This is hopefully the last buildup chapter before Guts starts to integrate himself into the story.

I'm not going to lie, I really do not like writing dialogue between the Eva characters. Writing in "filler dialogue" like a lot of other people do to flesh the characters out more and make them feel more alive and human is something I suck at. It's partly out of my inability to right dialogue between characters properly, but mostly because I'm lazy and rush my writing and don't sit down and plan out what I want to put down.

One last thing. Guts is going to be very prominent after this because it is his story, so don't expect to see a whole lot of time spent with just Misato, Shinji, Asuka, Rei, etc.

I do not own Evangelion or Berserk. It only took me three chapters to realize I forgot to add that.

Chapter 3

"What the hell is this!?"

Those were the first words to come out of Misato's mouth when she stepped out onto the flight deck of the Over the Rainbow. Misato sprinted down from the control tower when she was told that Asuka and Shinji had returned from their battle; she wanted to congratulate both of them for efficiently killing an Angel and saving the lives of everyone in the control tower. The purple-haired woman worked up a victory speech in her mind as she bounced gleefully down the steps, and she even told herself that she wouldn't be cheap for once in her life and treat the young pilots to a dinner of their liking.

That all changed when she saw the unconscious man lying on his back between them.

'Why the hell can't anything normal happen on any of these missions?' Misato inwardly groaned. "Okay, could someone please enlighten me as to why there were only two of you when you left, but now when you come back there's a third person who looks like he belongs at a cosplay convention or something?" Misato didn't raise her voice, but the confusion and agitation was plainly evident on her face.

"We found him after we got picked up from Unit 02," Asuka began to explain. "He was just floating out in the middle of the ocean with all the other debris from the ships. Third spotted him, and once we rolled up it took every ounce of strength from me, Third, and our boat operator to drag him out of the water. And now — Here we are."

Misato took a moment to process Asuka's answer and turned her head to look at Shinji, as if she needed someone else to confirm what the redhead said was true and that it wasn't just the excitement of battle going to her head. "Everything she said is true," Shinji answered Misato's silent question.

"That still doesn't explain how he got here in the first place," Misato said. The two pilots shrugged; they were just as clueless as she was. Misato started to idly twirl her purple hair while trying to think up a reason as to why this strange man was found floating around in the dead center of a carrier battlegroup. Shinji and Asuka remained standing on either side of the man and looked at Misato, expectant of an answer.

"What if he's a spy? He could easily be faking all of this and just trying to play victim so he can eavesdrop on conversation and—"

"I don't know any spy that would dress up like this," Asuka interrupted, pressing a foot against the man's armored ribs. "Any spy with half a brain would dress up like one of the crew members here to try and blend in, not some medieval knight. This guy is about as inconspicuous as the damn sun." Misato slowly nodded her head in agreement, tossing that theory out the window.

"Woah! Is that a person?" The loud, enthusiastic voice of Kensuke suddenly made itself known on the deck, an ever stoic Toji following close behind with his hands in his pockets and looking like he didn't have a care in the world. It was all a ruse, Shinji could plainly see the spark of curiosity in his friend's eyes.

"This guy is huge! Where'd you find him? What's all this gear he's wearing? Is that a metal arm!?" Kensuke shoved his camera right up against the man's body, as if trying to document every pore in his skin and every crack in his armor. The military geek picked up the man's prosthetic hand with one hand and filmed with the other, trying to get a good angle. Distracted by his work and constant blabbering to himself, Kensuke failed to notice Asuka creeping up beside him until her foot solidly connected with his side, sending him sprawling away from the man.

"Dummkopf!" Asuka berated, towering over a fearful Kensuke, "don't manhandle people like that! It's rude!"

'Like you're one to talk,' Shinji, standing next to Misato, deadpanned as he watched the redhead tear into his friend. Toji ignored Asuka's tirade and the look Kensuke shot him that begged for liberation and walked up next to Shinji, his gaze locked onto the man.

"That's one big dude," Toji said. Both Shinji and Misato nodded their agreements. "He must have been quite the pain in the ass to get onto that tiny boat."

"You have no idea," Shinji chuckled lightly. "It took three people just to get him out of the water, and then another two to carry him up here safely." Toji whistled at that.

"What's all this stuff he's wearing? Is he going to go fight the King of England or something?" Toji gestured towards the personal armory the man was wearing. The hilt of the sword was visible behind his head, but the cloak was still covering the rest of it. Shinji shrugged.

"No clue. We don't even know where he came from. We just found him after the battle."

"Maybe he's the Angel's true form or something," Toji joked. Shinji and Misato both shared a small laugh, but soon Misato had strangely gone silent, lost in her thoughts.

'The Angel's true form, huh? It sounds ridiculous, but it honestly could be a viable explanation. We know so little about the Angels, and this guy apparently didn't show up until after the last one was taken down by Shinji and Asuka. We better start heading back to Japan and get this guy checked out before...'

A small groan of pain broke Misato's thoughts. Toji and Shinji had been carrying on idle conversation, and Asuka was still yelling at Kensuke, but they too stopped what they were doing and turned to face the source of the noise: the man.

It started small, like someone complaining of stomach pain after a bad dinner. But, progressively, the man became more loud and violent, thrashing around while still seemingly unconscious.

"Toji!" Misato yelled, springing into action. She had witnessed people having these violent fits in the past, "Go find some medical personnel and get them out here as soon as you can! Make sure they bring sedatives! The rest of you kids, help me restrain him!"

With his orders given, Toji ran off into the ship while the rest formed a circle around the now screaming man. His limbs were flailing wildly in all directions, and his back was arched up into the sky as his convulsions continued to escalate.

"Shinji and Kensuke, go for his arms!" Misato yelled as loud as she could. "Asuka, help me with his legs!"

All four of them slowly moved into position. They were all nervous, and rightfully so; restraining anyone who had no control of their body was no easy task, and judging by the man's incredibly built physique things would only be more dangerous.

Shinji, on the left side, gulped and slowly reached out to grab the man's metal forearm to pin it, but pulled back at the last second. Just in time, too, because right as the Third Child retreated the man's unconsciously-formed fist crashed onto the flight deck, leaving a sizeable indent in the metal and creating a tremor that all four of them felt.

"Jesus Christ!" Misato cried out in alarm, following in Shinji's footsteps and putting some distance between herself and the thrashing body in front of her. Asuka and Kensuke followed suit. "Did he just put a fucking hole in the ground!?"

Shinji said nothing; he simply stared at the indent. The Third Child shivered; God knows what would have happened to him if the man's fist had connected with his body.

"What the hell do we do, Misato!?" Asuka yelled at the purple-haired woman. The Second Child's ability to take on perilous, horrific feats such as killing Angels was only thanks to her beloved Unit 02. Without her Eva, she felt powerless. Misato didn't acknowledge the redhead; she simply stared at the man. He continued to flail around, a new hole forming on the flight deck each time one of his fists or feet came in contact with it. The metal arm was especially devastating, and each hit sounded like a sledgehammer strike.

'No human being should be able to possess that kind of strength. Toji...You may actually be onto something…' A sickening crunch brought Misato out of her thoughts. The man's fingers on his real hand were bent at incredibly grotesque angles from taking too much abuse. 'We need to stop him now, before anymore damage is done to his body. Where the hell is Toji!?' Just then, the jock came bursting out onto the flight deck, breathless — With a medical team in tow.

The team wasted no time getting to work. "Give me the tranquilizer!" one of the medics, most-likely the head of the squad, called out. Another medic nodded and set a metal suitcase down on the ground and handed him an air rifle along with a long, red dart. The medic grabbed rifle and loaded the dart into the barrel, pumped it, and took aim.

"You can't sedate a human with a fucking tranquilizer gun!" Asuka screamed at the medic. "Those things are meant for elephants!"

"Shut up, girl!" the medic yelled back. "We heard this guy pounding on the flight deck from several floors below! It's too dangerous to go in close to him while he's like this! This is the only reasonable option without seriously risking killing him!" Not waiting for Asuka's retort, the medic pulled the trigger and stuck the dart in the nape of the man's neck.

His motions became less sporadic, and the ear-shattering screaming lessened to a loud groan; however, to everyone's astonishment, the man wasn't completely knocked out by the tranquilizer.

"What is this guy?" Shinji said, mouth open. To his right, Kensuke had his camera rolling, a giddy smile plastered on his face.

"First an Evangelion battle with an Angel, and now this! Shinji my man, thank you so much for bringing me here today. These shots are going to be seen on every message board on the Internet!"

The second dart was fired, this time embedding itself in the man's arm. At last, his body went limp and silence swept across the flight deck, save for the wind and the occasional squawk of a seagull. Everyone let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.

The medical team wasted no time, quickly closing in on the downed man. They placed heavy shackles on his wrists and ankles, and for good measure a little more sedatives were injected into his system to ensure the man would not be waking up any time soon.

"Strip him of his weapons," the lead medic commanded. They removed his belt and sash of knives, haphazardly tossing them into a pile nearby. With the undoing of a couple old-fashioned bolts the man's iron hand was taken from his body, a scarred stump in its place.

"Huh, so it really was a prosthetic," Shinji heard Kensuke say more to himself than anyone else. His one eye was still glued to the camcorder. The medic holding the fake hand turned the piece of iron over in his arms, inspecting the strange gadget. He reached inside of it, and with an accidental press of a switch a miniature repeating crossbow popped out the top. A surprised "Holy shit!" escaped the medic's lips. He continued feeling around inside until he felt another switch; activating it, the hand unhinged at the wrist, revealing the barrel of a cannon.

"This guy's ready to start his own damned war," the medic exclaimed. Everyone on the flight deck gathered around, pushing and shoving until a small circle was formed so that each person got a good look at the contraption.

"This is so frickin' cool!" Kensuke spoke gleefully. Out of the corner of his eye that wasn't on his camera, the military geek took notice of the hilt of the mysterious sword behind the man's head that was sheathed by the black cloak. "Hey, what about his sword?"

Oh yeah, his sword. The group had been so preoccupied by the fake hand that they somehow forgot about the most intriguing part of the man's body. The lead medic broke from the circle and moved back over to the man. Quickly realizing that he would not be rolling the man onto his stomach alone any time soon, he beckoned for help from the others. After a good amount of physical exertion, the man's back was facing the sky. With a knife in his right hand, the medic tore into the thick fabric of the cloak to reveal the goods underneath.

"Dude's gonna be pissed when he wakes up and finds his cloak in tatters," Toji commented, arms crossed. The medic paid the jock no mind.

"This man should be thankful to us," the medic said aloud, still cutting. The material the cloak was made out of was certainly durable. "This man most likely would have seriously injured or even killed himself had we not arrived. The last thing he should be concerned about is a large piece of cloth."

The knife hit its mark soon enough. The medic put the knife aside and grabbed onto the cloak, slowly peeling it off of the man's back. What was underneath was quite the shocker to everyone — Even more-so than the hand.

"Mein Gott, that's a sword!?"

Kensuke practically peed himself, Toji whistled, and Misato and Shinji simply stared wide-eyed at the massive slab that was draped across the man's back.

No, it was too big to be called a sword. The blade itself was taller than anyone on the flight deck, and it was as wide as a forearm measured from wrist to elbow. It was also very crude looking; just some big hunk of metal that was smithed down to resemble something of an ordinary sword. Regardless, it was pretty damn intimidating.

Asuka got down on her knees and let her eyes scan the blade. Behind her, Kensuke was squealing like a child on Christmas morning.

"Shut it, Stooge! I want to see something!" The redhead's outburst silenced Kensuke momentarily. Asuka moved her hand over the blade, feeling its rough surface through her plugsuit gloves. She rapped on it with her knuckles, the sound of solid iron greeting her ears.

"This thing is just one big slab of iron!" Asuka exclaimed. Coupled with its size and material, the sword had to weigh at least a few hundred pounds. "How the hell can someone walk with this thing on their back, let alone use it!?"

"After seeing the damage he caused with his bare hands, I wouldn't really put it behind me." Misato, along with everyone else, had gathered around the man. 'This guy is becoming more of an enigma by the minute; also, by the looks of his little personal armory, a threat.' Toji's little theory once again entered the Major's mind.

"Get this thing off of his back and detain him," Misato barked out orders, "and don't let him leave your sights until we dock in Japan." The medical team complied and moved to pick the sword off the man's body. It was no easy feat, however, as it took the entire squad to lift.

"No wonder he was so heavy," Shinji said to himself. He watched as the medics set the man's sword down, stripped his armor off, and then dragged him from underneath his arms down under the Over the Rainbow.

Once the medical team was out of their sights, Misato faced the children. "We're going to keep him held up in the containment cells down below, and once we're back in Japan he'll be transferred over to NERV for interrogation. Everything you guys just witnessed was top-secret. I do not want to hear a peep out of anyone about this. Understood?"

The kids nodded. Misato sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. They would be back in Japan by tomorrow; she could have just taken a helicopter back, but the purple-haired woman did not want to leave that man alone without some level-headed authority around.

"Alright, if that's the case, then I'm going to take a shower." With that Misato turned on her heels and retreated into the ship, leaving Shinji, Asuka, Toji, and Kensuke alone on the ship.

"That was quite the show," Toji mused, idly scuffing his foot against the flight deck. The other three had to agree with him.

"What's NERV going to do with him when we get back?" Shinji asked.

"Use what little brain you have, Dummkopf," Asuka berated Shinji. "It's obvious that he's going to be locked up and interrogated. If I was the leader of a super secret organization that's sole purpose is to prevent mankind's extinction, and some freakishly strong man suddenly appeared from the ocean after an Angel attack, then I'd be pretty damn paranoid, too. I'll be amazed if he isn't executed by next week."

"That's pretty harsh," Kensuke said, his hands preoccupied with removing the disk from his camera. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got some files to upload!" And thus Kensuke, with the look of a child on Christmas morning in his eyes, practically skipped away to find a computer so that he could share his combat footage with the world.

"That kid's a freak," Asuka muttered. Shinji shot Asuka a look. She was attractive, and a pretty good pilot, but it wouldn't kill her to show some common decency to other people.

"He's not that bad," Shinji tried to defend his friend, "he just gets a little excited over anything military-related."

"Says the guy wearing a bright red, girl suit." Toji smirked as Shinji's face matched the color of his plugsuit. Asuka covered her mouth to try and hide a snicker, but it failed miserably."

"It wasn't my decision!"

The Next Day - NERV HQ

He awoke with a start. His breathing was heavy and labored, and sweat dripped from his body. The last thing he could remember was floating in something dark, something warm. It was silent, but it was a calm, soothing kind of silence that enveloped him like a blanket. He remembered feeling free, like a chain had been removed from his mind and all his struggles were washed away.

There was also a small, red light off in the distance of the vast blackness he was drifting through. He had no idea what it was, but it gave off this vibe that felt very...Familiar. He moved towards the light, and slowly it became brighter, and slowly he could start to make out its spherical shape. He slowly extended his right arm once he was within reach of the glowing red orb; the comforting heat radiated against his fingers.

He made contact. It was a mistake. The sphere shattered into countless shards, sucking the warmth away from him violently. He gasped and grasped desperately at the nothingness around him, trying to gain back any of the lost heat he craved. He felt immense pressure press down on his body, like he was being squashed by a stampeding herd of elephants. There was then a feeling of something cool and wet covering his body, before once again a void consumed him.

He brought himself out of his thoughts. He tried to move his limbs, but found that they were tightly bound to the rather solid chair he was strapped to. His mouth was gagged, his eyes blindfolded, and the cold air assaulting his body told him that he was naked and unarmed. He began to shift his body weight and rock side-to-side, trying to break free.

"That'll be enough." A deep, commanding voice cut into the silence of the room. He stopped his escape instantly; having been captured before, he knew it was wisest to play along with his captor's games until an opportunity presented itself.

"You've caused quite the commotion here," the voice spoke again. "I have some questions. Do you have some answers?" He nodded wordlessly. "Good. Now, I'm going to remove the gag and blindfold, but do not speak unless you are told to. Also, don't try to lie — We'll know if you do."

He heard footsteps from behind and felt a pair of hands working at the knots of the rags covering his eye and mouth. The blindfold was removed first, and he had to squint to allow his one eye adjust to light that he hadn't seen in what must have been days. When he could properly see, he did a full scan of the room he was being held on.

It was certainly a room unlike anything he'd ever been in before. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all the same dull white. There were no windows, but the room was still unnaturally bright without a single candle to be seen. Two pieces of metal came together in the corner, which he could only guess was the door.

Several people were in the room with him. A man with glasses whom he assumed owned that booming voice from earlier sat in a chair opposite of him. Behind that man stood three children and a woman with long purple hair. There was also the person standing behind him undoing the gag. Judging by the feel of their fingers against his neck, it was another woman. Everyone in the room wore such strange, alien clothes and their gazes were all directed right into his own. He didn't let his paranoia show, however, and kept a stoic face like he always did.

Finally the gag was removed. He swallowed, trying his best to remove the stale taste from his mouth. "Can you speak? What is your name? Do you even have one?" The man sitting just a few meters away from him asked with an icy tone.

"Yeah, I gotta name. Guts."