Creation began on 11-12-17
Creation ended on 06-03-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
To Unite or Stay Divided
Coming to after what felt like a brief while of unconsciousness, Gendo found himself lopped against a wall, bound and gagged with handcuffs and rope.
"Mmm!" He grunted, seeing police officers and soldiers different from the ones he had murdered, standing less than two feet from him.
One of the police then approached him and pointed a gun at him.
"Gendo Ikari, you're under arrest for First-Degree Kidnapping, Custodial Interference and endangering the welfare of a minor…among other charges of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and murder. You have the right to remain silent…and you should take advantage of that right since you're gagged. Anything you try to do will be held against you during your trial as you rot in custody."
He couldn't believe this! There was no way he could end this way, getting knocked out and left alone by Rei, only to be apprehended by the authorities! He refused to accept this!
"I wouldn't bother with trying to get loose," said a soldier to him, holding up a small bag with a biohazard symbol. "We cut that thing out of your hand."
-x-
"They have Commander Ikari detained," Shigeru informed Misato on her cell phone. "He's being removed from the base."
"Good," she responded, though really wanted to know where Shinji and Fusei were. Come on, you two, get out of here. Get to safety, away from NERV.
-x-
Fusei didn't want to think about it, but she got the feeling that Misato was going to can her for hot-wiring her car to try and escape from Rei and Unit-01. The worst part was that the blue Renault was the only other car within the parking garage.
Shinji, despite the trouble they were, managed to find it in him to put his seatbelt on.
Screech! Fusei stopped the car at the sight in front them.
"She doesn't know when to give up," she uttered, and Shinji looked up and saw Rei, blocking the path to the next floor going up.
"Come with me, Ikari-Kun," Rei uttered, holding up a pistol aimed at them. "Don't make this worse than it is already."
Shinji and Fusei looked at each other before Shinji gestured his head towards her seatbelt.
"First do no harm, Mother," he told her.
"Hold on tight," she responded as she buckled up. "This ain't the only way out."
She revved up and accelerated…in reverse!
Rei opened fire on the Renault, leaving three holes in the window.
The car turned around, shifted gears and drove down the long way to the other entrance to the next floor leading out.
"You can't run forever, Ikari-Kun!" Rei yelled.
-x-
Unit-01 smashed its way through the pens and towards a catapult system, where it began to levitate upwards to the surface of the Geo-Front. The thoughts running through the soul of the woman within the Eva being those of finding the boy that was trying to get away from her with the other woman that refused to leave him alone and follow the path she had intended for him to take.
Shinji, went Yui as the purple Eva tore through the shutters that kept it from going on. Even if you wanted to leave with her, we're past the point of no return. It is either this…or we all return to nothingness, back to before.
Anyone who had seen Yui before she became the resident ghost in the shell would have said what was most likely a cruel truth that couldn't be ignored: The woman had clearly lost her conscience towards what was right and what was wrong, only able to see how much the situation affected herself.
Fusei Hitode, I will make you wish you never chose to find Shinji.
-x-
Screech! Fusei stopped Misato's car as she and Shinji reached the surface of the Geo-Front.
So far, there was no sign of Rei or Gendo, and Fusei wouldn't have minded it staying that way.
Rumble. They heard and felt the ground beneath them.
"I don't like the sound of that sound," said Shinji
"Likewise," she agreed with him, and accelerated again towards the linear express elevator to escape.
Crack! The ground in front of them split open and released a giant, purple hand!
"Gaah!" They gasped, causing Fusei to hit the breaks.
What the Hell is wrong with this woman?! She wondered.
Smash! Another large hand burst from the ground.
Screech! The Renault pulled back as the head of Unit-01 emerged from under the base.
"Rrrraaugh!" The cybernetic behemoth roared.
-x-
"Unit-01 has broken through the surface of the base," Shigeru informed Misato.
"I know," responded the purple-haired woman, "I can see it myself."
-x-
It had been a long time since Shinji had ever known fear from something he had little understanding of, but that was back when he was forced to fight monsters out to end the human race. This time, he was terrified of the very thing that was once used by him, possessed by a woman he was duped into believing was his mother, now out to get the both of them before they could leave.
"She won't let us leave, no matter how much we want to," he uttered.
"She can have ten different degrees for ten different fields, and she still wouldn't have any rights to do what she's trying to do," Fusei expressed as the Eva pulled itself further out of the ground. Genshi-teki, Tetsuo, Shinko-Kinomi, Mother… I'm hoping to see light at the end of the tunnel right now. Any degree of a miracle that praying to you can spare Shinji and I.
The Eva loomed over the Renault and made an attempt to reach for it with its right hand.
Until…
Thunk! Something small hit the Eva's had…and all eyes were on the metallic pyramid of NERV HQ.
"Hey!" Shojiki Ikari shouted, throwing one of his shoes at the Eva. "Hey, Yui!"
The Eva looked at him and the soul within it was surprised that her father was here, of all places. She had never seen him with such an expression of anger on him in years.
"That's enough!" He yelled at the Eva. "You and your husband have disgraced and embarrassed us all long enough, Yui! Look at what you've done!"
Behind him was Misato, the police, several soldiers and a restrained Gendo.
"Is this really what you want? Huh? Is this really what you want?" Shojiki demanded from his eldest daughter. "Not like this! Never like this!"
The purple behemoth looked down at him, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still for everyone else present.
Shojiki thought back to the days when his girls were still little and hadn't exhibited any disrespectful behavior towards others, back when Second Impact was a thought beyond people's minds. Maybe he wasn't sure if he could've done better with Yui, but even he didn't approve of any of her choices regarding family and children. He didn't approve of her husband, the fact that they took advantage of the devastation a man-made disaster of unforgivable proportions had caused the world in order to commit a kidnapping that ruined two families and killed one of their members, not even how Yui, who claimed to believe in the good in people and their will to live, didn't seem to demonstrate her beliefs herself. It was just one disgrace after another, and he doubted he himself would be forgiven for his own ignorance and failure as a parent when he breathed his final breath.
Even if I'm absolved by the kami, there will still be a price to pay, he thought.
SLAM! Unit-01 brought its right hand down…and everyone that saw what it had done was shocked by the outcome.
"Oh, Kami," Fusei gasped, wishing it hadn't happened, shifting gears to get Shinji and herself out of there right now.
Shinji, also wishing that he could've unseen that horror, couldn't believe how the Eva had demonstrated its capability to be used as a…killer.
Shojiki Ikari…was crushed to death under the Eva's hand, killed by the soul of his own daughter.
SCREECH! Misato's Renault burned rubber as it drove in reverse.
The Eva climbed out completely from the hole and set its sights on the blue car.
"Grrr," it growled.
-x-
Misato couldn't believe that Unit-01, unmanned and unchecked, had killed an unarmed man without so much as an order or justifiable excuse to do so.
"Orders, Major?" A female personnel member asked her.
"Arm the base's self-destruct system," she ordered; whatever the Eva was planning, she hoped that a destroyed Geo-Front would hinder the cybernetic giant. "We have thirty minutes to vacate the base and get to Tokyo-3."
"Attention, whoever's left within the base," Huyga announced over the loudspeakers. "Unit-01 has gone rogue and NERV HQ has initiated the self-destruct sequence. You have thirty minutes to evacuate the base and get to Tokyo-3! I repeat, the base must be evacuated before thirty minutes have passed!"
It was hoped that thirty minutes would be enough time for everyone to get to safety…and that the explosions created would cause significant damage to Unit-01, maybe even destroying it permanently.
-x-
The Eva didn't relent chasing after the Renault. Not even if Fusei was an experienced race car driver or spent her entire life in the business of street racing would the Eva give up on going after the boy that was with her.
"Damn it," said Fusei, turning the car left to avoid being scooped up by Unit-01. I won't let you take him again, Yui Ikari.
The tunnel in front of them was within reach; with the elevators not an option, the underground roads leading in and out of the Geo-Front were the only alternative. If they made it into one, the Eva would be hindered or almost incapable of breaking completely through several layers and feet of reinforced steel and concrete.
Fusei sped up, focused on getting to the tunnel and Shinji away from the base before it could detonate. She looked over at Shinji, who looked back at her, and gave a small smile.
"Hold on tight, Shinji," she told him.
"Yes, Mother," he responded, gripping onto the seatbelt.
She gripped the steering wheel and hunkered down. It was all or nothing to get away.
CRASH! The ground shattered beneath the car…and the cause of it being the arms of Unit-01 causing a tremor that destroyed the car's escape attempt and sent it flying.
The car flipped over and smashed against a tree.
"Ah…" Fusei groaned as she looked at the roof under her head. "Shinji?"
"Ohh…" Shinji responded, slowly turning his head to face her, revealing his forehead had a gash on it, blood beginning to seep out. "My head…"
It was probably a concussion, or a possible skull fracture. Either way, Shinji was going to be feeling pain in his head for a while. But because he was wearing his seatbelt, the injury he sustained was limited to just his head.
Crunk! The car made a creaking sound as it was moved.
"Shinji!" Fusei panicked, reaching for his arm as the vehicle turned over, allowing them a view that was horrid. "Damn you. Damn you."
Unit-01 was now holding the damaged car, looking at its injured occupants.
"Mother," Shinji uttered, looking up from under the blood spilling over his eyes. "We're going to get out of this."
Fusei believed him, but the question of how they were going to get out of this situation was beyond her.
Unit-01 then carried the damaged car back into the giant hole, intent of taking them to Terminal Dogma where Lilith resided.
-x-
"Son of a…" Misato went as she saw Unit-01 take her totaled car with it back into the hole. "Get Unit-02 ready."
"What?!" Hyuga gasped. "But we don't have anyone left to pilot it! Asuka's not here!"
"We won't use children," she explained to him as she turned away. "We'll use the Dummy System."
-x-
She heard a beeping sound, voices she couldn't make out, something about an erratic heartbeat or something.
"…Needs a heart… Slow it…"
She didn't understand what was going on. Suddenly, she felt like a small jolt of electricity was sent through her heart, forcing her eyes open.
Gasp! The luminescent lighting above her head and the sight of two EMTs looking down at her did the very opposite of reassuring her.
They worried her.
"What…what is…going on?" Asuka demanded, sounding out of breath.
"Ma'am, try to remain calm," the male EMT instructed her. "You just came out of a coma. Breathe."
Asuka did as instructed, and realized that they were moving.
"Where…where am I?" She asked.
"An ambulance," the female EMT answered. "We've left Tokyo-3 and are heading to the nearest medical center."
All she could recall was feeling like she had struck on the back of her head and falling down. The rest of anything that occurred after is a blur for her.
"Shinji… Fusei… Where are they? Did they get out of the city?" She asked, recalling that they hadn't left before she was incapacitated.
"Nobody by those names was on the list of those in NERV or Tokyo-3 that were evacuated, miss," the male EMT responded.
Asuka feared for the worst now. If neither the boy or his mother had left the fortress city, then it was possible that they were still in danger if the First Child or even Commander Ikari were hanging around. But there was nothing she could do for either, as they were over there…and she was somewhere in between there and some medical treatment center. She didn't even have her cell phone to call them.
-x-
"…You really believe a salvaged Dummy Plug in Unit-02 will be able to stop Unit-01?" Ritsuko, who was released on Misato's orders, asked the purple-haired woman as the few workers left were preparing the red Eva for launch. "You should've just left the base."
"Unfortunately, factors beyond our control kept Shinji and Fusei from leaving," Misato explained. "Commander Ikari, Rei Ayanami and Unit-01…or rather, Yui Ikari, stopped them at every corner, and Yui murdered her own father with Unit-01. If Unit-02 can keep Unit-01 distracted or even damage it, they could get away."
"There's only twenty-three minutes left before the base detonates. How were you able to authorize it without the MAGI causing a hindrance? I had expected one of them to act against detonation."
"I guess we have Fusei to thank for that. Her work on the MAGI made it more efficient to work with."
"Okay, here goes nothing."
Typing in the required codes to activate the red Eva, Ritsuko actually prayed that this plan worked.
"You better get out of here while you still can," Misato told her. "Commander Ikari had you incarcerated, but he's no longer in charge. You can leave now."
"What of you?"
"I gotta make sure those two get out before I do."
On the screens, Unit-02 activated and the Dummy Plug inside began its new instruction protocol: Target Unit-01, disable or destroy.
-x-
Terminal Dogma had been cleared out of any human presence, leaving only Rei Ayanami, who waited for Unit-01 to show up.
SLAM! She heard a loud footstep and turned to the large hole in the ceiling where Unit-01 had just entered the chamber.
The Eva then lowered and set the damaged car down, revealing Fusei and Shinji.
"This time, escape is impossible," she told the two as they both stumbled out.
Shinji looked up from on the ground and at the albino girl. He sighed at the once-mysterious beauty that had mystified him to a degree before it was revealed how damaged…and inhuman she really was. Now, instead of being attracted to her like he had been a little bit, but without any romantic feelings, he just felt pity…and resentment towards her. And then, he slowly got up with his mother.
"What, exactly, is the point of any of this, Ayanami?" He asked her.
"Uniting all human beings," she answered him. "Like I said before, the Eva is my link to all mankind."
"That's not a link," expressed Fusei to her. "That's just depravity. You can't be linked to everyone. It is impossible. Only the kami may be linked to everyone."
"Wrong. Human Instrumentality, the very same project your father strove for, will unite all human souls together, thereby saving mankind. We'll be unified…and a bright future will be in store for us."
Shinji wiped his forehead of his blood and nodded in the negative.
"You're crazy," Fusei called her, feeling like her legs were ready to give out if she didn't move them.
Rei then pointed her gun at them…and then to the pool of LCL and Lilith.
"Get into the pool," she ordered them.
"No, Ayanami," Shinji responded, wiping the blood away from his brow again. "We're leaving, one way or another."
"Don't make me kill her," she threatened him.
"Then I'll just carry her body out and leave you all the same. I don't believe that what you say will save everyone. Not like this, Ayanami. Not like this…and I'd rather suffer a fate worse than that of death than have my soul smashed together with those of other people's souls. Even if it were true that that would save people, you'd be doing so without their consent to do so. You don't have mine, and you don't have my mother's. You still want to do it, you live with the consequences for your decision."
"If you so much as try to leave," Rei yelled as they turned away, "she will crush her!"
Fusei looked up at the Eva, but then looked at her son. It seemed hopeless right now to simply think that they could just walk away…but that was what they aimed to do. One way or another, they were going to leave.
"Can you still walk, Shinji?" She asked him.
"Can you?"
"One step at a time."
The pair started to progress toward the entrance to the chamber, infuriating Rei.
"I'll shoot you, Ikari-Kun! I'll shoot that woman!" She yelled at them. "Stop!"
But they just kept on walking, which kept upsetting the albino.
"I swear I will! I'll shoot the both of you!" She iterated again.
"Grr!" Unit-01 growled, and began to reach down upon the pair.
Shinji looked up and reacted with panic as he tried to move faster with Fusei.
CRASH! Something smashed into the chamber and the three saw Unit-02!
The red behemoth showed up…and began to attack Unit-01!
"Unit-02?" Fusei uttered. "But…Asuka was sent away with the rest of the injured."
"Let's not stick around to find out how," said Shinji to her, and she agreed with him.
BANG! BANG! Shinji felt the world around him slow to a crawl, the noise fading down as his legs gave out.
Fusei, wishing she hadn't taken her eyes off of Rei, fell with her son…and coughed up blood. And then, she felt him being dragged away from her.
"Shinji? Shinji?" She called out as she struggled to get up, feeling the stinging sensation of the gunshot wound inflicted upon her left side as she turned around, seeing said boy being pulled away towards the pool of LCL by Rei.
"I warned you," the albino uttered. "I told you not to walk away from me. This will all end, one way or another, whether you agree with me or not."
Fusei groaned as she tried to walk back towards the girl; she might've still lived under the oath to do no harm, but this girl shot her son…and her maternal instincts were now instructing her to forget the oath and inflict justifiable pain upon the girl.
"Aya…Ayanami?" Shinji uttered, looking up at the girl, wondering if she had shot him in waist or the back. "You're a monster…just like they are."
Dragging him to the edge of the pool, Rei looked at Fusei as she came by and wished she hadn't run out of bullets in her gun.
"None of this would've happened…had you never shown up to take Ikari-Kun away," she told her.
"Had those two never taken him to begin with," Fusei retorted, standing up her full height, "none of us would be here."
And then…Rei kicked Shinji into the pool. The boy didn't try to flail. Instead, he just started to sink.
"Shinji!" Fusei yelled, and shoved Rei aside to jump in after Shinji.
With that done, Rei looked up at Lilith…and levitated upwards to meet her.
"I'm home," she announced.
To be continued…
A/N: I don't know for sure, but if the next chapter isn't the final one, only time will say. Enjoy this one for now and tell me what you think will happen before the final act comes out. Peace.