Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, support the official release.
Shinji slowly opens his eyes only to be met by bright light. After a second, his eyes adjust to reveal a metal roof with a light shining right above him.
"Another unfamiliar ceiling." Shinji mutters.
"Oh good. You're finally awake." Shinji slowly looks to see Hikari just beside him.
"Hokari-san…"
"It's about time you woke up baka." Asuka said.
Shinji sits up from his bed and looks around. He was in a small metal room with four beds with a small area that he guesses is the bathroom. He sees his friends in various positions around the room, with Asuke leaning in a corner with her arms crossed staring at him.
"What happened…?" Shinji asks.
"We got captured, again, that's what happened." Toji says with clear spite. He was slumping on one of the beds, staring at the ceiling.
"We don't know where we are though. The last thing I remember was fighting that black EVA and then nothing." Kensuke adds. He's rocking back and forth on the floor staring blankly at space.
"Black EVA…?" Shinji's eyes widened as he remembers the fight with said EVA and getting electrocuted. "We lost… didn't we."
"Yeah. We sure did." Toji sighed in defeat.
A sharp pain blossoms from Shinji's right arm and finally notices a bloody patch under his wrist. "What is this?"
"We all got them." Hikari raises her arms revealing a similar patch. "It looks like they were drawing our blood while we were unconscious."
Shinji looks around and notices someone missing. Two in fact.
"Where's Adam and Ayanami?" Shinji asks.
"We don't know. When we woke up they weren't here." Hikari said.
"But in that case… where could they've been taken." Shinji pondered.
At the same time, a pair of crimson eyes flutter open only for their view to be filtered in a familiar orange.
Rei Ayanami looks around and realizes she is inside a familiar tube in a familiar chamber. "I am… in Terminal Dogma."
"Correct." Rei looks up to see a female wearing a pitch-black plugsuit with the greek number "13" on her collarbone. She also wears a black helmet that covers her head with tinted glass so that her face is hidden.
Rei stares at the stranger for a moment. "You… are the pilot of the black EVA."
"The commander wanted me to keep an eye on you. He suspected that you had not had your LCL treatment for a while, so you will remain here for the time being." The black pilot told her. Her voice was altered by the helmet's voice filter.
"Commander… Ikari?"
"Yes… the bastard king wants his darling doll back." She darkly chuckles.
"I am not a doll." Rei told her and the laughter stopped.
"It makes no difference to me what you are." She waves her hand absently. "You have no part in my plan. Nor do the other brats."
"You want Adam."
"Yes." Rei watches the pilot tremble with excitement. "To think I'd find him in this doomed world is nothing short of a stroke of luck."
"You called him 21. What does that mean?"
"He is my missing piece. The end of my beginning. But… he's wrong. He's been tampered with." She states. "That fool of a doctor sought to change the past, but the past finds a way to strike back."
'Doctor?' Rei thought.
"I would love to stay and chat more but I have things to do. And don't try to run off. Or I will be forced to do something you will regret." The black pilot warns as she walks away.
Meanwhile
Adam opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is that his body is handcuffed to an operating table.
"What…?" He tries to pull on the handcuffs to free himself but quickly gives up. "Okay, that was a waste of time." He then looks around and analyzes his new surroundings. "Is this… some sort of operating room?"
*CLICK*
Adam turns to the sound of a door being unlocked and an unfamiliar EVA pilot walks in.
"Ah. You're awake." The black pilot said.
"Who are you?" Adam asks.
The pilot lets out a thoughtful hum. "Of course you wouldn't remember me. That doctor really put you through the ringer, going so far as to download fake memories."
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
"Oh right. I guess from your perspective, you would call him father right?" The black pilot said.
"M-My father…?" Adam stammers in surprise. "W-What does he have to do with this?"
"Everything, yet nothing."
"That makes no-" But Adam is interrupted by the pilot suddenly grabbing his jaw.
"Shut the fuck up. Your voice is irritating. It's taking all of my willpower not to just snap your neck right now." The pilot snarls as she leans forward, and Adam could swear he can see a pair of glowing red dots in the glass. "If you ask one more stupid question again, I will rip out your eyes and make those brats eat them! Do I make myself clear!?"
Adam nods.
"Good!" She lets go and straightens herself.
"Who are you?" Adam asks and she groans.
"What did I just say about asking stupid questions?"
"Hey! It's a perfectly reasonable question." Adam counters.
"Well, it won't matter once I begin the surgery."
"Surgery?" Adam watches the pilot put out a series of surgical tools, cables and… is that a saw!?
"W-What are you gonna do with that!?" Adam anxiously asks.
"Well, there is a method to restore your memory, but it involves direct access to your brain." She pulls the trigger and the saw comes to life. "Sadly I can't put you under since there's no anesthetic, but don't worry, the pain should stop after the first few seconds."
Adam frantically struggles to get up but the pilot grabs his head.
"Stop squirming. You'll make me hit something vital by mistake." The pilot states as the saw gets closer.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Central Dogma
Gendo Ikari stands in the middle of the command center. He has not changed in the last 14 years, the only difference is that he has replaced his tinted glasses with a visor and his hair and beard have become slightly grey.
In front of him is the massive decapitated head of a white Rei Ayanami sporting a demented grin and her eyes have been gouged out creating a perpetual waterfall of blood. Petrified EVAs can be seen keeping the head in place to serve as a morbid art display for the NERV denizen.
A pair of footsteps echo the empty room as an older Kozo Fuyutsuki appears. He still wore his brown Vice Commander uniform, but with less hair with more protuberant receding hairlines and sharper wrinkles in his face. His eyebrows also change the shape, now being more bushy in the external end. If someone who didn't know the Vice Commander where to see him now, the first thing they would think is "he looks tired".
"Report." Gendo orders.
"It is just as Armaros said. The machine can only be operated by the children. The Ayanami Series was destroyed as soon as she came online." Fuyutsuki states.
"Then we will make the children pilot." Gendo told him.
"You know those children will not cooperate. No doubt Katsuragi and Akagi have filled them in on the events that have transpired these past 14 years." Fuyutsuki points out.
"Irrelevant. The plan will go as scheduled. Unit 13 has reached the final stage of completion." Gendo said.
"So, we're nearing the final stages." Fuyutsuki lets out a tired sigh. "It's nearly over."
"Yes. The final stages of Instrumentality will soon be upon us." Gendo adds.
"But I wonder… who is truly in control here?" Fuyutsuki muses while Gendo remains silent.
A grey haired boy stares at the cage containing the Weltall which is bolted to a massive cross. He wears a school uniform identical to Shinji's and has pale skin and red eyes like Rei.
"Ho? I thought you'd have gone to your precious boytoy. What? Not who you were expecting?" The boy turns and sees Armaros standing, right arm firmly on her right hip.
The boy's smile thins as he sees the blood in her plugsuit. "Not at all. He is everything I hoped he would be. He just needs to find me." He says. "Still, I don't know how the existence of three Shinji's will affect the course of fate."
"How about this? You worry about your Shinji, and I take care of the other two." Armaros arrogantly suggests.
The grey-haired boy narrows his eyes. "I would prefer it if you did nothing. Your methods are too crude and barbaric for me to stomach."
"Aw, but that's the best part." Armaros pouts.
Seeing no point in this interaction, the boy turns to leave. "Shinji-kun will awaken soon. I must be there to see him." But before he can go further, a black hand grabs him.
"Don't get cocky, Tabris. If I find you interfering with my plan, I will kill you and your precious Shinji-kun." Armaros warned and let him go.
The boy continues his tread out as Armaros turns to the lifeless crucified machine.
"It won't be long now. All of the pieces are now in place." Armaros tells the robot. "Soon they will awaken, and then we will be whole again… mother."
F. Shinji opens his eyes and finds himself staring at an all-too-familiar white ceiling. He sits up and sees that he's now in a small white room with just a simple bed with a faucet and a mirror. As he gets up, he sees a dispenser on the door handing him an all familiar school uniform wrapped in a plastic bag. He opens the bag and quickly changes out of his hospital gown.
After changing, F. Shinji left his room to find the halls of NERV in disrepair with some of the structure seemingly ripped out making access impossible. After a bit more roaming, he hears the distinct sound of music and follows it, recognizing the source as a piano.
Eventually, he reaches the source and finds himself under a ruined EVA cage where a patch of the floor hasn't been dyed red. On it is a perfectly preserved piano and playing is the grey-haired boy from before.
"Don't be shy. I won't bite." The boy says, causing F. Shinji to jolt.
"Ah… s-sorry." F. Shinji stammers, causing the boy to chuckle. "I… I'm Shinji-"
"I know. I've been waiting for you." He stops and finally turns to the Third Child. "Would you like to play, Shinji-kun?"
Before F. Shinji knew it, he was sitting in front of the piano, with the boy by his side. "I… I thought we were going to talk."
"A piano duet is a conversation," He gestures to the piano "...through music."
"No… I'm not cut out for this…"
"In life it's important to change and try out new things." He leans forward and plays a few keys. "It's simple. All you have to do is…" he takes one of F. Shinji's hands and gently lowers it to the keys. "... hit the keys over here."
F. Shinji hesitantly plays a few notes. The boy then sits down next to him and quickly starts to play. F. Shinji is startled by the boy's masterful strokes and attempts to keep up.
"I wonder what I could do to play better." F. Shinji wonders.
"Playing better isn't important. Just create sounds that feel good to you."
"Well, it would feel good if I could play better sounds. How do I do that?"
"Practice through repetition. Do the same thing over and over. Do it until you can think to yourself 'that's pretty good'. That's the only way."
As the days pass and the duo continue their sessions together, F. Shinji's skill manages to reach his partner's level and is able to skillfully keep up with him in their sessions. He learned the boy's name, Kaworu Nagisa, and the two eventually grew closer.
However, this short reprieve did not last forever.
gets his clothes delivered from the dispenser as usual and puts them on. But as he does, he notices something off.
"This shirt is a little big…" He mutters and checks the shirt's size only for a faded tag to catch his eye and on it was the name "Toji Suzahara."
"!" Shinji's eyes widened in horror.
"... you think they're gonna play today?" Kensuke asks Toji, who gives him a look.
"How the hell should I know?"
"Will you morons shut up? I'm trying to sleep." Asuka groans from her bed.
"That's all you do, Asuka." Hikari said.
"Well, it's not like there's not much to do, is there? We're prisoners here."
Shinji sighs. He didn't know how long they'd been here. It feels like weeks but it could be more than that. This stale and stagnant room makes it impossible to tell the passage of time. They send food trays and clothes through a dispenser of sorts on the left side of the room just to keep them alive. He glances at the locked steel door on the other side.
'Why did we have to crash in this world? Why do we always have to suffer?' Shinji thought.
Just then, an audible click gets everyone's attention and the door opens to reveal a familiar face.
"Ayanami!/Wondergirl!" But their jubilation dies an ugly death as they soon see that she isn't alone.
"Get in already." The black pilot shoves Rei inside as she steps forward.
The others soon stand up at the mysterious pilot standing in front of them.
"You're… the pilot to the black EVA." Toji said.
"Correct." The pilot does a mock bow. "How do you do? My name is Armaros. Charmed, I'm sure."
"Why are you here?" Asuka asks the pilot with clear venom.
"There's no need for hostility here. I come in peace. I just came to bring your friend back." Armaros gestures to the weakened Rei.
"Then why are you hiding your face under that helmet?" Kensuke inquired.
"Now that's a secret~" Armaros chirped with an overly sweet tone.
"Where's Adam?"
"Hm?" Armaros turns to Hikari. "Could you say that again?"
"Where. Is. Adam?" Hikari repeats with more force.
Armaros shrugs. "No idea~"
"Bullshit." Hikari spat. "Then who's blood is that!?" She points to the semi-dried blood that dyes the girl's plugsuit.
The atmosphere in the room takes a swan dive as Armaros gives Hikari her full attention.
"... how much do you know?" She suddenly asked, surprising the brown-haired girl.
"Huh?"
"How do you know about Adam? Of his past? Do you know where his robot came from or why it does what it does?" She walks forward while Hikari steps back. "Do you even know his true name?"
Hikari's eyes widened before glaring defiantly at the tinted helmet.
"Who Adam was in the past doesn't change who he is now." Hikari declares. "He is our classmate, our friend! And you've harmed him in any way, I-"
*SQUELCH!*
"So boring." Armaros remarks as two fingers are shoved in Hikari's right eye.
"!" Everyone gasps in horror as Armaros gouges Hikari's eye out.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Hikari screams as she falls to her knees, bleeding as she clutches her now empty socket.
"Hikari/Class-rep!" Everyone rushes to Hikari's aid as Armaros throws the damaged eye away.
The black pilot stares as the children try to comfort their friend. "I thought she was stronger than that. But I suppose she is just a brat after all."
Toji whips around with rage in his eyes. "YOU BITCH!" He charges at Armaros for a hit but Armaros grabs his arm and elbows it, breaking it.
"FUUUUUUUUUCK!" Toji screams and falls back, broken bone poking out of the skin of his arm.
"Weak. Just where did he find you guys? An orphanage?" Armaros mockingly asks.
Shinji finally looks at Armaros. "Why are you doing this…?"
"I wanted to see the power of mother's chosen ones, but you have all been disappointing. I suppose it's because you all haven't awakened yet." Armaros states, confusing them.
"Awakened…?" Asuka asks but Armaros quickly walks out, ignoring her query.
However, not long a grey-haired boy appears holding a large white case.
"I had a feeling she would do this." He walks in and puts down the case. He opens it to reveal it to be a large medical kit. "We need to hurry before their injuries become infected."
"W-Wait! Who are you!?" Asuka demands.
The boy smiles at the redhead. "My name is Kaworu Nagisa, and I am a friend."
Adam slowly opens his eyes and finds himself staring at a roof of stars.
He sits up and finds himself on a beach except the ocean is red and the moon shines above with a distinct red line running across its surface.
"Why am I back here…?" Adam said, remembering the mindscape that the Angel brought him to.
He stands up and wanders the beach but it seems endless, completely stagnant and never changing. There was no hint of civilization, no people, no life.
However, his ceaseless wandering stops as he sees something in the distance. As he gets closer, he quickly recognizes the person.
"Shinji…?" Adam mutters, surprised that he's here. "Oi, Shinji!"
But Shinji doesn't turn, or even respond to his calling.
Without much option, Adam rushes towards the boy and reaches him. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."
"..."
"What is this place? Where are we?" Adam asks.
Shinji continues to ignore him.
"Hey, quit ignoring me!" He grabs his shoulders and pulls him to face him.
But when he turns, Adam's world shatters.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Armaros sits perched on a steel beam looking up at the night sky as she hears the scream of someone crawling back from the depths of Hell.
"Good morning, and happy birthday… 21." Armaros says with a chuckle.
*CLICK!*
Shinji is stirred awake by an unfamiliar sound and the first thing that his senses tell him is that something has changed.
He slowly brings his hand up to his neck and his eyes widen as he traces his fingers across the skin.
'The choker!' He bolts up and looks down to see the DSS Choker on the bed, not on his body.
He looks around the room and sees that the chokers on his friends are also off. Not only that, but the door has been opened.
Shinji rushes to Asuka and nudges her shoulder. "Wake up. Wake up Asuka."
"Maaa… shut up… baka…" Asuka moaned.
"The door's open." Shinji whispers and Asuka's eyes snap open.
"WHAT!?" Asuka bolts up, her head smashing into Shinji's chin.
"Ow!" Shinji hisses as he strokes his chin.
"Holy crap! The door's unlocked!" Asuka exclaims.
Kensuke slowly sits up from his makeshift bed. "Asuka… why are you-" He sees the door open. "It's unlocked?"
"That's what I just said, idiot!" Asuka yelled.
"Quit yelling, Asuka." Hikari groans from her bed, the right side of her head covered in bandages. "You're giving me a headache."
Asuka deflates at her friend's words. "Sorry Hikari."
Hikari takes a bottle and opens it. She takes a few pills and swallows them. "Much better." She turns to her partner and smacks his head. "Wake up, Suzahara."
"Ugh, what…?" Toji rises up from his stop on the bed, his right arm encased in a cast. "What's all the commotion?" He looks at the unlocked door. "Oh. Does this mean we're leaving?"
"We're not leaving without Adam." Rei chimed.
"You don't have to tell me that. But we don't even know where they're keeping him." Toji said.
Kensuke gets up. "Well, we're not finding out by being cooped up in here. Let's find Adam."
The 6 children walk out of their room and finally get a look around the place.
"This… is where we were jailed?" Kensuke remarks as he stares at the ruined structure around him.
Toji walks out with Hikari in toe. "Just take it slow, class rep."
"I'm only half-blind, Suzahara, you're the one with a broken arm." Hikari said. "And just call me Hikari. I haven't been your class representative in ages."
Shinji looks around. "This place is familiar."
"We are currently in Level 27 of NERV headquarters." Rei reveals.
"This is NERV?" Kensuke remarks, a bit skeptical that the base of mankind's first line of defense has been reduced to this.
"The layout has changed but the structure is still the same." Rei adds before walking forward. "This way."
"Where are we going?" Kensuke asks.
"We are going to Central Dogma." Rei replies.
"How do we know Central Dogma is still there? For all we know it could be a giant chasm!" Toji says before Rei's head whips back to send him a cold but angry glare.
"I do not know. But it is better than staying here, yes? So please keep your personal thoughts to yourself, Suzahara-san." Rei said with the same dead tone, although now it carries more anger than before.
Everyone is surprised by Rei's sudden outburst, not expecting the emotionless ice queen to be so… emotional.
"Wow…" Even Kensuke was in awe.
"Yeah. Who knew Wonder Girl had in her." An equally surprised Asuka adds.
Shinji stayed quiet. It wasn't the first time she had seen Rei mad, the first time was when Shinji chastised his father and she slapped him.
It is sometimes hard to remember that Rei is still a human with feelings even though she doesn't express them as often.
As they traverse through the ruins of the former paramilitary organization, they notice that most of the damage wasn't because of years of deterioration but from battle. Bullet holes riddle the walls and floor along with old reddish stains. Not only that but the massive holes in the roof indicate that bombs were dropped on the base.
"Man. It's like we're walking on an old battlefield." Kensuke remarks, though he didn't sound as excited as he should.
They eventually come to a large open area containing a massive plant of some kind. The humming of working machines along with a dim orange glow envelops them.
"What… is this place?" Shinji asks, having never seen this place before.
"Hey, check this out!" The children turn to Toji who's pointing towards a makeshift house. "It looks like someone's been living here."
They walk inside to find the interior to be mostly empty with a lack of personal belongings except for a bed and a drawer.
Shinji recognizes the furniture's set up, nearly identical to Rei's apartment. "This is Rei's room."
Rei stares at the pile of books just outside the house. She picks the highest book in the pile and recognizes it as a book she read prior to the events that lead her here.
"How do you know what Wondergirl's room looks like, Third?" Asuka asks, glaring at her roommate.
"Misato sent Adam and I to give Rei her new ID. Her apartment was rundown and seemingly abandoned; even the lock on her door was broken." Shinji glances at the worn out drawer. "Adam decided to stay outside while I went inside. But when I saw her she…"
"She what?" Asuka leans in. "Well, out with it!"
A pink dusting appears on Shinji's cheeks. "... she just got out of the shower."
The group is silent for a moment, allowing the pilot's words to sink in.
*SLAP!*
"Perverted baka!" Asuka shrieked.
"T-That's inappropriate, Ikari-kun!" A flustered Hikari exclaims.
"It was an accident! I didn't know she was even in the shower!" Shinji defended. "It didn't help that I had something of hers and fell on top of her." He immediately realizes that he said that outloud.
"Damn!" Toji and Kensuke whistle out.
"You baka!" Asuka slaps him again.
Afterwards, the displaced group of six continue to traverse deeper into the vowels of the ruined base, guided by the dim light of old and flickering LED lights. However, they soon stop at the sound of footsteps coming from the other side of the path and they get louder until Future Gendo comes to view.
"Father…" Shinji whispers but the future version of his father doesn't acknowledge him nor the other kids, instead continuing walking the opposite direction.
"He… just ignored us. Like we weren't even there." Kensuke says, unsure of what just happened.
"Is he… always like this, Ikari-kun?" A concerned Hikari asks.
Shinji doesn't respond before continuing forward. "Let's go."
Rei and Asuka follow suit, leaving the three to ponder just how little they know about Shinji or his family life.
After a walk of silence, they reach a familiar set of doors.
"Beyond here is Central Dogma." Rei said.
Toji walks forward and tries to pry the doors open but nothing happens.
"How are you going to open those doors when one of your arms is a homemade cast?" A skeptical Asuka asks the jock.
"Let me help." Kensuke and Shinji proceed to help Toji pull the doors.
Eventually, the doors start to creak open before a strong smell invades everyone's nostrils causing Asuka and Hikari to cover their noses.
"Ugh, what the hell!? Smells like something died in there!" Asuka gags.
The doors widen their gap and everyone is greeted by the harrowing sight of the giant smiling decapitated head of Rei Ayanami with its eyes missing and on top of a pile of frozen EVA units.
"W-W-what…?" A horrified Kensuke whispers before falling on his butt.
Hikari throws up with Toji not faring any better.
"Lilith…" Rei said.
"That's Lilith! That's the thing the Angels were after!?" Asuka exclaims.
Rei stares at the giant head, right at those empty sockets with fresh blood flowing out endlessly.
'Is this… my role in the commander's scenario?' Rei wonders as she touches her face. 'I… don't want this.'
'Father…' Shinji clenches his fists tight with emotion. 'Just what in the hell have you done!?'
"I was not expecting to see you again. But then I remember that there are two Shinji Ikaris in the base. Memory is such a fickle thing when you are my age."
The children turn to find a familiar but much older man standing on the other end of the command center.
"Vice commander… Fuyutsuki-san?" Shinji identifies the older man.
Future Fuyutsuki nods. "I am sure you have a lot of questions. I will try to answer them to the best of my ability."
Author Notes
And I end this chapter with a cliffhanger. I just love them, don't you?
Kaworu has a clear dislike towards Armaros and Armaros has her own plan in motion. And it involves Adam.
The group still hasn't run into Future Shinji but they will in the future.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Peace~