Neon Genesis: Evangelion
Genesis:
0:16: The Dark In The Light
[A/N: No one knows what's up
with Kasumi, right? Good!]
[Disclaimer: Don't own.]
Kasumi slowly walked out of Asuka's room, and looked around the apartment. She turned to the door and started out, leaving the apartment and heading towards NERV HQ.
The Angel's approach was slow, but it knew its target. Tokyo-3… No. A single soul that never belonged, hidden in the tiny, worthless, human community.
Kasumi walked down the street, heading towards the barrier that kept most things out of NERV. She had only been walking for a few minutes, but there was something that was driving her hard, and she reached NERV faster than most would think. She paused for a moment as her body bumped against the wood, and then looked down slowly. She reached down, and with inhuman strength that had never been there before; Kasumi snapped the barrier with a single hand. The Sixth Child, still in a trance, vanished into the underground fortress of NERV.
The Angel finally stopped. It floated just above the outskirts of Tokyo-3, and its soulless eyes, its hollow black eyes, were agleam with the thrill of battle.
Kasumi's eyes were unaffected by the sudden, harsh bright lights of the entry plug as the neural connections formed. "Eva unit-14." she said in a soft voice, "Ha-shin." Following commands from phantom hands, the Evangelion launched. Kasumi stared at her enemy. The Angel approached slowly, drawing out the wait.
Shinji yelped and fell to the floor as the building shook suddenly. He groggily rubbed his eyes and jumped as the building shook the same way again. Shinji's sleep was suddenly kicked out of him as he heard a scream, and leapt out the door of his room. He darted into Asuka's room without thinking of what might happen.
"Asuka, are you OK?" he asked automatically. "K-Kasumi!" the red-haired girl choked out, "S-she's gone! What's going on?!" Shinji's eyes shot from Asuka to the disheveled mat on the floor. He stood frozen; where had she gone? Then, the building shook again. Without a word, Shinji bolted from the doorway and rushed to the balcony that looked out to the city. Asuka leapt out of her bed and followed.
"What's going on?" Misato yawned, stumbling out onto the balcony. She promptly woke up in one second when she saw what Shinji and Asuka were staring at.
Unit-14 slowly pulled its Progressive Sword from its back and held it ready.
The automatic sirens began to blare as the MAGI recognized the pattern of the Angel, and Misato whirled to the pilots. "CAR! NOW! GO!" she screamed, unable to speak beyond single words because of the shock. The three raced out the door and down onto the street.
"W-what?" Kasumi wondered, "What's going on? Where am I?" She looked forwards and saw the Angel and let out a cry of fear. It was so close…where was she? Suddenly, she began to move—no—dash towards it. Again, Kasumi let out a scream of terror. "NO!" she screamed, "STOP! STOP, PLEASE!!" She let her fists pound against an invisible wall that seemed to rest between her and the world outside.
Then, she opened her eyes and watched as the Progressive Sword of her Eva slashed at the Angel. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that she was inside her Eva.
"NO, PLEASE!!" she wailed, "LET ME OUT OF HERE! I CAN'T PILOT! I CAN'T PILOT MY EVA! MY SYNC RATIO ISN'T EVEN OVER FIFTY PERCENT! PLEASE, GOD, LET ME OUT!!!" Kasumi sobbed and leaned against the invisible wall, sliding to her knees.
"Shh. Don't worry."
Kasumi gasped as the voice echoed in the tiny room she seemed to be sealed in. "Wha-what?" she whispered, "Who are you? Please, let me out of here!"
"I won't let you or the others be harmed. I care."
"If you care, let me out of this damned machine!" Kasumi sobbed, pounding her fist weakly against the barrier, "I hate piloting it!"
"Shh, little girl. Your sync ratio is ninety-eight percent. You'll be fine."
Kasumi opened her gleaming purple eyes and stared through the barrier. She gasped in shock as she found that she was staring herself in the face. Her eyes… The fourteen-year-old pilot reached out to touch her face, but her hand bounced off the invisible window.
"Look at your pendant for a moment."
Kasumi grabbed at the pendant around her neck and felt it. It was a tiny rounded ball, and complete. "What's going on?" the girl wondered aloud, "Please, tell me."
"You've seen me. I have merely taken control of your body for the moment so you can save him."
"Him?" Kasumi whispered, "You mean…?"
"Yes, him. And the others that you care about. The Other won't take long for us to get rid of."
"Us?" Kasumi breathed, "What do you mean? Who are you?"
"Please, save your energy for the battle. I will tell you in time."
Kasumi choked suddenly and turned to look over her shoulder. The Angel had suddenly turned and was facing something. Kasumi's eyes shrank and she gasped.
Misato, Asuka, and…him…all in Misato's car…in the Angel's sight.
"NO!!" Kasumi screamed, "PLEASE NO! SAVE HIM! PLEASE SAVE HIM!!" When the voice didn't respond, Kasumi's eyes brimmed over with tears and she pressed harder against the barrier.
"Misato, drive faster!" Shinji urged, hanging over the back of Asuka's passenger seat. The major gripped the steering wheel tighter as the engine revved. Suddenly, Asuka let out a scream. The two whirled to the side and gasped. The Angel's stubby little left arm was gleaming a bright white color and growing sharper.
Then, it thrust forwards its arm, the energy point extending towards the car.
The three let out screams of terror as the energy flew towards them. They would be incinerated in a second.
"NO!!!" Kasumi cried, slamming her fists against the barrier once more. Suddenly, it gave way, and Kasumi sank into her body. Possessed by its rightful soul, Kasumi's body lurched forwards, and the Eva followed suite.
Shinji felt the heat of the energy, but it wasn't enough to harm him. When death didn't come, he looked up and his eyes widened. Unit-14 lay in front of Misato's car by a few inches, the energy spike stabbing slightly through it. Misato slammed her foot on the gas and the car sprang forwards, running over the broken barrier of NERV. Shinji stared behind the car, watching in horror as Unit-14 writhed on the street in pain.
Kasumi let out a scream of utter pain as the spike stabbed through her abdomen, sending pain like fire through her entire body. Her hands gripped the handles of her entry plug so fiercely they nearly dented the metal.
"NO! STOP KASUMI!"
The voice came back with a certain fierceness and Kasumi's soul was shoved from her body again. The same thing that had possessed her before claimed her body and began to force the Eva to move. Kasumi lay on her side in the small space that her soul resided in, curled in a ball.
She let out a low wail of pain as her stomach and chest burned with fiery pain and blood dripped from the wound. It didn't really happen to her soul, but her mind made it real enough.
"—damn you!"
Kasumi barely opened one eye to look at her body. Her mouth was twisting into an angry sneer, and it was controlling the Eva again. The thing that was using her body had forced the Angel's arm from her torso and made the Eva stand. Kasumi grit her teeth in anguish and shut her eyes, trying to block the pain.
Misato and the pilots raced into the com. center, where Ritsuko was already waiting. "Misato, how the hell did Kasumi do all this?!" the doctor shouted. Misato just stared in question, motioning for Shinji and Asuka to get ready for launch.
"Kasumi was able to launch her Eva without any assistance, and turned on the energy to the entirety of NERV HQ!" Ritsuko hastily explained, waving her hand towards the running machines. Before the two could continue in their conversation, the roar of an Eva brought them out of their little world.
Shinji and Asuka didn't have any time to leave the room before the roar of an Eva made them freeze.
Unit-14 thrust its Progressive Sword into the Angel's core with finality, roaring angrily. It twisted the blade in the core, and it finally stopped sparking. The Eva and the Angel stood frozen.
Ritsuko stared at a computer screen, her eyes wide. "Incredible!" she breathed, "Kasumi's sync ratio leapt up to ninety-seven percent!"
Kasumi's soul slowly took its rightful place in its body once more, but Kasumi continued to cry in pain. The Eva had shut itself down, and the A-10 nerve connections were cut, but the wound was real. Blood floated in the LCL, remaining close to Kasumi, and mingled with her tears. "Why does it hurt so much?" she whispered, biting her lip hard.
Suddenly, warm, comforting arms were around her. They stroked her hair and back gently, rocking her slightly. "Shh, don't worry." the same voice as before whispered, "Just remember."
Kasumi suddenly stood in a park, looking down at a small child of four years. They were crying in pain, their knee scraped up. "Stop bawling you little brat!" a harsh voice snapped. A NERV soldier strode up and grabbed four-year-old Kasumi's wrist angrily. "It's bad enough I have to baby-sit a little kid, but I won't have a crybaby!" the man yelled, "Shut up! Be stronger, like your brother!"
Kasumi blinked, and she was in the dark entry plug again. "The pain will go away in just a little while." the voice assured her, "Just relax." Warm hands passed over the gaping holes in her torso, and the skin healed over slightly. The pain didn't go away, but the wound was substantially healed. The warm arms slid away, and Kasumi strained to look at the voice's origin. Her sight was too blurred, but she saw…those eyes…then nothing.
Men slowly pried away the covering of the entry plug hole, and stood back as the plug ejected automatically. They pried open the door to the plug, and slowly extracted their target.
Shinji sat in a chair, his forehead pressed against his hands in what seemed a silent prayer, his head and hands against his knees. He heard the sudden squeak of wheels being rolled at high speed, and his head shot up. Ritsuko was walking down the hall beside a medical bed, staring at the person on it with a worried stare. Shinji leapt to his feet and started to walk beside the bed as well, and stared down at the person.
Kasumi lay barely breathing, rolled on her side in a ball. Blood pooled on the white sheets, and Shinji's blue eyes widened and brimmed with tears. But then, a nurse shoved by him and he was forced to stop. The doors slammed shut, and the light flicked on, "SURGERY".