Shinji's Redemption
Chapter 1
"What is this," Shinji questioned.
It was dark, just after sunset. Shinji looked around. He saw a swing set and a sandbox. The only sound was the swing, which swung like a pendulum. In that sandbox was Shinji's younger self. Shinji looked at his younger self. He looked dejected. He crouched down and finished the sandcastle. It was a pyramid just like Nerv HQ. After he was done, he just looked at it for a while. Eventually, he started to stomp on his pyramid that he worked so hard to build. After he was done with his temper tantrum, he squatted down and built it back up again. Shinji looked at the scene unfold in front of him. He thought to himself for a while.
"This is how I feel about father and the Evas, isn't it? Shinji told himself.
The scene changed from the park to Misato's apartment.
"I want to do anything I can for you. I want us to be together forever!" Shinji begged.
"Then don't do anything. Stop bothering me." Asuka said coldly. "All you do is hurt me." The words cut deep into Shinji's soul.
"Asuka, help me!" "Please, you're the only one for me, Asuka!" Shinji pleaded.
"Liar." was all Asuka said. "Anyone would do. You're scared of Misato and the first! Of your father and your mother! You're just running to me! That's the easiest, least painful option! You've never really loved anybody! Not even yourself!" Asuka's words put Shinji to shame. He was pushed over, the coffee pot along with him.
"I really am pathetic, aren't I," Shinji told himself.
The scene changed from Misato's kitchen to the lake where Rei died. Other than himself he was alone. He looked down at his left hand. He held Misato's cross necklace. He frowned, then looked at the lake in front of him. He sighed to himself.
"My choice, huh?" Shinji spoke to himself. He sat down by some debris. He sat there for hours, maybe days, thinking about his decision. He could complete instrumentality, or he could go back.
"I have a chance," Shinji whispered.
"I owe it to everybody that I at least try." Shinji declared.
The scene changed again. Shinji was standing in his room. Shinji sat on his bed, rei sat in a chair across from him.
"Have you decided what you want?" Rei asked him.
" I want to go back," said Shinji.
"Go back? Why?" question Rei.
" To fix everything." Shinji plainly said." I mistreated everyone, including myself." he stated.
"But they hurt you, they never cared about you," Rei argued.
"That's not true. We hurt the people we love all the time. Just because we hurt people doesn't mean we don't care about them.
"But what if they hurt you again?" Rei asked.
"Then I'll heal." Shinji rebutted.
"But What if you hurt them again?" Rei questioned.
"Then I'll fix them," Shinji stated. Shinji got up from his bed and headed towards the door.
"And if you fail?" Rei warned.
"Then I'll die knowing I tried," Shinji said with a smile. With that, he walked out of his room into the white light.
Shinji's eyes flashed open. He was standing next to a telephone booth. It took a minute for him to reorient himself. "This is actually happening." Shinji thought to himself. He then looked at the phone in his hand and decided to listen to it.
"All phone lines are currently disabled due to the special state of emergency." was all the phone spat out. Shinji set the phone down and was forced to think to himself. Ok, Misato Should be here soon. Speaking of which. He looked down at his left hand. He was holding a photo of Misato. She wore a revealing yellow tank top and high cut blue shorts with a seductive, yet innocent wink.
"She was never the subtle type," Shinji softly spoke. After the events of the third impact, he didn't know what to think of her. He never thought of her in a romantic way, but he wouldn't call her a mother figure either. Technically he's supposed to refer to her as Major Katsuragi, well Captain Katsuragi since this was before her promotion, but it never felt right to call her that. At least not in most situations.
He reached down into his pocket and took out her cross necklace. He looked at it for a moment. Her blood stained the cross part of the necklace. This necklace was a physical reminder of why he came back. He squeezed it tightly then put it back in his pocket.
He then looked over to see Rei standing in the middle of an intersection. Then a flock of birds flew off a power line distracting him. After he looked back she was gone. Originally he thought it was just his imagination, but now he thought if it was some kind of warning. Before he could think about it more, a violent shake ripped Shinji out of his train of thought. Garage shutters rattled and power lines swayed in response. He looked over to see aircrafts attempting to hold back the third angel. Obviously failing, the angel knocked down an aircraft. Which then proceeded to crash into the building, nearly killing Shinji. As if that wasn't enough the angel leaped onto the aircraft causing it to explode.
A blue car came screeching in next to Shinji. The passenger door opens with Misato saying, "Sorry! Been waiting long?"
Seeing Misato caused Shinji to freeze. "She's alive," thought Shinji. Up to this point, he was still processing everything. He was still deciding whether or not this was real or just a dream. Shinji was taken out of his trance when Misato yelled, "Come on, let's go!"He jumped into the blue sports car and closed the door. He nearly fell out of his seat when Misato put it in reverse and sped out of the way of the angel's foot. They drove in silence until they were at the outskirts of town.
"They wouldn't...Their gonna use an N2 Land mine?!"Get down!" was all Misato could say before ducking with Shinji. The explosion sent a shockwave strong enough to make the car rollover multiple times before coming to a stop. They both climbed out of the car. Misato Spoke up.
"Are you okay," Misato asked.
"Yeah, but I got some sand in my mouth."
"Glad to hear it." Misato witted. "Here we go," shouted Misato.
It took both of them to push over the car. In response, the car fell back on its wheels with a crash.
"Thank you." "I couldn't have done it without you."
"No problem, Misato," said Shinji, now realizing that this was the first time they had a conversation.
"Sorry!" "I tend to say stuff before I think," Shinji apologized. After that, he just nervously smiled while scratching the back of his head.
"It's alright, I prefer to be called by my first name anyway," she said with a welcome smile."It's nice to meet you Shinji Ikari," Misato said.
"It's my pleasure," Shinji said while smiling.
Both Misato and Shinji was surprised by his response. Shinji was surprised that he would say something like that out loud. Considering what he's been through with her though, it's rather normal, he guessed.
"He's nothing like his father," thought Misato.
After that, Misato rigged up some battery packs to the engine with some duct tape. After that, they both got back into the car and started driving. At some point, Shinji spoke up.
"What is Nerv," Shinji asked, already knowing the answer.
"Right." "It's a secret organization attached to the UN," answered Misato.
"My father works here, doesn't he," snarked Shinji. He's grown such animosity for his father, he didn't even realize he said it in such a tone.
"Oh, right!" "Did your father send you any ID forms," Misato asked.
"Yeah, they're right here," Replied Shinji.
"Thank You," said Misato. She looked at the remnants of what used to be a letter. At the top right corner, his ID card was attached to the page.
"Read through this, okay," asked Misato in an almost apologetic tone. Shinji just took it and pretended to look over it.
"Dealing with your father isn't your strong suit, huh?" questioned Misato.
"Unfortunately," was all Shinji could say.
The automobile train came out of the tunnel leading into the GeoFront. Shinji never really noticed how beautiful it actually was. It was a giant dome-shaped subterranean cavity. It was filled with hills and mountains. Forest sprinkled here and their. A giant lake placed right next to Nerv headquarters. The Nerv building was pyramid-shaped and lied right in the middle of the GeoFront. It even had a day-night cycle. Currently, it was dusk.
"That's right." "Over there is our secret base, Nerv headquarters." "The key to rebuilding the world and the last bastion of humanity," said Misato. They continued into Nerv HQ.
"This is so strange," Misato went on about how she didn't know the way. Shinji just kept thinking about his upcoming fight with the angel. He's Piloted the Eva before, so it's not like he's unprepared. It was the opposite. He was too prepared. As soon as he connects with the Eva his synch ratio is gonna blow the command crew sky-high. His thoughts were interrupted by Ritsuko entering the elevator.
"Nice to meet you," said Ritsuko
"You too," Shinji said, not bothering to look up from the Manuel he was pretending to read. As they rode up, Misato and Ritsuko talked about Unit 01.
"What's Unit 01," asked Shinji.
"You'll see," said Ritsuko with a little excitement
As they walked into the cage room that held Unit 01, Shinji couldn't help feeling a little scared. The last time he was in Unit 01 was when the third impact happened. The memories ringed through his head like bells. He was brought out of his internal hell by the lights in the room suddenly turning on. He was staring right in the face of Unit 01.
"That's Unit 01!" Shinji fake exclaimed.
"This is the ultimate multipurpose decisive combat weapons system created by man." "The artificial human Evangelion," explained Ritsuko. "This is mankind's very last trump card." Ritsuko pleaded.
"This is my father's work," asked Shinji.
"Correct." "It's been a while," Gendo said. Shinji couldn't help but scowl. "Launch the Eva," commanded Gendo.
"Launch the Eva?!" "But Unit 00 is still grounded! "Wait, you want to use Unit 01?!" Misato asked with concern.
"There's no other choice." Ritsuko rebutted.
"Rei's in no condition for that!" "It's got no pilot," exclaimed Misato.
"He just arrived," Ritsuko said.
"I'm the pilot?" asked Shinji.
"Yes, I know it's scary, but-" Misato was interrupted
"I'll pilot it," said Shinji. Shinji's voice was a mix of fear and uncertainty. Everybody in the room was surprised by his comment. While he didn't show it Gendo was genuinely surprised. Never in a million years would he think Shinji would do something like this willingly. Misato and Ritsuko just stared at him in shock.
"You're not scared?" said Misato.
"I'm terrified." Shinji admitted, "But I ran away once and I'm not going to do it again."
"Shinji..." was all Misato could say.
"Then it's settled." " Get him in an entry plug." commanded Gendo.
Shinji sat in the entry plug waiting for the chamber to be filled with LCL. The last time I sat in this, I saw-. His thoughts were interrupted by LCL filling his lungs. He forgot all about the LCL so his coughing fit was genuine.
"Relax, once your lungs are filled with LCL, it will feed oxygen directly into your bloodstream." Ritsuko Assured.
"Synch Rate at...70.1%!" Maya Exclaimed. Ritsuko just stared at the screen in pure shock. Misato looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Is everything alright?" Shinji asked. He was as surprised as everybody else. He knew it would be high, but 70.1%!
"Everything's fine, we're just a little surprised by how well you sync with Unit 01," Ritsuko said after coming out of her state of shock.
"Ok," said Shinji concerned.
"Prepare for launch," Gendo commanded.
"Yes, Commander," obeyed Misato
The restraints let go of the giant beast known as Unit 01. Shinji thought about how he was going to fight the angel as he was elevated to the launch platform. He couldn't just walk up to it and start fighting it. To everybody else, this was his first time piloting an Eva. His only real option was to fake at being bad at it. His thoughts were put on hold when the launched platform rose with a thrust equivalent to that of a rocketship. When He got to the top he, was face to face with the third angel.
"Shinji?" "I want you to just concentrate on walking," Ritsuko explained. Shinji did as he was told and just took one step. He waited a moment before taking the next. Before he knew it he was moving his arms and fingers.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Shinji said with a bit of confidence. Without any warning, the angel charged at Unit 01. Shinji could barley react in time to block the jab. With his right arm, Shinji pulled a right hook into the angel's left side. The angel let out a small yelp as it receded backward. Shinji then pulled a roundhouse kick into the angel's right side, knocking it over. Shinji couldn't believe what he was doing. He had no idea where or how he learned to do close-quarters combat, It was all instinct. This wasn't unnoticed by the Nerv crew.
"Amazing…" was all Ritsuko could muster.
Shinji was about to approach the fallen angel, but a wave of dizziness hit him like a ton of bricks. He then noticed that there was wetness below his nose. He wiped his finger under his nose. Was that blood? Before he could think about it, he fainted. The Eva landed on its face with a loud crash.
"Pilot's lost consciousness!" Maya warned everyone. The angel then got up and approached the now unconscious Eva.
"Shinji!" screamed Misato.
The angel picked up the Eva by the head and started ramming its energy beam through the Eva's head. The armor plating cracked with each thrust. It wasn't long until the angel broke through. The angel had rammed its energy beam through the Eva's head knocking it back into a building. Blood spurted out of the right eye of the Eva Unit.
"Unit 01 is unresponsive!" Shouted Maya.
"I guess that's it," Misato admitted defeat. "Abort operation!" " Pilot rescue has top priority!" stated Misato. "Emergency plug eject, now!" ordered Misato.
"System Unresponsive!" Maya reported.
"What?!" panicked Misato.
"Unit 01 has reactivated!" Maya reported. Unit 01's remaining eye glowed with life, its jaw flexing open.
"It's gone berserk!" Ritsuko exclaimed. The Purple beast rose its head and roared loud enough for the entire city to hear.
"This is over," stated Fuyutsuki. Unit 01 jump into the air and landed on the angel. Unit 01 then tore one of the faces off the angel, then jumped back. The Eva didn't waste any time. It charged the angel at full speed. The angel managed to put up its AT field before the Eva could get to it. To its dismay, Unit 01 used its own AT field to erode the angel's AT field. Getting desperate, the angel sent an energy blast straight into the face of Unit 01. Unit 01 completely disregarded the attack and grabbed both of the angel's arms and broke them like they were twigs. After it was done with that, Unit 01 kicked the angel across the city. The angel crashed into a building, but that was a gentle tap compared to the body slam that followed suit. Now on top of the angel, Unit 01 started slamming its fist into the angel's core. Not yielding the results it wanted, the Eva ripped off a piece of the angel's ribs and then proceeded to stab at the core. In a last-ditch effort, the angel wrapped itself around Unit 01 and self-destructed.
"What happened to the Eva?" questioned Misato.
The Eva walked out of the smoke cloud as if was nothing. The only visible damage was the cracked faceplate.
"How terrifying." Misato softly spoke.