Sorry about the first post...I forgot to do the subject heading. ^_^

Vengeance

	It is strange how memories work sometimes. One little thing, one sight,
sound, smell or touch, can trigger a flood of emotion, a remembrance of
things past and long gone. Maybe that is the way humans are, physical beings
even in matters of the heart. Sometimes, of course, it is different, and
thoughts are the harbingers of memory. Sometimes it is more.

	To the man walking along the corridors of NERV, it was all of these. And
yet again, it didn’t matter. It always didn’t matter. It was a kind of
litany he’d followed these past few years, and he’d grown so used to it that
now that almost anything could be excused by that. It always didn’t matter
because of the more important thing. That justified everything.

	Footsteps, echoing around the empty corridors. Footsteps in the sand.
Lighter ones, their sounds now muted in the dim, musty chambers of his mind.
Other footsteps, treading with his own, treading on his.

	She was wearing high heels that day, he suddenly realized. Almost
everything, his mind seems to whisper again. Almost anything can be excused.
The thoughts faded, to be replaced by the steady, unremitting fall of his
feet on the polished floor. He could almost hear her own fainter tread
beside him. Almost.

              He thought about other things as he walked. Plans, plans for
tomorrow, plans for next week…everything had to begin on schedule, end at
the appropriate time, not before, not after. He’d said as much to her once,
and she’d understood. His own reflection staring up at him from the polished
floor, silently mocking him. The greater goal, the one plan of your life, it
seemed to say. Almost everything.

             Yes, he told it grimly. For the greater good.

	He came to a door. The door. That, at least, was different than
before…they’d had to walk up that horrible twisted scaffolding, all the
while wondering if they were going to fall. He was worried, at least for
her; she still somehow managed to remain cheerful and enthusiastic, chatting
to Naoko as if there wasn’t a care in the world. Perhaps it was her way of
coping…Naoko and he into their work, she into her son. He wondered again
what would have happened if they had all taken different paths.

              That was strange, He hadn’t thought that in ages. Resolutely,
he quashed the fleeting impulse of regret and turned back to stare at the
door. And sighed. Regret…what he was about to do tonight gave the lie to his
rigid self-control. The door again. It beckoned, it’s outline somehow
harsher in the pale light from above. 

He sighed again and keyed in the code. It was the same code, of course.
Ironically, everyone in NERV  knew it…what had been a well-guarded secret in
his day was now common knowledge. How times change. It was the old man who
came up with it, and her working out the algorithms into the wee hours.
Naoko would have been jealous.  He stepped in. Strange that the night made
everything seem different. Perhaps…perhaps he should have been kinder to the
boy long ago on that night. Perhaps.

It doesn’t matter now. I was needed elsewhere. It is for the higher goal.

The buttons on his right…even now he could see her slim hand stretch out,
the finger press the plainly marked "3"…now he saw his own larger one repeat
the same motions. Only now his gloves kept the light from the ring on his
hand. He felt the lift begin to descend with hardly a shudder. So many
images of past times.

He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair, remembering the last time
he’d done that…years from this day. His wedding anniversary.

Remember, Gendou. The higher goal. 

The lift plunged down into the inner recesses of NERV.

*****

              Elsewhere, Shinji Ikari turned in his sleep. It was the same
nightmare. He moaned in his sleep, the same moan.

*****

               He brought his hand up at he stepped out, absently pushing
his glasses up. Then he looked around him, at the vast open space, the
complex tangle of wires and steel girders, looking for all the world like
some huge, bizarre web of human making. Of his, or her, of all of their
makings. He let his gaze take in all this, the computers, the shattered
glass of the control room, the bulk of the walls, the way the light streamed
down from above, and then brought it up. Higher. Higher.

	It was staring down at him. Unit-01. He moved his glasses up again.

	"Evangelion Unit-01. Test Type. Construction based on preliminary data
collected from Prototype Model and Angel specimens. AT Field estimated at
above average levels at optimal performance, with fluctuations dependent on
pilot. Primary armaments, Progressive Knife…" he let his voice drone on in
the silence of the holding facility, taking comfort from the familiar
sounding feel of the words. Hmm…the feel of the words. Hadn’t used that
phrase in ages. He could see her step up to the entry, a smile on her face.
He vaguely recalled that he told her that she looked good in the plug suit.
Then again, maybe he hadn’t. Back to the report, to the work, as always.

	The room suddenly felt oppressive, the darkness enfolding him, enclosing
him in a cage, a cage formed of twisted metals and towering golems, of
memories and thoughts. He shrugged it all away. He could see clearer now, in
this room of his own devising and creation. He remembered that it was for
the higher goal. She knew that, they all did. Even Naoko. He raised his eyes
to EVA-01’s baleful gaze.

	"Yui." He had no doubt that she heard him.

*****

	Sweat beaded on Shinji’s brow. This was a bad one.

*****

	He had done his fair share of wondering with the rest of them, weighing
opportunities, decisions, responsibilities, problems. And why shouldn’t they
have. It is no easy thing to change the fate of humanity. So they had each
done it is his of her own way. But only he had seen the light, at the end.
They’d all been too blind, even her.

	Then why was he here? Seized by sudden indecision, he mopped his brow and
started forward.

	The eyes, a fierce yellow, stared back at him.

	He stared back. If anything, they grew fiercer.

	He reached out with one hand, then pulled it back, drawing it slowly up to
his nose pushing his glasses up with almost excruciating care. Then, he
turned around and continued.

	"Yui. You knew what had to be done."

	No answer. 

	He began to pace, back and forth on the high walkway, studiously ignoring
the great head next to him. He looked, suddenly, up, and saw the lights, the
lights that had fallen with the Sachiel’s attack. The lights which would
have killed his son.

	That would have been a loss. The plan would have been spoiled, and that
could not be allowed.

	"I’m sorry." Was he really? Or were these mere words to placate a pawn, a
powerful pawn, surely, but ultimately one that had to be used, that was of
no importance other than the furthering of the plan. Words like those he
spoke to Shinji once. The look on his son’s face had been no less that pathetic.

	Were these the same words? He could not pretend to know. He continued.

	"I know you are there, Yui. I know I left you. But trust me. It had to be
done."

	There was no turning back now. The old chant had returned, the same
iron-hard resolve. He welcomed it back…how he had ever doubted himself, he
did not know. He turned around.

	The eyes looked at him.

	"There will be a final resolution to this. Humanity will be transformed."

	He never got further.

	A single huge purple and green fist had torn itself free from the moorings
at it’s side, and with the speed born of hatred and anger, ripped the bridge
apart as Evangelion Unit-01opened it’s mouth and screamed.

The single man on it had no chance.

Yellow eyes stared at the one object hanging from the very tip of it’s
finger. Slowly, ever so slowly, it slid into the center of the bloody mess
on the palm. Yui regarded it curiously.

And then the palm snapped shut.

***** 

	Shinji Ikari woke up with a smile. It had been such a nice dream after all!
All about his mom. This was one of the good ones. He hadn’t had one like
this in…

	His thoughts were interrupted by Misato’s frenzied shriek. He was just
turning around when she burst into his room.

	"Shinji-kun, something’s happened at NERV…"

*****

	Gendou Ikari is dead. Hooray.

	This fic evolved from one singularly simple notion sparked from watching
Neon Genesis Evangelion, namely, GENDOU MUST DIE. Simply put, I detest the
man. He’s abandoned his son, committed adultery, imprisoned his wife in a
mecha unit…I couldn’t let him get away with it. Hence this fic.

	I hope I did a good job with building the suspense (all the details about
Gendou’s thoughts)…I really need to work on that more. Tell me how it went.

	As always, C&C is appreciated.

	This fic is dedicated to the good green Earth for no other reason than the
fact that I want to. ^_^




Zhou Tai An (kain@pacific.net.sg) "There is no one simple truth." - Rune Walsh

"Who is this? This is I. Who is I? What is I?		   - Rei Ayanami
I am myself. This object is I. The figure that forms me."

When someone stands in the light but does not give it out, a shadow is created.

The ways of nature and of life are strange and deep. They are not to be
understood. In the midst of angers and of wars love's secret work goes on,
and binds us all by blood, and this, whether love is denied or bestowed. -
Pearl S. Buck