Neon Genesis Evangelion

THE Alternate Retelling TRUE END

Beta Chapter

Descending into the depths of NERV, Commander Gendo Ikari had arrived at the deepest level – Terminal Dogma. In front of him stood Rei Ayanami.

"Rei... It's time."

"..."

"Rei—"

Gendo had started to say as he reached his hand outward towards Rei...however...

"No!" Rei suddenly shouted with emotion in her voice. Simultaneously, an AT Field resonated around her body which grabbed, twisted, and shattered Gendo's arm like that of a twig. The sick blood curdling sounds which followed as Gendo's hand was absolutely obliterated into a mass of thick, murky red and white matter...

"Gah..." Gendo grunted in pain as he retracted his arm – what was left of it – holding it close to his torso, "Rei...Why?"

"Because... I am not yours to control... I am the last...There were those before me who may have listened to you without a second thought. There were those before me who would've died for you without a second thought. I... am not like them. I have a conscious which expands far and beyond that of a single vessel. I am no mere container-no vessel for your 'desire's'... I AM Rei Ayanami."

"...I see..." Gendo lets his mangled arm down and adjusts his glasses with his good hand, "...Then our existence is indeed doomed..."

"You're merely delusional, Commander Ikari... What you want is to return to Yui. That is, in essence, what SEELE wants. They desire human instrumentality. You implanted Adam into your hand, thus assimilating yourself to Adam... If you assimilate Adam into my being... there is of no doubt that Third Impact will inevitably occur...Third Impact will be the finality of mankind as we are now... To that end... I shall not allow you to place Adam inside me. I will not be the vessel of Adam nor the vessel of Yui or anyone for that matter... I am Rei Ayanami, I live, therefore I am... my own soul. Neither you, nor SEELE, nor anyone can take from me my existence." Rei declares pointing at Gendo, "I will live in this world, with these people... Human Instrumentality... Third Impact... will never happen. Yui is dead, Commander Ikari... you need to accept that."

"...I already have...it seems that in my inability to love myself has only caused trouble for those around me after her death... even Shinji... I suppose this is an acceptable fate... Rei... If you won't allow me to return to Yui through you...then..."

"You needed ask... I will grant that final request..."

All remained still in terminal dogma...amidst the pool of LCL which surrounded the platform on which they stood... in the moments following, blood would rain down and pour into the LCL pool...

Meanwhile...running down a corridor within NERV headquarters, Kei and Ren led the way with Shinji and Asuka in tow. Suddenly, gun fire opened up from the SEELE special soldiers whom had infiltrated. Deflecting an array of bullets with his katana, Kei then removed an Uzi from behind his back belt and opened fire, taking down one of the guards. In following, they dove into the near by corridor to their left to duck and cover from the onslaught of bullets being shot their way...

"There's only a few guards left in that group... what should we do?" Asuka asked.

"...We're not exactly equipped to fend them all off at once... and not to mention I'm out of bullets," Kei assessed, throwing his Uzi 9mm to the floor beside him.

"...We will have to create a diversion," Ren added, standing up as she brandished her katana.

"But...if you rush out there...you'll die..." Shinji replied with concern.

"...And if I do nothing, we all die. They won't wait long, once they realize we are out of a means to fight back...they will storm down here and shoot us dead."

"Ren's right..." Kei interjected, as he slowly pulled himself to his feet, wincing.

"Y-you're hurt!" Asuka exclaimed.

"...It's just a scratch, nothing too bad... I've been hurt worse before...Now... we have to get you two to your Eva's... So..."

Before Kei could finish his sentence, the sound of shots could be heard in the distance. The confused state of the SEELE soldiers could be understood from their scattered shouting.

Misato ran down the hall firing rounds from her handgun. The first shot pierced the first soldiers helmet and into his brain case – killing him instantly. Her second shot hit it's mark too, through and through the second soldier's neck. He fell down and bleed out. The final soldier was hit with a high kick as Misato jumped through the air avoiding his panicked flurry shooting, slammed him against the metal corridor walls and shot him upward through his jaw up into his brain...

"Misato...?"

"We don't have a lot of time. The entire base is overrun. We have to get the children to their Eva's." Misato replied with much composure.

"...Yes, you're right." Kei answered.

Area 667 in NERV was the last section they had to navigate before they could hope to get Asuka and Shinji to the elevator that would take them to their Evangelions. This also happened to be the zone where SEELE had placed the bulk of it's special soldiers. Even more so, all throughout NERV, these SEELE specials were eliminating every NERV personnel they came into contact with. There was no mercy shown for even those that raised their arms in surrender. It was clear that SEELE had no plans to leave NERV to it's own devices any longer. NERV lifeline had been pulled and SEELE would see that it was terminated before the night fell... that was it's agenda...

Ren stood up, taking a few steps away from the others as she scoped the surroundings... below, there was a graveyard of all the failed Evangelion units that preceded Unit 00. She turned back towards the others, her back to the railing that separated her from the Eva graveyard below...

"This is where it all began. This was the original control center of Gehirn. Before the inception of NERV... this was the base of operations. The original birthplace of the Evangelion. Despite the numerous failings, this is where your Eva 01, Shinji, was born..."

"Born?"

"Yes, by now you have realized that each Evangelion possesses a soul. It is, after all, a living entity. The armor it wears is merely a shackle to keep the true BEAST at bay. However, with a capable pilot, the necessity for such shackling becomes irrelevant."

"The Eva is...alive?" Asuka muttered, "So...wonder girl had a point after all..."

"Enough of this we have too—" Ren stopped in mid-sentence, and then slowly placed her hand on her chest. The crimson color began to seep into her clothing. She staggered backwards, her eyes wide with shock.

"H-how...I...have the gift...to die...like this... It wasn't...supposed to be..."

"You misunderstand the true meaning of the Gift, Ren!" A voice shouted from the below, amidst the graveyard of Evangelions...

"Ritsuko?" Misato exclaimed.

"Ren!" Kei bolted to his feet towards Ren, however, he was too late. Ren's body fell over the railing, falling over 200 feet to the ground below. Where it hit with a sickening, blood curdling, bone breaking sound... to which all movement and life for that matter ceased...

Ritsuko lowered her rifle and set it between her legs. She sat on the remains of one of the failed Eva units, she brushed back her now natural dark brown hair and flicked a cigarette from her hand to the ground.

"How did you get out of the isolation ward?"

"Oh Misato... it was easy. SEELE let me out."

"SEELE... that name again..." Misato muttered, "So... you're in league with them, then?"

"Shouldn't that be a natural reasoning by this point, Misato? I don't really care what you do now. Send those children to their Eva's for all I care. My mission here is done."

"You bitch... why Ren? Why did you kill her!" Kei exclaimed, slamming his hands on the railing.

"Kurosawa... it's elementary really, Ren had planned to turn against SEELE.. and SEELE can't have it's own turning against them now can they? They contacted me while I was in the isolation ward and gave me an ultimatum – If I wanted to continue to live and see the outcome of Human Instrumentality... then, I would have to eliminate a certain traitor. That traitor was Ren. Well... now that that's out of the way. I suppose this is goodbye. And Misato, my dear friend, do take care. It would be a shame if you were unable to live to see the new future of mankind..."

Leaving the rifle where it was at, Ritsuko stood up and threw her lab coat over her shoulder and proceeded to simply walk away.

"Ritsuko!" Misato shouted, aiming her gun at her from above.

"...What are you going to shoot me? You do know that Ren was the one who killed Kaji, right?"

"W-what?"

Misato could no longer hold her gun steady, to which she eventually lowered it entirely...

"I knew you'd understand... Good bye, Misato."

And those were the last words Misato would hear from Ritsuko...before Ritsuko would vanish into the darkness and out of sight...

In silence, Misato and Kei walked slowly towards the far end of the walkway. Shinji and Asuka followed in silence as well...

Outside, the 9 Evangelion Units which comprised the rest of the Eva Series had completed circling around Evangelion Unit 03. In succession, they would land, each then would retract it's vulture like wings into it's back. The white framed units each possessed a rather uncanny and unsettling smile, like that of a joker.

"Koji, can you hear me? It's Misato."

"Yeah I can hear you."

"I heard from Maya... they rolled out the rest of the Eva Series... We still have to get Shinji and Asuka to their Eva's...so...for the time being, you're just going to have to go it alone – be careful – don't die out there..."

"Okay..."

Koji swallowed and then took a deep breath...

"All my life... I've always depended on others to bail me out of trouble. I was always so afraid, and scared. I've always held back in my potential in whatever I did... but... I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want to be useful. I want to help my friends...my family...my comrades...Mother...Father...Misato...Kei-aniki...Shinji-aniki...Rei-neesan...and...especially Asuka oneechan...They're all depending on me... I cannot let them down. I won't let them down, because - I am Koji Misawa - pilot of Evangelion unit 3! I will fight with courage!I won't be afraid anymore! I'm going to give it all I got! Please, Mother, lend me your strength!"

In that instant, Koji Misawa's synchro ratio began to rise exponentially. For the first time, Koji was truly mentally prepared to fight...however, in truth, the fight that which lay ahead of him was a daunting one to which no one could ever be truly and fully prepared to enter... Will Koji be able to fend off the 9 – to – 1 odds to which he faces? Will Asuka and Shinji make it to their Eva's in time? Or will SEELE special soldiers prevent Misato and Kei from safeguarding them there? Will Kei's injuries play a factor in this? What is Gendo's fate? What will Rei Ayanami do now that she has for the first time realized her true desires? All the answers lie ahead...in the shadows... until next time...

Author's Comments

Well there's the 2nd installment of the True End. I'm sure you've got questions. Some of which I hope will be answered in the final few installments that are yet to come. I'm glad I was able to get this up in the time frame I allotted – to be honest, I almost didn't get to work on it due to my very hectic work schedule this week. But I managed to find time and get to work. I'm aware that I've got other unfinished projects here on FF, but, this one is my top priority as it stands. It's been four years in the making, it's time it gets completed. Once again, thanks for reading.

~Rukaii