Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is Owned by Gainax. Buy the DVD's of
the Series and the Movies from them. I did, and it was worth every dime.
I don't own anything except my DVD's, and this is done for my own
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Episode 2:08 Messages from the Choir.
Takes place after 1st season, and the End of Evangelion Movie.
Presumed date is Saturday June 11th and Sunday June 12th, 2016
"That's right Makoto, we're arriving now, I'll let you know as soon as I've heard anything. Alright, keep in touch," Misato could be heard saying as she came into the waiting room.
"Misato?" Hikari asked.
Misato, still wearing her wedding gown, stopped briefly to look down at the children. Huddled together on the floor for support, they looked helpless and defeated. So different from how they had looked a scant 30 minutes ago, on what, at the time, had been the happiest day of Misato's life.
"Kaji, honey, could you stay here with the kids, I've got to see Shinji," Misato said, looking away from the kids, and heading for the emergency room. She didn't even pause as she stepped through the door with the large 'No Entry Beyond This Point!' sign painted in red on it. Within moments she was pulling aside the curtains surrounding the flurry of activity that was taking place around her young foster son.
"Commander, you shouldn't be here," one of the doctors commented sadly.
"Don't think you can make me leave," she stated flatly.
She glanced at the EKG monitor screen, and saw only the faintest traces of a pulse. Weak and irregular, the numbers kept changing, and every few moments a loud alarm beep would sound. Spying Shinji's hand, strapped to the table he was on; she reached forward to take his hand, trying to convey not only her presence, but also some of her energy to sustain this young man.
As the doctors worked, she tried to remember what had happened, and understand how it had gone so wrong. She'd seen him opening up, flowering, and coming into his own, these last several weeks, especially since the arrival of the rest of the rest of the three stooges. And then today, with a little help and a little shove in the right direction, he had crashed head long through the barriers that isolated him from so much of the rest of humanity. He'd reached out for Asuka, and she'd reached for him, and everything seemed right with the world. And then a careless comment, she couldn't blame Kensuke, though doubtless he blamed himself, had snapped Asuka back from the brink of her own release, and Shinji had crashed headlong into a barrier not of his own design.
Asuka had fled, and in desperation, Shinji had followed, willing to risk everything, even to sacrifice his life to tell the young woman that he loved her.
'Did you do it Shinji? Did you tell her? I tried to tell her for you, but I don't know if she heard me either,' she tried to send to him. Makato had told her as she'd arrived here that they'd lost contact with Asuka's fighter as it cleared the range of the last NERV monitor station somewhere over Inner Mongolia.
Time passed unnoticed for Misato, and it wasn't until one of the nurses shook her gently, that she realized they had finished working on him.
"Sorry, commander, but we need to move him to recovery. If you'll come this way, I think the lead physician would like to speak to you," the nurse said, taking Misato's free hand and leading her away from Shinji. She continued to watch him as they wheeled him out of the room, and down a short hall to room labeled 'Recovery.'
"It's the damnedest thing, commander. That boy has no right to be alive. Even before his friends started CPR, we estimate that he'd suffered from 10 broken ribs, as well as numerous cuts, abrasions, a shattered 4th cervical vertebrae, and, lastly, a severe head trauma and concussion. There was increasing pressure on his spinal chord and brain caused by all the damage, and his heart an lungs were not receiving the autonomic signals they need to keep beating."
"Are you telling me that even after surviving all this, Shinji is going to die?" She asked weakly.
"That's just it, Commander, he's going to be fine. In fact, I'd bet on his making a full recovery."
"Oh thank you doctor," Misato sighed with relief, and hugged the Doctor gratefully.
"No thanks necessary, Commander. He did all the work by himself. Every time we found something that was going wrong, and knew we couldn't fix it without killing him, but without fixing it he'd die, things would just fix themselves. His swelling's gone down, his heart rate has increased, his lungs have actually repaired at least 3 punctures from his ribs. His ribs, ah now that's the best one yet. Three ribs which had actually pierced the flesh, and were visible... healed themselves. In fact on the X-rays, you'd be hard pressed to find exactly where this boys bones were EVER broken.
"How soon before he wakes up?" Misato asked incredulously.
"At this rate, I can never be sure, but I'd guess early tomorrow morning."
"Thank you doctor, now if you you'll excuse me I have some very anxious people waiting for this news."
She walked out to the waiting room where Toji was waiting with the three friends. They all looked up expectantly.
"He's going to be alright," she said, and all at once the five of them let out a collective sigh of relive.
"Although the doctors have no idea why. They said its' as if his body is going through some kind of miraculous regeneration. Things they had no idea how to fix were just spontaneously healing themselves."
"I think I can understand that, Misato. I've been talking to the gang here, and I think we have something to tell you," Toji said. "Go ahead Suzuhara," he prodded.
"Okay," Toji said, hesitantly, "Well commander it's like this. Kaji told us about the alert and the weird readings that headquarters was getting, and we think we may have the answer to your question. The AT fields were generated by Shinji and Asuka."
There was utter silence.
"WHAT?" Misato shouted, before realizing she was in a hospital, and should be quiet.
"What did you say?" Misato asked, more in control.
"It's like this. As we were heading for the Airfield Shinji came tearing by us. He should have wiped out, as fast and loose as he was going, but there were these weird orange sparks coming up around him. At first I'd thought that maybe some piece of metal from his bike was grinding against the pavement. Later I saw that, even when running in a straight line, the sparks were there. And they weren't the right kind of sparks. Then Shinji got out ahead of Asuka, and steered his bike to block the runway. Those spark things showed up again, but this time they looked like some kind of wave or pillow, cushioning him and the bike from flipping over."
"He got off the bike, and just stood there, yelling at Asuka over his helmet communications gear, and held out his arms. Well by this time I'd noticed that the underside of Asuka's jet was glowing with the same orange sparks. Anyway, just as I was sure Asuka was going to hit him and probably take them both out, that's when I saw it. When Shinji held out his arms there was this bright orange flash. I wasn't sure before, but when I saw those weird octagonal shaped patches of light flash solid in front of him, I knew. There was an AT field surrounding Shinji. Asuka too, or at least her jet, because when the two fields collided, one deflected off the other, and it literally threw Asuka, fighter and all, into the sky. Then when Shinji got caught in the backwash of her turbulence, the AT field formed itself into a bubble to try and protect him. But it doesn't look like it was strong enough to do it all by itself."
Misato, stared at him, then she nodded.
"Kaji, can you give me your phone?" she asked.
Kaji handed over his cell phone immediately, "Ritsuko?"
"And Fuyutsuki, yes. Hello, Ritsuko, I'm at the hospital. No no, Shinji's going to be all right. It's WHY he's going to be all right that we need to talk about. Get Fuyutsuki and get over here now, you need to hear this," she said, and disconnected the phone.
Morning sun was peeking through the window as Shinji opened his eyes, very surprised that he could, in fact, and stared at the ceiling.
'Why do all hospitals have the same depressing acoustic tiles? Something bright and cheerful might be nice to see once in a while,' he thought weakly.
He remembered the injuries, the terrible tumbling, and the impact. Then the snapping and the crashing, and the knowledge the all the noise he was hearing were coming from his body, and not the reeds he was crashing through.
'But why was I there, in that place with the reeds?' he thought to himself.
Flashes, images, and brief moments of clarity filled his mind. An orange glow; a red fighter plane hurtling towards him; his motorcycle hurtling down the tarmac; landing in a flash of weird orange sparks after being airborne for quite some time. Flashing houses and parked cars as he sped past them; the front of the Temple, and his bike parked there; handing Misato his Tux jacket; the smelling salts; the pain in his cheek from her hand; loosing himself in those blue eyes and the kiss as it drew him in and consumed him.
"ASUKA!" he screamed, like an animal being torn to pieces, sitting bolt upright in the bed, tearing away a chest restraint, and wrenching his back.
"Shinji! Oh thank god. Shinji you're awake. It's okay, I'm here for you," Misato said, leaning close to him, smothering him against her. The damn burst within him, and he cried. For the first time in years he cried in front of someone. Not by himself in his room. Not on the empty deck of a train station, as his father abandoned him. But in the comforting embrace of the woman who had been his mother for the last year and a half. "That's right Shinji, let it out, just let it come," she murmured to him, rocking him gently back and forth.
Looking through the 2 way mirror, at Misato holding Shinji, and attempting to comfort the young man, Ritsuko turned away, saddened, and looked up at Fuyutsuki. "Well?" she asked.
"Well the data we were able to gather from the Shepherd comes to the same conclusion as Mister Suzuhara. Shinji was generating an AT field. Asuka too apparently; right there at the end," he said, looking up from the papers he held.
"Alright, but now for the question to the ultimate answer. How were Shinji and Asuka able to produce AT fields? I thought that physical manifestation of the AT field were only possible for EVA and Angels. A human's AT field isn't the same, ours is used to keep our bodies contained, and to give us form and identity."
"Well, I'm not sure," she answered, "but might it be a consequence of the two of them being IN their EVA's at the time of third impact."
"I guess it's possible," he said, "Damn I wish we had the Magi system, they could come up with a list of possibilities based on this scenario. The Shepherd just never had that kind of specialized programming installed. Okay, so what about this. We know that the AT field of the EVA's is generated by the use of the soul of the individual who was trapped within it. In Ikari's case it was Yui, his mother, who was trapped within Unit- 01. Soryu is the same way, part of her mothers soul is, was, within her Unit-02. What if, during third impact, the remaining part of the mothers soul passed from the EVA and into the child?"
"And then, because of the extra soul energy trapped within their bodies, Shinji and Asuka both began to gain the ability to generate EVA like AT fields," Doctor Akagi speculated.
"I know, it doesn't sound likely, but what other answer is there. My real question is as to why it took them so long to manifest this ability?" Professor Fuyutsuki asked.
"Well, I'd suspect it has something to do with their emotional state. Since the Awakenings began, there's been almost no conflict of any kind. Shinji and Asuka have been especially calm and relaxed. Until today that is," Ritsuko observed.
"Well, we'll have to wait until he's feeling a little better before we can do some tests to try and confirm all this. I think he's going to need some time to recover from this," she said, turning back to the mirror to watch the inconsolable young man.
"Not again," Makato Hyuga sighed, as a new set of alarms went off in the Central Operations room.
"Jeez, will you look at that telemetry. This is nuts," Shigeru Aoba said, watching the readouts scroll down his screen.
"Better call Misato again," Makato said.
"Alright, here goes," Shigeru said, again dialing his superior.
"Damn it," Misato swore, hearing her cell phone ring, as it set on the table next to Shinji's bed. She had been sitting here holding his hand for the last ten minutes as he lay there in a reclined position, listening to her voice as she tried to comfort him.
"Yes, what is it now?" she snapped.
"Commander Ryoji, it's Shigeru ma'am. We've got another situation."
"Asuka?" she said hopefully, and Shinji raised his head, his eyes filled with tears still.
"No ma'am. There's still no sign of her. This is something entirely different. Deep Space Radar Tracking has picked up two high-speed objects, approximately one hundred feet across, approaching from space, traveling on a direct trajectory for the base. Computer says they will not, repeat, will NOT, burn up on atmospheric entry. They should impact within the next forty seconds."
"Forty seconds? Why the hell didn't we get more warning?"
"Thirty seconds. They appeared out of no where, traveling at incredible velocity."
"You two brace for impact, and, if the shockwave doesn't kill you, I want you to scramble disaster recovery teams."
"Twenty seconds, Ma'am. Computer is adjusting expected trajectory to compensate for atmospheric thermal blooming. Now pinpointing expected impact zone."
"Where's it gonna hit?" Misato asked, anxiously.
"Fifteen seconds. That can't be right. Check it again. Targets are rapidly decelerating Commander. Impact zone isolated. It's been an honor serving with you."
"Damn it Shigeru, where's the damn thing gonna hit?"
"Re-adjusting time to impact. Ten seconds. The parking lot."
"Which parking lot Shigeru?" Misato asked, her stomach dropping.
"Five seconds. The one north of the hospital, Commander."
'Kaji,' she had time to think before the brightest light she'd seen since third impact washed over her.
"She's gone," Shigeru shuddered.
"Who's gone?" came a surprised voice on the other end of the phone.
"Misato? I mean, Commander Ryoji?
"Yes."
"What happened, I mean, computers tracked the objects until time of impact. We even registered the impact as a seismic event."
"Yeah, they hit. And the room shook, but it's not too bad. Mostly dust falling from the ceiling tiles."
"So you're okay? Everyone's okay?" Shigeru asked, stunned, and gave a thumbs up to Makoto.
"Several doctors are gonna be requesting new cars, but other than that, yeah, we're all fine," Misato answered, somewhat numbly.
"Well if you're all right, and everyone is still alive, then what the hell hit you?"
There was silence on the line for several seconds, as he waited for Misato's response.
"Unit-01 and the Lance of Longinus just landed in the parking lot.
Shinji stood at the window, looking out at his EVA Unit-01. He'd never seen a more beautiful, or more terrifying sight. His EVA, was kneeling there in the parking lot, purple and black armor glistening in the twilight. Not thinking about his injuries, he turned and ran out of the room. Doctor Akagi tried to catch him as he ran by, but he shook her off.
"Let me go, Ritsuko, I have to see it, I have to be with it," he shouted.
The doctor let him go, unable to deny him anything after the emotional and physical trauma he'd suffered this day. 'Maybe this can help comfort him,' she observed. Then her mind began to race. Why was the EVA back, and with the Lance as well?
Shinji ran through the hallways, ignoring the elevators in favor of the stairs, and ran out the front doors of the hospital, past his friends, who were standing there looking up at the giant EVA.
Somewhere in his run, he'd lost the flimsy paper gown that the hospital issued you to preserve your modesty, and he approached his EVA, naked to he world.
He walked beneath it, and stood beneath the massive red S2 Unit, which was pulsing and throbbing. As he stood there he closed his eyes, and 'felt' the EVA. Its strength was still there, waiting to be tapped, waiting for him, but there was something missing. 'Mother,' he thought, "my Mother is no longer within this thing I call EVA. But where did she go? Is she in the Guff now with the other parts of her soul? Is she whole, at piece?'
The sound of footsteps behind him drew his attention. Without turning he knew who it was.
"Misato."
"Shinji. Are you okay? And do you realize you're naked?"
"Yes. To both questions."
Misato noticed that unlike the other occasions where Shinji had been nude before her, this time he wasn't blushing.
"Shinji, what's going on? Why did the EVA come back? How did it come back?"
"I don't know Misato, but I'm about to find out."
"How?" she asked simply.
"Like this," he said, and lifted his hands skyward, toward the pulsing S2 Unit. There was a blinding flash of orange, and a red spotlight answered, stabbing from the S2 Unit towards Shinji. Misato watched as he was pulled up the beam and into the S2 Unit, vanishing from site.
"Shinji," she whispered, as he disappeared.
'It's the subway again,' he sighed to himself, and then realized that his thoughts were audible in this place, where he could hide nothing. He was sitting on the same subway car that he'd sat on so many times in the past year. Somehow this was his subconscious' way of dealing with things that were beyond his simple understanding. Sitting across from him were himself, Rei, and Kaoru. And yet he understood that these were not the real people he knew, but some other manifestation, choosing to reveal themselves in images he'd find familiar.
'Greetings Shinji Ikari," Said the not-Kaoru.
'It is good to see that you understand how to utilize our gift,' said the not-Rei.
'And that you are not afraid to use it,' said the not-Shinji.
'So who are you guys, and why have you brought Unit-01 back to me?' he said.
'You would know us as Angels, Shinji, but not the angels you are familiar with,' said not-Kaoru.
'Explain,' said Shinji.
'Billions of years ago, as your race tells time, the Morning Star thought himself the equal of god, and began a war,' said not-Rei.
'The heavenly host was split into three groups. Those who fought for the Lord, those who followed the Morning Star, and those who refused to fight, and thus remained Neutral,' explained not-Shinji.
'When the war ended, the Forces of the Lord were victorious. As punishment, the Morning Star and his Legion were banished from the presence of god, to the region you know as hell,' not-Kaoru explained.
'You're talking about Satan when you say Morning Star, aren't you,' Shinji stated.
'That is one of his names, yes. Morning Star is the name that our kind knows him by,' said not-Rei.
'So the Morning Star and his Legions were banished, and then the Lord turned his wroth upon those of the choirs who had refused to do battle. Chief amongst this group were the Watchers,' said not-Shinji.
'The Lord banished them, as well, but these non-Blessed did not all fall into hell with the Morning Star. Some were trapped in Purgatory, forced to walk the Earth until the end of time,' not-Kaoru observed.
'These banished and non-Blessed beings became the Angels that you are familiar with. And in their arrogance, they found a way to return to god. By merging with Adam or Lilith they would gain tremendous power, and then destroying all of his greatest work, man as it were, these angels might merge with the raw essence of man contained within the Guff, and thus return to god,' not-Rei added.
'But you defeated these Angels, and stopped their plans,' not-Shinji said.
'And then mankind sought to accomplish the same feat as the non-Blessed,' not-Kaoru stated.
'And you stopped them as well, simply by refusing to accept Instrumentality,' not-Rei admired.
'So who are you? Why are you here? And why now?' Shinji asked.
'We. We are of the chief Choir of Angels, Shinji Ikari. We are three of the greatest warrior angels the universe has ever known. Long ago the Lord looked down upon the Earth, and issued a commandment that the Heavenly Hosts should not interfere in the progress of Man, stating that Man must fight his own battles. Mostly we have honored that order, only occasionally interfering with your progress, or lending a hand when you needed to combat a great evil,' not-Shinji said.
'And you have prevailed, even against yourselves. Until now,' not-Kaoru said flatly.
'Now?' Shinji asked.
'Now you face a new threat. And though we face expulsion from heaven for it, we have caused the return of your Unit-01 and the Lance of Longinus. You will need them for what is coming,' not-Rei said.
'What is coming?' Shinji asked
'The Morning Star. He has seen the way to resume the war, and possibly gain dominion over the Lord, unmaking the Universe, and recasting existence in his image,' not-Shinji said.
'How?' Shinji asked.
'Thru the destruction of humanity, and the completion of instrumentality. At the moment that it occurs, he will merge his essence with the human essences contained within the Guff, and attack the Heavenly host in force,' not-Kaoru explained.
'Since we may not interfere in your destiny, it is up to you, Shinji Ikari, to save your race, and in so doing, preserve the universe,' not-Rei said.
'Okay, but how can I do that. Without the soul of my mother within it, the EVA is not capable of fighting," he said.
'But she is within it. As she is within you,' not-Shinji grinned.
'At the time of third impact you were here, within this EVA. The soul of your mother protected and guarded over you, and when you were absorbed by the Instrumentality, her remaining essence joined with yours,' not-Kaoru explained.
'You, yourself, now provide this EVA with all the power it needs to fight. Your enhanced soul is more than enough to face the battles ahead. But the Legions of the Morning Star are vast and powerful. So the Lance was returned that you might use it's power to claim victory,' not-Rei said.
'As we speak, the first of the Legion is approaching Japan. You must be ready for his attack, for it will be swift and sudden," said not-Shinji.
"Good luck in your battles, Shinji Ikari. We may never meet again. But then again, we may,' said not-Kaoru.
The Angels began to fade.
'Wait, you said I was like this because I was in my EVA at the time of Instrumentality. What about Asuka? Is she like me as well?' he asked, desperately.
Not-Shinji stopped fading, as his companions vanished into the ether.
'Yes Shinji Ikari, your love is as you. She possesses a piece of the soul her mother left behind in her EVA,' not-Shinji said.
'Can you tell me where she is, so I can find her. I need to make sure she is safe,' Shinji begged. He'd not begged anyone for anything, since he'd been forced to destroy Unit-03, with Toji in the Entry Plug. Not since he'd begged his father to make it stop. But now he begged. He begged for her.
'No,' not-Shinji said, and began to fade out again.
'Her destiny has required her to leave you at this time. Whether or not you will ever again be re-united on this Earth is not for me to say. I will leave you with this. You share more than any two mortals have ever shared since Adam and Eve walked in the garden. And because of that, the destiny of one is mirrored by the destiny of the other. So fight Shinji Ikari. For while the Universe way depend upon your continued victory against the Legions of the Fallen, the life of Asuka Langley Soryu depends upon you as well. Farewell. And Trust in the Power and the Blessing of the Lord that you have been granted this day.' And with this last, he was gone.
Shinji sat on the train seat for several more minutes, before it finally began to fade around him.
He blinked, and looked around carefully. Something was not right. Down there was Misato, and Kaji, and several worried looking medical personnel, and his friends. He could see them very plainly, with none of the usual distortion caused by the screens of the Entry Plug. Then he realized, no mater where he looked, he couldn't make out the edges of the cockpit, he tried lifting up his hands to wave in front of his face, and, instead, saw the EVA's hand, waving in front of his eyes. His eyes? No, not his eyes, the EVA's eyes. Shocked, he jerked his head back, and the view changed drastically. Misato and the others jumped back as well, fear showing plainly on their faces.
He wasn't in the EVA.
He WAS the EVA.
Misato watched as the EVA lurched back, away from them. That wasn't the usual smooth style of the operation she was used to. Maybe Shinji was having a hard time with the controls. As she watched, though, the EVA steadied itself, and stood up to its full height. It reached out, and grabbed the Lance of Longinus. The Lance, which was a strange double parabola, suddenly shifted into a single hafted weapon with two tips. This was the same form she had first seen it in, when it had been holding Lilith to the red cross at the heart of NERV Central Dogma.
Unit-01's head looked down on them, and then something truly terrifying happened.
It spoke.
"Misato."
It was speaking in Shinji's voice, yet it was also the deep rumbling basso that was always heard in the berserker roar of the EVA.
"Shinji, are you okay? Do you need help ejecting?" She said, momentarily forgetting that he had not used the Entry Plug to enter the EVA.
"No Misato. I'm not in the Entry Plug, and you know that. The S2 Unit is perfected, and I am now one with the EVA."
"Can you get out?"
"I think so. But listen, that's not important any more, I've been warned that a new threat is coming, and I think you'd better sound an alert. Something's coming. Something bad."
"What Shinji, what's coming, and how do you know its coming?" Misato asked.
"I can't go into that now, Misato, just trust me, evacuate the surface, get to the civilians to the shelters, and get the security forces to the NERV Command Center."
Misato looked like she was about to ask another question, so Shinji stomped his foot, swept his arm across his body, and pointed to the entrance to the subterranean base.
"MISATO GO! I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME THERE IS!" Shinji/EVA roared.
Misato lifted her cell phone to her lips and started shouting into it. Shinji didn't hear her so much as he tapped into the microwave broadcast of the phone, and listened in on the entire conversation.
"Operations."
"Makoto, it's Misato. Remember that alert we put in but hoped we'd never use? Punch it."
"The ANGEL attack siren?" came the shocked reply.
"That's the one," Misato answered.
"All right, done, better get here fast ma'am, we're gonna have a lot of really scared people calling here very soon."
"Roger, Makoto, We're on our way," Misato answered, as in the distance, a siren began to wail.
Shinji watched as his friends below began to scramble for their cars, and started heading for the NERV base. The civilians retreated to the hospital, probably heading for the shelter deep under the hospital itself.
Then he felt it. Like a darkness creeping over his soul, he could feel it approaching. He began to look around, for some physical trace of it. There, on the western horizon he could see a faint hint of the approaching darkness. Whatever it was, it was moving fast, and heading right for him. He crouched down, holding the Lance before him, like some ancient warrior, preparing for a final battle.
Next on Episode 2:09 of Neon Genesis Evangelion The Legions of the Fallen are unleashed, and only Shinji stands against them. If he fails, the world falls, and the universe with him. All eyes are watching this first battle, and are anxious to see the new capabilities of the EVA Returned.
It's Evangelion Episode 2:09 Crouching toward Nagoya-2, the Beast arrives.
Episode 2:08 Messages from the Choir.
Takes place after 1st season, and the End of Evangelion Movie.
Presumed date is Saturday June 11th and Sunday June 12th, 2016
"That's right Makoto, we're arriving now, I'll let you know as soon as I've heard anything. Alright, keep in touch," Misato could be heard saying as she came into the waiting room.
"Misato?" Hikari asked.
Misato, still wearing her wedding gown, stopped briefly to look down at the children. Huddled together on the floor for support, they looked helpless and defeated. So different from how they had looked a scant 30 minutes ago, on what, at the time, had been the happiest day of Misato's life.
"Kaji, honey, could you stay here with the kids, I've got to see Shinji," Misato said, looking away from the kids, and heading for the emergency room. She didn't even pause as she stepped through the door with the large 'No Entry Beyond This Point!' sign painted in red on it. Within moments she was pulling aside the curtains surrounding the flurry of activity that was taking place around her young foster son.
"Commander, you shouldn't be here," one of the doctors commented sadly.
"Don't think you can make me leave," she stated flatly.
She glanced at the EKG monitor screen, and saw only the faintest traces of a pulse. Weak and irregular, the numbers kept changing, and every few moments a loud alarm beep would sound. Spying Shinji's hand, strapped to the table he was on; she reached forward to take his hand, trying to convey not only her presence, but also some of her energy to sustain this young man.
As the doctors worked, she tried to remember what had happened, and understand how it had gone so wrong. She'd seen him opening up, flowering, and coming into his own, these last several weeks, especially since the arrival of the rest of the rest of the three stooges. And then today, with a little help and a little shove in the right direction, he had crashed head long through the barriers that isolated him from so much of the rest of humanity. He'd reached out for Asuka, and she'd reached for him, and everything seemed right with the world. And then a careless comment, she couldn't blame Kensuke, though doubtless he blamed himself, had snapped Asuka back from the brink of her own release, and Shinji had crashed headlong into a barrier not of his own design.
Asuka had fled, and in desperation, Shinji had followed, willing to risk everything, even to sacrifice his life to tell the young woman that he loved her.
'Did you do it Shinji? Did you tell her? I tried to tell her for you, but I don't know if she heard me either,' she tried to send to him. Makato had told her as she'd arrived here that they'd lost contact with Asuka's fighter as it cleared the range of the last NERV monitor station somewhere over Inner Mongolia.
Time passed unnoticed for Misato, and it wasn't until one of the nurses shook her gently, that she realized they had finished working on him.
"Sorry, commander, but we need to move him to recovery. If you'll come this way, I think the lead physician would like to speak to you," the nurse said, taking Misato's free hand and leading her away from Shinji. She continued to watch him as they wheeled him out of the room, and down a short hall to room labeled 'Recovery.'
"It's the damnedest thing, commander. That boy has no right to be alive. Even before his friends started CPR, we estimate that he'd suffered from 10 broken ribs, as well as numerous cuts, abrasions, a shattered 4th cervical vertebrae, and, lastly, a severe head trauma and concussion. There was increasing pressure on his spinal chord and brain caused by all the damage, and his heart an lungs were not receiving the autonomic signals they need to keep beating."
"Are you telling me that even after surviving all this, Shinji is going to die?" She asked weakly.
"That's just it, Commander, he's going to be fine. In fact, I'd bet on his making a full recovery."
"Oh thank you doctor," Misato sighed with relief, and hugged the Doctor gratefully.
"No thanks necessary, Commander. He did all the work by himself. Every time we found something that was going wrong, and knew we couldn't fix it without killing him, but without fixing it he'd die, things would just fix themselves. His swelling's gone down, his heart rate has increased, his lungs have actually repaired at least 3 punctures from his ribs. His ribs, ah now that's the best one yet. Three ribs which had actually pierced the flesh, and were visible... healed themselves. In fact on the X-rays, you'd be hard pressed to find exactly where this boys bones were EVER broken.
"How soon before he wakes up?" Misato asked incredulously.
"At this rate, I can never be sure, but I'd guess early tomorrow morning."
"Thank you doctor, now if you you'll excuse me I have some very anxious people waiting for this news."
She walked out to the waiting room where Toji was waiting with the three friends. They all looked up expectantly.
"He's going to be alright," she said, and all at once the five of them let out a collective sigh of relive.
"Although the doctors have no idea why. They said its' as if his body is going through some kind of miraculous regeneration. Things they had no idea how to fix were just spontaneously healing themselves."
"I think I can understand that, Misato. I've been talking to the gang here, and I think we have something to tell you," Toji said. "Go ahead Suzuhara," he prodded.
"Okay," Toji said, hesitantly, "Well commander it's like this. Kaji told us about the alert and the weird readings that headquarters was getting, and we think we may have the answer to your question. The AT fields were generated by Shinji and Asuka."
There was utter silence.
"WHAT?" Misato shouted, before realizing she was in a hospital, and should be quiet.
"What did you say?" Misato asked, more in control.
"It's like this. As we were heading for the Airfield Shinji came tearing by us. He should have wiped out, as fast and loose as he was going, but there were these weird orange sparks coming up around him. At first I'd thought that maybe some piece of metal from his bike was grinding against the pavement. Later I saw that, even when running in a straight line, the sparks were there. And they weren't the right kind of sparks. Then Shinji got out ahead of Asuka, and steered his bike to block the runway. Those spark things showed up again, but this time they looked like some kind of wave or pillow, cushioning him and the bike from flipping over."
"He got off the bike, and just stood there, yelling at Asuka over his helmet communications gear, and held out his arms. Well by this time I'd noticed that the underside of Asuka's jet was glowing with the same orange sparks. Anyway, just as I was sure Asuka was going to hit him and probably take them both out, that's when I saw it. When Shinji held out his arms there was this bright orange flash. I wasn't sure before, but when I saw those weird octagonal shaped patches of light flash solid in front of him, I knew. There was an AT field surrounding Shinji. Asuka too, or at least her jet, because when the two fields collided, one deflected off the other, and it literally threw Asuka, fighter and all, into the sky. Then when Shinji got caught in the backwash of her turbulence, the AT field formed itself into a bubble to try and protect him. But it doesn't look like it was strong enough to do it all by itself."
Misato, stared at him, then she nodded.
"Kaji, can you give me your phone?" she asked.
Kaji handed over his cell phone immediately, "Ritsuko?"
"And Fuyutsuki, yes. Hello, Ritsuko, I'm at the hospital. No no, Shinji's going to be all right. It's WHY he's going to be all right that we need to talk about. Get Fuyutsuki and get over here now, you need to hear this," she said, and disconnected the phone.
Morning sun was peeking through the window as Shinji opened his eyes, very surprised that he could, in fact, and stared at the ceiling.
'Why do all hospitals have the same depressing acoustic tiles? Something bright and cheerful might be nice to see once in a while,' he thought weakly.
He remembered the injuries, the terrible tumbling, and the impact. Then the snapping and the crashing, and the knowledge the all the noise he was hearing were coming from his body, and not the reeds he was crashing through.
'But why was I there, in that place with the reeds?' he thought to himself.
Flashes, images, and brief moments of clarity filled his mind. An orange glow; a red fighter plane hurtling towards him; his motorcycle hurtling down the tarmac; landing in a flash of weird orange sparks after being airborne for quite some time. Flashing houses and parked cars as he sped past them; the front of the Temple, and his bike parked there; handing Misato his Tux jacket; the smelling salts; the pain in his cheek from her hand; loosing himself in those blue eyes and the kiss as it drew him in and consumed him.
"ASUKA!" he screamed, like an animal being torn to pieces, sitting bolt upright in the bed, tearing away a chest restraint, and wrenching his back.
"Shinji! Oh thank god. Shinji you're awake. It's okay, I'm here for you," Misato said, leaning close to him, smothering him against her. The damn burst within him, and he cried. For the first time in years he cried in front of someone. Not by himself in his room. Not on the empty deck of a train station, as his father abandoned him. But in the comforting embrace of the woman who had been his mother for the last year and a half. "That's right Shinji, let it out, just let it come," she murmured to him, rocking him gently back and forth.
Looking through the 2 way mirror, at Misato holding Shinji, and attempting to comfort the young man, Ritsuko turned away, saddened, and looked up at Fuyutsuki. "Well?" she asked.
"Well the data we were able to gather from the Shepherd comes to the same conclusion as Mister Suzuhara. Shinji was generating an AT field. Asuka too apparently; right there at the end," he said, looking up from the papers he held.
"Alright, but now for the question to the ultimate answer. How were Shinji and Asuka able to produce AT fields? I thought that physical manifestation of the AT field were only possible for EVA and Angels. A human's AT field isn't the same, ours is used to keep our bodies contained, and to give us form and identity."
"Well, I'm not sure," she answered, "but might it be a consequence of the two of them being IN their EVA's at the time of third impact."
"I guess it's possible," he said, "Damn I wish we had the Magi system, they could come up with a list of possibilities based on this scenario. The Shepherd just never had that kind of specialized programming installed. Okay, so what about this. We know that the AT field of the EVA's is generated by the use of the soul of the individual who was trapped within it. In Ikari's case it was Yui, his mother, who was trapped within Unit- 01. Soryu is the same way, part of her mothers soul is, was, within her Unit-02. What if, during third impact, the remaining part of the mothers soul passed from the EVA and into the child?"
"And then, because of the extra soul energy trapped within their bodies, Shinji and Asuka both began to gain the ability to generate EVA like AT fields," Doctor Akagi speculated.
"I know, it doesn't sound likely, but what other answer is there. My real question is as to why it took them so long to manifest this ability?" Professor Fuyutsuki asked.
"Well, I'd suspect it has something to do with their emotional state. Since the Awakenings began, there's been almost no conflict of any kind. Shinji and Asuka have been especially calm and relaxed. Until today that is," Ritsuko observed.
"Well, we'll have to wait until he's feeling a little better before we can do some tests to try and confirm all this. I think he's going to need some time to recover from this," she said, turning back to the mirror to watch the inconsolable young man.
"Not again," Makato Hyuga sighed, as a new set of alarms went off in the Central Operations room.
"Jeez, will you look at that telemetry. This is nuts," Shigeru Aoba said, watching the readouts scroll down his screen.
"Better call Misato again," Makato said.
"Alright, here goes," Shigeru said, again dialing his superior.
"Damn it," Misato swore, hearing her cell phone ring, as it set on the table next to Shinji's bed. She had been sitting here holding his hand for the last ten minutes as he lay there in a reclined position, listening to her voice as she tried to comfort him.
"Yes, what is it now?" she snapped.
"Commander Ryoji, it's Shigeru ma'am. We've got another situation."
"Asuka?" she said hopefully, and Shinji raised his head, his eyes filled with tears still.
"No ma'am. There's still no sign of her. This is something entirely different. Deep Space Radar Tracking has picked up two high-speed objects, approximately one hundred feet across, approaching from space, traveling on a direct trajectory for the base. Computer says they will not, repeat, will NOT, burn up on atmospheric entry. They should impact within the next forty seconds."
"Forty seconds? Why the hell didn't we get more warning?"
"Thirty seconds. They appeared out of no where, traveling at incredible velocity."
"You two brace for impact, and, if the shockwave doesn't kill you, I want you to scramble disaster recovery teams."
"Twenty seconds, Ma'am. Computer is adjusting expected trajectory to compensate for atmospheric thermal blooming. Now pinpointing expected impact zone."
"Where's it gonna hit?" Misato asked, anxiously.
"Fifteen seconds. That can't be right. Check it again. Targets are rapidly decelerating Commander. Impact zone isolated. It's been an honor serving with you."
"Damn it Shigeru, where's the damn thing gonna hit?"
"Re-adjusting time to impact. Ten seconds. The parking lot."
"Which parking lot Shigeru?" Misato asked, her stomach dropping.
"Five seconds. The one north of the hospital, Commander."
'Kaji,' she had time to think before the brightest light she'd seen since third impact washed over her.
"She's gone," Shigeru shuddered.
"Who's gone?" came a surprised voice on the other end of the phone.
"Misato? I mean, Commander Ryoji?
"Yes."
"What happened, I mean, computers tracked the objects until time of impact. We even registered the impact as a seismic event."
"Yeah, they hit. And the room shook, but it's not too bad. Mostly dust falling from the ceiling tiles."
"So you're okay? Everyone's okay?" Shigeru asked, stunned, and gave a thumbs up to Makoto.
"Several doctors are gonna be requesting new cars, but other than that, yeah, we're all fine," Misato answered, somewhat numbly.
"Well if you're all right, and everyone is still alive, then what the hell hit you?"
There was silence on the line for several seconds, as he waited for Misato's response.
"Unit-01 and the Lance of Longinus just landed in the parking lot.
Shinji stood at the window, looking out at his EVA Unit-01. He'd never seen a more beautiful, or more terrifying sight. His EVA, was kneeling there in the parking lot, purple and black armor glistening in the twilight. Not thinking about his injuries, he turned and ran out of the room. Doctor Akagi tried to catch him as he ran by, but he shook her off.
"Let me go, Ritsuko, I have to see it, I have to be with it," he shouted.
The doctor let him go, unable to deny him anything after the emotional and physical trauma he'd suffered this day. 'Maybe this can help comfort him,' she observed. Then her mind began to race. Why was the EVA back, and with the Lance as well?
Shinji ran through the hallways, ignoring the elevators in favor of the stairs, and ran out the front doors of the hospital, past his friends, who were standing there looking up at the giant EVA.
Somewhere in his run, he'd lost the flimsy paper gown that the hospital issued you to preserve your modesty, and he approached his EVA, naked to he world.
He walked beneath it, and stood beneath the massive red S2 Unit, which was pulsing and throbbing. As he stood there he closed his eyes, and 'felt' the EVA. Its strength was still there, waiting to be tapped, waiting for him, but there was something missing. 'Mother,' he thought, "my Mother is no longer within this thing I call EVA. But where did she go? Is she in the Guff now with the other parts of her soul? Is she whole, at piece?'
The sound of footsteps behind him drew his attention. Without turning he knew who it was.
"Misato."
"Shinji. Are you okay? And do you realize you're naked?"
"Yes. To both questions."
Misato noticed that unlike the other occasions where Shinji had been nude before her, this time he wasn't blushing.
"Shinji, what's going on? Why did the EVA come back? How did it come back?"
"I don't know Misato, but I'm about to find out."
"How?" she asked simply.
"Like this," he said, and lifted his hands skyward, toward the pulsing S2 Unit. There was a blinding flash of orange, and a red spotlight answered, stabbing from the S2 Unit towards Shinji. Misato watched as he was pulled up the beam and into the S2 Unit, vanishing from site.
"Shinji," she whispered, as he disappeared.
'It's the subway again,' he sighed to himself, and then realized that his thoughts were audible in this place, where he could hide nothing. He was sitting on the same subway car that he'd sat on so many times in the past year. Somehow this was his subconscious' way of dealing with things that were beyond his simple understanding. Sitting across from him were himself, Rei, and Kaoru. And yet he understood that these were not the real people he knew, but some other manifestation, choosing to reveal themselves in images he'd find familiar.
'Greetings Shinji Ikari," Said the not-Kaoru.
'It is good to see that you understand how to utilize our gift,' said the not-Rei.
'And that you are not afraid to use it,' said the not-Shinji.
'So who are you guys, and why have you brought Unit-01 back to me?' he said.
'You would know us as Angels, Shinji, but not the angels you are familiar with,' said not-Kaoru.
'Explain,' said Shinji.
'Billions of years ago, as your race tells time, the Morning Star thought himself the equal of god, and began a war,' said not-Rei.
'The heavenly host was split into three groups. Those who fought for the Lord, those who followed the Morning Star, and those who refused to fight, and thus remained Neutral,' explained not-Shinji.
'When the war ended, the Forces of the Lord were victorious. As punishment, the Morning Star and his Legion were banished from the presence of god, to the region you know as hell,' not-Kaoru explained.
'You're talking about Satan when you say Morning Star, aren't you,' Shinji stated.
'That is one of his names, yes. Morning Star is the name that our kind knows him by,' said not-Rei.
'So the Morning Star and his Legions were banished, and then the Lord turned his wroth upon those of the choirs who had refused to do battle. Chief amongst this group were the Watchers,' said not-Shinji.
'The Lord banished them, as well, but these non-Blessed did not all fall into hell with the Morning Star. Some were trapped in Purgatory, forced to walk the Earth until the end of time,' not-Kaoru observed.
'These banished and non-Blessed beings became the Angels that you are familiar with. And in their arrogance, they found a way to return to god. By merging with Adam or Lilith they would gain tremendous power, and then destroying all of his greatest work, man as it were, these angels might merge with the raw essence of man contained within the Guff, and thus return to god,' not-Rei added.
'But you defeated these Angels, and stopped their plans,' not-Shinji said.
'And then mankind sought to accomplish the same feat as the non-Blessed,' not-Kaoru stated.
'And you stopped them as well, simply by refusing to accept Instrumentality,' not-Rei admired.
'So who are you? Why are you here? And why now?' Shinji asked.
'We. We are of the chief Choir of Angels, Shinji Ikari. We are three of the greatest warrior angels the universe has ever known. Long ago the Lord looked down upon the Earth, and issued a commandment that the Heavenly Hosts should not interfere in the progress of Man, stating that Man must fight his own battles. Mostly we have honored that order, only occasionally interfering with your progress, or lending a hand when you needed to combat a great evil,' not-Shinji said.
'And you have prevailed, even against yourselves. Until now,' not-Kaoru said flatly.
'Now?' Shinji asked.
'Now you face a new threat. And though we face expulsion from heaven for it, we have caused the return of your Unit-01 and the Lance of Longinus. You will need them for what is coming,' not-Rei said.
'What is coming?' Shinji asked
'The Morning Star. He has seen the way to resume the war, and possibly gain dominion over the Lord, unmaking the Universe, and recasting existence in his image,' not-Shinji said.
'How?' Shinji asked.
'Thru the destruction of humanity, and the completion of instrumentality. At the moment that it occurs, he will merge his essence with the human essences contained within the Guff, and attack the Heavenly host in force,' not-Kaoru explained.
'Since we may not interfere in your destiny, it is up to you, Shinji Ikari, to save your race, and in so doing, preserve the universe,' not-Rei said.
'Okay, but how can I do that. Without the soul of my mother within it, the EVA is not capable of fighting," he said.
'But she is within it. As she is within you,' not-Shinji grinned.
'At the time of third impact you were here, within this EVA. The soul of your mother protected and guarded over you, and when you were absorbed by the Instrumentality, her remaining essence joined with yours,' not-Kaoru explained.
'You, yourself, now provide this EVA with all the power it needs to fight. Your enhanced soul is more than enough to face the battles ahead. But the Legions of the Morning Star are vast and powerful. So the Lance was returned that you might use it's power to claim victory,' not-Rei said.
'As we speak, the first of the Legion is approaching Japan. You must be ready for his attack, for it will be swift and sudden," said not-Shinji.
"Good luck in your battles, Shinji Ikari. We may never meet again. But then again, we may,' said not-Kaoru.
The Angels began to fade.
'Wait, you said I was like this because I was in my EVA at the time of Instrumentality. What about Asuka? Is she like me as well?' he asked, desperately.
Not-Shinji stopped fading, as his companions vanished into the ether.
'Yes Shinji Ikari, your love is as you. She possesses a piece of the soul her mother left behind in her EVA,' not-Shinji said.
'Can you tell me where she is, so I can find her. I need to make sure she is safe,' Shinji begged. He'd not begged anyone for anything, since he'd been forced to destroy Unit-03, with Toji in the Entry Plug. Not since he'd begged his father to make it stop. But now he begged. He begged for her.
'No,' not-Shinji said, and began to fade out again.
'Her destiny has required her to leave you at this time. Whether or not you will ever again be re-united on this Earth is not for me to say. I will leave you with this. You share more than any two mortals have ever shared since Adam and Eve walked in the garden. And because of that, the destiny of one is mirrored by the destiny of the other. So fight Shinji Ikari. For while the Universe way depend upon your continued victory against the Legions of the Fallen, the life of Asuka Langley Soryu depends upon you as well. Farewell. And Trust in the Power and the Blessing of the Lord that you have been granted this day.' And with this last, he was gone.
Shinji sat on the train seat for several more minutes, before it finally began to fade around him.
He blinked, and looked around carefully. Something was not right. Down there was Misato, and Kaji, and several worried looking medical personnel, and his friends. He could see them very plainly, with none of the usual distortion caused by the screens of the Entry Plug. Then he realized, no mater where he looked, he couldn't make out the edges of the cockpit, he tried lifting up his hands to wave in front of his face, and, instead, saw the EVA's hand, waving in front of his eyes. His eyes? No, not his eyes, the EVA's eyes. Shocked, he jerked his head back, and the view changed drastically. Misato and the others jumped back as well, fear showing plainly on their faces.
He wasn't in the EVA.
He WAS the EVA.
Misato watched as the EVA lurched back, away from them. That wasn't the usual smooth style of the operation she was used to. Maybe Shinji was having a hard time with the controls. As she watched, though, the EVA steadied itself, and stood up to its full height. It reached out, and grabbed the Lance of Longinus. The Lance, which was a strange double parabola, suddenly shifted into a single hafted weapon with two tips. This was the same form she had first seen it in, when it had been holding Lilith to the red cross at the heart of NERV Central Dogma.
Unit-01's head looked down on them, and then something truly terrifying happened.
It spoke.
"Misato."
It was speaking in Shinji's voice, yet it was also the deep rumbling basso that was always heard in the berserker roar of the EVA.
"Shinji, are you okay? Do you need help ejecting?" She said, momentarily forgetting that he had not used the Entry Plug to enter the EVA.
"No Misato. I'm not in the Entry Plug, and you know that. The S2 Unit is perfected, and I am now one with the EVA."
"Can you get out?"
"I think so. But listen, that's not important any more, I've been warned that a new threat is coming, and I think you'd better sound an alert. Something's coming. Something bad."
"What Shinji, what's coming, and how do you know its coming?" Misato asked.
"I can't go into that now, Misato, just trust me, evacuate the surface, get to the civilians to the shelters, and get the security forces to the NERV Command Center."
Misato looked like she was about to ask another question, so Shinji stomped his foot, swept his arm across his body, and pointed to the entrance to the subterranean base.
"MISATO GO! I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME THERE IS!" Shinji/EVA roared.
Misato lifted her cell phone to her lips and started shouting into it. Shinji didn't hear her so much as he tapped into the microwave broadcast of the phone, and listened in on the entire conversation.
"Operations."
"Makoto, it's Misato. Remember that alert we put in but hoped we'd never use? Punch it."
"The ANGEL attack siren?" came the shocked reply.
"That's the one," Misato answered.
"All right, done, better get here fast ma'am, we're gonna have a lot of really scared people calling here very soon."
"Roger, Makoto, We're on our way," Misato answered, as in the distance, a siren began to wail.
Shinji watched as his friends below began to scramble for their cars, and started heading for the NERV base. The civilians retreated to the hospital, probably heading for the shelter deep under the hospital itself.
Then he felt it. Like a darkness creeping over his soul, he could feel it approaching. He began to look around, for some physical trace of it. There, on the western horizon he could see a faint hint of the approaching darkness. Whatever it was, it was moving fast, and heading right for him. He crouched down, holding the Lance before him, like some ancient warrior, preparing for a final battle.
Next on Episode 2:09 of Neon Genesis Evangelion The Legions of the Fallen are unleashed, and only Shinji stands against them. If he fails, the world falls, and the universe with him. All eyes are watching this first battle, and are anxious to see the new capabilities of the EVA Returned.
It's Evangelion Episode 2:09 Crouching toward Nagoya-2, the Beast arrives.