The train moved further and further away from the station. Shinji watched as the final glimpse of the station disappeared from sight. He questioned himself again why he was doing this. Was it pride? Was it cowardice? No, Shinji reasoned, he just wanted a simpler life. He never wanted to be a pilot. He didn't do it by choice. Flashbacks of himself sitting on the earth behind his school, rubbing a bruise delivered by Toji, played in his mind.
"I didn't pilot it by choice…" he repeated after his mental image of himself. The train rattled as it neared the edge of Tokyo-3. He was running away. He knew it, but he could not admit it. In a fit of self loathing, Shinji put on his SDAT and pressed the play button, attempting to drown out his thoughts with his favorite songs. Shinji stared at the roof from his bench as the voice of a female vocalist vibrated his eardrums.
The train stopped.
Shinji stopped the tape. He was nowhere near a station. The train had stopped in its tracks, and was completely still, with the exception of the swaying handles above Shinji. Shinji got up as the automated doors opened.
"What's going on?" he asked aloud to nobody.
As if answering his question, the carriage's lone speaker announced that an emergency had been declared, and that he should exit the train and proceed to the nearest shelter. Shinji cringed. An angel attack. He stared at the general direction of Nerv headquarters, and wondered about Asuka.
He got off the train.
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Asuka picked up the assault rifle sent up by Misato. The angel was an ugly one, not unlike a deformed doll. It's arms were folded like long ribbons at its side. Its feel were mere stumps of its body, and it's face resembled a white, clay mask. Asuka was concentrating on increasing her sync with all her might. She could not lose now. She was the only available option of attack, with Eva-00's arm missing and Shinji believed to be far from Tokyo-3 by now. She was the only option, yet one nagging portion of her mind was telling her it was hopeless. Without Shinji, nothing mattered. Yet she had made a choice. A stupid choice. Stupid. Stupid was what she was. Stupid. So bloody stupid. Asuka got hold of herself at the brink of bursting into tears. The angel was advancing, but Asuka was ready.
Or so she thought.
With a sudden lash of it's leathery, carpet-shaped arm, the Angel swiped of both of Eva-02's arms, before spinning it around and striking through what appeared to be her entry plug. The Evangelion fell silent, and the angel walked past it as if it was just another building. The red Evangelion fell backwards, the crushed entry plug flying out and rolling over the vacant fields like a beer-can.
Half a mile away, a breathless Shinji screamed out his lover's name after watching the Eva's ugly defeat.
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Shinji reached the ruined entry plug as fast as he could. No retriever crew was in sight yet. Tearing off his shirt and wrapping his hands with it, he slowly twisted open the latch of the entry plug. Steam billowed into his face as he concentrated on releasing the entry hatch. The hatch opened and the steam cleared, revealing the limp body of Asuka Langley Sohryu, clad in her compressed, red plug suit, hunched over her controls. Her head was bleeding, and her red blood was mingling with the orange LCL. Shinji dragged her out as blaring sirens of the retriever crew filled the air.
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After making sure that Asuka was in safe hands, Shinji ran back to headquarters, where he demanded that he be allowed to pilot Eva-01, which had rejected both Rei and the Dummy Plug. Shinji managed to lead the Angel out into the Geofront, where a gruesome battle ensued, ending with Eva-01 devouring the Angel, and Shinji lost within the entry plug at the Sync ratio of 400%. The Evangelion, by taking into itself the Angel, had thrown off the shackles that enabled NERV to control it. The Eva had been restrained and locked up, but Dr. Akagi and Misato were attempting to regain Shinji.
Inside the entry plug floated an empty plug suit.
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Shinji found himself floating in LCL. His mind was merged with everything around him, and it was impossible to see where his mind ended and where the physical entry plug it was contained it began. A slow, cruel rhapsody began to play around him, like an impossibly illustrated poem. Shinji sank himself into his thoughts.
-------------------------
Where am I?I see my suit… but where am I?
The orange LCL.
I'm inside the Eva. The Eva. What Am I?
Shinji Ikari.
Asuka? Where's Asuka?
Asuka Langley Sohryu
I'm in the Eva. I'm one with it.
Primordial Soup.
Yes, primordial soup This taste… this smell…blood…this is the entry plug…The Entry Plug.
Who am I?Shinji Ikari, Third Children
Father?Gendo Ikari
I HATE YOU!!!Gendo Ikari
I HATE YOU!!! YOU ABANDONED ME!I HATE YOU!!!
Gendo Ikari
STOP IT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU!GET OUT OF MY MIND!
Asuka
Yes! Asuka! I want Asuka! Where's Asuka?Ruined entry plug, crushed.
Asuka, lifeless and bleeding.
No… no… Asuka, critical condition, possibly dead… NO! THAT'S NOT TRUE!How would you know?
You're in here
She's out there
SHE'S FINE!SHE'S FINE!
SHE'S FINE!
SHE'S ALIVE AND WELL!
Do you really know that?
Do you really want to find out?
SHE'S FINE!Only one way for you to find out, Shinji…
Mother?---------------------
Shinji found himself lying facedown on an LCL flooded floor. He was in a daze, not taking notice of anything. He felt groggy, as if just woken up. With a small, giddy pleasure, he fell into deep sleep, unaware of his guardian hugging him with all her might, completely and utterly in tears. He was brought to the Nerv hospital, where he slept and slept and slept.
Asuka lay in another bed five feet from his, dazily waking up…
---To be continued---
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Author's note: Okay, I've planned the structure for my ending already. I don't know when it'll be finished. I have major exams coming so I'll probably dust this off until the middle of next month. Until then, ciao!
Author's extra note: Its not that I want this fanfic to end. I really can't think of what to write. There's only a few more episodes until the actual series ends and I am writing along those lines. Maybe I'll rip of EoE with this story too but I really don't know. Maybe when I have time I'll further it to after the Third Impact.