Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion
Chapter 12: Endgame
"It's time for the truth."
Shinji and Asuka stared at the other pair incredulously, "wha-p-prophesier?"
The God Shinji chuckled, "you can call me 'Shinji Soryu' if you want, Shinji Ikari."
"Shinji S-" Shinji's eyes went wide. He looked at Asuka standing beside him, they both blushed deep red as the realization hit them, "j-just who are you?"
"It's a long story…" the God Asuka started, "in short, we are the former you, when you were EVA pilots."
"Subconscious my ass…" Asuka huffed, rubbing her chin, "you're telling me – Shinji and I lost the nine months of memories because we weren't the ones who experienced them?"
"Essentially."
"But how?"
"It's complicated…" the God Shinji sighed, "long story short, we were somehow sent to this universe by some God, and we…replaced you," he carefully shoes his words, "when we became Gods as well-"
"Wait a second here, you became WHAT?!" Asuka cried.
"Gods, literally," the God Asuka smirked, "Instrumentality made us Gods."
"Instru-I'm not even gonna ask what it is," Asuka muttered, "why can't I get so lucky…"
"So…how are we…going to stop Second Impact?" Shinji probed, still digesting the shocking information.
"You two both possess dormant S2 organs just like Angels do," the God Asuka declared; before any of the other pair could ask, she continued, "don't worry, you're not Angels. But the S2 organ is the key to stop the Second Impact, or at least we thought it is."
"Oh…that sounds…disturbing, having Angelic Powers, I mean," Asuka mused, "wait, does that mean I can wield my AT-Field like Angels do?"
"Pretty much, but you can't right now since your S2 organs are still dormant."
"When will it activate then?"
"We believe as soon as Adam awakens, your S2 organs will activate."
"So…somehow we use our Angelic powers to…kill Adam when it awakens?"
"That would be the most reasonable solution," the God Asuka said warily, "the truth is even us have no idea how to actually defeat it." She shrugged.
"What we could do though…is to give back, or rather, send you our memories," the God Shinji followed, "this way you would know how to fight using your AT-Fields, and to see what actually happened during those times. I have to warn you, though, there was something not so…pleasant that took place. It's up to you whether or not to receive the memories."
Shinji and Asuka looked at each other - worries, reassurances, and determination were exchanged without a word - and nodded in unison.
"Okay. Get ready."
As 'their' memories rushed into their minds, a series of images flashed before Shinji and Asuka's eyes. They saw everything that had happened during the nine months – the Angel fights, the interactions between them, how Asuka came back alive several times using her Angelic powers.
The massive amount of information temporarily sent the Children into a state of shock as their brains were put on the edge of processing capabilities. Shinji and Asuka wandered around in their mind world for almost half an hour before finally coming down from their frozen state.
"Sh-Shinji," Asuka started first, seizing his hand, "I-I can't believe it…"
"M-me neither, Asuka," Shinji returned the grip just as forcefully, "I…I still need some time."
"We will give you all the time you need to digest the information," the God Shinji said with a smile, "time is almost up, you guys should wake up. I'm sure we'll meet again in the future."
Shinji and Asuka opened their eyes at the same time; the first thing they did after they woke up was to hold each other in a tight embrace, seeking reassurance and a grip on reality.
"Shinji..." Asuka said, "Now that all of my questions are answered...but it's still hard to believe..."
"Asuka I-"
"Don't," she interrupted, "we'll talk about this...if we make it out alive."
Shinji nodded. The Children got up from the bed and started their morning routine.
The breakfast was eaten in awkward silence as both Shinji and Asuka had a turmoil of thoughts in their minds.
"Oh, you guys are already up," came Naoko Akagi's voice, snapping them out of their trains of thoughts, "I'll get straight into business. We have a simulator test prepared for you guys here. The helicopter takes off in one hour, get ready and pack your stuff!"
The Children didn't even acknowledge that they heard her.
XXXXXX
The research station was covered in snow, looking more like a gigantic military fortress when observed from the helicopter. Dozens of turrets, cruise missile launchers, and SM-3 anti-air missile grounds spread across the area, indicating the unusualness of this place.
Shinji and Asuka were in thick down jackets and expedition parkas, walking towards the front gate of the research base hand in hand, determination written on their young faces. "Why you guys look so nervous? It's just a simple test," Naoko Akagi reassured, truly hoping it could be just that. "One hour at most. C'mon, you've already done this before. Several times."
The Children ignored her reassurance and continued marching forward. Kaji was nowhere to be seen, perhaps having fun adult time with Misato somewhere remote. The Two couldn't care less about his whereabouts that time; if they screwed up their task at hand, all people in the surrounding area would be dead, not to mention the world would be loomed over by the fear of Angels again.
The inside of the base was no simpler than the Geofront in terms of pathfinding. The labyrinth-like walkways and thoroughfares left the Children no hope of finding the way out by themselves. Somehow Dr. Akagi could wander around the maze as if the walls were transparent.
The testing chamber was no much unlike the one in Gehirn Japan, just clearly had more advanced equipment – some of them even Asuka couldn't identify – and a monstrous signal tower standing beside it.
The bridge bunnies were there with them today; several unfamiliar technicians sat around the terminals, typing furiously as they made the last preparations before the final test.
"The changing room is just around the corner, go and change on your plugsuits," one of the technicians said to the Children in a professional voice, albeit devoid of any emotions. Shinji and Asuka exchanged a resolute glance, walking to the room.
"Asuka…" Shinji started as they entered the room and closed the door, "I-if anything happens…just remember that I love you, more than anything in this world-"
Asuka put a finger on his lips, shutting him up, "I know, Baka-Shinji. And I love you too, as much as you love me." She lowered her finger and pulled him into a soft, but long-lasting kiss, a kiss that's full of love. "Shinji, I-"
The lights in the room went off abruptly, scaring the Children a little. "Oh c'mon, the most advanced base in the world, and they couldn't even-"
BOOM
Her speech was cut off by the loud sound of an explosion. The entire changing room shook violently under the powerful C4 blast. Both of the Children lost their balance and fell to the ground; Asuka got up on her feet first, rushing to the door, ignoring the fact that her clothes were half taken off.
Just as she was about to open the door, dozens of holes abruptly appeared on the door accompanied by the continuous sounds of 5.56 mm cartridge explosions. Fortunately the bullets lost most of their momentum after they went through the metal door, added the fast reaction of the redhead she didn't get hit.
Shinji stood up as well; Asuka grabbed his wrist and dragged him into hiding behind the thick metal wall of the changing room, hoping it would block the near-sonic-speed small metal chunks. "Don't move!" "Put your hands up in the air!" "Drop your weapons!" Several shouted commands could be heard from outside the room, supposedly not directed at the Children.
"What the hell?" Asuka muttered to herself and Shinji after the noise outside subsided. "Is this an armed invasion or something?"
"I-I don't k-know…" was all Shinji's shell-shocked brain could articulate at the moment.
Suddenly the door was kicked open and several red dots immediately pointed at Asuka's head, Shinji as well. The soldiers wore black uniforms and looked-advanced tactical helmets that had flashlights, portable HUDs, and NVDs mounted on them. The Children, instead of showing fear, had looks of resolve on their faces. At least they could die together, and the contact experiment would be abandoned without them.
"We've located the target, both alive and safe," one of the soldiers said into his portable communicator.
Another husky man entered the room. He only wore an individual light bulletproof vest, carrying a SCAR assault rifle in his hand. And his face-
The Children's eyes went wide.
"KAJI-SAN?!" Shinji and Asuka exclaimed in unison.
Kaji Ryoji gestured the soldiers around him to put down their guns, "hello kiddos, sorry if they scared you," he showed an apologetic smile. "Long story short, our…organization noticed the secret plan of Gehirn, and we took action before they could initiate their evil plan."
Shinji and Asuka looked at each other incredulously. After all that they've been through and prepared for, their problem was easily resolved by other people who didn't even know the tip of the iceberg of the truth?!
Not that they minded it.
"Do you know what you're brought here for?" Kaji asked while other soldiers left the room to establish a perimeter. "Except doing some kind of test?"
"Yeah, more or less," Asuka replied, putting on her thick clothes, "judging from the scene, they couldn't be doing something beneficial to humanity, right?!" She scoffed.
Kaji chuckled, "yeah, I'll share the details once we get home. Now let's get out of here first."
Shinji and Asuka followed him, walking out of the room; they cringed as some of the soldiers looked at them strangely. Several bodies of the technicians lay around the area, the air filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder. "Kaji-san, how do you know about all this?" Shinji probed as they walked through a large chamber.
"I spied on Gehirn. With a little…technical help from my organization, I could hack into the MAGI and download all of the files."
"Wow…" Shinji answered, a stampede of thoughts rampaged through his mind. Gehirn must know he and Asuka's true nature, right? At least part of it. This meant…the secret organization would also know about it. "Kaji-san…did the files say anything about Asuka and me?"
Kaji's expression turned ponderous, rubbing his temple, "well, they did…but nothing critical, I suppose-oh hi, Yamashi, what're you doing here? I thought you were assigned to sector B02." He said to a man in front of them, who had one of his hands behind his back.
"I'm here to finish what's unfinished," Yamashi said in a hoarse voice, his expression unreadable.
Suddenly he raised his hand that was behind his back; a 9. mm semiautomatic grabbed firmly in his hand.
"DIE!"
Before either of the Children could react, he aimed at Asuka, who was standing in front of Shinji, and fired.
BANG BANG BANG
One of the three rounds missed and impacted the railing, sparkling as it hit. The second bullet hit Asuka's left arm. The third bullet, being the best-aimed one among all three, struck the center of the redhead's chest. The thick expedition parkas and jackets did nothing to slow the bullet down as it ripped through them.
In a blink of an eye, Kaji dashed forward and subdued the attacker, kicking the gun away. "YOU ALIEN MONSTERS! GO BACK TO HELL! AHHH!"
Apparently the secret organization knew more than Kaji told the Children how much they knew.
"Asuka?" Shinji said shakily as he saw the love of his life fell to the ground, blood dripping through her mouth and the hole before her chest. "ASUKA!" He cried, dashing to the side of the girl, holding her in his arms.
Asuka's eyes slowly focused on him, "Shin…Shinji…" she tried to smile but failed, "I…so…sorry…" a tear rolled down her pale face.
Shinji took her right hand, holding it with both of his hands tightly. He could feel life slipping away from his love. "Asuka! Stay with me! Please…" He said between sobs, tears already freely flowing down his face.
Asuka let out a weak chuckle that came out as a cough, "b-baka, I…I don't th-think I'm go-" she trailed off, her arm went limp as her eyes unfocused; her chest stopped rising and falling.
Asuka was gone.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Shinji screamed. His eyes glowed.
The ground shook.
"High energy readings coming from below the ice layers!" One of Kaji's technicians shouted as he checked his military laptop. "It's…human!"
All people in the area stared dumfounded at the rising white giant that just rose from below thick layers of ice. Its body went through matters like there were nothing there.
Shinji continued to scream.
XXXXXX
Asuka slowly opened her eyes, finding herself floating in an endless white void. 'Am I…dead?' She thought sadly, 'Is this…heaven?'
No this is not.
Asuka frowned as a strangely familiar voice sounded in her head, "who are you?" She shouted into the void.
Suddenly a silver-haired boy showed up in front of her, smirking.
"T-Tabris?!" Asuka exclaimed in surprise, "how-"
The boy chuckled, "I'm not Tabris, I am Adam. I only borrowed his form since I deem this is more familiar to you."
"Wait, how? Adam?!" Asuka raised an eyebrow, "we didn't initiate the contact experiment, then how did you-"
"The activation of my kin's soul barrier awoke me," Adam explained, "interesting. He's similar to me, but he's not exactly my kin."
"Shinji…" Asuka murmured before raising her volume, "well, where am I? Why did you bring me here?"
"You are my kin as well, and you were dying. I extracted your soul from your body. This is the only way to save you."
"Well ain't this convenient…" Asuka muttered, "what are you going to do, then?"
"What am I going to do? Summon my offspring, of course," Adam replied offhandedly, "the world will once again become the playground of the possessors of the fruit of life!"
"Wait you can't do that," said Asuka in a stern voice, "I can't allow it!"
"Why?" Adam furrowed his brows, "do you not wish to meet the others of our species?"
"My species, is humans, or 'Lilin', not Ang-the possessors of the fruit of life!" Asuka shouted, "and I'm not your 'kin'!"
"Well, too bad, you can't stop me," Adam laughed, "although you and the…creature there possess the fruit of life, your powers are well below mine. You can choose either to follow my will, or get destroyed."
"Is that so?" Asuka mused for a moment before a smug smirk appeared on her face, "Adam…the truth behind your wish to summon the Angels…is that you're lonely, aren't you?!"
"What would you know about that, you lowly creature?!" Adam barked.
"Being lonely? Oh trust me I know that better than anyone," Asuka sneered, "you Ang…highly creatures have such strong soul barriers because you're all lonely! Extreme autism!"
"Shut up!" Adam cried, losing his composure. "I should have just killed you, but I was curious about you and…the boy, curious about your nature. Now it seems you two are just as resentful as Lilin scum! I'll destroy you! All of you!"
"Speaking of which, what happened between you and Lilith?" Asuka said as she dodged the AT-Field Adam threw at her, "you wouldn't have to be lonely!"
"You know nothing between us! She's just a bitch who didn't know her place!" Adam roared in rage, "Who are you to know what I feel?! Why do you even exist, Lilith-Spawn?!"
"I exist because I can," Asuka eventually said after several seconds of pondering, "as long as I live, there will be chances of happiness," Adam began expanding his wings of light as Asuka continued, "I've always thought myself as nothing since no one would look at me after my mother died. I had no reasons to exist if others wouldn't acknowledge me." Asuka started disintegrating as she went on, her voice, however, remained unwavering. She fixed her cold glare at Adam, "this changed however. After I became an EVA pilot, I had a purpose, although it's unhealthy. One good thing EVA brought to me was the bond I had with other people, especially Shinji. I would have never met him if it wasn't for EVA-"
"Wait a second, what is an EVA?" Adam stopped his attacks, curiously asking.
"Ah, I forgot to mention," Asuka said as she thought about her fight with Gaghiel in her Unit 02. Her first sortie, with the boy she loved.
"What is this?" Adam raised his eyebrows, "how…was that…Gaghiel?!"
'Ha, so he could see into my mind, well, it's much more convenient this way. Enjoy the show!' Asuka smirked slyly as she recalled her Angel fights.
Israfel. Defeated by synchronized attacks.
Sandalphon. Defeated by thermal expansion.
Matariel. Shot through its eyes.
Sahaquiel. Stabbed in the center.
Ireul. Defeated by a keyboard and a laptop.
Leliel. Ripped apart by Unit D.
Bardiel. Torn into pieces.
Zeruel. Destroyed by Unit D.
Arael. Vaporized by proton rifle.
Armisael. Blown up by self-destructed Unit 02.
At this point Adam was already dripping sweat like raindrops. He basically just witnessed the extermination of all of his offspring at the front row.
Tabris. Carried the soul of Adam. CRUSH.
It was the last straw. "ENOUGH!" Adam cried shakily, his voice breaking down, "enough of that! I can't take it anymore!"
"Oh? Did I hear it right? The almighty Adam, the first of the Angels, sounded more scared than anything." Asuka laughed, "pathetic."
"I'm leaving this place." Adam muttered in dread, "this isn't a place for me to stay. So scary. Lilin scum…"
"Oh, what happened to 'I'll destroy all of you'?" Asuka scoffed, "let me guess-"
"Get out! GET OUT!" Adam screamed.
With a blinding flash of light, Asuka's vision went white.
XXXXXX
Shinji looked down at the lifeless corpse of the love of his life while people around him were running, trying to escape the white giant that just appeared. He wanted to cry, but tears wouldn't come out. He didn't have anything to say, either. He just stared at her slender body with numb eyes, not so much as blinking.
His brain completely shut down, refusing to accept reality.
Kaji walked over, trying to get to Shinji's side, but was blocked by an invisible wall. Although he wasn't that acquainted with the redhead, he knew perfectly well what it felt to lose someone close to him, not to mention someone he loved. When he and Katsuragi broke up, he was listless for months. "Shinji…" he started, but couldn't find any more words. What could he say? To tell him to move on? "I'm sorry." Eventually he said.
Shinji showed absolutely no sign of him acknowledging his presence whatsoever, continuing to stare at the limp redhead.
"Shinji, I'm really sorry," Kaji carried on, "it's my fault. I should've realized there would be some people-"
"Kaji-san…is it really worth it to love someone, if it could hurt so much?" Shinji cut him off in an emotionless voice.
"Shinji…if there's no pain, then there's no happiness either," Kaji looked up at the ceiling sadly, "as long as you live-"
"But I'm already dead, inside," Shinji interrupted again.
"I…get it, Shinji, but I think we should get out of here," Kaji said as the white giant expanded its wings of light, "I think Second Impact is about to happen!"
"I don't care, I want to die with her," Shinji said lightly. He crouched down and put his hand on her face, caressing her cheek that's cooling down. He leaned his face closer to hers.
Can you give me one last kiss?
Their lips met.
Asuka's eyes shot open, cobalt met bright blue.
"A-A-A-A-ASUKA?!" Shinji practically jumped to his feet, his eyes wide open.
"Owww…this fucking hurts…" Asuka groaned; the blood around her wounds started flowing backward, and the bullets were repelled out of her body. Her fatal injury began to heal at a visible rate.
Shinji watched in shock as Asuka slowly got up to her feet, her wounds completely healed. She shook her head, not believing what happened herself. "I feel…" she looked at her hand and took a swing. An orange octangular barrier flashed in front of her. Asuka grinned in surprise, "Shinji! I think-"
She was cut off by a fierce bear hug as Shinji dashed forward and embraced her. "A-Asuka…thank god…" Tears rolled down his face like a waterfall, "I-I thought I lost you…"
Asuka put her arms around him as well, returning the hug just as fiercely, "shh… it's okay, I'm right here. Apparently the Grim Reaper was scared of me and threw me right back!"
"What is that?" Shinji asked, pointing his finger at an ascending figure, its wings of light swinging.
"It's Adam. I believe it's leaving the earth," Asuka smirked proudly, "I…intimidated him."
"Leaving? So…Second Impact won't happen anymore?" Shinji blinked in surprise.
"I suppose not!" Asuka blabbed happily, "see! Adam's gone."
Just like she said, with a violent swing of its wings of light, Adam shot up to the sky, passing through earth's lower orbit. Its gigantic body looked smaller and smaller as Adam flew further away from the planet, heading into deep space.
Adam fled.
"Yeah, run! Don't ever come back, you coward! I was hoping to crush you again, with my bare hands!" Asuka shouted to the sky, high on the effect of adrenaline.
Kaji Ryoji watched the whole scene with his mouth agape; it was Shinji's slightly worried voice that dragged him back to reality, "K-Kaji-san?"
The said spy jerked his head in Shinji's direction, "so you two are actually…not human," he muttered.
"Kaji-san…please don't tell anyone else…" Shinji pleaded, "I just got Asuka back, I just want to live a normal life!"
Kaji shook his head, "don't worry, no one outside will ever know about you two. We'll also hunt down SEELE members," he sighed, "as long as you don't do something stupid that may give you away."
"Sure, it's not like we want other people to know about us. I don't want to get dissected by crazy scientists or some shit," Asuka huffed before turning to the boy beside her, "hey Shinji?"
"Hmm?"
"Let's go home."
fin.
XXXXXX
Epilogue:
Earth Orbit, 2039 A.D.
The God Shinji and Asuka came back to the world they were born on after a long trip to the nearby galaxies. They truly had a lot of fun as they visited different cosmic marvels and sights.
Today they came back for a specific reason.
"Let's see how the other us are doing…" the God Asuka said as she descended, "where…ah, there they are!" She pointed her arm in the direction.
The God Shinji followed the direction and looked, "oh…wait, who's that?" He took a closer look, "THEY'VE ALREADY GOT A KID?!"
The God Asuka smirked proudly, "and it looked I'm doing a good job raising her. I never thought I would be a good mother."
"I'm actually jealous…they are already farther than we are…" the God Shinji sulked.
"You're a Baka, alright," the God Asuka chuckled, "we have much more fun things to do other than raising a child. Don't you think so, eh Baka-Shinji?"
"I suppose you're right…" the God Shinji smiled warmly as he saw he and the God Asuka's counterparts smiled happily with their child.
The Gods of the world were happy, all was right in the world.
XXXXXX
AN: Anti-climactic isn't it? C'mon, this fic isn't labeled 'humor' for nothing. Sorry for the short chapter, but it contained everything I wanted to write for the final scene of the story. The point of this story was never 'drama' or 'adventure', but WAFF AsuShin moments. (In short I'm just lazy hahaha)
Ending a story is always sad, but this also means I can devote all of my time into The One In Your Life. I hope you liked this story! My deepest appreciation to everyone who read, faved, followed, and reviewed. (Bow)