Immovable Barrier Part 2
Neon Genesis Evangelion/End of Evangelion/Rebuild of Evangelion © Gainex.

CHAPTER 2!

OH GOD THIS IS TOTALLY HAPPENING.

*****

"Wow, Bro. All this space... And underground. It's incredible!"

Shinji gushed at the scale of the Geofront, cavernous and yet lit beautifully. They rode the spiraling car transport down toward NERV HQ. The taller boy just looked out at the space with a sniff, upset.
"I don't like it. I don't like the idea of being underground. It... It makes my skin crawl."
The taller male shuddered, sitting with his arms crossed, leaning as far back into his chair as possible.

In the HQ, things were getting hairy. The Angel was almost directly over NERV HQ... It had begun to try and dig through the armor plating.
"Sir, trouble. The Angel is directly overhead... and the first layer has already been breached!"
Gendo simply stood, and left the room, headed to the Unit 01 Hangar.

Misato lead Shinji and the taller boy toward the Unit 01 hangar. No one talked as they walked, before they stepped out onto the bridge overlooking the face of EVA Unit 01. Shinji stood in awe. The taller boy looked up at it, and crossed his arms, tilting his head.
"So, Misato... This thing you wanted to show us... Is this it?"
The taller boy asked, fixing his sunglasses back up his nose. He was smirking, wide. In the window behind the head, a shadow moved into place. Gendo.
"...Shinji. And the other requested child. Good."
Gendo's tone was cold and smooth.
"This machine is the Evangelion, humanity's only hope. Shinji, you've been chosen to pilot this, the Unit 01."
Shinji looked up at the silhouette of his father, frowning. His hands were in his pockets, and he felt small, between the massive scale of the artificial human before him, and the image of his father beyond that.
"But... Why me? You must have someone else you can use. You've never needed me before."
He kept his head up. Bro's motto. Never lower your head to someone who doesn't deserve your praise.
"Because, Shinji. The only other pilot is injured."
"Other pilot?"
"You will meet her in due time. Until then, get in the Evangelion and defend Tokyo-3. The fate of humanity rests upon it."
Shinji looked at the taller boy, who looked around in mock bewilderment.
"Lemme get this right, Gendo. You brought Shinji here, to Tokyo-3, despite never talking to him before? I won't stand for these kinds of shenanigans!"
"Bro... Don't. I'll go."
Shinji's voice was trembling, and he felt small, but he kept his head up.

The launch catapult threw Shinji's nerves off, but he recovered as the thing stopped. Once he was at the surface again, he peered out at Tokyo-3.
"Shinji... Lets start off slow. Focus on walking."
Ritsuko delivered roughly the same line as ever. Shinji did as told, and the behemoth machine took a step, successfully. Shinji smiled softly, and a cheer could be heard, though the Taller boy simply said...
"I knew he could do it."
Unit one took another step, then a third. The Angel turned finally to investigate, curious. It let out an impossible wailing scream, and Shinji's concentration broke mid-step, causing the Eva to fall forward. Shinji's instinct, combined with the astonishingly high synch ratio, caused Unit 01 to do something unusual... It reached out, and caught itself. Shinji felt the pain well up his arms, but he grit his teeth, and tried to push himself back up as the angel closed distance.