NGE: Aftermath
*~*~*~*
Chapter 4: Old acquaintances
Shinji was sitting in the debriefing room. Asuka had just left and he was now alone in front of Misato and Ritsuko.
"Tell us about the S2 Engine." Ritsuko asked.
"I've never said that to anybody, but after my fight against the fourteenth Angel, once I came back from my Eva, I just knew how to use it. I used it when I was fighting the Eva series, back to the Third Impact."
"And you never bothered to tell us."
"Misato, it's not really something I can explain to the others. The two first times, I did it by instinct. I've spent loads of time thinking about how it goes on. I wasn't even sure it would work at will. But I knew how to come back. And I'm still in control of my Eva when the S2 Engine is on. It's just that I must take the natural savagery of my Eva in count."
**I'm not savage!** said Gulprith.
**Oh yes, you are!** came Shinji's reply.
"Can't you try to explain how you turned it on?" asked Ritsuko with a hint of hope in her voice.
"Sorry, I can't. I've already tried to write it down, but I can't explain. It's just something that I know since my Eva turned it on the first time. I guess it will work the same for the others."
"OK," said Misato, "but next time don't turn the COM and the video off."
"I'm not sure it will work if they're on."
"We'll try that tomorrow." Ritsuko said with confidence.
"Dismissed."
Shinji stood up and left. Tomorrow synch test would be interesting, for once.
*~*~*~*
Shinji breathed deeply the LCL before opening his eyes. Then, he contacted Gulprith.
**What do we do about the COM and the video?**
**You know it can work. It's just that see your body disappeared into the LCL could be a bit traumatising for your friends.**
Shinji looked up to the other pilots, Misato, Ritsuko and the rest of the Nerv personnel. They were all there, looking down at him or up to the main screen of the command centre.
**Well, they came to see a show. Let's show them something that they will remember in their worst nightmares!**
Gulprith laughed lightly at these words.
"Ignition of the S2 Engine." Shinji said calmly into his microphone, closing his eyes.
And once again, Gulprith took full command of his body.
Shinji opened his eyes and saw the horror-struck faces of his friends through Gulprith's eyes. It was lucky they couldn't see his smile or Gulprith's.
**Let's end it or they will send Asuka to take you back.**
Shinji laughed and returned inside his Entry Plug.
"The only problem is that I always come back without my plug suit on." Shinji said jokingly when he appeared back in the cockpit of his Eva.
For the rest of the day, Shinji tested the S2 Engine of the Eva 01.
*~*~*~*
Shinji was shopping when a sensation of déjà-vu made him looked up from the box of cereal he had in his hands. There was nobody inside the shop, except Misato, himself and another young man. Looking more closely at the stranger, Shinji knew why he had had this sensation: the boy's hair was exactly the same colour as Kaworu's. Shinji smiled as he thought about the last Angel. When Gulprith had told him that back-up were on their way, the Third Child had begun to hope that meant Kaworu.
Shinji looked at the boy some more time. He definitely had the same hair as the last Angel, but far much longer, for they stopped near the middle of his back. He was wearing dusty black jeans and a sleeveless white shirt. A curious tattoo, showing a cross between two wings, one of an angel and the other of a demon, was painted on his left arm. But Shinji couldn't see the stranger's face, hidden by his hair and big black sunglasses.
"Ready?"
Shinji snapped out of his fixation on the stranger and turned his eyes toward Misato's.
"Yeah." he said as he put the cereals in the basket.
They headed toward the cash desk and paid for their purchases. Then, they walked their way to Misato's car. But they had just stepped outside when someone put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. The pilot turned round to see the stranger from the shop, with a finger across his lips. With a smile, he made slide his sunglasses down and revealed two bright red eyes. Shinji smiled happily to Kaworu, as the Angel pushed his glasses back on his nose and gave his friend a piece of paper. With another smile, Kaworu walked in the opposite direction Misato had walked. Shinji put Kaworu's note in his pocket and ran after Misato, before she even notice he had been stopped.
Later, in his room, Shinji took a deep breath, before reading the note. It was an address and a phone number. With a big smile, Shinji took his mobile and dialled the number.
"Moshi moshi?" said a female voice.
"It's Shinji."
"Well, it's really nice to call. I suppose that you'd seen Tabris, I mean Kaworu. He's not back yet."
"Can I know who's talking?"
"Don't remember me, do you? Well, it's kind of normal, you've never heard me before. It's Shamsel!"
For a second, Shinji stayed silent. "You mean, you're the Fourth Angel?"
"That's exactly what I mean"
"So, the Angels are back in town!" said Shinji happily. "Wait that the Nerv learn about that!"
"You know, as we all have a human form now, there's no way they found out." Shamsel laughed.
"If you use your Angel's names or if you all have red eyes, they will."
"No, we all have new identities. And no one has red eyes, except for Tabris when he uses his powers. My name is now Lika Asano. Tabris kept Kaworu as his first name but its quite common. He took the same last name. In fact, the whole Asano family is the reborn Angels."
"Is everybody already here?"
"No. There's only Sachiel, Tabris and me, for the moment. The others will come later. Oh, and I think that you will be very happy when this stupid Seele will try again to fight against the Nerv."
"Why?"
"Well, that's a surprise. I must go, I'm cooking and Sachiel will slice me if I let the dinner burnt. Oh, and congratulations for killing two white Evas. I'm sure that was a kind of a battle."
"Say hello to everyone for me. Bye!"
They both hung up at the same time and Shinji let himself fall on his bed, simply happy to know that his friends were back.
*~*~*~*
They were cold.
They were alone.
They, they heard voices, telling them what they had to do.
They smiled and spread their wings. Taking off, they screamed and soared through the air, flying toward their goal.
Tokyo-3.
*~*~*~*
Shinji yawned again as he put his plug suit on. He had talked with Gulprith a large part of the night and was now a bit tired. As he finished to zip his suit, the alarm went on. He rushed to the command centre to see a white Eva on the main screen.
"Didn't they have enough last time?" he spat.
All the other pilots turned toward him and Asuka smiled in a carnivorous way. Shinji almost felt pity for this white Eva.
"We will launch only three Evas. Asuka, you will take the front, Hikari the left side and Harry the right. The others, you will provide back up. Shinji, be ready to turn on your S2 Engine at my signal."
"Hai!" said the seven pilots.
Shinji ran to his Eva and almost jumped into his Entry Plug. He opened a link with Asuka, Hikari and Harry instantly.
"Good hunt, guys!"
"Believe me, it will be fast and furious." Asuka said with a smile.
"Evas 02, 05 and 06 ready to launch." Makoto said.
"Launch!" shouted Misato.
The three evangelions were rushed to the surface. Less than one minute later, they were in front of the White One. Suddenly, six more white Evas fell from the sky next to the other. Misato swore loudly.
"Forget the back-up. Launch the other Evas."
**We've just lost our advantage.** Shinji said to Gulprith.
**Not really!**
At the same moment, Shinji spotted Kaworu on the top of a building. He was with two other people, who were probably Sachiel and Shamsel. They waved him to look at the White Ones. Curiously, the white Evas didn't move. They were just standing there, seemingly waiting for them to do the first move. It's at this moment that Shinji saw that they were forming a circle. And, in the centre of this circle were standing three men.
"Misato? I think that we have guests!"
Misato turned toward Ritsuko, surprised and afraid by the hate contained in Shinji's voice. She knew only few people who could trigger off this kind of reaction.
"Find a camera which can show us these men!" Ristuko said quietly to Maya.
The technician ran her fingers on her keyboard and soon a picture appeared on the second screen of the command centre. Everyone in the room gasped when they recognised the men. Suddenly, the white Evas spread their wings. Three of them took the men in their hands and they took off, quickly followed by the others.
"Come back here." Misato murmured. And slowly, the Evas walked their way back into the Geofront. Now, everyone knew or would know. A Fourth Impact was coming.
*~*~*~*
Shinji was standing in front of a big mansion, not far away from Tokyo-3. He rang the bell and the door burst opened almost immediately.
"We knew you will come."
In front of the Third Child, a tall and muscular black boy was standing. He had long black dread-locks and deep brown eyes.
"Sachiel?"
"Yes and no. In this form, I'm Keichi Asano. Nice to see you again. Come in."
Shinji stepped in, took off his shoes and followed the Third Angel inside. They stopped inside the kitchen. Kaworu was here, as well as a stunningly beautiful girl, with shoulder length dark hair and icy blue eyes.
"Well, I suppose that you're Shamsel. I mean Lika." Shinji said with a smile.
The Fifth Angel smiled and showed him a chair. Shinji sat down. After some second of silence, Kaworu sighed and said:
"I suppose that you know what mean your father, Fuyutsuki and Keele together again."
Shinji only nodded, as he clenched his fists. "We have stopped the Third Impact. We can stop the Fourth as well!" said Keichi/Sachiel with a determined voice.
Lika/Shamsel nodded, then turned toward Shinji with a smile.
"It seems that you will have to wait a bit longer before seeing your surprise!"
These words broke the tension in the room and soon, the four of them were chatting happily. It was near 10 p.m. when Shinji phoned Misato to tell her he spent the night outside with some friends. She didn't ask questions and they hung up.
"When will you tell her?" asked Kaworu.
"Tell her what?" said Shinji innocently.
"You know, these three words that women craved to hear." Keichi replied with a laugh in his voice.
"She's 15 years older than me."
"And still single." Lika pointed out with a smile.
They spent the rest of the evening talking about that and a lot of other things, before heading to bed, long past midnight.
*~*~*~*
Chapter 4: Old acquaintances
Shinji was sitting in the debriefing room. Asuka had just left and he was now alone in front of Misato and Ritsuko.
"Tell us about the S2 Engine." Ritsuko asked.
"I've never said that to anybody, but after my fight against the fourteenth Angel, once I came back from my Eva, I just knew how to use it. I used it when I was fighting the Eva series, back to the Third Impact."
"And you never bothered to tell us."
"Misato, it's not really something I can explain to the others. The two first times, I did it by instinct. I've spent loads of time thinking about how it goes on. I wasn't even sure it would work at will. But I knew how to come back. And I'm still in control of my Eva when the S2 Engine is on. It's just that I must take the natural savagery of my Eva in count."
**I'm not savage!** said Gulprith.
**Oh yes, you are!** came Shinji's reply.
"Can't you try to explain how you turned it on?" asked Ritsuko with a hint of hope in her voice.
"Sorry, I can't. I've already tried to write it down, but I can't explain. It's just something that I know since my Eva turned it on the first time. I guess it will work the same for the others."
"OK," said Misato, "but next time don't turn the COM and the video off."
"I'm not sure it will work if they're on."
"We'll try that tomorrow." Ritsuko said with confidence.
"Dismissed."
Shinji stood up and left. Tomorrow synch test would be interesting, for once.
*~*~*~*
Shinji breathed deeply the LCL before opening his eyes. Then, he contacted Gulprith.
**What do we do about the COM and the video?**
**You know it can work. It's just that see your body disappeared into the LCL could be a bit traumatising for your friends.**
Shinji looked up to the other pilots, Misato, Ritsuko and the rest of the Nerv personnel. They were all there, looking down at him or up to the main screen of the command centre.
**Well, they came to see a show. Let's show them something that they will remember in their worst nightmares!**
Gulprith laughed lightly at these words.
"Ignition of the S2 Engine." Shinji said calmly into his microphone, closing his eyes.
And once again, Gulprith took full command of his body.
Shinji opened his eyes and saw the horror-struck faces of his friends through Gulprith's eyes. It was lucky they couldn't see his smile or Gulprith's.
**Let's end it or they will send Asuka to take you back.**
Shinji laughed and returned inside his Entry Plug.
"The only problem is that I always come back without my plug suit on." Shinji said jokingly when he appeared back in the cockpit of his Eva.
For the rest of the day, Shinji tested the S2 Engine of the Eva 01.
*~*~*~*
Shinji was shopping when a sensation of déjà-vu made him looked up from the box of cereal he had in his hands. There was nobody inside the shop, except Misato, himself and another young man. Looking more closely at the stranger, Shinji knew why he had had this sensation: the boy's hair was exactly the same colour as Kaworu's. Shinji smiled as he thought about the last Angel. When Gulprith had told him that back-up were on their way, the Third Child had begun to hope that meant Kaworu.
Shinji looked at the boy some more time. He definitely had the same hair as the last Angel, but far much longer, for they stopped near the middle of his back. He was wearing dusty black jeans and a sleeveless white shirt. A curious tattoo, showing a cross between two wings, one of an angel and the other of a demon, was painted on his left arm. But Shinji couldn't see the stranger's face, hidden by his hair and big black sunglasses.
"Ready?"
Shinji snapped out of his fixation on the stranger and turned his eyes toward Misato's.
"Yeah." he said as he put the cereals in the basket.
They headed toward the cash desk and paid for their purchases. Then, they walked their way to Misato's car. But they had just stepped outside when someone put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. The pilot turned round to see the stranger from the shop, with a finger across his lips. With a smile, he made slide his sunglasses down and revealed two bright red eyes. Shinji smiled happily to Kaworu, as the Angel pushed his glasses back on his nose and gave his friend a piece of paper. With another smile, Kaworu walked in the opposite direction Misato had walked. Shinji put Kaworu's note in his pocket and ran after Misato, before she even notice he had been stopped.
Later, in his room, Shinji took a deep breath, before reading the note. It was an address and a phone number. With a big smile, Shinji took his mobile and dialled the number.
"Moshi moshi?" said a female voice.
"It's Shinji."
"Well, it's really nice to call. I suppose that you'd seen Tabris, I mean Kaworu. He's not back yet."
"Can I know who's talking?"
"Don't remember me, do you? Well, it's kind of normal, you've never heard me before. It's Shamsel!"
For a second, Shinji stayed silent. "You mean, you're the Fourth Angel?"
"That's exactly what I mean"
"So, the Angels are back in town!" said Shinji happily. "Wait that the Nerv learn about that!"
"You know, as we all have a human form now, there's no way they found out." Shamsel laughed.
"If you use your Angel's names or if you all have red eyes, they will."
"No, we all have new identities. And no one has red eyes, except for Tabris when he uses his powers. My name is now Lika Asano. Tabris kept Kaworu as his first name but its quite common. He took the same last name. In fact, the whole Asano family is the reborn Angels."
"Is everybody already here?"
"No. There's only Sachiel, Tabris and me, for the moment. The others will come later. Oh, and I think that you will be very happy when this stupid Seele will try again to fight against the Nerv."
"Why?"
"Well, that's a surprise. I must go, I'm cooking and Sachiel will slice me if I let the dinner burnt. Oh, and congratulations for killing two white Evas. I'm sure that was a kind of a battle."
"Say hello to everyone for me. Bye!"
They both hung up at the same time and Shinji let himself fall on his bed, simply happy to know that his friends were back.
*~*~*~*
They were cold.
They were alone.
They, they heard voices, telling them what they had to do.
They smiled and spread their wings. Taking off, they screamed and soared through the air, flying toward their goal.
Tokyo-3.
*~*~*~*
Shinji yawned again as he put his plug suit on. He had talked with Gulprith a large part of the night and was now a bit tired. As he finished to zip his suit, the alarm went on. He rushed to the command centre to see a white Eva on the main screen.
"Didn't they have enough last time?" he spat.
All the other pilots turned toward him and Asuka smiled in a carnivorous way. Shinji almost felt pity for this white Eva.
"We will launch only three Evas. Asuka, you will take the front, Hikari the left side and Harry the right. The others, you will provide back up. Shinji, be ready to turn on your S2 Engine at my signal."
"Hai!" said the seven pilots.
Shinji ran to his Eva and almost jumped into his Entry Plug. He opened a link with Asuka, Hikari and Harry instantly.
"Good hunt, guys!"
"Believe me, it will be fast and furious." Asuka said with a smile.
"Evas 02, 05 and 06 ready to launch." Makoto said.
"Launch!" shouted Misato.
The three evangelions were rushed to the surface. Less than one minute later, they were in front of the White One. Suddenly, six more white Evas fell from the sky next to the other. Misato swore loudly.
"Forget the back-up. Launch the other Evas."
**We've just lost our advantage.** Shinji said to Gulprith.
**Not really!**
At the same moment, Shinji spotted Kaworu on the top of a building. He was with two other people, who were probably Sachiel and Shamsel. They waved him to look at the White Ones. Curiously, the white Evas didn't move. They were just standing there, seemingly waiting for them to do the first move. It's at this moment that Shinji saw that they were forming a circle. And, in the centre of this circle were standing three men.
"Misato? I think that we have guests!"
Misato turned toward Ritsuko, surprised and afraid by the hate contained in Shinji's voice. She knew only few people who could trigger off this kind of reaction.
"Find a camera which can show us these men!" Ristuko said quietly to Maya.
The technician ran her fingers on her keyboard and soon a picture appeared on the second screen of the command centre. Everyone in the room gasped when they recognised the men. Suddenly, the white Evas spread their wings. Three of them took the men in their hands and they took off, quickly followed by the others.
"Come back here." Misato murmured. And slowly, the Evas walked their way back into the Geofront. Now, everyone knew or would know. A Fourth Impact was coming.
*~*~*~*
Shinji was standing in front of a big mansion, not far away from Tokyo-3. He rang the bell and the door burst opened almost immediately.
"We knew you will come."
In front of the Third Child, a tall and muscular black boy was standing. He had long black dread-locks and deep brown eyes.
"Sachiel?"
"Yes and no. In this form, I'm Keichi Asano. Nice to see you again. Come in."
Shinji stepped in, took off his shoes and followed the Third Angel inside. They stopped inside the kitchen. Kaworu was here, as well as a stunningly beautiful girl, with shoulder length dark hair and icy blue eyes.
"Well, I suppose that you're Shamsel. I mean Lika." Shinji said with a smile.
The Fifth Angel smiled and showed him a chair. Shinji sat down. After some second of silence, Kaworu sighed and said:
"I suppose that you know what mean your father, Fuyutsuki and Keele together again."
Shinji only nodded, as he clenched his fists. "We have stopped the Third Impact. We can stop the Fourth as well!" said Keichi/Sachiel with a determined voice.
Lika/Shamsel nodded, then turned toward Shinji with a smile.
"It seems that you will have to wait a bit longer before seeing your surprise!"
These words broke the tension in the room and soon, the four of them were chatting happily. It was near 10 p.m. when Shinji phoned Misato to tell her he spent the night outside with some friends. She didn't ask questions and they hung up.
"When will you tell her?" asked Kaworu.
"Tell her what?" said Shinji innocently.
"You know, these three words that women craved to hear." Keichi replied with a laugh in his voice.
"She's 15 years older than me."
"And still single." Lika pointed out with a smile.
They spent the rest of the evening talking about that and a lot of other things, before heading to bed, long past midnight.
