Shin Seiki Evangelion - Kimatsushiken
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Final Exam
the end of higher learning
strike fiss
part 3 of 6
Lesson 48: [Bring a bat to a fist fight. Bring a knife to a bat fight.
Bring a gun to a knife fight. Run the hell away from a gun fight.]
***
Misato shook as they frisked her. The anger was threatening to take hold
and make her do something rash. Considering the three men with assault
rifles next to her, with two of them training the laser sights on her
head, anything rash would probably make her dead.
"Where does the elevator go?" one of the men...the one frisking her
(well, at least he didn't seem to be enjoying it) asked as he stood back
up and pushed her against the wall. "Who were they?"
"I...I don't know!" Misato lied. "It goes to the warehouses, I think.
They were my kids! Please don't hurt them...It was just a field-day!"
The man sighed, flicked her rank-badge. "You're a bad liar, Major." He
raised his gun to her head. "And that means you're no use to us.
Goodbye."
Misato closed her eyes. Well...at least it would be quick.
The world seemed to explode around them. Past her eyelids, she imagined
she saw her deathblow...a bright blasting flash that seemed omni-present.
She had always thought being shot in the head would be peaceful...that it
would be simply...over. But...she heard something rumble and hot air
cascade around her, lifting her clothes and her hair.
The three men cried out in pain, and she did too, as three loud gunshots
rang out...but only hit once in her forearm. The pain was enough for her
mind to snap out of it's daze.
She spun around with a hopeful...and lucky...kick. Where the man had
been standing, her foot impacted into his face instead of his groin. He
had been on his knees, holding his eyes from the flash. His gun had
dropped to the ground.
The two others wailed, clutching their night-vision-goggle enhanced eyes
as well. She took the moment to relieve them of their pain, landing with
the closest gun in her hand. A dozen cartridges had been expended and
the three of them lay dead on the ground.
Misato collapsed, looking around, wondering what happened as the
adrenalin slowly left her blood.
That's when she heard the rumbling. Her mind supplied the image of her
and Shinji standing behind her ruined car as they watched the heat from a
fresh N2 mine dissipate. The sound had been the same.
"They're insane!" she cringed, remembering her wound. It took a moment
to use the nearest man's belt as a bandage, but with that, she ran off
down the hall, finding her cell-phone kicked off into the shadows.
"Makoto! Come in, dammit!" she gasped.
Static filled the air...interference, she supposed.
"Cheeky bastards! They used a motherfucking N2!" she yelled out loud.
"I swear, the whole world hates me today!"
She resolved never to curse the world again when she stumbled upon the
beginnings of lit hallway. Clearly marked by a blue arrow was the way to
Dogma.
Toji sighed as he realized he was not only utterly lost...but trapped as
well.
The sound of yelling and screaming seemed to follow him wherever he had
gone. The ventilation ducts had seemed like the best place to hide until
he realized he had no idea where he was going. Men and women rushed past
him...often being chased or chasing whoever was ahead. Gunfire seemed to
laugh at him. If he wasn't going to be shot, then at least he had to
listen to everyone else die.
Every scream and shot he heard, he imagined it was Shinji. Or Asuka. Or
Misato. Looking through the vents every once in a while didn't help calm
his mind. While he had not yet seen anyone he was worried for... the
people he did see seemed to be piling up. Everyone dead was in a NERV
uniform. Unarmed, almost always. The ones who were armed were shot down
with more force, and the people behind them seemed huddled together as
they had been killed.
Or burnt.
The flame-throwers were a nice touch, he grumbled. Oh yeah, why waste
bullets? After all, a bit of fire was so much more fitting for this hell
he was in.
The assault rifle in his hands felt so cold. He wanted to kill. Kill
the assholes who were doing this. No. That would be too stupid. He
would be shot down the moment he thought he was winning. He wasn't a
trained killer. Not like these people.
He was an Eva Pilot.
After a bit of consideration...and the fact he couldn't fit through the
bend in the vent...he left his gun behind. It had saved his life before,
but now it was only added weight.
The shadow of fans below him got him worried as he crawled over a grate.
Without any idea how high up he was, or how low he was, it was begging to
concern him more and more that he would fall through a weak grate to his
death. Past the fans had been only empty space.
After a few minutes of crawling, he relaxed, seeing a ramp going up. At
least that meant he might be going to the next floor. Maybe the troops
hadn't gotten that far yet. There was also light at the top. Not too
much to make him worry someone would be waiting with a gun to greet him,
but rather little slivers of light that meant he would soon have a chance
of getting out of this hell-hole.
As he approached, however, he saw that the last bit of air-way was cut
out, and led down into the darkness. A fan at the bottom spun quickly
and noisily.
"Chopped-Toji." He smirked. "I'm sure Asuka would be laughing at me.
She would say: Don't be a stooge! Get your ass up there and climb!" he
smiled. "You have a good woman there, Shinji. I won't let you two
down."
He made a semi-balanced crawling run at the ramp. While his legs fell
into the hole, his hands grabbed hold of a nice, firm seam in the sheet
metal. The next one wasn't too far up, and he scrambled his legs out of
the hole at the base.
"My heart is pounding..." he whispered to himself. A couple moments to
catch his breath, and he began climbing the dark metal tube. While there
were plenty of ridges and foot-holds, all it would take is one slip and
he'd go crashing back down.
He didn't notice the passage was much smaller than before. Well...he
didn't, anyway. However, as he reached the top, he was barely able to
squeeze his shoulders through. "Dammit!" he exhaled.
Kensuke wouldn't have had any better a time in this situation, he
imagined. There simply was not enough room to move through. The tube
was only about ten metres long, though...if he made it, he could enter
the square junction he saw up ahead. "Come on!" he gasped, feeling his
lungs rebelling against him. His arms were useless...every time he tried
to flex them to pull himself forward, he would get more stuck. With or
without his shoes, his feet simply did not have enough traction to push
him along.
It was about five minutes into his attempt that he began to sweat.
He had moved maybe five millimetres. To those unfamiliar with the metric
system, five metres is about the length of two people laying end-to-end.
Five millimetres is the width of half your index finger.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" he yelled out. "This is a bloody coffin!"
he gasped. "I am going to die here!"
The echo was not very helpful.
He sighed, then steeled himself. "No. I can't die in here! Even if I
want to give up, I can't!"
The air-duct seemed uncaring to his needs.
"Grr!" He pounded his head on the side. It actually did make him feel
better, despite the echo and head-ache that it would no doubt cause.
"Damn you, NERV! I'm not going to die here! I'm not going to die for
that Gendo bastard!" he took a deep breath.
"I HAVE FRECKLES TO COUNT! NOW LET ME PASS!!!" He slammed his head down
hard.
The entire duct ripped apart.
Toji blinked as he felt the entire world rumble and shake...then the
feeling of the metal around him falling.
"Oops..."
The end behind him wrenched free, and rivets exploded from their homes in
the bulkhead somewhere above. He felt the pressure around him suddenly
give way, and he slid out the end, still too surprised to do much more
than blink.
A blur of colours and shapes zoomed past him as he watched the roof fall
way...or rather...he watched himself fall.
For a long time. "Hikari..." he breathed.
He didn't dare look down. It didn't really matter. At this height, he
probably wouldn't feel a thing anyway.
Though...the splash was something of a surprise. He was engulfed by
liquid, and the world turned pink.
Pink?
The rumbling of the N2 Mine somewhere far above finally stopped. Shinji
looked up, gasping in fright as he saw the metal beams and shards of the
roof all around them. He had been shielding Asuka, though if anything
hit him, he wouldn't have been much of a shield.
"Are you alright?" he whispered, looking around once more for danger.
She was curled up in a fetal position, whimpering to herself. "Why does
it have to be so loud?"
He blinked. "What's so loud?"
"My death." She said, looking up to him with a gaze that chilled his
blood. "I wished it to be quiet. I suppose I can't be choosy,
though..."
Shinji pulled her up onto her feet...just barely. "Asuka, I promise,
you'll die quietly. Decades from now, in our bed, surrounded by loved
ones. Now come ON!" he pulled her hard. She yelped, but again, followed
his lead.
He didn't dare look back as he stormed down the ruined walkway. Asuka's
eyes threatened to swallow him up in the worst way. They made him want
to give up...just die. What was the point? What was the point if she
wasn't with him? Wasn't willing to fight?
But, over and over again, he thought to himself that it was all too
familiar. That it would only happen again and again...unless he stopped
it. Unless they all stopped it.
Watching Kaor...the last Angel...die in his hands. It had all seemed so
right, even though he could barely believe it when his hand crushed him.
When he tossed the corpse away. He could still remember his smile.
Damn him.
The hall to Unit-01 had been blocked with rubble, and there was no way he
could carry Asuka over all of it. While he felt the pull to get into the
Evangelion and stop this nightmare, he agreed both with his heart and
mind to get Asuka to safety first. Even if it killed him, he was going
to make sure she was okay.
Unit-02 loomed in front of them as they ran down the walkway. "Hurry."
He ordered, guiding Asuka to the change-rooms. He remembered from first-
person experience that the Plug-Suit had it's own life-support systems.
He wasn't about to risk her dying like that.
He kicked open the locked door and they rushed in side. He found Asuka's
locker without too much trouble, and produced a spare suit. "Get
undressed." He said.
She nodded weakly, disrobing. "Have to look my best..." she whispered.
He didn't really care what that meant, but was glad when she began
dressing in the red plastic on her own. All the while, he watched the
door.
She walked back over to him when she was done and sealed up inside the
protective layer. Shinji smiled, gave her hand a warm squeeze, and
turned his attentions to the Eva cage.
Two men were walking there. They were in black uniforms, holding guns.
Little laser dots skipped along the ground as they inspected the area.
Shinji felt the metal in his hand, remembering that it was his gun. "Oh
no..."
As the Command team watched their instruments flicker back to life,
Fuyutsuki sighed. "An N2 mine. They want to bring the 3rd Impact about
with Eva...not Angel."
"They wouldn't be so eager otherwise." Gendo agreed, adjusting his
glasses from the explosion knocking them slightly to the side.
Makoto gasped and turned around, looking at the Magi. "Dogma to Akagi!
Dogma to Ibuki! Please respond!"
Only a static hum filled the air. Everyone looked back in shock to see
the main Magi housing had fallen half a level. The entrance was now
between the floor and the door was dented.
Shigeru shook his head and did a scan. "Magi still operational. They're
okay. Communications are still being restored. We have a lot of
interference from the mine." He smiled over to Makoto. "Don't worry.
I'm sure Misato is fine, too."
"Please don't mention that." Makoto whispered, then turned back to his
control board. "Sir! We're getting reports of artillery moving along
the radius of the blast crater!"
Fuyutsuki turned to Gendo as the image was displayed on screen. Past all
the heat and fog distortion, they indeed saw a line of green and black
camouflage rumbling along the top. The sky above seemed deceptively
clear and calm. "Impatient indeed." He smiled. "Don't they know that
patience is a virtue?"
Gendo smirked, then stood. "Fuyutsuki-Sensei..." he said, placing a hand
on the man's shoulder. "Take care of the rest." He said, then walked
off.
Kouzo sighed, then turned back to the screen. "Say hello to Yui for me."
"Mmm."
The old man sighed, blinking a few times to clear away whatever it was
that threatened to make tears. "Damn dust." He stood. "Give me a status
update! Where are the Children?"
Asuka stood behind him. "Shinji...I want to sleep."
Shinji sighed. "You have no idea how much I would like to join you right
now." He squinted, watching the troops. They were walking over to the
cage controls. Bakelite. They were going to Bakelite the cage! Unit-02
would be helpless! "We have to hurry..." he whispered.
They waited for the two soldiers to move further down the ramp, then ran
across the walk-way, heading towards the elevator. There was an
auxiliary control panel right by the plug. The lift seemed impossibly
noisy in the calm air, but when Shinji spied the two men walking up to
the main control room, they were talking on radios, probably not hearing
anything.
"We can make it!" Shinji told Asuka, who smiled softly. "We just have to
set the launch sequence before they can stop us."
"I don't want to pilot." She said, shaking her head at him. "Eva doesn't
want me..."
"It doesn't matter." Shinji said with a begging voice. "Please...
understand...I just want to protect you! Unit-02 is tough. They won't
be able to harm you. I don't care if I have to fight them all myself."
He looked away as the tears threatened to take hold. "Just live."
She didn't answer. They arrived at the top of the gangway, now at the
red monster's neck. A plug was already inserted, open for a manual
entry. Shinji quickly found the access ladder that was kept around for
repairs and began wheeling it over.
Asuka watched with a vacant look in her eyes. If Shinji didn't know
better, he would have wondered if she was having a staring contest with
Unit-02. Unit-02 seemed to be at the disadvantage.
The plug hissed open as he opened it. Only air-pressure. He reached
down for Asuka's hand. "Hurry!"
She didn't move.
Shinji began to sweat. Especially when he heard the other elevator
activate. "Asuka, please! Hurry!"
She didn't move.
Shinji quickly jumped down and went to her. If it wasn't for the way she
smiled slightly when he touched her, he would have thought her a statue.
"It's okay, Shinji." She said softly. "We'll be together."
His eyes were wide. "Asuka...no...we can't give up now! Please! I'm
trying to..." he stopped when it was obvious his words weren't even
reaching her. "Help..." he said, then sunk to the ground as she did.
She sat down in front of him, smiling calmly. "Shinji...I love you so
much. I don't want to leave you. We can go together. I want to be with
you when the world ends." She said softly. "Please...this is my only
wish. You've done so much for me...you've made the pain bearable."
Something at the back of his mind snapped when it heard that.
Very slowly, he regained the feeling in his body. It was not from his
brain, down, however. It came first from the cold metal of the gun in
his hand.
"Bearable." He whispered back. His eyes were shadowed as he looked at
the weapon in his hands. "So that is what it all leads up to?"
Asuka's smile faded as Shinji raised the pistol to the side of his own
head. "W...what are you doing?" she asked. Tension was back in her
voice.
"Nine bullets. I'm sure there will be plenty enough for you." He said,
looking up slightly. "You're not much of the Shakespeare type, so I
don't think you'll use them on yourself." Had he been in any other state
of mind, the coldness of his voice would have scared himself. "But...if
you want to join me, or fight, you'll still have the choice."
Asuka moved for the gun, but Shinji snapped his head up, looking right at
her. She froze. "Shinji..."
"What?" He shook. "You want to ask me to die with you?" he cringed as he
saw Asuka react to the phrase, but didn't dare back off now. "You know
what? Kaoru may have been right...he told me that this had all happened
before."
"What...what are you saying?" Asuka whimpered, ignoring the tears coming
down her face. "Shinji...I...I thought..."
"What if it's my fault, Asuka?" he said, slumping a bit. At first...he
had only wanted to scare her...but the truth was coming out too quick.
"What if everything is happening because of me? Because of Unit-01?"
Asuka watched him pull back the firing pin with a choke.
He sighed and took a deep breath. "If I am the thing that's holding you
back...and making you give up, then I will fix that right now."
Asuka looked away for a moment, then back at him, eyes still full of
tears. "Shinji...I just wanted us to be..."
He didn't really realize he was crying too, until he heard his own voice.
"For the last week, the only thing on my mind is trying to figure out how
to get you back. How to make you fight back. Like you taught me to." He
swallowed hard. "If I'm just a bandage to make it hurt less, then I'd
rather you have to sew yourself up."
She shook her head. "You...I was only..."
"Then GET IN THAT PLUG!" Shinji yelled.
Asuka promptly collapsed, crying. "Shinji...I can't!"
He could hear the men running now. Shit...he had yelled. They were
probably going to shoot them on the spot.
He smiled to himself. No. He would do this one last thing. He would
save her. He wouldn't have enough time to run anyway...at least this
way, his death would have the chance to save someone.
"Asuka..." he said softly, then steadied the gun into his temple.
She looked up, at first, crying, but then suddenly, just in horror as she
saw the look on his face.
"I'm sorry I held you back." He sighed, then closed his eyes. "I love
you."
And pulled the trigger.
Asuka lunged, but it was too late.
The hammer snapped back...right into the safety.
She stumbled, shocked, onto the just-as-shocked Shinji Ikari, pinning him
against the gangway, wide-eyed and shaking. Both of them were shaking
now. "Y...you're not dead..." she whispered.
"I...I forgot about the safety..." he whispered back, taking a long deep
breath.
Asuka gasped as he quickly flicked the switch on the gun, removing the
safety. His eyes were intense and focused. "Shinji! NO!"
He rolled her off - just in time to aim. The gun fired three times.
Only one missed. The man in the black ammo vest and mask dropped to his
knees, with his hands going limp along with his gun. Both Children
watched as he slowly fell to the side, then over the edge of the railing.
She was about to pass out when Shinji heard the shout of the other man.
He spun around the edge of the ladder, gun first.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
The poor bastard never knew what hit him. He had been running to check
on his partner, and was only three feet away from Shinji when he turned.
Two in the chest. One in the face, shattering the man's goggles. He
crumpled like tissue paper.
Shinji threw down the gun, shaking. "Oh my god..." Specks of blood were
all along his arm.
Asuka was motionless as he turned around. "Shinji..."
He collapsed in front of her, still shaking. "I...I'm sorry...I...I was
really going to..." he looked at her, terrified. "I thought I could save
you..."
Without another word, she grabbed him, sobbing. Her arms wrapped around
him tight, never wanting to let go. "You scared the HELL OUT OF ME!" she
cried. "Never EVER EVER EVER do that again!"
Shinji just joined her, holding on tight. He barely even remembered
shooting those two men. "I won't..." he sniffed. "I promise."
They stayed like that as long as they dared.
Another loud boom somewhere above, however, finally forced them to move.
"Asuka..." Shinji asked with begging eyes. "Please."
She nodded, quickly wiping her face with the sleeve of her plug-suit.
"Promise me...that we'll be together. That you'll come for me."
He stood with her, then embraced her once again. "I promise. Just be
safe."
"I love you, Shinji..." she kissed him. It was with shaking lips, and
tears on her face, but at least she was alive enough to move again.
He watched her scramble up the ladder, pausing only at the top with a
worried look on her face. She looked down, however, smiled, and quickly
climbed in.
"I love you too, Asuka..." he whispered. Numbly, he moved to the
controls. The Plug slid into the back of the Evangelion, and was covered
by the protective armour slabs he wanted to see protecting her.
The pool of cooling fluid began to drain out from the Cage as the Eva got
ready to be freed. It didn't matter that he had no knowledge of the
process other than the first part. Asuka was safe. They could take a
tank right up to her, fire all day, and she would be safe.
He almost didn't pick up the gun, but he mused that keeping his promise
would require it. Three bullets left.
Shinji Ikari ran down the gangway as it was moved aside for Unit-02's
launch. "Momma. Please, be ready. We have a lot to do..." he said to
himself.
Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki sighed as he watched another of the many
explosions that day. Whoever had been left in charge of the attack was
smart. Instead of wasting time with the ruined car-trains, they simply
formed a ramp of several building husks to drive into the Geofront with.
The second battalion of tanks was coming now. VTOL attack choppers were
beginning to circle like buzzards. "They're stalling for something." He
told himself. "It's taking them too long to get this far."
Makoto nodded, then sighed, checking his weapon. "Dogma level three has
been breached. We may have a fight on our hands soon enough."
Aoba shook his head. "I wonder if the internal defence cut-backs were
planned from the start." He took an automatic pistol for himself and
chambered the first round.
"Ritsuko has a side arm. I'm not sure about Maya, though." Makoto
sighed. "She would probably be too scared to use it anyway."
Shigeru blinked, then shook his head. "What makes you think it would
come to that?"
"If they wanted to, they could have taken us over by now." Hyuuga said,
checking his gun. "They want to take the Magi intact. If it is indeed
their plan, they will need them to assist with this Instrumentality
Project of theirs. Ritsuko and Maya are trapped inside, but they would
be able to destroy the Magi, or defend it as a last resort."
Shigeru nodded. "Good point."
Fuyutsuki smiled. "Hopefully, we won't have to test that theory just
yet. While I'm sure you two have good intentions, it has been far too
long since I've seen either of you at the shooting range."
Makoto sighed, hanging his head.
"Request to join the bridge."
The three of them looked over at surprise to the emergency ladder that
had been build onto the side of the Central Dogma complex. Misato
Katsuragi pulled herself up with one last mighty heave, collapsing in a
heap. She was bleeding still, and Makoto rushed over with a medical kit.
"Misato-san! You're okay!"
More or less...she thought. "Ran into a bit of trouble." She said as he
began to fuss over her wound. "Sir! Have Shinji and Asuka reported in
yet?"
The Sub-Commander shook his head. "Not yet. We had given up hope until
you showed up."
"Wait!" Aoba interrupted. "Asuka is in her plug! I don't know how she
got there!" he smiled. "She's ready to launch!"
The image on the monitor showed another reality, though. She was barely
in her seat, curled up in a ball. Misato cursed under her breath.
"Launch Unit-02 into the lake. She'll be safe there until we can stop
the invasion."
"Roger!"
"Where is Shinji-kun?" She cringed as the last bit of bandage was applied
and she was helped to her feet. "He shouldn't be too far behind."
Makoto shook his head. "Unit-01's cage was the first they targeted.
He's probably locked out thanks to Bakelite."
Misato paled. "Damn...I have to go back there."
"There's no time, Major!" Fuyutsuki said as an explosion rang out down a
few levels. They all looked over the rail to see men running in, setting
up shields. A second later, they all hit the deck when the first shots
were fired.
Aoba Shigeru smiled over at Makoto. "Well, at least Maya isn't worrying
about shooting people."
Makoto nodded. "Really? I'd rather be out here than trapped in a Magi."
Deep inside the tunnel of circuitry and metal, Maya and Ritsuko sat next
to each other. It was necessary, as there was very little room. The
crawl-space had compressed slightly when the Magi fell the level.
Normally, this little 'room' was the size of a football. Luckily, it
hadn't been enough to crush them.
Somehow, though, they sat as far away from each other as they could.
Both were blushing madly.
"I'm sorry!" they both said at the same time.
Of course...that didn't really help things. The fact they were both
thinking how good it was that the darkness concealed their mutual blushes
wasn't helping either. The little room was becoming quite warm...not due
to the circuits around them, either.
"I thought we were goners..." Ritsuko said quietly. "I shouldn't have
done that."
Maya shook her head quickly. "S...sempai! Yo...you just hugged me. I
was the one that...Uhm..."
She thinks I'm some crazy homo...Maya sighed to herself. Dammit...why
did she have to be such a good kisser...Ritsuko pondered, then shook her
head clear.
They were interrupted by a distant explosion, and the sound of gunfire.
Maya slumped back in her 'seat'. "It's starting, isn't it."
Ritsuko opened up her laptop and tried to access some scans. "It looks
like most of the outer halls have been taken over. They're
systematically dissecting us." She sighed. "I think the noise out there
right now is their final attempt to capture the Magi."
Maya looked back out along the tunnel. "We should go and help!"
"We can't, Maya. Not until they have the time to dig us out of here."
She sighed. "If anyone survives."
The younger lady sighed and re-slumped back into her little seat. "Then
what do we do?"
Ritsuko peered at the screen past her glasses. "Rei isn't in her
quarters. Gendo isn't in Dogma anymore." She sighed. "I'm keeping an
eye on that bloody monster they have downstairs, then."
"Lilith..." Maya sighed. "What are they going to do with it?"
"Blow it up, hopefully." Ritsuko smirked at her own comment. "If they
could. However, they'll probably just use the Evas and cause the Third
Impact."
"Why on earth would anyone WANT to do that?" Maya shook her head.
"Everyone's crazy!"
"That's exactly why." Ritsuko sighed. "Eva means a lot of things to
different people. Some think it will be this amazing second coming of
human-kind. Others think it's a weapon. A few think that all this is
the only way to get into heaven...or hell. It doesn't matter in the
end." She said, looking at Maya. "We'll have to go through another hell
regardless. I remember way too much from after the Second Impact to wish
for it again."
A little red indicator caught her attention, and both women leaned over
the tiny screen to watch. "Someone just entered Unit-03's cage. It's
probably another attack. All they would have to do is get to the
Bakelite controls, and both it and Unit-01 are stuck. But Unit-02's been
launched."
Maya smiled excitedly. "Asuka's in it! She's okay!"
Ritsuko sighed, then nodded. "If she can sync."
A small pause filled the quiet room. "And if she can't?"
"Then we may be here for a while." Ritsuko replied.
A lonely yellow glow always seemed to fill this room. Strange to
categorize it as 'lonely', but it seemed always to be that way. Yellow
was always seen as light. As gold and warmth. The beautiful, crisp fall
leaves, or the rise of the sun over a field of wheat.
Rei floated in this yellow blood and felt nothing warm.
The pull was undeniable. Whatever parts of her mind, body and soul that
tied her to Eva also tied her to this...place. This hole in the earth.
The power in the room seemed humming to be released. It was a constant
strain...a sound that thrummed through her angrily. She felt no desire
to hum today.
She was already armed with all she could have been.
"Rei." Came the voice. His voice. "I'm glad you came." He said plainly.
Not even a bit of surprise in his voice. "It is time."
She quietly swam to the surface, then crawled out of the mock bath. LCL
drained off of her naked body. While she showed no emotion, inside, she
shivered at the way he looked at her.
"Come. It is time to go to the promised land." He placed a hand on her
shoulder.
She walked with him, eyes closed as to not betray herself.
Lesson 48 Addendum: [In school, my mother and father told me to avoid all
fights. That they were never worth it. However...they also told me
they would back me up any way they could; and that if I did get into a
fight...only to make sure the other kid didn't get off a second punch,
and never wanted to hit me again.]
***
The JSDF Field Commander sighed as he watched the steam continue up from
the huge hole in the ground. Troops were already stationed in the
Geofront now. The heavier tanks were being air-lifted in one by one.
They had all the time in the world.
"So...I'm still alive..." she whispered. The cool LCL around her nursed
her back to consciousness. She wanted to go back to sleep...but not when
it meant she had to look at the last few days through her mind's eye.
"Report coming in!" the communications officer announced. "Dogma
terminal has been secured. Magi under surveillance. 'Purple' locked
down. 'Blue' missing. 'Black' secured and will be locked down shortly."
The cool, soft hum of the Evangelion brought her no relief as her mind
threatened to show her the images of Shinji almost shooting himself just
minutes before.
"What about 'Red'?" The Commander asked, turning to his officers.
"Baka-Shinji..." she whispered into the LCL out of habit. A small smile
rose on her lips as she realized what she had said. It had been a while.
"Red has been found in Shite lake. Depth of 470 feet. Commence
bombing." It had taken only a few moments for the heavy artillery to aim
their underwater mines. A volley was unleashed.
The first two exploded around her. Waves of pressure seemed to toss her
about in her womb-like cockpit. Asuka didn't really register what was
happening until one bounced plainly off of Unit-02's head...and exploded.
"Ready a second volley!" the Commander sighed. "If this doesn't work,
we'll have to pull our forces out again so they can drop another N2 on
it."
She cried out again. This time, the pain seemed sharper. Each explosion
felt like the shot she had imagined Shinji killing himself with. The
sharp 'thwip!' as a noose cracked her mother's neck. Every BOOM! was
another gun being fired...another friend hitting the ground with a wet
thud. She cringed, curling up into a tighter ball. "I don't want to
die..." she whispered, shaking in pain.
"Explosions dissipating! Thirty seconds to reload. Next volley will
commence on your order, Sir!"
As the sound of bubbles rushed around her, she could still feel the heat
in her skin...burning her nerves. "I don't want to die! I don't want to
die!"
The Commander sighed and nodded. "Very well. Ready a second volley.
We'll keep going until we see blood or motor oil. Whatever comes first."
"I don't want to die..."
"Have we gained command of the Gunboat?" The Commander asked. The NERV
ship floated uselessly on the water now. It's crew had been killed and
all of it's weapons checked.
"I don't want to die..."
"Not yet, sir. We're having a bit of trouble getting the computer active
again." The communications lieutenant relayed. The commander nodded.
Soon, they would be able to sink the boat and self-destruct it next to
the Eva to make sure of it's inactivity.
"I don't want to die..."
"I won't let you die." Came the voice.
Asuka, at first, didn't hear it. Her entire soul was focused on the
mantra keeping her from losing everything. "I don't want to die!"
"Live! Live on!" she said.
"I don't want to die!"
"Live on! I won't let you die!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Be honest...be strong!"
"I don't want to die!"
Desperate, almost crying out: "Live on! You won't die!"
"I don't want to die!!!"
"Asuka..."
"I don't want to die!!!"
"My child..."
"I don't want to die!!!!"
"You are not alone! I am with you!"
"I don't want to die!!!!"
"Your mother is here!"
There was a flicker around her...the cold metal walls began to glow.
"I don't want to die!!" Asuka cried out. "I don't want to die! I don't
want to die! I don't want to die!"
Suddenly...everything went quiet.
A hand reached out to her. The soft, knowing smile of her mother seemed
to come down past the glowing ghost. Her hand gently caressed her cheek,
wiping away an invisible tear. "My daughter..." she whispered. "It is
not your time."
Asuka looked up with scared eyes. Nightmares entire books long came with
that voice...and yet...this time, it was different. Soft. Loving.
Oh...how she longed to hear it again! "Mama..." she breathed, not even
daring to whisper it.
The light nodded, still smiling softly. "My daughter...Live with me..."
Her hand reached out and, as if by magic, it seemed so real. So warm...A
tear came to Asuka's eye as she felt the world around her come back to
life. "Mama!!"
The sound was as if a jet engine decided to start up next to his ear.
It felt as if a wave of air and energy rushed past them all, hailed by
the rekindling sound of a hundred fighter aircraft flying so low to the
ground, the heat of their afterburners would have threatened anything
flammable.
However, there were no engines. The metallic roar became deeper,
betraying finally it's source and power, and everyone in the Geofront
turned to the sound as it focused on the middle of the lake.
They watched the sound ignite into a flaming cross a hundred feet high.
The braver of the souls cheered out. "We did it!" and "It's destroyed!"
All comments were hushed when the NERV gunboat began to rise out of the
water like some horrific magic-show gone wrong. It was being lifted.
By a very, very angry Unit-02.
For the longest heartbeat, everyone could only stare at the four glowing
eyes as they pierced the cascade of water running off the ship's bottom.
It cracked into three pieces under it's own weight, held together by the
bolts and guts inside, yet hoisted aloft like a dead animal being
presented by the beast that had slain it.
"FIRE!" The commander screamed desperately. The tanks around him erupted
in light and smoke.
The Red Beast turned it's attention to them first, and threw the carcass
of the Gunboat a thousand feet across the water.
"Oh shit..." The Commander said as a million tones of steel and
explosives impacted at his feet. The last thing he heard was not the
explosion that ended his life...rather the triumphant roar that the
Evangelion howled out, victorious.
As the explosion lit up the sky red, Asuka found herself smiling,
oblivious to the magnitude of the destruction. "Mama...You were here all
along..."
It was like waking up from a horrible dream. She could remember feeling
her mind torn apart from the Angel. The desperation of the sync tests.
The pain of explosions pelting her mind and body. The horror of knowing
she had nearly taken Shinji down the same route.
All of it didn't matter anymore. As she turned to look at the heavens,
Unit-02 did as well...it's heart now open to her again...more than it
ever had been before.
Instead of the dull hum of energy she usually felt and heard, every sense
and feeling was music! Wonderful, perfect music! Power thrumming it's
own tune through her body! The humming chorus of the Evangelion powering
up from it's long hibernation! The bubbling of the water around her
legs! The whisper of her heart being joined with one she had feared for
so long...yet desired more than anything to be close to.
The love she knew she had. From her Mother. From Shinji. From herself.
"I understand now!" she laughed, seeing the warnings of incoming weapons
fire.
She jumped. Unit-02 flew. "The meaning of the A.T. Field!" she held
onto the butterfly handles tight, yet never feared the fall. "You've
been with me all this time! Protecting me, Mama!!"
Missiles exploded against the invisible barrier, leaving laughing
whispers of clouds to interrupt her soaring jump to land. She indeed
landed, right on one of the JSDF bunkers they had been using. A wake of
metal and concrete exploded out around the Eva as it stood up from the
wreckage; it's power cable whipping around like a long dragon's tail and
slicing through tanks and troops foolish enough to challenge her.
"You've been watching over me all this time!" she whispered. "Mama..."
Two ballistics, launched from desperate aircraft who were, until then,
told to save the gigantic explosives for Unit-01, impacted right in Unit-
02's face.
Asuka was too busy smiling to flinch.
They erupted in fire, and the final wave of smoke seemed to burn away the
last of her worries. Indeed, most of the damage had been directed
towards the annoying ground troops still brave enough to stand their
ground.
"Mama!" Asuka took a wonderful, deep breath, pausing for a moment simply
to feel the wind against her body as the fire cleared. "I'm glad you've
been with me...I've wanted to make you proud!"
A loud beep signalled the internal power engaging, and that the remaining
JSDF were still not yet running. "So..." she hissed, releasing the
useless cord plug with a thought. "They think they can slow me down with
that?"
She imagined the looks on the faces of the tank commanders as she turned
to them, and began stomping forward despite them having just cut off her
power. VTOL fighters swarmed around her as they hoped to finish her off.
"Even without the cable..." she flexed her fist. "I still have a million
more times the power I need to finish you all with the A.T. FIELD!"
She leaned forward, and with pure will, the Eva swept it's arm through
the air with a mighty roar. The air itself was split as the A.T. Filed
cascaded out from her soul, ripping her attackers from the sky!
As the wave of explosions cleared, she found the next targets...more
hovering VTOL insects!
"I'm not going to surrender!" she yelled, batting one of them to the
side, grabbing it, and using it as a baseball bat on the next. "NOT TO
YOU!"
The ones not smart enough to escape were met with Asuka's foot and fist
as the Evangelion echoed her skill and thoughts. As the attack vehicles
came raining down to the forest below, exploding back up with bits and
chunks, Unit-02 raised it's head up from the destruction, growling it's
wonderful, terrible domination of the scene.
As the remaining JSDF forces scrambled away as fast as they could from
the devil, licked in the flames of their fallen comrades, Asuka took a
long, sweet breath from the fire and air around her.
"I'm back."
The command centre of NERV erupted with cheers as they watched the fires
consume their would-be invaders. The holographic screens echoed their
win over the field forces, even as their own small victory played out
below.
The JSDF forces were trying desperately to regroup after Misato's
'welcoming gift'. She was preparing another one at the moment, too. An
emergency Jerry-Can of gasoline, rigged with a small explosive trigger.
Half of the forces below had been knocked down into the pit of Central
Dogma and broke their necks for their troubles. The other half were just
trying to set up their barricade shields and secure the door instead of
pressing onwards now. "How are we doing with our guests?" she asked,
using a roll of Duct-Tape for the final assembly.
Makoto poked his head up over the edge (quite relieved not to be shot at)
and looked at her. "They're regrouping, I think. The explosion toppled
some of the walkway."
Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki shook his head. "SEELE won't stand for this..."
he mumbled to himself.
Misato and Makoto both turned to him, then each other. "Dogma to
Ritsuko. Can you get an aerial scan? Our sensors are still cut." She
said into the comm..
A moment later, the clacking of keys was heard. "Roger. I'm restoring
the links to the Gregory defence grid. Should be online in five
seconds."
True to the Doctor's promise, a number of screens became active, panning
and focusing as they searched the sky with infrared.
"Misato." Asuka's voice came on the comm. for the first time in over a
week. "Is everything alright?"
Misato breathed a long sigh of relief. "We're here, Asuka. But Shinji
still hasn't launched in Unit-01, and I think there's more trouble on the
way."
"They're insane!" Makoto yelled out, honestly surprised, even though he
had a good guess what was being transported in.
Fuyutsuki smirked at the first visuals coming in past the fog and steam
of the recent battles. Nine heavy transports were flying in past the
outer reaches of Tokyo 3. Each held a small, white point of armour under
their launch bays that somehow seemed different. "They're overeating, I
think..." his eyes went wide. "They're using all the recovered S2
Engines? Are they trying to start it here?"
"Misato!" Asuka said. "Can you find Shinji?"
"Sorry, Asuka. All the sensors on that level are cut." She replied.
A pause. "How about the intercom?"
Makoto and Shigeru both did a quick check. Makoto nodded.
"Intercom is still active." Misato relayed.
Asuka smiled to herself. "Good. Turn it on to this frequency."
Misato shook her head, but then nodded to the two operators. "Okay, it's
done. But why?"
"We have incoming drops!" Shigeru shouted. "Counting...oh my god! Nine
Eva Production Models! Armed! Wait...I've never seen this modification
before!?"
The screen shifted to show gradual circle of nine white...things. At
first...they looked like huge birds...but their arms and legs gave them
away as something more sinister.
Strange, narrow faces showed off eyeless stares and wicked grins as they
circled into the Geofront's broken top. Each held a wicked, double-sword
that was heavy and thick enough to be either a shield or a weapon.
Misato began to envision the horrible things one of them could do to
Asuka's Evangelion. There was no time to transport any of her weapons
inside the Geofront.
"Asuka..." she breathed, unable to take her eyes off the surreal sight of
them descending in a circle around the lonely red Eva in the middle.
"Good..." Asuka replied with such confidence that it shook Misato and the
rest of the bridge from their horror.
In her Evangelion, she sat, eyes closed. The internal engine was cycling
on it's power, saving it until it needed it. She could imagine the
Production Series flying...still crisp in her mind. Finally, when it was
about time for them to land, she smiled.
"Now...time for my come back performance." She said, taking time to crack
her knuckles. "No..." she grinned as the first of the nine landed with a
loud THRUMP! "This will be my GREATEST performance. Shinji! Pay
attention, my wonderful baka-kun." She smiled and let the last of her
worry, hurt and pain all drain away. "This is for you."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Lesson 48
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Strike Fiss, Studio Shinnyo 2002. Khattam-Shud, EOF. (
geocities.com/Tokyo/9110) (
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