This fanfic was written by me.
Preface: This fic is a WYDS(What you didn't see) from "The End of Evangelion." The movie, as well as the entire "Evangelion" saga, is not an anime that gives you recognizable answers, but one that makes you think, make inferences, and leaves much up to the imagination. I could watch "The End of Evangelion"(and a few select episodes) many times over and still find and learn something new, or get a different feeling than I had before.
Though the movie does answer many questions left from the TV series, it ends up leaving a few of its own. Since it was never established exactly what happened to Asuka after her Eva was destroyed by the other Eva Units, nor how she ended up, bandaged, beside Shinji in the final scene, I got the urge to write a fan fic that fills in this gap(And I'm sure that I'm not the only one). I don't believe that Asuka died when her Eva was destroyed because if she had, we would've seen her revert to LCL in the same way that all the other characters did. Even Misato, Ritsuko, and all the people at NERV who were killed before the actual initiation of Third Impact were turned to LCL by Rei. But Asuka didn't, and I believe it's because she was protected by her Eva's soul, the same way that Shinji was, which is why they are the only survivors at the end. Also, it seemed strange to me that all of the important characters in "Evangelion" played a part during the rise of Third Impact in the movie, but the Eva pilots' classmates, Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari, were absent from it. Even secondary characters like Maya, Hyuga, and Aoba were given fairly decent roles in the movie, and much more insight was given to their character. Personally, I think that Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari are just as important. Since they bring out different actions and emotions from Shinji and Asuka, I wanted to have them in my fic as well. The last we hear of Toji and Kensuke is in episode 24. When Shinji is standing by the beach before he meets Kaworu, he says that Toji's and Kensuke's homes had been destroyed and that they had left. So I had to work with that information, and find some way for them to have a role in Third Impact, even though they supposedly left Neo Tokyo-3. The last we see of Hikari is in episode 23, when Asuka is staying at her house, and the last we hear of her is in the episode after, when Misato tells Pen Pen that she's going to leave him with Horaki-san(Hikari's last name) for a while. Since it's not said whether Hikari left the city or not, I found a way to get her into my story anyway(along with Pen Pen, of course).
Another thing that bothered me in the movie was the fact that we see all that goes on in Shinji's mind during Third Impact, and how he finally manages to come to some kind of grip with himself in the end after realizing many things about life and existence, and the relationships with the people he knows. He even gets to see his mother at the very end before falling back to Earth. And yet, what happens to Asuka at the same time is a total mystery. Even though they both somehow end up in the same situation at the end of the movie, we don't know if Asuka established any new realizations about herself and the world the way Shinji did. Since she's my favorite character, I wanted to give her a similar "self-conclusion."
My goal was to make this fic as true to the story and characters as I could, and give it the memorable and evocative feel that Hideaki Anno brilliantly brings to "Neon Genesis Evangelion." I added in a few events that were never shown in the episodes, but that could've happened(and would make sense if they did). I wanted this fic to follow the "Evangelion" stroy arc so perfectly, that there'd be no way of proving that what occurs in it didn't happen in "The End of Evangelion." Sure hope I've done a satisfactory job! Please enjoy! ^_^
Author’s Note: I use a few Japanese words in this fic, so if you don’t know what they mean, here’s a rundown of the most prominent ones:
Introduction
The genesis of a great and terrible change was arising. Whether this change was to be for the betterment or belittlement of the world could be endlessly debated. The earth trembled under this unknown breakthrough, and the tentative peace that the people were discreetly hoping for was beginning to become more and more further from reach because of the shattered relations of those who were to decide the fate of mankind. A storm of uncertainty was fiercely blowing through what remained of the human race as they struggled to hold onto an invisible "hope" with their hearts and souls while trying to flee from the merciless turmoil of reality with their bodies and minds.
The once prominent city of Neo Tokyo-3, which stood with unfaltering sturdiness against the invading Angels, now crumbled from an attack not by alien beings, but by its own human brethren. The troops of the JSSDF moved like sinister black cobras through the various rooms and paths of a vulnerable and vastly degrading NERV Headquarters, with minds set to destroy every living thing along their way in their attempt to seize control of the mysterious robots that they barely understood. With innumerable amounts of bullets and bombs at their disposal, they unleashed these weapons with steady hands and unbatting eyes against the panicked and distraught people of NERV. Horrified screams, muffled by the splattering of blood, clanging of bullets, and detonating of bombs made this once renowned center of human prosperity weep.
The city's Geo Front, too, shook under the unanticipated invasion. Most of its buildings and houses had already fallen as a result of the final Angel attacks as well as the explosion caused when Evangelion Unit 00 blew up with an N^2 mine. The buildings lay discarded and crumbled amongst battered telephone poles and chunks of concrete that drifted aimlessly and forgotten in the sea. Disregarding the shouts and explosions that rumbled NERV Headquarters, and the tanks and missile launchers that stood poised along the forested area around it, the Geo Front lay mostly in scattered ruins and was quite deserted. This was due to the fact that a great many of its former citizens had abandoned it in a fearful haste from the mass destruction that it had constantly suffered from the clashing of Angel and Eva. But not all of its citizens had been able to run from the city's imminent doom as quickly. At the very edge of the Geo Front, far from the toppled buildings and debris, beneath a large hill that hid the chaos that consumed NERV Headquarters from sight, there stood one of the few remaining evacuation shelters. Within the shelter, the remaining citizens of Neo Tokyo-3 waited...waited for this change that they knew nothing about, wished for it to come and, at the same time, were terrified of its arrival.
"Why haven't they told us anything?" a stout, middle-aged man asked as he stared impatiently out the large window that encompassed the left wall of the evacuation shelter. But the great hill that stood before it prevented the window from showing him what he wanted to see.
"What the hell do you think's going on out there?" a gruff, elderly man beside him asked as he craned his neck to scan the outside of the shelter. "This isn't like the other evacuations..."
"It's like we're all that's left in this city..." a young woman standing next to the window murmured as she pulled the baby girl cradled in her arms closer to her chest. She looked over at the blank, silent message screen at the far end of the shelter. "We've been here at least an hour and not a single message from the government. Why won't they tell us what all those explosions are out there?" She stopped abruptly to hide the hysteria that was starting to make her voice shake. The elderly man sighed heavily and turned away from the window.
"Well if there's no news soon, I'm getting the hell out of this shelter and catching the next train out of this city," he growled as he folded his arms and stared crossly ahead of him. "I should've left this damn city as soon as those attacks started getting out of hand! Well, I don't care what's going on outside that they don't want us civilians to know about, but I'm not going to put up with situations like this anymore!" He turned his head away angrily. The middle-aged man continued to stare anxiously out the window, and the young woman gently caressed the head of her sleeping baby as tears formed in her eyes.
At the other end of the long window, leaning his back against the wall while supporting his left leg cast on two wooden crutches tucked under each arm, Toji watched the antsy, uneasy people that mingled awkwardly amongst each other in the small shelter. Kensuke stood beside him, with his hands in his pockets, also watching the forgotten citizens of Neo Tokyo-3 cower within the confines of the remote shelter as distant explosions made the entire complex shake slightly.
Kensuke turned towards the window and peered around expectantly. "I really wish we knew what was going on out there! It sounds like the entire city's being bombed, or something!" He looked back at Toji. "Do you think it's another Shito?"
Toji shifted his weight on his crutches. "Well if it is, it must be some super powerful one that they don't want the public to know about," he said cynically as he glanced out the window. "But who knows...all I know is that I wanna find Dad and get outta this city like I was supposed to."
"What about your sister?" Kensuke asked as he pushed back the glasses that rested on his nose. Toji hesitated for a moment as he stretched out his arms.
"We're gonna have to have her transferred to another hospital in the city that we're movin' to...wherever that is." He sighed and leaned forward. "Maybe the Evas are fightin' whatever 'enemy' is out there..." he said absent-mindedly. "Heh, I'm sure glad I don't have to pilot one anymore. Just bein' Eva pilot for half a day was enough for me!" He smiled curtly and patted his cast in confirmation. Kensuke smiled at him.
"I still would've liked to be a pilot...even for only ten minutes!" he exclaimed as he firmly grasped his hands on imaginary Eva controls. Toji shook his head.
"You never change..." he mumbled. But Kensuke didn't hear him. Instead, something had caught his eye and he was looking franticly through the crowd of people until he stopped as his gaze fell on the opposite end of the shelter, at the other large window on the right wall.
"Hey Toji, you're not gonna believe who else is here!" he said. Toji stood up as tall as he could with his crutches under his arms and looked around fervently.
"Who? Where?" he asked impatiently. Kensuke pointed to the window on the right wall. Under the window, sitting on one of the brown cotton blankets that the shelter provided, Hikari had her arms wrapped around her knees as she stared blankly and sadly ahead. Pen Pen was sitting next to her, blinking up curiously at the people that occasionally passed by.
"Hey, I don't believe it! The class rep is here, too!" Toji exclaimed as he and Kensuke headed over to the other window. "Hey, class rep!" he hollered along the way. Hikari slowly looked up. The minute she saw him, her heart started pounding faster and she hastily pulled herself to her feet.
"Suzuhara-kun? And Aida-kun, too?" she said in disbelief as they both stopped in front of her. Pen Pen gazed up at them and tilted his head quizzically.
"Yup, it's us. Two of the three stooges," Toji replied, grinning at her. Hikari blushed and looked away. Then, she noticed the cast on his left leg.
"Suzuhara-kun...are you...feeling better?" she asked shyly. Toji straightened up and smiled confidently.
"Well my leg's pretty banged up, but other than that, I feel fine," he replied cooly. He looked down and noticed Pen Pen, who was waddling over to them, holding out his sleek black flippers stiffly at his sides.
"Hey, isn't that the penguin that lives at Misato-san's apartment?" Toji asked as Pen Pen stopped next to Hikari.
"Is Misato-san here, too?" Kensuke asked as he began to look around the room once again.
"No, she's not," Hikari replied as she bent down and picked up Pen Pen. "Katsuragi-san asked me to take care of him for a while. She said she wouldn't be able to." At the mention of Misato, Pen Pen whimpered softly and lay his head down on Hikari's shoulder.
"Are you two here all by yourselves?" Hikari asked as she stroked Pen Pen on his back.
"Yeah, we both have the same story," Toji replied. "Our homes got destroyed durin' one of the last Shito attacks, and we were gonna have to leave the city. I get outta the hospital only to find that I have no home to go home too! How'd ya like that luck, huh?" he asked sarcastically with a light chuckle. Hikari turned away, trying to hide her red face behind Pen Pen.
"Anyway," Toji continued, "our families were all ready to get on the train and finally leave Neo Tokyo-3. We'd been stayin' at this cheap inn for cryin' out loud! But unfortunately, it seems that everyone's family wanted to leave the city on the same day! Each day we think 'Ok, today's the day we're leavin' the city' they call us and say that all the trains are completely filled for that day. I even told Shinji on the day that I left the hospital at NERV that Kensuke and I would probably leave the city by the next day. I had no idea how long it would take just to get a spot on the train! Heh, he probably thinks we're long gone by now! Then finally, today, we were actually supposed to get a train! We were waitin' in line for hours! The train station was so crowded, we couldn't even see the train doors! And then, a whole bunch of people came outta nowhere and started runnin' through the station yellin' 'The city's under attack! Run to a shelter now!' Immediately, the whole crowd of people started panickin'! They ran outta line and nearly trampled each other! The people in front pushed passed the people in back, and the people behind them tried to push ahead and get on the train...they couldn't decide whether to go to a shelter where it's safe, or just get on the train and get outta the city as fast as they could. Boy, it was a mess!" He gave a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his short dark hair.
"In all the crowds and confusion, we got seperated from our families," Kensuke continued. "But by some stroke of luck, the two of us ran into each other. We were going to go look for our families, but then we heard these loud explosions and gun shots coming from the center of the city, near NERV Headquarters, I think. So we decided to stay in this shelter until it's over."
"Yeah, if it ever ends..." Toji muttered. Then, he looked at Hikari. "So, did you have the same kinda problems we did?"
"Yeah," she replied. "My family wanted to leave the city too, but we had a lot of trouble because we live so far away from the train station and our car had gotten destroyed. They finally had a space for us on the train today, and we had walked halfway to the station when a whole swarm of people came running by in a panic, screaming and yelling that terrorists were attacking the city and that everyone had to get to a shelter. Next thing I knew, I had gotten seperated from my family as well, and I wound up here. But at least I wasn't completely alone..." She trailed off as she scratched Pen Pen affectionately behind the red erect crests on his head. He cooed softly and looked up at her.
"Well, it's quite a coincidence that we all ended up in the same shelter, huh?" Toji said as he adjusted his crutches. "Kinda seems like old times..."
"Yeah, except Shinji's not here..." Kensuke said quietly.
"Neither is Asuka..." Hikari said dismally as she hugged Pen Pen closer to her. Suddenly, he gave a loud squawk and started flailing about in her arms, squealing and flapping his flippers rapidly.
"What's wrong, Pen Pen?" Hikari asked as she struggled to keep her grip on the alarmed penguin.
Then, a swarm of panicked cries erupted from the shelter. Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari looked around uncertainly as people began to run towards the large window they were standing by. They pushed and piled over each other like a million mice in a tiny cage to get a better look outside.
"W-what are those things?" a man's voice stammered for amongst the crowd.
"Are they going to attack us?" followed a woman's voice.
"What's goin' on?" Toji asked as he, Kensuke, and Hikari looked out the window as people pushed and crammed in next to them, shouting questions and concerns incoherently. Then, a hush fell on the small room as every pair of eyes stared in awe and confusion at the distant, silent shapes that were soaring in the sky over the barren field that surrounded the shelter. As the shapes came closer, their features became visible.
They flew on enourmous bird-like wings, that clashed with the robotic build of their human shaped bodies. They wore lifeless grins on their pointed faces, and the pure whiteness of their bodies seemed to mock the fact that they were made for the sole purpose of death and destruction. They flew in perfect formation, like a flock of souless, unnatural carrion birds. They were beings possesed of immense power and completely unknowing of it. Their only false desire was to destroy what should be destroyed, without respect for all things from above and below.
"Are those...Evas?" Kensuke asked breathlessly as he stared wide-eyed at the passing winged robots.
"They didn't tell me about Evas like those when I was at NERV..." Toji muttered.
"Are they...here to help us...or what?" Hikari asked bewilderedly as she pulled Pen Pen closer to her. He had stopped panicking but he continued to stare up alertly at the flying Evas with sheer terror in his small green eyes.
The Eva at the front of the group was clutching a jumbled pile of something that was difficult to make out from the height that it was at. But suddenly, as the flock was just about out of sight from the people in the shelter, it released its bundle and let it fall to the ground. Then, a long dark red spear materialized in its hand, and the flying Evas had vanished from sight.
The massive, entangled pile that the Eva had dropped hit the ground about fifty feet away from the shelter with a deafening thud that shook the earth and made several people shout, flinch, or scurry about in alarm. Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari closed their eyes and turned away as a huge gust of air from the collision struck against the shelter window, splattering hundreds of drops of bakelite on it. As they slowly looked up, what they saw before them made them gasp in unision, followed swiftly by a storm of cries and screams from the people around them.
The remains of Evangelion Unit 02 lay skewered across the ground before them. Its crimson armor plating had been almost entirely ripped off, exposing its gigantic skull. The skull faced the right shelter window, with teeth bared in a fearsome, unrealistic grin, and eyes torn from their sockets and dangling loosly on fleshy tendons. The rest of it was a tangled mess of torn guts that disgustingly resembled oversized human entrails. Showers of bakelite oozed down all along the dismantled pieces.
Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari stared in total shock and disbelief out the window, which was now dripping with bakelite, as random peoples' voices darted around the room like frightened moths.
"What the hell is that?!"
"I can't stand it!"
"Let's get out of here now!"
"All those things are demons, I tell you!"
"Don't go out! What if they come back?!"
"I can't stay here another minute!"
"It's safer in here!"
"Let me out!"
The shelter was booming again as a group of people rushed down the hall at the far end of the shelter to the exit door, shouting over each other's shouts and pushing impatiently to get through the door. Kensuke slowly spoke up over the bedlam that was rising in the small room, startling Toji and Hikari, who quickly looked at him.
"That's...Evangelion...Nigouki..." he shakily said.
"Yeah, what's left of it..." Toji mumbled. "What the hell did those other Evas do to it?"
Hikari continued to stare in horror at the gruesomely mutilated Eva. Pen Pen whimpered quietly and blinked at her. "Isn't that one...Asuka's?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"...yeah," Toji replied hesitantly.
"But where is she? If those things did this to her Eva, then...what did they do with her?!" She was shouting almost hysterically now as the loud pandemonium in the shelter was beginning to quiet.
"H-how should I know?" Toji asked haughtily as he pulled himself up on his crutches. "I'm as confused as everyone else!"
Hikari took a last glance at the violated Eva. Then, she placed Pen Pen down on the brown blanket, quickly pulled on her shoes, and headed towards the hallway that led to the exit.
"Hey, where are you goin'?" Toji called after her. She stopped, but didn't turn around.
"...to see if I can find Asuka..." she replied. "She might need help." And with that, she took off towards the hallway exit as the remaining people in the shelter moved about and conversed nervously.
"Hey, wait up!" Toji shouted as he hobbled after her on his crutches. "It's dangerous to go out there! Kensuke, c'mon!"
"Uh, okay!" Kensuke replied as he followed after Toji down the narrow hallway. They reached the end and met up with Hikari as she was trying to get passed a young man and woman who were standing in front of the door. The woman had one hand on the knob and the man was pulling on her other hand.
"Let me go! I have to get out of here! Out of this god-forsaken city right now!" the woman cried out as she tried to pull her arm away from the man's grip.
"I'm telling you, we're better off in here!" the man insisted as he yanked on her arm and pulled her away from the door. "We don't know what's out there, but at least we're guaranteed some safety in here!"
"I don't care! I've got to get out! I'll drive the damn train myself if I have to!" she yelled, pulling her arm away, tearing open the exit door, and running outside.
"Honey, wait!" the man hollered and ran out after her. He didn't bother to close the door behind him so Hikari, Toji, and Kensuke cautiously stepped outside. To the left side of the empty field, which was nothing but dirt and a few trees, groups of people who had fled from the shelter were scattered around on the large hill. Most were running over it towards the ruined city, while others were breaking off in all different directions. The woman was running up the hill, passing most of the people, with the man right behind her, pleading with her to come back.
"Seems like nobody knows what the right thing to do is..." Kensuke said as he watched the people scurrying around like ants who had lost the trail back to their nest.
"Yeah," Toji replied. Then, he noticed that Hikari was already heading towards the remains of the Eva. "Let's go," he said, and they both took off after her.