Shinji Ikari began to reemerge from the depths of subconsciousness. A second consciousness greeted him.
"Shinji. I have had the way out revealed to me. But I must warn you, it is a very complicated process, and there is by no means a guarantee of success."
"So soon after I wake up?" Shinji complained. "Okay, I guess I'm ready. What is it?"
"It is a ceremony called The Purification and Uniting of Souls. It is a very difficult concept to grasp, and it is even harder to be self-induced. However, since we are just two consciousnesses, this should not be as difficult as if, say we were two bodies." Zeruel said.
"What is it?"
"In the simplest possible terms, and not completely accurate, we break down the barrier between our selves, and allow those to reform as one. That would be the best possible outcome."
"Best possible?" Shinji gulped. He did not like where this was going. "So, if getting out of this alive is the best possible outcome, what else can happen?"
"Oh a great deal of things…for one, it could fail. I've learned that there are many possible bad outcomes to this ceremony. We may end up dealing with many more selves, or, we may not be able to reform into a self. This vessel would fall into a vegetative state, even further than what it already is."
"This sounds risky…I almost don't want to do this." Shinji said.
Zeruel gave Shinji a sensation of great worry. "So am I, however, this was probably the best option available."
Shinji grew pale. "What do you mean 'best option available'?"
Zeruel gave Shinji another sensation, this time of fear. "You do not want to see some of the things I saw when this was revealed to me. I hope you had a peaceable rest, Shinji, this will probably feel like a trip through hell."
"Wait! We're going to start this now?!?" Shinji said, immediately losing all traces of the drowsiness that had gripped his brain.
"No time like the present, Shinji, and when the fate of the world rests on the combined actions of you and my brothers and sisters, this is doubly so. I am greatly worried, as I sense the approach of another Angel." Zeruel said.
"Wait, there's an Angel coming into Tokyo-3, I should at least hear sirens!" Shinji yelled.
"You misunderstood me. There are still Angels coming out of the woodworks. The prophesies say so themselves. The prophesies say there are to be three more messengers to test the will of the Chosen One, after which the Third Judgement will begin. I have read the scrolls myself, and they give a general timetable through veiled clues as to when the Angels will appear individually. I am sensing that the timetables are pointing to the next Angel attack very shortly. We must hurry, and become one fighting spirit, so that we may take our place and fight the Angel as it has been prophesied."
"Okay. So, what do we need to do?"
"You must relax, and let your body go. Begin to concentrate on an experience we both went through together, and my idea would to be to go into our battle. Once we find a way into each other's selves, then the rest will come."
"Fine, let's do this!" Shinji steeled himself for the onslaught that was about to begin.
-
Ritsuko walked into the room, with an attendant who carried a small black box. A biohazard sign distinguished the box as something out of the ordinary. Misato, still standing guard over Shinji, immediately noticed.
"What the hell is that? What the hell are you going to do here?"
Ritsuko brushed the questions aside. She motioned for the nurse to prep the needle. Meanwhile, she began preparing Shinji's arm in the inner elbow. She nodded, and the assistant handed her the needle. Before either of them knew it, a loaded gun was placed at Ritsuko's temple.
"You're hiding something from me again. Now, it is my responsibility to care for Shinji, and I demand to know what the hell you're about to inject."
Ritsuko frowned. "I really thought you were above such actions, Misato. If you really must know, under orders from the commander, we are going to inject a psychoactive drug, more powerful than LSD, into his bloodstream. The Magi system predict a 20 chance of success."
Misato frowned. Orders from the top were never good. "He's been out for two days, and you're already resorting to extreme measures. What kind of people are you?!?"
"Sorry, orders from the top demand that we have him out of his coma in less than three days, or we could all lose our jobs here." There was a hidden meaning in there, Misato could tell by the subtle inflection in her voice. It was obviously something the nurse wasn't going to be cleared to hear. Instead, Misato decided to confirm it. "Michael's coming back?"
Ritsuko was puzzled for a moment by the seemingly random sentence, but quickly got the hidden meaning. "Yes. Now, put the gun down, and let me do my job." Misato dropped her arm, and put the pistol back into her holster.
-
Concentrate on a common experience…concentrate on a common experience…the battle…the battle…the battle…
Shinji felt the details of the battle come back to him. He remembered the adrenaline rushing through his veins, the raw power he felt coming from deep within. He remembered the first hit he landed on the Angel, but he felt something else. It was a pain, as if someone had smashed a brick into his head. He surmised that he was feeling the pain Zeruel felt during the fight.
He began to wrestle with the Angel, fighting it into the catapult room. He remembered the raw power he felt, he remembered the arm he felt he lost. But deep down, he began to feel another emotion. Fear. It was the fear that he might lose. It was the fear that he may lose his humanity in the fight.
More and more, Shinji began to feel Zeruel's side. Agonizing pain as his face was ground against the wall as the catapult rocketed upwards. Tendons ripping in his neck as the Eva attempted to pull his head off. And then relief and anger as the Eva collapsed. Those emotions mixed with Shinji's emotions of denial and fear as he struggled at the controls, desperately trying to get the Eva running again.
Zeruel managed to squeak out a thought, deeply set, and not directed at Shinji. I think its working…
Shinji began to feel himself melt away, but he was unsure. This is what he felt like as his sync ratio became ever higher. And then he realized it. Zeruel and him were attempting to get their sync ratios higher, just as what had happened during the battle. Shinji jammed forward, flooding his consciousness over Zeruel. He began to see of Zeruel's human life, his family, his job, his coworkers.
Zeruel felt his consciousness coming to an end, as Shinji's spilled over. He realized that Shinji's consciousness was much higher than his own, and that they would not be one soul, both with equal shares. Shinji would be the dominant personality, himself, relegated to a much smaller share. Brave warrior Shinji Ikari, you will remain, myself, I will not exist for much longer. Before I leave you, I must give you a word of warning. What has happened has happened, there is nothing that can change that. Do not dwell on the past, or you will find it will consume you. And never be afraid to be your true self, there is no sense in hiding. If you are true to yourself, then will find you cannot lie to others. There are people around you that need you, even if you don't think it yourself. Goodbye, Shi-
A massive shock spasmed through Shinji's conscious, almost retreating. Zeruel felt himself shock, then almost fade from existence. And still the memories played over, looping over and over. Shinji felt his anger swell, and insatiable urge to kill the Angel. But as suddenly as it came, the feeling left. Shinji searched around in his conscious for Zeruel, but he was gone. In his last moment of true consciousness, Shinji realized he was alone, and that his neural connections were beginning to come back. He no longer could move on his own will, but seizures were beginning to wrack his body.
-
"Dammit, dammit, dammit! Something's wrong here." Ritsuko said. Shinji had gone into violent spasms, ripping the psychographic sensors off his head. "Misato, hold him down! I've got to get these IVs out before he gets damage." Misato, standing in shock beside the bed, immediately reacted, throwing herself onto Shinji to keep him restrained. Ritsuko worked quickly, removing the IVs from his arms, and disconnecting any wires that could wrap around Shinji and hurt him. "Okay, everything's off. Nurse, quick, give me the other needle." The nurse quickly primed the needle and handed it to Ritsuko.
"Misato, hold his arm still, this should stop the seizures in a couple of minutes."Misato firmly grabbed two places on Shinji's arm, while Ritsuko jammed the needle in and injected the serum. Slowly, Shinji's seizures slowed, then stopped. Ritsuko breathed a sigh of relief. "At least we got past the worst of it. I don't know what caused that, but most likely Shinji had a severe reaction to the drug. We're going to have to take him down for a scan, because most reactions like that generally involve brain swelling as well."
"Wh—wha—what happened?" Said a tiny little voice at the top of the bed.
"Shinji?" Misato turned her head from Ritsuko to Shinji. Staring back at her was a pair of intense blue eyes. "Shinji! You're okay!" Misato wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him one of her renowned hugs, with Shinji's face buried deep within her cleavage.
"Misato? What are you doing here? And why are you on top of me?"
There was an interruption, as the Angel alarms began to sound. Ritsuko grabbed her cell phone and began to make a call to the Commander, but Misato's phone rang first. "Yes, this is Major Katsuragi….false alarm you say…from the hospital…you detected an AT field just now though…interesting….Ritsuko's right here with me, she can give it a look in a little while, we have more pressing issues here…okay….okay…yes…bye." There was a click as Misato hung up her phone.
Three attendants came in, and began to slide the bed out of the room. "Misato, I'll see you later. Shinji, we need to get you ready for an MRI scan." There was a faint whispering from Shinji, but Ritsuko shook her head. "Sorry Shinji, Misato can't come along. Don't give me that look!" The bed was wheeled out, and Misato was left standing alone in the room.
Well, the first story 'arc' is complete. Its not really an arc, just a two part episode I guess. There's a lot more to this story, and I have it planned up until just after the battle with the 15th. I had this almost ready to release last night, but kinda got worried that it was subpar, and rewrote a large chunk of this last night. Originally, I had the opening of this chapter planned as a conversation between Asuka and Misato about Shinji, but that kinda fell apart on me, since it really didn't seem like it fit into the story and didn't move us anywhere. The next chapter will probably contain parts of that conversation that I can salvage. Anyway, until next time, enjoy!