The Devil
Hidden within the walls of the Yamagishi Mansion was a room.
This room was built to be heavily fortified against any calamity that fell upon the city of Kokoro should the need arise. Tachiageru Yamagishi learned from his parents the end of the world could come any any time and he had to prepared for God's righteous judgement. As such, the room was built into the manner in case the blood ocean came to cleanse the Earth of the the parasites that dare called themselves man…
Second Impact certainly took care of that. But that was only the start.
The room was covered in neon green smoke. Machines whirl and beep in a dark atmosphere as the only bright light in the area was the emerald light that came from the chamber in the corner wall.
The laboratory fulfills a certain function. Here, Yamagishi could do as much research and experimentation as he wanted without having to report to his superiors at the Committee. It is here where Tachiageru had studied and analyzed the DNA of one Ikari Shinji to perfect the winning formula for him to do his dark deeds.
If anyone was in the room, they would noticed see that the computer next to the chamber showed vital signs were increasing at a rapid rate. All other systems detected a sharp in increase in heat as well. In another corner, one would have seen canisters that read GOBLIN being emptied of their vials.
Tachiageru felt an inch of regret. Regardless of her artificial nature, Mayumi had been his daughter for the past 14 years. One could not help but be attached to the little thing, the fake doll he charged himself with raising. Her death was truly unfortunate… but when creating the new world sacrifices must be made to ensure it is born.
Kokoro would be in shambles by now. Tachiageru noted with some amusement the irony of HERZ, the German word for heart, being located in the same place as the city named after it. He had it all planned out from the moment Lilith's legs arrived at his facility. The destruction of the city would allow him to take advantage of the confusion to remove himself from society. He would take the equipment, the experiments, Lilith's DNA… he would use them to build his legions of Hell.
All of a sudden the machines stopped making any noises.
The chamber opened. Slowly, the body inside made a move. From the gas came a foot… that stomped the ground harshly.
It was a large green foot, affected by the GOBLIN gas.
The Devil came from Hell… and it's time he's paid his due.
Shinji could hear the rain pouring in from outside.
He gently carried the body of Mayumi Yamagishi to the foyer. The kitchen was too cramped so he couldn't remain there. Shinji's eyes were red, his face stained with tears that wouldn't stop. He had been crying for a while now since the girl died in his arms. Mayumi, who only now the boy realized he had somehow fallen in love with… and he'll never get the chance to show her how much she meant to him.
It would be easy for him to blame fate, for she was indeed a cruel mistress. But Shinji knew better. It was his fault that any of this situation happened.
"I should have never gotten these powers," he said. "All I do is hurt people… I should just disappear…"
He turned around. He looked at the statue at the center of the foyer, the one of David holding Goliath's head. Shinji remembered being surprised by the thing and being impressed when Tachiageru Yamagishi explained what it was and it's history. Now it just left a bitter melancholic pang in his chest.
Tachiageru…
The one other time Shinji had been in the mansion, the man went at length about Mayumi being an unnatural born from a test tube.
A test tube… was that how Mayumi got these powers? Did she have the same Angel DNA in her system that created the spider? Did that man know about it? In fact, where was he? Tachiageru hadn't shown up once since Shinji arrived here. What could be keeping him?
Static was heard from the intercom. The audio readjusted… slow, growly breathing was heard. There was Shinji's answer. He carefully placed Mayumi down to the floor.
"YAMAGISHI!" The boy suddenly shouted. "SHOW YOURSELF!"
Silence. The breathing continued slow and steady. A short gasp came out, and Shinji could hear the microphone being gripped.
"Ahhhh, you're finally here Spider-Man… or do you prefer Ikari Shinji?"
Shinji's eyes widened. 'He knew?!'
"How do you know that?"
"Aside from the fact that you're in your costume without a mask? I already knew from the start about your after school curriculum ever since you were hospitalized two months ago."
Panic entered Shinji's heart.
"I had an agent spy on you during your stay. He retrieved your blood work so I can analyze the DNA on my own. The doctors could not find anything apparently wrong, but I discovered that the Lilith and human DNA mixed so perfectly that no one could spot the difference unless they knew about your spider powers. For months I studied everything I could about it to replicate it's success. Kenichiro Yashida was useful in this regard. I wanted to terminate you on sight to study your remains, but he provided the brilliant idea of testing HERZ's experiments against you. As such, we went through a few subjects… Sunako Shiraishi, the Sandwoman… Rai Shiraishi, Electro… Kuruto Inumaru as that reptilian abomination… they were all sacrifices for my formula to be perfected. Each had their own flaws however. Eventually there would come a time where the Lizard brain completely overrides Inumaru's and turn him into a monster forever. Rai and Sunako may try to survive, but eventually they will lose cohesion and die themselves."
A stab of guilt.
'Rai and Sunako… no...' Shinji thought. 'They could be dying right now and there'd be nothing I can do!'
"In the end though they are all disposable. They made deals to keep their families safe but in the end they're all going to suffer regardless. Such is the punishment of God."
Every word that came out of Yamagishi drove Shinji to a furious rage. To be so callous about human life and ruin everyone to such a degree, and justify it with such arrogance…
Tachiageru Yamagishi was a monster.
"The old men disgust me… they think they have God's creatures under the control. That the scenario they constructed will lead them to Heaven. What foolish piece of work man is… They do not understand."
Suddenly the intercom was smashed and the static stopped.
Shinji's spider-sense started tingling badly. He kept his guard up in case of a sudden attack. He searched around the room to see any potential entry points. No one was in any of them.
Then he smelled it. An odor like melted metal.
The smoke was coming from the floor. Shinji saw the checkerboard surface suddenly getting a bright red spot. Before any reaction could be done, the spot combusted into flames!
A clawed green hand gripped the surface.
Climbing from the floor was the shell of a demon. Skin of the color green, the naked scaly beast couldn't even pass off as human. His aura burned with furious flames, his eyes flashed red with violet pupils, and his long thick horns extended from his forehead to showcase his hellish presence. He had an evil grin with the sharpest teeth as the heavens trembled with his booming voice.
"I AM THE HOLY GOBLIN! WITH THE FLAMES AT MY FINGERTIPS, I SHALL FUFILL MY GOD'S EVERY COMMAND!"
Shinji acted without haste. He webbed a nearby table and threw it right at this monstrosity. However, the instant it came into contact with the creature it melted. Tachiageru- no… The Holy Goblin smirked.
"A pathetic worm like you has no place in the affairs of Heaven. I'll reduce you to ashes before the dawn!"
Shinji didn't have much choice, so he did the one thing he could. The boy jumped away from the Goblin, sucking to the wall behind him and crawling away up the stairs to escape.
The Goblin followed him, his feet stomping the ground. As he reached the stairs he flared his aura outwards, causing nearby objects to start melting and burning. The statue in the foyer, however, was left virtually untouched.
"What's the matter child? No jokes or quips? Do you not TREMBLEat the might of your lord and master? Your superior… YOUR CREATOR?!"
Shinji crawled through the ceiling of the hallway he took. It was a long corridor, filled with one too many doors and two few windows by which to breath air. While crawling forward, he looked at the light shining in front of him. It was lamp. He grabbed it, falling to the floor and threw it at the Holy Goblin.
"You didn't create me you bastard! You hurt people and ruined their lives!"
The Holy Goblin grabbed the lamp. His hand utterly crushed it, as smoke started pouring from it.
He let out a cruel chuckle. "Ruined? I gave them purpose! You were but a weak willed child before the spider made you who you are! My daughter wouldn't even exist without me! Amid the sands of time and fate all people's lives are without meaning! SEELE understands that mankind is at an evolutionary dead end. It was the reason behind their scenario!"
In the palm of his hand, a glaring fireball emerged from the smoke.
"But the old men made a crucial mistake… They believe Instrumentality will lead to the ultimate salvation of mankind… but they were WRONG!"
Shinji back flipped to avoid the fireball attack. His spider-sense kicked into high gear, so he launched a web towards the end of the wall and used it to create momentum for his escape.
"Mankind disrupted the cycle of life by stabbing Adam with the Lance of Longinus. The end of humanity is coming, and the Angels will see to it's destruction. SEELE dare plan to encase themselves in immortal bodies so they could control the destiny of the world through instrumentality… but they will fall all the same!"
His aura flaring harder, the Holy Goblin threw several more fireballs around the hall. The flames were swarming around the hallway, leaking to the other rooms.
"With the power invested in me, I shall assist the Angels in carrying out God's plan. I take the form of Satan, the angel of temptation, to carry out my mission. The world will burn in a baptism of fire BY MY HAND!"
As the Goblin continued his rampage, the wall crawler rushed past various doors. He turned to the left, stopping only catch his breath.
"Does… *huff* this guy… *huff* ever shut up?" Shinji mumbled to himself.
No use trying to fight the Goblin head on. He could burn through anything thrown at him, so a straightforward confrontation would be impossible at this point. He needed a break to figure out a plan. A hiding place will have to do.
His hand took hold of a door knob. Quickly, he opened the door-
Only to get hit by several brooms and a bucket.
"Ow ouch!" Shinji hissed. He picked them up and tried to stuff them back inside. He was making way too much noise however.
Deciding to fuck it, he ran off.
"You cannot hide from me, Third Child. Once I have you in my sights you'll burn among the sins of your mother and father, and the Evangelion project will sabotaged in time for their arrival!"
The boy had no idea what the hell this nutcase was talking about. He just kept running and running, hoping to find anything to escape.
He slammed through a door and had it shut behind him.
Letting out a breath he'd been holding for too long, Shinji grasped his chest in pain. His eyes blinked the tears he had inadvertently made. He rubbed his face before he took a look at the room he was in.
It was sparse in decoration and little in personality. A bed, a desk with a lamp and a picture, with a balcony covered up by transparent sheets. There was a book on the bed. Shinji slowly walked over to the bed careful not to make a sound. He grabbed a hold of the book, taking a look at it's title.
Gliding Through a Dream by Jean Rocque Raltique.
'Wait… I know this book!'Shinji thought. 'This was the book Mayumi showed me in the library after I got beaten by the Shocker.'
He looked around the room, looking closely. 'Is this Mayumi's room?'
Shinji moved to the desk next to the bed. He grabbed hold of the picture frame that lied there. It was the picture he took of himself and Mayumi a few days ago. He had asked her to smile for him that time. He given her a copy of it as a memento.
'And now… I'll never see it again…'
Come to think of it, the room so little of Mayumi in it. Just the bare minimum of comfort living… her father gave her nothing.
She was alone. Like he was.
BOOM!
The Holy Goblin bursted through the room like wildfire.
"You won't be escaping your demise, you pitiful insect!"
Shinji wasted no time. He threw himself through the sheets and jumped upwards as an explosion covered the entire balcony. The room, and any trace of Mayumi Yamagishi was gone.
It was when the boy crawled up the wall that he realized that it was pouring much harder than before. His costume, the tattered mess that it was, was absolutely drenched in the rain, the heavens remaining in bleak darkness in the sky.
Shinji managed to climb up to the top of mansion. Miraculous, given the circumstances. He could see the stainless globe surrounding the center, which meant directly below was the foyer.
Shinji felt warmth behind him, along with the ground shaking beneath his feet.
"THERE YOU ARE!"
The boy turned around to see the Holy Goblin. He was furious beyond words.
"You have nowhere to run, boy. Give up. You're but a mere insect compared to the eternal flames of God. Are you even prepared to sacrifice yourself for the greater good Ikari? My daughter was, and she wasn't even human."
At that Shinji clenched his fists enraged. How dare he even say her name?! The worthless trash had no right!
He flashed back to every moment that led up to this point. The body bag that held Yamashiro's corpse, seeing Mayumi sitting on the desk next for the first time, Rai turning into electricity and disappearing into the night with his sister, Inumaru pressing the button that would lead to his own demise, even today with Kotei yelling at him…
"Yeah… I'm willing to."
The Goblin raised his hand. "Then prepare to die."
He threw his hand outward… but nothing came.
"What… how could this be?"
Spider-Man immediately got to work. The rain pouring as hard as it did gave him the advantage of canceling out the Holy Goblin's fire. He webbed up the Goblin's face and brought him to his knees.
From there, Shinji punched and punched, hitting the Goblin's face as hard as he could. An uppercut there, a jab there, they were a blur.
The Holy Goblin had enough. He grabbed Shinji with his giant hand, slamming him to the ground. He moved his foot to stomp the boy, but Shinji moved out of the way quickly. He webbed the Goblin's face another time, only now he crawled up behind the monster.
Slamming his fists onto his back, Shinji felt the Goblin moving forward as the creature tried to remove the web from his face. The movement sent him crashing through the stain glass window. The two were careening downwards as the house burned around them in a searing blaze. The Holy Goblin grabbed Shinji and pulled the boy in front of him.
"What… what are you doing?!" The Goblin shouted over the inferno.
The boy stared him down with a deadly gaze.
"You hurt so many people… they're all dead because of you! You have to pay for your crimes, Yamagishi… that's why I'll make sure you won't be leaving this house alive!"
At that, the creature laughed his cruel laugh. "You fool… You can burn for your human stupidity, but my angelic body was built to withstand the flames! How could you even hope kill me like this?"
Shinji smirked. "You'll find out soon enough!"
The Goblin scoffed at that. He moved his hands to crush the boy's arms but even when he heard the crunching sound of bones snapping he found they still held a tight grip on him. For a brief moment, Tachiageru feared Shinji's insane will.
Only for a moment however. The heat around the two quickly dried any trace of rain that remained on the Goblin's visage, so his hands starting burning through Shinji's arms.
"NYYEEEEGGGHHH!" Shinji groaned from the pain.
"Whatever you have planned it won't work! Soon you shall be reduced to ashes and your struggle rendered meaningless! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"
His laugh cut off.
Tachiageru was shaken from his high. He coughed, feeling blood trickle down from his mouth. He looked below and found his chest being stabbed through by a sword. He wondered what could have happened… until Tachiageru remembered.
He had been stabbed through by the statue of David and Goliath.
However, that wasn't the biggest surprise to the once proud worshipper of God. No, Tachiageru looked up and found his hated foe floating up in the air by a fellow field!
"Guh… to be betrayed for a silver coin… how disgusting…"
And with that the Holy Goblin's crusade came to an end, his ambitions crushed as his breathed his last breath.
On his end, Shinji was confused and bewildered. 'What is going on? How am I floating like this?'
A vortex surrounded the foyer, the winds from before swirling viciously over the pair in the center. They kept the flames at bay preventing them from reaching them.
Shinji's eyes widened when he turned to the side. Just above where Mayumi's body should be was a shape. The shape changed. It took on the clearest image he had seen before.
"M… Mayumi?"
The girl smiled at him. She mouthed but a few scant words.
And just as suddenly, the shape disintegrated.
Shinji felt himself being violently pushed out of the mansion. One last look and he saw the mansion exploding, the old structure breaking apart in the hellish inferno.
When he was on the ground again, he wept.
'I love you too.'
"MAYUMI!"
Shinji cried into the night, the heavens clearing as the rain continued it's downpour.
Kokoro was destroyed.
The death toll had been calculated to be over the thousands. Buildings, places and people were decimated over the course of a single day. News reports showed citizens fathering up in shelters in droves, some fighting over food or looting what they could. Many more were reported missing in action. Among the list including Kenichiro Yashida, Shun Oshiro AKA The Shocker and Kiyoshi Amachi AKA the Vulture.
Tsuyoshi Kotei was also on the list. His parents cried on camera begging for their boy to come back.
As for one Shinji Ikari…
The boy found himself walking in Mayonaka Park. This was the place he found the thief, the place where he took Mayumi that one time…
It was a disaster.
Trees were uprooted, the power lines downed and a complete lack of life pervaded the mood.
And yet, the lake still shone brightly. The morning sun illuminated the water, making it warm and inviting for everyone who see it.
To Shinji Ikari… it was looking particularly inviting today…
His bangs covered broken blue eyes as he sat alone next to the tree. The boy felt everything he had been working for was for nothing. He had tried hard but in the end everything went to crap in so many ways. Mayumi dead, Inumaru dead, the city broken, Rai and Sunako might die soon…
What was the point of doing anything when it can be undone at any time?
"Please, don't hurt me!"
Shinji's eyes widened when he heard the scream. He got up and raced to find where it came from. He saw a woman being accosted by some criminals. They had knives ready to kill her if she tried anything.
"Oh come on lady," said a criminal. "Our homes broke down, we just want some money and love baby."
"Get away from me!" She screamed, but was being held still.
"Not likely. Who's gonna come in and save you huh?"
The gang laughed as the woman struggled against them. They didn't see a fourteen year old boy walking behind them.
"Seriously do you see this shit?" One criminal said. "She's crying so bad, how pathetic!"
The criminal felt a finger touching his shoulder. He turned around and saw the kid. "Hey kid! Get lost!"
He was suddenly decked in.
The other criminals were shocked at that display. One in particular was pissed. "Get him!"
Soon the woman would be treated to an odd sight of a scrawny middle schooler beating up a bunch of dangerous thugs with acrobatic skills she didn't he would be capable of. It was kind of bizarre.
Especially when by the end the boy still stood with seemingly little damage. While his hands were a touch swollen from punching, everyone else looked like zombies on the floor. Some of them ran away scared.
At that, the woman hugged the boy fiercely, "Thank you so much, I was real goner until you showed up!" She pulled away and grabbed his shoulders. "You weren't hurt too badly right?"
Shinji blushed a little, "Ummm, uh no ma'am. It isn't a problem, just wanted to help."
The woman looked him over a bit. "Wait what are you doing out here all by yourself?"
Shinji's eyes widened as he scratched the back of his head. "I was… going for a swim! You know, to clear my head a little."
That sounded lame even to his ears, and the woman didn't look like she believed him. Still, she nodded. "Alright… there's a shelter close by. You could go over there in case of anything."
She ran off, leaving Shinji to his own thoughts.
'How stupid am I? I was running away again! I was making excuses because I was angry and frustrated… while others were suffering as well and probably lost their own friends and loved ones. I can't keep doing this… not anymore.'
Shinji knew for sure. He can't possibly run away now. Not again.
Never again.
He ran away from Yamashiro, only for him to die by a man with a gun he let go before. He ran away from Kotei only to create am unnecessary rivalry that lasted years. He ran away from Mayumi only for her death to leave destruction in her wake. That was on him.
This ends now.
Suddenly, Shinji had realized the truth. Everyone was so alone in this world… human life is so weak and fragile that any moment something or someone could end it or be thrown into chaos by forces outside of your control. There was so much suffering in the world because of that. He had to relieve it anyway in any way he can.
The boy remembered a passage of Yamashiro's journal. With great power there must also come great responsibility. He realized what it truly meant. Power was more than just the abilities of the spider he possessed. It's the things he can do for the people around him, how he treats them. Because of that, mankind has a responsibility to help one other.
Because Shinji was (not) the only one. No he was not.
Even if the tears started overflowing he would stand his ground.
Because he believed in the power to create miracles.
Author's Notes:
In my head the final monologue was scored with the title theme from Metroid Zero Mission. It has that sort of hopeful determination the scene is supposed to have.
Mayumi Yamagishi is character I'm sad about. Much like Mana Kirishima, Mayumi was a love interest for Shinji in a video game. Unlike Mana, she never became popular enough to star in any spin off material. And that's just sad, since she has a lot of potential. Since her home game has yet to be translated yet, I had to improvise and come up with backstory and aspects of her that couldn't be gleamed from watching the footage of the game. My only gripe in hindsight is that I didn't get to develop her that much before her death. At least I had her final action be to save Shinji's life to avert a woman in refrigerator's situation.
Tachiageru Yamagishi was interesting. If Mayumi shares similarities with Shinji, it only made sense to give her a father like Gendo. His conception was basically "Gendo Ikari… but pure evil" and was always going to end up being the Green Goblin. How he was characterized wasn't set in stone however. Originally he was just gonna be a straight copy of Norman Osborn. Then I watched JoJo and thought "Wow Dio Brando has so much charisma and evil pouring from his veins! Maybe Tachi should have something like that." But then I thought, we haven't really seen a religious villain in an Evangelion story before. The closest I can think of is that there's occasionally a cult dedicated to worshipping the Angels in the Superwoman of Eva fanfics. And thus, the christian themed jackass you see here.
The reason I wrote this story arc was rather simple. A lot of "give Shinji super powers" fics skip over his development so they could get into the Evangelion section the literal next chapter. I can understand that impulse, but I always felt they had missed opportunities. Say what you will about Shinji and Warhammer 40k, at least it devoted it's entire first chapter to showing how the box changed Shinji's life so drastically. That was the premise of this arc, the story of Shinji Ikari becoming into Spider-Man. It also gave me a unique opportunity to create villains and imagine what an Evangelion-style take on traditional Spider-Man would look like. I hope you liked it.
Anyway, the Kokoro arc is over. Next time, we enter Evangelion proper. But first, I'm going to be taking a bit of a break from writing the fic. I want to rewatch the series again so I can plan out the next several chapters and work on other things. And watch Endgame, NO SPOILERS IN THE REVIEWS PLEASE. THANK YOU.
Edit: changed the last few lines to make it sound more natural.
Come.
That one word was the only thing in the blacked out file he could read.
The first time he read it Shinji threw the damned thing into trash. Years since the last time they met and the first thing he heard from that man was a summon? Not even a word or an apology. How absurd.
After some back and forth on the issue, he eventually caved in. He called one Misato Katsuragi, who told him a specific location to meet. She seemed nice.
Now, he was struggling to breathe in the crowded train cart heading for Tokyo-3. That wasn't so nice.
The destruction of Kokoro two months ago left many people without homes. While it has been said it would be rebuilt by the next year, until then a mass exodus of citizens left for different parts of Japan. The largest population were headed to Tokyo-3.
'Which is why the train is so cramped.' Shinji grumbled. He managed to squeeze away from the old man and found a single empty seat. As he sat down Shinji breathed a sigh of relief.
It was gonna be a long ride to his destination. He had to find a way to make himself comfortable. Without so much as a thought, the boy brought out his S-DAT Player from the bag. Shinji looked over it with some nostalgia. He had been too busy being Spider-Man to listen to it for a while.
He had been about to start the usual song. Track 25, You are the only one from Lillia-from-Ys. The song that would come after was Blue Legend, from the same album. However, as his finger was about to press the button, he stopped.
Shinji thought back to the time he spent with this player. He remembered You are the only one and Blue Legend, he played those two tracks so many times the boy had the lyrics memorized. However, he didn't remember what else was on the playlist he had. When was the last time he heard anything from it? It was strange.
The boy never thought about that before. He shrugged it off as him being unassuming or inattentive.
With only slight hesitation, he switched to Track 1. Shinji wondered what song would play. The tracks never listed the names.
He pressed play.
Zankoku na tenshi no you ni
Shounen yo shinwa ni nare...