Void, Part 7
Note, the parenthesis indicates languages other than Japanese, in this case, English, German and Kryptonian.
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).
Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
12th Angel Site
"Robin ready." Shinji reported. Unit-01 stood next to the edge of the Angel. Right at the other side, Unit-00 stood in a similar stance to its counterpart.
"Unit-00 in position. Wonder Girl ready to begin."
Above them, whole squadrons of military planes flew circles around the area. The air space was completely saturated by military planes circling above the city. Shinji wondered if the MAGI were coordinating their flight routes, human flight controllers would have their hands full with less than a quarter the number of planes in the air, and a fatal error would be inevitable.
Shinji sent a thought into Unit-01's core. 'Are you ready, Mother? We will need everything EVA-01 is capable of. We need to push out the ATF to the very maximum.'
Understanding. Agreement.
In Unit-00's core, Deadman held Rei's hand in his. "I will help you, kid. We have to push the limits to the very top."
Rei nodded seriously, and squeezed Deadman's ghostly hand. "I know. I am afraid of the Angel, but I won't let it eat Big Brother's friend."
"That's the spirit, Rei. I will push too, I'm not sure if I can really add something, but I will do my best."
Rei looked at him, and began to sing to pass the time before the time came to act. Her friend had explained the meaning of the words, and she took them to heart. Soon, two voices rang inside the big biomechanoid's very heart.
"(I paid my dues…)" (1)
Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
Temporary NERV HQ
Lt. Ibuki checked the synch graphs, and reported "Wonder Girl's synch rate is rising steadily."
Dr. Akagi looked into the screen. "It has risen almost 5% in the last minute!" She took the microphone. "Wonder Girl, keep your mental patterns, your synch is better than it has ever been."
In Unit-00's plug, Rei blinked twice, 'I am not doing anything unusual.' she thought. Rei tried to fix her thoughts in the song she had been humming before, but somehow, it was as if she was trying to follow a song while listening to a different one. Soon, the new song was dominating her previous melody. She surrendered to the new rhythm.
"Understood. Maintaining current mental pattern."
Major Katsuragi looked up, at the bombers flying overhead. "I see Commander Ikari liked your original plan." She addressed Dr. Akagi acidly.
"He insisted on keeping our options open. Just in case." Akagi set down a note on her clipboard, and tapped a few keys on a computer terminal. "For what it is worth, I'm glad Rei thought of her own plan. I just hope it works. If not…" She looked up, towards the multiple vapor trails following the planes, glistening in the setting sun's light.
"Let's see if the kids can pull it off, before blowing everything to pieces, okay?"
Dr. Akagi nodded brusquely, "I hope so." She sighed. "Believe me, Misato, I don't want to drop so many N2 Mines right in the middle of the city."
Misato just glared at her. Wisely, Dr. Akagi shut up.
Buffer Zone
Unit-02's Core
Asuka stared at the two halves of her mother, she walked around them, studying each one carefully. Neither moved at all, their bodies still in stasis.
"(Okay, ) Phantom Fremder (2)," she exhaled, with an effort of will, she relaxed. "(Let's see if we can do what all the King's men, and all the king's horses couldn't do: put Humpty Dumpty together again.)"
She cracked her knuckles, a bit disappointed there was no popping noise. "(I'm ready. Release them)"
A wave of his hand, and both halves of Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's soul began to move again.
"(Die with me!)" said one, "(Stay forever!)" Said the other.
"(No.)" Asuka said, firmly, her arms crossed over her chest. "(I won't stay.") she said firmly, looking at the Kyoko with the plugsuit, "(You are not my mother.)"
The half soul looked as if she had been slapped, while the other one smiled crookedly.
"(I won't die.)" Asuka addressed the other, "(You are not my mother.)"
Both halves stammered for a moment, before saying in perfect synch, "(But I love you, Asuka! You are my daughter! Stay/die with me!)"
"(I am your daughter, but neither of you is my mother.)" she said firmly. "(You want to love me? Fine! But I won't be sacrificing my life for a half motherly love! I have so much to live for.)"
Both Kyokos looked at Asuka, then to each other, dejected. "(No death, no stay.)" She said.
Asuka didn't notice, but the Stranger raised his head up suddenly, as if he had heard a sharp noise. "(Keep talking to them, Miss Soryu. Don't you dare to stop.)"
"(What?)" She looked back, at the Stranger standing behind her.
"(Don't stop. I'll protect you.)" He raised his hands, and a glowing sphere surrounded them all. "(Don't turn around, no matter what you hear. Keep Hope alive.)"
Asuka nodded, and continued.
A rough voice rang in the Stranger's ears. "(She is mine, you know. And the girl is dancing at the edge of the abyss. She will be mine too, once she opens her eyes.)"
"(Not necessarily. Miss Soryu is stronger than you think. If she can give her the strength, her mother will escape your hooks.)"
Bitter laughter filled the place. "(She is mine, now and forever, Stranger. Her mother's despair is complete, didn't she lost her daughter, her sanity? How could she free herself, if she can't even hold herself together?)"
"(That's not for me to decide, nor you either, Despair (3). You are very well aware of that. Only Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu can decide.)"
"(You have a lot of faith in that little waif of a girl. Yet she also has seen my face, though she doesn't remember now, she will. She carries my hook in her heart since she was but a little girl, it's just a matter of a little pull, and she will be mine too.)"
"(Her will is strong, her hope lives yet.)" The Stranger said, his teeth clenched. A fine sheen of sweat formed on his brow.
"(Shall we see? Your protection is meagre, Stranger, I can break through easily.)"
"(You could, yes; but not easily. And what about your sister?)"
"(Ah! She is not here now, it was my turn, you see.)" The voice said, "(I wonder… what would it take to break you?)"
"(You cannot break me.)"
"(Brave words, Stranger. Let's put you to the test, while the girl fails.)"
Images of Second Impact assaulted the Phantom Stranger's mind. He felt each wound, each death, each moment of desperate and futile effort. Three billion lives he felt die in his own flesh.
"(You failed in your task, Phantom Stranger; admit it, surrender to Despair. Be mine!)"
"(Never!)" He gasped, falling to one knee. "(I know your weakness, Despair. You may be one of the Endless, but you are weak to the same thing that keeps me in this fight. I have faced you before! I have beaten you before! And I will beat you again and again! For as long as there is a single breath in my lungs, as long as a single drop of blood runs through my veins, I will fight against you! Only your eldest sister (4) can release me from my mission. For I chose it of my own free will. And she won't do so.)"
A morbidly obese woman appeared in front of the Phantom Stranger, playing with a rusty fishhook "(Yes, you will fight. I look forward to watching you writhe.)" She was naked, except for the stains of dirt and ash covering her white skin. Her beady black eyes watched the Stranger without blinking.
Asuka wiped the sweat from her brow, even though she knew it was just her imagination. The two Kyokos stuck stubbornly to their separation. None wanted to even try to find common ground with the other.
From the other side of the glowing sphere that surrounded them, Asuka could hear a raspy female voice, taunting the Stranger, though she couldn't understand their words. That sound of that other voice made her think of an empty hospital bed, and a body softly swaying at the end of an improvised rope. But above all, it made it think of a rag doll, hanging from a thread.
She licked her lips nervously, forcing her mind to focus on the immediate problem, to look for an answer. '(You are a genius, Asuka! Think! What could both halves want badly enough to… to reintegrate? What?)'
The Phantom Stranger relived the deaths of innocent and guilty, adult and infant, male and female. All their desperation, fear, anguish, every emotion that ran through their hearts that black day coursing though his mind and heart.
He gritted his teeth, and raised his head, taking the onslaught without flinching. He kept on pouring all his will into shielding the red headed pilot. If the barest fraction of the emotions that struck him hit her, she would go insane immediately.
Suddenly, Despair gasped , "(No! It can't be possible!)" The tide of desperation relented at last, after what seemed to have been days of agony, but in reality were barely a few minutes.
Trembling, the Stranger put a hand on his right knee, and pushed himself up, until he managed to stand before the anthropomorphic personification of hopelessness. "(It looks to me she found a way to foil you, didn't she?)"
"(Impossible!)" Despair wailed impotent. As two clinks sounded behind the Stranger, she disappeared. The Stranger sighed in relief, and turned around.
Asuka looked over her shoulder. "(Well, they are finally in agreement. But why haven't they reunited?)"
The Stranger swayed on his feet, and swallowed with some difficulty, his mouth dry as the desert, "(It will take time for them to recover, they have been separated from a very long time. You have managed to win what for many would have been an impossible fight. Be proud of yourself.)"
Both halves of her Mother stood in silence, smiling and holding hands. (5)
"(Say, what are these?)" She pointed at two rusty fishhooks under both Kyoko's halves.
"(Don't worry about them, Miss Soryu. An old entity has been forced to release your mother's soul, those hooks were the means that kept under her dominion. Now, without them in their hearts, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu is free form Despair.)"
"(Neat. Those would make great souvenirs, don't you think? Can I take them back?)"
The Stranger grabbed her hand before she could bend down to pick the hooks "(Don't touch them. You would risk falling under Despair's influence.)"
"(Oh, well… what now? We have to get back to Tokyo-3 before the contaminated LCL kills me, don't we?)"
"(Leave that to me. Even here, there are friends who can help us. Leave that to me. I'll return you now to the plug, and pay my respects to an old friend. Stay calm in the meanwhile.)"
Asuka nodded. They walked for a few minutes, before she found herself back in her seat in the plug.
The stranger's voice broke the silence. "(I have refreshed the LCL a bit, it will last for long enough. Godspeed, Miss Soryu.)"
"(Will I see you gain?)"
"(Certainly, our paths will cross again.)" The Stranger tipped his hat respectfully, turned around and walked away.
Buffer Zone
Fortress of Solitude
Healing Chamber
"(Intruder! Alert)" a computerized voice exclaimed, sending the floating robots into a flurry of activity.
"(I bear no ill will to the House of El.)" The strangely garbed man who appeared in the Healing Chamber said, in impeccable Kryptonian.
"(Identify yourself!)" three guardian bots demanded, pointing their weapons at the man.
"(Phantom Stranger. Justice League of America Honorary member. ID number PS-0001. ID pass phrase, "Trinity Blue, Trinity Black, Trinity Gold.")" He recited. (6)
The robots waited for confirmation, Kelex floated closer to the Stranger, examining him with multitude of instruments. "(Identity confirmed.)" he said, "(Welcome to the Fortress of the House of El. How can we be of assistance?)" The guardian robots retracted their weapons at Kelex silent order.
"(I ask for help, not for myself, but for one who could have been a friend and ally of your departed master.)"
Kelex thought for a moment, tilting his head to one side "(I will need supplementary data.)"
"(You have the means to exit this dimensional pocket, don't you?)"
"(Certainly. Master Kal-El instructed us to use the Phantom Zone projector we reverse engineered from the fragments remaining of Loophole's (7) device, in case the Fortress required to protect itself. The destruction of the Antarctic qualified as a dire emergency. We await for his command to return to regular space. )"
"(Good. Please show me your sensors suite, there is something out of the Fortress that have to go back to the outside. To Earth.)"
Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
12th Angel Site
"Robin, Wonder Girl, be ready to extend your AT Fields at Zero Hour. Maya, start the countdown." Major Katsuragi ordered.
"Ready." Both pilots chorused.
"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven…" Lt. Ibuki counted the seconds. Her voice calm and professional. "Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Mark!"
Unit-01 raised its arms, and roared, its AT Field vibrating towards the shadow. Unit-00 simply stood in its place, but its own AT Field vibrated at the same rhythm than its counterpart.
Buffer Zone
Fortress of Solitude
Kelex directed several bots towards the biomechanoid the Phantom Stranger had pointed out to him. It had an interesting design. It wasn't as bulky as the Kryptonian war armour, but it was several times bigger.
The squad of bots surrounded the Evangelion, measuring it, calculating and sending data to Kelex.
The six bots were equipped with a projector. All of them synched to Kelex'satisfaction. Once placed, they would act as a singular Phantom Zone Projector.
His brain calculated the best position for each bot, as the Evangelion had assumed a fetal position, the simplest configuration would be a sphere.
The bots took position, and activated their projectors with perfect synchronization.
Gradually, Unit-02 vanished, sent back to the main dimension.
Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
12th Angel Site
The shadow and the floating sphere trembled like the sea in a storm, shrinking and expanding alternatively. After several contractions, the sphere turned a dirty gray, while the shadow turned a luminous white.
A ghostly image formed between both, a grotesque imitation of a sleeping baby. It grew in size, and opacity, until it became a dark silhouette, floating in the air.
"Wonder Girl!" Shinji yelled in the comms. "Keep on it!"
Rei didn't answer, but increased the ATF potency, just as Shinji did the same. Both Evangelions consumed energy like never before. Somewhere in the city, a transformer exploded, unable to process the power requirements. Still, the two Evangelions kept on pouring energy into their ATFs.
The silhouette coalesced in the air, revealing Unit-02's red armour. The shadow and the sphere shrank rapidly. In a minute, the only proof of their existence would be the recordings made, and the circular area devoid of anything over street level. Not even the sidewalks remained.
Slowly, Unit-02 floated down, supported now by the two AT Fields that surrounded it. It set down gently, laying on its side, still holding Unit-01's severed hand.
Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
Temporary NERV HQ
"I can't believe it!" Dr. Akagi whispered. "It worked!"
"Aoba, report!"
"Pattern Blue is gone, Major Katsuragi. No pattern Orange either. They destroyed it!"
Misato sighed in relief. Shinji's voice brought her out of her fervent prayer. "Control? Permission for rescue op?"
Misato nodded, "Granted. Get her out, Robin. I'm on my way."
Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
12th Angel Site
Unit-00's Core
"We did it! We did it!" Rei and Deadman danced happily inside the Evangelion's core. "(We are the CHAMPIONS!)"
Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
12th Angel Site
By the time Major Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi arrived with the medical team. Shinji and Rei had opened Unit-02's back armour, and carefully extracted the plug.
Shinji pulled the handles, and twisted them to open the plug. With a hiss, the top slid open. Darkened LCL spilled to the ground. Shinji entered the plug, followed closely by Misato.
"Asuka! Huntress! Are you okay?"
Weakly, her eyes fluttered open. "Tired… hungry…"
Misato helped Shinji to bring her out. Asuka gasped, breathing the sweet, delicious air again and again. Impulsively, with the last of her strength, she pulled Shinji in a hug, whispering in his ear. "We have to talk. About your buddy with the hat."
Shinji nodded, not daring to speak.
Then Asuka said, just as her eyes closed. "Misato… I thought I would never see you guys again…"
Misato wrapped both in a tight hug, openly crying.
Author Notes
First of all, I hurried up a little with this chapter. I want to watch Evangelion 3.0+1.0 later today! And already dubbed to Latin American Spanish! Tomorrow I will probably watch it again, and I didn't want to delay it more than necessary.
1. I spent some time looking for an appropriate song for Rei, I checked some songs used in sporting events, but finally decided on "We Are the Champions", as it fits with Rei I being a fan of Queen, and the lyrics are actually quite fitting for her own situation, before and after meeting Deadman.
2. The best I could get with Google Translate…
3. Despair had already appeared in this story, back when Kyoko lost her mind in the second Contact experiment, along with her sister Delirium. Despair debuted in Sandman issue 10 (Nov 1989), while Delirium did so in Sandman issue 21 (Nov 1990).
4. The Stranger is referring to Death, of course. She has also appeared in this story before. Death debuted in Sandman issue 8 (Aug 1989). The specifics of the Stranger claim are implied in Secret Origins issue 10 (Jan 1987), although Death didn't appear there, as her debut in DC came a couple of years later.
5. Just what Asuka did? Let's just say it was a very stereotypical thing.
6. I thought the ID phrase should refer to the holy trinity of DC. In order, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The very archetypes of superheroes. Interestingly, they are based on several complementary concepts, they correspond to three different literary genres, Science Fiction, Detective/Noir, and Mithology. And their motivations correspond to Selflessness, Justice, and Hope; but I digress.
7. Loophole is one very minor villain in the DCU, he invented a small device that could make dimensional pockets to hide loot in. He lost it later on, and Superboy used it to send Valor into the Buffer Zone, to save him from dying of lead poisoning. Loophole debuted in Adventures of Superman issue 505 (Oct 1993)