Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A Soul Possessed ❯ Chapter 2

Shinji sat in the classroom, trying to stay awake and push his headache to the back of his mind. It was becoming unbearable, and no amount of aspirin was helping. He had never had migraine headaches his entire life, and didn't know where this one had come from. He couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as the day continued, as if something sinister was happening to him. Perhaps his head hurt because of some horrible contamination from Unit-01? He would have to ask Ritsuko ASAP, if this kept up he wouldn't be able to function let alone sync with the purple monster.

His gaze turned to the left, and fell upon the First Child. She was a puzzle, locked in mystery, and wrapped in enigma. Shinji knew that she had been the test pilot of Unit-01, and that she was connected to his father. Aside from that, there really was nothing he knew about her. He felt betrayed by his father, for Gendo Ikari having chosen Rei over him. But what was this feeling he had about her? Why did she look so familiar? And why was his headache getting worse just by looking at the pale First Child?

He averted his gaze from her, the pain lessening as his eyes focused on his laptop. The feeling of betrayal however grew stronger, and he even became a little disgusted by her. He had never been disgusted by Rei Ayanami, not even when he first saw her and his father together. Now it was almost as if she had become something… grotesque. As if she were an abomination, a true freak of nature. He couldn't understand this sudden change of feelings about her. Perhaps it was related to his headache? Thank god that school was almost over, he could go to Nerv soon and get some help. Ironic that he hated the place, yet it was the first place he thought of going to get help with this.

As the final bell rang, driving Shinji almost mad with pain, Rei glanced at the young Ikari. He had been acting… unusual of late. While Ikari had never been completely comfortable around her, he had never avoided her like he had been. Also, Rei felt something was wrong with him. His constant grasping of his head not withstanding, something else just beyond Rei's senses was changing about Ikari. It was… disturbing.

Commander Ikari would have to be made aware of these changes in Ikari's behavior immediately. If there were a problem, the Commander would know what to do about it.

--

Shinji was slowly making his way through the halls of Nerv. His progress had been slowed by the horrifying pain he was feeling in his head. It was becoming too much for him to bear as he leaned against the steel wall of the passageway for support. His mind was slowly beginning to shutdown, looking for some respite from the agony searing his skull. Slowly, the world around Shinji Ikari faded into black.

Instead of collapse to the ground though, Shinji straightened up. Slowly, he made his way through Nerv and stopped at a Magi terminal. Keys began pressing and depressing at a speed only seen from Dr. Akagi. Files that Shinji should not have even know existed, let alone had clearance for were brought up as he went through the Magi at a disturbing speed. After he had closed all the files and ended the session on the terminal, Shinji turned away and walked out the door. The microphones in the area were able to pick up only four words, "Soon, very soon now."

No human eyes had seen what he had used the terminal for, but the Magi had recorded an entry using a high level security code. It was a little known code, one that not even Gendo Ikari knew about. A code that most would think lost in the past, as it was only known to three women who were now long dead.

--

Shinji awoke just outside the room where he had used the terminal. To say he was confused was an understatement, but his headache had subsided some from earlier. Eventually, still worried over what could only have been a blackout, he made his way to Ritsuko's office. His odd movements, while not seen by Section two, had been seen by one person. Rei Ayanami continued to follow and observe Ikari, curious about what had transpired. Also, the more she knew before going to the Commander, the better she would be able to inform him of the situation. Pilot Ikari was acting too strangely, and she didn't want to go to the Commander without adequate information.

She followed his as he made his way to Dr. Akagi's office, staying far enough away so as not to alert him to her surveillance. As he entered the doctor's office, Rei moved to listen from behind the door. She could hear the conversation on the other side of the door perfectly, and listened in as Shinji told Dr. Akagi what he knew of his situation.

"Dr. Akagi, I need some help."

"Sure Shinji, what can I do for you?"

"I'm having these horrible headaches lately. I've never had anything this painful in my life outside of Eva. And just now I think I passed out in the hall, but I woke up outside one of the Magi terminal rooms."

Now, knowing what Ritsuko knew about Unit-01 and Shinji's mental condition, the doctor automatically began theorizing and calculating what could be happening with the Third Child. It was possible he was suffering from mental contamination from Unit-01. This could be a big problem, especially if he was rendered unable to pilot. Almost immediately she started moving him towards the medical scanners to check him out.

"Just try to relax, Shinji. I'll just run a few tests and see what we can do to help you. Okay?" Ritsuko said, trying her hardest to be comforting. This was impaired by her complete lack of a bed-side manner. As she looked over the readings, she noticed that his brainwave patterns were off the charts. It seemed to switch between one distinct pattern to another. She recognized Shinji's pattern, but couldn't identify the pattern that was asserting itself. She took notes and theorized about what could be happening, all the while not telling Shinji a thing. As she let him up, she handed him a bottle of painkillers.

"Take four of these before you eat, but no more for at least 12 hours. If you take too many you could hurt yourself. If the pain returns take them again, if not then hold on to them until it does. I want you to come see me tomorrow. I'll see if I can find a cause for these headaches."

"All right Dr. Akagi, thanks for your help." With this said Shinji left the doctors office, not seeing Rei hiding behind the door.

Ritsuko took her data and left as well, heading in the direction of Commander Ikari's office. Rei, seeing that the doctor was headed the same direction, followed her.

--

In the dark, cold office of the Supreme Commander of Nerv Gendo Ikari looked over the data Dr. Akagi had brought before him. This was curious information, and the effects on the Third Child described in the report may work against him. The doctor had assured him that the effect on Pilot Ikari's status with Unit-01 was not in danger, which had been the only thing of relevance. The only reason he bothered to listen to the rest was to appease Dr. Akagi, and to allow her to believe she was useful. Nothing else mattered but the scenario. So he would play the attentive Commander, as long as was necessary.

"As of now, the disturbance in the Third Child's brainwave pattern is increasing. While this is causing severe headaches, the increase in the disturbance is directly proportional to his sync ratio. The increases in the neural interference and his increased sync ratio have proceeded at a steady rate parallel to each other."

"So this is beneficial to his performance as pilot."

"Not necessarily. While it is increasing his ability to use Unit-01, it is interfering with his abilities to actually act. These headaches are interfering with his reasoning, understanding, and even his motor functions. I believe that, while he may eventually be able to reach 100% sync, it would be useless do to neural paralysis. There is one other thing."

"And that is doctor?"

"The interference seems to have a coherent pattern. The only time I've seen it is when Unit-01 has gone berserk."

"Understood doctor, dismissed."

Ritsuko left the dark office of the supreme commander of Nerv, pondering on this problem. Gendo, however, began placing this turn of events in his scenario. It could be quite beneficial to his plans, or destroy everything he had worked so hard for. It was all in how he played this game.

Rei entered Gendo's office unannounced, though her entrance was so quiet that no one but Gendo would have noticed.

"Yes Rei?"

"Commander, Pilot Ikari has been acting strangely of late."

Gendo immediately gave Rei his undivided attention. He knew she would be the first to notice any sort of irregularities in either the Second or Third Children.

"Explain."

"He has been moody, evasive, and has been clutching his head many times. He has even begun to avoid my presence completely. There may be something wrong with Ikari. He usually tries to be… friendly with me."

"Continue to monitor him. Report any abrupt changes in behavior to me immediately."

"Yes sir."

As Rei left Gendo to think and plan on how this may affect his plans, she wondered if Ikari would be alright.

--

As the night went on through Tokyo-3, Shinji lay in bed trying to block the pain in his head. It had improved some with the medication Dr. Akagi had given him, but he still felt as if Unit-01 was standing on his skull. As he fell into a restless and troubled sleep, he hoped that this agony would end soon. Unfortunately the body was not going to get any rest tonight. A few seconds after his eyes had closed, they opened again. Shinji sat up, but it didn't seem to be him. The motion was too fluid and feminine to be the young boy, and yet it was.

Soft foot steps echoed in the room as the form of Shinji Ikari moved towards the small mirror in his room. As his face gazed into the reflecting glass, a tear fell from his eye. Slowly, his right hand reached up, and lightly stroked his cheek. For a second, one could almost swear that Shinji wasn't the one looking in the mirror.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. You shouldn't have had to deal with this, shouldn't have had to be alone for so long."

She stared into the sad eyes in the mirror, The eyes she herself was now using. She had hoped the happy, carefree glimmer she had seen in Shinji's eyes when he was young would still be there, but it had long since faded. Now there was only a hollow emptiness she felt could pull both of them into an abyss. An abyss that Yui had never wanted her son to know.

"I just wanted you to have a chance at happiness, and as long as you live there is still a chance for you to be happy. I just hope that, when I've done what I need to do, that you will never have to worry about Angels or Evas again."

With that, Yui settled her son back into bed so that his body could rest the night.

--

Pain. That was the first thing Shinji felt when he awoke the next morning. The headache had not gotten worse, but hadn't gotten any better. The slight reprieve for rest gone, Shinji arose to take another one of Ritsuko's pain killers. He was fortunate that Asuka hadn't awoken him that morning; he could barely stand opening his eyes let alone endure her screaming for him to rise. Slowly he took the small pill and downed a glass of water to wash it down.

This had to stop, and soon.

Misato came into the kitchen as Shinji leaned against the counter awaiting the promised relief.

"Morning Shinji, you okay?"

"Headache," was the only word he could get out.

"You didn't drink from my side of the fridge last night did you?"

Shinji was in no mood for Misato's teasing this morning. In fact, he was still in too much pain to even react to it. Misato didn't miss this.

"You think maybe you should stay home today? I'm sure the school wouldn't mind letting you off a day considering."

"No, I'll be fine. Ritsuko gave me some pain killers for the headache. I just wish I knew what was causing them."

It was not lost on Shinji that his other roommate had yet to make an appearance.

"Where's Asuka?"

"She… left early. She wanted to see Hikari before going to school, something important she said."

"Ok, you're going to Matushiro to pick up Unit-03 today, right?"

Misato hesitated for a moment before answering. Shinji didn't notice however given his current state. "Yeah, Unit-03 arrived late last night. We'll be test activating it with the Fourth Child today. It's all rather routine, just like all of our other activations."

At the mention of the Fourth Child, Shinji's headache worsened. It was if a spike of pain had been driven into his mind, and that spike was driven right through one set of thoughts.

"It's Touji isn't it? He's the Fourth Child."

Misato was shocked and dismayed that Shinji knew this. She was going to tell him after the activation so that he wouldn't worry. Who ever told him was in for a BAD day when she got her hands on them.

"Yes."

"Well, here's to a successful activation. He's a good person, and I wouldn't mind the extra help even if Asuka says she can do it all."

He took that better than I thought he would.

"Yeah, now we better get going or we'll both be late."

--

The test activation of Unit-03 was not as flawless as the people at Nerv would have liked.

Just as the third stage had begun, the Thirteenth Angel, Bardiel, had taken over the Evangelions body and destroyed the test facility. The fate of Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi had yet to be determined as Unit's 00 through 02 were launched to fight the invader. Unit-00 and Unit-02 were already in position, and knowing the occupant of the entry plug of Unit-03 prepared to eliminate the angel before Unit-01 had to. Unit-01, while Shinji was synched with the demonic construct, was not prepared. The neural interference Dr. Akagi had reported had become to great for Shinji to move.

"Status of the angel?" came the cold, emotionless voice of Gendo Ikari.

"The Angel has just entered Tokyo-3, Unit-02 will engage the target first."

"And Unit-01?"

"The neural interference is just too great. Unit-01 is inoperable for all intents and purposes. Should I recall it sir?" came the report from Lt. Makato.

"Negative. Unit-01 will remain on the battle field. Attempt to filter out the interference through the A-10 junction. If necessary the dummy plug can be activated."

"Sir, Shinji's brain wave pattern is changing." Came a startled cry from Lt Ibuki.

"What do you mean, changing?" Gendo demanded

"I... I don't know," Hyouga admitted, "but Unit 01 is starting to move."

"Unit-01, hold your position."

No reply came from Unit-01 as it moved to a location parallel to Unit-00.

"Unit-01, report immediately."

A quiet response came from Unit-01, but the transmission was to the others Evas.

"Unit-02 and Unit-00, drop your AT-Fields. Unit-02, let Unit-03 pass you and observe. Unit-00, on my mark fire one shot in front of Unit-03 and prepare to move. Unit's 00 and 01 will tackle Unit-03 while 02 will come around and cuts the entry plug free and remove it. Understood?"

Rei and Asuka, while not sure why Shinji had ignored the Commander, did as he said. Asuka bit back a rather scathing remark, knowing it had a better chance of success then the one on one combat Commander Ikari had ordered them to partake in. Unit-03, not noticing Unit-02 due to its lack of a raised AT-field, passed Asuka and continued on. No one in the geofront could explain what the readings from Shinji's ekg, only that the pattern was not the Third Child's.

No one knew that Yui had taken full control of Shinji's body and Unit-01 by extension. The only thing that hinted to this effect was the voice coming from the com system. Commander Ikari and Fuyutsuki thought they heard something familiar in Pilot Ikari's voice, but could not place it.

Unit-03 slowly, gangly, moved through the streets of Tokyo-3. The Angel knew something was happening but knew not what. Bardiel had sensed three soul barriers as he approached where Adam was being held, and then they had vanished. He knew not why, nor how, only that they had. Adam's call became stronger as he approached the lillims stronghold, guiding him like a beacon.

Unit-01 stayed stationary, waiting for the right time. Yui looked out, watching as the possessed Evangelion began to come between her and Unit-00.

"Steady…"

Unit-03 now was caught right between Unit-00 and Unit-01, perfect.

"Rei, FIRE!"

On command, Rei let loose with two shots from her rifle, both landing in front of Unit-03 by a mere ten meters. Bardiel turned to where the shot had come from, the lillim had tricked him. As he began to move to attack the shooter, he sensed the raising of an AT-Field behind him. He turned towards it, but was too late as Unit-01 slammed into Unit-03's midsection. He sensed another field, and the one that had fired at him came from the other side. As much as he tried, he couldn't fight off two lillim.

Unit-01 and 00 drove the Angel to the ground, pinning its arms behind its back . As instructed, Unit-02 came around and took the progressive knife to the area behind the evas head. The webbing holding the entry plug in place was cutoff, and the entry plug pulled from its port. Unit-03 sagged, unable to move as the evas moved back from it. Without the entry plug, Unit-03 was useless.

"Open up retrieval point B5 and prepare to get this plug out of here," came Asuka's voice over the comm.

Just as Unit's 00 and 01 moved to finish off the angel permanently, Unit-03 rose quickly and grabbed Rei throwing her hard into a set of armament buildings. Asuka ran quickly to the retrieval point, her mission clear to her. Hikari would kill her if anything happened to Touji.

Just as Unit-01 moved to attack, the angels arms whipped out at the Purple monster and grabbed Unit-01 by the throat. With a sickening grin on his face, Bardiel moved to choke the life out of the shadow of Lilith. Shinji's throat was constricting in sympathy with what was happening to his unit. Yui knew she was running out of time, and moved. Unit-01's arms started to move, and broke free from the angels grasp. In the entry plug, Yui Ikari looked at Unit-03 and smirked with her sons' lips. "Well, it seems that I get a chance to cut loose now. Let's see what my homemade monster can really do." With that, Yui grabbed Unit-03's arms and twisted them around. Unit-01 then kicked Unit-03 to the ground.

In command all hell was breaking loose. The bridge crew was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Retrieval team reports the Fourth Child has been recovered!" Makato yelled out.

"Sir, Shinji's sync ratio with Unit-01 is 125%!!" Maya reported. This was incredible; none of the children had ever got over 95%.

"What's going on Ikari? Did you plan for this to happen?" said a stunned and concerned Fuyutsuki.

"It is of no consequence. As long as the angel is destroyed then our scenario will continue." Gendo said.

Well now, how should I go about destroying you? Maybe just rip you APART!!!

With that final thought Yui pushed Unit-01 towards the angel and proceeded to maim, tear, impale, and disembowel her enemy. Blood from Unit-03 started to flow all over the city. Blood on the buildings, blood on the street, blood flowing like rivers through the river washes. After Yui was content that the Angel was in fact dead as a doornail, and resembled a grotesque version of hamburger, she stopped and started Unit-01 in the direction of the Geo-front.

No matter how many times you try, nothing is as good as the original model. she said, then returned control to Shinji.

Shinji had seen everything through his eyes, but it was as if it had been a dream. He couldn't control his body, and couldn't figure out how his voice had spoken since he had not thought of that plan. All he knew was that the angel was dead, and his friends were safe. That was enough for him.

"Shinji, Shinji are you okay?" Misato said over the comm..

"Misato? You're alive? Thank goodness, I'm so glad you're alive. Is everyone else alright? Did they get Touji out safely?'

"Of course we did Idiot. He's a little banged up but otherwise still as perverted as ever. Where did you come up with that idea Third Child?"

"I… don't know."

In command, the personnel were about at the same page as Shinji.

"Sir, Shinji's brain wave patterns have returned to normal." Makato reported. "The other pattern, what ever it was has disappeared, and we're detecting the same neural interference as before. The good news is that it has subsided substantially and Shinji can return with Unit-01"

"Very well, have Unit-01 brought back and the pilot checked out by medical." With that Gendo and Fuyutsuki left the bridge.

"What do you think happened out there, Ikari?"

"It is of no consequence. The Angel has been defeated and we can progress with our plans. We also have a spare pilot in case one of the Children becomes unusable. That is all that matters." Gendo said. In fact he was worried. If this pattern was to repeat itself it could spell imminent doom for his plans. And he'd be damned if his scenario was thrown off by something as simple as the Third Childs odd behavior. Nothing would ruin his chance to see Yui again.

To Be Continued…

Thanks to Random1377 for his help in the first part of battle scene and general assist, and Serena Ikari for her help in pre-reading as well.

I'm not so good with things beating the shit out of each other but I'll work on it. Anyone interested in Pre-reading give me a holler at webmaster@darkscribes.org

I could use the help for some other things.

Revised notes: Well, I went back and after MONTHS of work I have finally finished the new version of chapter 2. I know I promised that I would be quick, but I have had to update DS almost daily. I'd like to thank Angel17, Random1377, TommyRude, Sarevock, Isamu, Weltall Elite, Rommel and everyone who preread or gave advice on this and all the other fics I have in progress.

C&C are welcome at: webmaster@darkscribes.org , ld25@msn.org, ICQ #74629221, or on AOL as cwsmith1701.

Later.