Titanic Shinji
Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or Teen Titans.
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
Author's Notes: There was a reviewer for Shinji in a new land that inspired me to write this story. So anyone who likes this should thank CyberXenoNovian for giving me the suggestion.
Silence.
Why?
Darkness.
Why?
Sound. The crashing of waves into the shore.
Why did it have to be this way?
Sight. The endless red sea of LCL that tainted the sky with its color.
Why did it have to end this way?
Smell. The scent of blood permeated the boy and the entire world around him.
Why did you give me the choice Rei?
Rei Ayanami, the girl who despised the color red. The pilot that was an enigma to Shinji. The friend who gave Shinji a choice between life and death in his darkest hour. And the one who had managed to do something no one else had in the 15 years of Shinji's life. She had taken his heart and claimed it for her own, and in return she gave the boy the one thing she had never given to anyone else, not even his father. Rei had shown him a smile, her true smile.
The smile that gave her a beauty that surpassed anything Misato's womanly charms or Asuka's European splendor could possess. A smile she had only shown twice in her life. Once after Shinji removed her from Unit 00's Entry Plug after they worked together to defeat the Fifth Angel. And again when Rei offered him the chance to accept or reject Instrumentality.
Shinji loved her, and that was the truth. A truth that had taken him so long to recognize. If only he had not drowned in depression and sorrow for all his life he might have recognized the warmth that entered his heart whenever he saw the mysterious girl. But not even the occasional life preserver of happiness that was infrequently thrown to him in life was enough to raise him from that dark ocean that kept him from seeing the light of the new sun in his life. The light of Rei Ayanami.
Now it was too late. The world was in ruin and the only reminder of Rei left was the grotesque monstrosity that was the body of the Second Angel Lilith, who had taken the face of the one he loved and warped it into a sinister mask that showed nothing but happiness for the Hell it created even as it slowly decayed into the same blood-like substance that the rest of humanity had been turned into. All except Shinji, who stood gazing across the new ocean at the one that caused it all, and Asuka, who was comatose and showed no signs of recovery.
This world of red and blood was the Hell that had released from within the Third Child that which he had suppressed for so long. And finally unlocked the hidden potential of the true berserker that destroyed so many Angels.
Anger.
Why did you do this Father?
Hatred.
Why were you so selfish that you had to destroy the life of every human in the world?
Depression.
Why did Rei and I have to be pawns in your sick, twisted game?
Sorrow.
Why could you not be here with me to turn Hell into Heaven Rei?
Love.
Rei, I would do anything to give us a second chance. A new chance to retrieve that which was taken from us. A better chance to create a life for the two of us, even if we must forget everything to have it. Even if I must die I would do it, if only to give us one last chance at life.
Power.
The power of an Angel is their soul. The power Shinji took within his body each time he faced one of the messengers of Heaven. The power that awoke when he was absorbed into Unit 01 as it consumed the S2 organ of the Fourteenth Angel. The power that manifested itself bit by bit whenever Shinji experienced happiness, anger, and any other powerful emotions. The power taken from Adam and Lilith during Third Impact. The power of life and death, creation and destruction, acceptance and rejection. The power that now fed on Shinji's love and desire to hold, kiss, and possess the one who was forever gone from his life. The power that tapped into his compassion for life to reach out and separate and ensnare all those who had become one. The power that exploded around Shinji as he let out a cry of rage, hatred, sorrow, and love. The power that shook the world and ripped open the sky. The power that flung the souls of all those who became LCL across the void to a new world to be reborn. And the power that allowed Shinji to follow, with Asuka in tow, to the world where the soul of his love had gone, and where he would get his second chance.
A world of Titans.
"Explain to me again why we're searching through the cold spooky woods at two in the morning when we could be in our warm comfortable tower playing video games, eating pizza, or I don't know Sleeping?" Whined a green skinned teenager who wore a uniform that was primarily purple with black sides, arms, and legs.
"Because," answered a voice from the yellow handheld communicator that showed the face of a black haired boy who wore a mask over his eyes, "Raven had a premonition that there would be something important out here."
"Is she sure it was a premo-whatzit and not some hallucination brought on by that smelly goo Starfire made for dinner?" Asked the shape shifting Beast Boy to the team's leader Robin.
Before Robin could answer a different, female voice spoke up over the communicator. "Beast Boy, you do know you've been talking over an open channel right?" Asked the team's magic user and the reason that the Teen Titans were out in the middle of the woods in the dead of night. Hearing the shriek of surprise that came from Beast Boy she took the answer as no. "Listen, I know that my ability to predict the future has never been as strong, or as controllable as the rest of my magic, but it has also never been wrong."
"OK, then would you mind telling me again what we're looking for? I mean come'on, we've been out here for hours and all I see are trees."
"I don't know what we're looking for Beast Boy. In the vision I saw myself walking through the forest when I suddenly saw a flash of light. I don't know what caused the light, but I felt a sense of urgency to find it, as if whatever it was is important." Explained the magic user.
"And if Raven says that finding this thing is important then that's good enough for me." Stated Robin, a hacking sound indicating that he was cutting through some thick underbrush.
Beast Boy sighed as he figured that tonight was just going to be one of those nights as he morphed into an owl and flew above the trees to get a literal bird's eye view of the area.
It was another hour before the communicator chirped to life again.
"YO! Get your butts in gear people!!" Shouted the cybernetic second in command of the group over the communicator. "I'm picking up some strange energy readings and it's off the charts! I don't know what's happening but it's big, and it's happening north of our positions! I'm sending you the coordinates now!" The screen of the communicator switched from Cyborg's face to a basic map of the area that showed the Titan's location in green and the target site in flashing red.
"I see it! I see the light!" Shouted the exuberant voice of the team's second female member, Starfire, from over the communicator without her face appearing on it. "I am making the haste." She stated as she flew faster.
"Hold it Starfire! All we know is that this thing is important, not whether it was dangerous or not! Tell me what exactly you see." Commanded Robin.
"All I see is the light." Stated Starfire. "It appears to be white and is very bright. Wait! The light is starting to disappear!" She exclaimed as the light slowly began to dim at an ever increasing pace.
Raven, who had taken to the skies as well, sped up her trajectory. She didn't know why but she felt an urgent need to get to that spot. To see whatever it was that called her out here. Like she told Beast Boy she had no real control over her premonitions, but one of the few things she had learned about them is that the no matter how rare they were, they were always important and should never be ignored. The one time she did ignore a vision had almost led to the death of the Teen Titans. She would not make that mistake again.
Reaching the clearing she lowered herself so that she would not fly above the light. She saw through the dimming light that it was being emitted from a circular pit. A pit that she was sure did not exist before the light.
As the light died down she edged closer to the pit, excitement building up within her. Always having to keep a tight lid on her emotions has made Raven a little ignorant of the vast array of feelings it was possible for the human body to feel, and was only familiar with the most basic and powerful of them. Joy, sorrow, fear, and rage being the most prominent. But this feeling was not like those. The only time she could remember feeling anything remotely like now was when she was a child studying under the monks of Azarath and wanted to see her mother.
Raven made it to the edge of the pit just as the light finally faded from sight, and looked over the edge. Her mind idly noted how the pit was a perfect hemisphere, but her eyes and attention were drawn to that which lay at the very center. At the bottom was an unconscious teenage boy no older then she was, wearing nondescript white button down shirt and black pants.
Maybe it was the oddity of how completely normal the boy looked that caused Raven to focus solely on him, allowing her to be taken by surprise as her teammates and friends came up behind her. Although it would take a master at body language reading to notice.
"It's a boy." Said Starfire stating the obvious.
"Cyborg, can you detect any energy radiation in the area?" Asked Robin as he joined up with the others who had gathered there while Raven was distracted.
Taking a look at the monitors inlaid in his left arm the largest member of the group nodded an affirmative. "Yeah, it's the same energy I detected before. The levels are a lot lower but they're still there. And according to my sensors, they're coming from him." He said pointing down at the teen in the pit.
"Radiation?" Asked a nervous Beast Boy. "As in the stuff that makes you glow in the dark as it kills you? You don't suppose that guy's some new weapon from an alien race bent on world domination? Or an experiment that escaped from some super villain wanting to destroy us?" His voice was reaching near hysterical levels at that point.
"Stop that Beast Boy. It is not nice." Admonished Starfire. "He could simply be like our friend Red Star." She said using the Russian Titan they met during their fight against the Brotherhood of Evil as an explanation for the boy.
"I don't know Star. BB may be right about the aliens. I can't make heads or tails of the energy coming off him. At least not with my built in scanners." Said Cyborg.
"Can you figure it out if he's brought back to the Tower?" Asked Raven who had finally joined the others in their conversation. And showing an odd amount of interest in radiation considering she specialized in magic.
"Sure," replied the cybernetic hero. "The equipment at the Tower is a lot more powerful then my own. I should know, I built it." He said smugly. "If there is anything remotely alien, robotic, mutagenic, or just out of the ordinary I can figure it out there."
"But is it safe to move him?" Questioned their leader, looking out for his team.
"Should be." Responded Cyborg. "From what I can tell about the radiation, it's stable and is nowhere close to being lethal like Uranium or Plutonium. Or at least not in an ambient form like this."
That was all Raven needed to hear as she leapt over the edge and slid down the side, causing her hood to fall back and revealing her face and violet-blue hair. She reached the bottom and walked over to the teen, Cyborg and Robin right behind her.
As she got closer Raven could clearly make out the angry red scars adorning the unknown teen's body. A small one that ran across his left eye from eyebrow to cheek and another larger one that adorned both sides of his right arm, as though it had been split in half.
Reaching the boy Raven knelt down and lifted up his head and upper body. No sooner did she touch the teen did she feel the vast power that flowed within him. A power that reached out to her soul and would have touched it had she not used magic to protect it. But she knew the power was only kept out from lack of control. If it was ever focused it could shatter through any barrier she could erect. This power was not magic but felt older, deeper, and maybe even stronger.
Raven stood still and barely noticed as Robin and Cyborg lifted the boy from her grasp and she felt the power withdraw back into the unconscious figure.
As the group headed to the vehicles they brought with them and left at the edge of the forest Raven contemplated everything that had happened. Why did she have the premonition? What was the importance of the boy? And what was that soul shaking power she felt?
Hearing a set of footsteps slow down she looked up to see Beast Boy walking beside her.
"Hey Raven, you OK? You seem kinda out of it. Well more out of it than usual." Asked the green shape shifter.
Raven sighed. Leave it to Beast Boy, the most immature and irresponsible one, the one who almost causes more messes for the Titans to clean up then their villains, and the one who probably had more experience living life than any other member of the group to figure out that she was troubled.
"It's nothing. Just trying to figure this all out." She replied.
"Starting to think this was a bad idea?"
"No, it's just that…ever since I first had the vision that led us here, I've felt more kinds of feelings than I can recognize. Emotions that I never felt before. And you know how dangerous emotions can be for me, even now."
"You don't suppose he has anything to do with…" Began Beast Boy before Raven cut him off.
"No, whoever he is he has nothing to do with Him." Stated Raven not even needing Beast Boy to finish the sentence. "He has caused few emotions within me. Emotions that are unlike anything I am feeling now."
"If you had to describe how you feel, what would you say."
"Confused." She said and gave Beast Boy a rueful smile. "But it's kind of a good confused."
Beast Boy smiled at his friend, happy that he could help and quickened his pace knowing that Raven would want to be alone with her thoughts now.
Raven's smile lowered a little as she watched her friend, although she would never admit that he was one out loud, walk away. 'Thanks Beast Boy for trying to help. It even worked a little. But even though this is a good confused, I still don't like be confused. So once we get back to the Tower I'll meditate and then start working to solve this mystery. Because I have a feeling Cyborg's machines won't be enough.'
Author's Notes: So this is my new Eva story. I hope this is well received as I have never seen an Eva/Teen Titans crossover. And again this was more of a spur of the moment thing because of CyberXenoNovian's review.
In the next chapter, some explanations, soul searching, training, and discoveries both good and bad.
Please Read and Review.