So, around 2010, a bunch of people on the Spacebattles forum came up with a neat little idea based on a simple question: "What if, when the Angels are killed, they become literal Shoulder Angels and haunt the pilots?"

A thread was made (the link for which can be found on my profile) and the whole concept took on a life on its own. It had a good run, hell, a great one I'd say, but eventually interest waned and the whole thing somewhat petered off. That's just the way things go.

That is, unless some poor shmuck gets overwhelmed with nostalgia and decides to embark on the unenviable task of trying to make a coherent plot out of the whole mess. Like that would ever happen, right?

Right?

Somewhere deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, a would-be god was hatching.

An orange egg the size of a two-story house, firmly nestled beneath layers of grime and earth, slowly pulsed with light. The nightmarish menagerie of deep-sea life that dwelt near the egg gave no attention to it, being mostly made up of blind creatures. What did disturb them, however, was when the egg began to tremble, shaking loose fifteen years-worth of collected detritus and sending any nearby creatures darting away, terrified by the sudden change. The egg continued to shudder and, if one looked closely, one could see a dark mass squirming within.

Then one would mostly likely be disturbed because the thing within looked a tad too much like a human fetus.

The smooth surface of the egg began to crack, followed by a (relatively) tiny pink spike poking its way out. Once it broke through, an overbearing light encompassed the egg, its form losing all cohesion as the thing within burst through and took shape.

The first distinguishable feature was a red orb, roughly the same size as the now-dissipated egg. The orb glowed, and around it an immense figure took shape. Standing nearly two-hundred feet tall on spindly legs, the creature stepped onto the ocean floor, its tri-symmetrical hands bracing it in the muck. Most of its skin was a dark green, almost slimy, with bony plates forming along its shoulders and rib cage. The rib armor partially covered the red orb, whose light dimmed once the creature's shape solidified. With a bird-like and bony face, it looked up.

Exalting in its birth, the would-be god began plotting grand designs and schemes, no doubt reveling in its newfound power and-

Hey, I was TOTALLY supposed to have wings! I waited fifteen-frickin-years for wings and what do I get? BUBKIS!

Or not.

Whatever, the Angel thought as it stood to its full height. It looks like I'm first anyway, so I guess that's fine. Sooooo where you at, Pops?

Expanding the Light of its Soul outward, it began its search. And what it found was…

Holy crapbaskets, there's TRILLIONS of Lights out there! All from the Black Seed, too. Hrm. That'll be an issue. Oh well, they'll all get wiped out in my new world order and everything will be peachy-keen!

After a few more minutes of scanning the globe, it finally found a Light that set itself apart from the others. Unlike the rest, the Light felt… ancient, like its Soul had existed for eternity. And that could only mean one thing.

Welp, if that's not a Progenitor then I'm a… The Angel paused. Uh… something that isn't me. Ugh. Good thing there's no one here to hear these bad jokes.

Good thing, indeed.

Anyway! Time to pay Pops a visit! With a push from its legs, boosted by the Light of its Soul, the Angel launched upward. The darkness of the deep ocean quickly began to fade, giving way to blue.

Alright world, here comes Sachiel! Hope you're ready for me!

Unbeknownst to it, they most certainly were. Every AT-field sensor in the Pacific blared in warning, startling and scaring everyone who was managing them. The news spread like wildfire, eventually reaching a certain orange-spectacled man in the Geofront, who smirked behind his gloved fingers.

The Third Angel had come.

-0-

Little Angel Thesis

By: luckychaos

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion and all related properties belong to Hideaki Anno and Studio Gainax. A lot of the material was also developed by various people on the Spacebattles forums.

-0-

"COME."

That was all his father sent him. Okay, maybe there was more to it, but everything was censored out, so it might as well have not mattered! After three-frickin-years of nothing! Where'd he get off like that, ordering the son he'd abandoned to go to Tokyo-3 out of the blue. His father could kiss his ass for all he cared!

At least, that's what most people who weren't Shinji Ikari would think. Instead, the youngest male of the Ikari clan jumped at the call to see his father again, even if he wasn't really sure why. Perhaps there was a chance they could be a family again. Father did everything for a reason, didn't he?

Another not insignificant factor in his decision was the photograph that was included with Father's letter. On it was an extremely attractive twenty-something woman leaning forward suggestively, giving Shinji a nice view of her 'assets'. In case he'd somehow missed that, a super-helpful arrow pointing to her cleavage was drawn on, apparently by the same woman.

This woman, a Misato Katsuragi, was supposedly the one picking him up. Well, considering she'd already gotten Shinji "up" in one way, he decided he didn't take much issue with that.

Clutching the photo in his hand, Shinji sighed and leaned back in his train seat. Maybe something interesting would happen when he got to Tokyo-3. That'd be neat.

-0-

Sachiel waded towards the shore confused as all hell.

Okay… I see tons of Lilim, but they're not even using their Souls' Lights! They have 'em, I can feel it, so why aren't they doing anything with 'em? Are they really that weak?

He would've continued his inner line of thought if not for the barrage of missiles and shells being launched from the tanks and warships before him.

Hey! Cut that out! Sachiel raised his long arms to shield himself as explosions smashed against the Light of his Soul. Seriously, is this all you can do? Lemme show ya how us White Mooners do things.

After quite unnecessarily cracking his knuckles, his eyes flared with blinding light. Warships and tanks alike were torn asunder by the cross beams. And just like that, all was silence. If he could have, Sachiel would've sighed as he finally reached the shore.

Worst. War for Complementation. Ever.

-0-

Worst. Family Reunion. Ever.

Shinji groaned at the phone, which was still uselessly droning on about the "State of Emergency." First the train was stopped, then he had to spend a whole twenty minutes searching for a public phone because his uncle couldn't afford a cell phone for him, and then of course the phone lines weren't working!

What the hell was the "State of Emergency" for, anyway? It didn't look like there was anything…

A giant bird-lizard thing strode into the town.

…Oh. What.

-0-

Okay, you know what? I'll be the bigger man, here. Literally, because I'm bigger than all of you! Get it? …Oh, you can't hear me, can you? Oh well, I'll keep pretending that you can, that way I'll feel less…

Ahem. Anyway, I'm toning down my Soul's Light, just to make things more even for us, cool? Cool.

Right as he did, two missiles firmly rammed themselves into his face.

OW! Okay, I was just trying to be-OW WHERE DO YOU GET ALL THESE STUPID THINGS!

More missiles followed, joined in by the swarm of VTOLs buzzing around the Angel. A constant stream of bullets flew from beneath their wings, peppering Sachiel's slick green hide.

THAT DOES IT!

The bony spike jutting from his right elbow glowed along with the core in his chest. He raised his palm towards one of the VTOLs, which quickly got on the receiving end of his lance. As the damaged aircraft crashed to the earth, another missile flew at him, which he easily intercepted and tore to shreds with one three-fingered hand.

You know what? Getting hurt sucks, so I'm just gonna raise up my barrier until I meet up with Dad.

-0-

Far away from the Third Angel, an order was given. Closer to the Third Angel, as well as a certain Third Child and Captain, the order was carried out.

-0-

Yeah, that's right, you better run! You're all a bunch of wusses anyway! Go and cry back to your Black Progenitor!

It was at that point that Sachiel stepped on something. Curious, he leaned down to get a better look at it.

Huh, why'd they leave this behi-

Suddenly, fire!

OH SWEET DAD WHY IS EVERYTHING SUDDENLY FIRE AND SUFFERING AHHHHH!

-0-

Shinji Ikari was wondering a similar thing at the same time. At first, he was quite enjoying the view Miss Katsuragi was giving him of her boobs, even if it might've been accidental. She even threw herself at him, wrapping him up in her oh so sweet and rockin' hot bod.

But then the explosion happened, therefore preventing the poor hormonal fourteen-year-old boy from adequately enjoying the situation. While explosions can certainly make many occasions better, this was sadly not one such occasion.

-0-

Ugh… what happened?

Oh, right. The fire and suffering. Owwwwww. It hurts to move and… did you guys break my face?! Seriously?! I need to make a new one now, you asses!

He spied a lone Lilim drone buzzing annoying high above him. A flash of his eyes and it was ash.

You know what, screw you guys! Once I reunite with Dad I'm gonna wipe your stupid species off the face of the planet!

-0-

Hours later, Shinji was in a long, cylindrical object being shoved into a hole.

The… what had the doctor called it? Entry plug? Whatever it was, it was filled with weird orange water that smelled a little too much like blood for Shinji's taste.

"Not that it really matters what I think," Shinji muttered bitterly at no one in particular.

All his father wanted him for was just to pilot a giant robot. That's supposed to be awesome! Who wouldn't want to suddenly become the hero of some epic battle between good and evil? Hell, he didn't even have to do anything to earn it! It was the ultimate power fantasy!

So why did it not feel right?

He saw for himself how powerful that thing out there was. Not even an N2 mine could kill it. What chance did a normal fourteen-year-old kid with no training whatsoever have against something like that?

Shinji's hands balled into fists. He was being sent out there to die and he knew it. He lived a boring life with no father, no fun, no friends… He never even got to kiss a girl. A bitter tear fell down his cheek, eventually dissolving into the LCL.

Such things were not for him, it seemed.

-0-

About… freakin'… time.

After over two hours of healing, Sachiel had finally reached the area where he sensed the Light of the Progenitor's Soul. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure it was his dad, but in his quest for Complementation he stubbornly refused to consider any other theory.

He strode into the city, which was mercifully free of the Lilim and their bothersome toys. He'd blasted open a hole in the center earlier, directly above a spot deep below the earth where he pinpointed the White Progenitor's location.

I'm finally gonna see you again, Dad. It sucks that the others can't come, though... And it would've been nice to have, I dunno, a friend or something while I could still be an individual.

Sachiel's new bone mask drooped slightly, the closest the Third Angel could come to outwardly emoting. He shook himself of such thoughts and continued onward.

Until part of the street he was on opened up, revealing a giant clad in purple and green.

Really now? You Lilim have been holding out on me! I didn't know you guys had something like that!

The purple giant slumped slightly, more of its visage becoming visible by the street lights. Sachiel peered closer to get a better look.

And dayuuuuuum is she hot! Hey babe, let's say you ditch your stinky Lilim friends and hook up with me instead? I'll even put a good word in with my Dad when we begin Complementation! Who knows, we might even cut you a slice of the new world order pie, yaknowwhatImsayin?

Evidently it did not, as it took one step and fell face-first to the ground.

… Maybe not. Oh well, I hate to do this, but I can't just leave you be. You're the only thing around I've seen so far that's even close to what I am, so who knows what tricks you might got up your sleeve.

Sachiel picked up the giant, which flopped limply in the Angel's grip. With one hand holding the purple chick's head and the other gripping her arm, he began to pull.

It's kinda funny, actually. Aren't you Lilim supposed to have the Fruit of Knowledge? You see what this 'knowledge' crap gets ya?

One sickening crunch later, the newly-lame limb fell.

Bubkis, that's what.

He called forth his lance, the great force of which began ramming into the giant's horned face.

Ab-

BAM!

-solute…

BAM!

… bubkis!

The lance pierced through her skull, sending her plated body crashing into a building. Thick torrents of blood gushed out of the gaping wounds in her bowed head.

Dad dammit, this isn't fun at all. I really am sorry, babe. I gotta get Complementation, otherwise how else are we supposed to stop being alone? You understand, don't ya?

In response, the giant's only visible eye flashed brilliantly. The beast within raised its horned head and roared with a fury that gave Sachiel pause.

Uhhhhh is that supposed to happen?

The giant hunched down and then-

Hey what're you doing in my face?! How did you even MOVE like that?!

Sachiel struggled under the weight of the suddenly-competent hottie in purple armor, trying to match her strength with his.

Will… you… get… OFF!

With a mighty heave he managed to push her off, but he barely had enough time to manifest the Light of his Soul to ward off her near-instant retaliation.

There! Holy Dad, you are a tough cookie, but good luck breaking through… Oh. You broke through. Well then, have some BLAMMY!

Sachiel's eyes flashed and the purple giant was engulfed in fiery light.

That's right, suck it! Nothing you Lilim have has been able to beat muh lasers so far, especially at such a close range! How do you like that?!

When the cross beams dissipated, the giant still stood, growling like a feral beast.

I see that you didn't like that. Granted, I would've prefer-HEY WHAT'RE YOU DOING WITH MY ARMS!

CRUNCH!

OW OW OW! OH THE IRONY!

A swift kick right in the chest sent the Angel reeling backward, his giant frame colliding into another building.

Okay, I get it. You're doing the same stuff I did too, which is totally understandable. Now you've had your fun, so how's about we call it a tie here and-

She slammed into him, sending the both of them, building included, sliding across the streets. When they stopped, she reached for his rib cage.

Hey now, we just met, so let's not rueeeEEEEOOWWWWWW! BITCH!

With a freshly-ripped shard of bony rib plate, the giant glared hungrily at his core. She slammed downward on it with her makeshift weapon over and over again, until finally it cracked. Panic rising, Sachiel screeched and rushed to envelop her with his body.

You drove me to this, I'll have you know! Hopefully this won't completely destroy my body. I just need to properly apply the Light of my Soul so that it only makes me mostly dead…

Which I can't do, because my core's all broke. Awesome. Wait, I'm about to actually die! ABORT ABORT ABORT!

With a poorly thought-out tactic, the Third Angel self-destructed, evaporated all of its physical remains from existence.

Key word here being "physical."

-0-

A tiny figure sat in the ruins of a building, staring at the purple giant. It had been still since the battle ended, with no sign of movement outside of the side the helmet falling off. Eventually, Lilim began to appear on the streets, maneuvering vehicles and equipment around the towering purple beast.

After a while, a cylindrical object was removed from between the shoulder blades. The tiny figure raised an eyebrow on his stylized face when he saw a smaller Lilim, probably an adolescent, exit said object.

"So was I actually fighting that kid instead of her?" mused the ghost of Sachiel aloud. "I could've sworn I was fighting only one soul…"

The implications of that were… interesting.

The gears in his incorporeal mind began to roll. With a determined look on his bird-like face, he began to follow the boy around. No one noticed him as he did so.

-0-

Shinji Ikari was not having a good time. After Misato had told him he had done a "good thing," he was lying in bed staring up at yet another unfamiliar ceiling.

He'd felt his arm break! It was as real as anything he'd ever felt! Yet there it was, still intact and completely not-broken. And then the awful, awful agony of that thing shoved that spear through his face! Why were his brains not dashed across the entry plug?! Why would you even make it so the pilots feel the Eva's pain?! It made NO SENSE!

"I hate this," Shinji muttered softly, tears starting to form in his blue eyes. "I hate this so much."

"Why would you say that? You were kickass out there!"

For a moment there, Shinji forgot how to breathe. With wide eyes, he turned sssslllloooowwwwllllyyyy to his side to find…

A six-inch version of the Third Angel, although it wasn't an exact copy, was hovering over his shoulder. Its head was much bigger in proportion to the rest of its body and its body was partially transparent. Still, it couldn't be denied that it was the same thing he'd killed just days ago!

"Oh god please don't kill me!" Shinji squealed, raising up his arms to defend himself.

"Shush!" the Third Angel quickly said, darting in front of Shinji's face. "I'm not gonna kill you! You already kinda killed me, so what's the point?"

Shinji blinked, hysteria briefly pushed aside by confusion. "Um… what?"

"Look, I don't really know the specifics," Sachiel sighed, "For some reason, my body was killed but my Soul wasn't. Instead I think it somehow latched onto the thing that killed me. Maybe it was self-preservation, but that doesn't really make much sense, considering I'm already, ya know, dead."

"So…" Shinji slowly started, after a pause. "You really are that Angel from a couple days ago?"

"Yup! Sachiel, Covering of God and Angel of Water, at your service!" declared the Angel with a flourish.

Shinji gulped, unsure of how to proceed. This thing wasn't acting hostile, but it all could some ploy to gain his trust. Maybe the best way to go about it was to try and figure out what it wanted. Maybe later, he could tell Misato or Doctor Akagi about it and see what they did about it.

If they believed him, at any rate.

Still, Shinji surprised himself with how well he was taking it, considering. Then again, he was forced to pilot a giant robot that wasn't really a robot and saw the hideous thing beneath the armor. Maybe being haunted by the ghost of a monster wasn't too weird.

"Um… what do you want from me?" he asked shakily.

Sachiel shrugged his petite shoulders, floating down to flop on the bed next to Shinji. "Well, originally I wanted to achieve Complementation with my Progenitor, but it looks like you Lilim got me good. Since my body was destroyed, I'm pretty much out of this race."

"Wait, what? Complementation? What's that? And what were those other words, Progeni-what or something?"

Sachiel stared bug-eyed at the boy that towered over him.

"Seriously? I thought you guys knew about that. You know, Complementation, the end goal that all Seed-based life strive for? Ensuring that your species ends up the one on top by challenging and defeating the others? Ringing any bells?"

Shinji shook his head, frowning. "Sorry, I don't anything about that. As far as I know, we're only fighting Angels for survival."

"Makes sense, I guess. It seems like you Lilim are top dog already, anyway."

"Lilim?"

"Oh come on, do you not even know who your Progenitor is?! What kind of education are you giving to your kids?! You are all born of Lilith, therefore you are all Lilim. Simple stuff here, dude."

The boy shrunk back, even though he was talking to something barely the size of his foot. "I'm sorry; I don't know anything about stuff like that."

Sachiel raised an eyebrow at him. "No need to get so defensive, dude. I'm just shocked you guys are so uninformed is all, nothing against you personally."

"O-okay."

A few moments of awkward silence ensued. Until Shinji coughed and hesitantly asked, "So, if you really can't do that Complementation thing now, what do you want?"

"Eh, I thought I'd chill with you for a while."

"R-really? Why me? I'm no good…"

"What?!" Sachiel shouted, zipping back up into Shinji's face. "What're you saying that crap before? You utterly DESTROYED me earlier and you came out unscathed! Sure I broke your freaking sexy toy a little bit, but you came strong and romped me good!"

"I… um… wha-" Shinji sputtered at the praise. "Wait… sexy?! How is Unit 01 sexy?!"

"You can't choose the ones you love," Sachiel declared in his most overly-dramatic voice, before changing back to a more serious tone. "Look, that doesn't matter right now. Don't go talking down on yourself, alright? You seem like a pretty cool guy to me, and I won't hear you say otherwise."

"Um… o-okay," was all Shinji could manage, unsure of how to feel.

"So… do you mind if I hang around you for a while?" Sachiel asked, for the first time sounding unsure. He extended a petite tri-symmetrical hand towards the boy.

Shinji couldn't help but wonder at the absurdity of the situation. Here was the ghost of the giant monster that nearly killed him and made him suffer horrible pain, now asking to be his friend. Any right-thinking person would turn the thing down and wave the whole situation off as some weird sort of PTSD-fueled hallucination.

But… the lonely boy in him reveled at the chance at finally having someone to call his friend, even if it was a potentially-imaginary undead alien. Maybe, Shinji thought, he's just as lonely as I am.

Shinji nodded and raised a finger to meet Sachiel's hand. Three teeny claws grasped his finger and the two shook.

For the first time in history, a descendent of a White Progenitor and a descendent of a Black Progenitor accepted one another.

"So what's your name, kiddo?" asked Sachiel, after resting himself on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm Shinji Ikari," he answered, "And you're… Sachiel, right?"

The little Angel nodded. "Damn straight. Say, I've been wondering," he pointed at a large, oddly shaped case in the corner. "What's that for? It looks kinda funny."

"Oh, that's my cello."

"Eh?"

"It's an instrument that makes music."

Sachiel shrugged, a confused expression on his face. "Music? I dunno what you're talking about."

Shinji's eyes bulged. "You don't know what music is?!"

"How would I? I was alive for barely a day!"

"Oh, right," Shinji wilted. "Sorry about that."

"Meh, I lost fair and square, don't apologize for that. Wanna show me what this music thing is?"

"You… You actually want to hear me play?" A surge of excitement fluttered in Shinji's chest. No one besides his teacher had ever asked him to play before.

"Sure! I'm curious now."

"Well…" Shinji glanced nervously at the door. "Misato's trying to sleep, so I probably shouldn't. It'd wake her up."

"Ah, so music has to do with sound?"

Shinji nodded.

"Damn shame," Sachiel said, "Oh well, we can do it later."

A thought occurred to Shinji. "Actually, I have another way you can listen to some music." He picked up his SDAT player from the floor, offering it to the little Angel. Sachiel eagerly grabbed it, grunting as he tried to get a good hold of an object roughly the same size as him.

"So does this plastic thingy make music, too?" asked Sachiel, "But if something this small can make music, why would you need something big like that cello?"

"They do different things," Shinji explained, "Here, put in these ear buds… wait, do you even have ears?"

The ear buds popped into the sides of Sachiel's head. "Looks like I do! So what now?"

"Now, I press play." Shinji did so.

For a few seconds, Sachiel was still. Then his eyes widened slightly and a wide grin crossed his face. The little Angel hovered lazily off Shinji's shoulder, drifting and swaying to the tune of the music.

Sachiel's joy was infectious, the sight of which made Shinji smile. He thought it would've been a long shot to find another appreciator of classical music in the ghostly alien, but luckily that didn't seem to be the case. It belatedly occurred to him that he'd just shared the only real keepsake he had from his father, the one connection to a family that could've been and what allowed him to escape this cruel world. The idea should've horrified him, and yet…

"This is absolutely beautiful!" Sachiel squealed in delight. "You Lilim really make this?"

"Yeah," Shinji breathed, "His name was Bach."

For the first time in a very, very long time, Shinji didn't feel alone. And all it had taken was the undead apparition of a bird-lizard alien that had tried to kill him.

-0-

Thousands of miles away, a father stirred.

My son… was that you? I thought I could see your Light, but it's so, so cold and so, so dark here…

I can't see you anymore. Where have you gone? I miss you so much. I miss all of you, so, so much. Why can't we be together? I can't… remember…