Creation began on 03-17-19

Creation ended on 11-26-19

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Spilling onto the Streets

For the longest time, Shinji had forgotten what it felt like to have the fear of dying inflicted upon him whenever he was in a situation where it seemed death was unavoidable. This was the latest and greatest of impacts he had on him right now with his father, empowered by an ancient darkness from the depths of Hell and from his own, empty heart, out trying to kill him, unable to let go of his hatred towards him. Even now, as he hid in an alleyway to recover for a few minutes, Shinji had a hard time coming to grips with how much conviction his father had in his determination to take his life out of spite.

Those two swords didn't put the desire to end me in his head, he accepted as he felt his pulse slow down. He already had nothing but hatred towards me. Sounga and Tokijin merely unleashed his hatred and put action into his thoughts. Swords of Death and Hatred, indeed; Sounga will compel him to keep killing while Tokijin will compel him to continue swelling with hate towards me or anyone that stands in his way.

As the world around him quieted, so, too, did the screams of people he knew were either running in fear of his father…or were being killed by his use of either Sounga or Tokijin. He knew that this feud between father and son spilling out onto the streets where people had nothing to do with the former's hate was going to cost the latter dearly with every life taken. While the son had people to protect, people he was willing and able to protect, the father was alone, with nobody to protect, nobody he was willing to protect, and this was what made it more than a mere fight between father and son. This made it a fight between different beliefs and interests, morality and immorality, right and wrong, light and dark.

With some of his strength returned, Shinji got up and ran out of the alleyway, where he saw signs of his father's wrath afflicting the city and the people. Cars were totaled, splotches of blood were on the streets and sides of buildings, minor body parts scattered across the pavement and black flames; he was hoping that most of the people had been fortunate enough to get away.

"I can't believe he'd go this far," he told himself as he checked to see if there was anyone alive that couldn't get away from Gendo. Is this my fault…because I didn't do what might've been necessary to stop my father?

He couldn't answer for certain, only that he could undo the loss of life caused by his father or anyone else so long as he aimed to do so without wanting something in return. But he had to stop his father first to keep him from doing this further. Once Gendo was stopped, all those hurt or killed by his exploitation of Sounga and Tokijin could be healed and revived from death.

"Father!" He called out. "Come face me! I know you're nearby! Come face me, coward!"

It was his hope that by provoking him and inciting his fury that Gendo would appear and whoever was trying to hide from him would have more time to flee.

"It took me twenty-seven minutes to gather three-hundred minions on the streets here," he heard Gendo speak when he appeared behind himself, accompanied by several dead civilians under his control. "Strength in numbers, boy."

Shinji unsheathed Tenseiga, but even if he restored the people now, Gendo would just kill them again, repeating his attempts to hurt him all over again, like an unending cycle of death and rebirth. The only way to break the cycle…was to defeat Gendo so that he couldn't do it any further than he already had.

-x-

"…Kaji!" Kaji heard Misato's voice on the phone as he finally got ahold of her.

"It's about time the came went through," he responded, relieved to hear her voice again as he looked outside his apartment at the streets. "What's going on out there?"

"Commander Ikari," she went. "He…he just started attacking people at NERV HQ. He has two swords like Shinji does, but his are just messed up. He's killing people in an attempt to kill Shinji. Right now, Shinji's dealing with him, but their fight has spilled out onto the streets of Tokyo-3! I've never seen a man with this much hatred towards one person explode in fury towards him like this."

Misato had confided in Kaji about the two swords in Shinji's possession, how one could revive people from death so long as he valued life and the other could enable him to face strong adversaries so long as he did so with the aim to protect the defenseless. But they knew nothing about how Shinji came into possession of these swords beyond the fact that some stranger on the streets gave them to him. And now that Gendo had a pair of swords of his own to rival Shinji, it seemed like there was a blood feud between father and son, instigated by the father because he couldn't control the son any longer. Whatever the case was now, things were only going to get worse so long as the father had it out for the son, who would likely try to fight back, but had very little incentive to reduce his old man to a memory.

"Where's Shinji now in the city?" Kaji asked her.

"I'm not sure where he is," she explained. "I'm still in the Geo-Front assessing the damage with Ritsuko. Some of the personnel here all say that Commander Ikari killed them, but Shinji revived them, describing the former as some sort of demon with large claws while describing Shinji as some sort of angelic being wielding two blades of light. This is insane. Everything was fine this morning, but now it's like something out of a nightmare."

"Just do what you can, Misato," he encouraged her.

-x-

"Aaaurgh!" Shinji grunted, having been slammed against a car by one of Gendo's undead minions, who were a lot stronger than they might've been when their heart was beating.

"Pathetic," went Gendo, standing by, just watching his dead slaves wear his son out so that when he fought him himself, he'd be too weak to put up a fight. "I had expected you to be better than this. I was told that your possession of the Tessaiga and Tenseiga made you almost invincible, but you clearly lack one thing that makes you more than a mere swordsman."

If he says I lack the will to do what is necessary, it'll be no different from how he views me as a useless coward, thought Shinji as he got back up and slashed the dead minion in half with Tessaiga. "What I lack in one thing, I compensate in other ways."

"You lack a killer instinct," his father told him, "the very drive to end life until there is only your own life left."

"That's Sounga talking, not a man of reason or morality," he responded, seeing the corpse return to normal due to its demonic energy being sliced away, leaving no means for it to reanimate and continue opposing him. "That's the Sword of Hell and World Conquest. Wielding it comes with a high price, Father. It compels you to kill, even when there's no reason to do so. It's a terrible shame to let your sword goad and control you."

"You're wrong, boy. I'm in complete control."

"You may sound like it, but I can see better than you right now. Hatred and death have consumed you, ripped you up and stitched you back together again. Are you that desperate to want me to suffer like the people you've killed?"

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to watch you die."

Brandishing his Dragon-scaled Tessaiga at the rest of Gendo's dead minions, Shinji hoped to keep his father focused on him so as to keep him from going after more people to kill them and reanimate their remains to create more slaves. There was no doubt in his mind that Gendo was being influenced by Sounga more than Tokijin; the Sword of Hell was a weapon that held the most influence out of the two swords that his father possessed, able to compel a human to kill without end due to being pure evil trapped in demon-forged steel, while the Tokijin carried the hatred of a lesser demon that had been killed by the previous wielder of the Tessaiga, augmenting the hatred of its current wielder to hold a much greater grudge against whoever had the Tessaiga in the present, meaning his father also hated him just for having the sword.

He is a child facing a living god. Gendo heard the voice from before say to him, compelling him to attack Shinji more. He knows not his place in this world, which is below the foundations. Weaken him, lessen his conviction to protect.

"Rip him to pieces," he ordered the undead civilians, and they charged towards Shinji.

Shinji inhaled a new breath and raised his sword up over his head; the move he was going to use was going to weigh heavily on his heart.

"Huuurgh!" He yelled and swung the sword down, unleashing a stream of light towards the undead civilians.

-x-

"…How are we supposed to go home when we live close to the city?" Kensuke asked Toji as they were evacuating the school due to the attack on the city.

"The police reports are sketchy at best, but some people are saying a crazy man with two swords is killing while fighting another man with two swords that seems to be on the defensive…with the people killed by him getting back up," Toji explained.

"That sounds like the one on the defensive is Shinji; despite his practice with his swords, he's never fought anyone with swords before."

"But who'd want to fight Shinji? It makes no sense; it'd be insane to face him if he's more powerful than he appears."

"Hey!" A female student yelled out to the other students in the hall. "The police got confirmation on the crazy man that's been killing people on the city! It's a man by the name of Gendo Ikari!"

Toji and Kensuke looked at one another in realization that if it was Shinji's father that was the cause of the attacks, then it could only mean that the other person on the defensive in the city was none other than Shinji, most likely trying to stop his father and undo the deaths he caused.

"This is bad," Toji expressed.

"Worse than bad," Kensuke added. "This is a nightmare because Shinji's father might try to kill him out there."

"Suzuhara?" They turned around and saw Hikari behind them. "I need to ask you something."

Toji shuddered; it wasn't official or anything, but he and Hikari had been spending a little of their time together. Although he hadn't told her about what had happened in the Unit-03 incident that led to Shinji's resignation from NERV and why the boy refused to pilot the Eva further. Who in their very sanity would believe that someone was killed and later brought back to life by a sword meant to heal the living?

"Yes?" He responded.

"This other person in the city being attacked," Hikari spoke. "It's Shinji, isn't it? His father's out to get him? I mean, to kill him, isn't he?"

"That…that's what we think is happening," he admitted. "We don't know why, though."

-x-

They may as well have been corpses. All their demonic energy that reanimated them had been cut away from their decaying flesh, and they were scattered across the pavement in between Shinji and Gendo.

Gendo didn't even think his son was capable of disposing of his minions without damaging their corpses, but had somehow severed them from the Sounga's energy with that sword of his with the scales on the back of its blade. All he could understand about the sword, this Tessaiga…was how it was capable of adaptation due to absorption and assimilation of certain energies and converting them to its own use, something the former owner hadn't put to use in life, but something the previous owner had before Shinji gained it. But because he had no knowledge of any of these other abilities the sword possessed, Gendo was at a disadvantage against Shinji's refined understanding of the sword.

"You're just borrowing the power of the previous masters of those swords, boy," he told him.

Panting and with his sword pointed down, Shinji responded, "We all borrow strength, wisdom or even courage from the ones that came before us. What matters is how we use these borrowed gifts, how we choose to use them. Look at us, Father. Look at how we differ now from each other. I want to protect and preserve life for the sake of peace and freedom for everyone left on the planet, but you… You're so swept up in your hatred for me that you can't stop to see what you've done to yourself and those around you! How many people have to die before you're convinced that what you're doing is for something good, that saving people from the so-called end of the world, is truly worth it all in the end?!"

"I was never in the business of saving anyone's lives. NERV might've been tasked with defeating the Angels, but it was never about saving people. People are expendable, this city is expendable, even you are expendable!"

That hit Shinji cold. Just what was his father saying? What was Sounga or Tokijin making him say? Or was this even their influence?

"What…what are you saying?" He asked him.

"Even before I came into possession of Sounga and Tokijin, I never cared for the safety of the human race," Gendo explained. "I don't care about the people here in Japan, or in China, Germany or even the States! You're all no different from cattle, just something to cultivate until it's time to harvest another potential resource to exploit! Even if the price to defeat one Angel was to sacrifice you pilots, I would've gladly paid it again and again until they were all defeated. But then you, you of all people, the one I viewed as the most expendable, had to go and receive a way to escape the fate I designed for you to play out until you died! You just walked away from your purpose in life when some old demon decided to entrust his swords to the likes of you, a worthless brat and useless pilot that didn't need to do anything beyond piloting the Eva until I had fulfilled my goal. Why he decided to entrust you with such power is beyond my understanding, but I'll tell you this: Ever since you abandoned NERV and later abandoned the Eva in favor of being the hero that uses two swords to face adversity from whosoever stands in your way, I've hated your rebellious behavior more and more, just wanting to erase your wretched existence from the face of this world…because my greatest mistake…was trying to exploit you, who refused to be subservient to my cause!"

Then…Gendo dashed forward, both Sounga and Tokijin brandished in front of Shinji, who blocked with Tessaiga.

SLAM! Shinji was sent flying through a building wall and out onto the next street where there were some people hiding in cars and the buildings across the street.

He looked up at them and saw their fear.

"Run!" He yelled for them to do; when his father attacked him seconds ago, he felt the full weight of his hatred towards him, something that wasn't amplified by either Sounga or Tokijin, meaning the disgust Gendo felt towards his only son and the world in general…was entirely his own, untainted. "Argh!"

"Rrrraaugh!" Gendo roared as he came through the hole he caused Shinji to make when he was slammed, wielding Tokijin on its own.

Shinji blocked with Tessaiga again when he got up, causing friction between the two blades as the demonic energies collided against one another. But the energy surrounding Shinji was less than what it had been before. He was affected by Gendo's harsh truth towards him, and it showed in his defense, his weakened conviction to fight back against him. He was angry and hurt by his choice of words and his brutal honesty in his hatred, but he was more hurt than angry, uncertain of whether or not he should cause his father physical pain that was incapable of being mended without demonic aid.

"I can see clearly now, boy!" Gendo yelled at him as he pushed backwards, his shoes causing the friction on the ground to fracture the pavement. "You are beyond any hope of surviving! It's time to put you in the ground!"

Even with half his face smeared in his own blood from earlier, Shinji could only see the darkness unleashed from his heart towards him…and his conviction to end him.

Thunk! Something hit Gendo on his head, causing him to look to his left, seeing a little girl with a piece of debris in her hands.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" He demanded of her, and she threw the debris at him a second time.

"My brother told me about Mr. Shinji's father," she uttered, and Shinji got the suspicion that this was Toji's sister, recently released from the hospital after his nightly use of Tenseiga on the sick and dying people of the city. "He said you were a bad man that hurt his friend with cold words. I see that he was right about you. Mr. Ikari, you're a horrible person and a terrible father!"

Gendo felt crossed by the girl and brushed off Shinji to focus on killing her, compelled by the wills of Sounga and Tokijin.

Shinji, unable to allow his father to hurt this girl, no matter how much his father's words hurt him, got up and willed his Tessaiga to shift into its diamond form.

I only met my old man once, kid, Inuyasha had told him. I didn't say anything to him, but I knew that he cared about my mother and I. He died to keep us safe from the previous wielder of Sounga, Takemaru. But your father, this man that is being exploited by Sounga and Tokijin, there's no trace of any affection towards you. No love or trust. As much as you want to hope for some sort of redemption towards him, even at a time like this…

His conviction is unbreakable, went Sesshomaru. There's no point in hoping if he desires not your love but your death above all else. And his hatred…will relentlessly end the lives of anyone he sees as his enemy. You, the girl, your guardian, you're all the same to him now, an enemy in his way of whatever it is that he wants…until he no longer wants it.

No matter what he does to me, nobody deserves to die because of his hate. Shinji had to accept as he swung his sword at his father. "Don't take your eyes off your opponent, Father!"

Diamond shards struck Gendo on his back and legs, halting his advance on the girl, but he didn't scream or show any sign of feeling pain. He turned to face Shinji, whose expression was one of determination and rage.

"Sounds like someone got their nerves replaced with steel," he told his son, crimson markings starting to appear on his face as a blue gemstone appeared on his chest.

"I can't let you kill any more people because you hate everyone around you," Shinji told him. "I want to believe in there being hope for your soul, but not if you don't want to be saved. You're a lost cause…and lost people can't be saved unless they want to be saved."

"Well, then, you must fall into that category, as well. You're beyond salvation."

"Wrong. I'm saved because I want to live in this world, no matter how maimed it is, with the people that live in it, no matter how different they are. You want to eliminate anyone and everyone that stands in your way, and I will do what I can to ensure they have a future that is without the likes of you in it!"

Re-brandishing Sounga with Tokijin, Gendo returned his attention to Shinji, who charged with both Tessaiga and Tenseiga, his determination to defeat his father renewed.

Why do you seek power? They both heard the question of original master of three of the swords being used.

To kill my son for ruining my life! Gendo thought.

To protect the people I want in my life, thought Shinji, and their blades clashed again.

-x-

Rei was worried. Even in the Entry Plug of Unit-00, the only Eva she could operate without much restriction, her concerns weighed heavily upon her.

Ikari-Kun, she thought, wondering what he was up to and why she felt he was in some sort of trouble somewhere.

"So you were in the Eva the whole time?!" Rei heard the Second Child's voice over the intercom. "Verdammt, First Child, do you have any idea what's going on out here?!"

"I do not," Rei responded simply.

Asuka's face appeared on the holographic screen in the plug and the redhead went, "Shinji's father has gone insane and started killing people! Now he's trying to kill his own son, out in the city, killing other people, left and right!"

Rei's normally-neutral expression…then shifted to one of concern.

"Where in the city are they now?" She asked.

To be continued…

A/N: Well, I wanted to make it seem that even though Gendo had two swords with the most negative influences on their wielders, his own will was very direct in his hatred towards Shinji. What did y'all think?