BEFORE
2 DAYS AFTER SUBJECT BM03 ESCAPED CONFINEMENT
"Ah, shit that hurts!"
The black and blue mark on his shoulder hurt like hell, sensitive enough that even the fabric of the stolen shirt he was wearing irritated it.
He tentatively had touched it to see how it was healing, and after the spike of pain had subsided, he came to the conclusion that it would be a while.
That's what you get for trying to open a door with your shoulder, dumbass.
The roar of an engine brought him out of his musings.
As if this day couldn't get any better.
He rushed inside a nearby building, pulling out a pair of binoculars he had found the other day and looking at the vehicle slowly making its way through the streets.
The first warning was the vehicle itself. Looked like some sort of military car, the truck armored, the black paint and tinted windows ominous.
Maybe local police? He didn't think it would be that out of the ordinary, he was sure WILLE and the UN from time to time gave supplies to the villages, and surplus vehicles didn't seem too far of a stretch.
The truck stopped, four men exiting it. The armor and rifles they were carrying quickly quashed the whole police thought.
He observed as they talked amongst each other, looking at their kits.
Their gear and weapons were far too squared away, the grey flight suits and black body armor almost identical between each man. They looked nothing like the usually ill equipped local security forces of towns he had passed through.
One of them turned to another, saying something he couldn't make out. The shoulder of his flight suit had a small patch on it, visible from the angle Shinji was viewing him from.
Shit. That couldn't be good.
That tree of life patch was recognizable anywhere.
Seemed like SEELE was still around.
But why were they here? Did they know about his escape? Were they just looking to kill random people?
Before he could get much further in his thoughts, one glanced in his direction, tapping another on the shoulder.
He ducked back into the building, realizing his cover had been compromised.
Voices began to near.
"No man, I swear, I saw somebody up there."
"I saw him too. Think they're one of those WILLE fucks?"
"God I hope so, nothing would make my day quite like putting one of those sorry sacks of shit six feet under."
Footsteps became audible as they moved towards his position. He only had a minute before they reached where he was. He needed to think fast.
He went into the apartment of the kitchen, and it seemed the powers that be had been looking out for him that day, as a single blade was left in the knife block.
He tried to get his breathing under control as the stairs down the hallway creaked with the weight of multiple men on them.
Come on Ikari, you killed three billion. What's another five to the count?
"I've got footprints over here."
The footsteps grew closer, nearing the door. He huddled against the side of the wall, listening.
The knob turned, the door creaking as it opened. Heavy footsteps began to make their way into the apartment.
He closed his eyes, terror taking hold of his senses.
"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise. We've got the apocalypse boy here."
"Oooh, this will definitely get us a nice rew-"
A laugh cut him off mid sentence.
They both looked to see the boy previously frozen in fear laughing, a deranged twinge to it.
"I am not going back there." He growled, any traces of the scared man a moment ago gone.
The man in front of him narrowed his eyes, and lowered his rifle.
"That's fine. It said nothing about bringing you back alive." He unsheathed a large combat knife, drawing it into a reverse grip. The blade was large, the bowie point a needle tip, made to be as deadly as possible.
Shinji was wanted by nearly every government. He had lost 14 years of his life in the blink of an eye. He had lost nearly every friend near and dear to him.
He had managed to make at least one friend within this newfound Hell, only to witness their brain matter dripping down the sides of an entry plug days later.
He had ended the world.
He had endured Hell within prison for that, and had nearly died breaking out.
Perhaps that was why, as a man nearly twice his size lunged at him with a knife blade the length of his forearm, he was calm.
What happened next was a surprise, even to him.
He sidestepped as the man came near, immediately jabbing the small paring knife he had into the mans jugular.
The foe immediately stopped, falling to his knees as he choked on his own blood, clawing at his neck as he bled out within seconds. He plucked the large knife from the now dead mans hands. And looked back up.
The other had been staring in shock, the events that had transpired obviously as confusing to him as they had been to Shinji.
Once Shinji made eye contact, the man broke out of his stupor, immediately reaching to unholster the handgun at his side.
"YOU FUCK!"
Rushing forward, he grabbed the slide and pointed the gun upward, the gun going off as the trigger was pulled, sending a rond into the ceiling.
He brought the blade up with his remaining hand, and shoved it in the other's chest, hard.
The heavy blade cut through the kevlar he had been wearing, the sheer force behind the thrust cracking and parting ribs in it's way, the point puncturing the heart.
A choked gasp was made by the other as he twisted the blade to ensure as much damage as possible.
He watched as life slowly faded from the man's eyes, the orbs glazing over as he began to slump.
Ripping the knife from the fresh corpse, the body slumped to the floor, a thud accompanying it.
"Holy Shit."
He snapped his head to the left, seeing two more within the doorway. Seems like life didn't want to make things easy for him.
He ducked to the side as rounds began flying. Thankfully, the solid concrete walls were enough to stop any rounds from going through it.
He looked over at the corpse still in the kitchen, and made a choice.
A hasty rush and fumble later, and a rifle was in his hands, the weight unfamiliar in the ex-pacifists hands.
He aimed the rifle around the corner, blindfiring wildly, emptying the magazine.
Luckily, his shots had found their mark, the pained groans of men on the verge of death now audible.
Peering around the corner, he saw the two now on the floor in the doorway, death twitches occasionally spasming their bodies.
He dropped the rifle, the encounter that had lasted only 30 seconds but feeling like hours over.
As the adrenaline began to slow, another voice cut through his thoughts.
"I'm going to rip you apart!"
He opened his eyes to see another man in the doorway, this one wasting no time and making a beeline for him.
Before Shinji could react, the mans shoulder connected with his chest, sending him to the ground. A weight on his torso stopped him from getting back up.
A blow connected with his face, the pain almost blinding.
"You think you can kill my men and get away with it? No, I'm going to make you suffer."
More blows rained down, each worse than the last.
At this rate, Shinji would be unconscious within a minute, tops.
As his face was rocked to the left side for the third time, he noticed the body of the first man he had killed from earlier, only about six inches or so away from him.
He also noticed the knife still in his throat.
The blows stopped, his frazzled mind too hopped up on adrenaline and pain to notice.
He still was able to feel heavy hands grip his throat. Immediately his air supply was cut off, the grip almost crushing.
"Oh, killing you is going to make my goddamn day!"
He flailed his arm out for the blade, hand making contact with the handle after a moment, the other too hopped up on a mix of murderous rage and adrenaline too notice.
So heavy on adrenaline, that he didn't notice until the fifth puncture wound that he was being stabbed.
"AGH!"
Shinji did not let up, repeatedly bringing the blade in and out of the mans flesh. He continued stabbing even as the man keeled over.
After around 67 thrusts he stopped. He was pretty sure the other was long gone by number 32.
After waiting a moment to ensure there were no more men. He sighed, and slumped against a wall, letting the moment finally sink in.
The adrenaline faded, his mind finally catching up with the what had happened.
He had just killed five men by himself. No EVA, no simulation, just five cooling corpses, and a bloody blade in his hand.
He brought his hands up to his face as the familiar feeling of sadness made itself known.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Oh God I didn't want to, Oh God I'm sorry."
Tears began to fall, and after a moment, the anxiety and panic became too much, and what was left of the meager lunch he had eaten decided it wanted out.
He continued to cry, choked sobs overtaking his senses.
He couldn't run away from this one.
"It was self defense, yeah, it was self defense, me or them, right? Right?"
As much as he didn't believe the statement he had been muttering to himself the past five minutes on repeat, it was enough to let him regain his bearings, and check the bodies for equipment.
The gear he now wore gave a little more comfort after the brush with death, but he had to admit, it felt wrong wearing a dead man's clothes. The weight of the handgun on his hip heavy and uncomfortable, the rifle another unfamiliar feeling.
He walked out of the apartment, and went to make his way towards the vehicle they had arrived in, the truck untouched.
Checking the back, he was surprised to find he had hit the jackpot.
The trunk was filled with supplies, spare fuel, food, and ammuntion.
There was more than enough food and water to last him a week or two at minimum.
He decided to ignore the backseat for now, thankful that at the very least, the bodybags back there were unused.
He had found the keys on the leader, and after turning the ignition, it sputtered to life. Seems he was in luck.
Driving was easy enough to get the hang of, having watched Misato drive in the past had given him a good list of what not to do behind the wheel.
He didn't know exactly where he was going to go now, but he supposed anywhere was better than here.
Letting his thoughts wander as he drove along the empty stretch of road, his mind couldn't stop thinking about what had happened.
The men who had attempted to kill him, only to meet their own end by his hand.
He was still unsettled at how natural it had been for him.
He didn't sleep all that well that night.
PRESENT
Aboard the WUNDER
Misato was alone within her office, the glow of the meeting screen her only light source.
She wasn't really listening to what the suits had to say, the way they talked about human lives, the cold, clinical tones and words annoying her to no end.
Although that was a little hypocritical, especially coming from her of all people.
-agi? Katsuragi?" Misato blinked at her name, having been too far gone in her daydream to realize what had been going on.
The General sighed, and repeated his question.
"Katsuragi, what is the status of the Units aboard the WUNDER?"
She gave a slight nod, and composed herself.
"Unit 08 has extensive damage to the arms, technicians estimate a minimum of 2 months for full recovery. Unit 02 is far worse, it could take 7 months with the equipment on board."
Hushed murmurs made their way throughout the conference, the statement she had made obviously upsetting some.
Looking at the map of the ship's location, an idea came to mind.
"Gentlemen?" The room quieted as her authoritative voice rang out.
"Sir, we request that we stop at old Paris, the abandoned NERV base there still has EVA supplies which could greatly expedite the repairs."
Another voice cut through before they could deny or accept her request.
"Sir, with all due respect, why don't we use Unit 01 in New Italy?"
Some disagreed.
"Are you seriously listening to him? He's suggesting using the damn unit that got us here in the first place."
"Without it, we'll be practically defenseless for three months!"
Before long, the conference descended into arguing, a stern voice breaking it only a moment later.
"Even if this plan was possible, we all know that it only responds to one pilot, still currently at large."
"Shame he had to run away, we could have made some sort of deal with him."
Misato said nothing, instead letting the bureaucratic war play out in front of her. The "agreement" comment had piqued her interest, and she wanted to see where it would lead.
"Like we would make a deal with modern Hitler."
"And do you have a better idea?"
"Gentlemen." The authoritative voice of the General cut through, immediately bringing the room back to silence.
"We will locate the fugitive, and decide if a deal is feasible or not. That is final. Katsuragi?"
Misato looked up at her superior.
"Sir?"
"You are authorized to go to Paris. Retrieve whatever equipment is necessary, and take more if possible. Dismissed."
The other screens faded away, before her own eventually was turned off, leaving her once again in silence.
She sighed in a mix of annoyance and exhaustion, talking to these damn bureaucrats seemed to suck what little life she had left out of her.
She thought back to the "deal" they had brought up in the meeting.
"Goddamnit Shinji. Why did you have to run?"
KNOCK KNOCK
She sighed, and recomposed herself.
"Enter."
The familiar face of Ritsuko walked in, Rei close behind, having been assigned as her personal assistant after the trials. She turned to the other.
"Rei, get me a cup of coffee. Make it quick."
"Yes ma'am." Turning, she obeyed without hesitation, heading for the break room.
Misato narrowed her gaze at the woman.
"You don't really need to treat her like that."
"Sorry?" The apology was obviously far from genuine as the woman lit a cigarette.
Misato had been given a long time to think over what had happened, and had found that she couldn't harbor any resentment for Rei and her clones.
The girl practically only knew what to do when she was being ordered around. Gendo had raised her for only one purpose, the girl so thoroughly bred to follow orders she was sure the girl would shoot herself if told to.
"She's still a person, you know."
"She was created to end the world. Sorry if I'm not exactly fond of her."
Misato only narrowed her gaze further.
"And you knew all about it too, and said nothing, because apparently, getting dicked down by Gendo was worth the extinction of humanity."
The blonde bristled, but kept her composure, knowing responding would lead nowhere.
She ignored the jab, and opted to instead hand her the papers she had been holding.
"What is this?"
"Repair status of our Units." Glancing over the paper, the numbers didn't look great.
"Any other options?"
"Unit 08 could be fitted with older prototype style mechanical arms. Not anywhere near as versatile or efficient, but better than nothing, and we can have them on before we reach paris. Here."
A paper was slid onto the desk and Misato looked at the image on it. She couldn't stop the slight smile that slid onto her face.
The arms were clunky and large, for a reason.
Each arm was essentially a glorified giant autocannon, large rotating barrels that could spit out thousands of car sized projectiles per minute fed by the large magazines that made up the upper arm.
The entire design was completely overkill, something that she was sure would have had the UN freaking out at the absurd amount of firepower, had the current situation not been so severe.
"Oh boy. Mari is gonna love this."