Chapter 6: Recording the Red Sea, Part Two
The trios traced their eyes to Lilith's corpse as they walked along the shore line, until the bisected neck was out of sight, following the arm which pointed them south to the ruins of Tokyo-03. Nobody spoke a word for the long trek alongside the 130 kilometer long body of a god, not much seemed promising to their eyes. The radius effect of the N2 mine can be seen even from here, with some skyscrapers toppled down completely, rubble and glass litter the streets, much to Asuka's chagrin. How the entire city was not leveled was beyond them. Eventually they saw a small studio gym, the glass unbroken and the inside nearly pristine aside from the various bundles of clothes on the floor. Shinji yanks the door with no success.
"It's locked." He looks underneath the mat for a spare key.
"No shit." Asuka retorts, looking for another way in.
Rei peers from behind the gym, at its fire escape sign. "Perhaps there is a back entrance-" She glances at Asuka and turns her face to shield herself.
"Yeah, uh-huh. Hey Numbnuts, look away!" Asuka cuts Rei off, a sizable chunk of rock in her hands, she swings it with her good arm right at the glass wall.
Shinji whips his head around at her, "Huh?" He shields his eyes instantly. The three of them unfold from their eyes at the opened pathway, Asuka wipes her hands together proudly "You could've given us a warning." He mutters. Rei steps over the ledge and enters.
"I told you to look away, didn't I? Who turns and looks when someone says that?"
"You didn't say where…"
Rei ignores the quarrel and inspects the lockers lines up against the walls, "I have found clothing and towels. Sunglasses too."
Asuka perks up and shoves past Shinji to start rummaging through the lockers, she takes a sniff at one of the shirts, "Is it clean?"
Rei throws a blue employee polo uniform over her shoulder, "Unlikely." She ends up settling on a white pair of sweats and a black T-Shirt.
She tosses another pair of sweats to Asuka and Shinji, who has settled on a grey sweater, as is his preference for monochromatic clothing. He begins to rummage through the desk drawers. Asuka shrugs, "Better than a crusty plug suit." Rei hums in agreement while she watches their crimson companion try to rip her arm cast off at first with her free hand, and then with her teeth.
Shinji steps in front of her, "Don't pull it like that. It could still be broken." He gently lifts a pair of scissors underneath the cast.
Asuka scoffs, "As opposed to being split in half?" She fidgets under Shinji's grip.
The cast comes off with a satisfying pop as dust and dead skin floats off of it. Rei and Shinji slowly turn their head from the cast to Asuka flexing her hand, there's a single fine pink line from the center all the way down to her shoulder. She begins to reach for her eyepatch.
"Woah-woah-WOAH wait." Shinji protests before she rips it out with a strong tug. She lets out a loud shout before doubling over for a moment and then makes a bee line to a mirror.
She spreads her formerly covered eye wide open to inspect the milky iris and the line along her eyelid. Her eyes shine for a moment before she catches her friends looking at her tentatively, the look of anguish morphs to admiration. "Asuka?" Shinji whispers and reaches out "Are you…"
Asuka whips around, her cocky smirk present, "Why wouldn't I be? I totally look like a viking."
Shinji gives a weak smile and nods, "Yeah, you know what? It does look pretty cool"
She scoffs, "Pretty cool? More like badass. You're just jealous that you didn't cop any sweet scars." Asuka goes back admiring herself in the mirror.
Shinji lifts up the inside of his wrists to reveal circular marks where the spear of Longinus replicas had crucified him, Asuka catches them in the reflection but doesn't comment. "Well! I'm pooped, time to get this LCL outta my hair. Hope they have good shampoo."
"I have never used Shampoo." Rei comments.
The trio head towards the showers, with a bundle of clothes in their hands and a towel around their shoulders. Asuka stops Shinji from entering, "Woah, woah, woah. Where do you think you're going?" He looks past her shoulder and points to the shower room, "Haven't you ever heard the term: ladies first? God. Getting to know everyone really didn't change your manners did they?"
Rei steps in between them, "Not for any of us it seems." She turns to him, "Perhaps it would be good to find supplies in the meantime, a first aid kit perhaps. AntiBiotics. I'll come with you."
He shakes his head in response, "That's alright, I think I saw a pharmacy a few minutes the way we came. You guys enjoy the showers."
"Oh, we will." Asuka snatches Rei's hand, "Come on, Wondergirl." The doors shut behind Shinji as he strolls out once again through the ruins, partially grateful that he can be alone with his thoughts.
He couldn't get those sad, childish words of his father out of his head. "I'm sorry." Constantly, like it fixes anything other than asking for permission to no longer feel guilty. How can anyone- is this how he sounds to everyone?
It was there that Shinji made the occasionally broken promise to never apologise like that again. The new ambience of Tokyo-03 didn't provide the same comfort that it had in the past, now nearly giving him a throbbing headache. He was almost relieved when he crept inside the pharmacy. He was surprised to find that the lights and AC were still running, even more so that it had a convenience section. He figured that since the first aid and antibiotics were so easy to find that he would check for other things. Rolling in a shopping cart that was outside he begins to stockpile on dry meals, a case of water, duct tape, extension cables. He also saw a stainless steel wok that he had promised to treat himself to, long before the activation of Unit-03. It felt like years ago now. As he passed through the clothing section something caught his eye and left a glint there.
It was an advertisement for a red and white polka dot sundress. There was a happy couple holding each other, while the woman wore said dress. He lifted the last one off the coat hanger, it was a size too large for Asuka, but maybe he can give it to her when they're older? He nods to himself and carefully wraps it, adding it to his cart.
Suddenly, a loud crash rings in the distance, sending a jolt through Shinji's spine that sounded like broken glass. Shouting followed soon after, making Shinji drop everything and sprint back to the gym. He had tripped over debris twice but did not stop until he skidded to the entrance, hopping over the glass and bolting into the shower room, where a brief grisly sight awaited him.
Asuka and Rei were standing in their birthday clothes, surrounded by broken glass and coated in blood. A crumpled dead body clad in armor lays in front of them, it looks like he's carrying a... -
Asuka shrieks and throws a shampoo bottle at Shinji, "Do you mind!?" Shinji shuts the door immediately, the bottle clanks on the door.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Shinji shouts through the door.
"I said, "DO YOU MIND." Asuka's muffled voice shoots through.
"We were attacked, Shinji." Rei calls out through the door, equally as muffled.
"Whu- wha." Shinji's eyes darted around manically, "I've been gone for seven minutes!"
"Well a lot can happen in seven minutes, Numbnuts. Aw- fuck my hand. Great. This is great, I literally just finished showering. Wonder Girl, pass me the towel-"
Shinji bangs on the door to get their attention. "What. Happened."
"This fucking JSSDF guy comes in with a flamethrower and kept saying 'hit em again.' We had to tackle him into the mirror."
"A flamethrower?"
"He did say he was with NERV and that he was here to help. Soryu stabbed him in the neck with a large piece of glass, hence the wound." Rei adds.
"Yeah, like we'd believe that. When we told him to fuck off he just got quiet and started muttering to himsel- AH. Don't press it that hard you damn doll."
A slam. Like a fist hitting glass. More shards clatter to the ground.
"I am NOT a doll."
Silence.
Shinji listens through the crack of the door, waiting for Asuka to snap and lunge at Rei. Bracing himself that he was going to have to break up a fight between two naked, feral girls on a glass covered floor.
But nothing happened.
"...Numbnuts." He perks up. "Would it kill you to pull this guy outta here? I think he shit his pants when he died." Shinji hesitated to open the door. "NOW, would be nice."
His shaking hand went to the doorknob before he stopped. "Wait, wait. We can't move the flamethrower!"
"Why not?"
"Because it's wet."
Beat.
"...I swear to God Shinji, you're so fucking stupid." The door swings open, both of the girls are wrapped in bloody towels. Rei is wrapping Asuka's hand in a shirt with a frown on her face.
Asuka has her hands on her hips and is tapping her foot. Shinji drags the stinking corpse out of the bath house, careful not to shake the massive white tank on his back, or the trigger of his weapon. A pang of guilt hits his stomach for the knowledge that he was useless to help his loved ones yet again. "There's no time to idle around, we gotta make a detour. Did you at least get the first aid kit?"
He sets the body down with the utmost respect, "Well, yeah. But it's still at the store, I ran when I heard the shouting."
Asuka scoffs and slaps her arms by her thighs, exasperated. "Well go and get it, genius! Me and Wondergirl here will clean up and find us a ride."
Shinji nods and walks off, but stops at the edge of the store, "Wait, where are we going?"
"Did I ask you to worry about it? Chop-Chop!"
And with that, Shinji began the walk of shame back to the pharmacy. He didn't even get to shower. He kicks a rock along the way and hops in pain, immediately regretting it.
After the arduous task of pulling the heavy shopping cart out of the store, he found a sputtering red truck pulling up outside. Asuka is driving and Rei is riding shotgun, both of them are wearing sunglasses. Asuka in aviators and Rei wearing round Oakley's.
Asuka jabs her thumb to the backseat. "Get in the truck, loser."
"We're going to the Geofront." Rei adds.
They had parked just beside the edge of the crater, the lift long destroyed along with most of central Tokyo-03 from the N2 mine. As they descended the steep crater, Shinji lowered the winch attached to the trunk on the way down, rationalizing that they could load a crate full of what they needed, climb back up and winch up the cargo.
"This…" Shinji gasped, the dust staining his new clothes that he changed into during the truck ride, "I really don't think this is a good idea."
Asuka practically surfed down the steep crater, one leg sticking out as a break, "Don't talk to me about bad ideas when you literally just caused an apocalypse two weeks ago."
Shinji opened his mouth to defend himself but suddenly lost the will to- know there was no way to justify his actions. Rei slides down beside Asuka keeping pace with her, "I think we can all agree that none of us were in a healthy state of mind to make any form of rational decisions."
Upon reaching the ground, Asuka slows her landing with a few extra steps, "Ooooo wow, look at the three brained wonder girl, soooo wise all of a sudden."
Rei braked upon a large amount of dirt, building a large mount at the stop, "I do not have three brains, I am an amalgamation of three individual Rei Ayanami's. I have already explained this to you."
Shinji crashes into the dirt, the winch behind him, "Can you both please stop fighting? We have a long way to go." He gestures to the long stretch of road leading to the nearly crumpled pyramid in the center of the crater.
Asuka shrugs, "I don't have a problem. Do you have a problem?"
The Nephilim stares her down. "I do." She walks past her, "But I am willing to wait until we have what we need to settle our dispute." Again, Asuka stays quiet and follows her.
The boy jogs to catch up to his two companions, "Why exactly are we going to the Geofront for weapons anyway?"
Red hair whips Shinji's face in response, "What are you, stupid?" Shinji opens his mouth, "Don't answer that. The only other place to look is the police station, or if you wanna dig through the rubble for JSSDF weapons, go ahead. We're going wholesale. Guns, ammo, demolition, equipment and tech if we were lucky. That's step one. Step two, we go back to Misato's and booby trap it so that no one can enter without becoming a cripple."
"All over one guy?"
Another whip to the face, strawberries. "Dumbass, don't you understand the implications behind that?"
"...We're not alone anymore?"
Rei nods, "Yes, and more like him may come. In fact they may already be here."
Asuka turns to face both of them, walking backwards, "And I don't know about you two pacifists, but I'm not about to extend my goodwill to the common simpletons in a lawless world. We're going to beat them to the chase."
"I am not a pacifist-" Rei murmurs, the light peering from beneath the crater flashes into her blood red eyes.
"It's a figure of speech, quit being so wound up."
"I do not appreciate-"
"I'm just trying to make a point-"
"Then make different points. And stop inter-"
"I don't want to kill anyone." Shinji stated, with more squeakiness than intended.
Rei turns, "Brother-"
Asuka steps in between them, still walking backwards. "Are you sure you want to talk about killing people? After what you did?"
A throbbing sensation begins to pulsate in Shinji's temple, despite his best efforts to stay collected, all he has come across is meek. "Yes! More than anyone. This is different from squishing people inside of an EVA. When people start to come back, they're gonna be confused, hungry and desperate-"
The German girl widens her arms to emphasize, "My point exactly! You really think when these people wake up and find out that there are no more rules, no authority to stop them from doing whatever impulse comes to their sick, perverted heads, that they will really look at two teenagers and an adult and think: Shit, these people with all these resources really seem like the salt of the earth. Let us use our words and work towards a better society? Fuck no! All were going to be is meat on a silver dish to them, if not worse. So forgive me if I don't want to take any chances and become someone's pet."
Rei tunes into the conversation. "Who's the adult?"
Shinji looks up at something high and almost utters a warning before Rei shakes her head. Asuka keeps walking backwards, "Me. Obviously. Also, don't fucking talk to me about what its like to kill human beings. I just carved up a human jugular with a piece of glass with the help of your weird, alabaster, Alabama fuck buddy and guess what?"
Shinji frowns, "What?"
Asuka grins and keeps walking backwards, "When I get home, I'm gonna sleep like a baby. Cause unlike you, I'm not a big. Fat. Puss- OW" Her final works are interrupted by the sleek metal wall of the Geofront pyramid colliding with the back of her head. She slides down on her bottom along the slanted wall and nurses her head.
She looks up with the expectation they would be laughing at her, instead she sees something much worse.
Pity.
Asuka storms up and shoves Shinji, who falls on his rear as well. She marches inside the pyramid and vanishes.
Rei stays behind to pull Shinji up on his feet, he looks at her confused, not because of the Alabama comment, since he didn't know what that meant. Rather at Rei's previous title for him. "Wait a minute, did you say brother?"
She motions for them to follow his red headed muse, "We should probably give her some space. And talk."
Shinji is still reeling from all of the things Rei had discovered about her past during her time in instrumentality, phasing out all of the elevator rides and wrong turns to the military quarter, essentially on auto pilot. The three of them tried their utmost to avoid the crumpled pile of clothes on the ground, the bodies of the unlucky to die before Instrumentality, the blood stains on the walls. People they knew as they walked to their EVA's during better days, with names they never bothered to know. Even plugging their noses could not spare them from the smell of rotten, cooked flesh in some parts of the facilities that were torched by flame throwers, "At least we avenged them." Asuka had stated to a silent audience. Shinji glances at Rei.
She is a clone of my mother? The host of Unit-00. And Unit-01… he had suspected, felt her presence even. But to think she was there, nearly lucid the whole time and allowed all those things to happen to her only son, all in the name of a passion project. He had first felt joy when he discovered he had essentially a sister in a sense (Or atleast, Rei insisted that they simplify it to that) but then the bitter feeling had sunk in at the realization that he had not only been used by one parent, but by both. Pieces began to fall into place in the recess of his mind, not enough to be articulated out loud but enough for a part of him to understand. Even when Yui Ikari had sworn up and down that this was all for him and his future, all the sweet words she whispered before she left to the void of space to become a glorified Noah. She floated away with a content look on her face, as if her work was done, like she had done him a favor. He was just a means to an end. Abandoned again. He looks up to his two companions.
"But not alone." He repeated to himself. He had to protect them, even if it meant breaking every promise he made to himself. So long as they were okay, this wasn't for nothing, that he wasn't used for nothing. Shinji would help them find paradise, no matter what.
Rei had gone off mentioning that she needed to find a blow torch and some welding equipment, citing "Fortifications"
So when Asuka handed him a pair of Heckler & Koch G11K2 assault rifles, he grabbed it without hesitation and began to load up their trolley. Bullet proof vests, an M-16, shot guns, rifles, ammunition, garb.. He jumps when Asuka suddenly slams a JDSSF helmet she found on the ground on his head.
"Here ya go." She tightens the straps around his chin, making a cooing voice as if she were talking to a small child. "A special helmet for a special boy, HMMMM!? Be sure to wear this when you're running the hallways, buddy." Shinji bats her hand away with a surprised irritation and she cackles in response, her prior humiliation forgotten.
Rei suddenly appears out of the corner, hidden by the light. She is holding a massive… tube? No, wait.
It's a rocket launcher. Rei stares intently at Asuka, who instantly feels that something is off.
"Uhhh… Wondergirl? What'cha got there?" She says, her eyes darting to her and to the rocket launcher.
Rei shrugs, "A Panzerfaust 3" She turns the bunker buster in Asuka's direction, who despite her cool disposition, is shitting bricks. "I do not like that nickname."
Shinji slowly approaches her, "Rei? Take it easy."
Asuka puts her hands on her hips and juts out her jaw. "Huh?"
"Wondergirl, I do not like that nickname." She says. Her facial expression would make a poker player envious.
The German girl crosses her arms and looks at Shinji, "She's bluffing." Shinji shakes his head violently, Asuka looks at Rei, "You're bluffing."
Without breaking eye contact, Rei switches off the safety, "Bin Ich?"
Despite Asuka's best efforts, an auditory gulp echoes throughout the halls.
Beat.
Asuka waves her hands dismissively, "Fine, fine. I was just fooling around. Rei."
"Ayanami will suffice."
Asuka grinds her teeth so hard they almost crack, a vein pulsates in her temple not too different from Shinji. "Whatever you say. Ayanami. Happy now?"
Rei approaches her until she invades her personal space, after a tense beat, she hands her the Panzerfaust. "Appreciative. I prefer sniper rifles anyway. So no one sees me coming."
A tense stare off ensues, Shinji nearly dives for cover before someone makes a go for the arsenal they loaded into the trolley. But no one moves for a minute. He ultimately decides to break the silence with his best Misato impression. "Okay! I think that's everything guys. Is that everything?" Neither of the girls say anything. "Well. I don't know about you two but I am starving. Who wants stir-fry with canned veggies?"
Asuka grits her teeth. "I do."
"Agreed."
The journey bringing the trolley back to the edge of the crater, winching it up with having it fall was simple enough for the girls. Shinji's attempt at climbing up said crater so they could access the winch was long, arduous and… not worth talking about. Rei insisted on bringing fallen scrap metal from the Geofront, mentioning "Fortifications" as her reason.
No other humans were found, or at least discovered during their pit stops to an electronic store (Asuka had insisted on getting walkie talkies, speakers and surveillance equipment) as well as the grocery store for their dinner.
When they unloaded all of the equipment they had realized that the elevator was not working and had spent two hours loading up their gargantuan amount of supplies to the top of the building. Asuka and Shinji realized that their last crate of food had gone missing since their last trip to the top and booked their way back up, to prepare for the worst.
Busting open the door, they were greeted by a familiar face that, frankly, they had expected to be long dead.
"Pen-Pen?" Shinji uttered in complete shock, the penguin had a massive belly and beer cans and dry foods decorating the apartment. Thankfully the penguin was potty trained by Misato.
"Wark?" The three kids rushed to greet the penguin, who shrieked in joy as it jumped up and down to nuzzle them. It was clear that he had no sort of social interaction for the past two weeks. Shinji turned sour when he realized other animals locked up were not so lucky. Most pets or animals in captivity likely starved to death. Another dark memory to hold on to.
Asuka leapt on top of the table and began barking orders. "Numbnuts! Get to the kitchen. Ayanami! Start unloading the weapons and find surveyable positions. And me? Heh. I'm going to set up cameras on every point of entry, staircase and roof so we know who's coming and going. Then? I'm going to line this place up with so many booby traps, dynamite and nail bombs that were going to make Kevin McAllister look like a fuckin' ametuer. Any questions? Concerns? Complaints?"
Rei and Shinji had already started what they were doing long before she had finished her first sentence, without so much as a nod of acknowledgement. Asuka slumps down, "Di- Did none you guys see 'Home Alone?'" She mutters, her voice almost cracking.
Shinji looks up as he lays out his ingredients for dinner, "We're Japanese. We don't know what that is."
Asuka sniffs and rubs her nose with her knuckle. "Right. AFTER you lazy dogs get all your work done, we're watching 'Home Alone'! For reference."
Rei sets the tripod for the heavy caliber machine gun by the veranda. "Whatever you say, boss."
It had taken nearly a week to set Asuka's vision to fruition, but, to her credit she had a great mind for strategy and soon enough, their brief teenage hood home of warm memories had become a fortress in a hellish landscape. Rei had taken a crow's nest position with a sniper rifle on the rooftop and had caught the glimpse of an occasional jeep passing by, but never within their territory. Asuka had taken to surveying every floor, tuning to every radio channel for contact, and watching Shinji sleep. The usual. Apparently, people had begun to emerge back into the world in the US and in South America, but so far nothing in Asia, Africa or Europe. Shinji did what Shinji did best, cook meals and play music, having first dibs on what to blast on the speaker. For one blissful week, it was almost as though things were nearly normal. Campfire meals and conversations were had on the rooftop at night, all the while without having to mend past broken fences.
They had target practice on the roof as well, with Asuka being the worst shot. Blaming it on depth perception.
For that brief period, it was one of the best weeks of my life.
That all changed on a supply run to the grocery store, in the hopes of finding any frozen meat instead, they found carnage. Two people were found flattened against a wall, as if a large vehicle had run into them. When Shinji peeled away the woman's arms he found a small child in between her shattered arms. A boy no older than four. He had stopped breathing before they could make it back to their complex. They all walked back in somber silence after that. Asuka didn't give any biting remarks, in fact she had dropped everything they had collected when she saw the boy, despite saying it was a waste of time when it was just the two adults.
Someone was waiting for them.
Beside the small oak trees that line up the streets, three men in ragged coats wearing nearly black purple uniforms underneath leaned against a jeep blocking the entrance to their apartment complex. White logos are hidden under the coats. When they notice the three children approaching, with Shinji cradling the dead boy in his arms, he tosses his cigarette and walks up to them with a concerned look on his face.
"Is that boy alright? We have medicine." The man said, underneath his long mop of greasy combed black hair, he was in fact quite handsome with a sharp jawline and doe-like eyes. The two others however, looked quite brutish and empty eyed, they sized up the girls.
Shinji tightens his grip around the boy, his breathing shaky. "Did you do this?" He said quietly.
The man looked genuinely shocked, even offended. "No. It wasn't. We're not animals. Must've been someone else." The three regarded him with steely eyes. "I take it that means he is not alright. I am truly sorry for your loss."
"He-he wasn't-"
"Where are your parents?" He asks softly, taking another step closer…
The three glance at each other from the side, "We don't know. They might be dead" Asuka responds.
The man nods in understanding, "I'm sure you're already tired of hearing this, but I'm sorry to hear that. My name is Yamagishi, these are my good friends Yanagihara and Shinjo." He gestures to them both respectively, they smile and wave. The trio doesn't wave back. Yamagishi's hands dance anxiously, as if struggling to make a connection, "We're with a government agency called NERV, have you heard of them?" They all shake their heads. "Well, after this horrible tragedy had fallen on us, we have been trying our hardest to regain control of this city. As you see, it's been quite difficult due to… vagabonds. It's quite dangerous out here, kids. You should come with us, we have food, hot water, we can bury the boy somewhere nice too. Maybe your parents are with us too, what are your names?"
The kids don't look at each for affirmation, Asuka speaks first, "Hikari Horaki…" Yamagishi smiles and bows, then looks at Shinji and Rei expectantly.
Shinji adjusts his grip on the boy. "T-Toji Suzuhara" He said, biting back a great shame.
Rei stares at Yamagishi coolly. "Rei Ayanami."
He nods, "Horaki, Ayanami, Suzuhara. It's a pleasure to meet you. Wait…" He taps his chin. "Suzuhara? Is your family from Kanto?" Shinji slowly nods out, surprised that he knows that about his friend's hometown. The man shows immaculate white teeth, his cheeks dimple and his eyes wrinkle into a smile. "That's wonderful! We have a family named Suzuhara inside of our refugee camps. Very comfortable and spacious. That must be your mother and father!"
Shinji's jaw tightens, everyone, even NERV knew that the kids in the nearby schools were all conveniently without mothers. He clutches the back of the boy's neck tightly, as if holding him would breathe life back into him. "My mother is dead."
Yamagishi lets out an earnest chuckle, "Must be another Suzuhara then." He rubs his chin again, "Well, how about if we traded some of that food there? We have medicine, lots of ammunition."
This time Rei stepped forward, "I thought you said you had plenty of supplies."
Shinjo, a large burly man, spoke up, "Never hurt to have more, besides." He looks Rei up and down. "We're always in need of new goods."
Shinji's blood began to boil as his grip around the boy was so tight he thought a bone would break, with a shaky hand he reached in his jacket pocket as slowly as possible. About to break one of the first vows he made on that beach.
Yamagishi steps in front of Shinjo. "That's enough." He says in a warm tone, he turns to the kids. "Apologies, my friends can get a little excited sometimes."
Asuka raises an eyebrow. "Forget about it."
Yamagishi scans Asuka and wags a finger at her, "Haven't I seen you somewhere? In fact, all of you seem very, very familiar."
A cold chill hits the trio's spine, the wind sucks away from them in another breath. "I guess we're all familiar with each other now, in a way, aren't we?" Asuka retorts.
Another sincere chuckle, "I wouldn't say that. I have a good memory, but even then all I see are faces, it gets duller and duller every day you see." He sighs, "Allright, we won't keep you three kids any longer. Good luck burying the boy and have yourselves a good night-"
"I'm an adult." Asuka sneers in response, Shinji winces.
Yamagishi just smiles, "If you say so." And turns around. The three kids breathe a sigh of relief as they walk towards the jeep. But Shinjo glares at Asuka and taps Yamagishi' shoulder aggressively. He whispers something indistinct in his ear except for one word that is crystal clear.
Evangelion.
The three all reach for the guns hidden in their coats. Yamagishi turns back, a sullen frown on his face. "I thought we were friendly? You're telling me these are the little shits that squished my boys like ants?" Shinjo shakes his head and points at Asuka. "Just her? Ah, you must be the Great Asuka Langley Soryu then."
"'Bout time." Asuka mutters to herself, Rei nudges her with her foot. "What?"
Yamagishi turns his sights to Shinji, his patience seemingly wearing thin as his face begins to turn red. "That would make you Ikari, wouldn't it? Remember how I mentioned we were with NERV? Right? Well, your father is with us and he is very, very concerned about you."
"He's fucking lying, Shinji."
"Was I asking you!?" The three jump at the sudden harshness in his tone, his voice cracking, he closes the distance, he's breathing heavily. "I'm done playing this game, Ikari. It has been a very long day. Now. Final offer. You come with me right here, right now and I promise you, my boys will go easy on the- FUCK!" He is suddenly interrupted by a bullet whizzing past Shinji's ear, which clips him in the shoulder. He see's Asuka has taken the shot. Her eyes widen as Shinji reflexively reaches for his pistol.
Shinji sees Rei had already shot Yanagihara dead in between the eyes as he aimed his sights at Shinjo, who was fumbling for his sidearm. The world slows down as he exhales. He's still holding the boy.
Position the target in the center.
Pull the switch.
A burst of red splatters against the Jeep as Shinjo crumples, clutching his throat as he gags and shakes on the ground.
Yamagishi tries to stand up, but scrambles on a puddle of his friend's blood and falls on his knees. Shinji slowly lifts his sights and follows as if they were magnetically locked. Yamagishi slowly rises up and locks eyes with him. He is submissive, pleading. Shinji breathes, his ears start to ring as his friends' voices start to muffle.
"Do it, Shinji. Do it. He killed that…"
His breathing starts to get more rapid.
"There is no blood on the…"
He blinks and shakes his head. "Rei, what did you say?"
The ringing begins to dull. "There's no blood on the front of the jeep. No dents. It wasn't them."
Yamagishi lowers his hands gently. "Please put the gun down, son."
Shinji pulls the hammer back.
"Shinji." Rei warns, "He is not a threat. He is-"
Asuka exclaims, "Who fucking cares if he isn't! Look at that." She points to the exposed logo, "JSSDF. They killed Misato, Maya and-" Asuka pauses to try and recollect any of the other names, "All the NERV crew!"
"I swear to God. That was not us." Yamagishi looks to the ground, "We thought we were going to stop Third Impact, I swear on my-" He yelps as a gunshot hits the ground near his feet.
"Shut up. GOD just shut-". Shinji shouts, shooting three times more near his feet, "the fuck up!" His voice cracks.
Rei, Asuka, and a now standing Yamagishi stand in stunned silence. "Toss your gun to the ground." He states, calculated. The greasy haired man obeyed without hesitation.
Shinji's eyes glaze over, he lifts the gun at his face again. "Leave. Come back and I'll kill you."
Asuka and Rei look at each other. The greasy hair man backs away with his hands up, looking down. "I believe you." He steps inside the car and calmly drives away. Shinji gasps and drops his gun down to his side.
"You just let him leave? What the hell is wrong with you, idi-" Asuka is interrupted by Shinji projectile vomiting his lunch over the street. "Oh that's great! There he is! That's the Shinji I know-"
"I told you, he was not a threat."
Asuka turns to let off on her, "You know what, Ayanami-"
"He was a message." She coldly states. Asuka stops and gazes at her evenly, as if in understanding. She sniffs and slides her gun back in her pocket, she nods to herself and heads towards the complex. Rei looks somewhere far away. She just knew. Down below here they were out of sight, but just past those skyscrapers Lilith was watching.
Shinji stops him with only her voice, "We have to bury him."
Asuka growls to herself, "That's a stupid idea. There could be more waiting for us right now."
"Then we do it right here. There's small patches of dirt for the trees. We'll do it here. It's either that or we bring him inside- but I am not leaving him here."
She marches in front of his face, they are inches away. "Are you serious, right now?" Shinji doesn't speak but locks eyes with her. He kneels down and sets the nameless body beside the tree. She juts her jaw out, "What are suppose to bury him with?"
Rei quietly steps forward, "I brought a shovel from the supply run." she said softly. Clutching her sleeves like she used to. She reaches from her backpack and pulls out a small spade.
"What did you bring a shovel for?"
She grips the shovel tightly before passing it to Shinji. Her breathing is ragged, "I just wanted to grow vegetables on the roof."
The two girls stood in silence as they watched Shinji work methodically. Rei slowly pulls off her jacket and rests it on top of the boy. She looks at Asuka, nodding as she faces her back, on the lookout. Asuka does the same. In the distance the sound of the very faint gunfire can be heard.
Shinji smoothens the dirt at the top gently and stands up. The three of them stare in silence at the small mound of dirt, not knowing what to say. Asuka coughs and fidgets uncomfortably. "Does anybody… have any words to.." Shinji opens up with.
Asuka looks down lower and frowns while Rei stays frozen, she looks to Shinji. "I have never done this before."
"Well, you're supposed to say things that you remember about them. To preserve their-"
"Oh come on." Asuka exclaimed. "We could literally be shot any second, we buried the kid. He can't hear what we-"
"I didn't know your name…" Asuka groaned, Rei continued "But I know your mother loved you very much, so much in fact that she gave her life to save you. I regret that we could not do the same."
Asuka and Shinji stayed silent in contemplation, he opened his mouth to speak- "I'm... sorry that we couldn't save you." Asuka quietly mutters, almost like she was apologizing in a principal's office "But I promise that whoever did this will suffer such an effing retribution that we shall scorch the earth they stand on worse than Shinji Ikari ever could." Asuka claps her hands together. " Amen." She looks at the two expectantly for them to leave. Shinji bows to the grave, Rei follows suit and so does Asuka. They turn to leave, Asuka goes down to grab the guns from the bodies. Shinji stares at them. "We are NOT burying these guys too. Fuck these guys."
Rei walks swiftly inside, tired of this sight, "Agreed."
Shinji follows Asuka inside as well. He speed walks to meet her eyes, "We need to leave."
Asuka presses the button to call the elevator and it dings, she's been busy. "No. We need to prepare." Everyone walks in and presses the elevator. Very default, upbeat elevator music plays. "Note to self, change the elevator music", Asuka thought.
It was quiet, what else was there to say?
Shinji notices Rei gasping hard, as if struggling to breathe, he turns to her. "Are you hurt?"
She shakes her head, shrinking, and hides her face from Shinji. "No. It's just…" turning her head further.
He puts a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, you can tell me."
Rei slowly meets Shinji's gaze, her eye's shine ever so slightly against the elevator light. That was the closest thing he ever saw to her crying. Not out of joy, but a mix of sadness and fear. "You remind me of him."
The doors to the elevator opened and he had blotted the rest of that night out of his mind.
Nobody talked to each other for three days other than to call for bathroom breaks or switches in shifts. Pen-Pen pecked at them confusingly, wondering why the kids seemed so morose. Food had to start getting rationed out, with Shinji and Asuka mostly eating from a frozen ham since they gave most of their vegetables to Rei. They had a bag of Oats and Rice in case of an emergency. Nobody came for five days but the distant sound of skirmishes were unmistakable. Eventually the permanent inky twilight began to progressively fade away, and blotches of sunlight began to poke through. The sea remained red.
Rain beat on the windows heavily that night, setting up a moody scene combined with the sun poking its head.
The first one to break the silence was Asuka this time, who was taking apart her G11 rifle during a lunch break. "Heh- hey guys. You wanna hear something funny?" They lifted their heads in surprise and she smirked, "You know when I was aiming at that greasy JSSDF creep I was aiming for his head. I missed. I genuinely thought he was in sight." She sniggers to herself loudly and tapped her scarred eye. "Fuckin' eye."
"It'll get better." Rei offered.
"Don't patronize me. I'm useless. I might as well wear an eyepatch."
The Nephilim nodded in understanding, knowing she didn't need comforting, "That would make you a pirate."
"Yarrr…" Asuka tried lamely, earning a few loose chuckles from herself and Shinji, Rei smiled. "You were right, you know? Numbnuts?" Shinji darted his head. "It's worse, it's so much worse in person. I didn't have to look at that flame throwing fucks face cause he was wearing a mask. He was a thing. But seeing that-" She stands up and paces from across the room before sitting back down. "Squishing is SO much easier. But it's, y'know whatever. It was like stepping on some ants. It just isn't the same anymore."
Rain beat on the windows as no one commented, they all stared at their cold lunches. Asuka huddled her knees together and said something that chilled the whole room.
"I'll never pilot an EVA again."
As if on cue, a woman shrieks loudly in the distance. The three of them all look to each other for answers before Shinji runs to the window, with Rei following with her rifle. Asuka looked back down at her rifle and began to reassemble it with considerable speed.
The two Ikari's peer out through the veranda, Shinji with a pair of binoculars and Rei with her Barrett rifle, following the sound of screaming and cracking gun fire, "Do you see anything?" Shinji asks.
Rei nudges him, "Yes. between East 18th and Sakamoto Street."
Shinji follows her directions and spots the middle aged black haired woman sprinting in the rain, screaming bloody murder with two men chasing her on foot, blindly shooting their guns in the air. Ragged jackets and black under armor. "We gotta help her."
Asuka approaches with her fully assembled rifle and picks out the scene with her own scope, "Nah, she's fine."
"We can't just-"
No one untrained their eyes from their scopes, "Oh, it's so obvious that it's a set up."
"Just how do you know that?"
"Who the hell shoots their guns in the air like that? Yosemite Sam? And they're JSSDF, why aren't they driving if they're on the street." Asuka pulls the scope away with a raised eyebrow. "They atleast could've tried harder to fool us."
"It does seem suspicious, Shinji."
Asuka raises a hand up for the stop, "Listen. They're circling the block." And so they did, the woman sprinting longer than an ordinary person could, still screaming at the top of her lungs. "I swear. These new neighbors."
Shinji follows her still, speechless. They vanish around a corner and a final burst of gunfire is heard.
Silence, headlights turn on from about the corner and a jeep drives away. "Really? They 'killed' her right where they parked? Do they seriously think were that stupid?." She turns to Shinji, "It's probably cause they figured you were the brains of the operation. Little did they know."
He marches to her angrily, his breathing shallow, "She just died because we didn't even bother to try to help her."
Asuka shrugs, "Stings, doesn't it?" At that moment Shinji wanted to slap her, he could have sworn her eyes glinted as if she was excited, "Look, genius. That was 100% a set up. Even if you're right I can tell you right now they wanted us."
"What makes you think we are more important than her? What makes you so spec-"
"Soryu is right, Shinji. If any form of government returns, we may very well be the only eye witnesses to what happened. Do you want SEELE, the JSSDF, to be punished?"
Shinji doesn't answer Rei's question, "What's step three, Asuka?"
"Huh?"
"Last week you said you had step one and two, what's step three?" Despite his words being confrontational, he was strangely calm.
Asuka puts the safety on her rifle back on, "Wait for the cavalry. But that's a stupid plan. The new plan is to kill every greasy mad max wannabe that thinks they can walk into my home."
He tries to approach her, "Help still might come. We don't know that but it is not safe-"
"Might come. Might. Who the fuck are you kidding. No one is coming to help. NERV is done. Misato is dead. ...Kaji. All gone. We're on our own. If you wanna run away again, be my guest. But I'm staying here."
Shinji lets out a long, exasperated "Why?"
"Because I can't fucking lose again!" She turns to hit a nearby drywall but yelps when she hits a stud instead. Asuka slides down along the wall, nursing her hand. "I just need one..."
The rain intensifies. He looks down at her, Rei watches in silence, "Is that why you came back?" Shinji asks, almost afraid of the answer.
She looks away, "No."
"...Then why?"
Asuka meets his eyes with that empty glance. "Cause for a second I thought that you actually grew a spine." Shinji mutters something to himself and grabs his rifle, the girls watching him after he marches out. "Where do you think you're going?" She calls out.
"It's my turn to watch the roof!"
She looks up to the ceiling and pouts, "Whatever." Asuka notices that Rei is staring at her. "I didn't do it because I love him, you know. I just knew that if he came out alone he would kill himself. So don't think that. Don't."
Rei regards her evenly before looking at her own side of the wall, "Whatever you say."
This was the only conversation they had in a whole week. Well over a month of sparse conversation passed. Pen-Pen kept pecking at them furiously, whether to feed him as they slowly began to lose more food or if he wanted the three to reconcile, they didn't know.
No one said a word or even blinked when Asuka came in with a sledgehammer and went to town on one of the walls, caving it in completely and denting the metal frame, or when they quietly helped her pick up the debris. Later on she hooked up a column of TV's and fuse switches, claiming that was her reasoning all along.
Rei with the help of the two had finally finished setting up her roof fortifications, using metal from the geofront, she virtually had 360 degree protection from every angle.
About twenty more people left the red sea as Lilith decomposed, her eyes had fallen out of her sockets. They would occasionally see jeeps chasing people down right as they walked out of the ocean. By a grand total they counted eight separate jeeps of note. No big force came, bullets would sometimes hit their walls, as if someone was checking for flaws in their defense or their reaction time. They had prayed that none of their friends came back yet.
Rei had broken the silence on a Sunday, "There is something I don't understand." The other two look at her, waiting for her to elaborate. "When we saw Yamagishi and his men, their coats were ragged as if they were here for…"
"Weeks. Holy shit." Asuka lifted her head in realization. "They were here the whole time, maybe right after us. But why didn't we see them?"
"If he and his men all came out together, then they would've gone to the countryside to look for more food. " Shinji added.
"Motherfuckers…" The German girl muttered, "But what would make them want to leave Instrumentality? They could've had anything they wanted, what was so important for them to leave?"
No one had a logical answer, Food? Power? Indulgence, intimacy, all of that was provided in Lilith's soul.
"Orders... " Rei said to no one.
Another two weeks had passed, food became more and more scarce as they all resorted to rations of rice and oatmeal. Rei had refused to use the spade to garden and there was no soil to use even if they could. The three were all used to not eating, but the anticipation added a feverish feeling to it. This is a war of attrition.
One late night, Thursday, he thinks Asuka's voice came to him while he was dreaming.
"Shinji… wake up. Shinji." She shakes his shoulders violently as he begins to slowly blink into consciousness.
He wakes up to a wild eyed, grinning Asuka. She had a black headband tied around her head and her hair was frizzy. "Asuka?" He groans and tries to get a stretch in, "What's up?" Rei is fast asleep.
She puts her finger to his lips, "Listen." Strange coos are heard on the roof, Asuka lets out a deranged giggle. "Pigeons, Shinji."
His eyes light up, "Really?" Asuka nods her head violently, "That means, more animals are coming back?"
Asuka giggles again and licks her lips, "And we're gonna eat 'em, Shinji."
"Wait wha-" She shuts his mouth with her hand.
"Don't give me your pacifist, tree hugging bullshit. I haven't eaten meat in almost a month. A month. I'm German, Shinji. We don't do that. Aren't you tired of eating oats and rice?" Shinji was starting to get really worried, she never called by his name more than once in her whole life. He nods slowly and she releases her grip. "You're going to make me Pidgeon Schnitzel, Shinji. I fucking love schnitzel."
"Sure…" He whispers, "Uh- What's a Schnitzel?"
"They're like cutlets. But better."
"Oh…" She leans in uncomfortably close, "Yeah. I- I can do that." Asuka is practically bouncing. "Are you okay?"
She shoves a rifle in his arms, "How about less talking, more shooting? Pen-Pen needs to eat meat too, right?" Asuka offers her hand, "Help me save Pen-Pen, Shinji."
After a moment to consider how insane this situation sounds, he takes her hand and leaps up. They march to the door and find Rei standing in between the doorway, a shotgun in her hands "You will not do this-"
Asuka lifts a shaking finger to her face, "So help me god, Ayanami, if you don't move I will eat Pen-Pen."
"Wark?" Pen-Pen calls out from his fridge.
Rei shakes her head, "You did not let me finish. You will blow the bird up with that kind of weapon." She trades her for the shotgun and passes her birdshot shells, "Happy Hunting. I shall take surveillance."
Asuka shakes the box of bird shots giddily like it was a genie in a lamp, "Heheh-he-heh… The game is on, Shinji!" She practically books it to the stairs.
He shakes his head and follows after her, giving Rei a shrug as he jogs out.
Asuka crawls closer to the cluster of pigeons, the shotgun fully loaded "C'mon, little guys. I'm not gonna hurt you. Promise." The pigeons mindlessly peck at breadcrumbs Asuka had left earlier. "This is merely nature, the predator preying on… prey."
Shinji watches in absolute dismay as the once mighty EVA pilot mutters to herself, hunting for pigeons while squatting in her boxers barefoot and in a fuzzy bathrobe.
"That's right, you never hear it coming from a wiseguy."
With a loud bang the pigeons flutter away, leaving four on the ground, Asuka hollers and waves the shotgun like it were a spear. She whips over to Shinji with a grin, who flinches, "Two each. Let's get plucking, numbnuts."
They quietly get to work, avoiding getting blood and feathers on Rei's favorite spot. Asuka moves to pluck another one, "You know, I saw more jeeps passing by." Shinji doesn't respond. "I think this could be our last meal. So you better make it deli-"
"Don't say things like that-"
"Oh. I'm sorry. This is our last meal before the calvary comes through." She retorts, mockingly. They look back to their pigeons.
"I told you we should've left."
She scoffs, "Look around you, genius. We would've been dead before we got to Tokyo 02." Silence. Asuka starts to pluck more and more aggressively. "I'm not letting anyone take me. I'm not going back to NERV or to some government or piloting some rip off of my mom. I won't do it."
Shinji turns to her, still plucking "And when they break in? What do we do?"
Asuka looks down and shrugs, she puts her index finger under her chin and makes a clicking sound. "I was, uh. I was gonna say: If they ...if the jigs up and they get to us… I want you to-"
"No. I'm not doing that."
She stares at him with a look of betrayal, she tosses the plucked pigeon at him. "You're such a fucking asshole, Shinji." Asuka crosses her arms tightly and stares off to the ocean. Still red. "You pretty much killed eveyone on the planet, but you don't have the guts for one more? Altruistic bitch."
He approaches her carefully. "I am not going to let that happen to you. Or to Rei. I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."
The way she looked at him made his heart skip a beat as she closed the distance, "You really mean that?" She whispers.
"Yes."
Asuka narrows her shoulders as she approaches his face, "Are you sure? Even when…" She leans inches away from him, "You jerked off to me when I was in a coma and let me get eaten by giant birds?" A smirk exhales on his face.
"I…"
She shoves him, she meant it to be playful but more venom comes out than she meant, "Yeah thats what I fuckin' thought." She walks to the other side of the building, where the mass produced EVA's are out of sight, leaning on the railing. "God. That was so fucked up, Shinji."
"I know."
Asuka hides her face from Shinji, looking down to the bottom of the building. The red streak of the moon lines up against them. "Why did you do that? What were you thinking?"
A loud gust of wind comes through, no longer inhaling or exhaling.
He couldn't think of an answer other than 'I'm sorry' and he hated himself for it.
"I… I wasn't"
"Well, I'm so glad you're lucid now."
"I'm-"
She shoves him. Hard. "Don't say it. Don't you-" Asuka keeps shoving him, but he refuses to budge "fucking say it." She clutches his collar, raises her first at him and he nods in approval.
An explosion in the distance catches their attention, screams and gunfire pop up again.
She slowly lowers her fist and they both stare.
Asuka turns to look at him. "Do you have my back? Don't fuck with me. Cause if you're just going to hide in a corner and talk about how you don't wanna hurt anyone I swear, I'll kill you myself."
He looks at her, confused. "Wha-"
Her tone changes from threatening to pleading, "Are you with me."
They held each other's gaze before Shinji nodded slowly. "Always." He whispered.
Asuka lets go of his collar, "Then make me my Pidgeon Schnitzel."
Suddenly radio feedback chimes next to Rei's roof side coffee table, "I would like to mention that I have taken the liberty of preparing side dishes." She adds in, slightly awkward.
Shinji's gut drops, "Rei…" Asuka stares daggers at him.
"Yes?"
"Were you listening to our conversation this whole time?"
….
"...Yes."
Asuka scoffs, "Good to know the Ikari creeper genes are going strong."
They prepared an unseasoned slice for Pen-Pen, who ate it with much hesitation. The sizzling, breaded fried meat smelt divine. Rei, true to her word, had prepared rice and the last of the vegetables. At this point everyone was skinnier than they were after they left instrumentality, if they were wearing plug suits you would be able to count their ribs.
Rei took a piece of the schnitzel, "Rei… are you sure?" Shinji murmured.
She looked at her slice, "I need the energy." And shoveled it, holding back a gag. "Well prepared, Shinji, but meat is... disgusting."
They all nodded in silence and went back to eating.
The nephilim frowns at the table, "I'm a coward."
The other two look up, Asuka pipes up, "Shut up. You're not-"
"I am." She plays with her food. "I thought I could be strong for the two of you but, I am afraid." Rei looks at her feet, "What Soryu said, on the roof. I agree. If we are overwhelmed, I want you to-"
Asuka slams her hands on the table and breathes deeply. "Don't say that just because I did."
Rei looks up to Asuka, "For the first time in my life, I have agency. There's no one to give me any more orders. I won't be anyone's doll." Asuka grunts in bitter understanding. Rei turns to Shinji, "Are we all in agreement?"
Asuka looks at Shinji as well. "It's not fair." He mutters to himself. "That's not going to come to that, but…" The girls both look at their meal. "...I won't miss."
Silence, a flock of birds pass by their window.
"I miss Misato." Asuka whispers softly. "I never thought I would miss the smell of beer."
"Me too." The boy mutters.
The sound of a large entourage of jeeps approach, Asuka sighs, "Perfect timing." She scarfs down the rest of the food and bows, "Thank you for the food." Rei follows suit.
"Time to get to work."
"Hey buddy."
"Wark?"
Shinji rubs the back of his neck, "There's some bad people coming, you understand? Bad people." The penguin cocks his head sideways. "We're going to deal with them, but if we don't- well… I won't leave your fridge locked but I need you to stay there until it goes quiet, okay?"
Pen-Pen runs up to him and nuzzles his stomach, Shinji gently pats his sleek back. "It's gonna be okay, buddy. I promise." He mutters as he gently leads him to the fridge and closes the door. The penguin calls for him behind muffled doors as Shinji takes a deep breath.
"Idiot-Shinji." He turns to see that Asuka and Rei both have their bullet proof vests and ear pieces set up, wearing all black. "Your turn." She smacks the JSSDF helmet on him. "Fits perfectly on your block shaped head." He chuckles to himself as she straps a vest onto him as well.
Rei straps her Barrett around her shoulder, "I counted eight jeeps, four JSSDF men in each jeep. Thirty two total."
Shinji let out a sharp exhale. Thirty two more lives.
"The more the merrier" Asuka mutters and pats Shinji on the back to say he is done. Asuka stretches her hand out to the middle of the circle, like the captain of a football team. Shinji joins first, her hand is warm.
"Guys?" The two look up at Rei who is frowning. "Let's fuck them up." She adds her hand to the pile.
"You all know your jobs-"
"Is anybody up there?" Yamagishi's voice echoes through a megaphone. Three nod to each other, Rei heads upstairs while Asuka heads to the veranda with her own megaphone while Shinji waits to pass her weapons.
Asuka clears her throat and puts on her most dramatic voice, "Yes! There's two of us. Please. PLEASE, don't shoot."
Shinji peers over to see the group of bandits down below, thirty two men never looked like such an army. The woman with black hair that was screaming earlier was among them. He clutches her fist.
"Don't worry. We won't." He peers at them, "That's a fine gun you have mounted there."
"I- I- don't know how to use it."
"That's alright honey, we'll show you later." Asuka rolls her eyes at Shinji, "You said the two of you. Is that Ikari or Ayanami?"
"Shinji." Rei's voice echoes through his ear piece. "I am in position. Keep them talking. Wait."
"What is it?" He responds.
Asuka wails through the megaphone, "Ayanami's dead. She wouldn't eat anything. It's just me and this IDIOT. We were wrong not to come with you. Do- do you have any food? We'll do anything."
Rei's voice returns, "Look at that jeep on the left, to the third one." Shinji's eyes follow and see a jeep with a flattened top, as if they ran over- Shinji's eyes widen.
Yamagishi chuckles, "I'm so sorry to hear that, honey. We understand, you kids are tough but we understand how desperate things can be. Oh, sorry. Adults. Come on down, I'm sure me and the boys can figure something out."
Shinji taps Asuka's shoulder, she lowers her megaphone. "I heard her."
He taps his earpiece, "Are you sure it was them?"
Pause.
"Positive. They were the ones who ran over that family."
Asuka's teeth grin wide enough for her lips to tear, "Is that right?" She taps Shinji's shoulder and points to her wall of weapons. To the Panzerfaust missile launcher. "Yes sir! We're coming down, just give me a moment, thank you so, SO much for this opportunity." Shinji slowly hands her the launchers. "I always wanted to say this."
She suddenly lifts the rocket launch over the veranda and Yamagishi's smile drops. "SAGEN SIE HALLO ZU MEINEM KLEINEN FREUND" Asuka shrieks in German.
"Down! Get down!" Yamagishi roars as the missile hits dead center, toppling five of the jeeps and making half the men fly back. Shinji would never forget the screams.
The first men and woman that stumbled up were instantly shot in the head by Rei.
"Now, Numbnuts!" Asuka called out and Shinji leaped to her command center, he flipped a switch and the speakers began to blast "Rip and Tear".
Asuka hops onto the M-60 and unleashes hell, he stared in awe as she shrieked insults in German.
"ICH HABE ALLE DEINE MUTTER GEFICKT"
The sheer force made her loose hair fly backwards as she cackled, the sunlight caught her blue eyes.
It was there. Right there that Shinji knew: After everything that they've been through, if they made it out, he would marry that-
A bullet right into his forehead interrupts that thought. All Asuka see's is his head whip back and collapse on the ground. She drops the gun. A stray bullet hits the speaker and shuts it off.
"No. No-no-no." She shakes his chin violently, as he blinks at her. "Look at me."
His fingers touch the helmet she put on his head earlier, the bullet is nestled right in the middle of it and for the first time in his life, Shinji Ikari laughs out loud. "It worked! It freaking worked!"
Asuka helps him up, "Yeah well give yourself some credit. I'm sure that bullet would've got lodged in your thick block headed skull anyways." She points to the wall of TV's and giggles, "We have company."
Five men enter the building's lobby, with a furious Yamagishi leading them. Asuka runs her hand along the wall of switches, still giggling. "Which one, which one. Ah!" She flips the nail bombs.
The TVs don't play audio but the screams can be heard all the way from the top floor. Asuka touches her ear piece. "We got five."
"Copy." Rei replies, "I count sixteen bodies at the front." A gunshot. "Seventeen."
Asuka turns to Shinji, beaming. "You hear that? Ten more to go." she said with a disturbing amount of excitement.
"Shinji, Soryu." Bullets whiz in the feedback, "I have three contacts on the top buildings."
"Copy, Ayanami. I'm coming-"
"No. I can handle things up here. Clear the bottom."
Asuka grimaces and passes Shinji a Heckler, "You heard the lady. Are you with me?"
Shinji snatches the rifle from her hands, "Do you even need to ask?"
Rei tries her best to tune out the sound of Shinji and Asuka' battle cries from above, the sound of their automatic fire is deafening. She had taken down the first two snipers relatively quick, one of them was preparing to launch a zip line. The third one, however was much more crafty, she had scanned the whole area twice but found nothing, until the sudden glint of the light made the sniper's scope shine for a brief moment, directly across from her.
She was exposed.
Rei gasps as a shot is fired, she takes cover and repositions before aiming back. The sniper's window was shattered, the man already dead. But she didn't shoot him.
An overpowering humming sound stretches from the horizon, what Rei see's makes her jaw drop.
Shinji and Asuka let go of their guns with incredibly shaking hands as they witness the carnage below. "Yep." Asuka says out loud, Shinji turns to her, "Squishing is way more easier."
A loud humming that isn't tinnitus is heard, Rei's mic crackles.
"Shinji… Asuka. I have bad news. There's a VTOL coming." They both glance outside the windows to see.
"Oh, give us a fucking break!" Asuka exclaims.
Rei continues, "Their firepower can easily tumble down this building, I- I think this might be over."
"My ass it ain't!" Asuka hollers back, Shinji runs for the rocket launcher, loading up another missile. "Wait, wait, Shinji." She says, peering at the surveillance.
"What do you mean wait there's no time."
"No. Look." She points to the lobby screen. "There's only four bodies."
Shinji peers at the screen, "But five came in-" Shinji's right armpit, under the vest silently pops like a balloon.
A gunshot rings out and blood splatters on Asuka's face as Shinji falls face down.
Yamagishi is at the door, his face is half burnt and nails stuck in his leg. And limps over and aims at his neck for a double tap.
"He shot Shinji." Asuka distinctly remembered thinking. Wordlessly she sprints and jumps on his back, pulling out her red ribbon knife and stabbing him manically. The man flails madly trying to get her off, he charges at a wall, nearly shoving her halfway inside it as she slumps down.
"I'll kill you-" She manages to spit out before he wraps both of his hands around her throat, she kicks at the nails in his leg and he hits her back.
"You stupid little bitch. You ruined everything." He pulls her in close and shakes her face for emphasis, "I was finally in charge of something!" He yells in pain and looks down to see an arctic penguin violently biting his leg. He backhands it and it flies into a wall with a screech of pain.
Yamagishi's kind eyes are gone. "You're going to have to work extra hard to make it up to me."
She spits in his face. "Do your worst, motherfucker."
He laughs, wiping the spittle off, "You know what? I do remember you, when I was there. I saw everything. And I mean everything." Yamagishi pulls her face right up to his, his greasy hair resting on her face. "You're just an arrogant, scared, annoying little shit pretending to be an adult." Asuka is frozen. "Honestly? You're not worth the trouble of bringing back. You'd be a liability. I'm sure that your blue hair friend would be much more agree-"
A knife sticks in the back of his neck from an unknown assailant. The figure pulls the knife out and hacks at Yamagishi until he falls off of Asuka. He drops the knife.
Asuka only sees a figure covered in red. With a roar she lunges at him and tackles him to the ground. She fights for the red ribboned knife and points it at his neck. Her vision and hearing is blurry.
"...It's me."
Asuka blinks as she wipes her eyes.
Shinji Ikari looks back up at her. He gently reaches his good hand to her face and she shivers at the touch. "You're safe."
The knife slips from her hands and flips him over to inspect the wound, no word of thanks. "You idiot. You Idiot. What kind of retard gets shot when they're wearing a bulletproof vest?" Asuka grabs a half wrapped white dress with polka dots and applies pressure. She glances to see Pen-Pen slowly stand up and rub his hip, one day she was gonna feed that penguin like a king.
He wheezes ,"I'm sorr"
"Don't you dare. Don't you fucking dare."
Shinji grabs her wrist, "Wait. We're not done yet."
She realizes the VTOL is now quiet. "Ayanami." She forcibly puts his hand around the cloth. "Do NOT let go of this, do you hear me? I'll be back." Asuka stands up to help his sister.
Shinji pulls at her wrist, bringing her on top of him, "I am not leaving you." They stare deeply into each other's eyes, her chest heaving.
Asuka scoffs, "You're such an asshole, Ikari." She pulls him up and puts his good arm along her shoulder.
He grabs a grenade launcher off the wall as they pass, "I know."
They climb up the stairs to the roof as fast as they can and stop before they reach the door knob. They look to each other to see if they're both ready for the absolute worst case. If Rei was taken, or if the JSSDF all had guns lined up at the door. Either way, the three would be together.
He wouldn't miss.
They nod at each other and Asuka kicks open the door, ready to go out guns blazing.
"Hold your fire!" A familiar voice calls out.
The two teens squint from the bright sunlight as they make out the figures by the VTOL. Rei was there, and she was patching up someone with a white lab coat and a gunshot wound to the gut… is that Dr. Akagi?
Maya Ibuki took over and Rei stood up at them, smiling. Hyuga and Aoba wave at the armed guards to stand down, and just behind the VTOL…
Misato Katsuragi walks out as the world slows down. Shinji and Asuka drop their weapons and sprint to her, practically leaping into her arms before she can get a word out.
The three of them fall to their knees as Misato clutches the back of their heads, she closes her eyes. "My babies." Misato mutters and Shinji breaks down, shaking with sobs. She gently strokes their hair, then she moves to lift up Shinji's chin, "Listen, what I said. I never meant-"
"I know you didn't." He whispered, gripping her red jacket tightly, taking in the smell of leather and stained beer.
She lifts up her hands to find blood, "You're bleeding-"
"It can wait."
"Tough guy like you? Yeah, you can handle a flesh wound." Kaji Ryoji says, walking in from behind, a sniper rifle strapped to his back. He kneels down to join the group hug.
Asuka punches him on the shoulder, "You jerk! What the hell took you so long." she says, trying her best to bite back a sob.
He shrugged, "Sorry about that, kiddo. We're not going anywhere now."
The four of them basked in warm sunlight as Rei watched a few feet away tentatively. Misato looks up at her and waves her over, "You too, young lady. Get in here." Rei takes a few hesitant steps before being yanked in the group hug by Asuka. Pen-Pen burst through the door with a limp, shrieking joyfully at the sight of Misato and leaping into the pile, knocking them over.
Those five minutes on that rooftop had made two months of suffering entirely worth it.
Shinji set his nearly dried out pen aside and looked at this work with a sigh of contentment, the tremors had stopped. He looked up at the clock, 2 AM. He was sure he could bore with the politics of those events another day he figures as he stretched out on his bed, glancing at the helmet nailed by his door.
Just before he could drift off to sleep, Asuka slides the door open with vigor and stares at him. "You said that THC can reduce the pain, right?"
"Well, that was Rei but, wait, how did you-"
She shakes a dismissive hand, "Doesn't matter. I'm in. I'll try a little bit. But not because I'm succumbing to peer pressure or anything."
"Yeah, that's cool. We're going hiking tomorrow if you wanna come with us."
Asuka stares at him as if he would be harder to convince. "Cool."
"Cool." Shinji replies back, coolly.
She nods awkwardly at him, "Cool." As she walks out she stops to stare at the helmet and slams the door.
Not the most shocking thing to happen to Shinji, he allowed sleep to eventually take him away.
The humming sound of the entry plug is unmistakable as he wipes away the fog from the screen. On his right, is a reflection of Unit-01, the location came to his mind instantly.
His first fight.
A green eye peels and rolls open before staring at him, its pupil dilated as if in joy.
"Shinji…." A deep but feminine voice coos.
Shinji gasps as he wakes up to a familiar ceiling. He was not going to sleep well tonight.
Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
Whew. Thank you guys all for bringing me this far, in particular thank you to Skyfox for your amazing and constructive reviews, which helped me improve my writing and for Erik and DeathBringer for their notes on my writing.
This was an idea I had cooking for 10 days while I was on a road trip, I never thought I would get this far in Potheads Dilemma so thank you all so much for you support.
Next chapter will elaborate on the dream Shinji has about Yui which would lead to my take on her demise, which will segue into the kids talking about their mothers in the modern day. Flashbacks will pop up here and there, but not as long as this. Mostly supplementary to the theme of the chapter.
Until then, I have some fics to catch up on, since I'm starting school chapters will go back to their usual length.
Cheers! Love yall, stay safe out there