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An Assassin's Memories

Thirtieth Shot: Iscariot

"This should hold for a while." Shinji glanced at the man standing half in and half out of the plug. "You know the deal with tourniquets, right?"

"Loosen it every once in a while or I loose the leg," Shinji stated as he looked over the controls. "Has the hemorrhaging stopped yet?"

"It's slackening," Doc stated. "It should stop bleeding entirely soon. That's the most I can do for you."

"Its fine," Shinji stated. The older man nodded and pulled his upper body out of the plug. Shinji watched him go and then watched as the door slid shut, leaving the plug in total darkness. A screen flickered on to his left and Shinji turned to see Misato staring at him anxiously.

"Shinji?"

"You're going to have to talk me through start up," Shinji stated as he turned his eyes back to the controls, now illuminated by the faint light of the communication screen.

"Don't worry about it," Ritsuko stated. "We're beginning remote start up procedures from here."

"Good," Shinji replied.

"Will you be alright in combat?" Ritsuko asked.

"Combat I remember fine," Shinji stated. Light began to flicker along the plug's walls and LCL poured in. Shinji waited, watching the level creep closer to his face. It still smelled like blood, but that wasn't a bother anymore. If anything it was comforting. The LCL slid over his head and he took a breath.

"Synch ratio is at fifty-three," someone reported.

"Close your eyes and focus," Ritsuko ordered. Shinji leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. He focused, just like he had been taught.

"Synch ration sky rocketing," the technician reported. "Topping out at one-eighty-three!"

"Respiration, pulse, and brain activity low," another reported. "He's practically asleep ma'am."

"Alright," Misato said, speaking for the first time in several minutes. "Asuka already used up most of the projectile weapon in the area. All we have left and two pistols and the melee weapons." Shinji felt his lips twitch into a feral smile. That was fine, no, that was better then fine.

"I do my best work with blades," he stated.

"Copy," Misato replied. "Prepare to launch."

(:ii:)

Ryan watched as the massive purple demon rocketed out of the bay. "That's the last Eva sir." Ryan turned and nodded to Lucky.

"Pack it in folks!" he ordered. "The redhead cleared our retreat path. Let's get the hell out of here."

"What about them?" Ryan turned and looked at the bodies of his own men. "I don't want them to be mistaken for those French bastards sir."

"Neither do I," Ryan replied. "Where I come from we have a saying, never leave a man behind. We are not leaving these soldiers!"

"Yes sir!"

(:ii:)

Shinji grunted slightly as the G-Forces he had been experiencing terminated and pushed him against his restraints. The cover of the building next to him rolled up. "Currently there are eight functional enemy units," Misato reported. "One is already moving to intercept you from the north west." Shinji glanced to his right and saw the massive machine flying towards him.

"I see it." He turned back to the armory building and retrieved a wicked-looking axe and a pistol. As soon as the axe cleared its restraints the massive blade pulsed to life. "This will do."

"Listen," Ritsuko ordered, "these machines have only two weaknesses." Shinji turned the massive robot to face its rushing enemy. He raised his pistol and fired twice. "You have to extend your AT field to nullify the enemy's AT field!" Ritsuko snapped.

"Right." Shinji cocked his Eva's arm back and sent the axe spinning towards the white Eva. The blade caught the robot's head dead center and cleaved its skull in two.

"It's still active," Ritsuko snapped. "You have to target the core or the plug! Aim for approximately the same place a human's heart would be."

"Understood." Shinji drew a bead on the twitching white body and fired twice. The massive white machine stilled and Shinji turned back to the armory building. He grabbed another axe. "Is this Eva armed?"

"Affirmative," one the technicians reported. "You have a progressive knife in each shoulder pylon." Shinji glanced down at the pop up screen showing the ammo remaining in his pistol, only five rounds. He frowned and dropped the weapon, retrieving a second from the armory building.

"The other enemy units have noticed you," the female technician warned. "They're going to be harder to kill in a group."

"You just have to focus on individuals," Shinji stated. It was an old lesson. One man couldn't beat the group, but he could at least kill a few individuals. It was expected of an assassin after all. "I'm moving to attack."

(:ii:)

"What's the status of Asuka?" Misato asked as she stared at the vital signs over Makoto's shoulder.

"She's unconscious at the moment," Makoto reported. "That's probably a blessing. We need a retrieval team out there now."

"One of the enemy units is holding back," Maya stated. "It's protecting the kill ma'am."

"Perhaps Shinji can kill that unit and Major Ryan and his team can make the pick up," Shigeru suggested.

"That doesn't seem feasible," Ritsuko stated coolly. "Shinji is engaged in a fight for his life at the moment. We should not distract him."

"Ma'am?" Maya asked. Misato stared at the screens. If help didn't reach Asuka soon she might not live, but if Shinji tried to help her then he might just be killed.

"She's right."

"Understood." Misato felt her fist clench. 'Think now, hate yourself later.' On one of the screens Misato watched Shinji fire his Eva's pistol, the massive slugs tearing into the white Evas' wings. He was probably too far away to get an accurate bead on the cores.

"What do you think the odds of one of those two coming back here alive are?" Misato asked quietly.

"For a normal human like Asuka?" Ritsuko asked. "The odds aren't very good. For someone like Shinji. . .I really can't say."

"He'll kill them all."

"Undoubtedly," Ritsuko replied. "I'm just not sure if he'll survive either."

(:ii:)

Shinji watched as the white Evas ran at him. Without their wings they lost a lot of their mobility. The only reason he hadn't attacked was that he was watching the conversation between the bridge crew. He couldn't hear them, but he could easily read their lips. "Get Ryan and his team ready to retrieve the Second Child."

"What?" Misato demanded.

"Get Ryan ready to get Asuka," Shinji repeated. "I will take care of the straggler." He dodged a spear thrust from the first white Eva and brought his axe down, cleaving the creature cleanly in two. Both halves dropped without a twitch. The five other units froze and withdrew slightly. "Looks like I got their attention."

"Be careful," Misato stated. "They did this to Asuka. The first is a probing attack. Now that they know you're strong they'll attack en masse."

"Right." Shinji took in his surroundings. "Where's Asuka's Eva?"

"I'll mark it on your map." Shinji watched as a nap with a tiny yellow triangle on it popped up. A moment latter a green triangle appeared.

"I have it." He watched the white Evas closely as they began to spread out, circling him. "I'm moving to take care of the unit guarding Asuka."

"You're cut off," Ritsuko stated.

"Their lines are weak." Shinji launched his Eva at the white unit standing between him and Unit Zero-Two. Caught by surprise it had no time to react as Shinji's axe swept its torso from its hips. Something sharp slammed into Shinji's side and he cursed as pain burst through his ribs. He brushed it off and sprinted past the downed white Eva.

"You're injured," Ritsuko stated.

"I noticed," Shinji growled as he sprinted through the streets of Tokyo-3. His whole right side felt like it was on fire. What really worried Shinji, was that he had used a pain pen less then half an hour ago. He shouldn't be feeling any pain at the moment. "What the hell are they carrying?"

"Those are copies of the Lance of Longinus," Ritsuko reported.

"That's the spear they used to stab Jesus Christ in the side?" Shinji demanded. "It seems a little big."

"It's a code name," Ritsuko replied. "Don't ask me. The higher ups came up with all the code names."

"Right," Shinji replied as he pressed his hand over his side. A wisp of something red caught his attention. His eyes turned immediately to his leg, but it wasn't bleeding. He tugged up his T-shirt and stared at the bleeding wound in his side. "Well that's not normal."

(:ii:)

"Major Ryan!" Ryan paused and pressed his earpiece deeper into his ear.

"We're clearing out Colonel."

"We need a favor," the woman stated.

"We're already down twenty-five percent," Ryan stated. "We aren't really in shape to do much."

"You don't have to fight," Misato replied. "We need you to rescue one of our pilots."

"How do you want us to do that with those white things running around?" Ryan demanded. Harker had tapped one of the camera feeds and Ryan had seen the battle going down topside.

"Shinji will provide cover," Misato said quickly. "Those white Evas will go after the most dangerous target first." Ryan didn't like it. "You owe. . ."

"Don't tell us that we owe you," Ryan interrupted. "We don't owe you shit. You people owe us."

"Her," Misato said. "You owe her."

"The pilot?"

"That's right," Misato answered. "She cleared out all the enemy reinforcements. You owe her." Ryan frowned. No real way of arguing with that. The redhead had saved their asses.

"Copy," Ryan stated. "We're moving." He looked around his group. Almost everyone was injured. The twenty-five percent casualty rating had only been for those who couldn't fight anymore. "I need two volunteers. No more, no less, no arguments."

(:ii:)

Ryan pushed the door to the garage open and frowned as he heard the low throb of a powerful engine. "I was wondering when you guys would get here." Ryan stared at the young man sitting in the front seat. He was wearing black combat gear with a bloodied bandage wrapped around his left leg.

"Ginji?" Lucky asked.

"Who else?" the man asked. "Get in. I need a gunner." Ryan swung himself into the front passenger seat while his three-man team piled into the open vehicle.

"This is my boss Major Ryan," Lucky stated. "Sir? This is Ginji. He works with Michael in Section-9."

"His name's Shinji now," Ginji stated. "Yuji would have loved to come, but his wife got on his case about running around with a hole in him."

"What about you?" Ryan asked.

"I don't have a wife to be a voice of reason," Ginji stated. He shifted the Humvee into reverse and nailed the gas. "Hold on." The military vehicle whipped around on its back wheels and Ginji put it in drive. "Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work we go."

"You're definitely one of Mike's friends," Ryan commented.

"If you think the singing is bad then wait till we get out on the road," Lucky commented from where he clutched the Humvee's ma deuce. "The boy's a loony."

"He'll fit right in," one of the soldiers commented. "Why the hell else would we be doing this?"

(:ii:)

"You're slowing down."

"I aware of that," Shinji snapped. His side was killing him, but he continued his dead sprint. He broke from the maze of buildings into a massive lightly wounded area. At the very center lay the mauled form of Evangelion Unit Zero-Two. The single white Eva was busying consuming the flesh of the right leg. "Oh God."

"Kill it!" Misato shrieked. The white Eva looked up and spread its wings to take to the air. It never rose more then a few feet.

Without stopping Shinji wound up and sent the heavy axe flying. It slammed into the white Eva and the vibrating blade bit deep into its chest. The monster dropped to the ground with a shriek. Shinji finally skidded to a stop and drew the prog knife from its resting place. In a single smooth motion he brought the humming blade down on the creature's chest. "Behind you!" Something sharp caught Shinji in the back and he screamed a curse as he turned.

"A little more warning please!" He slammed the humming blade into the Eva that had stabbed him. The blade sank deep into the torso and Shinji raised one foot to kick it away.

"The core!" Ritsuko shrieked. "You have to hit the core to destroy it!" Shinji careful reached out and turned down the volume on the radio. Then he reached back and pulled the spear that had been imbedded in his back out with a grunt of pain.

"Now this. . .hurts," he managed as he took a deep breath. He raised the spear and plunged it through the core of the white Eva at his feet. There were still three units, four if he counted the one he had cut in two. He would have to find that one later and make sure it had been dispatched. The three units were circling him, looking for weaknesses. Shinji was sure they saw plenty. That was fine. He had a plan.

(:ii:)

"Holy shit." Ryan watched as the massive purple demon impaled the giant white monster. "Only in Japan."

"No arguing here," Ginji replied, utterly calm despite their breakneck pace and erratic swerving to miss massive pieces of rubble. "Where's Godzilla when you need him?"

"You think he'll be okay sir?" Lucky asked.

"He's doing fine so far," one of the soldiers commented. Ryan stared at the purple machine and then at the blood leaking from the gashes in its armor.

"He can't keep this up. It was an unfair fight from the beginning."

"Yeah," Ginji replied. "There's Eva Unit Two!" Ryan turned back to stare at the rapidly approaching red robot. Ginji stamped on the breaks and the Humvee fishtailed to a stop.

"Go, go, go!" Ryan snapped as he swung himself out of the Humvee. He hit ground and sprinted towards the red Eva. The other two soldiers were younger and faster. They reached the machine and quickly began to climb.

"What was the code to release the plug?" one of them demanded as he reached the plug embedded into the machine's back.

"One-eight-seven-three-nine-six-two!" Ryan bellowed. The soldier punched the string of digits into the keypad beside the plug. The massive metal cylinder spun out of the Eva's back and jerked to a halt. A hatch slid open and one of the soldiers climbed inside. "Is she alive!"

"Barely!" the second soldier called back. The first appeared with a red bundle in his arms. They carefully returned to the ground and Ryan caught his first glimpse of the Second Child. She didn't look so good.

"Get on the radio and tell Akagi to find a medical team somewhere!" Ryan yelled back.

"Right!" Ginji replied.

(:ii:)

"They have Sohryu!" Misato spun and stared at Hyuga. "She alive, but in bad shape. They need medical assistance."

"Right," Ritsuko replied. "I'm going to try and find a medical team. Call me when they get close and tell me what entrance they're using."

"Roger!" Misato took a deep breath. Asuka was alive.

"What's Shinji's status?" she demanded.

"He's received multiple spear hits ma'am," Shigeru reported. "I don't know how he's still fighting. Tough little bastard."

"Yeah," Misato replied quietly. Was there really anything she could do? 'Was there ever?' she wondered.

(:ii:)

Shinji crouched down behind one of the building and took a deep, painful breath. It almost doubled him over in agony. "Fuck." A beeping sound filled the plug. Someone was trying to get a hold of him. He reached out and turned the volume up.

"Shinji?"

"Yeah?" Shinji rasped.

"We have Asuka," Misato said. "She's alive Shinji."

"Good." His success, his first in such a long time.

"Come back to the Geo-Front," Misato ordered. "We can regroup and try to find more armaments for the Eva."

"No."

"Shinji!" Misato snapped. "You are injured and still facing uneven odds. Come back now."

"Sorry." Shinji reached out and turned the volume down before she could respond. He looked around the deserted city. Something caught his eye and he kneeled, slowly, painfully. It was the pistol he had dropped earlier. He had ended up running in a big circle. 'That means. . .' Shinji looked around and saw a trail of blue blood. He picked up the pistol and staggered to his feet.

He managed to take a dozen steps and made it to the street that the blue blood led to. There was the bisected white Eva, still dragging its torso along. Shinji raised his pistol and emptied the clip into the Eva's back. It shuddered and fell still. Shinji dropped the heavy pistol and leaned on the spear he was still carrying.

One glance at the map of Tokyo-3 told him that the gunshots had informed the white Evas of exactly where he was. They were coming towards him. . .fast. "Nice to be wanted." Shinji plucked at his restraints and crawled out of his seat. He found what was looking for behind the seat.

It really didn't look like much; a keypad, an ominous red switch, and green light. Shinji stared at the keypad and then reached out, punching in the number he had learned so long ago. 'Hope nobody changed it.' He hit the enter key and the green light blinked on. He flipped the red switch and crawled back into his seat. He leaned back and stared at the matching green light on his control panel.

Nothing left to do but wait and try to stay alive long enough for them to find him.

(:ii:)

"The self-destruct for Evangelion Unit One has been activated!"

"What?" Misato demanded. She pushed Hyuga out of the way and stared at the console. "Stop it!"

"No." Misato turned and stared at the dark-haired woman who had appeared in the command center. "Don't stop it."

"Theses almost no chance that the plug will be able to escape the detonation zone!" Misato shrieked. "He'll die."

"He's a hard man to kill," Kari stated. "He'll do what he has to do to complete his mission." Misato turned, desperate to somehow contact her former charge. She stared at his face on the screen. He looked calm. It was the first time Misato had ever seen him look so relaxed. He was looking past her. Misato turned and saw Kari smiling at the young man. She turned back and then everything on the screen went dark. A tremor ran throughout the base and Misato was knocked to the ground.

"I'm bringing up the view of the city on the long-range cameras," Shigeru stated. The main screen switched to a far away view of the city. At the center Misato could see a rapidly expanding ball of light.

"I'm not getting any more reading from the other Evas," Ritsuko commented. "It could be interference from the blast, but I don't think any of the Evas would have survived."

(:ii:)

"Fuck." Shinji tumbled out of the battered plug and grabbed at his shoulder as a dull shock of pain hit him. He took a deep breath and lurched forward. His shoulder popped back into place and Shinji leaned back against the plug, ignoring the pain radiating from the wounds in his back.

The sound of a vehicle's engine drawing steadily closer dragged him out of his pained daze. He turned and saw a column of troop transports coming towards him. He drew Marshal's Colt from his belt and ejected the dripping clip into his hand. "I wonder what LCL would do to gunpowder and cordite." Shinji pushed the clip back into the weapon and drew the slid back. The lead vehicle came to a halt and Shinji watched as Ryan appeared.

"Hey Mike."

"Shinji." Shinji corrected as he lowered the Colt took another pained breath.

"You don't look so good," Ryan commented. "We'll get you back to NERV."

"No," Shinji stated as he staggered painfully to his feet. "My enemies aren't gone yet."

"I was kind of hoping you'd say that," Ryan stated as he stepped forward and slung Shinji's arm over his shoulder. "SEELE's still alive and kicking, so we can't go back to our homes yet. We could still use someone with your capabilities."

"I need a new name," Shinji stated. "I can not bring SEELE back to here."

"Iscariot," Shinji turned and saw that Lucky had climbed out of the truck at well. "You are a traitor to your kind after all."

"I never betrayed them," Shinji growled. "They betrayed me."

"Sergeant Iscariot," Ryan stated. Shinji raised an eyebrow. "You'd make a horrible officer kid."

"Fine."

"Give me a hand," Ryan growled. "He ain't a flyweight." Lucky tugged his radio out of his vest. "Doc to the front vehicle. Doc to the front vehicle. Man down."

"I am not down," Sergeant Iscariot growled.

"More like a dead man walking," Ryan commented. "You're in worse shape then Sohryu and she's in a comma."

"Will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine," Ryan stated. "The French have cleared out and Japanese forces are moving to secure the Geo-Front. Everything will be fine."

"Not yet," Iscariot stated, "but very soon."

-End

(:ii:)

-Big end of a series Author's notes. Here we go. Last chapter and Mike. . .Shinji is off to kill SEELE with the UN. Kind of a cliffhanger, but maybe not.

I kind of wish I still had the very first, original chapters of an assassin's memories, but a computer crash took them. It was so long ago that I can't even remember much of my future plans for the story. All I know is that this is not where that story was going.

For a while there I never really thought that this story was very popular, probably because I was working on first one Lycanthrope and then the other. . .wow. I just realized how long this story has been going on. Anyway, one day I glance at the review number for this story and it's suddenly only a few away from two hundred reviews. That got me. I suddenly realized that this story has quite the fan base all its own.

I always liked doing this story because I kind of took it whatever direction I wanted. Hell, I probably changed the main character's name more times then any other writer.

When I finish a story I kind of like to go over it and see if I'm still as happy now with it. I've done this with all my stories and it sometimes lead to rewrites of certain parts or entire stories. (I will get back around to updating SC Evangelion. Promise.) This is so far the only story that I'm really happy with, which is kind of funny when you realize how long its been going on.

There's another first for me. This is my first story to hit the thirty-chapter mark. I've always been a little worried about going that far. Some stories are good, but new readers are scared off because of the sheer number of chapters. I hope that doesn't happen with this one. I always feel that a story is only as good as how long it lasts. By lasts I mean how long people read it not how long it goes on. Take Lycanthrope for example. Every once in a while I still get a review for it from a new person. That's how I know that it is a good story. Some stories are finished and then people simply forget about them. This is true with everything. Call it ego, but I think a lot of my stories are pretty damn good.

See you in the next one.

And now for those of you who were good and read all these notes, a sappy little present.

(:Five Years Later:)

He stared at the door in front of him and leaned heavily on his cane. She hadn't changed her name once in five years. It was a grievous error, but one that seemed beat out by her dumb luck.

He had only arrived in the city two days ago. No one knew him and he had been able to move around without trouble. For the past two days he had followed her.

She had no boyfriend and she wasn't dating anyone. He had found out that she hadn't dated at all in the past five years. He felt guilty for some reason, even though he couldn't find a logical reason for it to be his fault.

He wondered what would have happened if she was dating, or even if she was married. He knew for certain that he wouldn't be on her doorstep. He probably wouldn't still be in this city. He had a few reasons to stay, but her happiness was more important then any.

He adjusted his heavy UN uniform and raised one hand to knock. "I'm coming!" He felt his lips tweak upwards. She still sounded the same. The door opened and she stared at him with uncomprehending eyes. She took in the UN uniform and he watched as her eyes became apprehensive. "Can I help you?"

"Not really," he stated. His voice was different now, dryer and raspier. The result of having several dead spots on his lungs where his Eva had been hurt with the Lances of Longinus. "I just want to come see you ma'am." That did it. He could see her eyes widen.

"Michael?"

"Hello ma'am."

-End

(:ii:)

-Post epilogue author's notes. Less of a cliffhanger and rather pointless. I don't even know why I bothered. Oh well. If you've read this far then you deserve a real treat. I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm working on a story. The humor is rather low brow and much of it has to do with sex and violence. The title rimes with Wycanthrope Tree. Get it? Bet you don't. I'm like the god damned Riddler!