Shinji nervously made his way outside. He told Sora to meet him in the cafeteria, but that was just to shake him off. He didn't want anybody but him to get hurt. He arrived at an open area and saw Toji, who motioned him to follow. The two of them along with the glasses wearing kid walked until they were in a secluded area surrounded by trees. As soon as they were hidden Toji turned and decked Shinji right in the mouth, busting his lip and making Shinji fall to the ground.
"That was for my sister." Toji said, looking down on him. "What do you think Kensuke? Should I give him another?"
Kensuke squatted down on the fallen Shinji and apologetically explained that Toji's sister had gotten hurt in the Angel fight, and that Shinji's foot had caused it.
"It's not like I wanted to pilot that thing…" Shinji said as he got up.
Toji twitched, and quickly walked up to him, decking him again. Shinji layed there too dizzy to move, and Toji walked off with Kensuke.
Sora knew something was up. He didn't want to think Shinji ghosted him, but he knew better than to expect the usual from Shinji. He had seen him at his worst, filled with hate and trying to kill Asuka. He knew the layered issues were something he may never fully understand, so he didn't take it personally. Still, this meant that Toji probably got to him. Good, now he had a punching bag. The lunch bell rang again signaling the end of lunch. A lot of girls had come up to him, but he wasn't interested in them at all. Sadly he didn't see Hikari, so he picked up his trash and threw it away as he walked back to class.
When he entered the classroom, Shinji was already there. He had an ice pack to his cheek and dried blood clearly visible on his lips. Fury built up in Sora as he glared back at Toji who was also in his seat. Toji just glared back, unbothered by Sora.
'Oh I am going to put the fear of GOD in Toji' Sora thought.
"Hey Shinji. I missed you at lunch. Did something happen?" Sora started.
"N-n-no I-I fell down t-the stairs" Shinji stuttered out.
"Really? Wow I didn't know they had stairs outside." Sora said, easily cornering him.
Shinji's eyes widened and he panicked. "W-Why do you care anyway! Just leave me alone!"
Sora was taken aback at Shinji's rejection. "What? Shinji it's me, it's Sora. You don't have to be afraid of me. I care about you." he said as he tried to reach out for Shinji.
"NO DON"T TOUCH ME!" Shinji screamed as he shot up from his desk, knocking over his chair.
He stood there, hyperventilating, and finally made a dash for the door. He bumped into Hikari as she entered, but didn't stop at all. Hikari looked at Sora in confusion.
"Toji beat Shinji during lunch, but Shinji will never tell." Sora informed her.
"You can't prove anything!" Toji yelled at him.
Hikari wasn't able to deal with the situation as the teacher entered the room just then.
"Everyone, to their seats!. Rise! Bow! Sit!"
True to her word, after classes were finished Hikari told Sora to wait for her at the front gate since she had cleaning duty, so they could walk for a bit and figure out what to do about his "situation". Sora thought it was adorable and said he would wait. As he walked outside he noticed Toji strolling along. He was also alone. Sora wasted no time and walked faster to catch up to him, bumping into his shoulder hard when he finally caught up.
"Hey watch where you're-HEY! It's you, Sora! What, you want a piece of me as well?" Toji said.
"I highly doubt your 'fight' with Shinji was anything else but one sided. I'm here to show you what that feels like." Sora said cooly.
Toji was fed up with Sora and lounged with a wide hook. Sora decided to play with his food, and bobbed and weaved out of the way of every punch hook or kick thrown his way. After a few minutes Toji was getting tired. That's when Sora decided to throw a hard punch that dug into Toji's shoulder. Sora had great control, and only used enough force to bruise the bone, not break it. About the same level of pain, with not as much obvious damage. Sora sent his heel into Toji's right thigh, and Toji buckled hard hitting his face on the floor.
To Toji Sora's hits felt like 2 ton weights slamming into his body. He couldn't believe someone could hit that hard. He could only tremble in pain as Sora pressed his shoe onto the back of his neck, pressing painfully on his vertebrae.
"Now you listen and you listen well, I am the new big bad wolf in this town. If you so much as see me walking down the same sidewalk as you, you cross the fuckin street. In class, you don't talk or even look at me or Shinji. Or Hikari for that matter, she might catch your stupid. If you ever cross me or my friends again, because I know you beat up Shinji, I will rip your arms off and beat you with them. Then, I'm going to shove my hands into your hands like a glove and use your own hands to choke you to death! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" Sora yelled at him.
"Y-y-y-"
"WHAT!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"YES! Yes I'm sorry yes!" Toji cried.
"Yes, Yes you are." Sora seriously thought about just killing Toji right then and there. More out of pure malice than anything. But before he could make the decision he heard Hikari's voice calling for him a bit away.
"Sora where are you?"
'She must have finished up with cleaning duty.' he thought. "Well Toji, today is your lucky day, you get to keep on living your waste of a life for a bit longer. Now please, don't make me regret not ending you." he said as he stomped on Toji's face, knocking him out.
Sora used flowmotion to get right behind Hikari, giving her a scare when she turned and saw him.
"Sora! My goodness, you scared me, don't sneak up on me like that!" she said, swatting his shoulder playfully.
"Sorry sorry. But just as I thought, you're cute when you're flustered." he said.
She flushed and turned. "Sora! Be decent! Let's go already."
Sora just chuckled and followed her as she walked. After a few blocks Hikari brought up what happens next.
"So, where will you be staying tonight?" she asked.
"Any corner that doesn't have much crap on it." Sora passively said.
"Well, I guess that's what you have been doing for the longest huh." she said, thoughtful.
"Actually, yes. I usually just catch a nap whenever and wherever I can haha" Sora chuckled.
Hikari looked about nervously, a blush firmly on her face. "W-well, I could ask my dad if h-he would put you up at our place.." she said, rubbing her hands over one another.
Sora was about to explode with how cute she was being, and decided to commit. "If he doesn't mind. I'd like something soft to sleep on for a change. Even a wooden floor beats cold solid concrete."
"Okay, I-I'll ask him." Hikari said, taking out her phone and dialing her father.
Sora watched the animated conversation before him with glee. Her father must have been teasing her by how red in the race she was. After a few minutes, she hung up and taking a deep breath turned to face him with a smile. "He said yes, for the foreseeable future you are welcome in the Horaki household."
Sora shouted with joy and lifted her up with a twirl and into a hug. Hikari blushed even more but returned the hug. "H-he said as long as you're there, you'll be my responsibility since I picked you up from the streets. So don't make me regret this, I'm sticking my neck out for you Sora."
"I promise, I won't bring any harm to you or your family and I'll pull my own weight." he said.
"Okay, I'll hold you to that Sora. Well, let's go then!" Hikari said, leading them to her home.
Before he turned to follow her Sora looked over his shoulder, feeling something was off but unable to place it. "Hmm…"
"Sora come on, I have to put dinner on!"
"Coming Hikari!"
"Holy fuckin shite boss, the lad looked right at me barrel!" said a large burly man in camo fatigues and short cut orange hair.
"That's impossible Bravo, we are 10 klicks from Bandit. Confirm for Tango?" said an equally large asian man with a similar haircut but with black hair.
"Bandit confirmed for Tango Alpha, but we made eye contact, as if he knew I was looking at him. Something is off I tell ya." bravo said.
"Would both of you boys give it a rest already, you're givin me a headache." a tall american woman with half her shoulder-length hair braided said.
"Echo, there's no room for mistakes. We have to make it clean, as in absolutely silent. We aren't here to kill civies, so no goddamn casualties." Alpha told her.
"BAH why didn't you just take the shot just now then Bravo?" Echo said.
"The wind weren't right, and the las would have gotten painted in brains." Bravo said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"And there was a witness." Alpha stressed, glaring at Bravo.
"Yes yes, witness was there too, shite." Bravo said with an eye roll.
"Well, we need to choke up the perimeter if we want to catch a good opportunity." Alpha said, and caught Bravo's worried glance. "And we will be careful to not maintain line of sight for longer than necessary." he added with a sigh.
Sora was expecting Hikari's father to try and intimidate him, but surprisingly the man gave him a firm handshake and said welcome home. It threw Sora off, but he allowed it to give him hope that maybe everyone in this household was genuine and nice. He was proven correct when they all sat down for dinner and Hikari's other two sisters introduced themselves with a smile.
"Hi! I'm Nozomi! Welcome to our home!" said the young sister, Nozomi. She was bright and bubbly and playful. The definition of adorable.
"Hey kid, the name's Kodama. I may be the oldest but I'm young at heart." the older sister greeted, giving him a playful wink. She was older and taller and curvier than her middle sister, and wore sweatpants and a loose shirt that left little to the imagination.
"I'm Sora. Hikari found me on the street, and has been nothing but nice to me since. I even got enrolled in school for the first time today!" Sora said, just enjoying the moment. He knew good things never lasted, and he was going to milk this dinner for all the wholesome moments it had.
Ritsko left the commander's office feeling more frustrated than when she went in. Not only had the commander failed to get her off once again, but she was put in charge of killing Sora after her report of him to the commander. She had revealed that Sora had escaped the planned assassination the commander set up. It was set up because during the engagement with the angel Ritsko had managed to slip to the commander that Sora knew about Lilith, which instantly put him on edge. He immediately sent an agent to kill him. But Sora had escaped and used an A.T. Field no less. As it turned out, the commander had somehow managed to create a backup plan in case the assassinantion failed. He deployed a special team within Nerv to take Sora out covertly if the original plan failed, which it did. How the hell the commander managed all that while under attack by an angel, she would never know.
"For all the frustration that man gives me, he truly is a fearsome person." she said to herself as she entered her office.
She sat down and looked at the files that were just given to her regarding the special assault team she was now in charge of. She really didn't like mixing with the military types, but she understood why Misato wasn't given this. Notwithstanding the fact that Misato would become a liability if Sora knew as much as Gendo feared as she interrogated him, she was also just too soft. She couldn't kill a kid. Ritsko had no such moral hangups. She opened the folder and found pictures of the agents, named Alpha Bravo and Echo respectively. She poured over the files and committed everything to memory. At the end there was a piece of paper with a number to call, which she did. It rang twice, then a gruf accented voice came through the other line.
"E'llo boss. This is Bravo. Reckon it took ya long enough to make contact." Bravo said.
Ritsko knew you had to be direct with military personnel, so she didn't waste any time. "Good, you know who I am. Give me a Sit-Rep." she demanded.
"Oohoo I like this one, mighty feisty! I bet you've got a huge rack-" Bravo was cut off by a stern sounding voice followed by a smacking sound.
"Ma'am, this is Alpha. The situation is stagnant. The mission is not complete yet. We have confirmed Tango's position and are maintaining distance to take advantage of the first opportunity to neutralize." Alpha said.
"Very well Alpha, thank you. Maintain current position and take the Tango out as soon as it is reasonable to do so." she ordered.
"Ma'am yes Ma'am." came the reply, before the line was cut.
Ritsko chuckled, it wasn't often she dealt with an unruly subordinate and it amused her.
Sighing, she lit up a cigarette and logged into her computer. She had work that needed done.
Moonlight was shining dimly through the windows of the room. Shinji laid in bed, a cassette player playing music to him through plain white headphones. He felt less than dirt. He kept replaying how he treated Sora and even Hikari when he bumped into her. Sora was a random stranger who treated Shinji like a human being worthy of respect. It didn't matter that his respect was misplaced, Shinji still quickly became attached to it. He had been starved for affection and acceptance and when someone finally gives it to him with seemingly no strings attached what does he do? Freak out and hurt his feelings. Shinji wanted to apologize so badly but was scared Sora would reject him.
"I knew that I shouldn't have let myself be friends with him. He's too good for me, and I only know how to shut people out. It's okay though. This way no one gets hurt." Shinji said, as he fell into a restless lumber."
Sora was laying in the dark himself, laying on the couch of the Horaki households with the comforters Hikari provided from her own bed since they were short.
'Damn she is so kind. But Shinji...I need to make sure he knows it's okay. That I'm not upset.' Sora was thinking to himself.
As sleep slowly claimed him, his consciousness was drawn away from him.
Sora found himself back on the shores of the destroyed world, with the red sea and the red sky. He wondered if Lilith had pulled him back to the present and why she would do that. He didn't have to wait long for an answer.
"Sora." came Lilith's voice behind him.
Sora turned to find the body of an older looking naked Rei looking back at him. "Lilith. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I brought your mind here, but your body is still in the past. I just wanted to talk and give you some information. Also, it can get rather lonely." she said honestly.
Sora walked up to her and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, it must be so difficult for you to be in this world like this." Lilith held him back and relaxed into his embrace.
A thought occurred to Sora and he wanted to know something. "So, what happened to Asuka and Shinji? Are they still around?"
Lilith sighed sadly before responding. "They are. They have decided to part ways, and are trying to survive in the city. Shinji is doing surprisingly good, having made a niche for himself in the nearby mountain forest area. He was used to being alone and his heart does not falter in the solitude. Asuka is worse off. She is more capable than Shinji, but the constant need for others to validate her worth is stunting her and she is reckless. They keep passing each other, and despite the strong desire to have a proper bond they just go on, like ships in the night…"
"That's so sad. Their hearts must be really closed off." Sora mused.
"It's their strength that compounds the situation. They are broken enough to be scared of connection, but strong and stubborn enough to not just break down like a normal person would. After years of abuse or neglect a regular person would latch on to anyone, even if an abusive relationship was the result. Humans are just that starved for connection. But these two are so strong they don't cave, and hurt enough to not submit to what their hearts are saying. The mind is their worst enemy…" Lilith said sadly.
"I'm sorry. I guess that's the trade off for making the borders between people huh? They can patrol those borders however they wish." Sora said.
"Yes. Yes I know…But that is why we are trying to guide them along. Listen, I saw what happened in Nerv. You did well in keeping a hands off approach, but it seems you revealed too much. They tried to kill you because they believed you knew too much. Ritsko, the doctor heard you say my name. That snowballed into the current situation, where Nerv has sent special agents to kill you."
"I knew I felt someone watching me. That explains it."
"Also, they are aware of your A.T. field. They might try to change tactics should you prove too difficult to kill and offer you a truce. Do not believe them. The commander always lies. Always." she said in a harsh tone.
"Actually I was wondering, what is going on with me?" Sora asked.
"Ah, your powers. Instead of the light you are used to, in this realm there is a different light that takes hold. The light of the soul. It acts as the physical representation of what separates you from others. With it, you can form it into a weapon or a shield. Typically it is impenetrable, only able to be violated by a stronger A.T. field so the average weapon won't so much as graze you." Lilith explained.
"So that's what the orange light is?"
"Yes. Yours is particularly powerful, and I doubt any of the angels would be able to invade your space."
"Well, does this mean I can't do magic? My keyblade was also just made of my A.T. field."
"As I said, the typical light is replaced with the light of your soul. You should be able to do everything you usually can, just using a different power source as fuel."
"That's good to know. Though I guess in this world there isn't much need for magic and the like huh."
"I'm sure you can find uses for them. Now, I think it's time for you to return."
"Wait, before I go, can I ask for a favor?"
"What is it?"
"If for some reason I fail, don't feel too bad. You can't control people or their actions. Doing so will make you no better than Adam."
With that, Sora was drawn back to the past and into his consciousness leaving behind a sobbing Lilith.
Misato quickly downed her cup of noodles, careful to not get any on her uniform. She had work today, and was mentally preparing herself. She was particularly miffed that she had suddenly been thrown off the case of Sora.
"It doesn't make any sense. I have already seen everything, why black-line me after showing me everything?" she mused to herself.
She heard a door slide open and saw Shinji step out of his room, already dressed for school.
"Shinji good morning!" she greeted with fake but not forced cheer. "Ready for another great day at school?"
Shinji only nodded his head in response, slinging his bookbag over his shoulder and walking to the front door to begin putting his shoes on.
"Hey is everything okay?" Misato asked.
"Yes ma'am. Everything is fine. Will I be needed at Nerv today?" Shinji said formally.
"Uh, no I don't think there's anything scheduled for you Shinji. I will be working late though." she responded, put off by his formality.
"Understood." Shinji responded. " I'm leaving."
The door shut behind him and despite it not being thrown Misato felt it ring in her ears.
'I know what I must do. I have to save Sora from me.' Shinji thought, as he made his way to school.
Caught up in his thoughts, the walk to school was a blur. Shinji made it into class, and was hit with a fresh wave of nerves when he saw Hikari and Sora standing by her desk chatting.
They both instantly noticed him, and he was about to turn and run when Sora called out to him.
"Shinji! Good Morning!"
Shinji froze, shocked that Sora hadn't cursed at him.
Hikari and Sora walked over to Shinji, and Sora wrapped him in a soft hug. Shinji began to tear up.
"I was so worried about you Shinji. Toji must have really done a number on you." Sora said.
"Shinji. as your class representative I will make sure Toji receives proper punishment. Assaulting a fellow classmate is unacceptable!" Hikari passionately said.
"Don't worry your pretty freckled face Hikari, I took care of Toji." Sora said with an easy smile, patting Hikari's head and causing her to pout adorably.
"You know I don't condone violence Sora." she said, swatting his hand away.
"Hey I'm not saying I used violence! All I'm saying is that I took care of it." Sora defended.
"Honestly, you're such a brute!" Hikari said, getting in Sora's face.
"Am not!" Sora argued pushing his forehead against hers.
"Only a brute would beat another brute into submission!" Hikari said, yelling now in his face.
"You can't prove a damn thing! Show me the carfax!" Sora yelled back, thoroughly enjoying the pointless screaming match.
"The hell's a carfax-!" Hikari was interrupted by Shinji's cry for their attention.
"Stop!"
They both looked at Shinji and waited for him to continue.
"W-why are y-you two just talking like that? W-why aren't y-you yelling at me?!" Shinji asked, crying lightly.
"Shinji, why would we yell at you? You didn't do anything wrong." Sora said to him.
"Yes I did! I hurt you! I ran away, when you were just trying to be nice! A-and I bumped into you!" Shinji said, pointing to Sora and then Hikari.
"Well it's not like it hurt Shinji. You're actually pretty light." Hikari giggled.
"Hey at least say it hurt a little, a man has his pride even for things like this ya know!" Sora told her.
"I hurt you" Shinji broke in. "I-I don't deserve your kindness. At least not without some form of punishment. Scream at me, hit me, hurt me please!" Shinji yelled at them.
"So you wanna be hit huh?" Hikari asked him. She stepped up to him and lightly chopped him on his forehead, sticking her tongue out. " You could have tripped and fell, or really hurt someone. No running in the school, do you understand?" she said sternly.
Shinji could only look at her dumbfounded.
"Well mister!? Your class rep is reprimanding you."
"Y-yes ma'am." Shinji said. He then looked over to Sora.
"You know, you did kind of brush me off yesterday. Do you know what to say when you are mean to a friend?" Sora asked him, staring right into his eyes.
Shinji's heart leapt at the fact Sora still used the word friend to describe their relationship.
"S-s...sorry, Sora. Sorry Hikari." Shinji said meekly.
Sora just beamed a big smile and yoked him up into a hug. "Apology accepted chum!"
The three eased into a welcoming atmosphere and talked until class started. Sora noticed a distinct lack of jock in the classroom.
"Stand! Bow! Sit!"
Bravo sat casually in the very uncomfortable seat of their stake-out van. They had confirmed Sora was staying at the Horaki residence, and that he went to the same school as one of the famous pilots. Bravo was tasked with maintaining recon while Alpha went to make contact with their boss and Echo went to do whatever she was doing.
"Ach, babysitting a timbered kid is more boring than a washed up bottle of rum. Why do I always git stuck with the boar's ass."
He had kept a bead on Sora his entire stay in class. Using high tech gadgets he was able to see Sora through the walls and hear his conversations with varying degrees of success.
"Kid's a broken record wit his spew of friendship an' loving yurself. What a bunch of reality removed hungshite. Wish I could just blew the entire school and be damn done with it." he grumbled to himself.
He was about to just go to sleep for a bit from the boredom when he noticed the city alarms going off.
"Damn space nancies."
Shinji's phone began to ring, and he quickly ran outside to a waiting black SUV. Sora waved to him while Hikari wished him good luck. The class was then ushered out of the school and into their designated shelters. Sora stayed close to Hikari, thinking to keep her safe while Shinji handled the angel as he did before.
Sora sat in the shelter and entertained himself by trying to count the hairs on Hikari's head. With his enhanced sight, he could easily single out each strand. She was chatting away with one of her friends, but had noticed him staring at her and tried to not pay attention. Though inside, she was blushing up a storm at his powerful eyes.
"Hey Hikari" Sora said, finally making it impossible for her to ignore her.
"Y-yeah?" she fumbled, internally cursing herself for her exposed weakness.
"May I use the restroom?" he asked, knowing she was flustered by his staring.
"Yes. Be back soon though and don't wander off." she instructed him firmly.
"Yes ma'am~"
Sora lay heavily against the wall of the bathroom. Holes and blood peppered said wall along with the floor and mirrors over the sinks. The urinals and stalls were destroyed and in pieces and the sinks were broken and leaking water as well. Sora's arms throbbed as the muscles inside them protested the halting of his rampage. He slid down the wall and hugged his knees, jerking as he cried into them.
"W-why am I-I like this. I-I don't want to h-hurt anyone anymore!" he called out to the empty bathroom.
Sora felt himself slipping earlier. He felt the familiar pull of the darkness on his heart and mind. He tried to distract himself with Hikari by counting her hair and remembering the warm dinner he shared with her and her family. But it wasn't enough. He couldn't control the impulse or the pain. The desire to hurt everyone in the shelter was so great it physically hurt him not to. He didn't know why he was like this, and if he was being honest to himself he hasn't felt normal ever since he saved Kairi in her Dive To Heart. But he just didn't understand why. He had said and done things that he would never have done before. It made him sick to think of how much blood was on his hands now, and how nonchalant he was at the time he spilled it.
He needed to get away. Away before he did something he would truly regret. With that in mind, he prepared to sneak out of the shelter, which would be easy enough because the entrances aren't guarded at all. As he began to fumble out of the bathroom a broken shard of glass glistened and caught his attention. He picked it up in a harsh grip, easily cutting himself, and looked into it to find Lilith's face.
"Lilith?" Sora said, forcing the sobbing out of his voice.
"Sora. Hurry, there isn't much time. Shinji is going to fall to this angel." she quickly informed him.
"What? How? Didn't he beat it last time?"
"Last time his bully and the lackey actually were involved. Now due to your interference They won't be anywhere near the fight. He was pushed by his anger at them to finish off the angel, but this time he will break. You need to help him, or everything fails!"
"I'll be right there!"
Sora didn't bother to conceal his speed as he made a mad dash for the surface, reaching it in seconds. He expanded his senses to find Shinji's heart and once he did, locked on and did a long range Flow Motion to him.
Sora appeared right in front of the angel, and it took him off guard. He was Hundreds of feet in the air, and managed to land right on top of a downed Unit-01. The purple giant was struggling to get up as the angel held it down with whips made of pinkish light. Sora took in the angel and saw it was like a giant hooded snake, with its rib cage exposed and a core housed in it.
The angel seemed to lower it's faceless head at Sora and almost looked confused. Sora took the opportunity to reach out to the heart within Unit-01 and see how Shinji was doing.
He spoke out to the mother within.
'HEY! Is Shinji okay? Can you two fight?'
Silence was his answer for a few moments until finally-
'No, my baby boy is unconscious. I can not help him right now because those idiots at Nerv put in additional synaptic dampeners at the skittish UN's request. '
'I'm not sure what any of that means, but basically you can't fight right?'
'Yes child. I have so many questions, but there is only time for one. I will be your ally and be in your debt, so please, will you help my Shinji?!'
'I promise, no harm will come to Shinji.'
Everyone looking at the battle at Nerv was at a complete and utter loss at the events that had transpired. Shinji had disobeyed commands, and had been pushed back by the angel. Just when all had seemed lost, Sora came in and caught the angel's attention, halting it's advance to finish off Shinji. Then, light.
Sora reached out to the different but still warm light that resided in him. He idly pondered that last time he reached for his internal light there was none, and he was glad there was something this time. He expanded his A.T. field and it shoved the angel back a few hundred feet. It was massive, easily twice as big as tall the angel and a hundred feet thick. The angel looked surprised, and nervously shifted back and forth in place. Sora decided he would practice invading the angel's soul, just as he did to the previous one.
Sora condensed his thick field into an impossibly dense lance he could hold in his hand. It was about twice as tall as him, but he handled it with ease. He took a few hopping steps forward and threw the spear of light with all the strength he could muster. It instantly tore through the angel's own A.T. field and lodged itself in the core.
Sora used the lance as a conduit for his own soul, and rushed into the angel's core.
As soon as Sora entered the core he had to dodge as thousands of lasers came right at him. He instantly summoned his keyblade and popped off hundreds of offensive spells to thin out the attackers. In the last core he tried to enter it was just a piece, this time he entered a complete core and the number of souls within it reflected that. There were billions of souls flying aggressively all around him. Only the ones nearest to him could fire their attacks, as the ones behind them did not want to hit their allies. Still, Sora had a rough time avoiding thousands of endless lasers while thinning out the herd.
After a few hours, Sora finally managed to beat down the final soul. The world around him went from light blue to a pitch black and all the souls disappeared. Before him a core the size of a small car appeared, and he wasted no time running his hand into it and drawing it into himself.
Sora felt billions of lives flash before his eyes, as each soul was torn apart into pure energy and absorbed by him. It hurt more than anything he had ever felt bar nothing. But he endured until the last soul was his.
As he came back to the real world only a few seconds had passed, and the angel before him dissolved into a fine mist before being sucked into him through his chest. He felt the new well of power in his heart, and could only smirk as he knew he was one step closer to defeating Kingdom Hearts and keeping his friends safe.
He felt like a god, and wondered how he would feel when he finished forcing all the other angels into submission. He looked directly into Unit-01's giant yellow eyes and spoke to those he knew were watching at Nerv.
"Leave me alone, or I will destroy you. I can beat the angel's on my own, the world doesn't need you. You've been warned." Then he said something that only made sense to a few of those listening. "Oh and Yui, I kept my promise, you owe me."
He then Flow Motioned far away and back into the shelter but to those present it looked as if he just vanished in a faint blue light.
Gendo Ikari was not in a good mood. Not only was the United Nation and Seele breathing down his neck demanding an explanation for the events surrounding Nerv's sortie with the most recent angel, but a little snot nosed brat told his wife that she owed him.
The bastard! Just who the hell was this Sora kid, where did he even come from and why was he acting so familiar with his wife!
"Commander!"
Gendo looked calmly over his folded hands and across his desk at the fake blonde that was interrupting his thoughts. "You don't need to yell Doctor Akagi. I can hear you just fine."
'Is that why you didn't respond to me calling you seven times?' she bitterly thought, but didn't voice her retort. "Indeed. Sir the situation is dire. Notwithstanding the likelihood that Sora may very well know everything, on a practical level the world was shown that Nerv isn't needed to combat the angels. Apparently a teenager without a giant multi-trillion dollar robot would do just fine!" she told him in a slight panic.
Gendo impassively looked through her as he thought about what actions he could take. The two committees breathing down his neck would settle down if he could show them that despite being shown there are alternatives, Nerv was still their best option by far. As for Sora, he needed leverage on him. He had no illusions that Sora was the most powerful entity alive right now. But he still seemed very much human based on his interactions with his son, which meant he had emotions. Emotions Gendo could manipulate.
"Do not worry about Sora. I have a plan. Your covert team has been keeping tabs on him, and has observed a very close relationship with the Horaki household correct?" he intoned.
"Yes sir. But what...wait. Sir I-I don't know if we can afford to make an enemy out of the most powerful entity on the planet." Ritsko said nervously, already knowing what the commander was going to do.
He just grinned as if he had already won. "A lion without teeth or claws is harmless."
Shinji showed up to school the next day still unsure of the events from the day before. He was certain he was losing to the angel before he lost consciousness. But he still woke up to a white hospital ceiling. Everyone was tight lipped, even Misato. Especially Misato. She just held a blank stare when he asked her once she came home last night and said nothing.
Still, he was glad to be alive for once. For once, he looked forward to school. Because for once, he had friends that cared for him without any ulterior motives. So it came as an absolute shock when as he stepped into the classroom, two large men and a tough looking woman all in military get-up shoved him aside and walked up to his two best friends.
The large asian man spoke first. "Miss Horaki. My name is agent Alpha, and I have been sent to retrieve you on behalf of your father, Mr. Horaki."
"M-my father? What has happened to my father?" Hikari said, clearly intimidated with the situation.
The other large man stepped up and spoke next. " 'ello las. My name is Bravo and there have been recent threats to yer father's life as of late from a fanatic religious cult. They think the angels are messengers from the almighty and hate Nerv and all that work for it for attacking the angels." he said, sneaking glances at Sora. Sora didn't break eye contact with the man at all.
"Where is my father? Is he safe?" she asked, even as they grabbed her and gently ushered her along.
"Where will she be staying?" Sora asked, surprising the class even more.
"Kid if we told you where she was how would she be safe?" Echo said, a cocky grin on her face. She really wanted to blast this kid in the face and be done with this roundabout method.
Sora had the hair on the back of his neck stand up and every muscle in his body coiled tightly. His hand began to tighten, gripping nothing but air in half-closed fists.
"I swear, if any harm comes to her I will rain down the foulest atrocities imaginable upon you and all of your kind." Sora growled out.
In hindsight, Sora would admit if Shinji hadn't placed a calming hand on his shoulder he would have torn the three goons apart right there and then.
"It's okay Sora. People at Nerv get threats all the time. I-I'm sure they will keep her safe." Shinji then looked at them with what could barely pass as a glare. "Right?"
"Of course. This isn't our first rodeo!" Echo said.
Sora did not feel his unease lessen at all as they walked away with her, and the assistant class representative called out for them to get to their seats.
"Stand. Bow. Sit."
Shinji sat with dread as Rei said goodbye to him and stepped into her entry plug. He thought of how sad it was to say that, and that after all of this passes he would tell Rei not to say goodbye anymore.
Sora was walking down the street a mile or so away, waiting for his chance to get into the angel's core. He would let Shinji handle it unless it proved too much, so he was just biding his time. As he turned the corner of the block he was on, he saw a large black SUV pulling up to him. Curious and cautious, he let the doors of the vehicle open to reveal Gendo Ikari.
"Sora. I think we have much to discuss. Why don't you come with me?" Gendo told him.
"Aren't you Shinji's old man? What could a bastard like you want with me?" Sora said being purposely disrespectful.
Sora knew that Gendo was out for his head, so to come out in the open like this to him meant one of two things. Either Gendo was going to extend an olive branch like Lilith warned him, or he had leverage. 'Gods I hope this isn't about to be the one I think it is.'
"Like I said, we have a lot to talk about. Or does the life of this girl mean nothing to you?"
Gendo smirked as he pulled out a laptop from the still open vehicle and opened it, turning it towards Sora.
Sora felt his breath hitched at what was being shown to him. There, naked and bound in chains was Hikari. Her body was littered with bruises and dried blood could be seen all over her body.
"Now I know you are powerful, but there is no way you could reach her in time before one of my agents puts a bullet in her head." Gendo continued.
As if to prove his point, the camera panned out a bit and revealed three agents all with handguns trained on Hikari's body at various parts. One at her head, one at her heart, and one at her waist.
Sora stood still as fury and malice rolled over his body. He could kill Gendo. He could destroy Nerv, and take care of all the angels. He could do it all. But he knew deep in his heart that he wouldn't be able to reach Hikari in time to save her from the bullet.
Sora never had to restrain himself so much in his life. He could destroy this entire planet in an instant, but couldn't save this one girl named Light. 'How fucking poetic…'
"I can see you are having some issues coming to terms with the current situation, but I'll take the fact that you haven't tore me in half as your agreement to my invitation. So come on, you're wasting my time child." Gendo said oozing condescending confidence.
Sora wordlessly obeyed and entered the car.
While this exchange was going on, Shinji was in position with a giant sniper and lining up a shot at the new angel. It was a giant floating blue diamond that decided it didn't like the laws of physics. It would change shape at will and shoot extremely powerful beams of energy at anything with extreme precision. Getting the go from all of his sensors, he took the shot. Only to get it met and deflected by the angels own quick retaliatory shot. Shinji cursed, and knew he had to wait at least 17 seconds before he could even start to line up the second shot. Unfortunately, much like his caretaker from his youth this angel was ready to go for round two much quicker than him.
Shinji screamed in terror but the pain never came. He opened his eyes to see Unit-00, Rei's evangelion, standing in the way of the enemy beam holding a giant shield. But he knew that barrier would only hold for 9 seconds.
Sora saw it all happen from the SUV window, and saw that the shield was not going to hold. He turned to Gendo and tried to keep the murder from his voice.
"Let me out there! I can save them!"
Gendo didn't even look at him when he responded. "Rei will be able to take the blast."
"You are leaving too much to chance. Yui would have gone out herself if she was here!"
The unexpected use of his wife's name was like an ice cold splash of water to Gendo's face, as he thought about what was being said. After a second's pause, he acquitted in a low growl.
"Go."
