Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A Soul Possessed ❯ Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See part 1

It had been three day's since the 13th angel had possessed Unit-03. Three days since death had come the closest to claiming the life of someone Shinji held as a dear friend. Shinji was still confined to a room in Nerv's hospital while Ritsuko tried to figure out what had caused his odd episode. He couldn't help but get a sense of foreboding, that something was wrong and that Ritsuko wasn't telling him and Misato the whole truth. He wasn't the only one worried.

Yui had become very suspicious of the daughter of Naoko Akagi. While Yui had trusted the elder of the Akagi's almost implicitly, the younger was much more dangerous to her as she was currently. She had watched her from Unit-01's eyes since she had taken charge of the project, had seen how she began to look at her husband. What made it even worse for her was the knowledge that Gendo might have grown so cold and unfeeling, that he would use Ritsukos feelings to his advantage.

What had happened to the good man she had fallen in love with and married, the man to whom she had mothered a child?

Whatever had happened to Gendo Ikari, she couldn't help. He would have to answer for what he had done, no matter how painful it was for her or him in the end. Now she had but one thing concerning her, Shinji. The years of solitude and loneliness had wounded his heart worse then she thought possible. Only now, after ten years, were the wounds beginning to close. Hopefully, she could help bring some light into his soul; something which he desperately needed.

Shinji, unlike his mother or father, was not a logical type of person. Yui found it difficult to believe that her son was more an artist then she could ever hope to be. Not that she had anything against it, she was happy that he was able to create something that could touch the heart of another. It was just odd to her that he hadn't been more the analytical type as she and Gendo had been. Not to mention the fact the Shinji's parents had been about as tone deaf as they come. Yui wished desperately that she could have been the one to tell him how wonderfully he had played.

Without his SDAT with him, Shinji's mind had to find some other way to pass the time. It had chosen to focus on what might have been, replaying a nightmare of Touji being pulled from a battered entry plug covered in his own blood. He could have killed him, could have ended the life of someone who was supposed to be his friend. How could he have done that? Was he really that much of a monster? If he hadn't had that episode, would Touji even be alive? All he could do it seemed was cause pain for people he cared about. Did he even deserve to continue living on if that was what would happen to those around him?

This line of thought was not lost on Yui. Shinji was close to falling into that abyss she had seen through his eyes, with no hope of return. She had to do something, but what could a ghost do from the confines of the mind? The answer was simple, and could, luckily, be done from her prison.

Slowly, difficultly, Yui began to push some of Shinji's few happy memories to the front of his mind. It pained Yui to find that those had been so few and far between since he lost her. That he had seen her death hurt her bad enough, that it had been simply the beginning of his suffering tore at Yui's heart. She had once said that as long as he lived, anywhere could be heaven. Hell, however, was much easier to fall into and far more difficult to climb out of if not impossible.

So, as tone deaf as she was, Yui tried to push forth a piece of music Shinji enjoyed. She wasn't sure who it was by, but the title sounded like it would help. Something called "Ode to Joy" if she read her sons thoughts correctly.

While she couldn't play music, she could appreciate it. As the memory of the song coursed through Shinji's mind, she saw why he would enjoy this. It was something, which lightened his heart almost instantly and edged him a hair back from the abyss. It was a start and maybe she could give him some shred of the caring he had lacked for so long.

Slowly, she touched his mind and tried to weave something into his imagination. Something simple, yet full of hope for a future Shinji felt was non-existent. It was a fantasy, him in front of an audience playing his cello in a symphony. He played as well as he ever had, the best he had ever played, and when he was done the audience began clapping. The applause was so stirring, so energetic that many men and women came out of their seats for the young man.

It would work for a time; Yui had held Shinji back from the eternal darkness he was falling towards so quickly. Hopefully it would be enough for now, to keep his soul in one piece while she tried to keep the rest of him the same way. Eventually, she would have to try something more permanent to, push him back towards the light far enough so that he could see some other path, some small hope on which to build a life. She hoped that maybe this was a start.

Shinji noticed some paper laying on the stand next to him, along with a pencil. The doctor must have left it there just in case Shinji got bored. He took it and in the center of the first line wrote "The Symphony of Tokyo-3." He began drawing staffs on the page, and began writing notes. It was surprising to him how easily it came, but when he thought about it, it made sense; he could read the notes to play so of course he could put them on the paper. As he put the notes on paper he imagined how they would sound together. Every c-sharp and d-flat merged into a melody of calm, mellow harmony. Yui could hear it all as he did this, and was thrilled at being the very first to hear Shinji's music. Then he began to give the music more force, more anger to represent an angel attack. He began to consider putting two parts for violins as both Rei and Asuka played those instruments, this should be a story told from all three of the Children's points of view.

But then as he looked over his work, he began to doubt that it would ever be anything worth while. How could he expect anyone to ever listen to this, it wasn't even worth the paper it was written on. Maybe he should just rip it up and forget about it, resign himself to his fate. It wasn't like he'd get to choose his future anymore, now that his body and soul had been consigned to Nerv as a pilot. No one else could do this, so it wasn't like his father would just let him give up so he could go chasing some impossible dream.

Yui felt this tear at her heart that Gendo had turned into such a nightmare. She tried to push Shinji back towards some hope, getting him to at least start writing some words down on the back of his music. Some thoughts on the people he was composing about. She was saddened as she saw the words on the page concerning her husband, Shinji's father. It was so painful to see how her son felt, how Gendo had driven him away. If only she could have…

Their combined reflections were interrupted by the door opening. The form walking through the door could only be described as battered, worn, and tiered.

"Misato, I was told you weren't hurt that bad." Shinji and Yui were both shocked.

Misato stood there with her head bandaged and her left arm in a cast. She looked like she had been on the receiving end of a punch from an Eva.

"Yeah, if you call this minor. But enough about me, how are you feeling? You've been stuck in here for three days now."

"I'm alright, a little worried though. No one's told me anything about what happened or why I'm here. Ritsuko seemed really nervous when I started asking her. She's said it was just routine, but if that were true I wouldn't still be here, right?"

Misato knew that Ritsuko was hiding something. She suspecting that too much was being hidden by her old friend for too long now. She was still pissed from the 12th when Ritsuko planned to destroy the angel with no thought to saving Shinji, whose life she had called irrelevant. Also finding out that the angel, Adam, was being held in Nerv's basement didn't help Ritsuko's credibility, or Nerv's in general.

"Don't worry, I'll see if I can get you released and we'll go out for dinner. How's that sound, no more hospital food."

"Okay Misato, thanks." Shinji said. Misato noticed the paper with the score written on it. It wasn't as if she could understand the symbols written there, but she wasn't Shinji. She knew she didn't have the same appreciation for music, or the skill to bring it to life as he did.

"What's that Shinji?"

"Oh, nothing important. I just got bored and I got to thinking about my music. So I thought I would write some seeing as how I know all the notes and everything. I just don't know if I should bother. It's not like I'll ever get a chance to make anything worth while out of it."

"Don't say that. You have a real gift here Shinji, and I know I could never do something like this myself. Of course, I can't really say. I've never been able to read music before. I couldn't even play an instrument in school, I was so tone deaf."

Just then, Misato's cell phone began to ring.

"Katsuragi. WHAT! Another angel is attacking? I'll be right there with Shinji. No I don't have an ETA. I'll get us there as soon as I can! Come on Shinji, we got to go. After we finish off this Angel you and I are getting dinner. I promise."

"Yay, at least you didn't promise to COOK dinner." Shinji deadpanned.

Misato would have teased him about it, but saw a smile on his face that she wished was there more of the time.

"Misato, could you hold on to this for me? I don't know if I should keep it, but I could try something. Maybe."

"Alright. It would be a shame to throw something like this out."

Yui knew about the Katsuragi girl, and seeing that she cared about Shinji so much would be very helpful to her, when the final game was played.

--

The 14th angel had just blasted its way into the Geofront, sending several of the buildings from the surface plummeting down. Yui and Shinji both watched from the confines of the hospital room in horror, powerless to do anything to stop it. Misato tried to get to Nerv Central as fast as she could, but the chaos the Angel was causing had made it difficult. Shinji held on for dear life as Misato drove like a mad woman. If Yui had a stomach, she would have been very ill by now. She was lucky that Shinji had gotten used to the quick movements Misato made at such high speed.

Ritsuko would have taken control of the situation in her absence, so it was a safe bet that Asuka and Rei were already being sent into battle.

In fact, as the made their way to the pyramid they could see Unit-02 launch in the distance with large amounts of weaponry strewn out about it as aimed for Zureal. Misato hoped Asuka, if she couldn't finish off the angel before they got to Unit-01, would at least be able to hold it off so they could back her up. As good as Asuka proclaimed she was, Misato preferred to have at least two Evas engage an Angel.

It proved to be a wise move on more then one occasion. While they hadn't had the option during the first two angels due to the damage to Unit-00, Misato would have preferred for Shinji to have had backup during those battles. Now it would seem the Commander preferred a one on one approach to combat. The most foolish strategy anyone could use.

"We have to hurry. Asuka won't be able to hold the Angel off for very long. I want you to get into Unit-01 as soon as we get there Shinji. There's not enough time to worry about you getting into your plugsuit."

"Right."

As they entered the garage, Misato slipped the paper Shinji had handed her in her glove box so she wouldn't lose it. It would not see a pencil again for some time.

--

Gendo Ikari stood in the hanger, looking at the immovable face of Unit-01. He couldn't understand why it didn't seem to respond.

"Yui, why are you refusing me?" He asked the immovable Eva.

Unit-01 should have activated for Rei and the Dummy Plug. Why was it being so stubborn? The angel had just disabled unit-00, and now it was headed to Dogma.

"Of all the times to refuse to work, why now?"

The Third Child chose that time to show up, still in hospital pajamas. Commander Ikari, while annoyed at Pilot Ikari's tardiness, didn't take the time to care about his attire. As long as the angel was destroyed then the scenario could proceed.

"You are late."

"Sorry, couldn't be helped."

"Irrelevant, prepare Unit-01 for the Third Child. Pull the dummy plug and proceed with activation," came the calm, cold orders of the Commander. Yui's heart broke a bit more then it had. That would have to wait however, now they had a job to do.

--

The 14th angel, Zureal, had just broken its way into Central Dogma. Adam's call became even more clear to the angel as it stared at the small, fragile lillim before him. They didn't matter, they weren't the reason he was there. Only one thing mattered to the angel as it prepared to remove this obstacle.

Joining with Adam.

Misato stood on the command bridge certain her death was soon to come. "At least Shinji is safe, but for how long after we're dead? How long until he joins us? I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Just as Zureal was about to eliminate the command bridge and the Nerv personnel on it, a purple fist broke through the wall and blind-sided it. Unit-01 broke through and started beating the angel into the wall. Inside, Shinji had a feral grin on his face and anger leading him on as he throw the angel back towards the cage.

Come on Shinji, let show this angelic bastard not to mess with us. Yui cheered her son from his mind. Shinji felt he wasn't alone fighting this thing, that he was being protected by something he didn't quite understand yet. The presence in his mind grew stronger.

As Shinji prepared for another onslaught on his the giant beast that was the angel, Zureal showed that he wasn't out of the fight yet. A blast from his eyes and the pain shooting through Shinji's arm via the neural interface with the Eva told him that Unit-01 had lost its left arm. Shinji charged the monster and kicked in the booster packs on his back, rocketing both him and the angel towards the catapults. It was becoming harder and harder to distinguish himself from the Eva, harder to tell where he ended and the construct began.

"Misato!" Shinji cried out, both him and Yui hoping the major understood what they were thinking.

They got their answer as the catapult propelled them to the surface of the Geofront. With out the restraints, Unit-01 and Zureal flew several hundred meters into the air then slammed to the ground, with Shinji on top. Shinji began beating the angel mercilessly, the beast of the Eva, and the heat of battle beginning to wash over him. The pure animal fury inside him would have been enough to scare Yui to death, if she hadn't already been dead.

The command crew ran out into the Geofront to watch the battle and see if they would be saved, or if today was their last. Asuka stood next to her ejected entry plug as did Rei, watching the beast destroy the angel.

The bloodlust became so intense that Shinji attempted to rip Zureal's face off.

Suddenly, Shinji and Yui were disconnected from Unit-01, the timer for the battery reserves flashed at 00:00:00.

"No."

SHIT! Yui screamed, and with her in Shinji's mind like she was, she couldn't make Unit-01 go Berserker as she used to.

This wasn't good at all.

Unit-01 was picked up by the angel and thrown into the side of Nerv's central command pyramid. While the angel continued to attack Unit-01's core, Shinji started yelling at Unit-01 to move, trying to get it to activate by shear will alone. Yui was running through all possibilities to get her creation back in battle.

The only thing she could think of however, would require her at the core of the purple behemoth. Considering her current place of residence in Shinji's mind that would be impossible.

Damn it, the one time I could actually do some good from that prison and I can't. Forgive me, Shinji.

As Shinji kept pleading for Unit-01 to work, he could hear the dull thuds from Zureal's attack inside the plug as cracks formed along the surface.

Suddenly, a new sound began to take over. It was no longer a pounding, but a beating; the beating of a heart. Shinji felt something around him, and passing through him as he began to feel a bit lightheaded. Yui knew this feeling well, she had experienced it once before.

It had been the last thing she had felt before Unit-01 took her.

Oh dear God, NO!

"Mother?" With that last word, Shinji Ikari became one with the Eva.

--

As Zureal, the 14th angel, was about to make the final killing blow to Unit-01, the purple monster reactivated. Zureal threw its ribbon like arm at Unit-01, victory seemingly with in its grasp. Unit-01 however had other ideas. She reached out at the approaching ribbon, and shredded it with its own fingers, reinforced by its powerful A.T. Field. The purple monster grabbed the arm and pulled the angel face to face with her, the horn on Unit-01's forehead dug deeply into Zureal's right eye socket. With a powerful kick Unit-01 throw the Angel back across the battlefield, keeping its left arm. Unit-01 brought the dismembered appendage up to the stump of its own left arm, where it changed into an almost human looking limb. Only one thought went through Misato's head.

Shinji?

Maya was looking at a laptop with the readings from Unit-01 displayed. What she saw should not have been possible.

"How is this possible, Shinji's sync ratio is over 400%."

Unit-01 then swiped its arm across its body, sending a molecule thick A.T. Field towards Zureal. The blast sliced right through the angels A.T. field, and Zureal knocking him to the ground. Unit-01 began approaching the angel as if it were an ape; the animalistic way it moved towards its prey thoroughly disturbing the gathered Nerv crew. Unit-01 came face-to-face one last time with Zureal, the Angel of Might.

Zureal tried one last blast from its eyes, but before it could Unit-01 began to consume the angel. The Eva began to tear flesh and bone from the creature as if the Eva were a predator devouring its prey. As she did this, she took into herself the S2 organ, the heart of the angel. The souls of Yui and Shinji Ikari were aware of what was happening from their place merged with Unit-01. They could even taste the blood of the enemy on their lips, and feel the flesh of the angel slide down Unit-01's throat.

With the S2 organ settled within, the power of Unit-01 was fully unleashed as the armor was shattered and cast aside, all except for the iron mask that hid the Eva's face from view.

To Be Continued….

Ch 3. Author's notes: YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME! Thanks for all the support writing this fic. I'm JUST SO HAPPY!!! I'm not just writing a Yui getting even with Gendo fic though. I'm writing a Yui saving Shinji's soul fic. And no Nega-Darkwing, Gendo won't be that lucky. Also if anyone is interested in pre-reading for me I would appreciate it. I have four different Projects going and need people to help with grammar and ESPECIALLY spelling. If you see a name from Eva not spelled correctly let me know via e-mail.

Ch 4. Author's notes: YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME! Thanks for all the support writing this fic. I'm JUST SO HAPPY!!! I'm not just writing a Yui getting even with Gendo fic though. I'm writing a Yui saving Shinji's soul fic. And no Nega-Darkwing, Gendo won't be that lucky. Also if anyone is interested in pre-reading for me I would appreciate it. I have four different Projects going and need people to help with grammar and ESPECIALLY spelling. If you see a name from Eva not spelled correctly let me know via e-mail.

Second Edition notes: Well, I decided to combine Chapters 3 and 4 into this one since they were pretty short to begin with. I hope this will help thing expand as we go. I went threw a lot of trouble to redo the battle with the 14th to where it made more sense and had a much better flow with it. Also, I tried to make Shinji more in character then he was in the first part of the original chapter 3. Not only that, but I wanted to make Yui more sympathetic to Gendo then I had portrayed her being before. Same deal with Gendo. I had considerable Gendo-Bashing in the original version of this fic. I hope that with this redo I can make him seem more the tragic character then the megalomaniac I had him as before.

I'd like to thank my prereaders who helped a lot with this new version. TR, Sare, Isamu, Random1377, Angel17, Weltall Elite and Shinagami.

C&C is always welcome at: webmaster@darkscribes.org and ld25@msn.com