+++++ Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Sunday + 8)
Silence had reigned over their walk after the pair left the shrine. Minako attempting to come up with an answer to Shinji's question when he posed it again, and trying to find a way to help him understand that there was more than just operational security at play when he wasn't informed about the plans to move him somewhere. As the tactician and strategist for the Sailors, she had more than a passing grasp of military processes. The reason he hadn't been told was the same reason that she hadn't been told until it became time to act: 'need to know'. If she had to clear every plan through each of the others for their approval, there would never be any chance of them succeeding. Leaders lead, and only considered the disposition of their troops in both a military and mental fashion as a component of their overall planning if they hoped to be good leaders. Trust, ultimately, was required to function effectively…something she was coming to understand he possessed little of.
Shinji was fighting to control his burgeoning aggression towards his allies. Setsuna, Maria, and Inari had each received more disrespect from him than he'd ever given anyone. Each time he snapped at them, to his dismay, felt right. In his heart, he wasn't truly sorry that he'd said what he had. Setsuna acted…possessive. The woman was desperate for something from him, and whatever it was didn't strike him as something positive. Maria was manipulating him. She had been honest in his soul, told him the truth without embellishing or obfuscating it, and that had earned her a reprieve from how angry he'd been over her seemingly controlling acts. After he'd made that connection, he realized that was his true problem. His father had controlled his life, masterminded everything that had happened, all in an effort to push him into the Eva. He was tired of dancing to other people's tunes.
It was Maria-san that told me to make my own choices, though. The vocalized mental thought broke the silence unintentionally. It's hard to trust her, though.
"I wouldn't trust her, if I were you." Minako took the opening to continue to steer the conversation away from blurting out that she wanted to have him to herself, despite her statement running contrary to her intent to help Shinji learn to trust more. "As much as I'm wary of Doctor Akagi's interest in you, I don't doubt that everything I've seen from her has been intended to help you make up your own mind. She had a chance to…basically do what Mizuno-san did, and she told Rei-chan that she was only wanting to be the one to bathe you because she didn't want anyone else abusing you. I just…don't get that kind of vibe from Maria-san. When I fought next to her against the thing that looked like Ami-chan, she was able to keep up with me, but she never once fought alongside me. She was weighing my tactics, looking at my strategy, biding her time until she could take control."
Shinji came to a stop, gently separating from Minako and shoving his hands in his pockets. What she was saying didn't sound anything like what he'd always heard from Asuka about other women. He was familiar with the type of jealousy that someone had for someone else when that person had a better situation, and he'd heard often enough Asuka's lack of self-confidence in various parts of her skillset. Minako was speaking militarily, she was speaking like Misato would. Like someone he could trust would. I agree, I think. What I don't want to do, though, is cut off someone who can help me limit the damage around us. If she wasn't there to hold the line with you and Haruka-san, things might have been a lot worse. I don't know what to call someone who isn't an enemy, isn't a friend, but…has to be around.
"Ally of convenience." Tungsram's voice spoke quietly from a nearby alleyway, "At least, that's what it's typically referred to as."
Holding out his arm to stop Minako from rushing at the oddly hued woman, he set out a simple challenge to see what would happen. I understand you have something to say?
"The entity that resides within you asked that I inform you that they aren't independent of one another. That they truly are one now." She quoted Makoto and Hygieia as directly as possible. "That they are not aware of the world outside of your soul except when you are wearing the monster…and that they love you and will see you again once everything is done." Her shoulders raised slightly in a shrug, her hands spread. "What that last part means I can only guess. Still, I would offer my prayers that they are correct. They did not deserve the fate they have received, and what hope exists that it might still be changed I pray you find."
Shinji's heart eased, hearing the exact words that they hadn't known he'd been aware of. The woman before him clearly took her word seriously, and that earned her a chance to prove herself. Minako-san, this is Tungsram-san. I think she was one of the people who brought the picture of Misato and Pen-Pen. Tungsram-san, this is Minako Aino. She's…a trusted ally.
"She is more than that, were I to venture a guess." The woman's smile was glad, her bow of greeting to Minako humble. "I do not wish to fight, Venus. Conflict between us would only serve to harm the Silent One, and that of all things must be limited at any cost."
"Limited?" Minako was unsure of how to categorize someone that she knew had to be some form of youma.
"Conflict between anyone is an inevitable part of coexistence." She gestured towards Shinji, intending to use him as an example. "Did he not experience conflict with Mars upon his arrival? We should seek to limit it, and through that control how we interpret it when it happens, rather than ignore it or avoid it when doing so might force unnatural behavior and foment future discord. It is difficult to trust someone who is 'perfect' in all things they do, who makes no mistakes. It makes one think they might be being played."
That makes a reasonable amount of sense. Shinji lowered the hand he'd used to separate the two slowly. How did you get the picture?
"I asked her for two copies. One was sent to a publication from that world to attempt to humanize you in the eyes of its people. To show everyone that you weren't some 'mythical hero' or 'dauntless warrior', that you were a young man who embraced an opportunity to save lives despite a decade and a half of neglect and abuse." Tungsram's tone held confidence that she had done the right thing, and unbeknownst to Shinji or Minako carried an important message, "You were not, and are not, a man to be described with simple or single names or titles."
Worry led to irritation, though he did his best to not be directly accusatory. How did she react to seeing someone like you?
With a minute smile, the slender woman transitioned from a hauntingly beautiful non-human with greyish-white skin to a lithe Nordic-seeming woman with lustrous gray-white hair. "She believed I was from Norway, and I did not correct her misperception. I provided press credentials, had a lovely cup of coffee, offered my condolences on her recent loss, and thanked her profusely for the picture. The story was published anonymously, the company publishing it well-paid to maintain secrecy of the sources."
…Is she well? To him, it hadn't been more than a day or so. To the world he'd once called home it might have been years.
"No. Time progresses far faster in her realm, and she is more than a decade older than when you were present in her life." She did not attempt to hide the truth, earning higher marks on the test she knew she was taking. "Unfortunately, the impact of her presence at the site of her father's life's work had taken a greater toll on her body than she let on. Her liver, her heart, and her lungs did not take well to the further abuses of a hard-lived life. Two doctors, both of whom I believe you know, were actively working to extend her life…but she said that she held no hope of their success. She brushed off any offers of assistance from me with, 'At least I'll finally get to tell him how sorry I am.' She misses you."
He wanted to curl into a ball and weep, again. He wanted to howl with rage at what he'd been unable to prevent. The Foci, however, kept him steady enough to allow him to only look down to the ground before him and ask in a subdued voice, What is it you want? You gave me the picture as payment to talk to me. I need to hurry to…meet Aino-san's parents, so I'd like you to be brief.
"We would like you to take a moment and listen." Lithion dissolved into existence next to Tungsram, his hands carefully placed with his palms exposed and away from his body to the sides. "I believe there are a number of issues that we have all been misled regarding."
This time, both Minako and Shinji were only stopped from engaging in violence by Tungsram stepping between them and the blue-skinned creature with her arms spread out. "Please, listen," she begged, "we came here to make an offer in good faith! I will place myself at your mercy if you will only listen! We cannot prevent a disaster beyond even the awakening of the Progenitor alone!"
Maria's question to him as he watched Haruka and Michiru fight the creature that had stolen Ami's will echoed in Shinji's mind, 'Will you allow the next Impact?' Talk fast…I am not very patient right now.
"You will soon depart on an expedition with a government agency," Lithion's speech was rapid, making efficient use of the time he had. "Despite what you might believe, the agency itself is not approaching the situation with malign intent. Ignorance, more than malice, is the threat they pose. My former master, the being that created me, has ceased acting in accordance with their position and responsibilities. While you are attempting to limit the damage caused by humanity, they intend to strike against the rest of our Realm."
Shinji's guard slowly dropped as Lithion went on, eventually leading to his balled fists clenching and releasing at his sides instead of before him. What do you mean 'former master'?
"The being once known as 'Chaos'." Tungsram took control of the conversation, not wanting a stray comment to incite a flare of aggression in Shinji. "It…sought to control power, not wield it. I can see the questions in your mind, and I believe the best way to help you understand is by asking you to perform a simple task, please define 'chaos'."
Disorder, confusion, randomness. Something tickled the back of his mind, and he found awareness of another definition dwelling behind several layers of foggy memories. The void between realms, a gap in reality.
Relief colored her smile. "Both are true. As the words used to express concepts change, the concepts themselves will take on new life. What was once simply defined gains complexity as enough people come to agree upon definitions. Paradoxically, the more defined something is, the harder it is to properly define it. The one who created us began as a counterweight to an equally powerful entity; ultimately though it underwent a similar transformation into something far greater as living beings sought out the truths of their reality."
"…That's a little bit over my head." Minako had taken Shinji's cue, but kept her eyes on Lithion warily. "Maybe dumb it down for me?"
An apple is a fruit, but it's also a tree, and a seed. It's natural, and unnatural. What she's saying is that what you call something can only be interpreted by the person you're speaking to if you both share a frame of reference. The explanations he'd received regarding why he was the 'Silent One', and why nobody used names consistently, had helped him realize more regarding human thought and human language. If I said 'Nagano' to you, you'd think of the Nagano in this world. It wouldn't be until I started describing it that you'd realize how different my Nagano was. He nodded, piecing things together himself. Your…former master, he stopped being what it was he had been. Too many people viewed him-
"It." Lithion apologized with his hands, but interrupted regardless. "It is dreadfully important that you not view it as an anthropomorphic representation of anything at the moment. It is not 'Chaos'. 'Chaos' would not direct an unending stream of evil actions without also including good and those things between the two. 'Chaos' would not seek to continually focus on a single individual. 'Chaos' cannot, by definition, allow itself to retain form or function for extended periods. 'Chaos', most importantly, cannot plan."
"Whatever it has become, it is no longer serving as a counterbalance." Tungsram pushed the conversation forward. "It has to be stopped, before the balance is lost completely and even greater forces than it are forced to act. Lithion and I want to offer our aid and knowledge, in exchange for your assistance in stopping it."
"If knowing as much helps you choose, my former master is responsible for a great deal of the suffering you've endured since your arrival. It forced the First's hand, continued to probe and prod him in an effort to bend him to its will. It refuses to accept that it can no more control the White than the White can control the Black." Lithion could see Shinji's eyes narrow, could feel the anger rising in him. "You are a creature of the Black, like us. In your Realm, the beings you call 'humans' are the children of the Black. Your 'Unit-01' as you call it, is also a creature of the Black, the only of what you call 'Evangelions' to be so. To the First, your very existence is abhorrent. As is my former Master's."
Shinji once again remembered what Maria had told him in the silence of his soul. Of the White, of his being 'anathema'. The Angels…they serve this 'First'? The First Angel? Tungsram nodded, agreeing generally to his understanding. And the Sailors, they don't have any protection from being…taken over?
"There are ways to increase their resistance." Lithion motioned for caution. "They are not pleasant, as it involves accepting concepts that are challenging for even the most erudite of minds, but there are ways."
"I have trouble accepting that algebra isn't a planet-wide prank pulled on high school students." Minako grimaced, looking at Shinji. "I get the feeling you believe them. What do you want to do?"
The only thing I'm reasonably proficient at, Shinji looked back in the direction they'd been heading, kill Angels. He had several paths offered to him, which meant he had to make a choice. That fact alone made him ever so slightly more predisposed to accepting a tenuous alliance. If you move against my allies, he looked directly at Lithion, I don't think you'll find another Ritsuko Akagi suffocating in an unfriendly environment to stop me with.
Lithion gave a cordial bow of acceptance. "I wish to offer my most sincere approval for your decision, in choosing to save her life. She will play an important role in any future you move towards, and her loss would have made what we dare all but impossible." Shifting, much like Tungsram had, towards a more 'human' appearance, he regained his feet and calmly eyed something behind Shinji.
Miwa, in her human guise, was clearly in a desperate rush as she arrived. Missing the transition Lithion had made, Mika and Misa swung wide to attempt at least a head-fake of an effort towards blocking Shinji from responding without thinking. The first triplet slid to a stop, side eyeing the two unknown entities. "I apologize for interrupting your conversation, but I'm afraid we need to borrow you for a bit." Her eyes slipped back over to Shinji, her next statement given in the silence of their minds, Her house is under assault. Fortunately, she had a talisman providing protection, but it won't last much longer.
"We will be of more assistance there than anywhere else," Tungsram cut in. "Quickly now!" Not waiting for Shinji to make up his mind, she and Lithion moved off at a dead run.
Whatever barrier the other two of the triplets had intended to create, it was insufficient to the task of stopping Shinji from following along with Minako in tow. He wasn't certain how much of what he heard Tungsram could hear, but he also wasn't stupid enough to risk leaking intel and being a hypocrite. Your parents' house is under attack. You touched a talisman? Unit-01 had slithered around him, boosting his speed to superhuman levels and allowing him to catch up to the two youma ahead. Something a kitsune gave you?
Minako ran effortlessly at his side, desperate to reach home but trusting in experience to know that arriving alone lent a higher chance of disaster. "Yeah. The day Usagi's family…." Her eyes hardened. "I won't let them die."
Tungsram moved over to flank Minako opposite Shinji, speaking quietly to avoid tipping off the Triplets that were struggling to catch up to them. "Silent One, I beg you to allow me to speak with you in your soul. I will bring along the Queen of Hearts, as a gesture of good faith, so that she is not kept in the dark about what I must say." She noticed him glare at Lithion's back, and amended her offer. "He will not enter with us, and from his frame of reference the time this takes will be too small to manage anything harmful. Have I not earned some small amount of trust?"
"Whoa," while she was certainly eager to spend a little intimate time with him, she wasn't certain that jumping into his soul was a good thing, "I'm not sure that-"
"The process is painless and will not alter either of you permanently. Time progresses at an immeasurably slower rate there than here." The youma's tone became desperate, "Please, Venus, your presence is necessary to maintain his trust. This is in an effort to improve your situation."
It's fine, Minako-san. Shinji, by this point, was not worried about Tungsram or her entering into his most sacred space. The blonde beauty had proven herself time and again, and the youma had shown herself to be a woman of her word. I doubt you're going to intentionally hurt me. If this will help you, it's fine.
Minako hesitated long enough to purchase something she wanted, "Fine, but you need to stop using the honorific…or at least use '-chan'."
His blush was hidden by the purple machine empowering him, but it still echoed in his tone, O-ok. Let's get it done.
+++++ ? (Sunday + 8)
Shinji was, once again, wearing a much different outfit than Unit-01 as he acclimated to existing in his soul again. The same clothes he wore to school, the same clothes he wore every day in Nagano…the clothes of a man that no longer existed. Instinctively catching Minako as she stumbled, the warrior not accustomed to transitioning from space to space yet, he couldn't keep the frown out of his look of concern. Are you alright?
"Y-yeah." Swallowing hard, she struggled to stop worry from becoming fear. The area surrounding them was dark, and growing darker. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls, only an infinite and bleak void. "You…uh, you can't even speak here?"
"He does not view this as belonging to him in any cogent fashion." Tungsram arrived with a controlled landing, having travelled from another portion of Shinji's soul. "The Nameless is restraining your Mother for the moment. We do not have long, so we must not waste any time." Accepting his nod as permission to proceed, she rubbed her hands together nervously. "I recognize that…restraint is difficult for you, Silent One, but the area of the city we are approaching has yet to be completely evacuated. Please, allow Venus to control the flow of battle, allow her to dictate the level of response. You are, as of yet, unaccustomed to your role in life and-"
And you don't want me to add another fifteen million to my body count. Waving off the topic, his temper began flaring again. I get it, and I agree. I think Minako is the best person to lead our response. I would have agreed out there too, is this really why we came in here?
"I asked that you come in here to warn you about believing things of yourself too easily." Taking another two steps and placing her hands on his shoulders, she urged him to listen to her. "Your anger is borne by winds of change. Your life before the Evangelion was consistent, despite being brutally cruel. Now, several months into a war that seems to have no end, the only constant is change. It takes a toll on your mind, your heart. You seek out certitude, the confidence that you have a role to play in some form or fashion. Please, do not accept the first role that comes to you as undiluted fact. We are, none of us, so simply defined."
While she hated herself for it, Minako seized the chance provided to be a good friend once again. "Like you said to the Denmother, you are not just a 'good little soldier'. But, a part of you has to be a 'good little soldier' in order to be effective in combat. It would be insane for me to order Rei-chan to use her flame attacks in a room filled with explosive gasses, or to ask Ami-chan to use her water to put out a grease fire. We are warriors, Shinji-kun. We can't be effective if we pigeonhole ourselves to only one aspect of our abilities, and we can't be effective if we have to know every nuance of the war we're fighting. I'm not going to pretend I understand what Tongueram-san wants-" Pausing when Tungsram winced, she flapped her hand dismissively. "I'm sorry, I don't understand your name. It's not a word I'm familiar with in English or Japanese. Anyway," she returned to Shinji, "what I'm saying is that you can't expect to understand the purpose behind everything happening around us. We fight the fights that are in front of us, we listen to the advice of people who can see the big picture, and we trust the people that prove trustworthy."
How do you expect me to trust someone whose decisions have managed to get people killed? Freeing himself from Tungsram and glaring at a spot off in the distance, not yet wanting to seem angry at the woman who hadn't yet acted in a manner similar to the others, Shinji fought back against her idea. If I had known that they were going to move the building, I would have told them not to. I don't need an apartment building. I don't even need a building! I could just…I don't know, live in a tent.
"And when they attacked the apartment anyway?" Tungsram saw what Minako was pushing for and moved to support her. "If you were too far away to defend them, they would be just as dead. If the Fox had waited to convince you of the need to gain permission, which you know you would not have given, how many more of those families inside of the structure would be dead? How many more tragedies that were instead prevented by her pre-emptive actions? You ask to be treated like the man holding the baton, but you act like a man that shouldn't be trusted with even a handful of warriors. Individuals do not win wars, Silent One, that is the duty of armies."
So I'm supposed to be ok with people-
Minako cut him off firmly, "At what point did I make it seem as if I was ok with anyone dying?" Moving into his line of sight, she dared him to turn away from her again. "More than fifteen million people, dead because I didn't put together what was happening to Ami-chan fast enough. Unlike you, I am trained to lead. It's my job to see farther. It's my obligation to assess the risks. It is my duty to know when to use the scalpel, and when to whip out the big guns. You're the biggest gun I know, and the only reason I'm not telling you to go sit in a corner until I can figure out where you fit into my army is because we're in a non-stop battle! My parents are under attack, Shinji. If what she's saying is that you might make this worse through narrow or blinkered thinking, then I am begging you, expand your horizons and listen to those of us who have better vision."
It wasn't Minako standing there waiting for him to acquiesce anymore, in his mind. Instead of the blonde Sailor of Venus, it was a lavender-haired Tactical Commander. It was, if he was to be honest with himself, the only person he could ever expressly trust to put him in position to succeed in a fight. The tension left his shoulders, and he let his head dip forward. Yes ma'am. He had recognized that he was being obstinate himself well before she had slapped him around with the truth. Nothing she had said was a lie, according to the rules of where he stood, which left him no room to maneuver. I'm sorry.
Pulling him into a tight hug, she smiled brightly with confidence and hope. "Don't be. Even I need a kick in the butt from time to time, and I expect you to put your foot there when you think that I need it. Now, let's listen to what she has to say, and get back out there to find my parents." Without releasing him, she slid under his arm and kept her arms around his waist while 'allowing him' to hold her around her shoulders to face Tungsram. "You were saying?"
"Nothing that you did not cover far more eloquently," the silver-white woman complemented Minako. "He is a weapon of unrivaled potential, unparalleled strength, and untold danger. To 'pigeonhole' him, as you put it, would be to prevent him from becoming what he is capable of, playing directly into the hands of the enemy. We, your comrades and I, must help him understand what he can be so that he might Choose to be something more than a 'big gun'. He is not purely a device for destruction, or for ending lives, but until he sees himself as capable of more…I ask that he remains careful with accepting his own self-cognition as inviolable. You, if I may be so bold, would be better suited to keeping him from becoming blinded by anger. He trusts you, the same cannot be said of most everyone else he interacts with."
She…I…I shouldn't finish that statement. His eyebrows furrowed as he began to realize how arrogant it had been of him to presume that Usagi or Makoto would only ever see him as a replacement.
"No," Minako thumped him with her hip, "tell me."
Before he could stop himself, he once more followed the orders of a woman he trusted knew what needed doing. You remind me of Misato…just without the drinking and smoking and…other bad habits.
Several thoughts sorted themselves into place in rapid succession. One, the woman she was compared to was unreasonably gorgeous. Two, a picture of the woman she was compared to brought a smile to his face that she hadn't seen once until that point. Three, he had complex thoughts and feelings about that woman, and there was clearly love there in his heart for her. "That's quite the compliment," she responded with warmth. "Hopefully I can continue to prove worthy of being compared favorably against someone as accomplished as she is."
Tungsram could feel his fear growing, the anxiety that his thoughts for Venus would, not might, lead to her death. "There is a saying common to the humans on this world, 'Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right'. It might appear on the surface to be encouragement towards using positive affirmations, but that ignores other potential meanings."
Self-fulfilling prophecies. Shinji's jaw clenched tight. Words…words have power, but thoughts have even more power than that because they are the words in their purest form. I nearly declared myself- Cutting even that thought off hard, he nodded once at her advice. I see.
"If I may advise you as well," she looked to Minako, "he would be best positioned in this fight partnered with the kitsune. They are fiercely loyal to him, and far stronger than you might believe them to be. You know the layout of your home best, allow him to remain outside where his size is put to better use, allow me to accompany you to provide defensive support. Few beings exist that can penetrate my shielding; if any are present where we are going then losing your parents will only be the start of this day's latest tragedies."
"But be ready to change plans once we hit the battlefield," Minako too nodded once then gave Shinji a vote of absolute confidence. "That's our entry plan, then. Stick close to the house and focus on defense. If there's enemies outside, I'll leave them to you while we go in and try to recover my family. Once I have them, I'll retreat, and you cover me."
Got it. Let's go. Holding onto Minako in his soul had changed the sensations he received from her. It was only just as the conference ended that he realized that there wasn't any 'sickly' to the 'sweet'. Holding her felt like holding either Michiru or Haruka, except for an added sense of…something unidentifiable.
+++++ Minako Aino's House, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Sunday + 8)
The shift back to the 'real world' was as seamless as their exit from it. No noticeable time had passed, their muscles still moving as they had been prior to their departure. With a plan in place and understanding that it might need to change suddenly and drastically, Shinji unconsciously dismissed his mental limitations. His job, as prescribed by Minako, was to purge the outside of the house of the enemy without killing innocents. Green streaks unfurled across Unit-01 as he pushed harder to outpace everyone and called for his support, Mika, Misa, Miwa, I need you! We're going to push the enemy away from the house to buy time!
Mika, now transformed into a much larger kitsune, bounded off his left shoulder, avoiding the jagged remains of his left pylon. Keeping just ahead of him, she yipped playfully, "He finally admits he needs us."
Miwa pulled up along his right side, guarding one flank. "Oh, he's always known, he's just shy."
Misa completed the formation, a brutal grin playing about her mouth. "Yes, but we need to remind him from time to time. Because he owes us a date and hasn't made himself available for it."
Focus. His voice matched his aura, determined and grim. We can talk afterwards. It had been true that he hadn't acted anything like someone who should be trusted with leading forces into battle. His plans were haphazard, and he relied on his own strengths to avoid putting others in danger. Minako and Tungsram had spoken the truth, but they also had just now given him a chance to begin doing the right thing. We're going to be the spear, here. We'll create a breach for Minako and, he hesitated, not wanting to use the name he'd been given, the other lady to move in and do what they can.
Carla Scheele, Tungsram's voice whispered into his mind. It's an honest enough pseudonym for me.
Once more shoving aside his concern about how much Tungsram knew of his mind, he followed his own order and focused on the fight at hand. Rounding the corner onto the street he'd walked Minako down with Makoto several nights prior, Shinji caught sight of the first part of the problem they were dealing with. Draping over her house and the surrounding houses, a slightly yellow-tinged green fog was growing thicker. Whatever it was, it wasn't something he felt people should be breathing. His coterie hadn't slowed down, and the distance was closing rapidly, but the admonition from the Sailor for Venus rang in his head, '…expand your horizons….'
The expansion of the cloud meant that it wasn't only Minako's family that was in danger. If anyone else was still inside the houses around them, they were also at risk of dying from whatever miasma had been summoned. He could either sacrifice combat strength by sending the Vixens to evacuate the area, or he could ignore potential victims to focus on saving two people he was certain were under attack. A memory of Maria urging him to focus on the battles before him, to ignore his need to save lives, warred against Usagi's praise of his decision to do what he could to save lives even though it meant one of his allies coming to harm. In that fight…he trusted the Moon far more than his employer. Split up, get everyone out of these houses! I don't need to breathe it; they will have to if they stay!
A unified bark of affirmation preceded the trio of kitsune moving in separate directions. They didn't fight him for control, they didn't argue with his priorities, they recognized his concerns as valid and moved to implement what safeguards they could to prevent extraneous deaths. That act, mixed with so many other acts before, warmed his heart greatly. He was being trusted; he was making the right choice by looking beyond the fight in front of him. He could show Minako that he had listened, had understood, and wasn't too stupid or stubborn to fix mistakes.
As soon as he penetrated the greenish fog, he also was able to show a clump of varying youma that an Evangelion in motion doesn't really care about external forces acting upon it and will violate the supposed 'First Law of Motion' that Sir Isaac Newton had put down for posterity whenever the Evangelion wishes to do so. The 'Second Law of Motion' fared no better in asserting its rights as a scientifically recognized phenomena, as the force Unit-01 was able to impart was quite a bit larger than the multiplicative of its mass and the acceleration at the moment said force was applied. With the failure of those two 'Laws', the 'Third Law of Motion' simply threw its hands in the air and declined to even make an effort to exert an equal and opposite reaction. The sum result was no fewer than twenty trampled youma of varying sizes and shapes and a large enough gap blown in the siege for a parade to flow into the house to secure the hostages.
Shifting his direction, digging a trench in the front garden by doing so, Shinji took in what he could see through the fog. Behind him there was a dome-shaped shield of vaguely visible energy losing strength as it attempted to stop the environment within from being overwhelmed by the external environment. To his two and nine o'clock were twin masses of surprised and worried youma. Floating twenty degrees up and fifteen meters above the ground straight ahead of him was someone who looked far too similar to a yellowish Tungsram for his comfort.
Appearing at his side, bursting through the fog and coming to a halt, Lithion glared up at the woman while worrying one thumb over the cover of a book as Tungsram and Minako raced into the dome before the hole in the lines filled back in. "Khlorya, consider this something of a courtesy: final warning, go find some other way to occupy your time."
The floating woman, Khlorya, stuck her tongue ever so slightly through her lips with an impish grin. Her voice was an affected childishness that hid something far darker behind its innocence, "Or what, Unca? You gonna spank me?" When her eyes drifted languidly to Shinji, her grin changed. What it changed to, Shinji couldn't explain, but changed it had. "Actually," she purred out, "if he promises to spank me, I'll happily go do something more fun."
Holding out his tome, Lithion sighed in irritation, "Charming." The covers snapped open, pages flipping wildly from right to left at the same time without managing to once strike each other. The ring of a cauldron bell echoed outwards as a flanged mace, glowing a hazy red, sprang forth from the text. Gripping it with his free hand, the man glanced over and caught Shinji's gaze. "Focus on clearing the others. The less contact you have with her, the better for us all." Dismissing the book from reality, he jumped up to engage Khlorya with a brutal swing of the weapon from it.
That action broke the stasis that had held the dozens and dozens of other youma back, preventing Shinji from doing more than responding to generic violence with a far superior brand of the same. His first punch provided actionable intelligence as it struck the chest of a lizard-man that was slightly larger than him, they had erected some form of shielding themselves between his entrance and the beginning of the next stage of the fight. It wasn't a terribly effective shield, but it did stop him from simply punching through their chest with only slightly more resistance than the air could provide.
Translating that information into tactics as the lizard-man's course was violently changed back towards the direction it had approached from, Shinji grabbed some strange horned half-frog that was knocked off balance by one of its many spiky protrusions and swung it viciously in a horizontal arc, smashing it against many other creatures before letting go and allowing its newly-acquired momentum to send it through everything that had attempted to approach him from what had been his nine. He was surrounded, which made choosing foes easy, but Misato had taught him better than to just stand flat-footed.
He had to keep an exit path clear for Minako and her parents. He had to stop the youma from pushing on the shield. He had to maintain awareness of the fight between Lithion and Khlorya, as he trusted neither of them. Most importantly, he had to keep damage to the local area to a minimum. People were probably nearby, and too many had died due to his presence. Charging to his former three, the direction the lizard-man had come from, he snatched a cruel-looking axe from the closest youma's corpse and buried it in the skull of another foe. Punches, knees, elbows, everything he struck gained an appreciation for the concept of 'weight classes' before he managed to reach the rear line of the opposing force.
Crushing the throat of an insectoid that attempted to use some form of magical fire and tearing its head from its body gave him enough time to turn around and gain a new awareness of the battlespace. The fog was diminishing, which meant Khlorya had been its source but couldn't maintain it while challenged by Lithion. He estimated that it would probably dissipate completely in another ten minutes, which meant that he couldn't ignore it. The armor on his arms was still green, the same green it had been when Makoto had used her floral attack, which had somehow caused him to feel far faster than any other time in his memory. It also, however, was steaming and sizzling. Khlorya…Chlorine? More insight trickled to the surface, memories that weren't his own of how certain metals reacted to chlorine-derived molecules in either liquid or gaseous form.
Further active thought was sidelined for the moment as the battle reached him again. Instinct told him to dodge the projectiles that were being launched at him from some form of feminine porcupine, the admonition that civilians were around and he had to stop them from being hurt overrode his decision making process and caused him to kick the corpse of a hefty bird-thing up to absorb them instead. A second corpse was scooped up to provide cover as he ran directly at his new target. Instead of running her over, he feinted with the corpse to his left, which prompted the porcupine to move to his right where he could hit it with a lariat at chest level. The head, shoulders, and portions of the upper arms of the creature tumbled back behind him, the rest of the body was thrown down and in the direction of his travel.
Despite having done considerable damage to the opposing forces, Shinji was still outnumbered more than fifty to one. He was combat tested, battle proven, and magically assisted. What he was not, was flawless. A youma with extreme elasticity had managed to approach him from his flank, tying his legs together as he attempted to once again shift his direction of travel to keep his enemies off-balance. Twisting stiffly to the ground, he was only just able to get his guard up before an enormous rock creature stomped down at his head. That left his side exposed, the opening exploited to the tune of gruesome agony as a dagger was jammed up under his ribs.
The shock of the blow caused him to wonder what had happened to his A.T. Field. That, in turn, led him to realize that he wasn't in Unit-01 anymore. He was holding a huge stone appendage up with only his bare arms. He was entangled from the thighs down by the elongated arm of a pliable woman. His side felt as if it were on fire, and his vision was becoming blurry from what he could now easily smell was chlorine gas. The next set of problems manifested as a result of his own self-cognition, Unit-01 was a nigh-unstoppable force of violence and death…Shinji Ikari was not.
Further harm was prevented by a pale woman wielding talons of razor-sharp ice. The yuki-onna that had saved Ritsuko sliced open the man who'd stabbed him, smashed the leg of the youma who was trying to stomp him flat, and froze the one ensnaring his legs. My apologies for being late, she spoke directly to his mind, I was beating back the reinforcements that she had set to overwhelm you. Skillfully using ice to seal the knife in place, she picked him up and dashed back out of the fog. Any reason you are no longer made of metal?
His head was spinning, his lungs burning. To look at the violet-haired youkai he wouldn't have placed her as past her nineteenth year, despite her speech, profession, and mannerisms placing her far closer to forty-nine. Unable to order his mind enough to make sense, and running completely on autonomic processes, he said the first thing that came forth as a cogent sentence despite it not being germane to the situation, You're lovely. Like a flower. He then coughed, unaware that a significant amount of blood had come up with it.
Once more in clean air, and far enough away from where the kitsune were maintaining the second battle line, she began issuing orders to several other women of her own kind, "At least another forty, probably more. The witch is in the house still, a youma with suspect allegiance with her. Another two fighting in the sky. Do not trust the blue one, eliminate the green." After those she'd directed began to turn to their own forces, defining them more clearly as lieutenants, she set him down on a bed of snow she'd created from nothingness. It's been some time since someone with as pure a mind as yours has praised my beauty. His shirt was carefully cut free and the ice broken to allow inspection of the injury, her mouth drawing a hard line as she assessed the blackened blood vessels branching out from the knife wound. You should be cautious offering such compliments, my kind tends to take them seriously.
He was burning up, sweating profusely, and turning the ice around his wound red. 'Cautious' was not a word he understood at the moment. Is true. Like…like pure snow. The kind you look at, don't touch 'cause you hurt it. His vision cleared enough that he could look down at where she was using his shirt to pack the wound back up. Oh. Lucidity made a brief appearance. That's…my kidney, and liver. Too much blood. Arteries were severed. He looked back up to her. Fatal, without immediate treatment.
"Make you a deal," surrounding the shirt with stiff snow, she picked him up easily in a bridal carry, "you don't die, and I'll show you how to touch something delicate without hurting it." Without appearing to move, she hurried him off towards where she knew there would be medical care. The wave of ice that propelled them smoothed out the journey by cresting and troughing as needed as the terrain shifted, removing any possibility of jostling the knife and aggravating the wound.
As many of the best laid plans over the past week had, however, this one fell apart as Khlorya struck the yuki-onna from behind, sending both her and Shinji tumbling into the middle of the empty street. "Now, I'm often told that I really need to assume noble intent." With her blonde hair mussed, blood matting down several portions of it, the odd youma strutted closer like a runway model. "But I'm kinda having a hard time doing that when you're trying to run off with my prize like you just married him."
Contact with the ground had torn a gash open on her face, and this contrasted the flat, disaffected, tone she spoke with which was quite obviously a mechanism she used to avoid allowing her emotions to get the better of her, "I'm rather familiar with women like you, actually." Pushing herself up off the ground carefully and planting herself between Shinji and Khlorya, she summoned a spear of ice, levelling it at the youma's chest. "Reckless disregard for the life of the man you're targeting. Smash into his life like a meteor riding a bicycle, force him away from any potential support systems. Twist his mind, make him think that everything he knows to be true is a lie. Tell him that the only happiness he'll find is by serving at your feet, and change him to fit what you want."
"Ew, no." She assumed a faux-boxing stance. "Foot fetishes are gross. I'm more interested in suffocation play."
Consciousness fled from Shinji as his ally swept in to begin an active defense of him, his last thought one of curiosity. Where was everyone else? There were so many people who claimed they wanted to keep him alive…but none of them were there when he needed saving.
+++++ Minako Aino's House, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Sunday + 8)
Minako's mother was having a very difficult day. The morning had started far too early, with the news on the television that she had missed the evening before further explaining that what she'd felt and heard wasn't the volcanic eruption that she had anticipated, but instead an attack by a ridiculous looking flying whale of some form. The number they showed on the screen, as far as she was concerned, could not possibly have been an accurate death count. Sixteen million people dead or injured? The morning sun was far too bright and pleasant outside for that to be true. When she went to collect the mail, she had even seen the daft woman across the street performing her normal exercise routine. Such characteristic things simply didn't happen after so many deaths.
The confusion caused by the incongruity had caused her to burn the rice she was meaning to give her husband once he was done trying to get a straight answer out of her daughter. She truly did love Minako to distraction, but often of late she'd found her husband simply had a better chance of prompting the child to share things. That fact was painful, but she remembered her own youth when she stopped confiding as much in her own mother. Sometimes it was just easier to speak to 'Daddy'. It might hurt, but it also meant she was growing up.
A few hours after a breakfast that had yielded no information from her husband, who was as troubled as she expected him to be over their daughter's mood, meaning he wasn't troubled at all and declared the girl 'moody', she had managed to finally reorganize the laundry area appropriately after the last failed lesson at teaching Minako how to properly wash her own clothing. The whiff of bleach she caught at that point baffled her. The bleach was still tightly sealed, and she certainly hadn't put any in the washing machine for that load. Her husband's dark slacks would look absurd with blots and streaks of yellow-white! He'd certainly not receive a promotion like that.
When, at that point, she turned to ask the man if he could smell anything off, she was distracted by a horde of what appeared to be cosplayers gathered at the stone fence. Some of them had to have been holding some form of mobile lighting rigs, as a greenish-blue glow was making everything look as it had that one time she'd been at her own parents house when a tornado struck. She had changed her question from the smell of bleach to the oddity out front, and had even had to repeat herself twice before taking note of where her husband had gone.
All of this was what she was attempting to explain to the unresponsive simulacrum of her daughter that Inari had sent to buy Minako time when Minako herself barged into the bedroom. She had seen a great deal of odd behavior in her child over the years, much of which had begun during their time in England, but not once had she ever seen her manage to actually be in two places at once. She had certainly never seen the look of cold anger that had adorned her beautiful face, nor heard a tone of voice directed at her as if a General was giving orders.
The day simply wasn't going the way it was supposed to, and once she figured out who to complain to they were going to get more than a piece of her mind about it!
+++++ Minako Aino's House, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Sunday + 8)
"I will try to find what I can to give her protection from the mist." Tungsram whispered quietly to Minako as the elder Aino repeated her story for the fifth time. "With your permission, I will carry and protect her as we flee. You are better suited for offensive engagements than I am."
"…Yeah." The woman standing in front of her did not at all resemble the woman she knew as 'Mom'. Minako had read stories of such things happening, had even wondered from time to time if those stories had any chance of being true, but to witness someone firsthand who had completely disassociated from the world around them was something she could never have been prepared for. Her father was dead, his lungs exposed to the mist by having approached the stone fence to shoo away the youma, misunderstanding what they were. Her mother, in the throes of madness, was babbling in circles. She could no longer feel the man she wanted to call 'boyfriend'. This was no longer a situation where talking was going to get them anywhere.
Quickly reentering the room, the 'Nordic'-looking youma slightly held out a damp blanket that was more than large enough to contain the elder Aino. "The water will provide enough of a barrier if we move quickly. I'll prioritize getting her out of the fog, and once she is clear will return if you become bogged down in combat." When no answer was forthcoming, she glanced between mother and daughter. "We would be-"
"We'll leave through this wall." This place wasn't home anymore. She couldn't even be certain that 'Mom' existed right now. Deforming the building to make getting out faster was a better decision than risking moving to the ground floor and stepping into an ambush. "I'll lay down a barrage, you head northeast. Do not stop until you are at the Shrine, no matter what happens." Her eyes finally turned to look directly at her 'ally of convenience'. "I am a warrior, she is not. You want my trust? Prioritize the people I fight to defend."
She wanted to comment that leaving Minako to die wouldn't endear her to the man they were trying to assist, but could only accept that the debate itself would consume more precious time. "As you will." Two quick steps and she had her passenger bundled tightly in the blanket and out of the blast zone.
Holding out one hand, Minako obliterated the wall and parts of the roof above with a blast of brilliant golden light. Jumping down to stand atop the stone fence, she held her breath and unleashed her 'Love and Beauty Shock'. The concussive force alone ripped youma apart, those who were touched by the glowing heart-shaped grenades simply ceased existing as a corporeal object. She could sense Tungsram following the plan, hidden by the smoke and thunder of the covering fire being provided. More youma began to flood into the battle from the side of the street opposite from where Shinji had originally broken through the line. A smaller force of yuki-onna flowed in from the other side, moving directly towards the youma. She knew further ranged attacks risked hitting those that would be her allies, and she accepted that the burning sensation on her skin was becoming harder to ignore. With regret, she turned and followed after the woman carrying her mother. She could only hope that she'd see Shinji on the way, so she could learn what happened.
+++++ ? (Tuesday + 2,922)
"He's going to die."
"That's always been a possible outcome."
"You're just going to stand there and-"
"Lily, stop. If we intervene each time a tragedy is about to happen, then all we are doing is living vicariously through them. They deserve better than that, and you know it. The difference between what he did and what we're doing is that he was looking for a situation to take over once 'Shinji Ikari' found happiness…we're trying to find allies capable of fighting at our side."
"…He is so close!"
"In Swansea, on the southern coast of Wales, a young man died a little more than one hundred and thirty-seven meters from the finish line of a half marathon he'd trained for years for. 'Close' is just a comforting way to couch failure. It's an optimistic outlook on a situation that may or may not have been made unwinnable through our own actions."
"What if that was you, instead?"
"I would realize that in my selfish desire to save several quadrillion lives, I would destroy countless others. I would fight, to my dying breath, and I would hope that my life and death had accomplished something worthy."
"…He is so close…."
+++++ Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Sunday + 8)
Minako, still trailing far enough behind Tungsram that she couldn't see her, stumbled across the unconscious form of Lithion. The blue being was buried under half of a corner store that had been evacuated and emptied of goods earlier that day, showing a gruesome cut on his left temple. Whatever else might be said about the Sailor for Venus, she was not a 'fair weather ally'. Aborting her forward momentum and moving over to see if the odd man was dead or just injured, she kept her head on a swivel to avoid possible ambushes.
Just as she was about to reach out to feel for a pulse, Lithion's eyes fluttered open. His head wobbled unsteadily, and he waved her back as he began to push the debris off of himself. "Were you successful?"
"Your partner is taking my mother to the shrine right now." She wasn't going to push her help on someone who'd hurt her and her friends, regardless of his recent assistance. "Have you seen Shinji?"
"I was hoping you had," his voice steadied as he managed to free himself, "the last thing I remember seeing was the mace I was using flying back and striking me." Summoning his book, he began orienting himself enough to find his way back to the main conflict. "That neither of us have seen him is unlikely to be good news. If I might ask that once you see your matron to safety, you come back and lend a hand. It seems that my former master has become aware of our moves and has chosen a new course of action. Khlorya would normally stand no chance against me."
Minako glanced back in the direction of the shrine, then shook her head and groaned. "In for a penny…." A few steps put her ahead of Lithion on the street. "It's this way. Let's see if we can't do better with both of us."
"I wholeheartedly doubt we could do worse than I did alone."
+++++ The Ruins of Minako Aino's Street, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Sunday + 8)
Setsuna stood, unseen by any but the one woman she least wished to be seen by, watching as a yuki-onna fought like a cornered lion against a foe that was toying with her. The roof she was perched on was one of the few left standing in the midst of the enormous battle between youkai and youma, all vestiges of humanity having been either evacuated or killed. "He is going to bleed out."
"He might, yes." Usagi stood with her back to Setsuna, her eyes only upon Shinji's comatose form. Her outfit had lengthened, the hem of her skirt now below her knees, her scarf now closer to a cape. The black sucked in all light, a hungry, insatiable, maw that denied the existence of color. The green and yellow weren't defying that gaping chasm, so much as they were mocking it. They stood as a testament to everything that had come before…and failed.
The Sailor for Pluto had attempted several times to come up with a plan that would allow her to engage, to fight for Shinji without risking the Moon's wrath. Each time she gathered some small amount of energy to prepare to enact that plan, the cold caress of the grave journeyed lingeringly along her spine. She knew she was outclassed, and knew that dying just to be petulant would not help the man she desperately needed. "You could stop him from dying."
"I could only delay it. Now hush."
+++++ ? (Sunday + 8)
Shinji was startled that awareness of anything crept back into his mind. Knives in the side, and the amount of blood they tended to let out, weren't notorious for allowing people to wake back up after they'd lost consciousness. The pain was still there in all its glory and splendor, which added to the confusion when he was able to open his eyes enough to see that he was back in that strange place that people called his soul.
"He's awake," the voice of Yui Ikari, through the speakers of Unit-01, drew his gaze.
The amalgamation of women that he'd failed retorted dryly, "No, he's not. He's unconscious and clinging to life because he's stronger than you think he is. He's unconscious because you prioritized yourself over your own son."
"Why shouldn't I have? It's fairly clear from the way he throws himself at death's door that he cares little for anyone stuck inside of him."
His first attempt to sit up was aborted due to pain. He felt like he was going to vomit, but nothing would come. A lifetime of pain eased the burden enough that his second attempt was mostly successful. Propped up on one hand, he glared at the woman who had supposedly birthed him. I didn't ask for you to be here. I didn't ask for them to be here. You left me alone with father, who left me alone with a monster. His face felt cold, and every breath he took was a fresh hell to endure. I can't do anything about any of that, though. I can fight to try and stop others from dying…or I could…before Unit-01 stopped working with me.
"She took it back." Crouching down, but not coming any closer, the odd pastiche of women analyzed the wound on his side and made it evident that she hated what was happening. "Thinks that if you die, she can take over."
"I don't 'think', I know." Unit-01 looked ridiculous with its arms crossed impatiently before it. "I was the one who discovered the math involved. I was the one who came up with the concept of splitting a soul from a body. I spent a year refining and distilling the process while waiting to push my ungrateful son out of my body so he could play his part. I spent an eternity waiting for him to mature enough to pilot Unit-01. I'm still waiting."
Help me up. Reaching out with the hand not keeping him from slumping back to the ground, Shinji was shocked when the group of women winced and looked down. …Err, please help me up?
"I agreed to not give you any help, if she agreed to listen to you explain why you're doing what you are. We would stop fighting each other long enough for you to have a chance to…to make a choice." He could see Rei Mizuno's hair tone blending beautifully in with Makoto's and Hygieia's. Could see their eyes shifting colors like a vibrant rainbow prism. Could see how much it tore at them to keep their word. "I wish I could express how badly the four portions of my mind want to run over there and hold you…but I'll keep my word if she does."
…Four?
"I've forgiven the Saeko part of myself for being weak." Her smirk was self-derogatory. "It isn't like any other part of me was disinterested in the act, either."
"As thrilling as it is to listen to a woman prattle on about the attempted sexual assault of a mental invalid, perhaps we can get back to the point of this exercise sometime before he exsanguinates? I'm at least curious enough to know the depths of his stupidity." When his eyes snapped back to her, Unit-01 waved off the ire in his glare. "Oh, please, what pitiful, whining, excuse will you jog out this time? You had to be blackmailed by Gendo into getting into Unit-01 in the first place! He trots out the useless remnant of a failed cloning experiment, makes you believe it matters whether it lives or dies, and the only reason it wasn't crushed and dropped hundreds of meters to the ground below the catwalks was that you were stupid enough to rush over and put yourself in harm's way so I had to stop you from dying. You can only be bothered to save yourself when it's obvious that nobody else is capable of even coming close to it."
Shinji's blood ran cold. C-clone?
"And that's the story of your life, isn't it? Instead of taking advantage of your situation, you let the situation take advantage of you. You could have used the leverage of the money your caretaker was receiving to maneuver him into a compromising position. You could have proactively stopped the beatings by putting his largesse at risk. Instead, you waste a decade and a half being ground into something less useful than the dirt you cleaned out of the house every day. Then, you arrive in Tokyo-3. Gendo wiggles Rei in front of you, and you cave. Then, Misato Katsuragi of all people tries to play mommy to you. Did you know that her father was the one responsible for Second Impact? He was, of course, the cat's paw of people with far greater vision, but he still deluded himself into thinking any one man can control the power of the First Ancestral Race."
A haze of red grew at the edges of his vision.
"You didn't know whether you wanted to fuck her or curl into a ball on her lap like a toddler seeking protection from the thunder outside. You still don't know! Placed in front of you was someone who would have happily crafted a passable man out of the compost you'd allowed yourself to become, and you couldn't even muster up the courage to talk to her about your confusion. You could have used her desperate need for validation from men to your advantage. Could have convinced her that you and she had a future together. Would have stopped the next contender for most hare-brained decision you've made from even being a problem."
The thought of hurting Misato made his teeth ache.
"Asuka. Langley. Soryu." Contempt dripped from each word. "You claim that the world rides on your shoulders, but I remember rather clearly a young idiot jumping into a volcano without any protection in an effort to try and win one positive word from a young woman who had nothing but venom exit her lips. Kind of Freudian, honestly. You wanted so badly to jump into her red-lined cauldron that you were willing to jump into a lava pit to show her without ever growing the balls to ask her. You'd meekly do her laundry, her cooking, her chores, her shopping, but not once would you ask yourself if all you were doing was orbiting her instead of wooing her. She was never going to let you dock, dear. Dangle out the possibility of a compliment, and then grind you into paste that she could mold into whatever she wanted at that moment. I don't know what this abomination thought you were going to tell me that I didn't already know, honestly. You're weak, until it comes time for one of your false prophets to be harmed. Then you're stupid, in addition to being weak. Ask yourself, and be honest, how many of the Angels did either of the others beat?" When he went to speak, she held up one finger. "Uh, uh, uh. Remember, lying here is painful."
The pain in his side was no longer the greatest source of agony for him. He wanted blood.
"Sachiel was me saving you from your cowardice. Shamshel was you finally fighting back after those two clowns put themselves in danger through stupidity. Ramiel was you, not the clone. The shield failed, but you subconsciously extended your A.T. Field to compensate and save her. Gaghiel was you, not Soryu. She demonstrated how useless she was in her first chance to make use of all of the advantages she'd been given in life, and you stopped the two of you from drowning. Israfel was you, again. She rushed in and disregarded instructions, leaving you to clean up her mess. You at least lasted long enough to buy time for the bombers, and would have won outright if she hadn't charged in recklessly. Sandalphon, arguably, was her only kill. It would have been a Pyrrhic victory, were it not for your idiocy, so she only gets half. Matarael was you, because she was too proud to do any actual work and the clone was incapable of fighting. Sahaquiel, again, was you. Neither of the others would have arrived in time to prevent landfall. Ireul was that whore Akagi's luck. That means that out of eight Angels, five and a half were yours, one was mine, one was that bitch's, and the last half was Soryu. You go on and on and on about how the others would succeed without you, because you are too afraid to take control of your own life or responsibility for your own decisions. You were given everything you needed…and you couldn't sack up enough to use it. You're a whiner. You're a coward. The only useful thing you'll have ever done is…."
Yui trailed off as Shinji pushed himself to his feet, murder in his eyes. Hunched over towards his left side, the latticework of blackened veins pulling at him even in his soul, he took a lurching step towards someone that he would listen to no longer. It's you. He had spent the entire time she was talking putting small pieces of life lessons together. Every whisper in my mind that I'll never succeed. None of the women in his life were totally right, and none of them had been totally wrong. Every doubt about my own capacity for anything. Another step closer. Every time I lost control. Every time I woke up later only to find that Unit-01 had done something unforgivable. Another step. I killed millions…because of you. Reaching out with his hands, he grabbed at Unit-01's throat.
"Please, we both-" Yui's snide retort cut off as she found she couldn't prevent him from taking control of her neck. Her next words were gargled out through a collapsing windpipe, "Sh-Shin…ji…."
If anyone is going to take over my body when I die, honest, earnest, hatred boiled out of his cold blue eyes, then it's going to be the women that I failed to protect, not the one who failed to protect me. You're right about one thing, though: I do whine far too much. Power grew from the dark places in his mind, granting him the one thing he'd never had in life: control. I think it's time I break the bad habits I've allowed to linger on.
The sound of Yui Ikari's neck crumpling was somehow louder than the sound of Unit-01's armor failing catastrophically.
+++++ ? (Tuesday + 2,922)
"…Did he…did he just…."
"I sometimes wonder if you really do understand just exactly how much I hate my mother."
Lilith's plans crumbled apart, once again, because of the actions of a young man with a smile that hid boundless pain. "This…I didn't anticipate…."
"Which is why I don't intervene, no matter how many times I watch myself die." The Wanderer patted his wife on the back gently, accepting that she still had a lot to learn about what it meant to be Shinji Ikari. "If you want to find the true measure of a man, you first see what he does with adversity and then you see what he does with power. If he can't overcome the former, he has no right to the latter. If he abuses the latter, he never truly overcame the former." A quick glance behind him prompted him to sever the connection between Shards of Creation.
"Hey, I was-"
"You were going to miss Yinghua's debut." Offering his elbow, he challenged the woman to disagree with him. "Either he'll succeed, or he won't. I will know well before it matters. His Usagi is doing the best she can to give him the chance, and she would be very put out if I allowed you to miss a milestone in our family's life."
