Shinji Ikari awoke to find himself in utter darkness.
Groping blindly at the ground around him, he managed to raise himself into a half sitting position and swept his head from side to side. His initial perceptions had been correct; he could not see anything for lack of light. Any light.
Picking up his hand he traced the numb digits along the contours of his face, somewhat comforted at the continued existence of his corporeal state. Letting his hand fall back to the ground beneath he felt around him, looking for some indication of where he had fallen. It was very cold and an unnatural silence seemed to seed the air with unease; something which he was quickly picking up. However his butt was surprisingly warm and he brushed his hand along below, looking for the answer.
The area around him was soaked with something warm, sticky and yielding, as he pressed his hand into the unknown material he was surprised when the floor gave and his fingers sunk deeply into a wax like substance. Thoroughly startled he pulled away, the substance giving away with a moist sucking sound accompanied by the sickly sweet smell of rotten meat.
Panicking now, he attempted to raise himself to a standing position, feeling the pull of the ground as it grudgingly gave up its warm embrace. At last he managed to gain a tenuous footing, holding his arms out to steady himself as he attempted to traverse the wobbling, gelatinous terrain below.
Without warning his next step met no resistance and he backpedaled desperately in a vain attempt to regain his balance. The feel of his remaining grounded foot slipping off the edge of the rounded precipice let him know of his impending trip and he threw his arms protectively around his head, letting out a high pitched scream as he plummeted into the unknown depths.
His plummeting came to an abrupt end as he landed on his feet some twenty feet below. Sprawling on his stomach in pain, he began to sink, sliding between a pair of the slick, waxy tubes he had been perched on before. He clawed around vainly, trying to find purchase between the two sides of the chasm he was currently descending, but the slick liquid coated sides denied him any purchase and he slid down between the slimy walls feet first. With a last gasp his head dissapeared as well and he found himself surrounded on all sides by the mystery material, compressing around his head, sliding over his clothes, coating it with a film of the same oily liquid and filling his nose with the same revolting stench, now ten times more potent. He held back the urge to vomit and instead concentrated on getting out.
Thrashing wildly with horror fueled adrenaline he attempted to extricate himself from his tainted prison, shredding the material of the walls with his frenzied strikes. This only succeed in releasing more foul smelling and soon he relented, tears streaming down his face as he contemplated his sure to be demise.
"HELP!" he cried out, uncaring of the teary high pitched sound his voice had become "HELP ME MISATO! PLEASE HELP, ASUKA, REI, SOMEONE!" his voice dropped down to a sniveling whisper. "Father, please?"
But only silence greeted his desperate pleas, mocking him with its stony indifference and Shinji shivered as it finally hit him that he was completely alone and the total hopelessness of his current situation finally managed to smother him. Now he cried, great sobbing movements that wracked his body with their intensity. Emotions assaulted him in a mighty torrent, fear, horror, sadness, anger at his inability to help himself and his apparent abandonment. He couldn't remember a time he was this afraid, not even when fighting in EVA where death was just a few heartbeats away. At least then he had had the support of the people that depended on them, now he had nothing but his own weaknesses. This smothering lingering death was something he'd rather not have to face.
How long he lay there sobbing, he couldn't or wouldn't ever say, but when it finally came he'd already grown used to the smell.
The first indication of the other was a slight vibration in the slick floors of his tomb, as if something was burrowing up from the ground. He held his breath, silencing his sobs as his terror returned two-fold. Then he heard it clearly. A slimy wriggling sound of something making its way slowly through the folds of material; making its way ever closer to the place of his entrapment.
His breath returned and despite his best efforts to remain silent, came in panicked rasps increasing proportionally to the approach of the unknown sound. His imagination ran rampant, creating an unknown crawling horror that were undoubtedly coming to feast on his still breathing corspe. Bogeymen from a forgotten childhood, the terror under the bed coming to claim his being for some malign purpose. A reappearance of some abyssal terror from the depths of mankind's collective unconscious come to claim its ancient sacrificial dues.
It was close now; he could feel the greasy sides of his prison wiggling gently at its imminent approach. He struggled now with renewed vigor, once again making an effort to escape. Once again he was defeated by the smothering walls weight and he collapsed in exhaustion, drained from his repeated exertions and the dreadful realization that there was no escape. It was only when he lay panting that he realized that the feeling of movement had subsided and the sticky sound of approach had disappeared. Hoping against hope, he turned in the inky blackness, trying to ascertain his escape from doom. Perhaps it had passed him by or…
The sudden of explosion of movement below him caught him completely unawares, as the ribbed material that made up the floor exploded outward in a shower of ichor and pus. Quickly following them came two gripping scaly arms of immeasurable strength that instantly wrapped around his torso in an enslaving embrace. Shinji struggled vainly in their crushing grip, but found he could not escape. Giving up his body went completely limp and he was aware of something warm running down his leg, the fact that this still embarrassed him strangely comforting.
'So this is how I die, smothered in darkness by some unnamed horror and I pissed my pants.' A strangely detached part of his mind wondered. 'At least I won't be able to see when it happens.' He shut his eyes anyways and waited for the inevitable pain that would lead him to the waiting abyss beyond.
However instead of the expected pain came a feeling of immense power building up below him as his unknown assailant began to push upwards, his body parting the slimy ceiling as he was pushed through, up and up until once again he was greeted by the cold air of the outside on his face. The beast didn't stop there however, shifting Shinji so he hung over he assumed was a shoulder; it began to climb up the slippery sides of the unknown material. Then as suddenly as his escape from the earth had begun it ended and he was dropped unceremoniously, once again on top of the waxy ground where he had started.
He whirled around into a half sitting position, searching the dark for any sign of his attacker, but once again there was only black.
"Hello?" he asked tentatively, now confused more than scared at these unexpected developments. "Is anyone out there?"
After a tense moment of silence a deep throaty chuckle emanated out of the shadows,
"Yes, I'm here."
Shinji took a double take, trying to decide whether he was more surprised that the thing had answered, or that it answered in clearly understandable, if strangely accented, Japanese. Never the less he pressed onward.
"Um, thanks for getting me out of there, I...Uh couldn't have done it by myself." He waited for the reply which wasn't long in coming.
"Oh it wouldn't do for me to let you die in there, I don't think this place would take that very well."
"This place?" Shinji whispered to himself, and then turned back to the blank space where the voice had emanated from. "Excuse me sir, do you know where exactly this place is?"
"Oh I think you'd know that much better than me." Shinji jumped, the words had come from right behind him and he struggled to face the source again. "It is after all because of you that this place exists as it is."
"Because of me?" Shinji asked, baffled by this turn of events.
"Yeah that's what I said and let me take this moment to say that you are one fucked up guy, Mr. Ikari." The unknown speaker was speaking once again from behind him.
"Wait, how do you know my name?" he stammered, moving so he was facing the correct direction once again.
The voice waited a second before responding and Shinji got the distinct feeling that it was considering something. "Oh Shinji I know everything about you, from what your favorite composer is to how you feel about your father to what you do in your room every Tuesday night when you think no one is looking." It chuckled again and though he knew nobody could see Shinji turned a bright shade of pink.
However he quickly recovered himself "What are we doing here? Why are we trapped in this place?"
"I don't know why you're here, as for me however, I'm here courtesy of a two faced rat bastard who wouldn't know tact if it came up and bit his fucking nuts off! The next time I see that low down yellow bellied cock sucking…" the unknown speaker's voice had taken on a hateful edge and Shinji warily backed away from the fuming.
After a while the curses and threats died away and the unnatural silence returned to the shadow realm. Finally Shinji broke the uneasy silence with the golden question.
"Do you know how I can get out of here?" he asked, feeling for the first time since he had arrived in this strange place a glimmer of hope.
"No, but I don't think you'll have to worry about that. After all how many times do you see the warden imprisoned in his own jail? He may visit but he's never there to stay."
Shinji reached up and scratched his invisible scalp, utterly confused at the stranger's words. "What's that supposed to mean?"
An exasperated sigh was the twilight framed things response. "You really aren't a very sharp person are you? Of course it can't come as a surprise what with your head being full of all this."
Shinji was starting to get frustrated with the strangers evasive answers. "Do you or do you not know how I can get out of this damn place and back into the light?!"
Mocking laughter flowed once again from that unknown mouth. "You want light? That's all you had to say, though I don't think you'll like it once you take a taste. Some things are better left in the abyss." That last part was said from the distance as if the speaker was moving farther away from him.
"Wait! Where are you going!?" Shinji cried after the retreating mystery voice, not wanting to be left all alone again.
"I don't want to be here when the fireworks go off, hurts my eyes." The voice yelled now a good ways off in the distance.
Before Shinji could call out his protestations the lights came on in a big way. Where before there was only pitch dark, now there was blinding white light, seemingly emanating from the very air itself and his eyes burned red from the sudden change. After a few minutes his eyes adjusted and he stared off into the infinite distance that had revealed itself.
A seemingly glass white plain ran as far as the eye could see in all directions and for the first time Shinji retook stock in the notion that he was still alive. This could after all be no place on Earth; it just wasn't possible for this amount of space to be contained within a room of any size. Even the Geo-front, until now the largest man-made construction he had ever borne witness too, paled in comparison to the grand sweeping vista revealed to him.
Reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the impossible he glanced down and for the first time disgustedly took in the strange terrain he was occupying, though seeing it in the light left it still a mystery as to its origins and designs. Red and brownish-yellow tubes, each bigger round than his entire body formed a gigantic mound of slimy, stinking rope. Leaking out from the bottom of the pile was a dark red liquid; the same that he now noticed was dripping in big droplets from yet unseen ceiling.
With a sense of quickly mounting horror his eyes panned slowly upward, trailing past the dangling ropes that rose up into the distance and lighting on the titanic figure found hanging there.
It was Unit-01 or what was left of it. The Evangelion swung by its arms, hands bound to the ceiling by rusty chains. It had been eviscerated, the ragged remains of its torso armor torn asunder by some mighty and unknown force. Rivulets of coagulated blood dripped lazily from the gnawed portions of frayed organs, staining red the pile of intestines that formed the rotting gut-pile below. Hanging off the violated EVA's chest and arm armor, swung limp forms, hung with ropes constricting around their necks, blue tongues hanging out on some, others faces contorted in their final moments of pain and suffering. He spied a kaleidoscope of color among the rotten fruit, mops of red, purple and blue.
Shinji fell to his knees and vomited, emptying out his stomach's contents all over the greasy skin he was standing on. He shut his eyes, realizing only now the truth of the mysterious visitor's words. Some things were better left unseen.
He shivered, a chill of malignant nature running down from his spine, from his neck to his pelvis. Now he understood, it dawned on him like the inevitable sunset from day to day. Something deep within him snapped and he knew just what it was to taste madness.
He tried to suppress a giggle, the profane nature of laughter in this unholy environ rather evident, but he failed miserably, an unnatural fit of Dionysusic rapture overcoming the remaining boundaries of what was left of his tattered psyche.
The soft laughter soon escalated to a boisterous torrent. He cackled now, mixing with the screams of fear and confusion that this evil place was imposing, a long racking and rasping sound of most unpleasant nature to behold.
"This is it!" he screamed, throwing his head back and his hands wildly to the sides. The white plain shifted and rolled like waves crashing out at sea. Colors of every hue and shade rose from the depths, painting the once pristine surface in a nightmare cacophony of clashing waves. Great cracks formed on the on ground and huge pistons of red steam issued forth, the once solid white floor pouring into the ground like mercury through a cracked thermometer.
The temperature of the room increased dramatically, going from chilly to sweaty in a matter of seconds. A billowing carpet of fog issued from the dismal rifts, like the now liquid floor was meeting with some fiery cauldron at the bottom.
Soon the white plain itself was shrinking, coming in like sinking tide until all that was left was that which was directly under the stricken Evangelion and that too Shinji could see was soon to be slipping. Already coils of thick knotted digestive organs were sliding greasily off into the newly created bottomless black gulf. The cracks themselves had dissapeared replaced by open space as if the white had lost a great battle of attrition and all that remained were the victorious forces of blackness.
The piece of viscera he was sitting on began to slip, but Shinji paid it no mind, as he currently had none to give. Instead his insane laughter carried on, even when the final glimpse of white was drained away and he felt himself dropping into the cyclopean void below, weightless and spinning slowly in the endless freefall.
"I get it!" he sniggered, curling up into a ball as the suspended Evangelion and all his butchered friends receded into the mire of fading light. So did some part of him and deep within the still rational part of Shinji Ikari's mind, the part still reeling in horror at the whole impossible nature of his current situation, knew it would never return.
…
The clock in the waiting room changed tentatively, almost embarrassed at its audience's singular attention.
Misato sighed as another minute ticked by with no new developments, the doors to the Emergency room stayed closed. It had been like that since they had arrived over three hours ago, the medical team that had brought Shinji from the apartment had whisked him away through the red double doors at the end of the hall. When Misato had attempted to follow, they had barred the way, saying that her presence would only hinder the doctor's ministrations. She had persisted stubbornly, at least until one of the annoyed nurses had explained to her that making such a hindrance could have a negative effect on the patient. Hearing that she had finally come to her senses; resigning herself to instead pacing back and forth impatiently in one of the NERV medical ward's waiting rooms.
"I am sure Pilot Ikari is well Major Katsuragi." The rooms only other occupant spoke up for the first time since she had calmly entered the room and taken a seat three hours prior. Rei sat perfectly straight on one of the padded benches that lined the seating area. Her hands were folded delicately in her lap, her queer red eyes slightly closed, daintily drawn mouth pursed just slightly; she looked the utter picture of serene tranquility. And right now Misato couldn't stand it.
The older woman huffed her discontent, petulantly crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "I know that! It's just you'd think they'd key me, his lawful guardian on his condition, instead of leaving me waiting out here like some scrabby old beggar!" she finished with a pout.
"I am sure that whenever the doctors finish with their examinations you will be duly notified." Rei responded just as calmly as she had before.
Misato growled and considered banging her head against the wall until she passed out.
'At least then I wouldn't have to watch that damn clock.' She inwardly moaned as the seconds ticked by like molasses, mocking her with every notch. The sudden sound of a door banging open caught her unawares and she whipped her head around, searching for the source of the disturbance. However she quickly realized it had been the wrong set that had open and instead of one of the facilities doctors had disgorged her missing ward.
Asuka was still dressed in her school clothes, evidence that she had received Misato's rushed voicemail. Her face was flushed and she was panting; apparently she had run all the way from school.
"Misato where's Shi…" she stopped as she spotted the First Child and frowned. "What's the doll doing here?"
"I am here waiting for Pilot Ikari to be released." Rei flatly stated.
Asuka's screwed up her face in distaste, looked as if she was going to say something back but bit back the obvious insult. "Well whatever," she turned to Misato "So what's wrong with the baka anyways?"
Misato shook her head "I don't know, when I found him he was passed out, but other than that I have no idea. The doctors are supposed to inform me as soon as their done with their preliminary examination." She said, moving to stand beside Asuka and placed her hand compassionately on the younger woman's shoulder. "But I'm sure Shinji's fine."
The redhead bristled at her touch and quickly moved away. "Of course the baka's fine! He probably just ran away again and forgot to eat anything. Stupid idiot! It was probably just plan to get attention, what with the lack of Angel's. He's always been a stupid drama queen."
Misato wanted to tell her that this wasn't the case, that apparently Shinji had tried to commit suicide and somehow failed, but she couldn't bring herself to. Partly because she stand the thought of another person knowing of her mortification, her failure in parenting that had led him to such desperate actions and partly because she didn't want to trouble embarrass Shinji in front of his teammates.
"I don't think Pilot Ikari would do something as foolish as that Second Child." Rei's monotone voice cut her off before Misato could respond.
Asuka glared at the seated blue haired girl again. "Yeah I'm sure you would know, doll's are not renowned for their sense of empathic reasoning." She spat sarcastically.
The seated teen didn't respond, instead staring once again off into space.
Misato watched as Asuka humphed and copied her earlier pose, leaning up against the waiting room wall, arms crossed in assumed disinterest. Misato sighed and resumed her earlier pacing, noticing the room was noticeably a few degrees colder than had previously been.
Thankfully they didn't have long to wait as the correct set of doors opened to admit a very tired and frazzled looking Ritsuko Akagi. Apparently she had been the one who had treated Shinji. The doctor took a moment to remove the surgical mask she had been wearing, her eyes searching around the room. Seeing Misato she motioned for the Major to approach, propping one of the doors open as she waited for her to follow.
"Misato can I talk to you for a moment." She asked, and then seeing Asuka getting prepared to come too she quickly added "Alone."
The redhead pouted and returned to her previous position. Misato sighed, she was sure she was going to get an earful about that later, but obediently she followed Ritsuko through the double doors and into the white washed hallway beyond. Ritsuko ushered into an empty hospital room and closed the door behind them.
She waited impatiently as Ritsuko pulled out a clipboard she had been hiding somewhere in the confines of her lab coat and quickly scanned several pages, pausing on one page, her face taking on a concerned air as she chewed her lower lip.
Misato stood for as long as seemed proper, before clearing her throat in an effort to bring the doctor back to the present. Ritsuko looked up and cocked her head to the side as if considering something. Misato had had enough waiting.
"What is it Rits? Is he all right? I assume that's why you brought me here." She asked impatiently.
Ritsuko frustrated her further, not responding instantly, but instead taking off her glasses and cleaning them on her collar. That something was bothering her was becoming increasingly apparent.
"He's okay Misato, at least physically." She slipped her glasses back on and sighed. "Apparently he's in some kind of unresponsive catatonic sleep state. The good news is there is brain activity all along his cerebral cortex, so the chance for recovery is significantly higher than if he was in a traditional coma."
Misato heaved a sigh of relief. So he wasn't going to end up as a vegetable, which was good news. She didn't know if she could handle that. Didn't know if she was strong enough…
"So why is he like this? Is it from the fall?"
"I'm not sure, but amazingly there seems to be no physical damage. This is amazing to be honest and makes me think that perhaps there's some other explanation to his disappearance. However when I was examining him I did notice some other anomalies, which is why I needed to talk to you."
Misato squared herself up and looked at her questionably "Anomalies?"
Ritsuko nodded and rested her clipboard on a nearby counter. "Misato have you noticed any changes in Shinji's lifestyle lately? Has he changed the people he's been hanging out with? Or have you noticed any change in personality or mood swings?"
Misato shook her head. "No, not really, why?"
"Because when I was examining Shinji I noticed his musculature has undergone significant augmentation since I last did a physical. If I had to voice my personal opinion I'd say it was due to steroid or some other artificial hormone abuse."
Misato did a double take "WHAT!? SHINJI!? YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT!?" she took a second to retrieve her jaw from where it had fallen. "Shinji taking steroids? Ritsuko you are kidding right?"
"I wish I was but these blood tests back up that claim. There are huge amounts of excessive hormones in his bloodstream. Along with some other chemicals were having trouble identifying." The scientist reached back for the clipboard she had deposited and flipped through a few pages. "But we'll worry about that later; he's in no immediate danger so I'm clearing him for visitation. He's in room A-13." She placed a comforting hand on Misato's shoulder. "It's going to be fine, Misato. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah sure." Misato mumbled head downcast. Now Shinji was taking drugs?! Great. Just another thing to add to her list of failures. As the doctor left she followed her out, walking back into the waiting room.
Asuka was on her before she had even cleared the door. "I heard you shouting, he's okay isn't he?" the almost pleading quality of her voice did a number and brought Misato's mind back to the present. So unlike her taunting attitude she had sported a few minutes ago, it was obvious front.
Misato managed a smile. "Yeah he's fine, Doctor Akagi says he's sleeping but it's okay to go see him."
Asuka returned with a wicked smirk "Sleeping? Ha, told you he was gold breaking!" She laughed and sped off towards the ward rooms.
"Wait Asuka!" Misato called after her, but she was already through the doors and out of sight. 'Well I don't suppose she can do any harm.' "Come on Rei, let's go catch up to her."
The blue haired nodded, stood and adjusted her skirt. "Yes Major."
…
Asuka ran through the brightly lit hospital hallway, scanning the clipboards sequestered at the side of each door.
'Damn, should of found out which room he was in.' she grumbled, turning a corner and nearly running over a nurse pushing a food cart.
"Hey!" the woman cried, but Asuka had already sped past, leaving the woman to curse under her breath about the state of today's youth as she worked to clean up the dirty plates that had been thrown to the ground.
'No, no, no, no, no. Ah!' the pilot skidded to a halt in front of room A-13. "Shinji Ikari." She read aloud the name tag mounted on the door frame. Taking a moment to recover from her impromptu foot race, she fixed her hair behind her neural connectors and placed a hand on the door handle. Stealthily she opened the door and crept into the darkened room on cat's feet. No reason to lose the element of surprise, otherwise this wouldn't be nearly as fun.
It took a full second for her eyes to adjust to the darkened interior. After they had however, she took the entire room in a single sweep, finding her prey right where she had anticipated.
Shinji at first glance did appear to be sleeping, surrounded by a plethora of beeping machines. She recognized the EKG attached to his finger, recording the steady tick of the boy's heartbeat. That was the only one she could name however, though she realized the pads stuck to his head must be linked to some kind of brain wave recording machine. Silently she crept to his side, but as she saw him clearly for the first time, all thoughts of childish pranks fled her mind.
Shinji looked…different.
He was bigger. At first she dismissed it as a trick of the light, shadows from the darkened interior playing tricks on her eyes, but as she leaned closer she realized it was true. In his unisex hospital gown it was easy to see the well developed muscles bulging against the almost sheer nature of the garments fabric. Had Shinji been working out? She was sure she would have noticed it sooner, with that kind of change she would have been sure to. But then again she didn't make a habit of voyeurism, unlike some perverts she knew, so she supposed it could have slipped her attention.
As she leaned closer to get an even better look, she a slight rustling coming from the direction of the head of the bed, he must be whispering something. She paced to the top of the bed and bent over, inspecting the sleeping boy more closely.
His lips were slightly moving and she turned her head to the side and held her ear just above his lips.
He wasn't talking, at least in Japanese. In fact to her collegiate educated ears, it sounded more like Latin. Though how and why he would be saying something in a dead language, she had not the slightest idea. She tried to catch exactly what he was saying, but even though she had taken a semester of study in the area, she still couldn't make heads or tails of it. In fact she was starting to get a headache just listening to the mystery gibberish.
Shaking her head, she made to move away but found that she couldn't; something was keeping her head pinned down. A quick glance around and she determined the source of her restraint, one of Shinji's arm's was snaked around her neck and keeping her pinned. She hadn't even noticed him move, so intent had she been on his decoding his whispers.
"Shinji let go!" She demanded angrily, furious that he would dare to touch her without permission. "Let go or I'll sock you!" No response came from him and as she glanced down she realized his eyes were still closed, apparently still asleep.
Grabbing the hand that was wrapped around her neck she attempted to pry it off, but to her surprise it was unmovable, holding her ears above his lips in a vice like grip. The quiet chant of meaningless dribble continued and the aching sensation that had been building behind her eyes continued to grow as she was forced to take it in.
"Shinji! Let me go!" she was pleading now, struggling with all her might to pull away. But still his iron grip compelled her to remain and she noticed with growing fear that the volume of his chanting began to increase, going from a barely audible whisper to a heated hissing. She dug her fingernails into his hand, hard enough to draw blood, but his only response was to pull her even closer, his breath now hot and heavy against the inside of her ear. She was tearing up now, the dull ache turning to outright pain.
Her knees buckled and collapsed underneath her, but she found the pressure on her neck merely increased and she was now held aloft by the impossible grip. The wrongness on his voice continued to assault her and she felt something wet and warm flowing out of her nose. The pain was truly horrific now and her vision swam at the intensity of feeling.
"SHINJI PLEASE!" screaming now, tears streaming down her face in steady rivulets. "STOP IT!" Her other hand the one that wasn't still trying to dislodge his grip found its way to the cords attached to the EKG. She yanked on them and managed to pull one of them loose. The sound of a flat line didn't reach her ears however, all she could hear was the constant pounding of his hissing slithering chant and from somewhere the sounds of drums, deep rhythmic and primordial.
Her whole body was shaking now, uncontrollable spasms as all her nerves experienced random firings. However as always she was held close and she found herself looking again to his eyes, which were no longer closed. Black pools of liquid they had become and she felt herself drawn inexplicitly into them. In them she could see peace, release from the horrific pain that this situation was piling on her. If she could just reach the idyllic shores that the infinite calm of those orbs suggested, it would all be worth it.
'Come child.' The words were not spoken, instead they merely were. 'Rejoice in the tranquil land of the other. Let yourself be at peace with the unspoken laws of the unending plain. Come rest your weary soul in my embrace. Embrace…oblivion."
The pain that had been plaguing her since the whole horrible ordeal faded as swiftly as it had come on. So did the restraining hand on her neck. Instead she was drifting in a veritable bubble of calm, like someone had injected her with a near lethal dose of sedative. She closed her eyes and let the feeling overwhelm her, washing away aches and pains that had been incurred moments ago. It was like floating on a light summer breeze, the warm caress of the wind whisking away the reins of control that she had struggled with for so long. It was reminiscent of a gentle mother's touch, something that she had listed after for the majority of her natural life. It was perfection. All the years of nascent self hate and doubt were sloughing away like dirt and sweat in a hot shower. It wasn't her fault her mother had abandoned her, like all of humanity she was intrinsically flawed, this did not reflect on her as an individual instead it reflected on her mother's inability to maintain a loving guardianship, her fault not Asuka's. It was all so clear now! So childish when she looked back, seeking her deceased mother's approval by holding herself to un-maintainable standards of perfection. Yes it was…
Faint sounds at the edge of her glorious rebirth failed to penetrate her sphere of realization, however yanking sensation and the feel of the cold hard floor as it rushed up to meet her did.
Lifting her head from where it had fallen she cried out as the feeling of revelation fled her senses, leaving her in the same normalcy she had endured for too long. She searched for the cause of this disruption, instead she found Misato, shouting something at her, though her words were muffled and sounded as if they traveled from a great distance. Asuka smiled stupidly, her mind working in slow motion as it processed this new information. From behind her guardian, the accursed First Child rushed, stepping over Asuka's prone form and jumping up on the bed where Shinji still lay. Funny, she seemed to have a terrified expression on her face, the first time Asuka had ever seen her show emotion. Asuka lolled her head back and giggled, sitting up at the same time.
*SLAP!* Misato's backhand knocked her to back to the floor. At a same time, the feeling of pain coursed through her cheek, banishing the strange fog that had occupied her mind moments before. Everything came back in a rush, sound regular and her vision straight.
Feeling returned to her body and she was aware of being hoisted up by two strong yet manicured hands.
"What the fuck were you doing!?" Misato screeched as she shook Asuka by her shirt collar.
Asuka was confused; the last thing she remembered was coming into the room and thinking to herself how good Shinji looked. Then she had heard some kind of noise and…she drew a blank.
"What are you talking about?" she growled, dropping into her old defensive self. "Get off of me!" she struggled and Misato relinquished her grip, only to grab her by the scruff of the neck and turn her forcibly towards the hospital bed where Rei was tenderly cradling Shinji's head in her lap.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Misato angrily demanded, violently pushing Asuka forward against the metal framed hospital bed. "Why would you do that to him? Are you fucking insane?!"
Asuka was about retort with her own choice obscenities when for the first time she realized just what had made the Major flip her top.
Angry red bruises, already turning a sickly purple, painted a mirrored picture on both sides of the bedridden boy's neck. Shinji himself was wide awake, eyes wide open and staring. He was struggling to breathe, a harsh wracking wheezing sound that hurt Asuka just to listen to.
Even worse however was where he was staring; staring directly at Asuka, his terrified eyes as wide as saucers and he unconsciously shivered under her gaze. Unable to stand being under the harsh scrutiny those accusing orbs; she shifted her gaze instead to the seated First Child, who was stroking Shinji's distressed hair in a futile attempt to calm him.
Feeling the Second's eyes on her, Rei lifted her red eyes to meet Asuka's blue and the redhead was taken aback by what she saw there. Hate and anger. Emotions that she'd never believed the doll was capable of were coming off in palpable waves and she was lost to why any of this was happening.
"Misato what happened to Shinji? What happened?! LET GO OF ME! Have you all gone crazy?" She yelled as she writhed in the other woman's headlock, sending an elbow back into Misato's stomach that connected with an *oof*. As her guardian reeled in shock, she wormed her way out of her grip and made a dash for the door. She made it in record time, rounded the corner and spied an exit sign at the end of the hall.
She didn't know exactly what was going on, but something told her that she had to get out of there fast. So she thought as she sprinted down the hallway.
'Almost there!' she thought as she neared the end of the hallway and the green EXIT sign. Behind her she could hear Misato shouting for her to come back and the slapping of her shoes as she gave pursuit.
'Aha!' she reached the door and pushed the bar to open it. From here it was a short run to the elevator, then she could lose any would be pursuers in the pedestrian traffic that was sure to be congesting the streets of Tokyo-3.
Rushing through the door she risked a quick glance back. Misato was indeed chasing her, as was a some lab-coat clad doctor and a pair of Section-2 Agents. Where they had sprung from, she couldn't fathom, but they were far behind and surely wouldn't catch her in time. Pushing the open bar she ran…
And into a wall. Or something very big and built like one.
The Section-2 Agent that she had collided with wrapped his massive arms around her in an all encompassing bear hug. She struggled once again, banging her head into his glasses clad face. But it was all in vain; he merely shrugged off the blow and maintained his constraining grip. So she switched tactics, biting as hard as she could on the man's exposed chin. He yelled out in pain as her teeth managed to draw blood and the very surprised security agent let his arms slacken, if ever so slightly. It was all she needed as she managed to buck wildly and drop to the floor before him. A punch to the groin finished her impromptu blitzkrieg and she made to continue her escape, only to be tackled from behind by one of the other agents, who had caught up in the brief moments of her ensnarement. He pinned her to the ground beneath his bulk, finding even that to be difficult.
"Hey doc, think I can get some help here?" he yelled to the doctor she had seen earlier, who arrived out of breath along with Misato.
The doctor didn't reply but instead knelt down next to the struggling pair and she felt something sharp jab into the base of her neck and a numb sensation spread from the area. Soon a dark hazy ring formed around the edge of her vision and she felt herself slipping into sleep. The last thing she saw before sleep claimed her was Misato talking urgently into her radio, pained expression writ on her face.
…
"Major what do you want to do with her?" The Section-2 Agent hoisted Asuka's unconscious form up from where she had been laid. "Should we return her to the apartment?"
Misato breathed in deeply, trying to calm her dangerously close to frayed nerves.
"No, take her to the holding cells; let her sleep off the sedative. I'll inform command of the situation, I'll inform you of my final decision after I confer with them."
The anonymous spook nodded his head and bundled the sedated Second Child in his arms and made off down the hallway, past the still moaning and writhing agent, who was getting a one over by the doctor and off to the lift.
Misato ignored the pair and made her way back to Shinji's room.
'What the hell is wrong with Asuka? What could make her do what she had done?' Misato shuddered as she recalled the scene her and Rei had been treated to as they had first entered the recovery room.
Asuka had sat straddling Shinji, her milky exposed legs on either side of the bedridden teenager's torso. However any thought of teasing on Misato's behalf due to the awkward position of the bed's two occupants were dashed when she noticed just what the entangled pair were up to.
"ASUKA! Get off him!" she had cried, but the red head had ignored her, head lolled to the side facing the two new entrants, plastered with a look of sublime ecstasy. Instead she seemed to put even more to the task her hands were occupied. Shinji, if he had been sleeping, was now no longer and his eyes bulged as the hands around his throat sought to end his life.
"Ikari!" a cry from Rei had prompted Misato into action and she crossed the distance between herself and Asuka, throwing the teen clear off the bed and onto the linoleum floor. It was only then that she had shown any sign of recognition, almost as if she had woken from a trance.
Misato decided she'd figure it out all later, after she checked in on Shinji and figured out what to do with Asuka.
"Asuka?" the question came as a hoarse whisper and Misato recognized it as being Shinji's.
"It's alright she's gone." Misato approached the bed, placed a reassuring hand on the youth's head and tousled his hair. "You're safe now."
Shinji rubbed his neck and shook his head. "No, I meant is she alright. You didn't hurt her did you?" the beseeching look in his eyes reached out to Misato and tugged on her heartstrings.
"She'll be fine, just a little sleepy when she finally comes too. Shinji do you know why she did that?"
Shinji closed his eyes and shook his head. "No-no I just woke up and she was here, I-I didn't even manage to say anything." Misato noticed the damp corners of his eyes and hurriedly asked the next question before he lost it.
"Shinji-kun, I have just one more question and then you can go back to sleep, ok?" Shinji nodded his head, a nearly imperceptible movement. Misato cleared her throat and forged ahead. "Where have you been? What happened to you?"
The brown haired boy let a confused look cloud his features. "What do you mean? I'm guessing I must have fainted or something right?"
"Shinji-kun what day of the week is it today?"
Now he looked confused "Um, yesterday was Saturday…so I'm guessing today is Sunday right?"
"It is now Monday evening Pilot Ikari. You have been missing for over a day." Rei spoke up for the first time from her cushion position.
"What?" his incredulous answer was all Misato needed to hear to draw the obvious conclusion.
"So you have no idea what happened to you Saturday night?" Shinji shook his head in response. "Nothing at all?" Another negative. Sighing deeply she got up from where she had seated herself on the edge of the bed and attempted to put on an air of humor.
"Well okay Rip Van Winkle," she ignored the questioning look Rei shot at her quip "I'm sure Dr. Akagi will be interested in your miraculous recovery. So I'll go enlighten her and leave you in more adept hands." She switched her gaze to the First Child and took on a mock tone of command. "Pilot Ayanami I'm ordering you to stay here with Pilot Ikari and make sure he's protected from any further injury. Think you can handle that?" she finished with a pointed wink.
Rei nodded her head solemnly "I promise you no further harm will befall him while I am present."
'Well I guess some things never change. Girl probably doesn't have the ability to take a hint, let alone sarcasm.' Misato mentally groaned as she left the two teenagers to their own designs.
She had a report to make; it was her duty, though to her it was more. She couldn't help but think that she had failed them again, trading one ward for the other.
'Dammit Asuka! Why couldn't we just have one crisis free day to ourselves!? If it's not Angels its disappearing pilots and teenage drug use!' She bemoaned regrettably, lamenting the soap opera caricature her life had become. 'What's next? Unplanned pregnancy and saucy love triangle!? Hah, I wouldn't doubt it if some evil twin showed up and started…' Her thoughts trailed off as she made her way through the byzantine morass of corridors that would lead her to the command center and eventually her true destination.
…
Swab goes on, swab comes off. Ritsuko wiped the specimen swab around the used cigarettes filter, her fingers pursed in concentration, though it wasn't the task at hand that held her attention, she had worked enough with genetic material to know the procedure for identifying a specific individual through their DNA. No, it was instead the results of her recent examination of the recovered pilot that had her so occupied.
The boy had her worried. Shinji's blood work showed aberrations in several base proteins, increased levels of leukocytes and an almost obscene level of red blood cells. She had left this out of the brief report she had shared with Misato mainly because she herself didn't understand it. However what she had mentioned was true. Even to a passing cursory inspection it was plainly obvious that Shinji musculature and bone structure had been augmented. The skeletal discrepancies she could put down to puberty, he was after all a young teen and they were pretty much expected to grow a couple inches. However the strange highly packed density and size of the young man's muscles was not. It was not possible for that amount of change to occur between the last time she had administered Ikari a detailed physical, at least not by any natural means.
Which is why she had asked the Major about any recent changes in the teen's behavior, drugs; particularly anabolic steroids, would explain his sudden muscle growth and the abnormal protein bases could be a resultant of some sort of hormonal cocktail injection. As for the other oddities, she wasn't sure; she'd have to wait for a more detailed report to come out.
The cogitator beeped a two tone melody to signal its warm up cycle was complete and Ritsuko slipped the test tube with the distilled sample into the machine's input slot, closed the lid and pressed the appropriate sequence of buttons. With a hum the machine went to its work with a healthy vigor, beginning the long arduous process of identifying the base DNA strand then comparing it with the different individuals contained in the various genetic databases that NERV had its hands in.
Ritsuko craned her back and interlaced her hands above her head. This was going to take a while, first it had to identify the base pairs of this individual's double helix, and then it would search, branching out from the central NERV database and beyond; starting with NERV personnel then working its way out to the civilian and military database servers. The chances that her missing killer would be documented in one of these databases was indefinite ably slim. Not everyone's DNA was recorded and thousands of records were invariably lost in the confusion after Second Impact.
Hundreds of names flashed by, a steady blur as the powerful computer put forward thousands of possible matches, and then disregarded the incorrect entries just as quickly. The scientist closed her eyes, content to let the machine complete its arduous task in peace. The quiet hum of the machines processor played on her tired nerves making sleep an all too real possibility and one that wouldn't be most the unwelcome event.
She had just entered the state between the eyes of sleep when a sudden soft beeping informed her that her search had come to fruition.
"And such an early harvest." She muttered under her breath. "All right you sick bastard let's see who you are." Her eyes finally rested on the smiling mug-shot portrait of the culprit behind the grisly Fukka murder and she was shocked beyond belief by what she found.
Flabbergasted, floored, astounded with disbelieving panic. All failed to truly project the absolute incredulity in which she regarded the computer terminal she faced.
"Oh my god." Her suddenly very sweaty hand fumbled for the laboratory's phone and trembling fingers quickly mashed in the number for the direct line that tapped in straight to the Commander's office. Here there was no time to spare with weakly formatted excuses and speculations; not when this was concerning something that just in its contemplation compromised the very nature of NERV's scenario with its smallest manifest ramifications.
This was something that would undoubtedly change everything. For better or more likely for worse.
Much worse.
…
"Ayanami-san, you-you can let go of me. I'm feeling much better now." Shinji's voice shattered the peaceful silence that had been a prevalent aspect of the ward room ever since Major Katsuragi had left mere minutes ago. Rei jumped at the sudden intrusion, by instinct protectively pulling his head closer to her bosom. Embarrassed by this, she felt the appropriate rush of color fill her cheeks, doubled as she looked down and found his dark blue eyes staring up at her. She quickly averted her gaze.
Below her Shinji wiggled out of her tight embrace and propped his back up against the head of the hospital bed, legs extended out to their full length, eyes closed and mouth slightly open.
'Pilot Ikari is getting bigger.' Rei mused to herself; idly noticing the way Shinji's well muscled calves protruded out from the concealing shroud of his hospital gown. This was another new feeling for her, pride maybe or something very akin to it.
"Ugh." The sharp groan that escaped from unseen lips roused her from her stupor and directed her attention further back up to Shinji's face. The sole male Evangelion pilot had his hand on his forehead, grimacing as if he was in pain.
"Are you alright Ikari?" Rei asked sincerely, leaning forward to try and get a look at Shinji's expression from under where it had been obscured in the teenagers lowered and darkened visage.
His head rose slowly out of the shadow of his hanging bangs, eyes shining with a feral predatory light that sent her scrambling to the far reaches of the bed in newfound fear. A wolfish mocking smile spread on crimson lips.
"Please, call me Shinji."
…
A/N Whew, that was a long time coming. I had the first part written about three weeks ago and it took a sleepless bender of alcohol and caffeine to finish the rest. Mayhap's that might explain the larger errors in the grammatical and logic sense, but I digress.
The next chapter will see the entrance of the long awaited tenth Angel, an event that will be recognized with the appropriate pomp und circumstance. Also going to introduce the main antagonist right out of left field (no it's not Gendo, or SEELE for that matter ;) ).
Oh and get ready because someone is going to get Shoggoth'ed and in a big way!
Reviews as always appreciated, good or bad.
Anyways until next time,
Peace