Without a Shadow of a doubt

Chapter 1

"Prologue"

"Due to the current emergency situation, all phone lines have been suspended."

With a sigh, Shinji put down the receiver.

"It's no use. Seems it's just us here, Shadow." - he said, turning to his companion, a tall black Hedgehog with red stripes known as Shadow the Hedgehog. He noticed Shadow looking intently in the direction of the road behind them. - "What is it?"

"… For a moment… No. It's nothing." - Shadow replied hesitantly. Then he turned back to Shinji - "Are you really sure about this, Shinji?"

Shinji crouched down and fondly pated Shadow's head.

"Thanks, Shadow." - Shinji said, smiling

"For what?"

"For always being there for me."

Shadow simply closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of content that washed over him.

Then came the explosion.

"What was that?" - exclaimed Shinji. Looking anxiously around

"… That."

Looking in the direction Shadow was pointing, Shinji witnessed something that made him freeze in place. A number of VTOLs appeared from behind the tall skyscrapers of Tokyo-3, followed by this… thing. It was gigantic! It was of a roughly humanoid shape, with a strange beaked mask for a face. It was shrugging off the VTOLs with impunity by putting up a hexagonal field and projecting some sort of energy "lances" out of its hands.

Suddenly Shadow tackled Shinji and they both vanished, mere moments before one of the VTOLs crashed in the exact spot they just vacated. The duo reappeared a dozen or so meters in front of it, warily getting on their feet.

"Hey, look, it's her!" - Shinji exclaimed, pointing forward. Sure enough a Blue Renault was speeding towards them. Shinji waved at it. - "Let's go, Shadow!"

The Renault's screeched to a halt in front of them, with the passenger door facing them, which flew ajar, revealing a purple-haired woman who yelled "Get in". Shinji leaped into the front passenger seat, slamming the door behind him. Shadow opted to teleport into the back seat. And so they sped away.

"By the way, I'm Misato Katsuragi. Welcome to Tokyo-3, Shinji-kun." - Misato introduced herself

"Thank you Katsuragi-san."

"Please, Misato is fine."

"Alright, Misato. Thanks again. What was that thing?"

"An angel."

"An angel?"

"Yup! That's what NERV exists to fight against, in order to protect all mankind."

"For a race considered worth protecting, you sure find enemies easily." - remarked Shadow.

"Well that- WHAAAT? WHAT THE HELL IS..? - Misato exclaimed, all but losiing control of the car in her amazement.

"Misato…!" - Shinji attempted, in vain, to return her focus to the road.

"EYES ON THE ROAD, WOMAN!" - Shadow barked.

And so Misato did focus back on driving, just in time to avoid running into a tree.

"Misato I would like you to meet Shadow the Hedgehog." - Shinji introduced his friend.

"N-nice to meet you" - Misato said nervously

"Hmpf"

"Ah don't worry, he's always like that." - Shinji said, smiling at Shadow, whose gave him the "like what?" look.

And so the bizarre situation in the car was stabilized.

"Speaking of, what is my father up to?" - asked Shinji.

"He's actually the head of the whole operation." - answered Misato, noticing the… lack of emotion when Shinji spoke of the Commander. It was as if, he was enquiring about a complete stranger.

"Oh and he sent me this." - Shinji said, handing Misato his NERV ID

Some time later, Misato stopped to take the stock of the Angel situation. She watched silently through her binoculars for a minute, but then…

"No way! They're going to use an N2? Get down!" - She exclaimed, throwing herself on top of Shinji. The resulting shockwave was strong enough to lift up and send it spinning through the air. When the dust settled in, Shinji found his head pressed firmly into Misato's chest.

"Enjoying yourself?" - asked Shadow. Only Shinji could discern the slight amusement in his voice.

When they climbed out of the car, Misato was devastated at the amount of damage. They were able to get it going alright, after flipping it over and 'borrowing' some batteries.

"Alright! Next stop: NERV!" - Misato exclaimed as she pushed the Renault to top speeds.

… TO BE CONTINUED…