Creation began on 01-05-16

Creation ended on 06-14-16

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evaflowne

A/N: Another unique crossover.

Asuka was about to have the life snuffed out of her by the Thirteenth Angel that possessed Unit-03. It had been three weeks since the loss of Unit-01 and the Third Child at the clutches of the Twelfth Angel; the remains of the Angel left nothing to salvage of the Eva and absolutely no trace of the pilot. As she saw the black Eva was set to bash the damaged Unit-02 into the next plane of existence, she thought about Shinji and how his pleas for help were her fault. If she could take it all back, she would if it meant having his help right now.

Sorry, Shinji, she thought.

Suddenly, a hole in the sky appeared, distracting the Angel from its assault on Unit-02.

Something massive emerged from the sky, unleashing a ball of green fire at the black Eva.

"Grraurgh!" The Angel howled in pain.

The entity that emerged from the hole in the sky looked like some sort of winged, dragon-like creature, but appeared heavily influenced by Evangelion Unit-01 due to its purple and green colors. It flew above the Angel and fired another ball of green fire at it, forcing it to its knees.

"What is that thing?" Asuka questioned.

-x-

"…It looks like…Unit-01," went Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki inside Central Dogma.

On the screens and monitors, the new combatant landed on a nearby hillside and changed its form, no longer resembling a dragon…and resembling an Evangelion. One that was extremely familiar with the paramilitary agency.

"It might be Unit-01," said Hyuga, surprised by the Eva-like combatant's appearance.

It did resemble Unit-01 to a large degree, but it was sporting features that weren't on the purple behemoth they had lost. It had spiked knuckles on its arms, wrist blades and reinforced knee blades on its legs, two smaller horns on its facial armor, and what looked like a pair of smaller arms and legs on its torso with a large, pink gem in between the upper and lower limbs. In addition, there was a large cape on its back, giving it an almost-majestic aura to it.

It raised its right arm up and removed something from behind its back. It resembled a Progressive Knife, but the bridge crew watched in awe as the small blade elongated into a larger, sword-like blade before the Eva-like combatant assumed a defensive stance.

The Angel got back up and charged towards the new creature, its arms elongating as it intended to jump the opponent and rip its head off.

But the new adversary showed an unpredictable show of force. It swung its sword and dismembered the Angel's arms and legs, sending it falling to the ground in front of it. Then, dug its sword into the ground and reached for the exposed Entry Plug in Unit-03's back, ripping it out of the Eva and then raising its right leg up to slam down on the black Eva's head, reducing it to pulp.

"Unit-03…the target…has gone silent," Shigeru uttered.

-x-

The Unit-01-esqued victor subtly ripped open the Unit-03 Entry Plug and exposed the young man inside it.

"Aaahh!" He gasped, looking worse for wear, looking up at the Eva-like monster that was holding him several hundred feet above ground.

Then, the behemoth slowly set the damaged plug down onto the ground and then knelt down itself. Something emerged from its nape, resembling an Entry Plug, but it opened up like a flower bud, spaying an orange substance into the air.

Asuka watched as the person emerged from the behemoth, and was shocked by who they were.

"Shinji?" She questioned, seeing an adult version of the Third Child climb out of the plug and scaling a rope down to the ground to meet the Fourth Child.

The man, if he was Shinji, looked like a younger, softer version of his cold-hearted father, but he lacked glasses, sideburns, a mustache and a beard, had a large, burn-like scar covering his left cheek, and his left ear sported an earring shaped like a serpent devouring its own tail. He was dressed in a blue, burnt shawl that covered him to past his waist, brown trousers, black boots, and had a gem-encrusted manacled on his right arm. His left arm appeared armored. A large sword was strapped to his back, heavily used and nicked all over.

"Good to see you again," he uttered towards the Fourth Child. "It's been a long time."

The Fourth Child, Toji Suzuhara, looked at the guy, and responded, albeit with sadness, "Shinji?"

"In the flesh," the man replied.

-x-

Misato awoke to the commotion around her, feeling like she had a headache, and finding her left arm wrapped in a sling. The last thing she could remember was an explosion and Unit-03 turning into an Angel.

"…We found another survivor over here…"

"…Lend me a hand over there…"

"Hey, Katsuragi," she heard Kaji's voice cut through the vocals of those around them.

"What happened?" She asked; she barely recognized her voice right now.

"Unit-03 had to be taken out as an Angel," he cut to the point of the most recent battle.

"What about the pilot?"

"He survived. He was lucky someone actually tried to save him."

-x-

She never showed it, but Rei Ayanami was surprised by the major changes of Shinji Ikari and Unit-01. It wasn't just their respective, cosmetic changes that had her concerned, but the fact that Shinji's left arm (once he removed his shawl and undershirt) was revealed to be an advanced prosthetic. He also looked more…damaged than he seemed before his first sortie.

They were all back at NERV HQ, where Commander Ikari demanded an audience with Shinji, who seemed to have a lot on his mind.

"Identify yourself," he ordered Shinji, who had revealed that it was pointless for a pair of guards to try and handcuff him.

"Shinji Ikari," Shinji confirmed. "Age thirty-three."

"That's not possible," went Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. "Shinji Ikari was fourteen when he was declared MIA."

"Then I must've died when I was fourteen…but yet, I am very much alive…or I was more alive back there than I could have ever been around here."

"Back there?" Asuka asked on the bridge of Central Dogma. "Where?"

This older Shinji just summed up the response in one, simple word.

"Home," he answered, keeping it simple.

Nobody said it, but some of the people present had suspected that this man was indeed Shinji Ikari, but somehow ended up displaced by the destruction of the Twelfth Angel, wound up in another world with no way back to this one for over fifteen years, and was changed dramatically over time.

"My only regret was leaving the people that looked up to me when I made the choice to come back here," he expressed.

"And the Eva," Gendo pointed out to the changed Unit-01 that was now residing in the cages. "What happened to the Eva?"

"Evaflowne," Shinji corrected him. "My Dragon of Angels. It did as I was forced to do when I ended up where I was landed, and that was to adjust. Some bits it kept, but other bits were not kept as much."

"What?" Asuka gasped.

"If you need proof that it did so, then check the compartment under its core. It functions as a self-sustainable prison of sorts. I had to return the woman that was no longer necessary to Evaflowne."

"What woman?" Gendo questioned; his curiosity was piqued.

-x-

The heavily-modified Unit-01, or Evaflowne, was looked upon by the crewmen present, and they felt like it was ready to come to life at any moment and attack them. There was a compartment under its exposed core and watched as an older Third Child unlocked it with a sword, revealing its contents to everyone present, including Gendo Ikari and a surprised Misato Katsuragi. Inside the compartment was a woman draped in a over-sized, orange shawl, probably in her late-twenties or early-thirties, with an uncanny resemblance to Rei Ayanami, only her hair was a dark shade of brown and her skin tone was not as pale as the albino's.

Opening her eyes, the woman looked up at the people present, and at the older Shinji.

"Are we back?" She asked.

"No," Shinji responded. "You're back. You can step out now."

She climbed out of the compartment and stood barefoot on the umbilical bridge. She looked at Shinji and saw only contempt and anger projected at her.

"Yui?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Yui?" Gendo echoed, surprised to see her as she was the day of the contact experiment. "How?"

Shinji reached into his shawl and took out a small pouch of gray leather…and threw it at Gendo's feet.

"Use that on any Eva that actually works, and you'd get the same result I did," he told them, and Gendo picked up the pouch, removing its contents: It was a small number of emerald shards shaped like small arrows or claws. "The people that ended up in them all get the restoration of their flesh and blood."

Yet, it seemed like Shinji was less than happy. In fact, it seemed like he resented Yui for some reason.

"Why?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Because NERV…and other agencies just like it…are nothing more than depraved fiends," Shinji said.

-x-

Everything seemed unchanged since he had been gone for such a long time, even if it had actually been a little over three weeks. He was still older and a changed man. As he stood in his room, Shinji picked up his SDAT player…and sighed. Then, he looked at his left arm, remembering how he lost his original arm…and didn't wish to relive that experience a second time.

Outside his room, Misato and Asuka were trying to process what had happened no less than three hours ago. With the Angel, with the Eva…and with Shinji, who was definitely different from the boy they once knew.

"That woman was his mother?" Asuka questioned the purple-haired woman in the living room.

"There was barely any mention of his mother in his file when I first met him," she explained. "And did you see the look on his face. Unlike his father and the Sub-Commander, he didn't seem at all happy to see her again."

"And he said those shards he brought back with him are responsible for her being brought back. We should've tried them on Unit-03…or Unit-00."

"Why not Unit-02?"

"No way. Ain't nobody using those on my Unit-02."

-x-

"…He didn't want to hear any of what he called nothing more than depraved excuses," Yui informed Gendo and Fuyutsuki, depressed by Shinji's resentment of her. "He found out the truth…and now has his own agenda on how to end it all."

"What do you mean?" Fuyutsuki questioned. "He stopped the Angel that possessed Unit-03."

"It's not the Angels he's disgusted with," she clarified. "He's disgusted with all of us for keeping the truth to why everything has happened from him. His conclusion on rectifying the disrespect and disgrace that people have done…is to keep people from doing anything he finds too cruel. He knows about what the Eva was truly meant for…and will do all that he can to prevent their actual purpose before he leaves again."

"Leaves again?" Gendo asked. "Where have you two been all this time?"

Yui looked at him and uttered, "The people there called the place Gaea…but Shinji called it his home."

To be continued…

A/N: Here's the first chapter of an Evangelion/Escaflowne crossover. What do you think?