Author's Notes: Hello everyone! This is a fanfiction inspired by Re-Take and Shadowfang6421's Relapse. The idea is new – Shinji decided to help Gendo's scenario since he grew tired of fighting against him in the countless cycles he experienced. How would everything change? The tone will be s bit dark – you know how EVA works.

I do not own Evangelion

I'm not a native English speaker so I sincerely hope someone may find this idea interesting and elaborate on it. Just take my idea and off you go.

Chapter 1: Prologue: Here We Go Again

"As of 01:12:30 PM today, a special state of emergency has been declared for the Kanto and Chubu regions surrounding the Tokai district. All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters immediately. Repeating: As of 01:12:30 PM today, the Kanto and Chubu regions surrounding the Tokai district have been declared to be under a state of emergency. All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters immediately."

Shinji looked at the telephone headset in his left hand, letting out a frustrated groan. Last time hadn't been too bad – he got together with Asuka surprisingly early – just after the fight with Sahaquiel. In fact, it was a record for him. Most of the time they would get together after the kiss, sometimes later, sometimes sooner.

But that didn't matter for now.

Because all of those different lives he experienced had ended.

Last time it ended with Third Impact – not an uncommon destiny.

Shinji gripped the headset with such force that it began to crack. He threw it on the wall; the plastic creation shattered into pieces, falling down to the ground.

Just how many times had he been through this?

The first time he thought he was given a second chance – to fix everything. He was ecstatic. He tried everything he could to make things right; he brought Rei out of her shell, he got together with Asuka and helped her through her mental breakdown, he even saved Kaji – but in the end, SEELE still won, and murdered Asuka just as brutal as the first time – but that time, he had to watch.

Then he was given another chance. Then another. Then another.

Shinji shook the thoughts off – he didn't need brooding now. He needed to get out of here quickly – there were still slim chances of danger being in the middle of the battleground.

He learned this lesson from experience.

The ground shook just on time – this time Shinji was already hundreds of meters away from his original spot. The VTOL crashed down to the ground; a fireball engulfed his former spot.

The sound of engine roaring captured his attention. He smiled as a familiar blue RA130 pulled closer and screeched to a halt in front of him. Shinji got sentimental in the first few times and almost had a breakdown every time he saw the familiar Major – Captain for now – but he soon grew out of it after he realized he still had many encounters like this awaiting. "Sorry I'm late! Get in the car!" Shinji smiled and hopped in. Misato Katsuragi slammed the pedal; the car rushed down the empty street thrice the speed limit.

Deep down the ground, inside NERV headquarters, Gendo Ikari smirked behind his clasped hands as the generals of JSSDF continued ordering effortless attacks against the Third Angel.

He didn't know his scenario would face a substantial alternation today.

"Misato, don't stop here," Shinji said calmly as they passed a certain part of the highway.

"Eh?" Misato blinked, "but… aren't you interested in the battle?" With that being said, she still released the brakes and the car sped up once more.

"I…just want to get as far away from…that thing as possible." His tone was unwavering.

"Sure," Misato frowned, "you don't have a sense of adventure, do you?"

Just like Shinji had calculated, the world went white as they passed through a tunnel. From the hundreds - perhaps even thousands – of cycles he experienced, one thing he learned to do was to make sure Misato would drive into the tunnel when the N2 mine went off.

Misato slammed on the brakes – the screech of the tires echoed in the tunnel, magnifying as the sound waves bounced off the walls.

"That…was a good idea," Misato let out a sigh of relief; Shinji just smirked in response. She always had the same reaction.

XXXXXX

He had seen the same sight so many times that even the magnificent sight of Geofront wouldn't amaze him anymore. However, Shinji still acted amazed – much to Misato's satisfaction. His thought kept wandering around a specific person as Misato went on about how great NERV was and how it was the savior of mankind.

His father.

Shinji loathed his father – the emotion was accumulated through the countless lives he lived. He was always a manipulative monster – he never hesitated to use the Second Child to blackmail his own son in order to achieve his desired end of the scenario. He tried to fight against him – he really tried. But he could never protect Asuka in the process.

Shinji began to emphasize his father.

This time, he would do something completely different. Not that he gave up – he simply didn't want to see Asuka get hurt anymore.

"So this is the Third Child?" Ritsuko Akagi asked, her eyes arrogant, if not condescending.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Shinji huffed, "my name is Shinji Ikari."

"Well, he does resemble a lot of his father."

Shinji couldn't help but chuckle at the remark. The doctor couldn't have been farther from the truth, nor could she have been closer.

Shinji pretended to be surprised as the lights lit up, Unit 01's purple armor shining under the artificial lights.

"You won't find this in the manual." Ritsuko interrupted as Shinji scanned through the manual, "This is Man's ultimate humanoid fighting machine, the first model of the synthetic life form Evangelion, Unit 01. Built here in secret, it is Mankind's last hope."

"Is this part of what my father's been doing?"

"Correct. It's been a while." Shinji raised his head, looking directly into his father's cold gaze. His own was just as stern.

"Father…" Shinji's voice was cold and stern, Commander Ikari raised an eyebrow hearing the voice.

"We're moving out."

"Moving out?! Unit 00's still in cryo-stasis, isn't it?" Misato glanced at Unit 01, "wait a second. You're going to use Unit 01?"

"There's no other way." Ritsuko looked at Shinji, "Shinji Ikari. You will pilot it."

"But even Rei Ayanami took seven months to synchronize with her Eva. It's impossible for him to do it! He just got here!"

"He just has to sit in the seat. We don't expect-"

"I'll pilot it," Shinji cut her off. Normally he would fight back a little, but considering this time he didn't intend to hide anything – from his father – he reckoned he could at least prevent Rei from getting hurt. Gendo Ikari narrowed his eyes – Shinji wasn't a little bit like what he was expecting.

Ritsuko and Misato fell silent at his words. "Alright then," Akagi broke the silence first, "follow the instructions."

Shinji still had to act startled by the procedures – especially the LCL infusion. "Oh my God, his sync rate is 87.5%, that's incredible!" Ritsuko exclaimed, "he's born for this!"

Gendo smirked. Things were getting back to normal.

"Father…" Shinji's voice captured his attention, "we need to talk…after the battle."

"EVA LAUNCH!"

XXXXXX

AN: Um, yeah that's the prologue. I left out a lot of unnecessary details – people who watched the TV series should know what they were, and those who haven't shouldn't be reading this. The next chapter may take longer to upload since I'm still wrapping up my other story – You Can (Not) Redo, which is my priority.

I upload this piece to see how people think about this idea, and then I will decide whether I should continue it. So leave a review!