This assumes definite knowledge of the action and events of Evangelion. There are some elements of the manga within. ************************************************ An Oddzilla Productions Fanfic, by Andrew Huang Evangelion: Bitter Testament Based on Neon Genesis Evangelion, c. Gainax Studios and ADVision. ************************************************ Vengeance is mine; I shall repay. --Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 1: The Advent of Rage Odd, how they ran off like that. At least they undid the handcuffs before disappearing. Izaki Shinji stood on a streetcorner, rubbing his wrists idly, where he was to be picked up by one Katsuragi Misato. The NERV officers who had been flanking him ever since he left the detention center in Old Kyoto had just disappeared after being paged. He looked at the photo in the folder they had given him before departing, and pushed down the small surge of hormones that arose (no need for such a meaningless adolescent reaction), blinking a few times. No bad ID mug shot, this one. "Look at this" had been scrawled on it, pointing to her, ah, assets. Not that Shinji really needed this photo to identify Captain Katsuragi; he had already seen that bad ID mug shot in that NERV database.... Loud klaxons sounded suddenly, jolting the boy out of his reverie. "Take shelter?" Shinji asked aloud, hearing the announcement that came along with it. Then, he saw it. Huge, mostly black, and ugly. Aircraft popped up from nowhere, surrounding it like gnats--and then getting swatted down like gnats, by this giant. Missiles and artillery opened up on it, without effect. The explosions sent huge rumbles through the area, knocking Shinji to his knees, and produced huge cracks in the sidewalk and building behind him. The thing moved, causing more destruction. Not once did Shinji take his eyes off the monster. He simply stared at it, eyes wide--but not in disbelief, nor fear. "Angel," he whispered. Then he picked up a chunk of concrete, and, with a cold glint in his eyes, threw it at the creature, for all the good that would do. It continued moving, oblivious to the boy in its path. Shinji picked up another fragment of debris, but before he could throw it, a blue car screeched to a halt in front of him. The door popped open, revealing-- "Captain Katsuragi?" "Get in! Quickly!" Arrested in mid-throw, right arm cocked behind him, Shinji looked blankly at the Captain, then over to the Angel, and back to Misato. Finally, he let the chunk fall to the ground without a word, and jumped in. He had barely closed the door when the car took off. "Sorry I was late. I think you can guess why, heh heh." He turned to Misato and looked at her levelly. "What are they planning to do with the Angel?" "Ah...I see you've really done your research. Hold on." They drove a few minutes more, the sounds of carnage slowly fading behind them. Shinji turned around in his seat, straining against the belt, to watch the battle, if it could really be called such a thing. Finally, some distance out from where they had started, they stopped by the roadside. Pulling out a pair of binoculars, Misato stepped out of the car, followed by Shinji. She watched for a moment. "Aircraft pulling away... DAMN! N2 mine! Get DOWN!" *BOOOOOOOM* ------------------------------------------------ "It's still standing!?" "You can see for yourself, General." "Dear God...." "Well, General?" "All right. Ikari, do what you will. Do what you can." "Of course." ------------------------------------------------ "Captain--" "Just call me Misato." The two were now driving again, having somehow survived the explosion. The car was going as fast as it could, which wasn't very. "Misato-san, the Angel was still standing. What will they be doing now?" "You'll find out soon." She glanced at the handbook sitting closed on Shinji's lap. "Aren't you going to read that?" "I've seen it all already, remember?" "Oh, right." They continued in silence. Despite his earlier words, Shinji flipped through the manual to pass the time. He smiled to himself secretly; though he had been the one arrested for hacking into the database, he wasn't the one who had really done so. He hadn't the skills for such a thing. But he had an acquaintance who was willing to supply him with a script that would do it for the right sum and a reassurance that he wouldn't be nailed for it. Of course not. Shinji took the blame, was taken in by NERV. Just as according to plan. Because then they made him an offer that he simply couldn't turn down. After a short while, they arrived at a rail depot. Misato parked her car on one of the platforms, which began to roll down the tracks, into the ground. After a few moments of darkness, they burst out into-- "The Geofront." "Yes." Damn it, what does this kid not know? He couldn't have read all those files, could he? ------------------------------------------------ "They've arrived." "Excellent, Fuyutsuki. Ah, send Doctor Akagi to meet them. You know how the Captain is, sometimes. We do not have that much time." "Of course." ------------------------------------------------ "We were through here already." "Ah, heh, well, the transport systems are here to be used, so that's all right." Misato was kicking herself mentally. She should know where she was going by now. "All right, let's try these doors--" "Where have you been, Captain?" "Ritsuko!" "Doctor Akagi." "Ah--" The blonde woman blinked a few times, settling her gaze on the boy. He looked back at her steadily, unflinchingly. "And you are Izaki Shinji. Good. Come on." "Doctor, where are we going?" "You'll see. Come," she repeated. They followed her, through seemingly endless corridors. Shinji kept his attention on the surroundings, attempting to keep track of where he was. Finally, they arrived at a large dock, in a sea of purplish liquid. The three of them gathered into a rubber boat equipped with an outboard motor, and soon were skimming across the surface of the lake. Not your usual artificial subterranean feature, but Shinji didn't seem surprised. He did, however, appear mildly impatient. He drummed his fingers on the side of the boat even as he sat there with an apparently placid look on his face. "Ritsuko, what _is_ going on? Rei isn't going to be able to pilot the Unit, is she?" Ritsuko didn't answer. "And the Second isn't scheduled to be here for more than a month! What the hell is the Commander thinking?" Under her breath, Misato muttered, "We won't be able to use the Evangelions like this...." Shinji's ears picked up Misato's words. "What is the Evangelion? I never did find out." "We're here," interrupted Ritsuko, as she pulled up to another dock. She got off, and walked to a pair of large doors. "And you'll see shortly what Evangelion is. Be careful, it's dark in here. Lights, lights, where are those damn lights...ah." "What the...." "_That_ is Evangelion. Test type Unit 01." Ritsuko looked at the purple giant, almost...proud. "A giant robot?" "Not quite. She's more like an artificial human." "And that's what we'll use against the Angel?" "Yes," came a voice from a loudspeaker. The three turned towards the source of a sound, finding a bespectacled man, standing on a balcony. "Izaki Shinji, we will use it to destroy the Angel." Then, to the women, he continued, "We must launch." "What?" yelled Misato. "Commander--Rei isn't in any condition to pilot it. Where will we--" She looked at Shinji. "No...." "Yes. It is the only choice." "But Shinji just got here! It took Rei _months_ to synchronize--" "Wait." All eyes turned to Shinji. "You," he pointed to the Commander, "want me," he placed his hand on his chest, "to get in that," now pointing at Unit 01, "and fight the Angel?" he finished with a gesture upwards, at the surface of the city. Gendou nodded. Ritsuko spoke. "Shinji, I know it's hard, but--" "I'll do it." "--it's the only choice that we what did you say?" Slowly, Shinji smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I said...heh...I said I'll do it!" He clenched his fist, looking up at Gendou with a wild light shining in his eyes. A second later, a horrible screeching sound ripped through the air behind the three. They spun around to see that Unit 01's right arm had torn free of its rigging, sending waves splashing through the complex, and had closed its hand into a fist in the air. There was a hollow silence that followed, to be broken by Misato babbling, "That's...that's impossible...it's not activated, there's no plug in it...." Gendou smiled and nodded to Shinji. He was the one, all right. The commander turned off his microphone, and pressed another button on his console. The image of the Subcommander of NERV sprang up on a monitor. "Fuyutsuki, you can take Rei off standby. This has been easier than I had imagined." "Yes, Commander." Turning off that communication link, Gendou smiled faintly, watching Misato and Ritsuko hurry Shinji over to the ladder. The boy believed it all. The anger, the hate. The plan was perfect.... As he turned back toward the console, his eyes landed on the purple humanoid once more. He sighed softly. "I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't have approved," he murmured. Shaking his head, he walked over to his station, to oversee the impending operation. ------------------------------------------------ "Shinji, is everything all right?" "Yes. You could have warned me about the LCL, though. I do hate surprises." "Sorry. We're activating the link now." Misato turned to the technicians. "How is everything going?" "It's going fine. Synchronizing...error is within 0.3%! This is going to work!" "All right. Shinji, this will be a bit of a ride. Evangelion Unit 01--LAUNCH!" The sudden burst of speed slammed Shinji back into his seat. He grimaced, but a grimace is not too terribly different from a smile. As he rocketed through the tunnels to the surface, Shinji whispered, "You took my parents away...you took my life away...I'm going to get you now." "What was that, Shinji?" asked a voice through the comm. "Nothing, Commander Ikari." "Shinji," broke in another voice. "Good luck." "Thank you, Misato-san." He finally reached the surface, with a jarring thud. He shook his head to clear it, then peered around. Lumbering into view was the now- regenerated Angel. An unholy grin alighted on his lips, and he chuckled softly. "You're mine. Oh, yes." End chapter one.