More plot has probably been retconned.

I do not own Evangelion or Berserk.

Chapter 6

The Entry Plug was inserted into the neck of Unit-03. Guts sat in the seat of the Plug, hands gripping the control sticks firmly. Because time was of the essence, he had no time to get fitted for a plugsuit; instead, he was forced to pilot in the clothes he came into this world with. The Interface Headset Gendo had thrown him earlier sat snugly on top of his head.

"Guts, can you hear me?" Misato's voice filled the Entry Plug, and a videofeed of her face appeared off to the side. The swordsman wordlessly nodded his head. Guts' breathing was deep and even, his thoughts on nothing else other than the ensuing fight—he always performed a sort of mental ritual before fighting because it helped to clear his mind.

Misato glanced at Guts' image that was projected across the large monitors in the Command Center. For someone who was about to fight in a life-or-death battle against a giant monster that was hell-bent on destroying the world, he was pretty calm about it.

The Major pressed her finger down on the comms button. "Guts, we're going to fill the Entry Plug with LCL. Don't panic, you'll be able to breathe in it. It helps to sync you with your Eva."

Guts raised an eyebrow. "Able to breathe in it? What does that—" The familiar smell of blood suddenly filled his nose, and a torrent of amber liquid began to rush into the cockpit. The swordsman instinctively held his breath as he was submerged, but then remembered what Misato had told him. Guts cautiously took a breath and, surprisingly enough, found it was almost no different from breathing regular air. 'Strange…' he thought.

"We're bringing the Eva online," Misato told Guts next, "just sit tight." The darkness of the Entry Plug gave way to a series of bright flashing patterns that assaulted Guts' eye, forcing him to squint. After the patterns cycled through each other, Guts could see outside of Unit-03. He watched as the technicians below ran around on the catwalks like ants.

"Unit-03 is online," Ritsuko said. Her eyes were racing through various charts and statistics. So far, everything was running perfectly. She could only pray that it would remain that way.

"The pilot's sync ratio is holding steady at thirty three percent," Maya announced. Misato and Ritsuko whistled at that. It wasn't as good as Shinji's, but for a first-time pilot whose Evangelion wasn't built specifically for him it was still very impressive.

"Prepare for sortie," Misato ordered. The Angel had yet to emerge from the ocean, and she would like for it to be taken care of before it reached land.

Near the Kii Peninsula

Guts would sometimes have a passing thought about what it would be like to fly; well, now he knew. Strapped to the underbelly of a plane, the swordsman watched from ten thousand feet above as the Earth moved slowly beneath him. The plane would pass through the occasional cloud, obstructing his view and forming condensation on the Eva. If it had been any other time, Guts would have found the sensation surreal and calming.

Now wasn't the time for those feelings, however. Misato had given him an ETA of one minute, and Guts spent that time putting his mind into a state of combat. His neck tingled in anticipation.

"You're approaching the drop zone," Misato spoke over the mic. "I'm sorry we have to drop you in like this without any experience, but it's the only way to get to the Angel. Don't worry about landing; the Eva will absorb most of the shock. Once you're on the ground, all you need to do is focus on moving. Shinji and Asuka will arrive shortly to back you up."

The Major nervously picked at a fingernail as she watched Unit-03. The Angel wasn't near any populated areas, so she couldn't understand why the Commander chose to send Guts out right away and not just wait for the other pilots to sortie with him.

'Maybe he's just cocky and wants to flex some muscle at those old bastards at SEELE,' she thought. That alone was an unnecessary risk, though. Guts had no experience piloting and if he failed it would be a PR disaster for NERV. Misato could only hope that the Commander knew something she didn't.

There was no more time to think about the consequences, however—Unit-03 had arrived at the drop zone. "Guts! Your harnesses are being disengaged! Prepare to fall!"

Guts said nothing, only nodding his head in understanding. After the last of the harnesses were cut loose the swordsman drifted away from the plane and down towards the ground. He placed his Eva's arms and legs together and the head up, propelling himself like a missile.

"What is he doing!?" Ritsuko exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Unit-03 can absorb his fall, but not if he crashes into the earth head-first!" The scientist quickly grabbed the microphone from Misato. "Guts! Try to reorient yourself so you land feet-first! Unit-03 and your own body will sustain damage otherwise!"

"That's what I was planning on doing in the first place," he cooly responded. Everyone in the Command Center watched tensely as Guts kept falling and falling. Misato even turned away as she expected the inevitable, one eye cautiously glancing at the screen. Then, right before impact, Guts did a somersault midair and planted the Eva's feet firmly into the ground, crouching to absorb even more of the force. He formed a sizeable crater, but Unit-03 and Guts were both unscratched.

"When the hell did you learn to do that!?" Misato screamed. From his position up top, Gendo smirked. He knew exactly where Guts learned to do that. When the NERV technicians came back with the results from examining his gear, he was pretty surprised himself.

"Using this thing is just like using my left hand," Guts explained. "All I do is imagine it as an extension of my own body. There's a little more to it than that, but I've been doing it for so long that it's second nature by now. I found it out while I was being hooked up to that large metal thing that can fly and just worked on flexing my joints and stuff during the ride."

Misato ran her hand through her hair. She sighed, but a large smile was slowly stretching across her face. "Well, alright then! Go kick some ass!"

Just then, a large explosion sounded from the ocean. Guts turned, and saw a massive burst of seawater shooting upwards. 'There it is,' he thought. Blood trickled down his neck.

The water settled, revealing the Angel for the first time. It was humanoid in shape, with its head sunken into its torso and its arms and legs shaped like an arch. In the center of its body was the core, exposed to the outside world and in plain sight for everyone.

Guts wasted no time. He grabbed the rifle from the back of Unit-03 and began to run towards the Angel at an angle. Misato had given him a brief rundown on how to operate a firearm while he was in-flight, and to Guts it sounded no harder than using a crossbow. He wished they had given him a sword of some type, though; the Prog Knife just didn't cut it.

As the swordsman began to circle around the Angel from a few hundred meters out he lined up the sights while running and pulled the trigger, blasting a stream of bullets out of the barrel.

The bullets hit their mark, and Israfel recoiled slightly as it was hit. They didn't appear to do much, if any, damage, and the Angel recovered quickly. It didn't make a move towards Guts, however, still standing where it first emerged from the water.

Guts paused for a moment to reload. As he slid the new magazine into the rifle he eyed Israfel suspiciously. 'Why isn't it fighting back? Is it mocking me?' The swordsman began to feel himself getting heated at that, but he quickly reigned in his anger.

'No...that's what it wants me to do. It's trying to lure me in.' Guts chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought of a plan. Ranged weapons didn't appear to have much of an effect, and he didn't have any weapons to effectively fight in close quarters.

A sound overhead briefly drew away Guts' attention. He looked up, seeing two more planes similar to the one he was dropped from. As the planes passed by they left behind two small specks in the sky, which were rapidly becoming larger and more defined as they approached the ground.

'Looks like my backup arrived,' Guts thought. Seconds later, Unit-01 and Unit-02 crashed into the earth.

"Don't worry, Guts," Shinji called out, "we're here to help you!"

'I've been doing just fine by myself so far,' he thought blandly. Guts took notice of his fellow pilots' arsenals. Shinji held a rifle in his Eva's hands, so his loadout was identical to Guts' own; Asuka, however, had a glaive. If they all worked together, the monster could be killed swiftly and—

"Shinji! Guts! Cover me!" Guts was torn from his thoughts as Asuka charged Israfel head-first.

"Wait, stupid!" Guts yelled, "that's what it wants you to do!" Asuka either didn't hear or ignored his warning, as she continued to run towards the Angel at full speed. Guts sighed in annoyance and joined a hesitant Shinji in providing covering fire. 'Oh well, if she dies at least we'll be able to see what this thing is trying to pull.'

The Second Child closed the gap between her and Israfel within seconds. When she got close enough she lunged into the air, raising the glaive over her head in preparation to swing down on the Angel. Still, it did nothing.

'What a waste of resources,' Asuka thought to herself. 'I could have handled this just fine on my own.' With a yell she brought her weapon down. The Angel's body offered surprisingly little resistance, with the blade of the glaive slicing through like a knife through warm butter.

Asuka fully cut through Israfel, its two halves each toppling over into the sea. The red-haired girl smugly gripped her weapon and turned to face her two male copilots. "Piece of cake!" she boasted.

"Nice job, Asuka," Shinji complimented the Second Child.

Guts wasn't paying any attention to Asuka, however. No, he was looking at the "corpse" of the Angel she had just slain, and a spike of pain in his neck told him that it was still very much alive.

"You might want to move," Guts cautioned her.

"What are you talking about?" Asuka replied, "I killed it! I cut it in half!"

There was a noise behind the Second Child. A shadow loomed over Unit 02, and as Asuka slowly turned around she saw, to her horror, that the Angel had not only survived, but also duplicated itself.

Back at Nerv HQ, Misato nearly dropped her coffee mug in shock. "Why does some kind of bullshit always have to come up in every single operation!?" she screamed, tugging on her hair in annoyance. "Can't we just kill one Angel without any trouble!?"

Asuka let out a panicked yell and attempted to run away, but the now twin Israfels suddenly possessed speed not demonstrated earlier. The one Angel in front of Asuka quickly overwhelmed her, using its full bodyweight to plow Unit-02 head-first into the earth.

"Shit," Guts cursed under his breath. He'd fought a lot of different demons and monsters in the past few years, but the ability to create clones was a first for him. The swordsman turned to face Shinji, who was still staring at Asuka's disabled Eva.

"We need to get out of here," Guts said. The other Angel, however, didn't give them the opportunity to do so. It honed in on Shinji and made a beeline for the young pilot, who in his panicked state grasped his Prog Knife in one hand in a desperate attempt to fend off the Israfel twin.

His resistance was futile, however, as the Angel almost effortlessly subdued Shinji in the same way Asuka had been. The one half of Israfel wasted little time, instantly locking eyes with Guts as it stood atop a downed Unit-01. The other half that had defeated Asuka also began closing in on the Black Swordsman.

Guts clicked his tongue in annoyance, trying to find some way out of his current predicament. 'I really wish I had my damn sword…'

The two Angels attacked simultaneously, one on his left and one on his right. They attempted to use the same method used against the Second and Third Children, but Guts was far more experienced than his copilots were at hand-to-hand combat.

With a flick of his wrist Guts equipped his Prog Knife and threw it at the Israfel on his right, embedding the blade deep within its face and forcing it to stumble and miss Unit-03. The Angel dove into the ground, kicking up massive clouds of debris, but Guts had no time to pay it any mind.

He turned to face the other Angel, catching it just before it hit him and driving his fist straight into its face. Israfel's mask cracked, and it was sent tumbling away from Guts.

The Angel Guts had hit with the Prog Knife soon regained its footing and made another lunge at him, knife still lodged in its skin, with the other twin not far behind. Guts grabbed the one Israfel by its arm and threw it over his shoulder, sending it flying into the other Angel and giving the swordsman a moment to breathe as they picked themselves off the ground.

The Command Center was abuzz with energy as everyone watched Guts' impressive bout with the Angels. They were moving so fast that it was hard to keep up with what was happening on the large monitors.

"He's performing beyond our wildest dreams," Ritsuko spoke with praise as she scanned various charts and graphs. Misato said nothing, eyes glued to the fight, but she too was equally impressed with NERV's latest pilot.

Just then, a voice began to speak to Guts through his comms system. "Guts, this is Commander Ikari."

"I don't mean to be rude, Commander," Guts dryly told Gendo, "but my hands are kinda tied at the moment."

The Angels stood up once more, staring Guts down for a brief second before blitzing him head-on. Guts responded by jumping over their bodies right before they connected with Unit-03. The twins stopped, attempting to reorient themselves to face Guts, but the swordsman was faster and turned to take their feet out from underneath them with a sweep of his right leg.

"Yes, I see that," Gendo replied, "which is why I'm going to tell you this: you are going to be rearmed shortly, but you won't be sent any ammunition for your rifle. I am unsure how you manage wield the original, as it took three of my men to simply carry it, but I am confident you will use this weapon to complete the mission. It will arrive shortly, so until then do not die."

Guts raised a brow, momentarily unsure what the Commander was getting at. As realization dawned, however, a wicked grin broke across his face. "Don't worry, Sir, I won't let you down." With that, Gendo closed the comms and sat back in his seat at the Command Center.

Fuyutsuki eyed his partner. "Sir, that thing weighs about as much as two Evangelions combined. We struggled loading it on one of the dropships, so I can't imagine being able to wield it in battle. We've seen Guts carry it on his back, but being able to swing it around is something entirely different."

"Do not worry, Fuyutsuki," Gendo reassured the man, "the strength of the Evangelions scales with the strength of its pilot; put some faith in him, for I am certain he will get the job done."

Guts planted his foot into the abdomen of one of the Israfels, then grabbed the other with both arms and hammered its head down onto his knee. As the Angel Guts kicked away came running back, the swordsman freed his arms and did a backflip over it, allowing the twins to collide and tumble into the ground.

Inside his Entry Plug, Guts dug a finger into his ear. 'These guys aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer,' he thought. So far, almost no strategy had been used against him other than simply attacking directly. Guts stared into the dust cloud that had been kicked up by the Angels, waiting for them to emerge and attack him again. 'I just need to buy time.'

Guts began to feel a rumbling sensation beneath him, as if there was an earthquake. It started faint, and quickly began to increase in intensity. The dust was becoming lighter, but now there was only one silhouette in it instead of two.

"Shit!" Guts swore aloud, now realizing what was happening. He went to jump into the air, but it was too late, and the ground beneath him exploded to reveal the other Israfel which had tunneled underground while it had been concealed. It grabbed onto his leg, trying to pull him down into the earth.

While he was distracted, the Angel on the surface sprinted towards Guts, grabbing his left arm and latching on with all its strength.

"Arrgh!" Guts yelled out in frustration, attempting to pry Israfel off with his free arm. They were surprisingly strong. "Get off me!"

There was a noise overhead, and without even looking relief instantly rushed over Guts as he realized what it was. The stretching of his limbs, however, kept him preoccupied. 'Damn things are trying to rip my arms and legs off.'

He spared a quick glance at the sky; the contrails left by the dropship could be seen, as well as a black speck that was becoming more defined by the second. 'I guess I'll have to time this just right,' Guts thought. The swordsman winced as he continued to feel the strain on his arm and leg from the Angels, but he pulled back with an equal amount of force.

Guts listened to the rush of the wind above him, waiting for the perfect time. Then, in a split second, he extended his right arm and grabbed the hilt of the massive Dragonslayer, swinging it faster than the eye could see and tearing the Israfel that was attached to his arm in half—right through its core. Guts followed through and raised his sword over his head, driving it into the ground like a stake and impaling the other twin from top to bottom along with its core as well. Freed from their grasps, Guts jumped away from the now dead Angels right before they were consumed by a massive explosion.

The Commander Center exploded into cheers. There was excited talk about Guts, particularly that massive heap of raw iron he wielded. Misato stared at the screen, mouth agape. She couldn't believe that a rookie pilot who didn't even know what a lightbulb was until yesterday, let alone an Evangelion, could adapt so fast and kill what were essentially two Angels all on his own. 'Guess he wasn't lying when he said fighting was basically all he did,' she thought, amused.

Turning around, Guts whistled as he looked at the giant crater left behind. "Damn, they usually don't go out that flashy." He lifted the Dragonslayer to hook it onto his back, but when he released the hilt it simply crashed into the ground with a deafening thud. 'Oh yeah, I don't have a harness on this thing,' Guts thought.

His comms system crackled to life. "Guts!" Misato's ecstatic face could be seen on his screen, "You did it! Your first sortie and you killed two Angels!"

Guts waved the compliments aside. "Nah, I've dealt with worse. So...how do I get out of this thing?"

"You'll be taken back to NERV HQ and debriefed there. Also, don't worry about Shinji and Asuka; aside from a few bumps and bruises they're perfectly fine."

'Wow, they actually survived?' Guts thought.

NERV HQ

After returning back to NERV HQ and getting out of their Entry Plugs, Shinji, Asuka, and Guts were all filed into a dimly lit room for their debriefing.

Guts reclined back into his chair; having used the Angel as an outlet for his pent-up anger, he was feeling content for the time being. The other two Children, however, were less than pleased. Asuka sat to the right of the boys, shooting both of them a glare. Guts ignored her entirely, but Shinji replied in-kind with a glare of his own.

"You two completely screwed up my debut battle!" Asuka whined.

"No we didn't!" Shinji said, "You're the one who charged in there like an idiot!"

"How dare you say that! You did absolutely nothing the entire time!"

"You didn't do anything, either! Guts was the one who actually beat them!"

'Don't involve me in this,' the swordsman thought.

"Enough!" Fuyutsuki barked out, ending the pilots' squabble. "Now, what is your job here at NERV?"

'He sounds a little pissed,' Guts thought. While his demeanor appeared calm, there was definitely an edge to Fuyutsuki's voice. The white-haired man's ire wasn't really directed at him, however, rather towards Shinji and Asuka.

"Our job is to pilot the Evas," Asuka answered.

"Wrong! Your job is to defeat the Angels! NERV is not a circus, and will not tolerate grotesque, rash acts such as what you have displayed today. Had it not been for your fellow pilot, the mission would have been a disaster and complete humiliation for this organization. He even tried to warn you before attacking, but still you completely disregarded his warning and decided that your ego was more important than the future of humanity."

Asuka sunk into her chair, muttering under her breath.

"This will not happen again, do you hear? You two will learn how to cooperate with each other in time for the arrival of the next Angel." And with that, Fuyutsuki took his leave.

3 Days Later

"So...what are you doing here, class rep?" Toji asked nonchalantly as he walked between Hikari and Kensuke. The duo hadn't seen Shinji in a couple days, and were beginning to worry about him, so they decided to pay him a visit. Hikari had similar feelings about Asuka, which was why the three of them were now walking down a corridor in Misato's apartment complex.

"I haven't seen Asuka lately," Hikari said, "so I've come to see how she's doing. What are you two stooges doing here?"

"Same deal, but we're here for Shinji," Toji answered. They continued walking in silence, until they all ended up in front of the same door. "Why'd you stop here? This is Shinji's apartment," Toji said as he rang the doorbell at the exact same time Hikari did.

The sound of muffled voices could be heard on the other end of the door, and when it slid open all three students were shocked to see both Shinji and Asuka staring back at them—and in the same clothing no-less.

"What the hell is this!?" Toji recoiled, his and Kensuke's faces showing looks of utter disbelief. Hikari said nothing, but there was a slight twitch in her eye.

"It wasn't our choice," they both answered simultaneously, "Misato is making us do this. We have to eat, sleep, and breathe together to help improve our teamwork."

"You can't do this!" Hikari exclaimed, her face turning a nice shade of pink. "You're living in sin!" A boy and a girl living together? Unmarried? And in middle school? She couldn't believe it.

"Why didn't you tell us you were living with a girl!?" Kensuke cried out, "and with her, no less!" Asuka ground her teeth at that comment.

"Are those your friends?" Misato's voice could be heard from inside the apartment. "Don't be rude; tell them to come on in!"

They stepped inside the apartment, and when the got to the living room they were greeted by the sight of Misato, Rei, and…

"Woah! You're that guy from the aircraft carrier!" Kensuke and Toji yelled, pointing a finger at Guts, who was sitting cross-legged at the coffee table.

Guts nodded his head in greeting. "I'm guessing you two were also on the boat when I was, uhm, discovered?"

"Yeah we were!" Kensuke was getting excited. "You were so tall and mysterious, and you wore all black and had this massive sword on your back! You even managed to punch a hole through the deck of the aircraft carrier! Hey, where is your sword anyways?"

"Kensuke!" Hikari scolded him, "stop asking so many questions! It's rude!" Although, she had to admit, the large man also piqued her curiosity. Hikari had never seen him at school, he appeared too old to attend anyways, and as far as she knew the only Evangelion pilots were Shinji, Asuka, and Rei.

"Excuse me, sir, I don't believe I've met you before. My name is Hikari, I go to school with everyone here." The class rep bowed her head.

"Guts," he answers stoically. Hikari waited for him to continue, but no words followed. He gave off a rather intimidating vibe, and she was beginning to feel a little nervous.

"Uhm," she began nervously, "if you don't mind me asking, how exactly do you know Miss Katsuragi and the others?"

"It's a long story," Guts said, "but basically that old geezer at that NERV place and I have struck a deal; I fight these 'Angels' using this thing called an Evangelion, and in return he'll help me find a way home."

"No way!" Kensuke blurted out, "you're an Eva pilot, too!? Man, everyone's becoming a pilot except for me." Hikari shushed him, but she too was surprised that Guts was a pilot.

"Where do you live?" she asked, "I can't imagine it's terribly hard to buy and plane ticket and—"

"That's why it's a long story," Misato interjected. The less people who got caught up with Guts' problem, the better, she thought.

"O-oh, OK," Hikari said, confused and left with a plethora of questions.

"So…" Toji jerked his head towards Shinji and Asuka, who were trying to dance in synchronization with each other—and failing miserably. "What are these two trying to accomplish here?"

Misato sighed. "The higher-ups, to say the least, weren't pleased with their performance, so I've developed a routine for them that will hopefully improve their teamwork."

"But," Toji said, "didn't you guys defeat the Angel?"

"They didn't," Misato pointed to Guts, "he did. His very first sortie and he fought like a pro! It was incredible! If it wasn't for him, who knows what would have happened. It definitely would have been an absolute nightmare for NERV, that's for sure."

There was a buzzing sound, and everyone in the room turned to stare at Asuka, who seemed just a little irritated, and Shinji, who was sprawled out across his dance mat.

"This is impossible!" The redhead fumed, "I can't work with this bumbling buffoon!"

"You need to slow down!" Shinji spoke up from the floor. "I can't keep up with your movements!"

Guts watched the two teens bicker. A feeling of nostalgia rushed over him, and it was as if he were suddenly sent back to his days as a Hawk, sitting around the campfire at night with everyone.

It always played out like this. He remembered all the good times; Judeau, Pippin, Rickert, Corkus, Casca, all the battles they fought through together, and just the casual bantering that was thrown around. Then, he would inevitably be reminded of him, and that day, and his thoughts would contort into a swirling inferno of rage and despair.

"Guts!" Misato's voice snapped him back to reality. Multiple pairs of eyes were staring at him, and the swordsman was starting to become uncomfortable.

"Hmm?" he hummed.

"I tried asking you something, but you were completely spaced out." She also took notice of the wide range of emotions he displayed. Guts had actually put on a small, genuine smile, something nobody in the room had ever seen before from the generally reserved man. But, his look of content quickly morphed into a deep frown, and visible anger became prominent on his features. He was probably reliving some bad memories, so Misato decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to bring them up right now.

"What do you want?" the swordsman asked coldly.

"Nevermind," Misato said. The purple-haired woman turned to Rei. "Rei, would you please trade places with Asuka?"

"Yes Ma'am," the girl answered quietly. She took her spot on her dance mat next to Shinji, and Misato started the routine again. To Asuka's disbelief, Rei moved with Shinji almost perfectly. Tears threatened to well up in her eyes, and the redhead quickly fled the room without a word.

"Asuka!" Hikari called out to her friend, but she was only met with the sound of the sliding door slamming shut. The class rep shot a glare at Shinji. "Shinji! What are you doing? Follow her!"

"W-why?" he asked, confused.

"You made a girl cry! Take responsibility!" Hikari cried. Shinji hesitated for a second, but he eventually stood up and went to see Asuka.

'Women,' Guts thought. It was obvious to him that they were both at fault, but it wasn't his problem, so he wasn't going to do anything about it. Besides, he had bigger things to think about, like the apostles that were following him into this world. The Black Swordsman was also beginning to develop a theory that would help him get back to Midland.

'I came to this world through one of the Angels,' Guts thought, 'so they must be the only way out.'