Creation began on 08-21-21

Creation ended on 08-30-21

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Definition of a Savior

Misato Katsuragi was once a woman that felt like she had a duty to understand why her father risked his own life to save hers. She even felt like she once had to get revenge against the Angels for what happened to cause Second Impact. But as of late, she was just a woman bored out of her mind because of the unexpected happenings that had occurred in the last few weeks.

First, Shinji returns from an alternate dimension where he lived for five years, she thought as she sat in front of her computer in her room, and he brings back with him these sword-like objects that allow one to perform feats of magic that one would find impossible to believe, including ones that change the world for the better if there were others like him that could do good instead of having personal reasons for wanting one of these swords…and then we come to find out that much of his past, ever since he was a little boy, that his parents were so deep into what the Eva was that his mother let herself get eaten by one and it scarred him. It's no wonder he despises the Eva and wants nothing further to do with it. If it had been me, I'd make the same choice, and he has something to fall back on.

"Oopfh!" She heard a slip and fall outside her room and got up. "Ahh…"

She slid her door open and found Shinji on the floor with a basket of laundry.

"What happened to you?" She asked him.

"Slipped on a sardine," he admitted.

"You should get outside and do something."

"Like what? I haven't been able to do much of what others my age do out there since I gave notice to that jerk."

If this was the life of how a hero was when waiting for the next sign of danger, Shinji was having a hard time adjusting to it. He still went out every now and then, but Misato wanted to make sure that Section Two wasn't following him; since he turned in his NERV card, it would've been moot to follow the actions of a fourteen-year-old boy that no longer piloted one of the Evas. She also had to make sure that Gendo, being the loser that he was, wouldn't do something as crazy as hold a grudge against his own son for quitting NERV, something a lot of people lately had to consider was within the realm of possibility. So far, Shinji's schedule, now excluding NERV-related tasks, was just school, her apartment, library, grocery store, and wherever else he was likely to go…with the exception of wherever he chose to go with his Magiswords, that is.

"Tell me something," she told Shinji as she helped him up, "if you get rid of another Angel without ever getting caught, and it was buried underground where someone had seen it, would you do so?"

"Get rid of another Angel?" He responded. "Just tell me where, how to get there, who has seen it, and I'll do it."

She smiled at him.

-x-

SEELE hadn't contacted him in a while, but he figured that it was only a matter of time before they did, which was why Kaji was wasting no time trying to gather as much information from the MAGI before he was reached out by his superiors. With the unexpected arrival and boon of this strange mecha that had appeared to face two the Angels, NERV had been under mild scrutiny for their lack of progress, and this left the agency wondering who was out to undermine their operation. Being a spy, Kaji would've been able to access certain computer networks to ascertain who was responsible, but it appeared that there was no such agency or even a multinational corporation involved in the creation or distribution of a building-sized robot that was able to do away with two Angels without the need of an AT-Field since the failure of the Jet Alone robot. But if nobody was taking credit for it, it was anyone's guess as to who was behind the mecha.

Why would nobody be claiming responsibility for a mecha that defeated two Angels? He wondered. Even just defeating one Angel would give a rival company substantial credibility. NERV would be forced to go to them for the technology used that allowed them to dispatch the Angels with minimum casualties. Unless it was a top-secret project going on that not even NERV knew about.

-x-

Shinji had to hand it to Misato; not only had she seen the Angel, but she knew where it was located within NERV…and led him to Terminal Dogma via the Legendary Hyperspace Magisword. It was just her concern of getting them into Terminal Dogma based on her recall and using a Magisword that could open portals to places only three times a day, making it a precious resource to have handy.

"Ugh," he shuddered, looking up at the crucified being impaled by a large, red bident, leaking a steady stream of orange fluid that reminded him of the LCL, and seeing a large, artificial lake of it pooling under it. "What even?"

Misato got the impression that what Shinji just said was reminiscent of what Vambre and Prohyas would often say when he was with them.

"This is it, Shinji," she told him. "This is the First Angel, the cause of Second Impact. Adam, in all its glory."

"Unholy glory…but…are you sure this is Adam?"

"Kaji identified it as Adam. Why?"

"Just…something about it just seems… Well, judging from its appearance alone, this Angel looks rather feminine, not masculine. Hold on a minute."

"Legendary Knowledge Magisword!" That voice announced as Shinji brought out a different Magisword to aid in this confusion.

"Reveal…your secrets," he uttered, aiming the sword at the crucified being, and it fired a beam of light at its body. "Aaah!"

Shinji ended up seeing more than what he had anticipated on seeing from this being, so much so that he felt like he was going to explode his brains out of his skull. There were stars, galaxies, strange humanoids, seven moons and bidents like the one impaling this behemoth, and as he fell to his knees, he came to the name of the entity: Lilith, an equal and opposite to the being referred to as Adam.

"Shinji?" Misato spoke as the Magisword he held ceased its glow, indicating that he had found out all that he wanted to know.

"This isn't Adam, Misato," he told her. "This is Lilith…and we gotta get rid of her. We gotta get rid of her."

"Lilith?"

Shinji caught his breath and rose back to his feet.

"Nobody can be allowed to exploit her once the Angels are disposed of," he explained, taking out his two Magiswords that enabled him to dispose of Zeruel, the Fourteenth Angel. "There are too many risks with having her here, and they are all of them irreversible for everyone left alive. It'd be no different from an attempted genocide if anyone tried to manipulate her to do their bidding…and she's been used enough as is. Get back."

Using the same combo that disposed of Zeruel, he watched as Lilith and the Lance of the Longinus were sucked into a vortex to parts unknown to Shinji, just that he hoped that nobody here, including his parents, would ever find her and exploit her again. Wherever she ended up, he just prayed that it was someplace far, far away from the Earth, inaccessible and totally devoid of any and all varieties of maniacs that can't tell the difference between helping people as a whole…and hurting people as a whole. When Lilith was gone, Shinji used his Legendary Hyperspace Magisword again and opened a portal for Misato and himself to retreat back to her apartment before anyone could come down here and find them.

"Whew," Misato sighed. "That was a close call."

"Yeah," he agreed with her, still thinking about the unexpected secrets he had obtained from Lilith. A forbidden union between Adam and Lilith, an artificial evolution to regress all of life back to a primordial state before the first primates ever walked the planet, forcing all souls together in order to eliminate the gaps that are possessed… That's madness. If something like that ever happened, it would be the end of all free will and the right to walk away from something you don't believe in to be the right thing to do. And my parents…what the Hell were they thinking, using Lilith to create Unit-01…and then do everything else they've done? Well, it all stops. I'll make sure of it. Nobody gets what they want if it's bad for everyone else. Nobody.

-x-

Everyone was asleep when they heard a crashing noise loud enough to wake the dead. People gathered around and saw the cause of the ruckus, seeing it as some sort of…monster that was beyond their understanding. But upon hiring the crazed siblings to investigate the matter, it was discovered that the giant creature was incapable of harming them, and that it seemed unlikely to ever move again.

"What do you think, Vambre?" Prohyas asked his sister, examining the colossal bident that was sticking out of the monster's chest, making him assume it was dead.

"It looks like the same creature that Shinji saw when he was little," she responded, "but why would he send it here? Assuming that he did send it here?"

"Assuming that he did, my best guess is that he was trying to get rid of it so that whoever or whatever was after it couldn't cause more problems than he likely had already. We should try to contact him and let him know. For now, we need to get rid of this thing."

"I got this."

"One Big Hole Magisword!" The voice announced as Vambre brandished the chosen Magisword and created a large hole in the ground, forcing the white behemoth to fall into the abyss below, red bident and all.

When the hole disappeared, the Warriors considered the problem solved. For now, anyway. They would need to try and contact Shinji and inform him of this.

-x-

The library, the one place in Tokyo-3 that Shinji found to be the only place he would rarely see others his age…but the one place he had right now to find a book on swords to pass the time.

"Psst," he heard someone say to him, getting his attention, seeing that it was Toji. "What are you reading, man?"

"Just a book on swords," he explained to him.

"Is it any good?"

"No, but not many people find interest in the work of Masamune. Him or the legendary Excalibur that a man prophesied to be king once wielded. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for a book for my sister to read."

"Fairies and princesses?"

"No. Big cats and wolves."

"Ooh."

-x-

It was rejecting Rei each time she attempted to sync with it. Nobody at NERV was sure why Unit-01 was refusing to cooperate with the First Child. Even secondary attempts with the Dummy System had failed when they tried to use the autopilot system.

"Maybe we should try to rehire the Third Child," Shigeru suggested.

"Oh, really?" Hyuga replied. "You want to say that to Commander Ikari, that we try to convince him to ask his only son, whom he hardly even speaks to, to pilot the Eva again? Good luck with that ever happening."

Of course, the mere suggestion that Shinji ever piloting the Eva any further after the Unit-03 incident was as comparable to the Angels ceasing their attacks on the human race: Unlikely.

Inside the Entry Plug, Rei was still trying to wrap her head around why there were images of Shinji using these strange weapons that didn't look like weapons against other people…and then seeing him in one image flying atop a large sword that was colored red, blue and purple, with a smile on his face.

Ikari-Kun, she wondered, where were you when disappeared?

"…If we can't figure out why Unit-01 won't sync with the First Child or Dummy System, Ikari will chew my head off," Ritsuko complained.

"It's like the Eva has developed its own personality and is asserting itself," went Maya to her, expressing her opinion over the Eva.

"If that's the case, it picked the worst time to do that."

"But people are unpredictable; you can't tell when someone's going to do something until they do so, at the critical moment, which is whenever they choose to assert themselves."

"Further illogical behavior, typical of men and women."

-x-

"…What do you mean, it's gone?" Shinji, who was asleep in his room, woke up to hear Misato speaking to someone. "How could it be gone? I mean, something that big can't just get up and walk away! I mean, it didn't even look like it could walk away. It didn't have any legs!"

She certainly knows how to make it seem like she's ignorant of things, he thought as he closed his eyes again and tried to forget why he woke up seconds ago. How long before my father finds out that Lilith is gone?

A vibrating sound came seconds later, and he felt it in his futon, causing him to open his eyes again. He reached under his pillow for his Magi Mobile, which was reacting to a call attempt from Vambre, reminding him that it still worked, despite being in another dimension.

"Hello?" He spoke up.

"Shinji?" Vambre's voice responded to him. "How have you been?"

"Surviving, day after day, week after week. You and Prohyas?"

"The same. The reason I'm calling is that…Prohyas and I think you disposed of a monster from your world and it ended up in our world. A white-skinned behemoth with its legs or lower body missing and impaled with a red spear."

"Lilith? You mean, she's in Lyvsheria? I didn't know she'd end up there. I swear, my intent was to dispose of her, but not dump her on any of you. I thought she'd end up floating adrift in the farthest reaches of space somewhere, not in Lyvsheria."

"Accidents happens, Shinji. Anyway, we were hired to dispose of her, and we buried her underground. It is fortunate, however, that nobody here is anything like the people from your world. Scientifically speaking, that is."

"Yes. Yeah, that is fortunate. It's good to hear from you again."

It was a blow to his conscience to learn that Lilith was dumped on Lyvsheria, but a relief to know from Vambre that she had been buried. The people of Lyvsheria, Rhyboflaven, in particular, were very simple-minded and not curious by nature of why something was; the less they understood about something, the less interested they were about it. And in this case, they were people that could care less about Lilith so long as she couldn't bother them, either with her presence or her aura of mystery surrounding her. So long as she was there and beyond the reach of these foolish and crazed nutters that could exploit her, Shinji felt he could breathe a sigh of relief to know that people like his father could never get their agendas carried out so long as certain pieces were taken out of play.

-x-

"…Still, it's a remarkable feat, really," Fuyutsuki told Gendo and Ritsuko as they were in the former's office, "to slip into NERV, undetected, bypass the security measures, and then dispose of Lilith and retreat before anyone's the wiser of her disappearance."

"But who could get in here without triggering one alarm, bypassing the security," Ritsuko questioned, "and then dispose of Lilith without making a sound? If someone wanted to blow her up, even if it was a contained explosion, someone would've heard a rumbling, felt vibrations. If they wanted to bury her under the LCL lake, they wouldn't have succeeded; the pool isn't that deep or expansive, and the Lance of Longinus would've stuck out in the air."

But Gendo had problems that were more pressing than the mysterious mecha that showed up and dealt NERV a severe blow to their credibility. With Lilith gone, it was only a matter of time before SEELE discovered this and demand an explanation that he didn't have. At best, they'd relieve him of his command of NERV. At worse, they'd have him killed. Either way, the scenario was severely compromised; no Lilith meant no Human Instrumentality Project, which meant the human race would face extinction.

"We need to find out who was accessing Terminal Dogma before Lilith was found missing," he told them.

"It shouldn't be too difficult," Ritsuko expressed, which was the truth; there were few people with access to Terminal Dogma, and even fewer alive. "The list of people is within the single digits, less than eight."

And three of the eight people with access to Terminal Dogma's most closely-guarded secret…were all in Gendo's office. But Gendo knew better than to suspect either Ritsuko or Fuyutsuki; neither had the time or the resources to dispose of Lilith, and there was no way either could without him knowing. This meant that it had to be someone else with access. But who?

First, the Third Child had disappeared for a while, then he returns, but in poor condition, followed by his recovery and subsequent self-termination from NERV. After which, there was a second Angel attack repelled by an unknown rogue that couldn't be traced back to any rivals out to discredit NERV, using technology that was beyond the usual possibilities and seemed more like make-believe than being grounded in reality. And when you combined the refusal of Evangelion Unit-01 to activate with either the First Child or the Dummy System based off of her synchronization data, you had one blowback after blowback after blowback, making it seem like you were on a course heading towards disaster before you could comprehend what the situation was and how to undo it. And Gendo probably only had a few days before SEELE demanded an audience with him to ascertain the whereabouts of Lilith…or less if their personal mole spoke up any sooner than necessary.

What in the Hell is going on here? He wondered.

-x-

Maybe it was an impulse buy, but it wasn't like Shinji had anything else to do with his pocket change. He just got back from his time outside and was now lifting his small barbell weights in his room. They weighed about five pounds, but they'd help build his muscles up so that he could carry or lift other things.

"Warriors for Hire are here," he sang to himself. "It's the name and career… Sleuthing siblings who quest… Which is what they do best… They have special tools, for which they are fools… These guys lose their minds when they collect and find… Man, I miss those two. I even miss Grup, that little dragon."

-x-

"…Nobody's claiming responsibility for this," Ritsuko informed Gendo later that day in his office; for the last four hours, everyone with direct access to Terminal Dogma had been interrogated for information relating to the disappearance of Lilith, but nobody had any idea where it went. "Nobody with direct access has been down there within the last eight months."

Gendo was in trouble now. If nobody in NERV was responsible, then it was someone else, someone probably looking to discredit the agency, or even to shut them down. But who was it? Who would be foolish enough to take on NERV? It was at times like this that he wished there had been cameras installed in Terminal Dogma, but the area was considered so sensitive that cameras weren't allowed for the sake of security and preventing a leak in private information.

"Sir?" Ritsuko spoke.

"Resume the Dummy System operations with Unit-01," he told her, and she then left.

By the time SEELE found out Lilith was gone, there would be Hell to pay, and Gendo would be one of those paying. There was no immediate discovery on who was responsible, and nothing was more pressing than not knowing who was at fault.

Damn! He thought, slamming his fists against his desk. Who did this?! Who?!

-x-

Practicing with his bokken on the rooftop again, Shinji imagined himself being surrounded by scores of adversaries and that his wooden weapon was his Kunai Magisword. He swung at chests, legs, necks and faces, taking no crap from anyone. And doing so rather gracefully as he moved around the roof. He was no samurai, but he had admiration towards them, especially since he was more of the ronin-type, a samurai without a master, devoted to nothing but his own beliefs, his own principles.

Life and death, he thought, light and darkness, right and wrong. Opposites in nearly everything. Heroism and villainy. The path of a hero is one of bitter work and persistence, but the path of a villain is one of deception and betrayal. To choose one, but know of both, is the path of causality; for every action taken, there is an equal and opposite reaction that comes in due time. I chose the path of least resistance, looking to keep the world from being plunged into a darkness from which there is no salvation. My parents chose the path of deception and betrayal. Right and wrong will always be thicker than any blood ties between us. Neither path they lay down is the right path, and nobody should be forced to make the choice to cast out the world that is for one that never was or will be once the old world is destroyed.

Imagining his parents in front of him, he swung his bokken at their heads, severing them from their necks, putting an end to their deviant agendas. With a new breath, he set his bokken down and sat on the roof.

"I've never seen a city at night in the air before," he suddenly told himself, a careless idea running through his head. It's not like anyone's going to see me.

Picking up his bokken, he retreated back to his room and picked up his pouch of Magiswords and changed into his dark clothes.

-x-

"…Honestly, I've never seen Shinji happier than to not have to pilot the Eva," Misato told Ritsuko as they stood in front a test plug with Rei Ayanami in it. "He has more time on his hands to pick up where he left off with his school and develop other hobbies."

"What sort of hobbies could he find the time to develop after walking away from NERV?" Ritsuko questioned.

"Painting, more dish preparation, whatever floats his boat and helps him to put everything relating to the Eva and his father behind himself. He could even develop a better taste in music for all I know."

"Sounds like someone with too much time on his hands."

"Who has time on their hands? Not many people have the time for even the most minor of things because they never make time for the most minor of things. But if you never make time for something, then how can you have time?"

"Anyway, the First Child's sync ratio is at forty-nine percent with Unit-00, but with Unit-01, it barely gets to fifty percent…and then it stopped registering when it refused to activate. It barely reached the startup line."

"And what of the Dummy System?"

"It uses a copy of the First Child's synchronization data as a base, but the Eva refused to activate on that, too. We've attempted to get around this several times, but Unit-01 simply won't activate for her."

But you probably know who it will activate for, Misato thought, except that he won't pilot again, no matter what you say or do to try to convince him to reconsider his decision.

If Unit-01 refused to accept Rei or the Dummy System, it was more than likely the Eva would only accept Shinji, the very person that had been paired with it ever since he arrived to Tokyo-3 to face the Third Angel. But Shinji, due to his greater clarity after being gone in another dimension for a long time, wanted nothing to do with the Eva after learning about his mother from his past and discovering how far his parents were willing to go with their own agendas. This, in turn, left NERV in a bind over the use of this particular Eva; if they couldn't use it, it was just a glorified action figure that was a waste of space, time and resources, and if they had nobody that could actually pilot it, it was pointless to have it on standby. While at first, Misato did consider the likelihood that Shinji might be the only one capable of piloting the Eva, but like all other secrets that existed in the world, she chose not to disclose such knowledge to Ritsuko or Commander Ikari; such knowledge would've likely been exploited to try and force Shinji back into service when he had finally escaped his obligation to NERV.

"So, what will you do?" She asked Ritsuko.

"If nothing pans out, we may need to put Unit-01 into stasis and recruit another Evangelion and pilot for NERV," the faux-blond stated.

-x-

The city lights were impressive, even from up high over the skyscrapers as Shinji flew on his Hoversword. Nobody could see him due to his Mirror Mirror Magisword having affected his Hoversword and clothing to reflect light off of himself. The night was young and the air was chilly, but the view above was fantastic. He felt on top of the world right now, just being able to soar without restraint, to be out in the open, but totally invisible to the people.

When this is over, I should take up traveling, he thought as he flew beside a tall building, heading down towards the streets. People aren't the same after traveling to new places that bring out something different in them.

Stopping just three stories in the air, he flew over the rush hour traffic that was occupying the streets. Nobody could see him. Nobody was even looking up. And Shinji couldn't believe that he couldn't have been able to do this without his Magisword collection. Before any of this, he was just a pilot for the Evangelion, someone whose very life was split between a semblance of a normal life and an obligation to a paramilitary agency.

Long have I never lived, he thought as he flew up another building. Long have I simply gone through the days, waiting for an absolution that never was. But no more. No more. This is my life…and I'll live it on my own terms.

-x-

"…Explain to us how Lilith, one of the necessary pieces to the Human Instrumentality Project," went SEELE 01 to Gendo during the next meeting, discovering that something else had gone wrong in their precious scenario, "could suddenly just turn up missing, Ikari?"

"Someone got into Terminal Dogma without NERV's knowledge and disposed of her," he explained simply.

"And you knew nothing of this?" SEELE 05 questioned. "How is it that you, the leader of this agency, can know nothing of the disappearance and possible destruction of Lilith?"

"Nobody suspected that any intrusion of someone else into Terminal Dogma would be possible," explained Fuyutsuki, who was also present during the meeting. "But we have investigated NERV, and no one here was responsible."

"And what of those unaffiliated with NERV?" SEELE 10 questioned.

"We haven't found the culprit."

"Ikari," SEELE 04 spoke up, "your incompetence has become most taxing. First, you get your Evas outdone by a mysterious robot that you can't tie to anyone two times against the Angels, then you lose Lilith and the Lance of Longinus? You do realize that without them, we cannot achieve our grand design. What's worse is the NERV branch in Nevada have yet to perfect the research data behind the S² Engine. It's taking longer to install it on Unit-04 than we expected."

It seemed as though nothing was going well for either group. The Angels were one thing, but the future of the human race was another thing. Not having the pieces necessary to achieve their salvation was another issue that made the men behind SEELE edgy to trust in Gendo Ikari's ability to control the situation for them.

"And still no trace of the origins behind the mysterious robot that intervened against the last two Angels?" SEELE 10 questioned.

"No, nothing," Fuyutsuki answered. "Officially, there's no company or agency that is taking responsibility for its actions. Unofficially, nobody seems to be working on anything remotely similar to what was displayed by the robot. Nothing currently used…or in development…anywhere. It's even possible that nobody is responsible for making it, that it's just out there."

"That's ridiculous," SEELE 04 expressed. "Nothing simply is. There is always a reason behind everything one does, no matter what."

"Except none of what has occurred was foretold in the Dead Sea Scrolls," Gendo reminded; while the scrolls didn't tell everything that was believed to happen, he didn't believe in them having the entire history of the human race written down. "Whatever was supposed to happen has not happened."

Some of the events that didn't transpire included one of the Evas being "possessed by unholy rampage as it savagely tore one Angel apart", an Eva "obtaining the power to rival the gods through inhuman cannibalism" and "a life taken to shred the heart of those charged with saving the future". Because none of these events had transpired, it was in all likelihood that the scenario had been compromised. If the scenario was compromised, the Human Instrumentality Project was more than likely impossible to achieve, as well. This would put Gendo at odds with SEELE if it was true.

"If this is true, then would it be likely that the Human Instrumentality Project is now impossible to achieve?" SEELE 01 questioned.

"That remains to be seen," Gendo responded.

"Make sure that it is still within reach, Ikari. Otherwise, the next time we meet, you will find yourself relieved of your command."

As the holographic monoliths disappeared, Gendo fumed. He more than likely only had until the next meeting to find out if the Human Instrumentality Project was still doable, or else he was going to be replaced.

Damn! He thought.

Fuyutsuki was thinking that whoever was behind this, if it was even a person at all, would make it so that the Human Instrumentality Project would never come to pass. He might've been affiliated with NERV, but he was not interested in what they or SEELE were doing. While a believer of mankind's future, he preferred the world as it currently was, full of people, no matter how different, indifferent, twisted or perverse they were. Any other world, no matter how promising it could've been, was nothing more than a dream that deserved to be forgotten about.

Whoever or whatever is behind this, mortal or deity, he thought, please, put an end to this madness that exists.

-x-

The sight of Tokyo-3's lights from the hillside where he, Asuka and Rei went after the blackout and subsequent Angel attack made Shinji feel good about coming back to this spot. While there were no cities in Lyvsheria, it had been a beautiful place to be, rivaled only by other places that were just as intriguing to the perception of people's interests. It made Shinji have to wonder why certain people, like those that live in cities, feel more at ease in smaller places, or how those that knew small places with no large happenings developed a longing for larger things. If it was due to a spirit of adventure, a sense of a thrill needing to be sought after, that would be understandable; some people needed to expand or get out of their comfort zone.

What would Vambre and Prohyas think if they were here? He wondered as he sat on the hillside. There'd be no Magiswords around, not even the leads to find one that was mediocre. But would they wander around? Would they attract attention?

One random thought that went through his head was how the boys at his school would've probably tried to get with Vambre simply because they would think she was very attractive, something Shinji wouldn't have denied being a truth. But then, he'd react with some protective hostility because some people can't take a refusal for an answer. Then, he'd probably condemn himself for being possessive before apologizing to Vambre.

"How dare you?!" One of Vambre's outbursts toward someone that caught her attention in a bad way echoed in his mind.

"Eh-heh-heh!" He laughed. "Ah-ha-ha!"

Grabbing his Hoversword, he decided to return back to Misato's, content with his nightly joyride fulfilled and needing to make sure dinner was made.

-x-

With Lilith gone, all that was left as a threat to the human race were the remaining Angels and Adam themselves as Misato returned to her apartment for the night. However many that were left, which were hopefully fewer than suspected, she supported Shinji's ability to deal with them with his Magisword collection; the less the world had seen the Evas in action, the better, despite that being an insult to Asuka's ego. And so long as Gendo was none the wiser to what his son had done, regardless of few suspicions that could've pointed to Shinji being the direct cause of his shortcomings, he would most likely be relieved of his command of NERV, removing one more problem. As she let herself inside the unit, she was greeted by Pen-Pen, who waddled lazily towards her.

"Hey, there," she greeted him.

"Yarp…" He replied, then burped before passing out; he had probably eaten a lot earlier and was slipping into a food coma until he got hungry again.

She picked him up off the floor and carried him into the kitchen, where she found Shinji cooking something different from what they normally ate.

"Did Pen-Pen pig out on fish again?" She asked him as he turned to face her.

"Just on three large salmon," he explained, "fried and marinated with soy sauce. And then, he did the craziest thing: He bowed to me."

"You're his fish god, Shinji."

"I'm no god, just a person that got into a fad that ended up being resourceful."

"Not to Pen-Pen, though. To him, you're the bringer of his food, which makes you a god."

"If that is the case, anyone can be viewed as a deity for doing something for someone else, even something as simple as…giving a cup of water to someone feeling dehydrated."

"What do you suppose are the chances of your father getting fired because of what happened?"

"With any luck, they're high."

-x-

Gendo was standing in front of his son, who seemed less manipulatable and more independent, which was not going to do for himself if he wanted him back in the Eva beside them. And he noticed that Shinji was holding something in his right hand that reached down to his legs, some sort of red thing with a green handle. If it was an axe of sorts, it didn't look like a dangerous one., despite its shiny texture.

"What are you doing outside the Eva?" He asked Shinji. "Where are your priorities? We have to deal with the threat."

"The threat was over before it could even escalate," Shinji responded. "Nobody needs the Eva any further."

"That's not for you to decide! Get in the Eva!"

"You can't tell me what to do, anymore."

"I'm telling you right now!"

Shinji then brandished the object in his hand; Gendo had never seen a weapon that looked like what Shinji was holding.

"What do you intend to do with that?" He questioned. "Do you plan to kill me?"

"Actually, I'm going to make you look stupid," Shinji replied, "and this will make it so."

"If that's supposed to be a knife or blunt object, I don't see how it could harm me."

"Not harm, make you look stupid."

Gendo made a move on Shinji, and the thing in his hands hit him with…a large tomato! He was sent falling backwards because of the impact.

"What the…" He went, and Shinji hit him with another tomato.

"Yeah, that's what you get, Father!" He heard Shinji say to him, aiming his weapon at him. "You're going to look really stupid covered in tomatoes."

The thing was somehow materializing tomatoes out of nowhere and hitting him with them, exploding in his face and covering him in bits, ruining his clothes and dirtying him.

"Ah-ha-ha!" They heard Ritsuko laugh at Gendo, pointing at him. "Look at him! Ah-ha-ha!"

"Eh-heh-heh!" Fuyutsuki added in, covering his mouth. "I wish I had a camera."

Flash! Gendo looked and saw the Second Child holding a camera, taking pictures of him covered in tomatoes.

"A picture's worth a thousand words, but several pictures of you in your most humiliating position should sell for a few million yen here!" The girl expressed.

He then got up quickly to knock Shinji down, but the boy aimed his tomato-making weapon and knocked him back down with an oversized tomato.

"Boo!" Shinji jeered at him, and made one more tomato, this time the size of a car, and had it levitating over him. "You suck, Father!"

Splat! The tomato crashed on him.

Gasp! Gendo awoke in his office, panting and looking around, seeing nobody else present; he had fallen asleep and had a nightmare.

"Petulant brat," he expressed; he blamed Shinji for his bad dream, despite the fact that he had been removed from NERV records after he had resigned.

-x-

In his sleep, Shinji tightened his grip on his Tomato Magisword, dreaming of covering his father in tomatoes and tomato juice, making him look pathetic in front of everyone. A smile formed on his face as he turned in his futon.

To be continued…

A/N: What was a good dream for Shinji was a nightmare for Gendo! I bet some of y'all out there wish Shinji would do it in real life. Have patience, and you might see more in store for Gendo than mere humiliation.