This is for all those who enjoyed it the first time around. Now, Only 
better.

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

Ludicrous Configuration! Productions
		Presents
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Alternate Universe
		By JJ Corley

				Evangelion: Honor's Duty

	'I've only had one cherished dream.. and even then it is not truly mine. I 
share it with my adoptive father.

	'I don't aspire to any particular career or profession in the future...

	'And so far, in the fourteen years of my life, things have happened as fate 
would have it. And, that is how it shall continue...

	'Note: thank mother, if she's listening in whatever afterlife there is, for 
that. Life with Saotome-san has never, never been boring.

	'And the training trips keep me out of school. Dual thanks, mom.

	'And Father....'

	Ikari Shinji's further thoughts were jarred from him as the train suddenly 
stopped. He disembarked, the only person aboard, and silently set off for 
the next train he would need to take for Tokyo-3. He hesitated for a moment, 
and turned to look over the surrounding terminal, relapsing into thought.

	"Father.."

[_}~`\-/'~{_]      Neon Genesis Evangelion: Honor's Duty
    ^ " ^               Stanza One: Angel's Choir

	"We're sorry, but the Tokyo-3 telephone systems have been taken off-line 
due to the emergency. Please remain in your shelter. Repeat: The Tokyo-3 
telephone systems have been ta-"

	Shinji set the pay-phone receiver back into its cradle gently. Something 
was going on. Something big. He reached into the pocket in the white Chinese 
pants he wore, removing a letter and a makeshift postcard. The letter he had 
received from his father. As for the postcard.. it had once been an enticing 
photo of a purple haired vixen, but its previous owner had decided on using 
it as so much stationary. 'I'll come and pick you up, so please wait! 
Katsuragi Misato' was what it read. Well, that and an arrow pointing at the 
woman's ample cleavage saying 'P.S.: Take a LOOK at this!'.

	The sporadic tremors started again; the faint vibrations traveling through 
the sidewalk were slightly more pronounced this time. Yes, something was 
going on, and that something was very wrong.
	An erie silence slowly settled, and an almost tangible feeling of 
apprehension lay thick in the air; Shinji suddenly wished it was tangible, 
then he could just beat the crap out of it and his senses could get out of 
their danger zones.

	The tremors became immense, until they were audible. After listening for a 
while, he decided that if one of the surrounding skyscrapers had decided to 
get up and walk away, this would be the sound it would make. The buildings 
were violently shaking with the tremors, and nearby windows rattled. Shinji 
reflexively slipped into a defensive stance, his years of Martial Arts 
training coming into the fore. His warning sense screamed.

	Someone was watching him from behind.

	Shinji turned to face the person; his eyes narrowing as he saw her, roughly 
12 meters away. Blue hair, cute face, standard sea-green girl's school 
uniform with a red bow tie, white socks, and black shoes.

	An exceptionally large tremor struck, and his attention was diverted to the 
-as yet unseen; lovely mountains, though- source to his left. He looked back 
to the girl.

	She was gone.

	"Weir-" Tremor, "d-d-d-d-d-da.." Shinji had turned back to the now seen 
source of the tremors. A monstrous black figure loomed over the surrounding 
buildings, locked in unarmed combat with an equally monstrous purple figure. 
Ikari Shinji summed it up as best he could.

	"Holy Schnikies!"

[_}~`\-/'~{_]
    ^ " ^

	Misato belted the navigational-computer a good one. Said Navi-comp 
filckered, beeped, and finally blinked the correct map of the area on its 
screen..

	For all of twelve seconds.

	Misato growled. She wasn't having a good day.

	"G-r-r-r-r.. Stupid thing! Damn!! Why'd I have to lose him at a time like 
this?!?" As she sighed, she noticed a guy sitting on the sidewalk. The car 
skidded, slid, and came to a stop with a sickening crunch. From the 
sidewalk, and now a full meter away, Shinji winced.

	Misato opened the driver's side window. "Hey, You Ikari Shinji?" The boy, 
dressed in a blue Chinese silk shirt and white pants, pulled his attention 
from the sky and nodded weakly. "Good. Get.."

	*Swoosh* *Slam!* *Click*

	"..in." Misato blinked.

	"If you wanna live.. I SUGGEST YOU DRIVE, VERY FAST, VERY NOW!!!"

	"Huh?" It was then that Misato noticed the falling angel, the end result of 
Unit-01's sloppy judo throw. Misato quickly threw the vehicle into reverse. 
Tires squealed as rubber burned; and the car screamed backwards, finally 
finding friction. Shinji white-knuckled the dash as Misato chanted her 
mantra. "oh my god we'renotgonnamakeit we'renotgonnamakeit, 
we'renotgonnamakeit..."

	Sachiel slammed into the cement and surrounding buildings, impacting into 
the ground with a large cracking sound. Misato's vehicle barely avoided 
being smashed by debris before the shockwave caused an upset, spilling the 
car onto its roof.

	For the briefest of moments, Shinji thought of moving to the valley between 
two hills, as it was indeed a comfortable place to rest. Misato, however, 
apparently didn't want anything to do with the change of address forms; she 
pulled Shinji's head from her cleavage and scowled at him.

	"Err.. Sorry?" he said, sheepishly.

	"I'll let it slide.. this time." She smiled wanly. "You should really 
buckle up. For safety." The car shook for a second, then slowly began to 
rise from the ground. It was turned right side up and placed back down 
again.

	Misato looked at the upside down Shinji, his head where his feet should 
have been. "That looks painful.."

	"Incredibly so.." Shinji squeaked. Misato mercifully opened the door. 
Shinji tumbled out, tucked into a roll, and stood up - his neck bent to the 
right at a strange angle. "Thanks, I think.." Shinji winced as he 
straightened his neck. "Oww."

	Misato poked her head out of the opened door. "Thanks, Rei!" She said, 
waving to the purple giant. Then to Shinji, "Come on, we gotta go!"

	As Shinji re-situated himself into the vehicle, he asked "Just what is that 
thing?"

	Misato hit the acelerator before ansewring. "The black one's an Angel, and 
the purple one's the Eva. The Eva's on our side."

	Shinji blinked, then looked to Misato. "But, Arn't Angel's supposed to be 
the messengers of God?"

	Misato took a hand from the steering wheel, subconsciously fingering the 
small white cross around her neck. Shinji watched her, awaiting an answer; 
and finally, after a few moments, she sighed.

	"I just don't know, any more. I just don't know..."

[_}~`\-/'~{_]
    ^ " ^

	From inside Unit-01, Ayanami Rei watched the two depart. Something inside 
both her and the Eva wanted to run to the boy's side, to protect him from 
any threat. "Why do I feel this way?" She asked to no one in particular.

	While Rei was doing that introspection thing, Sachiel had picked himself up 
off the ground.

	He was not in a good mood.

	First those annoying 'Humans' had bothered him with their 'Airplanes'. Now 
this dark servant of the Lillim, who's soul was vying with the artificial 
soul of the rider for control - or, were they the same? - , had dared to 
throw him, HIM!, The covering of God, angel of the order of Hashmallim, 
resident of the first heaven (and sometimes vacationer of the sixth), heir 
bringer of the dreaded Monday and wanderer of the south into a building??!? 
WELL, WE'LL JUST SEE ABOUT THAT, NOW WONT WE, YOU FOOLISH PUNY 
PSEUDO-MORTAL?!?!?

	Sachiel ran, building momentum, interlacing the three digits of each hand 
to supply an almighty-swinging-whap-to-the-back-of-the-head to be felt by 
the artificial child's next clone. Rei, to her credit, turned Unit-01 just 
in time to see it coming.

	*GATSU!*

	The Eva spun head first into a building, collapsing a wall and several 
floors. Sachiel followed his attack with an excellent 'Boot to the head' 
maneuver. It was a truly mighty kick, a kick to make all previous Low Earth 
Orbit launching kicks look minuscule in comparison. Not that anyone would 
ever bother to do such a comparison, mind you.

	Fortunately for Rei, the umbilical cable snapped taut, halting the Eva's 
LEO ascent at 200 feet. And thus, the Evangelion came tumbling down, 
unceremoniously crashing through an abortion clinic.

	Sachiel looked to the sky, leaving Unit-01 to crawl out of the rubble. 
There was just something symbolic about two of man's own creations 
destroying that which man used to destroy himself. Sachiel shrugged, leaving 
the ways of God to be pondered at a later date. Perhaps he could find some 
more of those 'Airplanes' to destroy..

[_}~`\-/'~{_]
    ^ " ^

	Ikari Gendo Sat behind his desk, staring impassively at the screens that 
displayed the battle before him. The reports began to come in.

	"Pilot's blood pressure is dropping...  Neural link is reversing! ...  A10 
synchrograph is down 8 percent!! ....  3 minutes and counting until 
Operation N2 ... She canna take much more o' this, cap'ian!"

	Gendo sighed. "It can't be helped. Commence recovery at ludicrous speed 
through route I-5!"

	Hyuuga Makoto swiveled in his chair. "Sir, we can't! The umbilical cable's 
locking mechanisms were damaged when it went taut; we can't disengage it 
from here!"

	Ikari slammed his hands onto his desk. "Damn! Rei, disengage the umbilical 
cable." After waiting for a few moments, he called again. "Rei?"

	Ibuki Maya turned from her station. "Sir? Pilot Ayanami has lost 
consciousness."

	Defeated, Ikari Gendo slumped back into his chair. "It seems Ikari's little 
toy is out of order.." One member of the military advisory panel, seated 
behind him, scoffed.

	"Perhaps it will be destroyed during Operation N2, and save us the trouble 
of dismantling it..?" Said another.

	"Rest assured, gentlemen," Ikari intoned menacingly from his chair, "It 
will remain unharmed from your small display of idiocy."

	Fuyutsuki smirked, and added another point to Gendo's side of the 
scoreboard.

	Unnoticed by all, Gendo pulled a copy of 'The Big, Big Book of Angels, 
Including the Fallen Angels and Those Angels Most Likely To Attack Large 
Cities' from his desk, placed it on his lap, and searched through it. 
Finally, he copied something out of said book onto a piece of paper. He then 
turned the paper upside down and wrote 'this way up' on the top. He placed 
the book back into its drawer and snapped for his pet.

	"Fuyutsuki!"

	The old professor was by Gendo's side in less than a moment. "Yes sir?"

	Ikari handed the slip of paper to his second, then resumed his normal 
sitting position. "This is the flight pattern for operation N2. Be sure they 
follow it EXACTLY."

	'But this Sigil is...' Fuyutsuki frowned. "You're mocking him on purpose, 
arn't you?"

	Gendo simply smiled behind his hands. "Feh."

[_}~`\-/'~{_]
    ^ " ^

	Lt. Phillips looked to his co-pilot, Lt. Yamamoto. "Are you sure this 
flight pattern is correct?"

	"Hey, that's what I said. But the guy's on the horn were insistant we 
follow it to the line, soo.."

	"Right.." Lt. phillips rolled his eyes. Flipping on the con, he announced: 
"All right, Bujoku Squardron, form up.."

[_}~`\-/'~{_}
    ^ " ^

	Sachiel stopped running, jumping, and generally causing massive amounts of 
chaos, to cock his head to the side and blink in a 
destructive-as-all-get-out-but-cute kind of way as he noticed the fighter 
planes of 'Operation N2'.

	The Angel's left eye began to twitch and water. What kind of Idiot bothers 
to write 'Sachiel' upside down in the sky?

	From inside of Nerv HQ, Commander Ikari smiled. The Angel had stood 
perplexed long enough for the bomber to to aquire a target lock and lauch 
the N2 mine.

[_}~`\-/'~{_}
    ^ " ^

	"Ouch.. That HAD to Hurt.." Shinji said sympatheticly for Unit-01. "You 
said the purple one's on our side, right?"

	Misato nodded. "Yep, that's right."

	"Well.. I hate to say it, but.. It's getting beaten. Rather badly, too."

	Misato groaned. "..Oh, I told them not to place such a burden on Rei. But 
did they listen, Nooo, sir - don't listen to Katty.."

	Shinji waited for Misato to calm herself before asking another question. 
"Err.. Miss Katsuragi.. Why are the planes running away..?"

	Misato looked from the road she was speeding on long enough to glance at 
Shinji, then followed his gaze. "oh shit." was all she said.

	Unknown by all, Sachiel was thinking much the same thing.

	Then the world turned an interesting shade of off-pink...

[_}~`\-/'~{_}
    ^ " ^

	The government cronies were estatic. "Got it! .. Yes! ... We did it! .. 
Nothing could have survived that, absolutly nothing! ... Such is the power 
of our N2 mines! ... Ha ha ha! .. Do you know what this means? The Eva's are 
no longer necessary! ... More funding for us, yea!"

	And through the entire outburst, Ikari sat emotionless, staring at the 
screens. "Status report?"

	"Continuing EMP shockwave interference from the explosion. We're still on 
standby for target destruction confirmation!"

	One of the miltary advisers laughed. "With a blast of that force? Can there 
be any doubt?"

	Hyuuga checked another monitor. "Sir! The blast has severed Unit-01's 
umbillical cable. Beginning recovery through Route 66, due to extencive 
damage in Route I-5 and HWYS 99 & 32.."

	Aoba Shigeru put down his manga long enough to shout, "Sir! I'm getting 
energy readings from ground zero!"

	The entire military panel fell over in shock. "_W_H_A_T_?!?"

	"Visuals are back online!"

	Sachiel stood in the epicenter of the crater, basking in the heat as his 
new head was formed. The Angel's only thought was 'Oww..'

	Ikari smiled. "Indeed."

	The military panel slowly sat down, each of its members at a loss for 
words. "Our last gambit.. for nothing! ... We destroyed an entire city! ... 
It's a monster.. .... A demon.."

	Ikari smirked. "As god created both, is it not fitting his minions recieved 
such qualities as well?"

	As the board grumbled amogst themselves, one of them got off the phone. 
"Ikari, HQ has informed me that total command of this operation has been 
transferred to YOU. Don't Screw Up." And with that, the entire military 
panel, desk and all, sunk under the floor.

	"There they go, playing turtle, and leaving us to do the hard work.." 
complained Aoba.

	Ibuki and Hyuuga nodded in agreement; then paused, realizing just who they 
were agreeing with. Aoba studiously ignored the glares his fellow techies 
directed at him as he returned to his manga.

[_}~`\-/'~{_}
    ^ " ^

	Shinji blinked his eyes furiously, tring to rid himself of the 
flash-induced blindness. Fortunatly for them both, Misato's sunglasses had 
spared her from the worst of it, and she had continued driving.

	Feeling the inertia of the car slow, then speed up twice as fast as before 
prompted him to say something. "Where are we?"

	"Car lift, express. Don't worry, we're almost there." She picked up a 
packet and placed it on Shinji's lap. "Here, read this."

	Shinji vainly rubbed his eyes, wishing he could see.

	He and Misato sighed at the same time. This prompted Misato to laugh. "What 
is it?"

	"Miss Katsuragi.."

	Misato waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, smiling. "Oh.. don't worry 
about all that formal stuff. Just 'Misato' is fine."

	He shrugged. "Can you tell me what my father does?"

	She blinked, twice (*Squeegy-Squeegy*). "You mean you don't KNOW?"

	He sighed again. "No.. not really. All Saotome-san ever said was.. 'He 
thinks it's important to the future of Humanity. Don't worry to much 'bout 
it, though.'"

	"Saotome-san?"

	Shinji nodded, his sight on the verge of returning. He turned to the 
greater glob of grey that he figured -correctly- was Misato. "Yeah. 
Saotome-san was my guardian, teacher, and foster father." His sight finally 
returning, he looked at the pamphlet in his lap. "Nerv? What's that?"

	"It's a secret government organization directly under the control of the 
UN." Misato smiled and leaned forward to check her makeup in the rear view 
mirror. "Hummn.. I work there, too -you know, as an international civil 
servent.." She said, pulling out a compact and powdering her nose. "So does 
your father. Ah.." She glanced over at Shinji nevously, putting the compact 
back into her purse. "Your, err.. biological one, I mean."

	Shinji chuckled slighly, shaking his head. "Don't worry. I know who you 
mean when you're referring to my 'Father'." He shook his head again, this 
time sadly. "So.. you're in 'the admirable job of defending humanity', eh?"

	Misato frowned. "What's with the sarcasm?"

	"I just don't think peace can be achieved through threat of a greater 
force, that's all." He leaned back in his seat, idly fliping through the 
pages of the pamphlet. "Heh.. 'One can only achieve true peace after 
conquering oneself'." He said simply.

	"You sound like a philosopher.."

	Shinji smiled. "No, I'm just a Martial Artist.. Although it's been said 
that both are the same, after a fashion. Philosophy teaches one the 
disipline of the mind, while Martial Arts teaches one the disiplines of 
mind, body, and soul..." He trailed off.

	Misato watched Shinji with a bemused expression as the Geo-front came into 
view. Shinji's eyes widened as the buildings of Tokyo-3 cast their shadows 
across the car lift, looking for a moment like the world was standing on its 
head.

	"Holy.. Schnikies!!" He whispered in english.

	Misato caught it, but didn't understand. "'Shi.. nai.. kii..'? What?"

	He blinked, comimg out of his stupor. "Huh? Oh, That? It's just an 
expression I picked up from one of Saotome-san's gaijin students."

	"Ah."

[_}~`\-/'~{_}
    ^ " ^

	Rei slowly broke through the black of unconsciousness, disoriented. It took 
her a moment to realise she was still within the confines of the entry plug. 
Hurt. A world of Hurt. The feeling of her head being used as a football. The 
pain of the Eva was the pain of the pilot. She clutched her head and moaned, 
"Can you reduce this pain?"

	Her answer came as the pain retreated. Rei slowly blinked away the tears, 
and watched as the saline floated upwards. She voiced her thanks to the Eva, 
then wondered aloud. "Who was that man?"

	Again, the answer came unbidden into her soul. "Our Son?" A slow smile 
played across Rei's features. "Shinji-kun.." Another thought came into her, 
and she agreed whole heartedly. "We must protect him."

	"This," Both halves of Ikari Yui's soul vowed - Rei I and Eva Unit-01 -  "I 
will do unto death."

[_}~`\-/'~{_]      Neon Genesis Evangelion: Honor's Duty
    ^ " ^               Stanza One: Angel's Choir
				End

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