Ch. 11 The Winner Takes It All

The Chairman of the committee for the human instrumentality project was a simple man. He enjoyed simple pleasures. It helped him stay connected to his humanity despite his unnatural longevity. He made it into his own personal ritual. A nightcap before he went to bed, a cigar when he woke up in the morning and ate food only for the occasional tour down memory lane, the need for sustenance having long been abandoned.

"It is on this day we both mourn the death and celebrate the life of the man responsible for this group's progress into the modern day, none of us would be where we are now without him. He is an example to aspire to and without him instrumentality would be decades behind schedule."

"The last of that stock to be worth a damn, we should've known something was wrong when his ilk took his wife's name, it shows weakness in a man." Keele wanted to reprimand his second in command for his insolence but found nothing in his words untrue or worth challenging.

"Due to the mysterious and unfortunate circumstances surrounding his disappearance, it falls down to us to cleanse the Robukungi family legacy. We shall restore it to the honor and dignity it once held."

"We should send the sixth child! Have him take the weapons of god, crush that insolent fool, and kick open heaven's door."

"He's waiting for us to do that, his time in the sun will come, have no fear, for now we must wait for him to lower his guard. Until then, his faith in the loyalty of his subordinates will be his undoing." He made sure to artistically inflate the bass and tremor of his voice, both so it carried further and sounded more intimidating to his fellow Seele's.

They were all the most powerful, obscenely wealthy people in the world, they did not fear the law, market forces taking away their wealth or the workers rising up and taking back what is rightfully theirs.

They feared him, or they would learn to if they did not, for he is their destruction and salvation, he is humanities apotheosis given form and breath. And he will succeed.

"Once the true Evangelion is completed, humanity will become as gods with us as their shepherds. Any who stand in the way of our ascendance shall suffer the Wrath of God."

"Instrumentality awaits." The chairman smiled at all of his 'fellow Seele's' who obeyed his every command unto death. He was Seele now, their old leader was long dead, he was always the obvious successor, filling in the void.

Nobody would get in his way now, he'd made certain of it.

Kaji was staring down the empty shot glass in front of him like it was the barrel of a gun trying to kill him. That first part wasn't true but his head was already telling him the second part definitely was.

"I know I have to talk to her, but when I see her the words just escape me you know, whatever I can think of just isn't enough."

"And her in this instance would be?"

"Asuka you idiot! Were you even paying attention!?"

"You still haven't talked to her?"

"That's what I was just saying! God you're annoying! What am I supposed to tell her 'Sorry I almost killed both of us because I wasn't paying attention! It sure won't happen again sport, so get in the car, let's get back to normal eh."

"You started out strong but I'd work on that ending bit."

"I'm being serious Ryoji."

"So am I."

"The man of mystery act gets old really quick I should remind you."

Kaji sighed and held up his hands defensively as he could see his point was not getting across. "You're taking all the kids on a trip to the hot springs soon right? Get some one on one time with her and speak honestly to her. If you treat her like an adult and apologize like one, I think you'll be fine."

"You really think so?"

"I really do, I told you I had faith in you Katsuragi, those kids could do a lot worse for a guardian, you care, that's what matters."

"I guess you're right, I just don't wanna mess them up anymore than life already has, they're still kids, they deserve some sort of childhood." Kaji smiled warmly at the distressed women, feeling immensely proud to see how much she's grown from the time he knew her.

"I know you're doing your best and in the end that's all you can do, just don't stop trying, that's the only thing you could possibly do wrong."

"I want Asuka and Shinji to go to that school dance, hopefully together but I don't think it'll happen.." Kaji gave the pouting woman a warm smile. He couldn't resist the urge to brush away a loose strand of violet hair that was dangling almost into her drink.

"They're still having school dances with all 'this' going on? I'm surprised they even have the funds."

"Apparently it's being funded by some big anonymous donation to the school, they're tying it up with some sports festival too."

"An anonymous donor? I can't think of a single wealthy person able to drop that kind of money who wouldn't want a big declaration."

"That's what the kids told me, maybe you're just a hardened cynic who can't accept that there are people willing to give these kids a chance at a childhood during this madness."

"Oh I believe they exist, they just don't have that much money, there's probably more to that than first appears."

"So are you gonna look into it then?"

"Probably not, I have a lot on my plate at the moment."

"Busy with your work as the 'Special Inspector'? The commander got you running around ragged again?"

"Something like that, I do have some free time this week though, is Shinji free?"

"Are you really so desperate for friends that you're going to hang out with a sixteen year old boy?" He couldn't resist laughing along with the women, something about her laugh had an uncanny ability to make him feel years younger than he actually was.

"No, I've just barely talked to him, I feel like I should know a little about humanity's savior by now, don't you think?"

"I guess, just don't call him that."

"Aww, too much?"

"Way too much, he hates pretty much any kind of praise, you should've seen how upset he was when he got the top sync score."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You better. Do you want his cell? He'll know better when he's free than I do."

"Yes, thank you, now where were we?" He made sure to add a little Umph to the end of his words as he restarted the almost ritualistic flirting routine between the two.

"Oh, I don't think we were anywhere mister, I don't know what you were thinking."

"Well then let's try our best to make it there then."

Kaji grabbed his new drink up from the bar, downing it in one big gulp and letting the sensations wash over him, preparing to enjoy one of his few free nights.

Asuka briskly hurried out of the apartment before Shinji could catch up. His habit of heading out the door without his book bag and going back for it gives her plenty of time to put in enough space so they're not seen walking to school together. They did, but nobody needed to know that, they might get ideas.

When she marched out the door, her tired brain took a good thirty seconds to realize she wasn't hallucinating or dreaming. A familiar mop of blue hair outside her door with a pair of nearly glowing red eyes and a shy smile looked at her.

"Rei just because we're friends doesn't mean we have to walk to school together. How the hell did you even get in here anyways?"

"I exited my new apartment to leave for school and thought it would be pleasant to go as a group with you and Shinji, because we leave for the same place from the same place."

"It's too early for your nonsense speak, simplify that if you want me to respond." Asuka blearily rubbed her eyes then snapped them open as she realized who she was talking to in the hall outside her apartment. "Let's start over, how did you get here?"

"I walked here."

"Okay, where did you walk from Rei?"

"My apartment."

"Wait, I thought you lived in the Geofront."

"I do not, I have been relocated, I now possess the apartment 4 doors down from your own."

"You have an entire apartment to yourself!? Why can't I get one of those?"

"I do not know, the reasons for my moving were not explained, my stuff was simply moved and section-2 informed me of my new living arrangements."

"That's weird, they really didn't say a word? Aren't you mad they kicked you out of your old place?"

"I had no like or dislike for my previous place of residence, if a new one is necessary then I will use it."

"So you're just laying down and taking it. Are you sure that you and the idiot aren't related?"

To Asuka's surprise the girl narrowed her eyes in response to the question, more of a reaction than she had ever managed to get out of the girl. "No."

"Sheesh, don't take it personally, I wouldn't wanna be related to that animated turnip either."

"Ayanami!? What are you doing here?"

"She lives here now dummkopf! Maybe we should throw you out and leave you in her apartment! Maybe then you'll learn to keep your perverted hands to yourself!"

"What about the chores?"

Asuka briefly pondered the point before realizing it was an essential question. "Rei, do you know how to do laundry?"

"I have taken it to the dry cleaners and back many times, yes."

Asuka palmed her face and briefly considered pulling out her eyes to further get across how absurd that was. "Can you at least cook?"

"Yes, indeed, I can make minute rice in 58 seconds, although I cannot replicate this process yet whilst making instant noodles."

Asuka sighed and shook her head, too tired to devote any more energy to dealing with the strange girl. "Nevermind, forget I said anything. Let's just get to school, I don't wanna be late because of you two idiots."

Shinji could still remember his dream from the other night, it was weird, really weird, unlike any dream he'd ever had before. Little snippets of It were always hanging in the back of his mind, any idle moment spent puzzling over the strangeness of it, the weird logic the dreamworld made him accept and the surreal events inside of it.

There were so many things about it he didn't understand, thinking about it didn't bring any clarity and based on the radio silence from the man in his head he assumed it was something only he saw. It should've been disturbing but it was too much of a puzzle to be upsetting to him.

"Something on your mind Shin-man?"

"Ah, nothing, I just had this weird dream last night."

"You're telling me! I had the weirdest dream last night too! I was a fish on ice at a fish stand or something and you and I were talking about something. It's all fuzzy now but I still remember how weird the whole thing was. Was yours like that?"

"Not really, it was just, weird." He bowed his head and prayed his friend wouldn't press any further.

"That was quite an entrance you made into class, what was that all about?"

"That was nothing Kensuke, we're just doing some NERV training together after school and Asuka was reminding me."

"Shinji, she was saying, "Today's the day Third Child, the day you meet your maker.' Just what is this training exactly?"

Shinji placed his head on his desk in dread of what was to come, the full weight of what was actually going to happen, not having set in yet.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about it so I can't say much. I'm just gonna get beat up at work."

"I knew it!"

"You knew what Ken?"

"They're having a totally awesome Eva battle! I didn't think it was ever gonna happen because it'd damage the Eva's but they must've figured something out at NERV."

"The Eva's are actually gonna fight against each other?" For a second it looked like Toji was about to smack the boy for saying something so absurd. Then his expression quickly twisted to match the boy's own as the gears turned in his head. "That sounds sick dude!"

"I know right!? If it's Asuka and Shinji that means It's gonna be Unit-01 vs Unit-02 going against each other. Personally, I like you Shinji, I know you're good at what you do. Asuka has this every time. Unit-02 is faster and more agile then Unit-01 and in a straight 1v1, that's what'll be decisive."

"You're probably right, it was her idea to do it, I just wanna get out alive and go home afterwards."

"No way! Shinji won't lose to that Red Devil, he's a man after all. Shinji, I want you to punch me as hard as you can in the face."

"What? No! Why?" He was trying to follow the boy's train of thought or logic that led things to escalate so quickly but found none.

"The teacher won't even notice, just take a quick swing, I promise I can take it. I need to prove to both of you that you've got this in the bag, Shin-man."

"Toji, I don't want to punch you."

"But I want you to punch me, please?"

"I can't hit you if you look like that, it'll look bad and make me feel even worse."

This was enough to get the boy to stop pleading but his persistence was starting to get on his nerves. "I'll owe you one, consider it a personal favor to me. Now sock my jaw Shin-man!"

"I can't just do it like that." Shinji flexed his fingers and swallowed the knot forming in his throat, checking that the teacher was still distracted as he mentally prepared.

"Well, I wanna see it coming at least, sheesh, I promise you won't hurt me, I'll turn the other cheek even if you do manage. The suspense is killing me! I can't wait any long-"

He really didn't wanna do it, but his friend was starting to get on his nerves with his persistence on the subject. In the time he had gotten to know his bounding determination was always one of his most admirable qualities in his eyes so he knew it wouldn't end until he got what he wanted. And did ask him for it, multiple times too.

He didn't really think about the punch, that was his problem, the image of Toji in his mind was still of that solid wall of muscle that knocked him flat when he ran into him. This was contrasted with the boy himself. Who had been only doing a cardio routine and little else while he did full body CQC training that had gradually built up his strength while doing little favors to his still lanky frame.

The blow was strong enough to send the boy tumbling out of his chair, chuckling like a madman all the way onto the floor.

He could feel all the eyes in the classroom panning to him. He felt like someone had thrown him head first onto a stage and hadn't told him any of his lines. "What? He was asking for it?"

"Easy there tiger, you don't wanna kill him do you? Class hasn't even started yet." He felt a warm breath behind his ear and a girl's laughter. He had been so distracted he hadn't noticed the mischievous girl the oblivious teacher had assigned to sit behind him in class.

A bolt of terror shot through him as his eyes shot to the front of the classroom to his relief the teacher's eyes hadn't moved from the book in front of him. Squinting his eyes it was tough to see from his spot in the back of the class but he swore he had something that looked like earbuds in his ears. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at his tall friend already back on his feet waving his hands wildly to signal he's fine.

"Dang, that smarts, Nice hit Shin-man! You got a mean left hook! Are you left handed!?"

"Yeah, I think so." Shinji absentmindedly rubbed his sore fist, feeling a strange rush of emotions after hitting the boy. He didn't want to do it and had pretty much been forced into it. Still, it made him deeply uncomfortable that inside of him part of him really enjoyed the feeling he got when his fist collided with his face.

"See Ken! That's the point I'm trying to make!"

"What point? There was a point to all that?"

"Yes you fool, strength is what wins battle Ken. Once Shinji hits her with the old one two, it's night night for Asuka and Unit-02." Shinji had to hold back a laugh as his friend punched the air dramatically to help argue his point.

"You're dreaming, just because Unit-01 is stronger than Unit-02 doesn't mean anything, it doesn't matter how hard you punch if you can't catch up to your opponent to land it."

"You might know Eva's but you don't know fighting, Shinji doesn't need to catch up to her, this is Asuka we're talking about. If her fighting style is anything like her personality it'll be an all out blitz from the start. Shinji just needs to defend and outlast her, the flame that burns the brightest burns the shortest."

"This isn't a boxing match we're talking about here. This is two pieces of advanced military hardware coming into battle with each other, the tech itself matters way more than stupid stuff like that."

"Shinji I know you can throw a decent punch but how good can you take one?"

"You're not gonna punch me to figure it out, are you?"

"Of course not! That's ridiculous, what would we even prove with that?"

"Okay, I guess I don't really get 'punched' that often. So I don't know."

"You're right, that's a bad way to phrase advice to you free of charge is this, no matter how hard you get hit you gotta get up and keep fighting. How can you take a hit?"

"I guess it's good, I think you guys both kinda saw how I handle pain and stuff."

"Oh, Yeah you're right, my bad, I do really think you got this."

"I'm not trying to be unsupportive BUT I stand by my original hypothesis, It'll be cool if I'm wrong, I doubt it though."

"Feel strongly enough to bet on it?"

"With you? Easily."

Shinji regretted forcing the boys to relive their shared experience inside the entry plug. They tried to hide it but he easily saw through it. It was an uncomfortable memory for all of them, especially with the knowledge that it was the only beginning of his suffering while defending against the Angels.

"Rise! Bow! Sit!" All three of the boys snapped their heads forward to attention as class started, each preparing to diligently ignore the teacher's boring and repetitive lessons.

Asuka loved sprint training. Much more than stupid distance running, her body was much better designed to go short distance fast than keep running for a while. At the moment she was currently walking alongside a haggard Third child barely able to hide his lack of breath from her.

"Can we take a break for a second?"

"Nope, this is the most important training we're doing, this is a race we're in after all. Speed is everything."

"Okay but we've been going for an hour, how are you not out of breath?" Talking seemed to taken the last of the breath out of the boy's lungs. He leaned on his knees and looked up at her with exasperation.

She smirked at the wheezing and gasping boy, still in disbelief that this skeleton with skin was somehow her biggest rival. She would be merciful now, there was time enough today for her to prove her obvious superiority over the boy. Today was the day after all.

"Fine. we'll take 5, it isn't free though, you have to tell me why you tried to give your stooge friend even more brain damage."

"Oh, he asked me to do it."

"Are you being serious?"

"Yes, he really did." Asuka studied the boy's face and found no trace of dishonesty, finding herself again, confused and confounded by the strange Suzuhara boy. She had no idea what Hikari saw in him.

"Why!?"

"Uhh, Well, Toji and Kensuke were arguing and Toji wanted to prove a point with a physical demonstration I guess."

"What could those morons possibly be arguing about!? Who gets to use the braincell they both share today?"

"No, they kinda, heard what you said when we got to school and were asking me about it, I didn't really tell them anything but they still figured out what was going on."

"Now you have to tell me! Quit evading the question, what were they arguing about!?"

"I'm, Uhh, they were arguing about who would win between us. Kensuke said Unit-02's design made it faster so you'd win, Toji said strength is more important and that I was maybe gonna win."

"Then why did that idiot ask you to punch him then?"

"I'm still trying to figure that one out myself."

"You sure choose to surround yourself with interesting people, don't you?"

"I guess? I think it's been 5 minutes if you wanna go back to it."

"Well if you're so enthusiastic then fine. I can promise this won't be the last time you run like your life depends on it, Third Child."

"You know, we really don't have to fight against each other, I'm really not that good. I know you will probably win."

"Sure, we don't have to. We don't have to do anything really but I want to, since you decided to show me up with your ridiculous sync rate I need to show everyone around here that I'm still the best.

"Asuka I didn't mean to make you feel bad about your sync ratio, it's just a number right? You've been training for this all your life, Of course you're a better pilot than me."

"Been snooping into my past now have you?"

"No, you told me, do you not remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Asuka rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she spoke. She didn't know why but the memory of her berating the boy filled her with shame.

She was starting to wonder what she had gotten them both into. It was obvious he could never be her rival, he was deferential and humble to a fault. Sure, she reasoned, she thought that but she could see the way Misato still doddled on him like a toddler and NERV's head scientist clearly thought he was better than her. Just because of a stupid number of all things. A stupid number she was inches away from leading the scoreboard in before being completely blown out of the water by the latest test.

It was too late to go back now, Akagi would kill me if I didn't use the simulators for this after annoying her so frequently about it. It would be a good way to show definitively who was the better pilot. The next time someone mentioned the 'Invincible Shinji, Hero and Protector of Tokyo-3' she could say she whooped him squarely in a battle that was just one on one.

Shinij never liked wearing the plugsuits, it didn't get any easier with time. He still felt like he was walking around in the nude whenever he had one on, his hands unconsciously to hide his private bits.

The material felt it's strangest between his fingertips, most of the time he didn't notice it but in the idle time he sat waiting to get into the Eva it was a near-constant annoyance.

"Alright let's make this a little interesting, whoever wins this battle gets to ask whatever they want from the loser and they have to accept."

"Anything!?" Shinji was shocked to hear this, his mind running with a thousand different possibilities as to the meaning behind the redhead's words.

Adding further to his confusion the girl blushed profusely at his words. "Not that you pervert! Everything except what you were just thinking about!"

"What!? I wasn't thinking about anything!"

To his dismay Asuka only rolled her eyes at this. "Sure you weren't, So do we have a deal?"

"Uhh, yeah, sure, I can agree to that." Shinji reached out his hand to shake on it and Asuka's hand met his. He stared at the bridge of her nose and tried not to focus on the sensation of his hand overtop hers.

"Good! Now let's go, Akagi will make us both talk to her before we go in so let's get it over with." He shot the girl a quizzical look when he heard the casual way she mentioned the doctor but had little time to think about it.

Shinji was quickly dragged along as the girl nimbly flicked her wrist and spun her hand to grab his wrist. His feet could barely keep up and he nearly tripped several times on the way.

"I was wondering when you two were going to show up."

"Well quit wondering and get to work, it's about time we proved who was the best pilot around here."

"Everything's already set, you just need to get into the simulation plugs. I do have a few guidelines for this little 'sparring' match between the two of you.

"Get it over with then!"

"Since you're asking so nicely, rule one, no weapons, obviously. Second, no trying to kill each other without weapons, I'm not stupid, I expect you two to beat the crap out of eachother just don't try to break any limbs. We're reducing the nerve feedback to half so it'll still hurt to get punched but nobody's spending any time in the medical ward after."

"50%!? That's way too low!"

"50!?" That's way too high!"

Shinji stared at the blonde women with apprehension and fear as she smirked at the two of them. "Guess we found a happy medium then, the final rule is this, these simulators are not toys, nor are they your personal gladiatorial arena. I'm making an exception to let you do this but it's a one time thing only, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah we get it, are you done?"

"Yes, I have work to do, have fun with your new flirting technique Asuka." Were it not for the tensity of the situation he'd have laughed at the girl's words. Asuka was furious, she was red with fury and the blonde doctor casually walked away and strolled into a room above their clearance.

Shinji had gotten a lot better at reading and predicting the moods of the volatile redhead, that didn't really matter now though. Anyone with eyes and basic spatial awareness would sense the danger in being in close proximity to the fuming girl.

"Guess we should get to those simulation plugs then." He walked as fast as he could without breaking into a jog as he felt the burning gaze of the redhead on his back.

Asuka rolled her neck then her shoulders and eventually moving down to her hips as she tested the connection to the simulation Unit-02 and loosening up her form before the coming fight.

She was ready, more ready than she had ever been. This is what would finally shut up her stupid subconscious. Whispering ridiculous thoughts in the back of her head that she might actually 'like' the spineless and cowardly Third Child. Even worse that she might 'like like' him! Now that was just absurd.

She strolled out into the sunny model of Tokyo-3, walking with careful precision to ensure her steps were as silent as a gigantic mechanical monster could be while walking. Tip toeing over cars and ducking under power lines as her eyes scanned for the distinct purple and green coloring of her opponent.

She knew she had a distinct disadvantage in that department, most of Unit-01 was a dark almost midnight purple while she was a bright red beacon advertising her location.

The simulation city was quiet, too quiet. If she knew anything about the Third Child it was that he was astoundingly clumsy. She should hear that idiots clunking footsteps from a mile away but all she heard was, nothing. Just the slight ringing in her ears as she strained to hear even the smallest sound.

It was starting to make her uncomfortable, slinking around a completely empty city with the only sounds being the muffled ones made by her own Eva as it moved. The constant checking behind her shoulder didn't help either. She still hadn't heard a peep from the other Eva and the longer she looked and failed to find it the more it felt like it was right behind her.

She heard the sound of something hitting the ground and quickly turned around to meet the noise, entering into a quick defensive stance. It was just a piece of rubble she had accidentally knocked off a nearby building. She wanted to smack herself for being so stupid. She let out the breath she had been holding and continued her slow search.

She only got a couple more steps before she definitely heard the sound of movement above her. She looked up just in time to see a massive mechanical foot flying directly towards her face.

Asuka saw stars. The force of the blow sent her Eva flipping head over heels and slamming into a nearby building in a shower that clouded her line of sight to the purple Eva as her eyes slowly came back into focus.

'Damn! If that was at half strength I don't ever wanna get hit by the real thing' Asuka unconsciously rubbed the spot on her chin where she got hit. She snapped herself out of it quickly, shaking off the piles of stone and glass on top of her.

"You better have enjoyed that! The first one's always free! After that you have to pay!"

She barely managed to summersault out of the way of the follow up blow from Unit-01 was delivering with less than a second to spare. She could feel the wind blow across her Eva's side. He overcommitted to the attack and left an easy opening for her to exploit.

The first hit was right to the side of Unit-01's stupid head, the blow delivered with enough force to temporarily stun the Eva long enough for her to follow up on the attack and rain down hell upon it.

She was gonna end this now before she tarnished her pride anymore by struggling in a fight against someone this pathetic. Back in Germany all the data they had to train her with was other Eva's she was born for this. She'd nicknamed one of her signature techniques for annihilating her opponent in the way she enjoyed since she was a little kid. It was time for Shinji to experience the patented 'Asuka's Rain of Fire.'

Shinji had lost track of how many punches he had taken at this point. He'd seen his mistake as soon as he made it. He didn't like having to hurt Asuka but he HAD to win this 'sparring' match. He'd tried to end the fight as quickly as he could and failed spectacularly and now Asuka was punishing him for his mistake with gusto. Even with his sensation of the blows being reduced by half, it still hurt, it hurt a lot actually.

Somehow he still knew that having to fight the girl inside a huge death robot was gonna be the second most terrifying thing he did today.

A particularly hard blow right at the bottom of his Unit's horn brought his attention back to the fight. He knew trying to block the storm of attacks was useless so he waited for a long enough break in the punches to grab her arm and pulled as hard as he could.

His efforts succeeded in catching her off guard. He ensnared her right arm and abruptly ended the ferocious assault that left his Eva visibly battered. He struck at her as he could with his other arm to get free and quickly moved as far back as he could wobble without turning around and exposing his back.

This was really hard. It felt like he was fighting an Angel except those battles usually only lasted a few minutes. This however had been many times that and Asuka didn't seem the least bit tired. In fact now she seemed more angry than before.

"I am the best Eva pilot of all time!"

"I never said you weren't!" Yep, she was definitely getting more mad. Shinji flipped on his loudspeakers and wondered if he could maybe talk his way out of further conflict.

He was answered by Unit-02 lunging towards him and moving to deliver a kick he had become familiar with quickly while spending time with the girl. Seeing it coming didn't mean he could react in time, he tried to dodge the blow but failed. He felt a sting in his ankle and tumbled to the ground in a heap.

"Now you're mine!" Shinji rolled out of the way just in time to avoid her foot flying towards him again, watching it embed itself in the ground beneath him with an earth shaking tremor. He was so busy dodging the first attack he didn't see the second and it connected easily, smashing his head back into the earth with such speed and ferocity it bounced a couple times.

"Can't we just talk about this?"

"Of course, you can talk all you want, I'm here to win."

He was starting to believe he had taken one too many hits to the head, it felt like someone had dipped his skull in acid and was slowly breaking it apart with a hammer. Asuka was treating him like a giant metal punching bag at this point. He felt every hit driving him more and more into the earth and draining all the energy he'd previously had.

"Ready to surrender Third Child!? Just say 'I am the worst and Asuka is the best, thank you god for creating a person as amazing at Eva piloting as her so I don't have to.' Say all that and I might consider letting you go."

"Never!"

Asuka was starting to get pissed off. Her fists were starting to hurt from their constant use in beating down the purple Eva beneath her, its hands feebly attempting to block her attacks as she hit right through them.

It didn't matter how many times she hit him or how hard she did either. After she laid down an assault when she stopped to check if he was still conscious or fighting he'd land a nasty counterpunch on her and keep going.

"You just don't know when to quit huh!? Do you!?"

The purple and green Eva chose not to respond, slowly rising to its feet again and entering into the simplistic fighting stance he'd been poorly using the whole fight.

He was right out of her striking distance, she was starting to wear herself out, she knew getting in that close to land a blow would inevitably end in another trade of blows that continually seemed to be going against her. Luckily for her, she was a genius, so she had a plan.

She charged her upon again, winding up her dominant right arm to deliver a devastating punch. Then as her fist was about to close in she quickly pulled it back and swung her left as hard as she could at the other Eva's gut.

It was a glorious success, her first attack had succeeded in working as a distraction while her other fist cruised right through the purple giants guard and hit it so hard it nearly bowled it over completely.

It was not without cost however, it took less than a couple of seconds for the Eva she had just hit to recover and strike back at her as she tried to dodge. Asuka's head was swimming and she only barely managed to stay on her feet as it felt like someone had thrown a rock at her head.

She needed to finish this and finish it fast. The longer this fight kept going on the more tired she got while Shinji seemed unphased. Being stuck at the same slow pace from the beginning. It was like she was punching a zombie or something. No matter how many times she landed a perfectly performed combo he just got back up afterwards like it was nothing.

The simulator was supposed to model damage accurately, even if the pilot only felt half of it in their plugs. The purple Eva's entire body was now pockmarked with dents especially around its head where the metal around it's right half was warped and bent inwards. She realized her own simulation Eva probably didn't look too great either, this thought did not make her very happy.

It was an insult to her honor to damage her simulation Eva like this. She'd fought in it more than the real one for god's sake!. It was only because he fought so defensively, if he didn't spend half his time standing there staring at her like an idiot waiting for her to attack. All he did was just punch her with that stupid left hook after she was finished beating the crap out of him.

She'd break the cycle, she'll sit here for an hour if that's what it takes for that idiot to attack her first.

Patience was an important thing to Shinji. It was one of the few traits he had that he genuinely admired about himself. He always waited his turn when he had to and never complained when he had to wait in a long queue.

It was a quality that was becoming in increasingly short supply for the boy. This extended duel with the Second Child being no exception to that rule. His plan to play defensively and focus on staying on his feet as long as possible had worked so far but it had reached an impasse.

Asuka had clearly seen through his strategy and was standing across from him waiting for him to make the first move. He had no solution to this problem.

'Use the last move she used against you on her.'

'I was wondering when you were gonna pitch in.'

'This is entirely frivolous, I am only choosing to help you because you have chosen this as a hill to die on and will probably injure yourself trying to achieve victory.'

'You don't know that!'

His father seemed to ignore his indignant protest.'Perhaps it is not in the spirit of fairness that I am helping you but I think the second child and I would both agree that we're tired of waiting for you to attack.'

'Fine, fine, so I fake with my right and then use my left, right? It's her own move; she'll easily see it coming.'

'You should be able to remember it better than I and that's exactly why she won't expect it. she's too arrogant to imagine you being able to replicate her own style of attack, let alone so quickly.'

'Well, it's more of a plan than anything I can think of.' Shinji readjusted his grip on the butterfly controls while he tried to visualize his plan succeeding, it wouldn't look as pretty when Asuka did it but he was pretty sure he could still manage.

He started to tentatively step towards the red Evangelion, its stance unmoving but he could feel its gaze like it was looking right into the entry plug at him.

As he got closer he started to signal the beginning of his attack. Bringing out his right arm in a wide arc ready to swing. He then feigned his punch, succeeding in distracting the crimson Eva while it tried to grab his flailing arm. He brought his left fist forward smashing into its chest plating hard enough to push it a few meters away from him. The unit's arms instinctively moved to where he had struck and he winced imagining the pain he'd caused Asuka and how mad she'd probably be.

The kick he received while he was distracted on the side of his face confirmed some of his fears. The next few kicks after that confirmed a few more. It felt like someone had kicked him down a hill and he was hitting his head the whole way down.

Suddenly he wasn't fighting in a simulation with nothing really at stake except the frankly stupid bet he was putting too much much faith in. He was in his Eva sprinting recklessly at an Angel as it fired it's poisonous spit in his face at point blank range.

The pain of constantly being hit faded into background noise behind him. It came in constant waves, first his chest felt like someone was pressing dipping it in lava, then his face felt like it was dissolving itself all the way to the bone. Finally there would be a sensation of two molten hot nails being driven into the back of his head and giving him the worst kind of headache.

The pain was only a sideshow. Every time he blinked it was another image of him fighting for his life. Being dragged around the city like a ragdoll and feeling stone and glass scraping against his skin. Stinging acid melting through his face. A heat that felt hotter than the sun itself burrowing it's way through his chest and boiling the LCL around him. A weight more massive and cumbersome than anything he could've imagined grinding his joints into the dirt.

He shook his head violently, blinked his eyes until they felt sore and did everything to escape the waking nightmare he found himself trapped in. Suddenly he felt unsure of what was real and what was conjured up by his mind, he wasn't even sure where he was anymore. And then he panicked.

If Asuka wasn't already tired of this before, she sure as hell was now. She was beyond pissed off at the insolence of this pretender. He used her own move against her and even managed to catch her off guard with it. Her own move!

This battle had definitely earned the Third Child a level of respect in her eyes. Not many could fight the Great Asuka Langley Soryu into a stalemate. She hated to admit it but he had a natural talent for piloting without any natural enthusiasm to go with it like she had. Even if he was good she wouldn't lose to him, she couldn't just say she was the best, she had to prove it. Well she could, she had before but this was her chance.

Her opponent seems to have come to a similar conclusion as he wasn't even bothering to block at this point. Standing there like a statue as her foot and fist flowed like a river of kicks and punches that she knew would finish this dragged out affair.

His next move caught her off guard. Without moving his head up to even look at her he charged forward and tackled her in a bear hug. Moving with such swiftness she didn't even have time to react. She felt wind against her skin than felt herself and Unit-01 both going straight through the building behind them like humanoid bulldozers.

In a reverse of their earlier position the slightly bulkier Unit-01 was now straddled upon the now trapped Unit-02. The purple Eva wasted no time as it raised its fist and brought it down with jerky and mechanical movements.

She didn't focus her strength on outright blocking the powerful blows, instead directing them to the ground beside her head where the booms echoed and shook her in her simulation plug. She couldn't keep it up for long.

She knew that Unit-01 was stronger than her own unit but she more than made up for it with her own speed and agility. Now none of that mattered, she couldn't maneuver anymore or do anything other than try and get the purple behemoth off of her. It was an impossible task, she was too tired and it felt like someone had placed a house on top of her midriff.

She felt one powerful blow against her head that probably would've knocked her out cold if their attacks hadn't been weakened so much. Now she was wondering if she should've rethought her earlier stance on the subject.

They were slow, methodical and done with almost rhythmic repetition. She knew she was finished, she could feel the last of her fighting spirit being smacked out of her every few seconds.

Part of her brain knew this was a reaction she had hoped for, by putting the Third Child to the test and seeing who he really was. She believed the heat of battle revealed someone's true nature. She wasn't sure why but she felt like that was something she needed to see from the boy.

She should really be careful about what she wishes for.

Luckily for her she didn't have to endure much longer as the lights of the simulation flicked off and she was merged in complete darkness, hearing a voice come from the speaker across from her.

"I think that's enough of that, if you two have proven your points now you can go check into the medical bay so I can see how badly you dinged each other up."

Shinji hadn't left his room since he got home. He felt like the worst person to have ever existed. He knew how important winning was to Asuka and he stole it right from her. He didn't even wanna win, he just lost control, if it hadn't been a simulation things could've ended a lot worse.

There was no winning for him in the end, if he didn't fight as hard as he could he'd know Asuka would hate him for it, especially if she won because of that. This was the other option, he went too far, got too invested and now he had to pay the price of winning.

The idea of him hurting Asuka like that made his stomach turn. Sure the girl was unpleasant but he found himself drawn to the girl. He didn't even realize when he started valuing her opinion but he knew he did. That was why it had hurt him when she said bad things about him, not always untrue things but still, no one liked being reminded of stuff like that.

It was all because of that stupid bet. He had gotten it into his head that winning this frankly absurd contest would somehow change the redheads opinion of him for the better. What a naive thought.

It had made her hate him even more, she hadn't even wanted to walk home together afterwards, he never saw her after they left Akagi's office. Even with the rules of the bet technically forcing her to go along she'd still probably laugh at him when he asked her. She'd be right,it's a stupid thing to get so worked up over.

For him he considered it a good thing at first when she hadn't spoken to him, part of him still did. He was torn between half of him wanting desperately to talk to the girl and the other half completely terrified to even look at her.

Loud banging on his bedroom door forced him out of his brooding and into a temporary panic as he quickly lunged for the door and pulled it open. To be face to face with the girl he'd been thinking of.

To his utter bewilderment she seemed calm, almost peaceful, she reached out her hand and he tentatively shook it like it was a volatile explosion in his hands.

"Oh, Asuka, i'm-" The girl made a sharp zip gesture with her hands and his mouth snapped shut.

"You fought with your all and you won, I can't begrudge you for that, since that dumb blonde Akagi won't let us have a rematch you're the victor, congratulations." It was scary to see Asuka smiling at him like that. Part of his brain liked the attention but another warned him of imminent danger.

"Listen, I'm sorry if I hurt you, I wanted to….Win, I guess."

"Hmph, you didn't seem that sorry at the time. I guess I shouldn't have made that bet with a pervert like you, that's the only thing that will motivate someone like you."

"Asuka it's not like that." Shinji suddenly felt ashamed at realizing a part of her was actually right.

"Then how is it? Are you gonna demand that I tell everyone at the school you're better than me? Make me wear a bright red sash that says 'I lost to Shinji Ikari, he's so cool and awesome'? Or make me give a speech about the different ways you\re better at Eva piloting than I am?"

"No,No nothing like that, I'd never humiliate you like that, it's stupid let's just forget about it ."

Then spit it out! I'm not gonna wait all day to hear you form a sentence and don't think you're getting out of this that easily."

"It's dumb, I don't wanna bother you with it now, let's just say we're even."

" Hell no! Especially now that I know you have something in mind, you'd better tell me what it is."

"Fine, but you have to promise not to laugh."

"I'm the one stuck having to do it! Ugh, fine, I promise not to laugh at you, now tell me."

"Okay, uhh, Will you go to the school dance with me?"

Toji Suzuhara was having what looked to be another fantastic day. He'd had breakfast with his friend at their favorite american style diner, well more his favorite since the huge portion sizes seemed to have been made specifically for him.

Then he'd spent most of the afternoon with his platonic school friend Hikari. She was actually really nice once you got to know her, he'd come to regret his earlier stance on the girl's behavior. It was like faulting a meter maid for doing their job, somebody had to do it and if they didn't someone else probably would.

Now he was playing videogames with his little sister, it was an older fighting game he'd taught her when she was littler. At the time he had easily defeated the young girl, now he was struggling to recall the last time he'd actually won a match against her.

"Oh come on! That wasn't even fair!"

"Too slow bro! Remember the loser has to wash the dishes." Her taunting succeeded in irritating him further and he briefly considered snapping the controller. It was a stupid thought and not one he'd be indulging. Again.

"I know that! Stand still and let me hit you!

"Nope!"

The sound of a phone ringing brought both of their attention away from the game after a few seconds he received a pointed glare from his sister and realized it was his.

"Guess that means you forfeit this round."

"No you don't!" Before she could land a hit on his immobile character he pressed the pause button on his controller with near superhuman speed, grinning haughtily at the pouting girl.

He quickly dashed to where it was sitting and flipped it open, pressing it against his ear.

"Hey Toji." A familiar voice sounding strangely panicked greeted him from the other side.

"Hey Shin-man! What's happening my man?"

"Toji remember how earlier you said that you owed me a favor?"

"How could I forget? Cashing it in already? Whatever it is, I'll do it, A Suzuhara always honors his word."

"Okay thanks Toji, I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it, now what can I do for you?"

"You're still going to the dance with Hikari right?"

"Yes?"

"So if anyone asks, you basically forced me to get a date to the dance so we could go together as a group."

"I thought you weren't going?"

"Uhh, something came up, I found someone to go with."

"Is she hot?"

"Toji can we please not talk about this."

"Alright, fine, but I didn't, me and Hikari are just going as friends, why would I tell people that? Who will even care?"

"Let me worry about that, can you just do this for me, please?"

"If you're sure but once you use a favor, there's no take backs."

"That's okay, thank you for this Toji you're really saving my skin here."

"So are you ever gonna tell me who this mystery girl you're going with is?"

For almost 30 seconds all he heard was silence and the occasional breath come across the line, he checked to make sure he was still connected and waited for the boy to speak.

"Asuka."

"You WHAT!?"

When he got no response he checked his phone again only to see that his friend had already hung up on him.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Bad feeling about what? What was all that about?" The small feminine voice behind him caused the larger boy to jump in shock.

"Oh, It's nothing, just one of my buddies from school."

"Was it Shinji?" He wanted to lie but the young girl's smile was dangerously persuasive when she used it to be.

"Yes, it was."

"And you didn't even let me say hi!? You hardly ever let me see him! He probably doesn't even remember I exist."

"Now don't say that Shinji's a good guy, I'm sure he wound't forget about yo-" He was interrupted by a sharp pain in his shins that he could already tell was gonna need ice later. "Ow that hurt!"

"You had better tell him I said hello next time you see him. You got that?"

"Yes, fine, whatever, just don't kick me again and I'll do it."

Like the flipping of a coin the tiny girl's demeanor switched from dark and brooding to the sunny and cheerful girl he had been playing games with earlier. It was always scary to watch it happen in front of you.

"So what were you two talking about?"

"Oh, well, Shinji, he's just making a, mistake you could say."

"I find that hard to believe, what exactly is he doing?"

"Well he's going to our school's dance."

Ooh, Is he taking someone? I wish I could go but they're not letting anyone from the middleschool go."

"See, that's the thing he's taking a girl."

"I could figure that much out, thanks big bro."

"Will you let me finish? He's taking the girl who always treats him like crap and beats him up. I think you met her actually."

"You mean Asuka? I didn't really get to talk to her, she looked really pretty but also scary."

"That's one way of describing her, I don't know why Shinji would willingly put himself through an experience like that with someone like her of all people."

"Well it's pretty obvious if you actually pay attention to what's going on. You still think Hikari really wants to go to the dance as just 'friends'.

"If she didn't want to do that then why would she agree to it then? Is that also 'pretty obvious'?

"Yeah actually, you're just an idiot."

"Really? If it's so 'obvious'. Then why don't you just tell me?"

"Sure, I'd love to, the reason Hikari asked your idiotic self is because she likes you, not because she 'didn't have anyone else to go with'. Nobody goes to school dances for fun! You've been to one. I assume it's the same for Asuka and Shinji."

"You don't know what you're talking about, you're just a kid."

"I'll be a teenager next year! You know that!"

"Let's just drop it, okay?"

Luckily for him the girl raised her hands in a gesture of surrender and backed away, intentionally or not the girl had walked right into a noticeable sore spot. Suddenly his mind was clouded with a million different thoughts competing for dominance and he retreated to his room to try and process them all.

There was one other person who he knew deserved to have this information. Besides being the only person to know a secret like this sucked and he wanted to talk to someone he'd know would have a similar reaction to his own. He opened his phone and quickly pressed on the contact of his friend.

"Hey Ken?"

"Yeah, Hey Toji what's up?"

"You're not gonna believe what I just heard."

Ryoji Kaji's day was looking like it was gonna be another bad one. He'd spent the majority of it exploring the secret and dreading inspiring lower halls of NERV HQ. Trying to see what skeletons the world's most powerful organization had in its proverbial closet.

Crawling around in cramped and sometimes slightly damp air ducts was not the glamorous career in espionage he'd always imagined for himself. It hadn't been for nothing though, he had reached a part of the facility that for all intents and purposes didn't exist.

Nothing inside of it was mapped out of it, no writings mentioned it and all the items and equipment he'd found in it had no records of its sale or purchase. It was effectively a ghost room and as soon as he stumbled onto it in his explorations he knew it had something important inside of it.

Fresh air had never tasted so sweet when he finally dropped out of the flimy air ducts with a graceful roll on the metallic floor beneath him. His high spirits were quickly put out by his imposing surroundings.

There were no light fixtures in this part of the facility, or maybe there were and he just couldn't see them, he wasn't sure. He used a small flashlight to illuminate the way ahead but it did a poor job, he made sure to keep a hand on the wall beside him so he didn't get turned around in the darkness.

Eventually he came across a doorway, feeling his hand slide across the grooves on its side. He quickly positioned himself next to the electronic lock faintly glowing in the dark. He pulled out the device he'd gotten for this purpose and prayed to every god he could think of that it would work properly.

He was met with success, the small indicator blinked green and the door slid open, allowing him to let out the breath he had been holding and strolled in. It was still dark in this room too but his eyes had adjusted better to the darkness now so he could get a somewhat clear picture of what was sitting in the cavernous chamber he'd suddenly found himself in.

It was hard to make out details but he could clearly see what looked to be a massive muscled humanoid shaped figure strapped to what looked to be some sort of operating table. There was a red orb glowing softly in its chest and 4 massive arms with metal plating fused right against its skin.

It was at this point that Kaji realized he was looking at another Evangelion being constructed. One that didn't match any of the reports he'd heard about previous models or any of the ones' currently in construction, logically like the place it was being built in, should not exist. Yet here it was.

The Angel's were already here and this thing only seemed half built at best. Why would you build an Eva that'll never be done in time to even see an Angel? Why build it in secret? Why does it look so different from the other Eva's he'd already seen? Kaji knew this had something to do with the web of secrets NERV had built itself upon. He was determined to find the truth, even if it seemed farther away from him with every discovery he made.

"Well, Well, Well, what do we have here? It would certainly seem you've been keeping yourself busy, Commander Ikari."

AN: Another one for the books, the story continues, I hope you enjoyed this one. The teenagers in this are 16 instead of 14, not really for any particular reason. The first time I watched Eva my stupid ass watched the original series and the Rebuild movies and passively assumed that for some reason and didn't really think about it. In hindsight it does work for the way I'm writing the characters, more submerged in the depths of puberty than just dipping their toes into it.

Also be sure to follow favorite and review if you liked the story, or even if you didn't you can still do it. I don't judge. I see number go up and my lizard brain likes it.

See ya on the next one