Disclaimer on various past chapters.
A/N: KYUUKYOKU OUGI! DON'T DO HOMEWORK!
--
Shinji's recovery had gone flawlessly, but due to the after-effects of the drugs that modified the regeneration speed of his cells, he was still lying in the hospital bed.
Receiving reports each day about the amount of deaths the world has suffered since the beginning of the new war, America and Japan were fighting evenly with the rest of the world, while England was smart enough to stay neutral, and none had dared to fight near their borders.
A quarter of the population who had survived the Second Impact had died in this war, and it was a bad sign. The population was decreasing even further, and there is a chance that this civil war with become a smaller version of the Second Impact all over again. Except this time, they will be drowned in blood instead of water.
Shinji sighed. As soon as he got out of the hospital, he would give the committee his report, and a piece of his mind. As pleasurable as it was to satisfy his once again growing desire, the gentle Shinji Ikari would never allow the death of so many under his name.
He had felt it once, and he didn't need to feel it again.
--
Kaji cursed under his breath. His plan had backfired. Though he had expected a small war to break out from the assassination of the head fanatic, he hadn't expected one this big. He had virtually caused another Second Impact.
It was a horrible mistake to think that the fanatics would die from lack of organization. They were even more organized than before, attacking various locations with precise timing. It may be a fluke, but with their chain of command disrupted, it seems that they are actually working better.
The only explanation would be the fact that from the assassination of the most religious figures, the command were given to the most capable rather than the holiest man.
Kaji smashed his fist into a nearby wall. He had been too naïve in his decision. The first time since the day when he had given his friends away, he had lost his temper at himself, and wallowed in self-pity. He would have performed Shinji's trademark act, had he been as immature.
Without a second thought, knowing terrorism would no longer be a problem in this full-scale war, he posted it.
The information on SEELE, he had posted every last bit of it. Every letter of the original documents, every sound of the voice recordings, every move in the videos, every speck of paint on the photos and every witness to contact. His life's work, all presented to the general public, in a fashion so neatly organized it had taken the worst of the mentally incapable to not understand the meaning behind these well-hidden objectives.
Of course, spy skills were used to edit and move sections of his evidence. It was a necessary evil for a greater good, and a dark vengeance that had waited too long to be put off anymore.
--
Misato smashed her head on her console as the human resources department are getting less and less recruits, and even less volunteers.
The recruits they had received were not enough, and they even had to draft a few volunteers who were willing to defend their home, Tokyo-3, to the death.
Unfortunately, most of them did. Now the source from which they were replenishing their diminishing private army was getting less and less able. Not only are the Section Two criteria strict, most of the most capable people were drafted into the army. Now, with less and less people working for them, the Major's headaches were increased tenfold since the beginning of the war. If the replicated Angels were not there, that tenfold would be more like a hundredfold.
The state of NERV's defenses were a huge wreck. All of NERV only minimal security staff had been sent, to cover NERV as much as possible so attacks can be reported in time. By now, the agents simply watched to make sure Angels did not get captured rather than join in the gunfight. Though when the Angels had gone dormant due to power loss of excessive damage, they would still jump in with their guns blazing with unmatched skill against a superior army. Skill failed to save them from the heavily armored terrorists with bigger guns than them, however.
"Misato, don't hurt our machines." Ritsuko commented. Her research on Ramiel was finally given up, when they simply could not develop a weapon system based off of him.
"Shut up, Ritsuko!" Misato shouted at her co-worker and friend in anger. She had more than enough on her mind. The constant attacks had been too much, it seemed like the fanatics are endless in supply. Luckily, what she had found out, was that the fanatics were secretly backed by JSSDF and American forces. The two most technologically advanced military forces next to NERV had been a powerful ally, but now they were an invincible enemy.
"Major! England has finally declared hostility!" Shigeru shouted to the purple haired woman.
All he got in response was a frustrated groan.
--
Shinji smiled genuinely when a few classmates had visited him. Ever since the war, Tokyo-3 residents had been moved to shelters along with whatever they could carry from their homes. Food was not a problem, because of technological advances on cheap, efficient instant food and nutrition pills. Courtesy of Major Misato Katsuragi.
Because of the abandoned city, the hospital outside could no longer be used. The NERV hospital had been open to the general public in a state of emergency, under heavy surveillance, though the NERV HQ itself never was. Neither was the massive breakthrough in regeneration technology, mostly because of the state Shinji was in.
"Shinji! I hope you can forget all those mean things we did to you in school." Kodama said in her sweetest, most enthusiastic voice possible.
"You know, we're just such big fans of you that we just wanted to do everything to be closer to you!" Nozomi added with the most unconvincing sheepish grin, coupled with the massive increase in moisture on her skin.
Shinji's smile was not genuine because he was glad. It was because he was amused.
"Don't worry about it. Your... Transfers... Will not be considered until the end of this hectic time." Shinji couldn't help but grin at their relieved faces, suppressing his laugh.
"Well, here's some flowers, get well soon, bye!" Nozomi said, before leaving the room dragging her sister along.
Their plan had not succeeded as well as they thought, however. A very jealous Asuka had heard the conversation, and had horribly misunderstood it from her lack of a good view at the girls' faces. In her fury, she failed to notice the card she had written her note on was under the corner of the boy's pillow, its corner covered in drool.
She instead was intent on serving great justice, and kicking herself repeatedly afterwards for feeling jealous over this little mess.
--
Touji had never been more excited in his whole life. The Geo front was truly beautiful, and even though he was seen as a brainless jock, he still knew how to make the best of things.
In this case, under Shinji and Asuka's two pronged attack of synchronized pressure whenever he visited his friend, he finally found it impossible to put this off. This was something that will decide his life. Decide his future. Decide whether or not he will need a prosthetic heart.
He walked over to the Horaki Family's assigned room in the shelter #10, and was about to knock on the metal door before it came flying right into his face.
"TOUJI! I'm so sorry!" Hikari said as she looked at the poor, injured boy with a red nose.
Touji tried to break himself out of his daze and say something about her not needing to worry.
"The door was stuck!" Hikari said in a hurry. "Sorry, gotta go, my sisters called and Asuka is about to kill them both!" She ran out the shelter, and Touji was left on the ground moaning in pain.
Kensuke, who was three rooms down from Horaki family's assigned room, decided at that moment to open his door and go out on a walk. The military otaku looked around for anything that could be classified as suspicious, as he carried his toy rifle like a professional soldier. He spotted a red nosed jock in a familiar tracksuit on the ground. Immediately he ran over.
"TOUJI! Are you alright, Touji?" Kensuke shook his friend frantically.
"I..." Touji tried to say, but his nose began to hurt at the slightest move of his lips somehow.
"NOOOO! WHY? WHY HAVE THEY TAKEN YOU TOO?" Kensuke shouted into the sky, which was blocked off by the shelter's shiny metal ceiling.
Touji smacked his military otaku friend, before getting up.
"I'm fine, idiot!" He blurted out, annoyed.
"Oh, I'm about to take a walk. Wanna go see how Shinji is doing?" Kensuke asked, receiving a nod in return. They started to walk towards the hospital.
"I can't believe he took that many bullets for the devil, of all people." Touji commented, trying to make conversation.
"Yea, but at least he isn't shouting corny lines into the sky about a fallen comrade. Him screaming 'OUGI! GENSHIRYOKU SUPAKU' whenever we watch anime together was enough." Kensuke added.
"Look who's talking."
--
Shinji sighed. It was lonely being in the hospital, and it ached all over. After Kodama and Nozomi flew off before he had a chance to scare them further, he was back to the state of loneliness he had always felt.
He had been used to it before he came to Tokyo-3. But after being so popular(at least compared to way long ago) after these past 2 years, he had understood just how much human beings needed interaction. He once again forgotten that fact when he had became the commander of NERV. But now, with everybody stuck in shelters to visit him when he is taking a prolonged vacation, that fuzzy feeling when you know people care about you returned in full force.
Just then, his relief came in the form of Touji and Kensuke.
"Shinji! How are you doing man?" Kensuke asked enthusiastically. Touji only groaned when he remembered who had gotten him smashed in the nose today.
"Kensuke!" Shinji shouted back with the same level of enthusiasm. His loneliness evaporated when he heard the groan. "Touji! How did the date go?"
Touji gave a glare that Shinji thought only Asuka had the ability to perform. Instantly he knew how well it had gone and decided a change of subject would be better.
"So, nice weather today, huh?"
That did not calm the tall jock, as the beads of sweat that had formed on Shinji's body began to rip his body apart. The scream that followed was not a pleasant one to hear.
--
Misato grinned proudly as another guerrilla attack force had been discovered and eliminated. A UN guerrilla force. She was watching with great interest at the loss of her allies' forces.
"Misato, you do realize this is a good opportunity for you to be the acting commander when Shinji begins his offensive, don't you?" Ritsuko asked from her seat. She had had nothing to do since Asuka had returned from her little sortie.
"You know, I'm beginning to miss the old, quiet, heartless bitch scientist Ritsuko." Misato whispered in an annoyed tone.
Ritsuko looked at her friend in surprise, her saying such a thing had almost offended the fake blond scientist to the point where she was about to spill her secret identity.
"UN's counteroffensive against England failed. I told them it was a rushed plan, but just because I'm a 'lowly major', the top brass thinks I can be pushed around." Misato growled. "I'd KILL them if I could." She continued, through her tightly gritted teeth in anger. "As if to rub salt into my injured pride, they said we didn't have the MILITARY FORCE to HELP THEM. AAARGH!" She screamed into the skies.
"Calm down, Misato!" Ritsuko tried to reason, but was promptly ignored.
"But I showed them, I told them it wouldn't work, their soldiers are all dead!" She said hysterically, laughing. "I SHOWED THEM!" She began laughing out all of her air maniacally, as if she was about to take over the world.
"M-Misato! I think you need to go see Mr. Hasegawa." Shigeru said from his console, worried.
"A-Are you alright, Misato?" Makoto's worried voice came from the console two spaces down.
"I'm alright, I'm alright, just wanted to see how Shinji felt, that's all." Misato said with a happy grin to her co-workers, as a chorus of 'THUD' could be heard.
In Makoto's case, he was delirious from happiness.
--
The next few days passed without too much deviation, except Shinji had left the hospital and two brown haired girls occupied the room next to his, mumbling about red.
Shinji stepped into the cages in his plug suit, and looked up at the monstrosity he was about to sortie in.
"Shinji, are you ready?" Misato asked over the bridge's communication system.
"Yes, Misato." Shinji said with a determined face, his eyes betraying nothing, as he onto the elevator and made his way towards his Eva's entry plug.
"Shinji, come back alive..." Misato whispered to herself, as the entry plug was ejected and Shinji climbed in. "Don't get yourself killed, commander!" She said out loud.
"I won't, Misato." Shinji replied as he sat down on his chair while the entry plug was being inserted. A trick he had learned over the years to save a few seconds worth of time. "Unit-01, launching!"
The hulk of metal and flesh ran towards a catapult and stepped onto it. Turning around, he signaled for the release.
"Release catapult 13, launch!" Misato shouted, as Maya went straight to work.
The purple giant flew into the morning sky with the new core, as it ran to the direction where Europe lay. A large box of supplies in its hand, Shinji had all the food and water he would need for this new test.
"I'm sorry, mother." He muttered to his Eva, as his new trademark, the battle-ready sadistic grin appeared.
--
Asuka sat in the NERV cafeteria, alone, without anybody to comfort her. She sighed in defeat. She couldn't go with Shinji in his little expedition to Europe. She had wanted to ride in her Eva in Germany, but an angel or a military conflict never happened during her stay. But that wasn't the reason why she wanted to go with him.
"Why? Why do I feel this way?" She whispered to herself.
"About Shinji?" A voice startled her out of her daze. As her senses returned with the impact of a thousand cannonballs, she realized who the voice belonged to.
"K-KAJI! Shinji told me you were gone!" Asuka shouted in surprise. Kaji almost smacked himself for putting off his introduction to Asuka so long.
"Well, I was SUPPOSED to tell you I was alive since the JA attack..." Kaji laughed nervously, and was promptly glomped by a now more mature, more beautiful girl.
"KAJI!" She said in a most dramatic fashion, though no tears could be seen in her eyes. "How did you survive? Is it the power of love?"
"Uh... You see..." Kaji hesitated to tell, but this could be a big break from this girl and help Shinji's chances to score. "I got a girl pregnant, so she killed my killer and kicked me in... You know... For a few times."
Asuka suddenly froze, and as soon as she broke out of the invisible ice she went way back against a wall, terrified.
"Y-You're lying, Kaji! You only have eyes for me!" Asuka shouted in protest, as tears welled up in her eyes.
"You only have eyes for him, Asuka. Don't deny your feelings, he went through a lot for you." Kaji's gaze turned serious, and his tone cold as stone. "Acknowledge him, Asuka, and I'll acknowledge you, as a grownup." His face softened into his usual lady-killer smile. "And... Let's not talk about such a thing with Misato's camera pointing right at us, ok Asuka?" He laughed nervously again.
"I don't know what you're talking about! I love only you, Kaji!" Asuka tried as hard as she could at denial, but she simply failed to sound convincing at all. This had no truth in it as it did before Third Impact, and all passion was burnt out from the overuse.
Kaji simply flashed her a smile and left without another word, in his tight black suit which had attracted the attention of every young female employee in this facility. Except Asuka.
"Why... Kaji..." Asuka sobbed, as she curled into a ball. She was lonely again, and she understood why.
--
Shinji laughed maniacally as he crushed a plane in his palm and stepped on a tank with his foot. He had placed his supplies in a holding bag made of simple, everyday material. It was an insult to his enemies, as no force could possibly touch him through the intense AT Field he is able to project with his mother's soul in a desperate situation. The ninety eight N2 Mines of England couldn't even touch his rations if he so desired.
He took out his giant katana, and slashed downwards, splitting a small line of three tanks in half. No, not 1.5, but 0.5 times 6.
"Why are you betraying us?" He asked, as he pulled his sword back and stabbed it into a plane flying right into him. "Why are you doing this?"
He pulled back the sword yet again, and sheathed it as he smashed the sheath into another plane. Looking upon the trail of scrap metals he had created, he cried with sorrow as he laughed with joy.
"Nobody is here to see me, nobody... Blood... I will take my heart's desire!" He shouted, as he began to smash the attacked country like a berserker smashing an invisible foe. The ground shattered, the remains of the English army were slaughtered. Shinji opened a communication channel and requested unconditioned surrender, unless more force will be necessary. Secretly, the boy had an inner conflict. Part of him wanted them to say no, so he could kill more. The other part hoped they would comply, so no more killing would be necessary.
His commander training had been used well in suppressing his outburst of mental agony.
England remained silent at the request, causing a wave of rebelling civilians who never wanted to be a part of this war to grow more rowdy and violent in their country. Eventually, the government decided that they would give up their struggle.
On that day, the most well-known country in Europe had tasted humiliation. They had been defeated in little more than a week since their declaration of hostility.
"Next... Next is Japan... Then America... Then the world!" Shinji shouted to the skies, as the waves of his laughter were dissipated into the thick LCL around him. Had he not been alone for this mission, he would have been once again suspected of insanity.
--
Asuka felt her womanly sixth sense tingle. She didn't pay it much mind, however. The shiver down her back was probably because she had a cold.
She sighed, as she uncurled and stepped out of the cafeteria, getting tired of all the strange looks other employees were giving her. She would see Kaworu, and ask him what the deal was with Shinji.
No, she didn't care, she just wanted to know if he had special powers that makes people think of him for no reason. She didn't care at all.
Or so she tried to believe.
--
Kaworu and Rei knelt before their table, and sipped their tea in unison. Kaworu had been assigned to watch over Rei, as he was perfectly combat capable if needed to be. Rei was to have absolute control over him, and if needed, she can stun the boy and call agents. He seemed to have no problems complying with the commander's wishes, as long as the commander was Shinji Ikari.
"Oh my, Rei, your tea stalk is standing up!" Kaworu commented, looking into the albino girl's cup.
"Is there anything special?" The confused Rei asked in return, as she took another sip.
"It means good luck, Rei." The white haired boy smiled warmly. "Good fortunes may await you. This is a show of fortune."
"Good fortunes? Luck is not a factor in life. It is made believe." Rei simply stated, in her monotone voice. "What happens happens. There is no luck." She took another sip of her tea curiously, wondering if a cup of tea would really have that kind of powers.
"You'll see, Rei, you'll see."
As soon as those words left Kaworu's mouth, the door burst open with a red haired girl. Rei instantly doubted the ability of what Kaworu had called a show of fortune.
"KAWORU! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!" Asuka shouted, as she made her way to drag the boy out if she had to.
"See, Rei? A sign of fortune..." Kaworu sighed, as he followed the red haired girl outside.
Rei smiled. Perhaps it IS a sign of good fortune. Perhaps good luck charms does work. She would need to do more experiments. Her bank account is quite generously full from her lack of wants, but this is one of the few things that had sparked her interest.
--
Shinji smiled as the UN soldiers had arrived at the scene. Finally, he could return home. Too bad he couldn't satisfy his wants in this solo mission.
"They deserved it... They didn't want Kaworu's gift!" He kept shouting in his mind, hoping to calm his conflicting emotions. He was met with no success however, as he was broken out of his meditation by a phone call from the UN Leader.
"Good work, commander Rokubungi. You may return to NERV HQ, our soldiers have everything under control."
"Understood." The boy said, suspicious of something about what the UN leader had said. He finished the last of his meal, and climbed right back into his entry plug.
Just as Shinji's entry plug had been covered up, an explosion was set off, and it caused a chain reaction of all the N2 mines in England to detonate as well. Shinji quickly brought up his AT Field to brace for impact. "Just as I thought... Something is suspicious."
To be continued... Maybe?
A/N: I'll get as many updates out as I can every weekend. But I have a weekly newspaper assignment to do at school(Curse you teachers!), so depending on my luck with the newspaper each week, you may or may not get two chapters. I'm so evil, muahahaha and stuff.
This is not a cliff hanger. The new chapter will start another day or something like usual.
Here's an omake!
--
Asuka dragged Kaworu outside.
"Alright! Now spill it, what's so special about Shinji?" Asuka demanded, as she tapped her foot impatiently on the ground, her arms crossed under her breasts.
"His heart is unique for a mere Lilim." Kaworu explained.
"That being?"
"Well... He wants to do all these 'Intimate Actions' with you, as you Lilims would say." Kaworu smiled as if it was a casual thing. "It was quite cute, actually. Like how he twisted the truth on that time when you got into his futon..."
Asuka turned beet red and ran off ready to rip Shinji's head off if she found him.
"Um... Asuka, I was just about to tell you about... Oh, never mind. Shinji was not meant to be a mother." Kaworu shrugged. He walked back into where he and Rei had been living.
"Mother, may you show me some more of these... 'Intimate Actions' of Lilims?" Kaworu asked, as Rei cradled him in her arms, as if he was a delicate baby made of glass.
"Of course. I shall teach you the process of tucking one in." Rei said emotionlessly, as the two made way to their bedrooms.