Neon Genesis Evangelion, its characters and its story is the property of its creators and whatever companies happen to own the licence right now. They are used without the knowledge or consent of their owners, for non-profit purposes of entertainment.

In other words, I'm just a poor college student writing a fan-fic. Don't sue, 'kay?

Fizzy Pop, Inc presents a story by }=]DarkNate

Knowledge is Power: Book One

Know Thy Enemy

"I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter"
-"In The End", Linkin Park

Chapter One

As the darkness retreated from his mind, and the hazy, floating sensation in his brain vanished, Shinji Ikari opened his eyes to a soothing blue glow from the light fixture above his head. As he returned to full conciousness, he came to the conclusion that he must be exhausted from piloting the Eva, even though he couldn't remember any of it. His limbs wouldn't respond to his command to sit himself up in the bed. Then he realized he couldn't move his head either.

"Oh my God, I've been paralized!" he tried to scream, but his mouth wouldn't work either. Even his eyelids wouldn't respond. Then he heard a chuckling voice, which didn't seem to come so much from the room around him so much as inside his head.

"Calm down, you silly kid. You're just fine!" the voice said with a laugh. It sounded very familiar and soothing to the young Ikari, and he slowly began to calm down. The voice continued after another giggle fit.

"You always were a little too nervous. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Shizuka Kansatsusha. But you can just call me Shi-kun for short, if you want."

"Shizuka Kansatsusha, as in silent observer?" Ikari questioned aloud, then started in surprise that he had control of his movements again.

"Correct, young sir!" Shi-kun replied in a very happy tone. "I appologize for that little scare, but I needed to make sure you wouldn't scream when I first spoke to you. Now that you've calmed down a bit, I'll tell you why you're hearing voices in your head." There was a sound like someone clearing their throat before a speech, then Shi-kun continued. "I have been sent to you to act as a 'guide,' of sorts. I hope we can be good friends in the future. And I can promise you that I'll always laugh at your jokes, and never at yourself. Anytime you need someone to talk to, I'll always be watching."

Shinji was skeptical at first. "How do I know you're not just a figment of my imagination brought on by the drugs they gave me?"

"Because you haven't had any. Look at your arm, there's no needle marks or IV lines, so when did they give you anything? I tell you what, lets talk some more later. Right now I think you need time to adjust to your new life. Ah, and here comes Misato!"

Indeed, the lovely Captain Katsuragi was swiftly moving down the hall, and arrived at Shinji's door just as the boy yelled, "Hey! Come back here! I'm not done asking questions yet! Answer me, damn you!" Misato just stared at her charge, wondering why he was sitting in bed yelling at an empty room. Then, composing herself, she said, "Shinji, the doctors said you could leave any time now. Your clothes are on the table, and then we can get your living assignment, okay?"

Shinji, blinking and staring blankly at Misato, finally nodded. Then, he slumped forward and whispered, "Why me?"

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As Shinji stood in the dark room in Central Dogma, he heard the NERV worker say that he will be living in one of the apartments inside the Geofront. Misato, concerned, asked why he wouldn't be living with his father. Shinji offered a small smile, and said, "Living alone is fine with me."

Misato frowned, and stalked up to the NERV agent. She whispered a few things, and recieved a nod. She then grabbed Shinji by the arm, and marched off to a telephone.

As they are walking, Shi piped up. "So, you really would want to live by yourself, huh?"

"Well, I've been alone pretty much all my life. I'm used to it," Shinji said under his breath, so only Shizuka could hear.

"Just because you're used to it doesn't mean you like it. Wouldn't you rather have housemates around, even if you didn't like them very much? You'd always have someone to talk to then."

"Well, I suppose so. It would get kind of boring never seeing anyone."

"Okay then, how about this? Misato."

Shinji paused. "What do you mean?"

Shi giggled. "What if you moved in with Misato? Sure, she's a bit of a slob at home, and she drinks non-stop, but she's a nice person. Even if she will tease you."

Just then, Misato turned around to face Shinji. "Well, it's all settled then. You're living with me for now!"

Shinji's jaw dropped. "Uh, sure?" he said uncertainly. Misato took this as nervous fear, rather than shock at hearing the voice in your head predict an exact situation. She decided to try and help her new roommate get used to the idea. "We'll have a house-warming party! Come on, we've got shopping to do!" She grabbed the young Ikari's hand and hauled him off to find a phone and call Ritsuko. The doctor was not exactly thrilled, but agreed to the new arangements.

As the pair wandered around the convenience store nearby, Shi whispered in Shinji's mind, "Oh, no. Shinji, don't pay attention to those girls walking past us."

Of course, having been told not to do something, Shinji responded like most people his age would: by turning and focusing on the girls in question. Then as Shizuka made sounds like someone smaking their head with their hand, Shinji overheard the topic of conversation amoung his targets.

"So much for a fortress to withstand the angels! The first fight and half the city is trash, mostly thanks to that stupid robot."

"Yeah, my brother saw it and he said whoever was running it was obviously an untrained loser."

"Well, I guess we'll have to leave soon, then..."

As the girls moved out of earshot, Shinji felt more depressed than he had ever thought possible. Shizuka tried to come up with a way to cheer up his charge, but the words wouldn't come.

"They're wrong, Shinji. You did the right thing, the only thing you could do. It's not your fault the Angel had to come right then. If you had come earlier, or the Angel later, and you had had more training, who's to say the outcome would have been any different?"

Shinji shook his head slightly. "Who's to say it wouldn't? Maybe I could have done more to fight it off, if I had known what to do."

"If that's the way you feel, what do you say I help you?" Shizuka replied, a bit subdued.

"How so?"

"Well, I am here to act as a guide. I know a bit about the Eva, and I can help you get through with as few disasters as possible. All you have to do is let me help."

"I guess, but how will you do that? Talking me through combat situations won't exactly work, you know."

Shizuka was quiet for a while, then said slowly, "If you promise, and I mean promise, not to complain when I do something, I'll save you from the worst things by taking control. I'll save your life if you're ever in danger, but when you aren't, all I can do is give you advice. In a fight, you should do very well on your own, but it's real-life that will kill you if you aren't careful."

Shinji thought for a moment then replied under his breath, "I just know I'll regret this sooner or later, but I give you the authority to stop me from killing myself. I just hope we can prevent the deaths of other people too."

Just then, Misato grabbed Shinji's hand and hauled him out the door.

As they drove, Misato kept glancing over at her charge. Seeing the sad look on his face, she took a turn off leading to the outside of the city. When the car pulled off the road, Shinji was surprised to see the entire city sprawling out before him. He climbed out of the car, and stood looking out, and commented to no one in particular, "It looks so... deserted!"

Misato glanced at her watch, and replied, "Just wait."

"Three... Two... One... Showtime!" Shizuka chimed in.

Just then, the buildings of Tokyo-3 began to rise from their sheltered positions like a forest growing in time-lapse photography. Shinji gasped in awe, as Misato said, "This city was built as a fortress to stand against the Angels. This is Tokyo-3, the city you saved."

Shinji was silent for the remainder of the drive.

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After aother short drive, they arrived at a more-or-less abandoned apartment complex, where Misato parked her car. She led Shinji to an elevator, and when they got off on the twelth floor, she escorted him to her apartment.

Shinji hesitated on the threshhold, suddenly feeling rather shy. When Misato asked him to come inside, he replied, "I don't want to intrude..."

To Shinji's surprise, he heard the same words both inside and outside his head: "Shinji, this is your home now."

Encouraged, and silently relieved, Shinji toke the last step into the apartment, saying, "I'm home."

"Welcome home," the voices replied, Misato's relieved and concerned, and Shizuka's happy and congatulatory.

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That evening, after eating an odd meal of assorted instant foods, Shinji heard Misato say, "Hey! Let's play Jan-Ken-Pon to divide up the chores!"

Immediately, Shinji felt his body slip away form him. "Just trust me Shinji, you DON'T want to mess this up. Misato's cooking is a class three biohazard in most countries, and you don't want any of it."

At the end of the final throw, Shinji was cooking every day, and he and Misato were split fifty-fifty on the rest of the chores. Going over the chart, Misato frowned. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you lost the cooking tosses on purpose."

Shinji just laughed, a hint of nervousness creeping in. Misato seemed to notice this, and said, "You look like you could use a bath! Yeah! Wash away your troubles!"

Shinji, nodding, stood up to enter the bathroom. Shizuka giggled suddenly, and Shinji began to worry. "What's so funny?" he asked quietly.

"You'll see soon enough. Trust me, this won't hurt a bit."

Now very nervous, Shinji got ready for his bath. After finishing the removal of his clothes, he moved to open the door. Cringing at another giggle from Shizuka, he opened the door to reveal a penguin, towel draped around his neck. Screeching, Shinji ran out the door, pausing at the entrance to the bath.

Stammering, he yelled, "Misato! There's a p-p-pe-pep--!" Just then, the penguin walked out the door and over to the second fridge in the kitchen. Misato followed the small creature with her eyes, as she took another sip from her beer. "Oh, you mean Pen-Pen! He's a warm-water penguin. He's your other roommate!" Then, she glanced at Shinji, still standing in the doorway with no clothes. "Um, shouldn't you, I dunno, cover up?"

Blushing, Shinji jumped back and shut the door. Then he swore under his breath and said, "Why in hell didn't you warn me?"

The reply was made almost uninteligible by giggles. "Your face was priceless! Besides, are you really any worse off than you were before? After all, now Misato knows what you look like, so she won't have to sneak in to look!" This was followed by more laughter.

Shinji, still slightly angry, began to see the real reason behind the lack of warning. "That was supposed to happen, right?"

Shizuka stopped laughing immediately. "Yes, it was. In the future, there will be many bad things that will happen to you that I won't be able to stop, no matter what. This is an example of how such a thing can happen." As Shinji slipped into the bathwater, his guardian continued, "Think, though. How would you have reacted to Pen-Pen if you hadn't had that happen just now?"

"Much the same, I guess."

"Exactly. the only difference would have been whether or not you were wearing clothes. While I could easily have held you back long enough for Pen-Pen to get out the door while you still had your shorts on, you would have suspected something and been even more worried, right?"

"Right."

"So things might have come off worse. As much as I can, I'll try and help you make the right choice. Sometimes, though, there isn't a 'right choice,' just two bad ones. Sometimes you really do have to choose the lesser of two evils to move forward. And moving forward is the most important part of all."

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That evening, Shinji lay in bed, trying to sleep. However, bits and pieces of something kept flashing through his mind. At last, Shizuka spoke up.

"Shinji, do you want me to help you remember? It won't be pleasant."

Shinji smiled softly. "Better to get the whole picture, I guess. I'm already freaked out by the bits and pieces, so how much worse can the whole thing be?"

"I won't answer that, but here goes. Mind you, I'm reading your subconcious, so things might not be totally accurate..."

Shinji's body locked up, and his mind suddenly boiled over with images, randomly put together and totally out of synch. Then, as though he was sitting in a theater and someone had just re-wound a film, the incident began playing back in his mind.

And as it went, he began to scream.

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When it was over, Shinji realized he had been screaming silently for the better part of an hour. Sending a prayer of silent thanks to whatever Kami had sent Shizuka Kansatsusha with the ability to control his body, he calmed back down.

"What was that thing I saw at the end?"

Shizuka's reply was a bit hesitant. "That was your Eva. Under all that armor, beneath the electronics and metal, is an organic lifeform. The fight againt Sachiel was mostly won by the brutal beast that lurks beneath the Eva's metal shell." Here, he paused, as though taking a deep breath. "The more often the beast gets out, the worse things are going to be for you. The Eva is a very possesive thing, and it will do everything in its considerable power to keep you alive, even destroying this city and everone in it. You must try and control it at all times."

Shinji was visibly shaken. "But, how do I control it? I don't even know how I got it to walk that first step!"

"The Entry Plug acts as an amplifier for your mind. When you think of walking forward, the Eva moves. Don't worry, you're a natural at this, and you'll get the hang of it in no time flat."

"I'm not so sure I want to."

Just then, Misato came in. Shinji froze, faking slumber. Her words were softly spoken, but he heard them easily in the near-silent house. "Shinji, I just wanted to let you know you did something very brave, and very noble today. I though I should tell you, since no one else might."

When she left, Shinji whispered, "No, you're wrong Misato. I'll always have at least one person who believes in me."

He could almost feel the smile from the corner of his mind.

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A few days later, Shinji awoke to the gentle urging of, "You have school today." Mumbling something and turning over, he tried to go back to sleep. Shizuka, however, must have had other plans, as his eyes forced themselves open, his body walked out the door, and his head was suddenly thrust under a stream of cold water.

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" he yelped mentally. Over the past few days, he had honed his skills at communication both with his Eva and with his 'guide.' Today, he remebered, was his first day of school.

As he went about the tasks of preparing breakfast for himself and his rommate Pen-Pen, he went over the week's tasks in his mind. He had a few synchronization tests in the next few days, but nothing major.

"Don't forget, Rei goes to the school too. You might see her again, so try and be friendly!" Shizuka intoned.

Shinji nodded, and went past Misato's door. Seeing that she was asleep, he heard Shizuka say, "She has the day off today, so she'd probably rather sleep. Leave her be."

Leaving a note on the kitchen table seemed like a good idea, so Shinji did so, then left. On the way, he began to wonder just what his new school would be like.

"For one thing, everyone is going to be talking about your fight. They won't know it was you, of course, but it will be a topic of much speculation. You'd best keep quiet about anything classified, but feel free to talk about the non-technical aspects."

When they arrived, Shinji saw the usual assorment of students, in a nearly 50/50 split between males and females. A few caught his eye in particular, and he was surprised to hear Shizuka giving them names in his mind.

"That's Kensuke. He's a military Otaku, as you might have guessed by the VTOL he's filming. He's a good kid, but a bit odd." Shinji noted the boy, then felt his head turn again, this time to a pretty brunette standing near the back of the room.

"Horokai Hikari. She's the class rep, and she's really into her whole superior-officer role. However, she is also a very caring person, and a good listener."

Again, that feeling of movement as his focus shifted again. "Rei's over there. She prefers to look out the window than pay attention, so don't worry about it."

Then, a dark-haired boy walked in the door. Shinji's eyes snapped over to him. "Suzuhara Touji. A jock to the core, but he has a sensitive side to him. His sister was injured in the fighting, so he's going to have a grudge against you. Don't worry, he'll be fine by the end of the day."

Shinji was stunned. How could Shizuka know these people?

"I'm a guide, baka! I need to know these things to help you, so I do!" Kasatsusha sounded offended.

"Gomen, I was just surprised, that's all!" was his silent reply. Just then, he saw Hikari approaching him.

"Good Morning, Ikari-san. I am class representative Horakai Hikari. Pleased to meet you!" she said brightly.

"Good morning. Pleased to meet you too," Shinji replied with a minimum of nervous stuttering. He smiled, and asked, "Which is my seat?"

She pointed him to a seat next to Rei, and said, "Do you need any help figuring out the laptops, or have you used them before?"

"Go ahead and let her show you," came the reply from his guide. After a short tutorial, Hikari added, "The Sensei takes the last couple of hours before lunch and the end of the day to talk about his trip with the expedition to Antarctica just before second Impact. He tells the same story over and over, so we mostly just tune him out. That's why I'm not too strict about the class chatroom. But don't abuse the priviledge, or I'll block your terminal."

"Hai. Arigato, Horokai-san," Shinji said.

She laughed, and said, "Please, call me Hikari. I'm not that formal."

"Uh, um, Sure thing, Hikari-chan."

Just then, the Sensei stepped into the room. The students all jumped to their feet at Hikari's bark of "Stand up! Bow! Sit down!"

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As lunch hour neared, Shinji was zoning out, staring blankly at his laptop screen, when a message popped up:

Shinji looked around, trying to spot the person sending the message. He saw a girl and her friend leaning over a station, grinning at him.

Shinji reached into his mind, trying to find Shizuka. However, his guide seemed to be taking a nap. So, he went with his logical side that said, "what could possibly happen?"

he wrote.

Instantly, the whole class was swarming around his desk, shouting questions.

Shinji was shocked, then heard a groggy voice in his head, "Told you they'd be curious, didn't I?" He sighed, and tried to pick out questions from the babble around him. One was about what he had been fighting with, and he heard several others about similar subjects.

He raised his voice just enough to be heard, and said, "I'm not allowed to talk about classified subjects with civilians. Now one at a time, or I won't tell you anything!" The questions flew thick and fast, and he answered as best he could. Later, he would remember just a few of them:

"What's the giant robot called?"

"What's its most powerful attack mode?"

"Can it fly?"

"How much do you get paid?"

Just then, the Sensei came back to reality, and noticed his class clustered around the new student. He assumed the lunch bell had rung, and they were just getting to know him. He turned to leave, and Hikari shouted desperately for the class to bow. Her pleas fell on deaf ears.

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As Shinji sat in the shade of the building, his lunch finished, he felt a shadow looming over him. He looked up, and was shocked to find a hand grabbing his collar. As he was hauled up to his feet, he was surprised to find Touji Suzuhara winding up to punch him in the face.

"This is gonna hurt..." moaned Shizuka, mentally.

CRACK!

Shinji landed in the dust, rubbing his face to relieve the sting. Kensuke, a bit concerned, bent down to say, "He's angry 'cause his sister got hurt in the last battle your robot was in. Well, that's his excuse, anyway!"

Shinji glared at his assailent, and grumbled, "It's not my fault. They made me pilot the stupid thing!"
As Touji spun back around, Sizuka sing-songed, "Bad idea, Shinji-kun!" Shinji felt another strike to his jaw, and landed in the dirt once again. After a moment, He felt himself rising to his feet.

"Angel attack. We have to get to headquarters," Shizuka said.

"How do you know that? I haven't heard the sirens," Shinji replied, moving towards the nearest lifts anyway. Just as he reached the doors, Rei Ayanami showed up.

"There is an emergency. I will report in to Commander Ikari, you should go straight to the changing room, then the cages." With that, she was off, enter. Shinji, stunned, stopped walking only for a moment. Then, the sirens started. He swiped his ID, and stepped through the doors, making a beeline for the cage elevators.

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In the entry plug again, Shinji mentally went over all his training. As his Eva moved into launch position, he began repeating, "Position Target in the Center, Pull the Switch," like a mantra. Shizuka was also animatedly chattering.

"The most important thing is to keep one step ahead of the enemy. Never let it get too close to your power cord, or you're sunk. Spread your AT field as soon as you are in combat range, and nullify the enemy's field. Fire in short bursts, never hide the enemy in your own smoke. Watch out for physical strikes at close range, and particle beam attacks at long range..."

Just then, Misato's voice cut into the mental noise. "Eva Unit One, launch!" As he rocketed up the ramp, Shinji felt the G-forces pressing him into his seat, and idly thought of being on a roller coaster.

"Focus, Shinji!" Shizuka shouted.

Shinji flet the slam of breaks, and the doors opened on the lift-shaft. He immediately spread his AT field, just before Misato gave him the order to do so. However, that was the last thing that went right.

Spinning out of the lift, he took aim at the Angel's core, and fired a volley of shots. Unfortunately, a cloud of smoke obscured the Angel, and he was unable to see it slicing towards him with its energy whips. As he jumped backwards, he let his cable double over itself, and the Angel's weapons sliced it apart.

As Shizuka moaned, Shinji tried desperately to fight back, but was only able to dodge. Flying back from one fairly powerful hit, he landed hard on a nearby hillside. Shizuka was making small grunting noises, trying desperately to boost Shinji's synch ratio as high as he could by focusing his charge's thoughts. Just then, Shizuka spotted to oddly familiar shapes in a very bad location.

"Shinij, look over there!" Shizuka cried.

As Shinji's eyes automatically moved to the directed view, he zoomed in on the two shapes huddled between his Eva's monster fingers.

Over his comm, he heard a flurry of activity as the command bridge pulled up files on the pair. Misato then began to give him his orders.

"Shinji, eject the entry plug, let those two in, and retreat. We can launch again later when the Eva is at full power!" she said, firmly.

Ritsuko was having none of it. "We can't let unauthorized civilians into the entry plug!"

"I'm authorizing it!" Misato bellowed back, now slightly annoyed.

"You're overstepping your authority, Captain!"

Silence reigned for a few moments as Ritsuko's rebuttal echoed in the room. Then, resignedly, Misato spoke into her mic. "Shinji, hold the Eva on your current orders."

Shinji complied, opening the plug. Whatever Misato said over the loudspeakers was drowned out by the sound of Shizuka frantically shouting in Shinji's mind. "We CAN'T retreat, Shinji. By the time we got back up, the Angel would be able to follow us down the launch shaft and infiltrate headquarters. There is now way we can let it get away. Fight it now! You can't just run away when things get rough!"

Shinji just nodded, and as his viewscreens became active again, he began muttering, "I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I musn't run AWAY!" As a feral scream lept from his throat, Shinji ejected his progressive knife, grasped it firmly in both hands, and thrust it deep into the Angel's glowing core. As the sparks flew, and the Angel's tentacles wriggled in his Eva's flesh, Shinji continued to scream. Finally, when both giants fell silent, Shinji hunched over, and began to sob.

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When they had returned to their apartment, Shinji and Misato split up, Shinji going to his room, Misato going for a beer. She had chewed out Shinji for disobeying orders, and he had also heard her yelling at Touji and Kensuke for their stunt. Not wanting to hear her yell anymore, Shinji put in his headphones and started playing his opera tapes in his S-DAT. Shizuka was having none of it.

"What's wrong with you? You just beat the Angel, got off with nothing more than a lecture, and you're more popular than ever! What's to feel so depressed about?"

Shinji sighed. "You don't get it, do you? The next time will just be more of the same! Why should I even go back?"

"Well, you wouldn't want Rei to have to do it again, would you?"

"She's almost all healed up. She'll be fine without me."

"What about Misato? She'll be worried!"

"No, she doesn't really care about me."

"Well, I guess you won't listen to reason. So, since you're leaving, I guess this is goodbye, Shinji."

"What do you mean?! Why?"

"I'm only here to help you so long as you need my advice. Leaving this place will mean you don't need my help anymore, since you won't be anywhere near an Eva. Consider this my last piece of advice: don't leave town just yet. Stay around for a while, and see the sights. Not everyone gets to see Tokyo-3 after all."

And with that, Shizuka Kansatsusha fell silent.

Shinji spent half an hour begging his guardian to come back, to say something, but got no response. Then, he made his decision.

"Well, I guess there really isn't anyone who cares about me anymore. I think I'll take his advice though, and see what I can see." Then he smirked. "While avoiding the Section Two goons, of course."

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A day and a half later, Shinji found himself being escorted - by those same goons - to the train station. He was shocked to see Touji and Kensuke there, waiting for him.

"Here, you left this behind!" Kensuke shouted as he tossed the small duffel bag Shinji had left behind when he had been camped out with Kensuke. Shinji caught it, then cringed as Kensuke added, "So, yo're really going, huh? Guess we'll have to leave soon too..."

Touji stomped over to him, grim expression on his face.

"Look, Shinji... I- I'm sorry, okay? You gotta hit me back!" he said, growling.

Shinji was taken aback by this surprising new twist, but said, "No, I deserved that."

"No you didn't. I saw how much piloting that thing tore you up, and I understand now why you said what you did. Now hit me!"

Shinji shrugged, and pulled back for a blow. As his fist flew towards Touji, he heard him yell, "Hey! WAIT!" Halting his blow inches away, he shot a confused look at the other boy.

"Don't hold back," Touji said.

Shinji nodded, and pulled back again. Throwing all his weight behind his fist, he blasted his fist into Touji, sending the taller boy reeling. Then, the Section 2 agents grabbed his arms and said, "Time's up." As he reached the top steps, he had a sudden twinge of regret, and tried to turn back. Struggling against the two goons holding him, he yelled back, "I'm the one who deserved to be hit, not you! I'm a coward, and I'm dishonest!"

Just then, a familiar voice rang in his head. "Oh really? Would a coward have punched that hard, or fought the Angel so bravely? And who says you're dishonest? I haven't seen you do anything illegal or immoral yet, and I doubt you will anytime soon. Really, Der Redhead was right, you really are spineless!"

"Shizuka!"

"Yeah, well, SOMEBODY had to stop that little guilt trip! Honestly, have you ever done anything dishonest in your life? And the only cowardly thing you've done so far that I've seen was running away from NERV, and even that took some guts to stand against everyone. Face it, Shinji, you're definitely not a loser. You just find your strengths and recognize them as such! After all, everyone, even Satan himself, has SOMETHING good about them!"

The train pulled up just then, and Shizuka added, "Now you have to decide: is it time to run, or time to stand and fight?"

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The train pulled away, and all anyone noticed was Misato, Touji, and Kensuke staring after the last car, as though they'd lost their best friend. In some ways, they probably thought they had. The platform was empty, and Shinji was already gone.

However, just then, a small figure quietly crept down the stairs of the station, and snuck over to Touji and Kensuke. They each felt a tap on their shoulders, and turned to find-

"Shinji!"

"Oh, Shinji!"

Misato, Touji, and Kensuke all crowded around in a tight group hug, and Shinji softly whispered, "I'm home."

"Welcome home Shinji!" Misato whispered, tears in her eyes.

Touji spoiled the mood by asking, "So why'd you decide to stay?"

Shinji shrugged and laughed, "This is my home now. And it'll take more than Angels to keep me away!"

Fin

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Author's Notes!

(}=]DarkNate walks out onto the stage, his various weapons glittering and clanking in the spotlight. He bows, and stares out at the empty room)

Well, there it is! My first real fan-fic, and the first episode of Know Thy Enemy! This took forever to finish, and it's pretty short! Thank Kami-sama, the next ones should be a bit longer! This was, after all, more of an intro than anything. The real action starts next time, when we finally get to have Shinji interact with someone other than Misato or Shizuka!

As some of you doubtless noticed, this retelling of Eva is all from Shinji's perspective. That wasn't an accident, I assure you. Since we already know, or can guess, what goes on behind the scenes, I'm not going to rewrite it again. Knowledge Is Power focuses more on the changes in Shinji himself, thanks to his new guardian, Shizuka Kansatsusha, and also in the other Pilots, too a leser extent. BTW, Shizuka's name really does meant 'quiet observer.' And we won't find out where he's really from until the end, although some of you can probably guess already. Be that as it may, none of the scenes will be written where one of the three main Pilots is not present, unless they are telling about it in a semi-narrative style.

(chugs down a can of root beer, Misato style) Ahhh! Now, a few shout-outs! First, a big thanks goes out to Mr. Strike Fiss, whose 'Shinji the Casanova' was the inspiration for this series. I loved the idea, but I thought Fiss-sama could have done so much more with it, had things started out earlier. Second, a big thank you to my younger brother, Lord Alexandor, ruler of Wind and Light. Without him, I would NOT have any motivation at all. He's also my critic, by the way. Another shout out goes to my roommate, for putting up with my Anime Otakuness and general insanity. God gets a big hug, for giving me my gifts and for putting me in a position where they can be used. Lastly, a major kudos goes out to the man who started all of Evadom: Mr. Anno. Without him, none of the billions of Eva fans would have anything better to do with their time. May his work stand for all time as a testament to the greatness of the human imagination.

Well, that's all for now! If I ever get a web site, I'll list it here. Until then, just send me an e-mail at walkernate@yahoo.com, and be sure you have something in the heading to let me know why the heck you're sending me stuff! I've been know to delete messages on the grounds that I think they're spam, so make sure I know it isn't. I'll try and respond to all of them. On that note, flamers will be hunted down and beaten.

Well, see ya later!
Keep your blades sharp, and your mind sharper!
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