This is taking too damn long. I'll finish up those damn Djinn tomorrow.
It turns out that Mahdi is actually the name of a sort of messianic holy man figure in Islam.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imam_MahdiI love accidental brilliance.
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2016 April 2
Istanbul, Turkey
7:47 PMMahdi had never been here before, but he'd heard of this place countless times. The center of trade and the link to Europe. It was here that his first journey would end, and the next stage would begin.
He stood in front of a large square. The Hagia Sophia loomed in the distance. This city was old, and although it was ravaged by Second Impact, it still remained one of the worlds largest cities. And it was growing. Current estimates said that this would soon take Shanghai's place as the world's largest city.
The crowds were pouring through the streets. Now was the time. Mahdi scanned the streets for the right person. As Shinji has said, he found him. Just the right guy. In as little as three weeks he had lost his job, his house, and his family. A prime target from which all would flow. Mahdi cleared his throat as he reached out to the man.
"Tell me, sir," he began, "what time is it?"
The man stopped. When he used to be employed he would have simply ignored the boy, but he knew the sense of helplessness all too well. Besides, what did he have to lose by telling this kid the time? He had nowhere to be anyway. He checked his watch.
"About 7:50."
"It is almost time for dinner, do you have anything to eat?"
The man grimaced, "No I'm afraid. I can't give you anything."
"I didn't want you to give me anything," Mahdi held his hand in front of the man. "I meant to give you some."
From what appeared to be the air itself came a steaming loaf of pita. The man jumped back. "H-How did you do that? That's an amazing trick!"
"It is no trick," replied Mahdi, "I am able to do this because the Lord wills me to!"
From Mahdi's hands came more loaves. The food was enough to feed him for a week. The others in the crowd began to notice this. Mahdi passed the food out to anyone who wanted some.
"This is but a taste of the feast to come! Let me tell you of the coming of the Messiah!"
-
Back at Tokyo IIIAsuka already knew about the attack. How could she have forgotten? It was her finest moment. It was the time she had been the closest to anyone. That, and she was kicking an obscene amount of tail.
What she didn't know was all of the events behind it. She had no clue what was going on down in the pyramid. Granted, she was rather... perturbed when she found out about Shinji's hospital visit. Indeed, if it wasn't for his highly regenerative metabolism, he probably would have bled to death.
Eventually, she recovered. He told her about Misato rescuing him. About their mad dash to the cages. They had to leave the car and were almost there. There was a hallway ending in an elevator. Gunfire echoed throughout the halls
They made a mad dash towards the exit. As they ran, JSSDF found them. Shinji felt Misato slam up against them as they cleared the crossfire. He thought it was just a last minute push to get them both to safety. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.
Shinji saw the wound. Misato’s leg was pouring blood.
“It’s nothing major,” she told him, “I’ll be fine.”
She limped over to the elevator and waited for it to come down. Shinji continued to stare at this feet. Suddenly, he couldn’t see anything. Misato had drawn in into a bear hug.
“Shinji... You’re important to us. You’re important to me. None of us would be hear if you hadn’t-”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” he interrupted her. “All I can do is hurt people. You’d all just be better off if I was dead.”
She didn’t reply to that. She kissed him instead. Everything in Shinji’s mind suddenly stopped functioning. Eventually, she let him breathe.
“Don’t forget about who you’re fighting for.”
And with that, the elevator arrived and she shoved him into it. As soon as his body cleared the doors, they shut again and he was speeding up to the surface.
“It was there,” Shinji said, “ that I decided that I could make a difference. Too bad I didn’t know what was waiting for me up there.”
-
“For too long we have been lied to!”
Mahdi’s audience had exponentially grown in the last few minutes. They were listening to his every word. From his eyes issued holy light, showing them the future and present with both his voice and with their eyes.
“Those in power have the ability to make this world a better place! They’ve created artificial gods and yet we are standing here nearly starving!”
The crowd roared with approval. The Middle East had never truly recovered from Second Impact and with the rest of the world switching to alternative sources of fuel, the economy was drying up. Turkey had gotten of easy due to trade with Europe, but the countries below it weren’t so lucky.
“If I can create food from thin air, then you should see what my Lord can accomplish! He will create a new world! A new kingdom! A world where everyone is king!”
-
The lift carried Unit 01 up at around Mach 10. But even at this speed it seemed to take an eternity to reach the surface. Shinji’s fingers were still bleeding from trying to dig through the bakelight. He’d lost a couple of finger nails, and the wounds were still leaking blood into the orange LCL. In the end it was the Eva that broke through.
“Thank you, mother.”
As he reached the surface, he scanned the area for Asuka. He found her soon enough. In multiple pieces. Unit 02 was still being consumed by the white abominations. Blood covered the Geofront.
Rage. Pure inhuman rage filled his being. Shinji had never been so angry in his life.
“I felt as if the only thing that mattered anymore was their imminent death.” As he said this, Asuka’s face contorted into an inexplicable expression. Should she be angry at him for arriving too late? Should she be flattered for his reaction to her end?
Unit 01 lifted its hands to the sky. Millions of miles away, the Lance shivered. It shook itself free and plummeted towards Earth. Space folded as it covered the vast distance in mere seconds. It managed to spear one of the MP Evas on its way down into Shinji’s hand.
A storm formed from the swirling mass of Unit 01‘s AT field. They attacked and he attacked back. There was no battle. Only slaughter. He dispatched them all in less than twenty seconds. All but one. This one he speared and let hang from his lance.
Wings of light burst out from Unit 01‘s back, and soon, he was soaring through the atmosphere. He planned to launch this one into the sun.
He would have too, if Rei hadn’t suddenly appeared in front of him. Then again, it wasn’t exactly her. It was many things. It’s massive form swelled from below and covered the landscape.
“Rei?”
The giant blinked.
“This is not right,” it’s voice echoed throughout existence, “The nine are not here. You will have to do.”
“Do for what?” The giant lurched forward and grabbed Unit 01 in a tightfisted embrace.
“All will become one. Suffering will cease. Is this not what you want?”
-
“Let his name be preached from the tallest mountain! Let it carry through the winds!”
The crowd had swollen to the point of ceasing nearly everything in the city. Thousands, perhaps millions had stopped whatever they were doing to listen to his words. Mahdi’s voice echoed throughout the city, letting people from miles around hear him with perfect clarity.
“A new age will dawn! The Old Men will no longer strangle the world, its peoples, and its reasources!”
-
“I told it that I wanted the ability to fix everything. I wanted another chance.”
Asuka couldn’t stop listening even if she wanted too. There was something about his voice. It was almost magnetic.
“It told me that it couldn’t send me back, so it instead made me everything I never was. One moment I was just Shinji Ikari. The next, it was one with me.”
“So it turned you into Superman,” she replied in German. Shinji still picked up on it.
“And then some. I’m the closest thing to a god on this planet now! I can spawn life, make mountains, do anything really!"
“Can you still cook at least?"
“Asuka, I want to make the world a better place, and I’m going to need a lot of people to do it.”
Asuka crossed her legs on the floor, “So you’re taking over the world? Man, you went from having no ego to speak of to having one the size of the sun!”
“Asuka, I honestly don’t want the world.” He paused to breathe in. Asuka noticed that he didn’t seem to breathe anymore. At least not as much. Weird.
“I just want its support. Here, I’ll show you what I mean.”
And with that, they were no longer in Tokyo III. They hovered above a bustling city. A temple dominated the view below them.
Mahdi’s eyes immediately shot to him. “Look! Everyone! He has arrived!”
Shinji’s voiced boomed above them all. It shook the sky as he spoke.
“I have come to create a New World! God has chosen this place to be the site of Her new covenant!”
He lifted his arms toward the sky. “We will become enemies to the world, but God has seen to it to provide for us!”
He said the next part to Asuka alone. “Don’t freak out when I do this.”
“I call upon the bringer of Godly Thunder! The Hammer of the Father’s Holy Will! I call upon my son who’s Holy Fury will cleanse the world of my enemies!”
And with that, a blue diamond hovered above the city. Ramiel had returned.
