari.
"You put your life on the line everyday!"
Shokaku was inclined to believe that as well, but he realized he was never actually in a position where he felt he was risking his life. Even against the Naga, as precarious as a job it was. He had training. He had experience. He had backup. He was safe inside the Eva.
But this was different.
He was alone.
With a new enemy.
Shokaku managed to open his eyes and looked up to see the Angel already standing atop of him, its eyes glowing again, ready to hit him with a killing blow.
Killing blow.
He was really about to die.
And Shokaku Shinji realized that even more than saving people. He was absolutely terrified of dying.
"Eject the plug!" Amagi cried.
"We can't! Not in the position it's in!" one of the techs yelled. The Eva was lying on its back. If they ejected the plug, it wouldn't do anything but smother into the ground.
He didn't want to die here. He had family and friends that were waiting for him. He had things he wanted to do.
He wanted to live. He wanted to live. He needed to save himself.
He didn't want to die.
Shokaku put his arms out and suddenly everything felt lighter. A fog lifted from his brain. His vision felt sharper and the colors around him became more vibrant.
Shokaku thought he felt someone in the entry plug with him.
The Angel fired a blast that connected with a ringing AT field. The following explosion blew backwards, returned to sender. The Angel staggered back, falling to the ground.
There was a momentary pause as everyone processed what just happened. Engineers that were prepared to call a time of death watched as the Eva vitals held steady. All eyes were on the screen as the smoke cleared.
"That's it!" Shinji cried, "now's your chance!"
But Shokaku didn't even hear him. He had already launched himself from the ground charging at the Angel again. Pure adrenaline was pumping through his body, washing out the pain.
The Angel had gotten back to its feet and threw forward one of its arm, trying to grab his head. Shokaku watched the open palm swallow his vision and felt that visceral feeling of fear overtake him once more.
Don't touch me!
He put out his hands again and another AT field spliced through the air. Purple blood splashed out as the AT field severed the Angel's arm. The giant limb crashed to the floor.
Shokaku let out a feral scream and tackled into the angel full force. The two titans smashed into the ground. Shokaku raised his right fist and brought it down on the red core with vicious animosity.
He continued pounding at it watching as splintering cracks began to form from each time he brought down his fist. The Angel seemed to have stopped moving, but Shokaku didn't let up.
"That's it!" Toji yelled, on his feet too now, "that's it, that's it!"
"Not yet," Shinji shouted, "You keep that AT field up! You hear me!"
"Wait, what is this!" Shokaku cried.
The Angel suddenly burst forward with a new surge of energy, its feet hooked around the Evas body and its last remaining arm stretched and pulled itself onto the Eva. The entire Angels body seemed to morph around the Eva, covering it.
"Keep that AT field up!"
A brilliant flash of light.
The Angel self-destructed and a huge explosion speared into the sky. The blast towered over even the wall, bearing the shape of a crucifix. It would have been visible to anyone in the city. Shinji could swear he felt the ground rock beneath him from the Command Center.
"Receiving blast shockwave …" The screens all turned to static as the force of the explosion temporarily knocked out the nearby cameras.
Amagi yelled, "what's his status? do we have a reading?"
"Yes, we're receiving an energy reading at the epicenter of the blast. Visuals will be back up in a few seconds."
The entire Command Center held their breath.
"Visual link reestablished. Putting it up on the main screen now."
A picture flashed up in the control room.
An intact Eva lay in a crater of earth and ash.
"...Shokaku?" Amagi asked.
Another screen flashed open showing the inside of the entry plug. Shokaku lay there with his head bowed over, unmoving.
From the corner of the screen, one of his hands moved.
Giving a shaky thumbs up.
The Command Center erupted into cheers.
Amagi felt like she was going to faint, "Oh thank God. Thank you, God. Shokaku, We'll be coming to extract you soon, hang tight."
Shokaku looked up at them and nodded, flashing a weak smile.
Then the power in his Eva died, cutting off the comms and enveloping him in darkness. Shokaku leaned back, slumping down in his pilot seat, taking a long shaky breath.
Shinji sunk back into the chair. He laced his hands and rested his forehead on them, using his thumbs to massage his temples. He closed his eyes trying to keep himself in the moment. He breathed a sigh of relief
He felt a pair of warm arms wrap around him from behind.
"Shinji…" Asuka whispered, a hint of concern.
"I know, I know…" Shinji said.
Why was Shokaku struggling with the AT field when it had come so naturally to them? It was simple. Shokaku wasn't fully realizing his situation. The brief time he spent with Shokaku in the Eva, it was apparent that, even though he piloted for longer than they had, he never came close to what Shinji or Asuka or probably Toji had to do.
And to use Eva to its maximum potential, it needed distress. It needed anxiety. Raw emotion. Things that would change a person.
Maybe there was a better way.
But this was the only way he knew.
"Credit where it's due, but man, I hope that name you chose is just for show," Toji said without looking at him.
Four people sat in silence in the room as the command room continued to celebrate and applaud around them.
Toji, Shinji, and Asuka somberly took in the fact that they were once again here fighting Angels.
And Amagi was glaring discreetly at them, with a face of stone.
A Familiar Feeling
August 8th, 2025
0922
Shokaku Shinji woke up to a bright white ceiling.
He felt groggy and sluggish.
He turned to his right to see a girl his age sitting by his bed, diligently flipping through a book. She brushed a few locks of her long black hair behind her ear.
"Chitose?" Shokaku asked.
The pilot of Unit 04 gasped in surprise, snapping her book close. She looked down in dismay after she realized she hadn't bookmarked where she was.
She looked over to Shokaku, "you're awake!"
"For now," he groaned, "these pillows are real soft."
Chitose rolled her eyes and set her book aside, "Don't go to the light."
"Where are we?" Shokaku asked.
"East Branch Medical Center."
"Are you alright?" Shokaku asked, "I heard you got admitted too after deploying..."
"Hey, I'm not the one still in the hospital bed."
Shokaku smiled, "that's good. How long have I been here?"
She shrugged, "just for the night. They said you just needed some rest."
"How long have you been here?"
"Like a minute, maybe."
"Is that why you lost your place in your book. And the lamp is on?" The sun was well up in the sky now, giving the room a pleasant glow through the window blinds. The lamp light from the hospital stand she was sitting by seemed completely redundant.
Chitose grabbed one of the pillows and tossed it over his face, "Changed my mind. Go to the light." She laughed, as Shokaku went limp, pretending to flatline. He pulled the pillow from his face, giggling as well.
"But for real, get some rest, I'll go grab a nurse," Chitose stood up and trotted out the room. Just as she was about to leave, he called out to her.
"Hey!"
Chitose turned back.
"I got em, right?"
Chitose gave him a smile, "you got em."
She disappeared out the door.
Shokaku breathed a sigh of relief and fell back into his pillows. He had done it.
A few moments later, the doors opened again, but instead of a nurse or doctor, he saw Captain Amagi walk into the room.
"You see that, Captain?" Shokaku grinned, "Add it to the record. 226 Naga and 1 Angel."
But Shokaku felt his smile evaporate when he saw Amagi' expression as she stepped up to his bed.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"What's wrong?" Amagi repeated in disbelief, "What's wrong is that yesterday, you almost got yourself killed. What you did was dangerous. No, it was stupid," she growled.
"Hey, I did it, didn't I?" Shokaku huffed.
"You got lucky. You could have seriously gotten hurt! I mean, how could you just listen to that guy?"
"You mean Mr. Ikari?" Shokaku felt frustration begin to boil inside him, "I listened to that guy because he actually seemed to believe in me. He actually seemed to care about what I'm trying to do. With you it's just: 'why didn't you follow protocol?' 'I can't believe nor do I care that you just saved a human life'. You were like that even after I saved Mr. Ikari yesterday and, shocker, you're doing it right now after I saved who knows how many lives!"
"By risking your own life like that? That was a big gamble Shokaku, that's not the way to do it."
"I can't believe I'm getting a lecture about this right now," Shokaku said in exasperation, "I did a good thing and you're not letting me have this? This is about the Eva isn't it? What, is your little robot more precious than protecting people?"
"Listen, I'm here to protect people too. One of those people just happens to be you. I had 43 casualties yesterday, alright. 17 KIA. And that's 17 too high for me. I don't want you being added to that number because of some macho heroism act got it? So get off your damn high horse. This isn't a game." she said, her words dripping with venom.
"You don't think I know that!" Shokaku shouted with the energy he could afford, "I'm the one who almost fucking died."
His words echoed around the sterile hospital room. Amagi didn't break her eye contact, "That's what I'm worried about."
"Yeah, thanks," Shokaku said, cooling down, not meeting her eye, "I just woke up, can we talk about this later or something."
He was done with this conversation.
Amagi gritted her teeth and she bitterly exited the room.
Three sharp knocks echoed throughout the room.
Ikari Shinji woke up to a dull gray ceiling of concrete.
He swung out of the springy bed and got a good look at his cramped room they had kept him in overnight. And by that, he meant he looked around to see if there was anything else besides him and the bed in the room still.
They didn't use the term but it was practically a cell.
They had also separated the trio. Shinji couldn't remember the last time he had slept without Asuka next to him. It made him uneasy. And after everything that happened yesterday, as exhausted as he was, it made for a restless night.
Another rapid series of knocks echoed from his door.
"Mr. Ikari, are you awake?" A muffled voice asked.
"Yes, come in," Shinji shouted over.
He heard an electronic beep as the door unlocked and a couple of UN security guards stepped into the room.
One of them dropped a set of clothes neatly folded in a plastic wrap onto his bed beside him.
"Please change into these and we will escort you to the briefing room. The Commander would like to speak with you."
Shinji gave a nod and they stepped outside, giving him some privacy to change.
Shinji ripped open the plastic wrap and held up the new clothes in front of him. It was a khaki uniform reminiscent of what the NERV staff used to wear. Shinji couldn't help but let out a small laugh, but it wasn't out of amusement. He was getting tired of seeing so many familiar sights, but at least he had some fresh clothes.
He stepped out in the new uniform to see Asuka and Toji dressed in a similar fashion, waiting with their own set of guards.
"Good morning," Asuka said, "looking sharp there."
The guards led them back into the boardroom where Amagi had taken them the other night, but this time, only a single person was waiting for them.
He sat at the head of the table. He was an older gentleman with silver hair and broad features and donned a clean brown suit.
"Ah, the trio of the hour," he said warmly, "please, have a seat."
The three of them quietly took their seats at the table.
"I am Suzutsuki, Commander of the East Branch of UN Naga Operations, it seems I missed quite a night," he chuckled.
The three of them quietly nodded, trying to get a read on this person. None of them really had a great time with the last Commander they knew.
"I'll cut to the point. Captain Amagi brought me up to speed with who you people are, and I must say, I'm still skeptical."
"It's a wild story, but everything we've explained to you is true as far as we know," Asuka said.
The Commander smirked, "Last night we snuck a background check on you guys. You didn't match with a single identity in the entire United Nations database. I think I'd have an easier time believing you are from a parallel dimension. And the reports don't lie. You seem to have an undeniable intelligence on this new enemy."
"Right, the Angels," Asuka affirmed.
The Commander leaned up against the table in intrigue, "and you say this isn't the last of these things we'll be seeing?"
"I'm afraid we can't guarantee we'll get all the details right," Asuka said, "but the one thing we can assure you is that there will be more on the way and that we are here to help you deal with them."
"And that's why I've brought you here. I'm here to make it official. Offer you a job if you will. Those uniforms are yours to keep if you so wish. I've also already arranged proper living quarters and even pay for you. We can hammer out the details."
The three looked at him, stunned. They had been tossing in their heads on how they were going to possibly convince these people here to believe them at all. But here was the Commander of the organization not only offering full cooperation, but benefits as well.
They hadn't really thought about their long term stay, but they really did come to this world with literally nothing but the clothes on their back. If these people were offering a place to stay and an income for them, it was a no-brainer.
"That's very kind of you, yes of course we'll accept," Asuka said eagerly. She looked over the two boys to make sure she wasn't incorrectly speaking for them, but Shinji and Toji were nodding vigorously.
"Excellent!" Commander Suzutsuki said with a pearly smile. He stood from his share and went to shake each of their hands, "We'll need to do a lot of paperwork. You people are starting from square zero after all."
"No problem, sir," Toji said, gripping his hand, "jeez, really thank you."
"It's me who should be thanking you. Go outside and the guards will bring you over to one of the offices. They'll have you take care of everything there."
The three exchanged excited looks as they exited the room.
"Let me ask you real quick," the Commander said, stopping them at the door, "do you know when the next Angel is coming?"
"Not for a couple weeks I believe," Shinji frowned.
"The fourth… It's that giant purple snake thing, right?" Asuka mused.
"I thought it looked more like a squid," Toji said.
"I guess from below when it uses those whip arms it kinda does…"
The three paused when they noticed the Commander watching them with slight amusement, an eyebrow raised.
Toji chuckled nervously, "sorry, our memory is a bit suspect."
"Like I said," Asuka smiled, "we unfortunately don't have all the details."
The Commander gave them a reassuring wave of the hand, "no worries, we'll have plenty of time to discuss and strategize. If the next Angel doesn't come for a while, why don't you take the day off? If you really come from another dimension, maybe some time acclimating to our world would do you good. We can talk more tomorrow."
"Can we?" Asuka exclaimed.
Shinji had almost forgotten the rush of excitement he felt after seeing the rich civilization above them. They had been stuck underground in cramped rooms and corridors since then.
Toji hadn't even seen the outside and he could tell he was itching to.
The Commander smiled, "We'll make sure you get your first paycheck once you finish the paperwork, so go wild. But, we will have to assign you a detail to make sure you're not up to anything. I do hope you understand."
"Oh, that's fine, you have nothing to worry about."
"I look forward to working with you," the Commander said.
"We'll be in your care."
The Commander was being generous about the amount of paperwork they had to complete. They got to a large administration room where three clerks guided them to separate rooms to go through mountains of forms.
The process took him 2 hours. Shinji's hand was sore from the sheer amount of signatures he scribbled down and his smile decayed with each ID photo he took. He was the first to finish his and the guards escorted him back to his cell first to wait for Toji and Asuka to finish up.
Shinji went through the thick folder of papers he had been given. He had a new birth certificate, individual number, driver's license, bank account, debit and credit cards, insurance. Everything.
He pulled out his UN Staff ID where his picture wryly smiled back at him.
He looked at the name printed front and center.
Gendo Ikari.
There was a banging at the door, and he heard it open. Shinji got to his feet, expecting Toji or Asuka.
Captain Amagi stormed into the room.
"Oh, Captain," Shinji let out, but he didn't get to say any more before Amgai roughly grabbed his collar and shoved him against the wall.
"Don't get too comfortable just because the Commander's giving you a cushy job here," She hissed, "I still have my eyes on you. If you ever endanger one of my pilots like that again, I will throw you in the Eva and see how well you can get an AT field going."
"You might be surprised."
Shinji felt the grip on his collar tighten. Shinji put up his hands, "Listen, I'm sorry. This was an emergency. Next time, we'll be more prepared."
Amagi almost hated that he apologized. She wanted an excuse to hit him.
"An emergency? What if he couldn't do it, huh? Then it would have been all over. What if he died?"
"Captain Amagi, these Angels we told you about. This is just the beginning. Would you be shocked if I told you Sachiel is one of the weakest ones?"
"That's not the point," Amagi seethed, she eyed the ID card he was holding in his hands still, "You think I'm stupid? I know your name isn't really Gendo either. They were calling you Shinji in the interrogation room. What the hell are you hiding?"
"You're the one that's not getting the point, Captain. My name and who I am are unimportant. The Angels are what's important. These aren't going to be your backyard brawls like with the Naga. This is for keeps. For me and you and especially your pilots. Listen, I have no intention of getting your pilots killed, but their lives will be continually on the line from here on out. Dying is a real possibility. I'm sorry, but like it or not, this is just something you're going to have to get used to."
That was enough. He was pissing her off and she was already in a pissy mood to begin with. She no longer needed an excuse.
Shinji saw Amagi raise her hand to strike him, but he made no move to stop it. This wasn't the first time he was going to be hit for dealing with the 3rd Angel. If it helped her let off some steam, why not. Maybe the sting would help him block out the guilt he was feeling. Mutual gain. Shinji clenched his jaw.
Behind them, she could hear the sound of the door opening.
"Oh, there you are Sh… Ikari" Asuka said.
Amagi looked over at her, now with a reaffirming hand on Shinji's shoulder and a beaming smile, "Soryu, how are you?"
Shinji awkwardly waved.
"I'm doing alright. What are you guys talking about?"
"Oh nothing, I was just asking him a few more questions about, you know, everything. It's a lot to take in, you know."
"Right," Asuka nodded. She turned to Shinji, "Well, I think Toji's almost done, shall we get ready to go?
Shinji shrugged, "let's do it."
Amagi didn't move for a second but eventually released Shinji and stepped back letting him gather his folder and leave the room.
Shinji and Asuka walked silently down the hall for a bit before Asuka spoke up.
"You okay?"
"Don't worry about it," Shinji said.
"If she was giving you trouble, I can have… a word."
"Don't worry about it, Asuka."
"Right, okay," she said softly. She threw on a smile, "well, nothing like a night on the town to ease the mind."
Shinji was already envisioning himself breaking up a fistfight with her and Amagi, so he was mildly surprised that she had backed off so easily. She didn't even really seem to press for details. But Shinji was relieved. They had enough enemies with the Angel.
It was almost overwhelming the amount of things there were to see, to catch up on.
They could always see the figures of UN intelligence agents lurking in the corner of their eye, but they stayed out of the way of their day in paradise.
Asuka dragged them into a huge clothing store first thing where she emerged with a glamorous new stock of clothes which she continually poked at for Shinji's opinion. And by that she meant praise.
Shinji nor Toji were quite as excited for the clothes but knew they needed something. Toji got away with a stack of plain loose fitting attire, but Asuka made sure to pick out clothes for Shinji, claiming the tighter and flashier clothes were more stylish, much to his chagrin.
There was no way they could possibly cover everything in a day, as even the most seemingly mundane things were things they they had long accepted were fantasy
They saw an ad for an amusement park that they mentally made a note of for the future.
They debated whether to go see a movie. The thought of a novel blockbuster was tantalizing after being stuck with the same handful of movies and tv shows that they could salvage. In the end, they decided to save it for later as well.
Asuka squealed in delight after tasting ice cream for the first time in a decade. Shinji couldn't lie, he thought he shed a tear tasting it again as well.
They fooled around in a batting cage for a couple hours. Probably longer than they needed to after Asuka insisted she could also get a homerun after Toji got one.
When dinner time rolled around, they couldn't help but enter the priciest restaurant they could find. Food wasn't a critical issue back where they were, but it was still something that they needed to be mindful of and ration. But for the first time in a decade, they stuffed themselves on delicacies they had craved for years and some that they had never even heard of.
Later that night they finally found themselves in a small bar.
The bartender distributed each of their respective drinks.
A glistening strawberry martini with a salt rim, donning a slice of lime.
A foaming ice cold beer filled to the rim.
A glass of tap water.
They all took a swig of their drinks and gave a sigh of pleasure.
"What is this, baby boy hour?" Toji playfully clinked his glass against Shinji's plain water, "why don't you live life a little more?"
"Alcohol is gross, and the hangovers are never worth it," Shinji said, taking another calm sip. He was already immune to these types of taunts from Asuka.
"Acting all tough with just a beer, how sad," Asuka said, coming to his defense. Apparently, it was only okay when she did it, "what is that, 4? 5% alcohol? Very ironic of you to speak of child's play," Asuka took a sip of her martini and almost melted, "God, why couldn't a bartender have come back in all those years."
"Beer," Toji said, dramatically holding up his glass, "is the essence of a man."
Asuka rolled her eyes, "10 years older, yet still so old fashioned."
"I thought as part German, you would have an appreciation for it as well."
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
"I can handle liquor if I want to," Toji said, "I have nothing to prove to you."
"A claim that you won't back up is meaningless," Asuka looked over at him with a sly smile, "What do you say, a few rounds of tequila? Think you can handle it?"
"Let's not get crazy," Shinji said, "we already spent a lot of money today. We still need to budget ourselves here. We haven't even gotten groceries."
"Oh my god, groceries. We can get real food," Asuka said blissfully, "cans and vegetables, no more."
Shinji gave her a smile and stared down at the serene glass of water in his hands. He heard the incessant chatter of all the patrons around him. The blaring pop music in the background. The drowning sounds of life.
The whizz of chopper blades roared.
Amagi looked out from the helicopter, assessing the damage at the Hakone walls where they had battled their first Angel. The repairs were already on their way.
The NDZ or Naga Defense Zone was the former city of Yugawara, several kilometers south of Hakone. Since the Naga began attacking, it had been completely abandoned and kept off limits. After years of fighting, it probably should have been reduced to rubble, but the UN would actually make sure to occasionally rebuild portions of it.
The Naga had a tendency to mindlessly destroy everything and anything manmade that they could find, so giving them new buildings to tumble was a good way to keep them occupied while they mounted an intercept.
However, the Angel was completely different. It was uninterested in the hollow structures and had blown through the NDZ in record time. Instead it went straight for here, Hakone. And it almost made it through the wall, no less. Unlike the Naga, it definitely had a mission.
They had looked for any trace of the Angel to study or analyze but they had come up with nothing. Its self-destruct had erased any trace of it, leaving only a few craters and a giant hole in their wall to remind them it was ever there.
Amagi sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"You look tired," the commander's voice buzzed in her headphones. She looked back at him. He was seated across from her, looking right at her.
"Maybe so," her gaze drifting back outside the helicopter
Amagi had been up for about 40 hours now. After yesterday's operation, she had been tirelessly submitting reports and going through paperwork, fueled by stress and a whole lot of coffee. She hadn't had the time to afford a look in the mirror, but her face was probably showing it. Not to mention one of her pilots probably hated her now and she was still trying to get over the fact she would have to work with those three mysterious strangers.
"I know you don't like them," the Commander said, his gaze still on her, piercing farther into her mind.
"Maybe so..." she simply repeated.
"I need you to look at something," he said, withdrawing a tablet and offering it to her.
Amagi frowned and took it. It had an album of photos opened and began to flick through them. She felt her eyes widen and the vigor at which she swiped increasing with each photo.
"These came in from the United States NSA. They were taken just this morning off the coast of Guam. Around 0730 our time."
Guam was not a big island but it was still incredible to see almost its entire shoreline filled up with washed up Naga.
Naga parts to be more precise.
Limbs and torn up carcasses of the giant sea creatures littered the coast of the small piece of land. She could see their lifeless bodies already decaying into the sand.
"They estimate about 77 Naga so far, and that's only the ones on the beach. At least two bodies have washed up since this was reported implying that more may be more in the ocean."
Amagi put a hand to her mouth. This was more Naga than they defeated in a year sometimes.
She continued swiping through the photos until one in particular made her freeze. A corpse of something that certainly wasn't Naga, but was lying in the same grave.
Two false eyes blankly stared up in the sky. She could see bite and claw marks all along its long purple body. It looked nothing like the mountain of Naga remains settled around it. It didn't even look anything like what they fought last night, but somehow she knew what it had to have been.
Another Angel.
Looks like the Naga somehow managed to beat their Angel visitor too.
"But they said the next one wouldn't come in a few weeks."
"Right, but the description they gave of it matches, even though this hasn't been disclosed to pretty much anyone yet. They don't know everything, but they know some things. And that's a hell of a lot more than us."
Amagi's eyes flickered over as they made another pass over the Hakone Wall. This was the first time in 3 years that a threat had reached the wall and the first time ever that something had broken it.
"Captain, this is shaping up to be a real War of the Worlds, and I need all the help I can get, do you understand?"
Amagi nodded. Ikari's words burned in her mind.
"Like it or not, this is just something you're going to have to get used to."
How frustrating. Yet another thing in her life she had no say over.
"Besides," the Commander said trying to reassure her, "you know what they say about keeping friends and enemies close by."
Toji and Shinji trudged their way back to the address they had given them that would be their new living quarters. Shinji was carrying an out-of-commission Asuka on his back. Even though he had stopped her from getting into a drinking contest with Toji, that didn't stop her from ordering plenty of shots for herself. Toji's arms were full with the spoils of their shopping spree.
The road they were walking was quiet and barren, letting them look up at the flashy lights of the city in peace against the ambience of a nearby highway.
"Mind if I smoke?" Shinji asked, pulling out a pack. He managed to sneak into a corner convenience store and buy one while Asuka was running around in the outlet stores.
"Ah, so you do have a vice," Toji grinned, "go for it."
"You smoke?"
"Nah, never tried."
"Do you want to try?"
Toji paused for a second, "I think I'm good."
"Good answer," Shinji said, lighting the one already in his mouth.
They continued walking through the town together in silence. They were tired, but it was a bit awkward.
Shinji had been meaning to ask, so he might as well now, "so what happened after you killed me?"
Toji looked over, "what?"
"In your world, what happened? Sounds like it was similar enough until, you know, you killed me."
Toji gave a soft laugh, "oh right, well I dunno. After the activation test went nuts, you heard I was the pilot and rushed over in your Eva to save me. Said you'd die trying. And, well, you did. Asuka and Rei really beat the shit out of me after that."
Shinji couldn't help but laugh bitterly, "How interesting. In my time, no one told me that was you in Unit 03. Not until afterwards..." It was a conflicting feeling. Shinji had always wished someone, anyone, had told him back then that Toji was chosen to be the Fourth Child. But, it seemed that knowing ended up getting him killed. What a cruel twist of fate.
"Yep, well, I was out of commission for a while after that, but eventually they salvaged Unit 03 and put me back on duty to fill your shoes. We beat all the Angels somehow, and then Instrumentality and all that happened and now I'm getting by with my sister and Hikari and her sisters somewhere in Ibaraki I want to say."
"Well, that's nice," Shinji said. Toji was being pretty vague. He guessed he didn't want to get into a whole lot of details. Shinji wasn't any different. He briefly went over how it played out with him. How he ended up on that beach with just him and Asuka, and how, before this, they were living in the ruins of Kyoto together.
"And now we're here," Toji said, "can't believe all this is what we've been missing out on. Even before Third Impact."
"I know right," Shinji said, blowing out some smoke, "Definitely an upgrade, overall."
"...You can't see the stars, though" Toji said.
Shinji looked over at him with a funny look but Toji was blankly looking up past the bright city lights at the night sky now.
Shinji joined him looking up at the dull gray sky. He thought he could make a twinkling star out but he realized it was just a solitary plane, lazily moving through the air.
"Huh ...I guess you're right."
Shinji brought the cigarette up to his lip for another drag when something swatted it out of his hands. He frowned.
"I thought you said you quit," Asuka said groggily, not showing any other indication she was conscious.
"That's dangerous…" Shinji sighed. He reached over with his foot and stomped out the glowing butt.
"That's my line," she repositioned herself on his back and drifted back into sleep.
They finally came upon a nice uptown complex. They had offered them three studio apartment rooms next door from each other on the second floor. But Shinji unlocked one of the doors and entered with Asuka still on his back. He turned and said good night to Toji before closing the door.
"We'll get our stuff tomorrow," Shinji said.
Toji gave him a wink as he entered his own room.
Shinji didn't even bother turning on the lights or taking his time to look at his new place. He went straight to the bed and gently put Asuka down on one side of the bed and climbed beside her in the other.
He hefted out a sigh and stared up at the ceiling. The modern ceiling fan stood motionless above him, the wide center light fixture staring back at him.
He wondered if he could get used to this one.
TO BE CONTINUED
