Friday, January 02, 1998 Well, here I am; an avid EVA fan who, despite his parent's total disapproval of the series(old people are blind), still managed to find the time and ability to write this fic. For those of you who say "You should be working on your AREA at ANI-MUD, it's a little late; as far as being done guy," I'm sorry but I could not get an Internet connection. Even though my area isn't complete, Ani-Mud is still a great place for people who want a place for us Otakus to hang out together on the net to drop by. Unlike ANIMEMUD, you are allowed ONE anime name for your character; and there are interesting classes and races available, like Thirds, Juraiins, Humans, and Saiyans. Plus, by the time you read this, we will be adding MECHA PILOTS as a class! You will actually be able to PILOT an EVA, Gundam, or whatever other mecha you choose to take up. So if you want all the cool features of an anime at your fingertips, drop on by, and if you like it; spread the word that ANI-MUD is back up! If you want to get in touch with me, just log on and leave a note to Shinji, I am part of the staff and one of the governing IMMs, so I will get back to you. Here's the addy: *telnet to: animud.humble.net 6666 Well, enough about Ani-Mud and back to the real reason why you're reading this, the Evafic. Like I said, I am an avid Evangelion fan and it is my favorite anime series to date. The only regret I have with writing this fic is that I have only seen up to Episode 20, but I know how every episode goes so, if I seem a little off; gomen nasai. This fic deals with the trio of pilots and how thier relationships to each other affect themselves. It takes off at around the point before, during,(continuity stops) and after the Angel Rei gets her emotions from. However, I've managed to throw an interesting twist into the plot. Since a lot of people say 'I wonder what it would have been like if Rei survived with her emotions intact.' I decided to undertake this huge project. I know I may be changing things a little with Rei's descision to self-destruct for Shinji; but I had to accomplish this feat somehow. Now, I'm new to writing fanfiction, and I started writing a 36-episode Tenchific a while ago but it remains unfinished and will stay that way. So officially, this is my first fic and I'm proud of it being Eva. Well, read on, and if you like it; let me know, if you don't; let me know. A writer needs all the feedback he can get in order to get better and learn. Arigato. ------------------------- Shin Seiki Evangelion and it's characters are property of GAINAX and is copyrighted by said company. I only intend to create a work for others to read and enjoy, and maybe provoke some thought or feeling from the series. ------------------------- AniRoura(tm) Productions presents an EvaFic that could make you think: Shin Seiki Evangelion: Foreign Relations Prolouge: Shinji woke up abruptly, his walkman clicking as it reached the end of it's tape and stopped. He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. It was still dark outside, thin beams of light from the moon escaping through the blinds. Reflexively, he pushed the rewind button on his walkman and waited as the sound of high-speed gears moving filled his ears. "It's still night." he thought, listening to the walkman's whirring noises. "Why am I awake? Under this unfamiliar ceiling... I have been here for a few months or so, and it's still unfamiliar to me. Why?" Shinji thought in the darkness, his walkman finally ending it's whirring and clicking; signalling the tape was rewound. Shinji pressed the play button. Hedgehog's Dilemna filled his ears as he continued to stare up into the ceiling. Somehow, every time he woke up like this, he always ended up listening to this song, staring into the ceiling; watching his memories roll by from days past. He saw his first time in the Eva, leaning against the skyscraper; blood spraying from it's eye and head. He saw himself in the hospital bed, Rei dropping off his new plug suit; her words filling his ears as she turned away from him and left him to pity himself like he wanted to. He saw the comandeered Evangelion Unit 03 being crushed under his own Eva's attacks. He saw all the pain. And then there was Rei again. She sitting in the entry plug, after he had pried it from her Eva's back with his own and then opened the hatch with his own hands. Telling her how sad it was to say 'goodbye' when leaving on a mission, and that piloting her Eva was not the only thing she had left. He remembered her awkward surprise, admitting she did not know what to say or feel in a situation like then. "Why don't you try smiling?" he had suggested, and strangely; she did. He remembered how it felt just to see her smile, express feeling, because he asked her to. This was a good memory. He would keep this one. Then there was Misato. Kindly taking him in, saving him from the loneliness he felt while in Rei's apartment. Even though she could be a pest with all her beer, and horrible microwave 'gourmet' cooking; he was grateful for her. They did things together sometimes, when no one else could comfort them; they comforted each other. Sometimes just talking about what happened in thier lives, during dinner, even if Misato did cook it.(if you could call that cooking.) Of course neither admitted it to the other, but they had grown to need each other; even if they weren't each other's perfect idea of a roommate. Shinji decided that he didn't know how he felt about this memory, because he didn't know how he felt about Misato. Better keep it until he did. Asuka, Asuka, Asuka. He didn't even want to go there; but strangely he found himself watching the memory play anyway; as if he was no longer in control of the show. Even though she was so mean to him most of the time, he just couldn't find it in him to really ever hurt her like she did him. It was so strange to him... He remembered the week they had to do everything together. Eating, sleeping, drinking, breathing. She mostly slapping him and yelling at him; which was the biggest reason he didn't want this memory. Then he saw the day Misato commanded Rei to take Asuka's place on the dance mat; and how the two had synched perfectly; with no practice, Rei showing Asuka up without even trying. That day he'd seen too-tough Asuka cry. He'd actually felt sorry for her. Keep this one after all. His father. Just hearing his father's voice, commending him on a job well done in that battle was the only memory he had. The only one he had he wanted to keep. Everything else about his father was either unknown, or unwanted. Shinji watched as the memories ended, taking with them the emotions that flooded him whenever they came, in some cases; no emotions at all. He became tired, listening as Hedgehog's Dilemna came to it's end. Strangely; he had seen all those memories in the space of that short song. Shinji pressed the stop button on his walkman, hearing the click as it stopped as commanded. He remained silent, just staring at the ceiling for a while, no longer a tapestry of memories woven by his mind; again the unfamiliar ceiling it had always been. "Maybe it's not so unfamiliar after all..." Shinji turned onto his side and closed his eyes. For once in his life... He fell asleep immediately. ----------------------------------------- -End Prolouge- ----------------------------------------- Episode 1: Misato struck the alarm clock with the accuracy only a morning-hater could achieve. She grumbled something, moaning under her breath and slowly crawled out from under the covers, stretching like a cat. She scratched the back of her head and glanced at the clock. "Hmm, Shinji-kun should be up and have breakfast ready by now, he always gets up early." she thought, looking forward to a bath and a cold beer, along with breakfast of course. She quickly slipped on her morning shirt and stood up, glancing into the mirror. "Yuck, I really do need a bath too." she commented to herself. Misato gathered her towel and other bath tools and slid the door to her room open, stepping out onto the cold carpet and closing the door behind her. She started heading off for the bathroom and got about halfway across the floor before she noticed something. It was extremely quiet, and she didn't smell anything in the way of breakfast in the house. Well, the quiet part could pass for normal with Shinji about; but no breakfast? That was odd. Misato was one to notice these things and decided to investigate. She changed her course and walked over to Shinji's room instead, noticing that he still hadn't torn down the 'Shinji's Lovely Suite' sign she had put up on his door for him yet. She giggled a little and then remembered why she had opted for his room instead of the bathroom. She softly rapped on the door at first, and waited. When there was no answer, she figured she hadn't knocked loud enough and knocked again; louder. There was still no answer. Misato started to worry about then. "What if he's run away again?" she thought, hastily knocking again. There was still no answer. Misato stepped back from the door and thought for a moment. "If he's run away again, what would I do about it? Even if we brought him back again, there would still be the problem of why he ran away. No, he wouldn't run away again. He knows that even though I can be harsh during battle, I would worry for him. He wouldn't put me through that. I know him better." she concluded. She steeled herself and opened the door, calling out "Shinji-kun?" in the process. Misato stepped into his room and was relieved to see that there was a relatively Shinji-shaped lump in the bed. She walked over and smiled, she had been right. He was still there... But late. She quickly pounced on him, shaking him awake. He woke up startled, letting out a little yelp of surprise and then muttering something incoherent. "Shinji-kun, wake up! You're late! You're going to make me late! Come on!" she prompted, still shaking him. Shinji awakened fully and gave Misato a mean look that signalled her to stop shaking him. "I'm up! I'm awake, okay, stop that!" he protested before she finally did. She stopped shaking him and glanced at his clock. Seeing what time it was, she immediately let go of his shirt and dropped him, pointing to the clock. "Shinji-kun, it's already too late for breakfast!" she announced. Shinji finally recovered and looked around, clearing the sleep from his eyes. He glanced at the clock and saw that she was indeed right, he was late; a rarity. "I...I... overslept?" he asked himself, eyes widening. "Misato-san! Hurry up, get out of here! I have to get ready for school!" he commanded, not even bothering to be affected by the look he was getting from her. "Who are you telling to hurry, you're the one who's late." Misato shot back. "But if I'm late, you're late!" he shot back, jumping up from his bed and striding over to the closet; pulling out his school uniform and throwing it onto his bed. "I've got the bathroom first!" "No fair! You overslept!" "You did too!" "Oooh!" "Jan! Ken! Pon!" "Jan! Ken! Pon!" Shinji won the round and laughed, grabbing his uniform and running off towards the bathroom. Misato watched him go and sighed, sitting down on his bed. A faint smile spread across her face and she laughed a little. Not because of Shinji's taunt, but because thier late mornings like this,(even though they were so few.) reminded her of another roomate from her college years... She stood up and decided to get a move on, otherwise she would be late again. Misato ran out of the room and past the kitchen to her own room, immediately running over to the closet and chucking clothes from it; looking for her favorite outfit and red jacket. Shinji reached the bathroom and slid the door open, automatically closing it behind him. He turned around from closing the door and then froze. He noticed a few things: There was steam in the bathroom. There were girl's morning clothes strewn about, and they weren't Misato's... and he had forgotten all about Asuka in his morning rush. Shinji tried to tear his eyes from the scene but was frozen with fear, there; in the bath already, was Asuka with her back turned towards him. She was singing 'Fly Me to the Moon' and hadn't noticed him come in. He stood; transfixed, as a nosebleed started to trickle it's way down from his right nostril. Asuka turned around. She froze, much the way Shinji had, and glared at him motionlessly. Shinji was still frozen as well, and the two just glared at each other that way; Shinji in anticipation of what he knew was coming next. Asuka climbed from the bath and grabbed her towel, wrapping it around herself. She stalked over to Shinji and looked him right in the eye. Shinji held up his hands in defense and started trying to explain.(which he knew was pointless.) "Wait! Really, I didn't mean to! I can ex--" "NANDA MUYO, BAKA HENTAI!!!!!" *SMACK* --------------------- Somewhere deep within her closet, Misato cocked her head to one side and listened as she heard a sound like thunder come from the bathroom. On second thought, it sounded like a flyswatter hitting skin. She stayed silent and shrugged as she couldn't figure out what it could have been and went back to throwing clothes around. --------------------- Shinji sat in class and glared at Asuka from across the room; rubbing his extremely red and sore cheek. He continued to glare angrily at her and soak in his thoughts about the whole thing. "What's her problem!?! Does she always have to be so un-understanding and hard to live with? Couldn't she see that I was late just from the fact that I was coming into the bathroom at that time? She knows I'm usually the first one up and ready..." he reasoned. His laptop beeped and startled him out of his thoughts. He sighed and glanced down at the screen, wondering what it was the stupid thing wanted now. There was a message onscreen for him. 'Are you staring at Ayanami again?' Shinji glared at disgust at the screen, immediately knowing who the message was from. He glanced back in the direction he had been staring before and noticed that Rei was indeed in his field of vision. Still, he hadn't been staring at her; had he? "Of course not." he told himself and typed out a reply. 'No, I was glaring at Asuka. She slapped me again this morning.' he typed. 'Why?' came the reply. 'It's a long story, I'll tell you later.' Shinji wrote back. 'Domestic problems?' Shinji fumed at that one and almost hit his laptop, but instead he typed out a reply and decided to ignore whatever came back after that. 'Shut up, Kensuke!' he returned. There came nothing after that, strangely. Shinji sighed at the comments he had just received and pushed his laptop away from him; bored. Sensei was going on about Second Impact again and Shinji didn't have the tolerance to listen to the redundant ramblings anymore. He put his head down on his desk, facing the window and stared out of it at the horizon aimlessly. ---------------------- Shinji sat and leaned against his tree, content just to be alone in the rays of the sun. He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them again to see Kensuke walking up towards him. Kensuke reached Shinji and his tree and sat next to him, leaning against the tree and soaking up rays as well. "Today is a nice day outside." Kensuke commented, staring at the sky. Shinji looked up as well and decided maybe it was nice out... "Yeah." he answered plainly, going back to rubbing his cheek. "Whoah, she did that to you?" Shinji returned from his sulking and nodded, turning to face Kensuke. "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Kensuke commented, shaking his head in disapproval. "What did you do to deserve that?" he asked. "Nothing. I overslept." Shinji answered. "Are you sure that's all... your cheek's telling another story." Kensuke returned. "Okay, it was a misunderstanding." Shinji admitted. "It's always a misunderstanding." Kensuke pointed out. "So what happened?" he added. "I accidentally walked in on her taking a bath..." "You what!?!" Kensuke yelled, quite surprised Shinji was that bold. "I told you, it was an accident." Shinji stressed again. "I overslept this morning and was rushing to get ready for school. I forgot all about Asuka and ran into the bathroom, and there she was." he explained, remembering the whole event. "Definitely get rid of that one." Shinji noted to himself over the memory. "She got all angry like usual and slapped me; told me 'There's no need for discussion, stupid pervert.'" he added. Kensuke was shaking his head and tsking again, frowning. "I don't see how you take it." "As a matter of fact, why do you take it?" Kensuke asked, concerned. Shinji looked up, surprised. "Why do you take it, you shouldn't take it like this." Kensuke reiterated. "I don't know..." he answered. "I never thought of it that way..." he added. "Come on, man. Aren't you the only man in the house? Sure, Misato is the oldest, but you're the man. You can't let her trample over you like that." Kensuke advised. "I'm not being trampled over!" Shinji shot back, getting defensive. "See, see there?" "Why don't you do that to her? It's just the same." Kensuke replied, not the least bit affected by Shinji's yelling. Somehow, he didn't know why, Shinji just didn't see it that way. Yet, he didn't know why he let Asuka treat him the way she does either. He glanced up at the sky and sighed. Maybe what Kensuke said was something to consider. Kensuke glanced up at the sky as well, pulling his arms behind his head. After a while of just staring at the sky that way, a shadow fell over the two. Shinji and Kensuke adjusted thier angles to include the legs, torso, neck and finally face of both Asuka and Rei. Asuka had on a mean scowl and was glaring at Shinji. Rei was silent, and expressionless, normal for her. Asuka switched her view to Kensuke and spoke to him. "Tell Big Shot Pervert Shinji that Wonder Girl and I are heading off to headquarters, there's an emergency." she commanded. Shinji glared at the girl and got to his feet, glancing at Rei as well. "Another Angel has been sighted?" he asked. "Didn't you get the phone call?" Asuka held up her cellphone at Shinji, still glaring. "Baka." she muttered under her breath. "I left it at home this morning. I was late, remember?" he replied, putting extra emphasis on the last part. "Not that I ever really use that thing anyway..." Shinji thought to himself. Kensuke remained silent, watching the scene unfold and taking mental notes. "Whatever." Asuka shot, stalking off. Shinji watched her go, glaring and steaming at her every step of the way. Kensuke shook his head and tsked again. Shinji glanced at him angrily. Rei spoke. "Why are you angry?" Shinji snapped his head back around towards Rei and blinked, surprised. "Hunh?" he let slip. "Why are you angry? The Eva feeds on anger." Rei spoke again. He puzzled over her comment. Why would she ask why he was angry, and how would she know the Eva would react strangely if he was when he tried to synch with it? He had no idea how Rei could have come about this conclusion, seeing as how he never saw her express any emotion.(minus that one exception) Shinji just silenced completely, confused and wondering what this meant. "We will be late. Sayonara." She turned, and walked away, expressionless. Shinji turned and watched her go as well, still confused and bewildered. He watched her until he couldn't see her anymore and then scratched the back of his head, mesmerized by her ability to speak one sentence that could have him thinking for the rest of the week; and then speak no more. He glanced back at Kensuke for help, but he just shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching the sky. Shinji decided he didn't have time to think right now and ran off after the two girls, who were way ahead of him. One thing was for sure... He wasn't angry anymore. ---------------------- Shinji pulled on his plug suit with deftness, feeling the cold material of the suit cling to him like his own skin. He was filled with the feeling he always got when he pulled that cold second skin on. The feeling of coldness that chilled through to his very soul, as if being too close to the Eva was painful, and being too far away from it was painful as well. He stretched to his full height after pulling the suit all the way on and paused; placing his hand on the plug suit's compression ring. He glanced at Rei's sillouhette through the divider. What did she feel before battle? Rei stood up and zipped her plug suit up, pressing the compression ring afterwards. She paused for a moment and then turned and looked directly at Shinji through the divider. Shinji startled with her attention on him and quickly turned his back, beginning to walk off towards thier breifing. "You haven't compressed your plug suit." Rei spoke through the divider, freezing Shinji in mid-stride. He turned back around just in time to see her walk off, not giving a second glance at him. He pressed the compression ring and felt the familiar snugness of the suit around him as it squeezed until it really was a second skin. "She was watching me?" Shinji thought, breifly considering the possibility. After a few seconds he shook himself out of the thought and walked off, a maelstorm of confusion... ...and emptiness. -------------------------- Shinji walked into the room and quickly stood at attention, knowing he was late and that it had been the second time that day. Misato turned around from staring at the map on the screen and glared at him. "Evangelion Pilot 01! You are late!" she chided, staring him in the eye with a harsh grin. "Yes. Gome--" Shinji tried to reply but was cut off. "Oh, well; that makes two of us." Misato joked, giving Shinji a knowing wink. Shinji smiled a little, grateful for her save. Asuka turned up her nose and hmmphed, jealous. "Big Shot Shinji can get here whenever he chooses, he's special." she thought sarcastically. "Okay, situation critical! Listen up!" "We're the only ones left who can fight. The Angel is in Northern Tokyo-3 and is currently just stationary. We are assuming it is on some sort of recon mission and may or may not attack. Again, we have the advantage of attacking first, so let's make the best of it!" Misato informed. "Hai!" all three acknowledged at once. "Rei!" "Hai." "You will make the first attack in Unit 00." "Hai." "Shinji and Asuka will be on standby in thier respective Evas." "Hai!" "Hai." "You will attempt to take out the Angel with the rifle before going hand to hand. Stay as far away when attacking as possible, and be sure to monitor it's A.T. Field status. If you cannot neutralize it's Field, units 01 and 02 will be ordered to support. Understood?" Misato commanded. "Hai." "Hai!" "Hai!" "Dismissed for combat!" The three pilots turned and scrambled, running off towards the Eva cages, Shinji placing his nueral transmistters in his hair as he ran. Asuka ran ahead of them, reaching the elevator and glaring back on them hautily. "My Unit 02 will pick up the pieces from the disaster Wonder Girl here is bound to cause!" she teased. Rei said nothing, but ran to her Eva instead, giving it a quick glance before stepping into the elevator to the entry plugs. Shinji paid Asuka no attention and instead threw a nonchalant gesture her way and stepped into the elevator next to Rei, unwilling to be anywhere near to Asuka. "Stupid hentai Shinji. Shouldn't you be out peeping..." "...instead of fighting, like a man." "Hunh? Take that back!" "Why; you seemed to enjoy it this morning!" "It wasn't my fault!" "You saw me naked! Stupid hentai!" "I am not a pervert!" "Shut up! Pervert!" "You shut up!" "I'll kill you first!" Shinji turned and glared angrily at Asuka, growling uncontrollably. He had never been this angry with her before. He geared up for a raging *snap* of a yell... And was stopped cold. "Why are you angry?" "Hunh?" Shinji's growl turned to silence, and his look softened into surprise. Asuka folded her arms. "Wonder Girl's right for a change! Why should you be angry!?!" "I meant you." Asuka shut up instantly, confused. For a second, she thought rationally for once. Then she came back to herself. "Whadda you know, Wonder Girl!?!" Rei looked forward, paying her no attention. "You are angry. Why?" "He saw me naked!" "So." Shinji just stood there, amazed. Rei was taking his side. "Like he's seen you naked before!" "He has." Asuka's face paled and she staggered around a bit. Then she became a beet red ball of fury. "He what!?! When was this?" "It doesn't matter." "Yes, it does!" "It does to you." Rei continued to stare straight ahead, unaffected by Asuka's tone. Asuka hit her limit on that one, she could no longer handle it. She did what she always did when it got really bad. "Shinji, you hentai!" Asuka's hand started flying through the air... ..and met with Rei's. "It wasn't his fault." Asuka stared at Rei, amazed because she had blocked her blow... ... and hadn't missed a heartbeat; or turned her head. Furthermore, she was defending Shinji. "What is going on here?" she asked herself. Rei let go of Asuka's hand and waited as the elevator came to a stop. She stepped onto the entry platform and walked off towards her Eva. Asuka watched her go, she not turning back once. "She is self-righteous..." Shinji said nothing, he was confused... ... but he knew one thing... *Now,*he was staring at Rei. ---------------------- Shinji sat in the Eva, feeling the emptiness he always felt before synching with the Unit. Amazing, he thought it was; this thing was the ultimate fighting weapon. A war machine crafted to fight without remorse or feeling, without sympathy or mercy; yet, it was humanoid and felt pain, even preserving itself during battle. Surviving. It even proclaimed what it was in it's name, "Fighting Evangelion." He stared down at the controls at his hands, and how minimal they were for such a complex machine; no, he had no idea wether it was machine or man, dead or alive. Yet when he was in it... He felt dead and alive. Shinji startled a little as butterflies played in his stomach. They always did before synching with his Eva, as if anticipating something. The only thing Shinji knew of himself to be anticipating was pain. For him, it was unbearable to fight in the Eva. Shinji glanced out of the cockpit and sighed, wishing he was somewhere else... He turned back to the controls and grasped them, ready to synch. "Shinji-kun, Asuka and Rei have already synched, your turn." Shinji nodded in reply. "Are you ready?" He hid a deep breath. "Hai." "Phase one initiated." Shinji felt himself lighten as the LCL flooded the cockpit. He never did get used to the feeling of slight suffocation at the beginning, when the LCL finally poured into lungs, and it bothered him as to why he hadn't. "Phase two, initiated." came Ritsuko's voice over the intercommunications net. Shinji relaxed from the LCL breathing adjustment as the walls around him were plunged into deep colors; twisting this way and that. He felt his soul start to be pulled upon... "Critical point... now!" Shinji felt himself slip away into the Eva, he could now feel all the strength in the Eva's muscles; as if the Eva's cold, metal, skin-like armor was his own. Then, the emptiness he felt before synching with the Unit was filled instantly, he didn't know what it was that filled him; but he knew what it felt like. It felt like the tingling one gets when thier foot falls asleep for a breif moment, and then there was this resounding feeling, running like water through him. It surged through him until it got to his heart and the pit of his soul, and there it exploded into a feeling that Shinji could only call, 'indescribable.' Then he was snatched back into the world, and the cold metal of the Eva. "Shinji-kun, is everything okay?" "Hai, Misato-san." Misato waved to Shinji from the control room and then frowned slightly. "Ritsuko, have you noticed anything different about Shinji's patterns today?" she asked. "Yes, actually I did." she answered. "His synch rate has gone up by seventeen percent." she added. "Seventeen percent! That's more increase than he's had with a month of training..." Misato exclaimed. "Have you noticed any changes in Shinji's mood from normal? Has anything happened that would affect him that way?" Ritsuko asked. "I don't know..." "...he was late waking up today..." "Hmm." Ritsuko paused as she thought. "My theory is that the Eva takes emotion, wether negative or positive as more input from the pilot. It may be the reason Asuka's synch rate has always been so high, and why Shinji's has gone up so much in one day." she explained. "Something must have happened." she added. Misato stared out of the window at Unit 01. "I hope not." she thought. "Talk to him when he gets home Misato, see if something happened, it may affect his piloting at a later date..." Ritsuko suggested. "Right." Misato accepted. "Intelligence reports that the Angel has moved into position for our attack." "Very well then!" Misato said turning to face the three Evas again. "Rei!" she called over the comnet. "Hai." came the reply. "Prepare for launch!" Misato commanded. "Hai." came the acknowledgement. Misato paused and looked at Ritsuko, who nodded. "Hashin Eva!" Shinji turned his head and watched as Rei's Unit 00 slid up onto the launch tracks and straightened up by reflex. He glanced back out of the cockpit at Misato and then back at Unit 00, waiting. The blue-and-white Eva shot straight up, leaving the cage and soaring up onto the street above them; it's head snapping up to attention as soon as it stopped. Shinji stared up the tracks, wishing Rei luck. Over the internal comnet came the word 'Sayonara.' -------------------- Misato watched as Unit 00 reached the surface, it's head snapping up as all the Evas did, taking it's first step off of the launch rack. Unit 00 paused for a second and then turned sharply, scanning the area with it's rifle targeting system. Rei came to bear upon the Angel as it seemed to be moving closer to her, as if it knew that she had to stay a certain distance away. She took a lock on the Angel and fired a few rounds at it, watching as the discharged energy bounced of off the Angel's A.T. Field harmlessly. "A.T. Field detected! Widespread pattern blue!" "Intense energy reaction detected from within the Angel!" Misato watched as the Angel suddenly stopped advancing towards Rei and paused for a second; glowing slightly. Rei observed this change in tactic and took the chance to get herself out of the Angel's line of fire and put some distance between the two. Unit 00 leaped to the side and tucked into a roll, rolling behind a line of buildings for cover as she distanced herself. Inside the control room, Misato watched as the situation progressed. The Angel fired. A wide, arcing beam of what seeemd to be the purest of white light shot forward from the Angel, headed for the spot where Rei's Unit 00 had been. Misato almost breathed a sigh of relief, until she saw that the beam was like a smart bomb, changing it's course in mid-flight for Rei's new position. Rei's eyes widened as the beam approached her, simply cutting right through the buildings ahead of her. The beam reached her just as she leaped away again, narrowly escaping. She had gotten away, but it had cost her. As she had leapt away; the beam caught Unit 00's calf; grazing it. The armor was burnt down to the skin. Unit 00 got to it's feet slowly, looking for the rifle it had dropped earlier. Rei grit her teeth in pain as the Eva lumbered back behind another building in an attempt to gain a surprise element. The Angel was moving again, advancing toward her, looking for her. Misato watched as Unit 00 reached to it's shoulder blade; automatically opening it and drawing the progressive knife from it. Unit 00 attempted to pop out from behind it's cover but couldn't and limped. Misato reached this realization and gasped as the Angel neared Unit 00; it's progressive knife lit up. "Hashin Eva 01, 02!" "Hai!" "Hai!" Shinji nashed his teeth as he felt the familiar force of the Eva rocketing upward, he could barely turn his head to see Asuka's Unit 02 rocketing up next to him as well. The light of the day flared into his eyes as he reached the surface, his head snapping up from the immediate release of pressure. Unit 01 mirrored the reflex, then stepped off of it's launch rack, drawing the regression daishyo as it ran at the Angel. Unit 02 surfaced and leapt off of it's rack, clearing several buildings as it drew it's own progressive knife. Misato grinned as she watched the two Evas rush towards the fight. "Ha! Let's see what this thing can do against a giant purple samurai and an egotistical redhead with a sixty-foot tall mecha!" she mused to herself. Unit 00 was doing it's best to hold the Angel off, projecting it's own A.T. Field and slowly inching backwards. Inside, Rei grimaced as the mental force of projecting the Feild pounded at her, plus; she was losing ground. "Rei. Hold on, I'm coming." Shinji thought as he took a mighty leap at the Angel. Unit 01 took to the air, plunging it's dasihyo into the back of the Angel, who let out a scream of pain and tried to shake the Evangelion off. Unit 02 joined Unit 00 and added the strength of it's A.T. Field to Rei's own. Unit 01 held on tight to the Angel, attempting to drive it's blade deeper into the Angel. Shinji concentrated hard, as he heard the sound of metal screeching, the Eva twisting the blade in it's attempt to cause as much pain as possible. "Come on Shinji... you've got to hit it's core..." Misato thought as she watched the battle progress. The Angel finally tired of the nuisance on it's back and let out an almost-Evalike roar as it fired it's beam through all three A.T. Feilds; forcing Unit 02 to grab Unit 00 and help drag itself and Unit 00 out of the way. Unhazarded by the other Evas, the Angel turned to Unit 01. Misato watched in horror as the Angel electricuted Unit 01 on it's back and reached back; plucking Unit 01 from it like a flea. Shinji felt himself being lifted into the air and closed his eyes; awaiting the impact. It came. Hard. The Angel slammed Unit 01 to the ground at it's feet, one-handed. Shinji cried out as he felt the impact of his Eva hitting the ground. Inside her Eva, Asuka cried out after him as the foot of the Angel came down on Unit 01; a crushing sound being heard as it simultaneously fired it's beam directly at Unit 00. Unable to move fast enough, Rei was hit. "Get Shinji out of there, NOW!" "Eject the plug!" "We can't!" "Units 00 and 02 have taken extreme damage!" "Unit 01's umbilical cord has been cut!" "Shinji!" Inside of his Eva, Shinji heard nothing as nothing could reach him. There were several strange colors on the walls behind him, and his look was inhuman-like in utter shock. He didn't move. He didn't blink. He didn't breathe. He didn't think. -------------------- Rei was in sort of a trance. There was white light all around her in the plug. She held her hand up as the light covered her, thick and blinding. There was a leap in her heart, and suddenly a flood of feeling coursing through her. "What is this I... I feel?" she thought. "Is it because I want to be with Ikari Shinji?" she asked herself. "Is it because he's being killed... he's being... killed." she added. A new feeling flooded Rei, one that darkened the bright light in the entry plug, and caused Rei's brow to furrow. She grasped the controls. Unit 00 climbed to it's feet. The Eva stood defiantly, as it's lower right calf was engulfed in a ring of yellow light; regenerating. Unit 02 stood beside it, holding it's progressive knife. Unit 00 pushed Unit 02 out of the way and grabbed it's knife, atuning it to it's own preferences. It started running at the Angel with no hesitation, Rei watching from inside as the Angel picked up Unit 01 by it's neck. Unit 00 barreled through the A.T. Field the Angel hastily threw up and stabbed it right in the side. The Eva held the blade there, pushing and twisting as it freed one hand and continued to pound the Angel with it. Misato watched in awe as Ritsuko uttered the words, "Rei has gone berserker...?" Asuka made the same observation from her badly damaged Unit 02. --------------- Shinji breathed, with one thought. "Kill it." Unit 01's eyes sprung to vibrant life, narrowing and seemingly acheiving a look of pure, deranged, rage. It's right arm shot forward, grabbing the Angel's arm as it let out a primal, blood-curdling roar. Unit 00 continued to punch the Angel, reaching far back and ramming it's fist through the nuisance; the tightly clenched hand emerging from the Angel's back, a fist full of blood and guts with it. Unit 01 violently twisted the Angel's arm, making sure to get a sickening *snap* out of the gesture. The Angels' arm fell to it's side; swaying, having no choice but to release Unit 01, the berserker Evangelion fell to it's feet and roared. "We now have two active berserker Units out there..." "That Angel will never survive..." "Invincable Fighting Evangelion..." Unit 00 retrieved it's fist from deep within the Angel and raised it triumphantly, shaking the blood and guts in it's hand; roaring. Unit 01 took it's chance, grabbing the Angel's other hand and twisting it as well, then it slid under the Angel; taking it's arm with it; appearing behind the Angel. The Angel's arm ripped off easily, and Unit 01 cast it off somewhere behind it reflexively. Without the two thinking, both Shinji and Rei rammed both of thier Unit's fists through the Angel's middle torso, and inner core; now exposed. The Angel froze; the shock from the pain forcing it to. Evangelion 02 got to a kneeling position finally. The two Evangelions roared simultaneously. The scene was rather inspiring. Two berserker Evangelions with thier fists sticking out of opposite ends of an Angel's core. Frozen that way; the Angel awaiting it's death. The core of the Angel began to glow, with rays of light escaping from the cracks in it's surface; bouncing off of the areas of armor that hadn't been crushed on Unit 01 and 00. Misato and the others in the control room looked on, as for once in it's life; Tokyo-3 was completely silent. Gendou smiled. Until the explosion. ----------------------- Shinji woke up abruptly; again. He rubbed his eyes as a mass of violet and red greeted him from above. After a moment of extreme focus on Shinji's eye's part, the faces of Misato and an unreadable Asuka materialized. "Hello, Shinji-kun. I'm glad you're finally awake." Misato greeted. "Yeah, it was getting boring in here. Even though it may be you, I have to talk to someone..." Asuka mused; but somehow it didn't have any of the bite it usually contained for the boy. "Wha-what happened?" he asked, still confused from just waking up. "You and Rei saved Tokyo-3 again." Misato answered, smiling lightly on him. "I do remember the fight..." Shinji replied, scratching his head. "You couldn't, you lost conciousness when you hit 267% synch." Misato objected. "I was awake; I remember everything." Shinji assured. "Then why didn't we get any readings from you?" Misato asked. "I don't know." the boy replied. Asuka stared on, a little annoyed at the whole thing. "Aw, Big Shot just wanted to show off; nothing new." she interjected. Shinji gave her a look. "Major Katsuragi Misato, you are requested of by Commander Ikari." "That's my call to report. I have to go Shinji-kun, you'll be able to come home tonight. We're gonna have a party! Now, I trust you won't put him back in the hospital; Asuka?" Misato teased. Asuka folded her arms and turned up her nose. "Hmmph. Why waste the energy on a hentai like him." she answered. Misato rolled her eyes and left the room, closing the door behind her. Asuka circled Shinji's hospital bed, arms folded. "So..." Shinji watched her as she made her way to the other side of his bed, leaning in over him. "So...what?" he finished for her, using an acidic voice. Asuka flinched a little, surprised by that tone. "So... how did it feel to be crushed like that?" Asuka asked, teasing. "I don't recall you being on your feet the whole time either; besides... I don't know." he answered, using as annoying a voice as Asuka reserved for him. "Are you insulting my piloting?" Asuka asked, getting defensive. "No." "Yeah, whatever, Big Shot." she replied, glaring at him. "I guess it would be easy for you to beat up on things; the way you peep on innocent girls and all..." Asuka trailed. That hit a nerve in Shinji, and he gritted his teeth and clenched the sheets; unnoticed by Asuka. "...heh; too bad a girl had to come to your rescue... and a doll at that. I guess even Wonder Girl can have pity on a spineless hentai every once in a while..." Asuka continued. Shinji was shaking horribly with rage by now, and growling under his breath. It was wrong. It was just wrong of her to say such things. First she insulted him, calling him less than a man, then she insulted his integrity, then she dragged Rei into it all. Rei, who had never done anything to anyone that would harm them. Rei who didn't know what it was to harm. Shinji went over to the side of the bed she was standing at, placing his hands on the gaurds and got in her face. "How can you say things like this!?! How did you get so mean!?! You always have something to say! Have you ever just listened for a change? Have you ever stopped to think why people do what they do; and why they are who they are? No, of course not. It's all about you and your precious 'Unit 02.' You fight everything and everyone, when all they want to do is love you." he yelled. "Maybe you were born to pilot the Evangelion..." "...because it's the only thing you love." Asuka had frozen from the moment Shinji launched his attack on her. She had been totally silent, motionless. Her eyes had been watering they whole way through; which Shinji hadn't noticed. Even if he did, he probably wouldn't have stopped though. Asuka was hurt. Hurt not so much because Shinji was yelling at her, but because he had reason to. "Shinji... how could you say such things? Don't you know... that I..." she trailed in her mind, still being affected by his words. Shinji had calmed down, and was breathing now, looking at her; waiting for a reaction. He noticed her eyes were watering, and... he noticed the bandage around his wrist. Neatly written on the bandage in marker was the name 'Rei.' "Where did that come from? Rei?" Asuka looked at his wrist and the name inscribed on it. It was the blow that crumbled the fortress. Her watery eyes travelled across the name, taking in each neatly done katakana, reading it in her mind. "No... he doesn't love Rei, does he? It's supposed to be me! No matter what I say or how mean I am; he's supposed to love me... because... because I..." she thought, unable to complete the thought. Shinji looked back up from his wrist and stared at her. She was able to stand it for about two seconds before she ran away, tears falling. Shinji heard her sobs, then the door opened and slammed as she exited the room hastily. "Why did she run away? I couldn't have hurt her that bad... She hates me; why would I be able to hurt her? What about this bandage makes her cry? What about *me* makes her cry? I don't understand. Shinji... you idiot." he thought. He stared out of the window, his hand around the wrist with the bandage on it. "What about Rei? Did she do this? Idiot. Of course she did, who else would have? Why?" he added to his list of questions. Shinji sighed and fell back into the bed; staring up at the ceiling. He stared up at the ceiling, hoping to see a white-painted wall, but all he could see was a pretty redhead with a tear-streaked face. **************************** -End of Episode One- Author's Closing Notes Well, there you are; my first real fanfic, the beginnings of my first series. I hope I acheived what I was aiming for here. I was hoping to convey that maybe Rei has always had feelings, but didn't know they were there; or how to deal with them. (thus needing an outside event to trigger them.) I cite this theory from her statement in Episode 5, when she tells Shinji that she doesn't know how to feel in that situation. Anyway, it was just something I wanted to point out as a possibility. Also, I wanted to maybe show the closeness of how things work between the pilots. The fact that they fight together is just one of the many things that holds thier relationships with each other in the way that they are. Shinji does like Asuka, but he has no idea how to tell her; because she is so hard to approach without a misunderstanding. Asuka on the other hand, knows she needs and loves Shinji, but won't let herself believe it because she wants to believe that she doesn't need anyone; and that she would be fine if she never loved anyone else, or anyone else ever loved her... but she also knows she's wrong. Towards the end of the episode I started to explore these ideas a little, and I think I've figured out I can make this thing work. Well, yes I did change the fight with the Angel; but I needed to in order to get across the point of Rei having real feelings for Shinji. Let's face it, we're fanfiction writers here; we can't always go exactly by the series. Well, anyway look out for episode 2, coming out real soon. *Warning* extremely WAFF episode on most parts; so watch out. Shin Seiki Evangelion: Foreign Relations Ep.2 As Misato would say: See you next time for more exciting action and of course service, service, service! -Shinji-kun P.S. Any C&C would be appreciated, send mail here: ikari-shinji@mailcity.com (send mail here, files as well. *preferred account*) Shinji@Eudora! (s5873177@mail.milwaukee.k12.wi.us (secondary account) Malachi Minor@Real Life