*I had to repost this story, since something seems to have screwed up when I uploaded it the first time. That means I've lost the reviews. Sorry, you guys. Feel free to submit new ones, though.*
Disclaimer:
Life, the Universe and Everything (C) God.
This is something I thought I'd never do.
But without further ado, here's...
---
Sacrificial Intentions
---
There was a thud as the heavy locks slid open. Then light fell in through the door and illuminated the dark cell. Outlined by the light, standing in the doorway, was a woman in a uniform. She looked down upon the sole occupant of the cell. A young man, sitting on the bunk, leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were closed, and the shadow of a smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.
There was silence for a moment. Then the woman said:
"Wake up."
The man's only reaction was a smile, the grin of a predator.
"I am already awake," he said, eyes still closed. "major Katsuragi."
Misato didn't bother to ask how he knew her name. Although the gesture was futile in the darkness of the cell, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She instinctively disliked the man, even though she had never seen him before.
"Who do you work for?" she asked.
"Oh, major, is this an interrogation?" the man asked, mock amusement in his voice. "I thought you would send some Section Two goon for that."
Misato gritted her teeth.
"Just answer the question."
"Who do I work for?" The mocking tone was still there. "The Yakuza? The UN? The Japanese government? The lost American branch? SELEE? I could work for anyone of those. But maybe..." His eyes snapped open, and Misato found herself staring into strange, brown-green irises. "...I work for no-one but myself." The man grinned his unnerving grin again.
"You kidnapped one of our pilots. Why?"
"What you should ask, major, is why that particular pilot, and why at that particular moment? How is the First Child doing, by the way?"
"The First Child..." Misato almost growled. She knew that the last battle had left Rei with no physical injuries, but other than that, she had no idea. Rei was being kept isolated, the only ones allowed to see her being Ritsuko and a few select doctors. There was talk of mental contamination. "...is doing quite fine. Don't change the subject."
"I think you're lying to me, major. How did you defeat the Angel? Did the commander lift the freeze on Unit 01? Had Shinji bring out the lance? Hm?"
Misato blinked in surprise. Yes, that was exactly what had happened. With Asuka gone, Rei had been sent out alone to deal with the Angel in long-range combat. Unit 01 was to be kept in stasis. But as the Angel had engaged its mental assault of Unit 00 and its pilot, commander Ikari had suddenly removed the lockdown and sent a half-panicked Shinji to retrieve something called the Lance of Longius. The strange weapon had managed to kill the Angel. But how did this man know?
"Answer the question." she said, trying to hide her shock.
"I'll answer your question with one of my own." the man said, smiling in a way that sent chills down the major's back. "What if you could have Rei and Asuka switch places? Have Rei in debriefing, and Asuka down in the mental ward? Make Asuka the target of the Angel's attack? Would you do it? Have Rei back to normal, but Asuka turned into a sobbing wreck?"
"I..." Misato started, but the man went on.
"Which one of them is worth the most to you, major? Which one would you have sacrificed?"
"Shut up!" the major snapped. "Asuka would have been assigned backup! She would have been outside the Angel's attack range! It's..!" Misato caught a hold of herself. She had wanted to say 'It's your fault she wasn't there to save Rei!' But she couldn't afford to get emotional right now. This man was intentionally trying to get her angry. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she instead said: "It's an irrelevant speculation."
"Is it?" Suddenly the man was on his feet and standing way to close for comfort. "She should have been assigned backup. But would she have been?" he hissed into her ear. "Her synch ratio has been dropping. Shinji is constantly outperforming her. What if she needed to prove herself?"
"Back off!" Misato hissed back, her pistol poking into the man's ribs. He seemed to ignore her, though.
"What if she had gone out there, taking point? You know her past, could she have handled what the Angel would have shown her? Could you have comforted her afterwards?"
Misato had heard enough. She punched the man in the stomach. As he stumbled backwards she kicked him hard enough to send him reeling across the room. He hit the wall and slumped to the floor.
"You think you did Asuka a favour by kidnapping her?!" she shouted, having finally lost her temper.
"I don't think." the man whispered, the predatory grin still on his face. "I know."
"You know?" Misato snarled. She stared at the man for a second, then spun around, intent on leaving. "You know nothing."
"I know what Kaji died for."
Misato froze in the doorway.
"I know how the world ends." There was dark glee in the man's voice. "I know how you die, major."
Misato stepped out, slammed the door shut, and walked away with quick steps. She wasn't running from him. She wasn't running from him. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she had just had a conversation with Hannibal Lecter. No, this was absurd. He didn't know anything. He was just putting on a show, making guesses from rumours he had heard. He was just a psycho who had taken advantage of a temporary lapse in security, and managed to kidnap a pilot. Nothing more.
She tried to ignore the fact that he had never made any demands, or that he had released Asuka the minute the Angel attack was over.
The entire idea was absurd. Asuka would never have been a target for the Angel anyway.
Would she?
---
Author's notes:
Well, there it is. I never thought I'd do an SI, but this scene just popped into my head, and I couldn't chase it away. Ever since I saw the series, I've had this feeling that the last episodes wouldn't be half as depressing if you could just spare Asuka from the 15th Angel (Not that the depressing part is necessarily bad, mind you), and if I was given the opportunity to change one single thing that would make life better for the main characters, that would be it.
But as I wrote this, I started thinking about the implications of actually doing something like that. How would it change the series? Would it really get any brighter? If Rei was the target of the mental assault instead, how would that affect her? It might very well have changed the entire Third Impact into something altogether more disturbing.
Oh, well. Speculations, speculations...
And, yes, that Hannibal Lecter character is my Mary Sue >:)
-F
Life, the Universe and Everything (C) God.
This is something I thought I'd never do.
But without further ado, here's...
---
Sacrificial Intentions
---
There was a thud as the heavy locks slid open. Then light fell in through the door and illuminated the dark cell. Outlined by the light, standing in the doorway, was a woman in a uniform. She looked down upon the sole occupant of the cell. A young man, sitting on the bunk, leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were closed, and the shadow of a smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.
There was silence for a moment. Then the woman said:
"Wake up."
The man's only reaction was a smile, the grin of a predator.
"I am already awake," he said, eyes still closed. "major Katsuragi."
Misato didn't bother to ask how he knew her name. Although the gesture was futile in the darkness of the cell, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She instinctively disliked the man, even though she had never seen him before.
"Who do you work for?" she asked.
"Oh, major, is this an interrogation?" the man asked, mock amusement in his voice. "I thought you would send some Section Two goon for that."
Misato gritted her teeth.
"Just answer the question."
"Who do I work for?" The mocking tone was still there. "The Yakuza? The UN? The Japanese government? The lost American branch? SELEE? I could work for anyone of those. But maybe..." His eyes snapped open, and Misato found herself staring into strange, brown-green irises. "...I work for no-one but myself." The man grinned his unnerving grin again.
"You kidnapped one of our pilots. Why?"
"What you should ask, major, is why that particular pilot, and why at that particular moment? How is the First Child doing, by the way?"
"The First Child..." Misato almost growled. She knew that the last battle had left Rei with no physical injuries, but other than that, she had no idea. Rei was being kept isolated, the only ones allowed to see her being Ritsuko and a few select doctors. There was talk of mental contamination. "...is doing quite fine. Don't change the subject."
"I think you're lying to me, major. How did you defeat the Angel? Did the commander lift the freeze on Unit 01? Had Shinji bring out the lance? Hm?"
Misato blinked in surprise. Yes, that was exactly what had happened. With Asuka gone, Rei had been sent out alone to deal with the Angel in long-range combat. Unit 01 was to be kept in stasis. But as the Angel had engaged its mental assault of Unit 00 and its pilot, commander Ikari had suddenly removed the lockdown and sent a half-panicked Shinji to retrieve something called the Lance of Longius. The strange weapon had managed to kill the Angel. But how did this man know?
"Answer the question." she said, trying to hide her shock.
"I'll answer your question with one of my own." the man said, smiling in a way that sent chills down the major's back. "What if you could have Rei and Asuka switch places? Have Rei in debriefing, and Asuka down in the mental ward? Make Asuka the target of the Angel's attack? Would you do it? Have Rei back to normal, but Asuka turned into a sobbing wreck?"
"I..." Misato started, but the man went on.
"Which one of them is worth the most to you, major? Which one would you have sacrificed?"
"Shut up!" the major snapped. "Asuka would have been assigned backup! She would have been outside the Angel's attack range! It's..!" Misato caught a hold of herself. She had wanted to say 'It's your fault she wasn't there to save Rei!' But she couldn't afford to get emotional right now. This man was intentionally trying to get her angry. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she instead said: "It's an irrelevant speculation."
"Is it?" Suddenly the man was on his feet and standing way to close for comfort. "She should have been assigned backup. But would she have been?" he hissed into her ear. "Her synch ratio has been dropping. Shinji is constantly outperforming her. What if she needed to prove herself?"
"Back off!" Misato hissed back, her pistol poking into the man's ribs. He seemed to ignore her, though.
"What if she had gone out there, taking point? You know her past, could she have handled what the Angel would have shown her? Could you have comforted her afterwards?"
Misato had heard enough. She punched the man in the stomach. As he stumbled backwards she kicked him hard enough to send him reeling across the room. He hit the wall and slumped to the floor.
"You think you did Asuka a favour by kidnapping her?!" she shouted, having finally lost her temper.
"I don't think." the man whispered, the predatory grin still on his face. "I know."
"You know?" Misato snarled. She stared at the man for a second, then spun around, intent on leaving. "You know nothing."
"I know what Kaji died for."
Misato froze in the doorway.
"I know how the world ends." There was dark glee in the man's voice. "I know how you die, major."
Misato stepped out, slammed the door shut, and walked away with quick steps. She wasn't running from him. She wasn't running from him. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she had just had a conversation with Hannibal Lecter. No, this was absurd. He didn't know anything. He was just putting on a show, making guesses from rumours he had heard. He was just a psycho who had taken advantage of a temporary lapse in security, and managed to kidnap a pilot. Nothing more.
She tried to ignore the fact that he had never made any demands, or that he had released Asuka the minute the Angel attack was over.
The entire idea was absurd. Asuka would never have been a target for the Angel anyway.
Would she?
---
Author's notes:
Well, there it is. I never thought I'd do an SI, but this scene just popped into my head, and I couldn't chase it away. Ever since I saw the series, I've had this feeling that the last episodes wouldn't be half as depressing if you could just spare Asuka from the 15th Angel (Not that the depressing part is necessarily bad, mind you), and if I was given the opportunity to change one single thing that would make life better for the main characters, that would be it.
But as I wrote this, I started thinking about the implications of actually doing something like that. How would it change the series? Would it really get any brighter? If Rei was the target of the mental assault instead, how would that affect her? It might very well have changed the entire Third Impact into something altogether more disturbing.
Oh, well. Speculations, speculations...
And, yes, that Hannibal Lecter character is my Mary Sue >:)
-F