Stage 41 - Fist

Cover: Misato in the background staring off to the left, Gendo sitting with
hands clasped and usual brooding stare, Shinji in school uniform with
knapsack in the foreground.

Scene: Eva-01 locked in the cage restraints, steam rising from its body ?
Shinji silent in the entry plug (Subtitle/caption: "A wound that cannot be
soothed...") Switch to the Command Center
Maya: It?s no use. Eva-01?s interlock circuits have been cut off.
Fuyutsuki: What about the ejection signal?
Maya: It?s locked from the plug side. It won?t accept.
Makoto (shouting): Shinji! Can you hear me? Don?t be foolish! If we hadn?t
done that you would have been killed!
Shinji (angrily): I know that! (thinking) But... for me it would have been
better that way!!
(Shinji shuts his eyes in torment and pulls on the induction handles.
Eva-01 breaks free of the cage restraints and reaches for the Command
Center, destroying the cage as he does.)
Maya: What is he trying to do!?
Shigeru: This is bad! There?s still over a minute until reserve power runs
out! Stop it, Shinji!!
Gendo (seething): Raise the LCL compression density to the limit!!
Maya: Y... yes, sir!
(Pressure inside the entry plug rises sharply)
Shinji (thinking): Wha!? (writhes/clutches for air)
Shinji: *gasp* *groan* Shit...shit! shit! (silently) shit! Touji!! (slowly
loses consciousness)

Scene: Slightly bandaged Ritsuko surveying the wreckage at the battle site
? collapsed buildings, toppled utility poles, pieces of Eva-03... She hears
a footstep behind her and turns around to see a more heavily bandaged
Misato with her arm in a sling.
Ritsuko: Is it okay for you to be up?
Misato: If I can do my job, then it?s no problem.
Ritsuko: No time for rest in the face of crisis, huh?
Misato: .... Where?s Shinji?
Ritsuko: In the hospital. (background scene of Shinji being dragged
unconscious from the entry plug) Apparently, after that they cut open the
emergency hatch with laser cutters and forcibly extracted him.
Misato (placing hand against forehead): Oh, wow...this time I don?t
know...he might not recover.

Scene: NERV hospital ? 1st Cranial Nerve Ward. Rei sitting on a waiting
bench, Asuka leaning against the wall ? neither one injured/bandaged
Asuka: He surely won?t recover from this one. Unlike you and me, that idiot
?s just too high strung.
Rei: He just keeps on sleeping... Ikari...
Asuka: Well, he?s not injured, so he should wake up soon. He?s probably
dreaming right now.

Scene: Shinji dreaming
Voice (Hikari): Ikari... Ikari... Wake up.
Shinji: Who is it...?
Hikari (appears holding a box lunch): It?s me.
Shinji (shocked expression): Class Rep?
Hikari: Suzuhara... Where?s Suzuhara? I worked so hard to make this box
lunch for him, but I can?t find him anywhere. Ikari, give Suzuhara back to
me.
Shinji (stunned): No... It wasn?t me. I didn?t kill Touji!
Hikari: Killed...? Suzuhara is dead?
Shinji (head in hands/shouting): It wasn?t me! I told them to stop, but my
father...! My father killed Touji!!
(Shinji wakes up in a cold sweat to see the familiar hospital room. Kaji
leans against a wall with a heavy expression.)
Kaji: So, you?ve woken up.
Shinji (looking over surprised): Kaji...
Kaji: Can you get up? The Commander wants to see you. You probably don?t
want to, but he ordered that you come as soon as you regained consciousness
? even if you had to crawl.

Scene: Gendo?s office ? Shinji stands unfettered in his hospital pajamas
and slippers before Gendo, who punches the keys of a laptop at his desk.
Kaji stands behind Shinji.
Gendo: You?re looking better than I thought you would be.
(Shinji says nothing and just glares at Gendo.)
Gendo (adjusting his glasses): Let?s see now... Disobeying orders,
appropriation of an Eva unit for personal purposes, resulting in the
destruction of a portion of Headquarters facilities. These are all criminal
acts. Do you have anything to say for yourself?
Shinji (staring in shocked disbelief): Father, what about you... Don?t you
have anything you want to say to me?
Gendo: What are you taking about? I?m the one asking questions here.
(Something inside Shinji snaps and he lunges at Gendo.)
Kaji: Shinji!
(Kaji leaps forward and restrains Shinji, but not before Shinji?s fist
comes within centimeters of striking Gendo?s nose - Gendo pulls back in
surprise.)
Kaji: Stop it! It won?t help anything!
Shinji (struggling/crying in rage/frustration): Let me go! Let me go!!
(Shinji subsides, panting)
Shinji (shouting): I don?t want to pilot Eva! I can?t pilot anymore! I don?
t want to be here! And I never want to see your face again, father!!
Gendo: ...I see. Then leave. You disappoint me. (small pause) Go back to
where you were before, and as you wish we?ll never see each other again.
(Shinji, still angry but composed, turns without saying a word and walks
out of Gendo?s office. Kaji watches him go, then sneaks a glance at Gendo,
who picks up the phone and speaks into it as Shinji walks silently down a
corridor away from the office.)
Gendo: It?s me. Cancel the Third Children?s clearances. Reprogram Eva-01?s
assigned pilot to Rei as basic with the dummy plug as backup.

Scene: Outside - sun shining. Shinji and Misato stand in front of the train
station.
Shinji: Thank you for everything you did for me.
Misato: You?re sure you won?t reconsider?
Shinji: No - No matter how many times I?m asked.
Misato: I?m sorry about Suzuhara. I?m sure no words can soothe the pain you
feel in your heart. But Shinji, I want you to remember this: I placed my
hopes, dreams and goals on you ? and not just me alone. We at NERV knew
that it was a heavy load for you to bear, but we had no choice but to
entrust our future to you.
Shinji: ...What are your hopes... your dreams, Misato? Peace for humankind?
At the expense of people?s lives? Doesn?t everyone?s life carry the same
weight?
Misato (surprised, then accepting): I?m sorry... I was just making
convenient excuses. I?ll leave your pass codes to headquarters and your
room as they are, so-
Shinji: Don?t bother. I?ll never pilot Eva again.
(Shinji turns to enter the train station with a peaceful expression on his
face)
Shinji: Goodbye Misato.
(Misato watches him go silently.)

- End Stage 41