Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: Tribulations After ❯ Mana ( Chapter 9 )

Shinji picked up the ringing phone and put it to his ear. "Hello? Yes, this is Shinji."

Shinji's smile faded immediately. "Oh. Hello, Mana. Yes, it's been a long time. Saw me on TV? Oh, you mean the assault on the SEELE base."

Asuka walked into the room and Shinji gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I'll be there. Okay. Goodbye." Shinji slowly hung up the phone.

"Who was that, wonder boy? You look spooked." Asuka says.

"That was... Mana." Shinji replies.

"The bimbo who hit on you last year? Wasn't she also part of some organization to make robots like EVAs?" Asuka asks.

"Yes. I had Misato arrange for her a fake ID and sent her to a safe house in France. Since the Angels have been defeated, and that NERV is scheduled to disband at the beginning of next year, she thinks she should finally come back and we could be together..." Shinji explains.

"THAT LITTLE TEMPTRESS THINKS SHE'S GONNA STEAL MY BOYFRIEND!? I'LL RIP HER FACE OFF!" Asuka shouts.

"Asuka, we've been dating for three weeks now, you have to give me some time to think about this!"

"Think about what?! You don't seriously think you still love her, do you?!"

"Well..."

"Oh God! You are the most annoying guy I've ever dated! Now Kaji, he wouldn't turn his back on me..."

"He never dated you, and he slept with Misato."

Asuka slapped Shinji, leaving a red handprint on the left side of his face.

"Shut up, Shinji! You think you've got to choose? Then fine, choose quickly, because if you don't choose soon, that bimbo's head isn't going to be the only one on a platter!" she shouted.

Asuka walked out the front door and slammed it behind her. Shinji stared at the door for a few moments, and then looked down at the phone.

"I wish Kaji were here. He'd know what to do."

Misato looked into the small kitchen inside NERV and looked inside the refrigerator, pulling out a beer and some instant curry. She turned around to see someone with their feet on a nearby table reading the newspaper.

"Hey, Katsuragi, what do you got there?"

Misato recognized the voice as Tzadkiel, the mysterious boy who had recently been identified as the Second Angel. He put down the paper and got up. What he had been asking about was the report in her arms.

"I thought you were an Angel of Divine Justice. Shouldn't you be off judging someone?" Misato asks.

"Oh, but I am!" he said, putting his feet off the table. "I'm judging the Eighteenth Angel, known as Mankind, for their right to evolve into a higher state of being! So, what's on that little piece of paper you have there?"

"Considering there's no real way to hide this from someone like you, I'll tell you. It's a report stating that I have to go meet with the leaders of a Religious fanatics group who are threatening to invade and take over Japan unless their demands are met." Misato replied, opening the beer and putting the curry on the counter.

"How many followers of this little group are there? Millions? Billions?"

"Around three hundred."

"And how is this somehow a threat to Japan, with an army AND the Evangelions at your command?"

"Sometimes these kinds of small groups can take over larger ones. The United States, the country you're from, is an example."

"Well, technically, I was only American when my name was John, and have since merged the soul of John with the Angel of Divine Justice, Tzadkiel. And remember, the Americans won their Revolutionary War because they had better support, and the British had to send back to Great Britain for military support, and the Americans won. However, it's not always the case. Ever hear of a small militant group known as the Klu Klux Klan? They were a group of religious fanatics in white sheets. They burned crosses, performed ritual killings of blacks. Back in the nineteen thirties, they stormed Washington D.C. in an attempt to takeover. They got their asses pummeled. You know why? They actually had to pay people to be part of their little organization of racist idiots who wore bad ghost costumes."

"That was then, this is now. Who knows what they could have up their sleeve."

Misato prepared the curry to be made. "By the way, about Kaji's murder, I wanted to ask you-"

Tzadkiel was gone. Only the newspaper remained. "I really hate it when he does that."

Asuka sent another blow into the punching bag. She wore a red sleeveless shirt and black sweatpants. She was sweating heavily, mainly from the fact that she'd been hitting and kicking the same punching bag for an hour. She jumped and kicked the bag once more, and fell back down. The door for the gym she was in opened, and Rei walked in. She pulled back for a second and said, "Oh! I'm sorry; I didn't know you were in here. I can come back if you want."

Asuka leaned down onto her knees, panting. "No... No, it's all right. What are you doing here?"

"I've been trying some gymnastics out. It's really relaxing, you should try it." Rei says.

Asuka walks over to a bench and drinks from her water bottle. "Nah, I'm not lithe enough to try that. Taking out all my rage on this bag and pretending it's Ikari is enough."

"Speaking of which," Rei said, putting her bag down on another part of the bench. "Ever since you started dating, you've been coming here more often."

Asuka walked back over to the punching bag and started hitting it again. "Yeah, well dating baka-Shinji can do that to a person!"

"I don't think Mana ever did that."

"Leave that little bimbo out of this!"

"Well, Shinji told me about how she was coming back tomorrow."

"DOES NO ONE NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?!"

"Well, I think there are two guys down in the fifth guard of NERV who don't know a thing about it..."

Asuka stared blankly at her.

"A joke. You know, funny ha ha?" Rei asks.

"Shut up." Asuka says, punching the bag once more.

"You should really try gymnastics, it beats mutilating that poor punching bag all day."

"Oh, so Miss Vegetarian is now not just standing up for the rights of animals, but now for punching bags."

"Not liking meat is a life style choice I've come to accept from my previous versions. It's healthy and morally better."

"Morality and health can sometimes clash."

"Like you and Shinji."

"Leave Shinji out of this, Rei!"

"But this is about Shinji. You're doing this because you're afraid you're going to lose him to Mana."

"How. Can. I. Lose. To. That. Little. Bitch!" Asuka shouts, punching the bag at each word. She finally stopped and began to breathe fast again. Rei threw her the water bottle, which Asuka caught.

"I can't lose to her... Can I?"

"Well, that really wasn't the same me who was there when I first met her, I mostly have vague images of her, but you may have competition."

"Damn it... If Shinji-baka chooses her over me..."

"I'll be sure to give Misato the death notices."

Misato drove out of the parking lot and back to her apartment. She was noticing that with the added position of running NERV, she had to stay at the place longer than she wanted to. She knew Shinji would be all right for cooking; she was more concerned about herself getting lack of sleep and food from the job.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that once NERV shuts down, will you?"

Misato nearly swerved off of the road when she heard Tzadkiel's voice again. She quickly got back in control and looked to her side, seeing the Angel in his seat.

"Couldn't you give me a schedule of events for when you're going to SCARE ME HALF TO DEATH?!"

"I thought I had scared you half to death enough when we first met. You put a bullet in my head, and I walked out of it with a rather large headache."

"It's one thing to be scared in a dream, but being scared in real life can cause serious problems!"

"Nonsense! Dreams are just a different state of consciousness, one of the many that I can enter. Excuse me for a moment."

Tzadkiel put his hand out the window, and fired a white energy strand at a person and pulled the strand back. The man who had been hit by the strand fell to the ground, unconscious. Tzadkiel put the strand into a little ball, and showed it to Misato. The white ball was now beginning to show blackness in some areas.

"Did you kill him!?"

"No, just did my job: Divine Justice, like you wanted. Do you know what this is? This is that man's soul. Usually, souls come in a corporeal form, but since that man hasn't died yet, well, we'll have to settle with energy for now. Usually, souls are pure white with maybe a smidgen of black in an area or two. Do you know why this man has so many black spots?"

Misato shook her head.

"It's because this man has killed. By the looks of it, he's done it many times, and he's done it painfully and enjoyed every moment of doing it."

Tzadkiel breathed on the soul, and it disappeared. "There, back into his horrible little body."

"Why did you do that?"

"To show you that. To show you that you don't have a blackness on your soul, despite what you may think."

"Yes, but you must know that I-"

Misato turned her head back to Tzadkiel, but he was gone again.

"I really hate it when you do that!"

"I know. It's why I enjoy doing it so much." His voice replied.

Shinji sat on the bench, watching Mana's train come in. He stood up as it slowly came to a stop, and he looked both ways for where she would get off. He saw her to his left, and he walked over to her as she got off the train, not carrying any luggage and her brown hair moving about the wind.

"Shinji! Listen, I have to tell you this really quickly-" she said.

"No, wait. Mana, I've been thinking about you coming back here, and I have to tell you this: I've fallen in love with someone else." Shinji said.

Mana just blinked for a few seconds. "Okay..."

"I know you were hoping to see me again because of what we had before I sent you to the safe house, but we can't have it again. She's a great girl, and she'd frankly kill both you and me if I chose you."

"Do you love her?"

"Yes."

"Then go to her, you baka! Don't just stand around talking to me!"

Shinji smiled and hugged her. "How come you're so perfect?"

"Beats me, Shinji. Goodbye. I'll always remember you."

"And I you."

Shinji turned around and walked away. Mana got back on board the train and sat down next to the boy she was with.

"Did you tell him?" he asked.

"Didn't need to. Turns out he's seeing someone else."

"The kid doesn't know what he's giving up."

"Oh, I bet he knows, Andrew."

The two embraced and kissed.

Shinji walked back home slowly. He thought about whether he had made the right choice or not, and how his decision would affect Asuka.

"She's gonna be practically begging you to sleep with her for choosing her." Tzadkiel says, appearing next to him.

"And just where were you during all this? The last few weeks, every time I had some sort of emotional crisis you were always giving me pep talks." Shinji states.

"I had business of my own to attend to. Judgment doesn't just give itself out, you know." He says.

"Yeah. Anything like this ever happen to you?" Shinji asks.

Tzadkiel put his arm around Shinji's shoulders and says, "Shinji, let me tell you about this girl named Amelia..."

To Be Continued...