Note: This has mild spoilers from the End of Evangelion movie, and it really helps to have watched that first. Disclaimers for the Gainax Corp, go here.


End of Evangelion: Epilogue II
by Meech (archsage.brinn@gmail.com)

"I feel sick."

Between sobs and tears, Shinji managed to sniffle out, "I'm sorry."

Asuka's lone eye focused on the boy straddling her, a minute twitch of humor in her lips. "You... idiot," she whispered. There was a hitch of fondness in her voice. Shinji had heard it once before, when she had called him a show-off after he had rescued her from pressurized death in the belly of the volcano. That seemed an eternity ago. To hear it now surprised Shinji from his self-pity. After all that he had been through, after all the horror and glory that had passed before his eyes, thinking straight was not high on his list of facilities.

"Get off... me... Pervert," she croaked, and Shinji scrambled back, flushing in embarrassment.

"I'm, I'm sorry," he stammered.

Asuka nodded tiredly, closing her one eye. "Yeah, I know. You shouldn't be, though."

"Huh?"

"I found her, Shinji," she murmured, smiling ever so. "My mom was there the whole time. All these years, I've been such a bitch, and she was there the whole time."

"Asuka, are you alright?" Shinji sounded worried.

The unbandaged eye opened, the brow furrowing. "I've lost my left eye, and my arm was sliced in half up to my shoulder. Do I LOOK alright?"

"I'm-"

"-Sorry. Yes, I know. By God, Shinji, if you apologize to me one more time, I'm going to kick you where it'll hurt you the most." Her smile, much stronger now, confused the boy even more. Which could he believe, the smile or the irritation in her voice?

"I'll never understand you, Asuka," he mumbled resignedly. Her banter felt comfortable to his addled mind, though occasionally he would throw furtive glances at the colossal remains of Lillith who looked so much like Rei.

His last glance was interrupted by choking noises emerging from the girl. Wild terror sprang from her eyes as she gazed out past the shore, somewhere over Shinji's shoulder. When he glanced in that direction, his jaw dropped.

One of the EVA-Series, the one nearest to the shore, reformed its malignant face, regenerating on the fly, until the entirety of its head once again became sharklike and vicious. Both of its arms dropped from their position on the virtual crucifix, and with extreme effort,
it took a plodding step towards the duo.

Farther out to sea, a second EVA-Series likewise rose to life.
Behind him, Asuka sounded like she was hyperventilating. "Shinji!" she whispered hysterically, "They're coming! Oh God! They're still alive! Shinji! I don't want to die again!"

As the colossal beast approached, stomping awkwardly, Shinji froze, unable to run away, unable to help his friend, unable to move. An eternity of torture he had just escaped, and it still wasn't over.

That thought evoked a spark of anger within him. He had been through too much. Everyone was gone: Misato, Ritsuko, his mother, even his father. Asuka, for all he could tell, was being civilized to him. No, it was all too much for him.

The girl grabbed him with her good arm. "Shinji! Get me out of here! I don't want to die!" The first EVA stood no more than 300 yards away before it stopped, regarding them almost quizzically. It tilted its head to one side, then to the other, all the while gnashing its monstrous teeth.

"Shinji!!" Asuka screamed. And screamed. And screamed, fear drowning everything in her mind.

Without realizing it, the boy chorused her cries with his own, but his rang out with a rage that grew and grew.

The EVA, apparently satisfied, crouched down, then sprung forward, aiming to mash them into the shore with its metal-shod feet. Asuka's screams raised in agonized pitch, shrill and piercing.

One hundred feet above them, the charred EVA smashed into the concentric octagons of an AT Field, one so strong it melted its feet to the ankles. Its growls of pain echoed across the beach as it bounced back, flopping awkwardly into the waters. A thunderous crash sent a tidal wave in all directions, yet the AT Field held, shielding the duo upon the beach.

Growling himself, Shinji shifted his focus, and as the extension of his will, the field wrapped around itself until a glowing lance of starlight, nearly one hundred feet in length, hovered above their heads. With a flick, he sent the celestial projectile to pierce the fallen EVA through its head.

The first EVA did not rise again.

*Enough*

Shinji lost his concentration, instantly disintegrating his field. That voice...

*You are the Lord*

Asuka's screams tapered off.

*Create for us a better place*

"Who-?" Shinji whispered, baffled. He glanced back at the girl, but she was no help.

*Create for us a better place*

Once again, the words registered within him, sounding like Rei.

*Create for us a better place... Save us, Messiah, and let your will be known*

Asuka's eyes widened even more, almost past her capacity, her gaze fixed to the ocean. Slowly, ever so slowly, Shinji returned his sight to the horizon.

The remaining eight of the EVA-Series kneeled to him, bathing Shinji with their fields of hope.


The End