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Disclaimer: See Chapter 1



Chapter 7:



School began like normal. Asuka's growing popularity would overshadow everything, even something like Rei getting her ears pierced. Her friends noticed and so did the class rep.

"Wow Rei they look great" Hikari commented. Asuka could be heard snorting her displeasure next to Hikari

"Thank you" Rei replied

The second impact lectures continued for the students but in a darkened room another lecture was taking place.




Commander Ikari sat before the Seele council having been summoned to explain his actions and the scenario.

"This is unacceptable Ikari" Seele01, Lorenz Keel began "The scenario has been deviated from by far too much. Explain why!!" He ordered

"Yes you son is nothing like what is expected" Seele03 piped in

Ikari was not fazed by this. He maintained his trademark posture and had not even thought about backing down. 'We have come too far now' He thought as a menacing smile formed behind his hands. He knew what Seele was like, this little game they had been playing for a long time now. Deception and counter deception. He had expected the old men to call for an explanation sooner, maybe they are slipping on what is important 'Never underestimate the old man' he continued thinking

"While the orphanage has not had the desired effect on the Third Child there are other ways to make him bend to our needs and do what is required when the time comes"He replied

"Desired effect we have gotten a warrior instead of a snivelling wimp" Seele05 added

"It is irrelevant the Third Child will do what is needed when the time comes" Ikari replied

"And what of the angels they are not having the effect they should have" Keel continued moving the discussion along

"That is due to the Third Child's exemplary piloting ability. No one could have known he would be this good" Ikari replied again giving nothing away to the old men.

"Again a warrior not a wimp" Seele04 This time interrupting

"Either way like I said the Third Child will be doing what is needed when the time comes" Ikari repeated.

"That is all we have gentlemen I'll finish with Ikari here" Keel announced ending the open discussion

The Seele committee's holograms faded out as they left the meeting leaving Keel and Ikari alone.

"Ikari we can't fail now, we have come too far to turn back. Your priorities need to be The Human Instrumentality Project and Defeating the Angels" Keel laid it out for Gendo.

"I know that Chairman Keel" Gendo Replied "Approve the development costs for the Evas that will go a long way towards defeating the angels, The Human Instrumentality Project will be taken care of. We are on schedule at the moment." Gendo replied

"These costs are astronomical most of which are for weapons development" Keel rebutted

"Yes. Weapons development is vital to the defeat of the angels, they are getting stronger and stronger, and they are necessary and also help protect the pilots. Pilots Candidates are not easy to come by as you know" Gendo replied all the while his posture had not changed during this game

"Very well I'll approve these but we had better start seeing results" Keel replied before fading out ending the meeting.

Gendo stayed a moment taking a minute to savour his small victory. 'Soon Yui we will be together again, I will not fail' leaving the meeting room he joined his mentor and long time advisor in his office.

"Kozo?"Gendo asked

"How are the old men at Seele?" He replied

"Everything is still the same, they don't have the vision to see what is coming" Gendo replied

'I wonder did you see your son coming, or will you see him coming when the time comes' Kozo thought

"Either way we have had the approval for the new developments for the Evas. How is planning for the expedition coming along?" Gendo asked

"Everything is on schedule, we leave for Antarctica in a couple of months" Kozo replied

"Very well, I'll leave the rest of this too you" Gendo said leaving his office happy with where his plans are at and that he is far enough ahead of the competition at this stage.






The next day at school Kensuke and Toji were scheming. They had set up a sweet little side business selling images of Asuka to all the boys at the school. Kensuke had gotten good images of her around the school and two he snapped on over the rainbow, one in the yellow sundress and another he had gotten by the grace of God, Asuka in her red plug suit. They had thought about getting pictures of Rei but decided against it when they started hanging out, plus Shinji and Rei are very close, that is easy to tell. While no one is sure if they are dating it's easy to tell Shinji is very protective of Rei and Shinji is not the sort of guy to mess with over anything let alone his friends.

"What's going on guys?" Shinji asked his two friends.

"Oh ah nothing" Kensuke replied trying to hide the photos behind his back.

"If it's nothing what are you hiding?" Shinji replied knowing something was up

As Shinji said this a picture fell out from behind Kensuke's back. Shinji picked it up seeing a photo of Asuka in her school uniform.

"Wait we can explain" Toji began

"No need" Shinji interrupted. "I bet you're making good money off these"

Both boys nodded

"They're totally clueless. At least her pictures don't reveal her personality" Toji explained.

"I don't care, just don't get caught..... By Asuka or Section 2" Shinji read their minds

"Say Shinji....." Kensuke began

"What is it? Or maybe I don't want to know" Shinji replied

"You know...." The military otaku began "We could double our market by selling your pictures to the girls, it would be tasteful" Kensuke replied going for a long shot

"Pass"Shinji replied

"It was worth a shot" Toji whispered to Kensuke as the bell rang and Shinji headed to class.

"He really has no clue about the girls does he?" Kensuke muttered

"None, it's a shame" Toji replied

Both boys heading to class as well happy with how their little business was going.

By the time lunch had rolled around the students were exhausted. Keeping up with the demand of the photo industry was taking its toll on Kensuke and Toji, Shinji was bored out of his skin with another second impact lecture down, but at least it was time for some food.

Shinji's phone beeped with a message getting everyone's attention. Rei's because her phone didn't ring, Toji and Kensuke's because they thought it might be another angel attack. Seeing the look on Shinji's face Rei spoke up

"What's wrong Shinji?" She asked in her usual quiet voice

"Ah nothing just surprised I guess, Dr. Akagi says they have more money for weapons development and she needs something to base the new ballistic sniper rifle on"Shinji replied showing Rei the message.

"What are you going to do? It was your request" Rei asked

"I can use my birthday present, it's what I would want if I were an Eva" Shinji replied

"That's a good idea" Rei commented

"Which reminds me I had no idea our birthdays were so close, what's the date of yours?" Shinji asked

"..."Rei paused not knowing what to say because the next answer would bring a lot more questions she was sure Shinji wouldn't like the answer to "December 2" She replied deciding to be honest

"No way it's the same as mine. Who would have thought" Shinji commented "Do you think anyone knows like at Nerv?" Shinji asked

"I imagine they are aware" Rei replied

"Well then what are you doing for your birthday since it's next week?" Shinji asked

"I don't understand. What do you mean doing?" Rei replied

"You know for your birthday. Going out for dinner or having a party?" Shinji clarified

"I've never done anything for my birthday" Rei replied

"Ever?"Shinji asked

"No"Rei replied

"Well that won't do this year" Shinji replied with a grin

"What are you planning Shinji?" Rei asked

"Nothing"Shinji replied 'Already planned is another thing' Shinji thought to himself

'I don't like the look of this' Rei thought

The bell for class rang bring an end to all discussion and scheming for the immediate future.






Shinji met Rei at the school gates to begin their walk home. Asuka and her legion of followers had left boys still begging to carry books and bags home for her, those who couldn't get close chased after Toji and Kensuke to get more photos.

"What are you doing this afternoon?" Rei asked

"I'm going into Nerv to go over the sniper rifle design with Dr. Akagi. What about you?" Shinji asked

"Nothing"Rei replied

"You want to come?" Shinji asked

"Yes"Rei replied in her soft voice

"Come on then I have to get my rifle from home then we'll go to Nerv" Shinji replied






"Come in" Ritsuko replied to the knock on her door

"It's been a while" Came a male voice as the door opened

"Yes it has Kaji" Ritsuko replied. "How have you been?" She asked

"Oh you know how it is, the more things change the more they stay the same" Kaji replied casually.

"Yes perhaps" Ritsuko replied "So what brings you here?" She asked

"Oh nothing just thought I'd drop by and say hi since I'll be hanging around for awhile" Kaji replied

"Well it's good to see you, but I see others are less than happy about this" Ritsuko replied motioning to a furious Misato with her face pressed up against Ritsuko's office window.

The hate was practically radiating into the office as Misato stormed in.

"What is he doing here? Unit-02 has been handed over don't you have somewhere else to be?" Misato demanded

"I've got new orders seems I'll be sticking around for a while" Kaji replied flashing his casual smile.

"You ready to go Ritsuko?" Misato asked.

"In a minute I'm expecting something" Ritsuko replied.

"What's going on?" Misato asked

"Shinji has something for me to base the new sniper rifle off, he should be here any minute, then we can go to the department meeting" Ritsuko replied

"This should be interesting I wonder what he's got" Misato commented

"I'm not sure he just said he had the perfect thing for me to base the design off"Ritsuko replied

"Must be a good picture" Kaji commented

Just as everyone was wondering what Shinji had there was a knock at the door.

"Come in" Ritsuko replied

The door opened and Shinji and Rei walked in, Shinji was carrying a long black duffel bag a nice little addition in the top of the case the rifle was in. Shinji placed the bag on Ritsuko's desk opened it and began pulling the pieces to his M-200 out of the bag and assembling the rifle. Within 2 minutes he was done the shiny black rifle sitting on Ritsuko's desk.

"Can you base it off this?" Shinji asked to a room full of jaws that had hit the ground.

"You've been walking around Tokyo-3 with that?" Misato asked

"No I picked it up from my room after school and came straight here" Shinji replied

"And no one stopped you?" Misato continued

"Where did you get something like this Shinji?" Kaji asked eyeing the rifle closely "I hope you have a license for this, Nerv can't cover everything up all the time"He added with a grin

"I do and it was a gift" Shinji replied

Ritsuko regained her composure "Ok Shinji we can do an Eva size version exactly like this. Give me a week and the prototype should be ready" Ritsuko replied with asmile "Can you leave the rifle here till then?"

"No problem but can I have it back after that?" Shinji clarified

"Of course" Ritsuko replied "Well I have a meeting to get to so if you will all excuse me" Ritsuko said standing up.

Misato followed Ritsuko out of her office once everyone had left. Kaji disappearing into the base.

"What do you want to do now Rei?" Shinji asked.

"I was going to go for a swim. Do you want to come?" Rei replied

"I can't swim, but I'll come and go to the gym" Shinji replied

The two pilots headed for the pool and gym Rei thinking that this was her chance to do something nice for Shinji after all he had done for her. 'Strange I never would have had these thoughts before' She thought 'Maybe Shinji is right and Iam changing, I will have to talk to him later' She finished as they reached the change rooms to grab what they need and change.






With his workout finished Shinji stood under the shower relaxing as the hot water pounded into his back. He just leaned against the wall and let his mind wonder, it felt good after the intense workout he had just put himself through. Images of Rei slicing through the water came to mind. 'She really is a good swimmer'He thought. 'She should be on the school team' His mind continued to drift'She's so important to me, but we aren't even dating, I don't understand it's almost like she is family' His thoughts continued on. Across the wall at the ladies showers a blue haired pilot was having the same dilemma.

'I should tell him the truth. He has a right to know, though I'm scared for what it will mean for our friendship. There is no one else I am friends with, yet Iknow I owe it to him even though Commander Ikari would not approve of such athing' Rei thought knowing that the longer she left it the harder a hard decision would become.

She finished her shower and headed for home, walking with Shinji only made her mind more certain of what needed to be done.






Lunch rolled around the next day after boring classes in the morning, the four friends were eating lunch under cover due to the torrential rain that had moved in over Tokyo-3

"Shinji are you listening to them?" Rei asked in a quiet voice that didn't interrupt Kensuke and Toji's conversation

"Not really what's up?" Shinji replied

"I need to talk to you about something important..... After school" Rei asked

"Ok no worries meet you at the main gate after school?" Shinji replied keeping aquiet voice

"Yes. Thank you" Rei replied

The two pilots continued to eat, Shinji half listening to the conversation on the off chance that he would have to contribute to it. Lunch passed and the bell rang followed by the blearing of the Angel Alarms. Then the pilots phones started ringing as they were about to return to class.

"Ikari here" Shinji answered

"We've picked up another angel there is a car waiting at the front gates" Makoto answered

"No worries, I have Ayanami with me" Shinji replied ending the call.

"Let's go Rei there is another Angel" Shinji said as the two pilots sprinted to the waiting black sedan.

Jumping in they saw Asuka running to the car. She jumped into the front and they took off to Nerv.

"Have you heard anything?" Asuka asked

"No"Rei replied

"What about you third?" Asuka demanded

"No. Nothing" Shinji replied

"Guess we'll have to wait and see what they say when we get to base" Asuka pointed out the obvious "Just stay out of my way this time" Asuka demanded

Neither pilot replied to that which made Asuka just a little more mad.






The pilots assembled in front of Misato and the bridge crew dressed in their plug suits..... Sort of. Asuka was ready to go Suit and neural connectors on, Rei had he plug suit on but was holding her neural connectors, Shinji had half his plug suit on and his neural connectors were in Unit-01's entry plug. He figured that was the only place he was going to need them.

"Where are you A-10's Third?" Asuka sneered

"In the entry plug where I need them" Shinji replied with a smirk

"Alright that's enough" Misato intervened. "The target has already been identified as the sixth angel, we received a report from the battle cruiser Harouna it is approaching under water from the east of the bay where the last angel was destroyed, from what we can tell there is no relevance for this. City defences are down to 25% from the last attacks so we will fly you out to the bay to intercept once it makes land fall. Units-01 and -02 will intercept. Rei your armour upgrade is not quite finished." Misato laid the mission out

"Why not?" Rei asked

"Ohhh poor little Rei has to stay behind" Asuka gloated

Shinji looked at Asuka like he could kill her

"Rei the upgrade is taking a little longer than planned you will stay here as backup and to provide over-watch if necessary. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am" Rei replied

"You have you briefs move out" Misato ordered

"Yes ma'am" All three pilots replied






Flying through the air in a giant war machine never gets old, kind of like rocketing to the surface on launch rails. That was the feeling coming from Unit-01 anyway as the two Evas approached the drop zone.

"We've stationed a weapons cache at the drop zone for you, your 2 clicks from the DP"Misato updated her pilots "Close in, and attack. In other words take turns and hit it hard.

"Yes ma'am" They replied

"Alright Third once we get there just stay out of my way" Asuka commanded "I'm the leader and best pilot on this mission after all" She added

"Why do I have to even bring him along on my first battle over Japan?" She asked herself even though a com channel was open.

"It's just SOP you know" Shinji replied through a com window.

"Just stay out of my way Third Child" Asuka demanded.

Shinji just closed the com window ending the conversation to focus on the upcoming battle. He concentrated on his sensors and gauges, everything was in the green so he moved on to take stock of his weapons. A pistol in its holster and apallet rifle across his back. All storage slots were filled with clips.

"Approaching the drop zone in three. Two. One. Mark" Makoto reported

The hydrologic locks disengaged and Unit-01 and -02 slid off the rails and began their free fall to earth. Both Units hitting their marks at the beach head. Shinji grabbed a second pallet rifle while Asuka selected the progressive spear.

The two units readied themselves as the angel broke through the water a large grey body breaching the surface with arms and legs. The core appearing to be in the chest, grey instead of red.

"I'll handle this angel. Cover my back Shinji" Asuka ordered

"Cover you? What?" Shinji replied

"Yeah... Ladies First!!" Asuka announced with all the bravado she could muster

Shinji laid down suppressing fire on the angel, and Asuka took her opportunity to announce herself in the Angel Wars

"CHAAARRRGEEEE!!!!!!"Asuka screamed as she hopped across some submerged skyscrapers at the bays edge"AAARRRAAAGGGUUUUHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" She cried out as she leapt high into the air using all her momentum to slice the angel from head to groin bisecting it in two.

"Hmmm"Shinji got out not believing that it could be this easy but staring at the scene through the sites of his pallet rifle.

"Well what did you think of that Third Child?" Asuka bragged "A fight should be clean and elegant without waste" She added turning to face Unit-01 and strike a pose trying to assert her authority over her co-pilot. "I'll bet you've never finished a fight that fast" She taunted "Well don't you have anything to say?"She asked with anger and venom coming out in her voice

"It isn't dead" Shinji replied as the angel started to twitch

"What are you talking about" Asuka challenged

"It isn't dead move your arse and get out of there" Shinji repeated trying to get ashot on the angel as it continued its transformation into two smaller halves one orange and the other green

"Don't be a Baka Stupid Shinji, just because you can't believe my amazing piloting skills even after seeing them!!" Asuka taunted as the angel finished its transformation.

"That's just a load of bull!!" Misato screamed

The two angels turned on Asuka and got the jump on Unit-02.

"Asuka get out of there! Move you arse!!" Shinji yelled at Asuka trying to get her out of her daze

The angels were too quick for her cutting the power cord and dumping Unit-02 into the bay rendering it useless. The two halves turned their attention to Unit-01 and started to slowly advance on the purple war machine.

Keeping the pallet rifles sights trained on one angel and kept concentrating on the targets.

"Blue/White pattern detected ma'am" Maya reported

"Interesting, record everything again" Ritsuko whispered.

"Yes ma'am" Maya replied

Shinji fired a burst at the closest angel every round streaking towards the orange angel with blue and white tracers following them. The angel brought up its A.T Field seeing the rounds coming straight at it. The rounds cut straight through the A.T Field and tore into the angel spilling bright green angel blood all over the waters.

"How did he just do that?" Misato asked in amazement.

"I don't know those rounds shouldn't be able to penetrate an A.T Field let alone at that distance" Ritsuko replied.

The orange angel took cover behind a submerged building while the green angel continued to close in on Unit-01, both angels' cores glowing bright red. Shinji turned his sights on the green angel letting off two three round bursts and dropping the empty mag onto the beach and loading another from the weapons cache. The rounds tracked straight at the angel and cut through its A.T Field burying themselves in the upper torso, shoulders and one round through the middle of the head. The angel fell onto its back bright orange blood spilling out into the bay.

Then its core started glowing bright red as the orange angel appeared from behind the building it took cover behind completely fine.

"What the hell?" Shinji got out amazed "It's like I never hit it" He added.

The orange angel moved towards the green angel both cores started pulsing and the damage to the green angel healed before everyone's eyes.

"They're regenerating each other" Ritsuko exclaimed

"How?"Misato questioned

"It must be the link that allows them to form together" Ritsuko offered.

"Shinji get out of there" Misato ordered "Move into the city where you have some cover"She continued

"Yes ma'am" Shinji replied making his retreat.

Unit-01 moved back from the beach into the outskirts of the city weaving its way into the buildings dodging blasts from the two angels. The angels stopped firing and slowly started moving after Unit-01.

"What's the plan Misato? I'm inside the city outskirts" Shinji asked

"We're working on it. Sit tight and avoid engagements with the angels" Misato ordered

"What!I need more than that to go by" Shinji replied.

"Do you have a better idea?" Misato half challenged half asked

"Send Rei up here with long range weapons. I can't kill this thing on my own" Shinji replied

"What for if the angel gets close Unit-00 won't be able to defend itself" Misato replied

"I know that, I won't let it get to that, I just need some over-watch and cover. We should be able to do this together, you just need a position that will compromise the angels where they can't get to her and have to focus on me"Shinji replied

"Alright. Launch Unit-00 through Tunnel B" Misato ordered

"Yes ma'am. Launching now" Aboa reported

Rei rocketed to the surface grimacing all the way.

"Open the weapons cache opposite Rei" Misato ordered.

"Rei when you hit the surface use the weapons cache opposite you, you'll have the positron cannon and gattling gun there, also there is a pallet rifle opposite security building d" Misato ordered

"Yes ma'am" Came the soft reply

"Once you have your weapons link up with Shinji" Misato ordered

"Yes ma'am" Came the soft reply again

Unit-00 hit the surface with a crack, the door opened from the building it was inside and Unit-00 stepped out and grabbed the weapons before heading to the security building with the pallet rifle.

The two angels had closed in on Unit-01 following the umbilical cable. "Changing power cables this one is out of length" Shinji reported as Unit-01 plugged in anew power cable.

"Shinji what do you have in mind? The two angels are closing in on you. The just destroyed your old power cord" Misato asked

"I need the angels to follow me into the middle of the city. Rei should be able to provide cover fire from the security building." Shinji replied

"Shinji I'm in position" Rei reported

"Good do you have a fix on the angels?" Shinji asked

"No I haven't got a fix" Rei replied

"That's ok it's behind me, I'm heading to the city centre from your east" Shinji replied

"I have your position" Rei replied

Just as Unit-01 rounded a corner the building exploded, debris raining down all over the street knocking Shinji across the street. He jumped back onto his feet quickly and was confronted by the two angels in front and behind him.

Raising a pallet rifle he fired a volley point blank at the orange angel only to have it knock the rifle from his hands as the green angel drove its fist through Unit-01's shoulder, blood pouring from the wound onto surrounding buildings. Another explosion lit up the area causing the angels to retreat slightly and allowing Unit-01 to escape.

"Was that you Rei?" Shinji asked

"Yes. I have a visual from security building d" She replied as she fired another round from the positron rifle.

The round hit the orange angel burning of its arm. The green angel moved in to cover it as the cores started pulsing, the damage rapidly healing as a new arm sprouted and the bleeding stopped. Shinji using the reprieve to escape into thicker buildings grabbing his pallet rifle off the street.

"Take a look at this" Maya said getting Ritsuko's attention.

"No. It can't be" She exclaimed in shock "They are using each other to heal. They must be destroyed at the same time" She exclaimed

"Thanks for the heads up" Shinji replied. Though no one was sure if it was thanks or sarcasm

The two angels dropped down in-front of Unit-01 delivering savage punches to the torso. Unit-01 staggered back as Shinji felt the damage coughing loudly.

"Son of a bitch that thing can punch" He got out

The angels moved in to attack again but Shinji was up for it this time countering aseries of punches and kicks from the angels.

"Do we have any other weapons? I'm totally defensive at the moment" Shinji asked more out of hope.

A round of bullets came through a skyscraper hitting the green angel sporadically as it screamed in pain and stumbled back away from Unit-01.

"I have you covered Shinji" Rei reported over coms

Unit-01 delivered a vicious kick to the green angel knocking it back into a skyscraper before turning to the orange angel as it tried to attack from the right and emptied a pallet rifle magazine at point blank into the angel dropping the empty gun onto the street Shinji pulled the progressive knife and threw it at the green angel pinning it through the neck to the skyscraper is was up against

"Stick around!!" He taunted with a smirk turning his attention to the orange angel but it was gone

"What. Where is it?" He asked over coms.

"Sensors have nothing" Maya reported

"Misato?"Shinji asked

"We have nothing here. Keep looking it will be trying to get to the green one to heal themselves" She ordered

"I only have a fix on the green one" Rei reported

"Keep tracking it Rei. Shoot it if it twitches" Shinji replied "I'm going hunting"

"On it" She replied in her quiet voice with a small smile for Shinji.

Shinji pulled the other pallet rifle from his back and chambered the first round from the mag. He slowly started moving through the skyscrapers. They were great for providing cover provided you knew where the enemy was.

"Misato we need a way to end this" Ritsuko whispered

"What do you mean we have a position of strength" Misato replied

"These two angels are getting stronger and smarter the longer this fight goes on, we need to kill them now" Ritsuko replied voicing her concerns

"Shinji is on it. We just need to find the orange angel" Misato countered

"And then what we still have to kill them both. They are getting stronger as the fight goes on and Shinji has been in the plug for forty-five minutes now and he's still bleeding from the shoulder" Ritsuko replied.

"Ok ok. We can do it we just have to find the angel" Misato replied

"Shinji have you got anything?" Ritsuko asked

"No ma'am" Shinji replied "I'm still searching"

"Rei?"She asked again

"No Doctor. I'm still tracking the green angel" Rei replied BOOM! Echoed through the com as the angel started to move until Rei hit it with another round from the positron cannon.

The angel screamed out in pain and grabbed at the knife again but didn't have the strength to move it. Rei fired another round hitting the angel in the leg burning it off causing the angel to fall into the knife more and scream out in pain as blood filled the streets.

"The angel is contained keep searching Shinji" Rei reported

"On it" Shinji replied keeping chat to a minimum.

Shinji rounded another corner as the angel burst through a building where it had been hiding behind. Shinji levelled the sights at the angel and fired. Blue and white tracers following the rounds as the shredded the angels the angels A.T Field and then the angel itself. The angel screamed out in pain as green blood flowed from its wounds, but instead of retreating it fired an energy beam at Unit-01 hitting it in the side of its torso and then advanced with great speed and sliced at the wound from the energy beam tearing armour from the side of Unit-01.

"Arraagghhhh!!"Shinji cried out in pain as he hunched over in the pilots seat clutching his side.

Unit-01 staggering back mirroring its pilot's actions clutching the wound in its side.

"Shinji, I'm coming" Rei cried out seeing he co-pilots position of grave danger.

"No Rei. Stay where you are, you can't be risked as well" Shinji replied looking into the com window from Unit-00.

Rei looked at Shinji a begging look on her face just wanting to come and help but knew it was futile. The angel would rip an unprotected Unit-00 to shreds in close quarters combat. Shinji got a determined look in his eye and righted Unit-01 as the orange angel continued to attack. Blocking an attack with the but of the pallet rifle he turned into the angel cuffing it with the grip of the rifle then turning it into its chest and fired emptying the magazine.

"Rei kill the green angel" Shinji said pulling the second progressive knife from his shoulder pylon.

Rei opened fire on the green angel unloading round after round at the core as Shinji buried the progressive knife into the core of the orange angel and started driving it up. Both angels struggling against the wounds being inflicted upon them.

In a last ditch effort they both charged energy weapons. The green angel trying to fire at Rei and missing horribly, hitting surrounding buildings. The orange angel having more success hitting Unit-01 in the shoulder causing the pressure to ease up on the knife but the grip never loosened. Shinji drew his pistol with his free hand and fired more rounds into the angel.

Their cores glowing white hot before exploding in a massive column of fire destroying city blocks each.

The command and bridge staff looked on amazed at the destruction being wrought on the city.

"Shinji, Rei report in" Misato ordered

"I'm fine" Rei reported the green angel is down.

"Shinji come in" Misato called out again.

"Rei find Shinji" She ordered

Unit-00 left the safety of the security building heading for the explosion that had come from the orange angel. The blue cyclops moving with more speed and agility than anyone had ever seen. When she got to the site of the explosion Rei was surprised. The explosion was much bigger than the green one she had been able to watch from a safe distance. Four city blocks had been levelled leaving Unit-01 in the centre of a large crater hunched over clutching its side. Blood pouring from wounds to the side, shoulders and chest.

"Shinji come in" Rei called out opening a com window again.

"Rei... I'm ok" Shinji replied forcing Unit-01 to stand straight with a grunt of pain.

Rei jumped into the crater and helped Unit-01 out of it.

"My coms are shot I can't contact headquarters" Shinji added

"Don't worry lets get you home" Rei replied "I've got Shinji his com unit was damaged in the explosion" Rei contacted Misato on the bridge "We need recovery teams to check for survivors at the two explosions. Shinji's angel levelled four city blocks" Rei explained

The bridge crew picked up their jaws at the length of Rei sentence and got to work dispatching teams

"Rei can you and Shinji get Asuka?" Misato asked

"Hold on" Rei replied

She opened a coms window with Shinji. "Did you hear any of that?" She asked

"No I can only hear what you say" Shinji replied

"They want us to get Asuka out of the bay, are you up for that?" Rei communicated Misato's orders

"I guess so" Shinji replied not looking impressed

"We are on it" Rei replied to Misato

"Great, come back to base using return platform three" Misato ordered "It's the only one not damaged from the fighting that can take your weight"

"Yes ma'am" Came the soft reply.

All Asuka could tell was that something had picked up her Eva

"What in the gotts going on" She screamed though no one could hear her

Shinji had worked up enough strength to carry Unit-02 in a firemans carry towards the retrieval platform, where he unceremoniously dumped the red mecha onto the platform landing with a loud crash that shook Asuka to the bones

"Watch what you're doing arse holes" Asuka screamed

"Ready Shinji?" Rei asked

"Yeah. Ready" Shinji replied

Unit-00 hit the down button on the elevator and the three Evas descended towards the eva cages. Once they made the long journey down to the eva cages Unit-00 and-01 righted Unit-02 and plugged a power cable into its back.

Asuka's sensors came back up once her eva had power and she found herself in the cages.

"What in the gott damns going on!" Asuka screamed into the coms

"Can you hear that?" Rei said docking Unit-00 in its cage

"No"Shinji replied doing the same "What's going on?" He asked

"I'll tell you later" Rei said powering Unit-00 down and ejecting the plug

Shinji looked on from Unit-01 as all the maintenance teams started gathering around the Evas to begin their work. Anyone on Unit-00's team got real lucky with Rei bringing her eva back in pristine condition. Unit-02 and -01 was a different story.

Unit-02 received heavy damage from the angels particularly when it was dumped in the bay, however it was not as bad as the damage received by Unit-01. The purple war machine was still bleeding all be it at a slower rate from the shoulder, chest and abdomen. Shinji went through the shutdown process and ejected the plug. He joined Rei on the cat walk crouching down as he spewed the last of the LCL from his lungs.

"Are you ok?" Rei asked walking up to Shinji seeing him hunched over, the rest of the maintenance crews gathering around.

"I'm alright" Shinji replied wiping his mouth with the back of his hand

The three large red stains in his plug suit told a different story. Bleeding that mirrored the damage to Unit-01 as the young pilot limped towards his maintenance chief Han Matsumoto, stumbling a little as he got to him.

"Good job pilot Ikari. Are you ok?" He asked

"I'll be alright. Sorry about all the damage" Shinji replied.

"Don't mention it. We kind of have a pool going anyway" Matsumoto replied

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked

"It's just for laughs to make work a bit easier" Matsumoto started trying to explain."We have a betting pool, to see how much damage you will do to Unit-01 and the city in battle" He explained with a sheepish grin.

"Ha-ha you guys actually bet on that" Shinji replied with a big grin "Put me down for 2000 on destroying a city block with the angel before it explodes next time"

"No worries Ikari" Matsumoto replied "But you have to pay"

"I'm good for it" Shinji replied holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Anyway Ihope I haven't made too much work for you guys" Shinji added sincerely.

"It's ok , we all love watching you and Ayanami fight" He replied "You better get going to Medical looks like Ayanami is waiting"

"Yeah I best go. Thank you" Shinji replied with a bow managing to embarrass his chief maintenance leader.

Shinji and Rei headed to medical where Shinji was treated for his injuries that were mostly superficial. The doctor on duty said a couple of days rest and he would be right. The cages were still a buzz with work and excitement. The success the pilots were having was filtering into the maintenance teams, each kill and victory was shared and savoured by everyone.

"All pilots report to the debriefing room" Was heard over the PA system.

Shinji and Rei shared a glance that said this was odd they had never been summoned for a debriefing like this. It usually happened after showers. For them to be called so quickly something must have been wrong.

"What's going on?" Shinji asked as they made it inside the debriefing room

"Just take a seat pilots we'll get started once everyone is here" The Sub-Commander replied.

Shinji and Rei took a seat and looking around showed Kaji, Maya, Aboa and Makoto, Surprisingly though Ritsuko and Misato were absent along with the Commander who was away on "Business"

"What do you make of this?" Shinji whispered to Rei

"I have not seen anything like this before" Rei replied back equally as quiet.

The two pilots waited as Asuka strode into the briefing room. "What's going on? I still need a shower!" She demanded

"Sit down Pilot Soryu" The Sub-Commander replied

"Lets begin the debriefing from today's battle. Maya" The Sub-Commander got proceedings under way

"Today at 10:50 an Angel was detected by the Battle Cruiser Harouna. Units-01 and -02 were sortied to intercept" A slide appeared of the two evas flying on the transport carriers "At 10:55 the two evas engaged the angel. Unit-02 was defeated, and....

"That was not my fault it's all that Baka Shinji's fault" Asuka screamed

"Don't interrupt, please continue Maya" The Sub-Commander kept the briefing on track.

"And Unit-01 retreated into the City" Another slide showed Unit-02 upended in the bay "Unit-00 was sortied to provide cover and Units-01 and -00 were able to defeat the angel" Maya finished

Another slide showed the twin explosions from the two angels

"The resulting damage from the explosion of the green angel 'Alpha' levelled two city blocks with no casualties. The damage from the orange angel 'Beta'levelled four city blocks and added to the damage to Unit-01" Maya finished

"Aboa"The Sub-Commander requested

"Initial reports indicate the Unit-01 received the most damage with minor damage all over and severe damage to the Upper chest, Shoulders and Right flank. Estimated repair time one week."

Asuka gave off a snort at this

"Unit-02 received moderate damage to the upper body when it was dumped into the bay. Unit-00 received no damage" Aboa reported on the mission

"The city received heavy damage from the battle once the fight moved into the city"

Asuka interrupted with another snort

"Lots of weapons buildings were damaged and some residential skyscrapers in the CBD received slight damage too, but that's not including the city blocks that were levelled and will need to be rebuilt" Aboa finished his report.

"This isn't good enough!" The Sub-Commander demanded "Just what do you think you job is?" He asked looking directly at Asuka and Shinji.

None of the pilots said anything then Asuka spoke up

"Piloting Eva" She offered

Shinji looked down instantly. Wrong answer and he knew it

"Wrong!"The Sub-Commander snapped.

The usually calm Sub-Commander's anger was most unnerving for Rei and Shinji who had spent some time working with the older man.

"Killing Angels?" Shinji offered in a voice with no emotion. He understood what the problem was now. What's the point in killing angels if the city is destroyed in the process? No one left to save. The same thing Misato had been working with him on in the simulators, it made perfect sense now.

"Correct"The Sub-Commander asked. "But what's the point if the city is destroyed in the process?" He added

"There is no point, we might as well fail" Shinji replied.

"That's right Shinji" The Sub-Commander replied. "All that stuff Misato works with you on is important, do you see it now? Even when throwing a knife you need to check your backgrounds" He added

"Yes Sir" Shinji replied

"The end justifies the means, we were lucky the city was evacuated, but these are things you need to keep in mind during combat" The Sub-Commander finished

"Yes Sir" Shinji replied

"And you?" The Sub-Commander levelled his gaze at Asuka "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything wrong, it was all Shinji's fault"She retorted

"How do you figure that?" The Sub-Commander asked.

"I killed it, didn't you see my amazing piloting ability?" Asuka demanded of the room "It was Shinji's fault the angel got away" She added trying to shift the blame

"Do you want to go back over the battle footage?" The Sub-Commander challenged her

"Yes......."She responded out of pride automatically "... wait! No sir" She added

"Just as well" The Sub-Commander replied. "To that end you need to learn to work together. Get your orders from Captain Katsuragi. Dismissed" He finished.

The three pilots left to get showered. The pain was starting to set in for Shinji, all the beatings he had endured over the long battle were taking their toll.






Shinji stood under the heat of the shower just letting the hot water fall over his body. His thoughts drifted to the battle, he was going over everything from the fight and what he could have done differently.

'Maybe I should have tackled the angel and tried to pin it too the street with the progressive knife instead of the building' He continued in this train of thought until it hit him, he was still hurting from the battle.

"Strange"He mumbled to himself "Usually the pain is gone by now" He whispered to himself. Perhaps this was something to talk to Dr. Akagi about.

He stood in-front of his locker. He could just hear Asuka continuing her rant about the debriefing. While it came through to his side as a muffled yell he got the gist. The pain from the battle was still there even after the shower which was very strange. The young pilot decided on a little experiment. Standing there with a towel wrapped around his waist he pulled a pocket knife from his locker, snapping the blade open with a click that echoed through the empty room. He put his hand on the door and drew the point of the knife across the back of his hand, a line of blood coming from the cut.

He looked on as he felt the pain but it quickly disappeared and then he saw the cut disappear with it. "This is very strange" He said to himself.

The young pilot dressed and left for home running into Rei at the exit to the locker rooms

"Rei. You ok?" He asked not expecting to see her there.

"Yes, but how are you?" She asked

Maybe it was all the time they had been spending together but Rei was getting exceptional at reading what was going on with Shinji. Then it hit him, Rei never spoke to him about what she wanted after what she wanted after school.

"I'm ok" He replied

Rei tilted her head indicating that she knew something was wrong "Are you sure?"She pressed the issue using her soft voice knowing that Shinji wouldn't keep anything from her.

"I'm ok. I'm just ...... "Shinji was lost for words "My injuries are weird after the last fight" He blurted out

"What do you mean?" Rei asked

He paused to gather his thoughts "My injuries were weird. Usually they have healed by the time we get back to the showers, but I'm still sore now." He explained

"That is different" Rei commented prompting Shinji to go on.

"Yet after the shower I cut my hand with a knife and it healed straight away. Idon't get it" He added

"That does make it very weird" Rei commented.

"It's ok I mean I feel ok now" Shinji added trying to ease Rei's concerns "Say we never finished school. What did you want to talk about before after school?" He asked as they passed through the geo-front exit on their way home.

This took Rei by surprise she thought she would not have to explain till another day after the angel attacked.

"I'll explain at home" She replied

"Alright"Shinji said as they started walking towards Rei's apartment. The rain had eased to a sprinkle but it was a pleasant walk.






Rei opened the door to her apartment and headed into the darkness turning a light on once she was inside. Shinji followed and headed towards the lounge room. Rei came in with two glasses of water and sat down next to Shinji.

"I hope what I want to tell you doesn't affect our friendship" Rei began

"It won't we'll always be friends" Shinji replied

"How can you know that?" Rei asked

"I just do...... Friends to the end right?" Shinji replied "What did you want to say?" Shinji asked

Rei gave a small smile Shinji's saying "It's about where I'm from" Rei began "I'm not like everyone else..... I'm a clone" She said looking at Shinji for areaction.

He gave nothing away but what he said had everything Rei needed to know "That doesn't matter, why would that affect our friendship?" He replied

"There is more. I have an S2 organ the same as yours, I wanted to tell you before when you were making your decision about yours but I just couldn't find a way too"Rei continued pausing to let Shinji take all this in as well.

"It's ok. You shouldn't feel bad about that. You were there to help me with everything anyway, that's what matters. I'm actually lucky you were there and Ididn't have to explain anything to you since you already know" Shinji replied again putting Rei at ease.

Rei looked at him wanting to go on but not sure if she should.

"Really it's ok" Shinji added putting an arm around Rei's shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

Rei blushed at the closeness of the moment and steadied herself as she went on prepared to lay it all out for Shinji.

"There is one more thing Shinji" She whispered into Shinji's shoulder

Shinji lent back to look at Rei as she spoke but kept the embrace around her shoulders.

"I was cloned from the second angel Lilith and a human" Rei continued, though this took Shinji by surprise he didn't say anything waiting for Rei to finish. "My mother is Yui Ikari" She finished in barely a whisper burying her face into Shinji's shoulder unable to look him in the face any more after the revelation.

Her mind was swimming with emotions, certain death if Gendo was to find out, the shame of who she is and having kept it from Shinji her only true family, and if she had learnt anything since Shinji came to Tokyo-3 it was that those type of bonds are the most important. The revelation hit Shinji harder than any blow he received in the Eva. He instantly realised the amount of courage it must have taken for Rei to tell him all this. Knowing what the Commander is like this would not be looked upon fondly. As he continued processing everything he realised Rei would be waiting for a response.

"I have a sister" He got out in a quiet voice

"Are you not mad?" Rei asked in the softest voice possible

"No. Definitely not. Why would I be?" He asked

"Because I have kept so much from you" Rei replied knowing that there was still more for another day, perhaps.

"That is not your fault. You are who you are and you will always be my sister" He replied

"Twin sister" Rei corrected "We do have the same birthday"

"Yeah of course. Rei don't worry I'm not mad I promise and I won't tell anyone about this" Shinji added trying to put Rei at ease as he really was not mad.

"Thank you for listening and being here" Rei said still in a whisper

"I always will be" Shinji replied "You've always been important to me. I just never knew how much" He added

This made Rei smile, that same small smile tugging at the edge of her mouth that she always saved for Shinji.

"What now?" Rei asked

"I better go home it's getting late" Shinji replied standing up.

"What about your injuries?" Rei asked following her brother to the door

"Don't worry, I'll sort it out later after a sleep. It's not like I'm dying" Shinji replied.

"Alright. Just be careful" Rei replied with a wave

"Bye Rei" Shinji replied over his shoulder heading for the street and home






Getting home and Unit-01's pilot thought DHL had moved in. "The Hell" He said to himself seeing his walls lined with the red and white boxes. "Misato?" He called out

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Came a shrill voice from around a corner.

While the apartment was not big to start with the fact that there were boxes everywhere from floor to ceiling made it hard to see what was going on or who was speaking. Be that as it may Shinji knew exactly whose fingers on chalkboard sounding voice that belonged to.

"Asuka!What are you doing here?" Shinji replied anger lining his voice

"Haven't you heard, you've been dumped for the new model" Asuka replied smugly coming around the corner with her nose in the air.

"What are you talking about?" Shinji asked doing his best to keep an even voice with no anger

"Yeah it makes perfect sense that Misato should live with the best pilot" Asuka continued either not hearing or ignoring Shinji "There is just one thing Idon't get, why are Japanese rooms so small?" She continued "I could barely fit all my stuff in my new room, and these doors don't even have any locks on them how does anyone have any privacy around here"

Shinji just looked on fuming that he had been booted out of his room for Asuka and all his stuff was dumped into a box in the hall way.

"The Japanese way is to consider the needs of others before your own" Misato said materialising out of no where

"What's going on Misato?" Shinji asked irritated

"I'm glad you two are getting along well now since you'll be living together from now on" Misato replied

"Why should we!" Asuka shouted

"Its part of your training to build better team work" Misato replied

"That doesn't mean I need to be kicked out of my room" Shinji spoke up

"But I need the bigger room, after all I have more stuff and I am the best pilot"Asuka replied smugly.

"That remains to be seen" Shinji replied quietly

"What's that meant to mean?" Asuka retorted

"You'll figure it out." Shinji replied "You are the best pilot" He added sarcastically while walking off to pick up his box of stuff and head into his 'new' room.

"This has not begun well" Misato muttered to herself slapping her palm to her forehead.

After having got closer to Shinji over the past months as the angels have gotten harder to defeat she had taken for granted a little how rocky things were with Shinji when they first met. Misato quickly realised that Shinji was not going to just stand by while Asuka paraded around with how great she is and how he should just do what she wants because she is the Great Asuka Langley Soryu. Misato quickly realised that having both pilots living together was either going to work great and they would learn to fight together effectively or it would be a total disaster.

"Just what is that meant to mean Third Child?" Asuka yelled as Shinji neared his door

"Don't you have a room to unpack?" Shinji replied walking into his room and quietly closing the door finishing the conversation.

Asuka just stood there looking at the closed door, no one ever treated her like this, and she had no idea how to act. This guy just kept infuriating her she wanted nothing more than to strangle him, but the only thing stopping her was that she wasn't sure if she could. Most boys her age were scrawny runts or posers but not this guy. The developed body covered with rippling muscle, not an ounce of fat. Asuka was in the best shape of her life and she could tell Shinji was in aclass of his own in terms of fitness performance. She had seen him fight twice now and she had gotten nothing from either fight in terms of how their abilities compared.

She thought more about the two fights, unceremoniously dumped into a pool of LCL for one and then jumped and slammed into the bay while Shinji went on a one man demolition of the angels, even if wonder girl gave him a little help. His feats in the eva were unmatched and unheard of. That was what worried her the most, she was meant to be the best not some blow in with any training.

"ASUKA!"Misato called out breaking the red head from her daze.

"What?"She asked

"Aren't you going to finish unpacking? We've got a big day tomorrow" Misato repeated

"Sure"Asuka replied

"Let me know when you're done, I need to talk to you and Shinji" Misato replied

"Fine"Asuka snapped going to her room to finish unpacking what she could.






"Have you both got everything unpacked?" Misato asked her two wards as they sat next to each other at the table

"Yeah"Shinji replied

"I've done enough for now" Asuka added with annoyance

"Alright then. The purpose of this is to get you two working together" Misato said pointing with her finger for more emphasis

"What for? I can fight fine on my own" Asuka demanded

"Can you?" Misato challenged

"Yes!"Asuka said defiantly

"Like today's fight" Misato challenged

"I would have been fine if I was on my own" Asuka demanded

"Jesus Christ not this shit again." Shinji said in a flat angry voice "If I have to relive another debriefing I'm going to my room to watch the rain out the window, it will be more productive than this shit" He added practically spitting the last part in disgust.

"..."Asuka looked on dumbfounded

"Alright that's enough" Misato ordered "Your both here to learn how to fight together you need to learn to work together before someone dies or an angel causes third impact" She added forcing the gravity of the war on the young pilots.

"That's crap" Asuka countered

"Fine. What's the plan?" Shinji replied

"What?You're agreeing with her?" Asuka asked in disbelief

"Misato's right" Shinji replied not bothering to explain himself which brought a small smile to Misato's face.

"How can you just say that?" Asuka half asked half demanded hoping she could still salvage this.

"Look around yourself. Look at the damage to the city and our Evas. Any number of people could have been killed today, you and I included because together we were a total failure" Shinji replied with a steel in his voice that said it would never happen again

"That's not true and the city was evacuated" Asuka retorted

"Were you asleep in the debriefing? While the angel was defeated, the result wasn't good enough. Remember?" Shinji replied getting more annoyed with the conversation by the minute.

"Fine"Asuka replied not willing to admit defeat.

"What's the plan Misato?" Shinji asked

"Asuka will be in the simulators. Ritsuko said Unit-02 will be ready by tomorrow morning. Once Unit-01 is repaired you will join her." Misato laid it out for her pilots "Once you learn to fight effectively Rei will join you both and the three of you will learn to fight together. You need to get to the point where you can anticipate each other in combat, things are only going to get harder understand?" She finished

"Yes ma'am" Shinji replied while Asuka was silent.

"Alright get some rest. See you in the morning" Misato replied and Shinji got up and went to bed

"What is it Asuka?" Misato asked when the red head had not moved once Shinji was out of the room

"How bad was today?" Asuka asked

"Very, our only saving grace was the Rei and Shinji were able to defeat the angel.

"How bad was the damage?" She asked again

"It's pretty extensive" Misato began to recount details from the fight that Asuka missed while she was trapped inside the entry plug. "Shinji killed one angel point blank with a progressive knife and a pistol. The explosion destroyed 4city blocks and severely damaged Unit-01. Rei killed the other angel with long range shots from a positron rifle and it destroyed 2 city blocks. Also numerous buildings sustained heavy damage in the fighting, and others were destroyed."She finished

"How was Rei able to make a shot like that in the city?" Asuka asked

"Shinji threw a progressive knife at the angel pinning it to a skyscraper. Somehow it wasn't able to escape and in the end they were able to time their attacks perfectly to kill the angels" Misato replied "Look Asuka there is a lot you don't know about Shinji"

"So why don't you tell me" Asuka interrupted

"I'll let him" Misato replied "But I'll tell you this much, you may think he has had it easy being the commanders son, but he was blackmailed into piloting the first time he got here. Let alone the fact that we almost died getting here when the third angel attacked"

Asuka let out a small gasp at this

"He is different in every way when it comes to piloting. You know his sync ratio is 150%?" Asuka reluctantly nodded "What you probably don't know is that he gets all the injuries his eva does, sometimes even worse. He's been through enormous amounts of pain even pulled from his eva unconscious after some fights. One battle even left him in a coma for a couple of days" Misato recounted

"Alright Misato I'll try to work with him" Asuka replied

"Here's the thing. You should do it because you want to not because I'm ordering you too. Because that's going to be the best way to defeat the angels" Misato added for emphasis "Now get going, you've got a long day tomorrow"






The day began with an early start for everyone. The pilots met at Nerv for Synch tests. Rei had continued to improve jumping up to 60%. Asuka was steady at 75%as always. Shinji pumped out another 150% reading.

"He really is amazing" Aboa commented

"Yeah it's like he was born to pilot eva" Makoto added.

The three pilots gathered on the bridge as the marks were read out.

"Mein Gott" Asuka exclaimed "Is that normal?" She asked referring to Shinji's synch score

"Yes. Consistent at that level every time" Ritsuko replied

"Are there any other questions?" Misato asked to which she received no reply.

"Alright you all know the scheduled meat back here in one hour. Dismissed" She ordered

A chorus of "yes ma'am" rang out on the bridge from the pilots and bridge bunnies.

"What do we do now?" Asuka asked

"We have one hour. You do what you want. I'm getting lunch with Ayanami in the cafeteria." Shinji replied as he headed to the cafeteria.

Asuka looked at Rei for an idea, but Rei just looked back and started after Shinji

"Wait!Wondergirl" Asuka called out.

Rei turned around but said nothing

"Why are you guys eating now?" Asuka asked

"This will be the last break for a long time you should eat as well" Rei replied in her soft voice answering Asuka's question and continuing to the cafeteria.

Asuka followed a minute later but didn't eat with the pilots.






Shinji and Rei looked on after lunch as Asuka began her second simulation. She was greased by the third angel in what was a repeat of Shinji's first fight in which she was quickly killed after taking too long to get to a weapon and was overpowered from behind by the first angel.

Shinji smirked at this as comments of being taken from behind and being jumped from the rear came to mind, though none of it was ever spoken.

Unit-02 hit the surface and came face to face with the third angel again. Asuka retreated into the city this time to a different weapons building and grabbed apallet rifle and then opened a coms window to Misato.

"Why am I doing this one again? I already know what's going to happen" Asuka yelled

"Then it should be no problem for you" Misato challenged

"I don't see what the point of this fight is?" Asuka challenged

"This is a repeat of Shinji's first fight, you should be able to finish it easily"Misato explained

This got Asuka's attention but also chipped at her pride a little since she was beaten so easily the first time and Shinji would have never even seen an Eva before this fight let alone trained in one and he was able to do it, so Misato was right. This should be a piece of cake.

Asuka started advancing towards the angel's position with the pallet rifle raised as everyone looked on. Shinji and Rei were wondering what they had to learn from being able to work together by watching Asuka in the simulator but orders were orders.

Asuka finally rounded a corner and could see the third angel down the street. The targeting computer gave a solid lock and Asuka opened fire, her first act of violence in the simulators was to empty the whole mag at the angel, every round right on target at the core but for the A.T Field to block them all.

"Damn need more power at this range" She muttered

Misato and Ritsuko shared a look at this that said plenty.

Then the Third Angel started to charge at Asuka, the two A.T Fields clashing together and illuminating in bright orange hexagons that light up the night. Unit-02 pulled the progressive knife and cut through both A.T Fields. Using the knife and its left hand was able to separate a large hole in the fields, then opened the second shoulder pylon but nothing came out and all that could be heard was a whirring noise. Then out of nowhere a series of spikes exploded out of the shoulder pylon and impaled them into the angel's core.

The angel fell back onto the street dead and silent.

"How was that?" Asuka taunted over the com channel.

Misato and Ritsuko shared another look that said a lot. Shinji put his hand over his face and muttered something about stupid red heads never learning.

The angel's core glowed white hot as Asuka looked on with no idea of what was coming and the angel exploded with just a little bit more force than it had that first night completely engulfing an unaware Unit-02 in the blast zone.

"Got damn it all. What the hell was that?" Asuka screamed into the com.

"That was the same thing it did the night it attacked." Misato responded

"Yeah right" Asuka replied with venom not believing her commanding officer.

"Alright. Load the next simulation; this will be the last one for today. Then we'll move on to something else" Misato replied

"Get on with it I'm ready" Asuka demanded

Misato let out a groan before looking across to Ritsuko and Maya as they both typed into their consoles and Unit-02 was back in the cages on the launch platform as alarms started blearing with an angel closing in on headquarters.

"Are you two getting anything out of this?" Misato asked Shinji and Rei

Rei gave a slight nod and then Shinji followed suit

Misato looked on a little perplexed "What are you both getting out of this?" She clarified

"The second child is very demanding" Rei replied

"She doesn't learn" Shinji added "And her choices in combat are rather poor" He finished

"Fair observations, we're going through all the battle footage after this. I doubt there is anything new to learn, go take a break till we are ready" Misato replied

The simulation continued with Asuka finishing the fourth angel without too many problems in half the time Shinji managed.

"Good work Asuka you can hop out now, we're moving onto something else.






After a shower and some food the pilots were assembled in the debriefing room with Misato, Ritsuko and Maya.

"Alright you've got us all here what now?" Asuka questioned.

"We're going to go over everything together and see where we can improve" Misato replied with an authority that left no room for arguments. "Maya" She began starting proceedings

"Yes ma'am" Maya replied starting the replays

Asuka's first two simulations played in their entirety

"Does anyone have any comments?" Misato asked the room

"Obviously that first one was just ridiculous there is no way anyone can beat that" Asuka stated "But it shows in my second fight how it should be done" She added holding he head high and puffing her chest out.

"Are you certain about that Asuka?" Misato asked

"Yes positive" Asuka replied with a challenging grin on her face. This was where she was going to put those other two in their place and show her dominance as the best pilot.

"Don't be so sure Asuka. Maya run the next file please." Yes ma'am

The video began with Unit-01 on the launch platform, with a crackle of electricity the purple war machine rocketed up the launch tube and the events of that first fight were replayed for all too see. It was a surreal experience for Shinji to watch himself fight. He had never seen any of the footage before.

Asuka's snide comments about walking into that punch snapped Shinji out of his trance as he glared at the red head with a look of death in his eyes. Asuka missed it all but Rei put her hand on Shinji's shoulder and the young pilot felt his anger wash away as he looked at his sister. Rei had a look on her face saying it wasn't worth it and Shinji knew she was right.

"You barely made it by the skin of your teeth" Asuka commented

"At least I made it" Shinji replied

"And just what is that meant to mean?" Asuka demanded

"Alright that's enough" Ritsuko interrupted "And Shinji is right. At least he won" She added

"Now"Misato said getting everyone's attention "How can we improve on those fights?They were all the same target in the same environment" Misato asked

"Collateral damage was high in the last fight" Shinji replied

"Yes but you already have things in place to correct that" Misato replied

"My second fight was the most effective way to beat that angel" Asuka added "And you can't count the first fight" She added

"Why not?" Rei challenged in a quiet voice that had a steel to it.

"Are you kidding there is no way anyone can beat that first time out" Asuka retorted"Don't be ridiculous wondergirl"

"You just saw someone beat that angel first time out" Rei corrected

"What are you talking about.......? The Baka"

"Yes"

"How?"Asuka asked

"It doesn't matter but if you pay attention maybe you'll learn something, we all can" Shinji replied

"What are you talking about everyone knows I'm the best pilot here" Asuka retorted

"Whatever Asuka. Ayanami has spent just as long in Nerv and with Evas as you, yet you continue to put her down. Based on what a sync score? Because she has more kills than you and was able to do something last fight that you weren't able to do" Shinji demanded with anger and precision about his body language as he steared her down with an icy glare.

"Oh yeah and what was that?" Asuka challenged

"She was able to stop the enemy" Shinji replied "You know what the problem is until you get your head out of your arse your just dead weight on this team" He finished deflating the German red head completely

"Alright that's enough. Shinji, Rei, your dismissed there is no more testing till the 7thwhen both your evas will be repaired" Misato interrupted ending the argument

"Yes ma'am" Both pilots replied leaving for home.

"Asuka....."Misato began once the pilots had left "Shinji is right on. While I don't agree with his outburst you need to put your pride aside and realise that Shinji and Rei have plenty to offer this team. You're not going to be able to finish this war on your own. Shinji barely managed the first two fights on his own and the angels have gotten stronger since then." Misato explained

"What do you want then Misato?" Asuka asked

"Watch all the fights" Misato said holding out a disc "Then talk to Shinji and Rei about any questions you have"

"Then what?" Asuka asked not getting the point

"Then we can form a plan of attack when the next angel comes" Misato replied

"Alright"Asuka said taking the disc.

"Lets go home" Misato replied as the four women left the briefing room






To Be Continued:

To anyone still reading I hope you're still enjoying this story. Thanks to everyone who is following, and to those who left a review thank you. I always take what you have to say on board and have gone back and made some changes.