AN:So uh...this chapter is accidently 9k words long. That's uh...that's something.
Shinji Ikari looked at his hand,the hand he had used to rip apart the Evangelion that was unit-03,the hand he had used to forcefully rip out the plug while it's pilot was still connected to it, the hand he had used to stab over and over and over again into the already dead form of Evangelion unit-03.
He blinked, the room was dark, it was a cell in which he was being kept. Why?He didn't know,he just knew he deserved it and that was enough for him to stay quiet, contemplating his hand with an utterly broken look in his eyes.
He wondered what it had felt like,the feeling of having your entire nervous system collapse around you as it was ripped from you,the feeling of having your shoulders ripped off and your arms crushed only to heal and have one of them ripped off. He wondered just how high his synchronization ratio had been,he hoped not too high,not high enough to have scars,physical reminders, of Shinji's brutality.
He hoped all of this not for his own sake,because he knew Kensuke Aida would never forgive hhim,but he hoped it because he didn't want his friends to have a reminder of the trauma,like Shinji had in that rather small scar at the center of his abdomen.
The door opened with a sudden influx of cold air, a man in a section two uniform stood over him.
"You've been cleared of potential mental contamination,you are free to go." The man said, Shinji only nodded.
He didn't know when or how but at some point he'd managed to walk over to the pilot's quarters and collapse into the couch without even changing his clothes,the bloody smell of LCL clinging around his plug suit like a plague,a reminder of the fact that he brutally maimed his friend.
It was funny really,that there were no tears, only nothingness,only the feeling that nothing in life could truly matter as he looked out at the ceiling above, a familiar one this time but it didn't make him feel any more comfortable, no,all it did was bring back memories.
And as it stood Shinji Ikari didn't want to have memories,he didn't want to remember,he didn't want anything,he just wanted to run away,to be done with it. For all of it to just...just end.
When had he left the headquarter with his clothes now on and his SDAT in his hand?Had it been minutes,hours or days ago? Minutes probably,seeing as he was still ascending up the train that lead to the surface,but it certainly felt like hours,maybe even days.
It was a new day,he had stayed in that cell for at least a day, he had not even taken notice of that much time passing,in fact he could have sworn it had only been one or two hours since he'd committed that unforgivable sin.
Shinji clicked a button. The same track on repeat,his own self had once said that he couldn't find happiness in a music player,he was right. But Shinji wasn't looking for happiness,he didn't deserve it. All he wanted was comfort,all he wanted was for the pain to end,even for just a second.
Because I'm a coward. He told himself. Because I'm afraid.
As he looked out at the rising city of Tokyo-3 he was hit by a sudden realization. I've run away...
"I'm scum."
The rain hit the outside of the train,when had it even started to rain? Shinji had forgotten. The same music playing again and again and again on repeat had made him loose any sense of time he might have held. The only thing he knew was that it had been a while.
People filled into the train and outside of it,people going to work,then students going to school,then people going shopping and the people who went to school returning from it and as night struck the people who went to work returning from it. But eventually even those people, eventually even the old man who'd fallen asleep and missed his stop, left the train. And Eventually Shinji Ikari was left alone.
Click.
The track played back.
A cinema,a movie about the second impact, a lie created to appease the public,nothing more. There weren't many people it was late and it was raining outside, Shinji was not paying attention,not to the movie.
There was a couple,a man and a woman, they were kissing under the cover of darkness,her hair was red. Shinji blinked,trying to dispel what he believed was an illusion. But it was not, the woman truly was a redhead.
"Asuka.."Shinji whispered as his mind was filled with thoughts of her,he suddenly felt sick,he'd left her. He didn't deserve her but she still loved him,and he'd left her..she must have hated him now.
That night he slept on a bench,curled into a ball as he cried his eyes out,no one helped him.
Red,the sun was rising and the world was red, red was his favorite color,red like his sister's eyes,red like Asuka's beautiful hair, red like the heavens above. Shinji wasn't crying,not anymore, all that was left once again was silence,silence and despair. There was not even the sound of the waking city to rouse him from his self-imposed exile,no,just despair and silence.
He walked,he had nothing else he could do but walk,no other purpose to his life besides to keep on walking, what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't die,he was to cowardly to do even that,so he kept walking,because he was a coward, because he was scum.
In the distance,wolfs howled,he ran,he didn't know why,but he kept running until his legs gave out and he fell to the ground. No one helped him.
Asuka Langely Sohryu opened the door to Shinji Ikari's room,the room that had gone unused for nearly a month now. Nothing,no one. She checked her phone,likewise,nothing.
"He's run away..."She said. "Just like everyone else..."
Shinji was alone,the wind howled and the sound of airplanes coming in for a landing could be heard, but he didn't care,he wasn't there for the air-base. He walked and walked,when someone stopped him he showed his NERV id card,they apologized and he kept walking.
He kept wakling until eventually the cold was too much to keep doing so,but he was at his goal anyway. A Grave,a grave without a name and without a body. A grave that held many memories within it,a grave made simply to serve as a symbol,and beside the grave stood a tree.
The tree in which he'd decided that he would protect Ichijo Rei forever,the tree in which that promise's broken lack of remains stood,an empty grave. Ichijo Rei,the first of his sisters. He knelled.
"I...I've killed someone..since we last met I killed someone Ichijo-chan."Shinji choked out. "Since we last met I hurt someone as well...many people actually...do you hate me?"
The image of unit-00 going berserk flashed in his mind, Shinji rushing to open the entry plug and burning his hands as he panicked that he would loose Ayanami, that he would loose Ayanami like he had lost Ichijo.
"I'm sorry."
And as he stood at the grave all he could do was cry and mumble the words I'm sorry' over and over and over again,hopping against all hope that maybe someone,anyone,would save him. No one came.
The roar of an Angel,followed by an explosion,and then darkness. The memories of Mari illustrious Makinami played back in her mind, the pain and the hurt played back in her mind as she woke. Her breathing was labored,heavy and visible in the ventilator she had been connected to, her mind was fuzzy and she felt like her chest had been set on fire.
Her memories flashed back to the last time she had felt pain like this...her mind flashed to an Angel,and to the destruction of unit 5 and to the burning in her lungs and how she'd never sang since then. She wished she had done so for Ayanami Rei now,because as it stood she was no longer sure she could sing or even speak,unsure if she could even live.
A painful memory flashed into her mind an 'I'm sorry' spoken by the only person who'd ever cared about her, an apology given for dying,no one should have to apologize for that,and yet Anastasia's last words words had been exactly that 'I'm sorry'.
Then,a flash of blue as she looked out toward the window,the blue sky. Blue was a nice color,it was the color of that girl's hair,Ayanami Rei. Ayanami Rei was a good person, Mari thought so at least,and that was all that mattered,she cared about Ayanami Rei.
"I made...lunch,i had assumed that you might want to have..some." Back then she had been so hesitant so..afraid. Afraid of her?No,of being rejected. It was funny really how the tables had turned,how once it had been Mari the one who feared rejection. Almost as if her life was playing on repeat for the second time.
If that was so then surely the explosion caused by unit-03 should have killed her,hell,maybe it had. Maybe she was just in some sort of drug-induced hallucination as she awaited her final moments while on the way to the emergency room,maybe she would die before she ever got there,like Anastasia.
She groaned,this sound seemed to agitate the nurse that was her by her side, the young man in question told her what had happened and told her that she shouldn't speak or try to get up. 'Your lungs are in bad shape and you've got bandages covering most of you' he'd told her. Yeah,she could tell if the pain was any indication.
An Hospital room, Rei Ayanami hated hospital rooms,their unnaturally clean appearance reminded her of the bowels of Nerv and thus she disliked them. But her dislike for hospitals was greatly eclipsed by her care for Mari,and thus she decided to visit her anyway.
Normally patients in such critical state would not be allowed visitors,but Nerv personnel had certain privileges others did not have, once again Rei was glad to be a part of Nerv.
She took a deep breath as she opened the door to her room,the beeping of monitoring equipment serving to remind her of the critical state in which the other pilot was in. As she walked closer to the bed she looked at Mari
Her body was pretty much covered in bandages,the left side of her face too was covered in them and her hair was two times shorter than it had once been,a side effect of having been burned away.
She was awake,her one good eye looked at her with a sort of delirious happiness, they were heavily drugging her,as expected. Rei sat by her side and looked at her.
"Good morning Mari."She greeted. Watching a smile spread itself over the girl that still had a ventilator over her face, she smiled herself. "It's good to see that you are awake,i visited you late last night as well."
No response,not even a sound,it was likely that Mari could barely understand her with how much she had to be drugged just so the pain alone wouldn't kill her. Her burns had been severe,so had her internal damage,it was a miracle she was still alive.
"It's good to see that you have at least gotten somewhat better since yesterday."Rei said,a lie. She normally never lied,but this was a fitting exception to her rule. Mari wasn't doing better, she was the same, it was only natural,only 24 hours had passed.
No response ,of course there was none, but Rei was happy just being by her side,just comforting her in whatever small ways she could,it brought her happiness amid all the sadness of the situation.
No one was there for Shinji Ikari, there was no one there for all the hours he stood at the grave,there was no one there for all the hours in which he simply stood and cried and begged for the forgiveness of a girl long dead.
And so he walked away,no,he ran away. His phone had not rang in all that time,maybe it was for the best, he needed everyone else but they didn't need him,that was good. They would be happy even if he didn't return.
Eventually he found himself back on a train and his mind was filled with thoughts about the people he loved in his life, it was filled with thoughts about Asuka and Rei and Ritsuko and Misato and his father and Touji and Kensuke...Kensuke...god he was so sorry,god did he wish he could tell Kensuke just how sorry he was..but he wouldn't,because Kensuke must have despised him now,so he ran away.
And he kept running away,as the train headed to some unknown destination he continued to run away,as tears fell down his face he continued to run away,when he was found by Nerv agents he could no longer run away,so he stayed silent,not letting a single word leave his lips as he was escorted to the geofront.
Kensuke Aida awoke with pain,pain in his arm...he looked down,and he saw that his arm was completely encased in a cast. He tried to remember why that was,he tried to remember why he hurt. But all he remembered was black,black and then red..oh.
The memories rushed into him,assaulting his mind much like vultures would a dead body,picking apart at the edges of his conscious mind. Suddenly he was hyperventilating as images of pain and suffering flashed through his head.
Suddenly he remembered feeling as if his shoulders had something connected to his flesh be ripped out,suddenly he remembered the feeling of having his head crushed until it was nothing but pulp and blood,suddenly he remembered the feeling of his chest imploding as the core of his unit was broken away.
And the worse of it all?When the plug had been removed, he remembered quite clear the feeling of his nerves being ripped from his body,as if suddenly every single inch of skin had been rammed with burning hot needles and then proceeded to have been poured with gasoline.
Suddenly Kensuke Aida regretted not having listened to Shinji Ikari..because he'd been right,because he was still right...piloting was hell.
Gendo Ikari stood before a truly monumental spire,a structure that reached 100 meters in height,this spire,standing imposingly and unshakable,had stood there for billions of years,and if all things went correctly,it would continue to do so for at least a billion more.
This spire was the reason for the changing world,it was the reason that there had been a defection in 2007,it was the reason that Seele's plans would not come into fruition. "The Guide-stone of the Lilim."
"A monument given to us by god so that we may ascend to his level."Fuyutsuki said. "And fight back extinction."
"In the end it appears even the gods feared death,so they gave us the weapon to fight back against it." Gendo spoke.
"And that which has killed gods will soon come to kill the children of them as well,not heralds but harbingers of destruction.."Fuyutsuki said.
"Yes,the true threat to mankind,those that stand even above the Angels,the Seraph." Gendo said. "It is for that reason that instrumentality cannot come about in any form,if mankind is not as it stands today then there is not a method for fighting off their might."
"Even then,to truly believe that we can fight such a high order of beings,god-killers. Is that not hubris in of itself?"Fuyutsuki asked.
"Evangelion too is made to be a killer of those we call gods, it is only a matter of time. In the end we will be victorious."Gendo said.
"Let us hope you are correct Gendo." Fuyutsuki said.
The headquarters,central dogma,the place where the last of mankind's defenses against the angels were located. Home,Shinji thought. It was home,still home, despite everything...despite all the pain it still was home.
So...why was he so afraid,so afraid to enter the quarters he'd called home for years..he knew why,because he was a coward. Even so,he breathed in,prepared himself,and swiped the key-card.
"I'm..i'm home."He said as he took a step in.
It felt oddly empty,the whole place was just...still,almost foreign looking to him after only a day of being away,but maybe that much was just his mental state playing tricks on him. A door opened,the door to Asuka's room,she looked at him,surprise in her eyes.
"You're back..."She said,a indescribable emotion in her voice. Shinji nodded.
Then there was silence,he didn't say anything and this aggravated her. "Well..I'm waiting,what the hell do you have to say for yourself?"
"I don't know." He replied.
"You don't know?!"Asuka shouted. "Well,who the hell does then?!"
"...I'm sor...no."Shinji stopped himself, no lies,not to her. "I..I just...i don't know."
"You're gonne for a day,worry me sick,worry even fucking wondergirl sick and you don't know?!"She was pissed,more pissed than she'd ever been at him,she was right to be. But it still hurt him,because he was selfish.
"I'm sorry."Not a lie this time,he hadn't wanted to make her worry.
"You're sorry?"She asked,venom in her voice. "Well sorry doesn't fix this first,sorry doesn't fix the fact that you left,that you left me! You,you ran away from me!"
"no..i didn't do that!"Shinji said,trying to defend himself. Why?he didn't deserve to be defended,much less by himself.
"Oh,you didn't?"She asked sarcastically. "Then I must have just hallucinated an empty bed last nigth! You didn't even tell me if you were okay, you didn't tell me you needed time,you just left,not only that,you left the very same day after a battle!"
Shinji looked down,he had nothing to say,no tears to shed. Words couldn't save him,they wouldn't,because he'd been in the wrong. He was always in the wrong,he was worthless,pretty much scum.
"So,what are you waiting for,say something first!"She demanded,he shook his head.
"What am I supposed to say?"Shinji asked. "That I'm trash and that I couldn't live with myself so I ran away?Is that what you want to hear?"
"It's certainly better than the nothing you've given me thus far!"She replied in anger. He looked away. "At least look at me when I'm talking to you first!"
He didn't...he couldn't,not really. "oh..i see..i see what's going on,you're just like everyone else! I thought you were different you know?I thought that what we had mattered something more to you than for you to run away from me!"
Tears,there were tears in the edges of her eyes, and Shinji could do nothing about them,because he was at fault,because he'd run away. Because he was a coward. And so,because he was a coward,he stayed silent,he couldn't answer.
"I don't need you!I was right,i can live by myself,i don't need anyone and I don't need a selfish idiot like you!" She shouted,slamming her door shut as she walked inside it.
Shinji looked down,he looked down at the music player in his hands.. "This is all your fault."
And he threw it on the ground.
What might have,to the unwary eye looked like a meteor struck the earth's atmosphere,burning away a great part of it's mass as it revealed inside it an egg-like structure,pure white in it's color.
An unknown method of propulsion caused it to severely slow down mere moments before it struck it's target...or so it had assumed. In the end it appeared that in it's foolishness it had failed to adjust to the planet's orbital partner,it's moon was far larger than what had been expected.
But such things were irrelevant. The damage caused by it's orbital strike would not come to be,but it had not expected to strike down the sons of the far elders with only kinetic impact,no. That was foolish.
And so,it struck the water,reaching to very depths of the pacific ocean as it struck the surface at roughly twice the speed of sound,then,even as it stood submerged underneath the waves,high above them a flash of white light could be seen.
Heed.
For I am first among my brethren,Seraph of the start of times.
The might of god in all his fury and all his grace.
I have come not as a herald but as an harbinger.
Zeruel is the name of my furious vengeance.
Harbinger of the start of the end times,first of my brethren.
I am last born of the gods
And by my dogma
You shall burn.
Tabris looked up,a certain sadness in his eyes. "It's begun...good luck,Lilim."
Alarms rang out through all of the city of Tokyo-3 as a renewed angel assault began,a mere two days after the last and barely that, the incoming angel was blasted with hundreds of missiles, batteries in the city of Tokyo-3 itself as well as those belonging to the yet the target they struck was unaffected by it,it's cloth-like wrapped form seeming to simply ignore this truly ludicrous amount of firepower.
Then it's eyes glowed,two infinity symbols in them for a single second before they blew away the defensive turrets, a blast of white energy,a growing sphere rather than the destructive crosses of the Angels before it.
Another one of such blasts rocked the city,this one directed at the plates that separated it from reaching it's vengeance.
"All personnel, go into immediate level one alert status,we repeat,all personnel into immediate level one alert status!"
"What's going on,who's the target!"Misato said as she rushed into the bridge.
"We're still not sure,it just appeared,it's breached through all of our defensive lines!"Aoba said.
Misato's eyes widened. "An angel,and so soon after the next one?"
"We're still not sure,pattern is orange!"Hyuga said. Then,the angel struck the armor plates. "All armor plates have been breached..and in a single shot...how is this possible!"
"The Evas won't make it in time for a proper intercept,prepare to deploy them inside the geofront!"Misato ordered. "Everyone,go into emergency alert 0!"
"All personnel,be advised,emergency alert has been changed into level 0, the target has breached all surface based defenses,evacuation of non-critical personnel will soon begin. We repeat,the alert level has been changed to level 0,the evacuation of non emergency personnel will soon begin!"
"The pilots have reached the cages,all units are ready to sortie!" Maya reported.
"The damage received to unit-00 in the last battle is still to great,the arm has only barely regenerated,it's in no fighting shape."Ritsuko said,sounding worried for the blue haired girl.
"Send in unit 01 and 02,00 will be backup!"Ritsuko said.
"Ma'am,unit 01...it's failed synchronization!"Maya said,both Ritsuko and Misato leaning in over her chair to check..
"What?!"Misato shouted.
"How is that possible?!"Ritsuko added.
"The pilot harmonics are all over the place,he's too unstable to synchronize with his Eva!"Maya replied.
"Damn it,whatever is going on with Shinji figure out how to fix it,get Unit-02 up there,now!"Misato ordered.
Slightly above them the commander and sub-commander both arrived from the depths of terminal sub-dogma,the former's eyes narrowing at the sight of the 'angel'.
"Has it begun...so soon,it cannot be..."He said,a certain hint of horror in his voice.
"Surely you cannot mean..."Fuyutsuki said, horror clear in his expression. "that this is.."
"The first of the Seraph..."Gendo said in nigh a whisper.
That Asuka was pissed would be an understatement,in fact,she was so utterly livid that she was quite nearly sure that she was going to murder someone at some point in the day if she didn't have something to vent her frustrations out on,thankfully that thing did arrive in the form of the fifteenth angel. And oh boy was she gonna enjoy beating the living daylights out of it.
With a kick she flipped both of the rifles at her feet to fit neatly into her hand,pointing them upward as the bony face of the angel revealed itself,its cloth-looking tentacles moving all around it.
"You know,I'm not in a particularly good mood so go to hell already!"And with that she opened fire,both rifles letting loose a truly ludicrous amount of bullets against the angelic beast that was her target.
And yet there was no effect,almost mockingly the angel continued to simply look at her as the bullets impacted the rainbow colored surface of it's AT field, it's field was powerful,powerful enough that she was having difficult neutralizing it from only a kilometer away.
"Gah,gottverdammt!" Asuka said as she threw aside both of the rifles in her hand,grabbing the Eva-sized rocket launcher by her side and letting it rest on her shoulder as she used her other arm to aim the massive thing.
"Eat this!"She cried out, four missiles leaving the rocket launcher with a trail of smoke before they all hit the creature's AT field,an explosion ringing out through the entire geofront,the shock-wave of the four direct hits enough to cause parts of the upper armor to give in.
The bridge crew looked on in careful anticipation as the smoke cleared,the massive shock-wave having shook even the pyramid of the geofront. Then,it's form was revealed,utterly unharmed.
"It's...taken no damage."Hyuga commented with widened eyes,utter and absolute terror in his voice.
"What the hell kind of demon is it?"The normally cool Aoba said with equally wide eyes.
"The at field...it's 3000% more powerful than the strongest we've ever encountered...there's nothing we can do!" Maya said. "Even the Evas... "
"Against such an AT field...even the Evas are useless." Ritsuko commented. "This is it...third impact will surely begin today."
The Angel that was not an Angel lowered itself slowly yet surely toward the ground of the geofront, Asuka scoffing as it stood utterly still facing her.
"so what if you survived that?!"Asuka cried out as she reached down for the unusual weapon that was the thunder spear,with the appearance of a gun but in fact being more like a retractable nail. She dashed toward the target. "I'll just kill you from up-close!"
The angel's eyes glowed with two infinity symbols,letting off two blasts of energy as it did,both failed to hit Asuka's unit as it jumped into the air,descending toward the angel. With a pull of the trigger of the weapon in her hands it's needle like form propped out,only to hit the angels rainbow colored AT field once again. "AGHHH!"
The right pylon of the unit opened up,shooting out it's signature weapon,the needle gun. Spikes shoot out from it with all the propulsion of a rocket engine,only to fail to pierce it's AT field all the same.
"Even from this range?!"Asuka cursed as the angel's AT field pulsed outward,pushing her several hundred meters into the air before the cloth-like tentacles of the angel shoot out,their ultra-thin forms serving as blades that cut off both of her arms in a single strike. Her unit fell to the ground as she cried at the pain.
"I'm...I'M USELESS AGAIN!"Asuka shouted as she hit the center of her plug with enraged tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Then,darkness.
"Unit-02 has been disabled!"Hyuga said. Misato nearly bit her lip.
"Damn it,get Unit-00 out there with whatever weapon we can manage, what's Shinji's status?"Misato asked.
"Still inactive!"Ritsuko reported. "He's cut the two way communication systems as well,there's nothing we can do!"
"Shinji..."Misato said in a whisper. "What are you doing?"
The unit around him was dead, a cold darkness surrounded Shinji Ikari as he worthlessly sobbed at his legs. Asuka had been defeated,and if she had been defeated then what was he supposed to do? She was the strongest,the best,he was just a child,a child who didn't know what to do.
He wondered how it would feel like to die,he wondered how the others would feel,knowing that it was his fault and his fault alone that the world had ended, he hoped it would be quick. For their sake if not his own, because he didn't deserve a quick death,no. He deserved pain, he deserved all the pain in the world and more,he deserved to die a thousand times over for his cowardice.
A tear,a lone tear floated up in the LCL. He'd made Asuka cry,that was enough for him to deserve death, that alone made him unworthy of even gracing the presence of the outside would,it would be better if he just shut himself in and died..yes,everyone would be okay..everyone would be alright if he just..just died.
Another blast of power left the eyes of the Angel,the all consuming white sphere of destructive energy immediately breaking through every single one of the HQ's armor layers as the cloth-like beast that was the angel approached.
"Damn it,the main shaft's completely open!"Misato shouted. "Where's unit 00!?"
"Unit-00 is reporting in."A monotone voice replied from her end as the blue titan that was unit 00 appeared with something underneath it's arm.
"Rei..what are you doing with that missile?"Ritsuko asked,fearful for the worse.
"Accomplishing my objective."Rei said as her unit took off on a run.
"Rei,stop this,stop it now,that's an order!"Ritsuko shouted.
"I will not..this is for my own self."Rei replied.
Her unit continued it's run toward the black form of the supposed Angel,it seeming surprised for a second by the second Eva's,enough of a second for the missile to be shoved into it's AT field,it's 5 engines pushing against the Angel's field. Rei grit her teeth.
"AT field..full power!"And yet,layer after layer of AT field kept coming in her way,kept her from accomplishing her objective.
"Rei,stop,your AT field isn't strong enough."Ritsuko said.
"My at field..."Rei said,the doctor's eyes went wide.
"Rei,don't!"
"Two way communications have gone silent!"Hyuga reported.
"A pattern blue has been confirmed!"Maya said.
"The angel?"Misato asked.
"No...unit 00!"Maya reported.
Rei pushed out her soul,not the soul of the remnant of her that remained within the Evangelion,not the soul of the Eva,but her own soul. Her eyes glowed a bright a bright red as her soul pushed out,the confusion that came from the Angel only grew as it's soul was overwhelmed by the combined power of both the Eva and Rei's souls.
"Die."Was Rei's singular command as the last layer of the AT field was broken through and an explosion filled the geofront.
"Unit-00 has been defeated,pattern blue has faded!"Hyuga reported. Misato looked shocked as the Angel's half destroyed form appeared on screen.
"Even without an AT field..its...alive?"She asked,shock in her eyes.
"It's regenerating faster than any previously encountered Angel,it will begin moving again in less than a minute!"Maya said.
An explosion rang out through the geofront, Shinji was sure that wasn't a good sign,but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't do anything because he was garbage,because he was weak. Everyone would die because he couldn't even get his Eva to move.
Shinji hit the center of the entry plug. "MOVE DAMN YOU!"
Nothing,not a single flicker of a distant light to indicate any life within the unit,it was as if the unit itself and the soul within it were refusing him both,because he was weak,they were right to,of course. But he needed to fight,he needed to save everyone. He couldn't let them die.
But he would have to,because his Eva wouldn't move. He was too weak,always too weak.
His plug-suit beeped,an indication of an incoming call,he took it without even thinking much about it.
"Hey..baka-Shinji,do you hear me?"Her voice,Asuka's. "I'm guessing you took the call so you must be able to hear me. Look...i'm sorry I shouted at you okay? Even thought it was wrong of you to run away..it was also wrong of me to..to say the things I did. You said that you'd accept me for who I really am right? So...can I tell you how I feel,my idiot?"
"Yes." His answer lacked life,but it was one,that was all that mattered.
"I'm scared...I'm scared as all hell honestly..I'm scared that I'm useless,I'm scared because you ran away as well,you ran away from me. L-like Kaji did a-and father and m-mother."She was crying,god,he'd made her cry again,he was scum.
"I didn't run away from you.."Shinji said,his head still firmly placed on his legs. "I ran away from myself...i was so afraid of running away,so afraid of hurting you...that I ended up doing it anyway...I'm just scum Asuka,I'm unworthy of any love."
"Shut up!"Asuka bellowed,enough to silence him. "Don't say stupid shit like that! If you're unworthy of love than what am I?! I can't even win a damn battle,I've been part of every single damn battle since the sixth angel and I've killed not a single angel,you and the others get all the credit!"
"And what if you're unworthy of love?!"She continued. "I still love you all the same,are you stupid or something? Are you so dense that you don't realize that I don't give a damn if you're worthy of love or not?! I'll love you all the same!"
His heart was hammering in his chest,those heartfelt words of hers were said and yet he couldn't respond.
"So...please, Shinji..we need you...I need you." She sounded so...scared,so afraid,so much like she truly needed him.
His mind flashed back to the promise he'd made before,to the promise that he would save her,that he would help her,that he would follow her into hell itself if he had to.
"Asuka...for sure,no matter what happens...I'll protect you,I'll save everyone!" His unit pulsed to life around him,sync ratio skyrocketing as it did.
"Unit-00 is disabled,the Angel is heading toward the central access,it's clear to enter central dogma!" Hyuga said,Misato's eyes were wide with surprise,surprise and fear,was this how humanity would end? A surprise attack from an unusually powerful angel? It felt oddly unfitting,if incredibly realistic.
With another blast of white light the command center's frontal plate was torn away,revealing the angel's form, it approached them almost as if taunting them,holding it's superiority over them. It's eyes glowed,two infinity symbols,one in each eye,as it prepared to snuff out the life of the meager humans beneath it.
And then,just as the attack was about to be fired,a fist impacted it's face, sending it's cloth-like form soaring into the next part of the HQ.
"Eva-01...SHINJI!"Misato and Ritsuko both cried out in happiness as the boy in question willed his unit toward the angel.
"Aghhhhhh!"Fury was the only thing in Shinji Ikari's mind as he struck his fist down on the Angel beneath him,causing it's mask to begin to crack. It's eyes glowed,a piercing lance of white light struck his arm,cutting it clean off.
"AGHHHHH!"Shinji cried,this time in pain as he used the other hand of his Eva to ram the angel through the wall,grappling it with a single hand and throwing it at the ascension elevators. As the Angel attempted to free itself it suddenly found a foot in it's black chest.
"MISATO!" Shinji cried out.
"ASCEND THE PLATFORM!"She ordered,and the platform, Evangelion and Angel included,were sent barreling upwards,the angel's head scrapping against the metal as the Evangelion forced it there. Once they reached the surface of the geofront Shinji was still ontop of the angel,as he prepared for another attack the angel's arms suddenly retracted,becoming two solid blocks that slammed against the center of his chest and sent him flying several dozen meters, being stopped only by the slamming of his unit against a hill-side.
"Shinji!"She heard Misato call out to him and then, darkness,his eyes widened.
"The power's out?!" He shouted.
Misato had watched in awe as the true power of Evangelion unit-01 had been shown, she had watched in awe as it had single-handedly delivered more successful attacks against the enemy than either units 02 or 00. And she had watched as it all came tumbling down,the Eva being sent flying several dozen meters into the air and into a nearby hill, coming to a stop and beginning to rise for a single second before it's power went dead.
"No..."Ritsuko said beside her,seeming unable to believe the scene in front of her anymore than Misato did. It was over,truly and completely over,they had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat only for it to be taken from them once again, what cruel reality it was in which they lived.
"The backup power system as well as the battery power are at Zero,there's nothing we can do."
Darkness,the darkness within the the Evangelion was all encompassing, Shinji's failure weighted down on him with all the weight of the entire world. The images of everyone he'd failed flashed in his mind.
Ayanami,Misato,Ritsuko,Ichijo,Kensuke,Touji,Hikari,Kaji,His father.
Asuka..asuka, she was the one who had made him start the unit,she was the one who'd made him have the will to continue going,for her sake he couldn't lose,he wouldn't lose. She needs me,she needs me,she needs ME.
"Move..."He ordered,a whisper,barely that.
"Move."He ordered,his eyes closed. This time his voice was more firm,more audible.
"Move!"He ordered,his voice now echoing through the plug..
"Didn't you hear me?...I told you...MOVE!" When he opened his eyes they glowed a pure purple,when the Eva opened it's own as it reactivated they too were purple.
"Unit-01..it's reactivated!"Maya said.
"Without power,no that's impossible!"Ritsuko said.
"What happens to this unit doesn't matter,what happens to my life doesn't matter,what happens to this base doesn't matter. But...but everyone,I'LL SAVE THEM FOR SURE!"
And with those words he felt something be roused inside his spirit. "S2 ENGINE,FULL POWER!"
Suddenly he felt powerful,powerful unlike he'd ever felt in his life.
The angel shot out it's two whips at him,their attack coming ungodly fast,and yet they were stopped,blocked by a wall of orange light, yet such light was quickly shifting. The Eva grabbed hold of the angel's two whip-like hands and pulled,crashing it's head against the angel's own as it's mouth bolts came undone.
"RYAHHHHHHHH!" Both pilot and Eva screamed at the top of their lungs, then with a sickening crunch a grey arm replaced the one that had just been lost by the Eva,a pulse of purple running over it and replacing the armor that had been there before.
With a single punch the angel was sent flying into the air,crashing against the ground,it's whips shot outward once again,only to be grabbed by the Evangelion,who spun around with them in hand,throwing the angel against a hill before approaching it once again.
Shinji reached down,ripping apart the chest of the angel with both of his hands and with one last final push ripping it off,only to reveal...nothing,no core.
"W-what?"That single moment of confusion was enough.
Suddenly his Evangelion was perforated by two of the angel's cloth-like tentacles,being sent at least a hundred meters up before falling down,blood filled Shinji's vision,he reached down to notice that his stomach was bleeding. "S-shit...I've got to..."
He tried against all hope to bring his Evangelion up,but two of the angel's arms wrapped themselves around him,pulling him up and slamming him down again,the pain being nearly too much to bear as his mind went blank for a second.
The angel overflew him,all of it's many tentacles retracting before striking at his chest,ripping apart the armor plate and causing him to scream out in pain and misery,his Unit's core was revealed,and as attack after attack struck it he was sure of one thing,he was about to die.
Then, darkness. Death would soon embrace him like a familiar friend.
Asuka was watching from a distance, having left the entry plug of her disabled Eva through the utilization of the emergency power. Now she wished she hadn't.
She had,for a single moment,believed that their victory was assured,that Shinji would win against the angel and that they would get to sleep together again in the same bed,that they would get to say how much they loved each-other once again. But now, now there was no hope, now the angel would destroy Evangelion unit-01 and along with it,it's pilot.
She heard a pained groan from behind her,turning around to see a wounded-looking Rei Ayanami who nearly fell over as she tried to move toward Asuka,the red-head in question grabbing hold of her before she could.
"Easy there wundergirl."Asuka said,putting one of the wounded girl's arms over her shoulder and turning around so she could see the battle.
"you are being...unusually..pleasant.." Rei said. Asuka gave a huff,whether of annoyance or amusement neither knew.
"Well, the world is ending,might as well be nice."Rei shook her head.
"No...I'm sure my brother will find a way..there is always a way,as long as it is him." Rei said,her eyes focused on the Evangelion as it was pummeled again and again.
Brother uh...I'll ask later,if there is a later. Asuka thought.
A train,no,not any train. Shinji Ikari's train of thought.
Opposite to him sat his mother,her kind eyes focused on him with a soft smile.
"Mother...I've failed." Shinji said. "I was too weak..i couldn't...i couldn't save them."
Yui Ikari shook her head. "No Shinji,don't be silly."
He was shocked into silence, this was her voice...his mother's voice, he...he'd just,after a decade. "You're..real?"
"I've been with you all this time,haven't I?"She asked. "I'm very real Shinji,and I'm here for you."
"You...you left."Shinji said,bitterness in his voice.
"I know..i was scared."She said...Shinji looked up at her.
"You..were scared?"He asked,she nodded.
"I was scared of the enemy you're facing now,so I ran away."Yui said,her voice sounded sad,defeated even.
"I guess...i guess I have to take after someone."Shinji said,he tried to joke,but it didn't sound genuine. She shook her head.
"No Shinji-kun,you're very strong."She said, Shinji snorted.
"I don't feel strong,quite the opposite In fact."He said as he looked down. Then,he was suddenly hugged by his mother.
"It's alright,I'll fix the mistake I've made." She said,a smile spreading itself across her lips. "I will make sure you're happy,Shinji-kun."
Outside,the attack on the immobile Eva continued,that was,for a few seconds,then the Evangelion's head began to move,turning to face the Angel head on.
"RYAHHHHHHHH!"A might roar was followed by an explosion,pushing the angel back as the Evangelion rose,an halo forming over it's head.
"What's going on?!"Misato asked,Ritsuko looked as lost as she herself was.
"The Evangelion,it's removing all limiters,it's restraints are all coming undone!"Maya said.
"What?"Misato asked as she watched the Eva push the Angel to the ground with a mighty punch.
"The Evangelion..it's removing the limiters put upon itself by mankind, removing the restraints that keep it bound to our will to unleash it's true power on the angel!"Ritsuko said.
The Evangelion pushed down on the Angel,it's AT field pulsing downward with incredible amounts of strength,the ground breaking and cracking underneath the pulse of energy,but the Angel wouldn't die. However, the Evangelion would not accept anything else.
"RYAHHHHHHHH!" Another roar and the Evangelion and the Angel both began to fly,the halo above Evangelion unit-01's head becoming more and more clear as it ascended into the heavens.
It's red core began to glow,overflowing with energy as four wings of red suddenly started leaking out from it. Another roar went unheard as a rainbow colored vortex appeared above it's head.
"All readings are off the scale,it can't be read!"Maya said.
"Ah...i see."Ritsuko commented. "Breaking free from the limits imposed on it by this reality the Evangelion is ascending into it's next phase of evolution. Ascending from the near god-like existence granted to it by the S2 organ to a truly divine one. In it's waves of complimentarity it spins heaven,earth and all of creation together as it bleeds off it's spiritual core to ascend into a purely physical form. It's doing all of this,to grant the wish of a single human being...no,she is...aren't you Yui-sama?"
Almost as if answering it the Evangelion roared once again,both of it's hands pressing down even harder on the Angel,which was now helplessly turning into white energy. The Evangelion's red wings continued to grow,the rainbow above it growing to encompass the entire underground geofront.
Shinji Ikari's train of thought began to brake down,the sky became blood red and the windows shattered open, Yui Ikari stood with her hands in her pockets,looking out at the growing vortex of red energy that surrounded the carriage with a wistful smile.
"Mother..what's going on?"Shinji asked,his mother turned toward him,smile not fading from her face as she did.
"I'm fixing the mistake I made all those years ago. Instead of fulfilling my own wish...i will do so to yours, whatever it takes I will protect those who you love Shinji-kun,even if it means twisting this world into eternal darkness." She said, Shinji looked at her with hesitation in his eyes.
"Mother..."
Not too far away Kaji looked on with a sly smile. "It seems that unit-01 has ascended to replace old grandma..Seele won't be happy about this but...this was our goal,wasn't it?"
"It's not as we thought,only his will alone was enough to cause Auto-evolution." Fuyutsuki said.
"Aye..."Gendo agreed. "But in the end this is to our advantage, Seele's defeat will be made with this ascension,even if we will loose our personal goal...plan Bet has reached the final stage."
"And here I thought things would be Anti-climatic." Kaji joked.
As if on cue,the red wings of the Evangelion were replaced by four white ones, Misato's eyes widened as she held on to her rosary.
"Wings...just like 15 years ago."Misato commented.
"A proto-impact...a prologue to the final ascension of the Evangelion unit as it bends reality to it's will,letting off it's spiritual energies to become a god." Ritsuko said. "From now on...third impact will soon come."
"The true war has begun."Gendo commented.
"Yes."Fuyutsuki added. "This is the real start of our troubles."
No longer inside the train of his thoughts Shinji Ikari found himself instead back in his entry plug,a familiar face standing before him as the feed from outside was replaced by a rainbow of color.
"Well,Shinji-kun."Yui said. "This is how it'll go,I'll use the power of this Evangelion to recreate the two spears and with them you'll be safe. My soul will be torn apart but I suppose that's what I deserve in the end."
She took a step backward,Shinji reached out.
"Mother! Wait!"Shinji cried out.
"There's nothing to be done, it's the only way you can find happiness Shinji. As long as that much becomes true then..i don't mind."
She turned back, Shinji tried to reach out,but a wall of red stopped him from reaching her, after ten years, after ten years he wouldn't...after ten years she was just leaving him again. It just wasn't fair.
"MOTHER!"
Outside,as heaven and earth spun as one,the Angel's body started to fade away in sync with that of the Eva's core. The red light of the core and the white of the 'Angel's body coalesced into the Evangelion's hands,the red light beginning to take the form of a spiral spear while the white the form of another gray one.
"It is done,the Evangelion,using it's own spiritual core and the power of the Seraph has advanced into the next stage,the spear of creation and the lance of destruction both representing it's evolution into godhood."Gendo said.
"And with that spear go your hopes."Fuyutsuki commented sadly, Gendo nodded.
Yui Ikari had to admit,she was a cowardly person, she'd been afraid, afraid that she would have to see her son, her husband, her entire species die. So she'd ran away, into the Eva.
Now she would fix things, she would repair this broken world and protect those Shinji loved,she would do it all because she was a selfish person who wanted redemption,but she would do it. Even so...she wished ,deep down, that she could have spent more time with her son.
Ah,what am I saying...didn't I just tell him,I've been here with him all along? She told herself before preparing to take the final step, a soul for a lance to save the world, a fair trade. But as she moved her metaphysical body to take that step,a hand reached out to her.
"Mother!"Shinji shouted as he grabbed on to her wrist. Having broken through the wall of red,the spiritual core of the Eva,to reach out his hand toward hers."I won't let you run away again! I WONT LET YOU DIE ON ME AGAIN!"
"Shinji.."
"No,there's no excuses..this time,this time I'll save everyone for sure!"He said,the conviction in his voice enough to shock Yui. "Even you,even you,I'LL SAVE EVERYONE!"
Outside of the Evangelion,the red lance it held in it's hand faded away,the red energy flowing into the hole in the Evangelion's chest where it's core had once been,then the other gray spear stabbed into the Evangelion's stomach,the spinning waves of complimentarity faded from view as the Evangelion began to fall down to heart.
Ritsuko looked on in shock. "It's...stopped it's own ascension?"
"Readings are still irregular,the plug's disconnected from the unit."Maya said,looking at the shocked doctor.
"We need to go help him!" Misato said as she rushed to the spot where the Evangelion had fallen to earth.
As the plug was removed,Fuyutsuki and Gendo both looked on in shock and surprise,for there were two individuals in the plug of Evangelion unit one,a wounded Shinji Ikari,with blood seeping from his plugsuit,and a naked Yui Ikari holding his head close to her chest.
"Yui..."
ACT 2:The lie we call happiness.
END.
AN:And canon's officially completely,utterly,thrown to the curb, Yui is back,the council won't be happy about this and Lilith's place was nearly overtaken by Eva-01. See what will happen in the next act!