Welcome everyone to something I've been cooking in the background for a few months now. If you're here from my other story Return to the Homestead, do not worry this is a side project to keep me busy while I pan out the second half of that story.

Now this may seem like a strange combination, after all the zany melodrama of Yakuza hardly seems like it would be suitable for a sci-fi action mecha show like Evangelion, especially considering its major themes. But I disagree, which is why I am writing this. A big inspiration for this story and one of the most important will be Yakuza 6. Keep that in mind as you read, as the themes of family are central to this story.

As always, thank you and enjoy.

Chapter 1

It was a hot summer day in Tokyo 3, the sun was out, only a few clouds lazed about in the sky. The cicadas sang loud and clear as they always do, for all intents and purposes, today was a good day. But not for one Shinji Ikari.

"I hope I'm not late." Shinji left the train terminal, having been the sole passenger he was alone with nothing but a backpack filled with his things, his wrist watch, a picture of the woman who would be picking him up, and a letter addressed to him.

He looked down at his wrist watch, it was a quarter past 2 p.m. just like the letter said it would be. It also said that his pickup would be waiting for him here. He looked back at the picture again, it was a picture of an older woman scantily clad with the name Misato Katsuragi on it - as well as other markings that made him feel embarrassed to acknowledge.

He looked around, thankfully there was a phone booth nearby, maybe he could call a taxi? They were always a reliable source of travel.

Shinji walked across the road to the nearby phone booth, and quickly realized something that had been bothering him. He was alone. Truly alone. The sidewalk was empty, no one could be seen anywhere, there wasn't even any noise.

"Where is everyone?" He asked himself, not expecting any reply, he continued to the phonebooth.

As he fished into his pockets to grab a few yen to pay for the call, something caught his attention.

He looked down the street, it was empty just as it already was. "Huh." He could have sworn he saw a woman down the street.

His hand finally snagged a coin, enough to pay for the booth, "There." He pulled the coin out and inserted it into the slot. He picked up the phone ready to dial

"We're sorry, all local services have been shut down following a city-wide special emergency. Please make your way to the nearest civilian shelter at your earliest convenience." Shinji looked at the phone in his hands, what did it mean by emergency?

That's when he felt it, the vibrations that came from the ground felt akin to earthquakes but they didn't last. Hundreds of meters away, he could see military aircraft, all moving backwards.

"What the…?" The shakes got closer and closer, until Shinji could finally see the source of it.

He thought he was dreaming, he had to be. One of those lucid dreams sensei told him people occasionally got. He briefly thought that whatever was going on in his life to create such an image in his mind should be investigated. That was before the fighting started.

The air around him rippled as a missile soar through the streets, it swung around at the next corner and directed itself towards its target. As the missiles exploded, even from so far away Shinji could feel the heat. This couldn't be a dream, it felt too real.

That thought was reinforced as the creature retaliated, a beam of energy from its forearm punctured one of the military aircraft. The vehicle came crashing down not a few meters away from him.

Shinji ducked behind the booth, getting away from any debris. As he looked up he finally came to terms with the reality in front of him.

He didn't know what it was, but it was grotesque. Its body was black as night, across its thighs, upper torso and shoulders were bone like armor, and the face…he didn't even know if it had one. The closest thing he could find was a beak shaped mask that reminded him of an owl. At the center of its chest was a great red orb surrounded by more bone-like armor.

"What is that?" He asked, unfortunately no one was there to answer him as the creature levitated off the ground.

Its feet landed on the aircraft and exploded. Shinji hit the pavement, hoping to put himself as close to the ground as possible. Even behind a payphone booth he didn't expect it to block everything coming his way.

As the explosion dissipated he realized there wasn't as much heat as he thought there would be. An explosion from an aircraft that large would have likely engulfed the whole block.

"Hey there!" Shinji looked up, his eyes were greeted by an open door. Inside behind the steering wheel was the woman in Shinji's photo.

"Sorry I'm late, but I'm here now!" She gave a small smirk.

Shinji was about to respond before realizing the situation he was in, he quickly ran into the passenger seat and closed the door. Above him more explosions went off, some of the shells even hit the roof of the car.

Ms. Katsuragi switched gears and reversed the car, narrowly missing the creature's next step.

"Seatbelt." She said as she turned the car around driving away from the fighting.

Shinji didn't say anything, hastily putting on the seatbelt for dear life. Katsuragi swerved around each street corner, easily passing the speed limit by at least double the kilometers. If Shinji wasn't so sure that staying outside was certain death, he would probably think twice about riding in a car with the woman.

Getting out of the city was much easier now that they were far from the creature, he even recognized Katsuragi getting more relaxed the farther they got from the fighting. He grip on the steering wheel and her steely gaze softened, she even let out a breath that she was unknowingly holding onto as she navigated the city.

Now far away, Shinji could see out of his window the military continuing to shoot at the creature but it seemed like nothing they did hurt it. He was about to speak up when the car stopped.

"Sorry kid, one sec." She said as she reached behind her and pulled out her binoculars.

Before Shinji could even respond she leaned across her seat and across his. He had to lean his chair back in order to give her space. Even then she was uncomfortably close to him.

"They're pulling back?" Shinji looked out the window, and sure enough they were.

"No way! Don't tell me they're gonna drop an N2 mine!? Get down!" She pulled him closer and lowered themselves as low as possible.

In the distance he heard a large bang. No, not a bang. That would be too close, too loud. It was a boom. Deep and heavy. The light flashed across the car before the shockwave hit. It sent them flying, They were sent tumbling across the ground for what felt like forever before everything were hanging from their wastes with the car turned onto the driver side.

"You okay?" She asked turning his face to her, inspecting him of any potential injuries.

"Y-yeah, I think so." He checked himself, as he was taught to do. The only thing of notice was the taste of dirt in his mouth.

Katsuragi re-oriented herself, "Can you help me flip the car?" She asked.

Shinji nodded before fiddling with his seatbelt. Once free, the two of them climbed out of the car. Shinji took in the environment around him. The destruction caused by the N2 mine was enormous. Whole fields were gone, there were craters in the ground, and the city across the water had a mushroom cloud looming over it.

"First time witnessing an N2 mine?" Katsuragi asked.

"Yes ma'am."

She waved her hand, "Don't you ma'am me, it makes me feel old. Just call me Misato, ok?" She gave a warm smile, one that made him feel confident.

"Yes, Ms. Misato." He nodded.

She sighed, "Geez, you're too nice. Relax for a bit, you just survived a nuke. Now come help me flip this car over."

As they flipped the car, Shinji contemplated what she said. It wasn't the first time he'd been told to relax. That he was too nice. One of his tutors once remarked that Shinji was a model student, but acted more like an adult than a kid. He wondered why adults kept saying that, what was so good about being a kid?

"He should be running off to the nearby children's park and playing with his friends, not learning the balance sheet." One of his tutors said; their tenure did not last long.

An hour passed, Ms. Misato drove further away from the creature and they stopped to get some car batteries from a nearby car repair shop. Ms. Misato got a call, it sounded official and was definitely about him.

"Just have a direct line ready for us when we get there, okay? I'll see ya in a bit." She sighed as she hung up.

Her eyes drifted towards him, before she gave a smile, "I'm surprised."

"What for?" He questioned.

"You're pretty calm and collected, I would have thought you'd be asking me a million questions. 'What was that?' 'What am I doing here?' 'Wow Misato, how are you so cool?'" She mimicked his voice as best she could, but it was a poor imitation of him.

Shinji shrugged, "I figured I would learn with the rest of the public."

She didn't respond, instead opting to poke him in the cheek, "Ms. Misato?"

"Here I was thinking I was picking up a red-hot kid, but I feel like I'm driving with a Nine-to-Fiver on his way to work." She smirked.

There it was again, "Well," He started, getting Misato's attention, "You act like a kid in a playground." He retorted.

She looked at him for a sec before laughing, "You're alright kid."

They eventually made it to a service tunnel Katsuragi drove into, it was a tight fit but worked nonetheless.

"So, what do you know about Nerv?' She asked as the tunnel behind them closed.

"Nerv?" He'd never heard of it before.

"Nothing huh? It's the secret agency your father works at under the U.N., do you know what he does?" She continued.

Shinji shook his head, it had been years since he thought about his father. A lot of painful and angry feelings were pushed down and away years ago in order to focus on his studies and his training. One of his earliest memories flashed in his mind, an early summer day, a train station, crying, his fathers turned back towards him. No matter how much he tried to forget about it he never could. Not many people remember such early memories, many would like to. Yet somehow Shinji, being one of the few eager to forget, never could.

"Will we be seeing my father?" He asked.

"I think so." She leaned back as the elevator holding their car started moving.

"By the way," She started, "Do you have your I.D. forms?"

Shinji nodded and opened up his bag. The letter sent to him was inked out with the only word reading 'Come'. With his fathers signature at the bottom, attached were the forms detailing Shinji's official information.

"Thank you," She picked the document from her fingers before quickly replacing them with something else.

With big black letters it read 'Welcome to Nerv' on top, and a strap around the middle that said 'Your eyes only'. "Be sure to read that." She said.

"What is it?" He opened it up, it was a lot of legalese, in fact it was a metric ton of it. Much of it was about how employees are not to talk about classified information outside of the workplace, there was some stuff about rules and regulations, and expectations for new employees.

"Am I here to do something?" Shinji hesitantly asked.

Shinji came with only a weekend's worth of clothes, just enough time to speak with his father and leave. And depending how his talk with his father went, never to speak to him again. Despite being a kid, Shinji was busy, and couldn't afford to leave to take much time off.

"Father has never called for me or spoke to me since the last time we were together, his letter came out of nowhere. I thought he wanted to talk."

"I see how it is." Misato quickly concluded, "You're not comfortable around your father are you?"

Shinji was going to speak, but he had no words.

"I get it, I'm the same way." Her voice was melancholic.

Eventually the elevator lowered enough that Shinji could see their destination.

"Welcome to the Geo-Front." Misato said.

Shinji didn't respond, instead focusing more on reading the guide in front of him. In truth, he was ecstatic about the Geo-Front, he read a lot about them, how they were impenetrable fortresses that could self-sustain for years. This was his first time ever being in one though. Despite his enthusiasm about such a marvelous installation, his anxiousness was weighing him down. And maybe a bit of frayed nerves from nearly dying. So he kept reading the book given to him.

Their way down to Nerv's headquarters was uneventful, until they got lost.

"I think we came through here again." Shinji said, having noticed walking by the same terminal for the third time.

Misato scratched her head in confusion, "Sorry kid, I've only been here a few months so it's still confusing to me. But I know just the way to fix this."

She walked to a nearby wall with a phone on it, after typing in some numbers she managed to get a connection. "Hey, yeah it's Katsuragi. Can one of you get Ritsuko on the line? … We're not that lost…ok maybe totally lost, look just get Ritsuko to guide us ok? Thanks." It wasn't long before another voice Shinji could barely hear came up, Misato wrote down directions on a nearby piece of paper. After getting directions, Misato was able to guide them directly to an elevator.

The two didn't say anything, Shinji too focused on reading the orientation book. Part way down the elevator stopped, and a blonde woman in a lab coat walked in.

"You're late." She commented.

"Well we wouldn't be if the JSSDF didn't drop a bomb on us, do you know how many months left I had left on that thing? Now it's pretty much totaled." Misato ranted.

The blonde did not respond, simply staring at Misato, "Okay maybe I slept in a little today. Sorry." She crossed her arms.

The blonde turned her attention from Misato to Shinji, "This him?"

"The third children as reported by the Marduk Institute, Shinji Ikari." Misato said as if repeating a tired phrase.

Shinji, seeing this as a good place to interject, greeted the doctor. "Hello, I'm Shinji Ikari." He did a small bow.

"Doctor Ritsuko Akagi." She did not bow, nor put her hand out for a shake. Shinji stood up right again.

The elevator stopped, Dr Akagi guided the two of them to their destination while Shinji focused on the book. Their conversation went over his head, phrases he didn't understand and probably shouldn't understand.

Eventually they made their way to a dark room, Shinji was the first to enter unknowingly as Misato and Dr. Akagi trailed behind him.

"Why is it so dark in here?" He asked before the lights abruptly turned on.

His fight or flight instincts kicked in, Shinji barely had time to fully consider what was in front of him before he jumped away with his hands up. He would have continued if not for almost falling off the bridge. All around him was red liquid, looking down it went deep. Very deep.

'What is this?" Shinji asked, realizing the thing in front of him did not move. "A robot?"

"This," Ritsuko started, "Is the ultimate multi-purpose advanced combat weapon made by man. The first artificial human, Evangelion. This is Unit-01, it was created in secrecy, our last trump card in the deck."

Unit-01 was large, he couldn't tell immediately but from how deep the liquid was it wasn't unreasonable to think this was taller than many buildings. The green and purple coat was an odd color choice, but it made up for it in intimidation. The face looked like a demon with yellow eyes and big teeth.

"Is this what my father has been working on for all these years?" He asked.

"Correct."

Shinji snapped his head up, beyond Unit-01, above in a glassed-sealed observation room was his father. He looked the same as he was when the man left him so many years ago.

"It's been awhile." He said.

Shinji could only frown, so many years of emotions he left bottled away started to return to him. So many nights of sensei teaching him to ignore those feelings was evaporating right in front of him.

Ritsuko thumbed her ear, hearing something before nodding.

"Launch the EVA." Ritsuko said.

"Launch? With Unit–01? Are you crazy?" Misato opposed her.

"It's our only option."

"What about Ayanami," Misato retorted right back, "She's in no shape to get into Unit-01. We don't have a pilot."

"We do now." Ritsuko looked at Shinji.

"What?! We can't use him, it took months for Ayanami to get Unit-00 operating, we don't have that sort of time."

"All he needs to do is sit in the cockpit, that's it."

"You can't!"

Ritsuko frowned, "Do you forget your purpose here, Cpt. Katsuragi? Our number one priority is to defeat the Angels. Any pilot with the ability to synchronize with the EVA must try no matter how remote."

Misato grumbled in defeat, realizing that Ritsuko was right. Meanwhile Shinji looked straight at the EVA, it was frightening to say the least, above all else… It looked strong. He looked back to his father, "Why did you send for me, father?" He asked.

"It is as you heard."

"You want me to pilot this machine and fight that…thing outside?" He asked again.

"Correct."

Shinji clenched his hands, once again his emotions about his father slipping through.

"I won't do it." He spoke through his teeth. "After all these years, after leaving me alone. You didn't need me then, why do you need me now?!"

"Because I have use for you."

"Why me?" Shinji pushed.

"Because for anyone else it would be impossible."

There it was, the last thing Shinji needed to hear. Father didn't call for him because he wanted Shinji, he doubted his father truly needed him. His father was left with no other options. That's why he was here.

"You left me eleven years ago, you never bothered to even speak to me once. Now when I'm finally letting go you send for me? I thought you finally wanted to talk, and maybe I would have heard you out. But this? You want me to fight for you? What gives you the right?"

"I'm done wasting time, either get in the EVA or get out."

Shinji could feel the eyes of everyone on him. Misato, Dr. Akagi, the engineers standing on the catwalks. But he didn't pay attention to any of them. No, his eyes were directed to his father. How dare he. How dare he ask this of him after so many long years. Not a word from him, not a check-up, not even any money to pay for him. He truly left him as if he were dead.

The facility shook, probably from that thing…the Angel.

"We're out of time." Dr. Akagi spoke.

"Get in the EVA." Shinji turned to Misato, the charming U.N. official he just met turned cold, it was like a whole other side of her emerged.

He looked at the EVA…his mind was made. "I won't fight a battle I did not sign up for. Not for you." He turned to his father, even from so far away Shinji could see a frown on his face.

"Shinji, don't run away now. Not from your father, not from all this." She leaned down, that caring look on her face back.

"I wasn't the one who ran first." Shinji said. The image of a boy crying for his father flashed in his mind. The years of waiting for any sort of communication. But the only thing Shinji's waiting awarded him was silence.

The room was deathly still, so much that a coin could break the tension, but his answer was made clear.

"Prepare Unit-01's core systems for Pilot Ayanami." A response was made, but Shinji didn't care.

Both Dr. Akagi and Misato left the platform, leaving him alone. His eyes were still glued to his father, who had already turned away.

"Do you even care how long I waited?" He muttered, but no one heard him.

The door he came from opened, out from it came a gurney with two nurses and a doctor, on it was a girl about his age. She was pale, in a white bodysuit, had blue hair, and was covered in bandages and gauze.

This was their pilot? She looked about an inch from death, her breathing was labored, bruises littered her body, her movement was sluggish and painful.

He was going to speak, but another explosion whacked the facility sending everyone stumbling. The girl fell out of her gurney and onto the floor, Shinji himself was barely able to keep standing. Above him the light fixtures detached and fell. Shinji looked where it would fall, right on top of the girl.

"Watch out!" He yelled, running over and wrapping himself around the girl.

Shinji did some rough math, from that height, with that heavy material, and that combined weight…this was going to hurt. Badly. But he couldn't ignore it, his teachings would not let him turn away from saving someone. We would not let eleven years of work from his sensei's go to waste.

Shinji braced for the worst, he heard the lights clatter and break, but he felt no pain. He opened his eyes, a big hand covered the two of them.

"The EVA." He surmised.

He looked down at the girl, bringing her up to a sitting position. His other hand felt something wet, bringing it up he realized it was blood. This girl was on death's door, no doubt if she went out there…she would die. Not because of that Angel, not because of her injuries, and not because of his father. But because of him.

"I'm sorry sir. I hope you understand." He told himself.

He looked up at his father, who was staring down at him. "I'll do it, I'll pilot the EVA."

To Become A Dragon

Getting in the EVA was a complicated process, not for Shinji but for those around him. He was sat in a tube the length of a car and in a seat out of one of those cheesy sci-fi movies the others would make him watch. He heard so many voices coming from the speakers he couldn't keep track of them all.

Once plugged into the machine his tube started to fill with liquid, and it was rising quickly.

"What the-!?" He wiggled around in his seat as the liquid started to reach his torso.

He sucked in his breath as the liquid finally filled the tube, "Relax Shinji, let the LCL fill your lungs. It will feed you oxygen, you can barely tell the difference."

Against his body's natural instinct he opened his mouth and gulped down this LCL. His body tensed, ready to lose air, but it didn't. It was like he was outside, the only difference was that awful taste.

"It tastes awful." He gagged a little.

"You're a big boy, act like it." Misato chided, Shinji decided not to respond.

The tube around him changed colors, at first a rainbow, then black, then white, eventually shifting into various other images he couldn't quite explain before everything turned black instead of in front of him. It was like looking through the machine itself. He was so tall, and everyone else looked like ants.

"Whoa." It was jarring to his perspective, but he would get used to it.

He could feel the EVA being moved, eventually locking into what looked like an elevator. While numbed, he could feel around the EVA. The support, the wires, if he focused he could even feel the last few engineers on it.

"Preparations complete." Misato said.

Shinji breathed in deep, his nerves were getting to him. He was about to fight an Angel (he hoped it wasn't the biblical kind) without any training or knowledge of how this machine worked and what his opponent was capable of. It wasn't the best of situations but he would work through it.

"Launch EVA!" Misato shouted.

In an instant the elevator he was on shot upward, he could feel the G-forces pushing down on him, weighing him down. He heard that pilots need large amounts of oxygen not to pass out when flying those things, he hoped the LCL was enough.

Eventually he came to an abrupt stop, he looked out in front of him. He was above the surface, and only a few blocks away was his opponent. The locks around the EVA let him go, he sagged not realizing to hold himself up. It was strange to feel what the machine felt, was that normal? A question for later.

"Alright Shinji, go ahead and walk." Dr. Akagi spoke to him through the radio.

Shinji nodded and took a step, "Walk." He commanded. The EVA took a slow step, as his foot landed he knew the odds were drastically falling. He saw first hand the destructive power the Angel was capable of, it shrugged a nuke off fairly easily. Shinji could barely walk without keeping his balance, this was not a great start.

He made to walk again but slipped, face planting into the ground. His head hurt, like he fell on the crosswalk. Wait. Why did it hurt?

"Get up Shinji!" Misato warned.

Shinji looked up, it was too late, the Angel already grabbed him. Shinji was lifted by his head, leaving his arms open. "Punch!" Shinji shouted but before he could the Angel grabbed his left arm.

Its muscles bulged and twisted his arm, his real arm felt like it was on fire. Like he was the one having his arm twisted.

"Agh!" He shouted, bracing his arm, trying desperately to stop the pain. Why does it hurt!?

"Shinji calm down, your arm isn't actually hurting." Misato advised.

He was about to bite back that it certainly felt like it, but then his arm broke. He froze, he was in shock. That was the only answer his brain could make up right now as he was too stunned to stop the Angel from continuing its assault on him. He felt his face be stabbed with a giant stake, the pain was too real.

Frantic voices called his name over the radio but he couldn't hear any of them. The Angel readied another stake to his face, it was this moment Shinji realized he was going to die. All his hard work, gone, down the drain because of his father. It was some sick irony.

"I'm going to die." He said to himself.

Time seemed to slow down, probably his brain trying to extend the last moments of his life as much as it could.

"You are strong, Shinji." A familiar voice spoke to him.

It was a distant memory, around nine years ago. He had just gotten beat up by a group of kids making fun of him, he didn't bother fighting back. He sat in front of his caregiver, he gave his usual stern no-nonsense look.

"But I'm not as strong as you, sir." A younger Shinji meekly looked down at the floor, still nursing a black eye.

"No one starts strong, Shinji, it must be honed and trained." His caregiver stood up and approached him.

Shinji watched as he limped over and stood in front of him. "What you did was brave, I've seen young boys run off for less. But you stood your ground long enough for help to come, that is what true strength is Shinji."

Shinji looked up at him, "If getting hit is all I'm good at, I don't want it." He felt ashamed to say it, but it was the truth.

A hand laid on Shinji's shoulder, "Then how about I train you to not get hurt." He had a gentle smile, one that told him everything was gonna be okay. "I will warn you, training will be hard. At times you will want to quit. You may even resent me for it. Is this the path you wish to take, Shinji Ikari?"

Shinji mulled it over, he never wanted to feel like this again. He wanted to get away from this pain, and most of all he wanted to protect those he cared about.

"Yes, I do Kazuma-san."

Shinji gasped realizing the situation he was currently in. A stake about to drive itself into his head, his imminent death. But he also remembered the years of training, the grueling hours late at night and early in the morning. The blood, sweat, and tears that made him the person he is now.

Overall, he remembered what would happen if he failed today. This creature would not be stopped, it could hurt his friends, his family. That was unacceptable.

"Ragh!" He brought his right arm up and grabbed the arm the Angel held him with.

Squeezing as tight as he could he tried to wrench his opponents grip off of him. He raised his legs and planted them on the Angels torso, with a strong kick he was free. The Angel pushed back significantly further than before.

"Way to go Shinji!" Misato called out, but he paid it no mind.

His heart was beating in his ears. His chest felt like it was exploding. He gripped his shirt, he had to get it off. His fingers dug into his shirt and ripped it off. He raised his left arm before realizing it was broken.

"If it feels broken…" He started.

He walked to the nearest building and positioned his arm right before throwing himself into it. The building shook, it definitely didn't appreciate being used to re-socket his arm, but it worked. Feeling came back to his arm, a quick squeeze confirmed it. The pain was still there, but it wasn't as significant. It would do for now.

"Enemy designated Sachiel approaching rapidly!" A voice shouted in his ear.

Looking up, the Angel got back up and started running. It was close, very close, only a few strides away. A punch wouldn't be enough, he needed something hard, fast, a counter preferably.

He knew what to do.

He got into his stance, one taught to him by his master, waiting for the right moment. Shouting in his ear told him the people were panicking. But Shinji was calm, waiting for the opportune moment.

"Shinji!" He could hear Misato's voice.

"I know what I'm doing." He calmly said.

The Angel threw a punch, exactly what he was looking for.

Shinji had tried many times to perfect this technique, but it was always out of his grasp, the timing was hard. Too quick and his fist wouldn't make contact, too slow and his fist wouldn't get there in time.

But as time seemingly slowed to a stand still…he knew he got it.

"KOMAKI TIGER DROP!" He shouted with his full being, sure enough as Shinji ducked the punch, his own fist connected with the Angel.

The fight was on.

ENEMY OF MANKIND

ANGEL SACHIEL

The Angel, named Sachiel, went flying colliding into some buildings blocks away.

Shinji clenched his fists, and readied himself just as Kazuma-san had taught him. The Komaki fighting style was unorthodox, but for a fight with a monster like this it might just be what would be the defining line between life and death.

"I can beat it. I can beat it!" He proclaimed to himself alone.

Sachiel started standing up again, he needed to attack now. Shinji ran, crossing the distance easily as he got closer he wound his leg back and kicked. The kick was so intense it felt like it was on fire. Sachiel was again sent flying but landed on its knees, it got up quickly still.

Shinji squared up against Sachiel, the Angel was more hesitant to charge in, instead it circled around him. Shinji mimicked the maneuver, both of them circling one another.

Shinji threw out a jab, which was quickly blocked. Sachiel like-wise threw a punch of its own, also blocked. Shinji had been in his fair share of fights, this Angel was just like any other.

He threw out a three punch combo ending with a kick, that was enough to break its guard. Shinji lunged forward for a grab,it was hard due to the Angel having no neck but he made due. Sachiel was sent face-first into the nearest building as Shinji spun a heel kick into the creature's back. It went straight through, collapsing the building. Shinji made a grab for its leg but was kicked away.

Sachiel stood up swinging, knocking Shinji back. Sachiel tried again to use its stake to spear Shinji through but he thankfully quickstepped backwards out of the way. Using his momentum, Shinji jumped forward with a lunge attack, connecting with the side of Sachiels face or what constituted for one.

The Angel stumbled, but not for long. It flew again, levitating off the ground just above him. It extended its stake arm, Shinji prepared to parry the thrust but instead Sachiel used its appendage like a baton. Shinji crossed his arms and blocked the attack but the force was immense. Shinji could feel the ground beneath him cave to the force of both of them.

"Get off!" Shinji shouted as he shoved Sachiel away.

"Shinji! Shinji!" Misato shouted at him, getting his attention.

"Ms. Misato?"

"The red core, go for the red core!" She shouted. Shinji looked at the Angels chest, of course that would be where its weakness is.

The Angel must have understood what Shinji was looking at, because it became defensive very quickly.

"Break the core? Sounds like a video game." He muttered to himself.

Shinji sprinted towards Sachiel and pulled back his fist and went for another punch, but it did not hit its mark. Instead an orange energy field stopped him from getting through.

"An A.T. Field!" Someone said in his ear.

Shinji kept punching, not even making a dent. Each punch got hotter and hotter until Shinji's whole body felt like he was heating up.

"When a fight goes too long, and your stamina is drained, always remember this technique." The voice of Komaki sensei rang in his head. "Extreme Heat."

Shinji was fired up, he let out a shout as he felt the heat spread through his body. Shinji wound back a fist and punched the barrier between him and the Angel. He did it again with his left fist, and back again with his right. Each time getting faster and faster. His punches were creating bursts of wind with each swing, yet the barrier didn't break. It was like punching through a brick wall. He was about to try something else before he saw it, a small seam in the barrier, a crack.

With both hands he struck the seam, getting a good grip Shinji started tearing at it, pulling it apart. With one big pull the barrier was shewn like a piece of paper, but Sachiel did not wait for Shinji to enjoy his victory. The Angel raised its arm and fired an energy blast right in his face, almost knocking him over. The beam blew up behind him destroying part of the city. But Shinji did not care, he was going to take down his opponent now.

Stepping forward Shinji struck the red orb, the force of his punch was enough to crack it but not outright destroy it. Sachiel was left stunned to say the least, it must not have expected him to go through the blast to his face. Probably in no small part that Shinji couldn't feel anything at the moment. A problem for later.

Shinji did not relent with his assault on the red core, once again throwing mach-speed punches that threatened to create tornados. His last hit made a noticeable crack, threatening to finally end Sachiel.

Shinji wound back another fist, but stopped, the Angel looked like it was heaving. Was this thing alive? Either way, if it had any sense in it, the Angel would realize the fight was over. It was beaten.

"Shinji, finish it!" Misato cried in his ear.

Shinji would have responded if the Angel did not do it for him.

Sachiel shrieked and wrapped itself around Shinji, the red orb glowed brightly, he had a feeling what it was about to do.

"Uh oh."

In a split second all Shinji could see was bright light. Everything stung, his arms, legs, his face, nowhere was free of whatever blast Sachiel did. Shinji's eyes finally adapted and he could see the destruction around him. He was practically in the center of a crater. His labored breathing told him just how tired he was, he slowly walked out of the crater and towards the lift that brought him to the surface.

He could feel the armor the Evangelion used fall off, but what he didn't expect was what lay beneath it. Since Shinji saw the EVA, he assumed it to be a machine, a robot. But as he looked at a nearby glass building he saw the truth.

Flesh, mangled from the blast but still flesh. It regenerated fast, the damaged eye from Sachiels stake healed instantly, Its piercing green eyes looked directly into the glass, straight into him.

That was the straw that broke Shinji. Exhausted from the fight and the explosion, Shinji succumbed to exhaustion. The Evangelion fell to its knees, as its pilot was no longer conscious, but the mind of the EVA? It still thought, and it would not sleep for some time.