Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion. All characters and related materials are property of Gainax.
Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all my reviewers who have been with me for every update. Hououza, ST Pika, thanks go out to you both. Also I completely rewrote the first chapter, originally called the prologue. I about tripled it in size and added a lot to it so that it fits in better with the resolutions that come about in the "Truth" chapter. I would really appreciate it if you guys could review it for me. Thanks.
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"Can anyone hear me! Over!"
Shinji Ikari was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as his comm. went off.
"Yes this is Shinji."
"Captain Ikari?"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"Sir this is captain Shima of the assault team. We have been overtaken sir."
"Overtaken?"
The mind of the third child began to play with the possibilities of what that could mean.
"Did you manage to retrieve Aida and Zalomai?" Shinji asked.
"Affirmative. They are fine for the moment. But we have been pinned down sir."
"How so?"
"There is a sniper blocking our route out of the facility and a squad of troops trying to break in from the other side."
"Goddamnit!" After Shinji had said this out loud he regretted having done so. It wasn't what the soldiers needed to hear from a captain at a time like this.
"Captain Ikari?"
"Yes."
"Is there any sort of plan B sir? A fail safe?"
"I'm sorry captain but there is not."
"Then what do we do sir?"
Shinji's mind was in absolute turmoil despite his relatively calm words. There was so much death, it was all around him. He felt confronted by it; as if it would overtake him if he failed. "Those men are trapped, and Kensuke and Nishka are with them," Shinji repeated to himself in his mind. "There isn't another plan; one assault team, one shot, that's it. We can't use the Evangelions, there is too much of a possibility that everyone in the facility would be crushed, plus when the reinforcements arrive…" Shinji looked to the upper right portion of his screen. There was only an estimated twelve minutes left until the Russians would return in force. Shinji closed his eyes.
"Amori!" Shinji shouted to his closest wingman.
"Yes sir?"
"I want you to remove my entry plug and set it next to the main entrance to the building."
"What? But sir…"
"That is an order."
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Shinji Ikari could feel the cold of the ice through his plug suit as he stepped free of his entry plug. He found that he was breathing heavily all ready, and he watched as his breath steamed as it hit the air. The Third child took a step with his right foot and almost fell to the ground. Shinji tried his best to get his breathing under control as he pulled himself back up to his full height.
"Asuka, please help me. I have to do this. For you, and for everyone else. Just…whatever it is that I have to do inside of that building…please…Oh god please just tell me that you can bring me back again."
Shinji Ikari took another step, this time with his left. He did not stumble this time, though again he paused. Shinji Ikari looked to the stars.
"I'm no messiah. I'm not your son. I am a sinner. I am a killer. I kill for her, not you! Do you understand?"
Shinji found himself screaming these words, his finger pointed towards the sky.
"I don't give a fuck about you or this world! Mark me as you will, I don't care. I will scar until there is no place your blight hasn't touched. If you would make me kill then so be it. But don't you think for a moment that it is for you! I don't need your guidance. Leave me with my pain. I chose it. And I only choose to save you because instrumentality isn't real. Don't you ever forget that!"
The third child found himself shaking with fury, and, moments later, he began to run. Shinji vaulted head long into the gray hallways of the Russian base. He made a sharp right, and then a left turn, following the layout plan that Fuyutski had shown him. It was around this corner that Shinji Ikari encountered his first resistance. Four Russian guards with rifles at the ready; it was obvious that they had heard him careening down the hallways, for they were ready.
The first volley of shots rang out as Shinji ignited his AT field, watching the bullets curve harmlessly away from him and rebound onto the walls. Shinji leaped into the air, landing a vicious kick to the face of the soldier closest to him. In their surprise the three other men aimed at the young pilot as he recoiled back up into the air. The third child made no effort to block these shots as the delayed reaction times of the other soldiers landed their bullets squarely into the chest of their comrade. Shinji kicked back off of the nearest wall to try and avoid as much of the return fire as possible. Shinji knew that if he ran out of energy to activate his field than he would die soon after. The third child landed back onto the ground and found his blade. He felt the glorious pain as it slid from his arm and he grabbed hold of its handle. With one quick slice the gun of one of the Russians was cleanly cut in two. The man panicked and tried to step backward as quickly as possible.
"Bad move," Shinji thought as he impaled the frightened soldier as well as his comrade behind him with one quick thrust of his blade. Shinji let his weapon return to his body as the two men slumped to the floor.
"One more."
Shinji turned to see the last Russian guard, he was yelling at the top of his lungs, and though Shinji could speak no Russian it was obvious that the man was telling him not to come any closer. The third child glanced at the hand of the soldier. He was carrying a grenade.
Shinji shook his head.
"Don't do it," he said.
Shinji took a stepped forward and watched as the man's eyes changed from portraying rational fear, to suicidal insanity. The man pulled the pin.
The third child watched as the small metal tab fell to the floor with a clinking noise. Shinji turned and looked the frightened man in the eyes. The third child said two final words to the kamikaze soldier before the flames erupted.
"I'm sorry."
Shinji extended his AT field around his body as the blossoming explosion melted the Russian man before him.
"I'm sorry for what I have become."
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"Commander!"
Kozo Fuyutski turned to face the bridge.
"Yes Aoba go ahead."
"It's Lilith's egg sir, the energy patterns have returned."
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Asuka Langley Soryu exited the church where she had spent the better half of the last hour praying as she walked out into the streets of Tokyo 3. The sidewalks and alleys were completely vacant. There was not a soul on the streets in the entire city, except for two. Asuka could plainly see a man dressed entirely in white standing in the middle of the freeway onramp. His hair was long and black, and he was silhouetted ominously against the full moon looming behind him. Asuka could feel her will compelling her to walk to him, though it was against her better judgment. Moments later the second child found herself standing next to the man in white; standing and staring upon the moon.
"It is a beautiful night," she said.
The man made no effort to turn to the speaker; instead he continued to watch the moon as he gave his response.
"Yes, it truly is. Except that…"
"Except that what?"
"Except that blood has been spilt this night."
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It was the fifth time he had checked his gun that night. For some reason he just couldn't shake an overwhelming feeling of nervousness. This was the first time he had ever been on an actual mission since he had joined the army 3 years ago. That had been when the dreams had started. The visions of the boy with the cross. His team would always open fire on the young man, and they would always miss. The boy would dodge left and right, finally erupting in an orange light. It was always in the same corridor. This corridor. That was what frightened him the most. He knew that something would have to happen soon. His team had an entire squad of Japanese special forces soldier trapped in the other room. His mission was to make sure that the two escaped prisoners did not leave the building, though, like many soldiers, he was unsure about the cause for which he fought.
And then all of a sudden it was happening. The dream was playing out before him. The boy at the end of the tunnel. The captain yelling commands, as bullets pierced the air around him. The orange light. The boy moved impossibly fast, and soon he found that his vision was coming in bursts, like viewing life through a strobe light. The boy appeared to be closer each time his vision returned to him, along with more of his comrades upon the ground. Soon the creature was directly before him.
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Shinji Ikari could feel the quick red spray erupt as another innocent soul fell victim to his curse. He had begun to think of his life force as a curse; God's tool to hurt others. Shinji parted from his sorrows to look to the back of the hallway.
"One more…"
Shinji approached the man He tried his best not to look him in the eyes, but he could not avoid it. In fact, the third child found that he could not look away. Shinji Ikari found that nothing about a person told more about them then there eyes. Shinji made a decision.
"Go. Reinforcements should be here soon," Shinji said to the frightened looking man.
"What? Your letting me go?"
"Hurry."
"But I don't know the way-"
"Just follow the bodies."
Shinji's expression was grave.
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Kensuke Aida watched in horror as the final barrier between himself and the enemy was breached. The Japanese soldiers around him were bristling as they shouldered their guns for a last stand. However, no enemies came. Instead, it was a lone figure; Shinji Ikari stepped through the door.
"Captain Ikari?" The lead Japanese soldier said in disbelief.
Shinji nodded.
"Let's go. There isn't much time."
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"Takahashi?"
Private Takahashi turned in his pilot seat and pressed the button on his comm..
"Yes this is Takahashi. Go ahead Amori."
"We only have a minute and a half left until reinforcements show up. Have you received word from captain Ikari?"
"No. Nothing yet but…Hey wait there they are!"
"Yes. Roger that, I see them. Tell Kasamatsu to pick them up. It's time to get the hell out of here."
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Nishka Zalomai watched through semiconscious eyes as the sun slowly rose, streaking the sky and clouds crimson. She was laying down upon a cot in one of the gigantic Evangelion transport planes. Nishka had been betrayed by her own country; the government had told her she was going to see her family, and instead had kidnapped her. But she had made it back alive, Kensuke as well, with the help of a group of brave soldiers, of which perhaps Shinji Ikari was the bravest. Nishka tried her best to close her eyes during the flight, but it was futile; sleep would not come so easily.
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Damon Robinson sat silently on his bed as Rei Ayanami began to dress. "My God, she is absolutely the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen, and now she happens to be my wife," Damon thought to himself as Rei finished putting her underwear on again.
"Rei?"
The first child turned to face the seventh.
"Yes?"
When Rei got no response she walked over and sat on the bed. She found his hand and held it.
"Rei, last night was amazing…"
The blue haired girl smiled softly at the American boy. Damon stopped thinking about what to say next when he saw the small curl of her lips. A smile from Rei Ayanami was a rare treat, and in turn, one that he wished to savor as much as possible. However the smile upon his wife's face did not fade, in fact, it grew wider. Rei reached out and pulled the seventh child into an embrace.
"Damon, you are the first person to ever want to be near me, let alone to love me. I can't put into words how this makes me feel about you, just know that I love you completely."
Rei let herself relax the hug, and then pulled her face close to her partner's. Her eyes met his and they sat with their foreheads against the other as they simply watched for a time. Then, after several minutes, Rei found that she could not resist herself any longer, and met his lips with a kiss.
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Shinji Ikari slowly walked up the stone path to the elegant house he shared with his only friends. He hadn't slept on the trip home, and felt as if he might never sleep again. He had done horrible things; things that many people were jailed or put to death for. Yet he had done these things to save the innocent; to save his friends. "Will they even be able to look at me again?" He did not know.
Shinji was soon at the door, and he found it unlocked. He stepped inside and dropped his bags in the hallway for he did not feel like carrying them another twenty feet to his room for some reason. He proceeded in that direction anyway and soon found himself at that door as well. Shinji took a deep breath, and then turned the knob and pushed. The door, as expected, opened. He could see Asuka standing on the other side of the bed, gazing out the window.
"Shinji…"
Asuka turned and walked towards the third child slowly, tears starting to come. When she reached him, she wrapped him in a hug, and let her head rest upon his shoulder. Shinji found that he could say nothing.
"I hate you."
Shinji closed his eyes as her words came.
"I hate you for making me cry. I hate you for leaving me here alone. I hate you for coming back alive."
Asuka pulled herself from Shinji and landed a punch to his left shoulder, followed by a second, and a third. Shinji made no effort to stop her.
"I hate you for letting me walk all over you. I hate you for respecting me. I hate you for comforting me. I hate you for making me love you so goddamn much."
Asuka stopped her punching volleys and looked up at Shinji's face. What she found there frightened her. There was a horrible sorrow upon his features; a remorse that she could see cutting him strait through his very being.
Asuka took a step forward, and then another until she again found herself in Shinji's arms. She realized he still had not said anything since his return.
"Please, Shinji. Say something."
Shinji felt as if his very soul was being tormented. The faces of the men he had killed flashed before his eyes. The thought of the people who had had to die so that his friends might be saved was too much for him to bear. He had forsaken God, blaming him for what he had had to do. He had hoped that no matter what he had done, that no matter what he might have had to become to do what he had, that she could bring him back. This was the only real hope that Shinji Ikari felt he had. He hoped that the woman he loved could bring him back again. That somehow she could redeem him.
"Save me, Asuka."