I had this idea running around in my head for a while. Basically, this is an AU (Alternate Universe). The entire thing revolves around a single event changing everything, which becomes pretty obvious off the bat. Some people are better off for it, but some are actually a LOT worse off. Which is which becomes more pronounced as the story goes on.
This is pretty much a rough draft of the prologue, so far. Curious for feedback and how to improve it.
Thank ye.





“Prepping for second stage. Initiating LCL ionization. Setting plug depth.”

Gripping the controls. Breathe in. Breathe out. This is for the best. The entire future rides on the results of this experiment. Science is the future, after all. Sacrifices have to be made for it.

“Second stage successful. Plug depth set. Preparing third stage activation.”

They will understand, when that glorious future is laid out before them. They will praise and sing her name when she hands them paradise. They will love her and worship her, and everything will be right with the world.

A nervous tick crosses her lip. Tapping a button on her wrist, she brings up the video screen in her right eye. Her husband, her son. The Professor, that poor sweet man. Watching as the experiment readies, and…and her son.

Her son is smiling, watching Mommy get ready to pilot the giant robot.

Ready to get nice and traumatized from watching Mommy die.

“Ready for third stage activation in three…two…”

“Abort!”

She pulls her hands from the controls as if they burn her, flipping open a control panel between her legs and pulling up a lever. The entire plug shakes, LCL draining from it like water down a toilet as it jerks and spins out of the monster’s spine.

Undoing the belts across her chest and waist, she scrambles out of her chair and climbs out, climbing to the hatch and pushing it open.

The boots of the plug suit clang against the metal catwalk as she practically jumps out of the metal tube, not affording the restrained monster a glance as she grabs a towel from a technician and dries off her short brown hair, pushing open the door to the Control Box as everyone stares. Waiting a moment, she hands the now damp and sticky towel to another technician, who stares at it before walking off with it. Her baby runs over, leaping into her arms as she gives off a relieved smile.

“What happened?” Kozou asks.

“The experiment’s too dangerous,” Yui responds, “We’re looking into something else. I’ll get on the horn with Kihl and go over everything with him.”

Her husband raises an eyebrow, turning to Kozou. He shrugs, turning back to her as he scratches the back of his head.

“Yui,” he starts.

“No,” Yui cuts him off, “There was a better than likely chance that-”

Rudely jerks her thumb at the restrained biomech.

“Was going to eat me. I have an idea for an alternative that will still get that thing working. Until then, we’re not having any contact experiments. Clear?”

Kozou and Gendo both nod, both sighing. The technicians hide their snickers. There is little illusion of who wears the pants in the Ikari household, and it is mainly because it is easy to stay on Doctor Yui Ikari’s good side that harmony rules GEHRIN with an iron fist.

“Now, come on,” she says, tightening her grip on her son, “Let’s find whatever hole Naoko’s stuck herself into and get back to work.”
-
-
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
Nobody Dies
-
-
“Due to special emergency circumstances, all lines are currently out of service. Thank you.”

AD 2017. T+ 17 years, Second Impact.

He stares at the receiver for a few moments before sighing and placing it back on the phone. Reaching into his pocket, he flips open the phone and, again, stares. No signal. Sighing, he closes it, spinning around. Getting his bearings. Figuring out what the Hell he’s going to do.

The city is empty.

He arrived here two hours ago and he hasn’t seen a single blessed soul.

It’s a nice city, mind you. Sure, no buildings are taller than the apartment blocks, but it is a nice city, if low key and suburban. The streets are clean, there is not traffic (partially because no cars are moving) and the buildings are nice and colorful.

But still, there are no people.

“Come,” he says, scratching his head, “Just…’come.’ I haven’t seen him in three years and that’s all I get?”

The sixteen year old boy, with dark brown hair and clear blue eyes, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans from the four hour train ride, scratches his head as if he can dig through his skull to find an answer. A nervous habit, yes, but considering his heritage most find it lucky he isn’t hanging from a light fixture and babbling.

Despite being well into puberty and priding himself that he is, in fact, male, he shrieks like a schoolgirl when an explosion rips through a building several blocks down, scrambling back as a VTOL jet flies overhead, the four engines on its cigar-shaped body blasting out superheated air as a volley of missiles swarms out.

“What the Hell?” he asks, mouth hanging open.

A statement he repeats even louder when a line of pink light lances through the air and the VTOL explodes in a plume of ignited fuel.

The entire apartment block collapses as something rises above it, a great and mighty foot crushing it under its weight. As it is, Shinji Ikari’s brain rewires itself at a great and mighty speed, the flight mechanism suppressing the fight response to the point where it barely notices it existed, and the rest of his brain reinforcing the bladder control so he doesn’t soil his pants.

It stands over twenty stories tall.

Its skin is the color of limes and sour apples. Its body is some sort of sick parody of the human form, with elongated arms covered in bone spikes, ending in three fingered hands. Its legs are thin and boney and should in no way hold up that thing in front of him and it doesn’t even have a head just a lump fused with its shoulders where some sort of bird skull is looking at him.

And it’s looking at him.

It is looking at him.

“Oh…shit,” he whispers.

The left hand snaps open and it turns on him, reaching for him. The hole at the center of its hand begins to glow as the air whine and pulses, cars flying towards the monster as it looks up.

“Fox 2!”

And a missile fires out, whipping past Shinji before slamming into the red core at its center. The missile explodes, the creature falling back, emitting a sound between bad violin, dying cats and cricket sex as it grabs at its chest, a hairline fracture where the explosive hit.

“Shinji Ikari?”

A spent green tube- a missile launcher- lands at his feet. A hand grabs his arm as he dumbly nods.

“Great. Come with me if you want to live.”

With a yank, the wind whips past him as he’s carried along, his feet leaving the ground as the entirety of Tokyo-3 becomes a blur. Save for the green thing. That is clearly visible and it is currently stomping after them. Even though it is incapable of expressions and its face has not even changed position, he knows that it is pissed off.

“Yeah, it’s me,” the rescuer says, “I’ve got him. Oh, and the Angel is after him to. We’re going to need a distraction…”

A click of the tongue and a sigh.

“Yeah, I took down its field and hit it in the core with an RPG. Okay, okay, I pissed it off. Happy?”

They run up the side of an apartment block, vaulting the rooftops, speeding along faster than a car as lime green feet stomp the street in their wake, narrowly dodging as blasts of pink light rip up buildings.

“Hey, are you afraid of heights?”

He nods with a whimper.

“Too bad.”

Which is when Shinji turns around and stares at the end of the apartment building. The ground leaves, or at least the rooftop ends, and Shinji takes a moment to stare at a quarter mile drop between them, the edge of this district of the city, and the one it overlooks over a sheer concrete wall.

“Oh…oh God,” he whispers.

They drop. The rescuer, who is apparently determined to get him killed, laughs. Below them, a plate of concrete and metal slides open and reveals a metal tube, his rescuer twisting and slipping them both in, Shinji’s side hitting cushions that take the brunt of the impact before he bounces off onto polished smooth metal.

He screams, she laughs, as they ride the tube at full speed like a spiral slide, a pair of hands grabbing the metal. He shoots ahead of her, bouncing through the turns, eyes going wide as he sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

A light which is an actual exit, which he shoots out of before slamming into a wall covered in gel padding. He hangs off it for a moment, all his forward inertia rippling through it before he drops to the cold metal floor.

“Incoming!”

A white and blue blur slams foot first into the gel, kicking off of it before flipping and landing on two sneaker covered feet. His eyes slowly, shakily, trace up. Past the white sneakers and black socks. Past the pale white legs and plaid skirt, past the white shirt, blue jacket, finally towards the face framed in blue hair and sporting a pair of red, blood colored eyes.

Arms shoot up and she bows, and right before his brain begins shutting because this can’t be f___ing happening down he hears something about a ’10-point landing.’

“Rei!”

She spins around, clapping her hands together as heels slap against the metal floor.

“Dr. Akagi,” the girl squeals, “One Third Child, as ordered!”

He rolls onto his back, not on his own will. Looking down on him is a woman. A beautiful, adult woman with glasses and chocolate brown hair, in a wet suit and a lab coat. He wants to believe he is dreaming, but the pounding of his heart is telling him that no, no, this is really really real.

“Hello, Shinji,” she says, “I am Ritsuko Akagi. I am a friend of your father’s.”

“In a Ugandan way,” Rei adds.

“Rei, be quiet,” Ritsuko says, glaring at her before turning back to Shinji, “Shinji, you were summoned here by your father. You’re in a facility called NERV-1. That creature that attacked you and Rei…right.”

She tilts his head up. The pale girl smiles and waves, clicking her heels together with a high pitched giggle.

“This is Rei Ayanami,” Ritsuko continues, “She is a Pilot. Like you. Do you know why you were summoned to Tokyo-3?”

He shakes his head. Eyes dart around as others begin approaching. A young woman with purple hair, in a black dress and bomber jacket. A girl a little older than him with short black hair and in a beige uniform.

“Well, that creature that attacked you is an Angel,” Ritsuko says, “And…we need you to destroy it.”

A pause, a beat. Rei stares at Ritsuko, pursing her lips.

“Any questions?”

His response does not come in the form of a question. Rather, as would be sensible for someone in his position and from his recent experience, his response comes in the form of a scream.

It starts all the way in his stomach, streaking up his throat and exiting his mouth in a high pitched, sustained shriek of terror, disbelief and girlish horror, before he scrambles onto his feet and runs. Skidding the corner, he sprints on all fours into the nearest labeled mens rest room, rolling to a stop in a stall and locking the door behind him.

Back in the hallway, the assembled personnel can only stare and watch. Leaning back on her feet, Rei shrugs and starts walking towards the bathroom.

“I’ll drag him out,” she says, “Someone call the Commander.”

He found a bag in the stall, most likely for stool samples, but since it was brown and paper it would serve for the current purpose. Fist closed around the opening, the bag inflates and deflates with every hard, ragged breath. Shinji Ikari, child of two of the smarted people on the face of the Earth, hyperventilates in a mens room stall several miles underground as his brain slowly restarts.

It has been years since he saw any relatives outside of his uncle and aunt. Of course, they are busy. They are always busy. That’s the point. As it is, he is an afterthought, or so he tells himself, and he still has no idea what in God’s name they do.

The bag deflates and inflates. His toes curl inside his short boots, his knuckles white around the bag. He has to go out there at some point, he tells himself. Eventually. Maybe sometime next week when he stops telling himself that a lime green monster that takes on armies just tried to make him its prison bitch.

“Heeee~ey,” the voice calls out, the door to the bathroom swinging open, “Oh, Shin~ji? Are you dead yet?”

White sneakers and black socks he can see underneath the teal stall door. They shift from side to side, a small, light knock on the door. Another knock, followed by a sigh and the sound of knuckles cracking.

Then the pale fist puts a hole through the door, reaching all the way to her short sleeve. The hand gropes at the door before finally settling on the lock, turning it to open before retracting. The bag ceases its inflating as Shinji stops breathing, staring in mute horror as Rei places her hands on her knees and bends down, smiling.

“Hey there,” she says, “I know this is freaking you out, but the Commander, your dad, really wants to see you right now. I can carry you if you’d like. ‘Kay?”

The bag inflates slowly, then slowly sucks back in. Carefully, he lowers it, finding he is not blinking as much as he should.

“What…are…you?” he asks.

“I’m Rei,” she says with a toothy grin.

“No…no, what are you?”

“I said it before, silly,” she says, “I’m Rei.”

She grabs his arm, yanking him to his feet, and drags him out.




“Yeah, this is a great idea. Let’s start him out by introducing him to Rei.”

The purple haired woman glares at Ritsuko as they walk across the catwalk, Akagi rubbing the bridge of her nose as lights come on over the artificial lake.

“Don’t ask me,” she says, “The Commander ordered Rei to rendezvous with him. If it were up to me, I would’ve sent you, Misato. Right now we can hope that Rei hasn’t scared him off.”

“Oh, like she’d let him run,” Misato Katsuragi says with a snort, stopping and tapping her foot, “She’d break his legs, first. Something is not right with that girl.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Is something wrong?”

Both women freeze. They both turn to the lit platform at the top of the holding facility, the man silhouetted by the back light. He pushes his amber glasses up his nose as Akagi slides hers back on.

“We think Rei has made a bad first impression on the Third Child,” Misato says.

“I see.”

“From what Section 2 tells us,” Akagi continues, “Rei…agitated…the Fourth Angel, then had it chase her and Shinji across District 14 before they…they free fell into access port 4. Last I checked, Shinji was hyperventilating in a bathroom on floor B21.”

Thanks to the back lighting, they cannot read the expression on his face.

“Sorry we’re late!”

At this point, Shinji’s color is lighter than Rei’s. He walks, half stumbling, onto the catwalk as Misato and Ritsuko turn and stare at the girl, who comes to a stop as Shinji stumbles a few steps more before himself halting. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, sighing in exasperation, Akagi pushes her glasses back up and gestures to Misato.

“This is Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi,” she says, “She is the tactical operations commander for NERV-1. Shinji, the Fourth Angel will attempt to penetrate the major layers of armor we have surrounding our base in order to initiate an event which will more or less end all sentient life on this planet. We believe you can stop it.”

Looking from side to side, he taps his foot and waits. Waits for the laugh track to begin. Walking past them, he turns and stares at the backlit platform.

“Father?”

“Hello, Shinji,” Commander Gendo Ikari says, “It has been a while.”

“Three years,” he says, “And I just get a postcard. Can you please tell me that this is a joke?”

“No joke,” a second voice says, a door on the other side of the catwalk opening.

Flat shoes hit the catwalk, wearing a sweat suit and lab coat, glasses on her face and her shoulder length brown hair sporting some traces of gray.

“Mom?” Shinji asks.

“It’s been four years for me,” Yui Ikari says, placing her hands on Shinji’s shoulders and squeezing, “Your uncle and aunt has sent us updates, but it’s been too long. How are you?”

“Tired, freaked out, and I think I wet myself,” he says with a shaky smile, “Um…can someone please tell me what’s going on here?”

The spotlights underneath the lake and against the wall fire up. Slowly, he turns, his eyes first wandering onto the massive yellow optics, then expanding out. Out onto the purple metal, the green highlights. His eyes trace along the horn jutting from its nose, the demonic grin covering its face.

That is what it looks like, he thinks, like some sort of mythological Oni. Like a demonic mask used to scare children into sleeping.

“What is that?” he asks.

“Evangelion Unit 01,” Gendo Ikari responds, “The single most advanced combat unit ever created by human hands.”

Disengaging from his mother, he wants to the side catwalk, staring at it. With a discharge of steam and rush of air, the visage of the massive cyborg turns to him.

“And it has chosen you as its pilot,” Yui adds.

Eyes roll up, and Shinji collapses in a heap to the floor.




A sharp intake of breath and eyes open, darting from side to side as he sits up in the hospital bed. He coughs, scrambling out of the bed, sprinting on all fours into the white tiled bathroom before jettisoning the contents of the last two days worth of meals into the toilet. Coughing, gagging, he hits the flush control, letting it spin down before he releases the rest. Just to be sure.

“I see you’re up.”

The voice comes from the room, and he stumbles out, looking down and seeing he’s in a hospital gown. Groaning, he looks across the room to find Misato waving, a cheery expression on her face as she leans against the door.

“Hey,” she says, “You alright?”

He taps the side of his head, raising an eyebrow.

“I…guess,” he says, “I guess. What happened?”

“You blacked out,” she responds, After we recovered the plug. How are you feeling?”

“Like I just had my head stomped on.”

“Accurate,” Misato says with a shrug, watching him flip down onto the bed, “Good work, though. You did well.”

He clenches his eyes shut, groaning.

LCL pressure set. Synchronization at...54%! Oo, Unit 01 LIKES him!

“Ng…I remember getting in the plug,” he says, “I remember you launching it. I remember trying to fight the thing…”

“The Angel put your head through a building,” Misato says, sitting on the chair next to him, “Whatever the Eva feels, you do. That’s how synchronization works. You have an unusually high synch ratio, so you definitely felt that.”

“Uh huh,” he says, scrunching his forehead, “I…I remember screaming. It broke my arm?”

“The Eva’s arm,” she says, holding up his right arm so he sees that it is, in fact, intact, “Not yours.”

“Right…right…and then…”

Roaring. Screaming. Shrieking. Screaming.

KILL.

The fist goes through the Angel’s face, coming out the other side, the Eva grabbing both shoulders and tearing down the middle. It shrieks, screaming as its body is ripped down to the waist, the Core hanging on the thinnest skeletal strings before the jaw opens and comes down on-

“It…went berserk,” Misato says, patting his shoulder, “The Angel’s gone, Shinji. It’s dead. You don’t have to worry about it, anymore. It’s gone.”

“I…I remember that,” he says, “I didn’t black out from that. I blacked out later. I calmed it down and I saw something in the rubble and…”




“Okay, the Angel’s gone,” Misato’s voice says in his ear, “Prepare to power down and be retrieved.”

“Wait,” Shinji says, willing the Eva’s head to turn as he grips the controls, “I…wait, I see something! Can this thing see through buildings?”

The view of Tokyo-3 shifts. It becomes wire framed, pulsing, individual shapes appearing in buildings as he nods. Willing it forward, he turns towards a building, the one the Angel slammed his head through.

“Oh…oh no,” he says, “Ma’am, there’s someone trapped in that building!”

The Eva’s arm, the good arm, tears open the building, a convenience store and apartment complex. Growling, he opens the hatch between his legs, pulling the level as the Plug violently jerks back and up.

“Shinji, what are you doing?” Yui’s voice asks.

“There’s someone trapped in there!” he yells, popping open restraints, “I’ll be right back!”

Ignoring the protests, he climbs out, swallowing, hard as he sees he is still at least fifty feet up, despite the Eva being bent down on one knee. Grabbing armor plating, he slowly crawls down the arm, holding on for dear life as he shimmies down the index finger.

Running into the store, he pulls aside rubble, working his way in. Slowly, laboriously, as he hears the shaky breathing as sirens blare in the distance.

Before finally coming to the source, the little girl with brown hair, and the half ton slab of concrete and metal on her legs.




“You blacked out after you got the emergency crews to her,” Misato says, softly, squeezing his shoulder, “I…I’ll get you what I can on her. When we know she’ll make it.”

“I did that,” he says.

“No, the Angel did,” she says with a sigh, “Look, Shinji. Give me a couple of hours. Then we’ll get out of here. Okay?”

He turns to her, raising an eyebrow.

“Your parents are both insanely busy,” she says, “So they can’t take care of you. Your father’s the Commander, your mother heads the entire research department. So, they made me a deal. I take care of you while you’re here. Alright?”

“I…guess.”

“And enthusiastic you are,” she says with a chuckle, slapping him on the back, “Look, you did good. Your mother wanted me to tell you she’s proud of you. Your father…well, you know. You did great out there, especially for a first timer. So, you’ll be fine, alright?”

“…alright.”

She grins, patting him on the head, and walks out. Slowly, hesitantly, he lies back onto the bed. Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, he sighs.

Silently, fitfully, drifts off into sleep.

I like this

ironically enough, the main premise reminds me of my own Evangelion AU concept, except in my concept, the series focuses on Rei, who's quite a different character (Then again, she is pretty different in this one two, with that in mind)

anyways, looking forward to reading more

Seconded. The premise is a bit of a turn off at first, but the writing quickly makes up for it.

Not to mention Rei is about 15x more awesome in this version. :)

The light streams in through the window, hitting the eyes of the bedroom’s occupant as she gives off a yawn, followed by bracing her hands on the bed and flipping out of the covers. Landing on the balls of her feet, her pajamas billowing as she gives off a brief twirl, she stretches her arms above her head and leaps over to her closet.

School uniform in hand, she hangs it on the hook of her bedroom door, skipping to the laptop computer set up by her bed and clicking open her email server.

Oh, good, Rei Ayanami, First Child thinks, She got my message.

Folding her legs under her, manic smile on her face, she begins perusing the email, grinning the entire way. Well, she does have to get going, soon enough. It’s Shinji’s first day at school.

But what could possibly go wrong?
-
-
Chapter 2: City of Lost Children
-
-
The open hand slap hits him hard enough to send him off his feet. His shoulder hits the grass first, followed by the rest of him, and Shinji groans. The groan comes from two sources; because his face is burning, and because he has landed on his keys.

Half expecting the slap to be followed by kicks to the ribs, he rolls onto his back and props himself up on his elbows. His salvation comes in the form of another student, dressed in a black, green piped track suit instead of the slacks and shirt school uniform, which is holding the aggressor by the waist as she kicks and screams.

It started innocently enough. The girl, who he will admit is cute in her own way, with her dark pigtails and air of assumed if not actual authority, had asked to talk with him once he let it slip he was the new pilot.

“You STUPID BASTARD!” Hikari Horaki, class representative of Class 4-A at Tokyo-3 municipal high school, screams, one shoe barely missing his head as she continues kicking, “What do you mean YOU DIDN’T SEE HER?!”

“Calm down!” the boy yells, “Geez, Class Rep! Calm down!”

Off to the side, the glasses-wearing boy watches in mute horror, his camcorder forgotten in his hand.

“He saved her life!”

“After he STEPPED ON HER!”

Shinji scrambles to his feet. The situation begins to dawn, begins to come together. Hands on his knees, wheezing, he looks up, to explain. Which is when a pale hand comes down on his shoulder, and he looks up into the deep red eyes.

“Hey,” Rei says with a smile, “What’d I miss?”

Hikari stops struggling, freezing, as the camcorder drops to the ground.

“Oh, goodie,” Rei says, folding her hands at her waist, “My coworker has made his first friends! Shinji, this is Hikari. The guy restraining her is Touji, and the kid looking at my boobs is Kensuke. Say hi, everyone.”

Three mumbled greetings.

“So,” Rei says, “Why’s my coworker been assaulted?”

Three sets of sputtering responses, until Touji lets the girl down, scratching the back of his head.

“Uh…Hikari’s little sister was injured,” Touji says, “When the monster put the robot’s head through a building, she got hurt.”

“I’m really sorry,” Rei says, shushing Shinji with a look, “But, we all know that the Angel did it, not Shinji. If the Angel was still around for you to beat up…well, if the Angel was still around, we’d all be dead. So I’m gonna have to very nicely ask that you not touch my coworker.”

She smiles, teeth showing.

“’Kay?”

Shinji, at this point, has never been more scared in his life.

“I’m gonna go back inside,” Rei says, patting Shinji on the shoulder, “You three play nice, ‘Kay?”

She walks past them, whistling out of tune. Silently, averting his gaze, Hikari walks back in, followed by Kensuke. Thrusting his hands in his pockets, Touji groans.

“Look,” he says, “For what it’s worth…sorry. If you didn’t dig her out, she woulda died and…so, yeah. Sorry.”

He turns and walks back in, yelling for them to wait. Groaning, he finally falls onto his seat on the grass. Holding his head, hands behind his head, he puts his head between his knees and silently, mercilessly, swears.

“…damn it…”




Twelve black monoliths glow in the darkness. Standing at the center, in the spotlight, clad in a red sweater and black skirt and labcoat, Yui Ikari pushes her glasses up and smirks. The years have been kind to her. Pushing forty, she still resembles a woman in her prime.

“The destruction of the Fourth Angel has been accomplished,” 02 intones, “Even with the modifications to the Divine Technology. You have accomplished that which you promised, Doctor Ikari.”

“As I said I would,” Yui responds, “The Synthesis has proven to be an alternative to our initial methods of activating the Evangelions, and the problems initially dealt with only pushed the timeline back two years. So, it is time to move to the next phase.”

“Which would be?” 01 asks.

“Should the Angels concentrate their attacks on Tokyo-3,” she says, “I request that Unit 02, as well as its pilot and creator, be transferred to Tokyo-3. I will repeat this request when the Fifth Angel has been dealt with, so we can be certain that we are their focus.”

“It shall be considered,” 01 responds, “Prove to us it is logical and it shall be done. What is the status of the Evangelions?”

Folding her arms underneath her busom, she grins.

“Unit 00 will be combat ready in one month,” she says, “Unit 01 sustained minimal damage and will require only a week’s repair. Rei has also progressed, and has displayed more extranormal abilities.”

“Understood,” 06 says, “And the others?”

“The others will be ready within six months,” she says, “The new scenario progresses as promised. Now, if the Committee will excuse me, I have not seen my son in four years. I believe the lull we have is an appropriate time to catch up.”

The others disappear, save for 01, which itself turns into an old man in a visor and black robes.

“It is fortunate you are still with us, Doctor,” Lorenz Kihl says, “But do not forget. We shall not.”

“Of course not, Kihl,” she says with a smirk, “Mankind has no time left.”

And the hologram disappears.




He made it a point to avoid everyone’s gaze. Especially the Class Representative’s, studiously typing away as the teacher, an old man who he is surprised is moving under his own power, drones on about Second Impact. Still, his thoughts wander. The girl. The girl he saved. The girl he saved after he almost killed her through his own incompetence.

“Excuse me?”

Looking up, he sees that the classroom is empty, and the sun has reached its zenith outside. Lunch time.

Looking up, past his computer, he sees her. She is smiling, shakily, unsure of her own smile. Her hands are clasped at her waist and she is waiting for him to respond.

“Going for the other cheek?” he asks.

“No,” Hikari says, “I…I wanted to apologize.”

“…okay,” he says.

“It was wrong of me to blame you for what happened to Nozomi,” she says, “My sister. Her name is Nozomi. I shouldn’t blame you for that.”

“Okay,” he says, closing his computer.

“And since you saved us by piloting,” she continues, “I should not have reacted like I did. Okay?”

He sighs, nodding.

“Well?” she asks.

“Rei put you up to this?” he asks, smirking slightly when she freezes up, “Look, since I came, here, I’ve almost died three times, once because of her. I understand if she scared you into doing this. She scares me, to.”

She sighs, pulling up a chair and sitting down in it. Hands twisting in her lap, she lowers her head, clenching her eyes shut. He sighs, mentally kicking himself once more as he has frequently this day.

“Sorry,” he says, “I’m sorry I said that. Are you alright?”

“…I guess,” she says, “I…just haven’t heard from the doctors about her, yet. So…so we’re all really worried. She’s only ten years old and…”

“I see you’ve already made a friend.”

The two turn, Hikari wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Yui smiles, walking into the classroom, giving it an appraising look before she turns back to her son.

“Hikari,” Yui says, “How are you?”

“I’m…I’m fine, Doctor Ikari,” she responds, “I…should go.”

A small look passes between the two. Shinji clears his throat, standing up.

“Mom,” he says, “I wanted to know if I could ask about something.”

Yui nods, folding her arms as Hikari stands up to excuse herself.

“That girl who was injured,” Shinji says, “Could you find out what happened to her?”

“That wasn’t your fault,” Yui says.

“Please,” Shinji says, “We just want to know.”

Yui sighs, running a hand through her hair. Pushing her glasses back up her nose, she takes out a PDA and flips through messages and text, tracing her finger on the touch screen and nodding as she centers on a particular report.

“Oh, I see,” she says with a grin, turning to Hikari, “Your sister?”

Hikari nods, quickly.

“Well, the bad news,” Yui says, “She broke her left leg and her right foot, and bruised three ribs. The good news is that there wasn’t any real blood loss or lasting damage. The doctors were going to call you this afternoon, but you can take this home now, if you want. She’ll be released next week, and the doctors tell me she’ll be back to normal in…”

She taps a display, sending an order.

“Three months. Since it was a NERV operation, NERV is covering the cost. Okay?”

Hikari nods, a smile parting her face. Hands clasped as a relieved smile gives way to an equally relieved laugh, and hesitating for a second, she hugs Shinji. His eyes go wide and his face goes beat red before she quickly pulls back, mutters an apology, and turns back to the smiling Dr. Ikari.

“Now, run along,” Yui says, “I’m taking my son out to lunch.”

Nodding, she does, breaking into a sprint when she reaches the hall.

“Damn it,” he mutters.

“What?” she asks, and narrows her eyes, grabbing his chin and looking at his cheek, “Who did this to you?”

“She did,” he sighs, “It’s my fault. I blew my cover and her sister was hurt. I deserved it.”

She sighs, placing her hands on his shoulders.

“I know,” he says, “I know it’s not my fault. Everyone’s telling me that…that doesn’t mean it’s true.”

He shrugs her off, walking towards the exit.

“Let’s go.”




He picks at the pasta. Not looking her in the eye, brow furrowed and the most getting out of him a series of grunts and acknowledgments. Considering they have not seen each other in four years, it is perfectly possible he has gone mute, but she’s thinking that isn’t particularly likely.

Poor boy, Yui thinks, So young, but has to do so much.

“I think Hikari likes you,” she says, “She wouldn’t have apologized if she didn’t. She’s a…friend of Rei’s.”

They sit at a bistro near the school, and Yui considers it her privilege to pull her son out of school for a long overdue day out. People file in and out, and the glass of wine is half drained while his tea is barely touched.

“So, Dad’s busy?” he asks.

“Of course he is,” she says, “It was me or him, and you know your father. He’s distant at best. You know he loves you, he just isn’t good at showing that love.”

He grunts in response.

“I know this is hard,” she says, “But for the next few weeks, we’re going to be asking a lot of you. Unit 00 won’t be ready for a few weeks, so if another Angel attacks, we’ll need you to pilot Unit 01.”

Another grunt. She sighs, adjusting her glasses. Calling up her PDA, she clicks up a file, smiling as she turns back to him.

“Thankfully, you’re not going to be the only one,” Yui says, picking at her salad as people stream by, “Unit 02’s pilot will be here soon enough. You might get along with him. He’s a…strange boy, little odd. Dr. Sohryu will come along with him, probably bring her daughter with her, to. I think it’s been…six years since I saw either of those two.”

A cell phone rings. Yui reaches into her jacket, looking at it, and smiles.

“Guten Tag,” she sing songs, “Why, hello there! We were just talking…oh? Well, good to hear. Would you?”

Flipping the phone in her hand, she points it towards him.

“I have someone on the line who would like to speak with you.”

Hesitantly, he takes the phone, bringing it up to his ear.

“Um…hello?”

Silence on the other line. He raises an eyebrow, looking at the phone before bringing it back to his ear.

“Hello?” he asks.

“Um…yes?”

“Uh…hi?” he says, “Did someone want to talk to me?”

Yui sighs, resting her hand on her head. She motions Shinji towards her, taking the phone from his hand.

“Yes? Okay,” she sighs, “Wait…oh, hello Kyoko. No, no, it’s not a problem. Look, don’t blame…no. No. Look, I’m getting the committee to okay it, and we’ll ship you over. Yes, I do want you to bring her, she is not a burden and I do not appreciate you speaking of her like that.”

Narrows her eyes, a snarl appearing on her lips.

“No, that is an order. I am head of Project E, and you are going to bring all of them, or you get to cool your heels in Berlin. Really? Good.”

She sighs, closing the phone.

“Bitch.”

Eyes snap open as he stares at her.

“She is,” Yui says with a shrug, “Difficult woman at best. At least the change of scenery should do the girl good.”

He taps his fork, brow furrowing as he glances from side to side.

“Who was that?”

“Doctor Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu,” Yui sighs, “And that girl trying to talk with you? That was her daughter.”

She sighs, putting away the phone.

“Poor girl,” Yui says, “Change of scenery will do her so much good. Nothing she does is good enough for that woman.”

so far, so good

i'm really digging your take on Rei

The limo, on his request, let him off on the hill leading to the apartment block. Hefting his school bag over his shoulder, he walks, thoughts drifting. At least one thing went right, when he got her the news about her sister. At least that’s one less thing on his shoulders as he walks the street towards his home.

“Hey. Sorry your first day sucked.”

He starts, turning and finding Rei walking next to him.

“Where did you come from?” he asks.

“Oh, here and there,” she says, skipping to her side and walking along the divider line, “You know. Places.”

She smiles, that wide, happy, toothy smile, skipping on the white line.

“We sort of live near each other,” she says, “I live alone, since your parents are always busy at work. I don’t think the Commander and Doctor Ikari’ve been home all month.”

“You…live with my parents?” he asks, turning to her.

“Yeah. Since they found me,” she responds, stretching her arms above her head, “Well, last couple of years, at least. Before that, I lived at NERV.”

One quick hop, and she walks on the curb, arms out as she balances herself. Shinji watches her as she whistles, each step extended, a caricature of proper posture. Her face is barely readable, with a mixture of joy and…something else.

“Before that, I didn’t really live anywhere,” she says, “Mainly just the tube my Mom made me in. But, that’s close enough to normal, isn’t it? You don’t really live anywhere until you’re born, right?”

“I…guess.”

She smiles, leaning side to side as she walks. Her whistling song reaching its climax, she hops off, patting him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it,” she says, “Can’t get anyone else angry at you now, can you? So, tomorrow’ll be a better, brighter day! Am I right?”

“I…I guess so,” he says with a shrug, “Okay. I guess it will. I don’t think I injured any other students.”

She laughs. Loud, and happy, and throaty. He stops in his tracks as she laughs, almost doubling over. Smiling, eyes alight, and maybe glowing, she turns back to him, patting him on the cheek.

“If you think that was bad,” she says, “Ask me about the Third Angel sometime. Now that was bloody.”

Her knuckles crack.

“And I did that with my bare hands, to!”

The rest of the walk back is spent in silence.




The clock reads eleven o’clock. Misato hasn’t come back from NERV yet, but she said tomorrow will be her day off and she’ll be around. He cooked his own dinner and watched television, doing his homework as the other resident, a warm water penguin that surprised him in the shower last night, read the newspaper and had a beer.

It is exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally, that he finally lies down on his bed and starts to drift off towards sleep. Which is, his luck holding out, when the phone rings. Muttering, burying his head in the pillow as he rolls onto his stomach, he gropes for the phone and opens it, bringing it up to his ear as he flips it open.

“…yes?”

“…hello?”

“…yeah,” he moans, “Hello?”

“…am…am I waking you?”

He props his head up on his hand, turning the clock to him as he sighs.

“No, no,” he says, “No, you’re not. Who is this?”

Hesitation on the other line. Her voice, and it’s definitely a girl, is soft, and low. She’s whispering.

“…um…a fan,” she says, “…I saw you fight the Angel. Doctor Ikari said I could talk to you.”

He chuckles, faintly, scratching his head. Resting his chin on the pillow, he sighs and rolls onto his back.

“Okay,” he says, “That’s alright. You know…you know my mother?”

“Um…sort of. Our mothers work together. You don’t mind, right?”

“Nah…I don’t. It’s fine. You’re not another pilot, are you?”

A small laugh on the other line. There’s sadness in the laugh, something like longing.

“No, no. No, she’d never let that happen. I just get to watch.”

“Oh. Well…it’s not that much fun in the cockpit.”

“I know. But…you did kill it. I’ve never seen someone actually beat one of those things…was it exciting?”

“It was terrifying,” he responds, closing his eyes, “I could have done better.”

“Or…or you could have done worse. I…thought you were brave. Very brave.”

He laughs, faintly. A smile crosses his lips.

“Thank you.”

“I mean it…oh, damn! I-”

A click and the call ends. He stares at the phone, lying back. Closing it, resting the phone on his chest, he drifts off into sleep.




The phone closes as the woman pushes her glasses up her nose. Folding her arms, she sweeps back her red hair, some gray evident on it as she stares down at the girl. Sighing, she puts the phone down on the desk, drawing a cigarette from the pack in her hand and lighting it as the girl, her daughter, stares at the floor.

“I have already told you,” Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu says, “Not to bother him. He has enough on his mind with you hounding him.”

The sixteen year old red haired girl nods, one hand tapping on her desk, and avoiding her mother’s gaze.

“Yes, Mother,” she says.

“I do not care what his mother says,” Kyoko continues, “We do not need to involve ourselves with him. And we certainly do not need people fawning over him when we could do much better with our pilot, do we?”

“Yes, Mother,” the girl responds.

She reaches out, grabbing her chin, forcing her to face her. The red hair falls down her back, two blue eyes meeting Kyoko’s own. The older woman frowns, an expression she wears more and more these days. Although, that would be unfair. Because that would imply that she had a tendency of smiling in the first place.

“Now,” Kyoko says, “When the Fifth Angel is dealt with; we will be taking Unit 02 to Japan. For some reason, Doctor Ikari believes you should come, as well. So that means it is time for you to take your task seriously, finally, and help me with the pilot. Will you?”

“Yes, Mother.”

She lets her go. One of the girl’s hands clenches into a fist, knuckles cracking as she stands up.

“I am heading to NERV,” Kyoko says, buttoning up the last two buttons of her blouse, “Clean yourself up, dress yourself nicely and come with me. The pilot will be happy to see you. And Asuka?”

“Yes, Mother?”

“Behave yourself,” Kyoko says, shrugging on her long jacket, “I will not have you be useless around my Evangelion.”

Asuka Langely Sohryu, rejected pilot of Unit 02, nods. A trickle of blood runs down her palm as she walks towards the bathroom. As she opens the door, she lets one last response escape her lips.

“Yes, Mother.”

And closes the door behind her.

Huh, now that's an interesting take on Asuka. The idea of a quiet, compliant, shy one is...kind of disturbing actually.

I also want to see who the 'real' pilot is in Germany. Something tells me he'll more than make up for anything we lost with the 'new' Asuka. :)

This Rei is certainly very different, as is Asuka. I am interested in seeing what other changes are made to the other characters.

I will be keeping my eye on this!

The suit is, in and of itself, not uncomfortable. It is white at the chest, shoulders, and down the outside of his arms, black at the waist, legs and lower back. Blue highlights are at the chest, along the tips of the gloves and soles of the boots, and a large black 01 emblazoned on his chest and shoulders.

It is roomy at the chest, and he gets from that the distinct impression this suit was initially designed for Rei, self conciously trying to work the wedgie out as he walks out of the locker room and follows the lit blue path down the hallway.

They told him the suit, called a Plug Suit by Dr. Akagi, would feel like a second skin.

She wasn’t kidding. He wishes he has a bathrobe or towel, or even a pair of shorts to put over it. He feels naked. And not in a good way.

“Hey there!”

A video screen of Misato’s face appears in his right eye, Shinji screaming, backing up and almost tripping. Spinning around, he sees her nonetheless, noticing quickly that the background behind her holds no relation to the background of the hallway.

“Your plugsuit sends up a video feed to your eyes,” Misato explains, “I’m talking to you through Central Dogma, the central C&C of NERV-1. How does it feel?”
“Like I’m flashing everyone,” he responds, shuddering as people smile at him, including the old male janitors, “Do all pilots have to wear this thing?”

“Yep. Although, judging from the camera feeds, Rei pulls it off considerably better than you do.”

“Misato.”

“Sorry, Dr. Ikari. Any case, just follow the lighted path and you’ll get to Unit 01’s plug, and we can begin the Synch Test.”
-
-
Chapter 3: Whole New Can of Worms
-
-
The doors to the mausoleum open as the sole occupant looks up from floating holographic reports. Pushing the glasses up his nose, he stares at the new arrival as she walks in, briefcase under her arm and looking over her PDA before stopping in front of the desk. Pulling up a chair, she slumps down into it and sighs, opening the briefcase and pulling out a folder.

“Well, so far Shinji’s adapting,” Yui says, “I’ve checked his phone logs. Asuka called him again, last night. Kyoko wasn’t happy.”

“Kyoko is never happy. We’ve established this as stabilizing factor of the universe.”

She raises an eyebrow before she rolls her eyes, leaning back in the chair and crossing her legs.

“Gendo, be serious,” she says, “When Unit 02 comes over, so will she. We need to figure out some way of running interference that doesn’t have her raising all holy Hell in the Geofront.”

A smirk appears on his bearded face as he turns back to another financial requisition form.

“Well, what’s one more miracle?” Gendo Ikari asks.

“You’re not being helpful.”

“I was under the impression that we established ‘Supreme Commander of NERV’ translates into ‘Yui’s Sounding Board.’ But we’re not worried about Kyoko as we are worried about what she is bringing over with her. You honestly don’t care about Dr. Sohryu or Unit 02. You care about the girl and the pilot.”

She smirks, sitting back. Sighing, she nods, running a hand through her hair as she looks over the PDA.

“I’ve been keeping in touch with Asuka behind Kyoko’s back,” she says, “That’s part of the reason I keep pushing Kihl for the transfer. Something is seriously wrong over there, Gendo.”

“And we both agreed to shove Shinji into the giant robot. I daresay neither of us are getting parent of the year awards.”

Muttering, she slaps the folder down on his desk. Hands on the desk, he slowly turns to stare at her, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“You’re insufferable,” she says.

“I’m patient,” he responds, “We’re not going to get any more done by blatantly undermining Dr. Sohryu’s authority.”

“How about subtly undermining her authority?”

A small grin parts his face.

“Are you pondering what I am pondering?” he asks.

She leans closer, faces inches from each other.

“I think so, dear,” she says, “But I have no idea where we would get saran wrap in that bulk.”




Once more making sure not to puke in the amber liquid, LCL as they named it, Shinji takes a deep breath and lets the syrupy water fill his lungs. He feels heavy inside it, feels weighed down. Maybe, he ponders, that is supposed to get him used to mentally becoming a giant robot.

Mentally clicking a thought, a diagram pops up in front of him, showing a vertical outline of the purple behemoth.

“Specifics,” a cheery voice says in his head, one he does not recognize, “Evangelion 01 Test-Type. Designer: Yui Ikari. Dimensions: Height 207 feet, five inches. Weight 28,605 tons. Armaments: CLASSIFIED.”

“So…I don’t get to know what I can fight the Angel with?”

“Need to know basis,” Akagi says, her face popping up in his left eye, “More will be unlocked as we are certain you can handle the weapons.”

“Wait…so I level up in this thing?”

“Not entirely inaccurate…”

“Shut up, Misato.”

Sighing, he wraps his hands around the butterfly controls. The lab assistant, Maya, begins calling off numbers.

“First stage pass. Setting plug depth and ionizing LCL. Second stage pass.”

Hair on the back of his neck stands up. Blowing out his mouth, he watches the bubbles float up past him, closing his eyes as he concentrates. Reach out, they told him. Let his mind expand and drift and-

Red eyes. Staring. Smiling. Giggling. A warm hand wrapping around his as the seven eyes arrange and alight.

“Welcome baa~aack.”

“Synchronization holding at 58%,” Maya says, “Unit 01 has activated.”

Maya’s voice brings him back to reality. He leans back in the chair, shuffling his ass.

“Okay, that’s all we need,” Akagi says, “Shinji, just hold tight for a half hour while we check your ekgs and data.”

He nods, leaning back. Tapping buttons on his plug suit’s wrist, he raises an eyebrow as the neck piece pops and a pair of buds pop into his ears.

“Cool.”




The main problem with the orange and white robotic Cyclops is that the right arm is currently missing. From what he was told, during an activation test, Unit 00 went berserk and tried to kill Rei. Her response to that attempt was to focus on controlling the left arm, engaging the progressive knife, and cutting the arm off to shock the Evangelion into submission.

“Okay,” Misato says, hands on her hips as he lets the towel hang over his head, his plug suit, his hair, his skin smelling somewhat like blood and maple, “Shower yourself off and get dressed. I’ll drive you home.”

He nods. In one sense, he is relieved the day is over.

On the other hand, his day will end with her driving.

“Right,” he sighs.

He walks into the locker room, squeezing the twin buttons on his right wrist. The suit expands and air enters, the clinging fabric hanging loose as he reaches behind his neck, undoing the main clasp. The suit comes loose, hanging at his waist as he slides it off, picking it up and opening the chute near the bank of lockers.

Checking the label, making sure it reads ‘Laundry’ and not ‘Incinerator,’ he lets it slide down, grabbing a towel.

“Aw, man! And I thought no one was using the boys shower. They’re a lot more roomy and let me dance around. You know?”

He turns, and freezes. A trickle of blood flows down his nostril as his eyes start at the face and he desperately, hopelessly, fights to keep them from wandering down.

With a towel wrapped around her head and nothing else, Rei places her hands on her pale, well-toned hips and pouts. Casually walking up to him, she stops, takes a look down, and her eyes go wide as she smiles.

“Wow,” she says, “And I’ve seen baby pictures and everything!”

Oh, God this is not happening, he thinks, looking from side to side.

But no. No, it is happening. He is naked in a locker room, and the rather unstable albino girl is currently studiously examining the unmentionables. He could move, but considering that she really looks like she wants to, say, reach out and yank it up to eye level, that may just set her off more.

“Please tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”

They turn, and someone shrieks. Ducking into one of the locker banks, Shinji quickly wraps the towel around himself, peaking his head out as Yui taps her foot and waits.

“Mom!” he yells, “What are you doing here?!”

“Please, I’ve seen all that before,” she says, “My question is what Rei is doing here.”

“Ooo…busted,” she says, tapping her fingers together, “Sorry, Doctor Ikari. I didn’t know Shinji was using the shower?”

It comes out as a question, as if she was trying to form a response which would please Yui. In that respect, she fails miserably, as Yui narrows her eyes and clears her throat. Rei sighs, shoulders slumping, before walking over to her, hips swaying slightly as she-

GOD, Shinji chides himself, clenching his eyes shut as he sneaks off to the showers.

The cold, cold showers.

i'm enjoying this so far. Shinji seems a bit more cynical, and I like the take on Asuka.

Look forward to more installments.

Tabasco wrote:Huh, now that's an interesting take on Asuka. The idea of a quiet, compliant, shy one is...kind of disturbing actually.

I also want to see who the 'real' pilot is in Germany. Something tells me he'll more than make up for anything we lost with the 'new' Asuka. :)

I go by the manga interpretation that Kyoko was a workaholic bitch before Unit 02 ate her soul. You know, raising her daughter to hate the biological daughter of her husband and all that. Anyone who goes through sixteen years of that should be nice and traumatized.

That's pretty much what I was getting at


I guess that with Kyoko around, Asuka's importance has diminished (I can see that Kyoko would not want Asuka to be piloting Unit 02, due to Kyoko's high-strung attitude towards her daughter)


anyways, in my "Yet to Be Written" AU tale, Yui is alive but Kyoko is dead


still, its very good so far. Your version of Rei is such a joy in every scene she appears in

He sits on the hilltop overlooking the craters, sighing. Adjusting his glasses, he watches the fading sunlight as he scans his camcorder over the recovery crews. His tent is set up, and the weekend will be well spent, indulging his obsession with all things military and technological. A shame the Mecha itself, the Evangelion as the media calls it, won’t be in attendance, but he can’t even imagine how much that sumbitch costs to deploy.

Kensuke Aida is a happy man at this point, sitting from his high vantage point as he lives out his dream of a real-life Kaiju movie, complete with VTOLs and missiles and nukes, with the monster being put down by human ingenuity.

“Heee~ey.”

Turns with his camera. Levels on her knees, quickly looking up at her smiling, pale face and blood red eyes as she sways back and forth and giggles.

“Uh…oh,” he says, “Um…Hi, Rei.”

“What’cha doin’?” she asks.

Silence. Pure, utter, silence as Kensuke stares at her, absently lowering his camcorder. He smiles, nervously. Rumors abound, of course, about her. Her. What she can do, what she might be. How accurate the theories of her origin may be.

There were rumors that during the battle against the Angel, she was clocking over forty miles per hour while carrying someone over Tokyo-3 rooftops. There were rumors she tore apart a…creature…that attacked her with her bare hands.

“Um…I’m just camping out and watching the recovery crews, Rei. How are you?”

“I’m good,” she says, a small drawl on her words, “Tired, though. Wanna help me with something?”

Not waiting for a response, she grabs his wrist and drags him down the side of the hill. She leads him into one of the small mountains, only a mile or so from the scene of the battle in the outskirts of Tokyo-3, where blasts from the Angel made many smooth, cooled caves in its side.

“Rei, where are we going?” he asks.

“I gotta see something,” she says, “It’s been singing all day and it’s driving me crazy. Crazier. Craziest? Is that a word?”

“I…uh…guess so?”

She begins humming. He can’t tell the beat or even the song. The song she sings to herself is low, and sad, and slow. Her fingers, clasped around his wrist, move in tune with the music.

“Laaa…da dee da…dum dum dah dum…dadadumdadah…”

“W…what are you doing?”

“That’s the song. That’s what it’s singing. It’s calling out.”

She stands at the entrance of a large cave, her smile unsteady, walking in as she releases him. He follows, camcorder at ready, watching as she snaps her fingers and forms a ball of light in her palm, shining it into the darkness.

“Is…that some sort of NERV tech?”

“If you want to tell yourself that, sure,” she says.

The light centers, shining upon the incomplete, cracked red sphere. The light pulls back, illuminating it. Eight feet tall, lime green, a half grown bird skull head staring at her, elongated arms and legs as it hisses and buzzes.

“Holy shit!” Kensuke screams, “What is that?!”

“That’s the last of the Angel,” Rei sing songs, “It hid a bit of itself here when it was coming this way. Knew we were gonna kill him.”

The eyes glow. Kensuke screams, and Rei calmly brings up her other arm. The blast flows over and around them, glassing the stone walls and throwing Kensuke’s hat off his head, but the brunt is deflected by the orange, hexagonal field.

“I know what you are,” Rei says, a smirk parting her lips, “And I know what you want. I know, I know. You have all these colorful names for me. Tool, weapon, you know.”

Opening her hands, her smirk turns into a smile.

“But how rude of me,” she says, “Let me introduce myself.”

For a moment, Kensuke could have sworn her fingernails extended into claws.

“My name is Rei Ayanami,” she says, “And I’m going to f___ing kill you.”

The kick off, her launching herself, throws up rock and dust, throwing Ken off his feet and onto his back with a groan. The camcorder continues recording, the sound of screams, alien and human, echoing in the cave as he looks up, sitting up, watching flashes of light in the darkness.

He can make out some things.

The Angel, what’s left of it.

Some creature on it, humanoid but…something else. Something his brain doesn’t have words to describe.

A lime green arm thrown past him snaps him back to reality, the sound of glass breaking and bone shattering. Silence once more reigns, Kensuke grabbing his camcorder and pocketing it, watching as something shuffles against rock.

“Hee~ey.”

She stumbles out. Her blouse is stained with blood, orange and sticky, her uniform jacket missing a sleeve. Her skirt is torn at the right hem, showing more leg than she probably intended, and her hair…

Is covered in blood. As is most of her face.

“That was fun,” she says, “Wanna grab dinner?”

Eyes roll up, and he collapses to the cave floor.

SUPER Rei!!

man, that was great

....

Did I say Asuka was disturbing, because obviously I spoke a little too soon...

And that's a combination you don't see every day. The only other fic I can think of offhand with it is 'Once More With Feeling'. Either way, no complaints here.

Edit:

On second read, a couple typos jumped out at me. May want to take a quick look.

Tabasco wrote:....

Did I say Asuka was disturbing, because obviously I spoke a little too soon...

And that's a combination you don't see every day. The only other fic I can think of offhand with it is 'Once More With Feeling'. Either way, no complaints here.

Edit:

On second read, a couple typos jumped out at me. May want to take a quick look.

I go by the belief any version of Rei's a little off from sane. This version just goes on the other side of the Uncanny Valley into batshit territory.

And hey, if you think Rei is disturbing, I just came up with the idea of how the Evangelions work in this continuity.

And yeah, catching my own typos has never been my strong suit.

Heheh... Why do I imagine that Rei is a little more in touch with the soul of Lilith than she was at this equivalent point in the series?

...Assuming, of course, that that is kept the same as in the original series.

Amras Felagund wrote:Heheh... Why do I imagine that Rei is a little more in touch with the soul of Lilith than she was at this equivalent point in the series?

...Assuming, of course, that that is kept the same as in the original series.

...assuming that, yes.

Demented. Utterly demented... and yet so awesome about it.

I might say that the presence of a mother figure has been good for Rei... but that's not really the appropriate term, is it?