"Come on, Shinji! Don't lose to this nerd!" Asuka said. Her arms were wrapped around her boyfriend from behind. Shinji was sweating as he tried to meet his girlfriend's expectations.
The nerd Asuka referred to was me. Shinji and I were playing video games with Asuka in her room. Asuka had been playing before, but after it became clear that neither Shinji nor I could hold a candle to Ms. Sohryu's gaming skills, she got bored of playing and instead began cheering Shinji on. We were playing Street Fighter 2 and it was best five out of nine. We were all tied up with four wins each. I was playing as my main, Dhalsim, and Shinji was Ryu. I was zoning while Shinji struggled to grasp what Ryu could even do. He managed to pull off a Shoryuken for the first time only two matches ago. Now that sounds like I was winning, but jokes on you, I suck at video games. I've got the reflexes of a sloth when I'm not piloting an Eva or avoiding fanservice. Dhalsim got curb stomped into unconsciousness and I was defeated.
"Yes!" Asuka hugged her boyfriend who was embarrassed, though not nearly as much as you'd expect. It had been two months since Shinji and Asuka had started dating and, barring some early awkwardness, the two had become near inseparable. Whether they'd be so close if they weren't stuck all the time in the GeoFront because Tokyo-3 was gone and thus didn't have many other people they could hang out with, who knows.
In these last two months since the triple threat Angel attack, no other Angels had appeared. That had allowed Shinji and Asuka's romance to develop uninterrupted. That should have been a good thing, but it concerned me. Why was the plot holding back? There was definitely some kind of nefarious reason like trying to make me complacent, only to then spring some horrible shit on me. It made it hard to appreciate that my plans had gone so well so far.
It wasn't just my plans that were going well.
Right after the fight with the three Angels, Misato pulled me over to her bedroom so we could have a private conversation. I told her what I experienced inside Leliel and how this entire reality was created for the sake of testing me.
"Jesus Christ. You just keep saying dumber and dumber shit." Misato leaded back as she sat on her bed.
"I'm guessing you don't believe me." I sat stiffly on an office chair.
"I have to believe some of what you're saying. The Angels that showed up were all ones that you mentioned when you gave me your spiel initially, and they were all just like how you described. You at least know about the Angels, but that's all that's verifiable. The rest can be and probably is horse shit."
"Are you going to tell anyone about what I told you and how you're suspicious of me?"
"No."
"Wait, really?" I leaned forward.
"You saved Shinji and Asuka from that last Angel and your advice finally got Shinji to grow a pair and ask Asuka out. You've only been helpful so far, besides the weird way you've been affecting people's behavior which seems to have stopped for the most part. You might still be a threat, but you aren't an immediate one. I don't want to rush into anything, only for it to turn out you really were an ally."
"So you won't tell anyone anything?"
"No."
"Thank you." I hugged myself and sighed. "I was getting scared there."
"I still don't trust you."
"That's fair. I'll go now. Thanks again."
Misato said nothing as I left. I didn't necessarily gain an ally or a confidant, but I had at least avoided being made enemy number one of NERV. That was more than I could have reasonably hoped for.
With that done, I decided to give talking to Ritsuko another try. I had to convince her of how stupid her evil plan was so she wouldn't do it. Sadly, she was once again too busy to talk. I tried the next day. No go. The day after that. Nope. Next day. Nada. Next. Zilch. She was always giving one excuse or another as to why she couldn't meet and she always didn't know when she'd be free in the future.
There were no doubts in my mind. The plot was manipulating events to make sure I could never talk to Ritsuko about her plan and get her to snap out of her programming. That Angel of Heaven was being very direct in preventing me from altering that beat of the story, which made me wonder why it was still letting me change other things. Either Ritsuko's betrayal was necessary for testing me, or the things I was being permitted to change were in service of some greater plan of the plot. I was getting paranoid over how much control I really had and if I was being covertly railroaded towards making certain actions. Was I walking into a trap? Did I even have any ability to alter my fate or was the will of God really the only thing that mattered, with any illusions otherwise being mere pretense?
"Zero!" Asuka's voice knocked me out of my thoughts.
"Sorry. I zoned out there for a bit."
"What? Did Shinji kicking your ass really mess with you that hard? Learn to lose with grace, man." The hypocrisy of Asuka of all people telling others to not be sore losers was potent.
"It's not that. I was just thinking that it's been a while since the last Angel showed up. I'm worried we might be overdue for an attack."
"We beat three Angels at once last time. Why are you worrying?" Asuka swapped out the Street Fighter 2 cartridge for Super Mario Kart.
"It wasn't easy though. We got used to Zero always dealing with Angels in a single hit so we got caught off guard when he disappeared." Shinji said. "We need to be more careful next time."
"I guess that's true." Asuka actually agreed with Shinji on something. They really were in love. My plan had succeeded. "What are you smiling at?"
"Oh, nothing." I said in a sing-song voice as I felt my chest puff up with pride. "I have some stuff to do, so I think I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." I stood up and walked towards the door.
"See you later." Shinji said while Asuka glared at me as I made my way out.
After leaving the couple, I headed towards the room of the person I wanted to help next. I had been so focused on making sure that things worked out between Shinji and Asuka that I had neglected this other individual.
I knocked on a door and it was opened by Rei.
"Hey, Rei."
"Hello."
"Wanna hang out?"
"Hang out and do what?"
Rei didn't interact with anyone when she didn't have to. She wasn't just passive, she was actively self-isolating. Only Gendo and Shinji could reach her. In hindsight, I probably should have invited Shinji for this.
"Is there anything you like to do?"
"Not particularly." Rei's face was a blank wall.
"W-Well, how do you normally spend your spare time?"
"Reading."
"So you like reading."
"I suppose."
"So let's read!"
"How do people read together?" Rei raised an excellent point and I wanted to slap myself. Reading wasn't a cooperative activity. One of us could read to the other, but that would be awkward on multiple levels. God, this was going to be way harder than helping Shinji and Asuka. They possessed clear interests and traits. Rei's feelings were so veiled that I had to guesstimate my way through.
"Yeah, we can't read together. Why do you like reading?"
"I don't know."
"You don't have any ideas?"
"No."
"What makes you happy?"
"I don't know."
Okay, so Rei wasn't going to give me anything to grasp onto.
"How about we go for a walk?"
"Why?"
"For fun."
"Do I have to?"
"No, but do you have anything else you need to do?"
"No."
"Do you have anything else you want to do?"
"No."
"So do you have any reason to say no?"
"No."
"So let's go." I started walking and hoped Rei would follow me. She did and I thanked the stars before thinking about what to do next. Rei's problems were a lack of self-worth, a detachment from reality, and an inability to express herself. The first of those was the most important to deal with.
"So, Rei, how have you been?" I slowed my pace so I was walking next to Rei.
"Fine." Rei's mouth barely even opened.
"Been eating well?" I already knew she mainly subsisted on supplements, but that didn't matter.
"Yes." Rei didn't turn her head to face me.
"You don't eat meat right?"
"I don't like meat."
"But do you eat it?"
"If I'm not told to, I won't."
"You'll eat meat if someone tells you to?" I raised an eyebrow.
"If the Commander or Dr. Akagi tell me to, I will."
"Why wouldn't you just say you don't want to in that case?"
"Because I need to follow orders."
"Is it really a big deal if you don't eat meat?" I craned my head forward to try and look Rei in the eyes.
"I need to follow orders." Rei's eyes squinted.
"There's more to life than following orders. If you disobeyed the Commander and didn't eat meat when he told you to, what would happen? Do you think he'd hate you or something? Abandon you? Over your diet? It's not like you're eating really unhealthily or anything, you just don't wanna eat meat. You have a right to your preferences."
"…"
"I don't like eggs despite the rest of my family loving them. It meant sometimes my parents would have to make something different from what everyone else was eating and that inconvenienced them. Despite that, my parents still loved me and I wasn't a bad person for not forcing myself to eat eggs. The Commander won't hate you if you don't eat meat."
"…"
"Do you think he'd hate you?"
"I don't know." I couldn't tell whether she was just dodging the question or if she really was unsure.
"Anyone worth your time won't abandon you for something that silly. I wouldn't. You should care about people who'll care about you through thick and thin. Shinji for example. He's the type who'd always be by your side, even if he's a bit too awkward to make that clear."
"Would he really?" Rei finally looked at me.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because he cares about you."
"Why?" God, this was like talking to a child. I mean, she was a child technically so that tracked, but it was still annoying.
"Because you're someone worth caring about. You're nice and courageous and talented and you're a good person overall. That's more than enough reason to want to spend time with you."
"Is that all it takes?" Rei's head tilted.
"Yup. As long as you aren't hurting innocent people or propagating cruel beliefs, then you're alright. You aren't doing either right?"
"I don't believe so."
"I don't either. So you're good and people will want to be your friends, assuming they aren't idiots. They'd have to be stupid not to value you." Rei didn't say anything. She just looked ahead while her cheeks grew pink.
After that we just walked around a bit without saying anything. It was an awkward silence, but it wouldn't be Evangelion if there weren't awkward silences.
"Thank you." Rei said it so quietly that I wasn't sure I heard her right.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear you."
"Thank you."
"For what I said?"
"Yes."
"I was just saying how it is." We had made a full circuit around the halls and had returned to Rei's room. "Did you have fun?"
"I don't know." I felt myself deflate at her indecisive answer. "But I might have." I immediately shot up.
"Really?"
"Maybe."
"Do you want to hang out again? We can invite Shinji and Asuka, or you could come the next time I hang out with them." I gesticulated wildly.
"Maybe."
"Great!" I clapped my hands together. "We'll talk about it later. Okay?"
"Okay." Rei opened her door. "Have a good day."
"Have a good one!"
Rei entered her home and I began skipping with pride through the halls until some of the NERV staff noticed me. They started giggling so I stopped my prancing and slinked away. My latest embarrassment behind me, I thought about what to do next.
That decision was taken away from me when alarms went off. It was time for the next Angel attack.
Based on the fact that we burned through two of my OC Angels, we had moved up in the timeline of my fanfic's plot. Next would be the first of the two plot twists, the Yui Ikari Angel. Shinji was totally gonna freak out. Considering how the last Angel attack went, I knew that the plot was going to throw in some extra twists of its own to make things even more difficult.
Everyone suited up and got into their Evas. The catapults hadn't shot us up yet. The team in the control room was unusually silent. I was just waiting for someone to mention the unusual nature of the Angel. I knew it was coming, I could taste the tension in the air. I wanted to just get it out of the way.
"The Angel is currently flying outside Earth's atmosphere directly above us. Rei will be equipped with our strongest and longest range Positron Sniper Rifle. Rei and Zero will focus on attacking the Angel while Shinji and Asuka will combine their A.T. Fields to defend against any attacks." Misato bit her lip. "There's something else we need to alert you to before we send you up." Here it was. "Shinji, we need you to remain calm." Misato spoke with a maternal lilt. "This is going to be strange, but please try to stay calm."
"Okay." Shinji raised his brow and tensed up.
I braced myself.
"The Angel that's currently attacking has an appearance similar to Yui Ikari. The Angel looks like your mother, Shinji."
"What?" That's all Shinji said.
"Hold up, the Angel looks like Shinji's mom? Why? How? Is it really Shinji's mom or does it just look like her?" Asuka asked good questions that I never came up with answers to.
"We don't know. This is what it looks like." Screens opened up in front of me and assumedly the other pilots. It showed the Angel who was flying in orbit above the crater where Tokyo-3 once resided. It had the upper body of a woman whose skin and hair were both pure white and who had glowing red eyes. She was the size of an Eva and instead of having legs, six white feathered wings came from her pelvis that were each larger than the woman's main body. The Angel really did look like Yui. She was smiling like a mother watching their child laugh.
Shinji's eyes went as wide as they possibly could and his jaw shook. I didn't know what he was thinking, but I didn't really need to know the specifics. It was obvious that multiple layers of trauma were surfacing from within the depths of his soul.
A commotion could be heard in the command room. Mentions of Shinji's readings being out of whack and his synchronization dropping rapidly could be heard over the comms.
"Shinji! You need to clear your mind!" Misato said. "You're losing connection with Unit-01!"
It looked like Shinji was trying to scream, but nothing would come out. You could see the LCL rush in and out of his lungs as he hyperventilated. He was falling apart and Misato's words were failing to reach him. I wasn't even sure he could hear her. He was trapped in his own world born of his distress. He would drown in his panic if nobody managed to pull him back to the real world.
"Shinji, I'm here! It's okay!" It was not the words themselves that made Shinji suddenly stop his panicking, but who said those words. Asuka screamed out and broke him free of his downward spiral. "We don't know what that Angel is, it might just be some kind of trick or something. Right now, we need to protect NERV. Don't worry, I'm here with you. Whatever's going on, we'll get through this together." Asuka smiled.
"Asuka." The word slipped out from Shinji's lips. He went limp as his body relaxed. "Okay. Okay." Shinji's body became tight once more, but he wasn't shaking like before. He smiled. "I'm okay. Thanks, Asuka."
"I'm just helping out the man I love." Asuka said it with her usual bravado, but then realized she just admitted she loved Shinji. She looked dumbfounded before scrunching up into a ball from embarrassment.
"I love you too, Asuka." Shinji spoke with zero embarrassment. He was confident and clear which made Asuka stare at him on the screen in front of her before smiling back.
I felt goosebumps. I honestly didn't think Asuka and Shinji would be this good at helping each other improve. Shinji had, at least for the moment, overcome his trauma and that would make fighting this Angel and whatever tricks the plot threw in a lot easier. We could do this, we could actually do this. I was worried that this would be the moment where everything finally fell apart, but instead this was the moment where all the pieces fit into place. Everything was going to be okay.
I jinxed it.
It happened so quickly. A strange matter started growing inside Shinji's Entry Plug. He didn't even have a chance to say anything before he could no longer be seen on the screen. Unit-01 started struggling against the restraints holding it in place. Red liquid splashed about as the metal frame holding the Eva was torn apart by the mecha's strength. Asuka screamed in confusion as Unit-01 began punching at the walls of the cage. It broke through and began lumbering through Central Dogma, lashing out at everything in its way and firing invisible blasts from its A.T. Field.
I just remembered that last time the plot added something to mess with me, it added in Leliel. If the plot was going to interfere again, it would likely add the next canon Angel, Bardiel. Unit-01 was possessed by Bardiel and was now causing havoc in Central Dogma.
The plot let my plans go well, let Shinji and Asuka fall in love, and that was when it stepped in to ruin everything. It let me do what I wanted, only to show me I had no real power.