Author's Notes- several weeks and five states later ( California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, for those of you who are curious) I finally finish this chapter and get it posted. There will be more notes at the end (if anyone actually reads them).
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Jekyll and Hyde.
. . .
Shinji groaned as he tried to wake up. He opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the darkness as he stared up. Unfamiliar ceiling…
He sat up and his head immediately throbbed to scold him for staking such a fast movement. He rubbed his temples, and the pain slowly ebbed away. Damn that hurts, he thought. What happened last night?
Judging by what he could see, the room was small, no bigger than his room at Misato's apartment. He looked around, hoping to find some clue to what he had been doing. The had to be something…
He went pale at what he saw not far away from himself.
"Oh god", he said, his voice sounding painfully loud to himself. "What did I do now?"
. . .
Leaning forward in his seat, Kimura took a sip of his green tea. The canned drink tasted a little too bitter in his mind. He had become too used to drinking tea from the thermos his wife usually prepared for him. Kimura smiled, She spoils me far too much.
Of course, he wasn't any better, not with the way he spoiled his daughter. His little princess. She was almost as old as that girl he had seen in the hallway, and was getting to be quite the handful. Just last week she had come home from school wanting to dye her hair blue. They had managed to talk her out of it by pointing out how unnatural it would look on her. She had pouted for a while about them being unfair, but had finally conceded.
Now she was trying to convince them to let her dye it purple.
He shook his head, wondering when it was he had become such an old man. He used to be cool, and now he was a 'parent'. His wife insisted he was still cool, and he could only suppose that was true. Everyone always assumed he was a bachelor, and they always seemed surprised when they learned he had a wife and little girl.
He scanned the monitors in front of him. It was pretty quiet in the hospital today, only a few visitors, so there wasn't much to keep an eye on. He switched to another set of cameras.
"Hmm…" The camera in 426B was out. He tapped the screen a few times with no effect. The surveillance system was notoriously glitchy, but that camera had been working the last time he looked. It was probably nothing, but he'd call in a maintenance team to check it out later.
. . .
Asuka again found herself nervously checking outside the room. Again, she had been sure she had heard something, but this time the hall was empty. This first time she had checked, a Section Two agent had been walking past.
"What do you keep looking for?" Touji asked.
"Misato," Asuka said. "She should have been back here by now.
Touji smirked. "Maybe she wanted to give us a little more time alone?"
Asuka growled when he winked at her. She seriously wanted to beat the living hell out of the idiot at this point. Brain damage or no brain damage, he had better lay off the lame pick up lines and innuendo, or so help me, I will not be held responsible for my actions. "She said she'd be right back. How long does it take to get a visitor's badge for Hikari?"
"H…H…Hikari?!" Touji stammered, his skin going pale.
Asuka narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Yeah, Hikari. Why are you acting so strange? Does her name sound familiar to you?"
"Oh, no. No, not that, no, I just…" The stooge took a second to explain. "I didn't expect anyone else to be coming in today, that's all."
Asuka didn't let it show, but she didn't buy his explanation for a second.
. . .
Hikari tried to pry the fingers away from her mouth so she could scream, but her captor wouldn't let go. She gave up on that and started to pound her fist against the arm encircling her waist. Her had hurt from striking the arm, which seemed as hard as stone, but she had to get away somehow. The only thing that mattered was getting free, seeing her friends again, seeing Asuka, and her sisters, and Touji again.
"Ow!" her captor whispered loudly behind her. "Dammit, Hikari, that hurts!"
Hikari's eyes widened as she recognized the owner of the voice.
"Misato?!" she shouted, or would have if said person didn't still have her fingers clamped tightly over her lips.
"And will you keep it down?" she said, directing her attention somewhere else. "You're going to spoil everything."
Hikari followed her gaze, almost jumping when she saw Asuka standing right in front of her. Asuka didn't notice her, and instead seemed to be getting rather impatient.
Still a little shaken from her 'abduction', Hikari spoke with a little less politeness, but managed to control the volume. "Misato, what the hell are you doing?"
"Shhhhh…" Misato removed the finger from in front of her lips, grabbing a bag of snacks and holding them up with her cast-covered arm. She grabbed a beer, using one finger to open it while the other four held the can in an unbreakable grip, then flipping her grip to shift the Yebisu into drinking position. "You missed the beginning, but maybe there will be some more action soon."
"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at the food clutched in the crook of Misato's injured arm. "And why do you have your cast out of its sling?"
"Bleh," Misato said as she made a dismissive motion with her beer. "I'm fine. I broke my arm before when I was in college." That was an interesting memory, though she didn't exactly recall the incident itself. She did remember going out to the party, and the beer, but she couldn't remember falling down that flight of stairs. "It was much worse break than this one. Those doctors are always being overprotective so they can cover their asses."
"What happened to Touji's head?" Hikari gasped, worried when she saw the bandages.
"Oh he's fine, just cut his forehead, but it makes a good prop. He's actually doing a good job pretending to have amnesia." She took a drink of the Yebisu while she watched the scene in front of her.
"Misato!" Hikari whispered harshly. "That's a cruel trick to play on Asuka, especially with Shinji missing."
"Shinji's fine. He's staying at a hotel on the edge of the city. A couple of agents caught up with him this morning and are keeping an eye on him" Misato said, though it had taken Section Two much longer to find Shinji than she would have preferred. A pair of the agents was waiting for him, but had been told to give Shinji his space. She was still holding out hope that Shinji would come back on his own. "And besides, I'm doing this for Asuka and Shinji's benefit."
"I don't quite follow."
"Well, you know how Asuka gets when Shinji does something she thinks is stupid?" Misato asked. Hikari nodded, picturing a shouting fist-waving Asuka towering over a cowering Shinji. "Well, I thought she might give Shinji a break if she was angry with someone else when he finally homes home. You know, like a diversion."
Hikari was skeptical of Misato's motives, but as long as it didn't get too out of hand, she would allow Misato and Touji to play their little game
. . .
Asuka was certain now that Touji was faking his amnesia, but she couldn't figure out why. For one, Suzuhara wouldn't dare take the risk he was taking under normal circumstances, and secondly the stooge couldn't come up with this plot on his own. Even as stupid as it was, it was still beyond Touji's capability to grasp. So the question was who had the ability to plan this out, gain access to Touji while he was in the hospital, and was capable of convincing the jock to risk his life in going along with it?
There was only one purple haired suspect she could think of.
That's why she wanted me to see Touji before Hikari could. Very clever Misato, Asuka thought as she smirked to herself, but you should have learned by now. No one outsmarts the great Asuka Langley Sohryu.
Asuka smirked to herself. "So, you really don't remember anything?"
"Nope." he said, shaking his head.
"Not even how to read and write? Or even how to feed yourself properly."
"Hey! I do remember how to do those things!" he protested.
"Well, I'm sure anything would have to be an improvement over the way you acted before. I'd swear you were illiterate, and had the table manners of a baboon." Asuka grinned as Touji almost broke character. But he caught himself and just kept grinning dumbly, though Asuka could swear his teeth were clenched together tighter.
She turned towards the mirror. Glancing at one of the corners. She could see now that the mirror was silvered on the outside, not on the back like a normal mirror. A dead giveaway that it was a two-way mirror. She pretended to check her hair, but was just giving Misato and the rest of her spectators a better view of her act. "Of course, that last one was kinda fitting, seeing as you smell like one most of the time."
Asuka was forced to admit that the moron was a better actor than she would have given him credit for. He managed to keep his cool despite the insult, but he was still no match for her, and since she had an attentive audience, she was going to give them the performance of a lifetime. She looked at Touji's reflection in the two-way mirror, catching a glare from the stooge.
Asuka's smile dropped as she looked down and away from the mirror, staring down into the sink. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that…"
"Wha?" Touji uttered, certain he hadn't heard correctly. Did the devil just apologize for something?
"I know its how I usually act," Asuka said, looking down into the sink, "but I shouldn't have said something so mean, especially when you're in the hospital and all."
"Touji? Do you really have amnesia?" Asuka said, looking at her own reflection in the mirror, her face a mask of anxiety. "If you aren't, and this is all a joke, I'll understand. I probably deserve it for the way I've always treated you."
Touji could only sit there dumbstruck.
"I know you say you don't remember , but I was never really nice to you. If I could take it back I would but…" Asuka's voice broke, and it took her a moment to regain "I mean, can we just forget all the things I've ever done and start over?"
"Um… Sure." Touji said.
"Really?" She said turning back toward Touji, a tentative smile on her face and her eyes glistening. Touji nodded. Asuka's smile widened. "Thanks"
She walked over and sat down next to him. "Touji, I was wondering… Do you still want to kiss me?"
"W…w…what?!"
"I just can't keep pretending anymore." She said, leaning forward, her hands on the bed on either side of him. "I've always been attracted to you, ever since I first saw you out at sea, but I was too stubborn to admit it."
She edged closer, fixing him with a smoldering gaze.
Touji gulped loudly.
"Come on, stooge. I want that kiss." She pursed her lips and closed her eyes.
Touji screamed.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! Misato! Help! The demon's possessed! THE DEMON'S POSSESSED!"
He scrambled away to avoid the crazed redhead, tumbling backwards off the bed and barley catching himself by the bed sheets before he could crack his skull against the floor.
"Aww, poor Touji," Asuka said with mock concern as she leaned over the bed to look down at him. "Did you hurt yourself again? Want Asuka to kiss it all better?" she said grinning at him for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter.
"Ha ha. Very funny Devil-girl," Touji growled through his teeth as he pulled himself back up. He shook a fist at her threateningly. "Hows about I show you MY punch line?"
"TOUJI SUZUHARA!"
Touji froze, slowly turning toward the angry voice, toward the vision of pigtailed fury standing in the doorway. "C… C… Class Rep! I uhhhhh…"
"You weren't threatening Asuka right now, were you Mister Suzuhara?" Hikari inquired, putting all the authority in her voice she could muster.
Touji immediately dropped both hands to his sides, trying to appear as innocent as he possibly could. "I wasn't doin' nothing. I was just defending myself against this lunatic."
"Don't play innocent with me Touji Suzuhara. I know all about the mean joke you and Major Katsuragi tried to pull on poor Asuka."
"Ah, lighten up Hikari," Touji protested. "It was just a little prank. Its not like she didn't deserve it after all the crap she puts us through"
"That's no excuse," Hikari scolded.
"Yeah, that's right Hikari. Don't buy anything this stooge says," Asuka shouted, before adding an over-acted sniffle. "I think I'll be scarred for life because of this."
"Oh, lose the act already, LucifeOW!" Touji shouted as Hikari whacked him on the back of the head. She immediately looked regretful when she saw Touji rubbing the back of his skull in pain.
"Oh I'm sorry Touji," she said apologetically. "I didn't mean to hit you so hard. Does it hurt?"
"Please," Asuka said caustically. "there's nothing in that skull to hurt."
Hikari didn't seem to hear her, and instead was intently listening to Touji who was busy putting on his . "Nah, it don't hurt that bad," he said. "Just avoid hitting the stitches the next time I say something stupid, okay. Wouldn't want to hurt what little I have left up here, would ya?"
Touji grinned and Hikari started giggling. Asuka rolled her eyes in disgust at both of them while Misato, her arm once again in its sling, stood back and watched the whole sight with a big grin on her face, chuckling lightly.
Asuka turned towards the sound and fixed Misato with an annoyed glare. "And what are YOU so happy about? Don't think I forgot about your little part in this scheme." She smirked mischievously. "If you think you're getting off THAT easy, you…"
Both Asuka and Misato's cell phones rang simultaneously.
"Saved by the bell…" Misato muttered dryly as the others looked on apprehensively. As she answered the phone. "Katsuragi… What?! How come we didn't detect it sooner? No, never mind. I'm on my way. Get Rei into her Eva immediately, but don't launch until its absolutely necessary. Wait until Asuka and I get there."
"Another Angel?" Asuka said as Misato hung up the phone. "So soon?"
"Somehow I don't think they follow a schedule," Misato said as she dialed another number. "This is Katsuragi. Is he still there? Good, get him inside the geofront. If he won't pilot, then at least get him to a shelter where he'll be safe."
"Was that about Shinji?" Asuka asked.
"Yes, he's fine, but we can't worry about that now. We have to get you to your Eva."
"Should we get to a shelter?" Touji asked, unconsciously holding Hikari's hand.
"No," Misato said, "you'll both be just as safe here as in any of the shelters.
"O…Okay" Hikari said.
"Come on. Lets go," Misato said to Asuka.
"Okay," Asuka said, following after the violet-haired major. She stopped at the door and shouted to Touji. "Hey, Stooge."
"Yeah, devil?"
"You behave like a gentleman with Hikari," she threatened, "or I swear I'll shove my Unit Two's size five hundreds up your…"
"Okay! Okay! I get the picture," he said, interrupting her, shuddering as the image wormed its way through his head. "Now would ya stop tormenting me and go kick that Angel's ass!"
. . .
Shinji lay back on his bed after picking up a little bit of the trash that had been strewn about the hotel room floor, trying to get the headache to go away. He had no idea how much he had actually had to drink over the past few days, but judging by the trash on the floor of the room, it included at least six beers and a whole bottle of sake. Of course, the dull, throbbing pain in his skull told him that this might be just last nights leftovers.
He had spent a great deal of time wandering around the past few nights, in both of his identities. He had passed by Rei's building sometime during his drifting. Her apartment was abandoned, the door left hanging open and the litter from her floor fluttering in the breeze. He wandered through downtown Tokyo 3, the school, a public park. He was pretty sure that last one was where he got the beer.
There had been a trio of high school boys there. They were drinking, and the apparent leader of the group had taken a liking to his trench coat and tried to take it from him.
Unfortunately for them, Shinji wasn't the one in the pilot's seat at the time, and his other self didn't take it well when one of the boy's grabbed his arm. He gave at least one of them a broken arm, and the others would have marks that would last for several weeks. The beer had probably seemed like a fitting trophy at the time, the sake though… He had no clue where he had gotten that from, but when the alarms started to go off, he wished he hadn't found either.
Great, Shinji thought, pulling a pillow over his head. He gets drunk, I get stuck with the hangover.
He had no idea how Misato could stand this every morning. Probably why she started each day with a beer. He didn't know if it actually helped, but it was tempting to try. Of course, it was a moot point as all the alcohol in the hotel was now gone. Probably a good thing it was. With his luck it would probably only make things worse
As if the alarms weren't enough for his headache, someone decided this was the perfect time to start knocking on the door to his room.
"Just a second…" he mumbled.
More pounding, louder this time.
"Just a second!" He shouted, immediately regretting it, as the pounding in his head intensified.
He rolled out of the bed, landing on his hands and knees, dragging himself to his feet. He staggered over to the door and opened it, squinting in the blinding light at the two people standing outside his room.
"Shinji Ikari?"
"Yeah?" he answered, already fairly certain of who his visitors were.
"Please come with us, sir."
"You're wasting your time. I won't pilot any more," Shinji grumbled, irritated.
The Section Two agent let out a frustrated sigh, obviously in no disposition to deal with moody teenagers. "Frankly, sir, I don't care. My orders are to get you to safety inside the geofront."
Seeing few alternatives, Shinji picked up a plastic shopping bag containing some of his things and joined the two agents outside. A black van was waiting in the hotel parking lot. Shinji got inside the back of the van as the two agents climbed in the front and began to drive.
. . .
Asuka pressed the switch on the wrist of her plugsuit, letting out a nervous breath as the suit conformed to her body. She had not had a chance to feel anxious until now. The angel was fast approaching, much faster than something its size had any right to. To her knowledge, Section Two had not brought Shinji in yet. As much as she welcomed the opportunity to prove her superior piloting ability, it was going to be her first time going up against an Angel alone.
"Pilot Sohryu."
Well, Almost alone.
"What do you want, Wondergirl?" Asuka growled. She had seriously been hoping Rei wouldn't show, if only so she wouldn't have to deal with her. Asuka had assumed Rei would be the first one there, but the blue haired girl was still in her school uniform.
Rei either ignored Asuka's jab, didn't notice, or simply didn't care. "Where is Pilot Ikari?"
Asuka snorted. "Why should I know where that Baka is?"
"You are his roommate," Rei stated, thinking her reasoning should have been obvious. "I thought you might know something about his absence."
"Well, he hasn't been home for a few days," Asuka said, trying not to let either her concern for Shinji or her anger with him for disappearing on her leak through into her words. "And I'm not sure when he's going to be back."
She didn't say 'if'. She knew Shinji would be back, eventually. He had to come back. Her mind wouldn't let her think anything else.
"Oh," Rei said, sounding disappointed, at least for her. She opened her locker, removing a white plugsuit from within it.
"And why do you care?" Asuka asked. Hating it that Rei was "Worried about taking on this Angel without the invincible Shinji? Or does the doll just miss having her boyfriend around to play?"
"I am not a doll," Rei replied calmly, though a slight blush had crept into her cheeks, "and Pilot Ikari is not my… boyfriend, as you put it."
"Really," Asuka said, smirking at the fact that she got to the First child in some way, and a little surprised at Rei's last assertion. "Then why all the heartfelt concern? Or is this just something the Commander told you to do?"
"No, I was not ordered to speak to you about this. I do so because pilot Ikari is my friend, and I am concerned for his well being." She paused for a moment. "I would assume that you are concerned for him as well?"
Asuka froze for a second, uneasy that Rei had hit pretty close to the mark. She managed to keep herself from stammering like an idiot when she finally answered. "Me? Why should I care about what happens to that idiot?"
"I assume that the two of you are friends," Rei said, "despite many of your actions towards him.
Asuka knew Rei was right about the way she treated Shinji, but that didn't make it any easier to accept. She knew how friends were supposed to be treated, and she didn't need to be told how to behave by a doll. "And what about you Ayanami? I've never seen you act friendly toward anyone, let alone him. And what is it with you refusing to call him 'Shinji'?" Asuka countered. "If he's supposed to be your friend, why do you always call him 'Ikari'? "
There was an elongated silence as Rei considered Asuka's words.
"He never asked me to do so. I did not know if it would be appropriate or not." Rei answered, pausing to think, "but if you think it is appropriate, then I shall do so."
Asuka rolled her eyes. Ayanami still had to be told what to do, even when she professed to be acting of her own free will. She knew that, at least from her grades, Rei was no idiot, but there were times when she was so dense it was absolutely infuriating.
"Do you wish for me to call you 'Asuka' as well?"
Asuka slammed her locker shut. "I never said WE were friends, Wondergirl."
Rei blinked at Asuka's sudden outburst before responding. "Very well. I apologize if I have offended you, pilot Sohryu."
"Just hurry up and get dressed. I want to kill this angel and get out of here." Asuka growled, storming out of the locker room before Rei could say any more insightful little tidbits. The First child had said more in the last two minutes than Asuka could ever remember her saying in an entire day. And it infuriated her that Rei would dare think she knew so much about her and what she thought about Shinji.
Even if she was on track with some of what she had said, Asuka was not going to let Ayanami think she had gotten the upper hand or that she could get inside her head. It was the principle of the whole thing. It was like being ridiculed by a monk on the one day of the year he was allowed to speak.
. . .
Shinji sat against one of the walls of the shelter, a CD player in hand. He had found it while picking up the hotel room and had shoved it into the plastic shopping bag along with his coat and a few CDs. He assumed he had bought the player, in the same way he assumed he paid for the hotel room. Most of the money that had been in his procured wallet was now gone. What remained amounted to about ¥1000, which he had left behind at the hotel for whoever had to clean up after him.
Listening to the music, he thought of how strange it was. Despite the differences between he and his other self, they both still enjoyed music. Granted, the selection of Cds, with their hard, loud sound, was not what he would have ever purchased on his own, but he could not say that he hated it.
He was currently listening to a foreign album titled Sehnsucht, the volume turned down enough that it didn't cause him a spliting headache, yet still loud enough to drown out the noise of the people around him. He had no idea what any of the lyrics meant, but he did hear a few familiar words.
It took him a second to realize he was listening to German, what he recognized being words Asuka used in conjunction with curses usually directed at him. He smiled at the thought of the vibrant girl. She would probably know what they were saying, Shinji chuckled to himself, then she'd probably hear something perverted and smack me for making her to listen to it.
His smile disappeared as he thought of how he would probably never see her again. The past few days had been rough for him, but nothing he couldn't handle, But he never realized how much he would actually miss his friends, the people at Nerv, Misato, Rei, Asuka. He had finally made up his mind. He would leave Tokyo 3 at the first opportunity that presented itself. He wasn't going to delay the inevitable any longer.
The song ended, and he hit the back button on the player. Almost immediately track two began playing again. The shelter was slowly filling up as more people made their way down into the geofront. The section two agents had stayed above to help people get inside the shelter, leaving Shinji on his own.
The tempo and volume of the music picked up as a tremor shook the shelter. Shinji looked up as the lights flickered for a moment. The people around him looked as well, but immediately shifted their attention back to whatever diversions they had on hand. Another tremor came, shortly followed by another, and another.
Footsteps. Big footsteps.
Ignored by the people around him, Shinji headed towards one of the seldom-used shelter exits that led into the geofront itself. Curiosity was getting the better of him. He had to see what was going on, if only to know Asuka and Rei would be fine without him. Of course he knew it wasn't a smart idea. Hell, you would have to be an idiot to…
"Oh man, this is so cool."
"Kensuke"
"Hey Shinji" The amateur cameraman said almost absentmindedly, only reacting after a few moments and nearly dropping his camera. "Shinji?! What are you doing here? Why aren't you out there with Ayanami and the Devil?"
Shinji looked at the awaiting Evangelion, Asuka's Unit Two, standing near a weapons tower holding a pallet rifle at the ready. He didn't see Rei's Unit Zero and briefly wondered why she hadn't been sent out in it to back Asuka up. "I'm no longer an Eva pilot."
"You're joking, right?"
"No, I'm serious."
"But you're their best pilot. How can they…"
"They didn't do anything, Kensuke. This was my choice." Shinji explained. Kensuke was speechless, and the entire geofront seemed to join him in that moment. Shinji thought saying it aloud would be like a weight lifted from his shoulders, but the tension was still there hanging silently over him.
The silence was broken by a massive explosion, both Kensuke and Shinji turning their eyes skyward, as burning slabs of rock and armor were sent crashing to the floor of the geofront far below.
Asuka's Eva raised its rifle as the massive form of the fourteenth Angel descended with a effortless grace that belied its massive form. Unit two and numerous artillery opened fire upon the Angel, which continued to move steadily onward despite the onslaught being directed upon it.
Shinji could only stare in petrified awe, as the beast took on the combined assault of twin rocket launchers, Unit two having already emptied three pallet rifles. Asuka emptied both the launchers, lowering them as the air cleared. The Angel stood amid the smoke an dust, seeming to regard Unit two with detached amusement, completely unscathed.
Kensuke kept recording, his camera steady, despite the fact that the rest of his body was shaking. "They're going up against that thing by themselves?"
. . .
"Come on! Die already!" Asuka dropped the two pallet rifles, picking up a pair of rocket launchers and unloading them on the Angel. Pairs of deadly missiles streaked from the twin launchers and detonated against the Angel. One after another the warheads exploded, until the Angel was completely enveloped by smoke and dust.
"That got him," Asuka breathed in relief.
"Asuka! The Angel is still active," Misato shouted over the radio.
"What?! I was neutralizing it's A.T. field wasn't I? That thing's got to be dead." But Misato's information was confirmed by the sight of the fourteenth angel standing directly in front of her, its flat arms unfolding from its sides, its eyes glowing dimly in the haze.
"Yes, but… Asuka! Wait!" Misato shouted, but Asuka had already grabbed an Axe from the weapon's tower and had whirled to face the Angel.
"Why won't you DIE?!" Asuka cried as she charged the angel, hefting the axe over her shoulder. The Angel leaned towards the charging Eva, its ribbon-like arms prepared to strike, and with lightning speed they lashed out at Unit Two.
With great force, metal met with metal-like hide, and the angel reeled to one side as the bullet from Rei's sniper rifle collided with its head. One of its arms glanced of the chest of Asuka's Unit Two, and the Eva grasped the wound with one arm as Asuka cried out in pain.
"Damn it Wondergirl!" Asuka yelled. "I don't need your help!" She swung the axe, which collided harmlessly against the Angel's skin. Though the Angel did recoil from the blow, the axe failed to gain purchase. Raising the axe again, she swung harder, this time imbedding the blade in the Angel's shoulder. The beast pushed her away, retracting its arms along the Eva's legs slicing into its calves.
Gritting her teeth in pain, Asuka drew her progressive knife. Another shot from Rei's position slammed into the Angel's abdomen, just shy of its S2 organ. The Angel turned its attention on Rei, turning as its arms shot out towards her position. Rei's Unit Zero rolled aside as the Angel's arms cut through the ground she had been only moments before. Using the momentary distraction, Asuka rushed the Angel, Stabbing at the exposed crimson orb.
The blade sparked and screeched as it met with resistance, the Angel having closed a pair of metallic shutters over its core. Asuka cursed loudly, trying to wedge the knife between the shutters without success. The Angel attempted to counterattack, drawing one of its arms back around. Asuka dropped the progressive knife, grabbing hold of the Angel's appendage before it could strike, the razor-sharp edge cutting into her Eva's hands. She quickly grabbed the other arm, effectively immobilizing the Angel.
"Wondergirl! Hurry it up and blast this damn thing!" Asuka shouted over the comm as she tried to hold on to the extremely powerful thrashing Angel. Rei took aim quickly and fired, the bullet ricocheting off the armored shell over the core.
"Come on First Child, fire again!" Asuka shouted. "I don't want to have to hold on to this thing all day!"
"Understood." Rei answered, firing another round at the Angel, then another. It was obvious the Angel was hard for Pilot Sohryu to hold, but with every shot the Angel's struggles seemed to weaken. Her shots were starting to make dents in the angel's armor, but with its struggling the Angel's core was a difficult target.
The angel seemed to relax in Unit Two's grasp, staring at Rei with its emotionless face. She was about to squeeze the trigger again, staring back at the glowing eyes of the angel, eyes that steadily grew brighter with each moment. Rei's eyes widened as realization hit her, and she dove to one side, thought it was not fast enough for her to avoid the blast completely.
. . .
"Rei's unconscious," Ritsuko reported, "Her vitals are stable and she appears to be physically unharmed, but there is substantial thermal damage to Unit Zero's forward armor and surface tissue. "
"Asuka, don't let that thing go," Misato yelled. "Just hold on."
"Oh yeah, that's easy for you to say!" Asuka grumbled as she struggled to hold the thrashing Angel, or more accurately, hold on to. The Angel was currently dragging Asuka's Unit Two steadily forward, her feet leaving gouges in the ground as she tried to stop it. "Got any other brilliant plans, Misato?"
"Don't worry Asuka. Katsuragi will come up with something," Kaji interjected. Misato glared at his unwanted input. He just smirked at her. "She always does.".
"Alright, Kaji," Asuka said, her voice more enthusiastic, "but tell her to speed it up!"
"If Asuka can keep it's A.T. field neutralized, we might just be able to crack its armor with missiles. It's a long shot, but…"
"The Second Child will not be able to defeat the Angel." Commander Ikari's voice surprised everyone. He had remained silent for much of the battle, observing silently from overhead. He seemed to ponder the situation for a moment. "Major, launch Unit One."
"Commander, we don't have a pilot." Misato protested. "Unit One will be about as useful as a cardboard cutout without one."
"That will not be a problem." He looked over at Ritsuko. "Doctor, activate the dummy plug the moment Unit One reaches the surface."
"Commander, the dummy plugs have proved to be unpredictable and unstable in all the tests." Ritsuko warned. "It may prove effective against the angel, but it could just as well go on a mindless rampage, not work at all, or even turn on Pilot Sohryu."
"Anything is better than the current situation." He looked down at Misato and the bridge technicians. "Launch the Eva."
. . .
Shinji and Kensuke both watch as Rei's Eva went down. Shinji was reminded of the battle with the Fifth Angel, the super-heated entry plug, Rei's smile. But even the Fifth had not been as powerful as this monster, which was dragging Unit Two around like a small child that had latched itself to an adult's leg.
Kensuke winced as Asuka tightened her grip on the Angel and more of the Eva's blood poured down the silver appendages. "Ouch," he hissed, remembering what it had been like when Shinji let him and Touji inside the entry plug. He felt a twinge of sympathy, despite the fact that it was the devil herself piloting the red machine.
Beside him Shinji stood, whispering to himself, cheering Asuka on from the sidelines. "Man, its strange having you here when a battle's going on. I can't believe you actually quit."
Shinji sighed, "I know it was probably cool having an Eva pilot for a friend."
"Well, yeah it was," Kensuke admitted, "but that's not important, at least not to me and Touji. But I'm sure your fan club will be disappointed."
"Fan club? What are you talking about?"
"Hell, probably half the school has seen the battle footage I shot, and the others have at least heard about it. Most of the school admires you for what you've done, including a good portion of the female population." Kensuke grumbled out that last bit. Another of his plans that had backfired on him. He had gathered quite a crowd of girls with one of his video showings, but it only ended up getting Shinji more attention. "Probably the only thing keeping them from making a move is that they're all scared to death the Red-devil will tear their still-beating hearts out of their chests."
"I don't hold it against you Shinji, though I'm sure some of the guys at school don't like it that you have all the girls' attention," Kensuke grinned, still filming the battle. "But I sure wouldn't mind getting the opportunity to play the hero at least once."
"Its not all fun and games, Kensuke."
"I know that. You guys put your lives on the line all the time and…"
"Kensuke, Touji is in the hospital because of me! I almost killed his sister the first time I got in that thing. Its not just dangerous to me, its dangerous to everyone around it."
"And those Angels aren't? A lot more people live that probably would've died because you and Ayanami and the devil over there are willing to face them." He actually took his eye away from the viewfinder for a moment to look at Shinji, illustrating the sincerity of his words. "I know Mari doesn't blame you for what happened to her, and I'm pretty sure Touji feels the same way."
He left Shinji with that thought as he went back to filming the titanic tug-of-war. Shinji began to shake, collapsing against the concrete entryway of the shelter. "What am I doing?"
He had been so afraid of hurting someone else, of having to carry that guilt around with him, that he had abandoned everyone he cared for. Now, if what Kaji had told him was true, all that stood between the angel and the end of the world was Asuka and Unit Two. There was no way he could get to his Eva in time to help her now.
"I let them go without anyone else to back them up.." he muttered.
"Don't be so sure about that…" Kensuke whispered as the hunched form of Unit One appeared from behind great doors. It lifted its head to glare at the Angel, its eyes glowing blood-red in the shadows. Shinji could only gape as the purple monstrosity advanced toward the Angel and Unit Two.
"They found another pilot?" Shinji said weakly. Half of him was relieved that help was on the way, and cheered the new pilot on, but the other half felt disheartened that he could be replaced so easily.
. . .
Asuka strained to hold on to the Angel, despite the synch-pain in her hands and chest. She couldn't lose, not this time. It went beyond pride now. She was the only one left that could stop the Angel, but she couldn't attack without letting go, and letting go would leave her open to attack.
"Asuka, just hang on a bit longer, were sending out Unit One," Misato said, just as the door enclosing the Evangelion started to open.
Asuka's heart leapt, almost afraid to believe it. He came back. But of course he came back. He's the invincible Shinji Ikari. Smirking, Asuka opened a channel to Unit One. "Finally decided to show up, Third Child?"
There was no response. What, now he thinks he's too good to talk to me? "Hey Shinji! Hurry it up will ya?"
Unit One was only too happy to obey, charging the Angel at full speed. Asuka cried out in alarm as the purple Evangelion crashed headlong into her and the Angel, knocking all three of them to the ground. The force of the impact tore one of the Angel's arms free from Asuka's grasp, severing the fingers on her Eva's right hand.
"Dammit Shinji!" Asuka yelled in pain. "What the hell do you think you're do... ing…" She froze as she stared into the crimson eyes of Unit One, the Eva growling at the Angel and her as it drew its progressive knife.
"Asuka! That's NOT Shinji!" Misato yelled, breaking Asuka out of her trance.
"WHAT?! Then who the hell is in it?"
"No one. Its on some kind of auto-pilot."
"Scheisse!" Asuka shouted as the wild Eva barely missed hitting her Unit Two when the prog knife glanced off the Angel's skin. "Dammit! I'm on your side!"
The Angel was not dissuaded by the appearance of this new enemy in the least. It simply muscled itself up off the ground, pushing Unit One backwards and tearing its other arm free from Unit Two's grasp.
Asuka screamed as the synch-pain of abruptly amputated fingers hit her. Infuriated she charged the Angel, driving her shoulder into its side. She fired the flechette rounds from the shoulder pylon, the metal spikes digging into the Angel's hide, but not far enough to disable it.
The Fourteenth whiped one arm across the ground, cutting Asuka's Eva off at the knees. The other arm came around moments later level with the Eva's chest. Asuka saw the razor-sharp edge flying towards her, and managed to eject moments before the Angel's arm severed the Eva's head and the top portion of its shoulders, losing consciousness as her entry plug rocketed away her connection with Unit Two was abruptly cut.
. . .
"NO!" Shinji cried out, his heart freezing in his chest as Unit Two's upper torso was separated from the rest of it's body in a horrendous torrent of blood. Kensuke managed to catch the entry plug as it flew away, his expression growing more and more horrified as the metal cylinder grew larger in his viewfinder.
Finally seeing the incoming entry plug himself, Shinji grabbed his friend by the collar. Kensuke in tow, Shinji dashed away from the shelter entrance as the entry plug crashed into the ground and plowed through it until it collided with the concrete bunker.
Coughing though the dust, Shinji ran up to the entry plug, tugging on the bent handle with all his strength. Groaning loudly the damaged door was slowly pried open. LCL pouring out on the ground. Not wasting any time, Shinji jumped inside.
"Asuka?" he called out when he saw the girl lying on her side in the remaining LCL. She didn't move, but started to cough when he picked her up and placed one of her arms over his shoulder.
"Kensuke!" he shouted from the door. "Help me get her out!"
Kensuke hurried over and grabbed the arm Shinji handed to him, taking Asuka's shoulders while Shinji grabbed her legs and climbed out of the entry plug. "Put her down here," he instructed. Kensuke set Asuka down on the grass and collapsed on the ground next to her. While he caught his breath, Shinji rolled Asuka onto her side allowing her to cough up the remainder of the LCL in her lungs.
He sighed with relief when she started breathing normally. He looked back up to see how the battle was progressing, hoping the pilot would be able to defeat the Angel. He couldn't help but wonder who was inside the Eva, briefly wondering if it was Touji, but he could never see his friend behaving in this way. Unit One fought with reckless abandon, slashing wildly at the angel, but there was no consideration to where the blows fell. It attacks were clumsy, and haphazard.
"Come one," Shinji muttered. "You can beat that thing."
The Angel quickly tired of the annoyance in front of it, one of its arms shooting out towards the Evangelion, which Unit One was able to deflect with its progressive knife. The arm continued on its course, encircling the Eva and constricting around its arms. The prog knife immobilized, Unit on could do little but writhe in the Angel's grasp. Wrapping its other appendage around the Eva's legs, hefting the purple war machine overhead.
The fourteenth Angel slammed the Eva into the ground with enough force that it shook the concrete bunker. The light in the Eva's eyes faded, the Angel tossing it aside like a broken toy before continuing on its inexorable course.
No. It couldn't be over. Not like this. So many people were depending on them. There was so much at stake. It couldn't end this way. There had to be something else…
Something he could do…
"Kensuke, take care of Asuka for me, okay."
"Shinji? What are you," Kensuke started, but Shinji was already gone, sprinting towards the fallen form of Unit One, leaving him alone.
Alone, camcorder in hand, sitting on the ground next to an unconscious Asuka Langley Sohryu, who was wearing a skintight rubber suit and who happened to be coming around at that very moment.
Take care of Asuka? Who's gonna take care of ME? Kensuke thought, as Asuka's eyes opened and focused first on him and then on his camcorder. It dawned on him that he was going to have one hell of a mark on his face in a few minutes.
. . .
Shinji felt like his lungs were going to burst, but he didn't slow down. He pushed past the pain and focused only on his goal. He had been running all his life, but now he was running towards something. Even if it destroyed him, he would not run away this time.
Somehow I have to get back to the place where my journey started.
The path he had followed had taken so many turns, that he had become lost, but he would not allow his fear to hold him back any more.
Find the course I charted…
When I first departed.
He reached the gouge Unit One had created when the angel had thrown it. He slid down the steep, crumbling walls of the depression, stumbling and crashing hard to the ground below.
He groaned as he tried to move, already fatigued and now in pain.
He had already let so many people down. Asuka, Rei, Misato… every one of the people he worked with at Nerv. All his friends, his classmates… they were all depending on him. He couldn't fail them again.
Somehow I have to hang on to the vision that first inspired me.
He pushed himself up off the ground, spitting the dirt from his mouth.
To the hope that fired me…
When the world admired me.
His breath coming in rapid gasps, he forced himself to move, to approach the silent beast, to grasp the violet metal, to climb up the enormous bulk of the Evangelion.
I'll find my way back to the higher ground,
And see the view I saw before.
He didn't know how, but he found he strength to climb to the top of the Eva's back and eject the entry plug. The plug was empty, its interior bathed in a blood red light. He had no idea where the pilot could have gone, if there ever was a pilot. He should have expected his father to have a backup plan of some kind, but he couldn't dwell on that at the moment. He still had no idea how he was going to activate the Eva, let alone defeat the Angel, but he had to try.
I'll search the world until the answer's found.
Turn my despair around forevermore…
. . .
Central dogma was in chaos, as some tracked the terrifying approach of the Angel, others trying desperately to get either Unit Zero or Unit One functioning again. While others monitored the still unconscious pilot of the damaged blue Eva, Maya and Ritsuko concentrated on the tempermental purple Eva
"Try reinitializing the system," Ritsuko instructed her as she typed with incredible urgency on her keyboard.
"Reinitializing… It's no good. Unit One has power, but it won't activate."
"The dummy plug isn't working…" Ritsuko said, searching for the cause. "That last impact damaged the plug's core."
"So its useless." Misato said, her last hopes having just been dashed. Their was nothing left that could stop the angel.
"Major! The Angel is…" The technician was silenced as part of the command center was torn away.
"My God…" was all Misato could say as she stared into the dimly-glowing, sulfur yellow eyes of the beast. To call it monstrous would not do it justice. She took two unsteady steps away from the Angel, backing into the equally stunned Kaji.
The command center grew silent as the Angel looked over the puny creatures standing before it. The object of its purpose was nearby, it could sense it. The small things stood in its way.
Misato started to tremble as the eyes of the angel grew brighter, already knowing what was to come. She tensed as a hand fell on her shoulder, but relaxed into the comforting embrace. Now was not the time for juvenile façades. She buried her face in Kaji's shoulder as he soothingly stroked her hair. If this was her time to die, there was no place she'd rather be than here.
The deafening silence was followed by an even more deafening crash. Misato looked up as Kaji muttered, "Unit One?"
She watched in disbelief, as the Eva grabbed the Angel's from behind, lifting it bodily into the air and dragging it away from them. The dummy plug? she thought, before looking at an equally stunned Ritsuko. She turned back to watch the retreating forms, her voice filled with elation, fear, and hope. "Shinji?"
. . .
Shinji's yells filled the entry plug as he dragged the Angel away from the command center. The Angel writhed in his grasp, but he would not let go. He was not going to let this thing hurt anyone else.
Somehow I have to rebuild all the dreams that the winds has scattered.
The Angel started to slip in his Eva's grasp as they returned to the open air of the geofront. Shinji pulled harder, sending both massive beasts crashing to the ground. Not giving the Angel a chance to recover, Shinji pushed its immense form off his Eva. Enraged, he began punching the Angel repeatedly in its horrible face. As one of his blows made contact, the Angel unleashed its attack.
From what fate has shattered…
Shinji screamed as his Eva's left forearm was vaporized, the explosion partially cauterizing the wound with an astounding degree of pain. Shinji forced himself to stay conscious and continued to attack, using the pain fuel his anger to drive him onward. He continued to pound the Angel's face, each strike further caving in the melted and fused face of the now cyclopic beast.
I'll retrieve what mattered.
He grabbed the edge of the Angel's deformed face and pulled, aiming to tear the gruesome mask from the creatures body. It looked as though he would succeed in that goal, blood seeping from around his Eva's fingers, when his power ran out and the Eva shut down.
"No…" he whispered as Unit one stopped, the Angel pushing the Eva's limp form off.
"No! You can't stop now!" he bellowed as the gravity of the situation hit him. He tugged violently on the controls, but the giant war-machine lay dead around him. The entry plug shook as the Fourteenth Angel renewed its attack, not willing to make the same mistake it had before. This time it would make certain the purple creature was dead before it continued with its purpose.
Somehow I have to go on until this evil has been defeated.
The Eva shuddered as the Angel lifted it up and threw it against a hillside.
Until my work is completed…
The armor around the Eva groaned as the Angel pressed all of its weight on Unit 01, crushing it into the earth.
"I WILL NOT BE CHEATED!!!"
The Evangelion's eyes flashed, and the monstrosity roared as it swung its functioning arm into the face of the Angel, digging its thumb into the beast's remaining eye. The Angel roared in pain as it was blinded.
The Eva did not hesitate in its assault tearing its thumb free through the side of the Angel's face in a torrent of blood, bringing its fist down hard against the Angel's head. With an incredible show of brute force, the Eva threw the massive angel off its body. Unit one acted with pure predatory drive, its pilot having already departed.
Another had taken his place at the controls, and he reveled in the power he felt at his fingertips. He did not wait to think, he simply reacted. When he saw an opening in the flailing of the Angel's razor-sharp arms he took it, delivering a fierce uppercut to the angel's face. Though it was blind, the Angel tried to counterattack, its arms lashing out in the general direction of the Eva.
Unit One dodged one of the cutting blades, grabbing the other and crushing it in in its merciless grasp. Pulling on the appendage its reeled in the Angel, driving its foot into the armored shell protecting the creature's core. The arm in the Eva's grasp was torn from the Angel's body as the creature was knocked flat on its back.
The Eva held the severed alien tissue up against its own wounded elbow, the tissues fusing together and reforming the missing limb. It approached the downed Angel, searching for signs of life. It growled as it leaned over the angel.
The Fourteenth lashed out at the noise with its remaining limb, the attack heading straight for nit One's head. The Eva caught the limb in mid flight, crushing it and pinning its remaining length against the Angel's body. It backhanded the angel, roaring with rage. Slamming its free hand on the angel's face, it sank its teeth into the creatures hide, blood pouring from the wound.
The Angel struggled for a few moments as the Eva devoured it alive, its movements slowing . Soon all motion in the massive creature ceased, as the Evangelion consumed its S2 organ, taking the orb into itself and assimilating it into its own core.
The pilot gasped as the feeling struck him, the full potenial of the Eva opening up to him as it awoke. He had been in awe of the Evangelion's strength before, but there was no describing the sensation now. Every nerve, every muscle, every fiber of his being felt alive, electrified by the power of the Angel.
No, even an angel. The power of a…
God.
You must help me carry on.
The other being inside the beast cried out from the void in desperation, calling out to whoever might hear him. He could not allow his darkness to stay in control, not now that the Eva was completely free of the power limitations that had stopped him before. But the darkness was all-enveloping, and he truly desired to just give up and surrender to the darkness...
When it seems all hope has gone,
…but he would not let his friends down any longer.
I have got to carry on.
The darkness gave way to searing, burning light, as Shinji, mind, body and soul, was torn apart.
. . .
He slowly opened his eyes, the brightness almost too much for him to bear. He blinked to clear his vision as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light.
He looked up at a familiar ceiling. One that he was far too familiar with for his own liking. Shinji smiled, marveling at how good that one motion felt. He felt… lighter, as though a great weight had been taken from him.
It was gone…
The shadow that had dwelled over his mind for so long had disappeared. He didn't know how. He could remember darkness, then light, and a feeling that could only be described as both death and rebirth. and there was a feeling of comfort, of love and happiness that he had not known for a long time.
And it was there that the memory had faded into a fog. He tried to recall the sensation, but realized he would not be able to.
"Well," came the a loud voice from the other side of the room, "its about time you woke up."
Shinji groaned and turned his head to one side, finding coppery red hair and sapphire blue eyes. Asuka put down her magazine and walked over to the table beside his bed.
"How long was I out?" he croaked, his throat dry.
"Its been a little over a day," she said, holding out a cup of water for him.
"Thank you" he said as he took it, drinking it a little too fast and coughing.
"So are you feeling alright?" Asuka asked.
"Yes," he answered. Much better than I've felt in a long time…
"Good," Asuka said smiling. She then proceeded to whack Shinji on the head.
"OW!" he cried. "What was that for?!"
"That was for running off without telling anyone, Baka!" She shouted.
"And this…" She proceeded to whack him on the head two more times. "That was for me having to deal with both of your perverted friends while you were gone!"
Shinji rubbed the top of his head and stared back up at the hospital ceiling, "I came back for this?"
Asuka's face started turning red. He had the nerve to say something like that, after she waited the entire day for him to wake up. "Why… you… undankbarer kleiner Ruck! Ich habe hier den ganzen Tag für Sie gewartet aufzuwachen…"
Shinji smiled as Asuka ranted on, not understanding a word of what she said, but chuckling quietly to himself nonetheless. "Its good to see you too, Asuka."
Shinji's voice stopped her dead in her tracks, the red of her face retreating to her cheeks before she again found her words. "Well, don't think you're off the hook, Third child. You owe me for all the instant food I was forced to eat while you were gone. And I want REAL food. None of that processed soy fodder you seem to think is food. No fish either. You don't know how tired I am of fish .And no rice. If I see one speck of rice on my plate…"
"Alright I get the idea," Shinji laughed, eliciting an annoyed glare from the girl. He was almost glad he couldn't remember what had happened inside the Eva. He was afraid reality wouldn't be able to hold up to that feeling of bliss, and he didn't want that. He was happy, at least at that moment, and he didn't want to cheapen that feeling by comparing it to something that was beyond normal reality.
. . .
End of Act One
. . .
End of Act 1 notes: Wow that took a long time to finish. When I started off writing this chapter I was clean-shaven. Now I have a full beard (sans the moustache). I feel slightly more evil, but really I'm just growing it out for a couple of Cons that are coming up in the bay area. My friends and I will be attending Tales of Anime and the JapanTown Anime Faire, and Gendo is the only costume I have completed at this time. I have to admit, it is fun to walk around town. You can almost instantly tell who's an anime fan by the looks they give you when you walk by wearing the beard of the bastard king.
I had hoped to get this last chapter done before I went up to Idaho to visit my grandparents, but no such luck. I figured this would be a good place to leave off in the story while I finish and rework the last half. I will also be spending this time working on other projects, including finishing my chapters on MiaElf's Mashed Mangled and Mall(ed) by a Princess. I may be doing a couple of one-shots soon, though I'm not sure when they'll be done. I don't expect any updates on Shinji and Hyde until after the fall semester, but as I get closer to finishing, I'll be releasing two "intermission" chapters. The stuff in them will fill in the gaps between the two acts, but will not be critical to the plotline. Thankfully, taking the break will allow me time to start submitting the chapters to my pre-readers again, which will be a great help (I still have typos and mistakes throughout the fic, if you haven't noticed).
Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to solicit input from the readers. For a while now I've been working on ideas for a Eva/Star Wars fusion, with Evangelion characters born into the Star Wars universe. I already have most of the basic plot worked out, and some of the names. Here's some of what I have:
Shin Jikari - failed Sith Apprentice abandoned by his master at a young age.
Asuka Sunrider - Correlian Jedi prodigy from a long line of strong Jedi women.
PN-2 - A black and white custom-built astromech droid. Has a slightly-worn vocoder that makes a strange 'wark' sound instead of clear 'beeps'.
Kouzo Sifo-Dyas - A Jedi instructor in lightsaber combat. Could have remained a leading figure on the Jedi council, but chose to pursue teaching instead. His students are often shocked at how boring his lessons on Second Form (one of the more exciting styles of lightsaber combat) can be.
Kaworu Sifo-Dyas - Padawan learner and clone of Kouzo Sifo-Dyas
There is more that I have worked out. For example, Misato's character is a purple-skinned Twi'lek (one of those aliens with the two head-tails). Unfortunately, I have been unable to create a "Starwarsified" name for her as of yet. Yes, I could leave it as is, but I would like to diversify the names a bit (at least I put Asuka in a nice, noble Jedi family, instead of naming her something like 'Kate Rose'). So if you have any suggestions for names and other ideas, drop a line in a review or an e-mail (reviews are preferred, as I get cookies and such for reaching certain numbers). I don't know when this fic will see the light of day, or what suggestions I may use for it, but any input at all is appreciated.
Thanks to everyone who has read this fic, and to those that have reviewed. And don't worry, there's still plenty more to go.
The bodies have yet to start piling up…