Chapter 14: Rejuvenation
Shinji found himself standing inside the corridor that Evans, Adam, had shot him. He suddenly saw that Evans also had a bloody hole in his head, but it wasn't from his gun. It was from Misato's. She ran over and picked up Shinji's body.
"Shinji! Shinji!"
Shinji looked down and saw that Misato was holding his body.
"Then where am I?"
"I did kill your body."
Shinji turned and saw Evans.
"I'm afraid that we can't bring it back."
"But how am I supposed to help Asuka now?"
"You don't need a body to sync with an EVA. Just a soul."
Shinji smiled and nodded. "But what about Misato?"
"She can believe what she wants. But if she hurts Maya, there might be a problem."
"Just don't hurt her. I'll explain everything to her when everything is over."
"I wish you luck. The major hates Angels for destroying her family."
Shinji ran down the corridor and disappeared.
The MP EVAs that Seele still controlled had arrived and were all attacking Asuka together. She ripped one's shoulder apart and blocked another one.
"Where are you Shinji."
She was starting to give up hope. Shinji wasn't going to come to save her. She had lost him. She had lost him to Rei and she just couldn't do anything about it.
"Asuka's destabilizing," said Makoto, "We can't stop it."
"Asuka!" said Maya, "You have to focus or you'll lose!"
"What's the point !" screamed Asuka, "I don't care anymore!"
The sync rate took a nosedive.
"Damn it," said Makoto, "Major, this is Makoto. Where is Shinji? We need him or Asuka's going to die."
He looked down at the dead body of Fuyutsuki. The vice-commander had saved their lives in a vicious gunfight with Japanese soldiers. Now, they might be dead anyways because of the MP EVAs.
Misato couldn't respond to Makoto. She hugged Shinji's body and tried to convince herself it was just a bad dream. Then, she felt a presence rise from beneath NERV. That woke her.
"Shinji is dead," she whispered into her radio before switching it off.
She got up and let Shinji's body fall again. Misato started walking back to the command center.
"Unit 01 and 07 are activating," said Maya, "I don't know how this is possible. 01 registers Shinji as piloting it and 07 registers Rei as piloting it. But I don't see them anywhere!"
"Unit 01 has moved onto the launch pad. As has Unit 07. Should I launch them?"
"Yes," said Maya, "Asuka needs all the help she can get."
Shigeru executed the order and the two EVA units shot up onto the surface.
Asuka thought she was dreaming, but another MP EVA appeared. Not only that, Unit 01 had come up. Shinji was back. Suddenly, her power shut off, completely depleted.
"Damn it! Shinji's here! Let me fight with him!"
Shinji was sitting inside the plug. He ejected the power cable and called upon the S-2 Engine. The power from it soon energized him. He charged at the MP EVAs. The first one to get in his way was toppled onto the ground as Shinji jumped onto it. He smashed its head to a bloody pulp and started tearing apart the armor it wore. Shinji located the core and grabbed it. It slowly gave way and he tore it completely out of the EVA unit. The MP EVA fell and stayed down. Shinji crushed the core with EVA 01's bare hands. He then turned to the other EVAs.
"My god," said Makoto, "What the hell is going on?"
"Is that a dummy plug?" asked Shigeru.
"Unit 07 has a dummy plug, but it isn't the one from before. It isn't Rei. But Unit 01's computer keeps insisting that Shinji is piloting it."
Misato came up on the elevator.
"Major! Unit 01 and 07 are outside engaging the enemy!"
"What? But Shinji's dead."
"But then who is piloting Unit 01?" said Maya.
"Wait, I'm getting a visual."
On the screen, a fuzzy image of Shinji appeared.
"Shinji?" said Misato.
Shinji suddenly blinked out. Then, he reappeared, and disappeared again.
"What is going on?" said Misato.
"Confirmed," said Maya, "The dummy plug is the model B type. Its development took place outside of NERV. But how did we get one?"
"You underestimate the commander my dear."
The techs and Misato all spun around and saw Evans standing in front of the elevator. Misato whipped out her gun and opened fire. Each bullet struck his AT-Field and bounced harmlessly off.
"Stop wasting your bullets," said Evans, "You can't harm me."
"What are you!" Misato demanded, "Why did you kill Shinji!"
"If I had killed Shinji he wouldn't be piloting Unit 01."
"Shinji isn't in 01! We can't even see him!"
"Indeed? I guess his AT-Field is still a bit unstable. But I'm sure he will fix that very soon."
"Evans," Maya said quietly, "What are you?"
"I am the first Angel. I am Adam."
"You killed my father!" raged Misato.
"Your father was trying to control me. What do you think I was supposed to do? Let humans tame me? I think not. That was the price you paid for attempting to control an Angel, and you paid it in blood."
"You killed that many people?" said Maya, "Just for revenge?"
"Maya, if I had wanted to kill for revenge, I would not be here. We Angels do not kill for pleasure or for revenge. We kill in defense."
"You lie!" screamed Misato, "You took my father's life and the other scientists' lives as well!"
"Personally, in my opinion that is the smallest of your problems right now. You currently have to face down several MP EVAs and I do think you should focus on that."
Makoto returned his gaze back to the main screen and saw that Shinji was tearing through his third MP EVA. The carcasses of the other two were strung all over the battlefield.
"I don't think Shinji will need our help," he said.
"You wish," said Evans.
Suddenly alarms started ringing again.
"I'm detecting an AT-Field from underneath," said Shigeru, "It's extremely powerful."
Just then a massive white form rose out from underneath the main office. Its hand passed through Maya and she screamed out. Evans ran over and held her.
"It's okay," he whispered, "Just let it pass. Don't fight it."
Maya slowly began to stop convulsing. She finally settled down and cried in Evans' arms.
"Why are you here?" Misato demanded.
"I am here to protect the ones I care about," said Evans, "If you don't like that or if you just won't admit it to yourself that an Angel can love, I suggest you refrain from attempting to hurt me or Maya."
"An Angel can't love," Misato insisted, "You're all cold blooded murderers."
"If that were true, you would already be dead."
Misato just couldn't accept that a human would ever love an Angel. No. Maya didn't have a choice. She didn't know, and Evans probably was making her love him. Just like with Tabris. Tabris made Shinji be his friend.
"Major, if you think up any more insults regarding Shinji or my children, I swear I will kill you."
Misato narrowed her eyes. "Stay out of my mind."
"Or what? You're broadcasting all this and I can hear every word of it. If you can't accept that we Angels are not really that different from you humans, then you will not only have a problem with me but with Shinji as well."
"Shinji will take my side," Misato said confidently.
"Really? So why do you think he reacted so violently when you said that Kaworu was an Angel and didn't deserve to be Shinji's friend, that Kaworu couldn't have been his friend because he was an Angel?"
"Uh, Major, Colonel."
Evans and Misato looked over to Makoto.
"That odd white creature has surfaced on the planet."
"Get me a communications link with Unit 01," ordered Evans.
"Belay that," said Misato, "I'm not going to let you poison his mind."
Evans just waved his hand and a link opened.
"Shinji, this is Evans. Lilith is coming out but she's merged with Rei. You can't do anything to get her out by yourself, but you have to stop her. Lilith is confused and she doesn't understand what she is doing. You have to kill her."
"No Shinji," said Misato, "We can't trust this Angel. For all we know, he wants you to kill Rei and initiate the Third Impact."
There was silence for a few seconds before Shinji responded.
"Thanks for the warning Evans," he replied, "I'm on my way. But is there a way to save Rei?"
"Yes, but only if she is separated from Lilith."
"Shinji! You trust this thing over me?"
"Misato, Evans is the one who taught me to control my AT-Field. Without it, I couldn't have protected Asuka."
He terminated the link and dropped the fifth MP EVA he had mutilated. The other three tried to follow him, but Unit 07 came to life and blocked their way.
Shinji saw that Unit 02's entry plug had ejected. He found Asuka but couldn't do anything about it right now. He needed to kill Lilith to stop her. He knew that Evans was trying to set everything right, but Shinji was still unsure. But he had a job to do in order to protect the human race.
End of Chapter 14
Note to self: protect myself from prereader.
Z98
Shinji found himself standing inside the corridor that Evans, Adam, had shot him. He suddenly saw that Evans also had a bloody hole in his head, but it wasn't from his gun. It was from Misato's. She ran over and picked up Shinji's body.
"Shinji! Shinji!"
Shinji looked down and saw that Misato was holding his body.
"Then where am I?"
"I did kill your body."
Shinji turned and saw Evans.
"I'm afraid that we can't bring it back."
"But how am I supposed to help Asuka now?"
"You don't need a body to sync with an EVA. Just a soul."
Shinji smiled and nodded. "But what about Misato?"
"She can believe what she wants. But if she hurts Maya, there might be a problem."
"Just don't hurt her. I'll explain everything to her when everything is over."
"I wish you luck. The major hates Angels for destroying her family."
Shinji ran down the corridor and disappeared.
The MP EVAs that Seele still controlled had arrived and were all attacking Asuka together. She ripped one's shoulder apart and blocked another one.
"Where are you Shinji."
She was starting to give up hope. Shinji wasn't going to come to save her. She had lost him. She had lost him to Rei and she just couldn't do anything about it.
"Asuka's destabilizing," said Makoto, "We can't stop it."
"Asuka!" said Maya, "You have to focus or you'll lose!"
"What's the point !" screamed Asuka, "I don't care anymore!"
The sync rate took a nosedive.
"Damn it," said Makoto, "Major, this is Makoto. Where is Shinji? We need him or Asuka's going to die."
He looked down at the dead body of Fuyutsuki. The vice-commander had saved their lives in a vicious gunfight with Japanese soldiers. Now, they might be dead anyways because of the MP EVAs.
Misato couldn't respond to Makoto. She hugged Shinji's body and tried to convince herself it was just a bad dream. Then, she felt a presence rise from beneath NERV. That woke her.
"Shinji is dead," she whispered into her radio before switching it off.
She got up and let Shinji's body fall again. Misato started walking back to the command center.
"Unit 01 and 07 are activating," said Maya, "I don't know how this is possible. 01 registers Shinji as piloting it and 07 registers Rei as piloting it. But I don't see them anywhere!"
"Unit 01 has moved onto the launch pad. As has Unit 07. Should I launch them?"
"Yes," said Maya, "Asuka needs all the help she can get."
Shigeru executed the order and the two EVA units shot up onto the surface.
Asuka thought she was dreaming, but another MP EVA appeared. Not only that, Unit 01 had come up. Shinji was back. Suddenly, her power shut off, completely depleted.
"Damn it! Shinji's here! Let me fight with him!"
Shinji was sitting inside the plug. He ejected the power cable and called upon the S-2 Engine. The power from it soon energized him. He charged at the MP EVAs. The first one to get in his way was toppled onto the ground as Shinji jumped onto it. He smashed its head to a bloody pulp and started tearing apart the armor it wore. Shinji located the core and grabbed it. It slowly gave way and he tore it completely out of the EVA unit. The MP EVA fell and stayed down. Shinji crushed the core with EVA 01's bare hands. He then turned to the other EVAs.
"My god," said Makoto, "What the hell is going on?"
"Is that a dummy plug?" asked Shigeru.
"Unit 07 has a dummy plug, but it isn't the one from before. It isn't Rei. But Unit 01's computer keeps insisting that Shinji is piloting it."
Misato came up on the elevator.
"Major! Unit 01 and 07 are outside engaging the enemy!"
"What? But Shinji's dead."
"But then who is piloting Unit 01?" said Maya.
"Wait, I'm getting a visual."
On the screen, a fuzzy image of Shinji appeared.
"Shinji?" said Misato.
Shinji suddenly blinked out. Then, he reappeared, and disappeared again.
"What is going on?" said Misato.
"Confirmed," said Maya, "The dummy plug is the model B type. Its development took place outside of NERV. But how did we get one?"
"You underestimate the commander my dear."
The techs and Misato all spun around and saw Evans standing in front of the elevator. Misato whipped out her gun and opened fire. Each bullet struck his AT-Field and bounced harmlessly off.
"Stop wasting your bullets," said Evans, "You can't harm me."
"What are you!" Misato demanded, "Why did you kill Shinji!"
"If I had killed Shinji he wouldn't be piloting Unit 01."
"Shinji isn't in 01! We can't even see him!"
"Indeed? I guess his AT-Field is still a bit unstable. But I'm sure he will fix that very soon."
"Evans," Maya said quietly, "What are you?"
"I am the first Angel. I am Adam."
"You killed my father!" raged Misato.
"Your father was trying to control me. What do you think I was supposed to do? Let humans tame me? I think not. That was the price you paid for attempting to control an Angel, and you paid it in blood."
"You killed that many people?" said Maya, "Just for revenge?"
"Maya, if I had wanted to kill for revenge, I would not be here. We Angels do not kill for pleasure or for revenge. We kill in defense."
"You lie!" screamed Misato, "You took my father's life and the other scientists' lives as well!"
"Personally, in my opinion that is the smallest of your problems right now. You currently have to face down several MP EVAs and I do think you should focus on that."
Makoto returned his gaze back to the main screen and saw that Shinji was tearing through his third MP EVA. The carcasses of the other two were strung all over the battlefield.
"I don't think Shinji will need our help," he said.
"You wish," said Evans.
Suddenly alarms started ringing again.
"I'm detecting an AT-Field from underneath," said Shigeru, "It's extremely powerful."
Just then a massive white form rose out from underneath the main office. Its hand passed through Maya and she screamed out. Evans ran over and held her.
"It's okay," he whispered, "Just let it pass. Don't fight it."
Maya slowly began to stop convulsing. She finally settled down and cried in Evans' arms.
"Why are you here?" Misato demanded.
"I am here to protect the ones I care about," said Evans, "If you don't like that or if you just won't admit it to yourself that an Angel can love, I suggest you refrain from attempting to hurt me or Maya."
"An Angel can't love," Misato insisted, "You're all cold blooded murderers."
"If that were true, you would already be dead."
Misato just couldn't accept that a human would ever love an Angel. No. Maya didn't have a choice. She didn't know, and Evans probably was making her love him. Just like with Tabris. Tabris made Shinji be his friend.
"Major, if you think up any more insults regarding Shinji or my children, I swear I will kill you."
Misato narrowed her eyes. "Stay out of my mind."
"Or what? You're broadcasting all this and I can hear every word of it. If you can't accept that we Angels are not really that different from you humans, then you will not only have a problem with me but with Shinji as well."
"Shinji will take my side," Misato said confidently.
"Really? So why do you think he reacted so violently when you said that Kaworu was an Angel and didn't deserve to be Shinji's friend, that Kaworu couldn't have been his friend because he was an Angel?"
"Uh, Major, Colonel."
Evans and Misato looked over to Makoto.
"That odd white creature has surfaced on the planet."
"Get me a communications link with Unit 01," ordered Evans.
"Belay that," said Misato, "I'm not going to let you poison his mind."
Evans just waved his hand and a link opened.
"Shinji, this is Evans. Lilith is coming out but she's merged with Rei. You can't do anything to get her out by yourself, but you have to stop her. Lilith is confused and she doesn't understand what she is doing. You have to kill her."
"No Shinji," said Misato, "We can't trust this Angel. For all we know, he wants you to kill Rei and initiate the Third Impact."
There was silence for a few seconds before Shinji responded.
"Thanks for the warning Evans," he replied, "I'm on my way. But is there a way to save Rei?"
"Yes, but only if she is separated from Lilith."
"Shinji! You trust this thing over me?"
"Misato, Evans is the one who taught me to control my AT-Field. Without it, I couldn't have protected Asuka."
He terminated the link and dropped the fifth MP EVA he had mutilated. The other three tried to follow him, but Unit 07 came to life and blocked their way.
Shinji saw that Unit 02's entry plug had ejected. He found Asuka but couldn't do anything about it right now. He needed to kill Lilith to stop her. He knew that Evans was trying to set everything right, but Shinji was still unsure. But he had a job to do in order to protect the human race.
End of Chapter 14
Note to self: protect myself from prereader.
Z98