See you all at Otakon.
- Lara
Evangelion: Rapture
by Lara Bartram
The ringing of the phone roused Shinji from his sleep. After a
few moments of staring across the barren apartment at the offensive
noisemaker, he forced himself from bed to answer it.
"Yeah?" he said into the handset groggily while he absently
scratched his side.
He was greeted by a few moments of silence, and then the line
went dead.
"Thanks, dumbass," Shinji grumbled before he headed back to bed.
SHINJI
He stopped and stared at what should have been his blank computer
monitor. The cursor at the end of his name blinked like a questioning
eye.
"Who..." Shinji glanced around his apartment before staring at
the monitor again.
SON OF IKARI
"What... who?"
IT IS TIME
Shinji stared. Time for what? Who was doing this? How? And
why? And...
Sharp knocking on his door separated his attention from the
computer screen. Now who in the world would be knocking on his door at
that time of night?
Opening the door a crack, he saw his neighbor, and slightly more
than acquaintance, Fumeda in the hall. He appeared to be drunk or
high, or maybe both. "What do you want, Fumeda?"
"Hey, man. I know you been hard-up lately, and I got someone
looking for attention. Why don't you come on?"
Shinji opened the door wider and saw Fumeda's girlfriend in her
typical black leather and overdone makeup, and next to her another
woman.
She was dressed in a similar manner, with heavy boots laced up to
her knees, fishnets, and what might have been a vinyl bustier. Her
makeup was more subdued, but she had tattoos up and down her arms.
"No thanks. I have to work tomorrow," Shinji replied, trying to
be polite.
"He is cute," the strange woman said, and put her arm around
Fumeda. She smiled at Shinji, licking her lips.
Shinji noticed one thing immediately when she raised her arm: the
tattoo that was revealed. It was basically on the side of her left
breast and hidden when her arm was down. It was of a clock set in an
ornate spider web; the hands were both at twelve.
"Come on, man. You need to find a social life," Fumeda urged,
swaying on his feet.
Shinji glanced back at his computer to find the screen blank,
then at his clock to see that it was midnight. "Give me a minute to
change."
He stood against one wall as music thumped around him and multi-
colored lights swirled wildly. The only thing it seemed time for was
to go back to sleep. Why he even bothered to...
"It's not over," a soft voice whispered to him, almost lost in
the din.
Shinji whirled to find someone, a woman judging by the voice,
dressed in all black and her face shrouded in a hood, standing next to
him. She was just a little shorter than he, and her clothing hid any
physical details about her. He hadn't even heard her approach.
"Who... Are you the one that..."
"It didn't end in 2015; that was only the beginning," she
whispered in a voice Shinji found annoyingly familiar.
Those words though... If it had been possible, he would have
backed through the wall, but he simply flattened himself against it
instead. "It's over," he said, his body working independently of his
mind.
"No, it's not, and now we need you again. We need you to save
the world again."
The familiarity of that voice was maddening, but it couldn't
distract him from the things being said, the impact those things might
have on his life. "I don't know what you want, but..."
"Don't think mankind escaped so easily. This is just your
prison. Don't be fooled by it."
Shinji peered into the darkness of the hood, burning to put a
name to the voice that he knew, but couldn't identify.
"Come with me." A hand snaked out of the voluminous outfit to
take his hand. "I can take you someplace safe."
With a cry that sounded like disgust, Shinji yanked his hand
away. "Tell me who you are! How did you get on my computer?"
His voice held the shrillness of a lone sparrow in the silence of
winter, even amongst the noise of the club.
The woman simply backed away, hand still out, then turned and
disappeared into the throng of club denizens.
Body quivering with fear, Shinji watched the woman get lost in
the mass of humanity.
***
"I'm sorry, sir." Shinji alternated his gaze between his boss
and the floor. Even though he wasn't intimidated at all, he tried to
show the proper respect. Internally, he found the entire situation
hilarious.
To think the man sitting behind the desk in front of him, that
was shorter than he, would try to intimidate him... The son of Gendo
Ikari, the most intimidating man since, well... ever. At least as far
as Shinji was concerned.
Being a timid, sheltered boy hadn't helped his... relationship
with his father, but those tumultuous dealings had helped him to forge
a will of iron once he had left NERV and entered the real world.
Shinji's boss couldn't intimidate him. No man could. "I'm
sorry, sir. It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't. You're excused."
Giving a minimal bow, Shinji left the office and returned to his
seat. Sighing, more with annoyance than anything, he tried to get back
to work. It was times like these he wished he had stayed with NERV
instead of leaving. At least he had had a name there, instead of being
a faceless, nameless paper-pusher.
Even after what had seemed to be the end of the angels and the
need for Evangelion units, he had been requested to stay. And he had
chosen to leave.
Leave Misato, leave Asuka, leave Rei, leave his father... He had
had enough, and he had finally been able to say it with confidence. He
hadn't run away; he had saved his own sanity. That had been the point
where he had refused to be a doormat any longer.
"Mail for you, Ikari." A thick envelope was dropped in front of
him.
Shinji blinked, then picked up the envelope. It was light, but
still too heavy for it to be just a letter. With a quick tear, he
opened it and pulled out a tiny box and a slip of paper.
'Don't open this here. Find someplace private.'
With a guilty look on his face, Shinji quickly folded the paper
and slipped it into his pocket. Taking a quick survey of the room, he
grabbed the small box, stood, and stuffed that into his pocket as well.
"Going to take care of business," he said gruffly to whoever might
hear, trying to be nonchalant.
Shinji passed the bathrooms just down the hall and continued
walking. When he reached the dark and silent secondary conference
room, he slipped inside. With no meetings scheduled, it would work
perfectly for a few moments of privacy.
Getting the box from his pocket, Shinji opened it to find the
tiniest phone he had ever seen. As he held and admired it, it chirped
softly at him. The display lit up briefly and revealed an odd scramble
of letters and numbers.
"Hello?" he said into it almost timidly, bringing back memories
of when he had been just a...
"Shinji."
His entire body went rigid, and it felt like his mouth had
suddenly filled with cotton.
"Shinji, I need to see you."
"Father?"
"You must leave there at once."
"But this is my job. I can't just leave."
"There is something more important for you to do."
"I won't!"
"If you do not, SEELE will arrest you and interrogate you. If
you leave now, we can speak safely."
Realization dawned on Shinji. "This is about the computer, and
that woman at the club, isn't it? You set all this up. Why are you
bothering me now? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"This is more important than your job, and your safety is more
important than your distrust of me."
"Go to hell, Father. I never want to speak to you again."
"We are all already there."
For a moment, Shinji stared at the phone. Before he could ask
what those words meant, the line went dead, and the door of the
conference room burst open.
"Shinji Ikari, come with us!" a man dressed in riot gear barked
at him, with a gun pointed at his face.
***
"Mr. Ikari, we have a few simple questions for you."
Shinji gazed at the monolith "speaking" to him with feigned
disinterest. "I don't know anything about NERV. I left there almost
six years ago."
"We know all we need to know about NERV," intoned a different
monolith.
"What we want to know is the location of Gendo Ikari," the
monolith marked as one said.
"My father?" Shinji stuttered, suddenly uncertain about what was
going on. "I... don't know."
"You lie! Tell us!" demanded another.
"I don't know!" Shinji shot back, angered by the accusation.
"Boy, tell us and we'll go easy on you," monolith one said in a
tone that might have been an attempt at soothing.
"Easy on me? For what?" He hadn't broken any laws they could
prosecute him for.
"Crimes against humanity in your time with NERV. You can't deny
that. So just tell us where he is."
All the blood drained from Shinji's face. Crimes against
humanity? It... couldn't be.
"Tell us where we can find Gendo Ikari," Nine ordered.
"Tell us where to find him, and where Yui Ikari is."
"Mother?"
"The boy knows nothing."
"Not yet. I know he will be contacted. This all falls on the
son of Ikari once again." In the privacy of his own office, Keel
Lorenz watched Shinji Ikari sit in the holding room, staring blankly at
the walls. "There is nothing we can do except wait for contact. Let
him go."
***
Shinji was awakened by the phone once again. If it was his
father, he would not be a happy camper at all. He had no desire
to talk to the man again, yet he didn't hesitate to pick up the phone
either.
"Come downstairs. We need to talk."
That same voice from the club. "Tell me what's going on."
"Come downstairs. We're waiting. You want answers, don't you?"
Was she teasing? "But..." The line went silent before he could
ask anything. It took only seconds for Shinji to start dressing
himself.
Outside the apartment building waited a car that reminded him of
the ones NERV had always used: large, black, made to impress and
intimidate. An involuntary shudder rippled through his body.
The rear door opened, though the interior remained hidden by the
darkness of the evening. "Get in," the voice instructed him.
Hesitating for a moment, weighing his options that didn't really
exist, Shinji nodded. Without a second thought, he hopped into the car
and shut the door.
The quick acceleration of the car threw him back in the seat.
When he recovered, he was finally able to see her, the owner of the
voice that had haunted him. He was stunned speechless.
"Hello, Shinji. I'm sorry to have to play these games with you,
but it's necessary for our survival," Yui explained while she smiled
softly at her son.
"Mother, I... I just don't..." Shinji babbled.
"Everything will be explained later. I was disappointed that you
resisted earlier, though your father warned me you might." Yui brushed
a lock of hair from his forehead.
"We're all in this together, Shinji. We've got to put everything
aside."
"Misato?" Shinji stared at his ex-guardian observing him from
the front seat.
"Relax, Shinji. It's not as bad as I bet you think it is."
Misato smiled at him, then turned around as the car sped on.
The building they pulled up to was, to Shinji's surprise, Rei's
old apartment building. It looked in even worse shape than before. It
was obvious the place had never had any sort of repairs. "Here?"
"Yes, here. A bit odd, but it works."
Shinji couldn't help himself and looked at his mother every
moment possible. Part of it was just seeing her again, but also that
she was so young, not much older than himself. Certainly the age
difference wasn't enough...
She only smiled at him though. "Come on, Shinji. There's
someone you might not want to see, but you need to talk to."
"This should be interesting," said Kozo Fuyutsuki as he get out
of the driver's side door.
"I'm still not sure how it all works, but... I sure hope Shinji
agrees. If the commander knows what he's talking about," Misato
responded as she got out of the car, watching mother and son enter the
building.
"I think that is the only thing we can rely on, sadly enough."
"Father."
Gendo rose as Shinji entered the room with Yui. "Do you trust
your mother?" he asked.
"I..." Shinji stopped in mid-answer and took stock of the subtle
changes in his father. Gone was the NERV uniform, replaced with more
casual clothing. He still wore the gloves, but these were black; the
glasses were the same as ever. His face appeared... calm, but not icy
like before. "Father, what's going on? Why did SEELE--"
"Explain it to him. He won't accept anything unless you do," Yui
said, her hand resting protectively on Shinji's shoulder.
"You know that's not possible. He has to do it of his own free
will. Once we tell him, we can't just throw him back. You know that,
Yui."
"Do what of my own free will?" Was his father actually giving
him a choice in the matter?
"To stay with us, Shinji, or to go back," Yui explained gently.
"Go back to... my apartment?"
"The life you knew, and forget you saw us. We'll be memories
again."
Shinji looked between his parents. "Or stay with you?"
Yui smiled again. "All of us. People you know, and who know
you."
"But... why?" He wanted to recoil from the dark look that
crossed his mother's face.
"I can't tell you, except that... we wouldn't have done this
unless it was absolutely necessary; we need your help."
Shinji's internal battle was amazingly brief, even by his own
standards, "I... I'll stay. With you." People he knew. But looking
at his parents, he wasn't sure he knew them all that well.
Ritsuko chewed her fingernails. It was the only thing she could
do until the MAGI had finished its task. So she sat and she waited.
And chewed her fingernails.
When the blue indicator light went on, the canisters would
retract automatically, and then she could do what was necessary with
each of them. Most of the time it was to just let the MAGI take care
of them, but this time, she'd actually have something to do.
And that was what bothered her. Just sitting there felt awful;
even Maya was doing something productive.
"Still clear. I don't like being out in the open like this
though. How much longer?"
The little display read ten seconds, but then with the time it
took to take care of the canisters, it was probably closer to thirty if
she was in top form. "Half a minute." Ritsuko drummed her fingers on
the display. "Hurry up, dammit."
For Maya, it seemed to take forever with their vehicle just
sitting there in the open, in a sea of LCL. They stood out like black
against white. "Hurry, sempai," she said quietly.
The counter reached zero, and with a great expelling of gas from
the machinery next to her, the light on the console turned from red to
green. "Go, Maya!"
Her hands reacting automatically at the command, Maya got the
makeshift vessel into motion, back toward the sunken geofront. She
wouldn't be at ease until they were back there, submerged where they
were safely out of sight.
***
The move had been made. With a labored sigh, Tabris stood. He hadn't
wanted this, but there was little he could do but obey now.
He looked across the vast sea of what had been a failed experiment.
Even worse was the fact that the ultimate instrument of destruction had
not been as ultimate as predicted. Some of them had survived.
How, he didn't know. That was not for him to understand. It was his
duty now to complete what the so-called Third Impact had started. Only
then would he be allowed to leave the desolate planet and join the
others at new endeavors.
He bent down and scooped up a handful of the orange liquid. It was
warm and slightly viscous, and seemed to almost have a life of its own.
Tabris may have been only a servant, but he knew the entire thing could
have been handled better. The fact that the souls had been left was a
huge a mistake to his eyes.
The human race had been a crafty bunch, unwilling to settle for less
than what they thought they deserved. If anything would find a way to
escape its creator's judgment, it was mankind.
His slim, pale hand clenched into a fist around the LCL, and what
poured out the side was no longer orange.
If ending the foolish ambitions of reclaiming their planet was his
duty, his punishment, then he would accept it. His duty, now that he
was beyond the influence of man, took precedence over the foolish
things he had said and done in the past.
What was no longer completely liquid LCL bubbled on the ground in front
of him.
It smelled horrid, like rotting flesh, which made him smile.
***
The light was horrifically bright after the gentle darkness, and
it never got any easier. The adjustment went quicker than before, but
the weakness that plagued every muscle, along with the assault on his
senses, didn't fade.
The dim light in the capsule was painful for him, and he refused
to exit squinting, so he took his time reacquainting himself with the
real world. Finding his strength adequate, he opened the sealed
compartment and retrieved the robe that was there.
There was still some LCL rolling down his skin, and the question
about what part of him didn't make it back raised itself. Or perhaps
it was part of someone else? In any case, it wasn't something he could
concern himself with while there was still so much to be done.
A soft tapping on the hatch of the capsule indicated the others
were waiting for him. Communal showers weren't his idea of fun, but at
least there was water.
"With the problem the MAGI had, we weren't sure you were safe,"
Yui said as he emerged from the chamber.
"It was within tolerance."
Yui frowned at him, then looked at Ritsuko. "Will Shinji be all
right?"
"He should be. He's had experience with this before," she
answered while typing away. Her eyes flicked back and forth between
the main monitor and the last occupied chamber.
"Let her work, Yui." Gendo took her by the elbow and tried to
lead her away.
"Don't patronize me. I'm not stupid," she snapped and jerked her
arm free of his.
If her robe hadn't just pulled open, he might have been able to
argue with her. As it was, he reached forward and closed her robe.
"Come along."
"Really, it's fine," Ritsuko continued, trying very hard to
ignore the quibbling. "Once the MAGI figures Shinji out, this will all
be automatic."
"I don't know how you two can take it so calmly. Always gives me
cramps," Misato said as she entered the room from the corridor that led
to the showers. She was dressed in a nearly identical robe that barely
preserved her modesty as she stretched her back.
She observed the two now-silent arguers, especially the heated
looks they were giving each other, and shook her head. "I wish I could
work the kinks out like that," she said quietly.
In the times that something similar had happened, the normally
divided showers ended up divided in a different way. Misato and the
ex-sub-commander knew each other a lot more than they had ever imagined
they would. It was her own silliness really. Just because she didn't
feel like watching the lovebirds scrub each other down, she chose to
stand on the other side of the shower. "I really wish..."
"We don't have room for Kaji. He'd be a liability and a
distraction," warned Ritsuko, still concentrating on the monitor and
what the MAGI was telling her.
"Yeah, well, none of the men we have now are doing anything for
me, and getting too tense could be real trouble." The smile fell from
Misato's face, and she sighed.
"I know, Misato, but could give me a little peace and quiet until
Shinji's in solid form?" She glanced around. "All of you."
***
Comforting warmth all around him, inside of him. This was bliss.
No worries, no considerations, just pleasant sensations. But... where
was everyone? He was supposed to be with them.
"Mother? Father? Misato?"
His voice echoed in the warm darkness.
"Mother! Father!"
Again, there was no answer, but the darkness appeared to be
slowly fading around him. Odd sensations became apparent then,
especially a pressure that was painful, but almost welcome. And
then... _sound_.
Shinji screamed and tried to open his eyes, but even that caused
him pain. Light poured through his eyes to scorch his brain.
The assault was enough to drive him into a state of fevered
unconsciousness.
"The first time is always the worse," Misato said as she opened
the hatch to the chamber. "He looks the same," she noted as she leaned
in to pull Shinji free.
"There's no effects of aging when you're a puddle of goo."
"Then why do I feel like I'm a hundred years old?"
Ritsuko grinned. "Too much beer."
"I would kill for a beer right now."
"Go right ahead and get one. I won't stop you."
Misato looked out the window, her faced bathed in orange light as
it penetrated the LCL. "I... don't think so."
"Just be glad you don't have to go get firewood or anything."
Shuddering and putting her arms around herself, Misato shook her
head, still staring out the window. "If there are any trees left."
"Oh, there are. The planet didn't get nuked or anything; just
99.99% of the human population was reduced to LCL. There are still
plenty of trees and animals. Probably a bit low on fish..."
"I still hate it."
***
Shinji awoke in complete confusion. The last thing he remembered
was relaxing on a couch and his mother talking to him, his father's
voice, speaking to someone, and then...
He sat up as quickly as his body would allow and looked around
the room. It wasn't an unfamiliar ceiling or unfamiliar anything else.
It was the NERV infirmary, which he was plenty familiar with.
Misato entered the room immediately, as if she had been waiting
right outside for him to wake up. "Shinji!" she said affectionately,
then gave him a hug. "How have you been?"
"How did I get back here?" he asked, too puzzled by the
circumstances to greet her warmly.
Misato's face grew serious. "I can't really explain that,
Shinji. It's not an easy thing to accept." She was back in her
guardian role and found it quite comfortable, even if she didn't like
seeing him go through this ordeal.
"Why don't you get up," she continued, "and the others can
explain it to you better than I can."
Nodding, Shinji swung his feet out of the bed and stood, only to
fall heavily against Misato.
She caught him, laughing lightly. "Careful there. Don't hurt
yourself."
"My... my legs..."
"You'll get used to them again; don't worry. It's just been a
while since you used them." She put her arm around his waist and put
his arm around her shoulder.
He stood, shakily, and asked, "How long have I been unconscious?"
"Oh, just a few hours. I'm actually surprised you woke up so
soon. Though your... session did go amazingly fast," she answered as
they made their way into the hall.
"But... just a few hours? Then my legs..."
"Wait for the explanation, Shinji. It'll all make sense then."
Lapsing into a troubled silence, Shinji hobbled down the corridor
on severely weakened legs, using Misato as his crutch. Back at NERV, a
place he'd never thought he'd see again, and under puzzling
circumstances. Why him? Why was his life always the one upset?
He listened to Misato's footfalls and his own shuffling steps.
What a twist... He definitely had some serious questions for his
parents because nothing was making sense.
"Are you hungry? You can have something to eat; it's on the
way," Misato suggested, her voice echoing down the hall.
"Uh, yeah. I guess I am." Shinji knew Misato was normally
upbeat, but she seemed to be trying too hard. "Hey, Misato?"
"Yeah?"
He didn't say anything for a moment, looking around. "Where is
everyone?"
"Come on," she said, ignoring his question. "Let's get you some
food and then you need to talk to the commander."
"What is it?"
"Lunch. Eat it."
Shinji looked up from the bowl of... stuff to Ritsuko. "Uh,
thanks." He poked at the contents of the bowl with a spoon. "So...
what _is_ it?"
"It's your daily allowance of vitamins and minerals. It doesn't
taste like much, but you'll get used to it."
He looked from his meal to Ritsuko and couldn't help but stare at
her. She was much changed, and on a physical level, it wasn't for the
better. Her face looked much older than it should have, and her hair
was a mess of blond and black streaks. Her hand shook gently when she
left it in his sight.
Averting his gaze, unable to stop himself from shaking his head,
Shinji took up a spoonful of his lunch and quickly put it in his mouth.
He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but it wasn't such total
blandness.
He chewed for a moment before he discovered the liquidy nature of
the food didn't require chewing.
"So what do you think of it?"
Shinji swallowed and tested for an aftertaste. With none
forthcoming, he shrugged and ate more. "Could be worse," he answered
with his mouth half full.
"Yeah, it could be nothing at all," Misato said grimly as she
watched him eat.
"Misato, just eat," said Ritsuko with a hint of anger in her
voice. She stared, her hand clutching her own spoon so tightly, her
knuckles were white.
"Do it. You know how sensitive she is about this," Shigeru Aoba
whispered to Misato. "We've got better things to worry about then who
makes a better lunch."
Misato knocked away the hand that had fallen on her arm.
"Whatever."
Shinji watched it all as he ate. It was so strange to see Misato
openly hostile like that. She must have been without beer for a very
long time.
Though he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. The fact
that his mother was alive, the changes in his father... It stood to
reason, if reason and logic even applied, that the others would be
different too.
Heck, he had known there was something very odd about Ritsuko the
moment he had seen her, aside from the purely physical differences. It
was in her eyes, the way they darted back and forth almost constantly.
Like those of a frightened animal, or of a guilty criminal, and he
couldn't figure out which.
"Sempai," Maya said quietly, poking her head into the room,
"there's that same problem again."
Swearing to herself, Ritsuko stood and marched out of the room.
"What kind of problem?"
"The MAGI," Aoba answered. "They're good, but not perfect. And
the commander's just as bad as he was five years ago; they're probably
getting heartburn from him," he finished with a smile.
Shinji nodded, but didn't understand. He kept hoping things
would get cleared up soon.
Everyone was gathered around the table, all eight of them, and
they were looking at him. Shinji looked at each of them in turn, but
his eyes lingered longest on Rei. She was exactly as he remembered
while the others definitely looked older.
She acted the same too, never uttering a word to him, and
finally, he could see her origins clearly when she was seated just two
chairs away from his mother.
"So," he began shakily since it seemed no one else would speak,
"what's going on? Where is everyone?"
"Almost all of mankind was reduced to LCL in Third Impact," his
father answered solemnly.
Shinji's reaction of laughter was almost immediate. "Then where
did I spend the last five years with all those people?"
"As LCL."
"Right. A puddle of LCL. So why did you bring me back to NERV
when you knew I didn't want to..."
"Be quiet. The group you see here are the only true people left
on the planet."
"There are probably others," Ritsuko cut in, "but we haven't
found them."
"And what we need you for Shinji is to help us return them all to
normal." Yui looked at him with a bright, but steely gaze.
He was about to call it all a joke when he considered his mother.
She was no joke; she was real. But it was all so unbelievable.
"He doesn't believe it," Fuyutsuki said flatly.
"He doesn't want to believe." Gendo looked to Ritsuko. "I will
show him then."
Ritsuko nodded and stood, followed by Maya and Shigeru. The
three exited without a glance back.
"Show me what?" Shinji asked as he watched them go, and a feeling
of dread settled in his stomach. "I don't think..."
"Shinji, look at yourself," Misato said gently. "You think you
just magically turned 14 again?"
"These are the real answers you wanted. This is the truth." Yui
nodded at him. "Be strong for us, Shinji."
Gendo stood abruptly. "There is no choice this time. You must
do it. There is no place to go, nowhere you can run to now."
Before Shinji could let loose his rebuttal, his father was
leaving in the same direction Ritsuko had. "But I don't..." he tried
anyway. Hanging his head and sighing, Shinji stood.
"You don't have to wear the robe, but it's just more convenient.
Instead of changing out your clothes, back in, out, and in again. It's
up to you."
Shinji grumbled, but began to strip. It was just better to not
argue with Misato. He tucked his clothes neatly into a locker and put
the robe on, making sure to completely close it and tie the belt
tightly.
He followed Misato down the corridor and wondered when NERV had
gotten so confusing. Nothing was quite as remembered it. "Wasn't this
the way to..."
Shinji's breath caught in his throat when they entered what had
once been Central Dogma. It was the same and different, with the
massive main monitor blank at the moment, and set up on the main floor
were...
He wasn't quite sure what they were, but they looked like
futuristic telephone booths, eight of them, all arranged in a circle.
Cables ran out of each one in a thick mass. Sitting atop each one
was...
Misato felt his hesitation. "It's necessary, Shinji. It doesn't
work without it. At least... not very well."
"You want me to get in one of those and then you're going to..."
No longer did they remind him of telephone booths, but of sarcophagi.
Each one was black with death, to hide what was really going on inside.
"It's not like that. I've done it, your mother's done it... We
all have, and we're all fine. It's how we have to do it."
"I don't understand!"
"LCL. You get reduced to LCL, just like everyone else, and
then... then you save the world." Misato's smile was a grim one.
"It'll be easier if you see it for yourself," Yui explained,
coming down from her place at one of the consoles. "It's completely
under our control; there's nothing to be concerned about."
"I gave this up five years ago, and I won't do it again!"
A tiny frown creased Yui's face. "Fine. Maya, please show us
the satellite display of Tokyo-3."
The main screen flickered to life and revealed a city half-
drowned in LCL, the empty buildings all reflecting orange as the bright
sun shone down on them.
"This is the world, Shinji. This is what we live in; not a
fantasy world, not denial. This."
The view changed, zooming out. Everything was orange.
"But this isn't what we wanted to show you. We want to show you
what you were really doing, and why SEELE questioned you."
Shinji stood paralyzed, his mother sounding almost exactly like
his father.
"Get in the chamber, Shinji. If you don't trust us now, what
will you do?"
He moved like an automaton, all the while his rational mind was
screaming at him to resist. "Why? What do you need me for?"
"We've watched you. We've seen you... do things."
Misato nodded in confirmation of Yui's statement. "We couldn't
ignore it."
"And your father didn't want to take any chances. This is the
fate of the world and the human race. We don't have the option of
saying no."
Shinji's eyes remained glued to the chambers as he listened to
everything his mother and Misato said. "I don't..." he said
hesitantly.
"If you see, you will believe. You won't be able to _not_
believe."
The conviction in their voices gave him strength. "Well... I
suppose I don't have a choice." Sort of.
With a firm nod, her lips tightening in a thin smile, Yui hurried
back to her console, where she began barking orders. "Locking chamber
one!"
"Locking chamber!" Shigeru responded.
The booth Shinji assumed his father was in made a loud thinking
noise, and the empty canister that had been sitting parallel with the
floor slowly moved down the side of the chamber until it was hidden in
a recess in the floor.
"Chamber one locked."
"Begin LCL injection."
The tank filled with LCL on the top of the chamber made a hissing
noise, and began to drain.
Shinji stared, flashing back to his days as the pilot of Unit-01.
The voices seemed to come from very far away as his eyes remained fixed
on the alien-looking pod.
"Begin sequence."
"Beginning sequence. Failsafes check. All green."
"Five seconds."
Everything around Shinji began humming or mechanically throbbing,
churning so loudly, the others had to shout to be heard.
"Four... three... two... one! Threshold exceeded! Climbing to
critical levels. Surpassing 200%."
The intensity in the room didn't make Shinji think that what was
happening was as simple as his mother and Dr. Akagi had made it out to
be. Though... turning a person into LCL wasn't a exactly a game
either.
"I don't want to go back," he whispered, far too quietly to be
heard amidst the noise.
"He's hit 400%. MAGI coming back with his status..."
The noise died abruptly, leaving only the soft ticking of cooling
metal audible. That was soon joined by a hiss as the canister that had
been in the floor rose into view. It was no longer empty.
"See, Shinji? It's no problem," Misato said confidently.
The door closed, trapping him the darkness of the chamber.
"Just relax, Shinji," Misato's voice said through a small speaker
above him. "There's a little compartment in front of you; you should
be able to feel it with your hands. Put the robe in there so it
doesn't get wet."
Nodding and feeling self-conscious about being nude even in the
dark, Shinji disrobed and put the garment away. "So what do I do now?"
he asked the darkness.
"Relax. You remember the drill from before; the LCL will fill
the chamber, and you just go with it."
Again, he nodded. He felt around himself in the blackness and
discovered a bench built into the side of the chamber that he sat upon.
"We're about to start. All the noises you'll hear are normal."
"Okay, Misato." Not that he'd know if one wasn't normal anyway.
It was all so unnerving. Shinji took one shaky breath and almost
screamed when the entire chamber shivered around him and made a loud
thunking noise.
That was when he felt it, dribbling down his back in a steady
stream. The LCL injection. He managed to keep himself seated and
calm, though all he wanted was to be released from that tomb.
But there was no way he was going to be so weak in front of
everyone when this was something he had done so many times before.
There wasn't anything to be concerned about. They would take care of
him.
As the LCL level rose to his chin, Shinji blew as much air out of
his lungs as possible before he ducked his head. Just accepting the
inevitable was so much easier than fighting it. He sucked in as much
LCL as he could and almost began coughing.
It certainly had been a while, but it was like riding a bike.
Shinji didn't think he'd ever forget how.
"Just relax, Shinji. We're going to start," was the last think
he heard before it felt like he was consumed in a low-grade electrical
current.
That was his entire world until...
"So you see now?"
Shinji blinked and looked around. "How..."
"The sooner you accept this, the sooner we can move on."
In the oppressive darkness of his father's office, Shinji could
honestly admit he had no clue what was going on. "But I was just..."
"And now you are not."
"How can this..."
"A creation of our own minds, our souls."
The oddest thought struck Shinji then: this was one of the most
sustained conversation he could remember having with his father. "So
we're... not really in your office? We're LCL?"
"Correct."
"How..." How everything, but it was all true. He... had to
accept it. "How are we... talking then? You're not something I made
up, are you?"
"No. We are definitely speaking to one another. To explain how
is... less than scientific. It is merely a theory based on what we
believed to be true. It has apparently tested true as well."
"What--"
"Souls, Shinji. Our souls are in contact. Right now, we are in
a shared world, created by our thoughts and memories."
Shinji stayed silent for a moment, letting the information sink
in. "And when we're... finished here?"
"The MAGI will reunite soul with body, as it did with you when
you were taken into Unit-01. Do you understand now?"
The room around Shinji brightened until it completely faded and
became a complete blank whiteness, except for his father still in his
chair before him. "You did that?"
"Did you?"
Shinji looked around again. "I don't think so." Or maybe he
had. He had never really liked his father's office..." "Er..."
"I did. I know you have questions, so ask them. The sooner you
understand, the sooner we can begin."
Questions. Shinji actually had a million of them, but he knew
the answers wouldn't be satisfying. They would probably open up a new
round of questions, and really, Shinji didn't want to know everything.
"Well, okay, Third Impact really did all this?"
"Yes, in a manner."
"Right. But... there has to be a catch to all this. Why are
there less than ten of you?"
"We are not without opposition." The expression on Gendo's face
didn't change, he didn't move a muscle as the "scenery" changed.
Shinji found himself standing on the roof of a building in the
middle of Tokyo-3. The LCL was like an orange mirror on the ground
around them.
"You've seen this, but it's not everything. It's not even the
real problem."
Shinji looked at his father, then heard the noise.
"We have no way of destroying them."
A shadow fell over them both, blotting out the sun completely for
a moment in which Shinji felt raw terror.
"They hunt us, the bound souls, and they never stop. they never
shall."
Shinji's eyes followed the shape in the sky as it glided
gracefully along. "An... angel?"
"We don't believe so, but it would be best never to be in a
position to find out."
The thing circled, drawing closer with each pass.
"You saw one? Like this?"
"There is no return to LCL with this. It is only death. If
these are angels, they are completely different from the ones that we
have data on."
It flew overhead, so close that Shinji could smell it, almost
reach up and touch the fish-belly white hide. His terror had lessened,
but just seeing the mouth filled with huge teeth, and the tremendous
claws that looked capable of ripping a bus apart, wouldn't let it leave
completely. "It reminds me of..."
Gendo nodded. "One of our points of confusion. An angel or
construct given actual life this time? There are many more than eight
though."
"Why? Why do they try to kill you?" Shinji asked, his eyes
transfixed on the green and yellow discolorations along the tail as it
swept above him.
"Revenge, natural order, God's will... Who is to say? We only
know that the single refuge from them is underground. They have
rudimentary intelligence and the urge to destroy the last of us."
Gendo watched the thing as it moved away. "If they could find us, it
would be our end."
"The geofront..."
"Almost perfect."
"Almost?" The thing had flown away, out of Shinji's view. he
looked back at his father.
"We have to... 'harvest' souls from the LCL, an impossibility
from the geofront, though we also require the MAGI. Without them, none
of us would be here at all."
Shinji found himself nodding in understanding. That made sense
to him on some level. Though... "So what do you need me for?" There
was no way he was going to be piloting another EVA.
"Third Impact is your doing. It is under your control. It is up
to you to 'lead' us, and remove the threat of SEELE and its agent."
Shinji stood there and tried to understand. Finally, he said,
"You're just making this up as you go along, aren't you?"
Gendo stood abruptly, sending Shinji back two steps. "You made
the rules for Third Impact, even if you horribly botched it. You made
the rules, and you're the only one who can break them. You can pierce
the boundaries, ignore the limitations the rest of us are bound by.
"Once you realize this--"
"Then I can get eaten by one of those things? You know, I
expected more from you, Father. This is twice as ridiculous as giant
robots and angels. Get me out of here so I can back to my job and my
apartment and away from you."
"It was supposed to be the next step in human evolution! But
that failed, and now the only thing to do is rebuild better than
before."
Shinji laughed aloud, both at the absurdity of what his father
was saying and the unexpected show of emotion. "Before, you wanted to
be a god, but that didn't work out so you'll settle for ruling the
planet? I don't believe this. I'll never understand how your mind
works."
"Your mother does."
Body becoming rigid, the mirth died on Shinji's face. "Then
maybe she's as crazy as you." He fixed his father with an angry gaze.
"Get me out of here. I can't help you with your insane schemes."
***
"Don't bother him, Misato. I don't know what we can do to change
his mind."
Misato looked at the woman and nodded. "I'll give him some time,
Yui, but I think he needs a wake-up call. I don't think he's ready or
willing to listen to you or the commander. He might listen to me
though."
Yui gave a heavy-hearted sigh. "I just don't know what I can do.
It feels like he's rejecting me."
"This is a pretty drastic change for him to accept; just give him
some space. I'll see if I can manage to... convince him with some of
the more interesting aspects."
Shaking her head, Yui tsked. "Those aren't to be used for
personal recreation, Misato. You know that."
"Yeah, but I think Shinji might get something out of a good
workout."
"I can see you've made this your project so I won't bother you
about it, but... Shinji means the world to me. I just want him to be
happy."
"I think this will help. Give me a week or so. I can get him
into shape."
"Hey, Shinji."
"Leave me alone."
Misato looked at the boy on the bunk with his arm over his eyes.
"Come on, Shinji. It's not so bad, is it?"
He didn't reply.
"Your mom is worried about you."
"No, she's not. She's just as bad as my father."
Misato winced. "We're all worried about you, Shinji." She
crossed the small room and sat on the end of the bunk. "Even if you
don't believe what your father said, that doesn't mean we don't want
you here."
She patted his leg. "I know this entire situation is a lot for
you to accept, and maybe your parents are expecting too much out of you
too soon. I think I might have something that you'll enjoy, or at
least help your stress levels."
"More monsters?"
Misato could hear the raw quality to his voice and knew how upset
he was. "Come on, let's get some food first." She stood and slapped
his foot. "You'll like this. Don't be a lump for the rest of your
life."
"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?"
"Not a chance."
"Hey, Maya, are you busy?"
"Not at all, Misato. Do you need something?" The MAGI were
perfectly capable of getting along without her eyeing their every
computation.
"Yeah. Wanted to show Shinji some of the special programs. He's
kind of stressed."
"Just the two of you?"
"Yeah. Someone's got to show him the ropes." She clapped her
hand on Shinji's shoulder, causing him to stumble.
"I'll get started right away."
"Great." Misato flashed Maya smile, and then Shinji. "Start
with the low level stuff so he can get used to it."
Shinji listened to the exchange with growing curiosity. What
were these programs?
"I think you'll like this, Shinji." Misato then fixed him with a
proud smile.
The second time was easier, though it seemed the darkness lasted
longer than before. Was it an error? Was he about to be reduced to
his component atoms?
"Were you worried?"
Shinji blinked. He stood in the middle of a vast gymnasium,
equipped for almost any activity. Misato was there, dressed in shorts
and a t-shirt that read 'Yebisu--Yahoo!', and a pair of beat-up
sneakers.
"It does that when it inserts new programs. It was all perfectly
normal," she continued, trying to reassure him.
"Wha... How..."
"Remember, Shinji, each of us shape this world. It should be
easy enough for you to get yourself in some appropriate clothing."
Misato was bouncing lightly on her toes; she was ready to go.
"Misato, I don't want--"
"Oh, be quiet, Shinji. If you don't want to change, you don't
have to. I just thought it'd be easier for you."
"What would be easier for me?"
"This." Misato grabbed the front of his shirt and easily tossed
him fifteen feet.
Shinji landed roughly on some mats and made an animalistic
mewling sound. He didn't move.
"Get up, Shinji. I know you're not hurt." Misato walked over
and nudged him with her toe. "Let's go. You can't give up so easily."
Shinji sat up slowly and gave her an accusing look. "Why did you
do that?"
"Don't you think you should be asking how?" She reached down and
lifted him easily into the air. "You can do it too. Just try."
He still looked like a kicked puppy. "Try what? I don't want to
be here."
Misato sighed and set Shinji to his feet. "Let's try something a
little less confrontational then." She stepped back. "Come on. I
know you can feel that you're different here." She smiled brightly.
"It's pretty cool once you get into it."
He simply wouldn't get any peace at all unless he complied, so he
turned and faced Misato. "I'm not different. I've never been
different, and I don't know why--ack!" Shinji threw his arm up and
ducked to the side to avoid Misato's incoming fist.
"Not different, eh?"
Quivering, Shinji stared at Misato's fist impacted against his
arm. "Maybe..."
Maya shook her head. The MAGI's library would be exhausted in a
record time if Misato and Shinji continued at their current pace. They
certainly didn't look like they planned on stopping soon.
"They're still at it?"
"Yes, sempai," Maya answered, not turning around.
"I guess Misato knew what she was doing this time. Amazing."
"Sempai, this is why we... the major was..." It was an
indelicate subject, and Maya wasn't sure how to continue.
Ritsuko nodded though, saving her from having to ask. "It is."
She snorted in derisive laughter. "We couldn't really bring anyone
back unless they had a use. Just like old times."
***
"It worked. She did it."
Gendo merely grunted in response. If Shinji was going to be
uncooperative, he wanted nothing to do with the boy.
"Gendo..."
"He has proven to be worthless once again; he can't be relied on
further. We will have to find another way."
Yui sighed, frowning. "Talk to him."
"I did. He didn't listen."
"No, you talked _at_ him. Talk _to_ him. Hold an actual
conversation. You have a lot to make up for, Ikari Gendo. We need
him, and I'm not going to let you chase him off when I've finally got
the chance to have him back."
Bearing his own frown, brow deeply furrowed, Gendo looked at his
wife. He stood. "For you."
Shinji, face mostly devoid of emotion, but with a smile breaking
out frequently, walked to the command center. He genuinely enjoyed his
time with Misato; she never pushed him into being a world savior or
anything. She just wanted to help. After the first day of testing his
new knowledge, he had come to look forward to their daily sessions.
He entered central dogma and was greeted by Maya.
"Misato said she was a little behind this morning, Shinji.
Something about a hang-over... even though there's no alcohol."
Shinji smiled in spite of himself. Misato didn't change at all.
"You can just go ahead," Ritsuko told him as she watched
information scroll up her monitor.
"Okay." He headed for the changing rooms.
Misato, looking completely disheveled, rushed up to Ritsuko.
"How late am I?" she asked breathlessly.
Ritsuko, with a stunned look on her face, just pointed down to
the chambers.
A figure was just disappearing into one.
"Hey! I was supposed to..." Misato's voice trailed off as she
saw her friend shaking her head. "You mean that was..."
"Yep."
Swearing to herself, Misato ran off the way she had come.
Instead of the gym he was familiar with, he was in an old-
fashioned dojo. "What are we..." Shinji's voice caught in his throat
when he saw who had taken Misato's place. Frowning, he asked, "What do
you want?"
"You think the major can teach you to fight?"
"She taught me more than you ever did."
Gendo stood on the other side of the dojo, hands at his sides,
and looked impassively at his son. "I doubt that."
With a growl emanating from between his clenched teeth, Shinji
shifted the workout clothing he was in to match that of his father's.
The gi felt too loose, but he figured it was supposed to be like that.
"You're not totally incompetent here. That's a start," Gendo
commented, observing Shinji's sudden change. "White always suited you,
like a giant surrender flag."
That did it. With his recently acquired innate knowledge, Shinji
assumed a fighting stance. "I won't let you do this to me anymore.
Every single time, you blackmailed me to get me to do what you wanted.
Not again. I can defend myself now."
"Can you? I don't think you have any idea what you're really up
against here."
"I see you. I can beat you, that's all I need to know." This
was something totally new. Not only fighting, but fighting his
father... who was just standing there.
Shinji almost started laughing at the slightly silly picture his
father portrayed in the black gi and glasses, looking completely out of
place. If he was just going to stand there and allow himself to get
beat up, so much the better.
Gendo raised an eyebrow and shifted his left foot back a half
step, but that was the only movement.
Suddenly flooded with confidence, Shinji charged, knowing it
wasn't the smart thing to do, but getting swept up in the adrenaline
boost. Feeling a little silly, he let a battle cry and swung viciously
at his opponent.
Gendo leaned back and swatted Shinji's fist aside, sending the
boy stumbling. "I thought you wanted to fight."
Shinji spun around and faced his father again. Wasting as little
physical motion as possible, he launched a series of rapid punches. It
was amazing that he could move so fast, but it wasn't fast enough as
his father blocked or dodged every strike effortlessly. "Damn it, he
growled.
That shifted into a grunt of pain when his legs were swept out
from underneath him and he landed on his head. Shinji paused for a
heartbeat, then somersaulted away.
He didn't see the attack, but he felt it as the floor where he
had just been vibrated. So his father wasn't going to hold back.
Fine. He'd manage.
He hopped to his feet and turned, expecting some sort of
counterattack. Yet, it appeared that his father hadn't moved, and
while Shinji was sweating and breathing heavily, Gendo didn't look
affected at all.
"I'm still waiting," Gendo said, smirking slightly.
Shinji advanced again, but slowly this time. Under normal
circumstances, he would have studied his opponent and looked for a
weakness in their form. His father was not a normal circumstance; he
had no form, no fighting stance.
If a straight attack didn't work, then it was time for something
a little different. With another battle cry, Shinji lunged forward,
faking an overhead punch, then trying a side kick to the midsection.
His stomach dropped when he felt his foot get caught by the
strong, cool hands of his father. Enough time passed for him to
contemplate how badly it was going to hurt, and then he was flying
through the air and landing on his face.
"You're not completely inept. There is potential."
Shinji turned his head, gasping for air, and watched his father
circle him. "No thanks to you," he mumbled and scrambled to his feet.
"Like you could do better." He assumed a different stance and watched
as his father finally went into motion.
Maybe challenging him had been the wrong thing to do.
He blinked once, and that was when it started.
Misato came to a halt, breathless. The others stared at her
curiously. "The... the commander got to... to..."
"Relax, Misato. Take deep breaths," Yui instructed gently.
Taking a few moments to gather her composure, Misato sucked in
air. Why was the stupid commissary so far away from central dogma? "I
was late this morning and the commander took my place without Shinji
knowing it."
Yui stood immediately. "I told him to _talk_."
The others all watched wide-eyed as Yui marched past Misato, then
scrambled to follow. Except Rei, who took her time.
He couldn't really tell where he was getting hit; he just knew he
hurt all over, though none of the attacks had been aimed at his face.
"You're still standing."
Shinji cracked open his eyes to watch his father standing a few
feet away. "Ha," he croaked and managed a lop-sided grin of defiance.
He didn't quite trust his eyes when his father blurred in place,
then reappeared with frightening clarity directly in front of him. His
body was quite reliable when something akin to a wrecking ball slammed
into his gut and sent him flying backwards. Landing in a heap, Shinji
groaned.
"Now begins your formal training. What you think of me means
nothing. That you have the ability to survive is vital."
Shinji struggled to pull himself into a semi-upright position.
"What do you want from me?"
"You really don't understand yet. This environment is yours to
manipulate however you wish. Do you think I can really move that fast,
or you can fight like that after only a week?"
Lowering his eyes, Shinji shook his head. "No..." Of course
not. As well meaning as Misato was, she couldn't--
"Get up."
Shinji looked up and blinked in surprise. After a moment, he
took the proffered hand.
Gendo pulled him to his feet and stepped back. "Continue."
Wiping sweaty hair away from his forehead, Shinji took a moment
to collect his thoughts. He assumed a fighting stance once again, and
something positive bubbled up in him to see his father do the same.
His attacks started out slow and hesitant, expecting more painful
counterstrikes to follow, but when they were met by only blocks and
dodges, Shinji's confidence grew. As he continued, he could feel
himself settling into a comfortable rhythm. As he continued, his speed
and variation increased.
Shinji was almost enjoying it until the punch hit him squarely in
the chest. He stumbled back and would have been hit directly in the
nose by the next punch if it hadn't stopped just short.
"I thought this was what you wanted. I thought you wanted to
prove something. Then why don't you? Stop playing games and get
serious."
Jerking back, Shinji didn't allow himself to consider how much
that could have hurt.
"Not much for talk."
"He never was," Misato and Yui said simultaneously.
"This isn't one of your workouts! You're better than this if you
let yourself be. Don't hold back! You want to fight? Fight! You
want to hit me? Do it!"
Shinji's fist clenched tightly. Just once, even if it wasn't
"real", he had to do it once. He just had to believe he could because
he was a better person than his father. He could do anything better...
Breathing heavily, Shinji charged.
"Good job, Shinji! You were great!"
"Thanks, Misato," the boy replied shyly, blushing faintly.
"You did very well, Shinji."
He looked at the smiling face of his mother, then away again, his
blush growing in intensity. "Thank you, Mother."
"He was... acceptable. For now."
Yui gave Gendo an annoyed look. "I thought I told you to talk to
him?"
"I did."
Releasing an exasperated sigh, Yui shook her head. "You could
have at least taught him how to take a punch. You were good at it in
college."
"That is irrelevant."
"Maybe, but it's also embarrassing, isn't it?" There was a grin
plastered across Yui's face.
Gendo's brow furrowed. "I was young an--"
"Nothing like you are now."
"You are trying my patience."
"Aww, does the baby want his bottle?"
Shinji watched the two walk away with a look of complete
amazement on his face. "Are they always like that?"
Misato looked merely amused. "Pretty much."
"That is so weird."
For a moment, Misato's voice grew solemn. "Does it make you wish
you were a family?"
The answer was slow in coming. "Everything does because then
none of this would have happened. And... I think we still can be."
Misato smiled, but her eyes were saddened.
"I guess," Shinji continued, still looking in the direction his
parents had gone, "that I have a better idea now what my mother really
meant to us. I can see it; I can feel it."
"You're a good kid, Shinji. Don't let anyone tell you
otherwise."
***
The monoliths appeared around him. How foolish; they tried to hide
their identities from an angel by using simple illusions. It mattered
not as long as they obeyed his wishes.
"You failed to locate them."
"Ikari Shinji, even under direct questioning, provided us with nothing.
Our monitors lost him whe--"
"Enough. He will return. When he does, be ready. Another failure
will not be tolerated. You remain only as long as you prove useful."
Tabris waved his hand and the monoliths vanished.
Useful... SEELE was quickly proving themselves inadequate for the task
at hand, even with several hosts as their agents.
They _would_ return though; he could feel it. There were too many
ties, too much left undone for them not to now that they had Shinji.
Yes, return was imminent, so he merely had to wait.
***
"Hi, Rei." Shinji offered a small smile to the girl as she
watched him from her bed.
"Ikari."
"You... haven't said much since I got here."
If he had been expecting an answer, he wasn't going to get one.
Sighing, Shinji tried his best to put his feelings into words.
"I'm... sorry about before. It was rude of me; I just didn't know what
to think."
Rei merely looked at him with little recognition in her eyes.
"I didn't expect that my father would do something like that. It
was low, even for him."
Still, she did not react.
"So... that was all I wanted to say. I don't really remember
whether I said it before or not, but... you're not a monster."
Rei tilted her head to one side.
Feeling uncomfortable under her gaze and in the silence, Shinji
started to back away. "Sorry for bothering you. I'll just--"
"Ikari, would you wish to go back?"
"Go back where? To the LCL you mean?"
Rei nodded.
"I'm not sure. It was a normal life, which is all I've ever
really wanted, but... there wasn't anyone there that I would consider
friends or family like there is here." He smiled a little. "I... I
like being around people I know... even if they do beat me up."
To his surprise, a tiny smile appeared on Rei's face. "You
are... interesting."
"So are you, Rei. I should go now; I'm supposed to train some
more." He waved then left the doorway.
The beating his father had given him remained with him, even if
he had no physical injuries. He was both angry and happy about it; the
fact that his father would actually beat him angered him almost more
than anything before, but... Instead of being ignored, his father
seemed to really... care.
A tear threatened to fall when he recalled the end of a
conversation he had overheard between his parents after that fight.
'Why did you let him hit you?' 'I didn't... the second time.'
Shinji wiped it away quickly. Any respect he had managed to
squeeze from his father would be gone just as fast if he was caught
crying. He quickened his pace and headed for lunch.
[FREE OMAKE! This brain twitch was just too twisted to not include.
:)
He was both angry and happy about it; the fact that his father would
actually beat him off angered him almost more than anything before,
but...
*JEEZUS! Lara, you're more twisted than I realized!*]
"He was definitely fast. He just needs more practice."
"You think it's really him, that he'll be able to do it?"
"I... I hope so."
The mood was somber and voices hushed as Shinji entered the
commissary. A few others were eating, and all paused to look at him as
he arrived. "Um... just getting something to eat."
"Sure, Shinji. Have a seat." Yui moved over to leave a spot
open between herself and Misato.
Everyone was silent as Shinji got his lunch and sat down.
"So, have you been having fun training?" Yui asked, and received
an upraised eyebrow from Misato.
Shinji only shrugged and continued to eat. Again, they were all
pushing without just coming out and saying it. Why couldn't they just
let him be, like Misato? Glancing up at his former guardian, he saw
the look in her eyes and knew that she was thinking the same thing all
the others were.
Letting his spoon clatter to the table, Shinji stood abruptly and
walked out. There had to be something incredibly screwed up with the
world if he was actually seeking out his father's company.
A grim smile crossed his lips to see his father limping, if only
for a moment. It wouldn't slow the older man down at all because he
was better than anyone while in this place. The momentary "pain" and
accompanying limp would be gone before Shinji's next attack.
"Maybe you should have been a pilot, Father. You're better as
LCL than anyone else." Not even a blink of the eye in response; Gendo
was as steady as a rock. Shinji would never know if any of his
taunting was effective as a distraction if he only practiced against
his father.
"Why doesn't anyone else do this?" Shinji asked while in the
middle of a series of attacks and counterattacks so fast he couldn't
actually think about what he was doing. He just let his body act and
react.
"The major does."
Shinji grunted as the breath was driven from his lungs, a
punishment for talking unnecessarily. "Yeah, but why doesn't Mother
eve--" He almost collapsed as his knee gave way after being struck.
Maybe his mother wasn't a safe topic of discussion.
"These are not games. This is for our survival. It is only for
use when necessary," Gendo explained, continuing his punishment of
Shinji.
"Yeah, but--" The words fled when he managed to barely block a
fist that would have no doubt shattered his teeth. That was enough of
a hint, and Shinji turned his full attention to the fight.
***
"Sempai?"
"What is it, Maya?"
Maya pushed the door open a little further and stepped into the
darkness of Ritsuko's room. "I thought you were going to run those
diagnostics on the MAGI?"
"I have a headache."
"Oh," Maya answered in a very small voice. "Should I run them
for you?"
"No."
"Oh." Maya wringing her hands was almost audible.
"What do you want, Maya?"
Her cheeks burning, Maya shook her head. "I just... wanted to
make sure you were okay."
The bed creaked as Ritsuko changed her position on it. "Why
wouldn't I be okay?"
"Well, it's just that... you're not..."
"Did he tell you to check on me?"
There was anger in the voice that Maya didn't like. "Who?"
"That bastard Gendo. Did he tell you to check on me, to make
sure I was still capable, so I could babysit while he saved the world?"
Her voice was rising in pitch and volume. "So he could have his wife
and his family and everything he wants while I just... just..."
Maya was rooted to the spot as she listened to the doctor
dissolve into sobs. "Sempai..." Somehow she managed to force her feet
to move. "I just want to make sure you're okay," she said softly.
Even in the blackness, she located the bed and sat upon it.
Tentatively, she reached out her hand and found Ritsuko's. "It's
okay, sempai. I don't want anything from you." Maya let the statement
hang in the air until the embarrassment from being so forward got to
her. "Neither does the major or Aoba or Dr. Ikari..." She thrilled
inside to feel the gentle squeeze of her hand. "Sempai?"
"Maya..."
"I'm worried."
"About what?"
"Ritsuko." Yui didn't miss the glance Kozo spared Gendo. "I
think she's going through another... episode."
The three sat in the commander of NERV's office, speaking quietly
with the door locked. Trust wasn't an issue, but... some things were
better kept between them.
"There's not much we can do. There's no... no..."
"Drugs, professor."
Kozo frowned. "We have nothing to calm her, and her skills are
very useful. She is still very intelligent, Gendo; I wouldn't dismiss
her so quickly."
"I'm not dismissing her. I'm looking at the situation
realistically. If we can't do anything to help her, then there is
nothing to be done. Common sense." Gendo shifted his position,
reclining slightly in his chair to observe the others in the room.
"I'm concerned," was all Yui would say.
"The only thing we can do is watch her. Especially with Shinji."
"He is our top priority," Gendo said with finality. The
discussion was over.
Later, in the privacy of their own quarters, the discussion
continued between Gendo and Yui.
"The pressure is breaking her."
"That can't be avoided. We are all under pressure."
They were talking in the darkness, but the mood was far from
relaxed.
"Dammit, Gendo, I'm not going to let her ruin everything! Not
like her mother."
Gendo's voice was completely calm. "What would you have me do,
Yui? I can't control her; she knows her worth here."
"You had better not be fucking her."
"That was only for the Project. It meant nothing."
There was a long pause. "And her mother?"
"Means to an end."
"Your means have a way of coming back to bite you."
"Not this time. Not ever again."
The silence between them was oppressive until Gendo broke it.
"Ibuki."
The next morning, Yui, Gendo and Maya were just finishing
breakfast in slightly strained silence.
"I swear, that boy could sleep through anything," Yui said and
gave a pleasantly exasperated sigh. "I had better go wake him up."
She smiled and nodded at Maya before leaving.
Maya tried to eat faster without looking like she was doing so.
The commander made her nervous under all circumstances; even with Dr.
Ikari there, Maya felt decidedly out of place.
She wished she could be more like Aoba, who seemed totally
relaxed around both the commander and his wife. On a number of
occasions, she had watched with fascination as her fellow tech had
talked and joked with Shinji's mother; it had even looked like he had
been flirting with her. That was an invitation to "spar" with the
commander if she had ever seen one.
Maya was about to forget the rest of her breakfast and leave when
the commander stood suddenly. Her eyes widened in her best impression
of a stalked rabbit when he approached.
"Ibuki."
"Y-yes, sir?"
"I have a task for you."
***
Shinji stood just outside the door and fidgeted. He knew that
his father would be unhappy if he were aware of the imminent
conversation, but she was his mother. A son deserved answers from his
mother.
His knuckles rapping on the door were so quiet he could scarcely
believe he had made contact.
"Come in."
However hesitant he was to initiate conversation, he loved to
hear her voice as proof that she was really there, that she wouldn't
leave again. He opened the door and stepped inside the room.
Immediately he spun around, his cheeks burning bright red. "Uh... I
just wanted to ask you something," he said, sweating heavily.
There was a rustle of clothing. "I'm sorry, Shinji. I didn't
know it was you."
Risking a peek, Shinji breathed easier when he was his mother was
fully dressed. "I was just wondering why you don't..." He looked down
as he intertwined his fingers. "Why you're never..." He lifted his
eyes and was held by his mother's gentle smile. "You don't ever...
You know."
"Why you don't see me training?"
"Yeah."
"Would you like me to? Do you want to train with me?"
Shinji nodded. He didn't care so much about the training, but it
would be an opportunity to spend time with her that no one could
interrupt.
"I'm sure I can arrange some time to spend with my son."
There just wasn't any way he could bring himself to actually hit
his mother, so he lost rather quickly to her smooth, graceful
technique. She wasn't as fast as his father, but she moved with the
gentle insistence of a river.
"Really, I don't like to fight much, and this is mainly what it's
for, so I don't use it often."
Shinji, sitting cross-legged on the floor, nodded. "Father is
here a lot."
That made Yui laugh lightly, and for a moment, Shinji thought he
saw the rays of sunlight coming through the windows intensify. "There
are lots of things I'm sure you don't know about your father."
"Like what?"
"Drunken brawls used to be his specialty; I really think, if
given the chance, he would have hopped in an Evangelion and fought the
angels himself."
Shinji just stared wide-eyed.
"For as long as I've known him, he's liked to fight. Why do you
think his nose looks like that?"
"I... I never noticed."
"It's not that bad, but I still remember the night it happened.
I don't recommend hospital visits at 3 am." She leaned over to
whisper, "Especially if your husband is a big baby."
Shinji hesitated to laugh, then smiled and did so.
Ritsuko frowned as the MAGI gave her a string of errors. "It's
doing it again." She watched as the system lagged, spit out more
errors, lagged again, then seemed to correct whatever the problem was.
The rest of the procedure continued as normal.
With her frown deepening, Ritsuko made printouts of the errors
then left without another word.
Maya looked over at Shigeru. "The diagnostics came up clean."
He shrugged. "I won't even pretend to know how it all works,
but... no way I'm getting in one of those things while it's being all
weird."
Maya gave him a flat look. "Sempai will figure it out. She
knows the MAGI better than anyone."
Again, Shigeru shrugged. "Temperamental piece of junk."
Shaking her head, Maya turned her attention back to the monitor
and the errors it was still displaying. Odd...
They sat in mostly bored silence until Yui arrived after
finishing her shower. "I know that wasn't just my imagination."
"No, ma'am. A bunch of errors came up," Maya reported,
completely business-like. "Sempai went to study them."
Yui clucked her tongue. "I hope she can figure it out. I don't
like these unexpected problems."
"No, ma'am."
"So how'd it go with Shinji? You kicked his butt, right?"
Maya gaped at Shigeru and was ready to snap at him, but Yui's
laughter stopped her.
"You should know how boys are; he couldn't hit me, thinking I was
made of porcelain."
Aoba grinned. "He knows better now."
Maya could see the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. It was
happening again!
Yui touched him lightly on the shoulder with two fingertips.
"I'm sure he does, but I don't think he could ever fight me
effectively."
Horror mingled with fascination in Maya as she watched the scene
play itself out. There was no mistaking what was going on, though how
serious it really was she didn't know.
For Aoba's own health though, she hoped he would stop playing
such a dangerous game.
"Keep up the good work, you two," Yui said, then started off,
letting her hand drift across Aoba's shoulders.
Maya watched her go, waiting until she was out of ear-shot, then
turned to Shigeru. "What are you doing?"
"Killing time." The goofy smile on his face spoke volumes.
"You're not!"
He looked at her, his smile fading. "Not what?" They stared at
one another. "No way!" he answered suddenly. "You think I'm crazy?
The commander'd turn me into an LCL smoothie!" The grin crept back to
his face. "A guy can dream though..."
Ritsuko had been studying the print-outs all day and just
couldn't figure out where the errors were coming from or why they
apparently fixed themselves. It just didn't make sense; everything was
in order.
With a sigh, she dropped the papers and closed her eyes. It was
almost guaranteed that if the problem was to be found, it wouldn't be
by her that night.
Releasing a determined breath, the doctor opened her eyes and
began searching again.
***
"You appear... unhappy."
Shinji looked at Rei, standing in his doorway. "I'm not unhappy.
I'm just... I miss... some people. That's all."
Rei's head tilted to one side. "The Second Child?"
He considered denying it, then realized it didn't make any
difference to Rei, and nodded. "I never contacted her after I left
NERV, and that was a huge mistake."
"You have feelings for her."
"I... used to. I don't know anymore. It's been so long since
I've seen her." He sighed and his entire body deflated. "I'm worried
that I might... still have feelings but won't be able to do anything
about it because we can't..." Shinji's brow furrowed. "I hate it that
when I had the chance to do something, I didn't, and now that I want
to, I can't."
Rei looked at him. "Why not?"
"Because we can't bring anyone else back. My father said so."
He slammed his fist on the bed. "If only I could see... her..."
Shinji suddenly sat up, his eyes wide with realization.
"No."
"I don't care. I'm going to."
"You will not."
"You can't tell me who I'm allowed to see!"
The disinterested look on Gendo's face didn't change. "It is for
you own safety. None of us take sight-seeing trips just because we're
bored."
The consternation visible on Shinji's face doubled. "I'm going
to go, and you won't stop me. You won't be able to watch me all the
time."
"And you would oversee the process? You can't do it alone."
"You... you... Just because you have what you want doesn't mean
the rest of us are happy!" Shinji yelled before running off.
"Maybe we should let him," Yui said quietly.
"And allow SEELE to capture him again? It would be disastrous a
second time."
"We could escort him. He wouldn't have to go alone. It's
obviously very important to him."
Gendo shook his head. "It is too great a risk."
Straightening up, Yui looked down at Gendo. "Too great a risk.
And I suppose it was too great a risk when you asked me out."
"Yui..."
"Or maybe when you sent Shinji out to his death any number of
times. It certainly was when he risked his own life and your entire
scenario to save her, wasn't it?"
"Those were--"
"Calculated risks. I know. And so is this." With the decision
made, Yui marched off. "Misato!" she hollered down the corridor.
"A mission?"
Yui nodded curtly, still in a relatively foul mood. "Shinji
wants to go see Asuka. He needs an escort."
"Well, sure, that's no problem," Misato answered, shrugging.
"Good. Tomorrow morning. Before my good sense returns."
Misato chuckled and nodded. "I'll be ready."
"I would like to go as well."
Both women turned to see Rei standing there, watching them.
Misato was too surprised to say anything, but Yui kneeled beside
the girl. "Are you sure, Rei? This might be an uncomfortable
situation, and I know it's your first time..."
"I would like to see the Second Child."
Misato looked startled. "You do?"
Rei nodded, but looked only at Yui.
Glancing back at Misato, Yui hesitated. This was odd that Rei
would actually express a desire to do anything really. "I suppose that
would be all right if you really want to."
A nod was Rei's response.
"Well, okay. Tomorrow morning we'll be going."
"I understand." Rei left as silently as she had arrived, with
Misato and Yui watching her.
"That was unusual."
"I agree, Misato."
Ritsuko could practically feel her eyes bugging out as they pored
over the code. They ticked back and forth between the code and the
errors, each with her pen-scrawl all over it. They weren't quite
errors, at least like she was used to. It was, as far as she could
tell, the MAGI self-correcting.
But they shouldn't have needed to do anything of the sort. All
personnel was cataloged previously, and data integrity was checked
before the procedure started. These errors were the MAGI's efforts to
update that data on the fly. Apparently successful, Ritsuko never
knew, or had never imagined, they had so much raw logical processing
power. This was the MAGI practically thinking on its own.
She still wasn't sure why though. From session to session,
something was changing. Hands shaking with feverish intensity, Ritsuko
cross-checked the errors with the logs. Relatively recent in fact,
they only appeared the last few times, and only when...
The pen fell from her mouth as her brain reviewed all the facts
and put them into order. Without running the tests to see for sure,
she'd venture that--
"Sempai?"
Ritsuko startled at the sudden appearance of Maya and dumped her
papers all over the floor. "Maya, what is it?"
Maya was already in front of her, picking up the spilled print-
outs. "I'm sorry, sempai. I didn't mean to surprise you like that."
"It doesn't matter, Maya. What do you want? I have something I
need to say to the commander--"
Maya made her move then, suddenly lunging forward and tackling
Ritsuko to the bed.
***
Yui returned her husband's frown, but with a smile at the corners
of her mouth too. "It'll be all right. Stop worrying."
"This is the most foolish thing I have ever seen, and all for..."
"A girl. You can say it. It's something he feels he has to do.
You'll just have to deal with it."
"We've come so far again, and if something were to happen..."
"Nothing will." She kissed him quickly. "So stop worrying."
She kissed him again, this time more slowly. "We'll all be back in one
piece."
"Just..." Gendo's voice was strangely weak, but he paused. When
he spoke again, there was more strength to it. "Don't say goodbye."
Yui smiled. "You're silly. Help with the preparations."
Shinji was nervous knowing this would be his big return to what
he had thought was the real world. And it was to see Asuka, no less.
That made it that much more nerve-wracking.
"Relax, Shinji. It'll be no problem." Misato gave him a thumbs-
up before she disappeared into one of the chambers.
Sighing and nodding to himself, Shinji entered his own.
"You don't have much confidence in this, do you?"
"None at all, professor, but I have to because I will not lose
her again."
"The only thing I can say is good luck."
"I'm afraid we might need it." Gendo nodded to Fuyutsuki.
"Lieutenant, are you prepared?"
"Ready, willing, and able, sir."
"Keep us updated, professor."
"Don't worry, Ikari. Just go before Aoba pulls a muscle."
Shigeru smiled weakly as he strained to keep the heavy metal door
to their craft open.
Gendo nodded, then entered.
//"I'm not going any farther than necessary, but this is pretty
open."// Aoba's voice was tinny coming from the small speaker.
"You're in the green. Go ahead," Kozo replied, feeling like
nothing less than a character from a movie with all the tech-speak he
had been exchanging with Aoba.
Now all he had to do was wait, and hope that he wouldn't need to
do anything else.
The building was just as Shinji remembered it.
"Let's make this as fast as possible," Yui said in a strictly no
nonsense voice. "I hate to rush you, Shinji, but there is a
considerable element of danger in this."
"I understand. I'll make it as quick as I can. I just want to
see her..."
Yui pulled out a phone of the same kind Shinji had been given
that first day, and dialed a number. She didn't speak at all, didn't
even hold it to her ear, only continued to punch in numbers. After a
few moments, she put it away again. "Let's go."
The group made their way downstairs and exited the dingy building
into the bright noontime sun.
Pausing to blink from the light, Shinji asked, "Won't SEELE be
looking for us?" He looked at the others and wondered how SEELE
_couldn't_ find them.
His mother stood out because she had dressed in all white except
for a pair of delicate, silver-rimmed mirror sunglasses. Misato was
the opposite, dressed all in black except where she showed bare skin,
which was ample. Her cross was around her neck, partially hidden by
the breezy jacket she was in. When she moved her arm just right,
Shinji could see the gun tucked against her side.
Rei was dressed, almost comically compared to the other two, in
her school uniform. She had no weapon he could see, and he didn't
think she would carry one anyway.
Shinji wondered briefly if his mother was carrying a gun.
"This is why, or at least another reason, we need to keep it
short," Misato explained, looking left and right down the street.
"Our time is precious, so let's go," Yui said, sounding like the
commander in charge.
Ritsuko opened her eyes and groaned. There had been a conspiracy
floating about to make Misato believe there was no alcohol around.
That wasn't entirely true since Ritsuko was feeling the after-effects
of what they did have. Her head was pounding mercilessly and
everything spun around her in slow circles.
There was something she knew she was forgetting, but her brain
simply refused to think. With much effort, she sat up and hoped that
would help in some way, if only to tell her where she was.
Her feet settled on the floor and on the papers still scattered
there. Blankly, she looked at them and tried to recall what they were
for. Something... something about... the MAGI and... Ritsuko groaned
and clutched her head. What had she been thinking last night?
Air from the vent rippled over her bare skin and made her shiver,
which induced a wave of nausea. Whatever had happened, it had prompted
her to strip bare and...
Oh no. She hadn't... done something stupid and had sex with...
Ritsuko turned around and, to her horror, saw a shape under the covers.
Hand shaking, she yanked aside the blanket. Thank goodness, it was
only Maya and not Gendo. Maya?
Gendo... "Shit."
Everything was thankfully quiet on the monitors when Dr. Akagi
came stumbling in. In her hand was a wad of papers, all crumpled, but
apparently of some importance.
"Ikari... where?" she croaked.
Whatever she had been doing, it wasn't helping with her
appearance, and it looked like she was in the same clothing she had
worn the day before. "He's gone already. Are you all right?"
Ritsuko shook her head and had to steady herself. "Where?"
Shinji rang the bell and waited nervously. The others hung back,
giving him the full brunt of initial contact. He wasn't terribly
optimistic, but he had to do it, he had to know.
The door opened abruptly, though only a few inches.
The glimpse of the woman eyeing him from the opening was just
about enough to make Shinji's heart stop. "A-Asuka?"
"Who's asking?"
"It's me, Shinji." He could only hope she'd react favorably.
Her eyes widened, and door opened further. "Shinji?"
She opened the door all the way and Shinji assaulted by the
vision of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He was utterly
speechless.
"It's really you?"
He squeaked in response, the only sound he could manage to make,
and stuffed his hands in his pockets to hide how clammy they were.
A smile crossed Asuka's face. "It really is you." She opened
the door all the way and stepped aside. "Come inside."
"Thanks," Shinji managed, and was about to enter when he
remembered he was not alone. "Oh, er... I brought some people with me,"
he added and had the grace to look embarrassed.
Asuka looked surprised, her clear blue eyes widening. "Oh, I..."
When she saw who the others were, she didn't know what to say.
"You remember Misato and Rei, of course," Shinji continued. "And
this is... my mother."
"It's been a while, Asuka," Misato said and nodded to her in
greeting.
Rei gave a barely perceptible nod.
Shinji noted the flustered look on Asuka's face, most noticeably
the way her cheeks glowed red, when his mother stepped forward.
"It's good to finally meet you, Asuka."
"It's... good to meet you too," she answered hesitantly, giving
Shinji a questioning look.
"Misato and I were just visiting Shinji," Yui assured her, not
missing the look. "You ch... you three can talk in private."
"Thanks, Mom." The word slid out of Shinji's mouth before he had
even been able to consider it. It was weird, but nice. There was
something about being around both her and Misato that made him feel
comfortable.
If he would ever be able to call his father "Dad" on the other
hand... Shinji wasn't going to hold his breath.
"It's fine if you want to come in..."
"No, no, Asuka. You have more to talk about than we do," replied
Yui with a smile. "Shinji, remember we have an appointment to keep."
With a nod, Shinji entered the apartment followed by Rei.
"They went out for _that_? Get them back here!"
"It's too late. What's the hurry anyway? They'll be back as
soon as possible; they know the risks."
"No, they don't. That's the problem!"
Fuyutsuki affixed Ritsuko with a calm gaze. "You're acting
irrationally."
"God damn it! I found out what the problem is!" she yelled and
slammed the papers down on the console. "Maybe _you_ don't care, but I
think..." She swallowed thickly, blinking rapidly. "I think the
commander will. I know his wife will."
Shinji sat at Asuka's insistence, unable to take his eyes off
her. Rei remained standing to the side.
Asuka looked very nervous as she poured the tea. "So how have
you been, Shinji?" She smiled tentatively at him, then noticed the
flat gaze of Rei. "And Rei..."
"Not bad. Just... working. You know." He sipped the tea,
watching her from over the rim of the chipped cup. Five years, even if
they were in her own mind, had done... everything for her. She was a
little taller and proportioned like a model: long legs, slim build,
nicely... sized... breasts.
Shinji turned his eyes back to the tea in his cup. It wouldn't
go over well to be caught staring like that. Even if she had greeted
him favorably, he didn't think she'd pull her punch if she caught him
looking at her br... assets.
"That's good."
As awkward silence filled the room, made worse by Rei's usual
silence.
Inhaling deeply through his nose, Shinji set his cup down.
"Asuka, I just wanted to say... I'm sorry," he said in a rush.
She blinked. "Why would you be sorry?"
"Because I left and never looked back. Not once. I... I left
and never said... never said..."
"Said what?" Her voice was a bare whisper.
"I never said... the things I should have." He looked into her
eyes and knew to say more would invariably hurt them both. He knew
that to chance another visit would be even more dangerous than this
one. "And I... I think it's too dangerous now to... to..."
"What's dangerous? What's going on? Is it something about
NERV?"
"I... I can't say. I just wish I didn't have to see you like
this," he said quietly. He wanted to reach out and take her hands, but
was afraid he'd have too much trouble letting go.
"See me like what? You're not making any sense."
"I can't explain. Just..." He stood and gazed at the wonderful
young woman with the wide blue eyes and long auburn hair looking back
at him expectantly. "Just know that I wish I had said things sooner,
and now it might be too late. I'll... see you again, if I can."
Shinji held up his hand in farewell. "We need to go. I wish I
could stay longer." He started to move toward the door.
"Shinji, wait!" Asuka was on her feet and holding his arm gently.
For a moment, she just studied his face, then smiled a bit sadly.
"Whatever's going on... I know."
His smile, when he returned it, was happy, though also a bit sad.
"Goodbye, Asuka."
"Goodbye, Shinji." Asuka turned to Rei. "Goodbye, Rei."
Rei spared her a nod. She hadn't spoken or moved the entire
visit.
The group walked down the street, the mood decidedly somber.
"You'll see her again," Yui whispered and put her arm around
Shinji. "That's what we're working for."
Head bowed, watching one foot fall in front of the other, Shinji
nodded. "I know. I really wanted to this time. I didn't want to have
to..." He had meant to say "hurt her", but he knew the truth was that
he was hurting just as much, if not more.
Misato placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Just have
faith; we'll do this."
Rei followed silently.
"It's not safe for her!"
//"Professor, we are well aware of the risks."//
Kozo was suddenly feeling as frustrated as Ritsuko had been.
"This is something new. It has to do with the problems that MAGI have
been having."
There was silence for a moment. //"It has to do with Yui?"//
Finally it was getting through. "Yes. It's more than that
though. If something should happen to her..."
//"Tell me."//
Kozo looked to Ritsuko, who nodded solemnly. "Gendo, she's
pregnant."
Aoba whistled from behind him. "You said she's..."
//"Yes, I said she's pregnant."//
For long seconds, Gendo just stared at the instrument panel.
"Understood," he said quietly, then killed the comm signal. Slowly, he
began to type.
The phone in Yui's pocket chirped. She pulled it out and looked
at the display, never bothering to hold it to her ear. "A request to
be done with this as quickly as possible."
Misato nodded, while Shinji peered at the phone.
Yui showed it to him, smiling like a proud parent. "Electrical
signals. Direct communication is still out of our capability, but this
is a step."
Shinji nodded, fascinated by it. "So that's..." he said,
referring to the string of numbers on the display.
"A message from your father. I wonder what's so important?"
"I wish we could decrease the delay," Kozo said for about the
fifth time.
Ritsuko just watched the MAGI present to them another
interpretation of the electrical signal being passed back and forth in
the LCL. They were still, and lagged about two minutes behind the
actual event, but it was what they had. "It won't be possible until we
actually have the time and equipment to upgrade them."
"It's rather tense."
Nodding, Ritsuko sipped her water to keep from chewing on her
fingernails.
***
"Why here?" Shinji asked as the group entered the building.
"Mostly for the privacy. It would look weird if we just
disappeared in the middle of the street," Yui said quietly. She
gestured to Misato, who nodded and moved to the rear of the group.
"It's also a convenient meeting place."
"Oh." Shinji was about to say something else when he sneezed
violently. He paused and shivered, feeling the flesh on his arms and
back prickle.
"Shinji?" Misato asked, her eyes narrowing. "Feeling chilly?"
"No, just... like someone was watching me."
"AT field?"
"Could be. No way to tell from where though."
"Hurry."
Shinji tried to follow what his mother and Misato were saying,
but they were referring to details he wasn't familiar with. "What--"
Further questions were cut off as Yui grabbed his arm and started
dragging him up the stairs. "It means there's an agent nearby. Why, I
don't know. They've never caught on to this before."
Yui pulled out her phone and tried to push the necessary keys.
"Keep going," she instructed. "I'll send the code from here."
"But you can't--"
"Here, Shinji. I just hope you don't need to use it. Now go!"
Shinji blinked and stared at the gun in his hand. Kill someone?
Before he could give it back, he was shoved. Again, he felt that
prickly sensation.
"It's close! You can call upstairs!" Misato shouted even though
everything was quiet.
"I've almost got it," Yui said as she concentrated on the phone.
Shinji, about to turn and climb the next flight of stairs, looked
back just in time to see an AT field unfold and slam his mother against
the wall. "No!"
His shout got the attention of the field's progenitor, and Shinji
couldn't help but give voice to the name. "Rei..."
Ritsuko and Kozo looked on in horror, incapable of doing anything
except warning the two in the vessel as to what they were seeing. With
the delay though...
"It's a trap! Get her out!" Kozo stood, the tendons in his neck
standing out, and repeated louder than before, "Get her out!"
Aoba sat at the controls and waited. With sweat pouring down the
back of his neck and face, he waited. The commander... he would give
the order to... to do what was necessary.
He hadn't heard the frantic tapping of keys, or any tapping at
all, for over a minute. From over the sub-commander's shouts, he had
heard the typing. Faster than he had ever heard before, even from Maya
or Dr. Akagi.
And now... silence, except for the sound of his own breathing.
The once comfortably-sized interior of the craft had become stifling
and unbearably warm. The tension was a physical thing, turning the
ship into nothing more than a giant pressure cooker.
Shigeru swallowed and wiped his mouth with one shaking hand.
What he wouldn't give for a glass of water...
Rei's expression didn't change as she unfolded her AT field once
again and used it like a battering ram in his direction. Frozen in
surprise, Shinji watched the orange wall rush at him, and then was
tackled and slammed into a wall.
"Move!" Misato screamed at him, and tried to pull him up the
stairs.
"M... Mother..."
Misato emptied her gun in the girl's direction as she got to her
feet and pulled Shinji up with her. "Come on, Shinji. Help me out
here."
"But..." He was still looking back, barely getting his legs
under him to climb the stairs. "My mother..."
"We can't help her like this," Misato told him, taking the stairs
two at a time. "We need to get organized." She reached into her
pocket and pulled out the remains of her phone, smashed when she had
tackled Shinji.
"My mother..."
Misato wasn't sure what floor they had made it to when she felt
the prickling sensation again. "We need to get out of here."
"Mother..."
Misato winced. "Stop saying that."
Yui shook her head to clear the cobwebs out. She felt something
wet and warm trickle down the side of her face and assumed it was
blood, but she had no time to worry about it.
Rei. Rei had... nailed her pretty hard, and it had been no
accident. So that was what it had all been about, the mysterious
request to accompany them. They had been wrong on every count
regarding the girl, and now it looked like she was going to pay for it.
"Why, Rei?"
"Mrs. Ikari. At least we've found you."
Yui's vision stopped swimming long enough for her to focus on the
person in front of her. "Tabris."
The "boy" bowed to her, his confident smile never wavering. "I
could say none of this was personal, but then I do believe I'd be
lying."
Using the wall, Yui managed to stand. "If you had any real
power, you wouldn't be relying on the ghosts of SEELE and a girl to do
your work."
"SEELE had its uses, barely." He paused, gazing at her in what
other people might have considered benevolence. "As for the girl, you
overstepped your bounds with her long before I showed up. You have
only yourselves to blame."
Yui's hand started to drift to her side, but she stopped herself.
A firearm against him would prove to be useless; she had only one
chance. "Still, wasn't it enough that we killed you once?" Yui asked,
her legs finding strength to support her finally.
"Mrs. Ikari, I expected more out of you than feeble taunts. You
are, after all, one of the main reasons I'm here." Tabris leaned
forward as if to whisper. "And you don't think you could really kill
me or any of the others, do you?"
Tabris stepped back, then got a look of mock concern on his face.
"Oh, you did, didn't you? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news,
but that's just one more thing you were wrong about."
His AT field snapped out to crush her against the wall, but Yui
was already leaping straight up to avoid it. The entire building
shuddered with the impact, as Tabris' eyes followed her movement.
"If you think I'll just give in, you're mistaken, Tabris," Yui
said as she seemed to float in the air.
There was another orange flash, which she avoided by dropping
lightly to the floor.
Tabris actually snarled at her. "Then I suppose we'll have to do
this the hard way."
Misato grabbed the stairway railing as the building shook. "That
couldn't have been good."
"Do you think that was..." Shinji said and looked at her
hopefully.
"She's going to fight back. There's no way she'd..." Die so
easily. Misato swallowed and continued up the stairs. "We need to get
out of this building. Without a phone, we're stuck here."
Abandoning the stairs, she kicked open the first door she came to
on the floor and ran inside. Misato didn't pause as she opened the
window and threw one leg out. Luckily, though probably more so for
Shinji than herself, there was a rusted fire escape.
Tabris took one step back, almost giving her enough room to get
around him, but the doors there burst open and in rushed a group of
well-armed UN soldiers.
"I need her alive. If I don't get her alive, the lot of you will
suffer for it," Tabris snapped, staring at Yui with his penetrating
gaze.
The men surged around the boy and charged her. She was better
than each of them, but in the tight surroundings, their numbers could
make up for that.
The first to enter striking range received a killing blow to the
throat. The second came at her with his baton raised, and swung at her
clumsily. Yui blocked it easily, though it stung, and twisted his arm,
forcing him to turn around. Holding him like that, she pulled his
sidearm from its holster and shot three other men before using a bullet
on her hostage.
Even though she had easily dispatched five men, there were at
least fifteen more , and probably more outside. Yui allowed the body
to fall, and tossed the gun away, but she now held the baton in her
left hand. She twirled it expertly, eyes narrowing dangerously at the
men approaching. "Tabris, you coward," she hissed.
"I'm not afraid of you, Mrs. Ikari. This is merely inconvenient
for me. I do so hate getting my hands dirty."
With that said, the soldiers charged her in an attempt to
overtake her with simple numbers.
Yui was able to bring the baton down on the skull of one and
incapacitate another with a brutal kick to the groin, but she couldn't
quite dodge out of the way of the taser. Fire burned in her side and
made her cry out, her hand spasming open and allowing the baton to drop
to the floor.
Gasping for breath, she struck the wrist of the one that used the
taser, breaking several bones in it. The edges of her vision were
blurry, and she could feel unconsciousness threatening. "Not... so
easy," she called out and somehow managed to block another baton with
her arm that wasn't holding her side.
That left her defenseless to the others though, and she was
quickly overtaken, forced to the ground under the merciless attacks of
Tabris' lackeys.
The groaning of steel alerted Misato to the trouble. She looked
up to see Rei's form and a flash of orange. Without thinking, she
grabbed Shinji around the waist and leapt over the railing. She didn't
see it, but she heard the squeal of buckling metal, and knew the spot
they had just been standing was a mass of twisted steel.
With a landing that would have been bone-breaking under normal
circumstances, but was merely bone-jarring, Misato and Shinji hit the
ground. Misato stood, confirmed that Shinji was not dead, then started
running. A phone... all they needed was a phone. How hard could that
be?
The large group of armed men in the street ahead of them answered
that question. "Shit, shit, shit... Keep up, Shinji. Don't want to
leave you behind now."
She didn't look at him, but his silence was all she needed to
know: he was practically in shock. "Shit," she said again for
emphasis.
Leaning against a wall, she took Shinji by both arms and looked
into his eyes. "Shinji, remember what we did in training?"
His eyes were a bit glazed, but he nodded.
"Good, because we're going to be doing some long jumping. Can
you handle that?"
He nodded again, and that was the only thing Misato could go on.
"Separation. We don't have it any longer."
Kozo looked sharply at Ritsuko. "And what is that supposed to
mean?"
"You _know_ what it means! The pattern's all scrambled; it's
being masked. If you tried to bring her back, you'd get nothing except
a pile of mush!"
Ritsuko leaned over him and opened the comm channel. "You have
to release it. If you don't there's no say--"
//"I am aware of the theoretical possibilities."//
Kozo recognized that tone of voice very well. Ikari would do
what was necessary, no matter how miserable it was.
There was only one thing to be done. Mouth set in a tight frown,
Gendo Ikari let his wife go again.
"Sir?" Aoba ventured.
"We wait." He had said, to her with complete sincerity, that
Shinji was their top priority. He would not fail her again. Shinji
was his top priority... now that she was gone. "We wait for the major
and Shinji, lieutenant."
He could hear the other noises around him, but he could only
concentrate on his own breathing. Misato speaking to him had sounded
like she was under water, her voice garbled. Rei... Rei had betrayed
him and hurt his mother, and tried to kill them. He didn't know what
to do; he trusted Misato's decision to run, but he so desperately
wanted to go back...
The ground shaking violently beneath his feet disrupted his state
of pseudo-shock, and sound crashed down on him with painful clarity.
"GO!"
Misato screaming in his ear was enough to get him running
alongside her, but he wasn't thinking about clearing the men currently
pointing guns at them. Shinji was thinking that he was leaving his
mother behind because of someone he had thought he could count on, and
these men were... an obstacle. And convenient targets.
"Shinji, what are you doing?" Misato yelled as he ran past her.
The voice that came from his mouth was unrecognizable to his own
ears. Instead of a scream of anger and frustration and loss, it was
something akin to a lion's roar.
Guns started firing, but he heard only that roar. It transformed
from a vocal projection to a natural force of rushing wind and
crumbling concrete as Shinji swept his arms in the path of an inverted
V before him.
A flickering wave of golden light fifteen feet high carved
through the street before him, kicking up dust and chunks of asphalt as
it flew ahead. The soldiers were tossed aside like leaves in a
tornado, and any stray bullets bouncing off it like ping pong balls.
Shinji focused only on the path ahead of him, and getting to that
phone.
Misato followed, though much more slowly than she had been
running. Rei's presence behind her was almost forgotten as she watched
Shinji reap a swath of destruction, all the while screaming like a
madman.
She started running at full tilt again when he ducked into a
building. That precious phone...
The numbers flashed across the screen just as he had expected
them. Keeping calm as to not screw things up more than they already
were, Gendo began to retrieve his personnel.
***
Kozo held the gun and looked decidedly awkward doing so. It
didn't help that he was expecting to use it against a child.
"Continue, doctor."
Ritsuko looked at the main console, nodded, and began typing
almost violently. "Maya, no slacking," she said sternly to the young
woman sitting next to her.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The two sounded like they were putting on some sort of strange
concert of keyboards with their typing.
All three chambers went into action at once, with Kozo watching
the one designated for Rei very carefully. In his head, he counted
down the seconds. Each noise signified a certain amount of time left
before the process was finished. And that one meant they were at the
final step.
Instead of the hissing noise he had been expecting, there was a
sharp crack, and the chamber blew to pieces, throwing him to the floor.
The gun went spinning away, far out of his reach.
Rei stepped out of the wreckage, naked and completely unharmed.
The expression on her face was blank, but every person there knew she
held nothing but malice for them. With small, measured steps, she
walked forward.
Ritsuko and Maya were paralyzed with surprise and fear. Neither
had any sort of weapon, and didn't want to chance that going to get one
would bring Rei's attention to them.
The door to another chamber opened, causing Rei to look at it.
Out stepped Shinji, the robe wrapped sloppily around himself. "Stop,
Rei!"
At first she didn't respond, just fixing her gaze on him.
Finally, she said quietly, "Shinji..."
"Yes, Rei, it's me."
"Die."
Shinji yelped in surprise when the blast of air from the oncoming
AT field hit him, but...
"Is that... How could he do that?" Maya whispered, though it was
easily heard in the sudden unnatural silence.
The two ex-pilots were staring at each other, and between them
were a pair of AT fields, flickering as they came into contact.
Rei's started to push forward, forcing Shinji's back until the
boy finally grit his teeth and his lips twisted into a snarl.
"You... took her away from me... again," he said darkly, a
trickle of blood running from one nostril. "You... are a monster."
With a growl, his field pierced through Rei's.
"Neutralizing it..." Ritsuko said in awe.
There was a brief flash of light as Rei's AT field was
countervailed.
The loud bark of noise and Shinji jerking back as something wet
splattered across his face were almost simultaneous. He watched, his
eyes wide and face slack with surprise, as Rei's face... disintegrated,
and her body fell forward.
He stared at the body and the blood pooling beneath it, then
looked up. Standing there with his arm still extended and gun poised
for another shot was his father.
"She was a monster," Gendo said simply, though the anger was
obvious in his voice. "All of them were." He lowered his weapon, and
his brow furrowed. "Is anyone injured?"
Maya, Ritsuko, and Kozo all answered negatively. Aoba, who had
been standing behind Gendo, shook his head.
With a hiss and the screech of metal on metal, the door to the
third chamber opened. "What in the hell happened that I was trapped in
there all this time?" Misato yelled, more out of fright than anything.
No one paid any attention.
"Shinji, are you hurt?" Gendo asked, staring at the boy.
Only Misato seemed capable of actually moving, and went to check
on him. "Shinji, are you okay?" she asked gently and put her hand on
his shoulder.
He immediately spun and threw his arms around her, hiding his
face in her shoulder. Shinji began to cry.
Misato responded, returning the hug and rocking him. "Don't
worry, Shinji. We'll get her back... somehow." She moved her hand to
the back of his head and stroked his hair while making comforting
noises to him.
Ritsuko grabbed Maya by the elbow and led her from the room.
There were other concerns for them. Aoba retreated the way he had
entered, and Kozo picked himself up off the floor before leaving
silently as well.
The only noises were those of Shinji crying and Misato trying to
comfort him.
Gendo watched this, a troubled look on his face. The major had
said they would get her back somehow. No "somehow"; he would get her
back. Shinji was top priority, but that merely meant that this would
be his responsibility and not his son's.
Lowering his arm, he looked at the gun in his hand. The weapon
itself didn't kill people... _he_ killed people. He engaged the
safety, then put it in his pocket. Approaching the body on the floor,
Gendo began removing his jacket. Giving the mess barely a glance, he
draped the jacket over it, then went to the major and his son.
Misato locked gazes with him.
"Major," Gendo began, sounding like it was another day of casual
business, "you will begin forming a rescue plan immediately."
"Sir, you can't make Shinji--"
"I will go."
Shinji, whose crying had slowed and finally stopped, released
Misato and turned to see just how serious his father was. The look on
the older man's face was... surprising. There was certainly anger
there, though not directed at him, and he found his own pain mirrored.
Finally, he could understand, really understand, what had happened
after his mother's accident.
With Shinji's face streaked with blood and tears, the two looked
at each other until he finally did something he thought he would never
do again: Shinji hugged his father. It was more of a desperate clutch
than a hug, and it wasn't returned, but it was more than he ever
imagined.
"Why? Why?" Shinji asked again and again, his voice
deteriorating each time until he was crying once more.
"Major," he heard his father say, the voice given a strange,
unearthly quality while his head was against his chest. A hand fell on
his shoulder then, one that was too large and too strong to be
Misato's...
***
Misato pointed at a large red circle on the map of Tokyo-3. "If
you're willing to take the chance, sir..."
As if she needed to ask.
"I am."
"I can guarantee a force equal to what we encountered, so
surprise is your best bet. Tabris won't be expecting it; not like
this."
The others, excluding Shinji, listened, though more as a show of
unity than anything else. They wouldn't have any direct influence on
the outcome.
"If you change your mind, I wouldn't mind--"
"No, major. If I should fail, then you need to be here. Shinji
will need your help." His gaze seemed to burn right through his
glasses and engrave into her brain how important that was.
"Yes, sir."
Before they could continue, the door opened abruptly, and in
marched Shinji. "I'm going." His statement was obviously directed at
his father as a challenge.
"You know," Gendo began in an even tone, "that if something
should happen to you--"
"I won't fail. I won't fail Mother. It's time that I saved her
for a change."
"You projected an AT field."
"I know."
"She would be proud."
"I know."
There was silence, and it was uncomfortable, but for many
different reasons.
"I'm counting on you... son."
Shinji, who had his back to his father, closed his eyes. "Don't
you think it's too late for all this?"
When, after a minute, he hadn't received an answer, Shinji turned
around in time to see his father walking away slowly. Maybe it was too
late after all.
Ritsuko looked at the screen, holding her head in her hand. "I
don't know. Why could the angels do it?" She didn't know how Shinji
could manifest his, but it pointed quite emphatically to the fact that
he had abilities they didn't.
"Do you think he could do it again, sempai?"
"I don't see why not, but I'm no expert. Definitely not on
normal people manifesting them."
"I think," Fuyutsuki interjected, "that this proves 'regular
people' doesn't describe Shinji accurately."
"I am going to assume that whatever doubts anyone had about Third
Impact or the architect of it are now satisfied," Ritsuko said, though
her audience was only three.
"We still have this situation to worry about."
Ritsuko tapped a pen to her lips and considered the ex-sub-
commander's words. "Unless you've got something, I'm coming up blank."
"Then I suppose we leave it up to them."
"I'm going too. You are still my responsibility, especially
now."
"I can do this by myself," Shinji answered, not looking at
Misato.
"You are going to need my help. I know all the details!"
"So do I." He allowed himself a moment to avoid getting angry.
"Look, Misato, I'm not doing this because it's my duty, or because I'll
save the world. I... I want my mother back."
"I know, Shinji, and that's why I'm going to help you."
"You're not!"
"I am!"
"You're not!"
"I am, so deal with it!"
"I'm going to talk to my father about this," Shinji snapped, and
stood up. He marched past Misato and out of the room.
Shinji knocked, but didn't hear an answer. After he knocked
again with the same result, he opened the door slightly. It was pitch
black and smelled distinctly of alcohol inside. "Father?"
There was the sound of bottles clinking together and the squeak
of a chair, but no other response.
"Father, I need to talk to you."
Apparently his father didn't see a need to talk to him. "Fine.
I'll just deal with this myself." Shinji started to close the door
when he got, not the answer he wanted, but enough of one.
"Shinji..."
"How much have you had to drink?" Shinji could barely even
understand what his father was saying.
"If you don't save her... I'll kill myself. You'd like that,
wouldn't you?"
Shinji's mouth tightened to a thin line, and he swallowed past
the lump in his throat. He had never thought his father would ever get
like this, though... The things his mother had said led him to believe
that his father was not as impenetrable as he had always believed.
"No, I wouldn't," he said before he shut the door.
Maya hurried down the hallway. She had spent the entire day,
afternoon, and well into the evening making a host of minor upgrades as
a way to pass the time and wanted Ritsuko's more well-trained eye to
look everything over.
She reached Ritsuko's door and knocked lightly before entering.
"Sem... pai?"
Ritsuko was sitting up in her bed with the commander's head
resting on her stomach. Her eyes were closed as she stroked his hair;
she looked almost asleep herself.
"S-sempai," Maya repeated, trying to be professional and failing.
"We--"
A finger over her lips, Ritsuko silenced Maya.
Maya watched with jealousy as Ritsuko lifted the commander's head
and maneuvered her way out of his unconscious grasp. Before saying
anything, she herded Maya out of the room and shut the door. "Okay,
what is it, Maya?"
"I just wanted you to... look over everything." She couldn't
meet her mentor's gaze.
"Maya, he was drunk and needed some comfort. Nothing was
happening."
"I saw the way you looked at him," Maya accused quietly.
Ritsuko sighed. "It doesn't matter how I feel, Maya. He's got
what he wanted and there's no room for anything else. Even if he does
come crawling to me when..." She stopped, a snarl on her face. "It
doesn't matter, Maya."
"It matters to me."
"I know, Maya. I know."
As the two walked down the hall together, Ritsuko slipped her arm
around Maya's shoulders.
***
"I'll go. Last night he wasn't looking very good." And Ritsuko
really needed to do something that would absorb her attention instead
of just sitting around. "Maya, you'll stay and watch out for us,
right?"
"Of course, sempai!"
Kozo smiled faintly, looking slightly troubled even through the
relatively light-hearted conversation. "Then let's get started."
He wouldn't be that surrender flag any longer. Blending in
wasn't an issue, and his past existence was irrelevant. His father
played a similar role for over ten years; he could do it for one day.
Shinji nodded at Misato and adjusted the black jacket he was
wearing.
Off they went.
"So why don't we have a little talk."
"Go to hell," Yui spat, gasping for breath. Sweat was flowing
freely down her face, and her entire body was shivering.
"you should be a little more cooperative, Mrs. Ikari. I hold
your life as well as your soul in my hands. You feel it? Slipping
away..." He smiled as the look on her face grew more pained. "Here
it's a simple anti-AT field, but in actuality, it's oblivion. You're
used to that though, aren't you?"
The sensation of being pulled apart, molecule by molecule, faded
for the time being. "I... I remember watching your... head..." The
grin that spread across Yui's face contrasted the scowl on Tabris'.
"Shinji wasn't happy, but... I was."
"Oh yes, this is _very_ personal, Mrs. Ikari. On levels you
couldn't imagine."
Yui strained against her bonds as the pain started again. It didn't
matter; she would die before giving Tabris anything he wanted, though
her death was probably one of those things anyway.
"Enjoy the time you have left, Mrs. Ikari."
"This is weird," Shinji whispered to Misato.
"Don't think about it. Don't get caught up in what everything
looks like. The only people you can really trust here are me and your
mother."
Shinji nodded as he walked at the woman's side. He set his face
in an expressionless mask as they approached the building he recognized
as the seat of the city government.
"Nervous about having to shoot someone?"
"We might be able to get through this without that."
"Don't count on it, Shinji."
Gendo emerged from Ritsuko's room, leaning against the closest
available flat surface. Everything was fuzzy, but he wasn't sure how
much of it was because he wasn't wearing his glasses. He didn't
remember much about the previous night, but he remembered enough.
The first sign of things going wrong and he had gone running back
to find some sort of comfort with Ritsuko. The only thing really going
wrong was himself; this time, if she was gone, there would be no
getting her back, and that would be something he would have to deal
with. He wouldn't bother laying the role, hiding behind cold,
calculating indifference.
This time...
Gendo staggered down the hall with the overwhelming urge to
vomit.
"Can you use that AT field whenever you want?" whispered Misato.
"I don't know. I don't think I meant to the other times; it just
happened."
"I'll keep my fingers crossed."
They entered the building through the revolving door. Misato
appeared completely natural, while Shinji figured he was wearing a
"Please shoot me" sign on his head.
"State your business," one bored guard said while not really
paying them any attention.
"You see, Mrs. Ikari, that even though you can't actually kill an
angel, having one's head ripped off is decidedly uncomfortable."
Tabris crouched in front of her so she could see him even though she
could not lift her head.
"Rei failed, which is an inconvenience, but now... You'll be
able to watch as I rip off Shinji's head this time. Oh, and then, and
I will especially enjoy this, I think I'd like to see your husband,
your lying, murdering, adultering, thieving, abusive husband ripped
limb from limb and bitten in half by one of my creations. Don't you
think that would be good?"
Yui moaned in response, her mouth unable to form words while she
suffered under the effects of the anti-AT field.
Tabris put his hand under her chin and lifted her head as he
stood. "What's wrong? Don't you want to see your family killed? Then
perhaps you should have considered that before you decided to reclaim
this planet." The angel released her chin and began to circle the
chair. "This planet does not belong to you; it's not your property, no
matter what you may think."
For a few moments Tabris paused and looked out across the city.
"No, you've done nothing but ruin this place. That's why God's
abandoned you all; He moved on to something better."
"Why... you..."
"Because I was stupid. Though I suppose wisdom comes from
experience, and the only proper way to utilize free will is through
wisdom... I accepted responsibility for allowing you all to live and
letting you destroy me. I faced judgment, and here I am, ready to take
my place back with the others far away from here."
"Re... venge?"
"No, no. This has nothing to do with my wrath; this is what I
was assigned to do as punishment. I am enjoying it though."
"You're why... people don't believe in... God."
Tabris frowned then and idly ran his hand through Yui's hair,
feeling her try to pull away. "Not as comforting as the bloodied hands
of your husband, I suppose."
"If you're going to kill me, then do it..."
"Don't flatter yourself; you're not the only one I will. I have
a larger plan for all of you though, so I need to keep your around."
Shinji opened his mouth to answer, but Misato was faster, simply
shooting the guard.
"Misato!"
She couldn't answer as she was too busy picking off the other
guards in the middle of an impressive series of rolls and tumbles
without wasting a single shot.
"Whoa."
"Company, Shinji. Get ready," she warned, having ended up behind
one marble pillar in the huge two-story lobby. In one hand she was
just tossing away a handgun, and in the other... Shinji hurried to
stand behind the pillar opposite hers more for that than any sort of
reinforcements approaching.
His own hands were sweating profusely, and he knew he should have
worn a pair of gloves as he clumsily pulled out one compact sub-
machinegun strapped to his thigh. The mask... He had to wear the
mask. With a deep breath, Shinji let his body relax and stopped
worrying; this was something he had to do, and anyone in his way be
damned.
The pounding of footsteps made him tense for a moment, but the
voice of those he considered an enemy relaxed him, cleared his mind.
This was something they had expected.
"Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands up!"
Shinji didn't look, but heard the footsteps, could imagine how
many men there were... How many obstacles there were. He glanced over
at Misato, who nodded to him. His heart speeding up, he pulled out
another SMG and gripped it tightly.
He watched his companion. His cue would be far from visual, but
there was something about the way Misato carried herself in the
situation that he found fascinating. She was so different than what he
was used to.
Shinji sucked in a breath as Misato boldly stepped out from
behind the pillar, her weapon raised, and before the men could react,
he heard the fwumping noise as she fired. Everything went into slow
motion for him as he watched Misato retreat behind the safety of the
pillar, and then he heard the explosion. He allowed himself a moment
to cringe at the noise, and then he ducked around the pillar, guns
raised, and charged the cloud of dust that had been raised.
With any luck... The sound of coughing reached his ears and set
him off. With a short scream, Shinji started shooting into the
dustcloud even though he couldn't see anything in it. Distantly, he
heard gunshots from the other side of the lobby and figured Misato was
in the middle of doing something similar as himself.
Shinji flattened himself against the wall as he heard the sounds
of more soldiers arriving. He flattened himself against the wall and
listened carefully, noting that Misato was also quiet.
Watching the figures emerge from the settling dust was like
something out of a movie. He waited until the last moment, when he
could see their outlines sharply through the dust, then unloaded on
them. He wasn't sure how many of them there were so he wanted to be
conservative with his ammunition. Unnecessary risks were--
A hail of bullets sent him tumbling to his left and come up
shooting. Even though they were in body armor, it wasn't enough to
stop both of Shinji's weapons. With them mostly spent, he hurled the
guns aside and scurried back to his place against the wall, pausing
long enough to pick up a dropped machinegun.
With unpracticed aim, Shinji picked off each shape he saw in the
quickly settling cloud, his face twisting into a gruesome mask each
time. For a brief moment, as he watched a body drop to the floor, he
wondered just what he was doing.
It hit him in a painful rush, and his pain and anger was whole
once again. He didn't have to carry around Rei's betrayal with him;
Shinji simply chose to.
But how was he supposed to fight... God? Who was doing all this
really? He didn't believe SEELE was behind it; the thing with Rei...
No way they could have done that.
"Shinji, plug your ears," he heard Misato say about a second
before he heard the familiar sound of her weapon firing. He turned his
back as the explosion threw a wave of heat and debris at him.
"Misato!" Shinji shouted. That had been far too close for
comfort.
"Hey, no problem," she answered, now standing right next to him.
"And you thought this was going to be tough."
When Shinji turned and looked at Misato, she was smiling widely.
"For one person, this would have been tough; for two, no problem." She
blinked at his stunned expression. "What? You were expecting some big
production number? Just because I do some neat tricks at the start
doesn't mean I'm dumb enough to try it when they start shooting. Not
that they even managed much of that." She put her hand on his
shoulder. "Good help is hard to find, luckily for us."
Shinji coughed as he inhaled some grit hanging in the air.
Tabris' eyes narrowed, then he glared at Yui. "That's very
unbecoming of you," he noted, watching the line of drool stretch from
her mouth. Crouching in front of her, he cleared her lip with one
finger, then stood and wiped his hand on her shirt. "Don't concern
yourself with it. There are more important things to deal with right
now." He patted her head like she was his less-than-affectionate dog.
Yui managed to lift her head somewhat. The sight that greeted
her did not instill any confidence in her. Two Tabris', one looking
slightly... damp? She couldn't be sure of her vision though; it might
have all been a trick of her eyes.
"This is real?" Shinji asked nervously.
"Yep."
"Won't it, you know, blow my mother to bits?"
"This," Misato said, placing her hand on Shinji's shoulder, "is
where things will get tricky."
"Uh oh."
"You said you knew the details."
Shinji gulped. "I do, but it's different, Misato. That's an N2
mine!"
"Exactly, which makes our timing that much more important. See?
It all works out."
"Misato! This is insane!"
"Look, Shinji, you wanted to save her, and this is the plan.
There's no room for mistakes, and no backing out. Do you understand?"
Shinji looked at the mine. It looked so harmless, but he knew if
their timing _was_ off, it would destroy the building, them, and much
of the surrounding area. "I can't believe this. We're going to die."
"Don't say that!" Misato snapped. "We're not going to die! Just
follow the plan and we'll do fine!"
"This is the only thing that will work?" he asked, still eyeing
the mine.
"It will stun them long enough, unless you can manage to use that
AT field again."
"I-I'm not sure. I could try..."
"We can't rely on trying, Shinji. We need something that will
work for sure the first time."
Shinji nodded. He didn't like the mine, but understood the
reasoning. "I understand. Just... I don't want anything to go
wrong."
"Neither do I, so we should be careful with this."
Gulping, Shinji stood back as Misato set the mine's timer and
armed it, then shut the case the whole device was in. "I didn't know
they were so small."
"Technically this isn't an N2 mine; it just uses the same non-
nuclear technology. This won't yield as big an explosion as the ones
you're thinking of, but we still don't want to be caught in it."
Misato was all business as she closed the latches. "Get the elevator,
would you?"
Shinji hit the button and alternated looks between the elevator
doors and the case of explosives. The sequence of events ran through
his mind; he knew exactly how things were supposed to go, but that was
quite different from trying not to get blown up.
Sweat trickled into his eyes and he blinked it away, only to have
more replace it. Again he blinked it away, resisting the urge to wipe
his forehead. Waiting for the elevator, he realized how uncomfortable
in these moments of stillness he was. He was anxious to carry out the
plan; he was ready to get his mother back.
With a soft *ding* the elevator doors opened and Misato began to
move the case into it. Shinji watched her for a moment, then went to
the emergency stairs. Once again in action, his mind began going over
the details of their plan again.
'She may be injured, so don't count on her being much help. This
is you and me, Shinji.' The look of determination on Misato's face
when she had said that had almost frightened him. Now, though, he
understood. He understood so many things that he hadn't before.
"Go, Shinji!" Misato snapped.
Automatically he began hurrying up the stairs, taking them two at
a time. Misato's footsteps followed his shortly; they had to make it
to the third floor before the elevator since that was their only
distraction. And the timing of it all...
With adrenaline pouring through his system, Shinji burst through
the door at the top of the stairs, his gun drawn even though he didn't
remember specifically doing so. With the only sounds being that of his
shoes on the carpet and his jacket rustling, he moved forward.
In the silence, he could hear the elevator still working, and
knew that he had only a few seconds. Saying a quick prayer to who or
whatever was listening, he ducked into an alcove. He knew she was
there, just down the hall.
"We're not going to die," he whispered to himself as he heard the
elevator finally arrive. He spared a look down the hall when he heard
the doors open, but saw no one. Glancing the other way, he saw Misato.
"You think you know so much, so confident of yourselves. You
have no idea," Tabris continued, looking down at Yui with contempt.
"You actually believed that you could control that hybrid; you're just
as egomaniacal as SEELE, thinking they had power over me."
"Rei was..."
"Rei was my creation, simply waiting until the proper time. I
believe you would designate her the fourth. She almost worked, but
apparently not quite well enough." Tabris put his hand on Yui's
shoulder and increased the pressure of his grip until he could feel the
bones on the verge of breaking. "It'll all be over soon..."
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened.
There was the sound of a door opening, and Shinji pressed himself
as far back as he could, his grip on the gun tightening until his
knuckles turned white. With one deep breath, he peeked down the
hallway, and froze.
That was... Kaworu. What was he doing? Casting a questioning,
panicked glance at Misato, Shinji tried his hardest not to completely
flip out.
Misato's face was expressionless. She had cast off her
sunglasses at some point, and was shaking her head slowly.
Suddenly unsure of what he was doing, Shinji's hands began to
shake. To rescue his mother he had to go through Kaworu? Again? The
only ones he could trust... Kaworu was not one of them, and Shinji was
positive his mother was down that hall.
Kaworu must have been the one. Still shaking, Shinji prepared
himself to move.
Misato gestured to him, but he couldn't do it. It was Kaworu; he
should have been able to, but...
"God damn it," Misato swore quietly.
Shinji kept his eyes on her; he couldn't look at the person he
had thought had been a friend. He watched, unable to do anything else
as Misato stepped from her hiding place and took aim. One twitch of
her finger, and a flash from the muzzle...
"Come on. We're not done yet," she growled at him and grabbed
his arm as she hurried past.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the form on the floor with the
bloodless hole in the side of its head. The eyes were staring
sightlessly up at him, a look of surprise on the angel's face.
"That's your enemy, Shinji. Treat him like one."
"But I..."
"Shinji, how nice to see you again."
Misato froze in mid-step.
Shinji looked at the unmoving form, then forward. "Kaworu?" The
one was still on the ground, but... he had just stepped out in front of
them.
"You think I'd believe that you would destroy yourselves just to
destroy me? Tabris asked lazily. He pointed at the case. "You can't
detonate that."
"Kaworu..."
The angel blinked and a smile played across his lips. "Shinji,
our friendship... is over. It's time for you to die, once and for
all."
The stunned look on Shinji's face twisted very quickly to one of
horror.
"Bastard!" Misato yelled and began firing.
Even though it was totally ineffectual, Misato continued to fire.
Every second, every bullet, every moment Tabris wore that smile, the
more the rage grew on Misato's face as she let loose a stream of curses
and marched forward.
"Misato!"
"she couldn't even hope to kill me, Shinji. And neither could
you, so give in and we'll get this all over with." Tabris extended his
hand, completely ignoring Misato, which Shinji could only stare dumbly
at.
With a cry of frustration, Misato threw herself at Tabris, and
was casually tossed away like an empty can.
"Shinji, this is between us, nobody else," Tabris said serenely.
"Kaworu... why?" Even seeing Misato hurled aside hadn't been
able to shake his confusion. This was his... ex-friend, someone he had
trusted more than anyone.
"You're weak, Shinji. The entire human race was. It was all an
utter failure, and then your parents, your loathsome mother and your
reprehensible father, decided they would do what they wanted!"
Shinji cringed when he saw the spittle fly from the lips of his
adversary. "But we--"
"But nothing! This is all coming to an end; free will won't save
you this time," the angel said, his voice dripping with poison.
"Shinji, the plan!" he heard Misato shout.
He could guess that she had freed his mother. And that meant...
His eyes couldn't avoid looking over at the elevator. If the N2 mine
went off...
"I know you won't, Shinji. Don't even bother trying to pretend."
Misato tried to help Yui to her feet, but the older woman's skin
was so covered with sweat there was no easy way to assist. "What'd he
do to you?" she whispered, grimacing at the unhealthy color of Yui's
skin.
"Shinji..." was the weak reply.
"He's..." Misato looked out into the hall, but could only see
the angel's back. "He's taking care of things. We need to get you out
of here."
"The... N2..."
Misato stared. "How did you..."
Yui smiled weakly. "Born... to pilot. Things... are different."
The strength leaving her as she spoke was almost visible to
Misato. "Shinji!" she yelled. "We need to _go_!" She grabbed Yui
around the waist and hauled her to her feet. There was the faint smell
of burnt hair, and Misato wondered briefly if that was what Third
Impact had smelled like.
Before she could do anything more though she heard the very
distinct beep of the N2 device beginning its countdown sequence. "What
in the..." She looked at the elevator, then at Yui. "You did that?
But... what about Shinji?"
"He'll be fine. I know."
Misato was in the very early stages of pure, unadultered panic.
"Okay, then what about _us_?"
"Born to pilot," was the only answer Yui would give.
"Shinji, the N2 is going to go! Save your ass however you can!"
Misato yelled then began dragging Yui toward the window, their only
exit.
"Don't worry, Misato."
"How am I not supposed to..."
There was another beep, and Misato had just enough time to look
back at the elevator before it exploded.
Slowly, Misato opened her eyes. There was the sound of rushing
wind all around her, and she felt distinctly like she was flying. So
she was dead then; she had failed.
So was she on her way to heaven or what? The flames, red sky and
heat she could see gave her the impression this was someplace else.
"Are you hurt?"
Misato turned her head to the left as far as she could and saw
Yui. "What's going on?"
And then they slammed into a building.
***
Shinji got to his feet and looked at the destruction all around
him. The power of the N2 technology was amazing, even on a smaller
scale. And he had survived it because of the AT field he had managed
to manifest. Still he wasn't sure how...
As the glazed quality faded from his eyes, horrific realization
struck. Misato and his mother. What had happened to them?
Even though all he could see before him was a blackened crater,
Shinji began running toward the center. "Misato!" he yelled, the
beginnings of tears trickling down his cheeks. "Mother! Where are
you?"
His foot caught on a piece of twisted, blackened metal and sent
Shinji tumbling face first to the ground. He stood immediately, his
face covered in ash and soot, and continued running. His tears were
leaving streaks in the grime on his cheeks. "Where are you?"
Misato opened her eyes again, her head throbbing furiously. "Not
again..."
"I think that's it," Yui said softly from Misato's left.
Their location and how they had gotten there were forgotten when
Misato saw the shape the older woman was in. Her skin was a much
healthier shade, but blood was running freely from her mouth.
Misato touched a tender spot on her temple. "Oh God... We need
to find Shinji; we need to get you out of here. And..."
"You're a good person, Misato. Shinji doesn't need our help; he
can fight Tabris on his own." Yui touched the other woman's hand.
"You have to believe in him, Misato, the way you did before."
Sick worry spread through Misato's gut, and she grimaced. "I do,
but... I can't just leave him out there. He's not even..."
"He is the only one who can. We should go; we'll only be a
distraction. I'll explain later."
Ritsuko stared at the monitor. "I don't believe it. She me
to..." She reached over and opened the comm channel. "She wants to
dump Shinji. All this work just to--"
//"Do it, doctor."//
Teeth clenched almost painfully and face twisted into a scowl,
Ritsuko tried to compose an intelligent retort. "You're willing to
abandon your son again?"
//"This is how it must be. This is what we were planning for."//
Ritsuko eyed the console. A few simple keystrokes and Shinji
would be left behind, possibly to never be found again, possibly to
die.
//"Doctor."//
The fingernail of her left thumb was quickly gnawed down to a
painful length. "Fuck," she swore quietly, and entered in the
commands. "There. Are you happy? He's gone."
//"Return here immediately."//
Leaning back in her seat, Ritsuko sighed. "You heard him, Aoba.
Let's go."
The tech nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Shinji wandered, calling out for his mother and Misato. His
tears had stopped finally and his voice had lost most of its strength,
but he would not stop, could not. He had come so far, learned so much,
done so many things, that quitting now... That would have really been
giving up, and he had vowed he would never do that again while lying in
the darkness of his room, searching for something within himself.
More than steel, more than the iron in his spine... This was
white hot molten titanium, and it would not allow him to give up.
"Misato... Mother..."
"They're gone, Shinji. No more interference, no more stalling.
With you dead, the others won't last long."
Shinji turned with a look of tired acceptance gracing his
features. "Kaworu, you were my friend," he said quietly, then lifted
his head. "Tabris, I can't forgive you." Though he frowned, his eyes
held only disappointment. "You betrayed me once, and now again."
Tabris' smile didn't falter, but his brow knit as if in
confusion.
Abruptly, Shinji's eyes narrowed. "I know who to blame for what
happened to my mother and why I didn't have a real home for seven
years. And I'm going to take it out on you."
"Your father--"
"Is broken. I can't even hate him."
Now the confusion was obvious. "I will never understand you."
"Because you're an angel, and you're not capable of understanding
the way people think and feel," Shinji explained evenly, watching
Tabris' face twist cruelly.
"Implying that I am inferior to you. We will see who is inferior
when you are dead and broken on the _ground_!" The last word was a
roar, a physical force that slammed into Shinji and sent him flying
backwards. "I can see you'll be easier to deal with than your mother;
a shame she won't get to watch you die."
Ignoring the angel's taunts and pushing the ache in his chest
aside, Shinji got to his feet. His eyes focused on his enemy, but his
mind felt like it was very far away, observing everything like a field
general.
The angel raised its hand. The angel exposed a weak point in the
form of an unblinking red eye in the palm. The angel glowed in
preparation for an attack, most likely some sort of beam originating
from the eye.
AT field engaged. Now in protected mode. Countdown to
retaliation... begin.
Shinji's eyes got very wide as the whole chain of events played
out in his head. It was so simple and obvious; there would be no way
for Tabris to stop it, and that would mean--
Alert! Hostile approaching from the rear!
Shinji felt no need to turn and look, as he knew it was the
double he had seen earlier. In a state that most closely resembled
shock, he stood and did nothing.
It all happened instantaneously, except to Shinji, who felt like
the world was moving at one-sixteenth speed around him. For a fraction
of a second, Tabris' glow died out, then the eye on I his hand flared.
As if he could watch both Tabris' at the same time, Shinji first
twisted to the left, then the right, and felt the heat and energy of
the two blasts as they missed him by mere fractions.
Everything returned to normal speed as Shinji stumbled backwards
and fell to the ground on his rump. He looked back and forth between
the two versions of Tabris as each stood with looks of stunned
amazement on their faces.
The double was quickly turning an ashen gray, with his skin
pulling tightly over his bones. The eyes dried out and caved in as the
immense hole in his chest started spewing greenish pus. In a matter of
moments, the body was little more than a pile of dust and goo.
"This isn't over yet," the original Tabris croaked, holding his
hand over the hole in his own chest. "I don't die so easily... Not
this time."
As Shinji watched, this time with a flat, dispassionate gaze,
Tabris' body exploded in a shower of light and left nothing behind.
Finally Shinji had won.
***
"An AT field?"
"Yes, Misato. An AT field. It protected us from the explosion.
It was the only way to escape Tabris," Yui explained, walking more
slowly than normal. Her body ached all over, something harder to shut
out in the real world.
Misato nodded thoughtfully, then said, "Hey!"
"Hm?"
"What about Shinji? We just... left him! How will he get back?"
The two entered the command center where all the others were
waiting.
Yui smiled at the gathered group, then began her explanation.
"Shinji's going to be the one to restore everyone's AT field. He's
going to make everything all right again." She paused to let the words
sink in. This had been the plan all along, but finally they were in
position to see it to fruition.
"So," she continued, making her way over to a haggard and
relieved-looking Gendo, "now we just need Shinji to realize it."
The unspoken question was how, and for that, Yui had no answer.
She could only hope her son would see what he was capable of and
embrace it.
Now to find Misato and his mother and get back. There was no
doubt in Shinji's mind that Tabris was not dead, that his existence in
this world was not tied to his existence in the real world. That meant
he would be looking and waiting... That meant there would be trouble.
Swearing to himself, Shinji began running in a random direction,
calling out, though he knew, he could feel that he was alone. The
others were gone already, so all he needed to do was find himself a
phone and...
He didn't know the number, didn't know any of the codes, so how
was he supposed to get back? What was he going to do? He couldn't
wait, couldn't just let them take their chances against Tabris. The
angel was surely enraged.
Shinji needed a way back, and right away.
"So we just sit here and hope he figures something out?"
"Basically, doctor. Unless you have a better plan..." Yui gave
Ritsuko a stern look with one eyebrow raised questioningly.
"She's right, Yui. We can't wait on him forever," Gendo
whispered only for her.
Yui took his hand before she replied with confidence, "He's more
like you than you'd like to admit. Have faith in him and he'll figure
it all out."
Shinji sat on a bench and considered the situation. Unless there
was something so wrong happening that would make him not want to go
back, he knew there must have been a way. It was only a matter of
understanding the situation; of that he was sure.
So... he was currently a soul without a body. Apparently, his
activity sent out some sort of electrical signals, or so he had
interpreted what he'd been told. It had all been very technical and
not very interesting. A soul and a body were held together by an AT
field, and an anti-AT field could easily tear apart an AT field like
tissue.
The MAGI had, somehow, been combining an AT field, a soul and LCL
to make a whole person. Of course that didn't do him any good when he
didn't have the MAGI there to help him out.
Glumly staring at the ground in front of him, Shinji kicked a
rock. If anyone had been there to lend him a little support, he could
have figured it out. Yet he was all alone. His father probably would
have...
For the first time in what seemed like an entire lifetime Shinji
had no clue what his father would have thought. Maybe he'd be proud,
or he'd be angry. Probably disappointed since he was always
disappointed in Shinji. After five years of not caring what anyone
thought, Shinji wondered if his father would approve.
"I did it, better than I ever piloted, and I saved Mother,
something he couldn't do. So why..."
When he had needed comfort that he thought he could only get from
his mother, comfort not even Misato could give him, there had been that
hand on his shoulder. Had he grown up and moved beyond those petty,
bitter feelings? Almost certainly his father was different now...
That hand on his shoulder. All the hits he had taken, and given,
while training... Shinji laughed quietly to himself. He had enjoyed
it because in his mind, that was how a father and son interacted,
bonded.
Five years ago, he had left them behind, but... NERV would
always be his family, however strange and dysfunctional. A slight
smile stayed on his lips when he thought about his time with the
organization. The closest he had ever been to being a man was then.
And now... Once again within the folds of NERV and with his
family he was on the brink of manhood.
But... Rei... The AT field...
Shinji stood suddenly, his eyes alight with understanding.
Against that... fake Rei, he had manifested his AT field. Not in this
false world, but the real world. That shouldn't have been possible
unless he was an angel or... He really had control over Third Impact.
For once, the bluntness of the truth was in his favor. If he had
to put himself back together, then that was what he would do.
Maya rubbed her eyes. She had kept a close eye on all the
surveillance monitors for the past three hours and was finding it
difficult to maintain her vigilance.
"Maya, why don't you take a break?" Ritsuko suggested, sounding
exhausted herself.
"But who--"
"Get Aoba to take over. You've been sitting here too long."
Maya watched as Ritsuko tried to suppress a yawn, then gave into
it.
"Sempai?"
"What is it, Maya?"
The young tech continued to watch as Ritsuko rubbed her eyes then
stretched. Maya turned away, blushing. "Nothing. I'll go get
Shigeru."
After she had gone, Ritsuko cracked her tired eyes open and
stared blankly at the monitors. Coffee... just a sip of it... "Holy
shit!" She sat stunned for a moment then hit the alarm.
Within moments, everyone else was there asking what the problem
was. All Ritsuko could do was point at the monitor.
"What is that?" Misato asked as she squinted at the small
picture.
Wordlessly, Ritsuko put the picture on the main screen and
magnified it. Someone, probably Maya from the slightly higher-pitched
and breathy tone, gasped when it became clear. Very clear.
In the middle of the LCL was a lone figure struggling.
"Shinji." It was a statement, not a question, by Yui. "He did
it."
Everyone stared.
"Maybe we should go get him," Misato suggested, but did not move
from her spot at Ritsuko's shoulder.
Shinji's head broke the surface of the LCL and he gasped for air.
He had done it. Really done it. The urge to shout in victory was
pushed down violently by the fact that he was currently treading LCL
and had no idea where to go.
And he was naked, but that was secondary.
He swam over to a long-abandoned delivery van that was submerged
and crawled on top of it. A rescue party would have been very nice at
the moment, but he didn't see any signs of life. He knew he could have
swam to the geofront, but he didn't know how to get inside, since he
was almost positive the doors and such weren't working properly.
A chill breeze swept over him and he shivered. After five years
was the world returning to normal? Were the seasons returning? Shinji
looked up at the sky that was bright blue and impossibly clear. The
silence was almost deafening, but at the same time quite pleasant. It
was something Shinji probably could have learned to be quite
comfortable in, yet...
Solitude was only comforting for so long.
"Get him out of there! It'll tear him apart!"
"If we go out there, it'll tear _us_ apart, Misato," Ritsuko said
evenly, but there was a definite tremor in her voice.
"But we can't just--"
"Misato, Shinji is the only one who can do this. There are no
more Evangelions, nothing to fight them or Tabris," Yui explained while
she kept her eyes on the main screen.
"He has to."
Misato glanced over at Gendo, sharing his, however subtle,
worried look.
Shinji watched the thing circle overhead, then another as it
joined the first. Never had he imagined he would have the ability to
fight without the EVA. Defeat an angel? Certainly not.
Here he would have to though. There was no denying the fact that
he had abilities, powers that the others didn't. They even seemed to
rival those of Tabris! It was a frightening thing to consider; he
didn't want to be anything like the angel.
Shinji let his gaze sweep across the sky, over the towering
buildings that rose around him, and on one rooftop... "Tabris."
As he watched, the human-looking angel floated gently down to
hover some fifteen meters away from him.
"You are pathetic and weak, Shinji." It was said without Tabris'
customary smile. This time his mouth was set into a grim line. "One
way or another, I'll be rid of you."
"It doesn't have to be this way... Kaworu. Is it so bad here?
You don't have to go back." Though Shinji spoke the words, he knew
what Tabris' answer would be. The angel that had pretended to be a boy
that had been his friend was no more.
"You know that's a lie, and even if it weren't, I wouldn't stay
here."
Shinji didn't move his eyes from Tabris even though he quite
clearly heard the whistling noise from overhead. He gave no reaction
when the first creature impacted against his AT field and exploded in a
shower of LCL. The other followed suit, making a crunching sound like
that of a bug being crushed underfoot.
"That won't protect you from me," Tabris declared, unaffected by
the failure of his creations. He advanced slowly, the LCL rippling
gently beneath him.
When they were five meters apart, their AT fields met in a subtle
battle. With no reaction from either boy, their fields canceled each
other out and melted away, leaving them unprotected.
"We fight like humans," stated Shinji, "not angels."
"This confidence really doesn't suit you." Tabris grinned
slightly as Shinji backed up to the edge of the van's roof.
"A long time ago," Shinji said calmly as Tabris' feet settled on
the opposite side of the van's roof, "I stopped being intimidated by
people who didn't mean anything to me." He brought his hands up,
curled into loose fists, and waited.
Tabris copied his stance though looked decidedly awkward doing
so. "How primitive. This is how animals fight."
"And this is how animals win." Face staying completely calm,
Shinji charged forward, his feet slipping momentarily on the metal
roof, and attacked. He started out sluggishly, his real body unused to
the things he was trying to do, but with Tabris showing similar
inexperience, he gained confidence that he could win.
A solid punch to the angel's jaw that left his knuckles stinging
and Tabris stumbling back was a brief victory. Unfortunately, Shinji's
foe didn't seem to be affected by it, giving him an almost warm smile
when he regained his footing.
"I told you it wouldn't be so easy," Tabris remarked then lunged
and drove his fist into Shinji's gut.
Doubled over, Shinji stumbled back and gasped for breath. Any
thoughts of victory fled as he tried to take a breath and found he
couldn't very well. He couldn't mistake this real world for all the
things he could do in the fake world, but... All he needed was a
little edge.
He stalled, gasping loudly for breath, and watched Tabris' feet
as he thought. Most frustrating about it all was that his mind could
recall almost all of the information, all the moves, but his body
wasn't trained to actually perform them. He would have probably hurt
himself even attempting them.
One opening though... Take advantage of Tabris' momentum; let
the angel do all the work for him. SO simple, and so painful... He
remembered that lesson from his training.
Shinji righted himself and, holding one hand to his stomach,
tried to present himself as an easy target. If he showed the proper
opening... "Even I can do better than that."
"Yes, you'd think so. And you'd be wrong." Tabris moved his
left foot forward, then took two quick steps pushing off with his right
foot, and swung his fist.
Shinji leaned away from the fist directed at his fist, and
brought his hands up. In a moment of triumph, he felt the angel's fist
hit his palm, and then he shifted his weight, twisted his hips, and
sent Tabris flipping head over heels. The angel landed solidly on his
back, and before he could recover, Shinji brought his foot down.
There was flaring pain in his heel as it impacted with something
that was not flesh and bone in Tabris' abdomen. His reward was a look
of surprise and pain on the angel's face, to which he responded by
bringing his foot down again. There was an audible cracking sound the
second time.
Shinji continued to bring his foot down on Tabris' gut until it
finally went completely through the angel. He stared with a look of
animalistic fury on his face at the body even as it exploded.
"Coming back online," Ritsuko reported, her entire body tense as
the static cleared from the monitor.
All eyes were glued to the picture that presented itself.
"Are we allowed to go get him now?" Misato asked.
Yui nodded.
*** ***
There was a knock on the door. "Just a moment." The door
opened... "Shinji?"
He took her hand in his and began pulling her out into the
hallway. "I have to show you something, Asuka. I have to show you
what I did."
"Shinji! What are you--"
Her eyes widened in surprise as Shinji suddenly turned and kissed
her. She was still surprised and stunned when he released it, then
started walking again.
"Come on. You have to see it. You have to see what it's like
outside."
*** *** *** *** ***
Misato whistled as she peered out the car window. "This place is
huge." She had known that the Ikari family had moved into a large
house, but this being the first visit, she was awed at just how large
it was.
Not that it was surprising to her. With the general change in
population and world view, lifestyles of those in and around Tokyo-3,
and all of Japan, had changed. People had spread out, no longer
content to be confined to small apartments in towering buildings.
In growing numbers, houses were dotting the hills around the ex-
metropolis. Some were classic Japanese architecture, while others were
modern Western-style, and others were ultra-modern. Some were compact,
and others, like the one they were approaching, were huge.
"Why did we move into something so tiny?" she asked, staring at
the house, currently alight for the evening.
"You said it was charming. And it's easier to keep clean," Kaji
Ryoji answered from the driver's seat. "And it looks like we're last
to arrive again. This is all your fault, Misato."
"I had to practically paint this dress on. I couldn't show up
dressed like I usually do."
"That's for sure. Ow!"
The doorbell rang. "Professor, could you answer that?"
Kozo, dressed in an immaculate suit and with a drink firmly in
hand, nodded to a most enticingly-clad Yui. He had to make sure to
keep his eyes on her face, or who knows the trouble he would have
gotten into. He exited the great room where everyone was gathered,
headed down the softly lit gallery, and entered the two story foyer.
Without hesitation, he opened one arched door and greeted the
newcomers.
"Last as usual," he said, smiling. "We were almost going to
start without you." He stood aside as Misato gave him a dazzling
smile.
"You know how Kaji is: so vain, but he still can't manage to
shave. Took him an hour just to get his tie straight." She shifted
her armload of gifts so she could grab her boyfriend by the sleeve and
pull him inside.
The two laughed at the expense of the grumbling Kaji, whose
armload of gifts was much larger than Misato's.
"I'm surprised at how much cooler it's gotten. I didn't expect
it to be much like the Christmases I remember," Misato said as the
group made their way to the great room.
Kozo Fuyutsuki nodded wistfully. "Christmas with snow... I hope
I live long enough to see it again."
"Shinji, take this tray out. Can't let the guests run dry now,"
Yui said almost too cheerfully.
Shinji once again pulled at the collar of his shirt before taking
the tray. While he appreciated the party and getting a chance to see
everyone, he wasn't sure why they had to get dressed up for it.
Balancing the tray so as not to spill the filled champagne flutes, he
exited to the great room.
Once among the guests, Shinji immediately located his father.
"Mom's a little overboard on the details," he said quietly, then
continued on his hosting duties.
Gendo grabbed one of the glasses before it was too far out of his
reach and pardoned himself from the conversation he was having with a,
he had to admit quite fetching, member of the NERV staff. She giggled
demurely as he walked away.
Through the gathered guests, around the tree that had nearly
broken his back when he had set it up, and into the kitchen where he
found Yui busily working on the evening's dinner. "Much more of this
and you'll go into labor right here."
Yui didn't look over at him. "It would be fitting. Our first
Christmas and I have to ruin it all by giving birth." Her voice was
distinctly stressed.
With a frown, Gendo left the kitchen, but avoided the party and
took a small flight of stairs up to the second floor. He passed
several closed doors in the hallway until he reached a pair of slightly
ajar double doors at the end. Entering quietly, his eyes fell
immediately upon the young woman relaxing on the bed reading a book.
"Maya..."
Maya barely managed to stifle a scream. "Sir, you scared the
hell out of me." She took a deep breath and tried to get her sudden
tremors under control.
"You can go down to the party now. Thank you for watching her."
The tech stood. "It was no problem; she slept the entire time."
"The food is almost done," Gendo explained, keeping his voice
low. "Go and enjoy yourself."
Maya smiled a bit hesitantly, then gathered her book and purse.
Before she left the room, she pulled a present out. "I guess this
might be a little strange, but... I don't think I would have been able
to say anything unless you had..." She looked away, blushing.
Gendo took the present from Maya's slightly trembling fingers.
"I don't deserve thanks." He hesitated, unsure whether to say anything
more or not.
Maya lifted her eyes and met his, immediately causing her blush
to increase ten-fold.
"You go downstairs now," he urged, unsure of anything else to
say.
"Yes, sir," she whispered and hurried out.
When he heard her footsteps on the stairs, Gendo set the gift on
the end of the bed, then turned to the sitting area where a crib was
currently sitting. Releasing a silent sigh, he went to the crib and
gazed at the baby sleeping in it.
When Taka was actually old enough to move out on her own, he'd be
well over 70. Dealing with a child had been hard enough when he was
twenty years younger, and here he'd have to deal with two more.
The only thing that kept him calm was the fact that Yui was going
through hormonal chaos. There was no need for him to add to that mess,
and that meant treating his wife with kid gloves sometimes.
Though the baby, his daughter, his _real_ daughter, was asleep,
her presence was required on this occasion. He lifted the child,
making sure he had her blanket to protect his suit from undesired
stains. It must have been Yui's influence and his lack of work... Or
maybe he was just getting old and tired.
Cradling the child against his chest, he went to the bedroom
door, but stopped when he heard voices.
"If we keep doing this until we're your parents age, we'll have
thirty kids."
Asuka.
"Mother or Father's age?"
Shinji.
"You had better hope you get as much action as your father when
you're his age."
"Don't ruin the mood by talking about my father."
The sound of a door closing, and Gendo emerged from the bedroom.
He looked at the closed door of his son's room and shook his head.
The oven beeped signaling yet another thing Yui had to worry
about. She set aside the rice crackers and shrimp she had been working
on to attend to the other food. If it hadn't been for Maya and she ha
to worry about Taka as well... "Where did Shinji go?"
"They should get married."
"Is he upstairs? Damn it. This isn't the time to be fooling
around."
"No," Gendo said as he watched from the doorway. "This is a time
you're supposed to be enjoying and the company."
"Have you ever tried cooking for thirty people while pregnant and
wearing an evening gown?" Yui snapped in response.
"No. Thank God."
She turned to tell him exactly what she thought, but cooled down
when she saw him with Taka. A sigh escaped. "Go on. You two will
just be in the way if you try to help."
Ritsuko nursed her drink as she chatted with two woman from the
science division. She smiled warmly as Maya approached. "Finally got
off baby-sitting duty?"
"Yeah. The commander mentioned something about the food almost
being done."
A dark look passed quickly across Ritsuko's face, then she gave a
slightly strained smile. "I think so. I can smell it." Her stomach
growled in agreement.
"Ladies."
The dark look returned as all four women looked at Gendo, who was
hovering just a bit too close to Maya. Naturally, the other two began
immediately fawning over the baby he was holding.
"I was wondering if you could go give Yui a hand in the kitchen?
She's rather stressed out," Gendo said and let his free hand fall on
Maya's shoulder.
Ritsuko sighed as the others made their way to the kitchen
talking amongst themselves. Would her life always be like this?
"You look lovely, doctor," he whispered to her.
"Can it. I am not your friend. We are ex-co-workers and that's
all. I'm here because of Maya and your wife," she spat back.
There was a pause.
"I'm sorry."
And that was why she had to remain hard-hearted toward him.
There was no way she would fall into that trap again because it would
be so easy, especially now. "Please," Ritsuko said, her voice much
softer than she had intended, "just leave me alone."
"I understand."
He walked away and Ritsuko's entire body relaxed. After taking a
deep breath she headed for the kitchen.
"You are such a dog!"
"Yeah! I don't believe it!"
"Believe, guys." Shigeru wore a very wide smile as the others
congratulated him on his "accomplishment."
"Something like that could have gotten you killed," Makoto said
while he wore a wry grin.
"It was just harmless flirting. And here I am in one piece."
His smile was as wide as his mouth could manage.
"Snack, boys?"
"Sure, Ms. Ikari."
"Thanks."
"Anything for you, Shigeru?"
Shigeru swallowed loudly and shook his head. "No thanks, ma--"
Yui tsked.
"No thanks, Yui."
"Suit yourself." She moved away.
"Awesome!"
"That was cool!"
"Yeah," Makoto added. "She was all over you."
"Shut up."
Shinji tried to be subtle about returning to the party. If
anyone asked where he had been...
"Zip up, Shinji," his father said in a low tone as they passed
one another in the crowd.
Cheeks blazing, Shinji pulled up his zipper.
"Everyone!"
The conversation died down as everyone looked at Yui, who had
somehow managed to stand on a chair.
"The food is ready..." She paused as a cheer went up. "And then
we'll have the gift exchange."
There was more applause as everyone began filing out to the back
where the tables were set up.
Shinji found Asuka in the group and took her hand. "I wish you
wouldn't rush me. I forgot to zip up again," he whispered.
"That's my Shinji," she answered and kissed him.
The final guests were leaving.
Misato kissed Shinji on the cheek and gave Asuka a hug.
"Bye, Misato. Bye, Kaji."
"Last to arrive, last to leave," he responded while wearing his
familiar smirk.
With those two gone, the house was quiet once again.
"We're going to bed," Yui informed the two as Gendo was already
part way up the stairs. "Don't make too much noise down here." She
winked and earned twin blushes.
"And zip up."
"Father!"
Asuka snickered, then grabbed Shinji's hand and headed to the
great room. All lights were out except those on the tree, casting the
room in a multi-colored glow. "I had fun," Asuka said quietly as she
sat on the couch.
"So did I. I'm surprised Taka was so quiet. Usually she can't
stand it if she's not the center of attention." He deigned not to sit
next to her, merely pacing nervously around the room.
"What is it?"
Instead of answering directly, Shinji went to the tree and
crouched down. He searched around the rumpled skirt for a bit until he
found what he was looking for. "I just had this other gift to give
you."
He turned so Asuka could see the small box he was holding.
There was an enormous screech from downstairs.
"It's about time they got married," Gendo muttered.
"I didn't know you were so traditional." Yui kissed him under
his jaw then rested her head on his shoulder. "Where'd that picture
come from?"
"Maya."
Yui looked at the pictures set up among the others. It showed a
group of six at a beachfront carnival. Maya, dressed in plain shorts
and a shirt, was on the end, standing next to Ritsuko. They were each
smiling pleasantly. Next to them were Misato and Kaji, supporting a
massive stuffed bear between them. And at the end were Hyuga and Aoba,
both shirtless and striking muscleman poses.
"My, that Shigeru certainly is a... healthy young man," Yui
commented in a somewhat breathy voice.
"Yui..."
"Relax. What's wrong with enjoying the picture?"
"I don't think that's what you're enjoying."
"Oh, you think I did the humpy-jungle with him, is that it?"
Gendo had no answer for that. He wasn't even sure what exactly
"humpy-jungle" meant.
"You're the only one I do that with."
Ohh. That.
Asuka slipped quietly into Shinji's room, and then his bed.
"They already know," he whispered. "You don�t have to sneak
around."
"I know," she whispered in response, then giggled. "It's more
fun this way."
They held each other close, then kissed in the darkness.
After they parted, Asuka whispered, "I've never been married to a
world savior before," as she looked into Shinji's eyes.
"I've never been one. I guess we'll figure it out together."
As a family. Finally.
END
humpy-jungle: credit goes to Martin for this... concept.