14AN: Good evening folks (or whatever time of day it is), and welcome to the first official Phantom of Inferno crossover with Evangelion. As the summary says, this is a 'what if Shinji was raised by' fic. Warning, this contains major spoilers for one of the main endings for Phantom of Inferno so if you haven't beaten the game at least once you've been warned so don't say that I didn't warn you. Anyway you'll see who it is who raises our favorite Eva pilot. Well, hope you enjoy this one.
Disclaimer: I do not own NGE or Phantom of Inferno. Evangelion is owned by Hideaki Anno, ADV, and Gainax and whatever other companies are responsible for the creation of such a masterpiece of an anime, and Phantom of Inferno is owned by Hirameki International Inc., Anime Play, and some other guys who created this amazing game.
Prologue: A Chance Meeting
Near the Japanese High School, Shinokura Gakuen, there stood the remains of an old church. It had originally been used by the school years ago when it had been an all girls' school, but that had long since ended and the church was now just an old ruin that was ignored by almost everyone. It was hard to believe that a heavy gunfight had occurred there just minutes ago, and now another gunfight was occurring in the nearby school. But this story does not begin there; rather it begins at this church.
A young blonde girl of American descent suddenly stumbled out of the church. She was wearing a tight red and black biker's outfit and appeared to be in her early adult teens. There was an open and bleeding wound in her chest area, but the girl didn't seem to notice it. The dazed look in her green eyes showed that she was barely aware of what was happening around her.
(Where am I? Why am I suddenly walking like this?) The girl, Cal Devens, wondered as she kept walking on aimlessly. Suddenly the memories of the night's events slowly came to her. (That's right…Reiji and I had our duel, and Reiji shot me…After that he held me…just like before…).
As the memories of her last moment with the man she had at first loved and then hated, Reiji Azuma, came to her, Cal felt an odd sense of calmness about her. Whatever feeling of hatred or enmity that she had had for Reiji was suddenly gone.
(I guess I've forgiven him after all…) Cal thought to herself as she continued walking, her pace starting to slow from the loss of blood. (…I almost wish that…no…I don't really deserve to ask for anything now…)
After a few minutes of walking, Cal finally collapsed to the ground in a park somewhere. It was late at night now, and there was no one around.
(I guess this is finally it.) Cal thought as the darkness overtook her. (It looks like dying in your arms was too good a death for me…goodbye, Reiji…)
Meanwhile:
A little boy with messy short black hair was hiding in the bushes, his eyes red from crying. He looked to be around three or four years old, and his clothes looked dirty as he had been in that park for two whole days. The boy's name was Shinji Ikari.
It had been a few days ago when Shinji had been told about his mother Yui's death in some unexplained accident, and almost immediately after his father had left him at the side of the road to be taken to live with some relatives he had never even heard of. Shinji could still remember calling out to his father as the man walked away from him without as much as a backward glance, and the tears that were flowing freely down his face just as when he had learned of his mother's death.
He barely remembered what had happened after. All Shinji could remember was being told to follow someone his father had paid to take him to his new home. At first Shini was about to obey him, but as he realized what was going to happen to him now and that the short happy life he had known with his parents was now over, the boy suddenly turned and ran away leaving his belongings and the stranger behind.
For how long he ran, Shinji didn't know as the tears he had been crying as he did blurred his vision. After a long period of running, Shinji finally stopped in the park that he was in now, where he hid in some bushes to be alone and then broke down and wept openly. He slept in that same spot and the day after he spent the little bit of money he had to buy popcorn and hot dogs from a local stand in the park. That had been all that he had eaten in the past two days.
Shinji had cried himself to sleep on both nights, but this night he had been awoken by the sound of something collapsing to the ground close to where he was hiding. As he got up to see what it was, Shinji's stomach growled and the boy immediately felt the gnawing pain of hunger, but he did his best to push it aside as he peered out of the bushed.
A young blonde girl wearing a red and black biker's outfit was lying on the ground a few yards away from him. At first, Shinji wasn't sure what to make of this and stayed where he was, but gradually an impending concern for this strange girl suddenly came upon him and he emerged from his hiding place and walked over to her.
"Uh…excuse me." Shinji said as carefully shook the girl's shoulder. The girl didn't answer as her body turned over, revealing a sight that completely shocked Shinji as he saw her wound.
(She…she's hurt!) Shinji thought as he saw the wound and the blood coming out of it. As he stood there looking down at the seriously injured girl a thought came to mind. (Is she dead… or is she going to die? Like mother…)
As soon as that last part of the thought registered in his young mind, Shinji wasn't sure what it was he was feeling then. All he knew was that he couldn't let this girl die.
"HELP!" Shini shouted as loud as he could, hoping there was someone who could hear him. "Somebody! Anybody, please help!"
As it happened, a local police officer, who had been given the graveyard shift for that week was nearby when he heard the boy's cries and quickly ran over to where he heard Shinji's voice coming from. As soon as he saw the injured girl, the man immediately radioed for an ambulance.
Later: Hospital:
Cal slowly came awake to find herself staring at a white ceiling and that she was lying in a hospital bed in a hospital room.
"Oh, you're awake." A nurse spoke, causing Cal to turn to her. "Doctor, the patient is awake."
"Ah, so you're awake." The doctor said as he came in and saw Cal. "I must admit that you're a very lucky young lady. You nearly died from that wound of yours, and after we treated that you were still in danger from all of that blood you lost. I'd almost call this a medical miracle."
"How…how did I get here?" Cal asked as she tried to get up, but felt a wave of dizziness overtake her.
"Easy now miss, you still need to rest." The doctor replied. "As for how you got here, a little boy found you and thanks to him we were able to get you here in time."
"How long have I been out?" Cal asked, glancing at the clock in the room and seeing it was ten o'clock.
"Three days." The doctor answered, and then seemed to remember something. "Oh yes, that boy who found you is still here. He wants to know how you're doing. Do you want me to let him in?"
"Fine, you might as well." Cal replied. (Looks like I was cheated out of death, the death I wanted…at Reiji's hands. Might as well see who's responsible for that.)
The doctor nodded and he and the nurse left the room. A few minutes later, a boy of Japanese descent with black hair who looked to be around three or four entered the room.
The both of them were silent for a few minutes as Cal carefully studied the boy, who looked at her with a nervous expression on his face. Finally Cal broke the silence.
"So you're the kid who rescued me, huh?" Cal asked, casually.
"Y-yes, I am." The boy answered nervously.
"What's your name?"
"It's Shinji. Shinji Ikari."
"Shinji, huh?" Cal was silent for a moment as she wasn't sure what to say. "Well, I guess I should say thanks. Anyway kid, as you can see I'm fine so you can go now. I'm sure your parents are waiting for you."
Almost as soon as she said that Shinji's eyes widened and then started to tear up, and then he started crying. This was not the reaction Cal was expecting and she wasn't sure what to make of this.
"H-hey, what's wrong?" Cal asked. (Damn it, as if things can't get anymore complicated. What am I supposed to do now?)
"I…I don't have anyone waiting for me." Shinji answered as he tried as hard as he could to keep from crying. That last part struck a nerve in Cal's heart, but she quickly pushed it aside.
"So you're an orphan?" She asked. "What happened, car accident or something?"
"No, my mother died and my father..." Shinji clenched his fists now in anger as he remembered his father, Gendou, leaving him behind. "He just left me behind…like he didn't care…"
"I see…" Cal didn't say anything, as what Shinji had told her reminded her a little of herself when she ran away from home, away from a father who had abused her.
(Why the hell am I thinking about that again!) Cal asked herself and glanced back at Shinji. (Still…what am I supposed to do about this kid? Inferno and the Godoh group will be after me soon for my betrayal. They'll probably come after this kid to find out about me.)
"I…I'll leave if you want me to." Shinji spoke.
"Wait." Cal said, and then looked at Shinji.
(Those eyes…just like mine before I joined Inferno.) Cal thought to herself. (Well, I can't let Inferno or the Godoh group find me through this kid; I can either kill him or take him with me…)
For some reason the idea of killing Shinji felt unpleasant to Cal, and she almost immediately pushed that idea aside.
"Hey Shinji, can I ask you something?" Cal asked.
"Sure, uh…" Shinji stopped as he didn't know her name.
"My name is Cal Devens." Cal replied. "You can call me Cal if you want. Anyway, what are you going to do now?"
"I…I don't know." Shinji looked down.
"If you want, you can come with me for a while." Cal said, the offer suddenly surprising Shinji. "But if you do, you'll do exactly what I say as long as you're with me. Don't expect things to be fun or anything like that."
"I…I'll come with you." Shinji spoke up. "I don't have anyone so…"
(Well, that was easy enough.) Cal thought. (Now all I need to do is take this kid with me until everything blows over. After that…oh hell, I'll deal with that when the time comes.)
"Okay, now wait for me in the lobby so I can take care of a few things." Cal instructed as she got up and prepared to leave the room. "I'll have to leave for a few minutes to pick up my motorcycle too."
"You promise you'll come back?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah, I promise." Cal answered.
"Thank you, Neechan." Shinji replied, with a now trusting smile.
That innocent look of trust, along with what Shinji had just called her completely confounded Cal, but she did her best to hide that as she left the room.
(What the hell have I gotten myself into?) Cal wondered to herself.
Unbeknownst to either of Cal or Shinji, their time together would last a lot longer than either of them thought, and that they would both end up having a great influence on each other and through that form an unbreakable bond. A bond that would eventually play a major part in the future of mankind.
AN: And that brings our prologue to a conclusion. With this the first Eva/Phantom of Inferno crossover is set and ready to go. A first in the crossover category by me! So what do you think about this fic? Please tell me what you all think. Since Phantom of Inferno is one of my favorite games, I couldn't help but cross it over with Evangelion. I hope this appeals to fans of this game and that I did this right.
Oh yeah, as you can see the one who's going to raise Shinji is none other than Cal. Now for fans hoping for any of the other characters, I picked this one by a process of elimination and comparison of the two main endings for Phantom of Inferno and the third minor one. The Reiji/Cal ending wouldn't have worked for various reasons and neither would the Reiji/Mio one, so this story follows the Reiji/Elen ending. Sorry to Reiji/Cal fans, I'm a big fan of that pairing, but I like Reiji/Elen a little more. Anyway, using that ending, well, Reiji and Elen would be too busy at the moment to raise a kid (but that doesn't mean they won't play a major part in this fic later on because they will), Scythe Master (though it was an interesting idea) is dead (and guys aren't his type to raise), and so that left Cal. Since I didn't like how things ended for her in the Reiji/Elen ending, I decided resurrecting her to raise Shinji would work. Also, even though right now it looks like Cal is only bringing Shinji along because she has no choice, trust me things get better between the two of them (not like that, I haven't decided on the pairings for this fic yet!)wait and see).
For those who have no clue what Phantom of Inferno is, it's a 'choose your own adventure' style DVD game that was originally a PC game. I strongly suggest getting that game if you like a good story about assassins, the underworld, and romance. It doesn't cost all that much, but it will take up a lot of your time. The reason I'm saying this is because there are almost no websites for this game so check it out.
Well, please review and maybe I'll have the next chapter out soon.