Chapter 3: Land of Confusion

Disclaimer: Evangelion is owned by Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. No monetary gain is intended from this work.

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Roughly 45 Minutes Ago…

It was a quiet night at the Atlas Astrological Research Center. The staff had comfortably settled in for another long, boring shift. Coffee had been made and the machine refilled several times as the workers tried to stave off sleep during their nightly shift.

Sat at his desk was signal finder and head of his division, Samuel Deems. He was a middle-aged fellow with a slim build and pale skin. He had a head of black hair that showed the faintest hints of gray, a faceful of stubble that needed a shave, and brown eyes behind a set of thick-rimmed glasses.

He wore a plain white button-up shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a set of olive-colored slacks, comfortable-looking brown shoes, and a blue and white striped tie. A badge that displayed his identity hung from his shirt pocket, and a high-tech headset sat snugly on his head.

It was his job to search for and send signals in the hopes of finding intelligent life on other planets. He'd worked in this division for 20 years without so much as a hint that any extraterrestrial life existed outside of Remnant. His division was the laughingstock of the entire AARC.

With the other divisions researching things like their solar system and ways to get a possible craft off the planet, the search for aliens wasn't exactly the most important thing for the Center to invest in. After such a long time, Samuel had begun to think that maybe the other divisions were right to make fun of them.

Until tonight.

He was doing his nightly routine of sending signals off into deep space in the hopes that they would pick up another signal or bounce off an object. The night had not gone well for the researcher so far. He hadn't found a single signal all night, no matter which direction he chose to orient his antenna.

A quick check with his co-workers revealed that they had only had a few signals bounce off objects. Overall, it was a very quiet night.

'If I knew it was going to be this slow, I would've called in sick.' He thought with a yawn.

SKKKKKKKEEEEEEE

"Aaagh! Shit!" Samuel tore the headset off with a curse and rapidly stood up from his terminal.

All his co-workers took notice and turned towards him.

"Are you okay, sir?" One of his juniors called out from across the room.

"I'm alright, Cal. Looks like I finally got somethin' tonight!" He joked.

The scientist lowered the volume on his headset drastically before putting it back on and sat back down. After a few minutes of analyzing the sound, he could safely say that whatever it was definitely wasn't an asteroid. The distinct sound of signals hitting the somewhat rounded shape of asteroids had become so ingrained in Samuel's brain that he no longer wasted time analyzing them when he found them.

Whatever he had just accidentally found was closer to the planet than the moon, and he could tell it wasn't shaped like the usual space rocks. Even stranger… it hadn't been there earlier. Samuel felt his heartbeat pick up slightly. This wasn't something that happened every day. He stopped himself and took a breath. Just because it was weird didn't mean it was any reason to start freaking out.

But it did warrant an investigation.

"Harrows!" Sam called.

A younger technician a few rows ahead of Samuel stuck his head up and took off his headset.

"Yeah, boss?" Harrows replied.

"Activate the Omegascope and swing it around to the coordinates I'm sending you." Samuel ordered as he quickly typed on his keyboard.

"Alrighty, boss. You want it on the big screen?" The techie inquired.

"Yeah." Samuel answered.

With a whir, the large telescope on top of their building turned on and began adjusting its position to the coordinates that had been put into its system. It was probably nothing, but Samuel still liked to have their giant telescope display what was being recorded onto the large screen at the front of their office. The images it caught could sometimes be utterly breathtaking in their beauty.

The image that had just appeared on the screen was anything but beautiful. For a few moments, everyone in the office stared slack-jawed at the screen, and it was so quiet, that Samuel could've heard a pin drop. The technician barely had the time to remember the proper protocol and grab his scroll to call his division's contact in the military before the room exploded into chaos.

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The Present

Shinji panted as he was pulled along through the moonlit forest. His mind raced through the things he'd witnessed tonight. Nothing made any sense. Where was he? Why was the moon shattered? What did Ruby mean by "Remnant"?

And what was that monster? Now that he wasn't staring down the creature's throat, rational thought was made a bit easier for the scared boy. Maybe it was some kind of Angel? It slightly resembled the first Angel he'd fought with its skull-like face and bony protrusions, but he saw no core on it anywhere, not even in its throat like the Angel that attacked the Over the Rainbow.

Maybe it really was a demon. But demons didn't exist. Or did they? He didn't know anymore. Shinji just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He wanted to open his eyes and see that stupid hospital ceiling that was no longer unfamiliar.

Ruby let out a sigh of relief as the two finally broke from the treeline into her backyard. She released Shinji's hand and spun around to face him.

"Are you hurt anywhere?!" She exclaimed with a wave of her arms.

The boy shook his head slightly, a dazed expression on his face.

"What was that about?! Why'd you suddenly run away like that?!" Ruby stared at him worriedly.

Shinji's unsteady gaze met hers for a second before darting away. A few seconds of silence passed before the boy decided to speak.

"This is a dream, right? It has to be a dream! None of this is real! It just can't be!" He babbled.

"Shinji, I don-"

"Maybe I can wake myself up!" He cut her off.

His right hand clenched and unclenched several times before he raised it and violently slapped himself across the face. When he saw nothing had changed, he slapped himself even harder.

"Stop it!" Ruby cried.

Ruby reached forward and grasped the frazzled boy's arms. He struggled in her grasp but couldn't break free. She may not have had any Aura left, but Ruby was still deceptively strong for her size.

Ruby's mind raced, trying desperately to decide what she should do. She had no experience dealing with people in such a wild emotional state. Her bright silver eyes gazed into his terrified blue ones. She had to make him stop harming himself, and this always calmed her down when she was upset. The redhead let go of his arms and enveloped the lad in a tight hug. One of her hands reached up to softly stroke the back of his head while her other arm held him in place.

"Shhhh, it'll be okay. We'll figure this out, so please stop hurting yourself." Ruby whispered softly.

Under normal circumstances, Shinji would've recoiled from the redhead's touch, but at the moment he hardly cared about what was appropriate. He wrapped his arms around Ruby and clutched her like a drowning man at sea. He buried his face in her shoulder and tried desperately to hold back sobs.

The last 24 hours were starting to weigh on him heavily.

Ruby felt her own eyes get a little misty. She wasn't sure what was going on with this boy, but she could practically feel the amount of raw stress radiating from him. She hated seeing people full of pain and sorrow like this, it reminded her too much of her family after her Mom had died.

The two just stood there momentarily as Shinji tried his best to collect himself. Ruby merely continued to stroke the back of his head. When he eventually got control of himself, he released the young girl and stepped back.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He said with a shuddering breath.

"It's okay. Like I said, everything will be okay. My Dad is on his way here and he'll know what to do, so let's go inside, okay?" Ruby asked with a sad smile.

Shinji's eyes widened once more, and he was hit with a wave of guilt and anxiety.

"Wait, what about your sister?! We just left her there with that… that thing!" He cried.

"She'll be fine. Yang's a lot stronger than she looks." The girl assured him.

The lad stared at her with a disbelieving look. Being strong was one thing, but that monster was huge and Ruby's sister had no gun or even a knife. Despite the odds, the girl in front of him looked positive that her sister would return unharmed.

Ruby could see that he wasn't convinced.

"I promise you, Yang will be fine. She'll pummel it and be back before you know it. In the meantime, we should wait for her inside." Ruby reassured him.

It was then that his frazzled mind remembered that the girl had sent the freakish thing flying with only a punch. Maybe she'd be okay after all.

Shinji gave a small nod in response. What could he even say at this point? Ruby's older sister apparently had superhuman strength, but would that be enough against that creature? The Third Child didn't know but he hoped the older girl would be okay.

'Why is she still being so kind to me?' He wondered.

It was one thing to be nice to a stranger in need, but he'd nearly gotten them both eaten by some monster, and he'd just left Yang out there with the beast. Even though the blonde had ordered them both to run, he still couldn't help but feel terrible. All he ever did was run.

Ruby reached out and grasped his wrist before calmly leading him back over onto the porch. A glance down revealed both their socks were soaked and filthy.

"We should probably take these off before we go inside." She announced with a gesture towards her feet.

Shinji saw what she meant, and a look of shame crossed his face. He felt even guiltier now.

'I really shouldn't have run into the woods like that.' He thought.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly while he removed the offending footwear.

"It's no biggie, I'll just put 'em in the wash." Ruby replied while she removed her own dirty socks.

Shinji turned to peer over his shoulder and took one last lingering look into the forest. He hoped what Ruby said about her sister was true, otherwise, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

Ruby opened the sliding glass door and the two teens walked back inside. Ruby took their soiled clothing and walked over to the washing machine. She stopped the machine before tossing the dirty clothes inside and restarted the wash cycle.

She then gave a small sigh and walked over to the couch before collapsing onto it. The young Huntress looked at the lad and patted the seat next to her with an awkward smile. Shinji awkwardly shuffled over before gently sitting down on the couch as far away from the girl as he could.

Ruby noticed he'd purposefully put distance between them but chose not to call attention to it. An uncomfortable silence descended on the room as Ruby gathered her thoughts on what to say to the Third Child.

Zwei let out a loud whine from his spot on his doggy bed. Even he could feel the tension in the air and gazed up at the boy with sad eyes. Shinji reached over from his spot on the couch and gently scratched behind the small dog's ear. On seeing the two, a lightbulb turned on inside Ruby's mind.

Zwei was a very special kind of dog, and it was time to let him do one of the things he was trained to do. It was okay to let his punishment slide this time if he could help get their guest to calm down a bit and stop producing those negative emotions. A run-in with a Beowolf was enough Grimm for one night.

"Zwei!" Ruby called.

The corgi's ears perked up, and he stood up. He stared at his master with curiosity in his eyes. Ruby pointed at the boy on the couch.

"Sad!" She exclaimed.

Upon hearing the word, Zwei sprang from his bed into Shinji's lap. He began whining while desperately nuzzling the boy's arm and licking at his hands. Shinji placed his hand on the corgi's head and lightly petted him along his back. Within a minute, Shinji's upset face softened a bit, and his shoulders released a bit of tension.

'Good job, Zwei!' Ruby mentally cheered the pup on.

She finally decided to broach the important topic at hand, but before she had a chance to open her mouth, Shinji spoke up.

"This isn't real, isn't it? I'm dreaming, aren't I? Please say I am." He had an almost desperate tone to his voice.

"No, you're awake." She responded with a shake of her head.

He swung his gaze to meet hers, and a look of slight disbelief crossed his face for a moment before he lowered it back to the small dog in his lap. A small part of him was starting to doubt he was dreaming. He felt pretty awake from the adrenaline that'd coursed through his veins earlier. He'd been in battle enough times to recognize that rush before.

Could that truly be replicated in a dream? He didn't think so. He'd had nightmares about the Angels before, but never any that made him feel like he did when he'd seen that creature in the woods and sprinted away with Ruby.

"You said "Remnant's Moon" earlier. What did you mean by that?" The lad questioned as he continued petting Zwei.

A look of confusion crossed the redhead's face for a lingering moment before her eyes widened in surprise. It finally clicked in her mind.

"Shinji… what… what planet are we on right now?" Ruby probed.

He looked at her with a look of incomprehension on his face. It was like he didn't understand the question and at the same time, he did. It was like he dreaded answering. His right hand began clenching and unclenching.

"E-E-Earth?" He stuttered nervously. The poor teen could barely get the word out.

A look of pure shock crossed Ruby's face at his answer. She wasn't sure how it was even possible. But with all the girl had seen tonight, the evidence was hard to deny.

'Oh my God… I think he really is an alien!'

Ruby could hardly believe it. She'd been serious when she'd asked him about his origins earlier, but a small part of her didn't even believe what she was asking. How could she? He looked like a completely normal person, spoke Babel, and even told them he was human. Everything that he'd told them after that seemed to disagree. Not to mention, his encounter with that Beowolf. It reminded her of when she'd first laid eyes on a Grimm when she was little. It was the look of someone realizing that monsters existed for the first time.

"No, Shinji, this world isn't Earth. The planet we're on is called Remnant." She explained softly.

A look of fear and shock crossed his face, and he was rendered speechless. His head lowered, and he stared down at the floor. Shinji chose just to go along with it. What else could he do? For now, he was trapped inside this strange delusion. Or was it perhaps a waking nightmare? The fear of not knowing what was happening upset him greatly. Zwei noticed the lad's state and began his whining and nudging once more.

The door to the porch slid open, and Yang strolled into the room. Shinji's eyes snapped up and a wave of relief flooded over him. It soon passed, and he dropped his head back down.

"Zwei, I thought I told you to stay in your bed!" Yang scolded as she closed the door and removed her boots.

"Let it go, Yang! He's doing his support thing!" Ruby barked.

Her gaze shifted back from Ruby to Shinji. She then noticed what Zwei was doing, and Yang's eyes widened in surprise. It'd been a long time since she'd seen Zwei do that. The blonde brawler sat her boots down next to the door and trudged over to the boy. He didn't move. His eyes remained locked on the floor. Yang noticed a slow stream of tears streaming down his face and felt her protective side kick in.

"Hey now, don't cry. What's the matter? Why'd you take off like that? You could have gotten hurt! And what happened to your face?" Yang asked as she gently lifted his head with her hands on his cheeks.

His cobalt eyes stared at her with a look of deep fear and sorrow, the likes of which she'd never seen before. It took a second for Shinji to find his voice.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I'm s-scared… a-and I don't know what to do! I don't know if I'm dreaming or if I'm crazy! I tried slapping myself to wake up! Please, Miss, I just want to go home!" He sniffled.

Yang's expression softened further and her eyes took on a motherly look. This situation called for a soft approach. Yang the hotheaded Signal student took a backseat and Big Sis Yang took the wheel.

"It's alright, but you can't go running into the dark like that, okay? You were lucky it was just a Beowolf." Yang spoke softly as she wiped his tears away with her fingers and gently reached up to hug him gently. Ruby stared at the pair, wishing desperately that she could have done something more to calm Shinji.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again." He sniffled and let her hug him.

"Good. Now come on, big guy, dry those tears. It'll be okay. We'll get you back to where you belong in no time." Yang smiled softly as she pulled back from him. She didn't know what was going on but she knew that he was hurting and scared. It was a sad sight for the blonde girl.

"Sis... that might be harder than we thought." Ruby interjected.

"Huh? Why?" The blonde Huntress inquired.

Before she got a chance to answer, the sound of a car pulling up to the house got everyone's attention. Yang rose from her position and speed-walked over to put on her boots once more.

"That must be Dad. You two sit tight, I'm gonna go talk to him for a second." Yang ordered as she strode across the living room before walking out the front door.

Neither Shinji nor Ruby said anything as another silence descended upon the room. Shinji was nearly beside himself with worry and was now nervous about meeting the girls' father. What if their father was angry at him for putting his daughters in danger? What if he threw him out? Where would he go? He didn't even know where he was at the moment. How would he even attempt to get home?

Was there even a way home? Or should he ask whether there was a way to awaken? He wished for this demented dream to end soon. The denial had set in but a small feeling of creeping dread was there in the back of his mind.

He jumped slightly at the sound of the front door opening. The two teens turned to see Yang strolling in with two middle-aged men behind her. Both were tall and looked to be around the same age. The first man had blue eyes, a head of faded blonde hair, and a soul patch on his face. He wore a comfy-looking orange coat with a grey shirt underneath. A pair of old jeans and brown trainers adorned his lower half.

The second man had a head of greying, spiky black hair, and a jawline full of stubble. He wore a grey winter coat with white fur trim around the collar and accents of crimson along the sleeves and zipper. He wore a pair of navy blue slacks stained faintly with mud and black shoes. Several rings adorned his fingers, and a tattered crimson cape peeked out from behind him.

But what got Shinji's attention most was the slanted crucifix necklace that he wore around his neck and his pale red eyes.

"Hi, Uncle Qrow." Ruby smiled from her spot on the couch.

"Hey, Pipsqueak. Heard you've had an interesting night." He snarked.

"Yeah, you could say that…" She trailed off as she glanced over at Shinji.

The man's eyes followed her gaze, and he and Shinji locked eyes for a moment before a cheeky grin spread across the man's face.

"And you must be the space case I've heard about!" The man joked.

An elbow to the ribs from the blonde was enough to wipe the grin off the man's face.

"Qrow, we just got here! Can you not upset him further, please!" The blonde man scolded.

"Alright, alright, I hear you! I was just trying to break the ice. Interject a little humor and all that…" Qrow griped while he pulled out a flask and took a sip from it.

The blonde man pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed before he shifted his gaze onto the boy and a light smile drifted onto his face.

"It's good to see you awake." The man said.

Shinji softly moved Zwei off his lap before standing up, walking around the couch, and bowing deeply to the two newcomers. Ruby stood up as well and walked up behind the lad. Taiyang's smile faltered slightly at the obvious tear tracks and red handprints on the boy's face. Yang had informed them about everything that had occurred after Shinji had woken up.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused." The Third Child whimpered.

Taiyang raised an eyebrow at that. That definitely lined up with what Yang had said outside. Taiyang stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, and he came up from his bow.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's never any trouble to help someone in need." The man explained.

A pair of hollow blue eyes stared into his own. It was never easy for him to see a child with that sort of look in their eyes. Qrow noticed it too, and all future attempts at humor he may have made flew out the window. The two Huntsmen shared a quick glance. They'd both seen that kind of look in a child's eyes after they'd experienced some sort of trauma. It was the look of someone whose entire world had crashed and burned before their eyes.

"I see you've met my daughters and Zwei there." The man said with a smile.

"U-Uh, yes, sir. Forgive my rudeness, my name is Shinji Ikari." The boy said softly.

"It's okay, kiddo. You haven't done anything wrong. I'm Taiyang Xiao Long. The joker over there is my brother-in-law, Qrow Branwen." He explained with a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the other man.

"It's nice to meet you both." Shinji gave another slight bow.

"I hear you've had a rough time tonight. I wouldn't recommend you go running into the woods again. Patch is pretty safe, but it still has Grimm roaming around. Guess you found out the hard way." Qrow warned the boy.

He flinched back slightly and nodded. He felt awful at once again hearing how badly he'd screwed up by running away. His self-loathing was interrupted by a stray thought. Shinji's eyes widened slightly, and he turned towards Yang. There was that word again.

"Was that demon thing from earlier a Grimm?" He inquired.

Before she could answer, Qrow spoke up.

"Wait, wait, wait. You don't know what a Grimm is?" Qrow interjected.

"No, sir." He mumbled.

Qrow and Tai shared another glance before Taiyang nodded and began to explain.

"The creature you saw earlier is called a Beowolf. It's a type of monster called a Grimm. Does any of that sound familiar to you at all?" Taiyang asked softly.

Shinji shook his head and turned back to the blonde brawler.

"Y-You punched that thing and sent it flying earlier. How did you do that?" Shinji pondered.

Yang grinned and flexed a muscled arm.

"I've always been super strong. Some of it's part of my Semblance, some of it I got from Dad. He's super strong too." She explained.

"What's a Semblance?" His face held a mask of continued confusion.

Yang's grin faded, and she looked at the adults with a pleading expression.

"It's a power that's unique to a person with their Aura unlocked." Taiyang explained.

"Aura?" Another look of confusion fell on Shinji's face.

The two adults were a bit gobsmacked by the question. Yang had mentioned that something weird was going on with the boy, but they hadn't expected this. Did he have some form of amnesia? He didn't recognize basic things that everyone on the planet knew.

Taiyang decided to switch topics and see if anything could jog the boy's memory.

"Okay, what about this? We're currently right outside Palinwood, on the Island of Patch, right outside the capital city of the Kingdom of Vale. Any of that clicking with you, Shinji?" Taiyang questioned.

Another negative shake of the lad's noggin.

"Let's try asking something else. Uhhh, let's see..." Qrow said, with a scratch of his chin.

"It won't matter what you ask him about the world, he won't understand." Ruby chimed in.

"Why's that?" Taiyang inquired.

"Because he's not from Remnant." Ruby explained.

"Oh no, not this again." Yang groaned softly.

"I'm serious, Yang! I'm sure of it now! It's the only thing that makes sense!" Ruby exclaimed.

Yang put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow.

"You realize how crazy that sounds, right? I mean, look at him! Does he look like an alien to you? Plus, he even told us he wasn't!" Yang stated.

"You don't understand, he's confused! He thinks he's dreaming!" Ruby declared loudly.

"Of course he's confused, he most likely has some form of head trauma or amnesia or something!" Yang countered.

"It's not amnesia!" Ruby yelled. Why wasn't Yang listening to her? She'd seen the boy's suit and the disgusting liquid he was covered in.

"That's enough, you two! There's no need to fight. I'd like to hear our guest's side of things if you please." Taiyang stopped the two before an argument could start.

He turned back to the guest in question and gestured for him to speak.

"I have no idea where I am or what's happening, but I swear I don't have amnesia! A-And that Beowolf thing was going to kill me and… and… I just wanna go home!" His voice grew progressively louder as he rambled.

A pleading look sat upon his face. He wanted desperately for someone to shatter the illusion he found himself in. A last-ditch chance that maybe none of this was true, that he was still going to wake up to the familiar chirping of cicadas and eternal summer heat.

Life was not so kind to the young Ikari as to indulge that fantasy. The two Huntsmen knew they needed to handle this situation with care.

"Settle down, kid. We don't know what's going on either. Now can you explain where exactly you're from so we can try to get a straight story? Help us help you." Qrow probed.

The boy quieted down upon hearing the man's request, Shinji took a breath and tried his best to calm himself.

"I'm from Tokyo-3. It's one of Japan's major cities." He explained.

"Japan?" Taiyang asked.

"Yeah, it's one of the countries of Asia… on planet Earth…" He continued.

No one in the room looked like they had any idea of what the boy was talking about. It was clear to the adults in the room that this boy was either delusional... or he was telling the truth. Yang just glanced at her father and uncle before giving them a strained smile and a shrug. Qrow nodded ever so slightly and smiled back, but Taiyang kept his face neutral.

"I told you this wouldn't work!" Ruby crossed her arms over her chest.

She turned to the lad before anyone else could speak. Time to try something else.

"I remember you said the capsule thingy I pulled you out of was called an entry plug. And you also mentioned angels and piloting a robot. What was it called again? An Eva... Evan… Evanjellyon?" She inquired.

"Evangelion. We call them Evas for short." He corrected her pronunciation.

"So what exactly is this "entry plug" thing?" Taiyang questioned the boy.

"It's kind of like a cockpit. It's where I sit when I'm piloting the Eva." Shinji informed them.

"You pilot a robot?" Qrow stated with a look of disbelief.

"Yeah, he said they protected the city he's from." Yang answered for the boy.

"Must be one big, damn robot if that cylinder was just the cockpit …" Qrow mumbled as he took another sip from his flask.?

"Yeah... they're, uh, pretty big." Shinji responded.

Taiyang shifted the conversation. There was something he needed to know.

"What was that fluid inside your entry plug, Shinji? It smelled like blood." Taiyang inquired.

"It's called LCL. It helps me sync with Unit-01, and it's supposed to dampen the impact of getting flung around inside the plug. That's what Dr. Akagi says…" He responded.

"And the entry plug gets filled with that shit while you're in it?" Qrow pondered.

"Yes. It tastes and smells like blood, but it's breathable… at least for a couple of hours anyway. Dr. Akagi said it oxygenates my blood directly." He explained.

"It's true! He coughed up some of that nasty stuff before I pulled him out!" Ruby added.

Breathable liquid? It didn't sound possible, but the two Huntsmen had seen stranger things than that. And who was this Dr. Akagi? What was the good doctor's relationship with this boy? Better yet, where was his family? Did he even have any family? Taiyang and Qrow needed to know.

"Who is Dr. Akagi?" Taiyang inquired.

"She's the head of the science division. She keeps NERV's tech systems up and running. She's also in charge of repairing the Evas when they get damaged. At least, that's what my legal guardian told me." The boy elaborated.

"Guardian? Where are your parents?" Tai questioned.

A pained look crested Shinji's face before he answered.

"My Mother died when I was four and my Father and I… we don't get along." The Third Child explained sadly.

Yang and Ruby gazed at the boy with a look of understanding. They knew firsthand what growing up without a mother was like.

The blonde Huntsman felt bad when he saw the dejected look on the boy's face when he brought up his parents but if they wanted to get Shinji home, he needed to know every bit of relevant information he could get. However, seeing as Shinji didn't know basic things that every child his age should already know about the world, getting him home was going to be difficult. The elder Xiao Long still needed to know who the boy's guardian was.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But you do have a legal guardian, yes?" Tai inquired.

Shinji nodded his head. That was good news at least. If the boy remembered a scroll number, they could get ahold of someone who knew him. Assuming he was actually just delusional and not, well, an alien.

"Well, it's good to know someone's taking care of you. I'm sure we'll get you home to them in no time! What's your guardian's name?" Tai smiled.

"Misato Katsuragi." He answered quietly. The two Huntsmen committed the name to memory.

"Do you know her scroll number?" Taiyang asked.

More confusion was plastered across Shinji's face as he responded. "Scroll? Don't you mean phone?"

So much for that idea.

"Never mind, we'll come back to that. Can you tell us about that strange thing you were wearing when we found you?" Taiyang inquired.

Shinji's eyes widened. He'd completely forgotten about his suit.

"Yes, it's called a plugsuit. It monitors my vitals and has a built-in life support system." He answered.

"I see. For a minute, I didn't know if we were gonna be able to get that latex nightmare off of you without cutting it off. We were lucky that Yang found the button on your wrist." Taiyang remarked.

Shinji blushed at that. He was used to waking up in the hospital without his suit, but he'd never come face-to-face with the person who'd changed him out of it before. He was lucky they'd let him borrow what he was wearing.

"T-Thank you for the clothes, sir. I'll put my suit back on and give these back right away!" He fretted with another bow.

Taiyang just gave a fatherly smile and lightly ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry about it. Keep those on for now. I guarantee they're way more comfortable to sleep in than that thing. Especially on that lumpy, old couch." Taiyang grinned goodnaturedly.

The Third Child came up from his bow with a look of shock.

"Y-You're letting me stay?! After all the trouble I've caused?!" He exclaimed.

"What trouble? Like I said before, someone in need is never any trouble around this household." Taiyang stated.

Shinji was too stunned to answer. This dream was too bizarre. Or maybe he'd finally gone crazy.

'Everyone is being so nice...I don't understand…' The boy thought.

Taiyang grinned slightly and moved past him towards the kitchen.

"Let's take a proper look at that suit of yours." He announced.

The group and the energetic corgi all followed Taiyang into the kitchen to see him lay Shinji's plugsuit on the table.

"How do you know this thing has a life support system? It looks like something a cosplayer would wear to me." Yang remarked with a hand on her hip.

"Well, it's out of power right now, so you can't see it, but there's a little touchscreen on the back of the right hand that can be used to monitor my vitals. It's how I turn on the heating and cooling functions for life support too." He explained.

"That's it? Doesn't sound like much of a life support system to me." Qrow said.

"It does other stuff too. I know it has sensors on the inside that scan me when I put it on to make sure it fits perfectly when I pressurize it. It can also provide electric shocks to restart my heart if I need it. ...That happened once." He explained with a shudder.

Qrow and Taiyang shared an intense look upon hearing that. The more they heard, the less they liked. Shinji may not have been of sound mind but a look inside the suit revealed a series of complicated electronics. Had someone abused this boy and brainwashed him into thinking all this nonsense? A look of horror and concern crossed Ruby's face, and Yang looked like she wasn't sure if she believed it.

"Anything else?" Yang pondered.

"Ummm… it has a camera too. I think." He said as he tapped the black lens in the center of the suit.

"A camera?" Ruby blurted.

"Yeah. It doesn't let us take pictures or anything. It only records stuff when I'm inside the entry plug and the Eva is activated." The lad elaborated.

Ruby's eyes widened, and she stared at the suit with a look of curiosity. An idea began to take shape.

'A camera, huh? I wonder…' Ruby thought.

Shinji peered down at the suit when he noticed something. His hand quickly felt around on the top of his head. They were gone.

"Wait, where are my neural clips?" Shinji pondered.

"Huh? Neural clips?" Yang wondered.

"They're these little white hair clips. They look kind of like cat ears." He explained while pointing to where the clips normally were.

"We didn't see anything like that. I didn't even see them before I pulled you out of the plug." Ruby explained.

"They must've come off when I hit my head." Shinji theorized.

"What's so important about these hair clips?" Qrow mused.

"They help me pilot the Eva. Dr. Akagi says they link my brain into the Eva's systems." The boy remarked.

Qrow raised an eyebrow at that. This kept getting more and more absurd. Hair clips that helped connect a teenage boy to the system of a giant robot? Get out of here.

'It sounds like something from a TV show or something.' Qrow thought.

"What about these 'Angels' you mentioned earlier? You said they were monsters, so why'd you get so freaked out by that Beowolf?" Yang wondered.

"It's true that the Angels are monsters, but none of the ones I've fought were anything like that thing in the woods!" He proclaimed.

"What are they like then?" The blonde brawler asked.

"They're all gigantic, except for the 9th Angel. Each one is unique, and they attack one at a time. Sometimes they don't even look like living things at all." He explained.

"They sound kinda like Leviathans to me. Why make robots to fight them when you could shoot 'em with tanks and airships and stuff?" Yang pondered.

"It's because they have something called an AT Field. It's a kind of force field that surrounds them at all times. Bullets and missiles just bounce right off. The only reason the Evas work against them is because they can produce an AT Field of their own and nullify the Angels' field." Shinji elaborated.

"Well, that's convenient." Yang joked, sarcastically.

"They also can't be killed unless you destroy their core." He continued.

A look of confusion from everyone spurred him on.

"It's their weak spot. It's a big, red ball inside their bodies. If you don't destroy it, they regenerate any damage we do to them." The boy divulged.

"And how many of these things have you fought?" Taiyang queried.

"There's been ten of them so far. The Third Angel was the first one I fought but Dr. Akagi said the first two were already dead. I've only fought eight of them though. One was killed by another pilot. And there was one that was a computer virus or something. At least that's how I understood it." He answered.

"A computer virus?" Ruby wondered.

He nodded in response.

"Like I said, they're not like regular animals. Their forms don't make any sense sometimes. Like the…" He trailed off.

"Just like what, kiddo?" Qrow asked.

He was frozen in place. His mind raced in between everything he'd experienced tonight. Finally, he was left with three horrifying options. The first is that this was all a dream and he was still trapped inside the Angel of Night, slowly suffocating to death. Secondly, he was insane and trapped inside his own mind. And the final option is that somehow all of this was real. That somehow he'd been transported to somewhere that wasn't on Earth.

He hated to admit it, but the longer time stretched on, the more it seemed like the third option was true. He didn't think his brain was creative enough to create such a detailed illusion if he were crazy. Ruby told him that he was very much awake. He didn't want to believe her, didn't want to believe he'd been transported to a different world. How could something like that even happen? It was a terrifying concept for the young pilot. But dream or not, he needed to explain his situation if only to help get his jumbled thoughts in order.

"Just like the Twelfth Angel…" He announced.

"The Twelfth Angel?" Taiyang inquired.

Shinji nodded to the man and began recounting the events of Leliel's attack.

"Yesterday, an Angel attacked the city. It was like nothing we'd seen before. It looked like this giant floating ball of black and white in the sky." He explained.

Ruby's eyes zeroed in on him as the words left his mouth. 'That almost sounds like what I saw when he crashed!'

Shinji's brow knit together in a grimace, and he continued.

"The other two pilots and I launched to fight it and I took point during the mission. We were supposed to stay back and see what it would do, but… I got impatient…" The boy revealed.

"What happened?" Ruby probed.

"I opened fire at the sphere in the sky and everything went wrong right after that." He shuddered before continuing his story.

"The bullets passed right through its body and it disappeared. Then this gigantic shadow appeared underneath Unit-01 and I-I looked up and the sphere was back." His body began to shake and shudder nervously.

"Then my Eva started to sink into the shadow. I couldn't stop it. No matter what I did, it just kept sinking! Eventually, it swallowed my Eva!" He trembled.

The boy's shaking grew.

"It was just a white void inside it! A-And it was freezing cold in there! I put the Eva in life support mode and turned on the heating system in my plugsuit and waited for rescue." He babbled fearfully.

"Then what?" Ruby asked timidly.

The look of sheer terror on the boy's face was upsetting for the young Huntress to see.

"I waited for 16 hours! Sixteen hours with no word from the outside! I fell asleep and started having these weird dreams. When I woke up, the LCL started to lose oxygen!" He blubbered.

Qrow and Taiyang did NOT like the sound of that. He was starting to think someone had tampered with this child's mind. Or maybe he was hallucinating from oxygen deprivation? There were a great number of possibilities. Whatever it was, Shinji looked like he truly believed every impossible thing he told the family.

"T-Then I could hear these massive booms everywhere! I don't know what they were, but I'm pretty sure they were explosions! Unit-01 started moving on its own and the entry plug got launched outside! I remember getting tossed around like a ragdoll before hitting my head. Then I woke up and saw Ruby for a second before I blacked out again and woke up here." He explained.

By the end of his story, Shinji was a trembling bundle of nerves.

"I see." Taiyang stated.

Taiyang placed a hand on his shoulder to calm the boy. His shaking subsided a bit, but his unease was still very apparent. He could still feel the tension in the pilot's shoulder. Shinji gazed at the family's faces. Only Ruby looked like she truly believed everything he'd told them.

It was clear to Qrow and Taiyang that whether or not his story was true, he'd been under a great deal of stress and trauma. After hearing the boy's tale, the dusty old Huntsman decided to give Ozpin a call. Maybe the old wizard could help. If not, they were going to have to take Shinji to the hospital and have him checked out.

"Tai, I'm gonna make that call now." Qrow announced.

"Alright. We'll be here." Taiyang acknowledged.

With that, Qrow stepped out the back door.

"Who's Uncle Qrow calling?" Yang asked, curiously.

"Just an old friend in social services. He's going to try asking around to see if anyone has reported Shinji as missing or if there's any clues could help us find out where he belongs." Taiyang hated to lie to his girls, but they didn't need to know the truth.

Yang just smiled and nodded in understanding. Shinji looked hurt that his story had been disregarded so quickly. He'd just told them everything about why he ended up here! But maybe they had a point. Maybe he was crazy.

Ruby paid no attention to anyone else. She stood, lost in thought. The Huntress-in-training was putting a plan together. If she was right, then she could prove Shinji was not from Remnant.

"Hmm…" Ruby hummed as she leaned over the suit and brought a hand to her chin. She inspected every inch of the front of the suit, and a mental light bulb switched on. She could work with this.

"Be right back!" The red-haired girl shouted as she raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Nobody could get a word in before she was out of sight. Even without any Aura left to fuel her Semblance, she was still as fast as lightning.

XXXXXXXXXX

Qrow stepped into the chilly night air and walked several yards away from the house to ensure he wasn't overheard. He took another swig from his flask and opened his scroll's contacts to find Ozpin's name.

'I wonder what the old man is gonna think about this shit.' Qrow pondered as he pressed the call button.

Ozpin picked up on the first ring.

"Ah, Qrow, I'm glad you called. I was just about to call you." Ozpin declared.

Qrow's eyes narrowed at that.

'I'm taking some time off, dammit! It's bad enough I gotta deal with this UFO crap right now!' Qrow thought.

"Look, Oz, if this is about Fall again, I'm telling you nothing's changed. As soon as my contact finds more intel, I'll be back on their trail. But for now, I'm gonna do my day job for a while." Qrow grumbled.

"I understand. I take it this call isn't about that then?" Ozpin inquired.

"Nope. We've got a little bit of a situation down here in Patch." Qrow informed him.

"What kind of situation?" Ozpin inquired.

"I'm at Tai's place right now, and to make a long story short, Ruby rescued some kid earlier tonight, and some weird stuff is going on." Qrow elaborated.

"What do you mean?" Ozpin probed.

"Check this out. Tai filmed it when he went to investigate the crash site up near Summer's memorial." Qrow divulged as he sent the video over.

"Crash site?" Ozpin asked.

"Just watch that video and you'll see." Qrow ordered.

A quick viewing of said video left Ozpin most intrigued.

"This is concerning. I've never seen a machine quite like this before, nor have I seen an Ursa behave in such a manner. And what of the child your niece rescued?" Ozpin questioned.

"He's a kid about her age. Real skittish and overly polite. She says she pulled him out of that metal thing. Somehow he walked away from that crash with only a scratch on his head." Qrow responded.

"Oh? And you think he could be connected to Salem?" Ozpin picked the Huntsman's brain.

Qrow took a sip of his flask before he responded.

"No, I don't think so. If he is, he's one hell of an actor to pull out such a crazy-ass story and tell it like he believes it. Or… he's been brainwashed." Qrow grunted.

"Brainwashed? What did this young man claim?" Ozpin inquired.

Qrow let out a small bark of laughter.

"All kinds of nonsense. Ruby's convinced the kid is an alien. He claims to be from some planet called Earth. Can you believe that crap?" Qrow snorted.

A few seconds of silence stretched on before Qrow heard Ozpin let out one of the deepest sighs he'd ever heard from the Headmaster.

"Ohhhh dear…"

To hear the old wizard react like that to something that sounded so outlandish was more than a little strange.

"Uhhhh… Oz?" Qrow said awkwardly.

"I apologize, Qrow but I need you to tell me everything that has transpired tonight. Leave out no details." Ozpin gave a solemn command.

'Got a feeling this night's about to get way longer…' Qrow thought as he took a large gulp from his flask.

Qrow did as Ozpin ordered and retold the night's events. He spoke of Taiyang's call, the crashed entry plug, the hypnotized Ursa, the lost pilot's story, and his little jaunt into the woods that ended with him being face-to-face with a Beowolf. After hearing the details of Qrow's report, Ozpin inhaled deeply and let out another massive sigh. It made the man's next words all the more serious.

"Qrow… there are some… things that you should know. Things I never told anyone else about because I never thought we would ever encounter anything of this nature ever again. At least not in such an overt way…" Ozpin sighed.

The dusty, old Huntsman felt anxiety bloom inside his chest alongside a wave of rising anger. Did Ozpin know about this kid?!

"What the hell are you about to drop in my lap, old-timer?!"Qrow wondered.

"Something I thought I'd never have to recount to anyone. Before I start this story, I'm going to need your assurance that no one learns of this, not even the boy. I don't want to give him false hope." Ozpin said mournfully.

Qrow really didn't like the sound of that.

"Alright, Oz. I hear ya. I'll keep it quiet, I swear on Summer's grave." Qrow responded.

"Good. Now then…"

XXXXXXXXXX

A Few Minutes Later

Qrow stared blankly down at his scroll, an expression of pure shock written on his face. He felt the same as when Ozpin had first revealed the shadow war that had been going on in the background of Remnant's history. The impossible had just become real for the second time in his life. The worst part is that Qrow couldn't even be mad at Ozpin for not telling him what he'd just said until now. It all made perfect sense.

Ozpin's voice came through the scroll's speakers. "Qrow? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, Oz… I'm just… processing all that…" He trailed off.

"I understand, it's a lot to take in. Now that I've told you about this, I must inform Glynda of this matter. She and I will be coming to retrieve this "entry plug" after I explain everything." Ozpin revealed.

"I thought you wanted this one played close to the chest." Qrow commented.

"Indeed, I do. But I'm only informing my most trusted about this. Only you, James, and Glynda can know of this. The call James and I had earlier tonight now makes a disturbing amount of sense." Ozpin replied.

"What the hell does Jimmy know about all this?!" Qrow snapped.

"It seems he's found the boy's robot." The Headmaster explained.

"WHAT?! The robot is in Solitas?!" Qrow ranted. He quickly glanced back to the house and lowered his voice.

"No, it's in space ABOVE Solitas. James received notification that the Atlas Astrological Research Center had found an anomaly.. James then quickly took control of the situation and locked down all information about this event and got the workers that discovered it to keep quiet." Ozpin informed.

"Wonder how many employees he had to shoot to make that happen?" Qrow wondered.

"James assures me no one was harmed. They were all apparently ecstatic to be working with the Atlas Military on monitoring the anomaly." Ozpin continued.

"'No one was harmed, my ass!" He snorted.

"Qrow, can we please not do this now?" Ozpin groaned.

"Fine, fine. So that's what we're calling his robot now? An "anomaly"?" Qrow questioned.

"Yes, and I'd like to keep it that way. Even after it comes down." Ozpin answered.

"COMES DOWN?! Are you saying that thing is falling to Remnant?!" Qrow barked.

"Yes. The analysts that found it have predicted its flight path will eventually bring it close enough to enter the atmosphere and make landfall somewhere within Atlas's borders. However, they couldn't quite create an exact timetable of when this would eventually occur, only that it would most likely happen within a few months." Ozpin divulged.

Qrow could feel a migraine coming on and let out a sigh.

"For now, Glynda and I must collect this so-called entry plug and find a safe place to store it." Ozpin informed.

"She's not gonna be happy about this, y'know." Qrow warned.

"I'm aware. But it must be done. I'd appreciate it if you'd assist us in this matter." Ozpin sighed.

"Sure thing. What do you need me to do?" Qrow responded.

"Patrol the crash site and keep anyone else from getting too close. Glynda and I will be on our way in an airship to retrieve the entry plug in about 45 minutes." Ozpin ordered.

"Roger that. I'll head back up to the crash site and keep watch for anyone sniffing around." Qrow responded.

"Thank you, Qrow. Before I go, I must ask. Does this young man have anywhere to stay for the night?" Ozpin questioned.

"Yeah, Tai's letting him shack up at his place tonight. What are we gonna do with this kid anyway? Do you want to talk to him?" Qrow wondered.

"No. As much as I'd like to speak to this young man, I believe in his current state I would do more harm than good. I'm afraid there isn't much we can do for him, other than help him attempt to try and live as normal of a life as he can." Ozpin sighed.

Qrow sighed through his nose. The old man was right. There really wasn't much they could do. They couldn't tell him anything, and they couldn't throw him into an orphanage. Everyone would think he was crazy if he told them his story without any evidence.

"So, what now? What do we do with him?" Qrow asked.

"Well, first you must make the boy understand that Remnant is his home now. He'll also need his citizenship and other essentials, but I can begin taking care of that as soon as we have the entry plug safely secured and we've returned to Beacon. I should have them ready by tomorrow." Ozpin continued.

Qrow's eyes held a look of sadness. He did not look forward to telling Shinji that there was no way home. It reminded him of telling children their families had been killed by Grimm. Qrow had the displeasure of doing that many times before and it never got any easier.

"And what about Tai? He's gonna want to know what's going on." Qrow pointed out.

"Just… just tell him. There's no point in keeping it from him, he's seen too much. And he knows how to keep a secret. But no one else can know!" Ozpin ordered him.

Qrow took another gulp from his flask.

"Well… guess I'll go and let Tai know what's going on, and break the news to the kid." Qrow groaned.

"Yes. I apologize for you having to do this, Qrow. I wish things could be different for this young man." Ozpin said sadly.

"Me too, Oz. Me too. I'll see you soon." Qrow sighed as he ended the call.

Qrow groaned heavily and drained the rest of his flask. He was going to need all the liquid courage he could get before he went into the house and potentially ruined that child's life with what he was about to tell him. What a horrid night it was.

Qrow took a lingering glance up at Remnant's shattered moon.

"What a shitshow. I wish you were here right now, Summer. You'd know how to handle this better than any of us…" Qrow muttered to himself.

After a few seconds, he turned and shuffled back over towards the cabin. Opening the back and stepping inside, Qrow was met with the unexpected sight of his youngest niece wearing a pair of thick rubber gloves that covered her entire forearms and a set of welder's goggles.

She stood over the plugsuit that lay on the table, its chest piece having been partially disassembled. Her toolbox sat open on the table, with various tools and small vials of different types of Dust meticulously sorted inside it.

"Whatcha doin', Pipsqueak?" Qrow inquired.

"You'll see…" She muttered as she continued working. Her eyes never left the suit in front of her.

Qrow turned to the others in the room. Yang and Tai just shrugged their shoulders. Once Ruby got started on a project, it was hard to get her to stop.

Shinji paid Qrow little mind. His focus was on Ruby. He stared at the redhead intently, curiosity written on his face. He wanted to know what she was doing with his suit, but when he asked, he'd gotten the same response as Qrow did. He saw no reason to stop her from disassembling his plugsuit. It didn't look like she'd broken anything. And even if she did, it didn't matter.

Who cared if something was broken inside of a dream?

Qrow strode over to stand next to Taiyang and leaned over toward him. The blonde Huntsman noted the grave look on his brother-in-law's face and frowned slightly.

"I need to talk to you for a minute. Privately." Qrow whispered.

"Alright." Taiyang whispered back.

The blonde man turned toward the children.

"We'll be back in a second, kids. Yang, make sure your sister doesn't burn the house down." Taiyang ordered.

Yang gave her father a thumbs-up and an "Okay".Taiyang nodded in response and followed Qrow back outside. Ruby was so absorbed in her work that she barely noticed they left.

'Let's see here… AHA! Hello Mr. Battery!'

Ruby grinned like the cat that caught the canary. She'd found what she'd been looking for. The girl finally looked up from the suit and turned towards Shinji.

"You wouldn't happen to know if this battery is rechargeable, would you?" She wondered.

He shrugged.

"Well, shoot. I guess we'll find out." Ruby announced.

"Rubes, c'mon. What are you doing?" Yang inquired.

"I have an idea! Like I said, you'll see." Ruby smiled.

Ruby turned to her tools and picked up a small vial full of a yellow substance.

'What's that stuff?' He wondered.

Yang noticed the curious expression on the lad's face.

"I take it you don't know what Dust is either?" Yang asked.

"No." He shook his head.

"Well, you're about to find out. Back up, you don't wanna get shocked." Yang told him.

'Shocked?' He pondered.

He did as she told him and stepped a few feet away from the table. Yang and Zwei stood next to him and the three watched Ruby as she uncorked the vial and poured a small amount of the powdery substance onto the battery she'd found inside. Ruby then put the cork back on the vial and placed it back into her toolbox before picking up a tool.

The tool she held was a small, metal rod with two small prongs at the tip. Ruby grasped the middle of the tool and pulled it. The small, metal rod extended until it was over a foot and a half long. Ruby pressed the only button on the device, and the two prongs at the tip slammed together, creating a few sparks. Ruby nodded to herself before backing away slightly and lowering the two prongs down until they were just above the yellow substance.

"Alright, here we go! Igniting the Dust in three… two… one!" Ruby announced.

Ruby pressed the button, and Shinji was astonished at what happened next. As soon as the sparks hit the yellow powder, a rapid chemical reaction occurred. The powder ignited, but instead of flame, arcs of electricity danced throughout the plugsuit. Shinji was astonished upon seeing the touchscreen on the suit's wrist light up. Power had been restored to his plugsuit.

"Yes! It worked! Uh-huh, go Ruby! You're the smartest!" Ruby cheered as she shuffled about in an awkward little dance.

"Wha…?! What the…?! What just happened?!" Shinji exclaimed.

"I'll let our dorky engineer explain this one. When she's done with whatever that is." Yang joked as she pointed at her sister.

Ruby's eyes widened, and she stopped her happy dance with an embarrassed fake cough into her fist. The girl's face turned a bright crimson. Yang snickered at the attempt to save face.

"Don't laugh at me!" She attempted to glare at her sister but it came off more like a cute pout.

Once she was sure Yang was done giggling at her, Ruby turned her attention to Shinji.

"The powdery stuff you just saw is called Dust. It's a purified form of the elements and other stuff. We use it for everything here on Remnant." She explained.

"U-Um… okay. And it just… does that?" He stuttered.

"Dust is useless by itself, but add a catalyst and it does amazing things. Just a few sparks are enough to ignite it, no matter what kind it is. What happens afterward differs depending on the type of Dust. The type I just used was Lightning Dust and it creates electricity." The redhead elaborated.

"I'm not sure I fully understand, but alright…" Shinji replied.

He didn't know what to make of this information other than that this dream he was in was getting really weird. Questions began filling his head about this 'Dust' stuff, but again, he decided to just go with it for now.

"You'll get used to it soon enough. It's easy to understand once you figure it out." The girl assured him.

"Before you get any further into your Dust lecture, I have to ask. Why exactly were you trying to get power back to Shinji's suit? It's not like he's going to be wearing it right now." Yang piped up.

"Oh, right!" She exclaimed as she turned to root through her toolbox.

After a few moments of searching, Ruby found what she was looking for. She pulled a small cable out of the box and held it out for Yang and Shinji to see.

"An old cable? I don't see where you're going with this." Yang remarked as she scratched her temple.

"It's not just any cable; it's a USB-S cable!" She said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And that means…?" Yang gestured for her sister to elaborate.

"It means this!" She exclaimed as she plugged the larger end of the cable into a port on the open chest of Shinji's plugsuit. She then pulled a small plastic object out of her pocket. Shinji was shocked again when she pressed a button and it expanded into a smartphone-like device. It was the same type of device the boy had witnessed her older sister use. Ruby plugged the other end of the cable into it and pressed a series of numbers on the touchscreen to unlock the device.

A message instantly appeared on the small screen.

EXTERNAL DEVICE DETECTED: DO YOU WISH TO CONNECT?

Ruby tapped yes, and another message appeared.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO?

A list of options appeared, and Ruby scrolled down until she found an option that piqued her interest and tapped on it.

TRANSFER VIDEO FILES: YES/NO

She tapped yes.

A progress bar appeared on the screen that showed how many files were being transferred. Ruby stared in shock as files began filling up the bar. There was no way it was that easy! Shouldn't it have been password-protected or something?

"Sis, what did you just do?" Yang asked curiously.

"I think… I think I'm downloading everything Shinji's camera recorded!" She gasped.

Yang's eyes widened in surprise, and the two sisters turned to stare at Shinji for a moment. He stared back awkwardly for a moment before breaking eye contact to gaze at his feet. Being the center of attention, always made him feel uncomfortable. Especially when the ones looking at him were two pretty girls.

Ruby's scroll chimed, and everyone turned to look at the screen.

FILE TRANSFER COMPLETE

Ruby dismissed the message and opened the gallery on her scroll. A whole new section of videos appeared under the label "External Device". She tapped it and gasped at what she saw.

"Whoa, there are so many videos! And they're so long! I thought you said you only fought like a handful of Angels, Shinji." Ruby blurted out as she scrolled through the videos.

"I did. Those other videos must be synch tests." He speculated as he peered over Ruby's shoulder to see her scroll's screen.

"Synch tests?" Yang inquired as she looked over her sister's other shoulder.

"Yeah, they're these tests Eva pilots take to better synchronize with our Evas." The Third Child explained.

"Synchronize?" Yang blurted.

"It's how we control our Evas." The boy added.

"Ooooookay then. I'll take your word for it." Yang agreed in a slightly dismissive tone. She still didn't understand what he meant.

Ruby shot her sister a dirty look before she turned back to her scroll. She raised a finger to tap on a video when the back door opened and her Dad and Uncle strode in. Her Dad held a grim look on his face but shifted it to a smile when he saw the three teens looking his way.

"Finished with your tinkering, sweetie?" Taiyang pondered.

"Yeah, we downloaded everything Shinji's suit recorded onto my scroll! We're about to watch it!" She explained, excitedly.

Taiyang and Qrow's eyes widened, and they walked over to stand behind Ruby. She pressed a button and pulled the grips of the scroll, and the screen stretched to become larger. The device was now more akin to the size of a tablet than a smartphone. Shinji gasped at the sudden transformation. He wished his phone could do that.

The red-haired Huntress looked over her shoulder to ensure everyone was watching before turning back and tapping play on a random video. The video began playing and displayed the inside of the entry plug. The plug quickly filled with LCL, and Yang nearly gagged at the thought of being submerged in the bloody substance.

The walls of the plug turned into a kaleidoscope of colors before displaying a massive room full of LCL. Gantries lined the room, and a large walkway was positioned just above the surface of the LCL. Several large windows at the far end of the room allowed a look inside what appeared to be some kind of control room.

People could be seen moving about and sitting at terminals throughout the room. Most of the people inside the room wore brown uniforms with patches of orange on their shoulders. The only people who stood out were a blonde-haired woman with a blue blouse, black skirt, and white lab coat who stood next to a purple-haired woman wearing a bright red jacket and a black dress underneath it.

Various voices came through the entry plug's speakers in a language that none of the Valeans could understand. A holographic window appeared straight in front of the camera to display a good look at the two women they could see in the control.

The blonde wore a mask of neutrality, an almost bored expression on her face. Calculating emerald eyes almost seemed to burn a hole through the camera. A pair of thick-rimmed glasses sat on her face with a mole underneath her left eye. The purple-haired woman next to her seemed to be her complete opposite. A cheerful smile spread across her face as she spoke to Shinji in the video. Chestnut eyes gleamed at the camera with a hint of mirth. A crucifix necklace similar to Qrow's dangled from her neck.

"Whose the eye candy?" Qrow whistled.

His nieces glared at him. He was always the skirt chaser.

"The woman on the left is Dr. Akagi and the woman on the right is my guardian, Misato." Shinji explained.

"She's your guardian?! Lucky you!" Qrow joked.

Shinji's eye twitched in annoyance at Qrow's comment.

"Why does everyone react to her being my guardian like that?" Shinji muttered to himself.

"Ahem." Yang loudly fake coughed into her fist to get everyone's attention.

"You guys don't really believe all this, do you?" Yang asked, incredulously.

Ruby gazed at her with deadpan a look.

"I mean, come on! This video is totally fake!" She defended her stance.

"How are you supposed to fake something like this? That room is enormous!" Ruby pointed out.

"I don't know! Special effects are getting really good these days." The older girl didn't look like she even believed her own words. Nothing in the video looked like it was made with special effects.

Ruby sighed through her nose. This was getting old. She couldn't get mad though, Yang hadn't seen the crashed entry plug with her own eyes and Shinji's plugsuit looked like something that Atlas could easily make. But the video was hard to refute. The truth was slowly starting to sink in but Yang latched onto denial like the jaws of a vice. Ruby understood why. The entire situation was so ridiculous that normally no one would've given it the time of day. A teenage giant robot pilot from another world? It sounded preposterous.

"Special effects aren't THAT good, Yang!" Ruby chided.

"How would you know? You're not a movi…"

Yang trailed off mid-sentence, her lavender eyes glued to Ruby's scroll. Everyone followed her gaze to the video in time to see a giant purple hand rise out of the LCL and wave at the people in the window. The hand moved with slowness and weight that CGI just couldn't replicate. It looked tangible. It looked real.

Yang, Taiyang, and Qrow stared at the screen in dumbstruck awe. Ruby's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. Her excitement began to boil over. She needed to see more. She quickly fast-forwarded through the video. She found no more footage of the Eva so she stopped the video and opened another. It was nearly the same as the first. Again, she stopped it and played another. No luck. She opened another video and fast-forwarded a bit.

"Oh. My. God…" Ruby whispered.

There on the screen was a different room than the other videos. The far end of the room was covered in shiny metallic panels that were just reflective enough to display a full-bodied image of Shinji's Evangelion. It was utterly massive, clad in purple and green armor. Ruby was enthralled by the gargantuan titan. She'd never seen anything as awesome as the sight before her. It wasn't like the giant robots she'd seen in movies. This one was real.

'THIS IS THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!' An ecstatic smile broke out on the redhead's face as she watched the Eva rocket upwards through a series of tunnels.

Everyone else was still stunned by what they were seeing. All except Shinji. He gulped nervously at what was about to happen in the video. It was something he still had nightmares about, something he'd remember until the day he died

Radio chatter in the video exploded as people began shouting over the open channels. As soon as Unit-01 hit the surface, several skyscrapers in front of it had a hole melted through them and a blinding beam of light slammed into Unit-01's chest.

Ruby's excitement turned to horror when she heard Shinji start to scream in pain. It was a near-maddening sound, like the wail of a dying animal with no escape. The rest of the family's expressions followed suit as they watched the purple Eva's armor plating begin to melt and the LCL start to boil in the plug.

Shinji had to turn away. Of all the Angels he'd fought, Ramiel was one of the worst. It was by far, the worst pain he'd ever experienced. Nothing could compare to the searing heat of the seraphim's deadly beam, not even the fires of Mount Asama.

The family of Hunters couldn't look away. It was like watching a train crash in slow motion. Taiyang and Qrow were glued to the screen. They were no strangers to people sustaining horrendous injuries, but they'd never seen anything quite like this. Yang stood slack-jawed. She didn't want to believe it but she could no longer deny it. No movie could truly replicate what she was seeing and no actor could replicate a scream like that. It was a scream of genuine pain.

Shinji's story was true. Not only was it true, but it was also horrific.

Ruby covered her mouth with her hand and simply stared at the terror unfolding before her. Tears welled up in her silver eyes. Ruby was an innocent soul, and she'd never seen someone suffer like this before. It was too much for her to bear, and she looked away from the screen, tears spilling down her cheeks. This wasn't a video of the triumphant pilot slaying the evil monster like she thought it'd be. This was more akin to a video of someone being tortured.

A series of explosions could be seen in the video, and an entire city block fell below ground. Ruby stopped the video and tossed her scroll down onto the kitchen table. Taiyang wrapped his arms around his daughter as she buried her face in his chest. For a lingering moment, the only sound that could be heard was the muffled sounds of Ruby's crying.

"W-What… What was that?!" Yang stammered.

Shinji's hand clenched and unclenched.

"That was the Fifth Angel's attack on Tokyo-3. You just witnessed a bit of our war…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Hey, I'm back with another chapter. I know it's been too long. I lost the inspiration to write for a good long while but Ice Queendom has restored it! Drop a review and lemme know what you thought about the new chapter.

Until next time!