Creation began on 11-30-22
Creation ended on 12-02-22
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Shinji, Master of the Cards: Puzzles and Shadows
Misato and the Section Two agents returned to where the Third Child and his friends were last seen…and saw them running out of…some sort of space behind a tree.
"We did it!" She heard one of the boys say. "We're out of that place!"
"Uh, guys?" She heard one the two girls say afterward. "It's acting up again!"
Misato and the agents steadily approached the group, and she saw what looked like a large maze confined to a small space, like a portrait of sorts, rising in front of them.
"What in the name of…" She gasped, alerting Shinji to their presence. "What is that?!"
Shinji, holding that strange staff again when he pulled it out of the ground, looked at her and then at the strange phenomenon that was happening.
"Stand back!" He ordered them. "Return to the guise you were fated to be in, rogue spirit!"
He thrust his staff out in front of him, and it unleashed these bindings of light at what was in front of them. What looked like an unusual laser light show displayed and lasted only for ten seconds before it disappeared, leaving nothing to be seen. Floating down to Shinji was something that looked like a card to Misato as he sighed.
"What…was that?" She demanded from Shinji as he turned to face her.
"That…was what I have been spending my time doing ever since I left that horrible city you call a fortress," he responded. "It's what I prefer to do over piloting that abomination you call the last hope for all mankind. You persist in coming after me because of that failure of a man's insistence that I return, despite my objections, you will have to either relent…or drag my soulless carcass back by your teeth. So, what's it gonna be?"
She looked at his right hand gripping onto the staff, and then his being surrounded by these four friends of his and this strange person that wasn't listed as a friend of Shinji's. The Section Two agents came and started to take out their pistols in case of resistance.
"Leave…him…alone," the girl beside his left with faux-green hair uttered.
The four friends and Shinji's grip on his staff made Misato realize that not only were these kids serious about refusing the demand of Commander Ikari, but were willing to risk personal harm if it meant protecting one of their own. She looked Shinji dead in the eyes again and knew he was just going to decline until the world ended; she didn't want to risk killing him, but he was willing to risk dying if it meant keeping away from his father.
"Orders, captain?" One of the agents asked her, and she raised her right hand.
"Stand down," she ordered them, which surprised Shinji.
"But he's right in front of us," one on her left stated.
"Look at them. They're not willing to cooperate, and he's got a staff he's not afraid to use like a baseball bat. And the other two guys and the older girl, they don't look like slackers or pushovers. Even if we were to use force, the Third Child isn't afraid to die if means staying away from his father. Stand down."
The agents backed off and Shinji's grip on his staff lessened.
"Your father's not going to stop just because I had to choose whether or not to persist against you, Shinji Ikari," Misato told him.
"He can persist all he wants," he responded. "He decided to cast me aside when my mother up and died. He didn't want me in the years I've been with Clow Reed…and he can't have me now…or ever again. He's as dead to me as whatever reasons he has to do what he does. He'll never have me do what he wants, no matter what he says or does. This is my home. He can go to Hell for all I care."
Misato couldn't take offense to his choice of words; the guy had been, more or less, trying to hound his own son who wanted nothing to do with what he was tasked with doing, no matter how serious it was to some people. Even if she did inform the man of his son's decision, he wouldn't stop; it was that hard to accept a refusal…let alone accept rejection. And Shinji Ikari was a boy that refused his father for personal reasons…and rejected him for personal and professional reasons, the latter of which were unlikely to be explained without evidence.
"I will relay the message to your father," she told Shinji.
"You, you go do that," he replied, "and keep his goons the Hell away from me."
He then turned to walk away, followed by the other teens and the stranger with them.
"Do we really just…let him walk away?" One of the other agents asked Misato as the kids went down the walkway. "Do we even explain what we saw him do?"
"Do you want to tell the guy what we saw tonight?" She countered. "As far as I know right now, we saw the Third Child…and he once again declared his refusal to cooperate with NERV…and he was backed up by his friends, who were all willing to risk bodily harm if we tried anything against them. Tomoeda is a strange place that these people live in…and the Third Child is among the strangest of people that live here. Whatever the case is, NERV will have to settle with just the First and Second Children until we can find a Fourth Child to pilot the Evas."
She turned to walk the other way; as much as this was likely going to come back and bite her in the back, there was no way she was going to hassle Shinji after that unusual phenomenon she witnessed him deal with. Whether it was some form of illusion or a cheap parlor trick, she wasn't sure, only that he dealt with it in front of them.
-x-
After walking three blocks away from the park, Shinji fall against the side of a building wall and panted like he had just escaped from a situation that was worse than what he had expected of it to be.
"Are you alright, Shinji?" Miyuki asked him.
"Yes," he answered, but then realized he was lying in front of them. "No."
Akane held onto him as he hugged her.
"They could've shot y'all," he told them. "They could've maimed you all in front of me. All because my father can't accept that I'm not going to listen to him, no matter what he says."
This was adolescent rebellion at its most extreme right now. Instead of refusing his father because of falling in with a wrong crowd, feeling smothered or even because of drug addiction or alcoholism, Shinji refused his father because he didn't want to fight monsters or decide the fate of the human race. But in the end, all Shinji may have done was exhaust more of his father's unwillingness to leave him alone. In the end, in this war of wills, it was going to be either Shinji that got away…or Gendo who got what he wanted…and neither wanted to give up until he got his way with his life.
"We're here for you, Shinji," Akane assured him. "We're here for you."
"Thank you," he praised them.
-x-
Clow looked into the future…and saw a slight wrinkle in the way things were changing. He saw Tomoeda at night, the tower bathed in lights, someone cloaked in the shadows on the towers, and Shinji, several buildings away on a rooftop, dressed similarly to Clow himself, only with blue and green trimmings to his robes, surrounded by a multitude of cards.
"I'm ready," he heard him say, holding his staff as he stood on the edge of the roof.
But what are you facing? Clow wondered; he could still see the future, but now Shinji's involvement in the future had become distorted.
"Master," went Cerberus in front of the aged magician, "what do you see?"
"I see Shinji," he explains, "but something has distorted his future…and I do not see what is in his way."
Yue set down a new pot of tea on the table and poured a cup for Clow.
"Do you see him in danger?" He asked Clow.
"That's the thing. I don't see him in danger; he's atop a building roof at night, staring at Tomoeda Tower. He's surrounded by a large number of cards, so he's managed to gather more rogue spirits in the time before he ends up being on that roof. He says he's ready, but I don't know what he's up against. I can't see what he's preparing to face. Then he does something to demonstrate his willingness to face what stands in his way. He leaps off the roof…and that's where the vision ends so far."
"So, his future has changed?" Cerberus questions Clow.
"Only slightly," he explains, "but I fear his future can shift back to the previous fate that he doesn't deserve to have happen to him."
"What about his behavior towards what was in front of him?" Yue asked. "Was he confident in his abilities? Was he worried about the possibility of failure and defeat?"
"Actually, he seemed very determined to prevail against whatever was in his way," Clow stated as he picked up his cup. "He didn't seem like he was going to let anyone or anything impede him from his goal."
"Maybe, with some faith," Cerberus utters, "Shinji will be alright."
"That's what I'm hoping for."
-x-
Opening her eyes for the first time in a few days, Rei Ayanami, still in recovery from her accident with Unit-00, looked up to find that she was in a room in the hospital ward of NERV HQ. Her body still wracked by pain, but it was less than unbearable due to the morphine drip beside her bed. She looked to her left at a window and wondered how long she had been incapacitated…and what was currently going on around her.
-x-
"…That was Section Two," Fuyutsuki informed Gendo in his office. "Captain Katsuragi gave the order to stand down on acquiring the Third Child and is returning to Tokyo-3."
"She what?" Gendo responded, displeased to hear that his son wasn't acquired.
"Apparently, he was right in front of her and the agents were prepared to use force, but she gave the order to stand down when she noticed that he was unwilling to cooperate and was prepared to put his life on the line if it meant refusing your insistence that he return to pilot the Eva. Because it would be bad publicity if NERV were to be accused of potential manslaughter if the Third Child was killed due to a dispute that was deemed unnecessary, Captain Katsuragi decided it was best to back off."
"It is important that the boy be here to pilot the Eva. So long as he's alive, that should be his only concern, not these unnecessary distractions that he clings to."
"Ikari…isn't it obvious that the more you try to force your son to comply with your insistence, the more he will refuse you until there is only one way either of you walks away from this?"
Gendo looked at Fuyutsuki like he had crossed a line with his choice of words.
"The Committee will get word of this and likely stress that any future attempts to reacquire the Third Child be terminated if he's not going to cooperate. We have the Second Child and she's on her way to Japan with Unti-02. It's not a difficult task to rewrite Unit-01's operating data to make it compatible with the First Child, who was the intended pilot to begin with."
But Gendo didn't want to hear any more. His concern was to make sure that the Third Child piloted Unit-01, even if doing so killed him. It didn't matter what others believed or how many times he was refused. If he couldn't get his son to cooperate, then he would destroy his life in this pathetic town he called his home.
"There are other methods we can employ to get his cooperation," he told Fuyutsuki.
"Except most of these methods raise the question of NERV's sphere of ethics," Fuyutsuki responded; NERV might've possessed some pull in certain areas, but there was no telling how bad things could get if this agency tried to force the cooperation of certain people that made personal decisions not to get involved with them, and Fuyutsuki knew that when it came to professional ethics, NERV was not a respectful organization.
"We don't have time for ethics," Gendo claimed.
-x-
"…You're back," Shinji was greeted by Clow as he returned to the house. "Are you alright, Shinji?"
"Yes, I'm fine now," he responded to his guardian as he took off his coat and hung it on the wall.
"Your friends?"
"Everyone made it home safely. Their parents were a bit agitated that we were out so late without calling to let them know we were fine."
"And yourself?"
"Miss Katsuragi saw me capture a rogue spirit. I don't know if she'll tell my father, but I hope she backs off now."
From the left pocket of his coat, the newly-acquired Shinji Cards floated out and into the air, allowing Clow a look at each one, including one he didn't expect Shinji to have.
"This one," he expressed as he raised his left hand to tap on a card that turned to let Shinji look at it. "The Wraith Card… This was the last card you acquired tonight, isn't it?"
"Yes. It was… It was a representation of the agony of people that lost their lives on that day fifteen years ago. In the end, it was their collective anguish over having their days ended prematurely…and without an explanation for why. I know it was people that were responsible for that day…and I've done nothing to help right the wrong that was committed. I've done…nothing to bring those responsible for the suffering of others to answer for their crimes."
"Shinji…it's not your job to make sure those responsible for the devastation committed before your time answer for their crimes," Clow told him.
"Then whose is it? Who is responsible for making them answer…and making sure they face the consequences for doing so?"
Of course, Clow knew the answer…and it was an answer that wouldn't leave a smile of anyone's face to hear it. The people responsible wouldn't face justice if they were the same people that controlled the world from the shadows of obscurity…and the people that protected them forced to make sure they were kept safe because of what was held against them in exchange for their servitude. And those that chose not to oblige their desires would be dealt with by means of erasing their existence from society. But Clow couldn't tell Shinji that these cruel men and women wouldn't face retribution for their misdeeds; he wanted them to pay, as well, but there were other ways to make those responsible realize that they got more than they had bargained for with such misdeeds to begin with, even if they weren't selfish aims.
"The people that knew what they would do…and did nothing to stop them," he answered instead, which was another truth; he had seen what they would do, and did nothing to prevent their abominable act. "Those that knew…and those that didn't so much as try to stop them…are the ones responsible for making sure they answer for the lives taken that day."
Of course, Shinji didn't blame Clow for Second Impact; whatever rules, regulations or limitations there were to keep mages in check were there to protect the secrecy of the benevolent mages that used their magic for rightful purposes while opposing the ones that used their powers for wrongful purposes. He didn't blame Clow for doing nothing; with the reduction in the number of people with magical potential, there were fewer mages capable of affecting the world for the better, even trying to undo the ecological damages caused by Second Impact. He had nothing but respect and admiration towards Clow Reed and other mages within Tomoeda, forever grateful that they were at least trying to carry on their traditions and restore order.
"If my father doesn't stop," he changed the subject from what caused the creation of The Wraith to his current situation with his parents, "I wish to deal with him in ways that force him to accept that I am not going to help him by being his puppet."
"I understand," Clow replied. "You should get some rest. You look like you went through a nightmare. We can talk more tomorrow."
Shinji bowed his head and then went upstairs with his new cards.
-x-
Again? Shinji wondered as he found himself having that dream again with the tower at night. Who…who is calling out to me?
Clang! He saw himself on the rooftop of a building, gripping his staff as his robes flowed in the cold air.
"I'm ready," he heard himself say. "I will break this nightmare and free the people from you…"
And then, he saw himself jump off the roof and towards the tower. Gazing at the tower, he thought he saw someone that was hiding in the shadows away from the light.
"Come to me, Shinji," he heard this voice call out from the darkness, and he felt like his heart missed a beat; the voice sounded familiar to him…but was making him feel a sense of dread.
Who…who are you? He wondered.
-x-
"…Commander Ikari was upset that you didn't bring the Third Child back with you when you had him right there in front of you," Ritsuko informed Misato when she returned to the Geo-Front, noticing that she was drinking a canned coffee. "Are you alright?"
"Have you ever had a feeling that you saw something that was beyond what you thought you understood because you couldn't explain it in any rational way?" Misato asked her.
"Not that I'm aware of, no."
"Then maybe you should go to Tomoeda and see the kind of company that boy keeps. He may not be anything like his father, but he's got no shortage of people he'd rather be like in that place he lives in."
"You make it sound like there's no place like this town anywhere else on the planet."
"I don't think there's any other place like this town anyone would find on the planet, even without the effects of Second Impact. Either way, I am not going back there. Not to see that boy, not to hassle his friends, nothing."
"You got scared off by a fourteen-year-old?"
"No. I just had to accept that I was hassling someone who's better off away from his father and was willing to risk dying if it meant staying away from here. The look of conviction in his eyes… He is nothing like his father…but he's not looking for trouble if it's trouble that's looking for him…every time he exercises his right to refuse to be involved in something that he simply doesn't agree with doing for anyone."
Even if she could describe Shinji's behavior as adolescent rebellion, Ritsuko had a hard time fathoming how someone like Shinji could go back to his previous life after something as extreme as facing an Angel…and not expect for there to be people that were against him leaving NERV. He was the only male child they had found that qualified to pilot the Evas, and he only did it once, choosing to walk away afterwards. Regardless of whether or not it was a fluke, she knew Gendo wouldn't leave his son alone.
"Try telling that to Ikari," she told her college friend. "He's unyielding to accept any refusals from anyone dishing them out. If I had to say, not even members of his own family are exempt from his unwillingness to accept refusal."
"And if I had to say about the father and son, it's the very fact that Gendo Ikari doesn't seem to accept Shinji Ikari as his son with the way he stresses that he come back to pilot the Eva, no matter how many times Shinji tells him that he's unwilling…and that the man would probably be happier with a cheap statue. At least they don't talk back or refuse to listen." Misato retorted.
-x-
The next morning as Shinji headed out to visit Akane, he stopped in front of house further down street from Clow's, noticing a small family dressed in black standing in front of a small shrine…and sighed. It was a memorial service for a recent death, and it reminded Shinji that he, despite his estrangement from everything and everyone with the very name of Ikari, was always mere steps away from sealing his fate due to his parents' ill-desired goals. He was reminded that anything could happen to anyone he knew, and that they would have something to do with it. The fear of losing Akane, Miyuki, Taka and Haruka, it sent heart-stopping shivers down his spine.
Seeing a woman in black move away from the shrine, Shinji could see a picture detailing a little girl, which made him feel worse than before seconds ago.
"I am sorry," he uttered and resumed his walk to Akane's.
"Nobody lives forever," Clow's words reverberated through his consciousness. "Not even the strongest of us are eternal. Everything that has a beginning has and must have an ending. To desire everlasting life is to simply fear what lies beyond the veil of death."
And to fear what lies beyond that veil is to deny your existence as fleeting, he thought as he waited for a stoplight to change color so he could continue. To deny your mortality is to deny that you are one of the kami's many, many shades of creation. And to devote yourself to the Eva…is to renounce the kami in favor of a false god.
Even if his parents were committed to the Eva as their only deity, Shinji wouldn't devote himself to anyone or anything that was not viewed by many as a deity. As the light turned green, he continued towards his destination, unaware that he was being followed by something.
So, this is the boy that uses magic based on the balance, it thought as it kept its distance. Balance is a strange magic because it requires the mage be centered. Even the slightest imbalance can throw off their stability. He has a lot of potential…but something holds him back. What could it possibly be?
To be continued…
A/N: I do hope that this chapter satisfies readers until later on. Oh, how I long for the days of normality over this insane and agonizing world that seems to get progressively worse as the days go by. Anyway, what did you think of Misato finding out about Shinji by his capture of The Labyrinth Shinji Card or the spiritual being he encountered in the maze being The Wraith Shinji Card, both of which take after The Maze and The Shadow Clow Cards, respectively? The scene where I had Shinji say that he was fine, only to admit that he wasn't fine comes from how we're fine in one sense…only to be anything but in another sense, as he reminds us of how vulnerable we are to situations we have no control over and try to overcome as best as we can.
