I finished this about a month ago, so I'm sorry it took me until today to upload it. I haven't touched this story of mine since I finished this chapter, and I don't know when I'll find the motivation to continue. I started thinking about redoing it from Guts' perspective, as it would allow me to focus more on writing about him (whom I frankly find more interesting and fun to write than the Eva characters). Let me know what you guys think.

I do not own Evangelion or Berserk.

Chapter 4

"Why are we going to NERV HQ? I didn't hear Misato say we had any tests scheduled for today." Shinji walked along with Asuka and Rei as the three pilots exited the school grounds. It had only been a day since their return to Japan, but already so much had happened. Asuka was living with Misato and Shinji — A surprise for both pilots and one Asuka blatantly protested against. Misato won out in the end, however, and the Second and Third were now roommates. The strange man they found after Gaghiel's untimely demise was detained at NERV, and from what Shinji had heard his father was overseeing him personally. This hit a sore spot with the Third Child, as his dad seemed to care more about some prisoner than his own damn son.

As soon as the final bell sounded Asuka grabbed both of her fellow Eva pilots and with nothing more than a "Let's go to NERV," led them in the direction of the top secret facility. Shinji and Rei really didn't have much of a choice in the matter, but neither fought Asuka for different reasons; Rei simply didn't care, at least she didn't seem to, and Shinji did not want to deal with the redhead's wrath.

"They're going to start interrogating that guy," Asuka answered, "and I don't want to miss a single second." The Second Child tried to hide it, but her curiosity towards the anomaly that was that man was at its tipping point.

"Are you certain that we have clearance to attend this interrogation?" Rei asked. Asuka shot the First Child a glare. After her failure to befriend Rei, Asuka put up a front against her and pretty much always spoke to the blue-haired pilot with open hostility. Not that anyone could tell apart from her usual tone of voice, anyways.

"Yes, doll, we do. I spoke to Misato about it this morning and she said we are welcome to watch." The rest of the trip to NERV was uneventful and quiet; not a word was spoken from any three pilots.

Interrogation Room - NERV HQ

After checking into the facility, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei made their way down the elevator to the designated floor of the room the interrogation was going to take place in. Asuka took point, leading Shinji and Rei down a series of whitewashed hallways until they arrived at a metal door that looked like all the other doors in NERV. The trio stood in front of the door for a few seconds before a hiss of air could be heard as the locks disengaged and opened to allow them to enter.

There were already three other people in the room, not including the still unconscious man who was currently gagged, blindfolded, and restrained while wearing nothing more than his underwear. Misato stood off in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall while making small talk with Ritsuko; the blonde woman seemed to be paying little attention to the conversation, however, because she was preoccupied with configuring the device that ran a series of wires from her computer to the man's head. As Shinji walked into the room behind the two girls, he froze when he saw his father, the commander of NERV, sitting in a chair opposite from the man and facing away from his son. Gendo had to have known his son was only meters away from him, but the cold-hearted man didn't even so much as glance in Shinji's general direction. Shinji recovered from his momentary shock to glare at the back of his father's head before joining Asuka and Rei on the wall directly behind the Commander.

"There is to be no talking from any of you during this interrogation," Ritsuko spoke up from behind the monitor of the computer. "I'm going to give him an electric shock to his brain. He'll be startled, but the restraints we have on him are more than enough to keep him at bay." The three pilots nodded in response, and without hesitation Ritsuko typed a command into the keyboard that made the man's body jolt violently before he suddenly came to, thrashing, sweating, and breathing hard. He strained himself against the restraints, growling and grunting with all his strength to break them.

"That's enough." Gendo Ikari's voice cut through the air like a butcher knife, and even though it wasn't directed towards him, Shinji still shivered a little. The man must have also heard the Commander's voice as well, as he almost instantly ceased his movements. He straightened up in his chair and took a couple deep breaths to try and calm himself down, before lifting his head up and turning it in the direction he heard the Commander. The man opened his mouth to say something, but Gendo beat him to it.

"There will be no talking unless I say otherwise, understand?" The man got the memo and shut his mouth. "Now, we're going to remove your gag and blindfold. I have some questions that I want answered, and that's where you come in. Also, don't try and lie to us; we'll know if you do." With a gesture of his head Gendo ordered Ritsuko to untie the rags covering the man's eyes and mouth. The blonde scientist walked behind the man and her fingers began to work at the knots of the blindfold. Once undone she slowly slipped the blindfold over the man's head, giving his eyes their first dosage of light in some time. He winced as the blinding lights from the room penetrated him, but quickly got over it. The man opened his left eye slowly, yet kept his right eye shut to the confusion of the room's occupants. His one eye scanned the room, locking on to each person to take in their features before moving on to the next. Shinji, Misato and Asuka visibly reacted, and even the stoic Rei and Gendo felt the hairs on their necks stiffen as the man's piercing gaze struck them. It was a gaze that was filled with anger, rage, hatred, and hostility.

The gag came off last, and the Commander allowed him to swallow before beginning the interrogation. This man was going to be tough to crack open, Gendo thought to himself, if that ice cold stare was anything to go by. The man looked at the Commander expectantly, for he too wanted to get started it seemed.

"Can you speak? Do you have a name?" That was the first question Gendo asked. Their eyes locked, and the man's deep, gravely voice was heard for the first time.

"Yeah, I gotta name. Guts." He spoke with indifference, as if being interrogated was routine for him.

'That's a dumb name,' Asuka thought.

The Commander reached down from his chair to pick up a manilla folder on the floor. Opening it, he read the contents aloud. "Mission report number E02531. May 17th, 2015. After unexpected Angel attack while aboard aircraft carrier Over the Rainbow, Evangelion pilots Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Sohryu successfully sortied and subdued the threat whilst maintaining minimum casualties."

'We destroyed half of the ships,' Shinji deadpanned, recalling Asuka's reckless piloting and how she used the vessels in the carrier battlegroup like stepping stones.

"After defeating the Angel," Gendo continued, "pilot Shinji Ikari noticed an unusual artifact drifting in the water. After closer examination, the artifact was pulled out of the water and onto land. The artifact revealed itself to be a young man in his early twenties, approximately six feet three inches in height, two hundred thirty pounds, and heavily armed." The Commander paused and looked up from his papers at Guts, seemingly expecting a reaction. Guts, however, remained as stoic as ever, his one cold eye locked on Gendo's.

Shinji's father looked back down at the folders and pulled out another piece of paper. "One set of full-body metal plate armor, one set of throwing knives, one dagger, one prosthetic metal hand outfitted with a miniature cannon and repeating crossbow, and one large iron sword that took three men to move."

Guts' eye twitched at that. He wasn't particularly fond of other people touching his gear. Gendo didn't take notice of this, however, and continued to read off of the papers.

"Feats of superhuman strength were also exhibited. Multiple holes were put through the flight deck of Over the Rainbow with bare fists, and two tranquilizer darts intended for use on large game were needed to subdue." That appeared to conclude the report, and Gendo closed the folder and placed it back on the floor. His full attention was returned to Guts. "Tell me, Guts, does any of this sound familiar to you? Are familiar with terminology such as Evangelion, Angels?"

"I know what an angel is, messengers from God and all that crap." Guts scoffed, as if the existence of angels and God himself was just some big joke to him. "No clue what an Evangelion is."

Gendo nodded. He turned to Ritsuko, whose eyes were glued to the monitor. She glanced up and gave the Commander a sharp nod, indicating Guts was telling the truth.

"Next question: how did you manage to find yourself stranded out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? According to eyewitness reports we took from hundreds of staff who were on the scene of the Angel attack, nobody noticed a large man wearing medieval garments with a large sword on his back." The Commander didn't show it, but he was eagerly awaiting Guts' answer. The other occupants of the room were also waiting in anticipation. There were simulations done by the MAGI, but none could realistically explain how Guts ended up where he was found. His blood type was found to be orange during a screening when he first arrived at NERV, so Misato could rest at ease knowing that Toji's little theory was only a joke. Despite that, it still didn't explain where the swordsman came from.

"I… don't really know."

Ritsuko didn't react from behind the monitor, so he wasn't lying. "Think," Gendo pressed, "what was the last thing you remember before you woke up?" Guts' brows knitted together as he became lost in concentration. He tapped his foot rhythmically, the dull thumping echoing across the room. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, metaphorically speaking. After a moment of silence, Guts spoke up.

"There… was nothing. I remember being stuck floating through this dark void. There was nothing to see, hear, smell, or grab on to. I did feel this heat, though. It wasn't overbearing, like an oven, but more like the warmth you get from wrapping yourself in a blanket on a cold winter night. It felt nice, so I just kinda floated around in nothing for a little. Didn't really think about much. Eventually, I saw this dim red light off in the distance. I was curious and all that, naturally, because it was the first thing I saw in what felt like forever, so I started to kind of swim towards it. As I got closer, it started to look get bigger and look like a ball, and I also got this strong prickling sensation on my neck." Guts didn't bother explaining that "sensation", as he felt that it would just drag the interrogation out longer than it already was and create more trouble for him.

Gendo took the opportunity to interject with another question. "You say you saw this large, red, glowing object, and it was in the shape of a sphere?" Guts nodded. Misato held her breath in the corner of the room, as she and everyone else had a good idea about what Guts was referring to. "Continue with what you were saying."

"Anyways, I keep moving towards this big red ball, and eventually I'm within arm's reach of it. I went to touch it, but as soon as I did it exploded and that nice, warm feeling I had earlier vanishes and I feel this immense weight and wetness on my body, almost like I was underwater or something."

Asuka, Shinji, and Misato's eyes all widened, while Gendo and Ritsuko kept a cool composure. They all now had a fairly decent guess on how Guts ended up in the ocean, but the Commander allowed the swordsman to finish his story.

"After that I felt weightless again, and then I felt like I was falling, and then I was wet again. It was almost as if I was…" Guts didn't finish his sentence, as Gendo did it for him.

"...Launched into the sky." Gendo picked up the manilla folder once more, digging around inside of it until he pulled out a photograph. He held his arm out to show it to Guts. Guts had never seen a photograph before, so inwardly he was impressed how such a detailed picture could fit on a small piece of paper, but he didn't let his emotions show. The swordsman squinted as he examined the photo.

The object of focus in the photo was gigantic, dwarfing the hills and buildings that surrounded it. Its body grotesquely resembled that of a human's, with a wide torso, narrow waist, and deformed arms and legs. The skin of the monster was a deep green, but parts of its body was covered by what looked like a white shell — including its bird-like face. A red orb that looked exactly like the one Guts described earlier sat in the middle of its chest. All in all the creature was unnerving to look at, and it eerily resembled the beasts that Guts had spent years slaying on a path for revenge. Guts ground his teeth and tried his best to block out the memories of that person from his head. Nevertheless, he understood where his interrogator was leading him.

"It's got that same orb I saw in the darkness," Guts answered. Gendo nodded and set the folder on the ground once more.

"Yes, it is. This means that what you saw, what you touched, was the Angel's core. Now, you said that you know what an Angel is, but I believe that we are thinking of different kinds of angels. Those angels that are referenced in the bible, the ones you see in paintings and holy relics, are not the ones I'm picturing in my head. That creature, that monster I showed you in the photograph, is the kind of Angels that we are dealing with. These Angels are here to destroy humanity, to initiate Third Impact. The one that NERV's pilots fought just days earlier had its core located inside of its body. So, with that information, one question remains: if you did indeed touch the core of this Angel, how did you manage to get inside of its body?"

Guts processed the Commander's words and sunk into deep thought. On top of trying to explain to this stone-faced man how he randomly appeared inside of an Angel, loads of other questions assaulted his brain. What was Third Impact? What were these things called "pilots"? What exactly was the core of an Angel? It hurt to think about, but Guts simply shrugged it all to the side for the moment; he would ask his own questions once he was done here.

As Guts continued to think, he came to the realization that he might as well spit out everything that happened to lead to him being strapped against a chair in his underwear. Judging by what he'd seen — the way these people dressed, talked, the room he was in — it was becoming increasingly more obvious that he was nowhere near Midland, or even his own world right now. Despite these radical thoughts, Guts remained calm, for he had an inkling suspicion as to what was the catalyst for all of this.

"You said that you'll know when or when I'm not telling the truth, right?" Guts asked Gendo. The man in question nodded without so much as a grunt. "I guess that saves me the trouble from having to convince you that what I'm about to say is true. I come from a place called Midland — A different world."

"What!?" Asuka could contain herself no longer and exploded. "What do you mean, 'a different world'!? You're saying you're an extraterrestrial!? You must have hit your head on something pretty hard when you fell in the —"

"Pilot Sohryu, be quiet." Gendo's icy voice stopped Asuka's tirade dead in its tracks, and she retreated as far as she could back into the wall the three pilots were leaning against behind the Commander. With the Second Child silenced, Gendo returned his attention to Guts, signaling him to continue. Ritsuko hadn't spoken up, so this "Midland" was actually the man's home.

And that also meant he wasn't from Earth. Gendo was plenty shocked himself, but almost nothing made it through his hardened poker face. The only reaction he gave away to Guts' preposterous answer were his eyes widening ever so slightly.

"Your home, Midland," the Commander said, brushing his shock aside, "is not from this planet, if what you are saying is true. And since Dr. Akagi hasn't said anything, I'm inclined to believe you; however, that still doesn't answer my question: how did you go from Midland to the insides of an Angel?"

Guts smirked. It was something he did fairly regularly these days. "You didn't happen to find a little red egg with a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth all messed up on its surface, did you?" Gendo shook his head. After receiving Guts' belongings no such item was described in the report, and something as unusual as that would have definitely been accounted for.

Guts smacked his lips, as if not having it really mattered. "Ah well, it's no big deal right now. Anyways, that thing I just told you about is called a Behelit, and when you get blood on it it starts acting up and doing all kinds of freaky shit."

Gendo nodded along. "So that's what happened to you? You got blood on it and then the next thing you knew you were inside of the Angel?"

"That's pretty much it. I honestly don't know all that much about the damn things myself, so besides the whole blood thing I can't really tell you how it magically teleported me into this world." It was a half-lie, Guts knew, but only because he didn't disclose that an Apostle's blood was needed and that the right kind of Behelit could summon a demonic mass-sacrifice ceremony. That was all too complicated for the swordsman to explain at the moment.

"Well then," the Commander said, "even if all of this sounds like a preposterous lie a child would make up, the MAGI have never failed us once. And since your blood pattern indicates that you are a human being, then that means you truly are a man from another world. Now that doesn't mean you are free to go, however. We will need to run frequent tests to try and get to the bottom of why you came to this particular world, and I also have a few more questions of my own that have piqued my interest since you've arrived."

Guts grumbled something no one could hear under his breath, but he knew that there wasn't any way of getting out of the interrogation unless Gendo said otherwise. At this point everyone in the room was eagerly awaiting the next question, as this was by and large one of the most surreal experiences any of them had experienced.

"When you were first brought to me," Gendo began to shoot off his question, "we did an inventory check of everything you had on your body at the time of your incarceration. Twelve throwing knives, one dagger, one prosthetic left hand outfitted with a repeating crossbow and cannon, full body metal plate armor, one black cloak, and a large iron sword approximately seven feet long and four hundred pounds. For what purpose did you carry all of these weapons? I find it hard to believe that sword is anything but for show, as it took four men to simply carry it."

"First off, don't go rooting through other people's stuff without permission, it's rude." Guts reprimanded Gendo. It was fruitless, but it didn't change the fact that it really irked the swordsman when people touched his property. "Second, I'm a mercenary, and I hunt big game. Using those little toys the regular soldiers used wasn't gonna do me any good, so I had to get myself some upgrades." He briefly thought back to the little cabin in the mountains with Godo, Erica, Rickert, and of course Casca. Thinking about Casca always made Guts a little more broody, but soon enough Gendo's voice snapped him out of his stupor.

"A mercenary, you say? I take it you have a little bit of combat experience on you, especially given your rather fit physique." Guts scoffed at the Commander's words. Saying Guts had a "little" combat experience was like saying the sun was a "little" warm.

"Fighting is all I know how to do. I've been in battles swinging a sword since the day I could walk." This brought back memories of Gambino and his early days as a mercenary. This also brought Guts back to brooding.

There was silence for a minute. Gendo seemed to be thinking something over in his mind; his brow was crinkled ever so slightly and he was idly tapping his fingers against the arm of his chair. Then, the Commander did something he rarely did in the past few years: he smiled. It was small, but it was still a smile nonetheless. Shinji, Asuka, and Rei couldn't see it because Gendo's back was to them, but Misato and Ritsuko did, and instantly the two women knew he was scheming something. Shinji's father leaned forward slightly, staring Guts straight in the face through his glasses.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but we don't have any grand battles between kings and lords in this world; however, we are fighting a war of our own, and it's one that will result in the extinction of the human race if we fail. It also just so happens that we received two new Evangelion units…"

"Sir!" Ritsuko called out, knowing where Gendo was heading with this, "you can't possibly mean —" The Commander held up a hand to silence the blonde scientist.

"Guts, I understand that you will not understand what I am about to propose to you, but I sincerely hope that you accept." While speaking, Gendo reached down for the manilla folder, pulling out two pictures. One was the Angel that Guts was shown earlier, and the other was a gigantic, metal human-looking thing that must have been at least several hundred meters tall. It was holding a large object in one of its hands, some type of weapon Guts concluded. It fascinated him deeply.

"Become our Fourth Child; become an Evangelion pilot for NERV. You will be able to use one of these," Gendo shook the picture of the Eva, "and fight the Angels with us to protect humanity. Even if you do not care about the fate of our world, you could at the very least pilot to give yourself something to do until we figure out how you could possibly return to your old world." The Commander signaled for Ritsuko to disengage the restraint for Guts' right arm. The sound of hissing air filled the room, and Guts slowly lifted his arm and flexed it, relieving the built-up tension from not moving it for over a day. Gendo extended his own arm, offering a handshake. Guts accepted without hesitation.

"Like I said, fighting is all I know how to do."

"Welcome to NERV, Guts." With that Gendo stood up, tucked the folder under his arm, and made his way to the door. Before exiting, he turned his head toward Misato and Ritsuko. "Major Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi, please debrief our new pilot on proper NERV procedure and give him a brief history lesson to get him up to speed." He left without saying another word.

Shinji, who was unconsciously tense while his father was in the room, sighed lightly as he relaxed his muscles. Being in the same room as his father was never an easy thing, especially when Gendo almost never so much as blinked an eye at him. It hurt.

Ritsuko released the rest of the restraints that kept Guts bound to the chair. The swordsman stood up slowly, stretching his arms over his head and arching his back with an audible cracking sound. It was just now that everyone realized how tall Guts really was.

"I hope you realized what you just signed up for," Misato said. The Major had seen what piloting an Evangelion had done to the last Child they brought aboard, and his screams still lingered with her at night sometimes. Guts, however, seemed to carry himself better than Shinji, so she wasn't too worried. "Well, let's get going. We have a lot of stuff to cover." Misato looked over at the three pilots, who were still against the back wall and staring at her with mixed emotions. "Shinji, Asuka, you guys head home. I'll probably be staying late tonight dealing with Guts, but you two know the drill. Rei, I'll call for a NERV officer to drive you home." The three Children nodded, and Misato smiled before exiting the room with Guts and Ritsuko in tow.

Later that Evening - Misato's Apartment

"That was… Interesting," Asuka said as she idly picked at the dinner that Shinji had made. Misato hadn't gone to the grocery store recently, so that meant Shinji was left with having to cook a basic Japanese dish of chicken and rice. Asuka wasn't very fond of Japanese food, but she still ate it because there wasn't anything else to eat anyways.

"Yeah…" was Shinji's response. The Second Child looked up from her plate at her roommate. If she were being completely honest living with Misato and Shinji really wasn't that bad, it's just that her guardian lived like a pig and her fellow pilot could learn how to liven up a bit. He always looked so downtrodden and depressed that Asuka felt like it was starting to rub off on her.

"Do you truly believe that the MAGI are right? That that guy, Guts, was telling the truth when he said he was from some other world?" Asuka really didn't care what his answer was, she just wanted to get some kind of conversation, reaction, anything going with Shinji.

"I mean," Shinji began, "I'm no computer whiz like Dr. Akagi is, so I don't really know. If Dr. Akagi believes he's telling the truth, I guess I have no other option than to believe her."

'I finally got him to say more than three words,' Asuka proudly thought. Her victory was short lived, as the Third Child went right back to being the silent introvert he was. The redhead started to feel herself become irritated, and soon enough the words rolled off of her tongue before she even knew what she was saying.

"What the hell is your problem, Third!? Is it really that hard to talk with someone!? I swear I could have a more interesting conversation with a brick wall!"

Shinji put down his chopsticks and glared at Asuka, something the redhead was not expecting him to do. Shinji almost always did nothing to combat Asuka's anger when it was directed at him, save for a half-assed "sorry", so that was why Asuka was shocked when he started to mouth back at her.

"What the hell is your problem!? You always walk around like you own the place, like you're better than everyone! Maybe you should get your own attitude checked before you go around berating others about theirs!" As that was probably the most Shinji had ever yelled at someone before in his life, the teenager dropped his chopsticks on the table and put his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Asuka. I've just had a bad day, I didn't mean to go off like that. It's just that seeing the Commander, my own father, care more about some man found drifting out in the ocean more than his damn son messes me up. I just wish he'd acknowledge me for once in his goddamn life."

Asuka remained silent. She had heard about Shinji's strained relationship with his father, about how the boy was ignored and neglected his entire life only until now. Even then, the only reason Gendo acknowledged his son was to get him to pilot a gigantic robot and fight creatures that Shinji wanted nothing to do with.

In a way, they were alike. Both had traumatic childhoods, and both felt the effects of being alone and without a family. Asuka still cried herself to sleep some nights thinking about her deceased mother, about that doll, about that body hanging from the ceiling…

Asuka internally shook her head to clear her mind of those disgusting memories. The redhead wanted someone to talk to, someone to be friends with, someone to love. She wanted to feel warm and safe in someone's protective arms. Her mother's suicide robbed her of that much-desired warmth, and Asuka desperately wanted a taste of it. However, she was afraid of being hurt, that the person she turned to for comfort would throw her away like trash on the street. The Second Child had already had that happen to her once, and she couldn't live with having it done to her once more.

"I, I know how you feel," Asuka said in a calm voice. Shinji was taken aback; she never talked like that. "My own mother neglected me as a small child. She became insane when I was four, and she thought that some doll was her real daughter, her real Asuka. She barely acknowledged my existence. One day, after I was told I was going to become an Evangelion pilot, I was probably the happiest I ever was in my life. I ran to the psychiatric ward, wanting to tell my mother that they chose me to pilot an Eva, but when I opened the door all I saw was her hanging by a rope from the ceiling."

Shinji's eyes went wide as he listened to Asuka's twisted story, but he didn't say anything out of respect. Silence fell over the two pilots, but it wasn't overbearing. It was peaceful, actually, as they both sat on opposite sides of the table, in-front of their food, thinking about their own pasts as well as the other's. The silence was broken, however, at the sound of the front door opening and Misato's voice ringing out into the apartment.

"We're home!"

Shinji and Asuka both smiled lightly; Misato always livened up the place. They stopped smiling, however, when their minds finished processing what their guardian had said and the Second and Third Child turned to face each other with very perplexed looks on their faces.

'We!?' they both thought simultaneously.

From their position at the table, Shinji and Asuka turned their heads to see the usual form of Misato, and the highly unusual form of a large, muscular man wearing little more than brown pants and a black tank top.

"Guts!?"