Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. The series belongs to Gainax, Hideaki Anno, and ADV Films. If any of the owners of the series ask me to remove this story from view, I will do so.

I also do not own anything that is property of Marvel Comics. The same disclaimer applies here.

With the events of the first chapter set in place, we can now get to the meat of the story.

Neon Genesis Evangelion:

Savage

Chapter 2 - Threshold

By CenturyChild533

Days Without Incident: 4

Misato had finally come to the realization that Shinji was not going to leave the apartment unless she forcibly dragged him out the front door. Once he had been debriefed after the battle with the Angel, berated by questions from several members of NERV's personnel, thoroughly examined by Ritsuko, and finally declared fit to leave the facility, the young man had immediately locked himself in his room. Shinji had only exited to make meals and to use the restroom. So far, Misato had respected his privacy, but her patience was beginning to wear thin. She idly toyed with the pull tab on the beer can in front of her and grumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

Ritsuko's orders to Misato to monitor anything suspicious in Shinji's behavior had gone largely ignored because of his self-imposed solitude. When she had asked Ritsuko about it, her friend had simply told her that Shinji had been under a lot of stress and to give him his space. "Eventually," Ritsuko had told her, "he'll come out on his own. You can't force him." The urge, however, was becoming increasingly harder for the Major to control. Her grip on her beer can unintentionally tightened as she stared at the door leading to Shinji's Lovely Suite. God dammit. I'm gonna get you out of that room if it's the last thing I do. Misato drained the rest of the beer and tossed the can across the room into the bin. Satisfied with the minor achievement, Misato stood up and walked over to the door, sliding it open a crack to look inside.

Shinji was on his bed facing the wall, listening to music from the tape player that he carried with him everywhere he went. Hate that fucking thing, Misato mused. He listens to that whenever he starts getting depressed, and whatever's on there just makes it worse. Misato pushed the door open a bit wider and entered the room, seating herself at the foot of Shinji's bed. "Shinji?" Misato said, hopefully loudly enough so that the young man could hear past his headphones. Just to make sure she had his attention, she gently tapped him on the leg.

His reaction was not the one she had been expecting. Shinji bolted upright, scooting backwards as quick as he could and letting out a scream that caused Misato to fall off of the bed in terror. Shinji's eyes were wide, his pupils dilated, and his breathing heavy as he realized he had just royally scared the shit out of his guardian. "M-M-Misato-san?" he managed to stammer out as he tried to calm himself.

Misato looked up at Shinji from her position on the floor, her face scrunched up in indignation. "What the hell was that for?" she shouted, standing up and brushing herself off.

Shinji paused, taking a deep breath and calming himself enough to form a coherent sentence before responding. "I'm sorry, Misato-san. I was having a bad dream, and you scared me. I didn't mean to freak out."

"It's all right. I probably shouldn't have been sneaking into your room while you were taking a nap anyway. Sorry."

Shinji clicked the off button on the SDAT player and set it aside. "It's all right. So, did you need something?"

Misato once again sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's nothing, just… I'm worried about you, Shin-chan. You haven't left the apartment in days. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Shinji averted his gaze and nodded. "I'm fine. I just… don't feel like going anywhere, that's all."

Misato sighed. "Shin-chan, four days you've been cooped up in here. I understand you've been through hell, but this isn't the answer to it. You've got to get out there, get some fresh air, some exercise, do something. Anything." The purple-haired woman crossed her legs and regarded her ward a bit more intently. "At least try to leave your room a bit more, if you don't leave the apartment, okay?"

Slowly, Shinji met her eyes and nodded. "Okay, Misato-san. I'll try."

She smiled and patted his head lightly. "Good. That's all I wanted to…" Misato's sentence was cut short when the light in the room suddenly went off. "What the hell?" She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and walked into the kitchen. "Ah, shit," she muttered. "All the damn lights are off. Let me go check the breaker."

As Misato went to find the circuit breaker, Shinji stood up, stretching his aching muscles. Four days spent loafing about the house doing virtually nothing had taken its toll on his body, and it was showing its protests as Shinji heard something pop in his back. "Ooh…" he groaned, hunching over a bit and wincing in pain. He walked awkwardly to the door of his room and exited for the first time in the better part of a week.

Slowly, feeling started to return to his spine, and Shinji stood upright. The lights in the apartment had all gone out, but the early morning sunlight streaming in through the windows brightened up the dwelling and made it easy enough to see. Shinji looked for his guardian and found her in the closet, leaning over a pile of clutter that Shinji tried not to think too hard about as she investigated the circuit breaker. Exasperated, Misato slammed the cover into place and turned to face Shinji.

"The problem's not on our end. It must be a transformer or something. Wait here, I'll go call someone, see if I can get an answer," she said as she searched for her cell phone. She found it on the table and flipped it open. Shinji, meanwhile, seated himself patiently on the couch.

His guardian's voice turned to little more than white noise as Shinji's thoughts once again strayed to the Angel attack. Thankfully, now, he was thinking about the more cheerful side of it – more specifically, that Rei Ayanami had smiled at him. The corners of his lips upturned slightly at the thought that he had made the girl happy. She always seems so sad, Shinji thought to himself as he reclined on the couch. No, wait, that's not right. When I opened the Plug, she said she didn't know what to feel. Could it really be that she doesn't know any feelings at all? Shinji sighed as he stared up at the ceiling and waited for Misato to get off of the phone.

Soon, Misato peered over the top of the couch. "Yeah, the power's out all over the place. Some kind of problem with the wiring; apparently the high humidity was starting to corrode some of them, and they finally broke. They're working on the problem, or so they tell me."

Shinji looked out the window at the blazing sun. "It's going to get hot in here without any air conditioning."

"Ah, shit. I didn't even think about that," Misato said grumpily, her face scrunching up in displeasure. "Well, NERV has air conditioning, and I need to be down there in a little while anyway. You want to join me?"

Shinji seemed a bit uncomfortable at the prospect, but under the circumstances he saw no other real option. "I guess so," he replied.

"Good. I'll go get changed and get my keys, and then we'll be on our way." Misato turned and went into her room, and Shinji remained on the couch, looking up at the ceiling, his earlier train of thought coming around for another pass.

What must that be like? Not knowing what to feel… or not knowing what you're feeling when you do? Shinji thought about the prospect of living in total emotional ignorance, and it was a rather frightening thought. He shuddered. I couldn't do it… How could anyone live like that? Then he remembered the conditions of her apartment, and the full meaning of Ritsuko's words from a week or so ago sank in.

She's not very adept at living… too true. Too true…

Shinji heard the jingling of keys, and his reverie was broken. He looked up and saw Misato once again looking over the couch.

"Come on, Shinji-kun. Let's roll."

( 0 0 0 )

With Misato working in her office, Shinji had taken to aimlessly wandering the hallways of NERV headquarters in search of something to keep himself occupied. He tried very hard not to pay attention to the people around him. People he passed had taken to stepping around him, as if he were plague ridden. This gesture did nothing to help abate his hesitance at being outside, given his current circumstances. Shinji reasoned that he had promised Misato to get out a bit more, and he resolved to do that in spite of the reactions he was receiving from his coworkers. Slowly, he put in the earpieces from his SDAT player and turned the device on, letting a stream of soft guitar notes lull him into a trancelike state as he walked.

Shinji finally came to rest at a bench against the wall, slumping against it and heaving a sigh, letting his eyes close. "What to do…" came his barely audible whisper as he leaned his head back against the wall. There's really not a whole lot to do here except wander the halls. Then again, it's either this or I roast in the apartment. Shinji opened his eyes and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and putting a hand to his forehead. There's got to be something.

As the song he was listening to came to a close, Shinji heard footsteps coming from his right. Inclining his head slightly he could see the skirt of a school uniform. He sat up fully and saw Rei about to walk past him. "Ayanami?" he said, almost to himself.

The impassive girl turned mechanically to face him. "Pilot Ikari."

It had not occurred to Shinji just how massively awkward speaking to the blue-haired pilot was going to be. He had not seen her since the Angel attack, and now that he did, what little memory he had of the events returned with a vengeance. "H-how are you, Ayanami-san?"

After a slight pause, Rei graced him with a short reply. "No problems."

"Oh," he said, taking a moment to carefully formulate his next contribution to the burgeoning conversation. "I'd thought that… maybe you'd been hurt in the attack, that's all."

"I sustained minor injuries, nothing life threatening. I am fit for duty."

Shinji breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

With a fractional head tilt and a quizzical expression, Rei asked, "You had concerns, Pilot Ikari?"

Shinji could feel his face heating up. "W-Well, I…" He made eye contact with her and decided against lying. Something told him she'd see through any attempt at deception, and really, what would the point of denying it be? "Yeah."

"Why?"

"If you had gotten hurt, it would have been my fault."

Rei was silent for a moment, as if considering what she had just been told. "I was performing the duties I had been ordered to perform. Injury is an inherent risk of piloting."

This didn't offer Shinji any relief. "I know… it just… would have felt like it was my fault, that's all."

"I do not understand," Rei said mechanically.

Shinji opened his mouth as if to speak then closed it again. He repeated this gesture twice before finally slumping his shoulders and sighing. "I guess I don't either."

"Then you should not feel responsible, should you?"

Shinji stared at her for a moment, trying to think of something to say. Rei looked over his shoulder as he did so. "Someone is coming this way," she said.

Turning his head to look, he saw Misato making her way up the hallway, the sound of her heeled shoes echoing in the confined corridor. "There you are, Shinji! I've been looking for you."

"S-sorry," Shinji said, and Misato thumped him lightly on the head with her fist.

"Wish I could get you out of the habit of saying that word every two sentences." The woman turned to the other pilot. "Hello, Rei." She smiled pleasantly. "Guess I should tell you, too. I just got word: they're shipping the Second Child to us from the German NERV branch in a week."

Shinji was more surprised by this than Rei, who did not react much at all. "Another pilot?" he asked.

"Yep, and another Evangelion to go with it. Ritsuko was telling me that it might be a good idea for one of the pilots to come to the carrier, try to make a good impression. Ayanami, would you be interested?"

"I have an appointment with the Commander that day, Major."

Misato turned to Shinji. "Guess that just leaves you, huh, Shinji-kun?"

Shinji nodded, getting the impression that he didn't really have a choice in the matter. "All right."

Misato beamed at him. "I knew I could count on you."

Rei bowed abruptly. "If there is nothing else, I must be going."

"Oh, sure, Ayanami," Misato said, giving her a bow and a wave. "See you later."

Shinji bowed as well. "See you later, Ayanami."

Her eyes seemed to linger on him for a moment, and then the red-eyed girl turned and walked down the hallway, taking a right turn at the end and disappearing from their sight. Misato nudged Shinji in the ribs. "So, stalking outside the girl's locker room, eh, Shinji-kun? I'd have never have believed it of you!"

Shinji looked at her oddly. "What?" He looked around and realized that he was, in fact, standing outside the door to the changing rooms. That must have been where Ayanami was coming from when I bumped into her. He blushed furiously, his cheeks turning a deep scarlet. "I-It's not like that! I just ran into Ayanami out here, that's all!"

Misato laughed heartily at his reaction. "You're so much fun to tease, Shinji-kun," she managed to choke out as she held her sides, which were aching from her laughter. After a while, she managed to stop. "Oh, that's right; I had something else I was going to ask you. Since Rei's staying here in case there's an attack and you're going with me, would you like to bring along those two pals of yours?"

He knew that she was referring to Kensuke Aida and Touji Suzuhara, the only people Shinji had who could be considered "friends." In truth, he did not know either of them that well, and their initial meeting had not been under pleasant circumstances. Touji's sister had been injured in Shinji's first run inside Unit 01, and the jock had seen fit to give Shinji a beating as repayment. The next time they had met, Shinji had saved the two boys from being crushed by an Angel after they had left their assigned shelter. Since then, they had been seeing each other more frequently, but Shinji still did not feel entirely comfortable around them.

Then again, he thought to himself derisively, I don't really feel comfortable around anyone. He looked to Misato and nodded. "They might like that. I'll ask them."

Misato smiled pleasantly. "Good. Let me know, and I'll put in the call to Ritsuko." The woman stretched, raising her arms high above her head and curving her back, then slumped and released a sigh. "I looked into the power situation. Looks like it'll take them a few more hours to fix it. Maybe we should go out and get some food in the meantime. You hungry?"

Shinji nodded again, and Misato took him by the wrist, practically dragging him down the hallway toward the parking garage. "That's a relief, because I'm not only starving, I'm going stir-crazy in here. Finally finished all the paperwork from the last Angel attack, and let me tell you, looking at that amount of compensation for property damage… gets depressing after a while."

Shinji bowed his head and murmured an apology, and Misato waved a hand. "Don't apologize; it's not your fault. Hazard of living in Tokyo-3: shit's gonna blow up from time to time. Now, pizza sound good to you?"

( 0 0 0 )

Days Without Incident: 11

Kensuke Aida, it seemed, could not manage to keep still in his seat. He fiddled obsessively with his camera, rechecking the settings for at least the fourth time in the past hour. The prospect of accompanying Shinji, an Evangelion pilot, on a mission to an aircraft carrier to retrieve another Evangelion pilot was simply too much for the boy to bear, especially given his naturally short attention span. He pointed his camera out of the VTOL craft's side window, capturing a rather stirring visual of the crystalline blue ocean water speeding by as they flew to their destination. Kensuke swept his camera's lens into the cabin, getting a shot of his companions.

Shinji was nervous, his brow furrowed in thought. Since Misato had mentioned to him that another Eva and pilot were going to be joining them in Tokyo-3, Shinji had begun to second-guess his importance to NERV. What if they decided they didn't need him anymore and discarded him? He did not enjoy piloting the Eva, and there was doubt in his mind that he ever would, but that did not mean he wanted someone to swoop in and take what little purpose in life he had. There was some part of him that thought this and another part that reminded him that three pilots could defeat Angels better than two. His inner conflict showed on his face, and he turned to the aircraft's other window, staring out at the waves, attempting to clear his mind.

Touji just stared at Misato, as he had been doing since their flight began. The major was seated in the co-pilot's seat, and she twisted around to face the three boys in the cabin, removing one massive earphone covering from the side of her head. "All right, you guys, I just got off the horn with the carrier, and they're prepared for our landing. We should be there in less than ten minutes."

Kensuke lowered the camera from his face. "That's great, Misato-san!"

"Thanks again for bringing us along, Misato-san," Touji chimed in, adjusting his new baseball cap in what he no doubt considered to be a subtle fashion.

"No problem, Suzuhara-kun," Misato replied, flashing her winning smile. "I thought Shinji could probably use the company." She took this opportunity to glance at her ward, who was still staring contemplatively out of the window.

Kensuke pointed excitedly. "There she is!"

Misato and Touji looked out the side of the VTOL where the bespectacled boy was indicating, and they saw a gray speck on the horizon rapidly coming into view. As they drew closer, Touji began to make out the shape of the object: a ship. He had only seen pictures of aircraft carriers, relentlessly bombarded by military material as he was (a hazard of being friends with Kensuke), but he had not imagined the sheer size of the vessel. The slate-colored behemoth was easily the size of a skyscraper lying on its side, the flight deck dotted with a number of one-man fighter jets. One object, even to Touji's untrained eye, looked remarkably out of place. A rectangular palette covered in beige-colored tarp sat off to one side of the deck, the cloth flapping in the sea breeze.

"That's her, all right," Misato said, removing her headphones, "the Over the Rainbow."

Only now did Shinji look up, breaking the reverie he had held for the last several hours. "We're here?"

"You bet."

The VTOL craft swooped in, its engines switching position and causing them to hover over the flight deck. Crewmen scattered about, and the controller guided the craft to the deck as it made its landing, bucking slightly before coming to a halt. The side panel fell forward with a pneumatic hiss, forming a short staircase. Misato climbed out first, signaling for the boys to follow. One of the ship's crew met with Misato and introduced himself with a handshake while Kensuke turned around in circles with his camera, seemingly trying to film everything on the craft at once. Touji stretched and yawned dramatically. "Ah, that feels better. Damn, I didn't know these plane things were so cramped."

Misato finished her conversation with the crewman. "This way, guys. We're meeting with the captain, so he can sign over control of the Eva."

"Well, well… I didn't expect to see you here, Misato-san."

The voice had not come from their group. The four of them turned to the source of the sound, and were greeted by a young redheaded girl in a yellow sundress. She wore a pair of red hairclips that Shinji recognized as A-10 neural connectors, the same kind that he wore during piloting. What struck him about this girl was not her hairclips but her eyes. She had bright blue eyes that were full of confidence, as if the smirk on her face were not enough indication. This girl was beautiful, and she knew it.

"Wow, Asuka. You've changed." Misato smiled, putting a hand on her hip. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Second Child."

The dramatic moment was ruined by an errant breeze. A gust of wind picked up and swept across the deck of the carrier, lifting Asuka's sundress and exposing her undergarments to virtually everyone on the flight deck. A split second later a loud crack rang out as her open palm impacted Touji's cheek. He took a step back and fumed, his eyes widening and his nostrils flaring like an angry bull. "What the hell was that for?" he raged.

"A viewing fee. I'd say it was reasonable, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'd say it was overpriced. Here's your change!" With that, Suzuhara abruptly dropped his pants, much to the astonishment of the rest of the group. This earned him a second slap from the Second Child.

Misato cleared her throat. Shinji was not sure if she was trying to break up the argument or stifle a fit of laughter. "Asuka, this is Shinji Ikari, I told you about him. The Third Child."

That was all it took for Asuka to divert her attention away from Suzuhara. She put her hands on her hips and strode confidently over to Shinji, narrowing her eyes and staring intently into his face. Shinji had the impression that he was being dissected by the girl's mind, like she was analyzing his strengths and weaknesses simply by looking at him. He suppressed a shudder and settled for a nervous tensing of the muscles.

Asuka took a step back after what seemed like an eternity. She raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't look like much. I thought he'd be taller." Shinji gave little visible reaction to this remark, other than averting his gaze to the deck.

Misato saved Shinji from having to reply. "Well, I still need to meet with the captain. We'd better go; I don't want to keep him waiting."

( 0 0 0 )

The next few hours were trying for everyone. Misato was having problems dealing with the uncooperative ship's captain, who refused to sign over the Evangelion until they reached port. Shinji had also been introduced to Asuka's guardian, Ryoji Kaji, a scruffy-looking man who had dated Misato during their college days. Misato had been less than pleased to find out that Kaji would be accompanying them back to Tokyo-3, and Shinji had spent the last several hours dividing his efforts between finding answers for Kaji's awkward questions about living with Misato and trying to avoid the Second Child. It had not taken long for Shinji to recognize Asuka's caustic personality, and he had only spoken to her when necessary, not wishing to provoke her ire further. She already didn't like him. Shinji could tell that from their first meeting, and he had discovered that his suspicions about that encounter were correct: Asuka had been sizing him up.

Kensuke was occupied trying to film every inch of the carrier, and Touji was following Misato like a lost puppy. With his two companions otherwise engaged, Shinji had taken up wandering the halls of the carrier aimlessly, wondering why in the world he had agreed to come along in the first place. It was better than sitting at home by myself while Misato went or going to NERV and doing synch tests, he told himself, but as he examined his current situation, he wondered if that was indeed the case. Shinji turned a corner and found an escalator leading to one of the upper deck.

"Hey, Third Child."

Shinji looked up when he heard Asuka's voice at the top of the moving staircase. She looked down her nose at him almost haughtily. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

Shinji got off the top of the escalator, and the girl grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the door. The sudden burst of bright sunlight to his eyeballs told Shinji that he was back on the flight deck. Asuka walked him across the deck, past rows of fighter jets and over to the enormous tarp-covered palette. She grabbed the edge of the tarp and lifted it up, then looked back to Shinji. "Well, what do you think?"

He stuck his head under the covering. He could see what appeared to be a massive humanoid form lying on its back, its body covered in a layer of slick red metal with some accents of orange. The two pilots were standing near its head, and Shinji could not be certain from his current angle, but it appeared that the thing had four circular green eyes. Shinji now knew what he was looking at.

"This is… an Eva?"

"Not just any Eva," Asuka said, smiling proudly. "My Eva. Evangelion Unit 02." She stepped under the cover, letting it fall behind her, and climbed atop the dormant monster's head. She swept an arm dramatically at it. "The first production model, superior to the prototypes in every way."

Something about this comment struck Shinji as a personal insult. He didn't say anything, but Asuka caught the flash of indignation in his eyes. "Well, it only makes sense that they'd make improvements. And naturally, they want the star pilot to have the best equipment."

Shinji's fists clenched. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I don't need your help, Third Child. I can fight the Angels by myself. I don't need some untrained boy to help me kill giant monsters."

The young man couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How can you take this so lightly? We almost died in the last fight."

"That's because, as I said before, you're untrained. With me here, they don't even really need you anymore."

Shinji fumed. "Have you ever fought one of these things?"

"No, but I've had the best military training money can buy since I was a child. I've been preparing for this, whereas you… well, where did they find you anyway? Pulled you right off the street, I'm guessing?"

"You've never fought an Angel?"

"Hey, weren't your eyes blue a second ago…"

"What?" Shinji asked, confused.

Asuka opened her mouth to speak, but did not get a chance to actually comment. The ship shook, knocking her from her perch on Unit 02's head, and she fell rather unceremoniously down to Shinji's level. She stood and brushed herself off. "What the hell was that?"

Shinji lifted the tarp and went to the guardrail on the ship's edge, looking out at the ocean. A plume of water had appeared, something that reminded Shinji of videos he had seen of whales breaching the surface. Scanning the immediate area, he could barely make out a silhouette of some kind beneath the waves, something that looked far too large to be a whale.

"What is that?" he wondered aloud.

Asuka looked around. "What's what, Third Child?"

"That!" He pointed at the massive shadowy shape.

"I dunno… whale, maybe?"

"It's too big, I think… it looks like it's about the size of this ship!" A frightful possibility occurred to Shinji. "You don't think it could be… an Angel, do you?"

Without warning, one of the ships in the battle group snapped in half like a twig, fire shooting into the air as the destroyer folded onto itself. The ocean rippled and foamed as the two halves of the ship sank beneath the surface, as if something were pulling it down. Shinji tore his eyes from the horrifying spectacle and looked at Asuka, who was grinning from ear to ear maniacally. "This is my chance… come on, Third Child!" With that she darted across the flight deck and dove under the tarp covering Unit 02. Shinji watched her, and then looked back at the destroyer. An underwater explosion, possibly a fuel tank, sent a geyser of water into the air and generated a muffled concussive boom. Shinji struggled to regain his footing as the carrier shook, and he ran to follow Asuka, tripping over his feet in his haste.

Ducking under the cloth cover, Shinji found Asuka opening a crate near Unit 02's feet, digging out what appeared to be a bundle of red plastic. It took him a moment to realize that she was picking up a plug suit. Before he could speak, she had tossed one of the garments into his arms. "Put this on, Third. We're going out there."

"Wait, what? What about Misato?"

"Who needs her? We can handle this. Put it on, quick!"

Shinji held the suit up and examined it. Sure enough, as he had feared, it was designed with females in mind. "This… what… no… I can't wear this!"

"Look, Third Child, I don't have time to argue with you. Misato probably knows something's going on by now. And we have to move fast. Put. The suit. On."

Shinji's ears filled with a high-pitched ringing as he felt his anger rise. It did not occur to him to take his usual calming breaths; his skin began heating up, his breath started coming in shorter bursts. "Don't talk to me like that." Shinji's voice took on an edge, something he had never heard before. He struggled to control his breathing, now nearing hyperventilation.

"I'll talk to you any way I damn well feel like, little boy! Now put this thing on, or so help me God I'll…" Asuka's voice trailed off as she caught sight of the boy's eyes.

Shinji's irises had changed from their deep cobalt blue to a dazzling emerald green, and they weren't just bright. They were glowing. His jaw was clenched, the veins in his neck bulging almost obscenely as he sucked in shallow breaths through his teeth, making a frightening rasping sound. For a moment, Asuka thought he was having some sort of seizure. Shinji's body jerked abruptly, his muscles rippling as if he had been electrocuted, and to Asuka's astonishment, they actually began to grow.

"I said… don't…talk to me…like that!"

( 0 0 0 )

Days Without Incident: 0

( 0 0 0 )

Misato stood in the observation tower on the Over the Rainbow, looking out at what little remained of the destroyer's wreckage. "What the hell was that? Someone get me a visual, now!"

The technicians and crewmen scrambled around, checking the readouts. "I've got a large contact on radar, major, right on the Kawakimi's position!"

Misato looked over the radar tech's shoulder. The radar blip was enormous, bigger than the destroyed ship had been. As Misato watched, the radar swept again, and the bogey started moving directly toward their position.

"It's coming this way," the ship's captain said, grabbing the microphone. "All hands, brace for impact!"

Misato's eyes locked onto Unit-02, still lying on the flight deck and still covered. "We need to activate Unit 02."

"No way is that happening, Major," the captain said. "That toy's not going live on my ship. The seas are my jurisdiction; we can handle whatever this thing is."

"With all due respect, Captain, there's nothing this could possibly be but an Angel attack. That makes it my problem, and if we don't activate that Eva, more people are going to die. You've already lost a boat today. You prepared to lose another?" Misato stared daggers into the captain's eyes, putting on her best no-bullshit look.

It worked. "Find the pilot, get that thing active."

"Sir!" one of the technicians yelped. "We're picking up some kind of energy signature!"

The sailor growled, adjusting his cap. "Not another Angel… damn it, that's just what I need right now."

"No sir, contact matches no known energy signature. And it's… sir, it's coming from the Over the Rainbow!"

Misato's eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm trying to get a more precise location now, ma'am."

Someone else on the bridge shouted, "It's right on top of us!" The water on the starboard side exploded upward, and the beast made its first appearance. Misato stared in awe of the enormous sea creature, a monstrous combination of a stingray and a barracuda that was easily the size of a whale, if not larger. The creature was a sickening beige color, coated with a light film of slime. It reared itself up, flopping onto the flight deck like a massive pancake, and the entire ship shook under the impact. Misato stumbled, and then looked out at Unit 02. "Asuka! Get that thing moving!"

The Angel raised itself up again, preparing to slam back onto the flight deck. Misato grabbed onto the console, bracing herself for the shockwave, when she saw the tarp covering Unit 02 burst. But it wasn't the Eva that was moving. Something considerably smaller and bright green leapt through the air, propelling itself directly toward the Angel's chest, slamming into the fish-creature and knocking it back into the sea. The green thing landed on the flight deck with a loud boom, rearing itself up and throwing its head back, roaring triumphantly.

"What the hell…" Misato grabbed the pair of binoculars around her neck and trained them on the creature.

The green monster on the flight deck was humanoid, but it was much larger than any human being Misato had ever seen or heard of. It was difficult to tell from the distance she was at, but she estimated that it was roughly seven and a half to eight feet tall, its body composed of unnaturally large muscle beneath its jade flesh. The face was human, with messy black hair and squat features. Its mouth was open in a loud roar, exposing its rows of enormous yellowed teeth. Misato had never seen anything like it.

"Jesus Christ… what is that thing?"

The Angel broke the surface again, giving its own roar in a challenge to its new opponent. Misato caught a glimpse of something red inside the Angel's mouth, past its rows of serrated teeth, but it disappeared quickly. The green creature thumped its chest, and jumped off the deck, directly toward the Angel. It landed on the monster's head, and the fish-thing thrashed about wildly, trying to dislodge the interloper. Blood dribbled from the Angel's head as the jade giant dug its fingers into its flesh. Without warning the Angel threw itself backwards and dove beneath the waves, disappearing into the ocean.

The captain was already barking orders to get the guns in position when the radio crackled and Asuka's voice came through. "Misato, come in!"

Misato grabbed the handset mike. "Asuka! Is Unit 02 active?"

"Finally! First Shinji flips his shit and vanishes, then the startup sequence takes forever to calibrate! Yes, Unit 02 is online!"

"Wait," Misato said, "what did you say about Shinji?"

"You didn't see it?" Asuka shrieked as she brought Unit 02 to its feet, standing atop the Over the Rainbow and looking around.

"See what, Asuka?"

"That big green thing he turned into, what else?"

Misato's blood ran cold as she looked to where the angel and its mysterious green opponent had gone under. "That… that was Shinji?"

"Don't look at me, I'm just as confused as you are. What do you want me to do?"

Misato took a second to try to compose herself. "Unit 02's not equipped for underwater combat, so you're going to have to stay on the carrier."

"Screw that, I'm not letting this one get away!"

"Asuka, that is a direct order! Don't—"

Misato was cut off as the Angel resurfaced, shaking the carrier and causing Unit 02 to stumble. The fish monster thrashed once, throwing the green creature into the air. It flailed around for a moment before dropping, and the Angel opened its mouth, swallowing it whole.

"No!" Misato shouted, slamming her fist on the console.

Unit 02 stood and deployed its Progressive Knife. "All right, Moby Dick, looks like I'm gonna have to cut you open and pull him out, then!" Asuka said, holding the vibrating blade in front of her. The Angel floated on the surface, turning to face the red Evangelion and grinning, exposing its rows of knifelike teeth mockingly. Unit 02 jumped, rocking the carrier as it landed on the Angel's head and sunk its knife deep into its body. It floundered about randomly and threw the Eva through the air, where it hit the surface with a mighty splash.

"Damn it!" Misato raged. "Get the guns on that thing, open fire!"

Gun turrets along the carrier and the other remaining ships in the battle group roared to life, peppering the Angel with shells that it shrugged off with little more than casual annoyance. The beast floated for a moment, as if it were judging where would be the best place to strike the carrier. Suddenly, it bucked and released not a roar, but what sounded like a pained scream, as its side bulged and then burst, purple blood dyeing the ocean around the ship. Misato saw a small green figure fall from the open wound and into the water, and more solid organic matter fell out after it. After another few seconds of screaming, the Angel's body went limp, bobbing like a cork for a few seconds before dropping into the water and vanishing into the depths.

For a while, no one moved. The men and women on the bridge hardly breathed as they looked at the spot where the creature had been, astonished by the spectacle that had just unfolded before them. Misato looked for any trace of the mysterious green beast, but it had apparently sunken along with its kill. Then she saw something pink float to the surface: a human body. "We've got a body in the water. Get a retrieval team out there and get it—and my Eva—back on this tub! Go, go!"

As the medics scrambled around and the rescue operation got underway, all Misato could do was look at the man overboard and pray that Asuka had been wrong.

( 0 0 0 )

Shinji's eyes opened slowly, bright light flooding his ocular orbits as soon as he did. He blinked tiredly, trying to get his bearings. He could hear machinery beeping in the background, smell antiseptic and clean laundry. Muffled chatter came from somewhere else, another room or a hallway. Only one place Shinji knew of made sense.

"I hate hospitals," he groaned, wincing as he tried to sit up. He felt a hand on his shoulder urge him back down, and he craned his neck to look at Ritsuko, who was standing at his bedside.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Shinji," the doctor said, but she did not smile. She adjusted her glasses as she looked up from his EKG machine and then trained her gaze on him. Shinji was unsure, tired and likely drugged as he was, but he thought he could see something like a glimmer of fear in the scientist's eyes.

Shinji felt an abrupt rush of panic. "The Angel! Where's the Angel—"

"The Angel is dead, Shinji," Ritsuko said, cutting him off and once again urging him to lie down. "You killed it. Remember?"

He leaned his head back, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling, and tried to recall what she was talking about. "I remember… Asuka. She was yelling at me. I yelled back at her, and then…" Shinji strained, closing his eyes. Finally he sighed. "I don't remember. What happened?"

"That," a gruff male voice in the room said, "is precisely what I would like to know, Third Child."

Shinji looked up. Gendo Ikari was standing at the foot of the bed.

"Let's talk, shall we?"

Author's Notes: Finally! At long last, the second installment of Savage! First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. Computer failure, laziness, stumbling across more fanfics, reading some Hulk books, and life itself all got in the way. For those of you who have stuck around, to anyone who e-mailed or PMed me asking for this chapter, I want to offer my sincerest thanks. Hopefully this chapter lived up to your expectations.

I'm gonna be putting a lot more effort into this one from now on, because in the time between chapters I've come up with a lot of ideas. Villains! Drama! Angels! Personal Demons! Cake! Stick around, True Believers!

Prereading done, as always, by Scout. Thanks. :-)