Chain Lightning Studios Presents
Together We Stand Book Two
Divided We Fall
By T. L. Webb
Night after night, we pretend it's all right
but I have grown older and
you have grown colder and
nothing is very much fun any more
One of my turns
Pink Floyd, The Wall
[]===============================[]
Book Two, Part Thirteen
[]===============================[]
When Shinji had invited Kaoru to join him and Hikari for a day
out, he hadn't really considered the fact that over sixty percent of
Tokyo Three had been pretty much vaporized by Unit Zero's
detonation. When he'd thought about it later on he had felt a bit
foolish about that-- it wasn't really that he'd forgotten. With the
school gone and most of the population cast to the winds, he just
hadn't thought about it much. Months ago, he would have
lamented over the destruction and blamed himself for it. But with
so much happening with Misato, Hikari and Asuka lately, he'd had
his hands full just keeping up with home life.
This oversight of his had, however, left him with the somewhat
difficult task of deciding what they were going to do now that
they'd promised Kaoru they'd show him around.
After a couple of brainstorming sessions with both Hikari and
Misato, they finally decided that the best thing to do was just to go
on a picnic somewhere with a nice view-- and immediately Shinji
knew where that should be.
The night before the outing as he and Hikari worked together
to get the food ready for the next day's trip, he found himself
thinking back to the time when he'd run away and first seen the
spot where they'd be having the outing.
'I was so empty back then,' he thought to himself. He quite
vividly remembered the night he'd spent sleeping in the theater.
He also remembered seeing a couple making out and actually
feeling angry and jealous at what they had together. It had
upset him so much that he'd had to leave and find a quiet
corner in the lobby to sleep.
"I wonder," he said aloud-- catching Hikari's attention.
"What do you wonder?" she asked as she put one of the
finished bentos in the fridge--now totally empty of all alcoholic
beverages.
"Well... I was just thinking. Do you think that maybe the reason
Asuka's been so hostile lately may be because of us?"
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked as she sat down at the
table, "that she's jealous that I got you or something?"
"That might be part of it, but not exactly what I was getting at. I
meant more like she's jealous of what we have together."
"I don't know," Hikari said with a small frown, "what makes
you think that?"
"I was just thinking about the past, and it occurred to me that if
I had her personality then I might have behaved a lot like she did if
I went through some of the things she has since joining Nerv."
"I seriously doubt that, sweetie," Hikari said as she made a
face-- apparently thinking back to one of her last confrontations
with the German girl.
"Well... it's not like I know for sure what she's going through--
I doubt I ever could, but, I think that... well, maybe she just needs
someone."
Hikari was quiet for a moment as she thought that over.
"I was about to shrug that off-- I've heard more of her 'stupid
boys' rants than you have. I think there's a lot more to it, but, you
might be on to something there. Then again, I tried to hook her up
with someone once... it didn't go very well."
"No kidding," Shinji nodded, thinking of what had happened
later that night, "maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic," he said with
a shrug.
"I told you," Hikari said as she stood and went back to
preparing the next day's mean, "you may be onto something, but I
gotta say I don't envy whoever attempts the taming of the shrew."
"That's not very nice Hikari," Shinji said with a frown.
"Silly," Hikari said as she playfully bopped him on the head
with a spoon, "that's the title to a play, and believe me-- whoever
wants to deal with her romantically had better read it first."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"This is highly irregular doctor," the first of the monoliths said--
the computerized voice distortion programming disguising every
vocal aspect of the individual speaking.
"I'm aware of that," Ritsuko said firmly as she stood in the
center of a circle of light. All around here a dozen ebony slabs
stood in a circle. On each of them was a number, and below the
words Sound Only in English. This was how the council of Seele
met. Other than the leader and chairman Lorenz Kiel, she knew
none of their names or faces. For the past several years her
dealings had either been with him or the Committee that ran the
human instrumentality project-- and they surely used fabricated
identities.
The last time she'd been before the actual gathering of Seele
had been the debriefing on the Sixteenth angel. That had been
humiliating--although she'd never let on.
"Why have you come before us Doctor? You are obviously
aware how valuable our time is."
"My request to come before you was due to a possible danger
regarding the Fifth Child."
"Very well," the first monolith said, "what is this 'emergency'?"
Ritsuko fought not to sigh in annoyance. Apparently sarcasm
was not an aspect eliminated by the computer.
"The Child has displayed abilities that he should not possess.
His synch ratio with Unit Two is unnatural. We had decided to test
how well a pilot might synch with an unconfigured Eva, and during
those tests his synch ratio was not only higher than any of the other
pilots, but it seemed as if he were holding back."
"I do not see how this information is enough to warrant a
gathering, Doctor."
"But to be able to synch with an unconfig--"
"Doctor, you are aware of course that the Fifth is a product of
the nyphelim project and by his very nature is a natural pilot. What
you are telling us is nothing we had not anticipated."
"I believe that something is seriously wrong with the Fifth, I
came here to make you aware that I believe he may be the
Seventeenth."
"Doctor, if this is in fact true, why has he not attacked?" one of
the monoliths asked tiredly, "you see a unusually high synch rate,
which is admitably of interest scientifically to the cause, and you
begin crying angel like the fabled shepherd boy. For you to reach
such a preposterous conclusion is, quite frankly, an overreaction."
Ritsuko closed her eyes and counted to ten, "so you will do
nothing then?"
"Nerv exists to fight the angels Doctor, if this preposterous
theory of your's actually proves true then I would suggest you do
your job. Until then I would suggest you do the same."
Before she could say another word her connection was
terminated.
"It seems that the Doctor is more intuitive than we anticipated."
"It is unimportant in the larger scheme. Fortunately this
gathering has not been a total waste of our time."
"Yes, her enmity for the Commander has grown. Coming
directly to us and breaking the chain of command is an interesting
development."
"Until she reveals information of true importance it is a empty
gamble. We still do not know what Ikari is planning."
"The time is short, the Fifth will meet with us in two days time
to report. After that we must begin preparations for the ritual."
The monoliths vanished one by one and the room was silent.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"This is so damn stupid!" Asuka muttered as she paced back
and forth outside of the closed door. She'd been there for over an
hour-- walking up to the door, raising her hand to knock and
backing off at the last moment over and over. Each time she'd get
a little closer, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to actually
do it. What made it worse was that every time she tried to pin
down just what was holding her back, she'd just get angry and
frustrate herself going round and round with it..
'I never was any good at this introspection crap,' she thought as
she tapped her foot.
Eventually she worked up the courage to try again. Taking a
breath and then releasing it, she focused on her target and walked
up to the door. Over and over again in her mind she recited the
phrase she'd been taught years before for when she was in combat
and needed to focus.
'Breath, release, aim, and squeeze. Breathe release aim and
squeeze. Breath release-- what the hell am I doing?' she thought as
once again she backed away from the door, 'you're crazy for even
thinking about this Soryu. Just go home and... And what? Sit
around brooding for another week? Damnit!'
Just as she turned to knock again, she found herself face to
face with the person living behind the door in question.
"Shiest!" she whispered as she took a step back.
"Good morning, Asuka," Kaoru said-- seeming nonplused
at finding her cursing under her breath at his doorstep, "are
you feeling well today?"
"Um... I'm... okay I guess," she said sheepishly-- embarrassed
that she'd been caught hovering around his door.
"That is good, I'm glad that you've recovered so quickly from
your fall. Did you want to speak to me?"
"Huh?" she gasped-- not having any excuses or lies prepared,
"me? Er, no! I was just... just... um," she sighed and bit her bottom
lip. If she kept sputtering she'd end up looking like a total idiot
instead of a slight one. Finally she said in a quiet voice, "If it's not
an inconvenience."
"You are not inconvenient, Asuka," he told her, and she almost
believed him, "I'm actually on my way over to the train station, but
if you do not mind the walk I would enjoy your company."
Asuka's mind began racing with excuses not to go, but as she
clenched her eyes shut, she drove them all from her mind. When
she opened them again she found him still standing there
expectantly.
'T'hell with it,' she told herself.
"Okay."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Its not like I want them dead or anything," Asuka told Kaoru
as they walked along the path, "I just... well... Look I feel stupid
talking about this."
"I promise that whatever you tell me will remain between us for
all time, Asuka," Kaoru told her.
"Still," Asuka said hesitantly, "it's like I want to say stuff but my
mind keeps screaming to shut the hell up... does that even make
sense?"
"Some, I think perhaps you are afraid that if I see-- or in this
case hear-- your true feelings, that my opinion of you will change."
" . . . that may be true."
"I would not worry about that."
"Alright... but it still feels weird," she said with a shrug, "where
was I?"
"You were talking about the other pilots."
"Right... with Ayanami it's more that she just pisses me off.
Shinji used to be the same way-- she just sits around all day
waiting for someone to tell her to jump so that she can go be a
good little frog. She asks the weirdest questions too. And when
she says anything otherwise it's usually to tell you what you should
be doing in your own Eva! Like she was a better pilot or
something. I mean it's not like she could hold her own on the
battlefield without a commanding officer. Not once has she _ever_
taken any kinda initiative."
"Why does that mindset bother you so much?"
"Because it's like she's just some kind of stupid doll!" Asuka
nearly shouted.
"You said something like that once before... why do you call
her a doll?"
Asuka started to say something, but she paused just as she
opened her mouth. She turned away so he couldn't see her face.
"That's... not something I want to talk about Kaoru."
"I won't ask you to say anything you do not wish to."
". . . Thank you."
[]====[]
[]====[]
Since beginning to explore the memories of her previous lives,
Rei had grown more and more aware that there was an anomaly in
her mind. A set of memories that could not possibly have been of
her previous selves. Had her friends Shinji and Hikari not given her
the album of photo's she might never have isolated the anomaly.
Now that she knew of it's existence she'd grown more and more
confused and uncertain about what, if anything, she should do
about it.
As she walked the long corridors of the Geofront, she
contemplated whether or not she should attempt to open herself to
this Other's memories. Simple deduction had told her who this
Other was. It had not been difficult to surmise that the woman in
the photo was Shinji's mother. Since she had identified the
anomaly only after seeing that photo, the Other was easy enough
to identify. She knew very little about Yui Ikari, which somewhat
surprised her after considering that the woman's widower had
raised her from childhood.
Many of the photos had been taken in Terminal Dogma in the
areas that Gehirn had used as a base of operations before moving
up to the surface. The depth that was involved had made this
necessary until a suitable transportation had been completed. She
knew that all she would have to do to visit the memories of Yui
Ikari in full would be to go there, and open herself to them.
As curious as she was to find out what had been left in her
head, and possibly how it had come to pass that it was there, she
was equally afraid to do it. When she had started her strange inner
journey, she had only been partially prepared for the intensity that
was involved. Many of the memories that the photo album had
returned to her were pleasant ones, but some- such as the battles
with the Angels and tests with Unit Zero- had been quite painful to
revisit.
If she did this, if she let these memories come to the foreground
within her mind... what would happen? So many of her views had
already been altered from things she'd rediscovered. What if she
found something in this woman's memories that altered them too
far?
She had never carried any illusions about the fact that much of
her continued existence was dependent on her loyalty to Nerv in
general and Commander Ikari specifically. Should anyone suspect
that she was even in the slightest becoming disloyal she would
surely be destroyed and another awakened in her place--
another without the potentially heretical memories she was so
fascinated by.
She knew that much of the Commander's life had been
changed and reshaped by his lost wife... and she knew from long
exposure to Nerv that the day of her death had been a crux event
resulting in much of what her destiny would be.
If the commander ever discovered what was happening to
her... she did not know what would happen. It was something
that-- she decided-- required much more thought before any
action could be taken.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"So are you going to tell me what this mystery place is or am I
going to have to tickle it out of you?" Hikari asked Shinji as they
waited at the train station for Kaoru to arrive.
"Just trust me," Shinji said as he dodged a poke to his ribs, "I
promise it's worth being surprised by."
"Okay," Hikari said as she looked down the sidewalk for sign
of their lunch guest, "I still don't see him... did you tell him eight
o'clock?"
"Relax Hikari, it's only seven forty, he has plenty of time," he
reached over and took hold of her hand, "why are you so
nervous?"
"I dunno," she said as she linked her fingers with his, "I guess its
just that it seems like everything's falling apart lately. We've lost so
much. the city was destroyed, most of our friends are gone, and
even Dad and my sisters are leaving for Osaka once they release
him from the hospital tomorrow. I just feel like Kaoru is coming
on to a sinking ship and I want to at least try to be a better friend
that I was..."
"Than with Asuka," Shinji finished for her as she trailed off.
"Sometimes I feel like I failed her," Hikari said sadly, "and now
Ritsuko won't tell me where she is. I want to try and make it up to
her somehow... I just wish I knew where to start."
Shinji started to say something, but as he opened his mouth to
speak, he suddenly gasped in surprise. Confused at his reaction,
Hikari followed his gaze out to the sidewalk where to figures were
walking up the path. One of them was Kaoru, but it was his
companion who caused Hikari to mimic Shinji's reaction.
"Asuka?" Shinji whispered as he and Hikari made their way to
the entrance, "what in the world?"
"I don't know," Hikari said-- still stunned, "but one thing's for
sure."
"What's that?"
"I'm not going to dismiss Nozomi when she tells me to be
careful what I wish for anymore," she told him nervously.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"What the hell are _they_ doing here?" Asuka demanded as
she saw Shinji and Hikari step out into the sunlight and wave in
greeting. She stopped where she was and turned to Kaoru with
anger flashing in her eyes.
"I am going to be joining them for lunch," Kaoru told her
simply.
"And _why_ didn't you tell me that?" she growled as she eyed
the two who were still standing by the entrance to the train station.
"The subject never came up," he told her, seemingly oblivious
to her mood, "I suppose I was enjoying our conversation too
much to think about it."
"What _ever_," she said as she started to turn and walk away.
"Asuka, would you like to join us?" Kaoru asked suddenly,
"Shinji said that Hikari always prepares to much food so I doubt
you would be an inconvenience."
Asuka froze in mid-step. The request had been unexpected,
and at the same time in the back of her mind she had been praying
that he would ask. She didn't understand why, and it was driving
her crazy trying to figure it out. She turned and looked over to
where he stood-- hands in his pockets and that same gentle smile
on his face. The same smile that was making her pulse race even
now.
She looked out to where Shinji and Hikari stood watching
them both with confusion.
'I wouldn't have to talk to them,' she thought, 'and I doubt
they'd have much to say to me.'
Finally she nodded to Kaoru, and they both walked the rest of
the way to where the others were standing.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As he gripped the support rail that separated him and the
massive purple and gray face, Gendou Ikari fought the urge to
scratch his itching palm. Concealed there, beneath the white gloves
that had for months covered the burn scars he'd received rescuing
Rei, was a small mass of foreign material.
This small lump of tissue was not his own.
In fact, the genetic makeup of the material was barely human.
It had taken weeks for the inflammation to go down, and even
longer for the pain to stop, but he and Fuyutski had succeeded in
implanting the thawed embryo of the First Angel there in his hand.
Now, as he looked at the armored face of Evangelion Unit
One, he imagined-- not for the first time-- that he could feel the
twisted mass of fused flesh twitch of it's own violation. That, he
knew, was merely in his mind, and he pushed it to the back so that
he could concentrate on why he was there.
"It's been awhile since I came here to speak," he said to Unit
One's unmoving form, "things have been progressing beyond the
framework of anyone's timetable. Even the old men are panicking
at how swiftly everything has happened. The angels are all but
defeated now. The final messenger has arrived and it is but a
matter of time before it finally makes it's move."
He paused as he began adjusting his glasses, then stopped.
Removing them, he looked back at Unit One with a solemn
expression, "what would you make of all this if you could speak?
I've wondered this many times... and each time it has become
harder to stay this course. You always saw the Eva as a tool for
exploration-- a way for mankind to survive the timeless journey's
between the stars... then Seele began their steps and all that was
gone. Then only one goal remained. Our whole purpose changed
overnight. And again when I lost you..."
He replaced his glasses, "we failed to save you then. But even
in that defeat I realized that there might be a way. Kiel is to blame
for what happened. Had he not rushed us we might have been
more prepared for the activation. So I will take something from
him. I will take his dream and his obsession from him and use it to
reclaim what he stole from me. I will save you, Yui. We will be
together soon. All I ask is that you be patient."
Across the crimson lake of coolant fluid, Unit one gave no
response. It merely glared out at the Cage in silence. After a
moment, Gendou turned and left the cavernous room. As the main
lights shut down all around, a sound could be heard had someone
remained. The sound of light footsteps. In the dim area of the
umbilical bridge left illuminated by the safety lights, the figure of a
young girl emerged.
As Rei looked at the door where Gendou Ikari had just made
his exit, she frowned.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"That is..._very_ strange," Shinji said as he looked back over
his shoulder at Kaoru and Asuka who were a few yards behind
them on the path. They'd taken the bus from the train stop, and if
he remebered correctly, there was just a little more of a walk until
they reached the destination.
"Cute is the word that imediatly springs to mind," Hikari told
him as she took his hand, "although I am kinda suprised at it
myself."
"I think that's the longest I've seen her talk to _any_ guy
without yelling at them," he noted with a chuckle, "and I speak
from experiance."
"Actualy, I'm more amazed that she hasnt said anything mean
to us so far."
Shinji was quiet for a moment as they continued walking up the
path, finally he turned to Hikari and spoke, "um... can I ask you
something?"
"Of course!"
"That first fight... what was it about? The one in the locker
rooms I mean."
It was Hikari's turn to be quiet for a stretch.
"I'm sorry," Shinji said with a blush, I didn't mean to pry."
"No," she said quickly, "it's okay... I was just thinking about it,
and... well its kind of embarising."
"It is?"
"We were talking about something or other-- I forget what--
and, suddenly, she asks me if I set her up on that date to keep her
away from you."
"The guy your sister knew?"
"Thats the one," Hikari sighed, "anyway, the thing is that I
_did_ set up the date because of that... and I was so surprised at
the question... it kind of ended up slipping out."
"What did she do?"
"Well, she really didn't _do_ anything, she just kind of huffed
and smirked at me, and made a crack about underestimating the
compitition. I got... well I got mad and shoved her back and she
hit a locker. Thats when she blew up on me. She shoved me back,
I slapped her, then she hit me and stormed out... and thats about
when you came in."
"I never did understand her."
"I thought I did for a while, but I have this idea that she wanted
that fight to happen."
"I don't follow you," Shinji frowned.
Hikari shook her head," I'm not sure I do either... its just that it
seemed like she wass _trying_ to get people to push back like
that. I'm more than a little surprised that she isnt doing it to him,"
she said nodding behind them.
"Maybe she's just impressed with his German?" Shinji offered.
This caused Hikari to giggle.
"Right, that must be it," she joked as she laid her head on his
shoulder, "I'm going to feel really dumb if I lost her as a friend
because I took English instead of German last year."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"This is amazing..." Asuka whispered as Shinji and Hikari
wandered over to the rails for a better look out over the terraces.
"The view is quite remarkable," Kaoru agreed.
"I wonder how long they... oh not this again," Asuka rolled her
eyes and Kaoru looked over to see Shinji and Hikari sitting beside
one another sharing a kiss.
"Not what again?" he asked.
"That!" she said, gesturing to the couple, "they can't keep their
hands off one another! All the time its grope, grope, kiss, grope!
They'll probably be sneaking off to the bushes any moment, the
perverts."
"I do not see what is objectable about two people showing
affection when they are so obviously in love."
"Oh puh-lese!" Asuka said--apparently not realizing how bitter
she sounded, "love my ass. All it is, is a chemically induced
physical attraction. Love is for poets."
"You do not believe in love?" Kaoru asked her.
"About as much as I do the Easter bunny and vampires."
"It's very sad you feel so," he said, "I've always felt that if
there was one outstanding positive aspect the Lillian race had it is
that they are capable of such deep love for one another. In contrast
it is a pity that so few seem to display it."
"You lost me at 'outstanding' Kaoru," Asuka said with a frown,
"you seem smart enough, but as effed up as this planet is, how can
you believe that crap?"
Kaoru chucked, "I don't believe a more complex subject could
have come up... but I will try to explain. Remember the old couple
we passed as we got off the train? More specifically did you see
their wedding bands?"
"Um.. I think so, about seeing them that is, not the rings."
"Would you say it is safe to assume they have been married for
many years?"
"Er.. Probably?"
"Do you believe that physical attraction has kept them together
all this time in an age where a divorce takes nothing more than
the ability to sign a paper?"
"I... I don't know, and for that matter neither do you."
"True, but I am speaking hypothetically. There is no way I can
think of to define Love as a word... it is a concept, a way of
thinking, an emotional state, and so much more. At it's purest it is a
sight to behold... I have seen such mutual selfless devotion
between people that I've been brought to tears. It has inspired so
much of history... I do not deny it has a darker aspect. It is so
close to obsession that the two can easily be confused."
"How... can you tell the difference?" Auska asked as past
memories brought a blush to her cheeks.
"Another difficult question... perhaps a good way is to ask
oneself if the other's happiness is more important to you than
your own."
"Complicated doesn't even come close to this," Asuka said
with a frown.
"I warned you," Kaoru said with a chuckle, "love is never easy.
There are barriers between people's souls, and it is an all too rare
but wonderful thing when two manage to reach beyond them."
"So what makes you think that_ those_ two are really in love?"
Asuka demanded suddenly as she looked over to where Shinji
was pointing at something out to Hikari.
"It is more of a general impression than exact knowledge, but
to attempt to answer; I've noticed that they genuinely enjoy one
another's company. When together they do not constantly touch
and hold one another and the looks they give are not filled with
lust. Even just a moment ago when you expressed annoyance with
their kiss it was followed by a long stretch where they just sat
beside one another and talked without so much as holding hands."
"You... you were watching the whole time?"
"Most of it, I am sitting in a good spot to do so."
"Still... I don't know," she said as she shook her head, "I've
never felt like that before. I can't bring myself to believe
something like what you're describing could exist when I haven't
even been _close_ to feeling like that."
"I was unaware you were a subjectivist," Kaoru said with
amusement.
"I resent that," Asuka said dryly as she cocked an eyebrow,
"or possibly thank you."
"A little of both would suit," Kaoru said with a chuckle,
"It is a philosophical belief where a person refuses to accept
that anything exists other than the self and the acts of the
self. The extreme of this is that the person believes that he
is the only thing that truly exists in the universe. Everything
else that exists only does so because the person is there to
'think them into existence'. In a way, the only things that
exist are what he _thinks_ exist. That is the extreme mind you,
and there are actually some interesting ideas in the philosophy
even if one does not believe in it."
"Weird... and people really believe that?"
"Did you not just suggest that love didn't exist because
you didn not think it did?"
"...okay, I'm going to shut up now."
"Do not feel bad, I was merely making a point."
"Alright... so can I ask you something?"
"Go right ahead."
"Why... why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because you seemed as if you needed a friend."
"Oh," she said as she looked away sadly.
[]====[]
[]====[]
That night, as he settled back into his bed, Kaoru felt a great
sadness. He knew that his meeting the next morning with the men
of Seele would probably mark his final few hours as one of the
lillim. The fifteen years had passed so quickly... yet had been rich
with experience. The Lillim life span was so short... he'd yet to
sample a fraction of the literature they'd produced in the few
hundreds years since their writing had begun to develop. He could
imagine the library it might take to store it all.... A stretching
chasm filled with book after book.
Was it his fate to make their history end?
It was possible. He had greater power than the previous
angels, and the last few had damaged the ranks of the Evangelion
pilots almost beyond repair. Only Shinji and Hikari stood a threat,
and Hikari much less of one. Asuka... was still too emotionally
damaged to pilot her Evangelion. He'd most likely make use of it's
availability when he made his move. It would be Unit One that
would be the true threat to his task.
Yet even as he considered his path, he felt sadness for the
Second Child. Should he fail in his task she would be
devastated... possibly beyond hope of recovery because of his
actions.
He decided that there was no point in being cruel to the girl. He
needed to prepare her somehow for what was soon to be.
Climbing to his feet, he dressed and stepped outside into the
warm night. He could hear the insects chirping out in the Geofront.
He walked up to her door and knocked softly, hoping he was not
waking her.
Her door opened seconds after his knock, and she smiled as
she saw him. She was wearing a loose fitting shirt that was at least
large enough for two of her. It came down just below her hips and
he wondered if she knew how close to indecent it actually was--
possibly a matter of centimeters.
"I need to speak with you Asuka," he said as she stepped back
and let him inside. He was about to turn and speak when suddenly
she grabbed hold of him and they fell onto the bed.
"Asuka?" he asked in shock as he felt her lips against his neck.
Suddenly, he understood, and a wave of grief washed over him.
This was possibly the worst thing that could have happened to her.
"Asuka, wait, please!" he said firmly as he pushed her back as
gently as he could. Looking up he saw her eyes and his sadness
compounded. There was lust there--obviously, but he saw beyond
that to the poorly hidden desperation that was behind it.
"Why?" she demanded as she finally pushed him back and
began to cry," why don't you want me? Why doesn't anyone want
me?"
"That is not true," he insisted as he reached out to try and take
her hand.
"Bullshit!" she screamed at him, "Kaji would never even kiss
me! Shinji always pulled back like a frightened mouse every time I
tried to get close to him, and just when he _finaly_ started to come
around he chose that... that..." the tears began to flow freely, "he
chose Hikari over me, Kaji chose Misato... mama chose that God
damn stupid doll over me... who did you chose, Kaoru? Who beat
me this time? Was it Rei? Go ahead then, take her! I don't give a
damn anymore!"
"Asuka," he said as he took hold of her hand. She struggled
and tried to pull free, but he held firm, "I did not chose Rei. I did
not choose anyone."
Finally she looked at him, her eyes now desperate and
pleading, "then what? What's wrong with me? Why don't you want
me? What do I have to do to make you want me?"
"Asuka, please don't believe that this is because I do not have
any feelings for you. If it were possible for me to do so, I would
stay with you as long as you would have me... but I fear it just is
not to be," he sighed and shook his head, "this is so much more
complicated than I intended it to become... Asuka, please believe
me when I say that I love you."
Asuka's eyes widened at those words, and for several seconds
her mouth moved wordlessly. When she finally found her voice it
was several more seconds before she could gather her thoughts
enough say something.
"But... if you... why wont you... you know..."
"Asuka, there have been more lives ruined by confusing lust
with love than there are stars in the evening sky. Please understand
that I can not, and will not share your bed tonight. This is,
however, not because of a lack of desire. You are one of the most
beautiful people I have ever known, Asuka, and the potential I see
within you to become even more so is beyond description. I wish
circumstances were different... but there are forces at work that
are now beyond my control."
"Kaoru... I don't understand."
"That is all I can say for the moment... if you wish to know the
whole truth, be at the observation room of the cage at noon
tomorrow. It will not be pleasant for you to learn, but at least then
you would understand why this must be so."
"I..." she looked at him and now her eyes showed confusion.
He did not know if this was the best way, but at least now she had
a chance to make it... however slim.
As he left her room he heard her beginning to cry again, and it
was very, very hard to keep walking.
[]====[]
[]====[]
It was only moments before dawn as Kaoru stepped up onto
the back of the statue. He looked out across the waters and at
the soft pink sky that was beginning to glow with the coming day
and he wished he could take the time to enjoy it. Unfortunately he
had a schedule to keep, so his final sunrise would no doubt be
tainted by the unpleasant meeting that would take place in a
mater of seconds.
Before he'd left the third branch in Germany he'd undergone a
surgical procedure that had placed a small electronic device just
inside his eye. It was an experimental device-- a prototype of
nanotecnology actually-- that was designed to use the salts in his
body as a medium of transmission for an electronic conference.
The power in this device was highly finite, it would not last
beyond the meeting, but it was sufficient for its' purpose seeing as
how he would never have an opportunity to use it after this day,
regardless.
He closed his eyes as the time arrived, and when he opened
them, twelve ebony monoliths surrounded him in midair.
The meeting had begun.
He looked around and smiled at them, it was typical that they
had spent so much effort to implant the device, yet had now
insisted on masking their identities. These men were such a
contradiction of high intelligence and cunning-- and immature
stupidity.
Amazing that they had gained so much power in this world.
"You have successfully infiltrated Nerv," the first told him,
"even those who do suspect the truth will not act until it is too late."
Kaoru listened to them speak, and to their concerns and fears.
He listened as they told him they suspected that Gendou had been
experimenting with the stolen genetic sample of Adam, and how
dangerously close to treason it was. They waxed poetically of how
he would 'purge Nerv of the corruption', and thus fulfil his destiny.
They spoke of it as if they truly cared, and the empty promises
soon grew from lightly amusing to annoying. If these men craved
the eternal dark so fiercely, they seemed to have an odd way of
showing it.
"Enough," he said finally.
"What?" Kiel demanded, obviously shaken by the insolence of
the interruption.
"Why do you insist on perpetuating this delusion that you
control my destiny?" Kaoru asked suddenly as he smiled. This
meeting might be amusing after all.
"How dare you speak to your creators as such!" one of the
monoliths said, his voice distortor barely disguising his indignant
rage at Kaoru's tone.
"My time in this form grows short," Kaoru replied, "and I am
weary of this charade. You have somehow gotten it into your
minds that because you created me to fulfil your designs that you
have some right and say in my actions. This is falsehood. Has it not
occurred to you that by fulfilling even a few of the prophecies in
your Dead Sea scrolls, you have thereby placed yourselves under
fate's heel? How arrogant you are to believe otherwise."
"And yet," he added, "this is still my destiny, and I will fulfil
it. I think you strange to want me to do so. The disaster resulting
the first time you meddled in these maters seems to have taught
you nothing."
With that Kaoru terminated the connection. He could almost
see why this Gendou Ikari wanted to rebel; the manipulators
behind those blank monoliths were some of the most unpleasant
and bitter men he'd ever dealt with. It would almost be a pleasure
to give them the oblivion they seemed to crave.
[]====[]
[]====[]
It was well past the eleventh hour and he could put it off no
longer. The time was finally at hand. His very being cried out to
him that he must act soon. It was a compulsion that had grown in
strength over the past several hours, and as noon drew closer and
closer, he had to fight it back in order to keep his promise.
Kaoru could feel the power welling up within him, and knew
that if he did not act soon he would be forced into a misstep. As
he entered the Cage where Evangelion Unit Two was contained,
he felt a surge of relief. Up above he saw a glint of red that was
Asuka's hair behind the window of the observation room.
As he walked across the umbilical bridge to it's center, she
turned and pressed her hands to the glass. He wished there were
some other way, but he was bound by both fate and biology.
She reached over to a counsel nearby and pressed a switch,
activating the communications network.
"I'm here," she told him simply. He could barely make out her
face, but even at such a distance he could tell that she foregone
sleep and had been crying. He was not surprised at that.
"Last night," he said to her, "I told you that I would reveal to
you the reason why we could not be together."
She did not reply, and he could not delay his becoming any
longer.
"I am eternally sorry, for what I must now do," he said as he
stepped off the platform over the red coolant below.
"Kaoru!" she screamed as he began to fall down to the liquid.
Yet, the instant before he struck, a shimmering wave of force
washed out from him, and suddenly he was hovering in mid air.
His body began to glow dimly as unbelievable power coursed
through him. His S2 organ had awakened and he was-- from that
moment-- no longer Kaoru Nagisa.
He was Tabris, the Seventeenth Angel.
The final messenger
[]====[]
[]====[]
When the alarms went off, Shinji and Hikari had been just
entering the Geofront with Misato. As lights began to pulse red
all around them and the sound reached almost unbearable levels,
Misato's eyes widened in shock. They broke into a dead run,
and she whipped out her cell phone.
"It's me, what the hell is going on down there?" she demanded
from Makoto.
"We're not sure, we just got a blue pattern from inside the
Geofront!" he responded, and she could hear him franticly typing
as he tried to analyze the data.
"Inside?" she gasped in shock. If it was anything like what
they'd fought with the eleventh then there was barely any time, and
she was still ten minutes from the lift to the command center.
"Kids," she said as she turned to face them, "get to the Cage
right away, I'll brief you as we activate, it's another Angel, and it's
inside headquarters."
To her pride, they nodded and took off running to their
destination with little more than a paling of the face.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to be proud, and Misato was
back on the phone almost immediately gathering information.
"Ok, I want all access shafts sealed right away, have the Magi
clear our paths and put everything else on finding out just where
the damn thing is."
"We just got a fix," Makoto told her as she slipped between
two closing blast doors "it's in the... it... oh my God."
"Talk to me Hyuuga, what's going on?"
"We just got a visual... the Angel... its the Fifth Child!"
"What?" Misato shouted as she tried not to drop the phone.
"The Magi are unanimous... what the hell? Hold on,
something's happening to Unit Two!"
"Damnit," Misato cursed aloud to the far too slow elevator,
"hurry the hell up!"
[]====[]
[]====[]
After grabbing their Plugsuits, Shinji and Hikari had jumped a
ride with a technician on a motorized cart. As they struggled to
change and keep their hold on the cab at the same time, neither
seemed to notice the other's nudity. The situation was far to dire
for such things to matter at that moment. Once suited up, they
took their place behind the driver and watched the hatches
open as they neared them.
When they reached the cage, the driver immediately hit the
breaks and all three of them watched in horror as Unit Two ripped
the restraint system to shreds. It began to climb out of the mass of
twisted metal and waded across the coolant to the far wall that
had only recently been partially repaired from Shinji's battle with
the fourteenth angel. As it plunged its massive fists through the
flimsy constructs in it's way, Shinji thought he saw a flash of light
just in front of the Eva.
"What is it?" Hikari asked aloud as their driver leapt from his
seat and began to run back down the corridor from whence they'd
come.
"Hey!" Shinji shouted as a blast door closed behind them--
actually trapping the man in-between the chambers. Shinji turned
back to where the Eva was climbing into the freshly made opening
and jumped over the roll bar to the drivers seat, "Hang on," he told
Hikari as he slammed the gas pedal down to the floorboard.
Proving that Misato had indeed been the one who taught Shinji
how to drive, they screeched down the small path built into the
wall of the cage. Just as they reached Unit three, Shinji reached
out and grabbed Hikari by the arm before she started to jump off
to board her Eva.
Their eyes locked, and hundreds of things passed between
them in that moment. Shinji leaned in and their lips met briefly, as a
kiss for luck and love was shared before each of them began
racing to their Eva's.
Neither voiced their mutual fear-- that it would be the last
that they would share.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As Evangelions Three and One roared to life and began their
pursuit of the Seventeenth Angel, no one noticed that in the
observation room a small figure was huddled in a corner. Asuka
was curled up as tightly as she had been able to manage, and as
the shrieks of twisting metal echoed throughout the Geofront, she
trembled and repeated one phrase over and over.
"Angel... no please not an Angel...not an Angel. Not an
Angel... no..."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I see them!" Hikari shouted as her Eva lowered down the
seemingly endless cable to the depths of the Geofront. She'd been
this deep, and deeper once before, but it still jarred her just how
far down Terminal Dogma actually was.
Just coming into view in the dark smoke filled chasm was Eva
Unit Two. She could see it's arms working as it clawed and tore
away plate after plate of protective armor from the blast door
below.
At fist they hadn't been able to understand how they were
getting past the protective armored layers. Finally, just as she and
Shinji had started their decent, it had been determined that the
Angel was manipulating the electronics somehow to open them.
Immediately Misato had ordered all the fuses for the gates fried,
and now they had a chance to catch up.
Just above her, She saw Shinji let go of the cable and Unit one
dropped like a comet down onto the back of the rogue
Evangelion. While he struggled to hold onto the bucking giant,
Hikari caught another flash of light at its side, and as her monitor
zoomed in, she was shocked to find Kaoru floating in mid air.
She'd been briefed that Kaoru was the Angel, but she hadn't
expected this. She'd thought that he'd bonded with Unit Two, or
was piloting it. The last thing she'd suspected had been for him to
be standing on thin air with his hands in his pockets smiling back at
her.
She saw his lips move, and she activated the external pickups.
"The two of you are much later than I had expected," he said
calmly, as if they were back at the picnic instead of locked in
battle. As if he hadn't played them all for fools. As if he hadn't
pretended to befriend Asuka.
In response, she engaged her progressive knife and let go of
the cable.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Shinji was trying to get Unit Two in a grappling hold that Touji
had shown him once, when Hikari screamed and launched herself
at the angel.
Suddenly, he realized that what she was about to do wouldn't
work. What clued him in was that there was an odd glow-- no
more of a distortion around Kaoru, almost as if he were looking at
him through a heat wave. He'd noticed it before he'd begun
grappling with Unit Two, but it wasn't until a split second before
Hikari's attack when it all came together in his head, and by the
time he'd tried to warn her, the progressive knife was rebounding
off a geometric distortion in the space between it and the smiling
boy.
"He's got an AT field!" Shinji shouted a second too late.
"Yes," he heard Kaoru reply, and realized that his external
audio system was engaged, "at least that is what you Lillim have
chosen to call this thing."
As he spoke, Hikari's impact on the blast door caused it to
give way, and the three Eva's tumbled down hundreds of feet and
slammed into the next set.
"The Absolute Terror Field," Kaoru recited as he drifted down
towards where Shinji and Hikari were both trying to restrain the
struggling Unit Two, "you Lillim have such a mastery of irony, and
yet you seem so oblivious to it at the same time. This is the light of
my very soul! A sacred territory that no one may enter save by my
invitation. And you," he said as his smile broadened, "are not
invited."
Suddenly a powerful shockwave caused the level to give way
and they were again falling deeper into the Geofront.
[]====[]
[]====[]
We've lost all radio contact!" Makoto shouted in horror, "this is
the strongest AT Field we've ever detected!"
"It's blocking everything," Shiguru concurred, we've even lost
ground feed from all the cameras!"
"Damnit!" Misato shouted as they scrambled to do what
they could, "wait... what's Hikari's power looking like?"
"We don't know, once that field went up we lost everything! If
this cuts both ways though she has less than four minutes..."
Misato looked at the screens which showed nothing but static.
It was all up to them now. She couldn't do anything more. She
leaned in close to Makoto and muttered under her breath to be
prepared for the worst.
"I know," he whispered back, "if anything happens I have the
destruct commands all set. This bastard won't win-- no mater
what."
[]====[]
[]====[]
Again they fell, but this time there was no barrier to catch them.
As Hikari looked towards the ground she saw an expanse of white
and just before they struck she saw that they were in an amazingly
huge cavern. Then they hit, and the bone jarring impact drove
the three Evangelions into the chalky powder that spread across
the cavity Hikari nearly lost consciousness. One of the functions of
LCL was to provid cushioning from impacts, but it had it's limits.
Even as they hit, Unit Two was already stirring, and it took
everything she had to focus long enough to drive her knife into
it's leg and not pass out in the process. Above them she could
see the glowing speck that was Kaoru through the cloud of dust.
"Shinji," she cried as she brought her elbow down on the
knife's hilt-- driving it deeper through the armor plate on the Eva's
leg, "go! I'll hold Two off! It's not using it's AT Field!"
Seeing Unit one nod at the same time as Shinji did on her
screen was enough to distract her for a split second, and Unit Two
used that moment to it's advantage. It kicked out and sent her
flying out across the expanse of white.
As Shinji chased after Kaoru, she climbed to her feet and
turned back to face Unit Two.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Kaoru! Wait!" was all that Tabris heard as it slammed
Heaven's Door behind him. It was a shame that the two Eva's had
not put up more of a fight. This duty before him was not one that
he enjoyed.
He floated across the small ocean of LCL, and below him he
saw a tiny craft manned by a single Lillim. The foolish creature
was climbing up to where a large rifle was mounted at the bow of
the craft. Tabris almost sighed as the Lillim opened fire and the
large bulled ricochet off the AT Field. It flew back to its previous
owner, and the poor creature was torn in half by the impact.
Behind him he heard the repeated smashing of Unit One against
the door, and he placed a fraction of his concentration on
reinforcing it for the moment.
Shaking his head, he looked up to where the first of his
brethren was imprisoned. It was a painful sight to behold indeed.
Spikes each as large as small aircraft pierced his hands, and a
mask with seven eyes covered his face. Tabris recognized the
symbol, it was the mark of Seele, and he was angered slightly that
their fate's would be no worse than anyone else on this orb.
"Must one who was born from Adam... return?" he mused as
he drifted closer, "even though it means the end of all that this
planet has accomplished in such a short time?"
All it would take now was to touch him.
And suddenly, Tabris sensed something was amiss.
[]====[]
[]====[]
'How can it fight like this with no pilot?' Hikari thought as Unit
two broke off a shard of what seemed to be a stalagmite and
hurled it at her. She slammed her fist into it and shattered it to
pieces, but as she did so left herself open, as apparently intended.
Unit Two crashed into her, sending them both falling back into the
crater that marked their arrival in this weird place.
As they hit the base of the crater, Hikari managed to get to her
feet first and pounce. She grabbed hold of Unit two's Shoulder
wing and as she sailed over it, she pulled-- sending Unit Two
flipping head over heals and onto it's back.
Suddenly, the sound pickups registered a shrieking noise, and
Hikari looked down to find her progressive knife still imbedded in
Unit Two's leg. Knowing that she wouldn't get another shot at this,
she grabbed it, yanked it free, and with a whisper of apology to
Asuka, drove it into Unit Two's face.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"How could I have missed it?" Tabris wondered aloud as he
backed away from the angel that was crucified on the mammoth
cross, "it is so obvious now, so clear! The Lillim, Lilith... the
ascension! The lillim want to initiate it!"
He didn't know how he'd missed it before; he was dead
center of the Black Moon-- the egg of the Second Angel! Seele
had done well to hide this from him, to misinform him and fool him.
Had he taken one second less to ponder what he had been about
to do... he shuddered to think it.
Yet even so, Seele may have been too clever for their own
good. He could still foul their plans; all it would take would be a
moment of pain, then nothing... yet the consequences would
potentially be dire for those who survived.
As the possibilities before him flashed through his mind, he
suddenly felt a powerful presence above. Before he could turn
to look, however, the wall beside him caved in and Shinji Ikari
charged towards him his Evangelion.
A massive purple hand closed around him, and he lowered his
defenses just enough for what he realized was the only way to set
things on their proper path.
"Wait," he said simply as the gloved hand tightened around his
body.
"Give me one good reason," a furious voice responded from a
speaker somewhere in Unit One's armor. Tabris felt the crushing
pressure increase and realized that he may have misjudged this
one's anger.
"Asuka," he said as best he could. Immediately the fist stopped
clenching shut.
"What _about_ Asuka?" Shinji shouted at him as he stepped
back away from Lilith.
"I must speak to her," Tabris said, "if I lower the AT Field, will
you allow me enough time to say what I must?"
There was a split second where Tabris wondered if Shinji
might just destroy him then and there. He could have done it--
having power equal to any angel Tabris had ever seen, Unit One
was easily capable of destroying him at this point. He had the right
to do it; Kaoru had betrayed them in many ways.
That second passed and Shinji's voice returned.
"Lower it."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"We... what the hell? We just got all our feeds back!" Yuri
shouted excitedly, "The AT Field is gone!"
"What about that second AT Field?" Misato asked as she
looked over the readouts, "and why is this display still active?"
"The target... I don't understand! It's still alive?" Makoto
said in disbelief.
Suddenly Shinji's voice came back over the communication net
in a burst of static, "if you can hear me I need a two way audio
connection to the secondary observation room ASAP!"
"Shinji?" Misato asked, "what are you talking about?"
"No time, Misato, I need that connection as fast as you can get
it!"
"It looks like.... He has the Angel!" Aoba informed her, "But
why hasn't he killed it?"
"Misato, _please_!" Shinji shouted, and Misato looked up to
Commander Ikari. It was only a fraction of an inch, but he nodded
and she ordered the link patched through.
'What the hell are you doing, Shinji?' she wondered as the
camera's showed Asuka still sitting in a corner.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Asuka," the familiar voice said-- startling her back from
the dark place in her mind.
"K-kao-Kaoru?" she whispered as she looked around the
room. It only took a moment to realize that the voice was coming
from the console.
"My name is Tabris, and I am sorry for what I have done to
you. I do not have much time, but I need you to listen to what I am
about to say. Can you do that?"
"Kaoru?" she cried as she stood and grabbed the edge of the
console, "I don't understand, how can you be one of them? How?"
"Asuka, please, I don't have time to explain it all to you. Listen
to me; what I have done was ordained the moment of my creation.
I knew that this day would either bring my own death, or that of
your entire race. This I could not change, but I knew that every
moment up till then I could live as one of you. I have seen you
Lillim at your best and your worst, and Asuka, you have a choice
before you. You can let these few hours rule your future, or you
can chose to seize the day and rise beyond the injustice that I have
done to you by allowing myself to become your friend."
While he spoke, her tears began to flow freely, and she
dropped to her knees in grief.
"I did not lie when I said that I love you, that is why I must now
leave this world. Only one or the other may survive this, myself or
your race, and yours is not the existence that should parish.
Goodbye Asuka."
With that, the connection ceased, and the room was silent,
except for her crying.
[]====[]
[]====[]
In Central dogma, the bridge crew of Nerv had listened in
confusion, awe and shock at what the angel had said.
Up above the others, Gendou Ikari watched the monitors
where Unit One held the angel in its grasp. His own hand hovered
over a device that he'd had prepared as a safeguard against any
further rebellion by his son. When activated, it would send an
electric shock through his plug suit and render him unconscious. It
would also cause his body to spasm, and hopefully clench the
hand of Unit One enough to destroy the angel.
If Shinji did not act soon, he would.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Shinji sat in the entry plug of Unit One and looked down at the
small figure in the hand of the beast... no, in his own hand. This
was an Angel... but it was not hiding behind an Eva that some
poor kid was piloting. It was not defending itself at all. In fact it
was insisting that he destroy it. And yet, he struggled with what
was being asked of him.
He'd listened to what Kaoru had told Asuka, and he'd been
touched by his gentle pleading to her. This Angel had reached
Asuka on a level that none of them had been able to. For a short
time, he had actually seen her start to climb from the abyss that she
seemed to have fallen into. This angel... this person, was
responsible for it. Who was he to destroy someone like that?
Yet Kaoru had also said that should he live, mankind would be
wiped away from the earth... something that he couldn't allow.
Suddenly he began to understand something that horrified him.
This must be how his father felt every time he sent them out to
battle. He looked down at the angel again, and Kaoru smiled at
something off to the side. Then, it turned back to him and it
seemed as if their eyes met for a moment.
The angel continued to smile up at him-- accepting his fate.
There was a movement off to the side as Unit Three stepped
into the hole in the chamber wall.
"Forgive me, Asuka," he whispered.
The body of Kaoru Nagisa, Tabris, the seventeenth angel, was
crushed with a twitch of Unit One's hand.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As Shinji climbed out of the entry plug, he felt hollow.
In all the battles he'd faced... he'd never been forced to kill
like that. The closest he'd come had been the Thirteenth, but even
then he'd refused to commit murder. Somehow he couldn't
convince himself that that body laying in the LCL down in Terminal
Dogma had just been an Angel, just an enemy.
He'd spoken with Kaoru... the boy had seemed more human
than some 'real' people he'd met in his life. It wasn't just eating at
him, it gnawed at his very soul. What right had he to have done
that?
As he stepped off the steps and walked down the umbilical
bridge, he saw someone standing just at the other side across from
him.
He looked up to find Asuka walking silently across the
umbilical bridge, oblivious to the fact that the coolant level was
still low and there was almost a thirty-foot drop. He watched her
as she approached and he saw that her eyes were as dead as his
own must be. And why wouldn't they be? She'd just lost one of
the few people that he'd ever seen declare even a friendship
towards her-- much less love.
He walked out a small distance over the bridge, between the
shoulder and head of his Eva. As she reached him he stood his
ground, whatever she felt he had coming he wouldn't back away
from-- he owed her that... at least.
"He loved me," she whispered, "he loved me, and you killed
him."
Shinji closed his eyes and lowered his head in shame. Had he
not done that, he might have seen the punch coming.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Asuka drew back and hit him with everything she had. She hit
him harder than she ever had before, and as one of her fingers
snapped from the impact, Shinji was sent flying back and off of the
bridge.
It didn't seem real to her somehow. Even the pain strobing
from her broken finger was a ghost of what it should have been.
Everything seemed to happen in half speed. Every little detail
stood out and at the same time was muddled.
Shinji seemed to hang in midair as he drifted back. Then he hit
the rail and his body began to flip backwards. He tumbled head
over heels down for ten feet and struck the collar of Unit One, the
impact shattered several ribs and knocked him unconscious as he
rebounded and slid down another fifteen feet to the coolant fluid
below. He landed without much of a splash and floated for a
moment before finally beginning to sink into the crimson liquid.
Just as his head disappeared below the surface, Asuka began
to realize what she had just done, but even that shock was like a
phantom to her.
Behind her she heard someone scream his name.
Looking down she could see him just below the surface,
sinking slowly as a trail of bubbles marked his path.
She was suddenly pushed aside as a blur of red and black shot
past her and over the edge.
As someone else grabbed hold of her she began to struggle.
She heard Hikari's voice screaming.
A needle pierced her arm and her eyelids suddenly grew
impossibly heavy.
The last thing she remembered was Misato breaking the
surface with Shinji in her arms. Specifically she remembered seeing
the blood running down his face.
So much blood...
Then there was blackness.
[]======================[]
End of Book Two
[]======================[]
IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!!!!
due to several reasons, I will no longer be posting my works
on Fanfiction.net. the formonst of these, is that I have my
own page and really dont see a reason to continue posting
to a forum where my works are buried benieth literaly thousands
of other fis. the intermission and conclusion of Together We Stand
can be fond on my own webpage, along with all my other stories
and random goofyness. I'd like to thank everyone who's taken the
time to post reviews. the web address is www.chainlightningstudios.com
I'll keep a light on for ya ^_^ Love and Peace
Hotwire
Authors incoherent babbling
Holy crap... am I really done with DWF? it's amazing to me
that I got this far ^_^. I knew when I started doing the outline for
this that it was going to be long... and sure enough I started this
tale way back in June 2000(I think) and here it is, just over a year
later... the chapters average about 20 pages and this makes 21 of
them... that's well over 420 pages, and I still have five chapters left
to write with no idea as to how long they will be. (And just think,
it's only as long as one chapter of Variations on a theme ^_^)
don't worry though, as long as my secret stash of Mountain Dew
and Spree hold out I should have enough manic energy to
complete the rest of this post haste. (Now you know what keeps
stories coming out of Chain Lightning Studios so fast, a
combination of straight sugar and caffeine ^_^)
To continue my little project of trying to explain a few of the
little weird discrepancies in Eva here's my theory on the Seele
meeting that Kaoru had in the directors cut. I thought and thought
about it, and after a while I realized that since no alarms went off,
he must have kept his angel superpowers out of it. Granted--
Tokyo Three was in ruins and the observation center might have
gone down with it, but one would think that they could pick up
that kind of power-- unless it wasn't any kind of manifestation, but
instead was the equivalent of a satellite phone call. I recall reading
somewhere that the gizmo that they used in Metal Gear Solid
(codex?) Was a feasible device, so think of this as one of those.
Also, in Gendou's little talk with Yui... well, I couldn't think of a
more logical reason! That little scene in EoE with Fuyutski has a
lot of people freaked out, and I got to thinking about it recently.
That last scene with Unit one floating off into space... could that
have been the original idea behind what happened to Yui? I mean,
what if what happened to her wasn't a total accident per-say, but
something that happened before they were ready to deal with it?
Something that they'd always intended, but had happened too
soon? It's just a theory, and it's something I'll deal with in more
depth in a later fanfic. I mean, if you think about it, it's possible that
the entry plug system was originally designed as kind of a stasis
tube-- like in Alien and other sci-fi shows. If a person could be
disassembled at a molecular level-- and re-assembled from LCL
then they could easily survive the long treks into space. Its just
something I thought was interesting and tossed in.
Just as a side note-- if you have it, I HIGHLY recommend
playing Kom Susser Tod starting from when the POV switches
from Gendou to Shinji in the last battle and on till the end of the
story-- trust me, it fits. =^_^= if I've timed it right, you should
reach the bridge scene just as the singing starts, and the punch just
as the courus begins. Milage may vary as per reading speed.
Special thanks goes out to Ender for assistince in this final
draft. May he do well in battle school, and avoid Bonzo. ^_^
Well, that's the last part of Divided We Fall. The third and final
Book of Together We Stand is going to be called;
[]================[]
Carpe Diem
[]================[]
(For those who are wondering-- it's Latin for "Seize the day")
I warn those of y'all who are squeamish now that I'm going to
take this totally over the top in the action scenes from here out.
Since I'll be taking a break from Evafics after this is all over I want
to do some stuff that I wont have a chance to do otherwise with
the weapons and other various aspects of Eva combat. All the plot
threads I've tried to weave throughout this story will be tied up.
Expect some characters to fail, others to triumph.
Either way, the beginning has ended.
Prepare for the end to begin.
(^_^ I've always wanted to say that ^_^)
Hotwire
Chain Lightning Studios
http://www.chainlightningstudios.com
Together We Stand Book Two
Divided We Fall
By T. L. Webb
Night after night, we pretend it's all right
but I have grown older and
you have grown colder and
nothing is very much fun any more
One of my turns
Pink Floyd, The Wall
[]===============================[]
Book Two, Part Thirteen
[]===============================[]
When Shinji had invited Kaoru to join him and Hikari for a day
out, he hadn't really considered the fact that over sixty percent of
Tokyo Three had been pretty much vaporized by Unit Zero's
detonation. When he'd thought about it later on he had felt a bit
foolish about that-- it wasn't really that he'd forgotten. With the
school gone and most of the population cast to the winds, he just
hadn't thought about it much. Months ago, he would have
lamented over the destruction and blamed himself for it. But with
so much happening with Misato, Hikari and Asuka lately, he'd had
his hands full just keeping up with home life.
This oversight of his had, however, left him with the somewhat
difficult task of deciding what they were going to do now that
they'd promised Kaoru they'd show him around.
After a couple of brainstorming sessions with both Hikari and
Misato, they finally decided that the best thing to do was just to go
on a picnic somewhere with a nice view-- and immediately Shinji
knew where that should be.
The night before the outing as he and Hikari worked together
to get the food ready for the next day's trip, he found himself
thinking back to the time when he'd run away and first seen the
spot where they'd be having the outing.
'I was so empty back then,' he thought to himself. He quite
vividly remembered the night he'd spent sleeping in the theater.
He also remembered seeing a couple making out and actually
feeling angry and jealous at what they had together. It had
upset him so much that he'd had to leave and find a quiet
corner in the lobby to sleep.
"I wonder," he said aloud-- catching Hikari's attention.
"What do you wonder?" she asked as she put one of the
finished bentos in the fridge--now totally empty of all alcoholic
beverages.
"Well... I was just thinking. Do you think that maybe the reason
Asuka's been so hostile lately may be because of us?"
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked as she sat down at the
table, "that she's jealous that I got you or something?"
"That might be part of it, but not exactly what I was getting at. I
meant more like she's jealous of what we have together."
"I don't know," Hikari said with a small frown, "what makes
you think that?"
"I was just thinking about the past, and it occurred to me that if
I had her personality then I might have behaved a lot like she did if
I went through some of the things she has since joining Nerv."
"I seriously doubt that, sweetie," Hikari said as she made a
face-- apparently thinking back to one of her last confrontations
with the German girl.
"Well... it's not like I know for sure what she's going through--
I doubt I ever could, but, I think that... well, maybe she just needs
someone."
Hikari was quiet for a moment as she thought that over.
"I was about to shrug that off-- I've heard more of her 'stupid
boys' rants than you have. I think there's a lot more to it, but, you
might be on to something there. Then again, I tried to hook her up
with someone once... it didn't go very well."
"No kidding," Shinji nodded, thinking of what had happened
later that night, "maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic," he said with
a shrug.
"I told you," Hikari said as she stood and went back to
preparing the next day's mean, "you may be onto something, but I
gotta say I don't envy whoever attempts the taming of the shrew."
"That's not very nice Hikari," Shinji said with a frown.
"Silly," Hikari said as she playfully bopped him on the head
with a spoon, "that's the title to a play, and believe me-- whoever
wants to deal with her romantically had better read it first."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"This is highly irregular doctor," the first of the monoliths said--
the computerized voice distortion programming disguising every
vocal aspect of the individual speaking.
"I'm aware of that," Ritsuko said firmly as she stood in the
center of a circle of light. All around here a dozen ebony slabs
stood in a circle. On each of them was a number, and below the
words Sound Only in English. This was how the council of Seele
met. Other than the leader and chairman Lorenz Kiel, she knew
none of their names or faces. For the past several years her
dealings had either been with him or the Committee that ran the
human instrumentality project-- and they surely used fabricated
identities.
The last time she'd been before the actual gathering of Seele
had been the debriefing on the Sixteenth angel. That had been
humiliating--although she'd never let on.
"Why have you come before us Doctor? You are obviously
aware how valuable our time is."
"My request to come before you was due to a possible danger
regarding the Fifth Child."
"Very well," the first monolith said, "what is this 'emergency'?"
Ritsuko fought not to sigh in annoyance. Apparently sarcasm
was not an aspect eliminated by the computer.
"The Child has displayed abilities that he should not possess.
His synch ratio with Unit Two is unnatural. We had decided to test
how well a pilot might synch with an unconfigured Eva, and during
those tests his synch ratio was not only higher than any of the other
pilots, but it seemed as if he were holding back."
"I do not see how this information is enough to warrant a
gathering, Doctor."
"But to be able to synch with an unconfig--"
"Doctor, you are aware of course that the Fifth is a product of
the nyphelim project and by his very nature is a natural pilot. What
you are telling us is nothing we had not anticipated."
"I believe that something is seriously wrong with the Fifth, I
came here to make you aware that I believe he may be the
Seventeenth."
"Doctor, if this is in fact true, why has he not attacked?" one of
the monoliths asked tiredly, "you see a unusually high synch rate,
which is admitably of interest scientifically to the cause, and you
begin crying angel like the fabled shepherd boy. For you to reach
such a preposterous conclusion is, quite frankly, an overreaction."
Ritsuko closed her eyes and counted to ten, "so you will do
nothing then?"
"Nerv exists to fight the angels Doctor, if this preposterous
theory of your's actually proves true then I would suggest you do
your job. Until then I would suggest you do the same."
Before she could say another word her connection was
terminated.
"It seems that the Doctor is more intuitive than we anticipated."
"It is unimportant in the larger scheme. Fortunately this
gathering has not been a total waste of our time."
"Yes, her enmity for the Commander has grown. Coming
directly to us and breaking the chain of command is an interesting
development."
"Until she reveals information of true importance it is a empty
gamble. We still do not know what Ikari is planning."
"The time is short, the Fifth will meet with us in two days time
to report. After that we must begin preparations for the ritual."
The monoliths vanished one by one and the room was silent.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"This is so damn stupid!" Asuka muttered as she paced back
and forth outside of the closed door. She'd been there for over an
hour-- walking up to the door, raising her hand to knock and
backing off at the last moment over and over. Each time she'd get
a little closer, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to actually
do it. What made it worse was that every time she tried to pin
down just what was holding her back, she'd just get angry and
frustrate herself going round and round with it..
'I never was any good at this introspection crap,' she thought as
she tapped her foot.
Eventually she worked up the courage to try again. Taking a
breath and then releasing it, she focused on her target and walked
up to the door. Over and over again in her mind she recited the
phrase she'd been taught years before for when she was in combat
and needed to focus.
'Breath, release, aim, and squeeze. Breathe release aim and
squeeze. Breath release-- what the hell am I doing?' she thought as
once again she backed away from the door, 'you're crazy for even
thinking about this Soryu. Just go home and... And what? Sit
around brooding for another week? Damnit!'
Just as she turned to knock again, she found herself face to
face with the person living behind the door in question.
"Shiest!" she whispered as she took a step back.
"Good morning, Asuka," Kaoru said-- seeming nonplused
at finding her cursing under her breath at his doorstep, "are
you feeling well today?"
"Um... I'm... okay I guess," she said sheepishly-- embarrassed
that she'd been caught hovering around his door.
"That is good, I'm glad that you've recovered so quickly from
your fall. Did you want to speak to me?"
"Huh?" she gasped-- not having any excuses or lies prepared,
"me? Er, no! I was just... just... um," she sighed and bit her bottom
lip. If she kept sputtering she'd end up looking like a total idiot
instead of a slight one. Finally she said in a quiet voice, "If it's not
an inconvenience."
"You are not inconvenient, Asuka," he told her, and she almost
believed him, "I'm actually on my way over to the train station, but
if you do not mind the walk I would enjoy your company."
Asuka's mind began racing with excuses not to go, but as she
clenched her eyes shut, she drove them all from her mind. When
she opened them again she found him still standing there
expectantly.
'T'hell with it,' she told herself.
"Okay."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Its not like I want them dead or anything," Asuka told Kaoru
as they walked along the path, "I just... well... Look I feel stupid
talking about this."
"I promise that whatever you tell me will remain between us for
all time, Asuka," Kaoru told her.
"Still," Asuka said hesitantly, "it's like I want to say stuff but my
mind keeps screaming to shut the hell up... does that even make
sense?"
"Some, I think perhaps you are afraid that if I see-- or in this
case hear-- your true feelings, that my opinion of you will change."
" . . . that may be true."
"I would not worry about that."
"Alright... but it still feels weird," she said with a shrug, "where
was I?"
"You were talking about the other pilots."
"Right... with Ayanami it's more that she just pisses me off.
Shinji used to be the same way-- she just sits around all day
waiting for someone to tell her to jump so that she can go be a
good little frog. She asks the weirdest questions too. And when
she says anything otherwise it's usually to tell you what you should
be doing in your own Eva! Like she was a better pilot or
something. I mean it's not like she could hold her own on the
battlefield without a commanding officer. Not once has she _ever_
taken any kinda initiative."
"Why does that mindset bother you so much?"
"Because it's like she's just some kind of stupid doll!" Asuka
nearly shouted.
"You said something like that once before... why do you call
her a doll?"
Asuka started to say something, but she paused just as she
opened her mouth. She turned away so he couldn't see her face.
"That's... not something I want to talk about Kaoru."
"I won't ask you to say anything you do not wish to."
". . . Thank you."
[]====[]
[]====[]
Since beginning to explore the memories of her previous lives,
Rei had grown more and more aware that there was an anomaly in
her mind. A set of memories that could not possibly have been of
her previous selves. Had her friends Shinji and Hikari not given her
the album of photo's she might never have isolated the anomaly.
Now that she knew of it's existence she'd grown more and more
confused and uncertain about what, if anything, she should do
about it.
As she walked the long corridors of the Geofront, she
contemplated whether or not she should attempt to open herself to
this Other's memories. Simple deduction had told her who this
Other was. It had not been difficult to surmise that the woman in
the photo was Shinji's mother. Since she had identified the
anomaly only after seeing that photo, the Other was easy enough
to identify. She knew very little about Yui Ikari, which somewhat
surprised her after considering that the woman's widower had
raised her from childhood.
Many of the photos had been taken in Terminal Dogma in the
areas that Gehirn had used as a base of operations before moving
up to the surface. The depth that was involved had made this
necessary until a suitable transportation had been completed. She
knew that all she would have to do to visit the memories of Yui
Ikari in full would be to go there, and open herself to them.
As curious as she was to find out what had been left in her
head, and possibly how it had come to pass that it was there, she
was equally afraid to do it. When she had started her strange inner
journey, she had only been partially prepared for the intensity that
was involved. Many of the memories that the photo album had
returned to her were pleasant ones, but some- such as the battles
with the Angels and tests with Unit Zero- had been quite painful to
revisit.
If she did this, if she let these memories come to the foreground
within her mind... what would happen? So many of her views had
already been altered from things she'd rediscovered. What if she
found something in this woman's memories that altered them too
far?
She had never carried any illusions about the fact that much of
her continued existence was dependent on her loyalty to Nerv in
general and Commander Ikari specifically. Should anyone suspect
that she was even in the slightest becoming disloyal she would
surely be destroyed and another awakened in her place--
another without the potentially heretical memories she was so
fascinated by.
She knew that much of the Commander's life had been
changed and reshaped by his lost wife... and she knew from long
exposure to Nerv that the day of her death had been a crux event
resulting in much of what her destiny would be.
If the commander ever discovered what was happening to
her... she did not know what would happen. It was something
that-- she decided-- required much more thought before any
action could be taken.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"So are you going to tell me what this mystery place is or am I
going to have to tickle it out of you?" Hikari asked Shinji as they
waited at the train station for Kaoru to arrive.
"Just trust me," Shinji said as he dodged a poke to his ribs, "I
promise it's worth being surprised by."
"Okay," Hikari said as she looked down the sidewalk for sign
of their lunch guest, "I still don't see him... did you tell him eight
o'clock?"
"Relax Hikari, it's only seven forty, he has plenty of time," he
reached over and took hold of her hand, "why are you so
nervous?"
"I dunno," she said as she linked her fingers with his, "I guess its
just that it seems like everything's falling apart lately. We've lost so
much. the city was destroyed, most of our friends are gone, and
even Dad and my sisters are leaving for Osaka once they release
him from the hospital tomorrow. I just feel like Kaoru is coming
on to a sinking ship and I want to at least try to be a better friend
that I was..."
"Than with Asuka," Shinji finished for her as she trailed off.
"Sometimes I feel like I failed her," Hikari said sadly, "and now
Ritsuko won't tell me where she is. I want to try and make it up to
her somehow... I just wish I knew where to start."
Shinji started to say something, but as he opened his mouth to
speak, he suddenly gasped in surprise. Confused at his reaction,
Hikari followed his gaze out to the sidewalk where to figures were
walking up the path. One of them was Kaoru, but it was his
companion who caused Hikari to mimic Shinji's reaction.
"Asuka?" Shinji whispered as he and Hikari made their way to
the entrance, "what in the world?"
"I don't know," Hikari said-- still stunned, "but one thing's for
sure."
"What's that?"
"I'm not going to dismiss Nozomi when she tells me to be
careful what I wish for anymore," she told him nervously.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"What the hell are _they_ doing here?" Asuka demanded as
she saw Shinji and Hikari step out into the sunlight and wave in
greeting. She stopped where she was and turned to Kaoru with
anger flashing in her eyes.
"I am going to be joining them for lunch," Kaoru told her
simply.
"And _why_ didn't you tell me that?" she growled as she eyed
the two who were still standing by the entrance to the train station.
"The subject never came up," he told her, seemingly oblivious
to her mood, "I suppose I was enjoying our conversation too
much to think about it."
"What _ever_," she said as she started to turn and walk away.
"Asuka, would you like to join us?" Kaoru asked suddenly,
"Shinji said that Hikari always prepares to much food so I doubt
you would be an inconvenience."
Asuka froze in mid-step. The request had been unexpected,
and at the same time in the back of her mind she had been praying
that he would ask. She didn't understand why, and it was driving
her crazy trying to figure it out. She turned and looked over to
where he stood-- hands in his pockets and that same gentle smile
on his face. The same smile that was making her pulse race even
now.
She looked out to where Shinji and Hikari stood watching
them both with confusion.
'I wouldn't have to talk to them,' she thought, 'and I doubt
they'd have much to say to me.'
Finally she nodded to Kaoru, and they both walked the rest of
the way to where the others were standing.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As he gripped the support rail that separated him and the
massive purple and gray face, Gendou Ikari fought the urge to
scratch his itching palm. Concealed there, beneath the white gloves
that had for months covered the burn scars he'd received rescuing
Rei, was a small mass of foreign material.
This small lump of tissue was not his own.
In fact, the genetic makeup of the material was barely human.
It had taken weeks for the inflammation to go down, and even
longer for the pain to stop, but he and Fuyutski had succeeded in
implanting the thawed embryo of the First Angel there in his hand.
Now, as he looked at the armored face of Evangelion Unit
One, he imagined-- not for the first time-- that he could feel the
twisted mass of fused flesh twitch of it's own violation. That, he
knew, was merely in his mind, and he pushed it to the back so that
he could concentrate on why he was there.
"It's been awhile since I came here to speak," he said to Unit
One's unmoving form, "things have been progressing beyond the
framework of anyone's timetable. Even the old men are panicking
at how swiftly everything has happened. The angels are all but
defeated now. The final messenger has arrived and it is but a
matter of time before it finally makes it's move."
He paused as he began adjusting his glasses, then stopped.
Removing them, he looked back at Unit One with a solemn
expression, "what would you make of all this if you could speak?
I've wondered this many times... and each time it has become
harder to stay this course. You always saw the Eva as a tool for
exploration-- a way for mankind to survive the timeless journey's
between the stars... then Seele began their steps and all that was
gone. Then only one goal remained. Our whole purpose changed
overnight. And again when I lost you..."
He replaced his glasses, "we failed to save you then. But even
in that defeat I realized that there might be a way. Kiel is to blame
for what happened. Had he not rushed us we might have been
more prepared for the activation. So I will take something from
him. I will take his dream and his obsession from him and use it to
reclaim what he stole from me. I will save you, Yui. We will be
together soon. All I ask is that you be patient."
Across the crimson lake of coolant fluid, Unit one gave no
response. It merely glared out at the Cage in silence. After a
moment, Gendou turned and left the cavernous room. As the main
lights shut down all around, a sound could be heard had someone
remained. The sound of light footsteps. In the dim area of the
umbilical bridge left illuminated by the safety lights, the figure of a
young girl emerged.
As Rei looked at the door where Gendou Ikari had just made
his exit, she frowned.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"That is..._very_ strange," Shinji said as he looked back over
his shoulder at Kaoru and Asuka who were a few yards behind
them on the path. They'd taken the bus from the train stop, and if
he remebered correctly, there was just a little more of a walk until
they reached the destination.
"Cute is the word that imediatly springs to mind," Hikari told
him as she took his hand, "although I am kinda suprised at it
myself."
"I think that's the longest I've seen her talk to _any_ guy
without yelling at them," he noted with a chuckle, "and I speak
from experiance."
"Actualy, I'm more amazed that she hasnt said anything mean
to us so far."
Shinji was quiet for a moment as they continued walking up the
path, finally he turned to Hikari and spoke, "um... can I ask you
something?"
"Of course!"
"That first fight... what was it about? The one in the locker
rooms I mean."
It was Hikari's turn to be quiet for a stretch.
"I'm sorry," Shinji said with a blush, I didn't mean to pry."
"No," she said quickly, "it's okay... I was just thinking about it,
and... well its kind of embarising."
"It is?"
"We were talking about something or other-- I forget what--
and, suddenly, she asks me if I set her up on that date to keep her
away from you."
"The guy your sister knew?"
"Thats the one," Hikari sighed, "anyway, the thing is that I
_did_ set up the date because of that... and I was so surprised at
the question... it kind of ended up slipping out."
"What did she do?"
"Well, she really didn't _do_ anything, she just kind of huffed
and smirked at me, and made a crack about underestimating the
compitition. I got... well I got mad and shoved her back and she
hit a locker. Thats when she blew up on me. She shoved me back,
I slapped her, then she hit me and stormed out... and thats about
when you came in."
"I never did understand her."
"I thought I did for a while, but I have this idea that she wanted
that fight to happen."
"I don't follow you," Shinji frowned.
Hikari shook her head," I'm not sure I do either... its just that it
seemed like she wass _trying_ to get people to push back like
that. I'm more than a little surprised that she isnt doing it to him,"
she said nodding behind them.
"Maybe she's just impressed with his German?" Shinji offered.
This caused Hikari to giggle.
"Right, that must be it," she joked as she laid her head on his
shoulder, "I'm going to feel really dumb if I lost her as a friend
because I took English instead of German last year."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"This is amazing..." Asuka whispered as Shinji and Hikari
wandered over to the rails for a better look out over the terraces.
"The view is quite remarkable," Kaoru agreed.
"I wonder how long they... oh not this again," Asuka rolled her
eyes and Kaoru looked over to see Shinji and Hikari sitting beside
one another sharing a kiss.
"Not what again?" he asked.
"That!" she said, gesturing to the couple, "they can't keep their
hands off one another! All the time its grope, grope, kiss, grope!
They'll probably be sneaking off to the bushes any moment, the
perverts."
"I do not see what is objectable about two people showing
affection when they are so obviously in love."
"Oh puh-lese!" Asuka said--apparently not realizing how bitter
she sounded, "love my ass. All it is, is a chemically induced
physical attraction. Love is for poets."
"You do not believe in love?" Kaoru asked her.
"About as much as I do the Easter bunny and vampires."
"It's very sad you feel so," he said, "I've always felt that if
there was one outstanding positive aspect the Lillian race had it is
that they are capable of such deep love for one another. In contrast
it is a pity that so few seem to display it."
"You lost me at 'outstanding' Kaoru," Asuka said with a frown,
"you seem smart enough, but as effed up as this planet is, how can
you believe that crap?"
Kaoru chucked, "I don't believe a more complex subject could
have come up... but I will try to explain. Remember the old couple
we passed as we got off the train? More specifically did you see
their wedding bands?"
"Um.. I think so, about seeing them that is, not the rings."
"Would you say it is safe to assume they have been married for
many years?"
"Er.. Probably?"
"Do you believe that physical attraction has kept them together
all this time in an age where a divorce takes nothing more than
the ability to sign a paper?"
"I... I don't know, and for that matter neither do you."
"True, but I am speaking hypothetically. There is no way I can
think of to define Love as a word... it is a concept, a way of
thinking, an emotional state, and so much more. At it's purest it is a
sight to behold... I have seen such mutual selfless devotion
between people that I've been brought to tears. It has inspired so
much of history... I do not deny it has a darker aspect. It is so
close to obsession that the two can easily be confused."
"How... can you tell the difference?" Auska asked as past
memories brought a blush to her cheeks.
"Another difficult question... perhaps a good way is to ask
oneself if the other's happiness is more important to you than
your own."
"Complicated doesn't even come close to this," Asuka said
with a frown.
"I warned you," Kaoru said with a chuckle, "love is never easy.
There are barriers between people's souls, and it is an all too rare
but wonderful thing when two manage to reach beyond them."
"So what makes you think that_ those_ two are really in love?"
Asuka demanded suddenly as she looked over to where Shinji
was pointing at something out to Hikari.
"It is more of a general impression than exact knowledge, but
to attempt to answer; I've noticed that they genuinely enjoy one
another's company. When together they do not constantly touch
and hold one another and the looks they give are not filled with
lust. Even just a moment ago when you expressed annoyance with
their kiss it was followed by a long stretch where they just sat
beside one another and talked without so much as holding hands."
"You... you were watching the whole time?"
"Most of it, I am sitting in a good spot to do so."
"Still... I don't know," she said as she shook her head, "I've
never felt like that before. I can't bring myself to believe
something like what you're describing could exist when I haven't
even been _close_ to feeling like that."
"I was unaware you were a subjectivist," Kaoru said with
amusement.
"I resent that," Asuka said dryly as she cocked an eyebrow,
"or possibly thank you."
"A little of both would suit," Kaoru said with a chuckle,
"It is a philosophical belief where a person refuses to accept
that anything exists other than the self and the acts of the
self. The extreme of this is that the person believes that he
is the only thing that truly exists in the universe. Everything
else that exists only does so because the person is there to
'think them into existence'. In a way, the only things that
exist are what he _thinks_ exist. That is the extreme mind you,
and there are actually some interesting ideas in the philosophy
even if one does not believe in it."
"Weird... and people really believe that?"
"Did you not just suggest that love didn't exist because
you didn not think it did?"
"...okay, I'm going to shut up now."
"Do not feel bad, I was merely making a point."
"Alright... so can I ask you something?"
"Go right ahead."
"Why... why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because you seemed as if you needed a friend."
"Oh," she said as she looked away sadly.
[]====[]
[]====[]
That night, as he settled back into his bed, Kaoru felt a great
sadness. He knew that his meeting the next morning with the men
of Seele would probably mark his final few hours as one of the
lillim. The fifteen years had passed so quickly... yet had been rich
with experience. The Lillim life span was so short... he'd yet to
sample a fraction of the literature they'd produced in the few
hundreds years since their writing had begun to develop. He could
imagine the library it might take to store it all.... A stretching
chasm filled with book after book.
Was it his fate to make their history end?
It was possible. He had greater power than the previous
angels, and the last few had damaged the ranks of the Evangelion
pilots almost beyond repair. Only Shinji and Hikari stood a threat,
and Hikari much less of one. Asuka... was still too emotionally
damaged to pilot her Evangelion. He'd most likely make use of it's
availability when he made his move. It would be Unit One that
would be the true threat to his task.
Yet even as he considered his path, he felt sadness for the
Second Child. Should he fail in his task she would be
devastated... possibly beyond hope of recovery because of his
actions.
He decided that there was no point in being cruel to the girl. He
needed to prepare her somehow for what was soon to be.
Climbing to his feet, he dressed and stepped outside into the
warm night. He could hear the insects chirping out in the Geofront.
He walked up to her door and knocked softly, hoping he was not
waking her.
Her door opened seconds after his knock, and she smiled as
she saw him. She was wearing a loose fitting shirt that was at least
large enough for two of her. It came down just below her hips and
he wondered if she knew how close to indecent it actually was--
possibly a matter of centimeters.
"I need to speak with you Asuka," he said as she stepped back
and let him inside. He was about to turn and speak when suddenly
she grabbed hold of him and they fell onto the bed.
"Asuka?" he asked in shock as he felt her lips against his neck.
Suddenly, he understood, and a wave of grief washed over him.
This was possibly the worst thing that could have happened to her.
"Asuka, wait, please!" he said firmly as he pushed her back as
gently as he could. Looking up he saw her eyes and his sadness
compounded. There was lust there--obviously, but he saw beyond
that to the poorly hidden desperation that was behind it.
"Why?" she demanded as she finally pushed him back and
began to cry," why don't you want me? Why doesn't anyone want
me?"
"That is not true," he insisted as he reached out to try and take
her hand.
"Bullshit!" she screamed at him, "Kaji would never even kiss
me! Shinji always pulled back like a frightened mouse every time I
tried to get close to him, and just when he _finaly_ started to come
around he chose that... that..." the tears began to flow freely, "he
chose Hikari over me, Kaji chose Misato... mama chose that God
damn stupid doll over me... who did you chose, Kaoru? Who beat
me this time? Was it Rei? Go ahead then, take her! I don't give a
damn anymore!"
"Asuka," he said as he took hold of her hand. She struggled
and tried to pull free, but he held firm, "I did not chose Rei. I did
not choose anyone."
Finally she looked at him, her eyes now desperate and
pleading, "then what? What's wrong with me? Why don't you want
me? What do I have to do to make you want me?"
"Asuka, please don't believe that this is because I do not have
any feelings for you. If it were possible for me to do so, I would
stay with you as long as you would have me... but I fear it just is
not to be," he sighed and shook his head, "this is so much more
complicated than I intended it to become... Asuka, please believe
me when I say that I love you."
Asuka's eyes widened at those words, and for several seconds
her mouth moved wordlessly. When she finally found her voice it
was several more seconds before she could gather her thoughts
enough say something.
"But... if you... why wont you... you know..."
"Asuka, there have been more lives ruined by confusing lust
with love than there are stars in the evening sky. Please understand
that I can not, and will not share your bed tonight. This is,
however, not because of a lack of desire. You are one of the most
beautiful people I have ever known, Asuka, and the potential I see
within you to become even more so is beyond description. I wish
circumstances were different... but there are forces at work that
are now beyond my control."
"Kaoru... I don't understand."
"That is all I can say for the moment... if you wish to know the
whole truth, be at the observation room of the cage at noon
tomorrow. It will not be pleasant for you to learn, but at least then
you would understand why this must be so."
"I..." she looked at him and now her eyes showed confusion.
He did not know if this was the best way, but at least now she had
a chance to make it... however slim.
As he left her room he heard her beginning to cry again, and it
was very, very hard to keep walking.
[]====[]
[]====[]
It was only moments before dawn as Kaoru stepped up onto
the back of the statue. He looked out across the waters and at
the soft pink sky that was beginning to glow with the coming day
and he wished he could take the time to enjoy it. Unfortunately he
had a schedule to keep, so his final sunrise would no doubt be
tainted by the unpleasant meeting that would take place in a
mater of seconds.
Before he'd left the third branch in Germany he'd undergone a
surgical procedure that had placed a small electronic device just
inside his eye. It was an experimental device-- a prototype of
nanotecnology actually-- that was designed to use the salts in his
body as a medium of transmission for an electronic conference.
The power in this device was highly finite, it would not last
beyond the meeting, but it was sufficient for its' purpose seeing as
how he would never have an opportunity to use it after this day,
regardless.
He closed his eyes as the time arrived, and when he opened
them, twelve ebony monoliths surrounded him in midair.
The meeting had begun.
He looked around and smiled at them, it was typical that they
had spent so much effort to implant the device, yet had now
insisted on masking their identities. These men were such a
contradiction of high intelligence and cunning-- and immature
stupidity.
Amazing that they had gained so much power in this world.
"You have successfully infiltrated Nerv," the first told him,
"even those who do suspect the truth will not act until it is too late."
Kaoru listened to them speak, and to their concerns and fears.
He listened as they told him they suspected that Gendou had been
experimenting with the stolen genetic sample of Adam, and how
dangerously close to treason it was. They waxed poetically of how
he would 'purge Nerv of the corruption', and thus fulfil his destiny.
They spoke of it as if they truly cared, and the empty promises
soon grew from lightly amusing to annoying. If these men craved
the eternal dark so fiercely, they seemed to have an odd way of
showing it.
"Enough," he said finally.
"What?" Kiel demanded, obviously shaken by the insolence of
the interruption.
"Why do you insist on perpetuating this delusion that you
control my destiny?" Kaoru asked suddenly as he smiled. This
meeting might be amusing after all.
"How dare you speak to your creators as such!" one of the
monoliths said, his voice distortor barely disguising his indignant
rage at Kaoru's tone.
"My time in this form grows short," Kaoru replied, "and I am
weary of this charade. You have somehow gotten it into your
minds that because you created me to fulfil your designs that you
have some right and say in my actions. This is falsehood. Has it not
occurred to you that by fulfilling even a few of the prophecies in
your Dead Sea scrolls, you have thereby placed yourselves under
fate's heel? How arrogant you are to believe otherwise."
"And yet," he added, "this is still my destiny, and I will fulfil
it. I think you strange to want me to do so. The disaster resulting
the first time you meddled in these maters seems to have taught
you nothing."
With that Kaoru terminated the connection. He could almost
see why this Gendou Ikari wanted to rebel; the manipulators
behind those blank monoliths were some of the most unpleasant
and bitter men he'd ever dealt with. It would almost be a pleasure
to give them the oblivion they seemed to crave.
[]====[]
[]====[]
It was well past the eleventh hour and he could put it off no
longer. The time was finally at hand. His very being cried out to
him that he must act soon. It was a compulsion that had grown in
strength over the past several hours, and as noon drew closer and
closer, he had to fight it back in order to keep his promise.
Kaoru could feel the power welling up within him, and knew
that if he did not act soon he would be forced into a misstep. As
he entered the Cage where Evangelion Unit Two was contained,
he felt a surge of relief. Up above he saw a glint of red that was
Asuka's hair behind the window of the observation room.
As he walked across the umbilical bridge to it's center, she
turned and pressed her hands to the glass. He wished there were
some other way, but he was bound by both fate and biology.
She reached over to a counsel nearby and pressed a switch,
activating the communications network.
"I'm here," she told him simply. He could barely make out her
face, but even at such a distance he could tell that she foregone
sleep and had been crying. He was not surprised at that.
"Last night," he said to her, "I told you that I would reveal to
you the reason why we could not be together."
She did not reply, and he could not delay his becoming any
longer.
"I am eternally sorry, for what I must now do," he said as he
stepped off the platform over the red coolant below.
"Kaoru!" she screamed as he began to fall down to the liquid.
Yet, the instant before he struck, a shimmering wave of force
washed out from him, and suddenly he was hovering in mid air.
His body began to glow dimly as unbelievable power coursed
through him. His S2 organ had awakened and he was-- from that
moment-- no longer Kaoru Nagisa.
He was Tabris, the Seventeenth Angel.
The final messenger
[]====[]
[]====[]
When the alarms went off, Shinji and Hikari had been just
entering the Geofront with Misato. As lights began to pulse red
all around them and the sound reached almost unbearable levels,
Misato's eyes widened in shock. They broke into a dead run,
and she whipped out her cell phone.
"It's me, what the hell is going on down there?" she demanded
from Makoto.
"We're not sure, we just got a blue pattern from inside the
Geofront!" he responded, and she could hear him franticly typing
as he tried to analyze the data.
"Inside?" she gasped in shock. If it was anything like what
they'd fought with the eleventh then there was barely any time, and
she was still ten minutes from the lift to the command center.
"Kids," she said as she turned to face them, "get to the Cage
right away, I'll brief you as we activate, it's another Angel, and it's
inside headquarters."
To her pride, they nodded and took off running to their
destination with little more than a paling of the face.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to be proud, and Misato was
back on the phone almost immediately gathering information.
"Ok, I want all access shafts sealed right away, have the Magi
clear our paths and put everything else on finding out just where
the damn thing is."
"We just got a fix," Makoto told her as she slipped between
two closing blast doors "it's in the... it... oh my God."
"Talk to me Hyuuga, what's going on?"
"We just got a visual... the Angel... its the Fifth Child!"
"What?" Misato shouted as she tried not to drop the phone.
"The Magi are unanimous... what the hell? Hold on,
something's happening to Unit Two!"
"Damnit," Misato cursed aloud to the far too slow elevator,
"hurry the hell up!"
[]====[]
[]====[]
After grabbing their Plugsuits, Shinji and Hikari had jumped a
ride with a technician on a motorized cart. As they struggled to
change and keep their hold on the cab at the same time, neither
seemed to notice the other's nudity. The situation was far to dire
for such things to matter at that moment. Once suited up, they
took their place behind the driver and watched the hatches
open as they neared them.
When they reached the cage, the driver immediately hit the
breaks and all three of them watched in horror as Unit Two ripped
the restraint system to shreds. It began to climb out of the mass of
twisted metal and waded across the coolant to the far wall that
had only recently been partially repaired from Shinji's battle with
the fourteenth angel. As it plunged its massive fists through the
flimsy constructs in it's way, Shinji thought he saw a flash of light
just in front of the Eva.
"What is it?" Hikari asked aloud as their driver leapt from his
seat and began to run back down the corridor from whence they'd
come.
"Hey!" Shinji shouted as a blast door closed behind them--
actually trapping the man in-between the chambers. Shinji turned
back to where the Eva was climbing into the freshly made opening
and jumped over the roll bar to the drivers seat, "Hang on," he told
Hikari as he slammed the gas pedal down to the floorboard.
Proving that Misato had indeed been the one who taught Shinji
how to drive, they screeched down the small path built into the
wall of the cage. Just as they reached Unit three, Shinji reached
out and grabbed Hikari by the arm before she started to jump off
to board her Eva.
Their eyes locked, and hundreds of things passed between
them in that moment. Shinji leaned in and their lips met briefly, as a
kiss for luck and love was shared before each of them began
racing to their Eva's.
Neither voiced their mutual fear-- that it would be the last
that they would share.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As Evangelions Three and One roared to life and began their
pursuit of the Seventeenth Angel, no one noticed that in the
observation room a small figure was huddled in a corner. Asuka
was curled up as tightly as she had been able to manage, and as
the shrieks of twisting metal echoed throughout the Geofront, she
trembled and repeated one phrase over and over.
"Angel... no please not an Angel...not an Angel. Not an
Angel... no..."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I see them!" Hikari shouted as her Eva lowered down the
seemingly endless cable to the depths of the Geofront. She'd been
this deep, and deeper once before, but it still jarred her just how
far down Terminal Dogma actually was.
Just coming into view in the dark smoke filled chasm was Eva
Unit Two. She could see it's arms working as it clawed and tore
away plate after plate of protective armor from the blast door
below.
At fist they hadn't been able to understand how they were
getting past the protective armored layers. Finally, just as she and
Shinji had started their decent, it had been determined that the
Angel was manipulating the electronics somehow to open them.
Immediately Misato had ordered all the fuses for the gates fried,
and now they had a chance to catch up.
Just above her, She saw Shinji let go of the cable and Unit one
dropped like a comet down onto the back of the rogue
Evangelion. While he struggled to hold onto the bucking giant,
Hikari caught another flash of light at its side, and as her monitor
zoomed in, she was shocked to find Kaoru floating in mid air.
She'd been briefed that Kaoru was the Angel, but she hadn't
expected this. She'd thought that he'd bonded with Unit Two, or
was piloting it. The last thing she'd suspected had been for him to
be standing on thin air with his hands in his pockets smiling back at
her.
She saw his lips move, and she activated the external pickups.
"The two of you are much later than I had expected," he said
calmly, as if they were back at the picnic instead of locked in
battle. As if he hadn't played them all for fools. As if he hadn't
pretended to befriend Asuka.
In response, she engaged her progressive knife and let go of
the cable.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Shinji was trying to get Unit Two in a grappling hold that Touji
had shown him once, when Hikari screamed and launched herself
at the angel.
Suddenly, he realized that what she was about to do wouldn't
work. What clued him in was that there was an odd glow-- no
more of a distortion around Kaoru, almost as if he were looking at
him through a heat wave. He'd noticed it before he'd begun
grappling with Unit Two, but it wasn't until a split second before
Hikari's attack when it all came together in his head, and by the
time he'd tried to warn her, the progressive knife was rebounding
off a geometric distortion in the space between it and the smiling
boy.
"He's got an AT field!" Shinji shouted a second too late.
"Yes," he heard Kaoru reply, and realized that his external
audio system was engaged, "at least that is what you Lillim have
chosen to call this thing."
As he spoke, Hikari's impact on the blast door caused it to
give way, and the three Eva's tumbled down hundreds of feet and
slammed into the next set.
"The Absolute Terror Field," Kaoru recited as he drifted down
towards where Shinji and Hikari were both trying to restrain the
struggling Unit Two, "you Lillim have such a mastery of irony, and
yet you seem so oblivious to it at the same time. This is the light of
my very soul! A sacred territory that no one may enter save by my
invitation. And you," he said as his smile broadened, "are not
invited."
Suddenly a powerful shockwave caused the level to give way
and they were again falling deeper into the Geofront.
[]====[]
[]====[]
We've lost all radio contact!" Makoto shouted in horror, "this is
the strongest AT Field we've ever detected!"
"It's blocking everything," Shiguru concurred, we've even lost
ground feed from all the cameras!"
"Damnit!" Misato shouted as they scrambled to do what
they could, "wait... what's Hikari's power looking like?"
"We don't know, once that field went up we lost everything! If
this cuts both ways though she has less than four minutes..."
Misato looked at the screens which showed nothing but static.
It was all up to them now. She couldn't do anything more. She
leaned in close to Makoto and muttered under her breath to be
prepared for the worst.
"I know," he whispered back, "if anything happens I have the
destruct commands all set. This bastard won't win-- no mater
what."
[]====[]
[]====[]
Again they fell, but this time there was no barrier to catch them.
As Hikari looked towards the ground she saw an expanse of white
and just before they struck she saw that they were in an amazingly
huge cavern. Then they hit, and the bone jarring impact drove
the three Evangelions into the chalky powder that spread across
the cavity Hikari nearly lost consciousness. One of the functions of
LCL was to provid cushioning from impacts, but it had it's limits.
Even as they hit, Unit Two was already stirring, and it took
everything she had to focus long enough to drive her knife into
it's leg and not pass out in the process. Above them she could
see the glowing speck that was Kaoru through the cloud of dust.
"Shinji," she cried as she brought her elbow down on the
knife's hilt-- driving it deeper through the armor plate on the Eva's
leg, "go! I'll hold Two off! It's not using it's AT Field!"
Seeing Unit one nod at the same time as Shinji did on her
screen was enough to distract her for a split second, and Unit Two
used that moment to it's advantage. It kicked out and sent her
flying out across the expanse of white.
As Shinji chased after Kaoru, she climbed to her feet and
turned back to face Unit Two.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Kaoru! Wait!" was all that Tabris heard as it slammed
Heaven's Door behind him. It was a shame that the two Eva's had
not put up more of a fight. This duty before him was not one that
he enjoyed.
He floated across the small ocean of LCL, and below him he
saw a tiny craft manned by a single Lillim. The foolish creature
was climbing up to where a large rifle was mounted at the bow of
the craft. Tabris almost sighed as the Lillim opened fire and the
large bulled ricochet off the AT Field. It flew back to its previous
owner, and the poor creature was torn in half by the impact.
Behind him he heard the repeated smashing of Unit One against
the door, and he placed a fraction of his concentration on
reinforcing it for the moment.
Shaking his head, he looked up to where the first of his
brethren was imprisoned. It was a painful sight to behold indeed.
Spikes each as large as small aircraft pierced his hands, and a
mask with seven eyes covered his face. Tabris recognized the
symbol, it was the mark of Seele, and he was angered slightly that
their fate's would be no worse than anyone else on this orb.
"Must one who was born from Adam... return?" he mused as
he drifted closer, "even though it means the end of all that this
planet has accomplished in such a short time?"
All it would take now was to touch him.
And suddenly, Tabris sensed something was amiss.
[]====[]
[]====[]
'How can it fight like this with no pilot?' Hikari thought as Unit
two broke off a shard of what seemed to be a stalagmite and
hurled it at her. She slammed her fist into it and shattered it to
pieces, but as she did so left herself open, as apparently intended.
Unit Two crashed into her, sending them both falling back into the
crater that marked their arrival in this weird place.
As they hit the base of the crater, Hikari managed to get to her
feet first and pounce. She grabbed hold of Unit two's Shoulder
wing and as she sailed over it, she pulled-- sending Unit Two
flipping head over heals and onto it's back.
Suddenly, the sound pickups registered a shrieking noise, and
Hikari looked down to find her progressive knife still imbedded in
Unit Two's leg. Knowing that she wouldn't get another shot at this,
she grabbed it, yanked it free, and with a whisper of apology to
Asuka, drove it into Unit Two's face.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"How could I have missed it?" Tabris wondered aloud as he
backed away from the angel that was crucified on the mammoth
cross, "it is so obvious now, so clear! The Lillim, Lilith... the
ascension! The lillim want to initiate it!"
He didn't know how he'd missed it before; he was dead
center of the Black Moon-- the egg of the Second Angel! Seele
had done well to hide this from him, to misinform him and fool him.
Had he taken one second less to ponder what he had been about
to do... he shuddered to think it.
Yet even so, Seele may have been too clever for their own
good. He could still foul their plans; all it would take would be a
moment of pain, then nothing... yet the consequences would
potentially be dire for those who survived.
As the possibilities before him flashed through his mind, he
suddenly felt a powerful presence above. Before he could turn
to look, however, the wall beside him caved in and Shinji Ikari
charged towards him his Evangelion.
A massive purple hand closed around him, and he lowered his
defenses just enough for what he realized was the only way to set
things on their proper path.
"Wait," he said simply as the gloved hand tightened around his
body.
"Give me one good reason," a furious voice responded from a
speaker somewhere in Unit One's armor. Tabris felt the crushing
pressure increase and realized that he may have misjudged this
one's anger.
"Asuka," he said as best he could. Immediately the fist stopped
clenching shut.
"What _about_ Asuka?" Shinji shouted at him as he stepped
back away from Lilith.
"I must speak to her," Tabris said, "if I lower the AT Field, will
you allow me enough time to say what I must?"
There was a split second where Tabris wondered if Shinji
might just destroy him then and there. He could have done it--
having power equal to any angel Tabris had ever seen, Unit One
was easily capable of destroying him at this point. He had the right
to do it; Kaoru had betrayed them in many ways.
That second passed and Shinji's voice returned.
"Lower it."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"We... what the hell? We just got all our feeds back!" Yuri
shouted excitedly, "The AT Field is gone!"
"What about that second AT Field?" Misato asked as she
looked over the readouts, "and why is this display still active?"
"The target... I don't understand! It's still alive?" Makoto
said in disbelief.
Suddenly Shinji's voice came back over the communication net
in a burst of static, "if you can hear me I need a two way audio
connection to the secondary observation room ASAP!"
"Shinji?" Misato asked, "what are you talking about?"
"No time, Misato, I need that connection as fast as you can get
it!"
"It looks like.... He has the Angel!" Aoba informed her, "But
why hasn't he killed it?"
"Misato, _please_!" Shinji shouted, and Misato looked up to
Commander Ikari. It was only a fraction of an inch, but he nodded
and she ordered the link patched through.
'What the hell are you doing, Shinji?' she wondered as the
camera's showed Asuka still sitting in a corner.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Asuka," the familiar voice said-- startling her back from
the dark place in her mind.
"K-kao-Kaoru?" she whispered as she looked around the
room. It only took a moment to realize that the voice was coming
from the console.
"My name is Tabris, and I am sorry for what I have done to
you. I do not have much time, but I need you to listen to what I am
about to say. Can you do that?"
"Kaoru?" she cried as she stood and grabbed the edge of the
console, "I don't understand, how can you be one of them? How?"
"Asuka, please, I don't have time to explain it all to you. Listen
to me; what I have done was ordained the moment of my creation.
I knew that this day would either bring my own death, or that of
your entire race. This I could not change, but I knew that every
moment up till then I could live as one of you. I have seen you
Lillim at your best and your worst, and Asuka, you have a choice
before you. You can let these few hours rule your future, or you
can chose to seize the day and rise beyond the injustice that I have
done to you by allowing myself to become your friend."
While he spoke, her tears began to flow freely, and she
dropped to her knees in grief.
"I did not lie when I said that I love you, that is why I must now
leave this world. Only one or the other may survive this, myself or
your race, and yours is not the existence that should parish.
Goodbye Asuka."
With that, the connection ceased, and the room was silent,
except for her crying.
[]====[]
[]====[]
In Central dogma, the bridge crew of Nerv had listened in
confusion, awe and shock at what the angel had said.
Up above the others, Gendou Ikari watched the monitors
where Unit One held the angel in its grasp. His own hand hovered
over a device that he'd had prepared as a safeguard against any
further rebellion by his son. When activated, it would send an
electric shock through his plug suit and render him unconscious. It
would also cause his body to spasm, and hopefully clench the
hand of Unit One enough to destroy the angel.
If Shinji did not act soon, he would.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Shinji sat in the entry plug of Unit One and looked down at the
small figure in the hand of the beast... no, in his own hand. This
was an Angel... but it was not hiding behind an Eva that some
poor kid was piloting. It was not defending itself at all. In fact it
was insisting that he destroy it. And yet, he struggled with what
was being asked of him.
He'd listened to what Kaoru had told Asuka, and he'd been
touched by his gentle pleading to her. This Angel had reached
Asuka on a level that none of them had been able to. For a short
time, he had actually seen her start to climb from the abyss that she
seemed to have fallen into. This angel... this person, was
responsible for it. Who was he to destroy someone like that?
Yet Kaoru had also said that should he live, mankind would be
wiped away from the earth... something that he couldn't allow.
Suddenly he began to understand something that horrified him.
This must be how his father felt every time he sent them out to
battle. He looked down at the angel again, and Kaoru smiled at
something off to the side. Then, it turned back to him and it
seemed as if their eyes met for a moment.
The angel continued to smile up at him-- accepting his fate.
There was a movement off to the side as Unit Three stepped
into the hole in the chamber wall.
"Forgive me, Asuka," he whispered.
The body of Kaoru Nagisa, Tabris, the seventeenth angel, was
crushed with a twitch of Unit One's hand.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As Shinji climbed out of the entry plug, he felt hollow.
In all the battles he'd faced... he'd never been forced to kill
like that. The closest he'd come had been the Thirteenth, but even
then he'd refused to commit murder. Somehow he couldn't
convince himself that that body laying in the LCL down in Terminal
Dogma had just been an Angel, just an enemy.
He'd spoken with Kaoru... the boy had seemed more human
than some 'real' people he'd met in his life. It wasn't just eating at
him, it gnawed at his very soul. What right had he to have done
that?
As he stepped off the steps and walked down the umbilical
bridge, he saw someone standing just at the other side across from
him.
He looked up to find Asuka walking silently across the
umbilical bridge, oblivious to the fact that the coolant level was
still low and there was almost a thirty-foot drop. He watched her
as she approached and he saw that her eyes were as dead as his
own must be. And why wouldn't they be? She'd just lost one of
the few people that he'd ever seen declare even a friendship
towards her-- much less love.
He walked out a small distance over the bridge, between the
shoulder and head of his Eva. As she reached him he stood his
ground, whatever she felt he had coming he wouldn't back away
from-- he owed her that... at least.
"He loved me," she whispered, "he loved me, and you killed
him."
Shinji closed his eyes and lowered his head in shame. Had he
not done that, he might have seen the punch coming.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Asuka drew back and hit him with everything she had. She hit
him harder than she ever had before, and as one of her fingers
snapped from the impact, Shinji was sent flying back and off of the
bridge.
It didn't seem real to her somehow. Even the pain strobing
from her broken finger was a ghost of what it should have been.
Everything seemed to happen in half speed. Every little detail
stood out and at the same time was muddled.
Shinji seemed to hang in midair as he drifted back. Then he hit
the rail and his body began to flip backwards. He tumbled head
over heels down for ten feet and struck the collar of Unit One, the
impact shattered several ribs and knocked him unconscious as he
rebounded and slid down another fifteen feet to the coolant fluid
below. He landed without much of a splash and floated for a
moment before finally beginning to sink into the crimson liquid.
Just as his head disappeared below the surface, Asuka began
to realize what she had just done, but even that shock was like a
phantom to her.
Behind her she heard someone scream his name.
Looking down she could see him just below the surface,
sinking slowly as a trail of bubbles marked his path.
She was suddenly pushed aside as a blur of red and black shot
past her and over the edge.
As someone else grabbed hold of her she began to struggle.
She heard Hikari's voice screaming.
A needle pierced her arm and her eyelids suddenly grew
impossibly heavy.
The last thing she remembered was Misato breaking the
surface with Shinji in her arms. Specifically she remembered seeing
the blood running down his face.
So much blood...
Then there was blackness.
[]======================[]
End of Book Two
[]======================[]
IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!!!!
due to several reasons, I will no longer be posting my works
on Fanfiction.net. the formonst of these, is that I have my
own page and really dont see a reason to continue posting
to a forum where my works are buried benieth literaly thousands
of other fis. the intermission and conclusion of Together We Stand
can be fond on my own webpage, along with all my other stories
and random goofyness. I'd like to thank everyone who's taken the
time to post reviews. the web address is www.chainlightningstudios.com
I'll keep a light on for ya ^_^ Love and Peace
Hotwire
Authors incoherent babbling
Holy crap... am I really done with DWF? it's amazing to me
that I got this far ^_^. I knew when I started doing the outline for
this that it was going to be long... and sure enough I started this
tale way back in June 2000(I think) and here it is, just over a year
later... the chapters average about 20 pages and this makes 21 of
them... that's well over 420 pages, and I still have five chapters left
to write with no idea as to how long they will be. (And just think,
it's only as long as one chapter of Variations on a theme ^_^)
don't worry though, as long as my secret stash of Mountain Dew
and Spree hold out I should have enough manic energy to
complete the rest of this post haste. (Now you know what keeps
stories coming out of Chain Lightning Studios so fast, a
combination of straight sugar and caffeine ^_^)
To continue my little project of trying to explain a few of the
little weird discrepancies in Eva here's my theory on the Seele
meeting that Kaoru had in the directors cut. I thought and thought
about it, and after a while I realized that since no alarms went off,
he must have kept his angel superpowers out of it. Granted--
Tokyo Three was in ruins and the observation center might have
gone down with it, but one would think that they could pick up
that kind of power-- unless it wasn't any kind of manifestation, but
instead was the equivalent of a satellite phone call. I recall reading
somewhere that the gizmo that they used in Metal Gear Solid
(codex?) Was a feasible device, so think of this as one of those.
Also, in Gendou's little talk with Yui... well, I couldn't think of a
more logical reason! That little scene in EoE with Fuyutski has a
lot of people freaked out, and I got to thinking about it recently.
That last scene with Unit one floating off into space... could that
have been the original idea behind what happened to Yui? I mean,
what if what happened to her wasn't a total accident per-say, but
something that happened before they were ready to deal with it?
Something that they'd always intended, but had happened too
soon? It's just a theory, and it's something I'll deal with in more
depth in a later fanfic. I mean, if you think about it, it's possible that
the entry plug system was originally designed as kind of a stasis
tube-- like in Alien and other sci-fi shows. If a person could be
disassembled at a molecular level-- and re-assembled from LCL
then they could easily survive the long treks into space. Its just
something I thought was interesting and tossed in.
Just as a side note-- if you have it, I HIGHLY recommend
playing Kom Susser Tod starting from when the POV switches
from Gendou to Shinji in the last battle and on till the end of the
story-- trust me, it fits. =^_^= if I've timed it right, you should
reach the bridge scene just as the singing starts, and the punch just
as the courus begins. Milage may vary as per reading speed.
Special thanks goes out to Ender for assistince in this final
draft. May he do well in battle school, and avoid Bonzo. ^_^
Well, that's the last part of Divided We Fall. The third and final
Book of Together We Stand is going to be called;
[]================[]
Carpe Diem
[]================[]
(For those who are wondering-- it's Latin for "Seize the day")
I warn those of y'all who are squeamish now that I'm going to
take this totally over the top in the action scenes from here out.
Since I'll be taking a break from Evafics after this is all over I want
to do some stuff that I wont have a chance to do otherwise with
the weapons and other various aspects of Eva combat. All the plot
threads I've tried to weave throughout this story will be tied up.
Expect some characters to fail, others to triumph.
Either way, the beginning has ended.
Prepare for the end to begin.
(^_^ I've always wanted to say that ^_^)
Hotwire
Chain Lightning Studios
http://www.chainlightningstudios.com