Well, now we find ourselves in the last chapter of Darkness...I uploaded it, but had to mess with it a bit, and then upload it again.

I hope you've enjoyed the ride, through its great moments, mediocrity, insanity, whatever.

I've certainly enjoyed writing it, and although it isn't my greatest writing, or my favorite, it was nice.

Well, let's begin.

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or its characters. Gainax does, and they rock. Who else could create both Evangelion and FLCL!

The Ruins of Tokyo 3, Japan

Misato Katsuragi's Apartment

Shinji Ikari smiled, yawning, completely naked as the morning sun wafted in, heating his body.

But he was at peace, finally, smiling as he grasped a soft hand.

Yes, they had made love, it had been a wonderful thing, a meeting of souls, and quite interesting as well.

He would love her for the rest of his life, and she would love him as well.

Her beautiful eyes, her flowing red skin, her soft voice, her cold, white skin.

Shinji's eyes widened.

Cold, white skin?

He turned around, and peered to his left.

He stared for a few minutes, his face listless, and then he screamed.

No, it was no scream, it was some sort of odd noise, indescribable, as if his soul itself or inner-beast was somehow in agony, it was certainly, most certainly, far from human.

Clasped around his warm hand was a cold, disembodied white hand, her hand.

"Asuka?"

Shinji stiffened, he did not mind most things, but that label, that rank, those memories, he could not bear it.

He spoke softly with a hint of pure aggression, turning to face the wall.

"Asuka…breakfast is ready…"

He had found a nice amount of bread and a few jars of honey a few days ago, and that had proved sufficient for all their major meal needs.

Shinji stiffened and peered at a pale, disembodied hand on the table.

"Don't…call…me that…"

Shinji stood in the kitchen, alone, staring ahead listlessly for a few seconds, and then nodding, slamming his hand on the table, turning to put on his jacket, and speaking in a cold voice.

"I'm leaving to get supplies…Second Child."

"Asuka?"

Shinji lifted the plate he had made for Asuka and slowly strolled over to her door, leaving it there, and pressed his ear against her door. He could hear her vaguely snoring, and didn't want to bother her or incur more of her wrath, so he stood and walked back towards the kitchen.

Kariudo meanwhile had exited from the bathroom, fully dressed with a damp towel atop his head.

"Hrmm, what's the third plate on the ground for Shinji? Do we have a third person here? I mean, I'm sure privacy is important, but when we're the only people left on earth, I'd like to know if there are others."

"Asuka!"

Shinji Ikari smiled, lifting up a bottle of soda towards the air, smiling at nothing, his eyes focused on a spot in the wall.

"Here you go Asuka."

He dropped the bottle, and it fell to the floor with a crash.

"Asuka...Asuka?"

Shinji smiled, lying against the couch.

"Shinji…I hate you Shinji…I hate you Third Child…I love you Asuka…Asuka…"

"Asuka?"

Shinji groaned, the noose tight around his neck, his feet swaying as a cracked whisper left his dying lips.

"As…Asuka….thank you…"

He closed his eyes, waiting for salvation, but all he heard was a sharp noise as the rope broke and sent him hurtling towards the carpet below.

"Asuka!"

Shinji looked grim as he twisted the knife into Kariudo's chest, a sigh of satisfaction rushing across his body as Kariudo's eyes bulged out, blood pouring from his wound.

"I have to do this…or she'll go away…she'll go away again…"

"Asuka! No! No! No! I'm…not…crazy…That's…no…"

Shinji stumbled backwards, his eyes bulging out, his body racked with tearless sobs, his entire essence shivering, a lock at the back of his head felt unlocked, he could imagine a thousand shards of shattered glass in his mind.

He was clear, but destroyed.

The illusion had been his salvation.

Shinji stumbled, his mind blank, his body moving stiffly, robotically, as he fell onto his hands and knees in front of his bed, fishing around under his pillow until he felt cold steel against his hand. His hand had once been warm, but now it was freezing, like the metal.

He pulled the revolver out, staring at it curiously, cocking it back, not checking if it was loaded.

He sat there, on his knees for what could've been hours, or even days, it was hard to tell, and quite irrelevant, in fact.

And finally, his entire body came to a final consensus.

His hand lifted up the revolver, his mouth opened wide, and the revolver barrel was placed into his welcoming mouth.

Shinji closed his eyes, but quickly opened them again at the sound of Misato's voice.

She was there, in front of him, as if nothing had happened.

"What would that accomplish? Don't be crazy, Shinji!"

Shinji's eyes opened wide as he saw himself appear in front of him, clad in the familiar plug suit, fists clenched, chanting.

"I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away."

He heard Rei's voice, as she appeared beside the Third Child.

"You cannot run away, Shinji, it would not be wise."

And suddenly, a thousand voices flooded into Shinji's ears, familiar, Asuka, Toji, his father, his mother, himself, Rei, Kawuro…and ones that he could not recognize, or did not want to.

"The one who takes care of you, and the one who understands you, is nobody but yourself."

"So, take care of yourself."

"You are unstable."

"You are still unstable."

"The present you."

"The people around the present you, the environment that surrounds the present you."

"None of them last forever."

"Your time is always flowing."

"You are made of the changing world. You are the thing that may change according to your own mind."

"So do not surrender to death."

"Do not run away."

"You mustn't run away"

"You coward!"

"Live on, you can live on!"

Shinji seemed to ignore the cacophony of voices, his finger tensed against the trigger, his eyes clenched shut.

But suddenly, there was silence, and he opened his eyes, the cold taste of the revolver still against his tongue.

In front of him, only two figures remained, their faces similar, both of their gazes sending pangs of unimaginable misery into Shinji's soul.

Rei Ayanami and Yui Ikari.

Complements, incomplete, love, mother, soul, clone, smile, red, hate, father, care, breast, warmth, comfortable, hand, pale, delicate, soft, lust, completion, misery, emptiness, alone.

Thousands of words slammed into Shinji's mind as he gazed at the two females.

Yui spoke first, smiling consolingly.

"My Shinji, my love…As long as the Sun, the Moon and the Earth exist, everything will be all right, you will be fine, and humanity shall live on."

A slight smile, almost indiscernible, but sublime, danced across Rei's face as well, and her crimson eyes hinted of a deep, hidden warmness as she spoke

"The dream is everlasting, Shinji. Reality and your dreamworld need not conflict, as long as there is love in your heart, even for a dream, everything will be alright."

Shinji removed the revolver from his mouth, and stood, facing his mother, and the pale pilot who he loved.

Both Yui and Rei's faces seemed to soften as Shinji removed the revolver, satisfied perhaps in the diffusion of such a tense situation.

But then…Shinji grinned.

An odd grin, no, they would have been happy if it had been an expression of happiness, but no, this was no expression of joy or love, it was an empty grin for an empty soul.

And then, finally, Shinji Ikari spoke.

"The dream is over now, I'm out of the rabbit hole, Rei."

Rei and Yui both strode forward, concern evident on Ikari's face, while it was only hinted at in Rei's crimson eyes.

"My eyes, are open now."

"Shinji!"

Shinji took the revolver, placed the barrel into his mouth, and pulled the trigger.

A flash of light, and then…darkness.

"Shinji! Shinji!"

"Shinji! Shinji, you idiot, wake up!"

Shinji Ikari stirred, smiling as he saw Asuka Langley Sohryu's grumpy face hovering over him. She was his childhood friend, temperamental, but beautiful, lovely, but sometimes a giant pain in the ass.

"Wake up, you idiot!"

Shinji yawned.

"Oh, Asuka, is that you?"

"Is that all you can say to me! I come here every morning and wake you up early so you won't be late for school and that's all you can give me? You better start apologizing quickly, you idiot!"

"Ah…I mean, thanks, let me sleep a bit more."

"What do you mean, sleep more, you idi-Wait, are those bags under your eyes? Not get enough sleep eh? Probably thinking up perverted dreams, eh!"

Shinji squirmed uncomfortably.

In fact, he had been dreaming, a horrible dream, a confusing dream. Asuka, and his parents, and Toji, Kensuke, heck, even his homeroom teacher Mrs. Ryouji had been in it! It had truly been a nightmare, giant robots, misery, and an odd little penguin.

Asuka tugged at his blanket.

"Wake up you lazy idiot! What are you-"

Her eyes bulged out as she pulled down the blanket, revealing a little surprise below Shinji's waist.

"Ewww! You pervert! You pervert, unbelievable!"

Shinji yawned, chuckling.

"Come on, it's morning, I can't help it!"

"Hurry up and change your clothes, dammit!"

Asuka pulled the groggy Shinji around the house, as he changed and brushed his teeth at a lightning pace, while Gendo Ikari reclined in his seat, reading the newspaper, his wife, Yui Ikari chatting to him while she washed the dishes.

"Ow! Ow! Asuka, don't be such a pain in the ass!"

"What was that!"

"Uh…sorry? Oww!"

Asuka dragged Shinji out the door by his ear, smiling warmly at Yui and waving.

"Bye Mrs. Ikari!"

"Bye Asuka, honey!"

They broke into a dash once they had left Shinji's house, already quite late, speaking to each other as they ran, their breath coming out quickly.

"Hmm, I heard we had a new student in class!"

"Well, duh! This city's going to be the new capitol city now, so the population is really increasing, people are moving in!"

"Right, right…I wonder what she's like though…Hopefully cute…"

The last part was whispered, but Asuka seemed to pick it up anyway.

"Idiot! Hmph!"

"Hey, I can't help it, I-"

Shinji was cut off as he slammed into something soft and fell over on his behind.

Sprawled in front of him was a young girl with blue hair and pale skin, obviously having collided with him after running in a hurry.

She spoke quickly, her voice loud, almost faintly obnoxious.

"Ow, ow! Sorry, I was in a hurry!"

A few things registered in his mind

Familiar…She seems…familiar…I don't know where I've seen her…but…Panties!

She blushed and crossed her legs, then lifted herself up and dashed away, leaving Shinji on his behind and Asuka with a raised eyebrow as she offered Ikari a hand.

"Hmm, wonder what her problem was?"

Toji grinned, mischievously as he sat in the seat beside Shinji, in their school homeroom.

"Really! Then you see it? I mean the girl's panties."

"I didn't mean to look, but, only a little..."

"Woah! What a lucky boy you are so early in the morning…Ouch! What are you doing?"

The freckled face of the class representative, Hikari, appeared behind Toji.

"Suzuhara, don't say such stupid things! Here, replace the water in the vase. You're on duty this week."

Toji sighed.

"What an annoying chick…"

"What did you say!"

Shinji sighed as Toji yelped, Hikari dragging him away, and turn casually to Kensuke.

"Toji is gonna be whipped, man, I guarantee it."

"Look who's talking!"

Shinji turned at Asuka's voice.

"Hey! How come you're saying I'll be whipped?"

"Well, just telling the truth, you idiot!"

"Wha? Why?"

"You are what you are, and you're whipped!"

"Hey! Asuka, you're always talking!"

Kensuke sighed as Asuka and Shinji began their daily tirade but it was interrupted but Toji's voice.

"Misato-sensei is coming!"

All the boys in the class ran to the windows and peered down as Misato Ryouji, their homeroom teacher, a laidback buxom woman, strolled out of her car, winking at them above.

"Woah! Misato-sensei is great…"

Asuka and Hikari turned their heads, speaking in unison.

"Those idiots!"

Hikari brought order to the class as Misato stepped through, however.

"Stand up. Bow. Sit down."

Misato smiled, leaning against her desk casually.

"Hey boys! Get ready! Today, I introduce the transferee everybody is talking about.

A blue-haired girl in a short skirt strolled into the class and stopped in front of Misato, smiling at the class.

"Hi, I'm Rei Ayanami, nice to meet you!"

Shinji's eyes bulged out.

"Wha!"

Rei turned at the noise and then pointed her finger at him accusingly.

"You! You're that stupid guy that peeped at my panties this morning!"

Asuka stood, shaking her head angrily.

"Hey you! What's the idea, saying that to Shinji, you're the one that showed him your panties anyway, you floozy!"

"You shit, why are you covering for that guy? Does that mean you two are a couple?"

"Childhood friend, you bitch!"

Hikari groaned, trying to calm the class.

"Stop! It's time for school. Be quiet!"

Misato raised an eyebrow, smiling as the class argued and laughed.

"Well, at least we're having fun, it's getting interesting too, please do go on!"

Shinji stood up, quickly.

"Hey, Asuka's not my girlfriend, no way I'd be with a chick like her!"

Asuka turned to Shinji angrily.

"Hey, what's the idea you whipped pervert!"

She shoved him towards the ground as the class erupted into laughter, and his eyes bulged out as his skull crashed against the metal leg of a school desk.

A flash of light, and then…darkness.

Shinji scratched the back of his head and lifted himself up from a cold white floor, a dull receding pain now but a memory in his head.

He clenched his fists.

"I've got it. This is also a world. A possibility within me. The me at the moment is not always the me as I am. There are many of myself. Yes. There must be a me who is not an Eva pilot!"

Misato smiled, appearing in front of him.

"Considering that, the real world itself isn't so bad."

"Yeah…The real world might not always be bad. But, I hate myself!"

Makoto appeared behind Shinji, speaking.

"It's your mind that conceives that the reality is bad and hateful."

Shigeru appeared to Shinji's right, continuing.

"The mind which confuses Reality with the Truth, Reality with the Dream."

Maya appeared in front of Shinji, smiling.

"The point of view, the position. Only a little change to these could change you a lot!"

Kaji appeared beside Misato, nodding.

"There are as many truths as there are people."

Kensuke appeared in front of Shinji now.

"But there's only one truth that you have, which is formed from your narrow view of the world, It is revised information to protect yourself, the twisted truth."

Toji then appeared beside his old friend.

"Oh, yes. the view of the world that one can have is quite small, the line between the Dream and your Reality isn't too important."

Hikari now appeared, the class representative beside her school crush.

"Yes, you measure things only by your own small view."

Asuka now appeared, her blue eyes soft and familiar.

"One sees things with the truth, given to them by others."

Misato continued.

"Happy on a sunny day, gloomy on a rainy day. If you're taught that, you always think so. But, you can enjoy rainy days."

Fuyutsuki now appeared, his face grim and wary.

"Through different ways of perception, the truth can change into very different things; that shows how weak and meaningless the truth can be."

Kaji nodded.

"The truth within a person is such a weak thing that people wish to know deeper truths."

Gendo Ikari now appeared in front of Shinji, no longer sending a chill up his spine, it was different now as the former Commander of NERV spoke, almost warmly.

"You for example are not used to being liked."

Shinji stiffened, looking at the figures around him.

"But, don't you hate me!"

Asuka smiled, stepping forward.

"You idiot! It's only you who is always trying to believe that."

"But…I hate myself."

Rei shook her head, stepping closer to Shinji, side by side Asuka.

"Those who hate themselves cannot love or trust others."

Shinji clenched his fists.

"I am wicked, cowardly, weak and-"

Misato interrupted, stepping forward beside Asuka and Shinji, her voice kind and warm.

"If you truly know yourself and love yourself, you can learn to be kind to others."

Shinji's eyes widened, as he let his fists open, suddenly feeling a great lightness and clearness pervading his body.

"I hate myself…But, I might be able to love myself. I might be able to stay here…I am nothing, I have nothing, but I am I! I wish to be I! I want to stay here! I can stay here! I can learn to love!"

He smiled as he heard a great thunderous applause, and turned to a great crowd of people, some familiar, some unrecognizable, indeed perhaps all the voices of humanity, all saying one thing.

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

Shinji smiled, finally standing up from his prone position.

"Thank you! Thank you, my father…Goodbye, my mother…I love you, Asuka."

The Ruins of Tokyo 3, Japan

Misato Katsuragi's Apartment

The apartment was silent, and indeed the entire city of Tokyo 3 was dismally silent, the dark legacies of humanity looming over the red sea of life, metal wombs now uninhabited, a great, destroyed city without a point, without anyone to reside within it.

Shinji Ikari, age 15, lay on the apartment carpet as it absorbed the growing flow of blood from the great gaping hole in his skull, a revolver in his left hand as his right hand clenched and unclenched slowly.

He opened his eyes, blood dripping from his cerulean pupils like so many worthless tears as his eyes dilated.

He opened his mouth, curling it into a smile, even as blood flowed from it and from his crushed skull.

"Rei… Everything is clearer now…Life is just a dream you know…That's never ending."

He closed his eyes shut, his body shaking in its death throes, his voice now a whisper.

"I-I'm ascending…"

A flash of light, and then, finally, true freedom in eternal darkness.

"Can I dream alone?"

"That would not be a dream. It would just be a projection of reality."

"Then... where is my dream?"

"That is the extension of reality."

"My... where is my reality?"

"That is at the end of the dream."

Yeah, that's it, hope you enjoyed it…I enjoyed this chapter a lot…

I did take a little from Fight Club and Cowboy Bebop, see if you guys can find the little crossover I had of them, and remember, I don't own either, of course.

Well, seeya for now, go check out my other fanfics, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Madness, The Fate of Destruction, and the random others I have to update.

See you guys later, this is The Evincar signing off.