Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Longinus ❯ Act III - Hunt ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: see Act 0

As Shamshiel readies himself for his attack, Shinji greets the new day. The first day at his new school, Tokyo-3 Municipal Junior High School. What fate lies within the walls of the school are known to none but the Fates themselves.

The variable known as Ayanami Rei becomes more unstable as she begins to unravel and destroy the carefully laid plans of the Fates...

The Fates are angry...

Shinji made his way to school, still wondering why a warm-water penguin was doing in his guardian's home. He didn't understand it at all, but he assumed that whatever the reason was, it was probably a legitimate reason. Pen-pen, what a strange name...

The walk to the school was not the msot eventful. It was downright BORING. But he supposed that he couldn't exactly complain. He was new to the city, so it was understandable that he knew nobody here.

Upon reaching the school building, he saw the other students walking in, and so he followed them. He found his way to the class that he would be joining. 2-A. He looked down at the small scrap of paper.

Class 2-A
Class Representative: Horaki Hikari

With a heavy sigh, he shuffled into the classroom. Thankfully, nobody paid him too much attention. However, one person did.

"Are you the new transfer student?" a female voice queried.

Startled, he jerked up and found a young girl looking at him. She had brown hair and freckles. "Um, yeah."

"Ikari, right?"

He nodded. "You must be the Class Representative. Horaki-san, right?"

She smiled at him. "Yeah, that's me. Welcome to Class 2-A, Ikari-kun."

Hikari handed him a red laptop and a small 5 minute lecture began on how to use the laptop and what was expected of him from the class. Then again, the procedures of the school were not any different from any other school in Japan. So he nodded along and registered himself onto the school's network.

She left him shortly after to talk to her friends and once more, he was alone. Just then, the teacher walked in.

"Rise! Bow! Sit!"

The first day of Ikari Shinji's school career in Tokyo-3 began.

Pain burned in his hands and his feet. He was acutely aware of what was happening and what was expected of him. His eyes focused on nothing, concentrating on sending a prayer to the Heavens. He knew that he would die soon, he could feel the strength leave him.

So this was what it meant to the First Saviour of Mankind.

Suddenly, he felt a chill pass through his body. He looked around and found a soldier holding a large sword. Something...something about that sword called him, beckoned him to break free.

He knew he could. These restraints were nothing compared to him. He could easily have brimestone and sulphur rain down on these people, but no. He had been given power for a reason and he was responsible for it.

But that sword...it spoke to him.

"Did you think you could escape me...Loki?"

"Do you not remember your Servant...your faithful servant Longinus?"

Longinus...

And pain flared in his right side, the chilling laughter of Longinus hissing in his ear.

He slammed his eyes shut, feeling that same burning chill go through his body. Not now! He fought it with all he had, knowing that if he were found out now, he would probably end up transferring schools again. He still had the scars from one particularly nasty beating that had happened when he was ten.

It still burned, that scar, when the weather turned too stormy. It had been a rainy day, the raindrops had sent searing pain lacing through his back, but that was the moment when he had changed. He had stopped being a child.

He had given up on life.

The whispers did not reach him, but a sudden, soft beep alerted him. He catiously peered an eye opened and carefully checked his reflection in the glare of the laptop. Thankfully, his eyes were still their usual blue colour.

[ARE YOU THE NEW PILOT?: Y/N]
[YES]

Ayanami gazed impassively out of the school's windows. He could hear the disbelief as the students rushed to question her fellow Pilot. But she paid that no heed. All she wanted to figure out was the mystery that was Ikari Shinji.

What was it about him? What made her feel...terrified of him? He was, from what she had gathered so far a meek, shy, belligerant boy who had no respect for their superior who was his own father.

In simple, layman's terms...

...she disliked Ikari.

Those eyes of his hypnotized her with their intensity and mockery. They mocked her for her incomprehension, but an unknown lurked within them, waiting for her to be unaware before it devoured her like a hunter would devour its prey. She hated the feeling that he evoked in her, that feeling of helplessness and claustrophobia. She felt trapped in his gaze, as if a certain death would await her if she were to become too lost in those demonic eyes.

But nothing was wrong with Ikari.

Ikari was physically normal, looking like a regular human being. He was around 5'4" and at a slightly below average weight, but otherwise, there was nothing wrong with Ikari. But what made her feel as if she should stay as far away from him as possible? He was her fellow Pilot, she would have to be in contact with him.

The thought made her feel...scared.

Scared?

What was fear? She had never felt fear before. She knew what fear was supposed to be, she herself had never experienced that feeling of fear. He made her feel things that she had never felt before. He made her angry. He made her afraid. He made her frustrated. He confused her. He was like a puzzle wrapped in enigma, daring others to become lost in the path of finding out just who Ikari Shinji really was. He mocked her, taunted her to do it.

And that made Ayanami Rei very angry. She did not like knowing, she wanted to know everything. Not knowing could mean fatal errors or vital information overlookd that could lead to miscalculations. Her world was ruled by calculations and logic; nothing could ever disprove cold, hard facts.

The sky was bright, it was a cloudless day.

She felt it again.

That chill that always signified that something was coming. Would today be another day? Another attack? A quiet sigh escaped her, unnoticed by all the others. The students were still engrossed in Ikari and Evangelions. She continued to stare out the window, the chill rushing through her once more, this time with more force.

It would be coming soon.

He was thrown roughly down as the fist made impact with his face. He expected that when the boy and his friend had asked him to step outside after school. There would be no other reason for them to associate themselves with him.

Loki itched to return the favour with interest, but Shinji held him back. He raged. Why would a superior person like Ikari submit to these...worthless Lillum?! He howled and pushed, wanting to be free. He wanted to smash these stupid children and teach them a lesson.

But Ikari's will was stronger this time, he would not let him hurt these boys. Growling in frustration, Loki acquiesced to his vessel's wishes. For now.

Shinji sighed in relief as the boys walked away. He stayed down on the ground for some time, until a soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ikari, there is an emergency. I will go," she said quietly.

With that, Ayanami ran off. He watched her go for a few minutes, pulled himself off of the ground and followed after her.

Target center switch...pull trigger...

Shamshiel slithered through the streets, searching for the target. He stood up on its "legs" and faced something that rumbled and blinked. Was this the target? Was this the same being that had destroyed Sachiel?

And indeed it was.

The same copy of Lillith stepped forth, but he sensed it. A very strange being somewhere within the Lillith-clone. It was a powerful, dangerous being. He was now wary. It had defeated Sachiel with relative ease despite its inferior structure.

Suddenly, it disappeared. Damn it! Where did that aberration go?!

From nowhere, a hail of projectiles came at him and he was surprised. He raised his AT Field, easily deflecting and disintegrating the projectiles. Silly thing. He was invincible with his AT Field spread. A veil of smoke hid him now, and he grinned as he lashed out.

What surprised him was the fact that his arms were caught by the machine and then thrown aside. It came at him, low and fast like a panther.

Loki snarled as he brought a fist down onto the Angel's head, and then another. Then another and another. He pummeled it with all of his might, throwing punches when he could. He could hear the dim buzz of the com window but that did not matter. He would BEAT THE FUCKING SHIT OUT OF HIM!!!

He moved the body to use the console, throwing all of his strength and will into the punches. He would not lose to such a pathetic underling creature. He would NOT LOSE!

But it seemed that the Fates had other plans in mind. A small opening was all that it took to force Unit 01 back into a defensive position; a feeble one at that. It was continuously being lashed back by the tentacles, finally thrown miles against the mountain.

He looked at the Angel, snarling maliciously. This...creature dare try to defeat HIM?! The God of Destruction?! Shinji froze as two very familiar boys showed on his vid screen. It was those two boys! The same ones that had beat him up. Leave them Ikari said Loki. They're not worth it. Let them die.

"NO!" he shouted.

"Shinji! Let them into your entry plug! Hurry!"

They scrambled into the plug. Shinji could feel the tingling burn on his hands from the Eva. There wasn't much time left.

"KYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

Touji and Kensuke watched as the Pilot surged forward with a last, desperate attempt. Pain ran through the vessel, but he paid it no mind, nor the two boys. He was losing the connection with this large machine, but he had to defeat this. He would NOT lose!

"I WILL NOT LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU!!!"

The Progressive Knife stabbed into Shamshiel's core, sparks flew as Shamshiel tried to attack. But it was no use. The seconds were counting down, time was slipping through his fingers.

"KYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

...0

"Target is silent."

They all breathed a collective sigh of relief. However, they could not see the scene within the entry plug.

The image of a sobbing boy, a boy in pain.

A broken boy.

"Damn you Loki!" a voice screeched.

The image shimmered and faded away, leaving three women standing there. They were livid!

Loki was a cunning man, having been named the God of Trickery. The same God of Destruction was one of the most dangerous men in History, even in a History long forgotten by Man and Lillum alike. They were one and the same, mortals created by Gods in order to amuse themselves. They were pitiful, worthless creations, but necessary if they wanted to implement their Final Scenario.

But Loki...and that girl. The girl without a past, the empty vessel without a past. Loki was proving to be a sneaky bastard indeed. But what bothered them more was that girl, the girl with the red eyes and blue hair that had no past.

No! Nothing would ruin the plans of Fate! Nothing could ever sway the direction of Fate, so long as they were around to monitor it.

"He is becoming yet another unstable factor, sister," another voice murmured silkily. "He is to be eliminated."

"I must remind you sister, Loki resides within Shinji. We need Shinji for this Scenario. He is the Last One," the first voice replied.

"Must we use Ikari?" the voice queried. "The Second or the Fourth would be sufficient."

"No. The Second is unstable mentally, we have other plans for the Second. The Fourth is different, he is still a child, naive and ignorant."

She laughed. "They are all Children, sister. But I do see what you mean."

"Loki has to be kept alive if we want to use Shinji," one murmured. "Even if it displeases us, we must do what we must in order to fulfill the Scenario."

"That girl...that girl frightens me so," the third said reflectively. "She has no past. That is physically impossible. No person can be alive without a past."

They all nodded. It truly was impossible for this girl to be in possession of a soul without that soul having lived through past lives. Each soul was composed of shards of previous lives. Souls did not die, they merely housed themselves in other bodies until the body died. Some souls would become lost or be sent down to Hell or Heaven, depending on what kind of lives they had lived. Some souls were sucked into the Void, where they would exist but never die.

It was a cruel fate, really, to be left in the Void. It was a place where they became autonomous and unaware of their true selves. They would become machines for the Fates to use for their disposal.

But not Loki.

Loki was too smart, too dangerous to really make like that. To lose Loki's cunning mind and superior strength would mean that the Fates would one day be defied.

But now, it seemed that the Lillum would defy the Fates with Loki. Loki was not to be trusted, neither were the Lillum. This girl, this Lillum would answer to the Fates once she came to her time. It would be unavoidable.

The Fates had decreed it so.

Shinji looked over at his Guardian, a soft smile on his face. "Thank you, Misato-san."

She smiled at him. "No problem, Shinji-kun."

She fondly ruffled his hair before walking out of the Infirmary room. He sighed as he rested against the pillows. He looked down at his taped hands, still red and painful from the burns he received from the Angel.

By what he had been told, he should not have exactly gotten these burns. He knew that his synch ratio had not been steady in the moment of the battle with the two classmates in his entry plug. But he supposed that it was probably from before they entered his entry plug.

"Oh well..." he sighed. "I guess it's another of those things..."

He grimaced as his hand twitched. A lasting side-effect of doing what he did during that battle. More technological babble had been spewed at him to explain his injury, but it had gone straight over his head just like everything else.

Ritsuko walked into the room just then and looked at him pointedly. He fought back an urge to say something spiteful. "Shinji-kun, how are you feeling?"

"Other than the hands I'm fine Akagi-san," he answered.

"That's good. I've already informed Misato that you're being released," said Ritsuko.

He smiled and nodded. "Thank you Akagi-san."

"It's not a problem Shinji-kun," she said pleasantly.

I doubt that you are pleasant, Akagi Ritsuko. You have many secrets that you hide away from the world...but I know. I know all your dirty little secrets. You'll WISH you hadn't met me, Ritsuko. I'll make sure of it.

Loki smirked darkly as Ritsuko walked out of the room, malice shining in his amber-tinted Prussian blue eyes.

Shinji stood up and walked out of the room, wondering how to find his superior officer and guardian.

"He's like a hunter, waiting for its prey," commented Fuyutsuki.

"Indeed."

The two men watched the surveillance tape brought to them by Section 2, a surprising footage of the Third Child's...extracurricular exploits. Even Fuyutsuki shivered as he watched the lean boy fight, the sheer anger and raw fury exuding and pounding like a tsunami.

"What will you do about this, Gendou?"

Ikari Gendou watched as the Third Child -- no, his son -- sharply dodge. The sunglasses fell away from the boy's face to reveal the horrible secret. The secret of his son's true nature.

Amber eyes glinted with sadistic pleasure as the poor boy on the screen screamed. The scream was abruptly cut off as his neck was snapped; soft laughter followed shortly.

"For now, nothing."

"What?" said Fuyutuski. "He's dangerous!"

"He poses no danger. His affliction is irrelevant to the plans at hand," Gendou answered evenly. "Let him think that I do not know. Nothing will lead us astray from the plans."

Stiffly, almost contemptuously, Fuyutsuki bowed and left the room, leaving Gendou in the silence after the end of the footage.

In the silence after the rage.

End Act 3

Author's Notes
Wow, it seems that people are liking this a lot. As someone commented in a review, it is very difficult to balance Shinji's kind nature with Loki's destructive one. I've tried my best to show that in this fic with the fight between Touji and Shinji. It also shows that Loki's will can be overpowered by Shinji when it is required. I've put a scene here with the Fates discussing Ayanami and Loki and "alternate" possibilities (all nixed).

Thank you for the warm reception of the fic. I thought I was just a poor crazy little girl writing fanfiction in a state of delusional frenzy. ^^ I guess not. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews. Comments, criticisms, flames, blah blah blah is always welcome.

On to Act IV...

e-mail: sherazard_@hotmail.com