Shinji Ikari, returned from Warhammer

--------

The lights in the station went out, followed by a brief gasp. A few seconds later, the lights came back on, and Shinji Ikari, who had been dozing off, opened his eyes.

The train rumbled onward, and the sweet-voiced announcer said it was just an unexpected power outage, everything was normal, and passengers shouldn't panic. Shinji Ikari glanced at the route display on the door; the next stop was Tokyo-3. Tokyo-3 was his destination. Just a week ago, his father, whom he hadn't seen in years, called, telling him to move to Tokyo-3 where he lived, and abruptly hung up before he could answer.

Shinji Ikari didn't have much of an impression of Tokyo-3. He first heard the name from online rumors that it would become the new capital of Japan. When he received a call from his father, he tried searching online for information about Tokyo-3, but only found a superficial understanding. On the surface, it seemed to be a city with a central courtyard, located on Mount Hakone near the border of Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, with a diameter of about two kilometers. It was called a "city with a central courtyard" because it was rumored that its underground part was far more extensive than its surface part.

Shinji Ikari was very curious about the city, and more importantly, his father worked in the city and was rumored to be a very important person.

The Third New Tokyo City... A familiar feeling welled up inside Shinji Ikari. It seemed as if he had been to this city before. Shinji closed his eyes and let his mind wander, thinking of the enormous purple mechs and the white giant nailed to the cross, of countless headless giants of different shapes wandering in the crimson world, of a giant woman's body split in two, and of all things collapsing and surging towards the god with wings of light spreading in the sky under the silver moonlight.

Shinji Ikari was startled, wondering why he had thought of these things. Mythical, crazy, yet real, it was as if he had witnessed that mythical scene with his own eyes. Shinji took a deep breath. He felt a little uneasy about his father, whom he hadn't seen for years, and about the unfamiliar city, but he still obeyed his father's arrangements and followed the crowd to wait to enter the carriage.

He suddenly froze, his gaze fixed on the spot. A few meters away in the crowd, there was a boy in a white shirt, carrying a black backpack, waiting to board in the next carriage. The backpack had a round badge printed on it—half a fig leaf.

But before he could get a good look at his face, he was pushed into the carriage by the crowd.

The train was dark, and he couldn't tell if it was full of people or empty, but he suddenly realized he was the only person in the entire carriage. The crowds and noise had all vanished. He'd thought there were a few people scattered around, but now he realized it was completely empty. It was as if everything before had been an illusion.

He was the only person in that subway station from beginning to end.

With a clattering sound in the train carriage, Shinji Ikari looked at the distant Tokyo-3 and watched the sunset gradually disappear into the sea. Suddenly, he seemed to remember who he really was.

Some memories and some scenes have special significance.

For example, the giant crimson tree spiraling upwards, the red sand beach, the crossroads shaped like a cross, the sun-drenched road, the black gate inscribed with the Kabbalah Tree of Life, the fluttering white doves, the headless statues on the beach, and the crimson world.

Only this carriage, whose destination was unknown, remained a mystery to Shinji Ikari, who couldn't understand what it represented in his dream.

It wasn't until a huge shadow fell from above that he suddenly saw the boy in the white shirt and headphones sitting opposite him. He was silent in the shadows, clutching an old-fashioned Walkman tightly in his hand, as quiet as a boy who had come from afar, awaiting an unknown fate.

Shinji Ikari tentatively waved to him, but the boy ignored him, staring blankly at the sunset. The sun was setting, and in the last light, the boy's figure disappeared like evaporated water vapor.

216: The Fifth Child - Mari

As the train entered the tunnel, the interplay of light and shadow allowed winds from different directions to caress his face. It was like the moment an ancient coffin was opened, the dusty air from the distant past returning to reality as the coffin was opened.

Life is a flowing landscape, captured frame by frame, moment by moment.

Outside the window, there might be a sunset, a city, a blue sea, or a giant monster and Ultraman.

Shinji Ikari couldn't tell whether the train was moving forward or backward; tiny dust particles danced in the beams of sunlight streaming through the windows. He gazed at the scenery outside: the once deep black walls were gradually peeling and yellowing, and the white subway stations had transformed into rustic platforms after the train passed. The sunlight seemed like a virus of time, infecting the entire train.

Suddenly, Shinji Ikari found himself lying on the beach, feeling the crimson seawater gradually seeping into his body with the tide. Above him stretched the Milky Way across the sky, and the remnants of human civilization peeked out from the shallow waters. In the distance, on the surface of the Red Sea, a giant human face was slowly collapsing and sinking into the seabed, while a long, narrow red line appeared in the giant white moon hanging in the dome of the sky.

The boy and girl lay on the beach, like the original Adam and Eve, their empty eyes devoid of any color.

Suddenly, he turned his head and saw Asuka lying beside him, her body wrapped in bandages.

He slowly sat on her lap, mustered his last bit of strength, and forcefully grabbed her neck.

---------

Above the azure sea, all the familiar figures floated in the air, smiling and clapping around him.

"Congratulations!" Misato Katsuragi smiled and clapped.

"Congratulations!" Asuka smiled and clapped.

"Congratulations!" Rei Ayanami smiled and clapped.

"Congratulations!" Ritsuko Akagi smiled and clapped.

"Go for QQ coins!" Penguin clapped.

---------

Only the remaining rotten nails remain on the withered cross, and the headless giant statue stands in the shallow sea as a victim.

The universe is vast and empty, the world is desolate.

Four billion dazzling stars flew from his palm, fell to the ground, and returned to their individual forms.

Kaworu's gentle voice reached my ears: "Humanity forgets its folly and repeats its mistakes. If we were to atone for our sins, we could change. We cannot rely on the power of Adam or the apostles; we must change the future with our own hands."

----------

Even if only one person survives, it will be lonely, but that will be proof of humanity's existence.

Without light and water, humanity would disappear, but EVA would exist forever.

Yui Ikari, holding the baby, smiles as the scene shifts to the purple Unit-01 floating in space, gradually heading towards the more distant, dark, and cold universe.

The hands of a clock will never turn back to where they were, but things can be accomplished through one's own efforts.

----------

"Today, I'd like to introduce a transfer student," said Misato Katsuragi, the homeroom teacher of Class 2-A, with a sly smile. "Boys, cheer! Today's transfer student is a very cute girl."

"I'm Rei Ayanami, nice to meet you." Misato Katsuragi stepped away from the podium, revealing a cheerful girl with blue hair and red eyes behind her. However, as the girl's eyes met those of the boy in the audience, both of them screamed.

"Ah, you're the bastard who peeked at my panties this morning!" Rei Ayanami shouted, pointing at Shinji Ikari.

"Wait, don't talk nonsense!" Asuka, his childhood friend, slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "You willingly let Shinji see it!"

"Huh? And who are you, so eager to defend this idiot? What's your relationship with him?!" Rei Ayanami looked at the blonde, blue-eyed Asuka with suspicion. The person in question hadn't even spoken yet, so what was this strange foreign girl up to?

"We're just childhood friends who share a common interest! You're so long-winded! Transfer student!"

----------

It was a scene resembling the end of the world. A flaming airplane wing crashed violently from the sky onto the convention center's dome, its sparks flying everywhere like wildflowers. Screaming people were fleeing all around. Shinji Ikari stood in the middle of the road, looking at the colossal object in the distance.

A colossal being, larger than anything else, appeared before them, countless times larger than the largest dinosaur of ancient times! With a dark brown complexion resembling tree bark and stern crimson vertical pupils, it was Godzilla, the King of Titans, and standing before him was an equally colossal giant of light.

"How can Ultraman alone save this Earth from destruction? Humanity's own problems must be solved by humanity itself!" A strange voice sounded from behind him.

Shinji Ikari turned around and saw a man riding a motorcycle. He took off his motorcycle helmet, revealing a wild, unconventional hairstyle.

"And who are you?" Shinji Ikari asked the other party about their identity.

"I'm just a Kamen Rider passing by, remember this!"

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

"Look at the sky! There's a huge hole in the tree roots!"

This shout echoed clearly in the command post, where they were busy confirming the new NERV.

As soon as the command center switched the panoramic surveillance camera's view to the main monitor, they confirmed a vast, seemingly endless hole in the roots of the World Tree, which covered the entire sky in a net-like pattern.

"He was burned through by those wings... by the final burst of karmic fire..." Fuyutsuki groaned.

Reports of extensive salinization followed one after another, and more people were turned into salt pillars.

“We are witnessing the birth of a myth, and things of this magnitude will happen.”

"It's better not to say that this is the official view."

…………

…………

The azure wind continued to blow forward, and countless different world lines appeared before Shinji Ikari's eyes like movies playing simultaneously. For this train, the tunnels ahead were as complex as a spider web, with long passageways after each bend. Various possibilities flooded Shinji Ikari's mind.

It was not an illusion, nor a dream, but something that actually happened.

So, am I an independent person, or just a drop in the ocean of a group called Shinji Ikari?

As the train's arrival announcement sounded, Shinji Ikari saw the white light reappear at the end of the tunnel. He picked up his bag and stood up from his seat. The boy who had been sitting opposite him had vanished. In the instant the train passed through the tunnel, all his will was swallowed up by the bright light.

Shinji Ikari opened his eyes again, exhaling air from the real world.

—Sticky.

This is the first experience that Shinji Ikari will have.

Shinji Ikari tried to lift his head, but failed. The power had gone out in the room sometime earlier, and although it was quickly restored, the air conditioner, which had been turned off, did not automatically start working again.

This caused the people who were originally embracing to separate from each other in disgust, but because Misato Katsuragi liked to sleep with something in her arms, she was pulled back into her arms, but the posture had changed.

Shinji Ikari tried to pry open the right hand that was wrapped around his neck, but he felt someone stroking his cheek.

"Had a nightmare?" Misato Katsuragi's voice rang out from above.

Misato Katsuragi gazed tenderly at the boy in her arms. She should have been sound asleep at this hour. But an hour ago, she had suddenly opened her eyes and seen Shinji Ikari curled up on the other side of the bed.

Misato Katsuragi had never seen Shinji Ikari like this before. She secretly slipped her hand under the covers and touched Shinji's palm. His skin, which usually possessed the delicate smoothness unique to a young boy, felt cold and hard to the touch. Misato pulled him into her arms.

Only when she held him did she truly realize the surging heart hidden beneath his body, the veins, some thick and some thin, throbbing like small snakes beneath his skin. Misato Katsuragi didn't know what he was experiencing in his dream, but his mind was restless.

"It's nothing, it's probably just a cramp." Shinji Ikari didn't want her to worry.

"It's alright, it's alright." But Misato Katsuragi just gently patted her back.

As Misato Katsuragi moved, Shinji Ikari felt himself calm down. His heart rate gradually decreased, his breathing became smoother, and he continued to lie in Misato's arms.

--Alas.

Shinji Ikari listened to the sound of bubbles coming out of his mouth and sank deeper into the bathtub.

Thanks to Misato Katsuragi's insistence, the apartment's bathroom was exceptionally spacious, and the bathtub was so large that even three people could squeeze into the same tub last night. He took a deep breath of the soapy, watery air through his nose, held it in his lungs for a moment, and then exhaled slowly and deliberately.

Despite his good relationship with Misato Katsuragi, he hadn't talked for as long as he had before, which made his mouth a little dry.

As a result, Shinji Ikari recounted the various systems of the Knight world of Wallins, the various episodes that happened between him and his noble friends whom he had known since childhood, and even the events that occurred in his dreams, which were all kinds of parallel worlds.

These topics, which seemed absurd no matter how you looked at them, were listened to very attentively by Misato Katsuragi, who sometimes even laughed out loud. Shinji Ikari thought that this was probably what it felt like to have family, and he later experienced it for himself.

At this moment, Shinji Ikari, lying in the bathtub, finally began to understand the traditional Japanese obsession with bathing; it really was very comfortable.

As for Misato Katsuragi, she went back to sleep after it was over.

--------

--------

Inside Hakone, a simple cable car, similar to the kind used for hiking, has a carriage hanging on it.

“The Fifth Child, Mari Makinami Ilantrias, has no past history that can be found; her information is only available in Cambridge University’s student records on the internet,” said Maya Ibuki.

“Interesting. It seems someone forged her identity.” Ritsuko Akagi, sitting next to her, smirked. “And what happened yesterday. I initially thought she might have two commanders backing her, but now it seems her background might be ridiculously powerful.”

"A background even bigger than the Commander-in-Chief? How is that possible?"