Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: Tribulations After ❯ What Do You Want? ( Chapter 4 )

Report 398

From: Misato Katsuragi

To: United Nations Special Division

Subject: Assuming leadership of NERV and end of SEELE

Date: January 2, 2016

I was quite surprised when I was promoted to head of NERV until it's scheduled disbanding in 2017. NERV Special Forces are still searching for Gendou Ikari, father of the third child, Shinji Ikari and former head of NERV. No progress has been made ever since he disappeared December 29, 2015, while escaping from SEELE search forces.

The first thing I'd like to relay are the events happening in the past 48 hours. First and foremost was of SEELE forces entering NERV by means of unsecured waste hatches and burning in from underneath ventilation ducts. After releasing a gas that rendered all NERV personnel unconscious, they fitted Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley, Ritsuko Akagi, Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba, Makato Hyuga, and myself into a cybernet, linking all our brains into a dream-like scenario. The scenario was induced into our system by means of psychotropic drugs, which have been flushed out of our systems now. SEELE's intention was to learn all details about initiating the Third Impact before proceeding. When they were finished, they placed us all in a second dream state for happiness until the Third Impact would occur as payment for our services to them.

Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and myself all retreated to a section within the dream scenario, where a mysterious boy met us. At first, we assumed he was a figment of our collective imaginations in the dream state, but he proved to be a living being by existing outside of the dream. He explained the situation of the dream state to us, and how to escape from it.

Escaping, we informed the UN of SEELE's plans, and formed a coalition of multiple governments' military forces in a combined strike against SEELE, along with EVA Units 01 and 02. The mysterious boy accompanied us with the supposedly destroyed Unit 04, not giving any real explanation of how he came across it. We destroyed eight of the nine Evangelions SEELE had produced for their own purposes. The ninth was already at NERV, attempting to free the being known as Lillith and initiate Third Impact. As Lillith ascended into the sky, the mysterious boy left Unit 04 and, you are not going to believe this, grew wings from his back. He flew above Lillith and said, "This is not the time. They are not for you…yet."

Lillith then proceeded to leave, and the mysterious boy disappeared as well. For the rest of the time, military forces have arrested the SEELE council and most of SEELE's military personnel. Religious fanatics have begun uprising in several areas of the world, claiming we have lost our chances of ascending to Heaven, or Eden, or whatever they call the Afterlife these days. Repairs on Units 01, 02, and 04 have begun. Unit 00's repair is still under consideration. Until such time as Unit 00's repair is confirmed, Rei Ayanami is now the designated pilot of Unit 04. END OF MESSAGE.

Large cranes placed the lifeless body of Unit 04 onto several trucks, all linked together. The trucks drove out and back to inside NERV HQ. Rei, Shinji, and Asuka watched from a nearby building.

"They say it's going to take two days to repair it. It'll take another two days for me to synch with it. Then we need to test it, which will take another day. I'm going to miss the mission, guys." Rei says.

"What mission?" Shinji asks.

"Erg, Shinji, you idiot! Didn't you get the mission form? In southern India, a rogue group has stolen some EVA plans, and are constructing three giant robots similar to the Evangelions, but entirely mechanical. We're going down there to take them out." Asuka explains.

"Great. More killing." Shinji says, hanging his head down.

"Don't you remember what that boy said? The world's not a happy place, but it's people like the ones who we're being sent to destroy who threaten our chances to make the world a happy place." Asuka says.

"It doesn't make it right." Shinji replies.

"I'm not saying it's right. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do. We have to accept that and do what's best. Sometimes doing what's best and doing the right thing are not same." Asuka explains.

"Whatever. I'm going to get something to eat." Shinji says, walking away.

Asuka frowns when he's out of sight. "Poor kid."

"Suddenly looking at other people's feeling for a change, Asuka?" Rei asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Cram it, Rei. After what I went through in that dream, I've had an epiphany." Asuka replies.

"We all did, except for Shinji. His emotions towards himself and the rest of the world switch on and off. Sometimes he's Captain Apathy, and others he's Superman." Rei speaks.

"The kid needs a good kick in the butt to wake him up to the real world. I thought that boy gave it to him." Asuka says.

"It's going to take more than him to do that. Most likely Shinji's going to retreat into his own mind to find meaning." Rei says.

"He spends too much time alone. The guy needs a girlfriend." Asuka says.

"He had one, remember?" Rei inquires.

"I remember Mana, but she still hasn't come back, even though the original purpose of EVA is done with. She's probably forgotten about Shinji, anyway." Asuka returns.

"Don't be too certain about the power of love. It does wondrous things for a person." Rei smiles.

"Like you and Shinji's dad?" Asuka queries.

Rei sneered. "Remember, I'm the third clone. Maybe the other two appreciated him, but to me, he'll just be a person who tried to use me. He tried to use me for his own twisted desires."

"Way I hear it is that he saved the last you's life." Asuka says.

"That wasn't me. My soul's finally with me, and I know him only for what he tried to do to the world, and how I was just a puppet."

"That was a dream."

"Besides, we're supposed to be helping Shinji. Why don't you date him?" Rei asks.

"Why don't you? He obviously likes you more." Asuka replies.

"Because I'm a clone of his mother and an angel. I think the whole mother thing isn't going to help him much." Rei explains.

"Touché." Asuka replies.

"We've tried over ten locations where Gendou was most likely to have gone. Nothing." Shigeru reports to Misato.

"Then try the places it's unlikely for him to be. We have to find him, immediately. God knows what he's planning…" Misato replies.

"Understood, mam." Shigeru says, walking away.

Shigeru saluted and calmly walked out of Misato's office. Misato looked at the picture of Kaji she kept on her desk.

"Why did that kid lie about the murder of Kaji?" she asked herself.

"Okay, here's the plan: JSSDF forces will begin the assault, taking out the militant group's main defenses. The robots they've created, using an anagram of Evangelions for the name, called Niolegnave, have an energy field protecting them similar to an AT field, but cruder and requiring a lot of power and several generators to create them. This energy field protects them from conventional attack, so we're going to need the EVAs to handle them. Do not touch the energy field with the EVA's body, though! The field will break down the molecules of whatever touches it into harmless atoms." Misato explains through the vid system.

"So what are we supposed to fight with?" Asuka asks.

"The rifles for the EVAs have been refitted with a particle dispersion system. In a concentrated attack for ten seconds, it should disable the field in whatever section you hit it in, leaving them vulnerable to attack." Misato explains.

"When will the JSSDF forces start attacking?" Shinji asks.

"Ten seconds ago." Misato reports. "Sit back and wait until we give you the signal."

Misato's signal bleeps out, leaving Asuka and Shinji alone to talk. However, they wait twenty seconds before one of them finally speaks.

"Shinji, Rei and I think you should start getting a social life." Asuka says, opening conversation.

"I'm not a social person, Asuka. When did you start caring if I had a social life or not?" Shinji asks.

"We're going to be facing some hard times ahead of us, Shinji. If you start to break down again, you're going to need someone you can turn to for support. Maybe you should track down Mana…" Asuka suggests.

"No. She's obviously moved on, forgetting about me. It's for the best." Shinji states.

"But-"

"The Niolegnaves are coming out earlier than expected! This is our cue, Asuka!" Shinji reports.

Asuka stiffened up and readied herself for battle. "Ready when you are, wonder boy."

There were three Niolegnaves, NIO for short, guarding the installation. The installation itself was built into an iron-rich mountainside. It was about twenty stories high with gun and missile turrets built into it as minor defenses. The NIOs were about the same size as the EVAs, if not shorter. All three had their right arm enhanced by the hand being replaced by either a giant chainsaw, a giant gun, or a giant three-pronged claw. Their left arms looked like regular hands. They were otherwise human-like in appearance, besides the head, which was more ovular and had one giant red eye in the center of it. The green energy shield around them was quite visible.

"Okay, I'll take the Friday the Thirteenth rip-off and the gun boy. You think you can handle The Claw?" Asuka asks.

"I'll be fine. You be careful, alright?" Shinji asks.

"Awe, does Shinji finally care about me?" Asuka asks, winking.

"Let's get to work." Shinji says, cutting off the link.

Units 01 and 02 fired out of the carriers that held them and onto the ground. While Unit 02 ran at the two she had decided to attack, Shinji had Unit 01 rise up the particle rifle and fire at the Claw NIO. The NIO was hit back a little as Unit 01 fired constantly, and the energy shield he was hitting began to show signs of collapsing, but the NIO still walked at Shinji, clamping it's claw together in preparation for a strike against Shinji. Finally, the shield collapsed, and the gun's power drained totally. Shinji threw the gun to the side and readied the Progressive knife. The NIO came running at Unit 01, but Shinji was prepared. Unit 01 jumped into the air and kicked the NIO strait in the head when it approached, knocking it to the side. Unit 01 then grabbed the dazed NIO and aimed his progressive knife at the location of its power core.

"Shinji, don't! If you explode the core at this close-"

But Misato's warning was ill timed as Unit 01 slammed the knife into the NIO, exploding the core. The explosion's fire burned and melted some of the outer casing of the front of Unit 01 and sent it hurtling back into the mountain. Unit 01's arms were flailing, and its left arm collided straight through the installation, cutting it in a rugged half. As it was hit into the mountain, rocks and half of the mountain fell down onto Unit 01, covering the torso, most of the arms, and the head.

"Shinji?! Shinji?! Shinji, can you hear me?!" Asuka screamed as she disabled the last NIO.

Shinji awoke to find half his plug suit torn. He looked around himself, noticing a big chunk of rock sticking through half of the right side of the entry plug. He saw several wet holes beneath him, and noticed the LCL was gone, obviously having been drained out. He tried to move, and was met with a sharp pain in his lower-right side. He looked down to see a large gash leaking blood quickly. Shinji took some of the tattered remains of his plug suit and pressed it against the wound. It didn't help the pain much.

"Erg... Great. Buried underneath fifty tons of rock inside a giant artificially evolved human. I really screwed up this time..." he murmured to himself.

"Yeah, you certainly did."

Shinji didn't know where the voice had come from. He looked from one side of himself to the other, trying to understand what had happened. He suddenly looked in front of him to see the mysterious boy, sitting in front of him in his green plug suit.

"You really messed up on this one, Shinji." He said.

"Oh God, I'm delusional..." Shinji yelled.

"Maybe. Or Maybe I'm your self-esteem, finally here to give you a good kick in the butt." The boy said, smiling.

"Can't we just have a couple of cryptic mind messages and get it over with?" Shinji requests.

The boy's smile faded. "No. You aren't going to give me any of that Fundamentalist mind philosophy crap now, Ikari. You are going to sit here and listen to me while I explain to you what the hell is wrong with you."

Unit 02 began to dig into the mountain with its hands, trying to burrow in and get Shinji out.

"Asuka, stop! You could cause another rock fall from within and kill Shinji! Wait for the teams to get here and get him out!" Misato commanded.

Shinji saw his hands beginning to have bloodstains on them as he began to lose more and more blood from the wound.

"You know what your problem is, Shinji? You keep running away. You couldn't bear to live without seeing your father again, so you ran to him when he asked you to come. You couldn't accept the way NERV fought so you ran away twice, trying to find some meaning. Then you kept running into your own mind to find meaning, and that wasn't enough. You still didn't think you needed to live."

Shinji tried to say something, but stuttered as his voice began to lose strength.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You're too busy dying right now. I guess that's a little bit more important to you right now, eh? That's fine with me, because you've served your purpose, Shinji. Your life ain't worth spit now."

"But I have to do something!" Asuka screamed into the communications circuit.

"There's nothing you can do but offer emotional support to Shinji if he comes out alive." Misato says.

"He has to. Please God, he has to."

"You should start feeling really cold now, Shinji. Are you feeling cold?"

Shinji was sick and tired of listening. Sick and tired of hearing how he wasn't good enough or how his purpose has been served. He was sick of cryptic messages and dreams telling him to love life. He was sick of not wanting to live. Shinji grabbed onto a nearby lever, beginning to pull himself up.

"I want..." he muttered.

"Want? What do you want? What, after all this, could you possibly want?"

"I want to live!" he yelled, continuing to pull, but feeling the weight of the pain on him.

"Why? You'll just screw your life up again."

"Oh, you son of a-ARGH!" he screamed, still trying to get up.

The boy walked over to him. "Fine, you want to live? Then stand up, Shinji."

"I can't."

"You won't. I don't care how much it hurts! Stand up!"

Shinji was tired of being used. Tired of not getting what he wanted. Tired of waiting for his father to finally say he was proud of him. He knew only one real way to get him to say that, and so Shinji began to stand up.

"That's it, Shinji! Stand up and fight for what you believe in! Now stand up and get yourself out of here!"

Shinji began to push rocks out from atop him, still climbing up.

"Come on, Shinji! Don't give into the pain, because that's just another kind of running away! Do you want to live?"

"YES!"

"When will you give up?"

"NEVER!"

"When will you run away?"

"I WON'T!"

"Then get up on your feet and LIVE!"

Shinji roared with primal fury as he got up and began pushing away rocks, climbing up higher as he suddenly saw a piece of light shine through, and saw Asuka's plug suited hand pushing away rocks. Shinji helped with the last one, and their eyes met.

"Congratulations, Ikari. You're going to live."

The boy disappeared, and Shinji collapsed onto his back, smiling.

To Be Continued…