Creation began on 05-22-23

Creation ended on 07-24-23

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Vengeance of the Seven: Come What May

Maybe it was against the ambitions of a lot of powerful and dangerous people that hid in the shadows of the world, but Fuyutsuki gave the order for Misato to dispose of the First Angel. And that was exactly what she did.

Misato turned the container over and watched as the Adam embryo fell to the floor. Then, with all of her might, she brought her right foot down on the embryo and reduced it to mush. It didn't even try to put up a resistance.

"Is it over?" She asks Fuyutsuki.

"For now, it is," he responds. "Medical security is escorting Shinji Ikari here right now."

"Which one?"

"There's only one."

True to his words, three medical security officers came into the command center and brought along the young man holding a kitten in a pouch at his side.

"Shinji?" Misato questions quietly. "Are you…you?"

"Me…with my seven desires that make me the person I am most of the time…and my new pet."

She notices that it's the same kitten Shinji's lust was caring for and had to wonder just what he knew about what his sins had done.

"Just…how much do you…"

"Everything," Shinji cut her off. "Everything they ever said to anyone, everything they ever did to anyone, I know it all as if it was me the whole time…and it was me…in eight different places, one of which was a hospital bed, sleeping in the darkness."

"Do you…know what happened to…"

"My father? Misato…he deserved what befell him. Him…and my mother. They deserved what they got in the end. Do I regret that they're dead? No, I don't. Toji died because of them. I made a choice to undo a mistake I made, which was piloting the Eva to begin with because of those two, who condemned an innocent life to death for a selfish reason! I made a different outcome, and now they can't hurt anyone else ever again because they're both in Hell! Where they belong! Would I do it all over again? If it meant saving someone whose life mattered more than my own, then it's a choice I can live with. So, I guess the next question should be the obvious one: What are you going to do with me? I split myself into seven different incarnations of my desires, and they carried out the revenge that I couldn't do myself, which included murdering my old man. What is my fate to be?"

Of course, that was the big question that needed an answer. While it was true that Gendo had been killed by one of Shinji's Seven Deadly Sins, the likelihood that he would face any penalty for what his seven desires did didn't seem very likely to occur. Even Misato didn't think Shinji would face any punishment for his role in causing his father's death or extensive damage to the Eva; he was in more than one place, seen by multiple people, and had the semblance of justification to do what he did. But she didn't want to chance it.

"Your father was murdered by what can only be described as a brute of a young man by the name of Shinji Ikari," went Fuyutsuki in response to his question, "however, you don't fit the description of the man that killed him. The cameras saw the murder…and the murderer left once he carried out his objective along with six other people that called themselves Shinji Ikari. When the murder occurred, the Third Child we know as Shinji Ikari was in a vegetative state, meaning he couldn't have committed murder or damage Unit-01. Plus, it appeared that these individuals possessed abilities that were impossible to obtain by other means, while the Third Child demonstrated no such abilities, so you technically don't have any abilities that can't be explained, do you?"

"I'm just a regular person, sir," Shinji claimed; unless he used the relic that had enabled him to separate himself from his sins a second time, and he doubt that he could do so again. "I don't have bone spears or great strength, or even a tattoo on my skin."

"Then…the actual culprits are in the wind."

Misato couldn't believe this! The sub-commander knew that Shinji was involved in what happened…but was willing to look the other way because of what he had witnessed. It was like knowing full well that someone in front of you was a known felon who had committed a series of murders…and choosing not to turn them in because they probably saved your life from someone else who was just as dangerous as a favor. But then again, it was because of Shinji's sins that she found out about his father possessing the Adam embryo and handing it over to her to dispose of.

-x-

It took longer than expected of them in this situation, but Units-00 and 02 were able to dispose of the Angel floating above them in space. With the enemy dealt with, they returned to NERV HQ and Asuka and Rei vacated their Entry Plugs.

"We nearly got defeated because of that stupid idiot," Asuka complained about Shinji as they walked down the hall. "Seven of him are a bigger pain than just one of him alone!"

"Eight," Rei corrected her. "There are eight of Ikari-Kun; one is in a coma and the other seven are loose in the base."

"Actually," went Dr. Akagi as she came to greet them, "it's just the one now."

"Just one?" Asuka asks.

"The other seven left after doing what they set out to do, and Shinji regained consciousness from his coma."

"And what did they come here to do, hassle everyone?"

"They damaged Unit-01 beyond repair…and murdered Commander Ikari."

The First and Second Children were stunned by this revelation!

"Ikari-Kun…murdered his father?" Rei questions.

"Technically, his wrathful side murdered him," Ritsuko clarified. "His pride released him from all restraint…and he carried out his desire to make sure that his father couldn't harm another person like he blames him for the Fourth Child's initial death. We have the footage."

Asuka didn't want to admit it, but if Shinji had a side of him that was considered his vengeful side, representing his need to get even with whoever hurt him, she was afraid to meet him again if he was around. The mere fact that Shinji was capable of such brutality is what made her fearful of pushing him too far now, and he only committed such brutality because of a friend's wrongful death. If he was able to cross the line over something like that because it was someone that mattered to him, she feared what he could do to her if he decided that she needed to pay a price for her abuse.

"Will he face the repercussions of his actions?" Rei wanted to know.

"No," Ritsuko reveals.

"What?!" Asuka questions. "He murders his father…and he gets to walk?!"

"Technically speaking, he was in a coma when the murder occurred, and it was committed by someone with his name and a similar appearance. Because of this, and because the seven sins that represented Shinji have left, he is exempt from whatever consequences his seven sins would've faced, including the one representing his vengeful nature. Even if we wanted to charge Shinji with his father's murder, how can we prove he did anything when he was in a coma the entire time…and there were seven other individuals with the same name that disappeared not so long after?"

Even with the surveillance footage, it wouldn't be possible to hold Shinji accountable for his father's murder or the destruction of Unit-01. As it was said and confirmed, the boy was in a coma during the whole time this was happening.

"But on the other hand, he has nothing here to hold any sway over him," the faux-blond expresses, "and once he signs his resignation forms, he'll be free to leave."

"What?!" Asuka demands. "He's quitting?! Again?!"

"Unit-01 is damaged and we can't repair it this time. The core was destroyed, which was not replaceable, rendering the Eva inoperable. No Eva accommodated to the pilot means the pilot is no longer valid."

"No way! He shouldn't be allowed to just leave after he does this!"

"Except, technically speaking," Rei states with better understanding of the matter, "he never did anything because he was in a coma. This was done by seven people that had his name and likeness, and they have disappeared. Even if they were carrying out a hidden desire Ikari-Kun possessed to hurt his father, he can't be held responsible for his murder. It would be tantamount to charging a small child with a murder just because they were present when it occurred and they did nothing to prevent it from happening."

-x-

Standing before the destruction caused to Unit-01 by his sins, Shinji felt a calmness in him that he didn't feel earlier when he saw this abomination that had been his mother's tomb for the better part of his entire life.

It doesn't matter why you did it, Mother, he thinks as he assesses the damage caused by his sins, you chose the Eva over your family, a falsehood over what you had. You had family and friends, and you traded it all away for fake divinity as a monster you chose to exploit for your own purposes. You chose the Eva over me, so you deserved to die because of the Eva and its repercussions. Nobody deserves to be a god at the cost of so much pain and suffering. I hope you and Father are in agony in that miserable place you've been condemned to…and I hope that whatever actual gods that you do believe in…are at least watching over you with some measure of compassion…because I have none left for either of you.

Even if he did feel some grief over their deaths, it was just displaced grief he could've felt for someone else that didn't deserve whatever hand they were dealt with because of what they did. How was family supposed to be like if the two people he no longer viewed as family…were the monsters he had to release his seven desires on to punish them? But now he was free of them, able to make his own decisions that didn't tie into their ambitions, whatever they were. And Toji was alive again, so he had no guilty conscience holding him back from how he felt or what he wanted to do.

"You idiot!" He heard Asuka's voice as she came onto the umbilical bridge to face him. "You think just because you were in a coma when this all happened, you're the victim?! You think you can walk away just because your Eva got trashed?! Who do you think you are?!"

He balled his right fist…and instinctively decked the redhead in her face, knocking her back. It hurt his hand, but it felt good to let his emotions out.

"Augh," she groaned, feeling her face and noticing that her nose was bleeding as she faced him. "What is wrong with you?!"

"You approached me, not the other way around, Asuka," he told her. "You yell at me, belittle me, and think that I care about the Eva when I don't care about it, the Angels or the world. You want to think I give a damn about any of it now just because I choose to walk away, that's on you, but don't think for a second that I'll let you disrespect me any further."

"Only a coward would walk away."

"That's your opinion, and I care not for it. You want to prove you're the best, do it to someone that actually cares about what you care about. Leave me the Hell alone, Asuka Langley Soryu."

Asuka looked at him…and for a second…she almost saw his seven desires again, standing around him, looking at her with contempt because she approached him.

"Mew," they heard the mewing of Sutego, and Shinji held up the kitten in the pouch beside his waist. "Mew."

"Sorry, Sutego," he apologized to the kitten. "I'll be going now, Asuka. This may be the last time we ever see each other. Goodbye."

The boy walked away…and Asuka found herself feeling bitter towards him. Bitter because he chose to walk away, because he had no further reason to stay. She hated him for choosing to do so. Not because there were still Angels to face…but because there were other reasons to stay and be around them.

-x-

"…So, we're really just letting him go?" Hyuga asks Misato as people watched Shinji vacate the premises as he headed towards the train station leaving out of the city.

"It's what he wants," she tells him.

"But…he doesn't have anything to go back to," Shigeru states; it was to his and everyone else's knowledge that Shinji didn't contact his uncle, so there was no indication that he was returning to that man's home.

"He's not going back to his uncle," Ritsuko reveals. "He's going elsewhere."

She could've done anything to convince him to stay, but she doubt that she could after what he went through. Even if he no longer had to pilot the Eva, there was still going to be bad blood between himself and NERV for what befell his father. And he just wanted to put it all behind himself and start anew. She wasn't sure where he was going to go or how he was going to survive, but she knew this for certain: Shinji Ikari was a man unbound because he severed the chains of his unbearable past to move towards a better future that was his to create.

-x-

Opening his eyes, Kaworu Nagisa found himself in a room that was as empty as his mindscape currently was. He remembers the people that all resembled the Third Child, but had no intention of wanting to meet the young man after the vicious beating he received from one of them for nearly putting a kitten out of its misery. The mere thought of seeing any of them actually put the fear of death in him; a young man that seemed so angry…and vengeful…at everyone around them…didn't interest him in the slightest.

And they were believed to be related to the Third Child? He wonders as he tries to rise up. I was told that he was a weak-willed boy, but those two that came at me were…anything but weak-willed, and one of them was a girl.

-x-

"They released the Third Child from their holding," SEELE 10 informed the council once they were made aware of Gendo's murder.

"What of the status of Unit-01?" SEELE 04 asks.

"Its core was destroyed beyond repair," SEELE 07 reveals. "It's useless. Even if we could salvage its S² Engine, it's no longer effective because the soul of the Eva is no longer present."

"The loss of Unit-01…and the loss of Ikari…and the loss of the Third Child," went SEELE 12. "How did this happen?"

"From what Fuyutsuki told us, Ikari had someone else that despised him as much as anyone else did and made him pay for his crimes," SEELE 02 reported. "These seven individuals that resembled the Third Child."

"And what became of them?" SEELE 01 wanted to know.

"After killing Ikari and damaging Unit-01 beyond repair, they disappeared."

"What of the Third Child? Was there any indication that he was somehow involved in this?" SEELE 05 asks.

"No. He was in a coma during the entire time these seven were present. After they left, he recovered and resigned."

"Where is he going?"

"In the wind. NERV isn't currently tracking his whereabouts."

"How could they let him resign?"

"It was his choice."

-x-

Before he made his journey to a shelter, Shinji wanted to make sure that the reason he made his choice to do what he did was in one piece. Stopping at a building in a different city, he looked at the list of names on each doorbell, finding the one that he was looking for…and pressed the button.

"Suzuhara residence," a man's voice spoke up. "Who is it?"

"Shinji Ikari, here to see Toji Suzuhara," he answers.

"Wait a minute, please."

Shinji waited for what felt like an eternity, with each second passing feeling like a whole day had gone by. The front door to the building opened up…and he saw the young man that he never thought he'd see again.

"Shinji," went Toji, "you're here."

"I…just wanted to make sure you were still here," he told him, happy to see him alive again.

"I don't know how you did it…or why you felt you had to…but thank you for bringing me back. I'm grateful, really, I am."

"It's okay. You…should take care now."

"Where are you going?"

"Honestly? Somewhere with a better view of the scenery than what I've witnessed…and hopefully where nobody gives a damn about who I am."

"Were there…really…seven of you for a while?"

"Yeah. Some people understand and believe seven to be a powerful number, for many reasons. For me, it was my seven desires that made my parents pay for their mistakes. Instead of these virtues that people go on about that make us morally significant, I had to rely upon the seven vices within my soul…to free me from some people that were beyond any salvation."

"Seven Deadly Sins. Which one was your primary sin?"

"Personally?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd guess Envy."

"Why?"

"Most of everyone else around me seemed to have actual relationships with their parents…while I didn't have any relationships with my own…and it hurt because my own were not good people in any sense of the word. Yours?"

"Probably Greed."

"You don't strike me as being avaricious, Toji."

"I only agreed to pilot the Eva because I wanted to get better medical care for my sister. I got greedy…and it killed me."

"That's not avarice, Toji. That's being selfless. You were practically willing to trade your life away for someone else to be able to enjoy their own. If you had an avaricious drive, you'd want everything for yourself. You'd want wealth and fame, women, sex and power, demanding the best and finest in your life. Greed has many ways of making itself known…but wanting to help your sister get better…isn't among them. Your selflessness…is a virtue. That alone will get you into Heaven when it's truly your time to leave this world."

"Thank you, Shinji."

With that, Shinji turned to walk away. Seeing his friend alive again was his personal absolution from the darkness he had been wandering through. Even if nothing good happened later in his future, it was still his life that he made sure was free from being controlled and cast aside by those that were no longer part of it…and he had to live it on his terms.

"Mew," he heard Sutego in his pouch.

"It's just you and me, Sutego," he told the kitten as he stopped at a train station and waited for the next train. "Just a kitten…and a man freed by his sins."

To be continued…

A/N: What would y'all think about a chapter set in the future of this story?