Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, but that doesn't matter, because I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACK!
Special Treat: Early Update
I'd like to say hello to all my readers who have began reading this back in 2006. I deeply and humbly apologize for failing to keep my promise to you all. Things have come up one after the other, but I know that is no excuse, even when it comes to complete strangers over the internet. However, I feel it is obligatory of me to finish this story and bring a great conclusion to what I believe as one of my best stories ever.
To my new readers, if you have made it this far, I'm assuming you've either liked the first four chapters or you really need some time to kill. Regardless, I'd like to welcome you on board the crazy train. I hope you learn something from my story, whether it be that this story sucks, it reminded you the oven was on, or that I'm a total douche for making you learn something from this story, or even that this is the awesome thing ever written ( I pray it's the latter). Anyways, read on, and enjoy.
Oh, and everyone can thank MUCHOANIME (now Etka Utjak I believe) for getting this story kick started. His PM somehow scared the shit out of me so badly I immediately opened up Word and started on Chapter 5.
Well, let's just get this started.
5/9/07 – 5/12/07
"This isn't good." Sumi muttered. "This isn't good at all."
She, along with the Leiko, Kane, and Emiko stood in front of a hospital bed. There were in the sacred room, the hospital room that treated the great Berserker over a hundred years ago. And now, it was still doing the same thing.
"I guess it isn't." Emiko added in a grim tone.
If it had been any other pilot, there would not have been a problem. A replacement would be quickly found, easily replacing the casualties sustained. Despite fighting such an 'unpopular' war with these Angels; everyone agreed that living in hell was better then not living at all. So, parents reluctantly encouraged their sons and daughters to go fight, much like "The Berserker" once did. But, this was no ordinary pilot. Shinji Ikari had been in a coma for the past month, and his chances of survival were extremely low. The situation looked bleak, for the last two Angels, Shinji had protected them, rescued everyone from their untimely deaths. But they're now alone, left to fend for themselves, despite fighting Angels for over a hundred years; it looks like they've reached the end of the line.
"We still have one fully operational Eva left." Kane said, trying to add something positive.
"Don't worry; I'm sure I can handle the Angels just fine." Leiko exclaimed, feigning confidence.
No one bothered to reply to her, they knew she was only trying to lightening the mood. But, even Leiko was knocked down a few pegs after Shinji's display of horror during the last battle. The videos and documentaries was nothing in comparison the actual "Berserker". The blood curling roar released from Unit 01 paralyzed her as she watched Unit 01 fight. It rocked Leiko to the very core, and it was then she discovered, she was way out of her league.
"So…what do we do now?" Emiko asked, still staring at Shinji.
"We wait." Sumi replied. "And we pray."
"I have a bad feeling that this will only get worse." Kane added.
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The children all sat on the roof during lunch. They all made small talk, trying their best to stay sane in their current predicament. The Angel was over due, and that it would be here any minute. With only one operational Eva, the chances of success where drastically reduced. Everyone in the world knew of the situation at hand, and they all prepared for the worst. The Berserker was only able to bail them out for so long.
"So…how long…?" Kane asked, staring at the city from the railing. He stared at the city; many years of fighting had reduced Tokyo-5 into a bitter warzone. Kane spent the first two weeks after the last Angel attack lashing out at himself. It was simple, he had failed them; he had failed the world, the city, his friends…and worst of all, he had failed 'The Berserker' himself.
"…Until what?" Emiko replied. "Until we all die?"
"Yea, I've been wondering that. The angel's long overdue; it should have attacked by now."
"I'm not complaining, what do you think Leiko?"
Leiko didn't respond, she simply looked down and held back tears. Ironic isn't it? She fought horrors many only see in movies, she's seen her friends die around her, whether killed directly, or indirectly, it didn't matter. Yet, now she is nothing but a scared little girl, and she couldn't take it anymore, she just wished that the Angel would just come and kill everyone already; the waiting was beginning to get to her. And the tension was getting real thick. Kane and Emiko didn't want to press the issue; Leiko seems to be taking it much harder than anyone else.
Over the past few weeks she began to think back on her life. She had spent her entire life loathing Shinji, angry that he had stolen her family's rightful claim to glory. However, even after she belittled him, and yelled at him, he came back, the legendary 'Berserker' came back, and he killed the Angel; at his expense. Leiko began to think of her relationships with the people around her, to some, she had tried to make amends. Sometimes people forgave her, sometimes they sneered at her, cursing about how her arrogance sentenced them all to death. It pained her that many wished she had not gotten in Shinji's way, and that she was the one that was dying. She silently wept as she began to contemplate her relationship with a certain blonde boy.
"How do you think Jakob's holding out?" she asked, simply throwing the question out.
"Not too well Leiko." Emiko answered.
It was painfully obvious that Leiko liked the boy, trying to get his attention the second he arrived. Although Jakob was assigned as the Pilot of Unit 17 only two months ago, he had been living in Tokyo-5 as a trainee for nearly a year. There was always something Leiko liked about the boy, something that drew her to him. Maybe it was how laid back he was, he was always able to pull out perfect marks while devoted most of his time to video games. Though, it could be because he was more willing to listen to Leiko, regardless of how farfetched and conceded she sounds.
"He got into another fight yesterday." Kane said.
"Again…?" Leiko replied, unsurprised. "…With who?"
"Michael Warren, American Trainee."
"Oh." She simply said, looking back towards the cities.
Jakob was never the same after Touji's death. He went from a cheerful, carefree guy to a depressed kid in a matter of days. But the depression was much better then the bursts of anger present in him now. Fortunately, his low sync ratio prevented any permanent damage during the last Angel attack; however he was commonly getting into fights, acting out without any inhibitions.
"I don't understand it." Kane sighed. He had joined Leiko at the edge and was staring out towards the cities.
"Understand what?" Emiko asked curiously.
"Why we can take the death of our friends in stride." He answered, "Are we truly cold hearted?"
No body wanted to give the answer to a question they already knew.
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"Mr. Prefferburg, your performance has not shown any signs of improvement." The Commander said.
Across from him was Jakob, former pilot of what remained of Unit 17. He had called this meeting with the young pilot in private in order to settle a few things. The man was getting old, and the many faces of the pilots he had given this speech to were beginning to mold and blend into one. So many pilots; so many faces; he simply could not keep track of them all, no matter how hard he tried.
"I just can't take this fucking shit any more!" Jakob appropriately cried.
"I know Mr. Prefferburg; you're going through a rough time." The Commander replied.
"Really, you don't think?"
"Jakob let me tell you something." He cleared his throat. "We are in a war, whether we asked for it or not doesn't matter anymore; whether or not we intentionally started this by poking Adam with a giant fork, as I like to call it. We are here now, and all we can do is slug on through the mess we're in. None of want this; I would be extremely content with simply letting the world die. However, there are many of those who still have a long life ahead of them, and I just can't let them die without living a good full life.
I have seen so many more children die for the world, because that's all you truly are, children. It makes me sick having to send you all out there to your very deaths. I don't know how many times I've given this very speech. Jakob, we all fear death, and we hate see our friends die, but Touji would be happy, if he managed to save just one life…"
"Don't you ever fucking say his name again!" Jakob cried. "You are all cold hearted bastards you know that?! You go on every damn day, acting as if nothing is wrong. There's simply one less pilot to you isn't it?! How can you carry on day, after day and take it all in stride?! You sent him out there to die and you know it, anything short of the Berserker is expendable to you isn't it?! I'm leaving!" he finished his rant and made for the door. Opening and closing his hand to relieve the stress, he wanted to kill something, so badly right now.
The Commander simply took out cigar a lit it. He took a long drag from it before putting it back down. The speech he had told Jakob was simply the same one as countless others. But, he had never been able to finish a single one of them.
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"Come on girl, he needs your help right now." Leiko was standing on Jakob's lawn at the moment. She never got over the size of his place.
Jakob had lived in such extravagance and excess it was impossible to believe that he was stuck in some sort of war zone. It had a three car garage, a large lawn, and an Olympic sized swimming pool in the backyard. The house was equipped with a game room, at LEAST five bedrooms, and even a redundant indoor swimming pool. He said that it had belonged to his relatives in Germany, but they never used it. So Jakob simply lived alone, in such a large house.
Leiko figured he might need some company, and volunteered herself to cheer him up a bit. She knocked on the door and awaited a response. After waiting for some time she tried the handle, and to her surprise, found it unlocked. Peering inside, she noticed that the place was completely dark, in absence of any light whatsoever.
"Jakob?" she called out, checking to see if anyone was home.
As she made her way towards the stairs she heard a sound. She froze for a quick second but the sound was gone the second she heard it. Shrugging it of, she continued up the stair case and onto the second story. She paused once again when she heard the sound a second time. It obviously came from the master bedroom, a.k.a. Jakob's room.
"No Jakob…" Leiko heard. "…not today…"
"Come on, you never said no before…"
Curious, she continued towards the room and lightly placed her hand on the knob. For reasons unknown to her she found difficulty in trying to open the door. She told her self that it was nothing and tried to force herself to open the door, to no avail.
"Please Jakob, not today…" she heard a moan.
Her heart literally stopped for a split second when she heard that voice. It sounded eerily familiar, but she couldn't consciously figure out who it was. Her subconscious however, easily recognized that voice, and every inner part of Leiko screamed at her to walk away. Unfortunately she reluctantly turned the knob and peered inside.
"Your mouths say no…but your body seems more then willing."
"…Leiko…?"
She couldn't believe what she saw in front of her. Both Jakob and Kimiko where half naked on the bed in the middle of the room; small bits of clothes were strewn atop of the bed and on top of the blankets.
"Leiko…it's not…well, I guess it is what it looks like isn't it…?" Kimiko sighed.
"H-how…how could you…?" she muttered, tears began to well up on her face as then gently rolled down her cheeks.
Jakob, wearing nothing but his boxers, slid off the bed and began picking up his clothes. The two girls watched him simply leave the room as if nothing had just happened. This left just Leiko and her 'best friend' alone in the room. For a while none of the two said anything towards it each other. They barely moved from their position, with Leiko leaning back against the wall, tears still streaming down her face. Kimiko lay in bed, blanket wrapped around her, covering most of her breasts.
"How long…?" Leiko was the first to speak.
She didn't get an answer to her question. Kimiko just held her head low and didn't bother to give a response.
"How long…?" she spoke again, in the same downtrodden voice.
"Jakob and I…" Kimiko finally said. "…We've been together for almost a year now."
"Jeez, you snatched him up the second he got here didn't you." Leiko scowled, finding her bitter self again.
"I'm so sorry."
At that very moment, the one thing no body wanted to hear went off. It was the ever dreaded Angel Alarm, the 'Messenger of Judgment' as they have cutely named it. Unfortunately today they would all truly be judged; only Unit 18 had any real fight in it, the other three where in repair. Without their precious trump card, their 'deus ex machina,' their little Berserker; humanity seemed, for lack of better word, royally boned.
Yet despite this all, Leiko could help keep herself from laughing. She literally broke into tears of joy as the thought of impending Armageddon went through her mind. She was free…she was free from it all now. Just one last mission, one failed and futile mission and it will be all over. No more Berserker, no more Jakob, no more betrayals, and best of all, no more family honor. It felt great, it felt uplifting. It felt sickening.
She remembered her mother speaking to her before she died. She, as expected, was an Eva pilot before her. It was twelve long years ago, when she was only four years old. She could remember it like it was yesterday…
"Mommy, are you alright?" little Leiko cried.
She ran along side the stretcher that carried her mother into the ER. Just eight minutes prior she was in the death grip of an Angel; it snapped the neck of the Eva, crushing through the armor and into the entry plug. Unfortunately for her, she was not given a quick death. The armor plating on her Evangelion was able to protect her just enough to prevent an instant death, a mixed blessing in her case.
"Leiko…" her mother wheezed, her breathing labored.
"Mommy, please tell me you're going to be okay." She cried, tears pouring out of her eyes.
The doctor simply shook his head; Mrs. Soryu knew she wasn't going to make it. The men pushing the stretcher stopped; the wheels beneath slowing down till there was not movement. Both men looked at each other and backed away slightly, giving Mrs. Soryu some time to say good bye to her daughter.
"Leiko…"she barely let out. "I…I need…I need you too…"
"Anything mommy, anything!" Leiko grasped her mother's hand.
"Do…you love your mommy…?"
"Yes, I love you mommy."
"Good…then I need you…to become a pilot…" her mother gasped, running out of time. "…achieve where I have failed…restore our family honor…"
Leiko's heart sank that very day. The very last words from her mouth were 'restore our family honor,' not 'I love you, very much,' or even and apology for leaving her behind. No, it was a stupid request, to fulfill some damn obsession that had belonged to her mother. Snapping back to attention, she realized she was still in Jakob's room, and not a minute had past since the start of the alarm.
Returning to Kimiko, she felt a smile stretch across her face. It felt disturbingly good today, and she was going to enjoy her last few minutes on Earth.
"Well Kimiko." She began. "I hope you had fun fucking Jakob for the past year, cause it doesn't look like you'll ever see him again."
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"What's the current status?" Major Sumi Tanaka cried out.
"Pilots Soryu and Prefferburg are ready for sortie." One of her subordinates replied. "Pilots Yamato and Ayanami are en route; ETA fifteen minutes."
'We don't have fifteen minutes.' Sumi thoughts, 'hell, we don't even have enough Eva's so the Pilots are moot anyways.'
"Eva Unit 18 is at full operational strength, while Unit 17 is at sixty three percent."
"What was the extent of the repairs?" Sumi asked.
Several technicians began to cipher through the computers. After several seconds and answer was finally given.
"Most damage was taken in the chest area." The technician began, "We've repaired most of the damage; however the lack of armored plating may pose for a problem."
"No matter, I'm guessing the other Evas are nonfunctional."
"Correct, attempts to reattach the decapitated head of Eva units 14 and 16 have been unsuccessful."
"What of Unit 15?" Sumi asked.
"Nonfunctional, the other Evangelions where placed at a higher priority, due to the Unit's lack of a pilot.
"We've got visual," Cried one of the other technicians.
Up on the surface, the Angel, designated number too many to count, advanced from where it once came from. It was a sight no one had ever seen in their entire life. It was a true Angel, an angel of death, but an Angel none the less. Its aura resonated through the city, bathing those unfortunately enough to be outside in a feeling of warmth. The Angel looked truly human; it carried itself on its large wings, hovering just above the ground. The robes it 'wore' blew back, drifting majestically in the wind. The sight the Angel made it truly felt like Judgment day.
"I want Units 17 and 18 to engage the Angel now," Sumi ordered. "It's all or nothing."
"But Jakob was barely able to sync with his Eva last time, what do you expect him to do?" A young female technician cried.
"Use him as bait if we have to."
There was silence on the bridge; no one wanted to believe what the Major had just said, but none of them thought it was that bad of an idea. They pushed that thought aside and immediately got back to work. The Angel was getting closer with every passing second, and the sooner the Pilots are in combat, the better.
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Leiko's heart skipped a beat when she heard the locking mechanisms around her began to move. The sounds of gears turning and clanking only brought her more unease. Finally the door slid open, reviewing to her what could finally be the last Angel to terrorize her ever again.
"This is it." She said to herself, somewhat happy.
The Angel turned around and stared at her with its big beautiful eyes. She had to shield her eyes from the blinding light that shined upon her. It felt warm, and comforting, she was naturally drawn to it. Unconsciously she began to walk towards it, being pulled by some external force.
"I can end your pain."
Leiko quickly snapped out of it and forced herself back. It was a trick; the Angel was merely drawing her towards it. She knew if she fell for it she would die. All of humanity would perish in flames and she was the only one that stood in the way. If she fails now all life on Earth would be extinguished.
"…But isn't that what you want?"
"Yes." She found herself saying. "I mean no!"
She tried to fight it, but the Angel was just too strong. Step after step she was getting closer to the Angel, it was futile to resist. The pull was warm and comforting, a pleasurable sensation of warmth and tranquility, the pleasure of peace of mind. Leiko felt no worries as she continued her march towards the Angel. It was pulling her ever closer and closer to her, and there was nothing she could do about it. She was ready to embrace it.
"Come to me…"
Panic; that was what ran through the mind of Jakob Prefferburg throughout the whole ordeal. He looked at the bridge and noticed that he wasn't the only one in such a state. In some pockets of the bridge he noticed men and women praying, in others embracing death, and tears and weeping in others. Forcing every last nerve in his body to correspond, he found his Eva responsive. A slight wave a joy washed over him, but he knew time was running short.
"Jakob, phenomenal, you're sync ratio is at seventy six percent!" he ignored the praise coming over the intercom.
He needed to act fast. Leiko was getting dangerously close to the Angel, and he needed a distraction. Without thinking he pulled an assault rifle from the armory and charged the Angel, firing from the hip. As he neared the Angel he slammed the butt of the assault rifle clear through the Angel's AT field and into its face, causing it to reel back.
"…Jakob…?" Leiko collapsed onto her knees, trying to get a hold of the situation.
"Jakob, what the Hell man?"
He froze when he heard that voice. It was Touji's; he had just heard it coming from the Angel.
"Dude; what are you doing, fighting for these ingrates?"
"I don't understand." Jakob had trouble speaking.
He kept telling himself that the voice was nothing but a trick, but he couldn't help it. It was so familiar, and so friendly he couldn't believe it. Jakob felt as if he was talking to his old friend again after so long.
"They left me out there to die remember?"
"But…"
"But nothing, you know that, why are you fighting for them?"
Jakob felt dizzy, he saw images of Touji in his mind; it was as if he was truly talking to him now. He found himself sitting in chair, in a dark room, with only an overhead lamp as a source of light. He felt pained as the Angel crept towards him, its body beginning to embrace the Eva.
"I'm your friend, and I would never want anything to happen to you."
"Why did you die on me?" Jakob found himself asking.
"I wanted to protect you, to keep you safe, even with my life."
Evangelion Unit 17 began to absorb the Angel, despite frantic calls from the bridge and the Major specifically, Jakob allowed it to enter him. He felt whole again, and refreshed, he didn't feel weary any more, and felt joy.
"You know what you have to do, avenge me."
In less then a second Jakob was clutching his hand around the neck of Unit 18. The power that was given from the Angel, he did not know the power, but it felt good. He let out a chuckle as he knew that line was definitely stolen from somewhere, but that did not matter. All that mattered now was punishing humanity for its crimes, for allowing Touji to die.
"Jakob…" Leiko cried out as she felt the life being squeezed out of her.
She felt the pressure from Unit 17 as it wrapped around her neck. She felt the pressure from JAKOB as he wrapped his hands around her neck. Futile attempts to cut her sync ratio did nothing to ease her pain as she felt the end nearing. She cried as this happened, her tears absorbed by the LCL the second they left her eyes.
"Finish her, she deserves it."
"Yes Touji, she's been nothing but a bitch to us hasn't she?" Jakob found himself saying.
"Yes, it will be a pleasure to see her die slowly."
"Jakob…please…" Leiko barely squeezed out.
Her world was spinning; the lack of oxygen began to blur her vision. She knew death was nearing her, and she there was only so much longer she would have left to live. It scared her; it terrified her tremendously, to finally see death face to face disturbed her to no end. Today, she was truly seeing the Angel of Death. Ironically enough, this Angel of Death was the one man she truly loved.
"Please…I love…you…" She managed to say before her world was beginning to fade, and then, there was only darkness.
Jakob slowly found himself releasing the Evas neck. He let Leiko drop as he release his hold and stared at his hands. It felt as if he was truly strangling her, face to face, personally. A feeling of disgust waved over him as he stared at the screen depicting Unit 18's entry plug. Leiko was a complete mess, her breathing frantic as her body tried to take in as much oxygen as humanly possible. He had just tried to kill, her, to take another person's life.
"What are you doing? Finish this!"
He heard the voice again, but this time he tried to fight it. Using every bit of will power in his body he forced himself to backpedal from Unit 18 and towards the ocean. The Angel's control was still great, and every inch he moved was taxing on his soul.
"You can't stop me; I am a part of you now."
It said again, still in Touji's voice. He hated that, he hated how the Angel was using the death of his friend to manipulate him like that. The very Angels that had killed them were using him as nothing more then a puppet, using Touji to control him.
"There's one way to." Jakob said, coming to a realization.
"Would you seriously kill yourself, for these ingrates?"
"…" Jakob didn't reply; he had no answer to that question.
"I didn't think so. Come with me, I can promise you whatever you want!"
"And, what of everyone else?" he asked the Angel.
"What does it matter? They'll all perished, a fate they truly deserve."
"Jakob…"
He heard Leiko mutter unconsciously, among other incoherent things. Looking at the screen again, he felt a stab in his soul; he was responsible for that, for trying to kill her. He won't do it, he won't let everyone die; it was not an option he was willing to allow. He was not going to allow the entire world to become incinerated in flames, all because he was sick of it. There was no other choice.
"Commander, you were right…tell Leiko…I'm sorry." Jakob said, thinking back to the conversation he recently had with the Commander.
"…Touji would be happy, if he managed to save just one life…"
"Don't be a fool! They do not deserve to live; their presence can not be tolerated."
"Shut up, you're getting annoying!" Jakob screamed as he fought over the controls of the Eva.
Everyone on the bridge watched in horror as Jakob wrestled for control against the Angel. By now, even the most dim-witted of all people had figured out he was going for the self-destruct protocol in the back of his seat. Only the strength and will of the Angel held him back as button by button Jakob began to initiate the self-destruct sequence.
Leiko began to slowly regain consciousness when she heard the sound of Jakob's screaming through the intercom. Normally it would take hours before she would have awoken, but the oxygen rich LCL in her entry plug helped to restore her body. Looking up she could only watch as Unit 17 began fighting with itself, trying its very best to wrestle control of the other.
"Jakob…" She cried as she quickly figured it out.
The sight of Jakob reaching in the back of his seat, as he slowly prepared to die. She cried out to him, to no avail. He was much too busy trying to finish the job then to reply to her. There were more important things on his mind at the moment.
"You fool, we could have had everything!"
"No, you could have had everything." Jakob gasped as he laid back and waited.
He gave one quick glance over to Leiko. He saw in her eyes a look of sadness and pain. It hurt him greatly to see such a face on a pretty girl, but it had to be done. He found a slight feeling of warmth looking into her eyes, and knew she felt the same. Leiko thought of what life could have been; they could have had a life together, in Germany or even Japan; maybe a couple of kids and shared hardships together. Unfortunately those dreams where dashed when a loud explosion ripped through the city of Tokyo-5, taking every last building with it.
Leiko only began to cry, she had been doing a lot of that lately; her tears seemed endless, ready to drown whatever land left on the world. All she had left in world to remember him back was the smile on his face before he died. That was the first time she had ever seen him smiled since Touji's death.
A/N: Chapter 5 is now complete! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It feels a little weird having to go from multiple stories and re-submerge myself into them; especially after such a long hiatus. Anyways…
PLEASE REVIEW!
DON'T MAKE ME TAKE ANOTHER ELEVEN MONTH BREAK!!!
Toodles.