From: "JOYCE K WAKABAYASHI" Subject: [Eva/X-Files][FanFic] My Heart is that Eternal Rose. This is sort of a homage to Hong Kong movies while keeping within the Evangelion files series. I hope to create a crossover between Revolutionary Girl Utena and Evangelion. MY HEART IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE "Shinji, why are we going to Area 51?" Asuka asked as Shinji drove down the highway across the desert. "I got a call from an informant, someone who could actually get me in." Shinji was nodding his head to the music coming from his car stereo. "What's that music coming from your deck?" "Oh, it's just the theme from "A Better Tomorrow." I got it from someone on the West Coast. It has guys with their guns ablazing, trying to be pure in an inpure world. It's a good action movie." "You like action movies?" "I like goooood action movies. They're not all baaaaka, you know." Shinji said. Asuka was about to say it was baka, but instead scowled. Still, it was a good sign that he was loosening up around her, smiling and joking more. "Hmph. Sometimes, I wonder why I'm in this car. We're always going this way and that for some hint. I'd like to do something normal for once, something we're not going to get into trouble over." "This is normal. I could always. . ." "Don't you even mention Rally Cheyenne!" Shinji turned to her and said, "I wasn't even about to. . ." "Watch you, you Baka!" Asuka screamed Shinji swerved off the road. A car stopped in front of them. Cancer Man stepped out as did a few of his flunkies. Shinji got out as did Asuka. They stood close together, shoulder to shoulder. "What is it you want?" Shinji said. Cancer Man smirked, the headlights making his eyes unreadable behind the glare of his spectacles. "I've been watching you for years, amused at all the adventures you've been having. I've decided to give you a break. Why don't you follow me into Area 51?" Asuka gasped, "You were the informant?" "I was the one behind the call, but not the actual caller. Well, you both wanted to see Area 51, now you can." "You'll probably get us part of the way in and blow our brains out." Asuka said. The flunkies whip out huge sidearms. "If I really wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. And without my protection, you would never be able to get into Area 51. Besides, Rei is waiting for you." "Rei?" "He's just baiting you," said Asuka. "Well, you'll never know unless you come with me." Shinji looked at the man, then said, "Asuka, stay here, I'll be going with him." "What?" "I'm willling to take this risk, but I'm not willing for you to take this risk with me. Besides, I want someone to stay behind to take revenge if I disappear and blow this bastard's brains out if it is a double cross." said Shinji. "The hell with that," said Asuka. "I'm going with you. I have to protect your back. Besides, leaving me alone outside Area 51 might be part of their plan. Think about it, you baka." Cancer Man simply smiled. "How sweet, you two act like you're a couple." "Chi." was the only thing Asuka said. "What would you know about something like that?" said Shinji. "More than you know." Cancer Man said. "Are you coming? My car awaits." Shinji and Asuka look at each other. Shinji looks at him. "We're coming." They both get into the backseat of the car. Cancer Man is sitting in the back with them. Shinji is in the middle with Asuka on the other side of him. "So, what about Rei?" "All questions will be answered the minute we get there." The car picked up speed towards the military base that was on no official map in the United States. Suddenly light seemed to be squeezed into a tiny circle in front of them as if they were going through a tunnel. Streaks of light seemed to whizz by them. Suddenly, they were driving down a road that was definitely part of an underground establishment. "What was that?" "Oh, that." said Cancer Man. "I just took a shortcut." They parked in the parking lot and walked over to the elevator. They went down for quite a while. Finally, they got off. They walked down a hall only to see a blonde woman in her late twenties in a scientist's frock and glasses that reminded him of Cancer Man's. She was frowning. "What are they doing here? This is a restricted area." "Oh, I know, But I assure you that everything'll be fine. Rei is in the LCL?" "Yes." "Oh, good." Cancer Man then stopped and turned to them. "I think you'd prefer to be alone in this case. She'll have all the answers you want." He opened a door for them while the blonde woman frowned. They walked into a chamber with a brain-shaped machine with the brain stem turning into a cylinder that was 4 meters. tall and more than a meter across. Inside was. . . "Rei!" said Shinji. The girl floating inside opened her eyes. She turned on the communi- cation panel and said, "Shinji? He said you'd come." It made him uncomfortable watching Rei bathing in the LCL, but she seemed serene and calm. "You're Shinji, aren't you?" she said. Shinji went down on his knees and began sobbing, his body shaking. Asuka frowned and stepped in front of him. "How do we know you're the real Rei? That you're not some damn clone." Shinji said, "Are you the original Rei? I met a clone of you in Tokyo." "Yes, I am who I am. The clone managed to get the message to me before she was destroyed for being defective." "She was killed." "Yes. I don't know how to prove it other than. . . Did mother ever tell you about the Lance of Longinus?" "Why yes!" "Before she died, she gave it to me. She told me that only a daughter of her line could hold the spear. She told me that I should use it to protect you. I'm afraid I haven't been able to keep that promise. Also, do you remember the game we used to play?" "The game? The game!" "What game?" said Asuka. "There's been cases of identical twins who have a strong sense of empathy bordering on telepathy. Even though we're only fraternal twins, we have something stronger. Put your hands up, Rei." Rei put her hands up on the glass while Shinji put his as close as you could to hers. She put her forehead to the glass and he put his to the glass. A look of bliss crossed both their faces and a gold light seemed to shine between them. Then Shinji and Rei giggled. "What's going on?" said Asuka. He looked up and turned to Asuka. "When we were small, we used to play a game where we'd pretend to go to a different world, a better world. There's such a feeling of peace where anything is possible. Sometimes, we'd pretend to be a boat going from island to island or sometimes it would be a spaceship. Sometimes, we'd just pretend to go to the beach or a picnic. She had a hard time finding friends so I'd play with her so she wouldn't be lonely. I've never forgotten." He turned to back to Rei. "It's all father's fault. Rei, once you've finished bathing in the LCL, I can get you out of there and into a normal life away from here." Rei shook her head. "It can't be done. Every couple weeks, I have to soak up LCL in order to keep from falling apart. The facilities and the amount of LCL needed would be just to be too exorbitant to be maintained on a life on the run. I would die within a matter of months." "I have friends I can get to rig something up. Besides, father never tried to make you less dependent on this stuff, so. . ." "I would only get your friends killed. I would only get you killed. I'd be living my life on the run. I'd be as much a prisoner as I am now. Look at me, I still look 15. Being what and who I am, retarded my aging to a great extent. I'm going to look this age for a long time. Anyhow, I could never leave him. He's not like you. He's been a very lonely man." "But I've been a very lonely man, too." "Not like him. Besides how can you say such harsh things about your own father?" "Father? Cancer Man is my father?" "You didn't know?" "He didn't tell me. Father, before he left with you, burned every single photo of himself and you. He was trying to make me forget you, but I wouldn't." Rei looked down and pressed her head to the glass. "I'm sorry." "I can't believe that he's my father." said Shinji. Meanwhile, in a different part of the complex, Cancer Man sat in his office, steepling his white gloved his hands in front of his face. "Let Mr. Nagisa come in." The angel who came in looked terrible. His head was bandaged as was his right eye. his right arm was in a sling. Cancer Man looked him over, saying, "Nagisa-kun, you've seemed to have changed a great deal." "You would also change if you were sealed in a field on the bottom of the ocean for a couple decades. It took much of my power just to get out." "What is it that you want?" "You have a LCL plant in this complex. I would like some LCL so I can fully recover." "Oh, why don't you ask Seele for some?" "Their artificial version of LCL isn't as pure as the stuff you have and it's missing certain ingredients that can't be synthesized. I also want to avoid any complications with impurities." "I'm surprised they haven't gotten rid of you." "I'm still useful. Anyway, it's a direct order from the committee." "I'm afraid I must refuse." "Refuse?" "I know your history. You're a bit of a rogue, a loose cannon. I also know that you once tried to murder my wife. Somethings are just unforgivable." "You yourself have done many things on your own authority. You've lied to the committee quite a few times if I remember correctly." He glared at him. "You have the Lance, don't you? Yui must've given it to you." "How could I have such a thing? Its presence would be instantly detected. Besides, Yui is dead and she never told me anything about it." "Your dummy plug system is based on her DNA, as is Rei." "Doesn't mean I have it. My answer is still the same. If Seele has a problem with it, I'll talk to them personally." Kaoru left the office, angry. He thought, Ever since I escaped, my mind has been sullied by anger and vengeful thoughts. I must rid myself these thoughts or I won't be able to return home. "Wait." He turned around to see Ritsuko standing in the hallway. "Dr. Akagi, nice to see you." "Kaoru, can we talk?" "I only want to talk about one thing." "I have what you need for a price. . ." "Oh?" Humans, what a strange bunch, he thought. He followed her to her office. "I know where the LCL is and I can get you access. It's a little dilute, but there's no unwanted impurities. Rei has already used it, you see." "What's your price? I doubt it's money." "Kill Rei and I'll get you an hour's worth of access." "Kill Rei?" "Yes, I have my reasons. She has the Lance, but I don't know where. I think Seele wouldn't mind if she were to disappear." "I think they would sign off on it. Perhaps you could supplant Gendo as head of operations." "Perhaps, but he's to valuable to be. . . let go. We should keep him around." Lillim are so easy to read, he thought. "Just lead me to the LCL." "Is an hour's worth enough?" "It'll do for now." Suddenly, Rei looked up startled. "There's an Angel in this complex! I have to get out." She drained the chamber, then the chamber seperated. Shinji turned away as she towelled off, then slipped on a white sleeveless plugsuit. "You have to leave. I'll get someone to show you the way. He must be after the Lance." The door to the chamber opened. As Rei was running down the hall, an explosion rocked the entire complex, knocking them off balance. A hole blew up behind Shinji. He turned around to see Kaoru, looking healed but with a very angry look on his face. Shinji took out his gun and fired five shots point blank, but it bounced off his AT field. Kaoru snatched up Shinji and blew off the roof. "Shinji!" Asuka yelled. She took out her gun, but they were already too high for a good shot. Cancer Man came running up. "Rei, are you OK?" "Kaoru took Shinji with him." Cancer Man immediately got on his cell phone and said, "Seal all the exits!" "It's no good, he plowed through all of them." "Who the hell gave him LCL!" he yelled, he turned back to his cell phone.. "What did you say? What kind of message did he leave?" Rei said, "What message?" He turned to Rei and said, "He's saying that Kaoru's left a message holding Shinji hostage. He wants to exchange him for the Lance of Longinus." "Well, what are you going to do?" said Asuka. "I'm sorry, but that's impossible." said Cancer Man. "You're wrong." said Rei. "I'm going." "But you've only spent a few hours in the LCL. Everything's not quite solid." "I'm solid enough. I'll simply wrap bandages over the tender parts. I just need some LCL tablets and injections like when we go traveling. I'll be fine. Give me the phone." Cancer Man reluctantly gave her the phone. She listened to the man on the other end quietly, then clicked it off. "I'm going as well." said Asuka. "He's my partner." "Shinji will never forgive me if you got hurt." "I don't care. He knows nothing can get in my way once I've made up my mind. I don't care if you're the real Rei or not, you always go with back up." "I forbid you to go." yelled Cancer Man, red in the face. Asuka stared at him as she had never seen Cancer Man get so emotional. "Father, Shinji needs me. I'm going." She put her hand on his face. "I owe Shinji for making you leave him behind because my need was greater." Then she turned to Asuka, "Lets go and save Shinji." "Rei!" yelled Cancer Man as they walk away. Somewhere in a cave in a desert, Kaoru sat down looking out the cave entrance. A few meters was Shinji bound hand and foot. "What is it you want, Kaoru?" "I want the Lance of course. I'm trading you to get it. I wonder if your lovely partner will be there. Anyway, Rei is not as innocent as she appears." "What?" "You think she lives with him and doesn't know everything that's going on. You fancy yourself a white knight on some great quest for the truth, saving the women you love; but really you're just a fool in a royal court, who amuses people with your pratfalls and naive assumptions. She's not a princess to be saved. She's a monster to be slain." "Don't call Rei a monster!" "She could've seen you a long time if she so chose. Aren't you angry your father chose her over you?" "Shut up, Kaoru!" "Truth hurts, neh?" "How did you escape from the sunken ship?" "I was sealed on the bottom of the ocean by Yui. She stripped me of most of my powers, broke my connection with God. but she didn't kill my physical body because I would've gone directly back to him and been renewed. To keep me less of a threat, she did this instead." "And you want revenge. You've really changed, Kaoru." "Perhaps I have. I don't have the same peace of mind I used to have. All I want to do is go back home, but I don't want to go home empty-handed. I have nothing against you personally, Shinji." Shinji said nothing, but continued to try to squirm out of his bonds. "I see you and Asuka have patched things up since last time. I'm glad." Shinji heard the sincerity in his voice. "Why do you care?" He shrugged. "Just because we're on the opposite sides most of the time doesn't mean I don't like and respect you. I'm sorry about what I said early, but what I said about Rei is true. There's lots she hasn't told you, things that would make you turn away from her." "Like what?" "You're so fragile, I don't think I'll tell you. I won't be the one responsible for breaking your heart. But I think I see a car on the horizon." *** Cancer Man is interrogating Ritsuko. She is handcuffed to a chair. "Why did you give him LCL?" "It was per Seele's order. What could I do?" "You know I'm head of this operation. You did this behind my back. What I want to know is why." "There was no one else who could do it," she muttered. "Do what?" "Kill Rei. You're the only one for me, but that freak has always come first." "Of course, she comes first. She's my daughter." "I know what she really is. Why do you pretend?" "You really disappoint me." Cancer Man said. Two of his flunkies entered the room. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose as if he was really tired. "Take Dr. Akagi to her cell. I haven't decided what to do with her." It all depends on whether or not Rei survives this encounter. I swear if she dies. . .He crushed his glasses in his left hand, blood streaming down his arm. *** Asuka and Rei were driving in a jeep towards the rendevous point stated in Kaoru's message. Asuka looked over at Rei and said, "Why did Cancer Man let Shinji and me into Area 51." "Please don't call him Cancer Man. Please call him Ikari-shirei or my father." "OK, why did your father do that?" "You weren't really at Area 51. You went through what looked like a tunnel, right?" "Yeah." "It's a hypertunnel that took you several thousands of miles away. I can't say where. Area 51 is just a dummy area to attract attention while the serious work is done elsewhere." "But. . ." The three stooges are going to love this information, she thought. "You were allowed in because I asked father to let you in. I knew that Shinji had been looking for me for more than five years now. It's enough. Father took me only because he knew I could never lead a normal life. He didn't want Shinji's life to be mixed up in all this because of me, so he tried to destroy everything that would remind him of us. I thought he'd give up but all the pain and disappointment just made him look harder." Tears ran down her face. "I wanted him to show him how useless it was. I'm so sorry. I just wanted him to stop and lead a normal life. I didn't know Kaoru would be here on the same day." Asuka could only stare at her. "He still shouldn't have abandoned Shinji. He's had such a hard time feeling any confidence about himself. How can he when even his own father got rid of him? It's terrible." Rei wiped her tears away, then said, "I can't do anything for him except this. But it looks like he found someone to help him. Asuka?" "Yeah." "Take care of him. He deserves to be happy." Asuka didn't know what to say to that, so she decided to change the subject. "Will this plan work?" "It's the only thing I could come up." "All this for someone you haven't seen in at least 20 years." "He'd do the same for me. He's been doing the same for me all ths time. I won't let him down." "He was so happy to see you. He was afraid that you might be in some lab being horribly messed up. He needed to know one way or the other. I think he can feel some relief now. I'm glad he got to see you. Now I can understand why he misses you so much." "Asuka." "What?" "Arigato." They see Kaoru up ahead with a nasty looking gun pointing at Shinji. Asuka and Rei get out. Kaoru said, "Do you have the Lance?" Rei nodded. Asuka yelled, "Shinji, are you OK?" "Get away!" screamed Shinji. "Don't worry about me." "The exchange of hostages will begin. The gun I have in my hand is a graviton. It'll totally anihillate Shinji if you try to erect an AT field. Please don't think you can beat my reflexes." He turned to Shinji. "Go ahead and walk." Shinji reluctantly starts to walk. Rei smiles at him and walks forward toward Kaoru. When she stood in front of Kaoru, he frowned then immediately jammed his hand into her stomach, which takes it in without bleeding. Her face contorts with agony. Shinji reached Asuka. She hugged him and whispered, "There's two positron handguns holstered near my kidneys." He grabs them and pulls them out. He takes a second to whisper, "You're the best, Asuka." "Don't I know it." Shinji spun around, raising 2 guns in the air, and started shooting like crazy at Kaoru. Asuka took two guns from underneath her skirt and also began shooting at the angel. Kaoru raises an AT field, but one good shot before that blows off the forearm inserted in her stomach. Rei manages to get some distance between him and her and the Lance of Longinus comes out of her waist as if it came from her womb and she holds it in front of her like a spear. He points the graviton, and shoots it at her, but the AT field she generates causes the energy to bounce off. Shinji pushes Asuka to the ground and covers her with his body. After a few seconds, Shinji looks up to see Kaoru blown several meters by the explosion, bleeding. Rei had a cold expression on her face. "You're no longer pure enough to be an angel. You are simply what remains of an angel once he has succumbed to base and wicked emotions. You need to be destroyed for your own good." She walked over to where Shinji and Asuka keeping an eye on the wounded angel. Then she looked sick and the forearm holding the spear falls off. Rei faints backwards. Kaoru tries to lunge for the spear. Shinji rolls off Asuka and tackles Kaoru. He tries to shoot him in the face, but there is no more energy in the gun. He gasps. Kaoru uses his power and knocks him several meters away with the force of his blow. Blood spews from Shinji's mouth and he falls back, unconscious, his abdomen bloody. Rei regains her consciousness and picks up the spear with her good arm. The spear goes through Kaoru, ripping him to shreds, the flesh turning into glowing filaments that seem to vaporize before their eyes. Rei was on her knees, sweating. She took a few LCL capsules and tied her arm back to her body. "I have to go back home, but first. . ." Asuka saw herself surrounded by the tunnel. A few seconds later, she found herself and Shinji where they had been at the beginning of the encounter, on the side of the highway in the New Mexico desert. Rei was leaning over Shinji , putting her hands over his wounds, which spontaneously heal. "Shinji's lost some blood. I've sealed the internal bleeding, but he needs to go to a hospital. You passed one several miles back. Tell Shinji, we'll probably never meet again and that Area 51 has nothing for him. I hope that someday he forgives me and father for all the pain we've caused him. Sayonara." With that, she sped off and disappeared down a tunnel, which disappeared a second later. "Shinji, keep awake." Asuka said as she strapped him in the car. "I'm so sorry, Asuka, for getting you mixed up in this. I've been so selfish. You yelled at me, saying that I was too wrapped in my own crap to be any good to anyone. I didn't stop to think about how you. . ." "Oh,God, that was years ago. Why bring it up now? Why don't you tell me about those action movies you watch?" She thought, He doesn't sound good, I better keep him talking. "Oh, those. Most Hong Kong movies I've seen have a happy ending. Hero wins everything. But in "My Heart is that Eternal Rose," the hero and the heroine decide to save a friend, but they die together, full of lead, after gunning down the villains." "Well, you're not going to die." "No, i'm not going to die because I'm not the hero. You and Rei are the heroes. I'm just the comic relief, the baka. . ." he whispered. "From the very beginning. . ." "There you go, underestimating yourself again." said Asuka. She said to herself, I'll never use the word baka when I call him by name. She was filled with regret. She never knew that he had taken that nickname so much to heart. "You've always been the hero. It's just that nobody else knows except me, that's all." "Don't worry." "What? Me, worried?" "I can tell you're worried. You haven't called me Baka-Shinji." He smiled up at her, his eyes barely open. His breathing became shallow. "The minute you stop calling me that is when I know you're worried." Asuka sped down the road to the nearest hospital as the strains of the music "A Better Tomorrow" played in the car. THE END Epilogue: Ritsuko is floating in the LCL tank, naked. The door opens and Cancer Man walks in. "What is this?" said Ritsuko. "Rei managed to destroy the Angel Tabris. But she was terribly injured. She'll have to soak in a high pressure LCL solution for a month, maybe more. You're going to stay in this chamber as long as it takes for Rei to recover. I'll come everyday to visit you, but if you can't stand it, there's a button you can press that'll charge the LCL with enough electricity to kill you." "You don't mean for me to stay there twenty four hours a day?" "Yes." "You bastard!" "You tried to endangered the whole operation by helping a rogue operative, nearly destroyed the centerpiece of our operation and betrayed me out of an insane jealousy." "Then why don't you kill me?" said Ritsuko. He took off his new glasses and looked at her for a second. "Ritsuko Akagi, I truly. . . ." He whispered the last few words. Ritsuko closed her eyes and said, "Liar." "I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled to himself. She's so easy to scare. He left the room to go into a different chamber. He saw Rei lying in a transparent tube of LCL. She had her eyes closed, but through the communications system installed in the tube, he heard her whisper, "My Heart is that Eternal Rose,"then heard her quietly sob. Unable to hold, to comfort her, he left the room before she saw him.