Shinji Ikari, the 10 o'Clock Assassin
Mobile Otaku Band, Davis Anime Club,
Izumi Maki Fan Club, and
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Shinji Ikari
tyree3@pacbell.net

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                    NEON GENESIS EVANGELION
                                
            Episode 24 Revisited: "Show Y'all Love!"

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Carl:          Ah!  Here we are!  So this is Adam, isn't it?  Oh yes...  As soon as I
               tough this soul, I will...  HUH??!!  WAIT!!  IT'S LILLITH!!

     *CRASH!!*

     The puppetted EVA-02 hits the ground; stoned, stuck, and totally
incapacitated by the very irate EVA-01.  Carl turns around to see this sight as the
10-story purple humanoid slouches toward him and snatches him out of the air. 
Shinji's mind is in turmoil, his only "friend," the only person that showed him how
to love, is actually an Angel.

Shinji:   (Tears in his eyes.)  CARL!!  WHY??!!
Carl:     (Just smiling.)  Why not?  Am I not an Angel?  One who wishes to
          grasp Adam's power?  I am humankind's greatest enemy after all,
          right?
Shinji:   No!  This isn't right!  You're my friend!  You're the only one who
          understands me!  Took me in!  I CAN'T KILL YOU!!
Carl:     But you must, Shinji-kun.  You are an EVA pilot after all.

     Carl looks up to see Rei Ayanami, who's on the ceiling entrance of Central
Dogma.  She's just looking down at the situation, no emotion on her face at all.

Carl:     I must thank you, Shinji Ikari.  You've made my life worthwhile.

     As opera music plays on, EVA-01 still ho...

Shinji:   NOOOOO!!!!

     With that, the EVA tosses Carl aside.  He manages to control his levitation,
righting himself us as he wonders why Shinji can't carry on with his demise.

Carl:     Shinji-kun?!
Shinji:   No...  I can't...  Enough...  Enough all this killing and murder...  Carl-san...  You're an Angel, are you?
Carl:     (His smile wavering...)  Yesss...
Shinji:   Tell me, if you did capture Adam's power...  What would you do with
          it?
Carl:     Well...  I'd bring Armageddon.  If I came in contact with Adam, I'd
          annihilate the whole world.  At least that's what SEELE said I would
          do.  But...  I don't have such right to take away the gift of existence. 
          That's why I want you to kill me.
Shinji:   Damned fool!
Carl:     Huh?
Shinji:   The taking of a life!  It never brings happiness!  I mean, sure I had my
          time fighting the other Angels.  But to find out that they can become
          just like you; to walk and talk and feel and love!  I have to live with
          that for the rest of my life!

     Carl's smile is almost gone as he hears this.

Shinji:   In another time...  At another place...  In another piece of anime
          work...  They could've been...  (Pause.)  No.  I will not take your life.
Carl:     Shinji-kun...
Shinji:   Instead...  Go forward.  And use that gift we call free will.  That... 
          That is my love to you.

Rei:      Ikari-kun...

Carl:     And what if what SEELE said is true?  What then?
Shinji:   My conscience will be lighter going in.
Carl:     And the people of this Earth.  Do they deserve such an end?
Shinji:   Humanity will start over.
Carl:     And what of your friends?  Rei, Asuka, and Misato?
Shinji:   I'm useless to Misato.  Asuka's already gone.  Rei's... (Starting to cry.)
          Not even suppose to be here...
Carl:     (A frown on his face.)  I see...  You've disappointed me, Shinji.

     Rei's AT Field turns off, and the bridge crew's visuals are restored.  Misato,
Maya, Makoto, Shigeru, Kouzou, and Gendo are treated to the view of Carl Nagisa,
the 17th Angel aka Tabris, powering himself up.

Misato:   There it is!  Shinji!  Get  em!  (Nothing.)  Shinji!  Snap out of it!  He's
          the enemy!  (Still nothing.)  GODDAMMIT, SHINJI!!  GET YOUR
          BUTT IN GEAR!!
Gendo:    Shinji.  Do you want us all to die?  (Still nothing.)

     Everyone in the bridge stands silent as EVA-01 just lays there, unmoving and
sullen.  Just then, Tabris disappears from view.

Kouzou:   It seems that the pilot's psyche has reached it's limit.
Gendo:    Let us take the opportunity to leave from here at once...

     But just as Gendo was about to head for the door, Tabris was already there. 
The scene changes to the gloomy 3rd Child sitting in his cockpit, the sobbing poly-math scientist sitting in her cell, and the lifeless 2nd Child laying in her hospital
bed.  Sounds of guns blasting, Maya screaming, and the ripping of flesh can be
heard.

-=**=-



-=**=-

     Misato and Shinji are at the apartments of the Tokyo-3 suburbs that evening.

Misato:   Shinji-kun?
Shinji:   .....
Misato:   (Takes a sip from her Yebish beer.)  If someone thrusts you into a
          situation totally different from what you've been in, and expects you to
          play along; would you love him or hate him?
Shinji:   ...I... ...I'd hate him.
Misato:   Okay...  But if someone comes along and treats you kindly, even
          though he's "your" worst enemy; what are your feelings toward him?
Shinji:   ...what are you trying to get at?
Misato:   I've been in the armed forces after I left the asylum.  You learn a lot of
          things while you're in the armed forces.
Shinji:   .....
Misato:   Hey, Shinji-kun...  (Goes into her "cute" mode, smiling at him.)  Do
          you hate me?
Shinji:   (Remains silent, but then looks at Misato...)  I hate being used...
Misato:   That's understandable.  But that's how life is sometimes.  People are
          going to use you for their own means.  It's just a matter of having a
          trade-off.  "Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."
Shinji:   Misato-san...
Misato:   Shinji-kun...  Would you like to "use" me?

     Carl is standing on top of the highest telecommunications pole in Tokyo-1. 
The winds rustling through his hair during the chilling darkness.  The hand that was
once Gendo Ikari's, embedded with the embryo of the Angel Adam, fixated on his
arm.  Total annihilation of the world seems eminent.

Carl:     (His smirk back on his face.)  I can feel them.  The billions of life-forces scrambling around the globe.  It's such a waste, really.  To start
          the so-called "Third Impact" and take these lives like it's nothing. 
          (Takes a look at the embryo in "his" hand.)  Shinji-kun.  You have
          fought against your destiny and refused to finish off the last Angel. 
          You refused out of the wish for humans and Angels to live amongst
          each other.  Is that it?  I will take the time to ponder this.  I will travel
          the world for the conclusion you wish for me to earn.  And then...  I
          will return...

     Carl Nagisa, also known as Tabris the 17th Angel, leaps off the pole into the
night.  On his start to search the world for the last message to give to human kind
before bringing them to God...

                           EPILOGUE:

A mysterious figure kills off the members of SEELE one-by-one.  And nobody was
able to stop the intruder.

NERV gets closed down, and everyone went their separate ways.

Ritsuko was let go.  And she and Maya went on to teach what they'd learned at
Tokyo-1 University.

Makoto and Shigeru joined the UN Marshalls.
     Shigeru:  Party-on, Maki!
     Makoto:   Pa-!  HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!!

Kouzou retired and went to Hokkaido.

Gendo, faced with the fact that he can't face Yui ever again, commits suicide.

Asuka, faced with the fact that she's never pilot EVA ever again, commits suicide.

Rei, feeling rejected after hearing what Shinji said, disappears without a trace...

Shinji and Misato leave Tokyo-3, moving back to Shinji's home and started
becoming a real couple.

                       This is an ending,
                One of many possible endings...

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a product of Gainax...