Creation began on 04-10-20
Creation ended on 04-11-20
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Vengeance of the Seven: Meeting the Seven
A/N: Someone named Kleave guy requested that I update this story after so long, thinking it had been abandoned. Here goes.
Everyone at NERV HQ was shocked by what was in front of them, locked in individual rooms to be questioned and monitored. At first, just seeing two of them from before was scary enough, but now, knowing that, in the last three hours, seven of them had gathered within the Geo-Front, sending a wave of concern throughout the personnel. Not even Misato had been prepared to see this turn of events.
"How is this possible?" Asuka questioned, looking at one of them through the one-way window. "There are two of them in dresses!"
"Forget the ladies," went Hyuga to her, looking at another variation in a different room, "this one's got an attitude."
Rei stood in front of the viewing window that displayed the room where one of the seven-Shinji variants sat at the table, expressing a contemptuous look on his face. She would rather return to the medical center where the actual Shinji lay comatose, sitting by his side and waiting for him to awaken from his slumber. To be present in front of these seven people that all claimed to be pieces of Shinji was just too…unpleasant. There was no way that these seven were all related to Shinji. There had to be a rational explanation for all of this.
"…Any time you wish to share your opinion, Ritsuko," Misato told the faux-blond.
"I have no rational explanation," Ritsuko responded, "just the belief that these seven are representative of Shinji's… Well, his understanding of the seven desires that are said to exist within people."
"What do you mean?" Fuyutsuki questioned her, turning away from his observation of the sleeping, female version of Shinji. "Are you referring to the Seven Deadly Sins?"
"Yes. The Seven Deadly Sins. Seven desires that make us imperfect beings. But to confirm it, I'd need to talk with one of them, preferably the one in charge of them."
"But which one?" Misato wanted to know; usually, NERV was in charge of Shinji when he was piloting the Eva, but now he was in a coma…and in seven other places all at once, leaving the question of which one was actually in charge of them.
"My best guess is…the one most talkative right now. The girl with the cat."
-x-
"Good boy," the lustful incarnation of Shinji praised the kitten as he came to her on the table. "When did you get to be so nimble?"
The door to the room opened and Dr. Akagi stepped inside.
"I see you're enjoying yourself," she told the girl.
"Ever since you locked us in here, Sutego has managed to keep me entertained. Strange, how none of you were ever able to make him smile when he was whole. I guess you could…never satiate him in a way that actually mattered to his personal growth and development. Surely, even a woman such as yourself must understand that even a young man has other needs."
"I'm sorry, but that was never part of my job description."
"You foolish woman, you haven't the faintest clue where I'm going with what I just said. It figures you were among the people he thought the least about, only knowing you from a professional point of view, even with the personal disregarding concerns."
"Are you saying that Shinji thought of me the least?"
"Of course, you among the people he had the least amount of interaction with. It's easy to have very little concern about people when you barely spend time with them to develop meaningful bonds. You seem to spend time with his father, though, so you would understand him in ways that his son never could, no matter how hard he tried. Doesn't that make you feel satisfied, knowing that you know the man he never could?"
"What about you? Doesn't it make you feel anything?"
"What am I supposed to feel?"
"Well, angry. Angry that he doesn't know his father. Angry that his father would rather do anything that doesn't include knowing his son."
The girl then picked up the kitten and caressed it in her arms, giving Ritsuko an indifferent expression while doing so.
"Well, don't you feel angry?" Ritsuko pressed her, wondering if she had hit a nerve within her.
"No…but he is," the girl expressed. "He has always felt the anger the rest of us can't express. Anger, rage, brutality… None of these exist within me. As much as I do feel contempt, I left such negative feelings with him when I came into existence, torn from the womb I shared with my siblings, knowing my place in this unfulfilling world. All I have for the time being…is the unfulfillment he has always possessed within himself. His desires always went unsatisfied. Oh, those around him may have understandings of genuine bonds that have shaped their lives, but he has never experienced such bonds. You may understand the feeling of another's hand caressing your flesh, to have people say what they mean from the depths of their hearts toward you, to know that you fulfill them as much as they themselves fulfill you, but why does he have to suffer such unfulfillment? Why must he never feel the comfort of knowing that someone out there actually gives a damn about how he feels, what he wants, what he needs? Why is that?"
"So, it's true, then? Of the seven of you that exist, each of you represents a different side of the Third Child. In your case…you're an embodiment of his lust, his unfulfillment, his lack of love in his life. That would probably make sense, given your…well, his lack of a lascivious behavior that you seem to embrace for him…based on your appearance."
"Oh, really? I guess that would make sense, given I am his lust for affection, for acceptance, friendship and all the things he never truly received from those around him. Do go on."
"I'm guessing that like the seven sins, the seven of you represent Shinji's desires to their individual extents: Lust, Greed, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, and Pride. So…which of your siblings is the arrogant one?"
Still petting the kitten, the girl uttered, "My brother is many things, but arrogant isn't one of them. Arrogance implies confidence in all things going according to a scenario that was written long ago, but nothing was written long ago in this case. Whether or not the seven of us are mere transient guests or here to stay…actually depends upon the arrogance of those around us. But I will say this: I wouldn't do anything foolish to hasten the would-be recovery of the sleeping one. For now, it's best to leave him as he is, for sleep spares him the pain that was inflicted upon him by those around him. To wake him is to force suffering upon him…and he has suffered enough."
Ritsuko then turned to leave the room.
"You smell like him, you know," she heard her say. "You smell like his father, but do you satisfy him? Does he satisfy you?"
Ritsuko closed the door and left her with her cat.
"Will you be a good boy, Sutego?" She asked the kitten, putting him back on the table.
"Mew…"
-x-
"…So, that's his lust?" Misato asked Ritsuko. "I didn't think she'd be so… I didn't think that Shinji would feel so unfulfilled."
"She's just how he feels that way, not the total sum," Ritsuko explained. "No doubt all of them are just a fragment of how he feels deep down, but never could express such feelings. But just as there are different variations of lust, there are variations of all seven desires…and I'm guessing his pride is the one that leads these kids."
"The one who feels pride…but doesn't have much of it," Fuyutsuki stated, looking at the window displaying the Shinji that simply sat down at the table, looking at them on the other side. "As much as I wish he'd just echo his father, he clearly has no agenda…other than whatever he said earlier to his father."
Looking at symbol on his neck, they found the literal embodiment of Shinji's lack of arrogance to be quite unsettling to varying degrees. Until they saw the symbol vanish from his neck, reappearing as a thick tattoo on his left hand.
"I figured I might as well relocate the symbol, as you were all showing disgust with it on my neck," they heard him say. "Either my arm or someplace where the light don't shine above or below the waist."
SHATTER! The glass window of the room where the Shinji they had to assume now was the embodiment of his rage was broken by a rather-disastrous punch made by the boy.
"Stop pissing me off!" They heard him yell from within the room. "Why you gotta make me angry?! Huh?!"
"Too much effort!" They heard the other female Shinji whine from within her chamber. "Yelling is too much effort! Anger is too much effort! Caring about all of you is too much effort!"
"She's clearly his sloth," Asuka accepted. "No doubt she won't be much of a problem."
"Maybe she's the part of Shinji that didn't enjoy what he was doing here," Fuyutsuki suggested. "He did want to leave twice."
"Well, now, he's in dreamland with a female version of him complaining about how everything is too much effort for her, him, to do."
"Putting up with her complaints is too much effort!" They heard her yell. "Piloting the Eva is too much effort! Trying to understand that man is too much effort!"
-x-
Instead of a boy capable of piloting the Eva for his scenario, Gendo had seven look-alikes and a comatose brat that left them to cause him problems. Sevens embodiments of his son's seven desires that went unfulfilled ever since the day he started having experienced them. What was the point of these seven being here if none of them couldn't or wouldn't pilot the Eva for his scenario? They were just as useless as the boy was in a coma. Even as he sat in his office, he was trying to find a way to remedy the situation NERV was in with them.
At first, he considered having the Fourth Child brought back into the fold, but then realized that such an idea was useless, as there was no other Eva available for the boy. This left only two other options that were available to them: Either make Rei pilot Unit-01 like he had intended to with the Dummy System as a backup…or force the comatose Third Child to revive and put him back into service.
You always make things difficult for me, you whining brat, Gendo thought as he got up and vacated his office.
-x-
"…You wanna talk to me?" Shinji's pride questioned those watching him outside the interrogation room he was sitting. "I know you do. I know you wanna ask me things you think I know the answers to. Stop hesitating and just say what you want to ask and wait for me to answer…if I can."
The door to the room opened…and Misato stepped in.
"What shall you ask me?" He asked her.
"That mark on each of you," she pointed to the symbol he moved from his neck to his left arm, "it's the same as that trinket Shinji was found wearing around his neck. Is that the reason he's in a coma…and the seven of you exist?"
"It is, but I wouldn't recommend removing it from around his neck."
"Why?"
"Do you believe that everyone exists for a specific purpose? That we have a role to play for the time being, following the will of another that can't do it all on their own?"
"No."
"Well, the seven of us have a purpose to serve. We have to ensure that Shinji gets revenge on those that have wronged him. This has nothing to do with the Angels or NERV. It never did. This is just the repercussions of a choice made by a young man…that was tortured by the uncaring duo that is his parents…and one way or another…vengeance will be obtained."
"But…what would happen if someone did remove it from around his neck? I mean, what if someone was warned not to…but did so, anyway?"
"Well, I wouldn't say that Shinji would remain as he currently is, but that is one of the consequences of anyone removing the talisman from around his neck, regardless of whether it was an accident or on purpose. But if someone were to kill him after removing it, with absolute intention to harm him…then the seven of us remain in place of him. We exist because of him, but can continue to exist without him. The only people he can suspect with intention to harm as he sleeps…are Asuka, due to her aggressive nature to be better than anyone else is, even if it means harming them…and his father, who will do whatever it takes to make him pilot the Eva again, something that, as an embodiment of himself alongside my siblings…will do whatever we can within the confines of our individual existence as his seven desires to keep from happening."
"But…we need him to face the Angels."
"But it hurts him every time, and unless he gets away from this conflict and his parents' manipulations of him, his suffering will never end. And suppose he does face all the Angels and survives, what then for him? What will you or his parents do to him after there's no further need of the Evas to fight? Will you let him go…or will you exploit him for something else? What you have because of him, these little calms between storms, cannot last. And Shinji himself will not want to do this forever. If it's between continuing to serve as an expendable pawn in some selfish struggle to survive in a world that's already crippled because of the actions of a few against the many and going quietly into that inescapable night where even the monsters go to disappear forever…I think you and I both know which choice he'll make to escape from the pain."
"But…we don't have time to worry about the aftermath right now. We have to concern ourselves with what's happening now."
"But can we truly concern ourselves with what is all the time…or must we fear what will be later on? Let go of the now and sever the present. To cast out the world that is, those that seek to change it will go to unforgivable lengths to erase all within for their own, selfish goals. Destroy the keys to the forbidden kingdom…and you no longer have to fear the unknown that will never come for anybody."
"What are you talking about?"
"Use your brain, Katsuragi. You work for a psycho. All of you work for a psycho. You want to believe in the future of the human race, but that future has many different possibilities, and none of which end on a good note for any of you."
Misato then got up and vacated the room.
"He couldn't let go of his guilt in his involvement in the boy's murder, because that's what it was in the end," she heard his pride tell her. "If he had to relive that day over again, down to that horrid moment between the fate of everyone and saving his friend who was afraid to pilot the Eva, but chose to because he wanted to help his sister, he would've chosen his own death rather than live with knowing his friend was murdered by his parents who chose their own, damn desires over any possibility of saving the both of them. How can you tell Shinji…that only one of them would live while the other had to be sacrificed…and then expect him to continue doing something that promises only further agony? What if the next time, someone else he would rather see live has to be sacrificed because someone desired something else that was rather heartless? You should talk to his avarice now. He would know more about his desires than anyone else would. He…and his jealousy."
To be continued…
A/N: New chapter after a few years. This has not been abandoned. Not by a long shot.