Author's notes: Over April vacation I watched the End Of Eva and was deeply affected by it. As a result my writing has become more serious. This could be seen as an alternate reality fic. I recently changed the name of this series and changed various facts in the other chapters. Sorry for the inconvenience. I also have an apology to make to Al-I-Bus, I told him that this wouldn't be a series, but I guess it is. I tried to fit all the scenes I wanted into this one, but I just couldn't, sorry again. This will probably end out running five or six parts, unless I am inspired again. " "=Dialogue < >=Thoughts / /=Other sounds or actions Neon Genesis Evangelion- Adam and Eve: Chapter 3-Masada By Dr. Suekeichi Kaiton Asuka, Misato and Rei all approached the city of Tokyo-3. The last she had seen it, Asuka thought it was destroyed, however, with U.N., SEELE, and personal funding, Tokyo-3 had risen from the ashes. Man's paradise and ultimate fortress, that held the future of humanity. Sunshine was in abundance, laughter as well; all the residents had seemingly forgotten the horror of the angels. Meanwhile deep underground in Terminal Dogma Gendo Ikari stood before the mother of all life Lilith; the white giant crucified to the blood red cross. The darkness made his tinted lenses appear black, his customary uniform open. He gazed up at the steel mask of SEELE, and addressed the giant directly. "She has returned to us at last. Your selected Eve for my Adam." His pulled off his white gloves. His left was dark scar tissue, his right a purplish, pulpy mass of veins with an eye. "In fact, Adam is here with me." Adam still in its embryo had been implanted in his hand. The white sacks on the surface of her legs pulsed as he extended his hand, their tendrils stretching, reaching out. Lilith looked down at the man that sought to manipulate her, a vain attempt at power. Gendo lowered his hand, denying their union, The seven eyes of God blinked. In the Eva cages the eyes of Unit 01 and 02 lit up then flickered, giving the technicians the impression that they blinked. The customary smirk returned as the commander of NERV began to form another plan. Turning on his heel he began to walk back, replacing his gloves. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was waiting for him at Heaven's Gate, both knew what SEELE was planning and neither would allow it to happen. Asuka's return meant that the project would continue, Rei was still under his thumb, but Shinji was becoming too strong willed. If SEELE's plans came to fruition then Rei would rejoin Lilith and open Graff's door for all humanity, if we chose to knock. Gendo would not allow Kihl to play with their lives as he had done with Yui's. Heaven's Gate was closed as Dr. Akagi briefed him on the defense enhancements to the MAGI. Kouzou Fuyutsuki shoved his way through the crowd in the U.N. summit building. The building, a relic from the 17th century, was a bold faŤade for so weak an organization. After the Second Impact the UN came directly under SEELE's power, giving the most powerful man control of, literally, the world. They say age dulls the mind, not so in Fuyutsuki's case; his mind was as sharp as the day he first met Yui Ikari. After her "death" in Unit 01 he and Gendo worked towards a common goal, the only thing they had in common. The council of Human Complementation was a five-man committee ruled over by one Lorenz Kihl, the other four represented G-4 countries. All the members of the committee also were members of a secret organization called "SEELE" or throne of the soul; this organization held great power. They were the ones who confiscated the Dead Sea Scrolls and released the false translations. It was this twelve-man organization that created the "false" Second Impact cover-up told by the UN. The members of SEELE were rarely seen, Lorenz Kihl only made appearances when it would be damaging not to do so. Only Yui and Gendo Ikari, Kouzou Fuyutsuki, and Naoko and Ritsuko Akagi knew why, and two of them were dead. Kihl spoke ten modern languages and three ancient ones, these helped him greatly with his business transactions; he was older than anything living on the earth, and wore a metal visor that allowed him to see. Kihl walked stiffly and spoke often of history; before the appearance of SEELE in 1954 he had been wandering in the scorching deserts of Asia. Fuyutsuki was woken out of his thoughts by a bell for the summit to begin. The members of the UN took their seats and Fuyutsuki could see the twelve members of SEELE sitting behind the platform. A slight frown toyed with the corners of his lips; it was going to be a long day... Shinji Ikari was finishing the laundry. After he had gotten Rei to break out of her shell, he had taken her shopping for the first time. Soon after it was amazing the amount of clothes she owned. After two years they had developed a deep, platonic sister/brother relationship, Rei was still fragile but less distant than before. Shinji walked out of the washroom and through their posh, spacious living room, he was nervous about Asuka's return. He went into his room and sat on his bed. Letting out a small sign he reached into his desk draw and retrieved a black felt box. His nimble fingers pried open the top to reveal two gold wedding bands. Gazing at them he thought Currently Misato was briefing Asuka on the events that had occurred after her departure. Since she left Tokyo-3 Rei had been wounded by the 16th angel and self-destructed taking the angel with it. She had survived and Shinji was forced to kill the 17th angel by himself, both he and Rei had suffered emotional breakdowns but had recovered. Misato thought it best not to mention the fact that Shinji and Rei lived together. She grabbed three cans of beer, grabbed her lunch and brought it to the table: cup of noodles, pork buns and instant miso soup. She opened a draw and removed a handful of sporks. Asuka looked around her and observed that the apartment was filled with trash, there were cans everywhere and cartons and cups were stacked to the ceiling. Things had really gone downhill. "Where is Shinji?" Misato fidgeted. "Um, well, you see Shinji is really important to NERV now and he has his, his, his own apartment..." Misato tried to avoid the gaze of loathing that shot her way. "Mien gott! You dragged me all the way out here to tell me what went on? You could've told me that in the car! I want to see Shinji!" Her eyes welled up with tears and she buried her head in her hands. "I want to see my Shinji!" "Okay, okay," Misato rushed up and held the crying girl in her arms, rocking her back and forth. "Shh, shh, it'll be alright." "Rei?" "Yes Ma'am?" "Take Asuka to Shinji's alright? I want her to see him." Misato pulled the weeping girl away from her. "Asuka? I'll have Rei here take you to Shinji-kun alright?" Asuka nodded and both departed out the door. After making sure Asuka was gone Misato's bedroom door slid open and an unshaven Kaji stepped out. "She gone?" "Yeah...I never thought I'd see her cry like that." "Well it wouldn't be good for her to see me, not at all. Better to leave that job to Mr. Ikari." He picked up his jacket and took Misato's arm. "I think Asuka now realizes that she cannot live without Shinji's companionship." "Kaji, you don't know anything, do you?" A skeptical look pasted on her features. "Why no! Of course not!" Together, Misato and Kaji left for NERV. Unknown to all Lt. Shigero Yagami of NERV intelligence was watching all of this. Newly promoted Capt. Honturi has ordered him to monitor the second child, but he had captured Kaji and Misato talking about the Third. He knew that Commander Ikari would want to know about this. He quickly followed Asuka and Rei downstairs. "Primary installation of S2 organ complete." Dr. Ritsuko Akagi and Lt. Maya Ibuki over saw the installation of Unit-02's S2 organ, they watched from the Pribnow box. Over the two years of Asuka's absence, the technology of the S2 units was perfected; now S2 organs powered all three NERV Evangelions. Akagi knew SEELE would attack, she saw the photo's of the X2 type Eva's construction. As a countermeasure she and Gendo had replicas of the Lance of Longinus created, which were more versatile than SEELE's swords. "Connect main electric ventricle to the organ." She cringed when she heard her own voice, it was dry and tired. She needed sleep. "Maya begin reattachment procedures for the arteries." "Hai sempai!" Maya began to type in the commands. Ritsuko collapsed into a chair and rubbed her temples, it was going to be a long day. Capt. Tenma Honturi poured over the lists of NERV personnel that worked for SEELE. About thirty-three workers out of three thousand worked for SEELE. The 17th angel's attack caused Ikari to take no risks with Kihl. The phone rang as he was walking out the door. "Honturi, intelligence." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "She WHAT!" He slammed his fist on the desk, scattering an ashtray. "NO! Follow but do NOT intervene." He slammed the phone down. He stalked out into the hall and made his way to Central Dogma. "Commander Ikari?" The supreme commander of NERV stared down at him at him. "Capt. Honturi, what do you have to report?" "Maj. Katsuragi allowed the Second child to encounter the Third." Rei's mind was a jumble of thoughts and feelings as she made her way to the Tri-Gan apartments, with Asuka in tow. Shinji loved Asuka, this was blatantly obvious, however, and Rei had begun to love him after their "first" time. Rei also knew the original donor for her cloned genetic material and that her union with Shinji was not to be. Swallowing her pride, Rei led Asuka up to the thirteenth floor, noticing Lt. Yagami slipping into the building. The elevator ride was uneventful. Asuka's tears had stopped, and now she just glared at Rei. The tension came to a head when the bell rang to indicate the floor. Neither moved, waiting for the other. "..." "..." Finally Rei moved and walked down the hall to apartment 1314. Asuka's heart was racing, the time had come to let Shinji know the innermost regions of her heart... "Asuka? Asuka! Is that you?" The call came from next door. Asuka turned to see a well-figured, brown-haired girl run up and embrace her. "Hikari? Hikari is that you?" Asuka jumped for joy, her only real friend was still alive! Shinji was still waiting, but Asuka could let her feelings out to Hikari. "I'm so happy to see you Asuka! I thought you left." "No, I just needed to get away..." Asuka's eyes fell downward, regret flooded her mind. She grabbed Hikari's hand and rushed down the stairs. Later at a park, Asuka told Hikari all about her departure from Tokyo-3 along with Shinji's note and ring. "Asuka Shinji I know loves you, he was really heartbroken when you left. He didn't come to school for weeks! I heard he had tried to commit suicide!" "He did?" "Yes! It's pretty obvious to me that he loves you...and you love him." A worried look. "I know, I know, but I can't really say it to his face! I, I really can't accept the fact that someone cares for me, needs me." "Asuka, we all care for you, I was scared when they couldn't find you!" Hikari put her hands on Asuka's. "Hikari, am I doing the right thing?" She looks up. "I don't know, but be true to yourself." Hikari smiles and hugs her friend. "...therefore the funds and augmented budget given by the UN to the NERV organization is not sufficient." Fuyutsuki sat down. He had been talking for the last hour, he hadn't done so much talking since his teaching days. Both he and Gendo knew that all the funds were getting invested in new equipment, they suspected that the UN knew it as well. "!" The master of ceremonies stepped down to confer with SEELE's members. He couldn't be sure, but he thought Kihl was smiling. "Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, the revised budget proposal is accepted." The SEELE council room: SEELE 01: Ikari has made a critical error and now is the time for our attack upon NERV. SEELE 04: NERV, the NERV organization was created to carry out the wishes of SEELE. SEELE 02: It was created to enact the scenario of our creation. SEELE 10: But, it has come under the power of a single overzealous individual. SEELE 12: Yes it has. SEELE 11: The time has come to take it back into our own dominion. SEELE 01: Yes, the time has come to restore NERV and the Eva series to their proper roles. We will personally oversee Ikari's destruction. SEELE 12: Is that wise? SEELE 11: We could command the assault from here. SEELE 01: No. /Turns into Chairman Kihl/ "We will oversee this operation personally. Two outsiders have attempted this and failed." SEELE 05: Very well... SEELE 07: When is the appointed time? Kihl: "Three weeks from now." SEELE 08: What about the X2 types? Kihl: "They will be deployed to neutralize Units 00 and 02. All SEELE members: Let the Evas rejoin their predecessors, let us enter heaven through Graff's door with equal amounts of death and prayer. Kihl: "The promised time is at hand." The elevator deposited Asuka back in the main hallway of floor 13. Looking down the corridor, she saw Rei still standing at the door, it had been at least an hour but she was still standing there. "Where did you go Pilot Soryu?" The blank look returned. "None of your business Wondergirl!" Slowly, as if afraid the bell would bite her, Asuka rang the doorbell. After three minutes Asuka began to have doubts, she remembered a dream she had had on the flight back. "It does not work." Rei then pulled out a card key and opened the door. "Tadaima." Then she walked into her room, she couldn't bear to see their reunion. Asuka simply stood in the foyer, awaiting a response. "Ohayo Rei-chan! Next time tell me if you're going to be late." Shinji's voice came from the kitchen, Asuka noticed how deep it had gotten, like his father's. Shinji walked into the living room with a worried look on his face. "What took you so-" His jaw dropped. A red haze rose in his face. "H, hello Shinji..." Asuka blushed and looked away, her hands started fidgeting with the ring on her finger. She put her head down and stared intently at the floor. Shinji's eyes shot to the ring, then to her face. Asuka began to mutter apologies, sobbing and crying, incoherent nothings escaped her lips. He crossed the distance of two yards in what seemed five hours and embraced the weeping lost child. His hands held her head and waist, pushing her into him; her hands slipped under his arms and both shared a mutual embrace. A light yellow glow was emitted from their bodies and feelings began to be exchanged inhumanly, thoughts, ideas, memories, a joining of the soul. Shinji saw Asuka's mother hanging from the ceiling, felt her pain; Asuka saw Shinji's father walking away from him, felt his loneliness. She saw his grief at her departure; he saw her loneliness from separation. Shinji's head lowered slightly, Asuka raised hers, and in so doing connected in a passionate kiss. Unknown to the loving couple, Rei Ayanami observed the situation, saw Asuka with her hands around Shinji. A small sob escaped, and tiny crystal tears flowed from her eyes. As Shinji and Asuka broke to kiss, Rei silently cried herself to sleep. Unbeknownst to all, Captain Tenma Honturi and Lieutenant Shigero Yagami observed the actions of the duo and reported in. Honturi plucked the cell telephone from the dashboard and called Central Dogma to report his findings. "Patch me to Central Dogma." A short pause. /"Capt. Honturi what do you have to report?"/ The tone in the commander's voice showed his upset mood. "I have a portion of video-feed you might want to see." /"Alright, send it."/ Honturi told Yagami to patch the video-feed back to headquarters. Yagami switched the camera to transmit and sent the images. Commander Ikari sat high above the MAGI in Central Dogma. A small, black, semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him and the video-feed began. As he watched Shinji and Asuka embrace, a dull yellow glow covered them; he knew who had created this. Standing up he strode to the handrail elevator. "Fuyutsuki, take care of this." Asuka spent what seemed like hours looking into Shinji's eyes, she noticed that he was taller now, a full inch above her, she also noticed that his face hadn't changed at all, but his body had grown muscular. He had the chiseled good looks of his father; still it was strange that his face pretty much remained the same. Shinji looked down at Asuka, it was Asuka, but he seemed to see Rei in her face. It wasn't that she didn't have emotions, but her hair had dulled in color, her skin was a bit paler, and her face looked somewhat like Rei's. "Asuka." His hands fell to her shoulders. "I, I love you...I want to thank you for coming back." Her eyes welled up with tears yet again. Her head fell sobbing onto his shoulder. "I knew it, I knew it. Shinji!" She embraced him. "I love you Shinji, my Shinji!" Asuka held up her right hand. "I'm wearing you ring, you know. I, I knew it was you, I knew...D, did you mean what you wrote?" "Yes, yes I did." He broke the hug, walking into a room, and came back with a black felt box. Asuka almost died from sheer happiness when he opened it. Nestled in the box were two matching, thick gold wedding bands. "I meant it." Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was making her routine check on the dummy plug parts when Gendo walked in, she could tell by the practiced, measured stride. "Dr. Akagi the Second and Third children have met and joined. Adam and Lilith's union is only a matter of time, prepare the Eva's for transmogrification." Her brow furrowed, if their union were to come about prematurely then all humanity would be destroyed. "I don't see any correlation between Shinji and Asuka and Adam and Lilith." Gendo's usual smirk had disappeared, leading Akagi to that conclusion, one of his plans had gone wrong. "Before the Second child's...departure...I contaminated her LCL to fuse her DNA with Lilith's, I also contaminated Shinjis with Adams." She backed away, a horrified look spread across her face. "What w-was the purpose of that?" "To ensure that she would return. As the angels are driven to find Adam, so Lilith and Adam are drawn to each other. Lilith and Adam selected their own replacements. If Shinji and Asuka are the chosen then there is still hope." Ritsuko withdrew a control pad from her lab coat and pressed a red switch. Suddenly, the LCL tanks illuminated the room. Inside the tanks were 250 Rei Ayanami clones. "Then what was the purpose of these things?" She screamed out. Tears streaked down her face when she realized what she had done, what she had created. "They will be used to further the Third Impact scenario. If Shinji or Asuka will not pilot I will need a pilot I can manipulate, Dr. Akagi prepare the dummy plug system." He turned on his heel and strode out of the darkened room leaving Akagi to flush the LCL tanks. She thought. ^^^^^^The SEELE chamber^^^^^^ A holoscreens descended from the ceiling display graphs and charts from two years before. SEELE 12: Ikari changed the water of life in Eva 01 and 02. SEELE 10: Yes, he has grown bold. SEELE 08: He must wait, the time is approaching. SEELE 01: Like the great wall of Jericho we can chip away at Ikari until he crumbles. SEELE 05: He has stood in our way long enough. SEELE 02: Dare we to attack now that Lilith and Adam's avatars are walking the Earth? SEELE 06: They will be easy to manipulate, they have not mastered their powers yet. They know however they must remain together. SEELE 01: These "avatars" are nothing more than children. SEELE 04: Ikari's plan crumbles to dust. The JSDF will take care of him. ^^^^^^SEELE 02-04 and 06-12 disappear^^^^^^ SEELE 01: The Lance of Longinus will pry open the gates of heaven to us both. We have waited a long time for this. SEELE 05: Centuries. But we must not become impatient, any rash decisions could jeopardize our chance. SEELE 01: Yes, our lives are like living curses. The office of Gendo Ikari has two occupants, Ikari himself and Fuyutsuki. Fuyutsuki was currently playing out a Go strategy. "SEELE will make their move, and when they do they will have powerful backing. As the Jewish zealots defended Masada, so will we defend our humanity. Kihl will give us no choice, he has already begun churning the waters for an A-18." Ikari stood before the window, as if Gazing into the future. /chuckle/ "Yes, Kihl has become rather strong, and if he does attack? What will we do? Surrender to Herod or throw ourselves off the cliff?" Fuyutsuki puts the Go strategy book on the table. "Or will you rewrite history and defend the fortress without losing our lives?" Fuyutsuki fixes him with a perplexed look. "We shall see..." (To be continued...) Another horrendously long fic! I said I'd take a break but I needed to get this one out. I had sudden brainstorms for this fic while reading "The Child of Love," I borrowed two ideas from that fic: 1) The DNA manipulation in the LCL, and 2) the idea for the wedding bands. Masada, if you don't know, was a fortress built for King Herod the great. Jewish zealots defended it from the roman army and had provisions for about a year. Herod commanded the army of two thousand and with a choice of surrender or death, the zealots leaped off the near by cliff, committing suicide. I'm going to take a vote, readers! E-mail me to vote on what kind of ending you want to this series, the results will change the outcome of the fic and will be posted with the next chapter. The choices are: 1) a happy conclusion , 2) a sad ending , 3) or an ending similar to the movie ending . So vote! The next chapter will hopefully be as long as this one. ! I'll put down Fall from Grace as a tentative title. Until next time! Be on the lookout for "Three's a Crowd" a lemon by Tenma Honturi. Dr. Suekeichi Kaiton Kaiton@banet.net C&C welcome, even flames! Don't forget to vote! Special thanks go to my prereaders: Greg Thomas, Jim Lazar(Garden Of Eva), Munkyme123, Mamboking, Jayson Deare(What The Hell Happened To Neon Genesis Evangelion?), and Al-I-Bus(Author of many, many, fics). I came upon inspiration while reading: "The One I Love Is..." by Alain Gravel "Herz" by TOH, Ee Loong (Possibly the greatest) "I Mustn't Run Away" by Andrew Huang "The Death Of One" by Godsend777 (He is a god send) "The Child of Love" by Axle Terizaki (A terrific series even if it gets to WAFFy at times) "Garden Of Eva" by Jim Lazar and "Eva: R" by Maher Al-Samkari Until next time!