Creation began on 02-02-21

Creation ended on 11-03-22

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Infinity Redemption: When and Where is Reality?

A/N: The search for the Reality Stone is upon us.

Knowing when the Reality Stone was last seen was an understatement. However, when Rumiko combined the power of the Time Stone with Shinji's Space Stone, it helped to find the location. Neither teen parent could really say for sure why, but both their Infinity Stones worked better together; the temporal manipulation and the omnipresence afforded by both enabled them to be where the stone was last seen…and know where to go to get it. The Reality Stone was…on a planet that could only be described as a mass graveyard because of the multitude of alien corpses that had rotted away to the bones.

"Ugh," Rumiko groaned as she covered her mouth.

In front of them, a dying humanoid walked by, carrying a canister with something red and glowing inside it. It placed the canister atop a podium-like structure…and then fell over after saying something they couldn't understand.

Shinji looked at the structure where the canister was placed and noticed unusual character markings inscribed on it. Since he barely understood himself, all he could do was assume was that they were some kind of warning to other beings…and this alien and others like it…must've waged war for several years for whatever was in the canister.

"Shinji," Rumiko uttered, holding his left hand, "can we stop and go back to the present?"

"Yeah," he answered her, and then held her in his arms. "Yeah, we've learned everything we need to know from this bit of history."

She wanted to go because the brutality of this place was making her sick, something Shinji could understand because it disgusted him to be anywhere death was present. As their stones stopped glowing, the two were returned to the sanctity of the of the church they were hiding in with their children and the orphans, sitting at a table where they had sat before their sojourn to find the location of the Reality Stone.

"You two were gone for almost ten minutes," said Shado to the teens as they let go of each other's right hand. "What did you see?"

"Unpleasant history," Shinji told his daughter. "A lot of people were fighting over one relic that was more dangerous than they could possibly imagine. In the end, it was locked away in the hopes that nobody would ever find it and misuse it."

"So…this red stone you're going to go get," went Toya as he brought a cup of water to his mother, "it's that bad?"

"It's only bad if misused," Rumiko told him, accepting the cup from her son. "Something can only be bad if it's not being used properly, like a car or a boat. You can use anything to do anything, but when you use it to do things you're not supposed to be doing, it becomes bad."

"Like…a knife?"

"Yes, Toya, exactly."

"So…this…'Rattlety' Stone," Shado expressed. "It is…not good or bad?"

"That's right, Shado," Shinji answered her. "It's neither good or bad."

"So…who will get it?"

Shinji and Rumiko looked at each other…and then at Sister Rosetta; they each had one of the six stones…but knew the temptation of having another, and they couldn't risk being tempted by the lure of power having a second stone could cause.

"For now, nobody, Shado," he told his daughter; as much as it was a goal to get the stones so they could find a place for themselves and the people that could come with them, it helped to have someone they could trust with holding the stones they couldn't hold.

"Is there someone we can trust with the Reality Stone that won't misuse it, Sister Rosetta?" Rumiko asked the mother superior.

"I'm afraid there isn't," she responded. "The Reality Stone represents the aspect of the universe that is reality itself. For anyone that seeks power, the ability to manipulate reality is a seductive force. And those whose hearts beat with the desire for power…are easily influenced. You two are among the exception because you don't desire power…but are aware of its seductiveness. You avoid it at all costs."

"Power corrupts," Shinji states, "and any power that borders on absolution…corrupts absolutely anyone that has it or seeks it."

"We don't seek power," Rumiko adds in. "We seek people we can trust, that won't abuse what we've found."

-x-

NERV was in a bind. The Fourth Angel hadn't reappeared since its minor appearance a day ago. While the paramilitary agency was on high alert, it had the personnel tense with concern over the likelihood that a different Angel could appear and attack them by surprise. What was worse was that they were split between being prepared to face the Angel and locating the missing Third Child, whom some were starting to suspect didn't want to be found by them at all.

"…We can't focus on looking for a kid that doesn't want to be found and a threat to the world at the same time, Ikari," said Fuyutsuki to Gendo in his office. "As much as it probably disgusts you to hear me say it, Ikari, we should cease all attempts to find your son if he has zero interest in returning to NERV and piloting the Eva."

But Gendo didn't want to stop looking for Shinji. So long as he saw a use for his son as the pilot of Unit-01, he refused to give up looking for him until he turned up and was brought back to pilot the Eva and face the Angels. And the First Child was still in recovery, making her inadequate for piloting the Eva until she had recovered enough, so the Third Child was necessary…until he wasn't, anymore.

"We can look for a suitable pilot elsewhere," Fuyutsuki told him. "The Second Child and Unit-02 are on their way here. And we have potential pilots that can be trained within a few days…"

"We need the Third Child to pilot Unit-01," Gendo responded. "There's no one else capable of piloting that particular Evangelion effectively."

"In this case, we may need to give up on 'effective' and accept 'acceptable'. There's no way of knowing where he went and we can't ask anyone if they've seen him because he's an unknown, Ikari. A nonentity, a nobody, a face in the crowd. If he wants to stay out of the spotlight, he'll stay in the shadows where nobody remotely gives a flying rat's ass where he is, and if he has his daughter with him, he'll do anything he has to in order to keep her close and safe."

The latest in surveillance technology, social media information on everyone with access to a computer, even security measures in facial recognition and DNA scanning to find people, and nobody could find one…insignificant…fourteen-year-old boy.

-x-

They could go and get the Reality Stone and hold it within the church, but Shinji and Rumiko couldn't have its power used without entrusting it to someone that they could trust with it. The power to reshape reality at will was among the powers that bordered on godhood, and while it would've been a great benefit to their desire to have a world of their own, it would've been the greatest of adversities if someone became compromised and misused its power in ways that hindered people. And Shinji, Rumiko and Sister Rosetta couldn't risk themselves having more than one of the six stones.

"…We fall down, but we get up," Shinji heard Rumiko say, sounding like she was singing. "We fall down, but we get up."

"What is that, Rumiko?" He asked her.

"Huh? Oh, it's just…a religious song that actually sounds like it's not religious in a way. It was made by this man in Two-Thousand. I don't remember his name, but it was a single. We Fall Down. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up again."

"Please…sing it for me."

As they were on the dead world where the Reality Stone was contained, Rumiko sung the song for Shinji.

"…We fall down…but we get up…we fall down…but we get up…for a saint is just a sinner who fell down…and got up again…get back up again…get back up again…" She sang, swaying her head as she spun around the ground. "You can get back up again…get back up again…for a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up. No matter where you are, no matter what you've done, you can get back up again, no matter how far you've fallen."

Shinji bobbed his head, admiring the song lyrics as they came to the container of the stone. There was something about the lyrics that spoke to him when he heard his childhood friend say it. They had both fallen, but had gotten back up, and he found her and they found their children and swore never to let go of them.

"Shinji?" Rumiko questioned.

"Get back up again, Rumiko," he told her. "We fell down…and got back up. We're not saints…but we're not sinners…because we got back up after falling on hard times. I'm glad we found each other. I glad we both have an Infinity Stone to help us reach a goal that can help people. I don't want to be around my parents and pilot the Eva again. I don't want to be separated from Shado again…and I don't want you to be separated from Toya again, regardless of who his father is. I want us to be together for as long as possible. What do you want?"

"I want the same, Shinji. You're my best friend…and I want to be more than friends…if it's even possible."

"We can get back up again and go down that path and see where it takes us."

Shinji raised his hands and the Space Stone erected a portal under the Reality Stone's container and sent it to the church.

"Sister Rosetta," Rumiko called through the portal, "were we clear?"

"You were clear," Sister Rosetta. "What is it like over there?"

"Awful," both teen parents replied.

"I believe you. Well, please, return to the sanctuary where it's more positive."

Shinji and Rumiko held hands and jumped through the portal, landing on the floor of the church's basement.

"Although ancient and not of this world," Sister Rosetta expressed as she looked at the podium-like structure that contained the canister for the Reality Stone, "I know many people dedicated to a cause fought and died for this stone that they believed would change things for them."

The three stonekeepers looked at the object that was in front of them and could feel the lure of the stone that beckoned someone to take possession of it…but knew better than to want it for themselves. There needed to be someone worthy of it, that could endure the responsibility that came with holding it and using its power for the good of the people.

"There has to be someone that we can trust with holding this stone," Rumiko expresses.

"Great things come to those who wait patiently," Sister Rosetta reminds the two teens.

"We should go be with our kids and relish mildly in the fact that all we need to do later is find the Mind Stone," Shinji accepts; they were in no hurry to go find the sixth stone, and he would rather enjoy the reprieve they had from dealing with the Angel that showed up…unless another one showed up or something else happened to compromise the delicate peace they found within the church.

"Yes, you two should go do that," Sister Rosetta told them. "For now, there is no immediate danger, either here or in your country of origin. Unless the stones inform us of such, we are free to return to what we do, for ourselves and others."

Rumiko accepted this truth and left with Shinji out of the basement, content with the knowledge that the Reality Stone would be safe here until they could find someone they could trust with it.

"Say, Shinji," she spoke, "what are the chances of another Angel appearing in Japan like the squid-like one we sent to parts unknown to mankind?"

"After being forced to confront one by my father and not knowing anything about any of what was going on, the chances of seeing another one of these…these monsters…is very likely. So…we may see another one of them. But you asking me has me thinking of something that is off by many levels."

"In what ways?"

"The woman with the purple hair I mentioned to you, Misato Katsuragi, said these Angels were out to destroy the human race, that something terrible occurred fifteen years ago to cause these creatures to appear in the here and now. But so far, only two have shown up, both times in Japan, and both times heading to Tokyo-3."

"And that's odd because why?"

"Doesn't it seem unusual that two creatures larger than any animal to have ever existed before on the planet only showed up to attack some city in Japan, not even trying to attack some other part of the world, like China, Russia or even here in the US?"

"You think these creatures are solely interested in Japan to the point of ignoring the rest of the world? If so, the question would be: Why? But to be sure, we'd have to see at least one or two more show up to attack Japan…or Tokyo-3, then we'd have our proof if they're only interested in that part of the world."

"If they show up again, then we'll just relocate them to some other place unknown to mankind."

"But then, we'd have to be like spies or something if it does turn out that they're only interested in Japan for some reason."

Shinji didn't want to confirm or deny this likely possibility, but if they did discover two more Angels that did what the previous two did, then…yes, they would have to. He mainly didn't want to think about it because he didn't want to risk being seen by anyone at NERV; the chances of being caught, locked up or worse were too great a risk…and what he had already decided upon would never come to pass when they were able to reach that day they could leave this all behind and never have to look back. It seemed like a dream that would never be realized, but it was one he wanted to pursue because all he had in his life to live for…were those that gave it a reason for him to go on. This…was the reality he was in.

Are we…going to have to deal with these creatures that may be interested in just Japan before we can reach a goal that is possible and has hope for the people here? Shinji asked the Space Singularity within his stone.

In answer to your question, it responded to him, there is an inevitability in what is to come. The Time and Soul Singularities and I will converse over the matter and will reveal the truth to you within three hours of your world's time.

Thank you.

"Hey, Shinji," went Rumiko, "did your stone just speak to you?"

"Uh, yeah," he answers her. "Did yours speak to you?"

"Yeah. Our three stones will be speaking about what's going on for three hours and we'll know what to expect."

"Three hours. A lot can happen in three hours."

"You're worried?"

"What my parents did… I don't want their sins to weigh on me or anyone else just because they made choices that carried repercussions."

"Everyone makes choices that carry consequences, Shinji. The only thing that matters in the end…is whether or not we walk away from the problems created by others. We walked away from the problems those that came before us created…and we make our own problems that we try to resolve our own way…because we can't and shouldn't resolve their problems that they should be able to resolve themselves."

"Current generations can't be burdened with the mistakes of the previous generations. If they fall because of them…then they fall because they didn't pick themselves back up."

A small ball rolled down the hall towards them and stopped at Rumiko's feet.

"It rolled down this way," she heard her son's voice as he came around the corner to get the ball. "Mommy, you're back. Were you able to get it?"

"We got it, sweetie," she told him.

"But…you still need someone that can use it without being anything like…the bad man from the bad place we were sent to last year?"

Even if it was only a few days ago, Shinji and Rumiko didn't expect their children to just forget about the guy that had the Power Stone last before Shinji dealt with him that night. And their exposure to the stones was such that they were learning that the stones weren't good or bad, but how they were perceived being used by those that possessed them.

"We'll find someone we can trust to hold onto it, Toya," Rumiko told her son.

Toya nodded his head in understanding; his mother and Shado's father would eventually find someone to entrust with such an important item when they could find someone they could trust.

"How many left to find?" He asked her.

"If there are six stones, and Shinji, Sister Rosetta and I have one each, and Shinji had to put one out of sight because the last holder was doing awful things with it, and we just returned with another one, how many stones does that leave left to find?"

Toya counted with his fingers until his left index finger was left poking out.

"One," he realized.

"That's right, Toya. Just one stone left to find."

"What is the last one called again?"

"The Mind Stone."

"Ohh… The 'Limestone'."

"Eh-heh-heh! That's right, Toya."

Soon after, Shado came from around the corner with her teddy in her arms.

"Will you go out to get it?" She asked, indicating that she was listening in on their conversation.

"No," Shinji told her as he came over to her. "We can get it later. Today is a good day to play games with you, Shado. What do you want to do?"

The little girl smiled and expressed her desire.

-x-

As he lay in bed recovering from his burns and his learning that the maiming of his right hand wasn't as bad as initially believed by the doctors, the former head of the destroyed orphanage pondered only one thought: What was he to do after leaving the hospital? With the orphanage destroyed, he was technically out of a job, and he had no other skills.

"You," he heard a voice call out to him, and he looked over at the entrance to the room he was in, seeing a man with orange-tinted glasses and a look that was devoid of any humanity. "I was told you had a run-in with my son."

"Your son?" He questioned. "The boy that came for the little girl with the teddy with that girl that had a boy that was either fathered by her brother or their father? You're his father? You don't look the type."

Gendo stepped inside the room and stood in front of him.

"I demand elaboration," he told the man. "Do you know where he went?"

"I'll tell you what I told the police and that broad from that agency. I don't know where that bastard went. I don't know where he took his kid and those other orphans. All I know is that he can be anywhere he wants to be. He could be in Egypt, Africa or even Hong Kong. He can go wherever he wants and nobody can tell him he can't. He has the power to do that, go wherever he wants, be everywhere and nowhere."

"Nobody has such a power. Not even a fourteen-year-old with no money or place to call his home. He must have someone helping him."

"Someone… Someone? And you call yourself his father? You clearly don't know your son or his difficulties with being related to you. The only person that seems to matter to him that is blood…is that bastard daughter of his that he came that night to take back. If he has someone helping him and that older girlfriend of his that came for her son, I don't know who they are."

Gendo then looked at his maimed limb.

"How'd he cut your hand off?" He asked him.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," he responded.

"How did he cut off your hand?"

Since his story was going to be the same each time, the former orphanage head decided to tell Gendo what happened that night. It wouldn't change the reality of his situation, no matter what he spilled from his mouth.

To be continued…

A/N: I hope this will tide people over until the next chapter. I recently heard of an old song that actually sounds good to listen to by Donnie McClurkin called We Fall Down, and it gets to you after a while. Until next time, stay healthy, sane and creative.