Disclaimer: I owneth not Evangelion nor any characters, scenes, locations
or hardware contained herein.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Mirror, Mirror
It was sunny. Any middle-school student would've considered this a perfect day to play hooky. Adults would've found it hard to resist taking their work to the park to take advantage of the terrific weather outside. All if there wasn't an Angel attacking at that very moment.
It had just suddenly appeared over the city and began to hover around, seemingly oblivious to the chaos it created beneath it. The citizens of Tokyo-3 had been used to being told to evacuate to the shelters BEFORE Angels arrived, so for most this was the first time they had ever seen one. And, as frightened people do.they ran.they ran anywhere they could that seemed to not be in the path of the Angel.
A couple of hours passed before the Pilots arrived and were inserted into their respective Eva's and the streets were cleared of bystanders.
Unit-01 was leaning against an armament building for cover as the Angel floated by. After it passed, Shinji willed his unit to move to the next building, getting closer to the Angel with each successive move.
"Ayanami, Asuka, are you in position yet?"
"Not yet."
A moment later, certain annoyed German responded:
"You know an Eva can't move that fast!"
As she tried to move her Eva forward to its next position, it lurched backward as the cable plugged into its back went taut and prevented it from moving any further. After attaching a new cable from a nearby outlet, she continues her advance to her support position.
Inside Shinji's plug, he was growing impatient with waiting for his comrades to arrive. Shinji's hand had started to clench and relax by his side even without him realizing it.
"Not there yet?"
When there was no answer over the comm, he decided to take matters into his own hands. In one swift movement, Eva-01 pivoted around the building it was using for cover and let loose 3 lightning fast rounds from its service pistol.
As the rounds sped toward the Angel, the entire command center watched, expecting to see the shells bounce harmlessly off of the barrier projected by both Eva and Angel alike, the AT Field. However, an instant before the rounds would've impacted against the Angel's flesh, the whole of its body disappeared into nothingness which the bus-sized bullets passed through the space previously occupied by the Angel giving no indication of hitting anything.
"BLUE PATTERN CONFIRMED BENEATH UNIT-01!!!"
By the time Shinji managed to bring his sight down to see the Angel's shadow spread out below his Eva, it was too late. The massive Evangelion began to sink into that inky black void as if stuck in quicksand.
Asuka was already racing towards the scene, but even she wasn't fast enough. Rei was unloading more rounds from her sniper rifle at the zebra- striped Angel, but it just kept disappearing just before the rounds made contact.
Abandoning the rifle, Rei also raced toward Shinji's position.
After his waist had sunk below the surface, he began trying to climb up the smooth wall of the building he had been hiding behind a few moments ago.
Rei was the first to arrive thanks to her position being closer to Shinji's than Asuka's was. She grabbed hold of one of Unit-01's hands as it continued to sink up to it's shoulders. She willed her Eva to pull on that hand until Unit-01 was free, but it just kept sinking.
Asuka was still getting up after having been jerked to a sudden stop when her power cable ran out a second time when the shadow suddenly expanded in her direction. Unit-02 jumped up onto one of the nearby buildings to escape the black death that had expanded beneath her, but soon that building and those surrounding it began to sink as well.
Rei continued to pull on the purple Evangelion's arm, even as the arm was seemingly pulling her in as well. Just as Unit-01's hand was about to disappear into the black void, she tried to let go of the hand, but it would not let go of hers. Shortly after that, the hand pulled hard on her arm and sent her off balance and into the void as well.
---------------------------------------------
Shinji felt cold. That was nothing new, he had been feeling cold for a while now, ever since he turned down the heating systems to buy himself an extra few hours of life-support. However, there was something new here, it was brighter on the other side of his eyelids, and he no longer felt like he had to try harder to breathe. When he opened his eyes, that same ceiling which he had become so accustomed to over the last few months greeted him just like it had every other time he had awoken here.
Seeing no one else in the room, Shinji turned back to the familiar ceiling, tried to relax and tried to remember when he got out of the Eva. Drawing a complete blank, he turned his mind to the last thing he remembered.
He willed his Eva to fire at the Angel. It complied and loosed three rounds in the Angel's direction. The next thing he knew, the Angel had somehow slipped underneath him and he was beginning to sink into that black void.
He tried desperately to get away from whatever it was that was pulling him deeper into that void, but no matter what he did, he kept sinking. The last thing he remembered was losing all contact with Misato, Asuka, Rei, and the rest of NERV as Unit-01's head and horn slowly slipped beneath the "surface" of that inky blackness.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
Shinji was startled from his thoughts by the hissing of the door as it opened to allow someone entry. As he turned to see who it was, he was startled to see that it was the one person he would never have imagined would visit him like this. 'Father'. His father's face betrayed no emotion, as usual, so Shinji could not discern his thoughts or motives.
As Gendo walked into the room, the door shut behind him, silencing the noise of the rest of the busy hospital. A moment after the door shut, Gendo's face changed in such a way that it didn't seem impossibly cold. It seemed. almost. caring. relieved... loving?
'No, it's not possible. He doesn't care about me. he'd never look at me like that.'
Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as Gendo sat down on the bed next to Shinji and put a hand on the boy's shoulder and spoke:
"I'm glad to see you're alright."
While most of Shinji's being was feeling distrust toward the man currently sitting next to him, the part of him that had wanted to hear words like those from his father won out. Shinji quickly sat up and hugged the nearly- stoic man with all his strength. After hugging his father, he simply smiled at him.
Gendo returned the smile with a slight one of his own, then got up and walked to the door: "There's someone outside who is very eager to see you."
"Who?"
As if in response, Gendo opened the door and stepped out slightly to let someone else inside.
In just moments, Asuka stormed in and began berating Shinji about how stupid it was for him to go and attack the Angel without orders.
'At least SHE's acting normally.' thought Shinji as Asuka leaned right up in his face yelling at him about his stupidity.
However, once the door closed, she was on him in a moment, pinning him to his hospital bed with what Shinji noted was a rather passionate kiss.
If his father actually CARING about him hadn't pushed him over the edge already, that kiss most certainly did. By the time Asuka broke the kiss, Shinji was again unconscious.
'I've never had that effect on him before.' thought Asuka as she took a seat next to the bed and waited for her Shinji to regain the consciousness that her kiss had apparently stolen.
--------------------------------------------
Three rooms down, and across the hall, another young teen was just waking up. She opened her eyes and saw a familiar, white tiled ceiling above her. 'I am in the hospital.' The azure haired girl looked about at her surroundings. It was indeed a hospital room, but it was not an intensive- care ward as she had expected it to be.
Moments later, the door opened to reveal Gendo in much the same way as he had entered Shinji's room. The same caring features, concerned eyes, and relaxed gait. Rei was not at all unused to this, so she thought nothing of it. In fact, she even gave the man a small smile as he sat down on her bed.
"How are you feeling, Rei?"
"I am unharmed. I can return to duty."
Gendo chuckled at Rei's brief and concise self-evaluation.
"You know Rei, you don't have to act as though you're in the military."
This particular statement struck Rei as odd. Never had Gendo Ikari said that she should express her emotions: 'It is a waste of time and will ultimately make you vulnerable to others.'
"Anyway, I'm glad you and Shinji are safe. The doctors want to keep you two here for another 24 hours, but I can have them release you now if you want."
Again, something else he would not have said. He had never before shown any interest in the welfare of Ikari-kun. Rei watched Gendo with a slightly puzzled expression (one only those who knew her best would recognize).
After a few moments, Rei answered: "That would be acceptable."
"Good, go ahead and get dressed. Your clothes are on the chair next to your bed. I'll go tell Shinji that we're going home while you're changing."
With that, Gendo walked back out of the room.
Rei just sat there staring at the door for a moment thinking about one part of his last words to her. 'we're going home' . 'We do not live together. Unless Ikari-kun's and my own living quarters have been reassigned in our absence."
Choosing to ignore the matter for the time being, Rei turned to look at the clothing on the chair next to her bed. A neatly folded white sundress was laying there on top of a set of plain white underwear. Next to the chair rested a pair of blue casual shoes and a pair of slippers.
-----------------------------------------
Back in Shinji's room, he had finally regained consciousness and had been chatting with Asuka about what he could remember about being inside the Angel and what had been happening outside. While Asuka was describing the events, Shinji sat there listening and wondering if this was all some sort of joke on her part. 'That couldn't have happened. Father doesn't act that way. (etc. etc. etc.)' Shortly after he had finished relating how little he could actually remember, Misato and Kaji walked into the room. Misato walked up behind Asuka and put her right hand on her shoulder.
"I'd hate to break up this cozy scene, but we've got to go Asuka."
Asuka turned to look at the older woman and nodded. Turning back to Shinji, she sighed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later." With that, she got up and walked out the door.
"Wait a minute, I feel fine. Why am I staying here?" Shinji asked as Asuka turned to leave.
Misato stopped in her tracks and turned to face Shinji. "Well, now that I think about it, I did see your father signing some release forms a moment ago, so I'd assume that you're going home later."
"Well, why don't you guys stay until then and we can go home together."
"ANTA BAKA??? You know we live on different sides of the city! How are we supposed to go home together if we're going in opposite directions?"
Before Shinji could answer that question, Gendo walked into the room to collect Shinji. "Come on Shinji, we're going home so put on your clothes and let's go." As if on cue, Rei walks into the room as well. "See, your sister is all ready to go. We're just waiting on you." With a smirk, he throws a duffel bag containing Shinji's clothes onto the bed and leaves. Before the door closes he calls back to his son: "We'll be waiting out here in the hall when you're done."
To be continued.
A/N: Well, there's Chapter 1. To those of you who are saying it's a parallel universe. DUH!!! That much is OBVIOUS. What I want to see is if anyone can figure out WHICH universe this is. (Hint: look at the title) Also, this story has no relation WHATSOEVER to the stories 'Differences', ' ' , or ' .' So don't be telling me how similar it is to those stories. I have something very specific in mind here and therefore it will NOT be evolving along the same lines as those stories.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Mirror, Mirror
It was sunny. Any middle-school student would've considered this a perfect day to play hooky. Adults would've found it hard to resist taking their work to the park to take advantage of the terrific weather outside. All if there wasn't an Angel attacking at that very moment.
It had just suddenly appeared over the city and began to hover around, seemingly oblivious to the chaos it created beneath it. The citizens of Tokyo-3 had been used to being told to evacuate to the shelters BEFORE Angels arrived, so for most this was the first time they had ever seen one. And, as frightened people do.they ran.they ran anywhere they could that seemed to not be in the path of the Angel.
A couple of hours passed before the Pilots arrived and were inserted into their respective Eva's and the streets were cleared of bystanders.
Unit-01 was leaning against an armament building for cover as the Angel floated by. After it passed, Shinji willed his unit to move to the next building, getting closer to the Angel with each successive move.
"Ayanami, Asuka, are you in position yet?"
"Not yet."
A moment later, certain annoyed German responded:
"You know an Eva can't move that fast!"
As she tried to move her Eva forward to its next position, it lurched backward as the cable plugged into its back went taut and prevented it from moving any further. After attaching a new cable from a nearby outlet, she continues her advance to her support position.
Inside Shinji's plug, he was growing impatient with waiting for his comrades to arrive. Shinji's hand had started to clench and relax by his side even without him realizing it.
"Not there yet?"
When there was no answer over the comm, he decided to take matters into his own hands. In one swift movement, Eva-01 pivoted around the building it was using for cover and let loose 3 lightning fast rounds from its service pistol.
As the rounds sped toward the Angel, the entire command center watched, expecting to see the shells bounce harmlessly off of the barrier projected by both Eva and Angel alike, the AT Field. However, an instant before the rounds would've impacted against the Angel's flesh, the whole of its body disappeared into nothingness which the bus-sized bullets passed through the space previously occupied by the Angel giving no indication of hitting anything.
"BLUE PATTERN CONFIRMED BENEATH UNIT-01!!!"
By the time Shinji managed to bring his sight down to see the Angel's shadow spread out below his Eva, it was too late. The massive Evangelion began to sink into that inky black void as if stuck in quicksand.
Asuka was already racing towards the scene, but even she wasn't fast enough. Rei was unloading more rounds from her sniper rifle at the zebra- striped Angel, but it just kept disappearing just before the rounds made contact.
Abandoning the rifle, Rei also raced toward Shinji's position.
After his waist had sunk below the surface, he began trying to climb up the smooth wall of the building he had been hiding behind a few moments ago.
Rei was the first to arrive thanks to her position being closer to Shinji's than Asuka's was. She grabbed hold of one of Unit-01's hands as it continued to sink up to it's shoulders. She willed her Eva to pull on that hand until Unit-01 was free, but it just kept sinking.
Asuka was still getting up after having been jerked to a sudden stop when her power cable ran out a second time when the shadow suddenly expanded in her direction. Unit-02 jumped up onto one of the nearby buildings to escape the black death that had expanded beneath her, but soon that building and those surrounding it began to sink as well.
Rei continued to pull on the purple Evangelion's arm, even as the arm was seemingly pulling her in as well. Just as Unit-01's hand was about to disappear into the black void, she tried to let go of the hand, but it would not let go of hers. Shortly after that, the hand pulled hard on her arm and sent her off balance and into the void as well.
---------------------------------------------
Shinji felt cold. That was nothing new, he had been feeling cold for a while now, ever since he turned down the heating systems to buy himself an extra few hours of life-support. However, there was something new here, it was brighter on the other side of his eyelids, and he no longer felt like he had to try harder to breathe. When he opened his eyes, that same ceiling which he had become so accustomed to over the last few months greeted him just like it had every other time he had awoken here.
Seeing no one else in the room, Shinji turned back to the familiar ceiling, tried to relax and tried to remember when he got out of the Eva. Drawing a complete blank, he turned his mind to the last thing he remembered.
He willed his Eva to fire at the Angel. It complied and loosed three rounds in the Angel's direction. The next thing he knew, the Angel had somehow slipped underneath him and he was beginning to sink into that black void.
He tried desperately to get away from whatever it was that was pulling him deeper into that void, but no matter what he did, he kept sinking. The last thing he remembered was losing all contact with Misato, Asuka, Rei, and the rest of NERV as Unit-01's head and horn slowly slipped beneath the "surface" of that inky blackness.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
Shinji was startled from his thoughts by the hissing of the door as it opened to allow someone entry. As he turned to see who it was, he was startled to see that it was the one person he would never have imagined would visit him like this. 'Father'. His father's face betrayed no emotion, as usual, so Shinji could not discern his thoughts or motives.
As Gendo walked into the room, the door shut behind him, silencing the noise of the rest of the busy hospital. A moment after the door shut, Gendo's face changed in such a way that it didn't seem impossibly cold. It seemed. almost. caring. relieved... loving?
'No, it's not possible. He doesn't care about me. he'd never look at me like that.'
Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as Gendo sat down on the bed next to Shinji and put a hand on the boy's shoulder and spoke:
"I'm glad to see you're alright."
While most of Shinji's being was feeling distrust toward the man currently sitting next to him, the part of him that had wanted to hear words like those from his father won out. Shinji quickly sat up and hugged the nearly- stoic man with all his strength. After hugging his father, he simply smiled at him.
Gendo returned the smile with a slight one of his own, then got up and walked to the door: "There's someone outside who is very eager to see you."
"Who?"
As if in response, Gendo opened the door and stepped out slightly to let someone else inside.
In just moments, Asuka stormed in and began berating Shinji about how stupid it was for him to go and attack the Angel without orders.
'At least SHE's acting normally.' thought Shinji as Asuka leaned right up in his face yelling at him about his stupidity.
However, once the door closed, she was on him in a moment, pinning him to his hospital bed with what Shinji noted was a rather passionate kiss.
If his father actually CARING about him hadn't pushed him over the edge already, that kiss most certainly did. By the time Asuka broke the kiss, Shinji was again unconscious.
'I've never had that effect on him before.' thought Asuka as she took a seat next to the bed and waited for her Shinji to regain the consciousness that her kiss had apparently stolen.
--------------------------------------------
Three rooms down, and across the hall, another young teen was just waking up. She opened her eyes and saw a familiar, white tiled ceiling above her. 'I am in the hospital.' The azure haired girl looked about at her surroundings. It was indeed a hospital room, but it was not an intensive- care ward as she had expected it to be.
Moments later, the door opened to reveal Gendo in much the same way as he had entered Shinji's room. The same caring features, concerned eyes, and relaxed gait. Rei was not at all unused to this, so she thought nothing of it. In fact, she even gave the man a small smile as he sat down on her bed.
"How are you feeling, Rei?"
"I am unharmed. I can return to duty."
Gendo chuckled at Rei's brief and concise self-evaluation.
"You know Rei, you don't have to act as though you're in the military."
This particular statement struck Rei as odd. Never had Gendo Ikari said that she should express her emotions: 'It is a waste of time and will ultimately make you vulnerable to others.'
"Anyway, I'm glad you and Shinji are safe. The doctors want to keep you two here for another 24 hours, but I can have them release you now if you want."
Again, something else he would not have said. He had never before shown any interest in the welfare of Ikari-kun. Rei watched Gendo with a slightly puzzled expression (one only those who knew her best would recognize).
After a few moments, Rei answered: "That would be acceptable."
"Good, go ahead and get dressed. Your clothes are on the chair next to your bed. I'll go tell Shinji that we're going home while you're changing."
With that, Gendo walked back out of the room.
Rei just sat there staring at the door for a moment thinking about one part of his last words to her. 'we're going home' . 'We do not live together. Unless Ikari-kun's and my own living quarters have been reassigned in our absence."
Choosing to ignore the matter for the time being, Rei turned to look at the clothing on the chair next to her bed. A neatly folded white sundress was laying there on top of a set of plain white underwear. Next to the chair rested a pair of blue casual shoes and a pair of slippers.
-----------------------------------------
Back in Shinji's room, he had finally regained consciousness and had been chatting with Asuka about what he could remember about being inside the Angel and what had been happening outside. While Asuka was describing the events, Shinji sat there listening and wondering if this was all some sort of joke on her part. 'That couldn't have happened. Father doesn't act that way. (etc. etc. etc.)' Shortly after he had finished relating how little he could actually remember, Misato and Kaji walked into the room. Misato walked up behind Asuka and put her right hand on her shoulder.
"I'd hate to break up this cozy scene, but we've got to go Asuka."
Asuka turned to look at the older woman and nodded. Turning back to Shinji, she sighed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later." With that, she got up and walked out the door.
"Wait a minute, I feel fine. Why am I staying here?" Shinji asked as Asuka turned to leave.
Misato stopped in her tracks and turned to face Shinji. "Well, now that I think about it, I did see your father signing some release forms a moment ago, so I'd assume that you're going home later."
"Well, why don't you guys stay until then and we can go home together."
"ANTA BAKA??? You know we live on different sides of the city! How are we supposed to go home together if we're going in opposite directions?"
Before Shinji could answer that question, Gendo walked into the room to collect Shinji. "Come on Shinji, we're going home so put on your clothes and let's go." As if on cue, Rei walks into the room as well. "See, your sister is all ready to go. We're just waiting on you." With a smirk, he throws a duffel bag containing Shinji's clothes onto the bed and leaves. Before the door closes he calls back to his son: "We'll be waiting out here in the hall when you're done."
To be continued.
A/N: Well, there's Chapter 1. To those of you who are saying it's a parallel universe. DUH!!! That much is OBVIOUS. What I want to see is if anyone can figure out WHICH universe this is. (Hint: look at the title) Also, this story has no relation WHATSOEVER to the stories 'Differences', ' ' , or ' .' So don't be telling me how similar it is to those stories. I have something very specific in mind here and therefore it will NOT be evolving along the same lines as those stories.
