CHAPTER ONE_AN UNFAMILIAR CEILING (IN A DUNGEON)

Shinji awoke with a start, as was his usual style. This time, there was no beeping hospital machinery constantly checking his key metrics or the smell of hospital medicine to disturb his senses. Nor was there a familiar thin cotton sheet unsuccessfully hiding his nudity. He was dressed in something loose but rough to the skin. Further, Shinji found he was lying on a lumpy, but surprisingly comfortable bedding of some kind. He couldn't really see what he was lying on since it was very dark.

Did NERV have another power outage?

Looking around at his surroundings, his eyes slowly adjusted to the low light and saw thick lines of grout surrounding pieces of unevenly shaped and sized stone making up the walls of this place. It was barely lit by orange light. He could smell something burning, and since nobody was screaming and shouting to put out said fire, the burning must be a safe source of light. His heartbeat slowed down somewhat, until he saw that there were big thick metal bars restricting his movements.

Is this another unfamiliar ceiling?! Is this a…dungeon? It's not the first time I've been locked inside a prison cell, but at least this one has a bed.

Shinji stood up and shuffled his way closer to the metal bars of his accommodation and the light to check himself for injuries. He didn't feel any pain as he walked and moved his body, so he assumed that he was not hurt in whatever events led to his escape from the great white void of the Twelfth Angel. His hands and arms remained unblemished as he examined them in the dim light. Whoever his captors were even thought to supply shoes made from a material wrap, for what they were worth. They seemed crude compared to the mass manufactured rubber slippers and leather shoes he wore every day in Tokyo-3.

The air in the cell was cold and accentuated by the darkness. Shinji shivered as the meagre light that enticed him with promises of warmth and comfort provided little of it. The thick metal bars were also cold, colder than the surrounding air.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he enquired of the darkness. There was no other way Shinji could think of to see if anyone else was in this place with him.

He heard some clinking and slow, deliberate footsteps marching towards him. Given how dim it was, Shinji could see very little of the person he assumed to be a man. But he could tell they were a soldier carrying a spear as a weapon and protected by some kind of armour.

Funny, spears are not a common weapon in 2015. What's going on here?

The soldier looked at Shinji from head to toe. Shinji realised he was being assessed, for what reason he didn't really know. The soldier's stern half-lit face and hushed growl told Shinji he wasn't impressed. And who could blame the man for thinking that of a skinny boy of fourteen years with ruffled brown hair who had no idea where he was, or how he got there?

Except Shinji knew how he got into this mess. It was his ego. He made a mistake because he wanted to prove he was something he was not; a smart manly man, who was capable of doing the right and heroic thing and be praised for it. Instead, he was now lost and a prisoner.

The soldier turned and walked away after the visual and aural assessment of the pathetic sight in the cell was done, his footsteps fading into the darkness like the light in the prison.

Without any direction or choice, Shinji went back to the bed and put the blanket over himself again. At least if he was to be kept a prisoner, he could make himself as comfortable as possible. After a time, he became comfortable and warm enough to fall asleep again.

\

Shinji wasn't sure how long he had been sleeping, but he was woken up by that eerie feeling of somebody watching over him. His eyes blinked awake the cotton wool in his brain and looked over at the solid metal bars which denoted where his freedom began and ended. There were a few people standing inside his cell looking at him silently. Silently judging him. How inadequate he was. How small and insignificant.

There were three soldiers dressed in the same manner as the first soldier who gave him the silent treatment. They all looked the same to him; each was tall, broad shouldered and carried a big spear. Each seemed to rumble with their own growls as they stood at attention. They all had that intense stare that seemed to bore right though Shinji's skull. Then there was the man in the middle. It was clear to Shinji that that man was the leader. Even though he wasn't as tall or wide as his comrades, or as broad shouldered, he was magnificent, with an expertly manicured head of hair, square jaw, and valiant eyes. The man wore gleaming plate armour that he seemed to fill perfectly. On his left hung a longsword whose hilt also gleamed despite the darkness.

All-in-all, Shinji could understand perfectly why the soldiers were willing to follow The Beautiful Man. Shinji didn't bat for the other side, but even he could understand the appeal.

"I imagine you're hungry, and you have a lot of questions," said The Beautiful Man, who was all business. "Come with me, and we will get you fed. We can talk while you eat."

One of the soldiers moved to put dark wooden cuffs on Shinji, and though Shinji would not have objected, The Beautiful Man stopped him with a hand. "The boy doesn't pose a threat to us in his state. If he leaves, he has nowhere to go. Just watching him will be enough."

The soldiers nodded simultaneously. The Beautiful Man walked out of Shinji's cell, flanked by a soldier on each side. The final soldier, the one whose instinct was to put him in chains, walked at Shinji's side. As they walked, Shinji looked at his surroundings. They were spartan, reminding him a little of the brig at NERV headquarters. The walls were made of stone, the floor was made of stone, and there were some torches on the walls burning something providing the only source of light in this otherwise dark place. They quickly climbed a flight of stairs which led to a heavy metal door manned by soldiers who quickly opened it for the little troupe.

Once past this door, it was as if Shinji had walked into another world. On second thought, he had walked into another world. He realised his first instinct of having been thrown into an underground dungeon was right. It was bright and sunny, but not the humid and clammy kind of weather he had grown accustomed to in post-Second Impact Japan. This was a much cooler, drier warmth with a gentle breeze.

They had entered a training yard, with thousands of identically dressed soldiers (and to Shinji's eyes, identical looking) doing drills like smashing dummies or shooting them with arrows (arrows!) or running laps of the perimeter walls made of tall wooden stakes. Guards manned the watch towers and horses (horses!) neighed as they were also put through their paces. There were some small buildings dotted around the place, some were made of stone, but most were built from wood, and all were roofed with straw. Further away a massive grey stone castle stood surveying the surrounding lands proudly, flags of red and orange fluttering gently in the breeze.

The troupe went up another flight of stairs to the top of a large squat stone building in the middle of the yard. Once there, The Beautiful Man led Shinji into a room, while the three identikit soldiers kept a watch outside. They growled a little as Shinji walked past them and inside. It was a simply furnished room, with a large wooden desk in the middle, surrounded by chairs. The table was evenly lit by two candelabras, one on each side. There were neat piles of paper assembled on the table with a purple and gold quill pen resting on its side.

The Beautiful Man pointed to a simple wooden chair next to the table and there Shinji sat. In front of him was placed a platter of food, a few slices of bread, some fruit, green vegetables, and unidentified meat. There was also a wooden jug of water and some cups. Shinji's stomach grumbled to his brain that it sought the satisfaction and glory of food. Shinji eyed the smorgasbord longingly, saliva threatening to burst from his between lips and then gave his best poor boy pleading eyes to The Beautiful Man and received silent approval to start eating.

In Shinji's mind, this was one of the best meals he had ever had the privilege of eating. However, if he hadn't been running on fumes just then, the culinary critique would have flatly stated that the flavour in the meat was uninspiring (it was only salted), the vegetables were tasteless and under cooked (they were soft outside and crunchy inside), and the fruit was barely ripe. The bread was tough and lumpy to boot. But he was so very hungry after spending a day in Unit One without food, and then sleeping the rest of the intervening time away. If Pen Pen were in front of him, he'd have eaten the bird, cuteness and fluffiness be damned.

As Shinji vacuumed and tore his way through the platter, a statuesque blonde woman walked imperiously into the room. She was opulently dressed in a white coat with a blue cape. She glanced at Shinji for a moment, but otherwise ignored the guttural sounds of food consumption and mastication coming from the boy. Instead, she made a straight line to The Beautiful Man.

"So, this is him then, Knight-Commander Bastion?" she asked without any pleasantries. "Impressive."

"Templar-Commander Redwood, I welcome you to my humble office," replied Bastion pleasantly. "Good to see you are in good health. I hope you won't make more snide remarks about the interior design today."

"Bastion," said Redwood evenly. "We don't have time for this. The damage to…"

Bastion held up a hand. "I know, I know. And I've already put all the people I can spare this shift on it. The next shift will be the same. We desperately need materiel to fix it. That can only come in time. I assume that you've also done what you can?"

Redwood took a deep breath. "Yes, my people have put up wards around the area. That will slow any threat down, but…"

"Then that's all we can do for now. Meanwhile, I think we need to sit down and talk to our guest here," Bastion indicated to Shinji, who was trying to quietly but unsuccessfully supress a burp. "So, young man, I think it's time we talked. I'll start. I am Knight-Commander Marcus Bastion of Summerise."

"And I am Templar-Commander Renee Redwood, Master of Magicks Obscura, Seer of Winters Past and Summers Yet to Be. Also, from Summerise, in case you weren't sure," said the blonde woman, irradiating Shinji with the same look of disapproval the rapidly greying librarian at his school gave to kids who borrowed manga rather than actual 'educational' tomes.

"My…my name is Shinji. Shinji Ikari," he said quietly. He tried to stand up and bow in the traditional Japanese way but stumbled and let out another loud belch for his trouble. If it affected the adults in any way, they showed no sign of it. "I'm from Japan. Which…I'm going to guess is a long way away from here?"

The adults looked at each other. Bastion shrugged, Redwood tilted her head. "It must be, because we've never heard of the place. We could tell at once you weren't from anywhere near here."

"I'm sorry," said Shinji reflexively. "I'm not sure what you mean by that, sir."

What? Even here you apologise? What the hell for? Echoed a voice of crimson fire.

"What the Knight-Commander means is that you fell from the sky," said Redwood. "And in doing so, you and whatever that thing you came in is, destroyed a large section of our city's wall and some very important buildings."

"To be fair, that section of the wall was going to be demolished either way," Bastion added. Shinji wasn't sure why Bastion was defending him. Obviously, Shinji had managed to stuff something else up, destroying property was not on the list of things he wanted to add to the list of infractions Misato could throw at him.

"That is a technicality, Marcus," interjected Redwood. "Sure, the rock trolls would have brought down the wall, but the hole would have been smaller."

"But, in falling from the sky at that point, he did kill the trolls and their minions in one hit," retorted Bastion. "Yes, there's collateral damage, but it would have been worse if the trolls had broken through. The rest of Summerise would have suffered in that case."

Redwood sighed. She seemed to concede the point. "But we still have a giant purple-thing-sized breach in the wall. Where the hell will we find the time and material to repair it before the next attack? Plus, we have to move that damned thing out of the way."

Shinji started tuning out the argument Redwood was having with Bastion. There was no point in him saying anything. Shinji had no idea what they were talking about beyond a significant level of damage he and Unit One had caused when they arrived from what? From appearing in thin air? But he had also managed to help these people in a way too. There was talk of trolls and an attack. Did that mean this place Shinji had ended up in was some kind of cheesy fantasy land that only existed in novels? It would certainly explain the fancy cosplay he was seeing.

"…Why don't we ask him," Bastion said, which Shinji managed to just catch.

"Wh-what would you like to ask me about?" asked Shinji, trying to look like he was paying attention.

Redwood turned her head towards Shinji, probably just now realising that he was there in the first place. "We want to ask whether you can move the giant purple thing out of the way so we can get to fixing the wall."

"Uh…well, the giant purple thing? I'm sorry, I guess you mean Evangelion Unit One?"

"Ever The What?" said Bastion and Redwood simultaneously.

"Evangelion Unit One. I…I guess you could call it a robot," explained Shinji. "It needs electricity to run, and I don't know if you know what that is."

Bastion and Redwood looked at Shinji like he was speaking in tongues.

"Electrotitcity?" the two of them seemed to be stuck in a synchronisation loop. Shinji was reminded of that brief period when he and Asuka were like that. So close yet so far.

"No…e-lec-tri-ci-ty," said Shinji. They did not just say it that way. An image of Misato flittered through his mind's eye. "You know, when electrons move from the positive end of a circuit to…"

Shinji stopped explaining. It was clear they had no concept of electromagnetism. Shinji suddenly felt like he was the smartest person in the room. "Look, why don't you just show me where Unit One is, and I can see what can be done."

That seemed to break the circuit of confusion for Bastion and Redwood. Without any other options, they agreed and led Shinji out the door towards Shinji's point of arrival. The guards dutifully followed them.

\

Even from afar, Shinji could see why Redwood was so angry at him. Evangelion Unit One, in all its purple and neon-green glory, lay flat on its front, its head had reduced a row of stone and wood buildings into so much flotsam and its torso had ground what had been a section of stone wall into pebbles and dust. All around, people kept staring at what must have been a surreal sight to them. Purple robots don't just fall out of the sky, unless you lived in Tokyo-3.

Wooden cranes and equipment, plus horses and men were also carting away what debris they could from the site. About a dozen soldiers stood to attention and formed a rough line around the scene, warding off looters and curious onlookers who might be tempted to try and damage Unit One. Not that these people could, mused Shinji in his mind.

Shinji saw that the entry plug was open, so he surmised that there must have been just enough power to push it out of its slot after Unit One had thundered into the ground. He climbed up a series of ladders that had been set up around the Evangelion's back, careful not to look down too much. He climbed in through the hatch, daylight illuminating the metal tube and the reek of what was likely rotting LCL. From his vantage point, Shinji surveyed the immediate surroundings. He could see that there was a lot ofblood under Unit One. He vaguely remembered a lot ofblood pouring out like a hose from his Evangelion's eye during the fight against the Third Angel. Shinji wondered if this was Unit One's blood.

He went deeper into the plug and sat down in the moulded seat. He looked at the controls and the computer system. Given he was nearly dead from life support system failure when whatever happened, happened, Shinji did not hold much hope to be able to move Unit One. He couldn't imagine how heavy it was given all the plate armour attached. Nevertheless, he randomly hit some buttons on the console, not expecting anything to happen.

But happen, something did.

Evangelion Unit One booted up. The hatch closed. The plug moved by itself into its slot and the interior cycled through its static to rainbow to technicolour Rorschach start-up sequence. Shinji could even feel the LCL refill inside the tube as the giant humanoid came to life around him.

What was most surprising was that [Hello Shinji] appeared on the screen in front of him as the plug's walls finally turned into the familiar viewscreen. The view outside was hardly anything to write about since Unit One's head was still mashed firmly inside some buildings. He stared at the text, not knowing how this had happened.

"Hello?" Shinji said tentatively to whatever entity was in there with him.

[Hello Shinji, I'm so glad to finally be able to talk to you] said whatever it was.

"Uh…I'm sorry but who are you?"

[Shinji, it's your mother. I've missed you so much!]

Shinji just about passed out from the shock. How was this possible? He recalled a repressed, faraway memory of his mother being killed during an early test. And they never even found a body, according to his father. But if his mother was dead, then who, or what, was in here with him? His skin crawled with a perfectly rational fear and smashed the emergency shutdown sequence. He couldn't get out of the entry plug quick enough.

[Shinji…wait. Please! It really is me!]

The entry plug reversed the start-up sequence. The text and view of the outside promptly disappeared. Shinji realised he was shaking and breathing hard as the entry plug was pushed partially out of its slot and the hatch opened. He was so, so glad to see the outside world, even if it clearly was not his own.

He clambered out of the entry plug carefully and saw Bastion and Redwood looking up expectedly at him. "So, does it still work? Is there any electrocitity?" the Knight-Commander asked. Shinji's inner child snickered a bit. I have got to train him on how to pronounce that properly.

"Uh, it still seems to work, sort of. I need a bit more time to test it though, make sure nothing's broken," replied Shinji reluctantly. He was torn between wanting to help the kind people who had looked after him (albeit in a dungeon), and running as fast as possible from the literal ghost in the machine.

Redwood seemed to nod from the ground. "I appreciate that, but could you please, please move it away from here? We really need to rebuild this wall."

"Oh, right. Um…sorry, I'll see what I can do right away," replied Shinji. He ducked back into the plug and sat down. He decided once again to be brave. He would only need to move Unit One for about a minute. And then he could get out and stop talking to The Ghost once it was over. It's some text on the screen. It can't hurt me.

Shinji hit the start-up sequence again, closed his eyes and then turned his mind to synchronisation mode. More text appeared on the screen this time, saying: [Shinji! That wasn't very nice. I wanted to talk to my baby boy after eleven years stuck in this thing! Please warn me next time you do a shutdown will you?].

"Uh…alright," said Shinji. Still unsure of the whole situation, he wanted to have as little interaction as possible with The Ghost.

He concentrated on picking Unit One off the ground and out of the Evangelion shaped hole in the wall. He did it slowly and carefully; thankfully it didn't seem as if there was any damage to Unit One's internal components as he didn't feel any pain through the neural link. As the giant head lifted off the ground, he could see the various people gathered around gasping and gawking. A few little kids were jumping up and down, probably thinking it looked very cool.

[Shinji, I know this must be a surprise to you. I have so many questions. How are you? How is your father...?]

Shinji's sync ratio was what got him into this mess. It was also what caused the next spot of bother for him. The question from The Ghost released all the negative feelings he kept bottled up inside about his father. The entry plug, which normally felt warm and inviting to him, suddenly felt frigid.

[That GENDO IKARI! What has he done?! Why I oughta…]

It was at that moment that he could feel The Ghost truly was his mother. He also now knew that he really needed to be careful about his thoughts in the entry plug if she was able to pick up on them.

[Oh, no-no-no, Shinji. You don't need to hide from me. I'm your mother. Thank you for showing me that. I will set him straight when we get back home.]

"Sorry…" Shinji reflexively said again. As he said it, a flash of red and strawberry appeared in his mind.

[Why are you apologising? You did nothing wrong. And…oh who's that?]

"N-Nobody mum," he quickly stammered out. "Look, we'd better move somewhere safer where we're not going to hurt anyone."

[Except GENDO IKARI!] flashed several times on the viewscreen as Unit One took a tentative step away from the pulverised section of wall.

Before Shinji could dwell on the thought of Evangelion Unit One somehow yelling at his father through space and time with the clever use of capitalisation, a huge din rang out from the town.

"Mum, could you please kneel down and eject the entry plug, I need to find out what's going on outside."

Once that was done, he poked his head outside and shouted: "Bastion, Redwood, what's happening?"

Redwood was a little far away to hear. She seemed to be shouting at a thousand people at once while pointing in all directions. Bastion, who was close enough to talk, shouted back at him that Summerise was about to be attacked by a large force. Bastion pointed in a direction, and Shinji looked at the view from Unit One's eyes. He zoomed in and saw a huge dark blue…blob (was that a giant…slime?) bouncing amongst various hideous monsters. Monsters he'd only previously seen in fantasy games.

He nodded at Bastion, who then turned and also started directing troops.

[Shinji? What's that?]

"Mum, I think there are some monsters heading to attack this town," he said into the entry plug, rushing to sit back down. "We…"

[You're thinking about running away now? These people need our help, Shinji.]

"I…I'm sorry. I'm not good at this kind of thing."

[I can tell. Look, we need to take care of this. And then, we'll talk, mother and son.]

Shinji gripped the control yokes tightly, a new sense of calm and determination filled him after reading his mother's words.

"Alright. Let's help."

Author's notes:

Hi everybody, newly minted fanfic author here. I hope you enjoy this double-header to get this story started. I have to admit don't have a plan for a regular release schedule. But it is safe to say that chapters will come out as they're done.

In the meantime, expect more service, service in the next chapter!