This, and all of my other fanfiction, can be found at The List of The Demented
Productions, at:
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/ChibiTokyoLand/ListoftheDemented.html

Please, send all of your comments and other stuff to:
EVAsuka_02@hotmail.com

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

The two boys stared at each other in 
amazement. It was true; they did seem 
to be the same person, or rather, 
variations on the same theme. Even the 
way they examined each other was 
identical.

Asuka, eager to see what all the fuss 
was about, shoved Shinji to the side. 
"What are you all so freaked out by?" 
Taking a long look at Shyn, and then 
Shinji, it became crystal clear to her 
what was the reason for the commotion. 
Her eyes grew larger, and she backed 
away, stammering something in 
German. "D-d-doppelganger!"

Rei stepped forward, calm and cool. 
First, she scanned the boy she had 
known for a good while. Then she 
proceeded to the newcomer. Afterward, 
she averted her attention to the female 
Ikari, who only smiled at the chilly glare 
Rei cast about the room.

Ayanami turned to face Misato. "They 
are triplets, are they not?"

All of a sudden, a deep voice could be 
heard booming from the rafters. "As 
usual, Rei is correct."

Everyone looked towards the beams 
residing over their heads. Descending 
on a small elevator was Gendou Ikari, 
his dark shades resting upon the bridge 
of his nose. His commander's jacket 
was open, showing off his crimson 
turtleneck. One gloved hand rested in 
his pocket while another lay against his 
side.

Kaede and Shyn smiled enthusiastically. 
"Dad!" They ran halfway to the elevator, 
running to him when he reached their 
level. If everybody had been surprised 
to see the Fourth and Fifth Children, 
they were even more amazed to see 
this. Even Rei looked shocked.

The girl was the first to reach him, 
wrapping her arms around him and 
smiling. Gendou reached down and 
patted her head affectionately. "My 
Kaede, you seem to look more like your 
mother every day. And you, Shyn. You 
remind me of myself when I was your 
age." He smiled at the young boy with 
the silver glasses, patting him on the 
head as he had with the girl.

All Shinji could do was stare. This man 
seemed too loving to be his father. 
Sure, he had seen him act fatherly 
around Rei, but nothing like this. Who 
was he and what had he done with 
Commander Ikari? As he watched the 
joyous reunion, he couldn't help but feel 
a little resentment at the fact that these 
children, who he didn't even know 
existed until a few minutes ago, could 
have such a strong relationship with 
his own father than he had.

When Gendou's eyes met Shinji's, he 
could see a faint glimmer of the caring 
man who stood before him. But it was 
gone as soon as it had appeared. 
Straightening himself, Gendou walked 
out of the embrace of the two children 
and straight up to Shinji.

"I'd like you to meet your brother and 
sister, Shinji. I'm sure they would like 
to meet you."

And with this, Gendou smiled.

***************
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Doppelganger
Chapter 2: My Thinking Time, My Downtime
by Zoe "L-Kom" Morales
A List of the Demented Production
***************

Shinji sat on a bench on the overlook of 
Tokyo-3. He had come here many times 
since he arrived in this town. Sometimes 
it was with another person, namely 
Misato, but tonight he just sat alone, 
watching the many lights flicker in the 
bustling city below.

Misato had taken Asuka home, since 
she had been too visibly shaken by the 
encounter with the new arrivals. Rei 
had seemed unfazed by the whole thing, 
although he thought he saw her giving 
unkind glances to the both of them. 
Nobody had chased after Shinji when 
he had walked out to have some time by 
himself. He just needed to be alone with 
his thoughts to think this whole thing over.

Why? he kept asking himself. Why did 
father bring them? Why didn't he tell 
me? Do I mean nothing to him at all? 
Why is he doing this? As he thought 
about all of this, he imagined him 
standing there, sort of hovering over 
him. Those dark sunglasses were on 
his face, so nobody could really tell what 
was going on inside his head. He was 
smiling. God, Shinji hated it when his 
father smiled. He shouldn't be allowed to. 
Every time he did, it just hurt him some 
more; who knew a smile could be so 
devastating? It was pure evil incarnate, 
that smile of his. And he always looked 
so dark. That black outfit, always so 
intimidating. Always black. Except for his 
crimson turtleneck. He hated that thing too. 
It was just the color of it. The deep red 
scarlet of its folds... It reminded him of blood. 

Shinji was so totally caught up in his 
thoughts that he didn't even notice when 
Rei walked up next to him. Or if he had 
noticed, he didn't seem to care. "Pilot 
Ikari," she said, "why are you alone out 
here?"

He sighed, "Ayanami, am I going crazy?"

She looked at him with that same blank 
stare that she almost always wore. "I'm 
afraid I don't know what you mean."

Shinji leaned back a little, staring now at 
the stars instead of Tokyo-3's glistening 
lights. "I don't think I know either."

She sat down next to him, facing the lights. 
It wasn't as much a conscious decision as 
an instinct. Perhaps it was just her 
subconscious reaching out to another. 
Perhaps not.

As they sat there, silently enjoying each 
other's company, a gust of cold wind 
flew past them. He sighed, "I wish it 
wasn't so windy today. It makes 
everything look so dreary."

"It can't be dreary all of the time."

He glanced at her from the corner of his 
eye. The pearly white skin of her face 
and neck seemed to glow softly, giving it 
an unearthly shine as it was illuminated 
by the reflection of the lights below. Her 
face seemed void of all human emotions 
as she sat there, a mere ghost of a girl. 
Staring in front of herself vacantly, she 
seemed to take no notice of what was 
going on around her. "You feel alienated 
from your siblings, don't you?"

He sighed again. "I guess you could 
say that."

Rei continued watching the bright city, 
its neon glow reflecting in her ruby eyes. 
"You think that Commander Ikari will pay 
more attention to them instead of his 
'other' Children. You know he won't do 
that to us."

Hearing the word 'us', he realized that 
she thought of herself as Gendou's 
adopted daughter. Perhaps, because 
she though of herself as a surrogate 
member of the Ikari family, this was the 
reason that she was much more open 
with him than with Asuka. She thought 
of him as a brother.

He closed his eyes momentarily, feeling 
like even less of a member of the Ikari 
family than Rei was. "You know what I 
think of my father, Ayanami, and yet 
you still think I should just forgive him 
for everything."

For the first time since she had joined 
the young Ikari, she looked directly at 
him. "Shinji. I do not know what you 
and your father have condemned each 
other, but I still believe you should make 
amends with him. I am sure he does 
care about you, but you scorn him 
anyway. Why do you do this?"

He squeezed his eyes shut. "You don't 
know what I've been through! He 
abandoned me when I was only four 
and sent me to live with my aunt and 
uncle*. When he finally called me, it 
was only to pilot the EVA because you 
couldn't. The only reason he ever called 
me was because he needed me for 
something. It's been like that since I was 
little and it'll probably be like that until he's 
long gone. That's why we don't get along."

(*in the series, Shinji is sent to live with 
his sensei, but in the manga he was sent 
to live with Yui's brother. Since I'm using 
more manga Shinji--personality wise--than 
anime Shinji, I thought it would be more 
appropriate to have a little manga 
influence in here.)

He looked down towards the ground, 
venting his anger at his estranged father. 
Bitterly, he said, "Besides, you've got 
nothing to worry about. You're his favorite."

Without warning, Rei reached out and 
grabbed Shinji's face, turning it so that 
they could see straight into each other's 
eyes.

She appeared to be scowling, and he 
was afraid she would slap him again like 
she had the last time he had talked about 
his father so harshly. Instead, her eyes 
softened. "You feel so much pain inside 
that it has caused you to lash out at others."

Suddenly, he realized that she was talking 
about his last comment.

"Rei... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you..."

She looked down at the ground, releasing 
her hold on him. "When I was growing up, 
I never had any friends my own age. The 
only person I called 'friend' was more than 
twenty years older than me. I never had 
another companion. That is, until you came 
along. Now you make me choose between 
my two best friends."

He nodded knowingly. "You mean my father 
and I, don't you?"

"I have to choose between a person I've 
known most all of my life and his son, who's 
been my best friend for only a short while. 
It's pitiful, isn't it?" As she said her last 
sentence, she looked back up at him, the 
beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners 
of her lips.

Shinji felt a wave of emotion overcoming him. 
He looked at her sadly. "Rei..." Reaching a 
hand out to her, he placed it on her shoulder. 
She looked up at him, somewhat startled as if 
not expecting the display of emotion. His face 
looked so sad, and his eyes so soft, it looked 
as if he was about to start crying. "You don't 
have to choose between us if you don't want 
to. Nobody is forcing you..."

She smiled at him slowly and stood up, letting 
his hand slide off of her shoulder like water 
off of a duck's back. Turning so that her back 
was to him, she said over her shoulder, "Do 
not worry about these things, Shinji. Everything 
will turn out fine in the end. You will see." And 
with that, she walked out of his sight and into 
the darkness.

He sat there, contemplating about what she had 
just told him. And the more he thought about it, 
the more he realized that she was right.

After all, it can't be dreary all of the time.

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

Rei walked into her apartment, shutting the door 
behind her. She didn't even bother to take off her 
shoes until she was already sitting down on her 
bed. As she removed the white slip-ons, a white 
hot flash of lightning raced through the sky, 
illuminating her ill-lit room with an explosion of 
brilliant light. A deafening crash of thunder 
followed shortly after, rumbling through the sky 
like an army of charging troops. 

It was so loud that Rei instinctively covered her 
ears. Once she realized what she had done, she 
removed her hands, looking at them peculiarly. 
It was a reflex, she reasoned. Something she had 
little to no control over. Just like my life, she mused.

She was drawn away from her contemplation by the 
soft sound of raindrops pelting the window. Standing 
up, she walked over to it, pressing her pale fingers 
up against the cool glass and staring out into the 
night's sky and the storm ravaging through it. The 
weather outside was indeed dreadful, and quietly she 
hoped that Shinji had gotten home before the small 
tempest had hit.

The blue-haired girl backed away from the 
window, a sharp gasp escaping her lips. 
Why did she suddenly think that? That 
unprovoked, random thought--why had it 
suddenly appeared in her head. Did 
she...did she care about Shinji?

Once again, she found herself acting 
strangely. Well, what she thought was 
strange at least. Ever since earlier this 
evening, when she met the new ones, 
there seemed to be a conflict going on 
within her. She had been experiencing 
her own whirlwind of emotions since 
meeting the Fourth and Fifth. What was 
it? Surprise at seeing that Shinji had a 
twin brother and sister? Anger at the fact 
that Commander Ikari had hidden them 
from her for so long? Jealousy at the 
affection that they received from him? 
Regularly, she wouldn't have minded, just 
going through the motions like she always 
did.

"Like a puppet," she whispered. "Like a doll."

Was the Second Child right? Was she just 
a doll who did whatever someone told her to 
do? No, she was a living, breathing being. 
She could reason for herself. She didn't 
need anybody else to tell her what to do. 
Yet lately, she had been having some very 
disturbing thoughts enter her mind. Why did 
she follow all of the rules all of the time? Was 
it destiny? Is this what all beings go through? 
Does everyone consider themselves God's 
puppet, to do whatever he wills us? Is that why 
people try to prove themselves to others--to 
show that they are more than just his puppets? 
And what is God? Our creator? It's that's true, 
it there a plan to everything, or is he just having 
his fun with us?

Again, the feeling of resentment towards the 
High Commander of NERV arose in her. She 
trusted him. She looked up to him. He was like 
the father she never had. So why didn't he tell 
her that he was shipping over his other children 
from America? Why didn't he tell her he _had_ 
more children? _Why didn't he tell Shinji_?

Rei sat down on her bed again, watching the 
storm rage outside. "Is this what Shinji feels?" 
She asked herself aloud. "Is this the reason he 
detests his father so much? Is this the reason 
I opened to him? The reason I comforted him, 
and he comforted me? What are these feelings? 
Pain. Angst. Suffering. Loneliness. Animosity. 
I do not understand them all..."

She lay down on her bed, curling up in a fetal 
position and clutching her lone pillow close to her. 
As she closed her eyes, she could hear herself 
whisper, "...but I want them to go away."

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

Misato walked through the halls of NERV HQ, 
trying to shake the rain from her jacket. She 
was headed for Ritsuko's office. Having already 
dropped Asuka off back at home, she was just 
about o go to sleep when she remembered she 
had to get something from Dr. Akagi.

Popping her head into the small office, she 
spotted the blonde woman, busy typing data 
into her computer as always. A pot of coffee 
was brewing to her right, waiting to be poured. 
All sorts of little cat paraphernalia were 
scattered along her desk. Figurines and other 
things; even a cat coffee mug, which she 
appeared to be drinking from. She adjusted 
her glasses and continued typing. "So, you've 
met them already?"

Misato sighed, walking into the small room. 
She wasn't at all surprised by her friend's 
uncanny ability to recognize who was in the 
room without even an upward glance. After 
all, they had known each other since college 
and were now used to the little quirks each 
other had. leaning up against the file cabinet 
nest to the desk, she crossed her arms. Now 
it was time to bring out the big guns. "Yes, but 
why didn't I receive a report from the Marduk 
Institute?"

Dr. Akagi just kept typing, not even faltering at 
the mention of the bogus organization. "There 
wasn't enough time. America was insistent on 
shipping them and Units 03 and 04 here 
immediately. Apparently, they're afraid the 
Evangelions draw Angel attacks and they don't 
want any more of their precious country damaged."

The violet-haired woman scoffed. "That's stupid. 
Besides, they were the ones who wanted to 
make the Units so bad. Well, I guess it can't be 
helped. What are you working on?" She turned 
around, looking over the doctor's shoulder.

Ritsuko leaned back in her chair, picking up her 
mug and sipping some of the lukewarm liquid 
from it. "Personal data files for the Fourth and 
Fifth Children. I'm adding them into the MAGI 
system along with the other Children's." She took 
off her glasses, rubbing her eyes warily. 

Major Katsuragi nodded. "I was surprised to see 
that Commander Ikari was using his other children 
as EVA pilots. Hell, I was surprised to see that he 
_had_ some more children. Not to mention the fact 
that they were triplets with Shinji."

Ritsuko put her glasses back on. "There are a lot of 
things you don't know about the Commander. So, 
what was the reason you came here, Misato?"

"I almost forgot! I came to get the information of 
the Children. Maya said that you would have 
copies of the housing arrangements and all of that 
stuff ready for me."

"Ah yes. I know they're in here somewhere." She 
began digging through a large pile of papers 
stacked on her desk. Finally, she came to a large 
manilla folder. Pulling it out, she handed it to her 
friend and colleague. "Here. It has all of the 
information you'll need for housing, education, and 
the other necessities."

Misato quickly thumbed through it. Pulling out 
a page, she scanned it briefly. "So, they're 
going to attend the same school as Shinji. They're 
even going to be in the same class."

"Yes, I think it's the Commander's way of getting 
them to know each other better." She sipped some 
more coffee from her mug.

"Yeah, but what will Shinji think about al of this?"

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

Ryouji Kaji leaned against the railing, gazing up at 
the new Evangelions. If there was one thing he 
could give the Americans credit for, it was appearance.

Unit 03 was a grayish-silver color. Large white 
crests resembling wings sprouted from the side 
of its head, reminding him of the Roman god 
Mercury. Roman or Greek, he couldn't remember. 
The mythology all ran together in a large messy 
blur eventually. The EVA had two eyes connected 
by a large black band running across the front of 
its face. Its jaw was partially covered by a large 
metal sheet on its head, resembling a helmet of 
sorts. Still, that didn't help the menacing "grin" the 
thing had.

Unit 04 was dark green; it head sloped in the back, 
giving it a teardrop shape. Unlike the other Units, 
which had either one, two, or four eyes, this one 
had three; one on each side of its head and one 
in the very middle, where its forehead would be. 
Extending form the middle eye was a long metal 
ridge, which extended to the very back of its head 
and made it look as if it had a mowhawk. Its mouth 
was similar to that of a dog or cat, in the way that it 
curved up into an apex in front of its face. This 
made it look much more apathetic than its silvery 
counterpart.

He stood there contemplating the new additions 
when he heard the sound of approaching 
footsteps. Looking over to his right, he saw 
Gendou Ikari standing there, admiring the large 
humanoid things. "Impressive, aren't they?"

Kaji shrugged, turning around so his back 
was to them. "They're flashy all right, if that's 
what you mean."

Gendou placed his gloved hands in his pocket. 
"The Trojan Gods."

"Eh?"

"The Trojan Gods. That's what the Americans 
named them. And that is why they resemble Greek 
and Roman figures."

Kaji smirked. "I thought I saw a theme. So, why 
did you decide to have your kids pilot these 
things? Do you have any specific reasons or 
were you just lacking a replacement like with Shinji?"

Gendou threw one of his colder glares at the 
younger man. "What are you implying, Kaji?"

He made a more serious look. "You must have 
some reason to have all of your living descendants 
pilot these things."

The Commander adjusted his glasses. "My intentions 
are of no concern to you. Whether I wish to send out 
my own offspring or others is my choice, and my 
choice alone." He turned and started to walk away.

Ryouji called after him. "And what does the Marduk 
Institute have to say about that?"

Gendou hesitated for a few seconds, but continued 
walking. Kaji scoffed. He knew the answer to _that_ 
question. There was no Marduk Institute to complain 
about this. Yet again, Commander Ikari was following 
his own agenda instead. Well, he'd just have to report 
that back. Taking one last look at the Evangelions, he 
turned and began walking out of the cage area. As he 
did, he pulled out a cell phone and pressed a speed 
dial button. 

"Hello, this is Ryouji Kaji of the Department of Inquiry. 
I'd like to speak with someone regarding Gendou Ikari..."

--------------------
Author's Blather:
Ah, hello mina-san! Well, I'm very glad to say that NGE:D 
is coming along quite nicely. For my first time working 
with the series, that is. Now I understand why there are so 
many more Ranma and Sailor Moon fanfics than NGE--you 
don't get yelled at as much if you get a character OOC. 
Besides, the Ranma and SM chars. are much more 
malleable and easier to work with. I mean, if you had a 
choice, would you rather work with Ranma or Ayanami? 
Ah me, whatever. Anyway, I'd like to remind everybody 
that this series is supposed to happen sometime after 
episode 18. The only things changed are that: a)Unit 04 and 
the Second Branch in America don't disappear, b)Touji is not 
picked as the Fourth Child, and c)Bardiel doesn't invade Unit 
03. Easy as pie. I'm kind of glad I decided to move it up some 
in the timeline (it was originally going to happen after episode 
12, but...eh). Ah, yes, before I forget, Neon Genesis (Shin 
Seiki) Evangelion belong to GAINAX, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, 
Kadokawa Comics, NAS/TV Tokyo, Viz Comics, and ADV 
Films. Please do not sue me, I need the money for my Dr. 
Pepper and Altoid addiction. I'll be back next month with 
Chapter 3. Heck, maybe I'll have it up in less than a month. I'm 
in a really good mood so, who knows? Ja, matta ne, mina-san!

You got something ta' say?
E-mail: EVAsuka_02@hotmail.com

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Coming Soon from
The List of The Demented Productions:
Neon Genesis Evangelion; Doppelganger
Chapter 3: Family Ties
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"I feel the presence of someone who is not me. Who is there, 
beyond me here? Shinji?"
~ Rei Ayanami
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