Eva-01 Chamber (Night)

Dominic watched with an eager smile as Shinji's capsule was lowered into the Eva's neck. While the idea of being submerged in any kind of liquid personally terrified him, the concept of LCL was interesting.

"Amazing. All harmonics are at normal levels." one of the scientists said, astonished.

"I don't like saying I told you so, but..." Dominic said smugly to Misato, causing the woman to groan.

"No signs of a runway!" another scientist said.

"Prepare for launch!" Misato shouted. Several metal parts detached from the Eva, freeing it. Now that all of it was visible, Dominic could see a cord connecting the back with what he assumed was its power supply.

'Of course, Shinji being in there renders that thing useless.' the boy thought to himself, chuckling as he walked away.

"Where are you going?" Misato asked.

"Outside, of course." the blonde replied, exiting the room. Nobody realized that by 'outside', he meant the surface.


Tokyo-3 (Night)

Standing atop a building, Dominic had a clear view of both the Angel and Shinji. Neither had done anything, although the Angel's chest began to glow red. "Welp, time to get ready." the boy said, stretching his arms and legs as flames danced around him, forming a suit of golden armor around him. Flowing from his back was a cape of fire, and in his hand was a crimson sword made of crystal. "Now, let's see how this pans out."

The final restraints were released from the Eva, causing it to slouch forward. Then, it started walking. Shinji was slowly gaining control over the robot. Purple and green lightning surged from the Eva's fist as it crashed into the Angel's skull-like face. This attack was followed by beams of purple light that rained from above, cutting into the Angel's black skin. Shinji yelled as magic energy surged from his soul and into the robot he was piloting, forming a conduit for his powers. He willed the Eva to launch another punch, only for the Angel to grab his arm. The boy tried to escape, but the beast was too strong, even for him. The damage being dealt to the Eva's arm translated back to Shinji, causing pure agony for him.

With a snap, his wrist was broken.

Continuing its assault, a needle coming out of the Angel's arm began to glow. With its hand firmly gripping the Eva's head, the needle was pushed into the robot, hammering Shinji's brain repeatedly. Eventually, it managed to fully pierce the skull and sent the Eva into a building. A red liquid that resembled human blood was pouring out of the robot as it lay limply against the skyscraper. Shinji's HP reached zero with that final impact, rendering him unconscious.

"Looks like it's my turn." Dominic said, grinning under his helmet. He swung his weapon, launching a Sword Beam at the Angel's elbow and severing its arm. "Hmm. It's a lot weaker than I expected." the blonde said as the Angel brought down its fist onto his comparatively small form. Of course, this was useless. Dominic raised his arm as the attack fell, unleashing a beam of energy that vaporized the Angel's remaining arm. At this point, the monster's HP was at half.

Unimpressed by the Angel's power, Dominic willed the ground beneath it to form stone spikes that impaled it dozens of times. It couldn't move any more. But now that it was immobilized, Dominic felt something emanating from the gem-like core in its chest. With a grin, he fired another beam of energy, this time aimed directly at the core. The beam tore through the core seamlessly, causing a gigantic cross-shaped explosion that lit up the sky. Oddly, the detonation didn't affect anything except the Angel itself, rendering it harmless.

"The next one better be a lot stronger." Dominic said as he vanished in a flash of red light.


Medical Bay (Morning)

"What happened?" Shinji asked as he woke up.

"You lost. Badly." Dominic said, leaning back in his chair. "Don't worry, though. I picked up where you left off."

"Do you know what's going to happen next?" the injured boy asked.

"Right now, they're trying to figure out how the Angel died." Dominic said, proud of himself. "Of course, they have no idea that I'm the one responsible." After that, Shinji's stomach started to growl. "Hehe. I thought you'd be a bit hungry after that fight. Here." The blonde got a blue mushroom from his pocket, which Shinji gobbled down instantly. Green light flickered around his body as his injuries healed and his HP was replenished.


Gendo's Office (Morning)

"We've checked three times already, sir." Ritsuko told her superior. "There's no change in the Eva's internal structure, its core, or anything else. Whatever happened yesterday, Unit-01 wasn't affected by the result."

Two things happened that puzzled NERV. The first were the strange lights that appeared around Unit-01 as it fought the Angel. The second, and more pressing, concern was the armored figure that killed the Angel with power that surpassed the N2 Mines. They needed to be sure that they weren't threats.

"What of the Third Child?" Gendo asked.

"He was unconscious after the Eva suffered cranial damage." Ritsuko said. "He has no memory of what happened."

"We can't know for sure unless we question him ourselves." Fuyutsuki said.

Unbeknownst to them all, they were being watched.


Medical Bay (Morning)

"Oh, great. You're still here." Misato said to Dominic as she entered the room.

"Eh, I've got no reason to leave right now." the blonde said. "Besides, if I go, Shinji goes. And I'm sure old Gendo wouldn't want that, now would he?"

Once again, Misato felt the temperature increase as Dominic stared into her very Soul. "I guess." she said, unnerved by the boy in front of her.

"Can I ask you a favor, Miss Katsuragi?" Shinji asked. "We don't have anywhere to stay in this city, and I'd prefer it if my father was kept away from me. So, could Dominic and I stay with you?"

Both Misato and Dominic were left speechless at the request.


Gendo's Office (Morning)

"Who is the boy that the Third Child brought with him?" Gendo asked, curious about the blonde.

"He's a total non-entity." Ritsuko explained, still baffled herself. "There are no records of him ever living in Japan, and he said that he was Shinji's caretaker for the past ten years."

Gendo's eyes widened at that. While Dominic, to them, was too young for that statement to have any merit, the eldest Ikari felt the need to check something. He dialed the phone number for the man that picked the Third Child up all those years ago. But when the call went through...

All he heard was garbage noise.


"Sachiel had no chance of winning."