The following is a non-profit, fan work based off the respective works of Hideaki Anno and Guillermo del Toro
All rights belong to the original creators, Legend Pictures, LLC; and Gainax Company, Limited
The Bluefire Phoenix presents...
A Chapter of Evangelion 2: Blood is (not) Thicker…
Chapter III: A Mother's Wish
"This kind of phenomenon has never been seen before and may not be seen again."
-Except from Yui Ikari's address to the UN Science Committee, 21 February 2002
The lights of stars glistened against the calm waters of the bay. A full moon rose in the sky. Not a thing stirred around an elegant mansion near the shore.
A young boy with spiky silver hair and red eyes sat on the brick railing of one of the mansion's balconies. His right foot dangled over the edge as he watched the night sky.
He quietly enjoyed the silence. His bare, toned chest hypnotically rose and fell in a tight rhythm.
Something caught his attention. He turned his head to see a tall man standing on the balcony. The stranger was dressed in a white suit. He too had red eyes and short, spiky silver hair. Each ear had a simple gold ring in its lobe. His face was long and sharp.
The boy smirked. "Ah my dearest Gabriel, I've been wondering when they'd send you," he said.
"I did not come solely on their behalf. They have tasked me with uncovering how you escaped. So I have tracked you down in order to get their answer," Gabriel said. He crossed his arms.
"Ha, ha! My beloved little brother has gone from messenger boy to detective in six thousand years? I'm impressed that you've moved up so quickly," the boy mocked.
"I am not here to play games. Tell me how you escaped and I will request leniency for you."
The boy smirked. He peered deep into Gabriel's eyes. "Leniency? For me?" the boy repeated. Gabriel nodded. The boy shook his head. "I think your priorities are off."
Gabriel's eyebrow rose. "How so?"
"You are operating under the assumption that I had something to do with Uriel's death."
"And?"
"And how could I have murder him? There is no way."
"Who else could have?"
"Man," the boy whispered. Gabriel shook his head.
"Man? What could they do?"
"Core contact," the boy whispered.
Gabriel took a step back. "How?"
The boy shrugged and walked past the man. He entered an elaborately decorated office room. Dozens of files were piled up on the desk. Many were from NERV and marked top secret. Gabriel followed.
"Does it matter? The humans figured out how to kill him. And when the warden-slash-gatekeeper goes, well it's only a matter of time before the prisoners try to escape," the boy said.
"So you are saying that humanity is responsible? What proof do you have?" Gabriel countered.
The boy picked up a file and handed it to the man. "The fact that they turned him into a zombie or that humanity reverse engineered the Soul Transference Protocol. Take your pick."
"That's—that's—that's," Gabriel stuttered as his eyes moved over the file. The boy gave him another file.
"Impossible? Blasphemous? Are you really surprised? How many times have we seen humanity attempt to usurp their creators?" The boy asked. "So tell...our masters that once again man has defied them."
Gabriel tentatively nodded his agreement. He turned around but paused his step. "Just one more question...brother: what do you plan to do?"
"For now, watch and observe."
The man nodded once more then vanished from sight. A cruel smile emerged on the boy's face.
Actually dear brother I think I won't. He mused as he walked back onto the balcony with another file in hand. He pulled out a picture of the boy named Shinji Ikari.
Now is the time to show the world the true power of the Nephilim. I will use that power to break the will of all my enemies with a single blow. He silently declared as he reached out to the ocean with his hand. Storm clouds began to form over the water.
Tokyo was not the city of prospects it was over fourteen years ago. Few of the enterprising office buildings were still in usable condition. The power grid constantly flickered on and off. Once ceaselessly working docks were now reduced to stagnant wharfs, having been decimated by super storms.
Over the decay were layers upon layers of scaffolding. Hundreds of construction crews worked to rebuild the city. They spoke a multitude of languages. Fluent Japanese was a rare exception among the workers.
But even in the tide of cultural change, a few bastions of Japanese culture stood tall. A park in a western district of the city was particularly powerful fortress. Its trees were ancient and hidden among the groves were various statues and mausoleums.
On the far end of the park was a small memorial dedicated to one Yui Ikari. The only people there paying respects were a man and a boy. They stood in the early morning light.
It was a serene start of the day. The haze that usually dominated the atmosphere had yet to form. The few clouds in the sky peacefully drifted by.
The man quietly said something, nodded, and walked away to a waiting limo. The boy walked the other way and waited for a taxi to arrive.
The airport downtown was busy. Shinji paid his taxi after he unloaded his suitcase. Two men in NERV dress uniforms approached the boy.
They escorted Shinji all the way to a private jet. The boy boarded the plane. Dr. Akagi was waiting for him, her attention absorbed by a book.
Takeoff started not long after Shinji sat down. Dr. Akagi tore herself out of her story. "So how was it?" She asked.
Shinji smiled. "It was nice."
"I never thought Gendo would ever come back to Japan. How did you talk him into this?" Dr. Akagi asked. Shinji shook his head.
"It was Rei's idea. She's the one who organized it," he admitted.
"Oh, I didn't think she cared so much," the doctor commented.
"She does, but—I mean she's—she's Rei," Shinji tried to explain. Dr. Akagi lightly laughed.
"I know. She does her best."
"You bitch!" Auska Langley Sohryu shouted as her fist rocketed through the air. Rei Ayanami barely dodged the strike aimed at her face. The two girls were dressed in their Plug Suits and dripping LCL.
Auska regained her footing. She eyed the blue haired girl again and cocked back for another punch. Her eyes were glazed over with rage.
Rei stood patiently, ready to evade again.
"Enough you two!" Misato shouted as she burst into the holding chamber. The girls lowered their guard.
Misato placed her forehead in the palm of her hand. She took in a few calming breath. "Look, I know that it's tough with the Director, the Marshal, and Shinji gone. But I don't need my two remaining pilots fighting each other halfway through drills!"
Auska glared at Rei. "I would be fine if the doll here didn't frag me for getting too close to her precious Shinji!" she cried.
"Pilot Sohryu merely got in the way of my shot," Rei countered. Misato emitted an irritated growl. Her hand curled, nails digging in to her skin.
"You shouldn't be shooting so close to the bomb! You have the perimeter!" Auska shot back.
"Enough! We're done here. You two do whatever you want," Misato bitterly declared. The girls watched as the Major left the waiting room. Only the sound of their heavy breathing and the gentle dripping of LCL could be heard. The red head finally popped her fingers and stormed to the door.
"I am not a doll," Rei whispered.
Auska paused, gripping the doorframe. She turned her head just a bit. She continued walking out.
NERV's Command and Control was quiet. A few officers sat at their station. The woman at the Western Pacific Monitor lazily switched her feeds from Alaskan Coast to the United States' West Coast.
The feed shorted into static. The woman changed some settings then ran a diagnostic. Nothing changed. She picked up the phone on her desk.
She heard the ring. Her heart started to race.
"What?" Major Katsuragi angrily asked.
"We lost the feed to Sector Four!" The woman reported.
Katsuragi was silent. "What should I do ma'am?"
"Contact the watch stations see what they say. In the meantime contact the US Government. Tell them to set up a patrol around the major shipping lanes," the Major ordered.
Gendo and Stacker were silently riding the mag-train into the GeoFront. The Director was reading over a report from the Major. He looked rather displeased.
Stacker looked over. "What's wrong?" he asked. Gendo shook his head.
"We may need to think about bring back the automated systems," Gendo grumbled. Stacker felt his heart skip a beat.
"We can't," he said. "Neither of the Akagi's could get the system to work within specs."
"It will work better than having the First and Second Child in the operation," Gendo stated.
"Are we that desperate?"
"I want the Breech closed, Stacker. To hell with SEELE. Those greedy bastards think that NERV can hold out forever," Gendo growled.
Kaji smirked as he set down his headphones. He scribbled down SEELE on the bottom of a list that included terms like Project Zero, Which Akagi, Uriel, and STP.
Rei waited patiently for the elevator to Director Ikari's office to reach the top. Her body felt the phantom scars that had started to crop ever since she first met Shinji. She started to shake a bit.
The car stopped and the doors parted. Rei stepped into the large, onyx room. Her red eyes were drawn to the carving of the Sephirot on the ceiling.
She felt a calming presence of the mystic revelations. Everything seemed to slip away.
"No, you did the right thing. I'll talk to the Americans, you just prep drills for tomorrow," Gendo said into his phone. He hung up the receiver and looked up at Rei.
"I am not pleased, Rei," the Director said. Rei nodded.
"I understand, sir."
"If this hostility with the Second Child continues, I will be forced to call off the operation."
"Yes, sir."
"Anything else?"
"No sir."
"Then you are dismissed."
Rei saluted and headed for the door. She walked down the path with her head hung. Shinji entered the room.
The girl tried to smile for him as they past. Please be good to him. She thought.
Shinji nodded and continued on. He stood at attention before his father.
Gendo locked his fingers together. "I want you to stay out of the problem between the other pilots, understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very good. Dismissed."
The boy continued to stand at attention. Gendo raised an eyebrow. "Something else, Pilot Ikari?"
"I just wanted to say that it was nice—to see mom," Shinji said. Gendo nodded.
"Yes it was—"
The director's phone rang out of his desk. He picked it up. "This is the Director. Yes, put them through," Gendo said.
"I'm sorry Shinji but you need to leave," the Director ordered. Shinji gave a halfhearted salute and took his leave.
The next morning was the start of a waking hell. Misato roused the pilots at oh-five hundred hours. They put on their Plug Suits and entered the simulation chamber.
Operation Final Abyss was to be practiced in its entirety. Shinji felt the intense pressure of the dive nearly pop his eyes out. His ears split with every meter.
They landed down on the simulated sea floor in about an hour. It was a struggle to get the EVA's to respond, even with the Type-D Equipment. The thick power cords dangled up to the surface. The pilots could alternate between sonar and night vision to see in the pitch blackness of the depths.
A Nephilim crept out of the darkness. Rei tried to keep it away with accurate suppressing fire. But it moved within striking distance. Auska tried to beat it back with her knife. But it evaded and attacked Shinji. The bomb went off.
That was the start of a typical run. The rest of the day consisted of two Total Party Wipes, three friendly fire incidents, and no successes.
Shinji collapsed on his cot after a third day of failure. He closed his eyes. His mind started to drift away.
The sound of boots outside in the hallway erupted and was followed by a flashing red light. A defeated sigh exited Shinji's mouth.
He crawled out of his cot only to be hit in the face with one of his spare Plug Suits. The boy removed it to see a stern looking Misato. Shinji nodded and draped the skin tight outfit over his shoulder. He stood up. "How long do we have?" He asked. Misato shook her head.
"Well where is it?" Shinji followed up. The Major swallowed a large lump in her throat.
"Thirty clicks outside of San Francisco Bay."
To Be Continued...
A/N: Hello and check out the roll we're on. Thanks for your support.
This chapter turned out all right. Not my favorite but not the worst. Sure I just derailed two chapters worth of plot. But did you really think that we'd see an assault on in the Second Act of a four part story? Come on now. That's like if Fellowship of the Ring ended with them flying eagles over Mordor and dropped the ring into Mt. Doom. What would the other two movies be? Them partying?
So we have the mystery boy from the end of Today chatting with some guy named Gabriel who has magical powers. Interesting. Shinji and Gendo hang out at Yui memorial. Nice. Auska and Rei have another fight. Typical. And a Nephilim is cruising just outside of San Francisco. Fun.
In other new, Operation Dusk Hour is on with the first story, Nightfall. Please check it out if you'd like.
Until next time, I bought real estate in Mordor once