Evangelion: You Shall (not) Win This Time

Episode 7: Blackthorns Are (not) To Be Messed With/Altered Episode 3 (also) Happens

(Warning: All intellectual properties belong to their respective copyright holders/original creators. EVA to Gainax, Reality Warpers to Yoshi3000, you get the idea.)

(Opening Theme: "Reverse/Rebirth" by Iwagana Hiroaki and Kimijima Asaya)

I am so screwed. I finally started to watch Steven Universe Blackthorned season 4, and in the very first episode of that season, it was revealed that Akira and Genevieve Blackthorn I were gonna be paying me a "visit". They were gonna be the toughest challenge I've faced yet, so I had to be ready. The only problem with that was I didn't know when they were coming...until I cringed with dread at the letter attached to my door reading that they would be there in a matter of 2 days time. The very next morning was spent with Ami within the GARD training as much as possible with what little time we had. Thankfully one of the outfits included in my little deal with Merch included a genderbent version of Heihachi Mishima's outfit from Tekken (thankfully not the fundoshi one, that would've been pretty...distracting).

"Master, wouldn't it be a better idea to involve the others? It would be more fortuitous to be involved with fighting multiple combatants considering that these Blackthorns would most likely want to fight you all at once?"

"The maids and Ms. Musashi are in no way ready to be dealing with the physical aspects of Ki right now, it's better that they focus on the mental aspects of it for the time being. As for Shinji, we'll bring him in after he finishes his class of the day and we can not only work on his training, but I can work of taking on more than one opponent at a time. I will admit that it's been a while since I've last done that kind of training, not since my time with the Dai Gurrens."

"As you wish, master. Shall we commence with our initial sparring session now?"

I get ready and reply to her "I'm ready when you are. No holding back."

"As you wish, master."

A full day's worth of training and giving Shinji a crash course in stuff like Multiverse Science later, and I expect to come home to a somewhat relaxing evening while helping to deal with anything that Jessie or the maids had problems with, only to find a note stuck to my door with a Kunai dagger stating that the Blackthorn family heads were going to arrive in my universe early tomorrow morning. Oh, this was bad, this was very very bad. I thought I had more time before this, but I was wrong. No use trying to avoid them, they could easily hunt me down judging on how powerful their offspring and related family were. Might as well try to stand my ground and hope that I can survive at least a few minutes against these guys.

(P.O.V. Shift: Akira Blackthorn)

The rising sun looms over the mountainscape that surrounds Tokyo 3 as we await the arrival of our challenge. It isn't every day that a new Warper of level 10 status comes to be, and one who has access to Spiral Energy is even more rare of an event. Truly a chance to expand our knowledge of fighting styles.

My wife "You think that he's going to try and skip town?" as I reply "I'm sure he's been made aware of our stature and feats. He would know that trying to evade us would be a futile effort."

We wait a minute longer until we can finally sense his energy signature approaching this way.

"So you decided not to run. Respectable."

Bishops lands about a foot away from us before responding "I didn't exactly have that option, considering that you two could easily track me down if need be."

I could commend him for his honesty, that's for sure.

"I know I probably shouldn't dare ask this, but what exactly is the pleasure of this visit?"

I tell him that we were here to gauge his potential through a round of sparring, even allowing him to pick the venue for the match himself. We can see Bishops smile as he comes up with a place and opens a portal, gesturing us to step inside.

"Yavin 4. Genevieve and I might not know Star Wars all that well, but at least we're more than aware that this moon is an excellent option for training sessions due to lack of heavy population and dense woodwork."

Well, that caught young Bishops by surprise as we assumed that he picked it in order to gain the upper hand using the element of surprise.

He then asks "Then I suppose you guys train here often, or at least some sort of version of this place?" as Genevieve replies "To an extent, yes. We have taken our children to help with their training in their early days. Now then, shall we get started?"

Bishops then gets into an offensive stance before saying "Ready when you are." as we begin our charge with him being able to hold his own. He manages to escape into the jungles of the moon after breaking off the initial skirmish with my wife and I following suit. No doubt that he was planning to bait us into a trap and utilize his surroundings into a sneak attack. All for naught as I was able to counter his lariat with a rising knife kick before Genevieve brings him in with a throw akin to the Pokemon move Seismic Toss. I had heard things about Bishops' skills with a sword, something that I wanted to confirm for myself as I gesture my wife to allow me to face him one on one in a clash of blades.

"I must say, I'm a bit surprised that you chose to utilize more Western based swords such as that." I say gazing upon Biships' more ornate broadsword as opposed the the Katanas that I tend to frequent as he replies "Not everyone is capable of mastering the fighting style brought forth by the noble Katana. And besides, I live for being a tad unconventional when it comes to popular weapon choices."

My reply: "I see. Well then, let's see how well you handle yourself against a weapon of the East."

I must admit that he did have me impressed as he was able to match my strikes with decent precision with a single blade. After kicking him into a nearby tree, I decided that I was done with the first stage of the warm up, and spawned a second Katana from my Blacktab to gauge his skills against 2 swords at the same time. The boy was able to block most of my attacks until I was able to knock his sword out of his hands before delivering a swift jack knife kick into a rock. After I stab both of my swords into the ground, I begin a Ki fueled charge to deliver a swift series of strikes, only to figure out in the end that he managed to evade them all before I could even land the first blow.

(P.O.V. Shift: Genevieve Blackthorn I)

Well, it appears that Bishops is well versed on the concept of speed and recovery, but will it be enough for him to last against us remains as the big question. Bishops managed to regain the sword he was using while adding a Minecraft diamond sword to his arsenal in an attempt to counter my husband's dual swords, even going so far as to make an attack enveloping energy barrier with his swords utilizing the Kaio Ken at I can only assume was an amplification of 16 times his original power to counteract Akira's Cyclone Slash 81: a technique which utilizes the Kyutoryu sword style made famous by one Roanora Zoro by creating a group of 9 afterimages to attack the opponent while the original circles around their opponent, forming a tornado to prevent their escape until the original delivers the final blow and causes the tornado to fade away in the process. I was actually surprised to see that Bishops had managed to somehow survive all that, even transforming into a False Super Saiyan in the process.

I can hear him say "Alright, I better finish this fast because taking another one of those, let alone what your wife has to offer. Looks like it's time to debut the new move I've been working on. I just hope it woks."

I can see him start charging up large amounts of Ki into both of his blades as he was able to create a group of at least 1000 afterimages before pronouncing the attack's name: "Giga Dual Sword 2000 Mirror Blade.": a parody of that "1000 Mirror Blade" attack from Steven Universe I believe. A powerful attack, that was a given, but not powerful enough to put either of us down. It was our turn to counterattack, and counterattack we did as our Brutal Ballet managed to slam Bishops into the exterior of some sort of Mayan style Pyramid before we manage to strike him with a good doseage of Bio-Electricity.

I swear that I could hear him shouting out "Goddamit, not the lightning again" while he was being zapped. After a few more seconds, we finally stop with the assault as Bishops lay there unconscious. It seemed that this battle was over at last, but as Akira and I were readying ourselves to grab him so we could leave this moon, something sparked inside of the boy. Something...powerful.

(Track Change: "Edge of the Fist"-J-Stars Victory VS Plus OST)

He slowly gets back on his feet as I can hear him force what he wants to say out of himself.

"No...way. No way I'm letting this end here. If I'm gonna get any stronger to face anything that comes my way...I need to keep breaking through the limits that I hit. I'm going to kick logic to the curb and become even better than I was before, better to the point where I can even defeat the likes of legends like you. And I'm going to start breaking through those limits RIGHT NOW!"

What we were witnessing filled me with almost as much pride as it did when my own children accomplished it: with a surge of Spiral Energy infused Ki and a rising shout of inspiration, Bishops had reached the first stage of the Super Saiyan transformation.

"Excellent, young one. Excellent. That drive, that ambition, that underlying urge to become stronger, that is what allowed you to ascend beyond who you once were. Take a look for yourself."

That's when I spawn a full length mirror from my own personal Blacktab and show Bishops his new transformed state: it looked like a Super Saiyan should, except for one major difference: the green streaks mixed into the blonde hair which matched the mixture of light green and yellow found in his Ki field.

I ask him how it feels "I feel...amazing. As if I've broken through a bunch of walls at once to become something...more."

Akira replies to that by saying "Such is the feeling when one reaches Super Saiyan for the first time, and rest assured, I speak from experience."

What we hear come from Bishops' mouth next is something that should've caught us off guard, but we knew what he had to say was true."

"In all honesty, I'm not truly a Super Saiyan. With this mixture of energies inside of me, I feel as if I've become something else. Something stronger. With that being said, I think it's best to call this form..."Super Spiral".

Not the most original idea for a name, but I suppose a worthy one considering the circumstances.

"Be that as it may, child, you've taken your first step forward towards a greater goal. But you still have a long way to go before you can match us. Allow me to give you an example of your possible future."

It was that moment that I opted to give the boy a proper taste of my power by showing him what is commonly referred to as "Super Saiyan Blue", though it might have been a bit too much for him as he was sent flying back a bit, if only for a short moment before trying to launch an attack. One that would again be all for naught as I was able to render him knocked out with one simple use of one of my personal favorite moves: the Tornado Blaze, a personal variation of one of our family's shared techniques which involves utilizing a burst of Ki to blow my opponent away before using a burst of speed to catch up to my opponent. Personally, I tend to appear behind them, which has the combo properly start with a swift right hook to my opponent's jaw before going to a series of rapid kicks and finishing with Ki infused roundhouse kick which I tend to call the Strike of Revelation. Needless to say, the boy wasn't getting back up for a while without our help afterwards as both me and Akira see him sprawled out on the ground while now back to his normal state.

"Do you think we were a bit too rough with the boy, dear?"

My husband responds "He'll never get any stronger if we don't pull our punches. You should know considering that we raised and taught 9 children between our own and my brother's."

"Too true. Still, we should go down there and help him. He did put up a fairly decent fight after all."

"Hmmmm, I suppose. After all, I suppose it wouldn't be right to just leave him there."

We land down at his location before I spawn him a Senzu bean with my Blacktab and feed it to him as he manages to spring back to his feet.

He asks "That last attack was what did me in, wasn't it?"

"Yes, yes it was. Let it serve as a motivation for you. If you continue to push yourself beyond your limits, you too will be able to create your own version of what I used to end our little match, your own "Super Spiral Blue."

Our test was completed, they had the drive for his cause, but there was still much that he had to learn. Akira opens us a portal back into Tokyo 3 when I can sense Bishops' Ki flare up, transforming back into a "Super Spiral".

"Not so fast. I didn't hear any bell, so I say that we should keep going for a little bit more. I mean I just got this transformation, and I wanna be able to use it for a while to get the hang of it, kinda like the Full Power variant that Goku and company managed to gain before the Cell Games."

His Saiyan pride must be kicking in, though I can't really blame him. Over the next 5 hours, the three of us would continue to spar, in the case of Bishops get knocked down, get back up again, and repeat the process until sunset fell across the science fiction jungle landscape.

"It appears that you're beginning to truly master your new transformation. But it's like we said before, you still have a long way to go before you're able to match us."

Akira adds in his two cents by saying "Not to mention that your sword skills will need further polishing if you want to be able to use more than two swords at a time."

Bishops seemed to understand what we were getting at as he responded "There's no doubt about either of the things you said. If I wanna be able to make at least my EVA timeline better for those within it, I need to keep going beyond what's considered the top of my game in order to be able to take on not only the Angels and their heralds, but NERV in general just in case things take a turn for the worse."

Of all the things that could disrupt this serene moment, it was one of the great weaknesses of the Saiyan: a grumbling stomach, ready for a fine meal.

Bishops manages to laugh it off and say "I guess we managed to fight for so long, I guess we skipped lunch. Say, since you helped me reach a new level of power, how about I treat you guys to dinner as a thank you? I happen to know of a few high rated buffets back in Tokyo 3."

Akira knew what I was thinking and replied "Perhaps we'll take you up on your offer."

(General P.O.V. Shift: No specific focus on any character's perspective.)

That evening was spent enjoying the finest food that the city had to offer, all on Desmond's dime as he and the head Blackthorns refuel their reserves. After a hearty meal that caused their choice in eatery to close down for the night, we find the three of them back in the penthouse as Desmond explains the situation he's dealt with up until this point.

"That pretty much leads us to where we are now."

"I'll admit that you had some valid reasons to not want to get those girls involved in this, but dealing with the situation earlier as opposed to waiting until it was too late is always the more preferred path." answers Akira as he gazes at a WNN broadcast regarding the destruction of planet Shin Vega at the hands of an evil version of Equestria Girls Pinkie Pie.

Genevieve acting like the concerned parent she should be responds to the news by stating "Thank goodness that little Katsumi and Evie made it out of there alive. This version of Pinkamena is truly a threatening force. Being part Majin and having the ability to use high calibur magic already makes her a challenge to deal with, but being a level 9 Warper only complicates things."

Desmond asks with some sever concern "You guys know how to beat her, right?"

Akira's answer was somewhat reassuring, but not completely as he states "We may be able to fight her to a state of temporary incapacitation, but I'm afraid that the only way to truly put a stop to her is the use of a seal. Technically this shouldn't be much of a problem, but the seal needed is hidden, and the only one who would know where it is would be our first born, Ace."

To which Genevieve adds with a sense of sadness "We haven't been able to contact him for some time, not since he first left on a journey of his own. We've since feared the worst."

Bishops knew that if the Blackthorns that he's seen and fought against were a sign of anything, that you can't kill one of them, let alone the oldest out of their kids just by going through a portal. That's when he figured out a possible theory.

"If you guys and the actions I've seen the younger generation of your family are a sign of anything, it's that you guys are a whole lot harder to take down then by just going through a portal. I think I might have an idea on why he hasn't been able to contact you: what if the timeline of whatever universe he decided to visit was surrounded by some sort of dimensional interference? I mean that I've been studying up on stuff that can happen to cause problems when traveling between universes, so perhaps something akin to dimensional interference could be a reason for Ace not to get messages out to you guys."

Before either of them could answer to said theory in question, a chiming noise came from Akira's Blacktab. The chiming came from a call from Genevieve Jr.

"What? Josho's discovered a new form exclusive to the Endurion race? He's already obtained it? We'll figure something out soon, but for now, I'm just glad that you and Katsumi are safe. Yes yes, I love you too, sweetheart. Bye."

Genevieve Sr. asks "Was that Evie, dear?"

"Yes, apparently Joshonari's discovered a new super form exclusive to those of pure Endurion blood and is able to utilize it."

Desmond adds in by asking "Was it discovered on screen? Can we see what the transformation looks like?"

To which Akira responds "We should. Check the dimensional cable box for anything regarding his actions."

With a swift grasp of the remote, Desmond searches for any shows involving Josho Blackthorn, only to find the episode of his adventures within an altered Samurai Jack season 5 where he was able to achieve what would now be known as the "Megavolt" transformation. Akira gazed at the new form with a mixture of shock and interest.

"Well, it seems that I'll need to start working towards obtaining this new form. If it can only be obtained through having pure Endurion blood, then that means out of everyone in the family, only myself, my brother Kaneda, little Katsumi II and both his and her half brother are able to obtain it."

Bishops asks "Are you gonna track down that old guy in order to obtain it?"

The Blackthorn patriarch responds "Evie and my niece are handling it as we speak, so in the meantime, Genevieve and I can at least put your little theory to the test."

The matriarch adds on by stating "We'll depart tomorrow. For now, we'll just have to wait here for the evening and make a course of action regarding these recent events."

"You guys are more than welcome to stay here if you need to." responds the newer level 10 Warper as Genevieve answers "Very appreciated, but we do have a hotel room in town booked just in case we decided to stay overnight."

A new dawn rose over Tokyo 3 as Bishops and the heads of the Blackthorn clan discuss the new plan of action with Akira starting things off stating "Alright, while Genevieve and I work towards figuring out your distortion theory while gathering means to deal with this Pinkamena situation for the time until we can hopefully find Ace."

Genevieve continues by adding "And while Katsumi and Evie use the resources of the Order to figure out the identity of that old man who gave Joshonari the secrets of that Megavolt form, you should keep working towards unlocking the full power of the Warper: Shin Warper's Will. While normal Warpers have access to Warper's Will in order to affect the events of the universe to their favor, those who reach level 10 have the highest chance of obtaining an ability to gain a higher power, one that can overturn even the effects of normal Warper's Will, making their power absolute. It's harder to obtain with lesser level Warpers, but it's still doable."

Bishops answers to this by stating "There might be a good chance for me to gain it while dealing with the Angels and NERV. Once those guys are dealt with, I'll be more than happy to help you guys out in any way I can."

Akira turns to Bishops and says "Glad to have you on board. Before we depart, we do have something for you. It was originally going to be an incentive to get you to keep up your training, but consider it a reward for reaching the next level of your Warper studies."

The Blackthorn patriarch pulls out what can be described as an ornate broadsword sporting a golden dragon motif with dragon heads on each end of the handguard and on the pommel with each head holding a jewel (1 blue orb in each of the handguards, 1 red orb in the pommel, and a green orb in the center of the handguard) before tossing it to Bishops and stating "You know, it's tradition for swordfighters to give their blades a proper name."

The newer of the 10th level Warpers mulled it over for a moment before giving his answer: "Well Warper life usually resolves around using action as the simplest solution, so why not give this a name that symbolizes that? I was thinking something along the lines of 'Occam's Razor'."

"I have to admit, it does seem to work given the circumstances." replies Genevieve before adding "We'll be in touch."

As the two most powerful beings in Warping leave Bishops, a new sense of meaning filled his being. The next 28 days were spent not only honing his own skills, but helping to hone the skills of the rest of his inner circle. The canon events of episode 3 finally begin to unfold.

(P.O.V. Shift: Shinji)

Another day, another boring homeroom class. You know, after the last 30 days of doing all sorts of crap with the guy who made my "dad" his bitch, I've tended to start noticing things a lot more closely. Turns out that being an EVA pilot tends to draw some attention from well...pretty much everyone in the classroom, especially since I only have to attend a single class a day. Just after the bell rings and I can get the hell out of dodge, I wind up getting hit with a left hook from some jerk who had some other guy with glasses hanging around.

"Sorry 'bout that, but since I can't wail on guys who work for the government, I'll just have to settle for decking you for what happened to my little sister."

I can only respond "Well that's what happens when the government employs untrained 14 year olds to do their dirty work. I'm sorry about whatever the hell happened to your family members, but what happened was completely out of my control."

"Quit hiding behind such a lame excuse, you power tool! Not only did your little fight with the giant freak leave my family without any place to go home to, but when we were leaving the city, your dumb robot trashed one of the major highways out of the city, which lead to my little sister getting the brunt of a car accident, breaking most of her bones."

I get dropped to the ground when the rough and tumble jerk finally decides to give up on punching me and walked off in a huff before the guy with glasses decides to speak up.

"Listen, don't take it too hard. Toji's just having a really hard time since the last Angel attack, what with having his home trashed and his sister in the hospital. Did they really send you out there without formal training?"

"Yeah, and if anyone should get a chewing out, it's the government for actually thinking that sending teenagers to fight giant monsters was a good idea." was the only response I can give.

"You know, I could say that I was pretty jealous of you for being a true blue mech pilot, but after hearing about that, I guess that jealousy's kinda lessened. You must have it pretty rough."

My answer: "You have no idea."

He walks off before I find Rei standing right behind me as she tells me that another Angel decided to rear its ugly head. Time to go to work, I guess.

(P.O.V. Shift: Desmond)

Here we go, second Angel of canon to try and start the apocalypse decides to show up, and with that, another herald for me to fight before taking on the big guy. Time for me to give Occam's Razor its proper debut. Jessie and I were in the command center of NERV HQ as she turns to me and asks "Time to play the hero again, sir?"

To which I reply "More or less. Any good ideas for a cover story?"

She answers "I believe I have one." before acting "Sir, didn't you have some additional forms to fill out regarding the budget for weapons development that still needed filling out?"

My response: "Damn, and I was hoping to actually command the mission this time. Katsuragi, you're in charge. Doc, you and the bridge bunnies help the pilot as much as possible. And Ikari, just sit down and keep your fat mouth shut, it's pretty much the only thing you're good at."

We exit the command room as Musashi tells me to be careful out there before I reassure her and rush off into battle. Alright, time to give my new sword its grand debut. I arrive in the grassy field where the Angel's being better contained thanks to me finally getting those Anti-Angel weapon upgrades in and implementing them into the JSSDF's weaponry as I can see the herald, making its way through the fields in an attempt to take out the human defenses.

"All Lilim tools of destruction are no match for I, the herald of Shamshel, Angel of the Morning. Prepare to fall, Lilim dregs."

Right before he was able to attack a nearby missile truck, I was able to give the freakalope a swift kick to the gut, sending it back as I go in to intercept as I hear one of the soldiers go "Hey, it's that vigilante guy that took down the smaller monster last month!" as another goes "Maybe we should let him deal with the little guy while we help deal with the big one with the big purple bot."

"Alright, you better say your prayers, because you and your big buddy are going down." I say to the human sized Kaiju before it responds "You were the one who felled our brother Sachiel. For the sake of our masters Adam, you must die so that our mission to bring about the end of the Lilim. So says I: the herald of Shamshel, Angel of the Morning."

"Yeah, that's kinda like what the last one said, and you and I both know how that ended, sooooo..."

(Track Change: Tekken 4 OST- Parking Garage stage theme)

The fight kicks off with me and the tentacled jackass trading blows at near mach speed before he manages to rope my left leg up with one of his energy tentacles and swings me back down to the ground. Before he can make this a repeat performance, I was able to thankfully cut through the energy using Occam's Razor before getting back on my feet and charging in for a counter attack, leading to the two of us to clash in a duel of whips and swords as I manage to land a nice cut into the chest armor it was sporting.

The herald was done playing games as it tells me "Alright, enough of this. You've earned the right to die at the hand of my full power, Lilim filth. Meet your doom at the hands of my ultimate attack."

I can already tell it was powering up as multiple whips start spawning out of its body while I get my sword ready for what's to come.

"This is your end! "Fangs of Dark Justice, Thousand Stinging Lashes"!"

"Looks like I'll need to step up my game earlier than expected. Kaio Ken x5 combined with "Giga Sword Hyper Storm Surge"!"

The clash was lightning fast, but I was able to counter everything he threw and then some before overpowering it enough to send it flying back into a nearby hill. Time to finish the first part of the job.

"This has been fine and all, but I still have your big friend to deal with, so I'm gonna end this now with something I've been working on over the last few weeks. "Giga Sword Shadowless Thrust"!"

With a swift stab to the chest, part one of this fight was over, and just in time as EVA Unit-01 came crashing down with Shinji already rescuing Toji and Kensuke.

"Kid, what's going on in there? We're picking up 2 additional life signatures inside the Entry Plug."

Ikari replies "These two jerks thought it'd be a good idea to sneak out of a shelter and video tape the battle. If I didn't find them when I did, they'd most likely be dead by now."

To which Misato responds "Oh, this is bad. Listen, your power cable's been disconnected, and you've only got less than 5 minutes of energy left. Retreat back into the city so we can work out a new plan."

"Misato, that plan makes absolutely zero sense. If I have that much time to finish the job, it should be put towards at least pushing the thing into retreat so we actually have time to come up with a new plan. And besides, if I lead that thing into the city, even more civilian lives would be put into risk."

"This isn't up for discussion, just fall back for now!"

(Track Change: "Free Your Heat" by Galveston 19- Kamen Rider W/Double OST)

Unit-01 readies one of it's Progressive Knives as I can sense something inside the EVA's cockpit. As if something inside of Shinji was triggering.

"If there's a chance to stop this thing right here and now, then I have to take it. So I'm going to end this battle now!"

I can sense this surge of unknown energy, not quite divine and not quite a power up form either as Unit-01 receives the same sort of boost as it begins to charge at the big Angel and begins a series of swift stabbing strikes, giving me the perfect cover to really end it. With one shot from the Angel Unmaker, the creep's core starts to corrode while I use one final Ki surge to mimic an explosion. This fight was over, but now it was time to wrap up the loose ends. After certain events that would tie into the next canon episode, I find myself inside of Tokyo 3's best hospital where I was able to find Sakura Suzuhara's room, and needless to say, she looked like she had seen better days. Just my luck that her brother and Kensuke were there with her.

"You're one of those NERV suits, aren't you? What the hell do you want?" says Toji as bluntly as possible.

My response: "I was made aware of the damages done to your home and your loved ones during the battle against Sachiel, and on behalf of NERV, I've come to offer you a means of making amends."

Of course the boy who'd later on become the ill-fated pilot of Unit-03 was defensive towards my offer as he responds "Our home was destroyed along with priceless family relics and my sister was put in the hospital because of your pilot's inadequacy, why should I trust you?"

"While I may not be able to replace all of your family's treasures, but I can at least have your home repaired with your more replaceable items updated enough with modern tech. As for your sibling, I believe I have a solution that should help with her recovery."

That's when I find that her jaw isn't broken, and pull out a little something to speed up the recovery process.

"Here you are, miss. Just eat this, and you'll be back on your feet in no time."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Just what the hell are you feeding my sister anyway?!"

"Just watch." I reply as Sakura swallows the Senzu bean right before it goes right to work doing what it does best. Of course she'd be in shock of the results as she comments "I...I feel great. I feel like the accident never even happened, if not better."

Kensuke pretty much asks out of shock of what's happening "What was that thing you gave her? Normally breaking nearly every bone in your body should take at least a full 6 months to recover, if not a few years."

My answer: "Nothing too special. Just something that a connection of mine discovered. Now, as I had said before, I may not be able to replace certain things that were lost in the destruction of your home, but perhaps I can offer you something else in exchange."

I'd expect Toji to still be on the fence about my offer as I hear him respond "Just because you fixed my sister's injuries and offer to replace most of our stuff doesn't mean that I'm just gonna forgive NERV for what it did, especially that pilot they sent out."

"Toji, you need to at least hear him out. If he's this serious about wanting to make things right by us, then the least we can do is hear what he has to say and offer." was what came from Sakura's mouth surprisingly as she was chiding her brother for just saying no to accepting someone's attempt at an apology before adding "We're more than willing to listen to what you have to offer."

"Thank you, young lady. What I have to offer is for the three of you to become apart of a little apprenticeship program that I've started up. You'd only have to go to school for one class a day, and you'd actually get to learn how to do things that will allow you to accomplish amazing things in the future. Things that this city has failed to offer your generation. So can I at least get you to consider accepting?"

Kensuke was the first to respond as he states "One class a day in school and the opportunity to learn about stuff other than Second Impact. That's pretty tempting."

Next came Sakura as she answers "You managed to do for me what medical science could only dream of doing as fast. I guess it's only fair that I should at least try your offer for a while, kinda like a trial period."

This of course left Toji flabbergasted as he questioned his sister's reasoning.

"You can't be serious, right? I mean you can't just accept an offer from a stranger, no matter what they do for you to sway your opinion."

"Toji."

He finally caves in to his sister's wishes and says "Alright, fine. We'll try your trial. But only for a month, and if she's going anywhere, she has to have me with her at all times."

I respond "Perfectly acceptable."

Kensuke eventually decided to join the trial too as my pieces were falling into place. Before the end of the week leading to episode 4's canon, they were going to be able to stand on their own terms, and I would hopefully have 3 new allies in my battle against both the Angels and NERV.

(Ending Theme: "Aozora ni Naru" by Jin Hashimoto- Kamen Rider Kuuga OST)

(Current Power Levels:

Desmond Bishops/me: 654,500 (Max Safe Kaio Ken: 12,435,500 at x19)/26,180,000 in False Super Saiyan/32,725,000 in "Super Spiral"

Mura Tenin/Kage: 4,795,000

Shinji Ikari: 2178/49,700 ("Unknown Power Burst")

Toji Suzuhara: 6

Kensuke Aida: 4

Sakura Suzuhara: 2 (Heavily Injured)

Hikari Horaki: 4

Misato Katsuragi: 5

Jessaline Musashi: 26

Gendo Ikari: 6

Rei Ayanami (Rei II): 519* (All Rei Clones are born with a Power Level of at least 100 due to their mixture of human and Angel DNA and grow in power the longer they'll stay in the big LCL tank from episode 23. So expect Rei III and any possible future clones to be more powerful than her when they get out due to this factor. Ki use is unavailable due to lack of formal training.)

Ritusko Akagi: 4

Maya Ibuki: 4

Shigiru Aoba: 4

Makoto Hyuga: 3

Fuyutsuki: 4

Wynn Miyabi: 10 1/2

Eria Aoi: 15

Lyna Hikari: 17

Ami (Earth Dimension SJ-12639706): 3800

Tulio Rodriguez: 764,980

Akira Blackthorn: Unknown, cannot be traced.

Genevieve Blackthorn I: Unknown, cannot be traced.

Shamshel: Angel of Morning: 4,500,000

Herald of Shamshel: Angel of Morning: 2,250,000

EVA Unit-01: 1,230,000 (Sych Rate: 34.11%)/ 4,011,684 (Unknown Power Burst)

Others to Come: ?

(Author's Note: Next time, secrets are revealed as the canon events of episode 4 are replaced with something new.)