Doctor Who: The Anime: Evangelion Arc, a Doctor Who + Evangelion Crossover fanfic

This Story is connected to my other Story: Doctor Who: The Anime: Series 1

Fictions Mentioned: Doctor Who, Neon Genesis Evangelion, A Certain Magical Index, Case Closed/Magic Kaito, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Re:Creators, Code Geass, Science Adventure, Star Wars

Episode 1 – Once More With Feeling

OP Song:

Neon Genesis Evangelion Full Opening Theme Song With Eng and Jap Lyrics

Location:

Multiverse Cluster: Anno Verse

Temporal Powers Alliance (TPA) Member Territory: The First Ancestral Race (Status: KIA)

Universe: NGE (Neon Genesis Evangelion) Verse

"We're sorry, due to the special state of emergency no lines are currently available. This is a recording."

Shinji Ikari did not fall to the ground in shock only because his mind was still so hyper stimulated from the events of the last few hours (or a century, he just didn't know as he lost count) that it took several seconds for where and when he was to become fully apparent in his mind.

Those few seconds passed.

Then he let the green handle from the payphone slip from his hand in shock, stumbling back and looking around.

"No way… It actually worked!"

Shaking his head in a vain attempt to clear it, he forced himself to breathe normally, banishing the almost instinctive spike of panic he had felt rising with several steady breaths that got his facing heart back under control, before letting his senses slowly take in everything.

He was standing on the street of a village, which he remembered clearly was on Japan's Eastern Seaboard on the rail line to Tokyo 3. Dozens of cars lay abandoned along with the length of the street, doors left open speaking to the haste in which they had been abandoned for the dubious safety of shelters.

Weighing even more heavily in the air was the complete lack of human sound. No cars moved around and the train station a couple of blocks away was utterly silent. No people moved with a purpose, no electronics sounded…there was nothing but the omnipresent buzzing of cicadas.

It was about this time some of his other senses finally started to report in and he glanced at his right hand, feeling the small, stiff, piece of cardboard that was grasped in it.

Unbelieving, yet at the same time absolutely certain on what he knew what he would find, he slowly lifted it up.

The card…was a picture of Major Misato Katsuragi...or rather Captain Misato Katsuragi.

In a rather revealing outfit…on a beach.

With the familiar scrawl of her handwriting across it, promising to pick him up today…and directing his attention to attributes probably not suitable for a 29-year-old woman to flaunt to a 14-year-old child.

In this case though, he was already a hundred years old by this point.

And under the postcard, wrapped around his hand…which now started to shake, was a long string necklace, attached to a simple white cross.

A cross stained by a splash of blood.

Steadying himself with his left hand against the wall, he gripped the cross tightly as his head started to feel all too light, forcing himself to control his breathing carefully, his eyes looking around in as it watches-

-and locking onto the ghostly figure of Rei Ayanami, standing in the middle of the street.

Time all but stopped as his attention locked in on her as the rest of the world suddenly becoming irrelevant.

He knew that he had travelled back in time because he had a little help from The Doctor and his newfound friends/allies (Touma Kamijou, Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa, Kyon, Sota Mizushino, Lelouch Lamperouge) that he first met in that apocalyptic future that he originally came from, as they had a plan to use Dr. Rintaro Okabe's Time Leaping Machine in order to send him back to this current time and place in order to stop his father, SEELE, and by extension, their hidden puppet masters, The Committee of 300, and The Angels from accomplishing their plans, along with their plan to prevent Third Impact from happening, and so he was expecting this particular meeting if he were to be honest, while at the same time, he could not really deny the impossible scene that was right in front of him.

The rational part of his mind had pointed out that if he really had traveled back in time and the plan had actually worked, then the presence staring at him was an impossibility.

Almost.

Rei was at least sixty Kilometers away, lying crippled in a hospital bed, deep inside Central Dogma.

Yet…he could feel her.

It was a presence that was Rei, yet at the same time it was more than Rei, an echo of the same overwhelming power that had washed over him during the Third Impact as humanity had been forcibly transformed.

Rei, Lilith, Adam, Kaworu, the presence was all of them, yet it was none of them.

And he could feel the question they were asking.

Is this what you want?

He had said to The Doctor that he had wished that he could go back and stop Third Impact from happening.

He had gone back.

This life that he would live now might not be pleasant.

But it was not a lie.

And it was now his to live.

Not to exist.

To live.

"Yes, this is I want." Shinji said in a tone that was full of resolve as he stared at the apparition before him with his old century worn eyes becoming serious and firm.

The ghostly apparition inclined its head slightly at his thought; the slightest smile twitching onto its face…then it vanished from the universe, as if it had never existed.

The absolute, universal silence Shinji had existed in for those heartbeats shattered with the loud CRACK of an explosion, followed by a shockwave that almost jolted his still somewhat unsteady legs from under him. The garage doors around him rocked and vibrated as the shockwave played over them, overhead power cables adding their own symphony of whistling as they were thrown back and forth by the blast of air.

Slowly, Shinji turned as a familiar hissing drone started to sound, rapidly increasing in volume. He had evidence enough to know that the plan had worked along with the fact that he knew where and when he was at this point in the timeline and what he would see when he turned…

But part of him just couldn't accept this without looking as memories from his other past come right back to him.

At the far end of the village, a lush ridgeline blocked off the urban sprawl of this village from easy expansion, protecting a broad valley on its far side that was backstopped in the distance by yet another ridge, the long valley formed by the twin ridgelines leading down to Japans 'new' coastline several kilometers away. Drifting up the valley, a half squadron of AV-14C gunships backed into view, fanning out over the village in a rough semi-circle.

Following them, came a titanic figure…one that caused a ball of ice to form in the pit of his stomach.

It was as tall as the ridgelines that flanked the valley, spindly yet moving with a deliberate and implacable stride as it moved into the urban areas and away from the coastline. Its 'skin' was a verdant green, covering its dangling arms and long legs, punctuated by white, bony looking structures over its shoulders and along its flanks, offset by a huge red sphere embedded in its chest. A beaklike 'head' sat on its shoulders, which appeared to look around curiously as it planted its feet into the edge of the village itself. A low rumble issued from the giant, as if it was mocking the attack craft arrayed against it.

And its name, Shinji knew all too well.

"Sachiel." Shinji thought with his eyes narrowed while both of his hands were clenched in a fist.

Behind him with a snap-hiss, a VTOL fired a pair of heavy anti-tank missiles at the now stationary Angel, the warheads skidding intelligently around a building in their way, to guide unerringly towards the giant, joined by another half a dozen smoke trails, all of which detonated against the target in an enormous explosion, the noise of which was drowned out by the thunder of the gunships engines as it roared over him towards the combat zone.

Shinji had been extensively trained in multiple combat techniques to use against Angels.

Hand to hand (without an Evangelion) was not one of them.

Shoving the postcard and necklace into his pocket, he spun on his feet and sprinted away from the combat zone, making it a good half block down the street before he heard the crash of the VTOL behind him. Looking down the street intently, he smiled for the first time since finding himself "here" as he saw a sleek blue car screaming down the road towards him. Waving towards it, he caught the driver's attention, causing her to throw the sports car into a shrieking, speed killing 180 degree turn, coming to a complete stop bare meters away.

"Get in, sorry I'm late" Misato Katsuragi started to apologize with a sheepish looking grin, but Shinji was already moving and jumped inside the car, shouting "GO!" as he slammed the door shut, twisting to look out the back window.

Misato didn't hesitate as an irritated looking Angel suddenly leaped down from the sky on top of the shot down VTOL, detonating its unfired munitions and fuel tanks in a roaring explosion that sent shrapnel ripping into the location Misato had previously held, but had abandoned as she slalomed around abandoned vehicles with a light touch, skidding around corners into a series of cross streets as she worked her way back towards the highway, putting the dubious protection of several city blocks between them and the Angel.

"Nice timing" Shinji managed to get out as the car stopped rocking, releasing his death grip on the seat long enough to strap in, just in time for Misato threw her car around another corner and onto the onramp for the Tokyo 3 highway, the NERV officer just grinning at him before turning her attention (wisely) back to the road. Shinji took a last glance back at the battle as Misato roared up into the hills, his mind rocking back as the deeper implications of where he was started to kick in.

"This is it," Shinji thought to himself. "No turning back now. This is my second chance. I will not waste it. I will not waste this chance that The Doctor and the others had given me. I will not run away. Not this time. Not ever. I failed all of them once. I won't fail them again."

Then Shinji begins to recall all of the important people in his life.

As he was recalling them, his main thoughts were directed towards a girl with brown hair that he had failed to save and that he still loves to this very day.

"Wait for me, Mana, I won't fail you again."

Sixty odd kilometers away from the forward edge of battle (and quite some distance 'below ground') another group of people were studying the Angel, though with a great deal less detachment and serine knowledge of what the future would bring.

"The target is still coming towards us, it's still headed straight for Tokyo 3." Shigeru Aoba warned, the main screen making his comments abundantly clear as the 'target' appeared to tire of using its energy rams to play 'tag' with the gunships, starting to move again on a direct line for Tokyo 3 with a deceptively slow looking gait.

"The air defense force just doesn't have the firepower to stop it!" a forward air controller on an AWACS high above the battlefield desperately added over the command channel as the savaged gunship squadrons withdrew to reform.

"Fire everything we've got!" one of a trio of khaki suited figures shouted from the back of the room into the command channel, in a voice filled with a mixture of rage and shock towards the target that continued to shrug off enough firepower to level a good sized down. "Mobilize everything from Atsugi and Iruma!"

"Don't hold anything back!" a second figure put in. "Forget the God Damned budget; destroy that thing at any cost!" the officer demanded, a forgotten pencil held in his hand snapping into pieces as the rooms frustration mounted.

The officers watched in growing disbelief as a battery of general-purpose rocket launchers let loose salvos of huge surface to surface missiles which were about as effective as a fireworks display, followed by another wave of gunships to even less effect, and then in desperation had a conventionally armed ballistic missile from an orbiting B-83 bomber launched on a direct trajectory shot.

To the stunned disbelief of the military personnel watching, the target raised a hand as if to catch the incoming missile, shattering the rocket down its length before the warhead and unspent fuel detonated in a gigantic explosion. Buildings designed to resist high level Earthquakes were flattened for blocks, the Angels position obscured in a gigantic explosion…that cleared to show a completely unscratched target.

At this point, the fist of the left most officer crashed onto the desk he was sitting at in an understandable need to lash out violently at the insanity of the situation, sending an ash tray full of cigarette butts bouncing into the air from the force of the blow.

"It's NOT POSSIBLE" they all but shouted. "That was a direct hit!"

"The tank battalion's been wiped out!" the right most officer put in next as the rising causality listings updated on his secondary displays. "Guided missiles and artillery fire appear to have no effect!"

"Damnit" cursed the first officer again, choking back his rage enough to try and think clearly. "We're hitting it with everything we've GOT and we're not even touching it!"

Behind and to the side of the three officers, two men in uniforms of a vaguely paramilitary cut watched the UN Generals with exasperated expressions, like parents shaking their heads at children who stubbornly refused to believe that Santa Clause wasn't real even when catching their parents in the act of wrapping their presents.

"Looks like an A.T. field" Vice Commander Kōzō Fuyutsuki commented in the detached tone of an academic, as if this was all just some stimulating intellectual enterprise and those were not real pilots and soldiers out there being swatted down like bugs by this terrible creature.

"Yes" agreed the second man sitting in front of him in an equally dispassionate tone, his head resting lighting on his hands as he watched impatiently, waiting for the inevitable conclusion to this entertaining -but pointless- saga. "Conventional weapons are no match for the Angels".

Then right on time, one of the secure phones at the Generals desk buzzed. Gendo Ikari smirked slightly as the officer picked it up and acknowledged the orders. This promised to be mildly entertaining…

"Don't stop." Shinji suddenly said.

Misato had started to back off the accelerator –probably for the first time since Shinji had jumped into the car she had done such a thing-, getting ready to pull over at the top of the hill and take a quick look back towards the battle, when the Third Child had suddenly decided to speak up.

"Eh?" Misato asked in a distracted tone, still caught up in the adrenaline of their close escape.

"Keep. Driving." he repeated in a somewhat more urgent and serious tone. "Trust me on this Captain Katsuragi," he continued, "It's really, really, not a good place to stop… please, just keep going."

Misato frowned slightly at the look on the face of the Third Child, wondering how exactly he had known what she intended to do, but mentally shrugged and with an easy smile at him, shifted down a gear and hit the gas again.

"He's probably right to say we shouldn't stop," she admitted to herself. Her job was to get him to NERV, not stop to gawk at the battle.

"If the operations department need my input, well that's what the satellite phone was for."

She decided, turning West towards Tokyo 3 and rocketing down the backside of a large hill that cut off their view of the firefight-

"Okay stop here." Shinji spoke up, with an odd look on his face as if he was trying to remember something.

"Hey listen you." she said with mock gravity, "you don't side seat drive in my car, I am a perfectly safe driver to be with and I-"

"Really, RIGHT NOW!" Shinji repeated in that same urgent tone, looking over at her with a pleading look. Sighing, Misato hit the breaks and the car skidded to a halt over a couple hundred meters, coming to rest at the base of the hill, somehow without spinning out. Turning a friendly if exasperated look at her young charge, she was surprised to have him suddenly reach over and force her down into her seat, shouting "Get DOWN-"

And the sky turned white.

Squinting her eyes shut instinctively at the flash which could only be from an N2 detonation, Misato grabbed Shinji right back and forced him down with her as low inside the car as possible. A deep rumble grew exponentially louder as the enormous shockwave from the fusion weapon blasted the top of the ridgeline they had just skirted around, stripping trees of their leaves, which rained down the far side as the thunder faded.

The two people inside the car listening to the shockwave fading quickly realized they were still alive and released their mutual grips in embarrassment as they sat up, the hellish red light reflected off the clouds fading as the fireball from the nuclear device ascended towards heaven.

"I'm uh… sorry about grabbing you like that Captain Katsuragi." Shinji hastily apologized as he reseated himself.

"Oh that's fine" she smiled. "But don't start getting any ideas from that photo I sent you" she exhorted, leaning across abruptly into his personal space with a serious expression on her face. "Don't think that I intend to let you take advantage of me or anything like that!"

Flinching back in reflex with his face turning red, Shinji instinctively opened his mouth to apologize, paused, then closed it and laughed out loud, shaking his head and barely managing to get out by saying.

"I'll try to behave myself then."

Before breaking out into even heavier laughter. He didn't have the first clue why he was laughing at first, until it hit him that he was just that happy to see Misato like this; carefree and laughing at life instead of (understandably) angry and bitter at it as she had been…towards the end.

Misato's angry façade dropped instantly as he laughed, joining in and tussling his spiky black hair a bit before sitting back down in her seat and kicking the car into gear as the cloud of dust thrown up by the shockwave started to settle.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Shinji Ikari." she declared, as she accelerated down the road.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Captain Katsaragi" Shinji replied with a small smile, pushing aside the memory of her bleeding to death in his arms out of his mind as he fingered the cross in his pocket.

Not again, not this time. This time…this time it will be different. All of it will be different.

This time… I have friends that can help me in this fight.

This time… I am not alone.

I WILL NOT RUN AWAY! NEVER AGAIN!

"Ah, Misato is fine" Misato shrugged casually as she threw her car around a corner at 'only' twice the posted speed limit.

Back at Tokyo Three however, quite a few people were not feeling quite so carefree.

"What's the status of the target?" the first General demanded, staring at the multi-story static filled screen as if daring it to give him bad news.

"We're unable to confirm." a technician tersely replied from deep in the pit, working to try and bring remote systems back on line. "The EM pulse knocked everything out".

"It MUST be dead." the second General broke in with greater insistence, as if by the force of his convictions his desired outcome would be made manifest.

Behind them, Gendo Ikari merely smiled behind the hands holding his head off his desk.

"External sensors…restored." Aoba declared several seconds later, the dead static filled screen switching to a wire frame sensor readout from the orbiting AWACS as Aoba managed to restore a direct link-up through the EM interference.

The image painted the terrain around the target zone in lines of green from an isometric angle. A hemispherical depression had been drawn in on this map, the detonation crater for the N2 mine…and in the middle of it, a line jumped up into the air, flashing wildly.

"Energy reading!" the sensor tech said in an alarmed voice. "At the epicenter!"

"It CAN'T BE!" the First General said in choked disbelief, all three leaping to their feet-

Just in time for a long range camera placed on a hilltop nearby to switch on, showing a long range zoom image of the explosion epicenter…and the Angel standing straight and tall in the middle of it.

"That…" the third General said heavily, sinking back into his chair, "was our last option."

"No effect at all." the most senior General said in a level, if tired sounding voice as he spoke up for first time, appearing to all but deflate back into his seat.

"It's a God Damned Demon!" the first General snarled, hitting his poor unoffending table again, this time sending the cigarette butts flying off the edge.

A distant tunnel was coming into view now well along the winding road, one Shinji knew led to an outlying Car Train station, and in turn, down into the GeoFront.

Holding the cars satellite phone in one hand (which frightened him more then a little as it left her only a single hand to both steer AND change gears), Misato dialed up NERV HQ. A voice that sounded like Aoba came back over the speaker as Shinji cringed at every sloppy turn along the ridgeline road, thanking whatever deities that might be looking down on them today that there was no other traffic on the road.

"Yeah, so make sure you have a car train ready for us… an express of course… ya… okay, see ya" she finished, before hanging up and turning to glance at her charge, who was looking out the window with a serious and calculative expression on his face.

"So Shinji" she said "…how did you know to get us behind the hill when they dropped that N2 mine?"

Shinji kept his face level. Though Misato's tone sounded almost 'airhead' level curious, he knew her far too well to fall for it, the edge of curiosity in her voice that others might miss which was quite clear to him.

"I saw all the aircraft that were attacking that thing suddenly break off as we were turning the corner" he shrugged, picking an easy lie out of his memory. "I mean, the only reason I could think of why they would do that, would be to drop a really big bomb, right?"

"Right" she agreed with a nod, her tone sounding satisfied, if slightly surprised with his answer. "You know, you're a pretty useful person to have around".

"And you're uh… a damn pretty person to have around" he replied with a smile, causing her face to flush slightly red for a second before she laughed it off, surprised to find she was actually somewhat touched by the kids comment.

"You are nothing like your father" Misato chuckled, speeding down into the darkened tunnel entrance…though Shinji noted this time she did so without pretending it was an exercise in downhill slalom practice.

Something for which he found himself profoundly grateful as he thought in a grave tone.

"No I'm not, Captain, and I hoped that I never will be."

Three dozen kilometers behind the Third Child, a QV-22 Osprey slowly approached the stationary figure of the Angel in the still 'hot' blast zone. An unmanned drone version of the venerable V-22 transport, the QV-22 carried a full spectrum of sensors instead of troops; from basic visual, through most of the EM spectrum, even up to ultrasonic sonar, making it perhaps the most comprehensive remote sensor platform the UN Air Force boasted to date.

The data it collected was bounced up to the AWACS controlling it and from there to NERV central, where the triumvirate of Magi mainframes processed it. But most eyes were not on the incoming streams of information, but fixed firmly on the huge image projected in full color from the ultra-high definition cameras on the twin bladed helicopter.

The Angel, everyone saw, had been damaged by the nuclear explosion. The 'head' of the thing looked like it had been snapped in half, and was apparently in the process of being broken down and absorbed back into the greater whole, while a brand new head grew at a terrifying rate. Parts of the skin that had looked blistered and burned from were smoothing out and healing even as they watched, despite the fact that the ground under it was still in a semi molten state.

"As we suspected, it's regenerating itself" Fuyutsuki sighed. He would have been perfectly happy to simply see the Angel die from the UN's attack, but Ikari was (at least to someone who knew him as well as he did), all but gloating over the complete failure of the UN's most powerful weapon to do more then slow their enemy down for perhaps half an hour.

"Without that ability, it couldn't operate without support units" Gendo agreed, his eyes focused on the view screen upon which the 'new' head the Angel had grown appeared to swivel towards the cameras point of view. The secondary displays registered an energy surge-

And with a flash of light, the screen went back to static.

"Quite impressive" Fuyutsuki sighed. "It can upgrade its operational perimeters."

"And it's also getting smarter" Gendo added in a darker tone as the visual link was switched to a ground drone camera near the blast zone.

"It should renew its attack any minute now" Fuyutsuki agreed uneasily, wondering what in the hell Ikari planned to do about it. It was all well and good for the UN line forces and the JSSDF to make a fool of themselves dealing with the Angel, all the better to give NERV credence as the single authority on these matters.

But given that they had no pilot fit to use their single operational Evangelion unit, Fuyutsuki had no idea what NERV could do about it either…but suspected he would find out soon enough, as Ikari was grudgingly granted full authority by the Generals, who took their leave for the surface helipad where their evac-VTOL, clearly not wanting to be around when the Angel shook off the nuclear impact and came looking for them.

The ride to the GeoFront was unremarkable for one Shinji Ikari, Pilot of Unit-01, in so much as he had made the trip hundreds of times before in the past, or was it the future. Time travel makes verb tenses so confusing. He held his peace as Misato blabbed on about NERV and his father, handed him a lightly classified welcome booklet and clearly started brooding on her own problems as he flipped through it.

He made sure to show and express awe when they entered the GeoFront, which was tricky as he tried to control the shudder that passed over him as his mind overlaid a massive hole in the roof on the incredible vista, with nine white winged figures descending like vultures towards an impaled scarlet Evangelion unit…

"Hey, we're here!" Misato suddenly said in a cheerful tone. Shinji looked up and blinked away his thoughts as he realized that they had arrived at the parking area for the senior staff while he had been 'reading', getting out of the car and stretching his legs as he grabbed his ID papers, following Misato into Central Dogma… where she instantly became utterly lost.

He of course, didn't try to correct her as he needed to let history run its course.

While Misato struggled to work out if she was holding the map right side up or upside down, Shinji snuck the white cross out of his pocket and carefully shoved it deep into his backpack, inside a folded spare shirt. He thought for a second about finding a waste chute to throw the thing into, to ensure no chance of awkward questions being raised, but he just couldn't throw it away. Not after everything…

He would keep it.

To make sure that he would never forget what running away had cost him.

Finally, they found an elevator in The Dogma Core and ascended, stopping a few floors up to let on Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, who had thrown a lab coast over a swimming costume and clearly did not look happy to be here. Shinji guessed she had just come down from the EVA cages and the emergency preparations to get Unit One ready to launch and started to lay into Misato even before the doors had shut again.

Suddenly, he realized that the doctor had noticed him staring and turned to face him after finishing growling at Misato for wasting her time, clearly irritated that Misato was clearly not taking the implied threats even slightly seriously.

"So. Is this the boy?"

Before Misato could respond, Shinji decided this time he would see about keeping the good doctor a little off balance this time.

"This is 'the boy', yes" he replied with a slight trace of sarcasm in his voice, trying not to dwell on memories of how she had treated him and the rest of the EVA pilots. "And this is what the world's leading scientists are wearing in the lab these days?"

Air whistled out through Misato's nostrils as her face turned red in a desperate attempt to contain the laughter that was trying to force its way out. Ritsuko's face flushed slightly as well, but almost unwillingly, a slight smile made its way onto her face as for the first time, she really studied his face.

"You are not quite what I was expecting, Shinji Ikari".

"Then you were expecting my Father" he replied flatly, all good humor instantly gone from his face and voice, "which would be a great error on your part, doctor."

Doctor Akagi becomes silent at this point, instead exchanging a look with Misato.

Not at all what they were expecting the looks said.

Thankfully the rest of the trip through Central Dogma passed rapidly. A short stop into a locker room where Shinji was able to leave his bag while Misato and Doctor Akagi hurriedly changed into their uniforms, then a long trip up the side of the EVA cages, the two women arguing about the possibility of Unit-01 activating as Shinji continued to 'read' the NERV introduction manual. Finally they entered the dark 'room' that Shinji knew really was an umbilical bridge...

The light from the open door cut off, moving the room into pitch black and Shinji steadied himself.

The lights snapped on to full illumination.

And there was Evangelion Unit 01. Returning his stare calmly, directly in front of him.

A rush of memories flooded back into his mind as he looked over the purple helmet of the EVA with an almost detached calmness on his face that he didn't feel inside.

Silence reigned for several seconds as Misato and Akagi watched him closely before they realized he wasn't going to say anything.

"This is man's ultimate fighting machine" Akagi declared, with a touch of pride in her voice that rang through the huge room. "The synthetic life form known as Evangelion. Unit One."

Shinji's expression didn't change as he continued to study the purple face in front of him; its eyes appearing to return his level stare with its own…or her own.

"Built here in secret" Akagi continued her spiel, "it is mankind's last hope".

Shinji nodded slightly, making sure his expression was under tight control before raising his head.

"So." he said in a somewhat louder voice then was necessary to talk to the women beside him, before focusing his gaze on the silhouette of a man backed by lights far above him. "This is what you have been working on."

"Correct" Gendo Ikari replied. "It's been a while".

To Shinji's dark delight however, he could hear the slightest surprise and uncertainty in his Fathers cold voice, he knew his Father had wanted to surprise him by suddenly appearing at the most opportune moment, to intimidate him into a fearful cowering.

"Not this time, Father…"

"Not long enough." Shinji replied in a voice just as devoid of emotion, keeping his expression locked on his father's. "So far, you are failing miserably if you intended this to be any kind of happy family reunion."

Shinji sensed both of the women beside him cringe away from the frigid exchange, hugging themselves almost as if a cold wind had just swept into Central Dogma.

Gendo merely smirked slightly, surprised at the steel in his Son's voice.

"This promises to be more interesting than I had anticipated" he thought, breaking eye contact to glance at Captain Katsuragi.

"We're moving out"

"Moving out?!" Misato protested in an aghast voice, tearing her eyes from Shinji, who had returned to his study of Unit 01. "But Unit zero is still in cryo-stasis…" her voice suddenly broke off as she glanced at the silent Evangelion and her eyes went wide, turning to face Ritsuko. "WAIT a minute; you're going to use UNIT ONE?"

"There's no other way." Ritsuko said flatly.

"You're serious." Misato softly replied after studying her friends face for a second and recognizing the expression on it.

The doctor didn't answer, turning instead to face Shinji, who had turned to look at her.

"Don't tell me," he pre-empted her. "You want me to pilot this thing."

Again, Doctor Akagi blinked in surprise. Gendo had spoken little of his son over the years, but from what she had heard and the brief skim reading she had done of his 'Marduk Institute' report, Shinji Ikari had been described as sorely lacking in self-confidence, probably completely intimidated by his Father and more likely than not to simply follow instructions.

This boy however…

Her thoughtful study of the boy was however quickly cut short by Misato's indignant protesting.

"All he has to do is just sit in the seat" Akagi interrupted in a calm voice. "We're not expecting anything more than that".

Shinji glanced back up as his Father, who looked back in control of himself again, glaring down at the trio.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Insert Song: Start

Mighty Wings (From "Top Gun" Original Soundtrack)

With the familiar feeling of vertigo, Shinji felt the entry plug tilt forward, as the docking system locked the long cylinder into place at the base of Unit Ones neck. The freely rotating internal section remained level as the plug screwed its way deep into Unit 01, then with a deep thud, the armor plates behind him sealed up and over, entombing him.

There was the usual chatter on the communications lines as the control room prepared to synchronize, followed by the rush of LCL inside.

"Hey what? What in the-" he spluttered as the liquid rushed up, holding his breath as Ritisiko assured him it was all fine. He held his breath for a three second count before explosively expelling all the air from his lungs and deeply 'breathing' in the LCL.

When he had first started to pilot his EVA back in the day, he had always tried to slowly control himself as he breathed in the LCL into his lungs and had come close to throwing up each and every time. It had been Asuka who suggested that he should try to breathe it all in, in a single deep breath…and he had to admit, it made him less likely to throw up.

On the other hand…

"I think I'm going to be sick" Shinji muttered, his mind flashing back to a disturbing image of an enormous Sea of LCL that had somehow been burned into the depths of his mind…

"Stop complaining! You're a boy you know." Misato's voice cracked over the intercom, causing Shinji to smirk slightly at the familiar wisecrack.

"Connecting secondary contacts" Maya said next and the rainbow cascade of color washed down the interior of the entry plug as the display screens initialized. The familiar, curious feeling that he was melting into something infinitely larger and more powerful then moved through him, followed by the screens activating to a perfect wraparound view of the area around Unit 01. Closing his eyes, he felt the tug of a connection from the EVA as the A-10 clips in his hair pulsed followed by the tingling sensation of the LCL charging.

"Bi-Directional circuits are open" Maya Ibuki commented a few hundred meters away in the main command centre as the personnel hurriedly rushed to get Unit 01 through an abbreviated launch checklist. Checking that step off her own list, she switched over to a pilots status window and started to flick through the various readouts.

"Synchronization ratio at… forty-three point one percent." she blinked in astonishment. That someone who had never even SEEN an EVA could get such a high ratio on the first attempt was beyond any previous experience…but the MAGI didn't lie.

"Amazing" Ritsuko breathed over her shoulder as the waveforms on the screen merged into one line, before Maya switched over to a nerve connection window.

"Harmonics…appear to be normal. No abnormalities detected".

"Hmmm" Ritisiko agreed in satisfaction. Glancing back at Misato. "Let's do it!"

Misato nodded, and then felt the ground heave under her as an explosion ripped through the city.

"It's close" Commander Ikari muttered from his place at the top of the room, his face once again a blank slate as he gazed at the main screen, showing a huge cross shaped explosion tearing into the night sky above Tokyo 3. "It must have sense our presence."

Hurriedly, Misato turned to Hyuga and Aoba at the primary operational consoles in front of her.

"Begin launch sequence!"

"Begin launch sequence!" the Aoba repeated as another explosion rocked the base, rapidly firing out orders to move the Evangelion to launch position.

"Hit on the first armor plate confirmed!" Hyuga declared as damage alarms sounded. "No penetration as yet". On the screen, Sachiel, apparently irritated at his lack of progress started to stalk down from the hill from which he had been bombarding the town, firing one last blast in passing.

This blast hit one of Tokyo 3's retracted skyscrapers dead on and blew straight down its unarmored length into the GeoFront, an unholy inverted cross materializing over the subterranean cavern, causing the hulled building to freefall down and slam into the ground next to NERV HQ and shake the building to its foundations.

The operations personnel however continued the cycle without breaking stride.

"All restraints clear, internal batteries fully charged." Aoba finished up his checklist rapidly, giving a thumbs up across to Ibuki.

Maya nodded in return and flicked her fingers across her keyboard.

"Roger. Moving EVA unit One to the launch pad." she stated, watching as the hydraulic lift started to raise the EVA towards the wall mounted launch catapults. Then as the charging status indicator for the magnetic induction system reached 100, Maya armed the system, causing a series of blast doors through the launch path to snap open in sequence.

"Launch path clear, all systems green".

"Evangelion, ready for launch." Akagi confirmed, nodding at Misato.

"Understood." Misato replied simply, before turning back to face Commander Ikari with a direct look, her mind still reeling over the revelations of a few minutes ago.

"Can we really do this?" she asked with an almost pleading tone in her voice at the thought of sending an untrained kid up to face the greatest enemy known to Man.

"Of course" Gendo replied, as if she had asked if he would be happy to pack a light supper after the battle. "Unless we defeat the Angels, humanity has no future."

Not exactly sure if that was a good enough answer, Misato none the less turned back to face the main screen, keeping her thoughts to herself.

Fuyutsuki, standing beside the Commander however, leaned in close.

"Ikari. Are you absolutely sure about this?" he asked.

Gendo didn't reply, simply grinning at the screen and if he had been going to say anything, it was made apparent as Misato stepped forward.

"EVA LAUNCH!"

With a flash of energy, energy discharged, magnetizing the track and launch carriage Unit 01 was attached to, sending the gargantuan purple figure roaring towards the surface in a blur of motion.

Inside the entry plug, the launch force kicked him with its usual crushing pressure until the acceleration tapered off, Shinji's eyes squinting shut in reflex from the G forces as his mulled over what he remembered about this Angel.

Of course he hadn't defeated the Angel himself, the thing had broken his arm then blown a hole in his head, causing the Unit…causing her to go berserk and tear the Angel to bits, piece by piece.

He supposed he could simply wait for that to happen…

And watch as Toji's sister gets horrifically hurt…

Blood drained from Shinji's face as everything that had led from this battle, like a ripple in a pond, crashed back into his awareness-

("The Eva's re-activating!")-

(Unit One screaming in rage as it smashed the beleaguered Angel through building after building)-

("Sorry, his little sister was injured in the incident the other day")-

("You're Toji Suzuhara?")

("Getting his sister transferred to our hospital here at Headquarters was the one condition he gave")-

("You still don't know?! The pilot of Unit 03 is")-

("Father, stop! Stop doing this!")-

("I begged him to stop")-

("The Fourth Child is…is…")-

NO! Not this time!

Unit Ones eyes suddenly lit up with an unholy white blaze, seconds from the top of the lift shaft and only a few blocks away from the Third Angel, which was striding jauntily through Tokyo 3 like some gigantic late night shopper.

Deep in the control room, pandemonium erupted.

"My God, Shinji's Synch ratio just spiked to ninety-four point three two-"

"Unit One has disengaged final restraints manually-"

"AT Field generation detected-"

Hyuga, Aoba and Maya's voices overlapped simultaneously, followed by a simultaneous shout of "What?!" from Ritsuko, Misato and Fuyutsuki as Unit One reached the surface.

Instead of crashing to a halt in the restraint lock as had been planned, mankind's ultimate weapon leaped into the twilight, using the momentum from the lift to fly an arc, its cable unwinding furiously behind it as it flew in a blur up and across the street, then countless thousands of tons of cyborg crashed down onto its prey, the air around it burning with a familiar hexagonal strobing as it landed.

"Unit One's AT field is in contact with the Angels" Maya hurriedly commented in triumph as a wavy pair of line graphs on her screen appeared to cancel out, a pair of numbers rapidly dropping to zero. "It's neutralizing the phase space!"

"No, it's eroding it." Ritsuko corrected in a stunned voice as the Angel recovered from the ferocious all-out attack and sudden loss of its Absolute Terror field, whipping its hands up to try and throw Unit One off with its phenomenal strength.

Shinji however, the focus of a tempest, but one of his control, wasn't having any of that. The hands of Unit 01 moved in a blur, seizing the Angels long limbs by its wrists, then pulled them across its chest so each hand could grip BOTH limbs at once, all but ignoring its struggles as he squeezed…until with a crack and spurting of blue blood, limbs detached, leaving nothing but tiny stumps.

"We've done it." Fuyutsuki said simply to Gendo, who inclined his head in agreement.

Sachiel, despite the horrific pain it probably was feeling, probably wanted to dispute such a claim, leveraging up from its position flat on its back to direct its head at Unit 01 as Shinji disposed of the arms, firing a point blank blast at the Evangelion's head, which soared up into the sky in yet another white/purple crucifix, causing Unit 01 to stumble back down the street several dozen meters.

As Sachiel heaved itself to its feet, Shinji growled, shaking off the sympathetic feeling of his face suddenly feeling like it was sunburned, his hands tightening up on the butterfly grips.

Unit Ones right hand flashed to its shoulder pauldron which opened just in time for the hand to yank out a solid looking rectangular object, the Progressive Knife coming joyously to life with a load roar.

Shinji had never been the best hand to hand trained EVA pilot at NERV. That honor had gone to Asuka, who had always, by far, held the most complete EVA training of the pilots stationed at Tokyo 3. Although Shinji had scored some of his most memorable victories against Angels by ripping them to pieces, that had generally happened when Unit One was completely out of his control and he had always been more comfortable with the heavy artillery.

But he had picked up more than one trick from the Second Child during those long hours of training.

Ducking under the still staggering Angels line of fire, Shinji on pure instinct exploded up with a twin fingered knuckle jab into the Angels face that snapped the beak around. Then holding his blade reverse style like Asuka had taught him, brought the Progressive knife in with the classic 'Z-stroke' across the face from left to right, back down to the Angels left chest-

Then stabbed it sideways into the core as hard as he could.

The Angel withered violently as the progressive edge sliced through the sphere on its chest, bucking like a dying animal as Shinji pressed it the hilt, snarling incomprehensible mutterings until its gyrations suddenly slowed and it fell off the blade onto the ground, its skin appearing to suddenly break out in huge bubbles all over its body.

Giving the creature not even another seconds attention, Shinji leaped over it, its power cable detaching at a thought with a hiss as he sprinted to the end of the block where he could make out a terrified pair of familiar people in the shadow of an apartment block. His AT field spread wide behind him with a deep humming roar-

Then a final Crucifix lit the Tokyo 3 sky, this one visible for hundreds of kilometers.

The explosion slammed against the hexagonal barrier, but the Angels final revenge was thwarted as it held firm, the light fading to leave an impossibly perfect crater in the center of the street.

Then the blaze in Unit 01's eyes faded and almost gently, it fell to its knees and powered down.

Insert Song: End

"The target…the target has been destroyed" Hyuga said into the stunned silence of the operations centre as the rumble of the explosion overhead finally ceased, leaving everyone staring in open mouthed awe at the all but untouched Evangelion lying in the street.

"Stand down to second stage Alert." Misato ordered, hurrying forward to the microphone on Hyuga's console. "Scramble tactical recovery teams now, DO IT!"

"Roger" Maya and Aoba simultaneously acknowledged, contacting their respective personnel and ordering them to Unit Ones position as Misato reached the Microphone.

"Shinji, Shinji are you okay?"

Up in Unit One, Shinji slowly let out the 'breath' of LCL he had been holding, closing his eyes for a second as suddenly the rage that had powered him faded, leaving him shaken…and surprisingly, shaking.

"I'm…I'm here…what happened?" he replied, realizing that he didn't need much effort at all to sound vague and confused.

"Its okay" Misato assured him over the comlink. "We'll have you out of there in a couple of minutes…Shinji, Shinji you did great out there, its all over".

"No, Misato." Shinji thought as he leaned back to rest in his command chair, closing his eyes as he listened to the soothing hum of the entry plugs life support systems.

"This has only just begun."

It probably would have worried him to know his Father was thinking much the same of the Captain's statement as he gave the main screen a smirk, before turning and walking out of the command center.

SEELE was no doubt waiting.

Along with their hidden puppet masters.

The Committee of 300.

Meanwhile, in a certain distance from the battlefield, six people where watching the spectacular battle between Unit-01 and the angel that was known as Sachiel, from the very beginning right up to the very end when Unit-01 has managed to take Sachiel down without anymore injuries or casualties.

The first person was a man with brown ancient eyes, who wore a dark brown suit with a Duster type overcoat which is accompanied with a dark brown tie, plain white shirt, olive brown t-shirt, and with Converse All Stars as his footwear.

This is The Doctor.

The second person was a teenage boy with black eyes, with spiky hair, who wears a school uniform that was composed of a while shirt, light black pants, an orange undershirt, and wears white shoes with red stripes as his footwear.

This is Touma Kamijou.

The Imagine Breaker.