Judgment Day 3

Judgment Day

By Artemis

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is a copyright of Gainax co.  

         Elements of this fanfic are inspired by the movie

         "Armageddon" by Touchstones Pictures.  Most of the

         characters in this fanfic are owned by Gainax co., so

         please don't sue me!(I'm still too young for that, anyway!)

Note: From now on, unless otherwise noted, the time is based on U.S

Eastern Time and the place is in Miami, Florida.

Part 3

Suite 4065, Sheraton Imperial Suites, Miami, Florida; 10:30 P.M

     "Straight Flush!" exclaims Misato as she reveals her cards.  "Try

and beat that!" she says once again, as she takes a sip out of her can

of Guinness, and lays back on her chair leisurely.

     "Well, I guess I have nothing left to offer you . . ." replies

Ritsuko in a desperate tone.  

     "Hah!" exclaims Misato triumphantly, and is about to gather the

pile of money on the table when suddenly Ritsuko continues, "Except for

a Royal Flush, that is."  As Ritsuko slowly reveals her cards, Misato

feels as if an anvil has been dropped on her head.  She couldn't

believe Ritsuko beat her again for the third time after only a few

minutes of a crash-course on Poker.  'Then again, she is a genius' she

thought as she watches Ritsuko gathering her winning streak, 'How

difficult could a game of Poker be for the smartest brain in NERV?"

     As Ritsuko gathers the unfortunate captain's two-month's earning,

Misato gets up from her seat, and starts towards the glass door of the

balcony.  She sets her gaze to the cityscape outside; the various

lights of the tall buildings seem to remind her of something very

special to her.

     "You're not going to open the door, are you?" says Ritsuko as she

light up a cigarette,  "We're in the 40th floor, and the wind will

definitely ruin your hairstyle, just like this afternoon, as well as

your romanticism."

     She smiles at her friend's remark, but it quickly fades away as

she kept her gaze towards the cityscape.  "Ritsuko," she says, "Do you

think it's possible to still care for someone who has done you wrong so

many times?"

     "What do you mean?" she asks as she sets down her cigarette on an

ashtray.

     Misato turns around, and continues, "I haven't turned off the

communicator during the incident this afternoon, and I could hear

Shinji calling out to the commander, and he sounded like he was very

concerned.  I don't know what you think about that, but I think that I

could never care so much for anyone who have abandoned me, like . . ."

     "Like your father?" she finishes Misato's sentence, and Misato

nods weakly.  Ritsuko takes her cup of coffee, takes a sip, and sets it

down before she finally continues, "I guess the question here is not

whether you loved the pebble in your shoe or not, but rather a question

if that pebble loved you."

     Misato looks up and says, "What are you saying?"

     Ritsuko takes her cigarette and replies, "I'm saying that it's

not whether you still care for that person, but whether or not that

person still cares for you."

     In the room next door, Ikari Gendo sat on a chair facing a laptop

computer on the table, one of the few possessions that the U.N had

managed to salvage from the wreckage of Unity-1.  Although not many of

his possessions survived the crash, Gendo was quite relieved to find

that his laptop remained unscratched.

     As the computer displays the main screen, Gendo uses the touch-

pad of the laptop and clicks on an icon on the screen.  The password

dialogue box appears, and Gendo type in his password.  A chime confirms

the password to be correct, and a media player toolbar appears.  Gendo

presses the "Play" button, and after a few seconds of loading time, the

screen went dark and the words "Shinji's 5th Birthday" appears on the

screen.  The words are then replaced by a recording of little Shinji

waving at the screen.

     Gendo smiles an unusual caring smile as he sees little Shinji

running on the screen while Yui chases him around, trying to make him

stand still and adjusted his shirt.  He even kept his smile as the

whole procession unfolds in front of him: the blowing of the candles as

the children sang "Happy Birthday", the opening of the presents, the

games that the kids played, and even until the end of the recording

where little Shinji slept soundly in his bed in his very own room.

     "Our little boy is growing up," says Yui quietly on the recording

as the screen slowly darkens.  Gendo presses the "Stop" button and

closes the laptop.  He then joined his hands in front of him in his

normal calm gesture, although this time there was a hint of sadness in

his face.

     'Yui, you never know how much I miss you ever since that cursed

day . . .,' he thought, 'Soon, Yui, we will be a family again: you, me,

and our son, just like we used to be . . ."

Brooks Avenue; 1st Day of Launch Preparations, 9:17 A.M

     "Well, it's about time Misato got us out of that training

center," says Asuka as she walks on the sidewalk, "I thought I would

vegetate there."  The three Children are walking down one of the street

of the city, doing some shopping to replace the things they lost when

Unity-1 crashed.

     Actually, it was Asuka who was doing most of the shopping while

Shinji carries most of her shopping bags, and Rei just followed both of

them around quietly.  They have gone into numerous stores by the wide

and empty avenue, but it seemed as if Asuka's "appetite" for shopping

hasn't been fulfilled.  Right now, Asuka leisurely walks around on the

sidewalk with a shopping bag on each hand while Shinji try to juggle

ten shopping bags on him.

     "I still don't know why Misato -ugh- let us out," replies Shinji,

as he manages to balance five shopping bags, piling up like a wobbling

tower that he has to support with both hands, while the rest of the

bags are divided on each hand.  "With 174 hours to spare, I think we

should be -whoa- training for the mission," he says again as he tries

not to topple the wobbling pile.

     Asuka turns around, gives him a funny look, and draws closer,

surveying his face.  "What is it?" he asks.

     She draws back, and replies, "Your surgeon did a very good job

with those lobotomy stitches."

     Shinji blinks, and says, "What are you saying?"

     Asuka smiles, and replies, "I'm saying, you're far too obedient,

Third Child.  Whatever Misato says, you would do it.  You need to

lighten up a bit."  She then continues to walk to a crossroad, and

point to the crossing sign.

     "For example," she says, "The sign says not to walk.  What do you

do?"

     "I'll wait for the sign to turn green, of course," he replies,

trying to acknowledge Asuka's point.

     "See?  You're just too obedient," she says, "What you should do

is to look around, and see if there are cars around.  If there aren't

any, then you should cross.  Like this."  She then practices her word

by looking around for vehicles.  When she's sure that there are no

vehicles around, she quickly got on the road, turned around and says,

"See?  Sometimes you gotta bend the rules if you wanna get somewhere."

     Unfortunately, Asuka didn't realize that at the same moment a

motorist on a red sports-bike was advancing towards her.  The motorist

was apparently glancing over the shoulder, as if making sure that he

wasn't followed.  By the time the motorist looked back to the road, he

was already near to Asuka that he had just barely enough time to avoid

hitting her head on.

     "Asuka, look out!!" cries Shinji, but when she turned around the

bike was already very near to her that she has no time to avoid it.  

The side of the bike grazed Asuka and spins her as she fell to the

ground with a shriek; her bags fly from her arms and scatter their

contents on the street.  The motorist himself, having his balance

disturbed by Asuka, sways his bike, falls, and slides on the street a

few feet further away from the scene of incident.  Fortunately for him,

his helmet, jacket, and hard jeans absorb much of the impact as the

friction with the asphalt slowly brings him to a halt.

     "Asuka!" cries Shinji again as he drops all of the bags to the

pavement and hurriedly runs up to her.  Rei, who seemed somewhat

surprised by the incident but managed to keep her cool, follows Shinji

closely after making sure there are no other vehicles around.

     "Asuka, are you alright?" he says again as he kneels down next to

her.

     "Ouch, my ankle!" she whines, "It hurts!"  Shinji peers down to

examine her ankles, and surely enough, her left ankle was bright red

and swollen.  "I must have twist it or something," she says again as

she winces in pain.

     Shinji turns around to take a look at the motorist who nearly

blind-sided Asuka a few moments ago.  He could see that the motorist is

now dragging his motorcycle to the sidewalk.  Having succeeded in doing

that, the motorist turns around towards them and starts to run quickly

towards them.  Shinji notices that aside from a few torns on the jacket

and jeans, the motorist did not receive any serious injuries.

     Shinji then turns back towards Asuka and lift her in both arms.  

"What are you doing?" she says with a bit of disagreement in her tone.

     Without replying, Shinji carries the injured girl back to the

sidewalk, and gently sets her down against a wall.

     A few moments later, the motorist gets to them, and exclaims,

"I'm sorry, I didn't see her.  Is she alright?"  The motorist then

kneels down next to Asuka, and takes off his red helmet.  Shinji notes

that the motorist was actually a boy around 14 to 15 years old with the

same height as he is.  He has a clear face, and a set of hazel brown

eyes.  His sandy-yellow hair was straight and short in length, which

was matted by sweat but still somewhat tidy (Note: Think Quatre R.

Winner from Gundam Wing).  His blue jeans came in contrast with his

black jacket, which has a picture of an Angel on the back with the

writings "Made In Heaven".

     The motorist was very concerned of the girl's injuries.  He

didn't have the slightest idea when he got up this morning that he is

going to blind-side a girl with his bike today.

     He then casts a quick glance at the small group, and quickly

notices a contrast between them.  The boy was definitely Asian, and the

girl she injured has a European look with her long Auburn hair.  But

the weirdest sight was the other girl who was standing behind the Asian

boy: she looks neither European nor Asian.  Her blue hair and burning

red eyes mysteriously conceals any clue of her origins.

     A strong blow on his cheek completely disturbed his thoughts,

sends the boy falling backward, and lands on his back.  As he tries to

recover himself, he sees the injured girl lowering her fist.  The Asian

boy was obviously surprised by her action, for his eyes and mouth were

gaped wide in disbelief, while the other girl only raises an eyebrow at

the spectacle.

     "What did you that for?!" he shouts, as he rubs his sore jaw.  

'Man, this girl packs a mean punch!' he thought.

     "Dumbkof!" replies Asuka with fluent English, "You know what

that's for.  Idiot!"

     "Look, I said I'm sorry," he says again as he slowly got on his

knees, "You don't have to rub it in on me!"

     "Sorry doesn't cut it, pal!" snarls Asuka, "You better watch

yourself 'cause I'm suing!"

     Before the boy could reply, suddenly they were surrounded by a

bunch of men in black suits and dark glasses.  They quickly seized

Asuka, Shinji, and Rei by forcing them to face the wall.  Shinji

notices one of the men quickly handcuffed Asuka, an action which was

immediately followed by a series of German curses and thrashing, but

she was cut short when the sharp pain on her ankle returns.

     "Are you alright?" says one of the men as he helps the boy gets

up.

     "Yeah I'm fine, I'm fine," he replies, somewhat irritated.  He

glances at the people who were holding down the three children.  "It's

alright, you could let them go," he says to the men.

     One of them replies, "But she . . ."

     "I said let them go!" he says again with a more authorative tone.  

The men quickly comply, and let the three Children go.

     "What's going on?"  Shinji whispers to Asuka.

     "How am I supposed to know?" she replies, and quickly holds her

ankle again, "Ugh, my ankle!"

     One of the men in suits gets to the boy, and says to him, "You

shouldn't have ran away like that.  It's too dangerous outside."

     The boy brushes off the dust on his jacket and replies, "We

shouldn't be discussing this now, Captain.  I just blind-sided this

girl, and she needs a medical attention right away."

     "That could be arranged, but she has to come along with us first

for questioning," he replies with a coldness that reminds Shinji of his

father.

     "For what?" asks Asuka.

     The man looks down at her, and says, "For a criminal offense of

assault and battery towards the First Son."

     Asuka's mouth gape open and her eyes grows wider.  Noticing the

change of expression, Shinji moves closer to her, and says, "Asuka,

what did he say?"

     Without taking her gaze away from the other boy, she replies,

"Looks like I just beat up the President's son . . ."

President's Resting House; 11:02 A.M

     "Damn it!" mumbles Misato, as she paces nervously in front of an

antique table.  "Stupid!  Idiot!", she mumbles on, "Arrrgh!  I knew it

was a mistake to let them out with Asuka!"

     The four NERV executives have been asked an hour ago for an

audience at the resting house on behalf of the President of the United

States.  While they were waiting in the tastefully decorated Victorian

guestroom, a representative came in earlier and told them what the

matter is, thus started Misato's nervous pacing.

     "Would you calm down and have a seat?" says Ritsuko calmly as she

lift her cup of coffee from the table, "It's not that serious."  With

that, she takes a sip of her coffee.

     "What do you mean, it's not that serious?" she replies as she

takes her seat next to Ritsuko, "We're here to get their help, and

Asuka's action is not helping us at all."

     "I have to agree with Dr. Akagi, Captain," says Fuyutsuki, "No

matter how serious this is, it will not ruin our mission.  The

President is still a human, and I'm sure he wanted to survive from all

this."

     At that, the wooden double-door gently opens up, and an elderly

man steps in.  He was in his thirties, medium height, and has an air of

a responsible leader all around him.  His hair was light brown with a

few small patches of white hair here and there.  His hazel brown eyes

eyed the guests with respect and dignity.  His lips formed a smile, and

he  greets his guests with a warm voice.  "Welcome to the United

States, ladies and gentlemen," he says, as he signals the two men on

the door to get in.  

     The men quickly complies, and takes out four

communicator/translator from their pocket, walks down to the guests,

and hands them each one communicator, except for Gendo who politely

refused the offer with a lift of a hand.  The two men then quickly gets

to the double door and closes them.

     As the President sits on a seat across the medium, exquisite

table, Misato gets up and says hastily, "Mr. President, before we start

on anything, I would like to apologize of what happened to your son.  

Asuka is . . ."

     "Oh, don't worry about it, Ms. Katsuragi," says the President, as

being translated in the communicator, "In fact, it's me who should

apologize of what my son have done to Ms. Souryuu."

      "Where are the Children now, sir?" asks Fuyutsuki as Misato sits

back on the sofa.

     "Oh, my son are showing them around the house.  Ms. Souryuu's

injuries are not too bad, so she is currently with them now.  We could

speak more freely that way," he replies.

     "What is it that you wish to speak to us, Mr. President?" asks

Gendo, with a surprisingly fluent English, in a respectful yet cold

manner.

     At his remark, the President pauses, as if Gendo's words have

struck the heart of the matter.  He slowly gets up, turns around, and

orders the two men on the door to leave the room.  As they disappeared

behind the double door, the President slowly sits back on his seat, and

continues, "The reason why I invited you here is to discuss about

something that concerns my son, Adam . . ."

     "You're what?!" says Asuka as she blinks in disbelief, almost

dropping her glass of cold orange juice to the floor.

     The First Son nods in approval, and replies, "I'm the designated

pilot of Eva Unit-03, code-named: the Fifth Child, Adam Traeger."

     The children were now lounging leisurely inside Adam's richly

decorated Victorian-style bedroom after their tour around some parts of

the resting house.  The room, according to Asuka, was that suitable for

a prince: quite large in size with three glass doors that connects to

the balcony on the garden.  

     On the South end of the room, next to the entrance, was a

fireplace with the frames made out of white marble.  On each side of

the fireplace were antique chairs made out oak wood and fine silk,

obviously intended as a place of comfort during the cold season.  On

top of the fireplace was a huge mirror with golden colored frame.  

Another mirror was placed on the West end of the room, on top of a

small wooden drawer with a basket of fresh fruit on top of it.  Rei was

quietly standing next to the drawer, a glass of water in hand, as she

watches the others engaged in a conversation.

     "I was gonna' keep this as a secret, but then you guys told me

that you were Eva pilots, so I just thought to give it away," says Adam

again.  He was wearing a light pink shirt, white pants, a black vest,

and a pair of black shoes.  His almost formal attire almost completely

eliminates the fact that he was the motorist who blind-sided Asuka this

morning and forced her to sit on a wheelchair.

     "Wonderful!" replies Asuka sarcastically, "First you nearly

killed me, now you're an Eva pilot too?!  What is this, April Fool?!"

     "Why?  What's wrong on being an Eva pilot?" he replies, somewhat

puzzled at her remark.

     "Why?!  I'll tell you why!  Because . . ." Asuka falls short of

words at that point.  "Because . . ." she tries again, but couldn't put

her tongue into it.  'Yeah, what is wrong on being an Eva pilot?' she

thought, 'Why do I despise other Eva pilots except myself?'

     "Never mind . . ." she sighs, which left Adam with a puzzled look

on his face.  At that, Shinji turns on his headset.  Seeing his

gesture, Adam puts on his translator that was on the bed next to him.

     "Do you know why they chose you as an Eva pilot?"  Shinji says,

as translated on the headset.

     "I think they have a good reason why they chose me as a pilot."

     "Which is?"

     Adam sighs.  "It is because . . ."

     ". . . your son was born on the same day Second Impact occurred,

Mr. President," says Ritsuko, "Such a fact would prove to be very

useful to defend ourselves from the Angels."

     "How is that possible?" replies the President, still trying to

keep his cool.  No doubt there were signs on his face that he had hoped

against NERV's will.

     "Evas could only be controlled by a child that was born near the

Second Impact.  The fact that Adam, your son, was born on the day of

Second Impact could also mean that his synchronization ratio with an

Eva would be . . ."

     "Yes, I know" he says again, interrupting Ritsuko's explanation,

"Your Branch 1 has requested a sync test for Adam four months ago, and

the result, as they said, was outstanding."

     "87% ratio, yes we know," replies Ritsuko casually.

     The President slowly gets up from the chair and walks slowly

towards the window, gazing dreamily to the cityscape.  He pauses for

quite a while there before he finally says, "Adam was the only reason

left for me to live my life.  My wife died when she delivered him, at

that faithful day of the Second Impact."

     "I promised Jill, my wife, as I held Adam in my arms that I would

protect him from harm.  I would do anything in my power to keep him

happy and safe."  He then lowers his head, sighs, and continues, "But

now, all humanity rests their survival on my son.  It would be selfish

of me to refuse your proposal, but if anything happens to Adam, I'm not

sure how I could face Jill when I died.  I'm not sure what to do . . ."

     Ritsuko sees that the veil of an authorative leader starts to

lift from the man's face.  She sees in its place a weary man who is

pleading for his son's life to them.  She begins to feel uncertain of

the whole plan of Adam's appointment when Gendo stands up and says,

"Mr. President . . ."

     "Please, call me Bill."

     "Mr. President," insist Gendo, "My son is the pilot of Eva-01,

and my wife disappeared during the test activation of Unit-01.  My loss

is the same as yours, but we must not mourn for our loss at times like

this.  Instead, we must think of the future of those who survived

Second Impact."

     "Your son has been offered a chance to give humanity a surviving

chance against the Angels.  Whether you give him this chance or not is

entirely in your hands.  But know this, Mr. President, the death of 2.5

billion people would be in your hands if you refuse to take this last

resort.  Good day."  With that, Gendo starts toward the door.

     "Mr. Ikari!" calls the President with such an authorative tone

that made Ikari Gendo falls short in his steps.  He turns around and

looks at the man near the window who turns around towards him.

     "It would be a dark day when we let our children do the fighting

for us," he says.

     Gendo coolly fixes his glasses and draws his cold smile.  "We are

living in those days, Mr. President," he says afterwards.

     That afternoon, an official received a quite large package

addressed to Adam Traeger with no return address and only a symbol of

NERV plastered on the top of the container.  After a thorough safety

inspection and a confirmation with NERV, the package was then delivered

to the Fifth Child who opens it with much anticipation.

     Inside of the container was a security clearance card with his

picture and identities on them, a book which reads "Welcome To NERV" on

the front and a bulk of black fabric underneath.  As he pulls the

object, he realized it was a black and white plug-suit, designed

specifically to fit him.

Suite 4065, Sheraton Imperial Suites; 10:49 P.M

     "Straight Flush!" exclaimed Ritsuko as she triumphantly reveals

her cards.

     "Oh man!"  Misato moans, as she slumps herself to the table and

watches as Ritsuko gathers her money yet again.  "You cheat, didn't

you?"

     "How could you cheat luck?"  Ritsuko replies as she finishes

gathering the money from the table.  She was wearing her new clothes

that she bought with the money she won last night: a black skirt and a

light-blue T-shirt which says "Surfin' USA".

     "You tell me, oh great Mother Brain of NERV!" says Misato again

as she took a big gulp from her can of cold Bud.  A few drops of beer

fall on her light-green tank top and all over her white cut-off jeans.

     "You're a pig, you know that?!" wince Ritsuko as her friend gives

a long, loud and rude burp.

     "Heh, beer is the joy of living!" she replies.  Her expression

then changes to seriousness as she places her beer on the table.  Her

face signals a really deep thought that Ritsuko can't help but wonder.

     "What is it?" she asks her.

     "Hmm?  Oh, I'm just thinking about this morning . . ."

     She took a sip from her cup of coffee, and says, "About Adam?"

     "Yeah . . . I mean, he's lucky he has a caring father, unlike two

people here that I know . . ." replies Misato as she look dreamily at a

painting of a sunset at a beach.

     "You might be surprised, captain," she says as she sets down her

cup, "Gendo and your father might have cared for their children even

much greater than you thought.  I mean, the fact that you lived is a

proof of how great your father's love for you"

     "Hmm . . ." she replies dreamily, "So the pebble in my shoe still

loves me . . ."

     "You could put it that way . . ." she says as she lift her cup

again and took a final sip from it.

     In the room next door, Gendo stares lovingly at the image of Yui

holding the 4-year-old Shinji on one arm.  His eyes grew compassionate

as he whispers, "Yui . . ."

To Be Continued

Author's Note : First of all, I'd like to apologize for not being able

         to continue the story throughout the summer.  I have to

        deal with my own problems of moving to a new school

        after the summer vacation.  What's more, the new school

        haven't installed any Internet access until around

        Thanksgiving, which is quite understandable since it's

        in the middle of nowhere in Arizona.  Now, even though

        the summer is over and "Armageddon" was now a

        yesterday's news, I hope you guys won't mind reading my

        story.  As usual, write suggestions to me at

        artemis156@hotmail.com (no flames, please!).  I would

        really appreciate them.  Well, see you next episode,

        and I promise this sort of thing wouldn't happen again

        next time.  See ya!