The Epilogue of Evangelion

Prologue

Black screen

[In the BACKGROUND we hear the rising SOUND of ocean waves lapping over each other. FADE up to a perspective shot of ground zero. In every direction as far as we can see is a never ending ocean. From this perspective it looks as if we are in the eye of a hurricane, but it is only the ring of clouds that marks the border of where the powerful shockwave subsided. It is mid-afternoon and the sky is purple. CUT sound and CUT to black.]

[In the BACKGROUND we hear the rising SOUND of waves crashing against a beach. FADE up to a shot of the shoreline from slightly out at sea. Anything past the waters edge, including soil and sand is charred and burnt black. We are closer to the ring of clouds. CUT sound and CUT to black.]

[FADE up to a shot of footprints in the white sand of a desert wasteland. We are much closer to the ring of clouds, and we can see a horizon of green hills shaded by the clouds. There is no sound. CUT to black.]

[FADE up to a shot of footprints trekking through tiny patches of grass poking out through white sand. The footprints pass by an overturned pickup truck with a tree trunk rammed through the underside and stuck halfway. Hanging out of the windshield of the truck is a white T-shirt. CUT to black.]

[In the BACKGROUND we hear the rising SOUND of the whistling wind. FADE up to a shot of a green meadow under the shady cover of cloud which runs as far as the horizon. The long grass waves in the wind like the water of the sea. CUT sound and CUT to black.]

[FADE up to a shot of a car parked at an odd angle in the middle of the highway. The driver and passenger doors are ajar. CUT to black.]

[FADE up to a shot of a highway sign reading: Tokyo 16(km). CUT to black.]

[FADE up to a shot of the main highway leading into Old-Tokyo. One car with a mangled front bumper in stalled on the road while another is in the ditch. A billboard on the side of the road reads: Welcome to the first Tokyo city, population 38, 000 and growing. CUT to black]

Log Cabin (CUT)

[CUT to a shot of a log propped upright on top of a stump. An axe comes down from overhead and splits the log in two. A new ANGLE shows a farther shot of a person bending over to pick up the split log. He is wearing a sweater, denim overalls and random heavy clothing. He tosses both pieces of the log into a shopping cart full of timber near his left. He throws the axe down, grabs the front of the shopping cart, turns around and begins to pull the cart out of the yard. The figure has revealed himself to the audience as Ikari Shinji.]

[He seems to have trouble pulling the cart over the long grass of the yard he's dragging it out of. The property he's leaving is not on a farmland or countryside, but in the middle-upper class housing district of Old-Tokyo. It's also part of his new neighborhood. No house is less than two stories in this part of the city.]

Neighborhood (CUT)

[Once out of the gate, Shinji rolls the cart in front of him so he can push it from behind. We CUT to a wide shot of the corner of an intersection. Shinji is coming out of the left side of the shot as he approaches the corner. Once there her turns and continues down the avenue. This shot is to illustrate the look of his neighborhood and to suggest what his new home is. The whole shot is approx 30 - 40 seconds.]

Shinji and Asuka's house (CUT)

[CUT to the shot of a driveway. Shinji comes out of the left side of the shot and steers the cart up the driveway and into an open garage. Pan up to a shot of a two-story, white brick house. The front lawn grass is nine inches tall. He releases the cart to let it roll into the garage and turns toward the front door.]

Rec-room (CUT)

[Shinji opens the door and announces his arrival.]

[He kicks off his shoes and throws his sweater on the arm of a chair. A burning fireplace is his only greeting.]

Hallway (CUT)

[Shinji turns and proceeds down the corridor into the bathroom.]

Bathroom (CUT)

[CUT to black. The door opens, once again on the left and a ray of light spikes through the shadows, illuminating the sink and toilet. Shinji flips the light switch to reveal an overhead wide shot of the bathroom.]

[Immediately, Shinji goes to work. From a cabinet under the sink, Shinji withdraws a white, clean plastic paint bale. He sets it in the tub under the faucet and turns on the hot water. While the bale fills, he opens the mirror compartment and pulls out a white box which he sets on the counter. He takes another smaller yellow ice cream pale from under the sink with a sponge resting on the bottom of it. He sets this bucket on the floor and turns toward a linen closet behind him. He takes a two towels and a handful of rags from within and drops them into the ice cream pale. He turns off the faucet and takes the paint bale out of the tub by the handle, puts the white box under his arm, and picks up the yellow pale off the floor with his free hand. Shinji exits the bathroom, and with the hand holding the yellow pale, turns off the light.]

Asuka's bedroom (CUT)

[CUT to a wide angle shot of Asuka lying on her bed. Her right arm lies prone while her left arm is holding a book. She's wearing a green bathrobe; and where her flesh can be seen, most of it is covered in tight bandages, the most jarring of which present is the one over her left eye.]

[A knock comes to the door.]

[Asuka clears her throat after her scratchy response as Shinji opens the door to her room with his supplies in hand. He comes near the bed and sets his stuff down next to him. He takes the sponge from the yellow pale and drops it into the paint bale full of water.]

[Asuka begins to slowly sit up, and swing her legs over the side of the bed. Shinji puts a helping hand around her while she steadies herself.]

[He lets go and takes a knees beside her. Shinji spreads the bottom of her bathrobe. A new ANGLE shows directly from the front that there are thick bandages on Asuka's thighs and her right shin, and just above her underwear is the beginning of another large bandaged area.]

[Shinji opens the white box and takes out a small pair of scissors. With a few quick snips up the side of her leg, Shinji removes the bands covering patches of gauze. There are three pairs of patches of gauze on her legs on her right shin and both thighs. Shinji tears the off without remorse. Beneath each of the patches is a long, narrow scab of a stab wound. A white lining traces the border of the crust. Asuka's eye twitches once as Shinji starts fingering them.]

[Shinji traces the length of the one on her shin with his thumb.]

[Shinji raises his head to look her in the eye.]

[Shinji nods and rests her leg on the floor. He then reaches for her underwear. Asuka props herself up on her left arm and Shinji pulls them too the floor and off her feet. We switch to a side ANGLE before her genitals are revealed.]

[Shinji lays a towel under her, and then reaches into the bale and pulls out the wet sponge. He wrings it once and begins to scrub Asuka's legs with it.]

[While Shinji is working, we DISSOLVE to a side view of Asuka's expression. There is sadness evident in her slack eye caused by this violation, yet no tears fall from her face. Asuka looks away and tries to slip into a daydream.]

[We then DISSOLVE to Shinji's expression, which is empty of feeling. There is indifference toward this chore, possibly a mental constitution to keep Shinji from investing other emotions in it.]

[Shinji dunks the sponge in the bale and leaves it there for the time being. He takes the second towel out of the yellow pale and begins to dry her off.]

[Shinji doesn't look up when he speaks to her, but he does reach for the yellow pale and dumps its contents on the floor.]

[Shinji throws the towel over his shoulder and picks up Asuka's underwear. He slips it on her feet and up her legs. Asuka lifts herself so he can put it back over her bottom. Shinji finishes with that and then pulls at the belt of Asuka's robe. She lets it fall from her shoulders. Asuka's entire torso is covered with tightly wrapped white tensor bands. They begin at her hips all the way up to her underarms. On her left side, the bands under her arm loop around to the right side of her neck where they begin to run all the way down her limp, right arm. Her four fingers and thumb are the only things not wrapped on that arm.]

[This time, instead of using the scissors, Shinji plucks the pins off of the end of the band on the heel of her hand and carefully begins to unwrap the entire arm. There are more bands of course under each of these; however, the second layer on the arms has small dots of blood tracing a line up Asuka's arm. Shinji comes to the end of the first band at Asuka's forearm. He plucks off the pins and starts on the next one.]

[We DISSOLVE to a close up of the yellow bucket and a pile of bloodied tensor bands next to it. Another band drops from the top of the frame on to the pile.]

[DISSOLVE to another angle of Shinji behind Asuka wrapping another strip of bandage around Asuka's cleavage. Her right arm has been patched up and the bandages run under the strips he's using now. A large patch of Gauze on her abdomen is slowly being covered.]

[DISSOLVE to a new angle of a profile of Asuka's right side. Shinji is pressing a cloth against her left eye, which we cannot see. He's careful around this area, wiping under and around it. He withdraws the bloodied cloth and drops it onto the pile of used bandages.]

[CUT to a shot Asuka's face as Shinji finishes wrapping a band around her head so he can cover both sides of the wound. He puts the last two pins in finally and reaches for Asuka's bathrobe. He drapes it over her shoulders and stands up.]

[They are still and silent there for a moment. Shinji looks somewhat aggrivated.]

[Shinji is visibly frustrated.]

[Asuka closes her robe and lies back down on her bed]

[Shinji stands there for a moment and then begins to clean up the mess of rags.]

[With an armful of scraps in hand and a bale full of red water in the other, Shinji exits the room, and slides the door closed with his foot.]

Bathroom (CUT)

[Shinji drops the rags into a cardboard box laid out next to the cloths basket and dumps the water into the tub. He pulls down his pants and sits on the toilet. He slouches over and rests his head in his hands as he takes a sigh of relief.]

[Then the door opens with Asuka on the other side.]

[Asuka blushes and closes the door quickly. Shinji stares at the door and then sighs in frustration.]

Entrance (CUT)

[Shinji hefts the empty knapsack onto his shoulders over his sweater.]

[Shinji slams the door behind him. The house is once again silent.]

Shinji and Asuka's house (CUT)

[Shinji pulls a bicycle out of the garage, adjusts the knapsack on his back, and head off into town. PAN up to a shot of the city.]

The Streets of Old Tokyo (CUT)

[We follow Shinji on his bike into the old metropolis in a montage of visuals of scenery with overlapping character voices.]

Mind (CUT)

[We hear the crashing SOUND of a spotlight circuit flipping on as Shinji is illuminated in the black of an empty performance theatre. He is sitting erect on a chair wearing what was once his school garb. The circle of light under him takes the form of the Red-Earth.]

Hospital (CUT)

[Shinji slows to a stop to the front doors of the six story building. He leans his bike against a parking meter instead of dropping it on the ground. He's in no hurry.]

[There is a quick visualization of Shinji heaving Asuka onto a bench. Simultaneously, Asuka cries out in pain, and Shinji puffs in relief because he doesn't have to carry her anymore. The visualization is only a ½ second, but the point is well made.]

[After the visual, we CUT to a shot of Shinji entering the empty and dark corridors on the first floor.]

[CUT to a quick visualization of Shinji kicking in the front door of the white house that would become his home.]

[CUT to a shot of a shot of an opening door's light piercing the darkness of a supply closet. Shinji flips the light switch and enters, taking off his pack. He stands in place for a moment while scanning the shelves for the items he needs, and then begins stuffing plastic bags of sterilized needles and rolls of thread, gauze and tape into the knapsack.]

[CUT to a quick visualization of Shinji threading stitches into Asuka's arm while she whimpers.]

Corner store (CUT)

[CUT to a shot of the corner store. The sun is setting.]

Shopping area (CUT)

[Shinji is browsing the canned foods with his knapsack cradled in his arm, stuffing whatever he can into it.]

The Streets of Old Tokyo (CUT)

[We follow Shinji again on his bike back to his house on the silent streets of the city. The last minutes of the day are passing and the light is snuffed out over the horizon. It must be 10 o'clock .]

[Five � ten seconds later, we CUT to a shot of Shinji in Asuka's room, sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at his feet. Asuka is lying on the bed behind him with the bed sheets over her. The moonlight from the window behind them makes their shapes silhouette, and the light from the door to the room illuminates the edge of the bed. Shinji's hands have streaks of blood on them.]

[Asuka is silent.]

[Asuka turns her head away from Shinji. Shinji looks at her once more, then rises, and leaves the room, sliding the door closed behind him.]

[We CUT back to Shinji on his bike. His brow furrows.]

Entrance (CUT)

[Shinji steps inside the front door.]

[Shinji sees Asuka over the countertop, which separates the kitchen from the rec-room, sitting at the table. She turns her head and looks at him like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.]

[Shinji sets his knapsack in the corner and takes off his sweater and shoes. Asuka pauses for a moment and then turns her attention back to the book in her hand in a failed attempt to act normal.]

[CUT to later. Shinji finishes strapping Asuka's new sling around her shoulder and they both sit back. Asuka stares at her new restraint for a moment, and then picks a point at the wall to focus on, not really having anything to say. Shinji's actions mimic her own.]

[Also, there are two open and empty cans of Del Monte' on the table.]

[Asuka is silent.]

[Asuka doesn't respond.]

[Shinji gets up from the table. He glares at her one more time.]

[Shinji steps around the table and starts toward his room; he stops outside the corridor with his back turned to her.]

[With that, he leaves her at the table, looking at her feet. Asuka sits still letting the tension go, then reaches for her book, and picks up where she left off.]

Shinji's bedroom (CUT)

[Shinji is sitting on the edge of his bed. He sighs heavily, lies down and pulls the covers over him.]

Black beach (CUT)

[CUT to a shot of a silver cross nailed to a charred black stump. In the BACKGROUND, OFF SCREEN, amidst the SOUND of the waves crashing against the shore, heavy breathing is heard. The silhouette of a shadow rises over the stump with the sound of wet footprints, and a soaking-wet hand slaps down on the top it, as if the person is catching breath while observing this landmark. Water drips onto the top of the stump and the hand.]

[FADE to black.]

Entrance (CUT)

[FADE up to a scene as Shinji pulls his sweater over his head, now ready to go outside for another day of errands. Shinji grabs the handle, but stops. He looks at the handle and then turns his head toward the corridor.]

Hallway (CUT)

[Shinji is standing outside the door to Asuka's room with his hands at his sides, looking at his feet. A few seconds pass, and then he reaches for the door handle.]

[To his surprise, the door slides open before he touches it. Asuka is startled to see him again outside her door. Shinji tries to say something, but Asuka beats him to it.]

[He stands aside and lets Asuka pass by into the bathroom closing the door behind her. A few more seconds pass by. Shinji's hand begins to twitch.]

[Shinji sighs heavily and nods. He waits a few more seconds and wiggles his fingers to relax. When he hears the toilet flush, his anxiety gets the better of him and he starts to walk down the corridor.]

[The bathroom door slides open. Asuka comes out closing her bathrobe.]

[Shinji stops in his tracks and turns back. His hand starts twitching again. Apparently, Asuka thinks it's time to change her bandages because she's taking off her sling on her way into her room.]

[Asuka comes back out into the hallway.]

[Before Shinji can take a step away, however, the floor starts to vibrate. The sensation runs up his whole leg. A split second later, Shinji breaks into a sprint toward Asuka.]

[He grabs Asuka around her side and swings her into the door frame. A night stand in Asuka's room tips on its side and spills its contents on the floor as the earthquake violently shakes the house. The bookshelf tips over and slams down onto Asuka's bed. In the kitchen, drawers rattle out of place and spill knives and utensils everywhere.]

[Shinji presses them both against the door frame, trying to squish himself further into the safest place to hide, as long as it holds.]

[The quake subsides. Shinji and Asuka's frightened breathing is all that's heard when the clatter of anything else giving loose is done. Shinji releases the both of them. Their breathing settles, but their hearts still pump wildly.]

[Asuka steps into her demolished room on shaky legs.]

[Asuka looks at the bookshelf on top of the crushed frame of her bed where her head would be. Absentmindedly, she strokes her neck.]

The Streets of Old Tokyo (CUT)

[Shinji and Asuka are walking slowly down the sidewalk. Asuka is wearing a long snow coat which you can see her bathrobe under. Under her bathrobe, she is wearing sweatpants and a pair of shoes two sizes too big; the laces are ties so tight that the bow is a foot long on either side of the shoe. The right arm of the snow coat hangs empty. Shinji is walking beside her with his sweater and overalls.]

[Shinji turns to Asuka.]

[Shinji looks away at the slowly passing scenery.]

[Asuka raises her head to see the purple sky.]

[CUT to a moving shot of the sky from the ground. Shinji and Asuka converse off screen.]

[CUT to a quick visualization of Shinji's hand twitching, followed by CUT to a moving wide shot of their feet from the front, walking towards the moving perspective.]

[Asuka waits for Shinji's response, but Shinji can't quite seem to pick his words.]

[Asuka cocks an eyebrow.]

[Asuka is silent.]

[The tension in Shinji's face seems to let go all at once.]

Memories (CUT-Black Screen)

[We go back in time to a moment of degridation. We hear the sound of quickened breathing with a slight echo, familiar of someone exciting themself. At the end of the digusting act, he gasps, and simultaneously, the whites of two eyes open and pierce the darkness.. CUT to a shot of a hospital room. Shinji stands over Asuka's sleeping body; her gown is open, her breasts are exposed, and in Shinji's hand is a mess of his act.]

[He fumbles for a nearby tissue to wipe it off and throws it in the garbage. He runs to Asuka's bed, closes her gown and covers her with the bed sheets. Shinji hurriedly leaves the room.]

[FADE to black.]

[CUT to a new scene further back in time of Asuka laying in a tub of dirty water in a destroyed apartment. From above, we look down through a hole in the roof. On a chair next to the tub is her clothes neatly folded. In Asuka's hand is a glass shard. She presses the shard into her wrist and makes a four inch slice down her forearm. She tosses the shard over the edge of the tub and leans back while the water is clouded red.]

[FADE to black]

[Suddenly two hands rush out of the darkness.]

[CUT to a new scene further back in time, in a small Japanese kitchen. From a close up on Asuka's neck, two hands wrap around it and squeeze, making a small packing sound as they hit her flesh. CUT to a lower angle close up of her feet, as Asuka is lifted off the floor. Shinji grunts from the strain of lifting her, and heaves with all his might, sinking his thumbs deeper into her neck, strangling the life out of her.]

[Asuka reaches up and grips his wrists, trying to pull him away. He only presses tighter, making her elicit a small squeak.]

[She's on the tip of her toes, now, struggling for balance. One leg flies up and her shin connects with his groin. Shinji coughs, dropping Asuka and the both of them collapse. Asuka gags for sweet air as Shinji cradles his injury. She crawls on her knees to her room and shuts the door behind.]

The Streets of Old Tokyo (CUT)

[CUT to a cross shot of Shinji. Asuka's mouth is in the foreground on the right of the frame.]

[They stop walking, Shinji turns to Asuka. CUT to a new ANGLE looking down from above.]

[Shinji grimaces as if he suddenly feels sick.]

[Shinji clams up while Asuka whips him with her words.]

[Shinji hangs his head in shame before Asuka finishes her sentance.]

[Shinji timidly looks at her face, the bandages over her eye have loosened. With her good arm Asuka rips it off, revealing the encrusted wound.]

[Several moments of silence pass.]

[Shinji stares at the wound. He begins breathing deeply. The camera angles start flashing back and forth between them. As the tension rises scenes of the dismembered corpse of Eva Unit-02 become intermingled with the frames.]

[Shinji drops to his knees and hugs her waist, weeping. At this point, we finally get some BACKGROUND MUSIC: "ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD" by NINE INCH NAILS.]

[Asuka cringes from the pain, beneath her aches she looks as if she's about to cry.]

[Fade to black]

To be continued...

Author's notes (Revised)

This is like the sixth time I've re-edited this chapter! Each time I alter it a little, but I don't think I ever got it right until today. I've even formatted it in Dreamweaver so it looks extra-readable in the web page! I guess I have some explaining to do.

I tried to present the story is such a way as to remain true to Anno's movie. I stayed far away from OOC, because I absolutely hate it in all of it's forms, and portraited the characters as I interpreted them to be. The task came to me "How was I gonna write a love story about such an unlikely couple?" It can be said that Shinji and Asuka are star crossed and opposed in every way. But since I am such a whore for this relationship, I'm trying to make it work.

Oddly enough this chapter is written to be the epilogue of EoE, and at the same time, the prologue of my own fanfic.

You may be asking what the ending is about. Well, it's boiled down to two very special scenes that I feel sets the scene perfectly.

You should also know that this can not be a true continuation of Evangelion since everything was ultimately solved in the End of Evangelion. The bond between Shinji and Asuka in the finale was just beginning to mend, to drive home the importance of the poetry. Shinji has already said his sorry's and Asuka has accepted them. Continuing that story is pointless, save for possibly a lemon, which I will consider writing in the future.

I'm not asking you to debate over the errors of this story, nor do I want you to. I am simply telling you why the events in my story are playing out as they are, because these theories are the basis of the fanfic. Instead, I want you to judge the merit of the story and make constructive reviews. Help me with ideas to CONTINUE the story AS IS instead of correcting my paridigm of Evangelion. My goal is to make each chapter stand alone. Issues introduced in any chapter should be appropriately addressed before the final line, and questions I chose to leave unanswered in this and all future chapters are left unanswered to leave events open to interpretation by you, the audience. Know that as I continue to write, I am taking the utmost care to make The Epilogue of Evangelion as entertaining as it's origin

Other things to point out: notice the scene at the black beach that occurs after Shinji goes to bed? It seems to have no reason to be there. It's purpose is to show you people are beginning to emerge from Lilith's corpse.

Why the song by NIN? Becuase "Fly me to the Moon" is dated. I was recently introduced to NIN by a friends, and I find many of their songs appropriate for the mood I'm trying to set.

Till next time: keep on the watch for more chapters.