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Chapter Seven: Diabolus Ex Machina
"Pulses reversed!" a technician on a lower deck declared.
"Unit One is refusing the neural connection!" Maya reported.
The white-lit eyes of EVA-01 shut down by it's own will, and all was silent. Gendo Ikari looked upon the screen with dismay. Had this been an angel attack, we would only have a single defender… I must rush the development of the dummy plug… but would that even work…? As Gendo pondered the dilemma set upon him by his runaway son, Fuyutski frowned along with the technicians below before announcing, "Eject the plug and extract the First Children. Shut down all functions within EVA-01."
"It's no use. Now that she has found her son, she will reject any other…" Gendo looked onto the EVA-01, searching for his wife in its eyes, but found nothing but the cold steel of the Evangelion's mask. "We have to get him back."
"The agents the Intelligence Division sent out to the fields has yet to report back… that was Shinji's last tracked position."
"He is good at running away… not at much else," Gendo said coldly. Fuyutski only stared forward, trying hard to not agree with the monster in charge.
Green was everywhere. She got used to it, the long green fields, and how longy and greeny they were, but sometimes she'd make one pink or orange or tangerine or the color of big fat pigs when they don't get a good tan…
"Sister, please, focus… what did you show Shinji?" Destruction asked again. He wasn't Destruction now, but she would call him that in her own mind, even if his name is different, he's still the same. "Delirium, this is important… focus."
Destruction grew weary of his sister's demeanor. Apparently joyful and in some form of twisted bliss, Destruction should have been happy. But she drove the young boy mad, the boy of her prophecy, and now he couldn't help but wonder if she was ever really afraid of dying. Men in black suits had bothered their camp earlier, only to find it empty, (they simply made themselves invisible to their mortal eyes,) and couldn't help but wonder what they would've done if the boy remained here. But now he's off and away, and doing Destiny-knows what. The soft crush of dying plants below feet grabbed his attention to the west.
The tall grass in her died away as a very pissed off Death stalked into their campsite, her eyes raging with an unholy red light. Her dress matched her mood, an exaggerated ballroom dress with sharp edges and red linings amongst the black. "Morningstar is walking with Shinji, talking about the Final Sign and the End."
"Delirium drove the boy mad… I'm not surprised he'd speak casually with the devil," Destruction answered.
As Delirium continued to dance, Death asked, "Then why did you let him go? Why on Earth would you let an insane boy just wander about? Is that the compassion you preach, Destruction? Is this an example of your life-sustaining!" Death screamed the last part, a sob choking her.
Destruction looked at his sister, pity in his eyes. "Death… I cannot force a mortal to do what he does not wish to do, it is against my code… even if he is far deeper into Delirium than most disturbed mortals has ever gone."
"This could be the End. With Morningstar aiding him, we probably won't make it out of here existing."
"That's a splendid idea, I think!" exclaimed a voice that tugged at their hearts for a brief moment. As they regained their normal composure, Desire came through the tall grass from the east, his/her smile seemingly unbreakable. His/her outfit was a beautiful suit of white and pink shades and an undershirt with black roses decorating it all over. "Wouldn't it be dandy to just end it all?"
"So you have a hand in this, Desire?" Destruction queried his brother-sister.
"Desire's been at this since day one," Death explained.
"Not exactly, but I did fall to temptation when I realized who your little love-toy really was… I must say, you must've been given quite a shock, not being able to ever have him again until you must lose him forever… wouldn't you just prefer to go away? For good? It would mean the end of—"
"Desire's working with Morningstar, Desire's working with Morningstar!" Delirium chanted in a taunting child-like voice as she danced in an unseen ballet.
"So you've enlisted Lucifer to aid you in this," Death accused.
"The crazy one's right, I'm afraid," Desire confessed, bowing his/her head.
Death and Destruction looked upon their wayward brother-sister, searching his/her eyes for an explanation. Finally Death, her tears held back, simply asked, "Why?"
"You don't know what it's like, Death," Desire began, his/her voice becoming somber behind the never-ending grin. "Always wanting, always desiring, always dreaming of satisfaction, yet the very essence of your being would never allow it. Ever. I've never known satiation; I've never known satisfaction… pleasure cannot fill that void. Nor can love. You've known satisfaction all your life, your duty was always fulfilled, and now that you cannot have the one thing you've ever loved in this wretched universe, now you know what it's like to be the twin-sibling of Despair. It is a constant cycle, Death, more constant than yours." Desire let his/her words hang for a moment, then shrugged. "As for Morningstar, well, he thought helping in ending the universe would be a great way to end his show, and he's a tad tired of heaven, hell and everything in between as well."
Death weighed her brother-sister's words before replying, "How selfish of you… but then, you were never the selfless one, were you?"
"Not in the least, my dear, Desire never is."
Destruction butted in, "So… what do we do now? Stop Shinji and Lucifer from ending the universe?"
"No," Death replied before Desire could put his/her input. "It has to happen sometime… and we cannot interfere more than we already have. He was not supposed to know how it ends, he was not supposed to know how to end it, at least not now, I know that much… Destiny had a good eighteen pages left when I spoke to him… I knew something happened when seventeen of them vanished from the book."
Destruction looked upon his sister with shock. "Then it ends? Now?"
"Yes… and we can do nothing but wait for his decision." Death sat down, her rage dying away and the edges of her dress smoothing out, morphing and turning until her old black jeans and matching tank top.
"Destiny's?" Destruction asked.
Delirium answered, "Not at all… Shinji's."
He couldn't believe how obvious it all was, now that he had the Vision. Everything made perfect sense, the angels were nothing more than manifestations of Delirium. She was the driving force behind humanity, the mother of humanity, the Endless one who guided Sol's hand in producing the populace of planet Earth. Sol! The suns had personalities and names, names not known to many of Delirium's children. It all made sense! Even as Lucifer Morningstar explained to him the plan, he needed no explanation. He knew what had to be done, and would let Morningstar do it for him.
"…after that, the technicians will help you activate the purple one before the red one attacks…"
Lucifer's prattling to Shinji made him annoyed. What does this demon king know of the future? Nothing, he makes plans, Shinji makes preparations for what he knows will come. He needs Morningstar for this, because no one else could… would… help him. Wasn't there a woman named—The thought slid across his mind like a feather upon a bubble of crude oil. Nothing of his past life mattered, only his fate mattered now.
They reached the doorway to NERV headquarters. The metal bars of the closed shutter doors remained closed as Shinji approached. He didn't have his keycard. He looked to Morningstar who simply nodded. Morningstar took only a second to focus his AT field into a piercing spear of light, bursting through the armored doors with ease.
"A break-in at surface-level, sector H!" an operator exclaimed.
"Cameras have been disabled? Switching to auxiliary cam—all cameras have been disabled!" another technician announced.
"Who would be stupid enough to assault us from the front door?" Fuyutski asked Gendo.
"Only an Angel…" Gendo stood. "Scan for blue blood type in Sector H!"
"Focusing scan… no signs sir!" Maya answered.
"Then scan all—"
"No need for that, father," Shinji's voice announced from behind.
Gendo turned to see his son and a blonde foreigner with huge golden wings behind him. The foreigner flicked his finger at Gendo, and a sharp, agonizing pain struck him at the wrist. My hand… Adam! Gendo looked down to see his dismembered right hand fall to the floor, spewing blood all across the metallic floor. His own wrist was apparently sealed from the heat of the AT field, but it didn't stop him from staggering back in pain. Shinji scooped up the gloved hand and removed the white covering to see the embedded Adam stuck in its palm. It's red eye looked up at Shinji's blue and green ones, and for once in a long time, Shinji smiled.
"He stole EVA-01! How can you steal a building-sized mecha inside headquarters!" Asuka exclaimed.
She and Rei both slipped into the entry plugs prepared for them. The slot between them had been emptied out, EVA-01 nowhere to be seen. While the technicians worked to destroy the power line connecting to EVA-01 from a level in Terminal Dogma, Misato replied, "He had an angel with him… a real one, I think."
"What!" Asuka blurted out.
"Nevermind… your target is EVA-01. If you can avoid… killing… Shinji…" Misato paused for a moment to regain her composure. "…Then please do. If you see a winged human with him, kill it at all costs; for now we're classifying it as the seventh angel."
"All entry plugs have been sortied into the EVAs," Maya announced. "All synchronization synapses have connected, EVA-00 is ready, EVA-02 is ready."
"Disconnecting restraints…" another technician announced. In a few moments, both EVAs were leaping down the main tunnel down to Terminal Dogma.
So close to the finish line… Shinji thought to himself as his mind swirled with visions of the apocalypse. Lucifer Morningstar fell slowly with him, clearing the barriers with his AT field as they descended. "Only four more levels, Shinji, and we'll reach—"
"I know, Morningstar, do not lecture me on the future I've seen," Shinji spat back over the loudspeaker installed in EVA-01's armor.
Morningstar was about to answer back to the insolent boy until he noticed the blue and red EVAs coming down around their ears. Morningstar quickly dodged to the side as both landed on either side of Shinji. He had no time to react as Asuka restrained him towards her side, revealing his back to Rei. EVA-00 was quick to equip its vibroblade and slash out the power line to EVA-01.
"There!" Rei announced as she spotted Morningstar hovering to the back. She extended her AT field to attack the devil, only to have his easily neutralize hers. The armored barrier below their feet groaned under their weight, but stayed steady. Asuka's own vibroblade whipped from her shoulder, forcing her to lose control of the battle with Shinji to grab ahold of her weapon. Just as she began pulling it out of it's sheathed, Shinji's free arm held her wrist in place, refusing to let the knife come free.
Rei charged at Morningstar, smashing into the wall behind him as he dodged with amazing speed. Morningstar flicked his wrist and destroyed the cap that covered Rei's entry plug, right before pulling it from its socket with his AT field. EVA-00 powered down, leaving EVA-02 to fend for herself. As Shinji and Asuka struggled, EVA vs. EVA, Morningstar took this opportunity to destroy the floor beneath their feet, wiping it clear with the same blade-like AT field he used on the front door. The floor gave way, dropping them into another barrier. The combined weight of two EVAs landing simultaneously on it's surface was enough to rip it from it's place, carrying them down to the last barrier, dealing it the same fate.
Both EVAs and the two barriers they took with them smashed into the pool below. They had reached Terminal Dogma. In the confusion, Asuka yanked her vibroblade out of it's sheathe and stabbed EVA-01 in the neck. Shinji felt the agony in his neck, but ignore it as his own blade whipped out, stabbing EVA-02 in the gut. As both children reeled in pain, Morningstar grabbed ahold of EVA-02 with his own AT field. "Ta-ta, lass," he said in English. Asuka could only blink at her view-screen as Morningstar hurled her away and into one of the white pillars of Terminal Dogma.
EVA-01, clutching its neck, wobbled towards the opposing wall. With a push of it's own AT field, the wall fell away, revealing Shinji's goal: Lilith. Shinji looked down at the severed hand and smiled before lowering his own personal AT field, letting his flesh become soft and nearly insubstantial. He quickly absorbed Adam into himself before his body fell apart and reestablished the shield of his ego. "So, this is the end, aye… I was hoping for better scenery, but it'll do I suppose," Morningstar said to himself, looking at the pool of angelic blood. "Angels… I mean really… giant mutant looking freaks from the realm of insanity, and they call them angels…"
The hairs on the back of Morningstar's neck rose on end. He dashed forward, feeling the presence of the Kindly Ones upon him. EVA-01 froze and began to jitter. It bellowed out a howl of rage as its body was ripped apart. Shinji quickly cut off his synchronization, feeling the pain of the EVA, only to find out with dismay that his own entry plug was coming apart as well. Blood sprayed from the many rips in the EVA's body before it finally burst into a pile of metal plates and gore, leaving the entry plug that shattered into a thousand white pieces. The three Furies rushed into existence, dashing towards Shinji as he began to fall from mid-air.
For a moment, Shinji's eyes returned to there deep blue. He saw the Furies, their hatred and bitterness, their despising and wretched spite, their vengeance incarnate, and fear clutched at him. Their forms rushed towards him, ready to sweep him from existence, ready to eradicate his physical body, his mind, his very soul…
Morningstar scooped Shinji up from the air, wings ablaze in hellfire, and sped towards Lilith as speeds the Furies could barely keep up with. The Furies sped up as well, giving chase to the devil and his cohort, leaving a trail of physically incarnated misery behind them. As they began to touch Morningstar's foot, the Devil used all of his strength, both spiritual and physical, to launch Shinji ahead. The Furies clutched Morningstar completely now, enveloping him in annihilation, only to look in horror as their target flew towards Lilith.
"It ends now!" Lucifer screamed.
Shinji smiled for a moment. "It ends now…" Time seemed to slow down as the Furies left Lucifer, dashing towards Shinji as he rocketed toward Lilith. Tendrils came out of their ghostly forms, shooting out to Shinji, and grabbing ahold of him just as he was about to shoot into Lilith. He felt a tug, and his heart stopped. Pain enveloped his body as blood stopped flowing. Death was a brush away, and he remembered. Death. Love. Pain. He screamed in agony, screamed in the heartbreak renued, and Lilith felt his presence.
The tendrils of the Furies were loosened by the pull of Lilith. Stopped mid-air before Lilith, now Shinji was sucked into the white mass of Lilith. "NO!" all three Furies shrieked simultaneously.
Destruction looked up at the sky as the clouds evaporated. "So it ends…" he said, his face filled with sorrow.
"So it ends…" Desire agreed, his/her own face without it's pleasant grin.
Delirium stopped dancing, her face neutral and still. The scene was a somber one of Endless in a gathering. But Death, on the other hand, still gave her sad smile. "…So it begins."