Neon Genesis Evangelion

Disclaimer: I don't own NGE, Gainax owns it.

AN: Takes place after 14th Angel attack.

'Misato-san? Ayanami?'

'No…'

------------

This is my mother's scent…'

Payback Time

She couldn't tell what was going on, but the tense and hectic atmosphere indicated things weren't going so well. As she was looking at the humongous purple Evangelion before her, she heard Ritsuko mumble something about signals being trapped in Klein Space. She was too afraid of what was happening to be able to think.

"What does that mean?"

As the blonde doctor turn towards her, Misato received a very disappointing answer.

"It means we've failed…"

The Third Child, Ikari Shini, had defeated an Angel the day before. Doing so, he had reached a sky-rocketing synchronization rate of 400. Years ago, his mother had reached the exact same percentage. That's how his mother died… or vanished. Before her own child's eyes.

It seems the son has the same fate…

- Prologue

Tears were falling from her chin as she ran towards the entry plug. Bystanders were knocked away as the purple-haired woman ran past them. LCL was pouring out as it had already opened. Misato saw how Shinji's plug suit, which was now empty, was floating on the LCL.

"What good… What good is your damned science if… if it can't even save one small LIFE!" The purple-haired woman screamed up to the command centre. Her weeping were heard throughout all NERV. "Give me back my Shinji! GIVE HIM BACK!"

Several minutes passed as Misato sobbed in Shinji's plug suit. Up in the Command Centre, Ritsuko was looking down to Misato, a sad expression written on her face. Maya did the same thing, while Shigeru and Makoto were seated with their heads almost in their laps.

And then, a sound that would remind someone of a toilet being flushed came to her ears. Misato's eyes widened a great deal as she turned a bit and saw a naked body a few feet away from her. Misato's mouth opened up to say something, but she was too confused to actually do so. Her eyes would blink, but Misato didn't allow them to do so.

It sure wasn't Shinji lying there, but this older woman did look a whole lot like Ikari Shinji… 'Ah… What… That isn't Shinji…' She thought. Misato screamed again and her sobbing grew.

Ritsuko's eyes were widened even more than Misato's as she was staring at the naked woman that came out of the entry plug. 'Ikari… Yui!'

Amazement could be read all over his face as he was not seated but actually standing. His beloved wife had returned. Finally, after so many unexpected things happening, this was actually in his favour. All his work was for this moment…

'Yui…'

---

'Mother?'

A jolt ran through his body as even his thoughts echoed from within the darkness he was floating in. It was then that he realised he was no longer having a dream about his mother.

'Where am I?'

He tried to take a look at his own hands but was amazed to find none… As a matter of fact, he couldn't see himself at all. Was it that dark? As he moved his arms to see if there was something he could touch, he discovered there was nothing around him.

'This isn't the entry plug.' Shinji's breathing hastened a bit. The entry plug isn't that big…

He tried to stop himself from panicking by saying to himself that this was all just a dream. He remembered the incident with the 12th Angel, where he was in a similar situation. But this was worse. With the 12th Angel, he could still see his entry plug; now he could see nothing at all…

'What happened?' He didn't remember anything from before. He was sure he wasn't injured anywhere, but he did feel a little ill.

Running out of patience, Shinji decided to speak up. "Wha… Where am I!"

And then, a soft sound came from all around him. Like drums, exactly like a heartbeat. His eyes twitched with every beat. The rhythm of the heartbeat was slowly going faster and Shinji was very sure they were growing in volume as well. When it became very clear to the ears, Shinji realised that it also sounded very harsh… But also, that is was his own heartbeat…

The darkness around him then lightened up a little bit. Now everything around him had turned dark red. Blood red. He was swimming, but in his own blood?

Suddenly, pain shot through his forehead and seemed to sting through his brains. "Arghh!"

Before him, images came out of nowhere and started flashing, repeating themselves. They seemed to be flashbacks from something. His headache was too big to be able to focus.

Shinji panted as the pain in his head subsided a bit and he turned his attention to the images before him. These images were unknown to him, but his eyes widened as he saw a very familiar man in almost every image.

'Father.'

What was unknown to him was the fact that he had his left arm around the shoulders of an unknown woman.

'Mother?'

On her lap was a baby…

---

"WHO IS SHE!" Misato yelled up at the Command Centre. Her shoulder were sagged as she was still holding the white-blue plug suit. The expression on her face represented anger and disappointment. "WHERE IS SHINJI!"

"Katsuragi Misato." Ikari Gendo's voice suddenly responded. "Report back to Command Centre." He then turned to Ritsuko. "Make sure my wife is well treated, doctor. I want to speak to her as soon a possible."

Misato's eyes widened momentarily, her grip on the lug suit tightening instantly. "His wife?" She whispered as she gazed at the naked woman on the ground. People with a single stretcher were already approaching. One man was already covering her body with a huge towel.

---

Unbeknownst to everyone, there was quite some activity in the humanoid that was Evangelion Unit-01.

The sounds, those mind-piercing sounds were coming from all around him, striking his essence. They were loud, eerie, booming and frightful, all the while dancing around him. The sounds weren't in rhythm at all. He was swimming, but he didn't have a body. Floating in dark red liquid, combined with strange yellow water.

LCL?

No, that's not it.

His headache seemed to flare up and die down every second. And then, images started flashing all around him. Images which were familiar; from his past. They seemed to be played in random order.

'So many…'

All of them had one thing in common, though. It was the fact that in every image, it was he who suffered. Every image represented something that went wrong in his life. But that was the strange thing… Even though it represented all the wrong things, still, his entire life flashed before his eyes.

This meant his entire life went wrong…

He witnessed the repetition of every insult, every blow, every finger pointed towards him throughout his life. Everyone who had hurt him danced around him, remembering that he was hurt in the first place.

He didn't want this. He didn't need this. It was unnecessary for him to see this! "STOP IT!"

Was that his voice? That was so… harsh?

The images continued. They didn't stop and he found himself unable to close his eyes. He was forced to watch these sick images for how long?

How long?

"STOP THIS NOW!"

It didn't seem whatever was there paid heed to him.

Shinji tried to cry, but was unable to do so. 'What's going on! Where am I?' He thought frantically. "LET ME OUT!"

The images continued, the flashbacks insisted their torture… Even after 24 hours, they were still flashing before his eyes. Shinji could not sleep, could not cry, could not close his eyes…

Even after 48 hours… The images were still going at him, reminding him of all his failures, all his mistakes, all his mishaps…

His sense of presence got dull after seeing an image for what must have the thousandth time. He doubted himself. Was he even alive? Could this be hell? He wanted to sleep so badly, he wanted to run away as fast as he could, he wanted to cry so much.

After more than a hundred hours of repeating images, Shinji was no longer capable of forming any thoughts. Therefore, he didn't even respond when his own hand came into his view. The images were still flashing madly. His arm appeared, his legs… After a whole hour, his entire body was visible. But Shinji was no longer Shinji and just didn't care anymore…

His eyes, once beautifully ocean blue were now dark, dangerous, blood red.

The flashbacks had driven him far over the edge.

It had slapped him across the face, pierced his lungs, punched him inside his head and insulted his very core…

"Never Again…"

---

He was looking at the doorknob. Turning it would allow him to go to something that shouldn't be here yet. His plans, his schemes were all for this result. Now that he already had what he wanted, he didn't really care about anything else anymore. Strange how one single person can change your everything…

He turned the doorknob.

"Yui…" Gendo whispered as he gazed upon the sleeping figure.

What should he do now? Evangelion Unit-01, what is going to happen with that? It's no mystery to him what had occurred, but the chances of this happening were so little that he didn't even consider it. But it had happened and now he had to improvise. But did he even WANT to improvise?

He could let Fuyutsuki take over from here… But all of his plans were already set in motion. Fuyutsuki didn't have all the knowledge and he wasn't supposed to have all of it. Gendo had a goal, and with that goal he could reach Yui. That goal was dangerous and he already had come attached to it…

Gendo stared at his hand…

'I have to continue this… I am sorry, Yui… Shinji…'

---

"Never Again…"

No, he would not let others get too close. Yes, he would hurt others before they can get too close.

No, he would not let others insult him any longer. The result being such a meek boy… This was NOT how this was supposed to be. Yes, he would hurt all who insult him…

No, he would not let others lecture him. He had all knowledge he needed, his decision were correct in his own rights, no one had the right to tell him he was wrong. He was always right and those who say otherwise deserve to be hurt.

No, he would not let others hit him. To prevent being hit, he must hit first. Yes, he will hurt to avoid getting hurt.

No, he would not allow being defeated any longer. Yes, to defeat, you must hurt.

No, he doesn't deserve to be neglected. Those who do so deserve to be hurt.

No, he would not allow others to use him any longer. Those who use deserve to be hurt. So all in all, he deserves to hurt everyone around him…

No, he doesn't deserve to hurt all of them.

He deserves to end their entire being…

---

"Yui, you don't know what has transpired. Your son has switched places with you and only few know of it." Fuyutsuki sighed as he was seated in front of the bed Yui was lying in. "Your husband has made very wrong decisions to obtain his goals."

The old man rubbed his temples, hoping the migraine he had for the last few years would perhaps go away with the presence of Ikari Yui. 'I'm glad to see you again, Yui.'

He remembered how he had met Ikari Yui, the genius. He also remembered how she married Rokubungi Gendo. Oh, how he wished he had talked her out of it back then…

"I hope you know what do, Yui…" Fuyutsuki murmured. "Because I don't anymore…"

---

"Ikari… Yui?" Misato slowly repeated. "Shinji-kun's mother?"

Ritsuko nodded as she was typing, as always. Her back was turned to Misato, thankfully, so the blonde was safe with the murderous expression on her face. 'Yui has returned… The Commander's lover has returned. What does this mean? What will Gendo do now?'

"Do you think… Shinji's still in there?"

Ritsuko was a bit late in replying. "There's a small chance he's still alive." She nodded absentmindedly. "Though the chances of recovering him are almost non-existent." She stated, rather coldly. Her mind was busy with other things, after all.

"You don't care at all, do you!" Misato screamed as she turned Ritsuko, who was sitting on a chair, around. "You…" Her fist was clenching, Ritsuko noted as she stared at Misato's hand.

"I…" Ritsuko looked away. "Everyone deals with pain differently… But I assure you. I care almost as much as you." She replied as she stared fully into Misato's eyes.

Misato snorted and walked away. "I don't believe you at all." She yelled as she walked through one of the sliding doors.

---

Gendo was sitting in his office, hand folded in front of his face, as always. Fuyutsuki entered a short moment after Gendo had entered. Gendo knew he had visited Yui and vice versa.

Gendo spoke up seriously, all of a sudden. "Put a restraint on Unit-01."

The remaining people in the Command Centre were a bit surprised, as they hadn't noticed that the Commander and the Sub-Commander had arrived already.

Fuyutsuki reacted a little nervous, "Is that wise Ikari? The Second Child has… problems...synchronising."

""Rei will be enough."

"And if she is not, Ikari?"

Gendo ignored the question, "Unit-01 is not to be activated."

"Hmm, it does not have a pilot at the moment, Ikari. And the dummy plug was already rejected."

"It does not matter. If anything, this is most safe. It is very important that that Evangelion will not be released. This is our best course of action."

"How so, Ikari?"

Gendo stayed quiet as he chose to let Fuyutsuki figure that one out for himself. Fuyutsuki was in deep thoughts. 'Yui is back. And their son is trapped in there. It may well be forever. And Ikari doesn't care. Now Yui is back, he's changing to his ignorant self...'

Fuyutsuki sighed deeply. 'I am glad Yui is back, though. But at what cost?'

---

She had already awakened a short ten minutes ago.

'So, fate has decided for this to happen…'

She was back, but she wasn't happy at all. She knew quite well what must have happened for her to be here. There were only two persons who could synchronise with her. That was her son; the strongest person she had ever witnessed. The second was her soon to be ex-husband.

And since she was here, it means someone else took her place in Evangelion Unit-01. And she remembered very well who she felt last in the entry plug. 'Shin-chan…'

But this was going to mean big things were about to happen. She remembered all too well how she was confronted with herself from the very first second the Evangelion had taken her.

Self-confrontation.

Something that didn't go well with her. In her past, SEELE abused her intelligence; blackmailing her into working with them, in the process losing what was very dear to her.

But Shinji had it worse, being used his entire life, being neglected his entire life, never having anything lose, since he never received anything. Yui feared what it could create inside Evangelion Unit-01…

---

Ikari Shinji was no longer there…

His presence seemed to affect the environment around him. The power around his body seemed to radiate menacing hate. There was no expression on his face, but somehow anger was present through the colours of his eyes. His mouth was hanging open only slightly.

Anyone could see the boy was no longer sane…

After all… The Flashbacks were still beating through his eyes.

---

His eyes widened as he had turned the doorknob.

'She's awake…'

"Yui…" He breathed out as he slowly took a seat on the chair in front of the bed. "I…" He tried to regain his breath. "You can't use her legs or you arms for at least a few months…" He began, stating facts. "I…" He tried again.

Yui didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"Yui…" He pathetically breathed out. "I… I'm glad you're safe."

"Get out." Yui coldly responded.

Gendo's eyes, behind his glasses, momentarily widened. Her voice was very lethal.

"Now." She finished hoarsely.

Even short, he could tell from her voice she was extremely angry. Oh, how he had missed that voice… Everyone who knew Gendo, were very afraid of the man. His voice was always intimidating. But Yui's voice was so much more venomous. Poison seemed to be swimming on her lips, Gendo observed. So very frightening. Out of, strangely, habit, Gendo grabbed Yui's hand.

"You fucking bastard!" She breathed out. Talking seemed to be difficult for her as well. "I can't use my arms, but that doesn't mean you have the right to touch me! Let go of my hand!"

Gendo immediately stepped back a bit, afraid her words alone could kill him.

"Get the hell out of this room, NOW!" She commanded. Gendo's eyes had widened completely at the coldness in her words. He left, but felt he deserved this.

"Shin-chan…" Yui whispered as Gendo had left. Tears fell from her eyes as she thought what he had to be going through right now.

"I am so sorry, Shin-chan… For you to go through all of this." She wept. "You don't deserve this pain!" She yelled as she sobbed even harder into her pillow.

She knew of Shinji's past, how broken and fragile it was. Broken, and yet, it can still be broken more. Therein lies Shinji's power. Even completely broken, he still stands. Yui could read her son like an open book and would protect him at all costs. But now she couldn't protect him anymore. Now, the things would be changed around.

She already presumed Shinji had gone very mad in Unit-01. When Evangelion Unit-01 went berserk, it was Yui getting angry because Shinji was getting hurt. But now, she could imagine that, whenever Unit-01 gets activated… it could go berserk immediately… This time it was not Yui going berserk in Unit-01, but Shinji…

And with Shinji's past, being about a dozen times worse than Yui's, who knows what disastrous power the Evangelion holds now?

Yui's past was a paradise compared to Shinji's, after all.

---

Shinji was gone, he was really gone. All of her hope, her wishes, all of it she had invested in him. She had used him and hadn't felt guilty at all. Now, he was most likely gone forever, suffering like always. Misato felt so worthless as she was driving back home. She was driving extremely slowly, especially considering she usually was the fastest of all Tokyo-III.

What about the others? How would Asuka react? How would Kensuke react? Touji was in the hospital, he didn't need more grief now, Misato reasoned. Never would she believe Shinji would be the first of the pilots to fall. He was always the one who saved the day. Always the one… you could rely on.

Asuka had very slow synch ratios lately and Rei was very injured. There would be a lot of problems and this time they wouldn't be able to use Evangelion Unit-01, since it also rejects the Dummy Plug.

But here she goes again, worrying about safety, while she should be grieving about Shinji…

Yes, grieving…

---

"Stop this, child…"

The backlash of a single reaction was so powerful that he knocked her away, even though he shouldn't be able to see or sense her. It meant no harm, life is but a test, after all. To think that this child was going insane because of himself. She learned that humans could stay sane even after mind-torture. This one, however, was different.

She shot a glance at the images that were being repeated over and over again in front of the boy's eyes. There, she found the reason for his insanity.

"Humans are despicable." She mused out loud, again receiving a glare from the confused and enraged boy, surprisingly she felt the glare heating her essence up. 'This boy… What is he capable of?'

And then, Shinji screamed, forcing the female presence to collapse and no longer able to say and observe him.

---

Asuka was beaten, again. And Shinji outperformed her, again. WonderGirl has saved her, Shinji saved her. And what had she done ? Nothing, she hadn't even beaten an angel single-handedly. And now she was alone, in her room. But she would never cry.

Misato hasn't been home for two days. And Shinji neither. She didn't care what happened to Shinji, she didn't. She didn't even know what happened to him. All she cared about was synching with her Eva again. She cared about the next angel attack. And how she would prove herself to everyone once again.

WonderGirl was apparently still alive. She self-destructed, but was still alive. 'Stupid doll…'

She did wonder a little about why Shinji and Misato hadn't returned home yet, it's been two days. Shinji's probably overreacting again, crying in Misato's arms or something.

Hikari would come over soon, she called her about 15 minutes ago. She spent her time at Hikari's place quite often lately. Hikari sometimes came over. Although she wouldn't admit it, she liked Hikari's company. She just didn't want to be alone. And Hikari is the only one she can talk with. She hasn't heard from Kaji since she found out Toji was the Fourth Children.

---

Ayanami Rei sat on her bed in her own cold, almost empty apartment. She usually just sat or lay down on her bed and thought about everything that happened that day, or that week, or even that month. Just so she had something to do. She always stared at the wall opposite of her. She found out her thoughts were often focused on Ikari Shinji lately. She did not know why. Usually she thought about her past with commander Ikari. How he had raised her for example.

She knew she was the third Rei. But she somehow had the memories of the second. She knew she was replaceable, and could be replaced by herself. The next Rei would probably not know what she, Rei III, had experienced. Somehow, she did not want to be replaced. Rei didn't care if she would be replaced before, but she did now, somehow.

'Ikari Shinji is absorbed in Unit-01. His mother Ikari Yui came out. Commander Ikari has changed because of that.' Rei always observed the people around her, and immediately noticed if something was different about them. Shinji was more difficult to observe, just as difficult as, or maybe even harder, than Commander Ikari. She didn't see anything different in Shinji in the beginning. But during all the angel attacks, she saw Shinji changing every day. As if he put on another facade every day. Which was probably the case. And that's why he was interesting to her. Shinji could very well be gone forever now. Usually she wouldn't care about things like this. But Shinji had moved her. And she... cared for him.

Commander Ikari has the ultimate facade. He comes over as he wants to be. Cold, non-caring and intimidating. But beneath all that he was probably nothing like that. Or maybe he was, but in a lesser extent. She probably would find out soon.

They were both very interesting, and she had trouble understanding them. But she would learn, eventually.

---

As Misato came through the door, she was met with a very wicked glare coming from a certain redhead.

"Where the hell have you been!" She demanded to know. She seemed to look behind Misato and Misato guessed she probably wondered where Shinji was. "It's been two days, what kind of caretaker are you!"

"It's been a busy week at NERV." Misato managed to choke out. "Now, I'm going to bed."

"Hey, Misato! I'm not done!" Asuka announced at Misato, who walked past her towards her room. "Misato!"

"Not now, Asuka." Her gloomy voice let out, effectively silencing a surprised Asuka.

As Misato closed the door of her own room, Asuka was left standing there. 'Her eyes… they were… Has she been crying?'

---

Gendo was headed for Yui's room. He already knew she was mad at him. He must convince her to forgive him. Sacrifices must be made, would be his excuse. And yet, he already knew a lot of reactions were possible on that comment. His left eye twitched behind his glasses as he neared Yui's room.

It really hurt him when he saw Yui look at him like that, the first time she woke up. Her look told him she disgusted him. Shinji often gave the same look, as did all the others here at NERV. But he could take it, from all those petty beings. But he couldn't take it from Yui. Yui was his weak spot; Yui could hurt him more than anything else with harsh words alone. He knew he had changed his attitude, but he didn't care anymore, he didn't care anymore about humanity's faith, he didn't care anymore about SEELE, all he cared about was that his wife was back.

He felt prepared as he stood in front of Yui's room. For the first time in a very long time, Gendo hesitated. His left eye started to twitch more and more. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned.

Yui saw her husband enter the room and immediately attacked him with a glare Asuka would be very jealous about. Gendo managed to ignore it, however. "Yui."

"Listen, you jerk. We have nothing to discuss." She whispered poisonous.

"Yui… About Shinji."

"About Shinji? You disappointed me, Gendo. I'm ashamed of being married to you." Yui spoke.

"Yui.." Gendo repeated. He was wrong, he wasn't prepared for this.

"You left him, Gendo. You scarred him for life, mentally, Gendo!" Yui said with tears in her eyes.

"It...It was necessarily. Please, try to understand!" Gendo's eyes were now both twisting.

"You tossed him aside like he was nothing. Not even dolls get tossed aside like that! I don't need to understand more." Yui stated clearly.

Gendo stayed quiet and tried to figure out how he could have a normal conversation with his wife.

"I...I am glad you're back, Yui..." Gendo said carefully.

"Oh you are, are you? What about Shinji, he's all alone, in there. In that hell! And he's only 14 years old!" Yui screamed.

Gendo sighed; he didn't know what else to say. He knew Yui would not be happy to be back without Shinji. Gendo sat down on a chair in the room, put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Yui watched him feel sorry for himself and closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

--

Asuka was furious. She was beyond furious as she threw around all kinds of stuff in the apartment. 'I'll just wait until Shinji comes back and kick his puny ass!'

Asuka walked towards the kitchen. A few minutes ago she called Hikari and told her not to come. She told her that now would not be a good time… not a good time at all. How dare Misato treat her like that! She punched the wall several times. She kicked the couch, stomped her foot on the floor and threw glasses around. Eventually she calmed down and turned the TV on. Eventually, after about, thirty minutes.

A fridge opened and Pen-Pen looked if there were no flying objects around. After making sure there weren't he walked around in the apartment, hurting himself while walking through shattered glass. "WAAARKKK !"

Asuka looked at the sudden sound behind her, "Stupid bird.."

Misato was in her room, hearing everything Asuka did in the living room. But she didn't care for now. Shinji, her Shinji was gone...And she still had to tell Asuka. She's the only one who doesn't know. She really didn't want to tell her right now. But, it's best to get it over with. So she could return back to her room and sleep for a very long time, maybe even contact Kaji...

Asuka immediately shot an angry glare at Misato, as she stepped out of her room. She noticed Misato's sad look, and how it turned into a very serious one as she approached Asuka. Asuka thought she was going to get punishment for thrashing the place. But Misato was as calm as ever.

"Asuka, we have to talk." Misato began.

"Finally!" Asuka exclaimed.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news. It hit me really hard as you can see…" Misato continued nervously. "But, I don't think it'll hit you as hard as it hit me."

"Well, start giving me the bad news. I'll bet this has something to do with Shinji?" Asuka assumed cockily.

"Yeah, it's about Shinji.." Misato stated sadly, trying to fight the tears back.

Asuka noticed this of course and her eyes widened slightly. She realised Misato really had BAD news. Asuka's lips started to quiver. Misato really was crying, then. But, what happened then?

"So...W-what happened, Misato?" Asuka said, trying to prepare herself.

"Shu-Shinji.. Shinji, he's gone.." Misato said, as several tears fell out of her eyes.

"Wha-what do you mean? WHAT DO YOU MEAN!" Asuka screamed, walking up to Misato and shaking her shoulders.

Misato cried quietly, she was trying to calm down, but failed miserably. Asuka noticed this was bad, real bad. Misato wasn't kidding. Asuka once promised not to cry, and she had to fight real hard right now.. She tried to comfort Misato. Misato embraced Asuka immediately. Asuka was almost crying. But her pride was strong, and she didn't allow it. She did, however, comfort Misato.

It all struck Asuka in one big go. Shinji's gone... Dead ...No more Shinji...How could he? Shinji was invincible in his EVA.. No one could beat him when he was in there. And above that, his EVA had the tendency to go berserk, especially when Shinji was in trouble. The chances of him losing while he was in that… monstrosity… were minimal…

What kind of an angel was this? She would never admit it, but she admired Shinji, his starting synch ratio was so high... And it just kept rising, he was a natural, it was obvious.. But she still had to beat Shinji, no matter how good he turned out to be. But Shinji wasn't even trying to be the best; he wasn't even trying to get a higher score than us. He didn't care...And now, he's gone...

Wait.. Misato wasn't very clear, Yes, she was really crying, but for what? Did Shinji die? Or did he leave Tokyo-III? Oh, please let it be the last one..

---

Inside Evangelion unit-01, Lilith's fear was growing by the seconds. She was, in Evangelion Unit-01, but a part of the great Lilith, but she was Lilith, nonetheless. She had witnessed begins and ends of existences, and yet, this boy struck true fear, sending chills through her very essence.

The immense power of Shinji's mind was still growing, although it was growing more slowly than in the beginning, it was still unbelievable it was still growing at all!

She was glad she could stay in here and observe this marvellous human being, but if this EVA would be activated, She wouldn't want to watch whatever was going to happen then.

Lilith was a God among the Angels, se could create havoc as much as the next angel, but she couldn't even begin to measure up what Shinji will be like... He was terrified, Lilith, One of the most important creatures of all times, was terrified.. Beyond terrified.

'Humanity is sick. How can they live with each other?' Lilith thought as she observed the twitching body in front of her. She wished she could stop the images, but this was a trial every human had to go through to deserve to survive being in an Evangelion. Ikari Yui, this boy's mother, had done the same. Even though the images she had weren't so harsh as this boy's and the mother didn't have as many bad memories.

'Just observe at what you do to each other. Who would want to be human after seeing this? Emotions will tear you apart; there's more pain than comfort. And in Ikari Shinji's mind, the pain is overwhelming everything. I find almost no comfort in your mind. What monsters humanity can create, without even knowing it.' Lilith, a god, pitied the boy for suffering almost every negative thing there is to find in mankind.

'His power is unbelievable. None of the angels stand a chance against this… monster... if one knew what you lived through, you'd receive endless respect. I know your entire past and yet, you still kept living on. You're really strong, Ikari Shinji, do not be mistaken. That strength will be humanity's last hope... You will be mankind's saviour, or their downfall.'

Lilith's presence slowly fades away deciding to continue her observing some other time.

'I'll pray for you...But, I feel, after looking at you, that... Humanity is doomed…'

---

"Misato... Tell me what happened... I-I need to know..." Asuka asked seriously.

"Shinji...got absorbed… in Evangelion Unit-01...forever!" Misato cried out.

'Absorbed?' Asuka's eyes widened as the words were repeated in her head. "He...he can't come back out?"

"Nu-no...His mother...came out...his mother is back... And now he can never come out again!" Misato screamed in agony.

"Shinji..." Asuka whispered with wide open eyes.

---

I want to give out thanks to a few reviewers who meant a lot to me when I first started writing this fic.

ArchangelUK (Best support, I feel)
Dennisud (Best cc ever!)
DrunkDrake (Thanks for the kind words)
One Azn Dragon (During this time, a good, though perverted, friend)
WDCain (I love NGE Theater, btw)
Wutdaheck (Wut, don't ask me why, if you see this)

I had just started writing when I started this fic, and you guys gave reviews that I'll always remember.

TBC