Disclaimer: I wish I didn't need this, it would mean I own Evangelion, which would in turn mean I was freaking, rich. But alas, I must put it in. okie dokie; Evangelion does not belong to me.
Note: I suck at writing, being on time, and pretty much just being a writer.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Part 10: Every action has a reaction
"You are sure he is the final production model?"
"Ikari, it is not wise to question the authenticity of this board"
"My apologies"
"But what do you need him for? It would have been just as easy, perhaps even convenient if he were to be designed in the prototype models. What if his mission is still with him?!"
"Do not worry, he is completely derived of his prior desires. He only exists now to pilot Evangelion Unit 15"
"Keep an eye on him Ikari"
The 12 monoliths faded out one after another, leaving Gendo Ikari alone in his office. His hand reaches into his desk, and pulls out some sort of book. Various little post-its' are stuck in various places as Gendo flips through it, pursuing the object of his search.
***
Shinji and Misato seemed distant towards one another these days. Shinji seemed reluctant to speak with her and Misato would no longer show him that side of her. To this end, the two being asked to speak with Gendo Ikari was rather awkward. Forced to wait for some time, there were little to no words spoken between the two.
"H-how are you?" Misato asked nervously, her eyes fixated on her knees
"Uh, good. You must be happy that, uh, Kaji is back" he to was fairly reluctant to begin any conversation but he did miss her company
She let out a slight chuckle, more of a forced nervous one "I, I guess...How is living with Rei?"
"It's okay, she isn't as loud as Asuka is" he seemed to recall day long past, when the 3 lived together
Misato let silence fill the room once again, she allowed the two to sit there for an undetermined amount of time before she felt she needed to say something "I-I miss you Shinji" she seemed to have to hold her tears back at that moment
For the first time Shinji looked back at her, he missed her to but he didn't know if he could express those words "...M, m, me...to..."
***
The 1st child waited anxiously for the elevator to reach the 9th floor. In reality, she had no idea why she was here. It seemed to her that she shouldn't care, but she did. Why did it matter to her how Shinji felt? Perhaps she felt in-debt to him, but that wasn't it. She felt a responsibility to him, but why? She had no idea. A few residents walked past her, but she paid them no heed. Without realizing her feet had carried her outside her destination, slowly her finger came out and firmly pressed the buzzer. After a few moments of waiting, the door slid open.
"..." Asuka had no words for her comrade, she was puzzled as to why she would come to her house
"..." Rei herself could not find the appropriate words, something that was equally odd
"What do you want wondergirl?"
"..." She in reality did not know what she came for
"Have you come to gloat that you somehow stole Shinji from me?" she glared at her as she said this "Of course, you did manage to do that so I guess I should give you some credit"
"I...Why did you hurt Shinji yesterday?"
"So that's why you're here" she seemed exasperated so just shrugged her shoulders, hoping she would accept that as an answer
"Surely you must know. Humans do not do things just for the sake of it"
"Why? He deserved it, dumping me and then just going to you so quickly. But that wasn't' what happened! You stole him from me, I know you did!" her words were becoming erratic and her motions seemed dangerous
"I-...I do not know what you are talking about"
"You do too! You somehow stole Shinji from me, from me!"
Something about this speech clicked in Rei's head, as she understood what Asuka was talking about "I, me..." for the first time she stumbled over her words, unknowing how to respond to these accusations "Shinji and I are not...we never were"
"Don't lie to me wondergirl! I saw you kissing him!"
"It was only for saving me. I did kiss Shinji, but it was on the cheek"
Asuka stood there, horror-struck. She had played this moment over and over in her head. As she rounded the corner she saw Rei with her hands planted on Shinji's shoulders, her lips coming close to his face. She had assumed it was a lip kiss but she didn't see, as she quickly turned and huddled on the wall.
"Are you serious?!" she gripped Rei by the arms, shaking her almost violently "Where is he?!"
"At NERV..." she answered by reflex, and to stop the girl from shaking her
Upon the words reaching her ears released Rei and ran, not even bothering to close her door. She sprinted as fast as she could towards the elevator but was halted when she bumped into someone.
"Whoa Asuka, no need to rush like that" Kaji offered his hand to her but the girl just got up and ran past him, before the door closed however she grabbed the spy and jerked him in the elevator
"Kaji! You need to take me to NERV!" she leaned against a wall, slightly holding her stomach from the sudden use of energy without proper stretching
"Uh, sure. What for?"
"I need to talk to Shinji!" she seemed to scream the words, her excitement was quite frightening to the spy
***
"What do you mean more attacks!?" Major Katsuragi couldn't hold her excitement towards her commanding officer
Gendo Ikari ignored this and continued "There was a prediction of this in the Dead Sea scrolls, however vague; once the champion of the celestial moon was decided the two moons will vie for dominance"
"Champion? We are the champions of what?" the 3rd child had been standing there silent for most of this meeting, but this statement had piqued his interest
"Of the 1st moon...Of heaven. In accordance with the bible the apocalypse was to happen in the year of 2000 after the death of Christ. Said event did indeed occur in the form of second impact, but it was only to see which was worthy of representing God: man or angel. In the end man won the right to fight for apocalypse, to see who would become one with God; Lucifer or Man"
"So what are these things? Demons?" Her emotions had calmed somewhat but her voice was still raised at her commander
"If we were to put a title on them, then yes I suppose that would be accurate. In reality they are entities that followed a different path then us and so they evolved differently"
"But...why are you telling me this? Why not the other pilots as well?"
"The 5th child is already aware of this and, preferably, we are going to fight this new threat with only the two of you"
"What?! That is madness commander, to fight them with only 2 Eva's when 5 are available!" Misato had just recently made peace with Shinji and so didn't really like the idea of losing him again
"Because Major Katsuragi" his eyes narrowed on her, his fingers clenched one another "If this new threat comes one by one such as the angels did then to use all 5 Evangelions creates a risk of them all being destroyed. If limited to 2, then they're 3 replacements. Of course, we are using the most able pilots first so as to reduce risk. If the need arises, and the 2 fail, then the others will be notified as to the new threat. I trust that you can accept that, major"
Misato realized she had overstepped her limits and curtly apologized before Gendo ordered the two to leave.
***
The guardian and child walked out of the imposing office side-by-side. Their friendship renewed Misato had previously suggested they go out for a bite however their plan was halted by the ring of her mobile phone.
"Hello?" she listened with little eager but at one point her interest became piqued by the conversation
When it ended, Shinji found his shoulder ready to dislocate thanks to Misato's grip. He was dragged all the way to the cage, where a Ritsuko Akagi and Kowaru Nagisa patiently awaited them.
"Your late Major" Ritsuko seemed busy ordering about technicians atop the cage of Evangelion Unit 15
"Sorry, no excuses...What are they doing?"
"Installing the S2 engines. Unit 15 is the last one"
"But what of this new siting? This new 'angel'?"
"It's not really an angel, a more accurate summarization would be closer to devil; an Oni"
"But where is it?"
"Along the coast of Tokyo-3, we were able to detect it hours ago but we have just gotten visual confirmation. It has yet to come into acceptable range of either firearms or close combat. The ETA is around 6:29.32"
"Only 6 1/2 minutes?! Will we be ready in that time?" Shinji's voice had peaked, his panic was obvious
"The Evas will be ready in that time, so the both of you need to be as well"
***
Asuka sprinted up to the control room, hoping to be able to get some kind of starting point in her search for Shinji. However, upon her arrival she was greeted with the news that both Shinji and Kowaru were launched. Duty dictated that she be on stand-by along with Rei who had made it their only a few minutes after she and Toji who had yet to make his appearance. She hadn't questioned the idea of a new enemy as everyone had accepted the fact that more attacks were going to occur. She tried to patch a link through to Shinji but found that lines had been closed between those on stand-by and those on active duty.
"Please, don't let it be to late" Asuka gave a short prayer to a God she didn't believe in, hoping that her ignorance could be forgiven
***
"Shinji, expand your AT field!" the 5th child demanded as he charged the Oni
"I'm doing it!" Shinji circled their enemy whilst unloading bullets all over it's body
The Oni was a ravenous looking creature, crawling on all 4 as though it was more primitive then the last. However, building from the experience of the one before his hands could metamorphosis into a serrated blade. It was speedier then the 2 Eva's but seemed to be easier to interrupt. To make their efforts even harder the Oni was able to shift its form and slide along the ground almost unnoticed, like a shadow.
Kowaru constantly interrupted its attacks and shape shifting with barrages to its side and head. Shinji frantically aimed for a core he could not see so instead pelted the Oni hoping that Kowaru would have better luck. Kowaru saw a glimpse of it in its mouth, so, unsheathing his prog knife, attempted to stab it. The Oni however bit down and was stabbed in the mouth; Kowaru released his grip on the knife and threw the target a few hundred feet. The Oni stumbled to get up, seeing this weakness Kowaru charged it but the Oni planned it and extended it's bladed arm and caused Kowaru to silence when his head was severed.
***
"Shit!" Misato cursed loudly enough to gather everyone's attention
"What should we do ma'am?" it was clear that Hyuga was refraining his voice from breaking out into all-out panic
"Launch the others"
"All of them? Major, isn't that against your orders?" Ritsuko said under her breath, she stood beside Misato so only those 2 could hear it
"It's a retrieval mission, and we don't know how much more the enemy can take. It's better to overkill then to leave it alive"
***
The Oni and Shinji became entangled in a wrestling match, neither gaining any ground over the other. Many of the supply depots around them had been toppled over by their bodies as the match continued on.
"Shinji! Keep it occupied!"
Toji had been the closet to their positions, and was skilled enough to put his prog knife into the Oni's head. The target reared back, attempting to pierce Unit 14 while it was off-guard. Unit 01, however, had its arms in his grip, not allowing them to move. Shinji toppled it over, away from them into Asuka who also had her prog knife ready. The Oni had managed to escape from it and metamorphoses into a large sphere. The Eva's kept their distance; waiting to see what it would do like this.
"Wha' the hell are we all standin' here fer?" the most novice pilot among them charged the creature only a few hundreds feet from him
"No, you idiot!..." Asuka yelled loudly, hoping to scare him off but the second Toji touched the Oni it exploded, every Eva was caught in the radius
***
"W-what just happened!?" Misato glared impatiently at the screen, hoping to find out their pilots weren't dead
"I-it exploded...b-but, none of the structures are damaged" Ritsuko announced as the image on the screen cleared up "What...? What happened?"
"Units 02, 13, and 14 are going berserk!" Aoba screamed, vainly trying to find out why
"What about Unit 01?" Dr. Akagi didn't need to ask, she was already peering over Ibuki's shoulder
"Completely normal ma'am"
"The berserk Units are corroded!" Hyuga monitored, to no one in particular
"C-corroded...?"
***
Only 7 hours ago.
"Finally, it took long enough for these to get here" Ritsuko had hurried quickly to the cage, when she heard that the S2 engines had arrived "Maya, how long will it take to install these?"
"Um, about 6 hours ma'am"
"Excellent, the commander will be pleased with this"
"Um, ma'am? Th, the computer detects...uh, corrosion"
"Corrosion? Like rust?"
"No ma'am, it's an abnormality within the engines, upon consulting with the Magi there are 2 deeming it safe for use but 1 opposing use"
"Well, it's not as if we can demand for a replacement, not after what happened in the American branch. Continue with installation, we can resolve the problem later"
***
"I-that was the Oni! That's why we could detect it before it arrived! It was already here!"
"Are you saying that the Oni has taken control of 3 Eva's and we've only 1!"
"...Yes" Ritsuko searched frantically for a solution but her mind could find none
"...How can we win...?"
***
"Shinji, can you hear me?!"
"Y-yes Misato"
"The other Eva's are against you! You have to fight them!"
"Huh?" Shinji lost his concentration on the field and was bombarded by Unit 13, and 14
***
"Shit! Shinji, fight them!"
"I-I can't. Th-they're my friends" his voice boomed over the loudspeaker, bringing everyone to his attention, they all knew how to remedy that
"Units 13, and 14 have been ejected but Unit 02's access codes have been rejected"
***
After he confirmed visually that the entry plugs had escaped the confinements of the Oni Shinji kicked the abdomen of the Unit strangling him. Unit 14's grip broke and reared back. Shinji yelled a war cry as his foot grounded Unit 14. He turned sharply, seeing Unit 13 charge with its prog knife. Unit 01's hand flew forward and caught the knife in the palm. Using his only good hand Shinji gripped the wrist of his new target, spinning the way his momentum took him he threw Unit 13 close to where Unit 14 was. He turned to face his opponents while he pulled the knife out of his hand.
"Way to go Shinji!" his guardian's voice came over the microphone, urging him on
"T-thanks Misato"
He got ready to jump one of them but was swiftly taken to the ground by the 3rd corroded Evangelion; Asuka's. Unit 02 had it's prog knife readied, Unit 01 in a prime position. Shinji waited, for how long he didn't know but the knife never came down. Instead Unit 02's arm shook as though an intense battle waged on.
***
The 2nd child sweated beads in her entry plug, her hands gripped the controls with all her might causing them to shake violently. Her lip was contorted as her mind struggled to regain control of the Eva but all she could manage was to halt it. The Oni fought with her mind, at the beginning she couldn't win on her own willpower but when it was about to finish off Shinji she drew her strength from him.
She grunted heavily under the stress this was causing, some time after she had managed to stop the arm the Oni discovered that tapping into her past proved a fluctuation in her will. Images began to swirl in her mind, images that caused her to give up before; her mother, and herself.
Lately she had learned to ignore them but when they both fought with her as well as the Oni, she very quickly lost the will to win. But, whatever it was she felt for Shinji had allowed her to reach an impasse. She fought with distant memories, ones she shared with no one.
***
A small boy walks along with his mother. The boy is no more then 6, and seems to be fairly greedy. The street they tread along is filled with toyshops with flashy playthings showcased on the outside. They continue along, as the mother tells the child firmly 'no' to all of his requests. The day goes on, until the 2 arrive at the park. The mother leaves the child momentarily while he builds a strange pyramid. The boy is rather displeased with his product and begins kicking it. He is now reluctant that it is no longer there, and begins building it again. He now misses the spot where it is, and kicks it over and over until it breaks. This time, he finds a small piece of candy covered in sand. Excited over his discovery he shows it to his mother, who has come back to him. His mother looks at the sand covering it and tells him that candy found on the ground is bitter on the outside but sweet on the inside, better for him to not eat it. The boy looks at his discovery, and eats it. He curdles over on his stomach, not at all pleased that he ate it...
***
Asuka is breathing hard; not much time at all has passed over her vision. During that time she managed to remove herself from Shinji, allowing him to fight the other 2 Eva's. She could feel the Eva's will wanting to kill the other and as more and more memories erupted in her mind it became harder and harder to deny it that.
***
"Asuka" the words are spoken gently, with a very safe tone to them
"M-mama?" her eyes search around, they find not her mother but that she is no longer confined in the Eva
"I am sorry Asuka. I know I've been a terrible mother to you"
"Ma-ma..." there is a very different setting to this place, she recognizes it, but she can't define what it is
"Please, let me have another chance. I-I will be a good mother to you this time. I promise...Asuka"
"Mama"
"Mama!" a small girl resembling her around when she was 8 runs in, in to hug her mother
The Eva pilot breathes hard, thinking and judging her courses of action before it hits her "T-this isn't real..."
The child releases herself from her mother's bosom. She strolls over to Asuka, facing her head on.
"How is this not real?"
"M-mama is dead, and you, you are me"
"But mama is alive here, and she has promised a better life for us. This is a second chance for me, for us. To live the childhood you never did, to play, and sing and dance like you never did. To have parents, to have mama is what you have yearned so long for. She left us, and in spite of yourself you do not hate her, you miss her. She robbed us of a childhood, and now here you are with a second chance"
"..." She stares at the little girl; it is true what she says even though she would never tell anyone
"Asuka, come to me Asuka"
The deprived teen walks slowly towards her mother when something catches her eye. She does know what this place is; this is where her mother was put when she went crazy. It's the same bed, sheets, walls, dresser, and, and window. The window is odd; it seems to jump out from the blandness of everything else. She slowly moves into her mother's embrace but she couldn't keep her eyes off the window. Her hands wrap around her neck and as suddenly as she made contact the scenario warped around to the moment where she found her mother dead. Her childlike self sprinted into the room, in the room lay her dead mother but overlapping it lay a mother embracing the child.
"This is what I wanted..." her head is about to reach her mothers shoulder but out of the corner of her eye she sees why the window is so odd
"What is that...?"
Her eyes narrow on it; skyscrapers, damaged skyscrapers. She can't hear anything from the outside but she thinks she can make some faint outlines of 3 combatants.
"Shinji...?"
"Asuka dear, come to your mama"
She feels compelled to go to her mother but she can't "Shinji!" her arms pull away from the image in her brain "Shinji!"
"Asuka! Asuka, please give me another chance. Please!" her attention is drawn back to her mother, who is steadily fading away with the girl in her arms
"I'm sorry...mother" she stands there, steady. The hospital room disappears from sight as she stands there, her eyes clenching tight
***
Her eyes open to the familiar backdrop of the entry plug, she can now clearly see Shinji but momentarily her eyes become clouded. Looking down, she sees tears.
***
Shinji quickly drew his prog knife and with such ferocity jams it into Unit 13's neck. He pushes with all his might as the Oni tried to strangle him. Despite the intense pain Shinji was able to push with enough might that he floored Unit 13. He raised his fist and brought it down to the skull of his enemy. Seeing Unit 14 get up from his previous beating forced Shinji to change targets. Quickly his Evangelion leapt forward and thrusted it's legs toward the body of his target. With both his enemies down Shinji was careful to watch Asuka's Eva. Unit 02 still seemed to be struggling with itself, its hand was held mid-air equipped with a prog knife. Suddenly the arm jolted and pierced it's own head completely through, causing it to go silent.
"N-no, Asuka!"
Unit 01 responded to the will of its master, sprinting towards the sacrificed Eva. He turned it over, hoping to get the entry plug out. He became occupied however by Unit 14 smashing his head against the ground and Unit 13 trying to rip it's arm off.
"Goddamn it! Die!" he resisted against the arm bar of Unit 13 and managed to grip his prog knife, pulling it across the neck, which left Unit 13 headless
His hands free Shinji reached up to choke Unit 14. His head was continually smashed which caused him great distress but by will unknown he was able to continue until he snapped Unit 14's neck. He turned slowly towards the fallen Unit 02 and ripped off the entry plug cover, the Eva released it's pilot. Shinji wanted to place it on the ground but he lost consciousness from the stress of the hard-fought battle.
***
The boy is older now, and he never regrets eating the candy. It was sweet, even though he had to survive some bitterness. It was worth it though, because he hurdled over from the pain a girl had come to see if he was all right. Afterwards the 2 became friends and now, they loved.
***
"Hey Shinji, you've finally come back to us"
His eyes blink open rather slowly to a flock of red hair and white bandages.
"W-where am I?"
"In the hospital wing of NERV. You've been asleep for about 3 days" Asuka has a caring look in her eye, she has her good hand on top of his. Somehow, this doesn't feel awkward or weird to him. That, however, would subside when Fama walked into the room
"Hey babe, how ya feelin'?" despite her boyfriends' presence she did not drop Shinji's hand, instead she grasped it tighter
"..."
"Yo, what's up? Why you bein' a bitch?" he makes his way closer to her, when his hand reaches out for her
This was when Shinji felt the disappearance of her hand but he knew where it was: across his chest, propelling him away from them.
"What the hell! I've been waitin' like 3 days and you ain't gonna reward me!" his hand reaches out again but this time her hand countered by slapping his cheek. Still he did not get the picture "Come on, who cares about this guy? You liked it last time"
Asuka's eyes shot open at this proclamation, whereupon she pushed him against the bed with a look of distaste in her eyes.
"Oh, that's it! You won't give it to me? Then I'm gonna take it!"
Before Fama could begin his rush towards her the door slid open. The 5th child stepped through, mainly to greet Shinji and Asuka, but upon seeing that Fama was rushing Asuka he took it upon himself to remove him with, a fair amount of pain.
"Thank god he's gone. Dumkompf!" she turned her nose up to the door, with a glare similar to the one she gave Fama
Shinji had turned his head at this, not wanting to face Asuka "You made love with him..."
***
Yay. I'm done that really long chapter. Now the question is, do I make Shinji see past this or no? For those that are for whatever reason interested in this I hope you enjoyed it. C'ya
Note: I suck at writing, being on time, and pretty much just being a writer.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Part 10: Every action has a reaction
"You are sure he is the final production model?"
"Ikari, it is not wise to question the authenticity of this board"
"My apologies"
"But what do you need him for? It would have been just as easy, perhaps even convenient if he were to be designed in the prototype models. What if his mission is still with him?!"
"Do not worry, he is completely derived of his prior desires. He only exists now to pilot Evangelion Unit 15"
"Keep an eye on him Ikari"
The 12 monoliths faded out one after another, leaving Gendo Ikari alone in his office. His hand reaches into his desk, and pulls out some sort of book. Various little post-its' are stuck in various places as Gendo flips through it, pursuing the object of his search.
***
Shinji and Misato seemed distant towards one another these days. Shinji seemed reluctant to speak with her and Misato would no longer show him that side of her. To this end, the two being asked to speak with Gendo Ikari was rather awkward. Forced to wait for some time, there were little to no words spoken between the two.
"H-how are you?" Misato asked nervously, her eyes fixated on her knees
"Uh, good. You must be happy that, uh, Kaji is back" he to was fairly reluctant to begin any conversation but he did miss her company
She let out a slight chuckle, more of a forced nervous one "I, I guess...How is living with Rei?"
"It's okay, she isn't as loud as Asuka is" he seemed to recall day long past, when the 3 lived together
Misato let silence fill the room once again, she allowed the two to sit there for an undetermined amount of time before she felt she needed to say something "I-I miss you Shinji" she seemed to have to hold her tears back at that moment
For the first time Shinji looked back at her, he missed her to but he didn't know if he could express those words "...M, m, me...to..."
***
The 1st child waited anxiously for the elevator to reach the 9th floor. In reality, she had no idea why she was here. It seemed to her that she shouldn't care, but she did. Why did it matter to her how Shinji felt? Perhaps she felt in-debt to him, but that wasn't it. She felt a responsibility to him, but why? She had no idea. A few residents walked past her, but she paid them no heed. Without realizing her feet had carried her outside her destination, slowly her finger came out and firmly pressed the buzzer. After a few moments of waiting, the door slid open.
"..." Asuka had no words for her comrade, she was puzzled as to why she would come to her house
"..." Rei herself could not find the appropriate words, something that was equally odd
"What do you want wondergirl?"
"..." She in reality did not know what she came for
"Have you come to gloat that you somehow stole Shinji from me?" she glared at her as she said this "Of course, you did manage to do that so I guess I should give you some credit"
"I...Why did you hurt Shinji yesterday?"
"So that's why you're here" she seemed exasperated so just shrugged her shoulders, hoping she would accept that as an answer
"Surely you must know. Humans do not do things just for the sake of it"
"Why? He deserved it, dumping me and then just going to you so quickly. But that wasn't' what happened! You stole him from me, I know you did!" her words were becoming erratic and her motions seemed dangerous
"I-...I do not know what you are talking about"
"You do too! You somehow stole Shinji from me, from me!"
Something about this speech clicked in Rei's head, as she understood what Asuka was talking about "I, me..." for the first time she stumbled over her words, unknowing how to respond to these accusations "Shinji and I are not...we never were"
"Don't lie to me wondergirl! I saw you kissing him!"
"It was only for saving me. I did kiss Shinji, but it was on the cheek"
Asuka stood there, horror-struck. She had played this moment over and over in her head. As she rounded the corner she saw Rei with her hands planted on Shinji's shoulders, her lips coming close to his face. She had assumed it was a lip kiss but she didn't see, as she quickly turned and huddled on the wall.
"Are you serious?!" she gripped Rei by the arms, shaking her almost violently "Where is he?!"
"At NERV..." she answered by reflex, and to stop the girl from shaking her
Upon the words reaching her ears released Rei and ran, not even bothering to close her door. She sprinted as fast as she could towards the elevator but was halted when she bumped into someone.
"Whoa Asuka, no need to rush like that" Kaji offered his hand to her but the girl just got up and ran past him, before the door closed however she grabbed the spy and jerked him in the elevator
"Kaji! You need to take me to NERV!" she leaned against a wall, slightly holding her stomach from the sudden use of energy without proper stretching
"Uh, sure. What for?"
"I need to talk to Shinji!" she seemed to scream the words, her excitement was quite frightening to the spy
***
"What do you mean more attacks!?" Major Katsuragi couldn't hold her excitement towards her commanding officer
Gendo Ikari ignored this and continued "There was a prediction of this in the Dead Sea scrolls, however vague; once the champion of the celestial moon was decided the two moons will vie for dominance"
"Champion? We are the champions of what?" the 3rd child had been standing there silent for most of this meeting, but this statement had piqued his interest
"Of the 1st moon...Of heaven. In accordance with the bible the apocalypse was to happen in the year of 2000 after the death of Christ. Said event did indeed occur in the form of second impact, but it was only to see which was worthy of representing God: man or angel. In the end man won the right to fight for apocalypse, to see who would become one with God; Lucifer or Man"
"So what are these things? Demons?" Her emotions had calmed somewhat but her voice was still raised at her commander
"If we were to put a title on them, then yes I suppose that would be accurate. In reality they are entities that followed a different path then us and so they evolved differently"
"But...why are you telling me this? Why not the other pilots as well?"
"The 5th child is already aware of this and, preferably, we are going to fight this new threat with only the two of you"
"What?! That is madness commander, to fight them with only 2 Eva's when 5 are available!" Misato had just recently made peace with Shinji and so didn't really like the idea of losing him again
"Because Major Katsuragi" his eyes narrowed on her, his fingers clenched one another "If this new threat comes one by one such as the angels did then to use all 5 Evangelions creates a risk of them all being destroyed. If limited to 2, then they're 3 replacements. Of course, we are using the most able pilots first so as to reduce risk. If the need arises, and the 2 fail, then the others will be notified as to the new threat. I trust that you can accept that, major"
Misato realized she had overstepped her limits and curtly apologized before Gendo ordered the two to leave.
***
The guardian and child walked out of the imposing office side-by-side. Their friendship renewed Misato had previously suggested they go out for a bite however their plan was halted by the ring of her mobile phone.
"Hello?" she listened with little eager but at one point her interest became piqued by the conversation
When it ended, Shinji found his shoulder ready to dislocate thanks to Misato's grip. He was dragged all the way to the cage, where a Ritsuko Akagi and Kowaru Nagisa patiently awaited them.
"Your late Major" Ritsuko seemed busy ordering about technicians atop the cage of Evangelion Unit 15
"Sorry, no excuses...What are they doing?"
"Installing the S2 engines. Unit 15 is the last one"
"But what of this new siting? This new 'angel'?"
"It's not really an angel, a more accurate summarization would be closer to devil; an Oni"
"But where is it?"
"Along the coast of Tokyo-3, we were able to detect it hours ago but we have just gotten visual confirmation. It has yet to come into acceptable range of either firearms or close combat. The ETA is around 6:29.32"
"Only 6 1/2 minutes?! Will we be ready in that time?" Shinji's voice had peaked, his panic was obvious
"The Evas will be ready in that time, so the both of you need to be as well"
***
Asuka sprinted up to the control room, hoping to be able to get some kind of starting point in her search for Shinji. However, upon her arrival she was greeted with the news that both Shinji and Kowaru were launched. Duty dictated that she be on stand-by along with Rei who had made it their only a few minutes after she and Toji who had yet to make his appearance. She hadn't questioned the idea of a new enemy as everyone had accepted the fact that more attacks were going to occur. She tried to patch a link through to Shinji but found that lines had been closed between those on stand-by and those on active duty.
"Please, don't let it be to late" Asuka gave a short prayer to a God she didn't believe in, hoping that her ignorance could be forgiven
***
"Shinji, expand your AT field!" the 5th child demanded as he charged the Oni
"I'm doing it!" Shinji circled their enemy whilst unloading bullets all over it's body
The Oni was a ravenous looking creature, crawling on all 4 as though it was more primitive then the last. However, building from the experience of the one before his hands could metamorphosis into a serrated blade. It was speedier then the 2 Eva's but seemed to be easier to interrupt. To make their efforts even harder the Oni was able to shift its form and slide along the ground almost unnoticed, like a shadow.
Kowaru constantly interrupted its attacks and shape shifting with barrages to its side and head. Shinji frantically aimed for a core he could not see so instead pelted the Oni hoping that Kowaru would have better luck. Kowaru saw a glimpse of it in its mouth, so, unsheathing his prog knife, attempted to stab it. The Oni however bit down and was stabbed in the mouth; Kowaru released his grip on the knife and threw the target a few hundred feet. The Oni stumbled to get up, seeing this weakness Kowaru charged it but the Oni planned it and extended it's bladed arm and caused Kowaru to silence when his head was severed.
***
"Shit!" Misato cursed loudly enough to gather everyone's attention
"What should we do ma'am?" it was clear that Hyuga was refraining his voice from breaking out into all-out panic
"Launch the others"
"All of them? Major, isn't that against your orders?" Ritsuko said under her breath, she stood beside Misato so only those 2 could hear it
"It's a retrieval mission, and we don't know how much more the enemy can take. It's better to overkill then to leave it alive"
***
The Oni and Shinji became entangled in a wrestling match, neither gaining any ground over the other. Many of the supply depots around them had been toppled over by their bodies as the match continued on.
"Shinji! Keep it occupied!"
Toji had been the closet to their positions, and was skilled enough to put his prog knife into the Oni's head. The target reared back, attempting to pierce Unit 14 while it was off-guard. Unit 01, however, had its arms in his grip, not allowing them to move. Shinji toppled it over, away from them into Asuka who also had her prog knife ready. The Oni had managed to escape from it and metamorphoses into a large sphere. The Eva's kept their distance; waiting to see what it would do like this.
"Wha' the hell are we all standin' here fer?" the most novice pilot among them charged the creature only a few hundreds feet from him
"No, you idiot!..." Asuka yelled loudly, hoping to scare him off but the second Toji touched the Oni it exploded, every Eva was caught in the radius
***
"W-what just happened!?" Misato glared impatiently at the screen, hoping to find out their pilots weren't dead
"I-it exploded...b-but, none of the structures are damaged" Ritsuko announced as the image on the screen cleared up "What...? What happened?"
"Units 02, 13, and 14 are going berserk!" Aoba screamed, vainly trying to find out why
"What about Unit 01?" Dr. Akagi didn't need to ask, she was already peering over Ibuki's shoulder
"Completely normal ma'am"
"The berserk Units are corroded!" Hyuga monitored, to no one in particular
"C-corroded...?"
***
Only 7 hours ago.
"Finally, it took long enough for these to get here" Ritsuko had hurried quickly to the cage, when she heard that the S2 engines had arrived "Maya, how long will it take to install these?"
"Um, about 6 hours ma'am"
"Excellent, the commander will be pleased with this"
"Um, ma'am? Th, the computer detects...uh, corrosion"
"Corrosion? Like rust?"
"No ma'am, it's an abnormality within the engines, upon consulting with the Magi there are 2 deeming it safe for use but 1 opposing use"
"Well, it's not as if we can demand for a replacement, not after what happened in the American branch. Continue with installation, we can resolve the problem later"
***
"I-that was the Oni! That's why we could detect it before it arrived! It was already here!"
"Are you saying that the Oni has taken control of 3 Eva's and we've only 1!"
"...Yes" Ritsuko searched frantically for a solution but her mind could find none
"...How can we win...?"
***
"Shinji, can you hear me?!"
"Y-yes Misato"
"The other Eva's are against you! You have to fight them!"
"Huh?" Shinji lost his concentration on the field and was bombarded by Unit 13, and 14
***
"Shit! Shinji, fight them!"
"I-I can't. Th-they're my friends" his voice boomed over the loudspeaker, bringing everyone to his attention, they all knew how to remedy that
"Units 13, and 14 have been ejected but Unit 02's access codes have been rejected"
***
After he confirmed visually that the entry plugs had escaped the confinements of the Oni Shinji kicked the abdomen of the Unit strangling him. Unit 14's grip broke and reared back. Shinji yelled a war cry as his foot grounded Unit 14. He turned sharply, seeing Unit 13 charge with its prog knife. Unit 01's hand flew forward and caught the knife in the palm. Using his only good hand Shinji gripped the wrist of his new target, spinning the way his momentum took him he threw Unit 13 close to where Unit 14 was. He turned to face his opponents while he pulled the knife out of his hand.
"Way to go Shinji!" his guardian's voice came over the microphone, urging him on
"T-thanks Misato"
He got ready to jump one of them but was swiftly taken to the ground by the 3rd corroded Evangelion; Asuka's. Unit 02 had it's prog knife readied, Unit 01 in a prime position. Shinji waited, for how long he didn't know but the knife never came down. Instead Unit 02's arm shook as though an intense battle waged on.
***
The 2nd child sweated beads in her entry plug, her hands gripped the controls with all her might causing them to shake violently. Her lip was contorted as her mind struggled to regain control of the Eva but all she could manage was to halt it. The Oni fought with her mind, at the beginning she couldn't win on her own willpower but when it was about to finish off Shinji she drew her strength from him.
She grunted heavily under the stress this was causing, some time after she had managed to stop the arm the Oni discovered that tapping into her past proved a fluctuation in her will. Images began to swirl in her mind, images that caused her to give up before; her mother, and herself.
Lately she had learned to ignore them but when they both fought with her as well as the Oni, she very quickly lost the will to win. But, whatever it was she felt for Shinji had allowed her to reach an impasse. She fought with distant memories, ones she shared with no one.
***
A small boy walks along with his mother. The boy is no more then 6, and seems to be fairly greedy. The street they tread along is filled with toyshops with flashy playthings showcased on the outside. They continue along, as the mother tells the child firmly 'no' to all of his requests. The day goes on, until the 2 arrive at the park. The mother leaves the child momentarily while he builds a strange pyramid. The boy is rather displeased with his product and begins kicking it. He is now reluctant that it is no longer there, and begins building it again. He now misses the spot where it is, and kicks it over and over until it breaks. This time, he finds a small piece of candy covered in sand. Excited over his discovery he shows it to his mother, who has come back to him. His mother looks at the sand covering it and tells him that candy found on the ground is bitter on the outside but sweet on the inside, better for him to not eat it. The boy looks at his discovery, and eats it. He curdles over on his stomach, not at all pleased that he ate it...
***
Asuka is breathing hard; not much time at all has passed over her vision. During that time she managed to remove herself from Shinji, allowing him to fight the other 2 Eva's. She could feel the Eva's will wanting to kill the other and as more and more memories erupted in her mind it became harder and harder to deny it that.
***
"Asuka" the words are spoken gently, with a very safe tone to them
"M-mama?" her eyes search around, they find not her mother but that she is no longer confined in the Eva
"I am sorry Asuka. I know I've been a terrible mother to you"
"Ma-ma..." there is a very different setting to this place, she recognizes it, but she can't define what it is
"Please, let me have another chance. I-I will be a good mother to you this time. I promise...Asuka"
"Mama"
"Mama!" a small girl resembling her around when she was 8 runs in, in to hug her mother
The Eva pilot breathes hard, thinking and judging her courses of action before it hits her "T-this isn't real..."
The child releases herself from her mother's bosom. She strolls over to Asuka, facing her head on.
"How is this not real?"
"M-mama is dead, and you, you are me"
"But mama is alive here, and she has promised a better life for us. This is a second chance for me, for us. To live the childhood you never did, to play, and sing and dance like you never did. To have parents, to have mama is what you have yearned so long for. She left us, and in spite of yourself you do not hate her, you miss her. She robbed us of a childhood, and now here you are with a second chance"
"..." She stares at the little girl; it is true what she says even though she would never tell anyone
"Asuka, come to me Asuka"
The deprived teen walks slowly towards her mother when something catches her eye. She does know what this place is; this is where her mother was put when she went crazy. It's the same bed, sheets, walls, dresser, and, and window. The window is odd; it seems to jump out from the blandness of everything else. She slowly moves into her mother's embrace but she couldn't keep her eyes off the window. Her hands wrap around her neck and as suddenly as she made contact the scenario warped around to the moment where she found her mother dead. Her childlike self sprinted into the room, in the room lay her dead mother but overlapping it lay a mother embracing the child.
"This is what I wanted..." her head is about to reach her mothers shoulder but out of the corner of her eye she sees why the window is so odd
"What is that...?"
Her eyes narrow on it; skyscrapers, damaged skyscrapers. She can't hear anything from the outside but she thinks she can make some faint outlines of 3 combatants.
"Shinji...?"
"Asuka dear, come to your mama"
She feels compelled to go to her mother but she can't "Shinji!" her arms pull away from the image in her brain "Shinji!"
"Asuka! Asuka, please give me another chance. Please!" her attention is drawn back to her mother, who is steadily fading away with the girl in her arms
"I'm sorry...mother" she stands there, steady. The hospital room disappears from sight as she stands there, her eyes clenching tight
***
Her eyes open to the familiar backdrop of the entry plug, she can now clearly see Shinji but momentarily her eyes become clouded. Looking down, she sees tears.
***
Shinji quickly drew his prog knife and with such ferocity jams it into Unit 13's neck. He pushes with all his might as the Oni tried to strangle him. Despite the intense pain Shinji was able to push with enough might that he floored Unit 13. He raised his fist and brought it down to the skull of his enemy. Seeing Unit 14 get up from his previous beating forced Shinji to change targets. Quickly his Evangelion leapt forward and thrusted it's legs toward the body of his target. With both his enemies down Shinji was careful to watch Asuka's Eva. Unit 02 still seemed to be struggling with itself, its hand was held mid-air equipped with a prog knife. Suddenly the arm jolted and pierced it's own head completely through, causing it to go silent.
"N-no, Asuka!"
Unit 01 responded to the will of its master, sprinting towards the sacrificed Eva. He turned it over, hoping to get the entry plug out. He became occupied however by Unit 14 smashing his head against the ground and Unit 13 trying to rip it's arm off.
"Goddamn it! Die!" he resisted against the arm bar of Unit 13 and managed to grip his prog knife, pulling it across the neck, which left Unit 13 headless
His hands free Shinji reached up to choke Unit 14. His head was continually smashed which caused him great distress but by will unknown he was able to continue until he snapped Unit 14's neck. He turned slowly towards the fallen Unit 02 and ripped off the entry plug cover, the Eva released it's pilot. Shinji wanted to place it on the ground but he lost consciousness from the stress of the hard-fought battle.
***
The boy is older now, and he never regrets eating the candy. It was sweet, even though he had to survive some bitterness. It was worth it though, because he hurdled over from the pain a girl had come to see if he was all right. Afterwards the 2 became friends and now, they loved.
***
"Hey Shinji, you've finally come back to us"
His eyes blink open rather slowly to a flock of red hair and white bandages.
"W-where am I?"
"In the hospital wing of NERV. You've been asleep for about 3 days" Asuka has a caring look in her eye, she has her good hand on top of his. Somehow, this doesn't feel awkward or weird to him. That, however, would subside when Fama walked into the room
"Hey babe, how ya feelin'?" despite her boyfriends' presence she did not drop Shinji's hand, instead she grasped it tighter
"..."
"Yo, what's up? Why you bein' a bitch?" he makes his way closer to her, when his hand reaches out for her
This was when Shinji felt the disappearance of her hand but he knew where it was: across his chest, propelling him away from them.
"What the hell! I've been waitin' like 3 days and you ain't gonna reward me!" his hand reaches out again but this time her hand countered by slapping his cheek. Still he did not get the picture "Come on, who cares about this guy? You liked it last time"
Asuka's eyes shot open at this proclamation, whereupon she pushed him against the bed with a look of distaste in her eyes.
"Oh, that's it! You won't give it to me? Then I'm gonna take it!"
Before Fama could begin his rush towards her the door slid open. The 5th child stepped through, mainly to greet Shinji and Asuka, but upon seeing that Fama was rushing Asuka he took it upon himself to remove him with, a fair amount of pain.
"Thank god he's gone. Dumkompf!" she turned her nose up to the door, with a glare similar to the one she gave Fama
Shinji had turned his head at this, not wanting to face Asuka "You made love with him..."
***
Yay. I'm done that really long chapter. Now the question is, do I make Shinji see past this or no? For those that are for whatever reason interested in this I hope you enjoyed it. C'ya