Creation began on 08-19-14
Creation ended on 11-03-14
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Vengeance of the Seven: Set into motion
"…We found him laying on the ground with bruises, two broken ribs and his left arm and right leg broken," went an officer to a doctor, as the gray-haired teen that tried to kill a kitten as an act of mercy because it was starving was being brought into the hospital to have his injuries tended to. "Somebody beat the crap out of this kid and left him for dead."
As he was slipping in and out of consciousness, the boy could only think of the last thing he saw before he was found by the police officer that was out on the streets…was the boy that beat him to a pulp whilst the girl that was with him simply watched while tending to the kitten. How they seemed so similar to one another…and yet they were so different from one another at the same time. Another thing that was unusual was that they both shared a resemblance to Shinji Ikari, the boy he'd been tasked with keeping an eye on.
-x-
"…Just ten minutes, ma'am," a nurse told Hikari, as she was allowed into the room that housed the unconscious boy from school. "This is most irregular."
"Thank you, ma'am," Hikari praised her, and approached the bed of the boy that had been identified as the one and only Toji Suzuhara, mysteriously brought back to life.
She sat in front of him and slowly grasped his right hand.
"Suzuhara-Kun," she uttered. "It's really you. I don't know how…but I'm glad you're back."
Slowly, her hand was grasped in turned by his, and she looked at his face…with eyes that were hazy…but looking back her.
"Class Rep… Class Rep…" He muttered under the respirator.
-x-
"Mew," the stray kitten that had nearly been killed had mewed, some of its lost energy returning to it as played with a toy mouse being dangled in front of it by the girl with the seductive voice.
"It looks like you've made a new friend," went the boy with the anger-filled voice.
"Maybe," the seductive girl responded.
Hiding out in an abandoned house that had been partly demolished, the seven look-a-likes had regrouped after going out to explore the city that was no haven for anybody. And it was here that they each, as a result of having more individuality by being separated from each other, gained more facets to their unique positions. While they all shared a resemblance to their source of life, which had become no different from a comatose shell with some life still residing in it, they were as different as possible.
The kitten-tending girl in the white dress had a rather small bust and wore black, fingerless gloves and stockings, wearing a replica of the Purge of Seven around her neck, just above the exposed, upper curves of her bust. She…represented the source's lust, the desire for acceptance, for the belief that hope could be true to the heart and never an illusion like what had been fed to the world since the damnation that had been unleashed over fifteen years ago.
The boy with the angry tone of voice that had accompanied her and beaten the gray-haired boy almost to death, had adorned his arms with spiked wristbands that reached up to his elbows and covered his knuckles with spiked ones. He also wore a replica of the Purge of Seven on his person, but not as a necklace but as a bracelet of sorts on his right arm. By the anger alone, he clearly represented the source's anger within the heart and soul, the hatred that boiled as the breaking point had been reached…and exceeded to the point where one could die angry and become a vengeful ghost, showing great determination against future adversaries. Another way or putting his representation was wrath, the desire to cause harm to others.
Across the room from him was another look-alike boy that seemed slightly pudgy and wore a blue coat to hide his sudden weight gain as he was eating a bagel. He wore the Purge of Seven as a belt buckle. In the eyes of fellow representatives, he was a clear representation of the source's intemperance, the self-indulgence that came with seeking the kindness of others, becoming a glutton of sorts that would've done nearly anything to feel a measure of satisfaction.
"There's nothing good to eat in this city," he told them.
"I wouldn't blame you for saying such," said another look-alike in an armchair, seeming different from the rest of them. "This city is no different from a poison that had been let loose onto the world not too long ago. It covered everything and seeped into the sensitive areas. And when it gets into everything pure…it can destroy the purity and leave only the ugliness behind."
"Vengeance itself is a poison," the angry-sounding look-alike said. "It can take you over and turn you into something ugly."
"Only if you let it," he responded. "You stay in check, you can have revenge…and justice."
They all looked at the look-alike in the armchair and saw his replica of the Purge of Seven…embedded in his neck, looking almost like it had been melted into his flesh.
-x-
"…The Fifth Child was assaulted last night?" Misato questioned, seeing the bandaged form of Kaworu Nagisa on a bed in the medical ward of NERV HQ.
"Yeah, and based on what was gathered from him during his previous questioning, someone resembling the Third Child beat him almost to death," went Ritsuko to her.
In his room, Kaworu couldn't escape the nightmare of what happened to him at the hands of the boy that resembled the Third Child with an attitude while a girl that also looked like him took the kitten he was going to murder out of mercy.
-x-
"…Was this ever part of your scenario, Ikari?" Fuyutsuki asked Gendo, as both were informed of Shinji's vegetative state by Ritsuko.
But Gendo didn't answer. Of course, this revelation of his son's coma wasn't at all part of his scenario, and neither was the arrival of the Fifth Child in a battered state that almost led to death itself. The next Angel would be arriving in due time, and nothing was falling into order right now. And what was most unusual (as well as impossible) was the return of the deceased Fourth Child, Toji Suzuhara.
-x-
With a renewed sense of strength upon him, Toji awoke to find himself facing a bare ceiling and smelling the scent of stale and sterilized air around him.
"Arise and live once more, Toji Suzuhara," a voice had uttered to him from somewhere, sometime ago, but he was unable to remember whose, where or when this had occurred.
What happened? He wondered, rising up to a sitting position in the bed.
"Oh, you're awake," a female nurse spoke up, entering the room seconds after he awoke. "How are you feeling, sir?"
"Confused," he answered her. "I was somewhere…but then…I ended up here."
The nurse then examined his face before shining a light in his eyes.
"Follow the light," she instructed him, and he followed suit. "Okay, now how many fingers am I holding up in front of you?"
Toji saw only three extended fingers on her right hand.
"Three," he answered her.
"Your name?"
"Toji Suzuhara."
"What year is it?"
"Twenty-Fifteen, right?"
"And do you know which city you're in?"
"Tokyo-3?"
The nurse could see that most of his memory was intact; the boy just couldn't remember what had transpired in the time he'd been gone.
Knock, knock! A knock came at the door, revealing several men in black suits.
Suddenly, Toji didn't feel safe with these men present.
-x-
One of the male Shinji look-a-likes raised his head up, the one with the Purge of Seven embedded in his neck, and then got up onto his feet, catching the attention of the other six.
"Sloth," he uttered, and the other female Shinji, dressed in a modest, green sundress that extended to her knees and had shorts underneath got up off the floor, revealing her replica of the Purge of Seven as a similar embedding upon the exposed flesh on left ankle, looking like a horrid tattoo. "Come with me to NERV."
"Why?" She asked, sounding like she needed rest more than anything else right now.
"You'll know when we get there," he spoke in riddles, and the girl followed him out of the abandoned house toward their destination.
"Walking is too much effort," she complained to him.
"The only way for those with dark intent to succeed…is for those like yourself to put no effort into what they do each day," he told her. "A friend needs our assistance and a reprieve from another premature judgment day that was better off avoided."
-x-
"…No way!" Asuka gasped, seeing Toji within NERV HQ. "This can't be possible! He's dead!"
"Not anymore, he's not," Misato expressed, unable to believe the sight in front of her eyes. "All his tests came back positive. This is Toji Suzuhara, the Fourth Child."
"But what is he doing here?!" The redhead demanded to know. "He's of no use to anyone! His Eva got possessed and reduced to pieces while he was crushed in the Entry Plug! Why is he here?!"
"Commander Ikari's orders," Misato explained, though she was unhappy about this herself.
It was mainly because Shinji had decided to leave after Toji had been killed by his father's decision to use an untested autopilot system that made Unit-01 the merciless beast that it was that day the Angel that possessed Unit-03 appeared. If this was because Toji was going to be asked to pilot again, she couldn't help but wonder if Shinji would do something to disagree with this possibility. Maybe the Fourth Child's mysterious return from the dead was the very reason the Third Child had become a vegetable that had been living in her flat for several months now.
To be continued…
A/N: Here's the second chapter to this story that some of you were wanting to see. It'll be a while before the next chapter, but have faith…and patience. Patience is a virtue, you know. Peace!