The Characters and concept of Neon Genesis Evangelion are property of Gainax. I created this "scenario" in the spirit of the TV series. I made it in the hope that it would open up people's minds and give something to a series that really touched me. This little series that I have created is a piece of fan fiction thought up by yours truly, so if you are going to copy or distribute this work, please give credit where it is due, k? Now enjoy!
Evangelion: Step beyond the Abyss
Chapter Nine
"The Way You Shine When You Smile"/ Things Left Unsaid
By N. T. Martin
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I know its been a long time, but here's a little refresher for those of you that have forgotten SBTA 8.2.
Asuka and Hikaru are forced to join forces in the wilderness as they attempt to reunite with their fellow EVA pilots.
In the meantime, Misato, after barely surviving a crash-landing, makes her way to a town that has a particular meaning to Asuka.
Back in Tokyo-3, Touji is faced with a demon from his past: Evangelion Unit 03, regenerated and prepped for combat against this new Angel. Ritsuko finds herself dealing with the guilt of Touji's pain and safekeeping.
Back on the battlefront, Shinji finds himself beside the lake, under the care of Rei and the two begin searching for the others.
The Children regroup a town near an automated dam. A plan is formed and the Children launch a combined attack against the Angel.
The battle ends with Unit 03 killing the Angel and the EVA team is picked up by NERV transports.
The Chapter ends with Rei being moved into a new apartment, far away from the constant sounds of construction and she feels…content.
---------------------------
(North Pole.)
(A boy walks in a loose T-shirt and shorts. Ice crunches under his sneakers and the brutal, subzero wind tears at his white hair. His eyes seem dead as he continues forward despite the harsh elements around him.)
Boy: …
(A ridge appears before him. The pelting snow in the air make it impossible to see much beyond the single ridge, but the boy knows what he would see if he could. A crater. A simple, though, vast crater in the frozen earth.)
(He steps over a shard of what used to be a door. White print on the shard that is almost erased by dark scorch marks is written the letters "U. N.")
Boy (lifting his head so that the wind plays with his hair): Beginning…
-----------------------------
(The morning sun rises on the horizon of Tokyo 3 and washes the walls of the buildings in warm light. However, in the distance, a few dark clouds hover, threatening to choke out the light.)
(Within the confines of Misato Katsuragi's apartment, a blurry-eyed Pen-Pen steps out of his refrigerator, a small, yellow towel is draped over his shoulder. The penguin shuffles slowly toward the bathroom door at the end of the hall, patting back a yawn with a slender fin.)
Asuka (muffled behind her door): Ah…ah…!
(Pen-Pen pauses next to the Second Child's door, cocking his head quizzically at the strange sound coming from within the red-headed pilot's room.)
Asuka (suddenly): AC-CHOO!!!
(Pen-Pen jumps away from the door as if it has suddenly come to life, his round eyes blinking rapidly.)
Asuka (frustrated): Argh!! Ah don believ dis!
(The door slides open on abused tracks and Pen-Pen hops out of the way as a red-nosed, watery-eyed Asuka Langley Soryu stomps out of her room and storms into the bathroom. Pen-Pen stares at the shut door and he can hear Asuka using the restroom. He cautiously begins toward the door again, his bath almost in reach.)
(The door opens again and Asuka appears, her hair matted in some parts, sticking out at wild angles in others. She looks around, sighs, and starts toward her room again…only to fall over Pen-Pen. The two fall in a tangle of fins, arms, and legs.)
Pen-Pen (sharply, flapping his fins from under Asuka's left leg): Squaw! Squaw!
Asuka (snapping): Gawddamn it! Shut up!
(The door next to the two slides open and Misato peers out at them, her eyes not quite focusing on the scene in front of her.)
Misato (thickly): Wh-What's all the racket about? I just got off an all-nighter-
(Asuka suddenly bursts into tears and flies back into her room, but not before Misato saw the Second Child's runny nose and pale complexion. Asuka's door slams shut behind her.)
Misato (blinking, trying to clear sleep's tempting fingers from her mind): W-What…Asuka?!
(Misato grabs her crutches and hobbles down the hall to the girl's door. Bracing herself under her arms on the crutches, Misato knocks lightly on Asuka's door.)
Misato (gently): Asuka? What's wrong?
Asuka (muffled in her pillow): Nophing, Misa-to. Leav me alon!
(Misato cracks the door open so she can see inside the Second's Child's room. Asuka is laying face down in her bed, her face buried in her pillow. She sees Asuka's shoulders convulse and she hears a choked sound from the girl. …coughing.)
Misato (softly, moving awkwardly into the room on her crutches): Asuka…are you sick?
Asuka (fiercely, hugging her pillow to her): No!
(A sharp series of coughs makes a liar of the girl.)
Misato (hopping on one foot so she could sit down in the chair at the girl's desk): Listen, Asuka, you are obviously sick.
(Asuka groans and rubs her face against the pillow.)
Asuka (softly): Ah'm…not sick. Can't be.
Misato (leaning back in the chair, grateful to take the weight off her leg): Why?
Asuka (quietly): Don't get sick. Ah don't.
Misato (chuckling to herself): Everyone gets sick, Asuka.
(The door suddenly opens a little more and Shinji pokes his head in.)
Shinji (carefully): Hey, are you guys ready for breakfast?
(Asuka stiffens at the sound of the Third Child's voice, but he continues, unaware.)
Shinji (cocking his head): What's wrong with her? I heard a lot of noise. What-?
(Asuka suddenly rears back and begins throwing pillows at him.)
Asuka (shouting): Who asked yous ta com in 'ere?! Ge' OUT! Ge' OUT, BAKA!!
(Shinji's eyes widen in shock as he sees the projectile pillows coming at him. He manages to dodge the two small, throw pillows, but the big, fat one hits him square in the head and sends him flying out into the opposite hallway wall.)
Shinji (shouting): Hey!
Misato (firmly): Enough! Both of you!
Shinji (pointing at Asuka, who has ducked her head under the comforter): She started it!
Misato (sigh, allowing herself to slump a little in the chair): Shinji…could you please start breakfast? I'll be along in a bit.
(Shinji looks at Misato and sees how pale the Major has become. He bites his lip and nods silently. His fading footsteps come back at the Second Child under the sheets. She sighs unsteadily and pulls the comforter tight around her, making a small mound in the center of her bed.)
Misato (quietly): What was that, Asuka?
Asuka (biting her lip): N-Nophing. Ah…jus' didn't want ta see dat baka right now.
(There is a moment of silence in the room and the two can hear Shinji pulling out pans and setting the table. Misato smiles somewhat sadly and reaches out to the mound. Her hand gentles smoothes the comforter over the Second Child's back.)
Misato (coming painfully to her feet with the aid of her crutches): I will have Shinji put a plate of food at your door before he goes to school. If…If you need something else, I will be in the next room.
(The thumping of Misato's crutches fade away and Asuka is alone under the sheets. She blinks back the moisture at her eyes and turns on her side, her back toward the door.)
Asuka (very softly): Ah'm not sick.
(And she coughs some more.)
-----------------------------
(The rain pelts the windows of the school endlessly, almost like the weather is trying to break into the schoolroom. Rei Ayanami watches the rain trail down the window's surface in long, fat trails. Her cheek is braced on her palm and her red eyes are seemingly looking elsewhere.)
Female Student A (softly, behind a cupped palm): Did you hear?
Female Student B (leaning low over her desk, her voice a mere whisper): What?
Female Student A: Asuka is sick!
(Rei's eyes drift slowly from the window to glance at the two girls at her right.)
Female Student B (covering her mouth in shock): No way! Her Majesty doesn't catch colds! She's invincible!
(Rei turns her eyes to scan the entire classroom. Similar conversations are running rampant among all the small gossip groups. Asuka coming down with the flu was news.)
Rei (thinking): Why are these people so fascinated by Pilot Soryu's illness? Why are they so excited?
(The classroom door opens and Shinji steps in, his face tired and his uniform dripping. Rei's eyes widen at the sight of him.)
Kensuke (slowly rising from his seat): Whoa! Shinji! What happened to you?!
Shinji (squeezing what water he could from the loose tails of his button-down shirt): I couldn't find an umbrella and I was running late.
(The Third Child shakes the rain out of his hair and walks over to his desk. He sits down and glances over at Touji's empty seat.)
Shinji (frowning): …Touji's not here?
Kensuke (following Shinji's gaze): Oh, yeah. I guess he wasn't feeling too well this morning. Or so his sister told me.
(Kensuke lifts his chin and pushes his glasses up thoughtfully.)
Kensuke (slowly): With a surprising lack of sarcasm, too…
(Shinji pauses in the act of opening his book-bag. His eyes grow distant and he remains silent.)
Kensuke (glancing carefully over at Shinji's bowed head): Did…did he say anything to you?
Shinji (his voice very low): No…this is the first I heard of it.
(The classroom door slides open and the old teacher comes shuffling in. No one notices him and he comes to stand behind his desk, confused at the fact that none of the children are rising. His old eyes wander over to Hikari Horaki, who is staring at the artificial wood of her desktop. His wrinkled lips part in surprise. The girl student, one of the most responsible in the class, has forgotten her duty as class rep.)
(The teacher clears his throat lightly and Hikari glances up, her eyes distracted. When they focus on the old man, they grow wide with shock and embarrassment.)
Hikari (shooting to her feet, her cheeks bright pink): All rise!
(None of the other students notice Hikari's lack of attention…except for Shinji. He bites his lip even as he bows to the teacher.)
Shinji (thinking): Hikari…
(Sighing, the teacher takes his seat and begins roll-call.)
Teacher (mumbling into his attendance folder): Mori, Eiji?
Eiji (bored): Here…
Teacher (squinting at the page): Nakajima, Atsuko?
Atsuko (rolling her eyes): Here!
Teacher (smacking his lips absently): Sohma, Hikaru?
(Silence)
Teacher (blinking slowly, rising his head to look at the class): Miss Sohma?
Hikari (glancing covertly at Shinji, whispering behind a cupped hand): Shinji! Where's Hikaru?!
Shinji (shaking his head): I-I don't know. I didn't see her on the way here.
(Suddenly, the door to the room bangs open and a soaked, wild-haired Hikaru staggers in.)
Hikaru (bowing deeply to the teacher): S-Sorry I'm late! I overslept!
Teacher (shifting slowly on his chair): I see. You may take your seat, Miss Sohma.
Hikaru (breathing deeply, her head down): Yes, sir.
(The class murmurs amongst itself as the teacher continues attendance. If it is one thing, Hikaru has always been a punctual student. The Sixth Child takes her seat and rests with her elbows braced on the desktop. Shinji gazes at her, his eyes concerned.)
(Hikaru glances up from under her fall of dark hair, her eyes tired. She notices Shinji's worried gaze and offers a thankful smile. The Third Child blushes and quickly looks back to the front of the class. He doesn't notice Hikaru look down at her folded hands, her eyes staring at nothing…and everything.)
-------------------------
(The door slides open and Ritsuko stares into the dark room. The shades have been pulled and no lights are on. She frowns and reaches over for the light switch.)
Hidaka (softly): Leave them off, the darkness comforts him.
(Ritsuko jumps, almost dropping the bouquet of flowers she had brought before stopping here. Hidaka, Touji's little sister, sits at her brothers side. Ritsuko walks toward the bed where Touji lays, resting quietly.)
Ritsuko (pulling up a chair on the opposite side of the bed from Hidaka): How has he been?
(The girl opens her eyes and Ritsuko feels like she has been struck in the gut. While Touji's sister has the face and the appearance of a young girl, her eyes are old, almost ancient. She has seen too much.)
Hidaka (slowly, as if with great difficulty): He rests, but sometimes he has nightmares. Sometimes…he cries out my name…sometimes…Hikari's….sometimes…
(She trails off and her lower lip trembles for a few seconds before she forces composure. Ritsuko glances down and finds herself crushing the stems of the bouquet. She makes her hands relax and sets the flowers on the night-stand next to the Fourth Child's bed.)
Hidaka (laying her head down on her brother's shoulder, her right arm settling across his waist): He seemed…okay.
Ritsuko (looking up at the tired girl): Okay?
Hidaka (closing her eyes and rubbing the top of her head against Touji's lack cheek): He came home from…there 'okay.' He even joked about my…my red eyes. Telling me that crying would give me wrinkles when I grew up…
Ritsuko (her hands folded in her lap): …
Hidaka (gritting her teeth): I-I don't understand what happened…a few days went by, then suddenly, in the middle of the night…I hear…
(FLASHBACK: Touji (screaming): NO! YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM!!!
Hidaka (snapping awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling in shock): Touji?!
Touji (wailing): I WON'T LET YOU! I'LL KILL YOU FIRST!
Hidaka (running out of her room, her knees flashing under her nightgown): Touji!
(Then, she hears the crash in the bathroom, stunning her into immobility. She presses a small hand to her pounding heart as she stands in the middle of the dark hallway. She can see the light coming from under the door at the end of the hall. She hears another crash and she forces her feet to move again. Her breath is painful and she can feel the tears forming. The sound…it was like…glass breaking.)
Hidaka (tears flowing down her cheeks now, throwing the door open, her eyes wide with shock): TOUJI?!
(Present)
Hidaka (her arms tight around Touji's waist, her tears wetting the sheets around his chest): He had-had punched out the bathroom mirror! His e-eyes were wild with fear and anger! When he saw me…it looked like he was…going to hit me!
Ritsuko: Hidaka-
Hidaka (sobbing heavily): T-There was blood smeared all over the tiles and broken glass was everywhere. His hands…oh God!
(Ritsuko looks down at Touji's limp hands. They are bandaged up to the wrists in white, medical tape.)
(Ritsuko bows her head and lets her bleached hair fall forward.)
Ritsuko (thinking): Contamination. There is no other explanation. Unit 03…the worst of them all. Even my Firewall couldn't block Touji…entirely. Goddamn you, Yui…
-----------------------------
(Fuyutsuki is standing in Gendo Ikari's office with his hands folded behind his back. His face is grave and impersonal, yet his eyes seem to have seen centuries, they look so old. He has lost more weight and he feels as though a light wind could blow him away, into oblivion.)
(The Supreme Commander is reading the file laid out on his desk. It is as though Fuyutsuki isn't even there as he turns to the next page.)
Fuyutsuki (very quietly): …sir-
Gendo (shifting very slightly, bringing his focus immediately on the Sub-Commander): Are you proud of your work this time, professor?
(Fuyutsuki is shocked by the wave of raw rage that tears through his system. He had gotten the call in the middle of the night, during one of the few periods he actually slept.)
Fuyutsuki (thickly): All…the analysis reported that Unit 03 was-
Gendo (folding his hands before his face): -Inferior.
(Fuyutsuki flinches and lifts his eyes to the view of the Geo-Front outside so that he doesn't have to face Gendo head-on.)
Fuyutsuki (forcing calm): We needed another EVA.
Gendo: …
Fuyutsuki (taking a step forward): Should we have let those Children die out there?! The Enlightenment-
Gendo (quietly): -was a matter that we would have handled in due course.
Fuyutsuki (narrowing his eyes): I don't remember you putting up much of a fight in putting Unit 03 on the frontlines…sir.
Gendo: …
Fuyutsuki (stiffly): I make mistakes… Mistakes that I live with every moment of my life. At least, I don't hide behind a mask to keep life at arm's length.
Gendo (slowly): Are you implying, professor, that I run from my problems?
Fuyutsuki: …
Gendo: We have other things to focus on than this ridiculous issue.
Fuyutsuki (gritting his teeth): The Fourth Child-
Gendo: Will wake up or remain in his coma whether we discuss it or not.
Fuyutsuki (grimly): …sir.
(Gendo turns in his seat and walks to the wall of windows behind his desk. He shoves a hand in his pocket, letting his other hand hang at his side. Fuyutsuki suddenly notices that Gendo doesn't have much flesh on his bones, himself. This constant situation with the Angels, Seele, and the fate of the world seemed to have a similar effect on all that are involved.)
Gendo (sighing): Fuyutsuki…
Fuyutsuki (blinking back to the present): Yes, sir?
Gendo: Enlightenment came too soon. I…believe that Seele may release the Warrior next.
Fuyutsuki (gapes for a few moments before he can speak): Are you…sure?
Gendo: As I am of anything. The day when we may become obsolete could very well be close at hand.
Fuyutsuki: What about the Children?
(Gendo reaches up with his free hand and touches the window before his face. The light from outside paints his gloved hand in red, making it appear that his hand is wet with blood.)
Gendo (a cynical grin tilting his lips): One can always…pray.
--------------------------------
Hikaru (bowing deeply to the faculty member before her): Thank you so much, sensei! I-I kind of forgot my umbrella today.
(The old teacher frowns slightly.)
Teacher (concerned): Are you feeling all right, Hikaru? It isn't like you to forget something like this.
Hikaru (tapping her temple lightly with her fist, grinning): Miss Natasha always said that I would forget my head if it wasn't attached to my neck!
Teacher (tapping his lips unconvinced): Really… Well, in any case, I brought my car today, so it is okay if you take the umbrella. I just have to be in the storm for a few moments, after all.
Hikaru (bowing again as she stepped out into the hallway): Thank you again!
(The girl turns and jogs toward the exit of the school. Her shoes echo lightly since most of the children have already found their ways home, one way or another.)
(Outside, the Sixth Child can see the rain coming down in sheets. It really is a miserable day.)
Hikaru (softly as she watches the rain fall): It fits…
(Just then, Hikaru spots a blur in the rain. Her eyes widen as she recognizes the face through all the rain.)
--------------
(Shinji looks up at the umbrella over his head, then at the girl rubbing her shoulder against his.)
Shinji (blushing): It is really nice of you to walk me home, Hikaru. I know it is a little out of the way.
(Hikaru stares out a the rain and for a moment Shinji wonders if the Sixth Child had been hanging around Rei too long.)
Shinji (quietly): Hikaru?
Hikaru (blinking, then smiling up into Shinji's face): What? Oh! I'm sorry! Did you say something?
Shinji (faltering under her violet gaze): Uh-well, it just seems-you see-that you are a little preoccupied today!
(They came to a crosswalk and the pedestrian sign flashes red. The children stop and listen to the rain pounding down on the umbrella. Hikaru slowly looks away and stares at the thin layer of water washing down the street.)
Hikaru (slowly): Shinji…what do you think of dreams?
Shinji (frowning): Huh?
Hikaru: Dreams…what do you think of them? Do you think they mean anything?
(A car hums by, causing the flowing water to ripple. Shinji studies Hikaru's down-turned head.)
Shinji (quietly): I-I don't like to think about my dreams.
Hikaru: Why?
Shinji (turning his head away, staring up the vacant street): Because…they hurt.
Hikaru (smiling sadly, her face hidden from Shinji): Yeah…
(The signal turns to the white walk symbol.)
-------------------------
(The door slams down the hall and Asuka blinks awake. There is the sound of walking feet and she wonders what that baka, Shinji, is up to.)
(Asuka sneezes and rubs her tearing eyes.)
Asuka (sniffing): Gaddamn cold…
(She reaches out from under the sheets and tries to find the box of tissues. Her hand fumbles across the bed-stand and almost knocks over the glass of water Misato had brought in earlier.)
Asuka (growling): Where's it?
(The box suddenly nudges Asuka's wrist and the Second Child's eyes snap wide.)
Asuka (snarling from under the covers): Baka! Get out!
(The box remains.)
Asuka (gritting her teeth): If ya aren't out of 'ere in three seconds, ah gonna scream s-so loud!
(The box is steady.)
Asuka (breathing deep): One…
(Silence)
Asuka (tears forming in her eyes): Two…
(The box is set on the bed-stand.)
Asuka: …thre-
(The sheet is pulled back and Asuka squeaks at the sudden intrusion.)
Asuka (reaching out so she can push Shinji away): Shinji-
(Not Shinji's chest.)
Asuka (cracking her eyes open): Oh…you…
-----------------------------
Rei (thinking): Silence…
(The First Child is sitting in her apartment's main room. It was still a little vacant, Shinji had bought an old, wooden rocking chair for her to sit in. It was comfortable and worn. Rei opens her eyes and looks at her hands on the slender armrests. Her fingers move slowly on the smooth wood, leisurely.)
Rei (thinking): My heart is beating…slowly. Is this what it is to be at peace?
(There is a sudden sound that makes Rei's breath pause. She has never heard the sound before and she listens carefully as it fades away. After a few moments of silence, it comes again, a soft chime that comes from the main hallway.)
(Curious, Rei stands and walks into the hallway and looks toward the door. There is a shadow beyond the peek-hole and Rei's breath hesitates for a moment.)
Rei (softly): Who…?
(She walks to the door and looks through the eye-hole. Shinji's dripping face is distorted on the other side. He looks a little nervous as he shifts from one foot to another. He rings the bell one more time and waits. After a moment, he sighs and starts to turn away. That's when Rei opens the door.)
Shinji (jumping at the suddenly appearance of her): Oh! Rei! I-I'm sorry to bother you-
(He glances at her quickly to judge her mood, but Rei just gazes at him, waiting for him to finish.)
Shinji (tapping the toe of his shoe nervously on the concrete walkway): T-That is…I wanted…you see…that is-
Rei (softly): You are wet.
Shinji (snapping to attention at that): Yes! I am wet!
(Shinji blinks when he believes he sees a smile flicker over Rei's lips, but it is gone in a second and he is left to wonder if he has just imagined it.)
Rei (letting the door open a bit more): There are towels in the bathroom.
(Shinji hesitates a moment more, then walks inside.)
--------------------------
(Her mother used to hum to her. That was a long time ago and it is so hazy that it seems like a dream to her. It was before father became cold, before…EVA… It was when the bars of the cradle still rose on either side of her head. It was before she was replaced by a doll.)
(There is humming now and she murmurs softly, her lips moving slowly.)
Asuka (whispering): …momma…
(The humming stops and someone shifts in the chair next to her bed.)
Hikaru (softly): How are you doing? Feeling better?
(Asuka's eyes snap open and she finds the Sixth Child hovering over her face. Asuka glares at the girl.)
Asuka (turning on her side, pulling the sheet up around her neck): Wha' are ya doin' 'ere?!
Hikaru (chuckling): You passed out so quickly that I feared for your health!
Asuka (glaring at her wall): That's a laugh.
(It is still raining outside and thunder rumbles in the distance.)
Hikaru (leaning back, watching Asuka's head carefully): No wonder Shinji ran off. When I came inside, he told me that he needed to get something.
Asuka (biting her lip): …
Hikaru (crossing her arms as she looks around the small room): He seemed…hesitant to come inside. I took pity on him and told him that I would watch over you until he got back.
Asuka (laughing <coughing> bitterly): He's a dummkopf! He won't know 'ow to take care of hisself if ah were no' around!
Hikaru (her eyes sly): Really? So that's why Shinji always makes your lunches?
(Asuka's hands tighten on the sheets.)
Hikaru (rubbing her chin): Does most the cleaning around the apartment?
(Asuka grits her teeth.)
Hikaru (bracing her chin on her hands, waiting): …does most of the laundry? Even your panties?
Asuka (shooting up in bed): Are ya gonna leave or aren't ya?!
(Hikaru grins at the other girl and pulls up a tray of food.)
Hikaru (smiling): Only after you've eaten. You need your strength.
Asuka (snatching up the tray): Bitch!
Hikaru (chuckling): You won't deal with me any other way.
Asuka (thinking as she crammed a mouthful of rice into her mouth): True…
-----
(An hour later.)
Asuka (shouting with her arms crossed): NO! Absolutely no'!
Hikaru (sitting cross-legged on the bedroom floor, pleading): Come on, Asuka! I would think you would feel honored!
Asuka (snapping at the girl): Be drawn by ya! No! Ya can't!
Hikaru (drawing quickly on the pad of paper in front of her): Here, let me show you what I can do.
(Asuka gapes at the Sixth Child. She can't believe that the girl was going over her head.)
Asuka (gathering her wits): Ya little wit! Will ya-
Hikaru (laughing out loud, turning the pad of paper on the Second Child): There.
(There was no there about it. Hikaru had quickly thrown together a manga sketch of Asuka, complete with a wild mane, fire for breath, and flaming eyes.)
Asuka (falling out of bed, trying to snatch the picture out of Hikaru's hand): Give me that! Baka! Dummkopf! Ya hav' no respect for the ill!
Hikaru (dancing to the other side of the room, laughing): I thought you weren't sick.
Asuka (breathing heavily as she stood opposite of Hikaru): A-Ah'm no'! Now, give me tha' sketch!
Hikaru (dodging just out of range): On one condition!
Asuka (growling): Wha'?!
Hikaru (serious for the first time): You…let me sketch you…for real…please?
(Asuka is about to make another lunge for the pad when she notices the darkness in Hikaru's eyes. This is about as close to begging that she had ever seen the Sixth Child.)
Hikaru (with a little smile): Come on…let me stroke your ego a little bit. I promise, I will not make fun of you. If it is good, I will even let you have it.
Asuka (considering Hikaru for a moment): Okay…fine. But…if ya screw it up…ah'm takin' it outta yer ass!
Hikaru (grinning again as Asuka lay back down and Hikaru sat in the chair): You're welcome to try.
---------------------
(The rain was really coming down, now. Shinji gazes out the glass-doors next to him and finds that the foothills in the distance are lost in the downpour. In the distance, a flash of lightning reaches down to the ground like a root growing out of heaven. In a second, it is gone, leaving an after-image on his retina.)
(A cool, delicate hand slides lightly over his hair and he jumps at the contact. He looks up and finds Rei studying his hair.)
Rei (softly): You are still wet.
(Shinji offers a relieved smile as he picks up an edge of the towel sitting around his neck and rubs his hair a little more.)
Shinji: I'm much better now, thank to you.
(Rei studies him for a moment, then moves around the edge of the couch and sits down in the rocking chair across from him. It is then that he notices the tea set on a tray, sitting in Rei's hands.)
Shinji (blinking): Where did you get that from, Rei? I didn't get you a tea set when I furnished this place!
(Rei looks down at the delicate pot and twin cups as she sets them on the low table between the two Children. The hand-painted design of a white lark among fragile, gold trimmed reeds had appealed to the First Child when she had first saw it.)
Rei (softly): I…bought it when I was coming home from school a few days ago. It was in the window of a small shop and I…had to buy it.
Shinji (blinking): Had to?
Rei (nodding slowly): Yes… The old woman of the shop was surprised to see me walk inside… She said that she had seen me walk by her store many times, but had never thought I would come inside. "No one really maintains the old traditions anymore." She told me.
(Rei looks up at Shinji questioningly and he couldn't help but think of the old man at the old Art museum he and Hikaru had once gone to. It seems to the Third Child, that all the things that made humanity what it was…was slowly fading away.)
(Rei's head lowers as she pours herself a cup of green tea. The soft, blue locks of her hair caresses her cheeks and Shinji was struck by how traditional Rei seemed…without even meaning to. Her hands move carefully, gracefully as she moves the kettle and tray to the table. She seems…at peace. Rei looks up to find Shinji gaping at her. She blinks, confused, at him.)
Rei (gently): Is something wrong?
Shinji (waving his hands in front of him): N-No! Nothing's wrong, Rei!
(She gestures to the other cup and looks at him, the question in her eyes.)
Shinji (relaxing for the first time in hours): Yes…I would love a cup.
(The hot tea sends a small cloud of steam into the air as she pours him a cup and hands it to him. The cup seems as fragile as an eggshell in his hands, but it feels good there as well. He feels himself settle into Rei's couch and watches the girl across from him breathe across the tea to cool it down a little bit.)
Rei (her eyes lowered): You are running away…again.
Shinji (blinking): W-What do you mean?
(Shinji sees an almost smile flicker across the girl's lips just before she sips some of the tea.)
Rei (glancing slowly up at him): You have…a look in your eyes. The Second and Sixth Children are…fighting again.
(Shinji forces himself to take a sip of tea and sighs as he feels the warmth flow down into his belly.)
Shinji (softly): Maybe…if I'm not there, they won't fight.
Rei: …
Shinji (smiling into his tea): There's…always hope, right?
(Rei lifts her head and cocks it to one side, considering Shinji. The Third Child can't help but feel that she is weighting his soul…somehow. Her red eyes glint in the fading light and she takes another sip of her tea.)
Rei: …yes.
(She turns her face toward the glass doors, looking out into the mists of the storm. The pale, cool light makes it seem like the First Child's face is made of marble. Her eyes seem like…they are on fire with knowledge.)
Rei (slowly): Let us hope now…
(That is when the Childrens' cell-phones went off.)
--------------------------
(Within NERV Command Center.)
Natasha (shouting): What is it? Where is the bastard?!
Shigeru (looking over his instrument panel): Uncertain! It's like…it's everywhere!
(Natasha looks up to gaze out at the Threat Board. The holographic display reveals that Shigeru is speaking what he knows to be the truth. The Russian woman's eyes widen as she calls up the city map. The MAGI have confirmed the Blue wavelength signature, but all they can detect is a vast, blue spot that covers about the entire city of Tokyo-3 like a blemish.)
Natasha (growling to herself): …Blind as a bat!
Maya (turning from her console): Ma'am, I just got a call from Major Katsuragi. She's requesting a transport into NERV Central!
Natasha (blinking, thinking): Ah…yes. Nevermind that we are all sick at body and spirit. The demons keep coming!
Natasha (barking): Scramble a Class-D transport-
Maya (her eyes widening): Ma'am…that is extremely light-weight. If the Major and Children are caught out in the open-
Natasha (stomping her foot): Do as I say, Lieutenant! If they are caught out in the open, PERIOD, it is game over! Understand?! What is human technology against the might of the Angels?!
(Maya blushes hotly under Natasha's scowl and relays the order, quietly. Lieutenant Karpov almost apologizes to the younger woman, but stops herself. It was never wise to have subordinates that questioned your orders at every turn. Nervousness, even fear, could be a good thing on the Command floor.)
(Natasha looks over her shoulder at the two forms at the top of the Command Tower. Supreme Commander Ikari is at his usual spot, watching over the bridge of his joined hands.)
Natasha (turning back to the Threat Board, thinking): Look how well the tactic has worked on me.
-------------------------------------
(At the Katsuragi apartment, Misato is having concerns of her own, namely in one of her young charges.)
Asuka (pulling weakly at the shirt she was tugging over her head): Ah'm Fine, Mis'to! Ah am!
(When Asuka's head disappears into her shirt, Misato looks over at Hikaru. The Sixth Child's lips are tight and she is twisting her school skirt in her hands. Hikaru was hardly the sort of girl to give away to nervousness. The Angel could not have picked a worse time to attack.)
Hikaru (softly): Asuka…maybe you should stay out of this one. You are hardly in top form-
Asuka (her head bursting free of her shirt): Ah'll NO' be left outa fight cause ya two think Ah'm sick! And Ah'm no'!
(Just then, Asuka staggers and almost collapses to the floor, but Hikaru gets there in time.)
Hikaru (tightly): You were saying?! You aren't fooling anyone!
Misato (firmly): Asuka, you are going to be on standby. I won't send you up there just so you can get in the way.
Asuka (blinking back tears): Ah….Ah'm no' in the way…
(There is a honk of a car and Misato starts limping towards the door.)
Misato (over her shoulder): Well, in any case, we need to get to headquarters! Come on, you two! We have a job to do.
(Asuka pushes away from Hikaru and slowly staggers after Misato.)
Asuka (muttering): Come'n, Lady Artist.
(Hikaru is alone in the Second Child's room and she seems to breathe deeply, drawing in Asuka's determination. Her spirit, her fearlessness, her arrogance. It had been good being here.)
Asuka (shouting, then groaning): Come-ON! Ohhhh….ma head…
Hikaru: Coming!
(The Sixth Child pauses at the door and lets a piece of paper drift from her fingers. The paper flutters through the air, through the distance sound of thunder, and comes to rest on Asuka's pillow. On the paper, an image of Asuka was sketched out. Despite the firm, defiant curve of her lips and eyebrows, there is a gentle glow in her eyes that would have put the Second Child to shame…)
-----------------------------------------
(The boy stands on top of one of the Tokyo-3's buildings. The storm whips at his white hair and he watches the city with something that could be called curiosity. The skies are ominous and lightning crackles down like briefly-lived roots from the sky.)
Boy (whispering): Beginning…
(The red-eyed boy frowns and seems to roll the word around in his mouth. There are so many ideas roaming through his mind, yet he appears to be without the words to project himself. He can feel the Entity out among the structures which is kin, yet alien to himself. He can feel its hunger, its need for destruction. It is a beast which knows only how to destroy that which is perverted, yet like itself…and like himself.)
Boy: …more…lyrics…words…
(That doesn't seem right. The words are that the back of his mind. The ability to express them are just beyond his reach. The boy sighs roughly and sits cross-legged, with his head bowed, on the roof of the building. His eyes close as he tries to force the sounds to come to his mouth. Even as he seeks the answers to his unspoken questions, the Entity…the Angel is stalking among the buildings, its body flickering in and out of the visual spectrum. It seems to grin with is long mouth a moment before it flickers away again.)
-----------------------------------------
(She is watching her EVA when he arrives. Shinji had just stepped off the elevator. Shinji and Rei had arrived after Misato and her group, so Shinji is a little surprised that Hikaru hasn't gotten into her Unit, yet.)
Hikaru (turning toward Shinji, smiling a little): Hello, Shinji, I was wondering when you would get here.
Shinji (blinking as he walks toward her): You were waiting for me?
Hikaru (folding her hands lightly behind her back, nodding): Uh-huh…
Shinji (looking around): Um…is it about me leaving you at Misato's place? I-I'm sorry if you are mad-
Hikaru (smiling truly now): I'm not mad.
Shinji (sighing deeply): Good…
Hikaru (stepping toward Shinji): I wanted to give you something…before we go up.
Shinji (lifting a brow): …W-What is it?
Hikaru (opening a palm to Shinji and revealing a gold ring to him): This.
Shinji (blinking, and looking cautiously at her face): Whose is it?
Hikaru (placing it gently in his hand): It was my brother's…before…before… Just before. It has always given me luck.
(Shinji looks at the Sixth Child as he rolls the ring carefully between his fingers. EVA pilots aren't supposed to wear jewelry in the Entry Plug. It was just common sense, considering the environmental dangers of piloting the Evangelions.)
Shinji (looks up at Hikaru under his eyebrows): But, Hikaru, shouldn't you keep this? If it gives you luck-
Hikaru (chuckling softly, shaking her head as she takes a step back toward her plug): Shinji, danger always seems to find you before anyone else.
Shinji (reaching for the girl): Hikaru…
Hikaru (turning and running across the catwalk): See you top-side!
(Shinji feels a tremor under his feet and he knows that Misato is probably getting mad at him now. Now is not a time for indecision or second-thoughts. Still, as Shinji walks toward his Plug, he can't help but feel that the ring, Hikaru's brother's ring, was burning his palm through the gloves.)
--------------------------
(It is a firestorm above. Despite the tremors and the thought that the Angel was on a rampage, it never really hit that it was
Tokyo-3 taking the damage. That was until now. As the Evangelions move through the city, each stalking slowly, with weapons held ready, the pilots find themselves gazing at the burning ruins.)
Hikaru (softly, her voice hushed): W-Why? Why would the Angel do this? They…never paid any attention to the buildings before.
(Unit 04 moves past an apartment building that was had a corner of the building sliced cleanly off. Even as Hikaru looks, she can see that the edges of the cut are glowing and steaming in the rain. It is such an unreal sight and the Sixth Child quietly questions herself if it is all a dream.)
Misato (her face appearing in a floating screen next to Hikaru's face, her voice grim): It doesn't really matter why the Angel is doing this. The way of these creatures have never really followed a logical path. Focus on the mission at hand and we will grieve our dead layer.
(Hikaru bites her lip and turns her face away from the wreaked building, even as she knows that all the residents surely hadn't had enough time to evacuate.)
Misato (more gently): Let's put an end to this quickly…so we can pick up the pieces again…
Shinji (his face appearing next to Misato's): Where is it, Misato? I'm seeing the damage trail, but no Angel!
Rei (her eyes a darker red than usual as her face appears): Its almost as if it's…stalking us…
(The Children and Misato hold quiet at that comment.)
---------
Misato (looking sharply at Hyuga): I need a position on the target, Hyuga! Where is it?!
Hyuga (tensely): Yes, ma'am…
(The young man clenches his jaw as he runs a series of scans, as he had a the beginning of the attack. Still, the MAGI are unable to tell him more than there is an Angel within the boundaries of Tokyo-3.)
Hyuga (shaking his head in frustration): Nothing! All the MAGI can tell us is the area which the Angel could be. But that's it!
(Suddenly, there is a slight tremble and Natasha looks at the ceiling.)
Natasha (softly): That one was close, we better come up with something quick…
--------------------------
(Ritsuko turns away from the window and walks back to Touji's bedside. She had been paged several times turning the last couple of minutes, but she choose to ignore them. The rain is beating against the glass of the single window harder than ever. Despite the darkness outside, Ritsuko doesn't turn on the lights.)
Ritsuko (looking down at the Fourth Child): I bet you never thought you would be here again, Touji.
(The boy remains silent, his face too pale and the skin bruised dark purple from the nightmares. The Fourth Child murmurs and Ritsuko touches his arm. He calms down at the human contact.)
Ritsuko (glances over at the small cot in the corner of the room, insuring that Hidaka was still asleep): Did you know…when it first became apparent that the Evangelions would only accept children as pilots…I was happy? No, happy is not the right word…relieved…
(Silence.)
Ritsuko (wrapping her hand gently around Touji's arm): Children don't need logical explanations. You feed them what they want to hear and you have yourself a loyal agent to the Grand Ol' Cause. Adults are not so willing to throw their lives away on someone's say so.
(Silence.)
Ritsuko (closing her eyes): …but then, I began to lose my doctor's detachment. Shinji, Asuka, Hikaru…and you…I started understand human beings on a level I never wanted to know. It was like looking in a mirror for the first time in your life and realizing that you were horribly deformed…
(Touji murmurs again, then quiets at a gentle stroke of Ritsuko's thumb on his arm.)
Ritsuko (softly): Even Rei…an experiment…a human toy…she took on the traits of a child.
(Ritsuko takes a shaky breath.)
Ritsuko: Everyone has their own demons, Touji. I'm afraid that when you all came along…I sold my soul.
(Ritsuko's breath breaks.)
Ritsuko (tears forming in her eyes): A-And…I want you to know how sorry I am… I have been selfish for so long. I never meant for any of this to happen. I b-blinded myself with a façade of love and a higher purpose…but I never wanted this to happen.
(Doctor Akagi feels like she's choking, as if her sins are strangling the life from her. Her shoulders tremble as her guilt drags its hooks into her soul…)
(That is when she feels a hand take hers.)
Touji (croaking weakly): You women…cry too much…
(Ritsuko bites her lip as she drags her free hand across her face, trying to push the mask of control back into place.)
Ritsuko: M-Mr. Suzuhara…it's good to see you awake…
Touji (grinning gently): And you are all proud…as hell…
Ritsuko (standing up on unsteady feet): Well, sometimes its all we have.
(The doctor is for once thankful for the darkness, for even as she speaks so calmly, tears are burning paths down her cheeks. It is as if something has broken loose in her that she can't fix…especially with him holding her hand.)
Ritsuko (turning her head away): I think I have been lazy in my duties long enough. If you will excuse me-
Touji (holding on as tight as he could with his bandaged hand): Ritsuko…
Ritsuko (glances at Touji): Hmmm?
Touji (grinning lopsidedly): I forgive ya…
(In that moment, Ritsuko Akagi wishes things are different. That she had known more about herself, about what it meant to be something more to someone else. To know love in its true form. To be…..to be a mom…)
(And in that moment, Ritsuko forgets about her pride, about the Angel rampaging through Tokyo-3. For the first time in her life, Ritsuko Akagi lets go of her famous control and wraps her arms around Touji's slender waist and cries. It is a soul deep grief that had been killing her for years now, but she can feel its weight lifting even now…)
(Touji blinks, startled by the sudden explosion of emotion. He feels weak and lightheaded, but he's a bit better at dealing with emotional women than he was what seems like a lifetime ago. He sighs and brings his arms around the weeping woman, comforting her with his willing shoulder.)
Touji (shaking his head slightly, whispering to the ceiling): I just don't understand women…
--------------------------------
(Tokyo-3 is burning. Because of the suddenness of the attack, the buildings of the city are only now beginning to descend underground.)
(Shinji moves Unit-03 carefully around the corner of a lowering skyscraper, a handgun in the EVA's armored fist. Even as he searches for the target, he can't help but remember the last time he carried the handgun. He had been gloated into taking point by Asuka and he, in a rare moment of masculine pride, thought it necessary to prove to her that he was her equal on the battlefield. He had been a fool and had fallen easy prey to the Angel, waiting for him.)
(He had almost been killed by the Angel that day. The feeling of wrongness is coming back now as shattered glasses and twisted debris crunches under the Evangelion's metal-shod feet like so much snow.)
(He is so focused on his burning, steaming surroundings that when Asuka's tired face appears on a screen next to his own, he gives a little, embarrassing squeak.)
Shinji (rubbing the back of his head self-consciously): Oh, A-Asuka, its just you…
Asuka (sniffing, glaring at him with red-rimmed eyes): An' what's dat supposed ta mean?
Shinji (looking around at his surroundings once more, before kneeling the EVA next to a crumbling, abandoned apartment building): It's…very quiet out here, Asuka. I …just wasn't expecting you to call now, that's all.
(Shinji looks at Asuka from under his brags, hoping that the fiery tempered pilot would let it go at that. She stares hard at the Third Child for a few moments before sighing and leaning back in her seat.)
Asuka (exhausted): Ah know…sorry…
(At Shinji's lifted brow, Asuka looks away from him, pretending to find something wrong with her right control grip.)
Shinji (watching Asuka avoid his eyes for a few moments, then): I-Is there something you wanted, Asuka?
Asuka (looking proud, pointing her nose up a notch): Now why would I want something from you, baka?
(Her arrogance cracks when she is struck by a violent series of coughs.)
(Silence.)
(Asuka bows her head on the screen, looking away.)
Asuka (softly): Shinji…Ah didn't want to chase ya away today. Ah…didn't mean to snap at ya…
Shinji (smiling slightly): I know, Asuka. You're sick. I can understand that your temper might be a little…shorter than usual.
Asuka (flaring): Ah'm no' sick!
(Silence.)
Asuka (moaning, pressing a palm to her aching forehead): No' tha' sick, anyway…
(Shinji leans back in the cockpit, staring out at the shifting, burning city around him without really seeing it.)
Shinji (gently): Asuka…why is it that you are so against being sick? It happens to everyone.
Asuka: …
Shinji (casting a measuring look over at Asuka's bowed face): You…you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.
Asuka: …
Shinji (sitting up to move his EVA out): …I'm sorry…I-
Asuka (very quietly): Ah want…to tell ya, Shinji…
(Shinji's hands freeze just over the control handles, looking wide-eyed at the Second Child's image. She seems to be struggling with herself and can't quite bring herself to look him in the eye, as if she's afraid he would see something secret there.)
Asuka (taking a shivering breath): When Ah was a youn' girl…my momma got sick. My father…wrapped up in research…ignored her.
(Shinji finds himself holding his breath without really knowing why. It is as if Asuka Langley Soryu is standing at the edge of some great cliff and all he can do is hope that the wind doesn't knock her over.)
Asuka (shivering openly): Ah…vowed tha' it would…never hopeless…so dependant on a man! Sniffling and begging fo' attention. Bein' too weak to fend fo' herself…
Shinji (pressing his lips together to keep from speaking): …
Asuka (voice cracking): But…Ah…
(Something is moving outside the EVA, but Shinji ignores it.)
Asuka: …but, Ah…
(Matter flashes in the firelight, then fades back into the invisible spectrums.)
Asuka (fresh tears in her eyes as she finally levels her eyes on Shinji): But…Ah…don't wanna push you away…!
Shinji (eyes growing wide): …Asuka…
(That is when the world turns on end in Unit 01's cockpit…)
-------------------------
Misato (shouting): Status report!
Maya (disbelieving): Unit 01 is down! Its like it was just picked up by thin air and throwing into a nearby building!
Asuka (on the comm channel): Shinji?! Shinji!!
Misato (snapping out orders frantically): Rei, Hikaru! Converge on Sector 12! Move it!
Rei and Hikaru: Yes, ma'am!
--------------------------
(It feels as though he's in a dream…a nightmare. His chest is burning and he can't quite understand where he is. There is a sound in his ears that is both human and inhuman in its malice. Its sounds like…roaring.)
(There is another sound in his ears. Sounds like screaming…people. Screaming at him.)
Misato (shouting): Shinji! Shinji, get up! Please!
(….warning.)
Shinji (shaking his spinning head): W-What?
(There is something moving among the wall of flames before him. It is almost like a trick of the heat on hot pavement. Unit 01 moves sluggishly as it tries to free itself from the mangled remains of the apartment building.)
Hikaru (desperate): Get up! GET up, Shinji!
(The wavy form in front of Unit 01 wavers, then Shinji's nightmare appears before him, as if an invisible cloak had been thrown away. It has a wide body with deceptively thin arms. It is hunched over, with its head connected to its body through a bridge of flesh. Its massive legs are out of proportion to the rest of it, almost like the mighty legs of the dragons of legends. The color of its flesh ripples, as if the entity is underwater rather in the middle of a burning city.)
Shinji (gaping at the creature): My…God…
(The Angel's eyes watch him in a mockery of amusement, its thin lips peeling back to reveal sharp, wicked teeth. Its eyes are…green…familiar green…a green Shinji has tried to forget, but remembers time and again in his darkest dreams.)
(The target takes a step forward and something screeches against the ruined pavement of the shattered street. Shinji looks down and feels sick to his stomach. Where on a human being there would have been hands are replaced by long, vicious-looking blades that drag on either side of the monster. They are…vibrating, cutting through pavement, metal, and anything else with horrible ease.)
Shinji (shaking his head in terror): N-No…!
(Unit 01 reacts to the Third Child's fear and unconsciously tries to push its back further into the wreaked building. It is then that the Angel throws back its head and roars with its inhuman laughter again.)
Shinji (gagging): O-Oh…God…
(Shinji loses the contents in his stomach in the LCL.)
-------------------------------
(Units 00 and 04 have taken to the rooftops of Tokyo-3. The method is not the easiest, since each Evangelion is pulling long, thick power cables behind them. More often than not, the Units would get snagged on a ruined edge of a building or a still-standing communications beams.)
Hikaru (biting her lip between her teeth, under her breath): If only the streets weren't in such bad shape!
(Unit 04 lands on a rooftop of a smothering business building and one of the EVA's feet crashes through the weakened roofing and several floors down. The EVA drops its assault rifle as it tries to pull its trapped foot out.)
(Hikaru looks across the street and finds Unit 00 watching from the top of a modest apartment building.)
Hikaru (waving Unit 04's hand at the other Evangelion): Don't worry, I'll get it out in a moment.
Rei (coolly): Hurry. That structure is burning from the ground floor up. It will not hold your weight long.
Hikaru (turning her eyes back to her EVA's buried foot again, to herself): Right…
(Unit 00 peers over the side of the building and sees that the seemingly senseless attacks on the city seem to have damaged the underground armor and support. As it was, this sector was on a man-made fault-line, threatening to collapse and come that much closer to the Geo-Front. Rei looks up at the building across from her; it was a little higher than the building she is on now, but there should not be a problem.)
Rei (absently as her EVA prepared to jump): We need to get out of this sector quickly, Sixth Child.
(Unit 04 looks up in time to see it happen. Unit 00 takes a quick step forward and launches itself at the next building. Unfortunately for Rei, she does not see that her power cable had gotten snagged on the radio transmitter at the top of her building. Her EVA's hands are just about to grab the edge of the taller building when her EVA is snapped back. The power cable pulls the EVA back toward the apartment building like a destruction crew's wreaking ball.)
(The apartment structure was not built that sort of abuse and folds as the EVA crashes into it. The building shakes and is still for a second, as if stricken by the mortal blow dealt by Unit 00. Then, the Evangelion disappears under tons of metal, plaster, and glass.)
Hikaru (crying out): Rei!
Misato (on the comm channel): Rei! Rei! Answer me!
(Silence.)
Misato (her voice cracking): R-Rei?!
Rei (thickly, quietly): I…am here…
Misato (sighing): Rei…can you move?
(For a moment, Hikaru sees the rumble shift very slightly, then go still.)
Rei (softly): Unit 00's…legs are pinned and one of its arms are trapped underneath its torso…
Hikaru (moving toward the street): I'll get you-
Rei (sharply): No!
Hikaru (pausing, shocked at the passion in the First Child's voice): Rei…?
Rei (her strained face looking right at Hikaru on the screen): ….save Shinji…
(Hikaru gasps and can't speak for a moment.)
Maya (quietly): Rei…she's not in any danger…for now. As long as the sector's support remains stable for a little bit more, she should be fine until we get to her.
Misato (sighing deeply): …very well, Hikaru, continue toward Sector 12. Hurry up…
Hikaru (breaking free of the building, nodding): Yes, ma'am!
(Unit 04 hops to the next building while the First Child closes her eyes. There is murmuring just beyond her sense of hearing, as if there is a crowd just outside her entry plug. Then, she can hear a single voice from the beyond, slow, vicious, dark…and it frightens her.)
----------------------------------
(Shinji sweats despite the controlled environment of Unit 01's entry plug. The Evangelion peeks around the edge of a shattered building, searching for the Angel that had disappeared from his sight again. When Shinji sees nothing, he dares a glance down at the Unit's right leg. The close encounter with the building had left a serious gash on the EVA's thigh, tearing armor and artificial muscle alike. At least, Shinji's mind saw the muscle as fake. Surely it isn't real.)
Shinji (quietly): Misato…do you read?
Misato (her face appearing): Yes, yes, are you okay, Shinji?
(Her face wavers on the screen due to mysterious interference from the Angel. Shinji winces at a sudden crackle of static before the Major's face comes back.)
Shinji (looking down at his leg again): The EVA has taken some damage…I don't think retreat is possible-
Gendo (a Voice-Only icon appearing besides Misato's): Retreat is not an option, Pilot Ikari. As you can see, the Target is causing a large amount of damage to Tokyo-3. It must be contained.
Misato (her face looking off screen, gritting her teeth): All due respect, sir, but Unit 01 can hardly hope to deal with an Angel of this caliber in its present condition!
Gendo (calmly): You seem to have no faith in your pilots, Major Katsuragi.
Misato (scowling): I didn't say that.
(Shinji feels the hairs on the back of his neck raise and he lifts his eyes away from the holographic screens. He sees the shimmering outline of an Angel and he sends Unit 01 into an awkward, forward roll out of sheer reflex than any real skill. A second later, the Third Child hears the sound of one of the Angel's vibrating blades rip through the shattered building's upper levels. Debris ricochet off the EVA's back as Shinji tries to drive Unit 01 to its feet again.)
Misato (crying out): Shinji?!
Shinji (turning the EVA's head over its shoulder, finding the Angel grinning at him): For the love of God, Misato, help me!
Misato (touching her lips with her hand in helplessness): Shinji! Hang on! Please, hang on!
----------------------------
(Tears of frustration course down Asuka's cheeks as she bows her head in deep, desperate concentration. Like that brief period when she couldn't synchronize with her EVA, all she feels is static beyond herself. Where before, her beloved machine would sit just beyond her senses like a kind hand in the dark before, now there is only the sense that the drugs in her system is interfering with that special something that makes her an EVA pilot…something more than any mere human being on the planet.)
Asuka (gritting her teeth): Gawddamnit! Move!
(Silence, except for the hum of the entry plug.)
Asuka (sniffing, shaking her head violently as she hears Shinji cry out again for help): A-Ah'm better than dis!
(Humming that seems louder.)
Asuka (her voice broken, her body burning with fever and grief as it sags in the pilot seat): Shinji….don't die….
--------------------------
(Unit 01 reaches for the auto-rifle that it had dropped when the Angel had first attacked. Shinji can feel the Angel right behind him and he spins, screaming a wordless battle-cry as he pulls the trigger.)
Shinji (screaming): ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!
(The Angel seems to slip in between the burning tracers that rain across the building behind it. The Target slips back into the visual spectrum as it lashes out, not at the EVA, but at the weapon in its armored fists. Shinji feels the impact on the rifle a second before he is blinded by the gun's ammunition exploding. Right behind the blindness comes the intense pain of holding the figurative firecracker in his hand.)
Shinji (wailing, holding his right wrist): GHAhhhhhhAAA!!!
(Shinji, in some distant, cold part of his mind, knows that the Evangelion had just lost a few fingers and that the pain is not truly his own, but the EVA's. Still, he can not make the pain that seems so real go away. Shinji's vision just begins to clear when the Angel kicks Unit 01 in the chest and the EVA lands on its back in a field of rubble. Shinji stares up with terrified eyes as the cackling monster lifts one of its blades that should be hands, preparing himself for the fatal blow.)
(The sound of assault rifle fire.)
(The Angel is struck in the back by the tracers and is staggered by them. It howls and glares over its shoulder. Unit 04 is straddling two crumbling buildings, its assault rifle firing again. The Angel is struck twice more before it vanishes into thin air and wavers away into a wall of fire.)
Shinji (faintly, smiling weakly past his pain): Hikaru…
(Unit 04 hops down from the building with a ground shaking thud. The EVA strides through the debris, toward Unit 01 like a child through Christmas snow.)
Hikaru (whispering): S-Shinji? I-I'm so sorry, I got here as fast as I could…
Shinji (urging his EVA to its feet): What matters…is that you are here now…
(The two EVAs gaze at each other silently for a moment. Then, the comm channel chirps and Misato's face reappears.)
Misato (sighing): Hikaru…good.
(She closes her eyes for a moment, clearly trying to pull herself together in front of the Children.)
Misato (more firmly): Now…don't let your guard down. Cover each other… Shinji, are you able to go on?
(Shinji looks over at Unit 04 for a moment, then pulls his Progressive Knife from its holster and holds it loosely in his left fist.)
Misato (concerned, but nodding): Okay…cover each other. We are going to try to get Rei out and hopefully she will be able to help you two soon. Keep your eyes open!
Shinji and Hikaru: Yes, ma'am!
-------------------------------
(The Command Center door opens behind Misato and she looks with distracted eyes over her shoulder. Her eyes widen at the sight of Ritsuko standing there. It isn't the doctor's presence that surprises the Major so much as her eyes. It is as though the shadows had been lifted from the Doctor's gaze.)
(Misato opens her mouth to respond to Ritsuko's arrival, but another voice drowns her out.)
Gendo (not looking at Ritsuko, very softly): Returning to duty, Doctor Akagi?
Ritsuko (walking toward Misato and Natasha's position): The Fourth Child has come out of his coma…he will be fine soon.
Gendo (his eyes hidden in the glare of his glasses and his mouth covered by the bridge of his hands): Is that what you abandoned your post for, Doctor?
(Ritsuko pauses in the center of the platform, right under the Supreme Commander's position.)
Ritsuko (with a hint of a smile on her face): I found what I have been looking for in that room, sir.
(She finally looks back over her shoulder, up at Gendo.)
Ritsuko (quietly): Was I wrong?
Gendo: …carry on, Doctor.
Ritsuko (looking to the Command Center's main screens): Thank you, sir.
Misato (as Ritsuko comes close): Is Touji…well?
Ritsuko (looking at Misato): In everything that matters…
Misato (closing her eyes briefly): Thank you…
Natasha (her arms crossed, firmly): You two can have your heart to heart later. The Angel is on the move again.
(Misato is startled by the tense tone in the Russian woman's voice. The Major follows the Lieutenant's gaze to the image of Unit 04 and understands. The other woman has hardly had the time to get used to sending children to battle as Misato. Major Katsuragi allows herself a moment to feel sympathy for the lean, hard, yet concerned woman, before turning her focus back on the matter at hand.)
--------------------------------
Hikaru (quietly): Shinji…?
Shinji (his eyes scanning the surrounding walls of fire carefully): Y-Yeah?
(Hikaru glances over her EVA's shoulder and she can see the wounded hand.)
Hikaru: Is…your hand…?
Shinji (sighing): If they lower to bio-feedback levels, I might not be able to defend myself on the next attack.
Hikaru (blinking rapidly): I'm…so sorry.
Shinji (smiling despite the fire radiating from his right hand): What for? You came, didn't you?
Hikaru (shaking her head, her voice thick): I-I will never let you down again, Shinji…I promise.
Shinji (looking over his shoulder at Unit 04): Hikaru-
(The air distorts right in front of the other Evangelion and the Third Child's eyes snap wide.)
Shinji (shouting): Hikaru! Look out!
(Hikaru turns her eyes back to in front of her and she gasps as her finger convulsively pulls the trigger of her control handle. Unit 04 opens fire on the area in front of it and the distorted figure weaves and dodges about. A shell ricochets off the Angel's shoulder and the creature screams. It flicks into the visible spectrum and it lashes out at Unit 04 with a massive leg. Hikaru begins to dodge, but its fast enough.)
Shinji (screaming as he sees Unit 04 slipping across the ruined street on its shoulder): Hikaru! Are you okay?! Answer me!!
(On the comm channel, he can hear the Sixth Child's weak, broken breathing. He turns a vicious gaze on the Angel whose body was rippling through the colors of the rainbow. Its inhuman chuckling could be heard on his audio pickups.)
Misato (her face appearing): Shinji! Retreat!
Shinji (glaring at her): What?!
Misato (looking pained): We have to regroup! We are going to have to think of something! Grab Unit 04 and we will cover you with conventional weapons fire!
(Shinji grits his teeth, then lowers his head.)
Shinji (very softly): …no.
Misato: Shinji!
Shinji (savagely, his head still bowed): NO! If we retreat, who knows how many more will be killed! Misato…I know NERV was never able to put out the evacuation order to Tokyo-3…
Misato (biting her lip and looking away from Shinji's face): …
Shinji (looking, not at Misato, but at the Angel who stood waiting before Unit 01): If I don't finish this here…who knows how many more may die… This…monster will rampage if we don't give it a…target…
Misato (looking at Shinji with tears in her eyes): …Shinji…!
Shinji (reaching out and killing the comm channel): Goodbye, Misato.
Misato (frantic, reaching out): Shinji! Don't you-
(And then there is silence. Several other calls come in as he stares across the fire and rumble at the Angel. Asuka, Misato, even Ritsuko call him, but he continues to manually block them. He is…terrified…but he is so tired, and he's not running away anymore.)
Shinji (narrowing his eyes): You…wanted this, didn't you? You wanted to fight with me…
(For the first time, the Angel does not laugh. It merely watches him with those inhuman, green eyes. Shinji feels as though his soul is being striped bare and studied by the monster before him. Strangely…this does not put fear in him as he would have though. Instead…there is a feeling of resignation, as though he knew that this would happen…as if it were written in his DNA.)
(Shinji grits his teeth, then he lets out the battle-cry that had been building in his gut and charges toward the Angel, the Prog knife humming as Unit 01 thrust it toward the Entity. The Angel dodges out of the way, circling the Evangelion slowly.)
Shinji (stabbing out, shouting): Stop moving, damn you!
(Unit 01 slashes toward the Angel in a wide arc, just missing contact. The Angel suddenly roars with laughter and rakes the Evangelion's left shoulder with one of its blades. Shinji screams as the vibrating blade passes through armor and EVA flesh easily. The EVA staggers away, the Progressive Knife falling from numb fingers.)
Shinji (whispering): …no…
(The Angel slides forward on deceptively heavy feet and carves a deep "C" into the Evangelion's chest. As the Third Child rolls his head back and screams, the armor falls away, revealing raw, bleeding flesh underneath. The EVA curls around its wounded torso, covering the gushing wound the best it can with its arms. Shinji tastes blood in his mouth and he can hear the sound of the Command Center trying to call him, but he ignores it all.)
(He slowly lifts his head and finds the Angel poised over him, one of its blades waiting over its head. When his eyes meet the Angel's the blade comes down, slashing across the EVA's head, from the right temple, over the eye, and off the chin. The agony comes, white, hot, and numbing. Shinji hears a noise at a distance as Unit 01 plows into a nearby skyscraper, shattering its silver, mirror-like windows. Shinji cannot see out his right eye and it feels like it is all that he can do to keep his face together. Somewhere, logic is telling him that it is the bio-feedback, but the rest of him can only think of the pain.)
Misato (her face appearing, overriding his blocks): Shinji! Get up! Hurry! Its about to slice you in half!
Shinji (weakly, thickly): Misato…I…hurt…
Misato: Shinji! SHINJI!!
(The world seems to slow down for Shinji Ikari as he turns his working eye up to stare at his killer. He almost wants to watch his end. To know that the pain will soon be over. The blade cuts down toward Unit 01 and Shinji knows that he can see his death in that burning edge.)
(Then the shadow washes over his vision.)
Shinji (his eye widening): …no…
(The shadow becomes a form…a figure…)
Shinji (his numb fingers trying to make his EVA get up): …No…
(His nightmare…his nightmare given flesh…given reality…)
Hikaru (shouting): Shinji-
(The blade catches flesh…and continues on until it comes out to air again. Unit 04 stands before Unit 01, cut neatly through the center.)
(Heartbeat.)
Misato (hand covering her mouth): …my God…
(Heartbeat.)
Asuka (covering her eyes, turning violently away from her video link, wailing): Hikaru! No!
(Heartbeat.)
(Natasha falls to her knees without knowing it. Her body goes cold and she feels her mouth trying to move…to say something, to do something, but one word.)
Natasha (sobbing): NO! Nonononononononono!!!
(The woman grabs her head and begins to scream, unable to accept or reject what has just happened. Somewhere in her mind, she knows that she is being restrained, that she is being taken away. But all she can say, over and over, is…)
Natasha (her head bowed): Hikaru…my precious…precious…baby…oh, GOD!!
(…Heartbeat.)
(Shinji cannot bring a breath in…he can't breathe. Its like his mind is falling apart. Somewhere, he can feel a presence…one that he is shocked he didn't acknowledge earlier. …The Beast…)
(Shinji's eyes turn away from the collapsing form of Unit 04 without his knowledge and he finds himself starting at the shattered glass of the skyscraper.)
(There is a sound around his ears…it sounds so much like plaster falling from a ceiling…)
(Pain sheers through his mind…)
Shinji: …Hikaru…aaAARRGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(The green eye staring back at Shinji focuses and he feels the beast unleashed…)
----------------------------
Maya (crying out): Shinji's Synch-ratio just shot up to 300%!! Ma'am!
Misato (bracing herself against the lieutenant's chair): Shinji…no…
Ritsuko (her hands balling into fists): …berserker …
(In the command tower above, Gendo Ikari lowers his eyes from the view screen.)
-----------------------------
(Unit 01 rears back from the collapsed building, staggering when it reaches its feet. The Angel seems a little confused by the Evangelion's loose body-stance. The EVA's arms hang limp at its sides and it looks as though the creation is breathing. Red blood from the destroyed Unit 04 pool at its feet and the EVA begins to tremble.)
(The Angel takes a step toward Unit 01 and the EVA's head snaps up in an unnatural glance. Something seems to be building within the Unit's body and suddenly, cracks appear in the EVA's armor. The trembling becomes worse until the Evangelion seems to be in some sort of seizure. The Angel's hideous laughter stops, for there is something dangerous in the way the EVA is watching it.)
(Without warning, the Angel lashes out at Unit 01 with a lightning fast strike. The Angel's blade never touches the EVA for Unit 01's hand catches the Angel's elbow before its ever got close. The Angel squeals and hops backward, measuring the Evangelion with quiet, green eyes.)
(That is when the EVA draws a deep breath and opens its mouth is a glass-shattering scream. The ruined asphalt of the road around Unit 01 shutter as if in fear. The cracks in the EVA's armor suddenly explode in a shower of plating that embed themselves in the burning buildings around it. The Angel takes a sudden step back at the sight of the naked Evangelion. The modifications the humans had done to the creation are obvious now, with its metal jaw, exposed muscles, and bone. The Progressive knives' housings over the EVA's shoulders are revealed as narrow pillars of metal and casing woven into Unit 01's flesh. The horn that had been on the EVA's nose is revealed as a sickle-shaped band of communication metal. The EVA's active Core is now pulsing with life that has been forced into sleep for so long. Even as human and Angel alike watch, the power cable at the EVA's back is sparking and smoking in its socket.)
Misato (hands to her lips as her nightmare is revealed before her): Dear…God…
(The EVA is panting like a dog, its hands twitching in delight and fury at the same time. Even as the EVA's bloodlust is fully unleashed, the human mind joined with it is supplying another layer of raw emotion. It is not a totally inhuman roar as the naked Evangelion launches itself at the hated Angel.)
(The Angel strikes at the EVA as it comes within its sphere of attack. Somehow, the EVA moves around the blurring blades and grabs the Angel by the face. Stress cracks appear instantly in the Angel's head armor. The Angel screams and catches the EVA in the torso with a massive, claw-like foot. The EVA hurls back through the air at unbelievable speed and finishes off a falling business office in a cloud of amber-hued dust.)
(The Angel growls as it begins to stalk toward the dust cloud. The dust seems to stir, then Unit 01 explodes from the haze. It latches onto the bigger Angel, its hands around the target's neck. The vibrating blades of the Angel whip around and attack the Unit with viciousness that covers both creatures in blood. Yet, the EVA is grinning into the Angel's wide eyes. It reaches behind it and grabs the power cord with a hand that is shaking violently. Unit 01 opens its mouth wide in a nerve-racking roar and the cable is wrapped around the Angel's neck with a crisp snap. The Angel stabs desperately at the EVA, its blades appearing out Unit 01's back. The strikes do not seem to be noticed by the Evangelion as its muscles heave with a last, fatal tug. The Angels' neck snaps wetly and the Angel collapses to the ground, with the EVA still latched to its front. A bigger grin appears on the creations face as it buries its hand in the dead Angel's belly and reveals the Angel's Core. Its mouth opens wide and it takes what it has won through combat…)
-----------------------
(Maya loses her stomach on the floor, unable to watch the horrible scene before her.)
Misato (softly, numbly): …Shinji…Shinji?
(Static.)
Ritsuko (her cool hand stroking the back of Maya's back, trying to soothe the other woman): …Misato…there's…very little chance that-
Misato (motioning her hand slowly, silencing Ritsuko): Don't say it…
Hyuga (shaking): …s-so, is that it?
(Silence.)
(Suddenly, the EVA rears back again and roars into the sky. It is then that a sound comes over the Comm channel. Misato looks with aged eyes toward the monitor.)
Asuka (her face flushed with grief, her eyes frantic): Shinji?! Shinji! Answer me, ya dummkopf!
(Silence.)
Asuka (punching the command console): Answer me! Answer me!
(The EVA seems to freeze on the monitor, as if listening to something.)
Asuka (screaming): ANSWER ME!!
Shinji (softly): I hear you.
(The Command floor comes alive with shock. Gendo Ikari sits in his chair, watching the screen with his hands folded calmly before his face, anything but surprise on his face.)
Asuka (sniffing): …S-Shinji…?
(A picture comes from the frozen Unit 01 and gasps erupt from the shocked NERV team. On the screen, the Third Child gazes out at them, his eyes quiet and sane. As if nothing has happened. Yet, something has happened… For now, his eyes are green…)
---------------------------------
(The skies over Tokyo-3 are red with the flames that are only now being brought under control. A cover-up is now impossible, those who had shielded NERV for so long now understand their true purpose. For those few that are not struck by the horror and impossible things that have begun to surface, they could be caught watching the sky. For, now, as in the US state of Alaska, the sky is red…and it seems to be moving.)
Boy (looking to the sky, feeling fear): It is…beginning…
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To Be Concluded…
Author's Notes:
Well, that's it for Chapter 9 and I hope that it was not a disappointment to those who have been waiting for this for some time! I've had a lot of things on my mind, but I do apologize for the long wait on getting this chapter out!
Hikaru dying during the battle between the Angel and EVAs…I'm sorry to say, but that has been a part of my plan for a long time now, so don't think I have cracked under the pressure or anything! As you will see in SBTA 10, she may be dead…but not necessarily gone!
A few details to clear up before I wrap this up.
Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully, you all will not have to wait another half a year to hear what the conclusion is to this series! We can all pray, can't we? Hehehe…
Of course, if you have any C&C please send it to my email address at gargoyle64@hotmail.com. Just remember that it has been YOUR opinions that have kept this fanfiction going!
And of course, I must thank my pre-reader, Godsend777 (author of "Death of One" and many more!) I could never have put this chapter out without him!
On the last chapter of SBTA: the final impact, angels from above, and many voices made one! "Step Beyond the Abyss"/ He said, 'With my hands in the past and future, My decision is…'"
See you there!
