Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Neon Genesis Evangelion - Second Coming ❯ Be still my ever raging Voice ( Chapter 4 )

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Second Coming

Chapter Four - Be still my ever raging Voice

Shinji sighed as he stared into Asuka's room. After she'd told NERV that there was no way in hell she was going to pilot again they refused to let her leave the Geofront. He'd also failed to get in touch with Touji after calling him at home. Misato also seemed to be out leaving Shinji as the sole person in the house. But at least Hikari had said she would be bringing Pen-Pen in today so Shinji could take the penguin home.

The doorbell rang signalling that Kensuke had arrived at his door. Kensuke had called him up at the dead of night to tell him how absolutely happy he was. The conversation had taken an hour to end and in all that time Shinji hadn't managed to say a word. He was sure it was going to be a hard day at school if that was all Kensuke could talk about. And he wondered how many people would be asking him who piloted it.

`Shinji are you in there? Hey man come on. We'll be late if you don't get your ass in gear. And tell Misato I said hello,' as Kensuke finished the door opened and Shinji stepped out. He handed Kensuke his bag and set about locking the door behind him.

`Sorry but Misato didn't come home. I think she had to work late because of the new set of Angels. We did have fifteen years to wait first time round remember?' Shinji waved his hand complacently still not getting Touji and Kensuke's obsession with the older woman. Sure she was attractive but she was a terrible person to live with. He could imagine Kensuke braving her cooking just to be close to her. He decided to invite both boys over one day when Misato was cooking.

`Hey where's "she who must not be named"? Oh well who cares she'd just be insulting us while we walked to school,' Kensuke seemed to brighten at the idea of not having to see Asuka. Shinji for a moment began to defend her but couldn't find a good enough excuse fro why Kensuke shouldn't' insult her apart from the fact that she would beat him senseless. But with Asuka being held at NERV he didn't really want to talk about her.

`Have you talked to Touji since yesterday?' asked Shinji jolting Kensuke out of him fantasy of a world without Asuka.

`Yeah I talked to him this morning. Said he was coming to school with a surprise. Apparently NERV gave him something that made him very happy,' Shinji wondered whether Kensuke meant that as in a present or in the form of a drug.

`Thank you Major General Stone. I am glad that at least one of the committee is still behind me. But is Old Man Keel finds out what you are sending me he will be very displeased,' Gendo stared at the man in front of him. A massive brute of a man Major General Sam Stone had replaced the previous American member of the SEELE committee after his impromptu death. But Stone proved to be more helpful towards him. Maybe it came from him being the head of NERV America.

`You are very welcome Commander Ikari. Our governments are very much alike. And I am more than willing to send you Eva Unit 04. Unfortunately my predecessor sent the half-completed Unit 08 to Germany before he had that unfortunate accident. If not for being dead I would have guessed it was your Mr Kaji that did the deed,' Stone's form flickered as the man let out a throaty laugh.

`Yes it is a shame that Agent Kaji was killed. However Unit 08 will not be a problem. I do not have another spare pilot for it right at the moment,' Gendo remained passive compared to his counterpart who seemed to be rather enjoying their communication. However reports from Section Two seemed to indicate that Unit 08 was still in America but there was no reason to take it. It was as Gendo said not needed.

`Yes my friend I'm sure it won't be. Somebody needs to take the old man down and I will very much enjoy watching you deal with him. Unfortunately I must go now,' Stone disappeared quicker than Gendo could say goodbye but then he wasn't planning on anyway so it wasn't much of a problem anyway. A shadow suddenly appeared behind him causing him to smile. It was someone he'd been expecting anyway.

Shinji found himself swamped by people as he came into school. It was as he'd thought inevitable since it had been some time since an Angel attack had been reported, since Tabris had only been known about by people who had been at the Geofront that day. And the previous two had attacked after everyone had been evacuated from Tokyo-3. That and everyone knew that Touji had been the pilot of Eva 03.

`Hey Ikari who was piloting the other Eva? Was it Asuka, she's just so damn good looking,' an older boy grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him away. Shinji felt uncomfortable as someone rambled on about Asuka's breasts and how much he wanted to fondle them.

`Hey Shintaro, ya dickhead. Rei's ten times the women Asuka is,' another boy in the same class stood up pushing Shinji out of the way. Soon a heated argument had formed between those who supported Asuka and those who supported Rei. Shinji felt several sweatdrops forming all over his head as he stared at the mass amount of idiots.

`Mr Ikari was it?' Shinji spun around to find himself staring into Pen-Pen's eyes. The bird gave out a large squawk before he was put down. Shinji found himself looking into the eyes of the class representative Hikari Horaki. He almost wondered who she meant when he remembered a conversation he'd had with Asuka once. In it Asuka exclaimed he disgust that her best friend Hikari could be interested in a moron like Touji Suzuhara.

`No Touji's fine. If you can keep a secret I'll tell you who it was,' he waved Hikari to come closer and tugged on her ear. `It was Kensuke in Eva 03,' he whispered quietly hoping that nobody else would hear. But he had no such luck as the other crowd suddenly all went silent and spun around to face him.

`Wait we talking bout Nerd-Boy Kensuke or another one. You know boy with glasses and dirty blond hair,' Shintaro stood forwards unable to comprehend that anyone would let Kensuke Aida near a weapon of mass destruction. Others started murmuring their agreement.

`Yeah if you remember he was arrested for pointing a gun at one of the teachers a couple of months ago,' yelled someone that Shinji recognised as being in his class. Everyone suddenly turned to face that boy shocked at this revelation.

`He's exaggerating. Kensuke had just got a new imitation sidearm fro his collection. But when he was showing me the teacher saw it and asked him what he had in his hands. So Kensuke showed him and the teacher ran screaming out of the room,' Shinji tried to defend his friends actions but this didn't seem to change the mass' opinion of the bespectacled boy. However as he searched for Kensuke he found him to be nowhere.

`Mr Ikari I think Kensuke went inside for some reason,' said Hikari quietly and she managed to speak without the crowds hearing her. As the crowd started arguing again as one kid commented that Misato was more attractive than both pilots the two teenagers slipped away and into the school.

As Shinji and Hikari walked towards the classroom they saw Kensuke's head pop out of the door. On his face was one of total shock and he gestured for the other two to hurry up. Of course the two ran into the room and stopped to catch the breath as they reached it.

`So Mr Aida what have you got to show us?' said a panting and exhausted class representative as her and Shinji came into Kensuke's view. He however just pointed to where the teacher sat. Somebody sat on the teacher's chair with his legs crossed on top of the desk. He flashed the two the victory sign with his fingers.

`Hey Shinji, hey Class Rep,' the unmistakable voice of Touji came over from where he sat. Purposely he sat there with one trouser leg and the sleeve of his tracksuit rolled up. They could both see the polished black surface of the prosthetic limbs and they realised what had happened.

`How the hell did you manage to get those Mr Suzuhara?' asked Hikari politely. Shinji was just about to ask the question himself but part of him knew that NERV was involved and whenever NERV was involved there was always a hefty price to pay, the loss of his limbs had been the price for his sisters placement in a better hospital.

`NERV gave me them. But they want me ta do something for them in return,' Touji trailed off and Shinji found himself wondering why they needed Touji when they had another pilot for Unit 03.

`I assume its piloting. But if Kensuke pilots Unit 03 what have they got for you?' Shinji knew that there was no way Touji would go back into Unit 03 anyway. And Asuka would kill anyone who touched her Unit 02. Does this mean they want him to pilot Rei's Unit 00?

`Apparently the American branch is sending over the new and improved Unit 04. I'll be piloting that,' Touji beamed at the newest Eva being his.

`But didn't it explode after they tried to use an S^2 engine in it,' Shinji wondered how Kensuke had got his hands on such classified information but decided he was better off not knowing.

`Yeah but apparently they've tried it again and it works. I'll be going to look at it later on,' Touji saw the expression on the class representative's face and felt a slight twinge of sorrow from the look in her face.

`But you could get hurt again,' Hikari stood there as tears began to form. Kensuke and Touji just shrugged unable to deal with a crying girl. But Shinji was used to Misato's impromptu bursts of crying and Asuka's uncharacteristic sobbing and so moved to comfort her as the other students started coming in.

`Rise, bow, sit,' Hikari looked a lot better than a minute ago but Shinji knew she was still shook up about Touji's words.

Of course he was also reprehensive. Kensuke had only just managed to get the last Angel from behind and Touji had his Eva possessed by an Angel. What if one of them died in an Eva? At least Rei and Asuka and been heavily trained for it.

`Ikari,' the soft pronouncing of his name could be nobody but Hikari. And sure enough she had sat next to him in the hopes of being able to talk about Touji. Shinji however found that to be one subject he wasn't fond of talking about. Luckily the teacher was to provide them with a suitable distraction.

`Today I would like to announce that we have a new student. I would like you to meet Ichiro Yutada,' Shinji looked up at the pale blond haired boy standing at the front of the classroom. Shinji assumed from the fair skin, pale blond hair and bright blue eyes that he couldn't totally be Japanese. The only kid in their class to have blond hair was Kensuke and his was a dusty blond, almost brown.

`My name is Ichiro Yutada, as you know. I moved here from New Osaka. I like to play baseball and hope someday to play for one of the major teams,' the boy seemed straightforward which was a great difference to Kaworu who had been obviously odd from the beginning whereas this boy was normal.

`Okay sit on that side of Mr Ikari,' the teacher waved to the empty seat beside Shinji which would have held Asuka had she been at school.

`Hello Mr Ikari. I hear you are one of the pilots. I must thank you for saving the world from the Angels all those times,' Shinji felt a blush from the praise he was receiving. But didn't this boy know that the Angels weren't gone for good? Didn't he read about the last attack?

`Um thank you very much,' Shinji was unsure about how he should take the compliments. He also found it hard to reply to praise that was actually sincere.

`Where is Asuka Langely Sohryu? I was looking forward to meeting her,' Shinji wondered why he didn't ask about Rei. But then maybe he was a member of the crowd that were in love with Asuka. From the looks of him Shinji assumed Asuka would like to meet him.

`Well she can't come to school at the moment. She's not feeling well,' Shinji found his lie to be convincing. But it turned out to be too convincing and he found Hikari, and several other concerned students, turning to face him.

`Oh well I'm sure I will see her soon,' Ichiro turned away to take some notes from the teacher's lecture. Today he was ranting about the Second Impact once again.

`Is she really not feeling well? Did she get hurt in her Eva?' Hikari was very worried for her friend. Soon a mob of boys had whipped themselves into a frenzy and were preparing to go find Asuka and make her feel well again. Shinji was very embarrassed buy his classmate's actions and concentrated on the computer screen which he was reading a book off of.

Asuka stared up at Unit 02's head. The eyes just stared back as if challenging her to fight it. She still felt the fear that she had felt when she went up in the Evangelion and it refused to move. But somehow she couldn't work out what was wrong with it. Somehow it looked different to what it had been like last time.

Of course had she had looked harder she would have been able to see the scar caused in the battle between Units 01 and 02 when her Eva had been possessed by Kaworu. Of course nobody was going to tell Asuka that somebody else touched her Evangelion. She didn't even like it when the technicians touched it.

`Why didn't you work for me? What are you? Why are we fighting the Angels?' she found the endless tirade of questions flowed off her tongue easily. Of course the Eva didn't respond to any of these questions.

Her hand extended to whatever metal she could find. Oddly she found her hand touching its knee. The cold reassuring feel was great and she longed to be inside it once more.

`No I don't want to pilot again. I don't want to get hurt again. I don't want to feel pain. I don't,' but deep down she did. She wanted to slip into the vile tasting LCL and feel the familiar sensation of piloting.

`Pilot Sohryu have you changed your mind yet? Will you pilot? Or will we send you home to Germany and cut off all connections between NERV and you?' Fuyutsuki was standing beside her issuing the final ultimatum. There was no more time for her to think about it now.

`I will do it,' she felt weak. They'd defeated her once more.

And so she departed the Geofront, in the company of two Section Two agents, towards Misato's flat. Depression filled her mind as she knew that this time she would have to pilot until either her or the Angels were dead. There was no way to run away from her problems.

But then nobody could run from their problems forever.

Shinji looked aside at Asuka. It had been four days since she came home from NERV. In those four days she hadn't said anything but "yes" or "no" to him or Misato. And the look on her face gave him great sadness.

But finally she had said she was going to school. She looked much better and even insulted Shinji, he'd never realised how much he was reassured by her taunting. So there they were walking along the streets of Tokyo-3 towards school. He was glad that both Touji and Kensuke had promised not to insult her.

`Hey Shinji. Hey bitch,' of course Shinji couldn't ever trust Touji to not insult Asuka. And there were Hikari and Kensuke sitting behind him with apologetic looks on their faces.

`Hey moron,' the walk continued on like that with Touji insulting Asuka and her insulting him back. It was a reassuring sight and one Shinji was glad to see again. However neither truly put their heart into it. They'd both been beaten by NERV and would once more do the one thing they said they would never do again.

`Sohryu,' yelled a voice that had over the last few days became very familiar to all but Asuka. But Ichiro obviously recognised her from a picture or something. That's when Shinji noticed the look in his new friend's eyes. A look of pure hate. A look he'd seen on people whose family had been hurt in Angel attacks.

`Yeah who the hell are you?' Asuka wasn't taking any crap from some kid she'd never met. She'd only decided to go to school today and now she was already being disturbed.

`Um this is Ichiro Yutada, he's a new kid in our class,' Shinji smiled meekly at her and hoped Ichiro would calm down. However the blond haired boy was furious and all his anger was directed at Asuka.

`But now my goal is at an end I will get revenge on the girl who hurt my brother,' Ichiro's face curled into a snarl as he stared into Asuka's eyes. Shinji swore he saw he back down a bit.

`Hey she can't help it. Sometimes people get hurt by Evas. But in the end more they save more than they kill,' Hikari came to her friend's defence as Touji and Kensuke both agreed. Ichiro just laughed at this situation, obviously he thought there was more to this situation than they did.

`Ah but she went out of her way to kill my brother. She killed him viciously even though he'd done nothing to deserve it. And she killed many others who I loved like they were brothers so I'll never see them again,' his tone was threatening and familiar. The wind was blowing violently and Ichiro's stare was forcing Asuka to wilt like a dying flower.

`I'm sure she didn't kill them on purpose. She doesn't kill humans on purpose. She tries to save them. That's what the Evangelions were created for,' Shinji also came to her defence knowing that what he said was true. Asuka simply didn't know enough people in Japan to hate any of them that much.

`He's not human. You're not human. And they weren't human. I'm right aren't I?' Shinji couldn't understand where Asuka was going with this or what she was talking about. If Ichiro wasn't human then what was he? Was Asuka saying that he was an Angel? No he couldn't be. Could he?

`I see you know the truth. Then there's no reason to disguise myself. I am brother to Sandalphon. I am the voice of Him above us. I am the Metatron and I will make sure you are all destroyed,' Shinji now knew why the boy had wanted to see Asuka. She'd been the sole killer of the eighth Angel, the one designated as Saldalphon. She'd gone into the volcano alone and slew it. But the boy standing before them bore no resemblance to the creature, from images he'd seen.

`But how could you be?' asked Touji unsure of how an Angel could take human form, Shinji thought. Of course they hadn't seen Kaworu and in hindsight Shinji knew he should have been prepared for another Angel that took the form of the Lillim, as Kaworu had called them.

`That is unimportant. However I am but a messenger and cannot fight the Lillim myself. But I will see you dead for the death of my brother and I will see the Lillim dead for their sins against Him,' Shinji noticed everyone tensing. However he knew that it would all be futile. Even if he was just a messenger he still had an AT field. And if he used it they would probably be destroyed.

`Shut up you idiot. You don't know what you're talking about,' Asuka wasn't able to continue her tirade as sirens started going off. The sirens that indicated an Angel approaching the city. And they should have already been at NERV. Ichiro, or Metatron as he should be properly called, had been distracting them. And they'd fell for it.

`They come and bring destruction with them. Know that your destruction also comes with them as well as that of your false gods,' the boy that was not a boy just laughed as Asuka pouted and the four pilots and Hikari set off towards the Geofront. There was no longer time to spare.

And He sent his last messenger to test humanity. And this messenger found humanity to be guilty for its crimes.