"It's no use, the phone lines are down. I better head to a shelter."

Shinji Ikari picked up his bag, reexamining the letter he was sent. A single page, that looked like it had been balled up and creased all over. The wrinkled paper was covered in black marks and scribbles, evidently drafted and re-drafted multiple times. In the bottom right corner, it simply read "'COME HERE' -Gendo Ikari"

'Tousan,' Shinji thought. 'What does he want with me? Did he finally change his mind?' He tried not to get his hopes up, but deep down he was happy his father had finally contacted him. He picked up the photo the letter came with, showing a woman in her 20's bent towards the camera, the angle giving him a good view of her cleavage, which she helpfully drew an arrow to. 'What a weirdo,' he thought. Her name was Misato Katsuragi.

He put the photo down and looked across the street. His attention was immediately drawn to the crosswalk, where a girl stood, staring at him. She was dressed in a school uniform and seemed to be around his age. He couldn't make out anything more as he was distracted by some birds. When he looked again, she was gone. 'What just ha-'

His thoughts were cut off by an earsplitting boom, amplified by the rattling of the shuttered storefronts and whistling of the telephone wires. He swiveled his head towards the source of the noise and was immediately stunned.

A squadron of VTOLs slowly backed away from the hillside as a building-sized monster came into view. It lumbered forward, making the ground shake with every step. The ships opened fire, unleashing a barrage of missile fire onto the beast. It had no effect. The monster blinked, and look almost confused at the attention it was getting.

It aimed at one of the ships, extending its arm towards it. A pink spear emerged from the monster's palm, and shot out, splitting one of the ships in two. It careened towards the ground, and Shinji screamed and jumped back as it nearly landed on top of him, smashing into the building mere feet from where he stood. The monster then defied gravity, leaping into the air and landing on the smoldering remains of the ship, crushing it underfoot. The ship exploded, and Shinji made a futile attempt to shield himself, closing his eyes and praying he wouldn't die then and there.

When he didn't die, and he heard the squealing tires of a car stopping, he opened his eyes.

"Sorry I'm late," the purple-haired woman said. "Hurry up, let's go!"

Shinji didn't have to be told twice, and quickly leaped into the car, pulling the door closed behind him as the woman, who he assumed was Ms. Katsuragi, peeled out of the area as more debris began to dent the roof. She managed to get away from the worst of it, and they headed away from the ongoing battle. Shinji was about to speak up when another giant monster landed straight in front of them, crushing the pavement under its feet like glass and sending the car tumbling over.

Shinji rubbed his head and was glad he wasn't bleeding. He crawled out of the car and saw Ms. Katsuragi running her hands through her hair, furious.

"I still have thirty-three more payments on this thing! Are they sending her in blind? Goddamnit!" she yelled, holding her broken sunglasses and balling her fists around them in fury.

"W-what was that thing?" Shinji asked, "I-is it another monster?"

Ms. Katsuragi took a breath and looked at him, "Yeah," she said, "but it's on our side. Now help me get this thing back upright."

The two of them grabbed hold of the side of her blue sedan and pressed their backs against the cold metal.

"Okay," Ms. Katsuragi said, "one, two, PUSH!"

Shinji strained, pushing up with all his strength, thankful that the car was already at an angle. They tipped it, and it fell over with a loud thud, the bumper swinging loosely.

Shinji's attention was drawn back to the battle, and the giant robot seemed to be struggling against the monster. It swung its arm out to punch but was cut short when the monster kicked, sending the robot flying and crashing into a building, defeated.

"Shit," Ms. Katsuragi said, seeing that the robot had been bested. "We're running out of time."

The robot was unceremoniously dropped underground, through some kind of trapdoor in the street. The monster had free reign of the city once again.

Ms. Katsuragi tried the ignition but had no luck. She got to work jury-rigging a battery. Within 5 minutes, they were back in business. As she began to drive along the abandoned streets of Tokyo-3, Shinji finally spoke up.

"Um, Katsuragi-san, was that really necessary?" he asked, looking at the batteries strewn across the back seat.

"Oh, that? It's fine," she said. "I needed the get the car running again. I may not look like it, but I'm an international civil servant." She smiled at him.

"That's not very convincing," Shinji deadpanned.

"Oh, lighten up. For a kid with such a cute face, you're pretty boring," she said.

Shinji looked down, staring at his feet.

"Well," Ms. Katsuragi said, "aren't you gonna ask me what that thing was?"

Shinji looked up hesitantly. "Um, Katsuragi-san, I thought you wouldn't tell me, so I didn't bother asking."

"Just call me Misato, alright?" she said, smiling. She returned her eyes to the road, mumbling "How straightlaced can you get?" She began to chuckle at something in her own head. Shinji just kept staring forward. They approached a large tunnel, and she drove inside.

"For your information, that was a lifeform we call an 'Angel,'" she said.

The car pulled into some kind of elevator and began to descend. Misato leaned back in her chair.

"Um," Shinji said, "w-where are we going?"

Misato looked up. "Oh, right," she said, fishing around in her bag. She pulled out a large booklet, the front bearing the name "NERV"

"NERV?" Shinji asked.

"Yep, it's a special agency chartered by the UN. Your father is the commander," she replied.

'Tousan.' Shinji thought. 'That word, commander. What are they doing here?'

Misato looked at him. "Do you know what your father does here?" she asked.

Shinji looked away, frowning. "I-I was told he has the job of protecting humanity," he replied.

'If he sent for me, that must mean he needs me here, though.' Shinji thought.

Misato gave him a curious look. "Dealing with your father isn't your strong suit, huh?" she said.

Shinji didn't reply.

"Me neither," she said, stretching her legs.

The car suddenly dropped below some sort of barrier, and Shinji saw a massive cavern before him, awash with golden light.

"Amazing!" he said, "A real-life Geo-front!"

"That's right," Misato said. She pointed to a large pyramid-shaped building on the ground, "over there is our headquarters. The key to rebuilding humanity."

The car came to a halt, and Misato led Shinji down a hallway. And another. And another. Some of the hallways appeared to be the exact same, though it was hard to tell since the whole place looked the exact same.

{|}

"Um, Misato-san, I think we've been through here before," Shinji said after the third time they passed through a hallway he could have sworn was the same.

"Ah, jeez," Misato said, "I could have sworn it was this way!"

Shinji looked at his own map and suggested they take a left. They arrived at their destination almost immediately, and Misato looked embarrassed. They boarded the elevator, and an awkward silence fell as the mechanical ticker rhythmically counted off every floor they passed. The ticking slowed, and a chime played as the elevator doors opened to reveal a woman around Misato's age, with blonde hair and a mole on her right cheek.

"Ah, Ritsuko!" Misato said, surprised. Ritsuko simply walked forward into the elevator.

"You are late, Colonel Katsuragi. We do not have much time," Ritsuko said.

"Sorry!" Misato replied, and Ritsuko let out a sigh in response. She looked over to Shinji.

"So, this is the third child?" she asked. Misato nodded.

"Nice to meet you," Ritsuko said.

Shinji looked up from the NERV manual. "Y-yes, ma'am," he said.

"That's another way he takes after his father," Misato said, smiling, "a total lack of charm."

They stepped off the elevator, and onto a platform. It began to move diagonally, upwards towards some sort of room. The entire area was a deep purple, which unnerved Shinji. He kept reading his manual, trying to understand what this place was.

"All stations, condition one battle stations," came a voice over the intercom.

"That sounds bad," Misato said. "How's Unit-01?" she asked.

"It's being fitted for emergency repairs. Rei is being treated for her wounds," Ritsuko said.

"I knew it would be too much for her," Misato said worriedly.

"Conventional weapons proved to be useless against the Angel. It possesses an A.T. Field," Ritsuko explained.

"Just like the Eva," Misato said.

They arrived at the top, a large pool of purple liquid separating them from the door. A repair team was quickly fixing what appeared to be a massive arm. They stepped onto a small inflatable boat and sailed to the other end of the pool. Shinji looked at the scale of the room nervously.

They walked into a pitch-black room, the door closing behind them and plunging them into darkness. Ritsuko pressed a button, and the lights came on. Shinji was facing the beady eyes and purple head of Unit-01.

"T-that's the robot from earlier," he said.

"Yes," Ritsuko said. "It is mankind's greatest accomplishment. The Artificial Human Evangelion. This is Unit-01."

Ritsuko turned to Shinji. "Ikari Shinji-kun, you will be its pilot."

Shinji's eyes went wide. "W-what?" he said. "You want me to pilot that thing?"

"That's correct," came a deep voice from high above. Shinji looked up, and saw-

"Tousan," he said. He looked away, not wanting to face him.

"You want me to get in that thing, and fight that monster out there?" Shinji asked.

"Correct," his father said.

"That's insane!" Shinji yelled, "There's no way I can do something like that!"

"You will have to make do with this explanation," his father said.

"Why me?" Shinji asked weakly.

"Because you're the only person who can," came his father's reply.

"No, I can't!" Shinji yelled. "I've never even been in that thing before! How can I possibly do it? I-I thought you said you didn't need me!"

"I have a need for you now, so I sent for you," he replied coldly.

"..." Shinji didn't know how to reply to that.

"If you do not pilot that Eva, the planet will be wiped out. The fate of the human race rests on your shoulders," he continued.

"No! That's not fair! I don't care what you say, I won't do it!" Shinji yelled forcefully. Silence fell over the Eva cage.

"Fuyutsuki," Gendo said, turning to the monitor beside him, "wake up Rei."

"Can we use her?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"She's not dead," Gendo replied.

"Understood," came the response.

"Shut down Unit-01 and rewrite its data for Rei!" Ritsuko yelled at the bridge technicians.

'I knew it,' Shinji thought, staring ahead, 'nobody needs me.'

The doors to his left opened, and three nurses wheeled out someone on a stretcher. They passed by Shinji, and he saw the girl who was laying on it. She had short blue hair and red eyes. Her face and arms were covered in bandages, blood still managing to seep through them. She was hooked up to an IV, and her brow was furrowed in concentration. She tried to get up, and nearly fell over. She gasped in pain, clutching her head in her hand. Shinji looked on sadly. 'Are they really going to make her pilot that thing? She can barely move,' he thought.

The ground began to shake, and Shinji fell over, trying to block out the booming sound. The girl on the stretcher fell to the floor, crying out in pain. Shinji saw and immediately ran to help her up. He held her in his arms, and she continued to gasp in pain from every movement he made. He lifted his hand up, and it was covered in blood. He gasped. 'She's gonna die if she pilots that thing,' he thought. 'I can't do that to her!'

"If you're not going to pilot it, then get out!" his father said."I mustn't run away," he whispered to himself. "I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away!"

He looked up to see Ritsuko and Misato staring at him.

"I'll do it," he said, "I'll be your pilot!"

"Well said, Shinji," Ritsuko said. Immediately, she turned and started barking orders.

Shinji looked up to see his father staring down at him, a smirk on his face. Shinji followed Ritsuko, listening to her instructions on what to do.

"This is the entry plug," she said, gesturing towards the long grey tube in front of them. A hatch opened up, revealing a yellow interior with a seat.

"Sit in that seat, and we'll do the rest," she said.

Shinji hesitantly climbed the ladder to the plug and got in, sitting down and trying to find where to put his legs. The hatch above him closed, and he felt the plug moving as it was inserted into the Eva. The plug began to fill up with an orange liquid, and Shinji panicked as it crept up to reach his face. He took a deep breath before he was fully submerged, not daring to let it out.

"It's okay to breathe out," Ritsuko said. "The LCL will deliver oxygen directly to your bloodstream."

Shinji let out his breath and gasped, nearly throwing up at the sensation of having his lungs filled with liquid.

"I feel sick," he said.

The plug walls began to change color, lights, and flashes dancing around in his eyes and making him dizzy. It stopped, and the interior of the plug lit up to display what the Eva was seeing. The restraints were pulled away, alarms blaring and walls shaking as the Angel continued its assault. The Eva was moved to some sort of launchpad and locked in.

Misato looked to the Commander.

"Do I have permission to launch?" she asked.

"Of course," Gendo replied. "Humanity's future depends on defeating the Angels.

"Are you sure about this, Ikari? Fuyutsuki asked. Gendo merely smiled.

"Eva-01, launch!" Misato yelled.

Shinji was pushed down in his seat as the Eva began to ascend. The feeling grew painful, and he had difficulty breathing. It stopped just as soon as it started, the Eva reaching its destination. A desolate city street, on the other end of which stood the Angel.

"Eva-01, lift-off!" Misato commanded, and the restraints were retracted from the Eva. It slumped forward, and nearly fell over before Shinji got control of it.

"Just focus on walking for now," Ritsuko said.

'Walking,' Shinji thought, and he pushed the control yoke forward. The Eva took a tentative step before it stuck the landing.

"Incredible," Ritsuko said. "He has a sync rate of 40% with no training. That's almost as good as Rei.

Shinji took another step, but his foot got caught, and the Eva tripped, landing on the ground with a painful thud. Shinji grabbed his face, shocked that he could feel the pain. 'What the hell is happening?' he thought.

"Shinji!" Misato's voice came over the commlink. "Get up, quickly!"

Shinji looked up in horror to see the Angel towering over him, and he had no time to react before it picked him up by the head. It grabbed his arm and began to pull, and Shinji screamed in pain. His arm was going to break, he was sure of it.

"Shinji, it's not your actual arm!" Misato yelled. "It only feels like it!"

That did little to help Shinji, and he nearly blacked out when he felt his arm snapping in two, the Eva's arm falling limply to its side.

The Angel then lifted Unit-01 up further, before Shinji saw its palm begin to glow pink.

"Shinji! Break free!" Misato yelled.

The Angel's spear smashed into Shinji's eye, making him scream once again in pain and clutch his face. The blows kept coming, and he felt as if his skull was going to break.

"Cranial armor is nearly broken!" Ritsuko said, and everyone on the bridge gasped as the Angel's spear shot through Unit-01's head and sent it flying into a building before it retracted. A torrent of blood poured from the Eva's head. "HEMORRHAGE" flashed on the monitors before them.

"Shinji-kun!" Misato screamed.

{|}

Shinji had passed out, the pain too great for him to bear. He was floating in a white void. It felt warm. 'I was right,' he thought. 'Dying isn't that big of a deal.' A figure began to float towards him. She had long hair and was made of light. She felt warm. 'Kaasan?' Shinji thought. He let her embrace him before he felt something else. The warmth was gone, and her touch felt cold and clammy. He opened his eyes, and a monster was staring back at him. Its eye was sunken, and a slit formed in the deep hole. A green eye opened up and stared at him, looking straight into his soul. The monster grabbed hold of him, and Shinji began to panic. The pain had come back. He was still alive.

"No, I don't want to die yet, please!" he yelled. "Tousan, Kaasan, help me, please!"

Shinji blacked out once more, slipping into a dreamless sleep.

{|}

Unit-01 roared back to life, charging forth and pinning the Angel. It slammed the angel into a building, and the building easily broke free of its foundations under the pressure. The Eva continued to charge, not stopping until it crashed into a much larger building.

"We've won," Fuyutsuki commented.

The Angel retaliated, an A.T. Field blocking the Eva from advancing. Unit-01 was not deterred, gripping the center of the field with both hands and tearing it like paper.

"Amazing," Ritsuko said.

The Eva took hold of both of the Angel's arms, twisting them until they snapped, purple blood spilling from the stumps. The Angel was kicked back, and Unit-01 began to tear at its exposed ribcage, taking one of the bones in its hands and slamming it into the Angel's core. Over and over it struck, and the core began to crack and splinter under the assault.

The Angel screeched, and lost its shape, melting into an ooze that surrounded the Eva. it began to flash, and its core glowed.

"It's self-destructing!" Misato exclaimed.

The Angel exploded in a spectacular display, a green cross of light stretching miles into the sky. The command center monitors were blank until the smoke and light had cleared. Unit-01 stood silent, shutting down once its task was complete.

{|}

Shinji woke up, still in the entry plug. He had no memory of what had just happened, and he looked to his right. A glass building reflected the Eva's face back at him. Its helmet had fallen off, and underneath was that same green eye he had seen before.

He screamed.