Nothing Will Ever Change That
Chapter 78: Running
A/N- 200 reviews! Yes! Thanks again for sticking with me this far. This chapter was proof-read by Frost-Eva-00. Thanks for the help man!
Keith's House – 8:00 AM
I wake up to the sound of a garage door opening. So much for leaving long before I get up, I sit up and rub my eyes, thinking of the dreams I had last night. I was right… horrifying…
A/N- Flashback! Anything in flashback will be in italics.
I'm running through the German NERV, searching frantically for any sign of Asuka. All the signs are written in the native language, so I'm basically searching in the dark here. I finally get to a door with a humming sound behind it. I whip it open and see Asuka standing in the doorway staring at me with those blood-red eyes.
"Where were you? You let me go. Why did you let me go? I thought you loved me," she stares at me blankly.
"I do! I came this whole way for you!" she continues to stare at me.
"But you killed six men by doing so. Is that how you want to label yourself? As a killer? What if someone got to Dietlinde or me? You wouldn't care. You would just move on with your life. You would just play the next girl you see. Sam's pretty cute, and I know you think so. You kissed her, you slept with her, and you had sex with her. I thought you said nothing will ever change that." I heard a slight tone of anger in her voice.
I get up and walk over to the stove. He said to help myself to the fridge, so I was. Either out of my subconscious or out of habit, I start to make Asuka's favorite, Belgian waffles with syrup.
"Asuka, I DO love you! Please don't think otherwise!" she puts a hand softly on my cheek.
"I used to think you did…" I see a small cut slowly form across her neck, and eventually grow into a slit neck. She falls backward and I slam the door shut. I run into the nearest room I could find and see a single crib with a spotlight over it. The rest of the room was pitch black. I slowly walk over to the crib and look inside. There laid Dietlinde with her bear, eyes staring up at me.
"Dietlinde… what are you doing here?" I start to pick her up.
"Don't touch me!" a voice comes from nowhere. It echoes through the room like a ghost, "You left me to die!"
"Dietlinde?" her eyes are full of hate. I pull back my hands and stare at her.
I sit down and begin to eat my poorly made meal. I start to think about Asuka, and how scared she looked in that plug. How was I going to save her? WAS I going to save her?
"You left mommy to die! You hated us! Why do you hate us daddy? Why do you hate me? You said you loved me! You held me in your arms! You looked so proud when you first saw me… what happened?" was this Dietlinde talking?
"N-Nothing happened… I didn't leave you to die… I do love you!" she gets fire in her eyes.
"Liar! You don't love mommy or me! I looked up to you as a father, I loved you, and in the short time I knew you I grew to love you. What happened to you? You changed so much…" I see tears begin to form in her eyes.
I start to call for a cab for the airport. How the hell was I going to tell him where to go? After looking around his house for awhile, I find a Japanese to English translation book. Score!
I start to pick her up, and when I get her in my arms, I begin to cradle her.
"Let… go of… me… I don't want you! Let go of me! You're not my daddy! Give me back my daddy!" she pushes away from my grip and falls to the ground. Her head literally caves in and she lays there lifeless. I once again run out of the room in tears. I thrust into a new room and see Karsten standing there with the revolver. He had it aiming point blank at my forehead.
"Why hello Mr. Ikari… how was your day?" a loud bang echoes through the room.
"Air… port…?" I'm trying to communicate with the driver. By some miracle, he understands me and drives to the airport. I board the plane just as the last call for it was made. This time, I take my seat near the front, just in case. Of course with my luck, they'd attack from the back! I was able to get to sleep fairly quickly; no babies, no snoring, no guns, just peace and quiet. That's exactly how I wanted it.
A/N- Flashback over. Now italics mean a different language again.
---
Five Hours Later
"The plane will be landing soon. Will you please fasten your seatbelts and raise your seat to the upright position. Thank you," I had no idea what she just said, but seeing everyone starting to get ready for a land told me enough. The plane shook and rattled as we took a hard landing. I finally was in Germany. Slowly, we get off the plane and I get to the nearest phone. I had no idea where NERV was, so I had to call Akagi and ask about it. After a few rings, I hear her voice.
"Hello?" thank God!
"Ritsuko, its Shinji. I need to know where NERV is," people stared at me as I spoke.
"Okay, give me a sec'…" after a few minutes of waiting in silence, she speaks again, "Okay, you're going to need to go to Berlin and go as far north as you can, but stay in Berlin. It'll be right there. It's about four times the size of the Japanese NERV, so you'll see it right away," sounded easy enough.
"Okay, thanks Rits'. See you later," I was about to hang up the phone when she spoke again.
"Shinji… be careful… get Asuka back…" I hear some distress in her voice.
"Don't worry; I'll be back by tomorrow. Thanks," with that, I hang up the phone. Berlin… great… how the HELL was I going to get a cab to take me there? I guess I could just say 'Berlin' and point north and pray to God he gets it. I wave down a cab – which by the way took forever – and go on with my plan.
"Where to buddy?" damn it…
"Berlin…" I point at the north sign on a compass he had mounted on the headboard. Like I hoped, he started to drive off with a smile… then I realized something… how was I going to pay? Sure, I had money, but all Yen, not whatever the hell they use here. I'm sure I could run faster then him… after about thirty minutes, he pulled to a stop. Akagi was right, it was huge! We were about two hundred feet from it.
"Okay, you see the meter. Now pay up," I start to reach into my pocket, pretending to get money, then jet out of the car and run to NERV, "You son of a bitch!" he ties to use the car to chase me, but luckily it wouldn't start. I hope this was a sign of things to come! When I get to the gates, I see two men standing there with guns drawn.
"Whoa! Hold up! I'm with NERV!" I take out my card and they put away the guns, "I'm pilot Ikari! I've been sent here for some testing," they open the gates and let me in. Without a word, I go inside and start to look around. After about five minutes of mindlessly wandering, I pull out my phone. I pray Akagi had the blueprints for this place.
"Hey Shinji. Are you inside?" how did she…?
"Y-Yeah… but I don't know where to go. Can you help?" she lets out a small chuckle.
"Of course I can! The MAGI has damn near ever piece of information there is on it! I have the blueprints here, just describe your surroundings to me," things are going my way today!
"Okay, I'm standing in the middle of a four-way intersection. One hall has no doors, the other has about ten, and the other has two. The one that I came down has one. Does that help?" after a few seconds, she speaks up.
"Okay, I know where you are. Go down the hall with two doors and go into the door to the left. You should be in a room with wires all around it. Got it?" I open the door to see what she described.
"Yeah, but it just looks like an electrical box to me, nothing else," she sighs a little.
"Shinji, do you want to get shot? You need to turn off the alarm. Pull out the thick blue wire and the alarm will be turned off. Once you do, you'll have three minutes before the main computer is alerted. After you pull it, run into the other room in that hall. You'll see an entry plug in there. That's Asuka. I know that you've done it before, so open the hatch and take her out," damn! My hands just got done healing from last time! It'll take longer with one hand too!
"Okay… here goes…" I rip out the wire and nothing happens. Following Akagi's instructions, I go into the other room and see the plug.
"Shinji, are you in the other room?" the plug was just laying there on the floor. A few wires came out from it, but aside from that nothing special, "Shinji? Are you there?"
"Y-Yeah… sorry…" one of the wires starts fill with a black fluid, then eventually goes into the plug. I hear Asuka scream again as I grab a hold of the hatch. It wasn't hot at all, just a little warm. I pull both latches open and the hatch swings open, "Asuka?" the LCL is still black, and I can still hear her screaming. I thrust my hand inside, dropping the phone, and grab her. No wonder she's screaming, it's hot as hell! I'm surprised it's not boiling! Painfully, I drag her out and see her pale face staring up at me.
"Shin… ji…" her red eyes stared up at me as her jaw loosely hung open.
"It's okay, I'm here Asuka…" I take her in my arms and start to run back out side where I came, only to find that it was being blocked by a metal wall, "Shit!" I start to run to God only knows where. Eventually come to a fork in the hallway.
"L-Left…" I hear a faint whisper coming from her, "Go… left…" she apparently knew what she was doing, so I follow her instructions. The long straight hall led me to two doors, each with German words on it, "Unit… 07… go… right…" Unit 07? "Go…" I open the door to see a huge Eva standing there. It was bright yellow, and had four eyes that shone bright white, just like Asuka's. The modeling was similar to my Eva, with a few changes. It had an open mouth and revealed a huge set of razor sharp teeth, "G-Get… in it…" was she telling me to pilot this thing? I see the plug sticking out of the back with an open hatch. She knew this much, so why object now? I carry her over to the plug and drop her in the LCL, and then I crawled into the pilot's seat. She was draped over my lap as I tried to start the thing.
"Any idea on how to start it?" she lugs her head up and looks at me. Normally, one would have to go through days of sync tests to make sure you're compatible with the Eva, but apparently that wasn't the case with this one. She looks over at a small switch that normally wasn't there. With a slow movement, she flips it and the Eva springs to life, "There's my smart Asuka!" she smiles slightly. I break away from the binds holding it up and start to walk towards the wall in front of me. With a quick jab, the wall falls to reveal open land. At first, I thought that I wasn't going to be able to run because of the power cord, but then I realize that this Eva has none, "So, this thing runs on… what, exactly?"
"Solar…" her eyes still stared up at me. It felt weird being in here without a plug suit on; I just had loose clothes that drifted in the liquid.
"You're the boss!" I start to run outside. This thing was fast! Easily three times as fast as my Eva! Within a few seconds, I was outside of Berlin and still running, all the while avoiding buildings. The trip was fairly peaceful until I get knocked down.
"Get your ass back here!" it sounded like Karsten… but I could understand him. I get up to see an Eva exactly like this one, only red, holding up a fist, obviously what knocked me down, "Give me back my dummy plug!" a small screen pops up with his face on it. Karsten was piloting the Eva! Asuka gets an enraged look on her face as she stares at the screen.
A/N- Karsten piloting an Eva? How did that happen? I got a little something planned, so it will make sense. Anyway, do you think Shinji will beat him? Will he even fight? What will happen to Asuka? Find out in the next chapter; New Discoveries, until then, keep on keepin' on!