Disclaimer and Acknowledgements: See Prologue.
Evangelion: Exorcism
By Akodo Tim
Day of Reckoning
"And the kings
of the earth... shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the
smoke of her burning,
Standing afar off for the fear of
her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For
in one hour is thy judgment come."
- Revelation 18:9-10
* * *
Chamber of Lilith
Terminal Dogma, NERV Headquarters
January 01, 2016
"Liar."
Doctor Ritsuko Akagi tossed the beeping remote aside, the display still showing Casper's denial of her final command. She stared down the barrel of Gendo's pistol, then smiled wistfully as she levelled her own sidearm at him.
Damn you to Hell, Mother. I'll see you there.
Two shots rang out.
Ritsuko's body flew backward off the platform and landed with a splash in the LCL, her life's blood slowly mingling with the amber liquid. Gendo stood there for a moment with a tight-lipped smile on his face, the acrid smoke from his pistol wafting into the air. Then, slowly, he crumpled to the ground.
Behind him, Rei Ayanami watched everything with an impassionate gaze.
* * *
Damn. I didn't think Ritsuko was such a good shot.
Gendo didn't need a doctor to tell him he was dying. His breath came in short, ragged gasps, each one forcing more blood out between his fingers to pool on the steel platform below. Dimly, he was aware of a faint whispering in his ears.
This is how it ends, then. Maybe it's better this way.
Visions of his son swam before his eyes in rapid succession. He saw Shinji crying on the station platform so many years ago, in front of Eva 01 on the day of Sachiel's attack, before Yui's grave, in Unit 01's entry plug screaming his hatred of him, and standing in his office in restraints.
I deserve to die like this.
All I've ever done is hurt you, Shinji. I'm sorry for everything.
He tried to take a deep breath as his vision faded. The whispering in his ears grew into a roar.
Strange. I thought it would hurt more...
Faintly, Gendo heard the sound of bare feet on the metal platform beside him. He felt someone kneel and gingerly remove his glasses. He turned his head, locking his fading gaze with hers.
"Rei...?"
Her features shifted slightly as his sight blurred.
No.
He saw Yui looking back at him, smiling sadly, before the darkness claimed him.
* * *
Outside NERV Headquarters
The nine white Evas circled lazily overhead and ascended into the cerulean sky, resembling a flock of gigantic ivory vultures. One of them had spikes jutting through its head at grotesque angles, while another still had the blade of a progressive knife embedded in it. Several were missing limbs. Most of them still dripped whatever fluid passed for blood within them. All of them bore evidence of Asuka Sohryu's savage attack.
For all the good it did her.
Asuka lay in the darkness of her Eva's entry plug. Her body screamed in agony; she felt as if her skin had been flayed away. Her hand clutched her left eye, ruined when one of the Eva's spears punched through Unit 02's AT field. The internal power timer on her console flashed zero, mocking her.
Cowards! I'm not going to let you beat me! Come back here, you bastards!
As she feverishly, impotently worked her Eva's controls, all the pain, rage, and frustration in her mind focused themselves into a single, coherent thought:
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you!
"I'll kill you!"
She clung to those three words, her mantra of rage and hatred.
Help me, Momma!
Deep from within the mauled Eva, the soul of Kyoko Sohryu answered her daughter's plea. Slowly, indicators shone on Asuka's console as system after system came back online. The eyes on the Eva's damaged head began to glow with a ghostly light. On her holographic display Asuka could see the Evas spiralling above her, silhouetted against the brilliant afternoon sun, as if riding a gigantic thermal. She clawed at the images, reaching out to them as if trying to grab them through the display and crush them between her fingers.
"I'll kill you!"
As if in response, Unit 02's mangled right arm raised itself in a grotesque parody of her own grasping hand.
Yes! Momma will protect me!
"I'll kill you!"
The Eva twisted and writhed on the ground, still pinned by the spear through its head.
"I'll kill you!"
She didn't hear Maya's strangled, sobbing voice on the comm, pleading with her to stop.
"I'll kill you!"
Help me Momma, please!
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Asuka screamed as hideous, burning agony lanced through her arm. She caught a glimpse of the now-useless limb lying at her side, split lengthwise in two, before her world went white.
* * *
Evangelion Cage 07
"Shinji! Eva 02 is...! Asuka is...! Asuka is...!"
Maya's horrified screams echoed through the cavernous chamber, falling on Shinji Ikari's deaf ears. The boy sat huddled on the catwalk, staring at the titan encased in bakelite before him. Part of him wanted to climb inside the Eva's entry plug, to rise up to the surface and help Asuka; that notion was swiftly crushed by the realization that Unit 01 was still in cryostasis and couldn't move even if he could get inside. Part of him said it was already too late to help his fellow pilot. Most of him didn't care.
"No, I can't pilot Eva. I can't do anything."
As if in response to his self-loathing, the red crystalline prison surrounding Unit 01 shattered. Shinji reflexively brought his arm up to shield himself from the glassy shards flying everywhere. With a loud crash and the squeal of metal upon metal, the Eva's gigantic hand smashed into the wall, crushing the catwalk around him like tinfoil. Shinji lowered his arm and stared in amazement at the armored goliath in front of him, realizing what had caused its sudden activation.
"Mother..."
The enormous metal visage stared back at him in stony silence.
Must I?
The Eva's eyes lit up in response.
Shinji clambered up the giant's arm. The entry plug opened as he reached the shoulder, inviting him inside. He climbed in and placed the A-10 neural connectors on his head as the plug closed and filled with LCL.
As it filled his nostrils, the familiar coppery smell of the liquid reminded him of the taste of Misato's blood on his lips. He remembered her words to him before she kissed him and shoved him onto the lift:
"Find the answer to why you exist. Find the answer to why you came here. And when you're finished, come back..."
Mother...
Watch over me like Asuka's did for her.
Help me find the answer.
Unit 01 launched with a deafening crackle of static.
* * *
A deep rumble, far stronger and longer lasting than any of the shockwaves produced by the battle raging deep within the Geo-Front, shook the ground. It steadily grew in intensity, until the earth trembled violently and the soldiers assaulting the building struggled to stay on their feet.
The shattered pyramid of NERV's headquarters erupted in a fury of fire and smoke. A howling wind accompanied the chaos, darkening the sky and swirling wreckage and debris about in a vortex of destruction. In the center of it all, Evangelion Unit 01, its eyes glowing with hideous light, rose through the storm on fiery wings like an avenging angel.
To the troops far below, it was the harbinger of death.
The Spear of Longinus quivered above the Moon's surface, thousands of miles away.
The unleashed Eva soared into the sky and through the yawning hole that an N2 bomb had made above the Geo-Front hours before. As it climbed, Shinji sat listlessly in the entry plug, unsure as to how to face his destiny. Or even what his destiny was.
The spear's quaking grew stronger, as if in anticipation, until it shivered like a gigantic tuning fork.
Shinji looked down through the entry plug's display. Hundreds of feet below, Shinji could just pick out several figures milling about on the ground among the ruined trees. From this height they looked like mere toys, but judging by the sizes of the trees beside them they had to be Evas.
Asuka!
Was she still alive?
The thought of the fiery, auburn-haired girl being down there in mortal danger, perhaps already dead, spurred him into action.
"NO!"
The storm's fury grew as Unit 01 dove to the ground.
Above the Moon, the spear's movements grew weaker until it finally lay still.
* * *
Outside NERV Headquarters
The wounded giant on the ground twisted its head around and finally wrenched the lance through its head free of the ground. It raised its AT field as the remaining spears hurtled toward it; the field slowed them down just enough for the mangled behemoth to roll out of the way before they struck the earth where it was a split-second before. The Eva staggered to its feet and grasped the spear that protruded from its head. Slowly, it pulled on the shaft until the twin heads popped free with a sick, squelching sound.
Unit 02, free at last, looked up at the circling white Evas and bellowed its challenge. The spear in its left hand transformed itself into an enormous elliptical blade as the titan eagerly waited for the battle to begin again.
* * *
As Shinji plummeted earthward, he surveyed the scene rushing up to meet him. Asuka's Eva, barely recognizable with its bindings gone and mutilated internals exposed, grasped an oblong blade with its left hand and used it to frantically block blow after blow from one of the other white giants. Unit 02's right arm was split in two; a hole gaped in its head where the left side of its face would have been. Three dismembered white Evas lay on the ground around it, a spear or blade thrust through each of their cores. Another one, minus both its legs and one wing, flopped about almost comically in the mud by the lake. The other four slowly circled the duelists, perhaps searching for an opening. Shinji chose his target without hesitation and dove down upon it with a scream of rage.
The Eva fighting Asuka was so intent on its prey that it didn't see death plunging down on it until it was too late. Unit 01's hand thrust through its neck; the momentum of its dive threw both titans to the ground; trees and boulders were sent flying as the two combatants carved a massive divot in the earth. Shinji's Eva stood and yanked its hand free, savagely decapitating its adversary in the process. The remaining four white Evas, perhaps surprised by the arrival of the newcomer and the ferocity of its attack, retreated several steps. Unit 02 took the opportunity to plunge the blade it still carried through the chest of its crippled foe; the vanquished Eva's dummy plug was crushed in a spray of LCL. Shinji noticed with some concern that Asuka's video comm window still showed nothing but static.
Five down, four to go.
No time like the present.
Unit 01 grabbed the fallen Eva's blade and, with a chilling howl, charged its closest adversary. His target swung its own blade down in a massive overhand blow, but Shinji's Eva deflected it in a shower of sparks. The momentum from the charge carried the purple and green behemoth into its opponent in an earth-shattering tackle. They both went crashing to the ground, with Unit 01 on top. Shinji's Eva reached back, grabbed its prog knife from its shoulder mount, and plunged it into the struggling Eva's core. Sparks flew as the knife vibrated deep in the white Eva's chest; Shinji's opponent briefly thrashed about, then spasmed once and lay still.
Shinji glanced back and saw Unit 02, its right arm regenerated, trading a furious exchange of strikes and parries with yet another foe. As he watched, the white goliath stumbled on a fallen tree trunk. Asuka's Eva charged in, dodged the off-balance giant's clumsy thrust, then methodically severed one of its opponent's arms, sending the limb and the blade it carried tumbling into the lake. Unit 02 then reversed the stroke and impaled its foe through the back. A split-second later, it punched its fist into the white Eva's chest, pulled out its core, and brutally crushed it.
The remaining two Evas unfurled their wings and launched themselves into the sky; Unit 01 roared after them. As Shinji watched them go, Asuka's Eva sank to its knees beside him; it slumped over and ejected its mangled entry plug as the light in its remaining eyes faded.
* * *
Chamber of Lilith
"I am no longer your toy, Commander."
Rei kneeled, eyes downcast, next to Gendo's body. She folded his glasses and gently held them in her hands, ignoring the sticky blood smeared on them. A maelstrom of emotions rushed through her: pain; anger; betrayal; confusion; loss; emptiness. And fear.
My reason for existence was to carry out your plans to complete the Instrumentality project. But now you are dead. Your task for me is finished; your dream died with you. Should I die as well? Do I still have a reason to exist?
I am the third. What will become of me when I am gone? Will another take my place?
No, I felt them die when Doctor Akagi destroyed them.
That means I am also the last.
Does that matter?
She spied the gun still in Gendo's hand.
The glasses clattered to the floor. Her hands trembling, Rei pried the pistol from his nerveless fingers; it was heavier than it looked and still bore the warmth of his body. She turned it over in her hands, feeling its weight, then gripped it and placed the muzzle under her jaw. She could smell the faint, lingering aroma of gunpowder mixed with the scent of gun oil.
I was expendable. Rei closed her eyes; her finger tensed around the trigger. Now I have no purpose.
I was simply a body to house a soul.
But...
I still carry that soul. Is it not still my responsibility?
There is nothing left to carry it once I die.
What will happen to the soul if there is no body?
Her finger trembled.
If there is nowhere else for the soul to go, then am I really expendable?
I was. But now I am the last.
If I die, I will not be replaced.
Rei's grip on the trigger relaxed slightly.
Your task for me is over, Commander.
Is there another one for me?
Am I needed now? By anyone?
She released the trigger and opened her ruby eyes.
Yes, there is another task.
I am needed.
Pilot Ikari needs me; I sense his anguish.
Pilot Sohryu also needs me; I sense her pain as well.
This soul also needs me; it must be nurtured and protected.
This soul was entrusted to me.
Is it not mine in spirit, then?
*My* soul needs me.
A rumble shook the cavernous chamber, briefly throwing Rei off balance. She looked up and watched as the bloated figure that was Lilith sagged forward, ripping its hands free from the cross in the process. It ponderously crashed into the liquid and disappeared under the surface. A wave of LCL engulfed the platform and washed over the blue-haired girl, briefly submerging her before receding. She wiped the honey-colored fluid from her eyes; when she opened them again, Gendo Ikari was gone. Rei sat down on the platform where his body used to lay, absently cradling the pistol in her hands.
How ironic. I prayed to be returned to nothingness when you were controlling me. Now that you are no longer here, I do not wish to die. Now that I have a choice... I choose life.
"Farewell, Commander," Rei whispered. "Your journey is over. I must now find my own path." With a sudden surge of emotion, she hurled the gun away. It sailed in a graceful arc and sank into the LCL, an instrument of death claimed by the fluid of life.
Rei gazed out over the surface of the reservoir. For a very long time, the only sound in the chamber was the gentle lapping of the liquid against the platform as she sat there, contemplating her new freedom and her new life.
When the search team found her hours later, she was still sitting there, naked, like a puppet without strings.
* * *
In the next chapter of Exorcism:
The Children must come to grips with the aftermath of the attack, confront their own personal demons, and explore their 'Dreamscapes and Memories'.