Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: Tribulations After ❯ Who are You? ( Chapter 8 )

Asuka angrily swallowed the sobriety pill as she was running down the halls of NERV. "It tastes horrible!" she exclaims.

Shinji ran next to her, however he was already sober, learning his lesson when he first tried to drink alcohol when he brought all the girls on a night on the town. "Well, I'm sorry, but we have to sober you up quickly! The energy that they're detecting in the lower levels is like an Angel's! The AT field it's picking up is unlike anything they've ever seen before!" Shinji shouts.

"Why'd they need us? Couldn't they have Misato take care of it?" Asuka asks.

"Misato and Ritsuko were right next to the energy when they detected it!" Shinji explains.

Finally, the two turned the last corner and saw several NERV security officers holding automatic rifles up at the door, but not moving any closer. Shinji and Asuka ran past them and into the large room. They stopped and gaped at the sight before them. Misato was curled up in a ball, crying on the floor and screaming, and the mysterious boy stood over Ritsuko, touching her forehead as she screamed in agony. Electronic equipment everywhere was exploding, and the ground was rumbling somewhat.

"I thought I taught you about hell the last time you went poking around in things that didn't concern you. Apparently, I didn't teach you enough!" the boy shouts.

"Give me a weapon!" Asuka shouted to the guards. One of them picked up another rifle and threw it to her. She grabbed it in the air and aimed it at the mysterious boy. She immediately shot half the clip at the boy, but each bullet stopped and ricocheted off of the AT field he was generating. It did, however, get his attention. He let go of Ritsuko, and she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

The boy's eyes turned a bright blue, and a current of air seemed to come from him at Asuka, and when it reached three feet away from her, the ground exploded in front of her, smashing debris and chunks of the floor into her and into a wall.

"Asuka!" Shinji exclaimed.

Another piece of debris was moved telekinetically by the boy, who smashed it into Shinji and he fell back through the doorway as the boy made his way towards Asuka. Another guard ran over to Shinji and helped him up. He handed him a strange looking rifle.

"It's a particle disseminator, latest tech from the labs. I've been authorized to give it to you to stop that thing." The guard says.

Shinji nodded, and readied himself. He ran back in and aimed it at the mysterious boy. He was almost to Asuka, and Shinji shouted, "Move and your dead, kid!"

The boy turned his head towards Shinji. "And I say I'm dead, and I move."

He then turned his entire body towards Shinji. Shinji, in a fit of rage, opened fire, launching a beam of concentrated yellow energy at the boy. The boy, quite surprisingly, only raised a hand up to block it. However, as soon as it hit the boy's hand, it merely gathered around his hand, and then ricocheted away back at Shinji. He stopped firing and jumped to the side as the reflected beam hit a nearby wall, annihilating it.

The boy turned around to Asuka again; preparing to touch his hand on her head and show her the things she had shown Misato and Ritsuko. However, a female voice shouted, "Stop it!"

The boy turned around and saw Rei in the doorway, holding another rifle. The boy just stared at her, and then put his hand down. He walked over to Misato and touched her forehead. She suddenly stopped crying and fell asleep. He then walked over to Ritsuko and repeated the same thing with Misato, except Ritsuko was already asleep.

"I've removed what I've done from their minds. They'll wake up feeling like a billion yen. I'm sorry for what I did. Tell your guards to stand down, and when Misato and Ritsuko come to, I'll explain everything. Who I am, how I can do what I do, and how I know all the things I know."

Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato, Ritsuko, and the mysterious boy all stood in Misato's office. Everyone was around the mysterious boy as he leaned up against Misato's desk. The boy looked at them, and then began: "You know, you people have kept asking me ever since you met me, `Who are you?' and `What do you want?'. The truth is, the questions `Who are you?' and `What do you want?' are very dangerous questions. To ask someone who they are is not just a question of names, it's a question of their identity. Who are they to someone else, to the world, to themselves. It can be used against you in ways you could never imagine. And what do you want? Asking someone what they truly want can bring about change in people. It's a, `be careful what you wish for' question.

"My story begins in the year 2000. I was the son of two people part of an American research team sent to Antarctica that was investing possible DNA structures of human beings in the ice. Along with me was my girlfriend, Amelia. Then, one night, Second Impact fell on us.

"We didn't comprehend what was truly happening until it was too late. The explosion killed everyone in the team, and only one of us were of faith to God, so instead of being placed in Heaven or Hell, well… Have any of you read Dante's Inferno?"

Everyone shook his or her head. The mysterious boy continued: "There is a place in between heaven and hell. It is a place of grayness. Of neutrality. But that neutrality comes at a horrible expense. The apathy field it generates can reduce someone to tears the second they arrive. It sends out waves of pain and sadness into your very soul, ripping your sanity to shreds. It's a purgatory; a place for souls who have lived good lives, but did not embrace God when they were given the chance. They must stay there and choose, Heaven or Hell."

"But that seems like a fairly obvious choice to make. You're saying you really died?" Shinji asks.

"It's not as easy a choice as one may think. Someone may be so devoted to the beliefs they have that they'll embrace Satan, believing him to be what they want. Others crawl to him because they cannot take the pain from the Purgatory much more. I finally made my choice. I went to Heaven, and I learned the truth of Second Impact. SEELE was playing with humans in their own game of wanting evolution for us all! However, Heaven wanted to know if Earth was truly ready for evolution to a higher plane of existence. They chose seventeen Angels to go to earth, each one representing some element of earth or life itself to see if humans could overcome them. Adam and Lillith were already on Earth, preparing themselves for the inevitable. Adam was reduced to an embryonic state, which has been returned to Heaven. Lillith is not what you think she is."

"I know. That list of Angels didn't have her classified as the Second Angel. Why?" Ritsuko asks.

"Lillith was Adam's first wife, before Eve. However, Lillith was different. She didn't need the stinkin' apple to turn on God's wishes. After Adam and Lillith had children, and Eve was given to Adam, Lillith became a figure known for attacking rather small children and seducing men in their sleep. God then imprisoned Lillith, beneath the earth in what you call Central Dogma. It was there that humans discovered her. However, because of Lillith's crime of betrayal and her redemption recently, she was more like 00 Angel, having no part in the decision of your evolution, but necessary for it to occur. Also, ever wonder Rei's EVA was designed Unit 00?"

"I thought it was because it was a prototype." Rei stated.

"No. It was named Unit 00 because it was the first successful copy of the Angel 00. However, when they created the rest of the EVAs, to cover up for the entire Unit 00 thing, they started adding the designation up, giving Shinji Unit 01, Asuka Unit 02, etc."

"Okay, so we know you're an actual Angel, unlike the ones we fought." Misato says.

"No, no, no! Those were actual Angels, too! In the beginning, God had eighteen different forms to pick for what would become what you are today. He made the move of choosing the one in his own image, and might I say he made a great choice, and the other seventeen forms were brought back into Heaven, excluding the Adam and Lillith models."

"Okay, there's still one more thing I don't understand, if Lillith isn't the Second Angel, who is the Second Angel? Who is Tzadkiel?" Ritsuko asks.

The mysterious boy breathed deeply for about ten seconds, and then replied: "Each Angel represented something that either had to do with the earth or human life. For Lillith, it was the Black Moon. For Adam, it was the Red Earth. For Sachiel, it was Water. For Shamshel, it was Day. For Ramiel, it was Thunder. For Gaghiel, it was Fish. For Israfel, it was Art and music. For Sandalphon, it was Embryos. For Matariel, it was Rain. For Sahaquiel, it was Sky. For Ireul, it was Fear. For Leliel, it was Night. For Bardiel, better known as Unit 03, it was Parasites. For Zereul, it was Might. For Arael, it was Birds, bet you didn't figure that one out, Asuka. For Armisael, it was Womb. And for Tabris, better known as Kaoru Nagisa, God rest his soul, it was Free Will. And for Tzadkiel, the Second Angel, it is Divine Justice."

"How come we never heard about this guy before?" Asuka asks.

"Because they honest to God don't know anything about him. He only appears once in a while and doesn't destroy anything. He's still making the final decision about you people and whether or not you deserve judgment."

"I still don't get it. So you're a real Angel, but that doesn't explain why you've helped us, why you're explaining this to us, why you've been so secretive, and just who are you?! Who is the Second Angel?!" Shinji exclaims.

The mysterious boy walked right up an inch from Shinji's face and replies, "Who was there at Second Impact? Who's been watching over every one of you since day one? Who's the one who has been watching every single Angel attack, who was the one that snapped you all out of a dream created by SEELE? Who's the one standing in front of you, explaining every detail of your life to you rather thoroughly?!"

Shinji gaped, as he suddenly understood. "YOU'RE the Second Angel!"

The mysterious boy put his head down and began to laugh. Slowly, glowing white wings began to come out of his back and flow behind him as his clothes changed to a pearly white. He began to grow larger, and his arms melted into tentacles, three more forming from him. He put up his head at Shinji, his eyes now glowing white.

"I am Tzadkiel, the Angel of Justice. Pleased to meet you, Shinji Ikari."

And right after that, Tzadkiel reverted back to his earlier state. Everyone merely gaped and stared at him as Tzadkiel smiled.

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Misato asks.

"Because of you, Misato! You still have a passion for killing divine beings ever since your father died. And fact is, if you knew what I was, you would be afraid of me! I consider you guys my friends, but if you knew I was the same creature as the ones you were fighting for a year… Well, it would put a halt on plans for another of Shinji Ikari sponsored Night on the Town. Also, I'm technically not allowed to have told you."

"Oh come on, Tzadkiel, we're not afraid of you now, we trust you now!" Shinji says.

"I beg your pardon?" Tzadkiel asks.

"You've been helping us since day one. You've been behind the scenes, caring about us when nearly everyone else cared only about the mission." Rei says.

"And now you've told us who you are and we know what you're capable of, but we'll take the risk of pissing you off because that's what friends do." Misato says.

"Just don't try to teach us about hell ever again." Ritsuko says.

"Agreed." Tzadkiel says, putting his hand out and shook it with Ritsuko's.

"Now, if all that is over with, what're we all standing around for!? We're all here, there's no more Angels to handle, SEELE's finished, and Shinji and Asuka just got back from their date! I say we have a party!" Tzadkiel shouts.

"You're definitely different from the other Angels." Misato says.

"I'm the white sheep of the family. Hey, can we get a keg down here? And some nachos? And possibly a big screen TV with every episode of Babylon 5 known to man?" Tzadkiel asks into the speaker phone.

To Be Continued…