Author's Note: This chapter has now been pre-read for your reading pleasure. I hope you'll enjoy.
Rage Against the Dying of the Light/Everybody Needs Somebody
Book Two
Nevermore/Dreaming in Digital
She's lost in coma
where it's beautiful
Intoxicated from the deep sleep
Deep sleep
Do you wonder what it's like
living in a permanent imagination?
Sleeping to escape reality
But you like it like that
Guilty by design
She's nothing more than fiction
She dreams in digital
'Cause it's better than nothing
Now that control is gone
It seems unreal
She's dreaming in digital
Orgy
"Fiction (Dreams in Digital)"
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!- prophet still, if bird or devil!-
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-
Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
Edgar Allen Poe
"The Raven"
It dreamed
In his dream, he was chasing a demon, a goblin that cackled wildly as it ran from him across the landscape of his mind. It raved and gibbered, dancing just out of his reach. With a final, desperate lunge, he grabbed it, and held its struggling body in its hand. Then he began to squeeze.
It dreamed?
The Eva's fist burst through the window and into the apartment, sending chunks of wood and glass flying in every direction. It snatched Asuka up in one swift motion. Asuka screamed as the hand closed around her. She could feel the cold metal of its armor pressing against her from all sides.
When it began to squeeze, she could not find the air to scream again. Her vision began to dim, slowly, slowly, until all of her being was focused on that one horrible black eye. A solitary tear escaped her eye as the pain pushed all rational thought from her mind.
"…hurts…Mama…"
She began to fade into the darkness.
This is dying? she thought. This isn't so bad. Actually, it's kind of…comfortable. I'm coming now, Mama, I'm coming. We'll be together forever, Mama…
When she heard the first crack, she dismissed it immediately as the sound of her bones breaking. Another crack. The darkness lifted just enough for her to see the Eva's eye explode in a massive gout of pus and gore. The hand around her immediately loosened, dumping her to the floor, and the Eva pulled away from the building. Through the fog that surrounded her, she could hear it screaming. Slowly, her breath began to return, and with it, her vision. She got up onto her hands and knees and breathed again and again. Air had never tasted so sweet, so pure. She stumbled to her feet, leaning against the wall for support, breathing in harsh, shuddering, gasps.
She looked up slowly. At the end of the hall, she could see Shinji leaning up against the wall, a look of utter and horrific surprise etched on his face. She stumbled over, nearly limping from prolonged lack of oxygen. She tripped, catching her foot on something hard and cold and metallic. She hit the ground and lay there for a moment, staring at what she had tripped on. A pistol lay on the floor, inches from Shinji's nerveless fingers.
"He…he shot it? But…"
She had no time for further questions. With an inarticulate scream of rage, the Eva lunged back into the gaping hole into the wall. In anger, he inadvertently saved their lives. In his fury, he attempted to shove his entire body into the opening, to rend the Children apart with his teeth. The hole in the wall was not nearly large enough, and he lay there, stuck, his snapping teeth bare feet from the screaming Asuka and the near-comatose Shinji. Asuka, still screaming in terror, grabbed Shinji's limp body and dragged him down the hall, towards the stairs. Moments later, half the apartment collapsed under the massive weight of the Evangelion. Furious, it pulled out of the destroyed masonry and began to hunt through the rubble.
Asuka ran down the stairwell, dragging Shinji along as the entire building began to collapse. She looked up quickly at the numbers on the wall as they went by. 13…12…11…
She reached the 10th floor and fell to her hands and knees, panting hard. She was just starting to get up, pulling Shinji up beside her, when the building collapsed behind her. She whirled around and saw the ceiling crumple and collapse above her. A piece of concrete, large as a basketball, bounced off the stairs and slammed into the side of her head. Her vision blurred and grew red. Through the red haze she could see the ceiling above her collapse. She shoved Shinji aside just as tons of masonry and concrete slammed on top of her, driving her to the ground.
All around her was darkness, and she wondered for a second if perhaps she had been knocked out. Then she heard Shinji yelling. His voice sounded small and weak through the wall of concrete.
"..suk…ka….Asuka…"
She tried to reply, but she could find no breath. As her vision began to adjust to the light, she could see why. A chunk of concrete nearly the size of a car was pinning her from the chest down. She winced in pain. It was getting harder to breathe. She tried to gasp in another breath, but failed.
Guess I'm seeing you after all, Mama…
What light there was began to dim.
A voice spoke, soft and emotionless. Asuka knew this voice.
"Pilot Sorhyu."
Asuka looked around, searching for the source of the voice. She immediately noticed two things. One, the rubble covering her was gone. Two, she did not know where she was. She was laying in some sort of spotlight. The area around the harsh beam of light was cast in shadows. She slowly got to her feet and looked around.
In the shadows, something moved. Rei Ayanami stepped out. Asuka gaped in shock.
"Wondergirl? What are you doing here? Where's Shinji?"
"He is safe, Pilot Sorhyu. My being here is of no consequence. It simply is."
"But I thought you were…" Asuka started, but found she could not complete her thought.
"You are using him."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Ikari. You are using Ikari."
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"You cheap slut. You know exactly what I am talking about. You were so shattered after Third Impact, you used the closest person you could find. The only person you could find."
"B…but, Rei…I…I was just…scared…"
"No, you were just a whore. A stupid, cheap, dirty whore."
Asuka began to cry. She could not help herself. What barriers she had set shattered in the wake of Rei's cruelty.
"How disgusting." Rei said. Then she giggled.
Asuka looked up in shock. Rei was standing inches away, staring straight into her eyes. Her face was full of cruel mirth.
"Am I hurting you, Asuka?"
"You…aren't…Rei…"
"Very good, Asuka, very good. I guess you're a little more than a cheap dirty tramp."
Asuka cringed. Rei moved closer, giggling, and Asuka could suddenly see her eyes fully. The pupils of her eyes suddenly began to swim and merge, the deep red becoming a harsh, cold black. Asuka stared in horror. She could see into the Rei-thing's eyes. They danced and rippled like the surface of a pool. In them Asuka could see horrors, nightmares given life, thousands of festering corpses rotting in the sun. She screamed and backed away.
As she watched, her eyes wide and uncomprehending, Rei split in half. From the bloody split, a person emerged. Her mother stepped out of the Rei-thing's discarded halves, covered in blood and gore. She smiled horribly.
"Come hug your mother, Asuka. Give me a big hug, you stupid little bitch."
Asuka screamed, stepping back.
"Mama! Mama! Mama!"
Her mother embraced her, holding Asuka so she could not move. She brought one bloody hand up and cupped Asuka's chin. Her fingers smeared a path of blood across Asuka's cheek. She slowly pulled Asuka's head up, locking their eyes. Asuka could not look away, could not tear her eyes from her mother's. They were a deep, horrible black, filled with a sharp, biting hatred, and something…more. They whispered of insanity, of dark and horrible rituals of flesh in the halls of the dead, of a capering glee that delighted as it danced in an ocean of blood.
"Welcome to the Dead Lands, Asuka," she whispered, her voice dead and horrible," You'll love it down here…"
Asuka screamed again and again, pulling out of her mother's dead and bloody grip. Her screams faltered and stopped as the face of her mother began to twist and deform like putty. For a second, it was the face of her father, then Hikari, Touji, Kensuke, Misato, then thousands of faces she did not recognize. They all talked as one, with that horrible dead-voice.
"You're in the Dead Lands, Asuka. You'll be with us…forever…You'll love it down here Asuka…down here with us…" It giggled horribly, "Join us, Asuka, join us in our ceremony of undying…"
The shadows around her moved to suck her in. She screamed a final time as the shadows about reached for her. Then suddenly she was rising, pulled upwards by some unknown force. But it came not from around her, not from the shadows. It came from above, the direction the spotlight was coming from. The voice at once became a hiss of hatred, and the dead-thing moved towards her.
"You cannot have her! You will not have her! She is mine, you hear me! MINE!"
One horrible claw-like hand moved to grab her, but she was already rising up, into the light.
She rose into the light like a swimmer breaking the surface of a pool. She gasped for breath, and finally found it. She could feel something lying on top of her, but it was not heavy. It was warm and soft. She reached a hand towards it, and her hand sunk into a mop of unruly brown hair. Shinji's head snapped up, his tear-filled eyes looking at her in disbelief and unadulterated joy. He hugged her, pushing her into the ground. His tears were wet against her cheek.
"Asuka…you're… alive…"
She hugged him back, mind still spinning from what had just happened. What had just happened? What memories she had were fading, growing dimmer and weaker. She tried hard to remember, but failed. She just knew it had been horrible.
Something spoke from the shadows around them.
"See you soon, Asuka…"
Her head snapped up, and she looked up just in time to see two burning red eyes fading into the dark.
They crawled out of the rubble, Asuka leaning on Shinji for support. Slowly, they began descending the twisted ruins of the stairwell. As they did, Shinji explained what had happened to bring about Asuka's miraculous recovery.
"I managed to pull away the rubble around you, but there was one piece on top of you, and I…couldn't pull it off…But then you screamed, and I just kind of…shoved it off… I don't know how, I was upset, and not really thinking clearly. Maybe it was the stress…"
He sounded unconvinced. She turned to him and smiled.
" You know Shinji, I…I…"
Give me a big hug, you stupid little bitch.
"Asuka? What's wrong?"
No, you're just a whore. A stupid, cheap, dirty whore.
The memories struck her with hurricane force.
"Mama…was right…I'm using you…" she whispered, her voice thick with self-loathing.
Shinji gaped in shock.
"Wha…What? What are you talking about?"
"I'm just a slut! I'm just looking for comfort the easiest way I know! The only reason you never pushed me away was because you pitied me! I…"
She pulled out of his grip and began to run. Before she got five steps, however, Shinji caught her and whirled her around.
"Asuka! How can you say that! You never used me, you were just…nice to me… I never pushed you away because I never wanted to! Asuka, I…I need you…"
She stared, her eyes wide and uncomprehending.
"Wha…you…I…but…" She could not find words to express her disbelief. He grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her on the lips. He pulled back and saw that she was still staring forward in shock.
"Asuka, if this is you using me…then I want to be used…"
She continued to stare, her eyes riveted forward.
"Asuka, please say something…" Shinji said, beginning to get worried.
"I…I need…you too… B-but, that's wrong! It's wrong to need someone! It's weak to need someone! I promised never to be weak again!"
"No, Asuka, it isn't. It is not weak to need someone. Not if they need you, too."
She stared at him. She stared at his eyes, burning with self-righteous passion. Odd how they contrasted against the white of the corridor behind him.
White? Terror and comprehension struck simultaneously. She tackled him as the monstrous white hand burst out of the stairwell below them. They tumbled down the stairs, screaming as the rest of the Evangelion burst out of the tilted and twisted wall, both hands now reaching for them. They reached the bottom of the stairs, immediately stumbling to their feet and beginning to run. The apartment building was now horribly twisted and disfigured, stairways leading to nowhere, walls warped beyond recognition.
The Eva chased them through this jungle of steel and concrete, howling in fury and hunger. While it was much larger, much faster and more agile, they were smaller, and could get through parts of the rubble that it could not. Still, the chase was distinctly one-sided. The Children knew that if they did not find some sort of hiding place, they would be dead within minutes. They were already tiring, but the Eva probably never would. Shinji pushed aside the shattered remains of a door, and suddenly, they were outside. The stood there, frozen by indecision. Where to go? Where?
Their choice was made for them. The blasphemy that was an Evangelion burst through the wall behind them. They whirled in horror as it reached for them, then suddenly, the world dropped out from under them. The damage done by the Eva had finally caused the structural collapse of the apartment, and the ground below them went with it. They slid down the tilted rubble of the apartment, sliding into the darkness. Seconds later they burst into the light of the Geofront, the twisted and crumbling path coming to a stop directly above it. They screamed in shock as they saw the long and imminently fatal fall before them. They slid off the end of the concrete, and they both closed their eyes.
They had barely fallen ten feet when they came to a sudden and jarring stop. They opened their eyes, confused and shaken. They were lying on top of the express train track that led into the Geofront. Whatever gods had thus far extended their blessings seemed perfectly willing to continue to do so. They turned to each other and, amazingly, began to laugh. Soon they could not stop, and they rolled back and forth across the metallic path of the train track holding their hands to their sides and crying with laughter. Slowly, they calmed down, their laughter dying down. Shinji raised himself up onto one elbow.
"We have to be the luckiest people alive."
"Baka, we're the only people alive." she replied mockingly, even tragedy unable to stop her mirth.
"Where do we go from here?" Shinji said seriously.
"We might as well go down. Hopefully, the Eva can't get down here."
They both got to their feet. Slowly, supporting each other, they began to walk down the path towards the remains of the Geofront, eyes constantly watching the massive crater above, searching for whatever horrors may come.
Once more a council was held in that null where none was all. The old men who appeared were no longer cool and calculated, no longer masters of humanity's fate. They were furious, their previous composure given way to blind and impotent rage.
"What the hell has happened, Kihl? Those children should be corpses now, and Instrumentality should be complete!"
"We can still recover. We can always recover."
"Not this time, Kihl! This time your incompetence has doomed us all! Our instrument of destruction has failed! How could this be?"
"Do not say things you will regret. The Evangelion may have lost his mind, but he is still capable of destroying the Children. Instrumentality can not be stopped."
"And what of Malkiah?"
"All purposes shall be bent to serve ours. Our need is the need of the world. Humanity is an imperfect vessel, and we must ascend to be as one!"
"Of course, Kihl, of course. We shall not fail."
The sea of LCL was still once more.
Hours of walking later, Shinji and Asuka reached the black pyramid of the Geofront. The climbed up the broken rubble of the steps, and stepped into the cool darkness. They descended deeper into the Geofront, searching for some sort of place for them to sleep, trying desperately to avoid the constant brutal reminders of the JSSDF invasion. They finally found a place to sleep, a single futon in the back of a room full of computer terminals and cubicles. Asuka turned to him, wearily.
"I imagine there's no food in this dump?" she asked, more tired than angry.
"I don't know, Asuka, but we can look tomorrow. For now, let's get some sleep. I'll take the floor. You take the futon."
She turned to him, angry.
"Must you be so damn chivalrous? We'll share the futon."
She grabbed Shinji and shoved him into the futon. Then she crawled in next to him. Shinji was trying desperately to stop the flow of blood from his nose, so he failed to notice Asuka was crying.
"This is what I am to you?" she asked, almost too quietly for him to hear. His head jerked up, and he immediately saw the tears in her eyes.
"Asuka, what's wrong?"
"You don't want to be near me. Are you that afraid of me?"
"N-n-no Asuka! It's just not, umm…respectable…to share a bed with a person you aren't married to…that's all! It's not dignified!"
"But Shinji, the world is gone. Isn't dignity just the word of a dead world?"
He stared at her, unable to refute her logic. She kissed him lightly on the lips, smiling.
"Dead world or not, Shinji, you keep the nightmares away. You're good for that much."
They fell asleep that way, and Shinji's last feeling was of Asuka's light breath against his cheek. He thought it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
"I am proud of you, Shinji Ikari"
The voice was Rei's.
They were walking along a beach, a normal beach with beautiful golden sand and blue water. Rei was at his right, walking in the surf. He turned to her.
"Why? What have I done to earn respect?"
"You have helped a lost little girl find her way. That is something for which you merit respect and admiration."
"Asuka?" he asked, surprised.
"If the Second had never met you, she would have killed herself within a year."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, horrified.
"It does not matter. There are things of far more importance to talk about. The souls are being denied a path back to Earth."
"What? I don't understand."
"The souls of all the people on Earth are being denied their fate. What Yui predicted may be false."
"But…but Mother said…she said all who wished to return could do so."
"Yui, in her wisdom, could not see all. Something is blocking the souls from returning to their bodies."
"What, Ayanami? What is blocking the souls?"
"I…I do not know. That is beyond my sight…"
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"Because you, and the Second, must find a way to return the souls to Earth."
"What? Why us?"
"Because there is no one else. The creature that has been attacking you, the Evangelion, may be the cause of this…blasphemy… You must stop it."
"But, Ayanami, we…we can't stop it! It's been all we can do to outrun it!"
"You are stronger than you imagine, Ikari. Your soul is stronger than you imagine. You will do what is right, and the dance of eternity will be completed."
His dream, his vision, began to fade.
"Rei!" he called, frantically.
She looked at him sadly, the waves washing over her ankles.
"The Second is luckier than she knows…I will be seeing you, Ikari…."
She smiled, a genuine, beautiful smile, and the dream dissolved.
"I am proud of you, Asuka Langely Sorhyu"
The voice was Kaji's.
They were sitting on a green hillside underneath a beautiful blue sky, Asuka in her yellow sundress, Kaji in his usual work attire.
"Why are you proud of me, Kaji? Is it because I'm beautiful, smart, brave, or just because I'm me?"
"You've saved yourself."
"What?" she asked, turning to him.
"From your weakness, you've grown strong. That is a wonderful thing. Ikari, too, is stronger than even I had imagined." He laughed.
She turned to him, sadly.
"I've missed you, Kaji."
He turned to her, and his face was now serious.
"I've missed you too, Asuka. I've come here to do more than say hello, however. I need your help."
"What for, Kaji?"
"You are familiar with the Dead Lands?"
Her eyes widened and she tried to get up, her face contorting with shock and terror.
"You! You're not Kaji! You're just trying to trick me, like before!"
He grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her back down.
"No, Asuka, I'm not. That was an illusion of the Dead Lands. The Dead Lands…that is where I am, Asuka. Misato and all the others, too"
She gasped.
"No! You're down there, Kaji?"
"Yes, Asuka. That is why I need your help. Something…is collecting the souls that are trying to return to Earth. You and Ikari must stop it."
"But…but how, Kaji?"
"For starters, you need to kill that Evangelion. Perhaps that is what is hindering the return of souls."
"But, Kaji! We can't kill it! It's a monster, and…and we have no Evas!"
"You don't need an Evangelion, Asuka. I think you're strong enough."
He got up, pulling her to her feet with him.
"You and Ikari…heh, I should've known. You'll do well by each other."
He began to fade.
"Kaji! Wait!"
"Sorry, Asuka. I need to go. It was nice seeing you again. You have a job to do now. When you finish it…maybe I will see you again. I will be watching you…"
He smiled, a kind, warm smile, and the dream dissolved.
Asuka woke slowly, her eyes adjusting painfully to the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights.
Odd, she thought, it smells like shampoo…but it doesn't smell like my brand…
She opened her eyes wider, and the source of the smell immediately became apparent. She had been sleeping locked in a tight embrace with Shinji Ikari. Her mind chose that time to scream.
Pervert! Baka Hentai! He's trying to cop a feel!
She thought it best to bring to the voice's attention that the embracing situation was mutual.
Fine then, the voice replied nastily, We need to rectify the situation. We will yank our arms away, and then we will tear his throat out and feast on the contents. Do it!
She tightened her arms around him.
NO! Shove him away, dammit!
So you want to sacrifice happiness for your personal ethics? she asked.
The voice was silent. She smiled contentedly, and nuzzled into his neck.
An indeterminable time later, Shinji woke up. He blushed as red as a tomato when he saw how close they had gotten during the night, and she giggled.
"Umm…good morning, Asuka."
"Good morning, Shinji. Did you sleep well?"
His face turned serious.
"I had the strangest dream…Ayanami was there, and she said that all the souls of the people who died in Third Impact were…trapped somehow. She said that–Asuka? Are you all right?"
She had tensed against him, her arms clutching him hard enough to hurt.
"I…I had that same dream…except Kaji was there, and he said…that we need to kill…the Eva…"
"What? But-but that's impossible!"
"I know, but it happened. He said that the Evangelion may be the thing that is stopping people from returning to Earth…"
"So did Ayanami…" he said softly.
"But…how, Shinji? How can we kill something like that? I couldn't even beat it in my Eva…"
"I don't know, but I think our best bet would be to keep looking through the Geofront. There should be some sort of weapons, or something. And we need to find food. We haven't eaten for a day."
She nodded, and they both crawled out of the futon. They stared at each other, and lacking something to say, both left the room.
Hours later, they stumbled across a cafeteria. Shinji breathed a sigh of relief. He had begun suspecting darkly that they would die of starvation in the Geofront. They searched the cafeteria thoroughly, looking for any food that had not spoiled in the time the cafeteria had been disused. They found several packages of ramen, and Shinji began cooking them while Asuka checked the cafeteria again. Her second search was as ineffective as the first, and they determined to ration what they had carefully before they found more. Shinji finished with the ramen, and it was served and eaten in silence. Their thoughts were both on the Evangelion and the impossibility forced upon them. They had nothing but normal weapons, and that was proven ineffective. Shinji and Asuka still did not know how Shinji had managed to wound the Eva with a pistol, when even a rocket launcher didn't even leave a dent. When the meal was finished, they packed up the remaining ramen and set out to search for something that could kill an Evangelion.
They returned to the cafeteria from a fruitless search. They had descended into the deepest levels of the Geofront, nearly to Terminal Dogma, and had found nearly nothing. They had found several pistols, but certainly nothing capable of killing an Eva. Shinji cooked, and Asuka sat at a table and thought. Shinji finished, and brought the ramen over. They ate once more without talking. Finally, Asuka broke the silence.
"Shinji…I've been meaning to ask…"
"About how I was able to shoot the Eva with a pistol without it being deflected by an A.T. Field?"
She nodded.
"I don't know, Asuka. The A.T. Field can stop an N^2 mine, but somehow…it couldn't stop a bullet. I just don't know…"
She lowered her head. He reached over and grabbed one of her hands in his.
"It doesn't matter, Asuka, at least not now. We need to get some rest, and maybe it will come to us."
They left the cafeteria and began the trek back to their room.
The walked in the room and crawled into their futon in silence. They looked at each other across the futon.
"Uh…I…G-goodnight, Asuka…"
He jumped as she put her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.
"Goodnight, Shinji."
"You've done well, kids."
Misato smiled, facing them across the table. They were in Misato's apartment, which was, for all appearances, intact. Shinji and Asuka chose to take this in stride.
"You're just looking in the wrong place, that's all," she continued, in a bright and chipper voice, "It's all just a matter of perspective!"
Asuka snorted.
"Easy for you to say! You haven't had to search through the stupid Geofront for the whole day and find nothing!"
Misato looked hurt.
"Aww, Asuka, there's no need to get upset." She smiled teasingly. "You guys look so cute when you're sleeping."
"Misato!" Shinji said, shocked. "You've been watching us?"
"Yeah, and you two look like a couple of lovebirds. It's adorable. I never really took you as the romantic type though, Asuka."
Asuka turned beet red.
"Hehe, you two are such fun to tease."
Asuka turned away angrily.
"Why are you here, Misato?" Shinji asked quietly.
She looked at him, serious now.
"You can't kill the Evangelion with normal weapons. You should know better than that."
Asuka turned back.
"But…but Shinji shot it in the eye with one of your pistols! How do you explain that?"
Misato shook her head slowly.
"I can't tell you. If I do, it could ruin everything. You'll have to figure it out on your own."
Asuka grabbed Misato by the front of her shirt and shook her.
"What the hell are we supposed to do then? Can't you tell us anything?"
Misato pulled Asuka's hands off of her shirt.
"I'm not the only one keeping secrets, Asuka. You haven't told Shinji about the Dead Lands, have you?"
Asuka turned white.
"N-no…I didn't want to…I can't …I…"
Shinji turned to her.
"What is Misato talking about, Asuka? What are the Dead Lands?"
Asuka looked down, silent.
"It's where we are, Shinji." Misato said sadly. "All the people who were brought together by Instrumentality, to you the Third Impact, have been…well, for want of a better word, stolen. Asuka was down there. She saw the Dead Lands when she almost died under that piece of concrete."
Shinji turned to Asuka, who was trembling. He put his arms around her. Her trembling became sobs.
"I saw Mama down there! Mama and everyone else! They were all…dead…"
Misato nodded.
"Not surprising. All the souls who have ever been would have been gathered by Instrumentality."
This did little to comfort Asuka. She continued to sob, as Shinji held her and tried to provide what comfort he could.
"You know what would help? Beer. You want one, Asuka? It always cheers me up."
Shinji looked at her venomously.
"Sorry, sorry." She took a sip of her beer and immediately spit it out. The liquid that hit the table was not beer, however. It was blood. She threw it away, and turned to Shinji, her eyes wide with fear.
"I've stayed too long! He's here!"
The shadows behind her coalesced, forming something horrific. From them stepped a shape cloaked entirely in black. From it's shadowed cowl dripped a constant waterfall of blood. It pooled on the floor at his feet. Asuka stopped crying and stared, horrorstruck. A voice emanated from the cowl, filled with hatred and a dark, dark insanity.
"You try to betray me, woman?"
Misato tried to stand up but failed.
"You bastard! You have no place here! Leave!"
He laughed cruelly and beckoned with one hand. Misato rose like a puppet on a string and glided over the floor towards him. She stopped inches in front of his face, her whole body trembling.
"I shall. But you are coming with me. You shall be…punished for your insubordination."
She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.
"Get the hell away from her!"
The thing looked up, and the sudden movement caused blood to splatter all over Misato's face. She whimpered.
Shinji stood at the other end of the room, his face dark with fury, one fist raised in challenge. Asuka was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she, boy? Where is the girl?"
The answer came a second later as Asuka tackled him from the side. He never budged. He laughed again, a horrible sound. One hand reached down and grabbed her by the throat. He raised her into the light and squeezed. She began to choke, her hands scrabbling to pull his claws away.
"ASUKA!" Shinji screamed in fury as he lunged across the room. He was less than a foot away when he suddenly stopped in midair. The cloaked thing hardly spared him a glance. Asuka was turning blue, her eyes bulging. In a last, desperate attempt to save herself, she reached into the cowl. The thing dropped her, pulling away. Misato and Shinji also tumbled to the floor. The thing stood over her, blood pouring from his cowl and onto Asuka's chest.
"You will regret that, girl. You will pay dearly. But I have wasted enough time here."
He motioned, and Misato faded into nothing. He then grabbed Asuka and threw her across the room into Shinji.
"We will meet again, Children. And when we do, you shall be testament to horrors you have yet to imagine."
Shinji jumped to his feet, supporting Asuka.
"Who are you, and what the hell have you done to Misato?"
"My name, Children, is Malkiah. Remember it, Children, for it is the last name you shall ever hear in your pathetic, insignificant little lives. The bell tolls for thee, Children, and is not the sound sweet?"
He faded from the dream, laughing.
To be continued…
Whee! God, I love cliffhangers. As a wise man once said: "Thy readers shalt like thy story better if thou haveth cliffhangers. And sex." Actually, I'm pretty sure I made that up. Whole lot of surprises this chapter. I guess the Eva isn't the biggest threat after all, although he certainly is one big goddamn threat. Misato, Kaji and Rei will have parts to play in the coming chapters, so don't worry about that. Boy, I kinda treated Misato crappy, didn't I? I even ruined her beer. Ouch. Well, I'll make it up to her. The next chapter is coming up, tentatively titled Deus Ex Machina/Within, Without. At least one huge surprise coming up. If you are wondering, there will be four books total, and most likely an epilogue. And after that? Well, anything can happen…
And now, an Essay on Evangelion. This essay is even more egotistical and opinion forcing than the last, so if I were you, I would close this window and back slowly from the computer before turning and running like all the demons of hell were after you. For God's sake, run! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN! Don't say I didn't warn you…
An Essay on Evangelion
Part 2
The greatest weakness of most
humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love
them while they're alive. - O.A. Battista
"Hopeless romantics are only hopeless in the
eyes of those who don't believe in romance."
-Anonymous
This essay concerns a topic of the fiercest debate. The topic, you ask? Asuka and Shinji. Those of you who are rolling your eyes, get out right now. I can never change your mind, so I'm not even going to bother. I am sick of all this debate and venom and hatred, and it has no place anywhere near this story. Now, to Shinji and Asuka. Why do I think they should be together? Simple question, simple answer. They need each other. To expound, I believe firmly that Asuka is the only person in NGE that needs Shinji and vice versa. I can see Rei living a happy and full life without Shinji, but I cannot say the same for Asuka. An example: I have read many romantic fan fics, both with Rei/Shinji pairings and Asuka/Shinji pairings, and I have noticed an odd pattern. In the Asuka/Shinji fics, Rei is either not used at all, which is relatively rare, or she is used well. She is not abused or maligned. She is not made the subject of scorn. Her relationship with Shinji usually stays the same. However, in Rei/Shinji fics, Asuka almost always, to put it bluntly, gets it up the ass. She is treated as stupid, and in nearly every fic stays from beginning to end a self-righteous bitch. That is another reason why Asuka needs Shinji. Without him she will always be a bitch. He can see past her veneer, he has been able to since episode nine when he saw her crying for her mother in her sleep, and without someone to see her for what she is, she will never truly change. She will always be a shattered little girl that promised never to cry again. Shinji does love Rei, and she loves him. I would never argue that. But I believe a romantic relationship between the two could not/should not happen. Their relationship is something different, as Shinji has said many times. Perhaps it is the fact that she is the partial clone of his mother, and understands him in a way few could. I think their relationship would be far more beautiful if it was not romantic, but more than a simple friendship. However, my opinion is tempered by my belief that Shinji and Asuka need each other.
Another reason I see Shinji and Asuka together is the End of Evangelion. The final scene of End of Evangelion is representative of Asuka finally realizing and accepting this need, hence the title One More Final: I Need You. But overall, my reason for wanting them together is simple: I love them, and I love them together.
For, I see, in my mind's eye, a scene of beauty:
I see a girl walking along a green forest path, her auburn hair catching the setting sun and reflecting it in a million shattered prisms. She is with a boy, a boy who is slight of build and strong of heart, who walks beside her. He looks over at her, cautiously, and extends one hand slowly towards hers. She turns to him and smiles, then grabs his hand hard in hers and begins to run down the path. They break out of the forest and into the sunlight, and they stop. They are standing at the edge of a cliff, looking over the misted lushness of the horizon. She sits down, pulling him down roughly with him. They sit together, watching the sunset. She sees how he sneaks almost constant looks at her out of the corner of her eyes. Finally, as the sun dwindles to little more than a point on the horizon, and the land fades into star-speckled night, she grabs him by the shirt and pulls him forward, kissing him on the lips. He is shocked for a moment, then his shock fades into bliss as they kiss under a rapidly growing blanket of stars.
I see them there, and from that I can be happy. I can be happy because I know that no matter what direction my life takes me, be it a wasted life or a blessed one, there will always be one beautiful thing, one true thing. And as I lay on my deathbed I will think of that great truth, and I will smile. I will die smiling, for and because of them. And, this being a day of visions, I see one final thing. One day, I hope, I pray, that I will walk with them, walk through a forest of green beauty and unending light. Is that so much to ask? I love you, Asuka. I love you, Shinji. I love you all and I hope to walk with you one day in that place where hatred and suffering are dreams within dreams and the light is all.
Direct your comments, criticisms, flames, and money to