This Chapter has been edited for your enjoyment!

(A/N Okay enough with this guys. I've had over 500 hits and only 1 review? People, please tell me what you think...I'm dying for a response and I don't think the same people are reading this 50 times over. PLEASE READ & REVIEW!!! Aside from that, this chapter's title has nothing to do with J. Alana's After Impact...I just couldn't come up with an original name...sorry! No, I'm NOT a Shinji clone either. So here you have it, I've begun work on Chapter 5 already, hope you guys enjoy this installment)

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion, Ace Combat, or Halo. However, We've begun our all out assault, we're gaining ground. Soon my precious...you will be mine!!!

Chapter 4
After Impact

(POV: Shinji Ikari)

So it's finally over…

The first clear thought in weeks flows through my head. The end has come and gone, the ripples slowly fading into obscurity. Lying on this beach beside the only other survivor, I still don't know if any of it was worth it. To save humanity from assimilation or to allow everyone's soul to split apart and reform as individuals, such were the two choices. Only one could be chosen, and after that there was no turning back. I could have existed in a world without sadness, where there was no pain or suffering. However, when I was taken to that place, I didn't feel any joy either. It was a blatant emptiness with no hope or happiness, just…nothing. I guess even Utopia has its problems. The decision has passed, but I still have more questions than answers, leaving me unsure of reality…and dreams.

I rest my head in the sand and look to the stars, the other survivor right beside me, lying back…unconscious. But after what I did to her, it's no surprise that she would pull back like this. Only recently did she go back into a comatose state, probably to avoid having to deal with me. She's right though, I am a disgusting person and she probably wants nothing to do with me for as long as she lives. She may look like the same Asuka…but I don't think she can ever be the same again. She wears bandages all over her right arm and left eye, though I still don't know how she could have gotten them. Her fiery red hair lies beneath her head in the sand, not moving as she slumbers with her eyes shut, facing the starry sky above.

I turn my attention down towards the lake of LCL, where the remains of my great endeavors finally lay to rest, never to reawaken again. The head of the 'Reilith,' now split into its two separate halves, continues to decay as time slowly passes along this empty, god forsaken rock. Truth be told, it's actually been a couple hours since Third Impact ended. In that time, I had seen it fit to lay out a grave for my lost guardian, Misato Katsuragi. Made from a floating plank of wood, her cross-necklace was nailed into the upper end so that it may stand as my final respects to the one person who believed in me, right up to her demise. A salty tear runs its course down my cheek…she really means that much to me, almost like the mother I never had. But there was no way she alone could fill the void that has been by my mother's 'death'.

Misato's last words still pain me though.

I pan my view skyward to look into the stars above, hoping to lose myself in them and get away from thoughts of the dead. A red streak orbits the planet from far above, left over from when I had managed to kill the Reilith and split open the Geo-front, thereby releasing everyone's souls into the open. Wait, speaking of the Geo-front, if it was destroyed by Unit-01 and myself during the third impact, than why am I sitting next to what was once Tokyo-3 instead of a large crater? I want to ponder this question, but something in the sky draws my attention.

A small light has appeared in the night's sky. Although it's slightly larger than a star, it emanates a more powerful white light, encased in a small stationary sphere. It shimmers right above us, literally straight up from where the two of us rest. To add to the point, if the light were to fall down, it would probably land right where Asuka and I rest.

A glowing beacon in the aftermath of Third Impact, but it does nothing to lift my spirits. Mankind is doomed and it will end with me and the person I once despised for using me for her own means, than rejecting me in the end. And nobody else has come back! I was told that people would return if they wanted to, but the world remains as empty as ever…they're all gone. Whether they preferred death to this place or if they really can't return, I'm all alone…and that probably wouldn't change, with or without humanity.

I stare back at the glowing figure and notice that the glowing has continued to brighten. Than, blue strands of light shoot out from the light, crossing and weaving into the form of 10 symmetrical spectral wings. The wings take up a nice portion of the sky as they stop growing, the object ceasing to brighten as well. I sit up, getting curious as to what will happen next with this mysterious specter of the night's sky.

However, for the next minute or so, it just stays in place, not moving or changing in any shape or form. Than from out of nowhere, a small blue beam of light launches from the object. The beam of light strikes the planet not too far from where I sit. I turn away with my eyes covered, trying to keep from going blind. Through a slit in my fingers, I manage to see the beam of light striking the lake in front of me. Following the blast is a shockwave from the lake that blows me and Asuka back about 5 feet. I claw at the sand, trying to get a grip in the soft sand as Asuka's limp body slides away. I try and reach for her, but she's too far away and slowly fading into the light. I can't find a place to hold in the sand, so I too am blown away.

I get blasted into the air and flipped around just in time to face a hard landing outside of the sand. Time slows as I notice an imminent impact with a small boulder, which lies still in the red dirt. I strike the boulder with enough force to strike all thought from my mind. My head starts to ring and my vision is getting fuzzy.

Unable to get up, I manage to get a quick glimpse at the sky, my sight fading quickly. I can see that the wings are gone, but now there are 4 glowing orbs. They split off in several different directions and seem to descend on the planet.

The background fades into black…and the light goes with it…

(POV: -Unknown- 'Blaze' -Unknown-)

Oh my god…my fucking head…why the hell does it hurt? Ugh…where the hell am I?

My head pounds and pulsates as my vision straightens out. I'd reach for it to consul the pain, but my helmet appears to be back on its perch. Jesus Christ…what the hell happened to me? It feels like I got hit by a car followed by a train with a drop-ship crashing on it right afterwards.

My vision finally comes into focus, allowing me to look into a clear blue sky, tinted with the hint of clouds just floating along the top. I roll over a little to my left and see grass waving with a slight wind, and the hint of dew drops coming off the ends of the grass while the entire field glimmers in the sunlight. Using that as a means to guess what time it was on this part of the Earth, I'd say its morning. But the blue sky and plants don't make sense, seeing as how the Earth was wiped clean by a red blast wave. Could that mean I have died…and this is Heaven?

Rolling on to my right side, I look to find S-Unit 1's foot just a few yards off. It stands as a lone monolith, casting a shadow between itself and the ground on the other side of it, darkening the ground and foliage. The usually white armor is now tinted with burn marks, giving it the distinct marks of an atmosphere re-entry. Its Entry Plug hangs out the back with the hatch wide open, leaving the inside exposed.

That's odd, I don't remember getting out at all, and besides, that's a long drop. That could have been what knocked me unconscious! A fall from exiting the Eva outside of a docking bay would definitely do it. But that still doesn't answer too many questions. Like, where are the others? Are they nearby or have they landed elsewhere…if at all? That last thought forces a swallow. The thought of losing my comrades…no, my friends, this early is intolerable. They aren't ones to die so easily, so I guess they must be somewhere else. First I just have to…

I try and move the rest of my body, but neither my arms nor legs respond. Only my torso seems to move while the rest feels too heavy to budge. I keep attempting to move my dissociated limbs, but all attempts fail. My body remains limp! The sound of a siren floats over from out in the distance. Rolling my head over again, I think that maybe if I can get some sort of movement out of my body, than I would be rescued…or at the very least taken out of my armor for just a little bit. But than another point comes up! What if they are hostiles in this unfamiliar land, and I should just keep quite until I can affirm myself of their intentions?

Lying completely still, I listen as a car stops nearby. The doors open and close with repetitious thumps on the car as several unseen figures step outside. Still not moving, I listen to their slow footsteps as their shoes crunch the dirt beneath their feet, stepping on the small plant life. I can hear every step they make for every painstaking moment they use up just walking.

"Look over here, there's a survivor," A man yells.

"Yeah, I see him! Doesn't look familiar though," another answers.

"Yeah, and that Eva's certainly not one of ours," a female yells out.

What in the world are they be talking about? I can't understand a word they're saying! It must be another language and I'm going to take a wild guess and say that I don't have any damn clue which one it is.

My helmet lets off a small buzzing noise, only heard by myself, as the neural interface lights up. A message appears on the HUD.

-Audio feed detects Japanese speech in proximity

-Initializing language fluency program

-Commence language download…

With the last message complete, I'm met with the feeling a drill burrowing into the back of my neck, combined with the set feeling of lighting it on fire. I twist in pain, agonized at the few parts of my body that I can still move. My mind is invaded as with a flood of new images, knowledge transmitted in a fast subliminal manner. It only lasts a few seconds, but the feeling extends to a length more like minutes. The pain finally subsides, allowing feelings of daze and dizziness to lap on in place of the drill. I want to throw up but I can't move or do anything to alleviate the nausea. And to my additional pleasure, my grunts seem to have attracted the attention of the nearby strangers. Their footsteps have increased in pace and are keep growing louder and louder…

"Look, I think he's still alive." The first male yells as falls right in my cone of vision.

I can understand them now? Is that what the pain was for…so I can communicate back!!? But I can't even lift a damn finger to save my life!!!

One of them finally reaches for me, leaning over to look into the visor of my helmet. We both stare at each other, the man apparently unaware of the fact that I'm staring right back at him.

He waves his hand, oscillating it back and forth in front of my eyes. "Hello, anybody alive in there?"

I try to talk back, but it seems that I can't speak at all. The air in my lungs exhale and inhale without problem, but no sound comes from the throat.

"I guess he just died." The woman states with an air of disappointment.

I desperately try to make some noise, something to tell them that I am alive. I attempt to roll my head again, but now I can't move anything at all. My vision is starting to fade again, the daze and nausea beginning to overtake me!

SHIT! No, if they leave me here, than I'm really done for. The panic is getting to me as I'm trying to do or say anything. Something that will grab their attention before it's gone for good!

The man sitting on top of me gets up and starts to walk off. "Bummer, I would have loved to have met this character."

Struggling with the last bit of strength and will in my body, I manage to spit out a tiny, "h-h-hel…"

The man stops in his tracks before spinning on his heel. He rushes over to my body and lies on top of me. My vision clouds around him. "Don't worry buddy, you're gonna be just fine…"

Than…darkness once more.

(POV: Shinji Ikari)

What Happened?

The question pulses my brain as I awake from a blank slumber. I stare into a white ceiling, not being the unrecognized ceiling that I would expect, but rather the ceiling of the NERV Hospital. The only reason I can say that is the obvious telltale sign of NERV documents sitting on the nightstand next to me. Those never left any NERV facilities, unless they were carried by their respective owners. However, I can only imagine one of those two possibilities being the case in this situation.

The room is small, plain, white, and mostly empty. All except for this bed and the small nightstand that sentries to the side, where the documents lay still. How in God's name did I end up here? I could have sworn I was bowled over by that blast of light. Who could have possibly found me at ground zero and taken me here…wait! Somebody!!?

And 'somebody' comes walking through the door, keeping their back to my eyes as he/she/it closes the door and turns around. However, to my disappointment, it turns out to be your average everyday nurse, probably coming in to routinely check on my condition. I sit up in order to get a good look at her. She wears normal white scrubs with a stethoscope hanging around her neck. She had long brown hair, fairly pale skin and held a clipboard in the nook of her arm while writing on it with a pen.

"Oh, you're finally awake." She looks up from her clipboard, noticing my recent revival.

I rub my head, but whether out of pain or shear dumbfoundment I don't know. "Yeah, I'm awake alright."

"That's good, and just when we were beginning to think you had fallen into a long-term coma." She says this in a small, squeaky, and slightly irritating voice.

"What do you mean by that," I inquire.

"Well, you've been asleep for little more than a week since you were found lying out near the remains of Tokyo-3." She explains in a slightly withdrawn matter, as if the subject is hard to speak of.

"A week you say…It doesn't feel like it's been that long." The passage of time must not apply when you're asleep. I feel like I've only been out for one night.

"Yeah, well, I don't know what to tell you. I'm not even sure what happened out there myself." She withdraws again, staring back at her clipboard and avoiding my gaze.

"I know what you mean," I run back through the events when another thought hits me, one that should have smacked me in the face a lot sooner. I silently curse myself for not remembering.

"Did you find another person out where you guys found me?" I quickly ask in hopes of having my worries relieved.

"I'm sorry, but I wouldn't know. I'm not the one who brought you to the hospital." She answers with a conceited smile.

"Oh." I turn back in disappointment but than decide to probe further. "Can you check to see if there's an Asuka Langley Soryu in the hospital?"

"That I can do! I'll check once I notify the doctors that you're awake," She tells me.

"Thanks." I mumble it softly, since the worry seems to weigh down my voice.

The nurse vacates the room, leaving me to my solitude once more. I lay my head back and rest just a little bit more, the recent conversation having fatigued me. And so begins a long wait, one that will probably yield no positive results. I wonder if there are other humans on Earth now. How many of the people who have returned were the ones I knew? And if they had returned…would they care?

Could they have all come back? I seriously doubt they'd want to return to this hell-hole we call a planet. They've probably left by now, just like they did when their homes were destroyed.

A feeling of anger and sadness washes in, mixing into an emotion that pushes outward from the inside of my face, as if to try and force itself out. A tear starts to roll down my cheek before dropping onto my pillow, making a small dark circle next to my head.

So…I really don't want to be alone after all! But is that really my choice after what just happened. It seems as though there's some sort of fate that controls my existence whilst I have no say in it whatsoever. I pray that whoever has that control will at least have mercy on the last remaining shred of my soul.

The nurse with the clipboard comes back through the door with another person trailing behind her. This one in tow is man in a white jacket, but he looks more like a doctor than a nurse, which is probably an accurate assumption. He follows her over to my bedside as they sit down in two folding metal chairs that were propped up over by the wall next to the bed. I sit back up while the doctor looks over to me and prepares to speak.

"So you've finally decided to wake up. Well boy, how do you feel?" He speaks with a calm serene voice, one that could definitely sooth any other patient in this hospital…but not this one. The wounds I suffer from are not of the physical kind, but there's no way he could know that.

"I feel okay…I guess." I tell him the truth, but I don't put much emphasis on the 'okay' part.

"Well, 'okay' isn't good enough for us! We need to make sure you're well before we can send you home. But, after what happened to all of us, I really can't blame you. Now if you please…" He snatches the clipboard away from the nurse and flicks out a pen from his pocket. "Can you fill out this form for us? It simply asks who you are and where you're from. Mandatory stuff if you're to receive our care."

"Alright, I'll fill it out." I scoot up and take the two objects in the doctor's hands, then fill out the form. There's no hurry, so I take my time before handing the paper back to him, along with the pen.

"Okay…Mr.…Mr. Ikari?" He looks up at the clipboard with a display of shock before looking back at me. "There's a woman downstairs who's been trying to get in all week. She says she's after a Shinji Ikari who she saw enter this hospital. I guess you're the one she was talking about."

"Do you know who it is?" I quickly blurt out without thinking, a small vintage of hope momentarily returning to my mind.

"I don't know her name…but she looked pretty middle aged…oh and she had long lavender hair." The doctor touches his chin as if to think of something else.

"Misato!" I cry out shear amazement at this sudden miracle.

"You know her?" The nurse carries a look of confusion.

"Of course I know her, she's my guardian and…and…" Before I can finish, I hang my head in due shame, not wanting to face the one who actually died just to save my pathetic ass. It pains me to think that if it weren't for me, she wouldn't have died in the first place…and now she's alive again? How can I possibly face her again? How is this even happening?

"I'm sorry for asking." The nurse bows her head in apology. "I didn't mean to upset you. I guess you two must have parted while not on the best terms.

Still looking into my sheets, a sniffle sucks through my nose, as tears begin to well up at the edge of my eye. I don't want them, and I try to fight them, but they keep coming anyway. Before I know it, I'm hugging my sheets looking for any sort of comfort I can find. Just how pathetic am I?

"Its okay son, you don't have to see her if you don't want to. But you must understand that we can't keep you forever. If everything checks out, than we'll have to discharge you in a few days." The doctor finally breaks the silence, cutting into my self-pity.

I still manage to nod my head in agreement. But I'm not in the mood to face anyone right now, especially Misato.

"Oh, I looked up that Sohryu person you asked for." The nurse perks up as if this is supposed to lighten the mood.

I look towards her, half-expecting an answer that I don't want to hear, but I listen just the same.

"An Asuka Langley Sohryu was discharged from the hospital almost 6 days ago, after checkups revealed nothing was vaguely wrong with her." She recited this from her clipboard before deciding to continue. "We don't know where she went, but we were contacted about her just yesterday. Apparently, somebody else is looking for her too."

I don't really pay attention to the rest of the Nurse's speech, being lost in my own thoughts. So, she's already left me? That's just like her. Not that she even knows I'm here right now. She probably couldn't care any less if I was dead or alive. She's probably enraged by what I tried to do to her on the beach. Maybe loneliness is the only thing I deserve for the rest of my existence…my ever so shortening existence. How can I cope with anyone else if I had tried to choke the life out of the only other human being on the entire planet?

In this train thought, someone comes bursting in through the door. A woman struggles in through the entryway and she looks to have several security guards hanging off her arms and legs. The guards desperately try to pull the woman back through the door, but she seems to overpower them with ease. I can't recognize the woman at all, until I see a flashing strand of lavender hair being pulled by one of the trailing security guards.

"Shinji…Shinji, I knew you were here! They said you weren't but I knew it all along. And here you are!" She screams in excitement, slowly managing to approach my bed.

The doctor stands up tensely and stiffens himself before Misato. "Maam, the patient does not want to see you right now. You must leave now or we'll call local law enforcement."

"That's Bullshit. Why would Shinji not want to see me? I'm his guardian for God's sake, I take care of him. Isn't that right Shinji?" She stops at the foot of the bed, and begins to search my eyes. What she sees in them, I do not know. But whatever she sees, her weak attempt at a smile fades away, quickly replaced by worry or, more likely, fear.

"You do want to see me…don't you Shinji?"

Weakly, I shake my head before bowing my head, blocking out the sight of her with my bangs. It's not that she ever did anything to make me hate her…I just don't deserve her kindness anymore, especially after the way I acted. I had run away when I was truly needed and if it weren't for her kindness and empathetic actions, none of us would even be here.

I hear Misato plop to the ground as the guard detail carries her out. Just before they leave through the door, I hear a small, "Why?"

The doctor, seemingly satisfied that the disturbance has left, sits back down in his chair. "I'm so sorry about that, is there anything we can do to help?"

I look once again at my sheets, my eyes drawn downward, away from anyone or anything else. "No, there's nothing anyone can do to help me."

"I see." And with that, the doctor pulls the nurse up and leads her to the door. Just before leaving, I catch the nurse say, "Poor kid."

From here on in, I am alone. In a small room with nothing but the bed, nightstand, and two chairs. I am solitary once again…

(A/N Okay another down, only so many more to go. Plenty more story and action, you guys just need to motivate me with your reviews. Please, I'm dying for a true opinion!!!)