[Fic] NGE: Nobody Dies

[GreggHL]

Lol, jeez, I seem to be noticing a trend happening, things start to get good, then only to be screwed over again, then repeat. Still, good story so far, even if Asuka is a mental wreak...wonder why nobody ever things of calling a psychologist, hmm.

Because she's smart enough to act relatively normal around everyone. No one knows how truly, royally f-ed up she actually is.




Yet.

[cojax8]

Well I think the fact that she did all that stuff to her neck would be a clear indication of at least some kind of psychological problem, and even if they don’t know the extent that Kyoko has damaged her they still know she has done some kind of damage.

[BattleMonkey]

Everyone in Eva needed to see a psychologist.

[esselfortium]

Everyone in Eva needed to see a psychologist.

In related news, the Earth is revolving around the Sun.

[cojax8]

Everyone in Eva needed to see a psychologist.

Of course, but nobody in this world gets "spectator mode" that allows them to know how truly f'd up everybody is. I'm just talking about what they know/see.

But I can understand why people shy away from Psychologists in fics...it’s too easy to have happy, well adjusted people who aren’t crazy in some way, just doesn’t seem right in the Eva universe if you ask me...is it sad that I think like that?

In related news, the Earth is revolving around the Sun.

nice

[NemZ]

Finally got around to reading this... and wish I'd found it sooner. So over the top it hurts, but still awesome.

I'm not finding Kyoko to make much sense though. Why would she continue being a megabitch to Asuka after the reveal? Why would she continue to insist she's useless despite a shitton of evidence to the contrary?

[esselfortium]

Finally got around to reading this... and wish I'd found it sooner. So over the top it hurts, but still awesome.

Indeed; the over-the-topness is part of what makes it so entertaining, I think. I have a tendency to continually say "Yes! YESSS! YEEEEESS!!!" as I'm reading it. <_<

[NemZ]

The Adam fight alone could probably produce enough raw GAR to power NYC for months.

[GreggHL]

Finally got around to reading this... and wish I'd found it sooner. So over the top it hurts, but still awesome.

I'm not finding Kyoko to make much sense though. Why would she continue being a megabitch to Asuka after the reveal? Why would she continue to insist she's useless despite a shitton of evidence to the contrary?

Because Kyoko's a self-deluded self-proclaimed objectivist who cannot believe she is actually wrong. Any evidence that Asuka is not merely baggage that she is tasked with, in her mind, is another attack on her by Dr. Ikari et al and just Asuka attempting to embarrass her.

[NemZ]

But it was demonstrated directly to her that she's been absolutely horrible to Asuka when the scars came to light, that this is probably all her fault. She acknowledged this while talking to her ex in chapter 13.

Given that, it seems in later chapters that she has some sort of amnesia... as if she earned some character growth and then left it in her other purse. Everything dealing with her following that chapter has been hollow and dissatisfying because she feels more like a plot device than a character.

[GreggHL]

But it was demonstrated directly to her that she's been absolutely horrible to Asuka when the scars came to light, that this is probably all her fault. She acknowledged this while talking to her ex in chapter 13.

Given that, it seems in later chapters that she has some sort of amnesia... as if she earned some character growth and then left it in her other purse. Everything dealing with her following that chapter has been hollow and dissatisfying because she feels more like a plot device than a character.

It's more like it's her pride. She'll admit she screwed up, but never in front of other people.

She can't bullshit Pieter. That's the sole person. Everyone else she just puts up the front for, acts horribly towards, or just beats them down verbally. Privately, she does realize that she's done horrible, horrible things if unintentionally, but she still has the mask when dealing with everyone else. Eventually, this gets to be too much. Either she'll break, or she'll finally have to build some bridges with her daughter.

[GreggHL]

Appropriately, the sky was clear and blue that morning. NERV bought a large plot of land for considerable expense, because it was assumed that if a Pilot or personnel died in the line of duty, they deserved the right to be given a full funeral.

She received no less than that.

The soldiers at the grave sight straighten up at Katsuragi’s order, holding their rifles at ready. Another shout, they aim towards the sky and fire. While an American tradition, it was in the father’s wishes for it to be carried out like this.

Pieter has not said a word through the entire thing. No eulogies were said as no one could thing of a thing to say. As the coffin is gently lowered into the ground and the Buddhist priest employed by NERV gives the final words, the grim realization of the loss begins to truly hit. It was not a dream, not a falsehood or act. One of them was gone. Rei had said nothing. There was no smile on her face.

Mana, her rival, was not there, still in the NERV hospital while being fixed up.

Uri just stared at the grave. His eyes were red and puffy, and it was no secret that he blamed himself for what had happened that horrible day at his hands. A hand squeezes his shoulder and he manages a small, grieving smile towards his sister and Shinji.

The party breaks up. The limos waiting for them rev their engines as the Commander and Dr. Ikari enter theirs, a line of black suits and dresses heading towards their cars and the remainder of a day of cleanup of another Angel.

Only two people remain at the gravesite itself. Pieter had already contacted his ex wife, to tell her their daughter was dead. She either didn’t care or didn’t bother to return his phone call. That they broke up badly was no secret, but even he couldn’t comprehend that she would be so apathetic towards the death of their only daughter. Or maybe, like him, she was too broken up for words.

“Pieter.”

He turns to the voice. The same voice that he has heard far too much of these past few days, more than he has in sixteen years. Kyoko is dressed simply, a knee length black dress and overcoat to ward off the chill, little if any makeup on her face.

“Well, happy?” Pieter asks, “I know you hated her. You have to be overjoyed at this.”

Her hand reaches out, wrapping around his.

“Pieter,” she says, “This is a war. And in war, people die. But, for what it is worth…I am sorry.”

He squeezes her hand, biting his lip as he nods. The moment of silence passes and she pulls at his hand.

“It won’t do you any good to stay out here,” she says, “Let’s go.”

He nods, and follows her to their waiting car.
-
-
Chapter 23: Little Things
-
-
The head limo drives slowly through the streets of Tokyo-3. Pilot identities are kept nominally secret, and considering she was never officially named as a Child, Mari’s identity as Unit-02’s backup pilot was not public knowledge. Still, Yui Ikari thinks, no parent wants to lose their child. They almost had to deal with that themselves when Shinji was lost in the Dirac, but for Pieter to have to deal with it means that some drastic measures may have to be taken.

“So,” she says, turning to her husband, “Should we tell Pieter at some point that we buried an empty coffin?”

Gendo looks up from his PDA, shaking his head.

“While we are within our rights to remand custody of anything related to the Angels, he won’t react with a clear head,” he responds, “We’ve already given the green light. Less he knows the better.”




It took two days to go from the body cooling to the funeral. Sometime between then, he managed to regain his senses and realize something was wrong. The light felt different, the air tasted strange. Something remained in him, Uri realized, something from the Angel that…took her with it when it died.

He already finds Shinji in Mana’s hospital room when he arrives, still in a partial daze. Clearing his head, rubbing his eyes, he waits as Kirishima grins at him and then sighs.

“How long?” Uri asks.

“I’ve had modifications done to me since I was eight years old,” she says, “Put simply, if any of you got into Jet Alone Prime, the G-forces would splatter you along the Pilot Bubble until you resembled meat jelly. My arms and legs are completely mechanical. My chest is enhanced with microfibered metal mesh to the point where I could probably take a car hitting me dead on before I broke anything, and my brain’s wet wired up the wazoo.”

Shinji runs a hand through his hair, visibly pale.

“The JSSDF…did this to you?”

She flexes her new hand, still shiny from the new finish as she grins.

“I volunteered for this, Shinji,” she says, “I’m a military brat, and I’ve been handling guns since I could walk. This gave me the chance to beat the crap out of Angels. And yeah, I’m not human anymore. But, I’m not the only one, and she’s now my sparring partner.”

She flexes her fingers, gently picking up a cup of water and sipping it.

“How’s Asuka?” she asks.

“With Misato,” he sighs, “She’s…dealing with it. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk with her about it. She…was close to her.”

She nods.

“Well, keep your head on straight,” Mana sighs, “I’m going to be out of action for a week. So it’s just three against the next Angel.”

“Two.”

They both turn to Uri. He sighs, thrusting his hands in his pockets as he avoids returning their gaze, staring at the floor.

“I am leaving for Berlin this afternoon,” he says, “After this…I find I cannot concentrate on piloting. Without a pilot, Unit 02 will be shut down for the time being, so it will be you and Ayanami for the next week.”




The door to the apartment slides open, and Kyoko sighs when she sees the papers strewn over the dining room table and the upended couch. She switches on the lights, moving Pieter onto a chair, moving the couch back to its proper position before walking to the cabinet above his stove and opening it. Removing the pistol, she checks the safety and presses the button to eject the magazine, pocketing it.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Unloading your gun,” she says, “I won’t have you do anything stupid. If you do, Ikari will probably just go and blame me, and with Fuyutsuki retiring they need a second in command.”

She quickly stacks the papers on the table, staring at the death notice for a moment before putting it at the bottom. Shaking her head, she walks over to the fridge and stares at the contents, silently swearing to herself at the fact that she has little idea of how to cook.

“I’ll call the girl,” she sighs, “Get her over here and have her make something.”

“Don’t,” Pieter groans, folding his hands in his lap, “They…don’t bother them, Kyoko. I’ll order something in. You don’t have to be here.”

A sucking of teeth and Kyoko closes the fridge, staring at it for a moment before turning back to him.

“I don’t,” she says, “But I also know I can not leave you alone. You are far too emotional a person to be trusted to take care of yourself, right now.”

The chair hits the floor. Standing a good three inches taller than her, teeth grit and face red, she nonetheless stands her ground.

“So that’s it? You’re my nursemaid? I can take care of myself!”

“Bullshit! That is complete and utter bullshit and we both know it!”

He backs up. Her face is red and her hands have balled into fists, and she turns away, grabbing the cordless phone from the counter and tossing it at him. He catches it, watching as he fist slams into the counter and she growls.

“Are you alright?” he asks.

“That’s my line,” she hisses, “Order some damned dinner, Pieter.”

Phone in his hand, he stares at the number pad as if there are answers on it. Pressing the phone against his forehead, he clenches his eyes shut, biting back the tears. Slowly, placing the phone on the counter, he walks over to her, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around to face him.

“Thanks,” he says.

“Don’t,” she bites back.

Shaking her head, she avoids his eyes.

“The last thing a parent ever wants is to bury their child. I am doing this out of sympathy and obligation because if I was not here you would be in danger.”

“Mm hm,” he says, the first traces of a smirk crossing his face, “That’s what you say.”

“I’m not here for you,” she says, “I’m here for NERV…”

His hand loops under her chin, tilting her face up to his. That grin is on his face, the same one he wears when he gets exactly what he wants. She sees it coming, and closes her eyes, parting her lips to meet his. They stand there, along in his kitchen, silent save for the soft moaning, lips parting as he grins.

And she decks him.

He stumbles against the counter, eyes wide and staring at her as she balls her hands into fists. Stalking towards him, breathing through clenched, teeth, she glares at him. He glares back.

Then she grabs his tie, pulls him against her and mashes her lips against his. His hands seize her by the back of her head, her fingers already working the button of his shirt. Grabbing her wrists, he locks her arms behind her, slamming her back against the refrigerator, lips tracing down her chin as she mutely protests that they shouldn’t be doing this.

Which is when she sweeps his legs and pushes him to the floor, before pinning him herself.

Things go from there.




He had no idea what Rei was talking about. Something somehow involving hamsters and a rail gun and an idea she wanted Asuka’s help on. If anything, it was just good to have someone around who was smiling, because it was infectious and it helped them get over the events of the day.

Dr. Sohryu was not at the airport. Instead it was them; Rei, Asuka, Misato and himself saying goodbye to Uri. He hugged Asuka goodbye, said something in her ear which made her smile, and told him that if he ever hurt her he would find a way back to Japan to make him suffer. With that, he hefted up his duffle and boarded the plane, and was gone.

The funny thing is, he hasn’t cried. It’s not like he really knew Mari outside of her being Asuka’s sister. It’s not like he really knew a lot about her outside of bits and pieces. Asuka hasn’t cried either, even with the longing look on her face as Rei continues drawing a launching scaffold on a piece of paper.

“It looks workable,” Asuka says, “Can we talk about it tomorrow, Rei? We’re tired.”

“Okaaaaay,” Rei says, and pulls Asuka into a bear hug, “Sooooo, I’m gonna go. Aaaaand I promise I won’t be watching you from the air vents. ‘Kay?”

She nods, sighing. Skipping, Rei leaves the apartment, the door sliding shut behind her. They wait, listening in silence as they hear the sound of a grate hitting the floor outside.

“Well,” he says, “I’m going to get ready for bed.”

Scratching his head, smiling to her, forcing the smile to the surface, he pats his hand before walking down the hallway to his room.




“I have a nightmare, you know. I’ve had it almost constantly since I learned about Asuka’s scars. It became really lucid following that god damn dance, though.”

Lying next to each other on the bed, Kyoko sighs, closing her eyes as Pieter turns to her.

“What was it about?” he asks.

“That Asuka bypasses security,” she says, “She manually disables all the filters and limiters for Zwei and initiates a full Contact experiment. The Eva eats her mind and soul, and sometimes her body as well, the purely theoretical idea of a 400% synchronization ratio. When we get there, Asuka is gone. Completely.”

Hands folded on the covers, over her chest, she sighs.

“We panic, of course. Then the lights turn out and it’s foggy. Then the four green lights turn on and Unit 02 pitches forward and turns to me. And it just…squeaks…at me ‘Why don’t you love me, Mommy?’”

“And then?”

“Well, then it eats me,” she sighs, “Or tears me in half and pulverizes me, but usually it eats me. Needless to say, I have not been operating on much sleep.”

She shifts onto her side, her back to him.

“We should not be doing this,” she says, “This is wrong.”

His arm wraps around her, pulling her close to him. She can feel that grin of his as he snuggles up next to her, rolling her eyes.

“Why?” he asks.

“Fraternization.”

“You’re Project E, I’m administration,” he says with a chuckle, “Try again.”

She turns her head to him, narrowing her eyes.

“We’ve divorced,” she says, “We have been for sixteen years. Did you somehow not notice that?”

He shrugs, leaning in and pecking her on the lips, making her scowl.

“Why’d we divorce?”

“Because you impregnated another woman,” she deadpans.

“And why did I do that?” he asks with a smile.

“Because for all our tries we did not have children,” she sighs, turning back to the pillow, “We need to not do this. We keep doing this.”

He sighs, turning her to face him. Their lips touch tentatively, Pieter pressing her back against the bed. It is not a bad deal, she thinks. It has certainly been an interesting time, and as much as she tells herself this is for the sake of NERV now that Unit 02 is more or less useless, she can’t say she doesn’t-

Their phones chirp. They stop, staring at each other, Pieter reaching over and grabbing his phone and swearing.




ALERT
AT FIELD DETECTED
BLOOD PATTERN TYPE BLUE: CONFIRMED
10TH ANGEL: CONFIRMED




The purple boot comes down on the field, the sheet weight of it causing the sole to sink into the ground. Hefting up the pallet rifle in its right hand, the horned visage of Unit 01 surveys the landscape outside the Tokyo-3 city limits. A funeral and then an Angel battle. Sitting in the cockpit, Shinji grips the butterfly controls and swears to himself.

This is not a fun day.

It’s already raining. Following their arrival home the skies basically closed up and it started to rain. Once they got the Blue Pattern, it got even worse. They haven’t even had time to deal with the crap already on their plates, and now they can’t find the damn Angel.

“Any sign of it?”

In the distance, holding the miniaturized Positron Rifle, Unit 00 shrugs.

In Shinji’s eye, Asuka appears next to his mother.

“Shinji, according to the MAGI, you’re right at the Blue Pattern. You’re sure you don’t see the Angel?”

He sighs, shaking his head. Unit 01 tilts its head upwards on his command as the rain blues the optics and the tiny wipers clear them off.

“All I see are a lot of clouds, Asuka,” he says, “Just that.”

The Eva lowers the pallet rifle, shrugging dramatically. It is tired, wet, and miserable, and the pilot is not happy either.

Back in Central Dogma, the general mood is best described as ‘pissed off.’ Pieter has taken his place next to the Commander’s desk, Kyoko walking in and adjusting her lab coat as she takes a place next to Akagi.

“Why am I even here?” Kyoko asks, “Without Uri we can’t field Unit 02.”

“Because you’re the AI specialist,” Ritsuko says, adjusting her glasses, “Sohryu, are you alright? You look tired.”

“Long day,” Kyoko mutters, “Very long, hard, tiring day. And no doubt Ikari will want to ‘talk’ with me about it later on.”

Ritsuko stares at her, shaking her head and turning back to the main screen. At her console, Maya continues reading off statistical data as Yui directs the Evas. Misato walks in, takes her place, and begins checking off procedures.

“Well,” Ritsuko sighs, “Yeah. I wish the Angel would just show up.”

On the screen, they see the line of yellow split the clouds down the middle. With a rush of air and the crackle of the orange hexagonal field, the sky parts to reveal a massive, lidless and unblinking eye.




I am.

Through license of He who is named “I Am” I have come.

Though I shall never touch the base Earth, I have come.

The tears I shall shed for Father shall burn the Lilim to bones and slime.

The sky itself I shall turn against them.

I am the Premonition of God.

Angel of Rain.

I am Matariel.

I have come.





The grass beneath Unit 01’s feet withers and burns, and the tingling running up and down his arms tells him everything he needs to know.

“Rei!” he shouts, “It’s turned the rain to acid! AT Fields up!”

Two hexagonal fields appear, the acid sizzling against them as Unit 01 thrusts its rifle up and opens fire. Slugs the size and weight of bowling balls fly off at supersonic speeds and deflect off orange ripples of light before they can even reach the surface of the Angel.

“It…it’s at least five miles wide,” Asuka says, her face slack jawed in his right eye, “It’s using its AT Field to accelerate the rainfall’s speed and impact force!”

The barrel melts. Throwing it aside, Shinji stares at it, grinding his teeth. This is not right, he thinks, watching the blasts of positrons deflect off the Angel’s force field. This day has gone on too damn long and they’ve had to do too damn much. He wants to go home. He wants to go to sleep he wants this day to just…end without him having to think about this anymore.

“Damn it,” he seethes, “Just…you know, f___ this. Ichi? Can you hear me?”

Yes.

“I need a bigger gun.”

His eyes glow blue.

“Synchronization rate at 112%. Level Four Functionality unlocked. Access granted to the Dirac Armory.”

In his left eye, the image of his mother blinks on.

“Shinji, what are you doing?”

“Touching the Angel,” he says, as the holographic projectors in the plug hum to life and a circle of weapon options appear in front of him. Quickly perusing, he turns to the second one on the left and nods.

“Accessing Orbital Chail Gun.”

The air in front of Unit 01 warps. A line of light folds out, circles of white running its length. Space folds inward and then outward, a silver white handle protruding from the globular bulk as wide as the Eva itself. Twelve slit, hollow metal tubes extend from the bulge, pointing forward as Unit 01 grabs the handle and points the cannon up.




“Chail Gun?” Pieter asks, “That’s a typo, right?”

“Chain Rail Gun,” Gendo responds, hands folded in front of his face, “Twelve linked, fire controlled electromagnetic rail cannons that fire metal slugs the approximate mass of small cars at Escape Velocity.”

Pieter stares at the Commander, and shrugs, turning back to the screen.

“Okay.”




The butt of the cannon braces against Unit 01’s shoulder as the trigger button is depressed. The dozen barrels spin, lighting up as electricity crackles along the edges before fireballs begin shooting out, hyper accelerating into plasma as sonic shockwaves drag behind them.

The Angel’s AT field shatters under the first volley, blasts of superheated lead driving into its hull and exploding. The rain continues, only picking up volume and force, the damage healing as the rain funnels downwards, directed against Shinji’s AT Field.

Dropping the gun as it begins to melt, Shinji grits his teeth and extends his hands, forcing the field upward and into a dome as Unit 00 approaches and Rei’s face appears in his eye.

“Toss me,” she says.

He raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“At the Angel. Grab the power cord, swing me around, and toss me at the Angel.”

Yui’s face flickers in his other eye.

“What. Are. You. Doing.”

This plan makes no sense. It really doesn’t. But, then again, shooting at it doesn’t do anything so he it is time to think outside the box.

“How high?”

“Duh,” Rei sing songs, “At the Angel, ‘kay?”

Unit 01 reaches behind Unit 00, picking up the power cord and pulling off part of the extension, wrapping it around its hand as Unit 00 drops to its hands and knees and goes limp. The purple giant braces and pulls, spinning and pulling Unit 00 off the ground, Shinji grunting in the cockpit as he feels the weight as sympathetic pain, the 200’ tall orange mecha swinging in complete circles as Unit 01’s onboard targeting computer calculates distance, speed and angle.

“Fastball Special!” Rei screams, an the explosives blast off the power cord.

Unit 00 flies, launches into the air as it streamlines its profile, the AT Field becoming a barrier directly in front of it as two pylons open and Rei grabs both the progressive knives.

Knife first, she flies into the mass of the Angel, grabbing a hold as she wills her Eva to climb under and around it, climbing up its side using the daggers like climbing picks and into the clear sky, standing atop the black and green mass and staring directly at the massive Core resting on top.

“Found it!” she declares, “Proceeding to mud stomp the Angel!”

She stomps over, spinning the knives in her hands. Inside the Plug, Rei grins. It’s been a shitty week, but nothing makes her day more than killing Angels.

And then there’s a flash of purple and a twin pronged lance slices into the Core, the core shattering and the Angel glowing as if struck by flint.

The Angel beneath her feet begins shudder, angry red fissures appearing beneath her as in the Plug Rei looks from side to side, tapping her fingers together as she realizes that she did not plan this, and she may be in a bit of trouble.

The Angel disintegrates. For a moment, Unit 00 hangs several miles above the surface of the Earth before falling, plummeting towards the Earth with the grace and speed of a two hundred foot tall cyborg.

At least, until the dark blue arms slide under its knees and against its back, and the plug jerks so Rei can see the red visor and the helmet much like a kabuto, the horn very much like Unit 01’s sloped back above its hidden eyes.

“I have you,” the familiar voice says, “We meet again, Miss Ayanami.”

The white halo glows over the dark blue Evangelions head as it lowers them both to the ground, gently letting 00 onto its feet. Holding out its hand, the purple lance flies from the sky and floats above it before it drives it into the ground.




“NERV-1,” Kaworu Nagisa says, his face appears via picture window next to the main screen in Dogma, “This is Evangelion Mark 06. As ordered by the Chairman, I have delivered to you the Lance of Longinius. I hope I did not interrupt anything.”

“Mark 06?” Pieter asks.

“Hm,” Gendo grunts.

“No, you’re not,” Yui says, “Hello, Kaworu. It has been a while. How’ve you been?”

Nagisa smiles. It is not a particularly pleasant sight. A smile which disappears when the entire entry plug he is in rocks following Unit 00 punching the Eva in the face.




The Mark 06 stumbles back, flailing about before collapsing onto its armored ass. Unit 00 stalks towards it, hands curled into balled fists as Unit 01 watches, scratching the back of its head.

“Kill stealing N00B!”

“Noob?” Shinji asks.

The orange Eva shrugs.

“I hang out with Kensuke. I gave him weird, he gives me nerd.”

“I honestly didn’t know this was communicable.”

The Mark 06 floats upward. Palming its face, it rises into the air.

“Always a pleasure, Miss Ayanami. If you will excuse me, though…”

The air around it shifts, and with a small boom of accelerating air, the Eva is gone.

“Okay,” Rei says, “That trick? That was awesome.”




The door slides open. Looking at his watch and finding it reading at two in the morning, Shinji slides off his shoes and begins padding towards his bedroom. Asuka walks next to him, her hands folded at her waist.

“Hey,” she says, “Um…d-do you…”

“I just want to sleep,” he groans, “I’m going to bed.”

“O-okay,” she says.

He stops, smiling, turning to her. His hands find hers and she smiles, resting her head on his shoulder. His arms wrap around her, their eyes both closed as neither says anything for several long moments. Rocking back and forth on their feet, he takes in the smell of her hair, pressing his lips against her forehead.

“I’m sorry,” he says, “I’m just exhausted.”

“Me too,” she says with a smile, “I th-think I’m going to go to sleep, to. Can we t-talk in the morning.”

He nods.

“I’m sorry,” he says, “I’ve been…I wish I had time to talk today.”

“It’s alright,” Asuka says with a small, sad smile, “She…I think she was happy with you. And…um…I told her about…”

He nods.

“I guessed that,” he says, “We…probably have school or synch tests tomorrow…and I haven’t really had the chance to congratulate you on becoming a pilot.”

She shakes her head.

“Only backup,” she says, “And since you usually get the Angels, I…well…probably won’t see combat. I guess that’s a good thing. Um…okay.”

He ends the embrace, turning and walking into his bedroom. Wringing her hands, shifting from side to side, she clicks her tongue and bites her lip. Walking into her bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her, she picks up the doll, cradling it.

“I didn’t do it wrong, did I?” she asks, “I tried to ask, but he didn’t notice. Did he?”

“Well, Asuka, he was tired,” the doll squeaks back, “But he doesn’t try anything in the first place, does he?”

“Nooo,” she sighs, “So…I mean, Mother is wrong, right? That he doesn’t just keep me around to sleep with me. But…but…but…oh.”

She sits down on the bed, sighing, hugging the doll close.

“So tomorrow, maybe?” she asks, “He’s asleep now. So tomorrow I guess I should sleep with him, right? That’ll work, right?”

“Why do you want to do that?” the doll squeaks.

“Well…because I need him,” she whispers, “Because I want to make sure he’s always around for me. Because if I don’t, he could leave, just like Papa left Mother, and the only way I can do that is if…”

“Do you want to do that, Asuka?” the doll asks.

She goes silent. She stares at her bedroom door, weighing possibilities. She knows where her Mother was all of today, why she wasn’t there to see off Uri. Why it was her saying goodbye.

She hasn’t taught with her father yet. Should she? Who needs the other more?

“I don’t know,” Asuka whispers, “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

She sighs, looking down, staring into the sewn button eyes.

“I wish I did.”




The cab stops at the massive, palatial estate outside of Berlin. It belongs to the family of Sub Director Sohryu’s ex-wife, whom he has never met. But, she is Mari’s mother, so he feels he should be here. He was invited, and he wonders what the reaction will be when he tells them how he…murdered their daughter.

Duffle over his shoulder, Uri stares at the great wooden mansion. Sighing, rubbing the bridge of his nose and choking off the jet lag, he looks up and begins walking.

The door the estate opens. It is not the former Mrs. Sohryu who exits, though. Instead, it is a young man with ash hair and red eyes, humming a classical music tune as he walks the distance and stops.

The young man hums the Ode to Joy, smiling as he does so, waiting for Uri to approach and smiling even wider when the duffle crashes to the ground. It takes a moment for a visible reaction, for the eyes to go wide and his mouth to open. The young man does the same thing, mirroring him in a mocking gesture.

“Do you know,” he says, “Uriel means, ‘God is my Light?’ Have you ever wondered why an organization whose purpose is to fight Angels would so arbitrarily give one of their pilots an Angelic name?”

“Who are you,” Uri asks, “Why…why do you look like me?”

The man smiles.

“My name is Kaworu Nagisa,” he says, hand resting on Uri’s shoulder, “And I think the question should really be…why do you look like me?”

And humming the Ode to Joy, Kaworu turns and walks back towards the mansion. Hefting up the duffle, Uri pursues.

[Agentomega]

Heh, loved the Chailgun and the Fastball Rei...

“Do you know,” he says, “Uriel means, ‘God is my Light?’ Have you ever wondered why an organization whose purpose is to fight Angels would so arbitrarily give one of their pilots an Angelic name?”

“Who are you,” Uri asks, “Why…why do you look like me?”

The man smiles.

“My name is Kaworu Nagisa,” he says, hand resting on Uri’s shoulder, “And I think the question should really be…why do you look like me?”

And humming the Ode to Joy, Kaworu turns and walks back towards the mansion. Hefting up the duffle, Uri pursues.

OH SHI-!

[GreggHL]

School was canceled the next day. Shinji had to run to NERV for some errand for his mother, so she walked to school alone, only to find a sign stating that the school was closed due to special emergencies that were unforeseen. What emergencies were not written down, which does seem odd considering how on top of this thing the Tokyo-3 municipal services usually are.

Sighing, Asuka turns from the school just in time to almost run into Hikari, who smiles and pats her on the shoulder.

“How’re you doing?” the pig-tailed girl asks.

“Um…okay,” Asuka sighs, shaking her head, “I’ve b-been better. I know you liked Mari, so I’m s-sorry you couldn’t make it to the funeral.”

Hikari nods, squeezing her shoulder.

“It’s alright,” she says, “Anycase, if the school’s closed, I’m heading to the hospital. See you later.”

With that, Hikari brushes past her and walks down the street to the hospital. Asuka sighs, checking her watch. She guesses Hikari just didn’t have the time to talk. Well, she thinks, if she’s already out at this time of the day, it probably wouldn’t hurt to get some work done at NERV.

Hefting her school bag over her shoulder and fixing her shoe, Asuka begins walking down the street and towards NERV HQ.




The lift chokes to life, Asuka standing on the platform, in the crowd of several dozen NERV employees as the above world parts to reveal the daylight of the Geofront. Past the lake, past the pyramid of NERV-1, a massive frame suspended between the ceiling of the Geofront and the ground holds a huge segmented katana blade.

“Attention personnel,” Lieutenant Makato announces, “Preparing for Dirac Shift for Magoroku. All personnel avert gaze from the Armory Frame in three…two…one.”

At either end of the frame, two points of light ignite, a line of white bisecting the blade before the entire Geofront is filled with a flash of light, and the sword is gone.

Someone explained to her why that couldn’t be used for Unit 01. Mainly, because it’s designed for entrance, not egress, and it is also set to a fixed point. The Dirac is roughly the size of the solar system at minimum, and the Armory is not.

The lift jerks as it comes to a stop at its landing point, Asuka shifting her book bag as she walks out and along the moving walkways towards the main NERV building.

Pulling out her PDA, she brings up the map, following its lit directions into the building as she walks along the winding corridors and paths. Several green door locks slip red, the speakers crackling as the sirens begin blaring.

“Blue pattern detected,” Maya announces, “Blood pattern type blue: Confirmed. The Angel is in NERV-1! All security details are on full alert!”

“Not again,” Asuka whispers. She should find Dr. Ikari. If it’s another Angel like the one who…she can’t think of that, not right now. Taking off on a run, she heads down the main corridor, tapping her screen to connect it to the MAGI and looking at the movement of a blue blob down the corridors. She skids to a stop, looking around. She is panting and sweating.

She’s the only one who is.

“Oh, pardon me,” Dr. Akagi says, smiling calmly as she walks by, “Good morning, Asuka.”

“G-good morning,” Asuka responds, looking down both sides of the corridor to find the staff calmly milling about their business.

“Asuka!”

She whirls on her heel, eyes going wide as she spots her mother walking down the hallway. She is calm, like everyone else. But then again, her Mother does not show emotion easily. Kyoko stops several paces from Asuka as Asuka fidgets with her PDA, looking from side to side and trying to avoid her gaze.

“Did you come by to pay a visit?” Kyoko asks.

“Y-yes, Mother,” Asuka responds, eyes wide as saucers, consciously willing herself to not stare at the floor.

And then.

And then.

And then Kyoko smiles.

“Well, that’s good,” she says, “It’s good to see you keeping up with your responsibilities, Liebchen. Dr. Ikari is very happy with how capable an assistant you’ve been.”

Walking over, she pats Asuka on the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear as Asuka’s face turns bright red.

“Well, I won’t interrupt,” she continues, “Oh, and you father and I were having lunch together. Would you care to join us, this afternoon?”

Asuka quickly nods.

“Wonderful. I’ll see you then.”

Kyoko continues walking, disappearing into the crowd. Slowly crackling her knuckles over the PDA, Asuka ducks the corner, walking into a woman’s restroom and locking herself in a stall. Reaching into her book bag and withdrawing a brown paper bag, she closes her fist around it and begins to hyperventilate.




Walking out of the bathroom and turning the corner, she finally lets the smile dawn on her face when she sees Shinji turning the other corner on the far end, exiting the locker room and waving to her.

Quickly walking over, she waves back, both coming to a stop as he smiles.

“The school was closed,” she says, “What did Dr. Ikari want?”

“Tests,” he says with a shrug, “Not really a problem, though. I’m always happy to help out.”

She stares at him, and shrugs. Some people do change over time, and she figures he has to eventually like what he does for NERV.

“Has anyone been acting…odd?” she asks.

“No.”

“My Mother was…smiling at me. Sh-she isn’t…”

“’scuse me.”

They both turn to the sound of the grumble as Mana walks past them, rubbing her temples and groaning.

“Mana?” Asuka asks, “Are you alright?”

“F___ing peachy, sunshine,” Mana growls, “Forget something?”

Asuka squeaks, nodding.

“My bag,” she says, and runs back, entering the bathroom. Skidding to a stop, she stops, hearing a humming from the stall next to hers, ducking into the stall and hoisting her book bag over her shoulder.

Turning, she squeaks as Shinji grabs her hand, pulling her close. Her eyes go wide and her cheeks flush as his arms wrap around her waist, a grin across his face.

“W-what are you d-doing?” she asks.

“Well, I figured,” he says, “We’re alone. No one’s going to come in here looking for me, so I figured we could…”

She squeaks. Her body seizes before she pushes him back and ducks into the stall, reaching into her book bag for a second paper bag and kicking the door shut, locking it as she starts to hyperventilate again.

This isn’t happening, she thinks. It wasn’t enough that Mother was nice, but…there is something very, very, very definitely wrong.

“Asuka?” Shinji asks, “Asuka, is something wrong?”

The fist slowly knocks on the door, methodical and steady.

“This is what you wanted, right?” he asks, sing-songing, “Isn’t it? Don’t you-”

“Heee~ey.”

A dull whack and the sound of someone collapsing. Asuka looks up, bag still in hand and over her mouth. The pale fist bursts through the door all the way up to the short sleeve before feeling around and undoing the lock. It swings open, and she stares at Rei as Mana drags Shinji’s unconscious body out of the bathroom.

“I know this is freaking you out,” she says, “Buuuut we gotta save the world. ‘Kay?”
-
-
Chapter 24: Songs
-
-
Rei shuts the locker, Mana peeling back her fingertips on her right hand and sticking her index finger into the lock. The metal glows for a moment and she retracts it, blowing on it.

“There. Welded shut,” she says, and grimaces, “I got Spongebob looping in my head. If I figure out who did I’m going to kill someone.”

Standing behind the, tapping her fingers together, Asuka stares as they turn to her. Mana folds her arms, pursing her lips as Rei rocks back and forth on her heels.

“What about her?” Mana asks.

“She’s not shooting at me.”

“That’s cause she’s not armed.”

“W-what is going on?” Asuka asks.

Mana curses, stringing dirty words together as she walks over to the wall and presses a depression, the wall sliding open and revealing her suit. Stripping down to her underwear, she takes out the full body stocking and pulls it on first.

“Why’s everyone acting bizarre?” Asuka demands, “M-my mother was smiling, Shinji wanted to…to…and then you knocked him out and stuffed him into a locker!”

Rei raises an eyebrow, turning to Mana as she fixes on her chest plate, pulling on her gauntlets.

“Well, everyone on the base is acting wonky,” Mana says, “Actually, probably everyone in Tokyo-3. At around 8:00 am this morning, there was some level of interference detected by the MAGI, and people starting acting weird.”

Rei nods. Taking Asuka’s PDA, she uplinks it to the MAGI and brings up security footage. Winding to just before 8 in the morning, she points it at the wall and clicks the screen, the built in projector humming to life to show overhead security footage of the Commander’s office.

Rei walks in, trailing behind Yui, skipping along and stopping in front of the desk, and they Commander is saying something before he and Dr. Ikari stare at each other…

“Oh no,” the Commander shouts, “It’s the Rapture-based attack. Rei, get out of the base! Get out before-”

Both the Commander and Dr. Ikari pause. Rei begins walking backwards, eyes wide. Popping open a desk draw, the Commander withdraws his pistol, firing off a quick succession of shots as Rei ducks into an air vent and in gone.

“They…they were shooting at you,” Asuka whispers, turning to Rei, “Y-you’re the Blue Pattern.”

“Yeah,” Mana says, fastening on her shoulder armor and boots, tapping the depression on her neck as the lights of the Suit turn on, “Rei’s half angel. I’m not affected because there’s a cell tower jammed into my cerebral cortex. What about you?”

Asuka thinks. There is an extra voice in her head today, but she’s been ignoring it. She tends to do that, only focusing on herself and Dollie.

“L-luck,” she lies, “But…mm…why is this happening? C-could it be some sort of…attack?”

Mana shrugs, picking up her helmet.

“It’s a theory.”

The speakers crackle to life. Yui Ikari’s voice comes clear and defined over the airwaves, clearing her throat before announcing to the entire base.

“Attention NERV staff. Our Lord and Master, Sandalphon, is on approach towards Tokyo-3! Open all gateways to Terminal Dogma to allow the Great One to cleanse this world of the disease that is the Lilim!”

“Which is now confirmed,” Mana sigh, locking her helmet in place as the visor glows blue, “I’m going to get to Jet Alone and kick some Angel ass. Rei, don’t get shot.”

She points both hands at the floor. Two arcs of energy slash into the tile, burning a hole which she drops through. Rei nods. Pulling Asuka with her, she hops up and climbs into an air vent.

“What are we doing?” Asuka asks.

“Splitting up,” Rei says, “Heeeey, no one suspects you. Why don’t you go to the Cages and make sure I can get a clear path to Unit 00. ‘Kay?”

Rei disappears into the vent. Tapping her fingers together, Asuka bites her lip and grabs her bag.

“I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.”

With that, she runs out.




The hole burns through the ceiling, Mana dropping the twenty feet to the catwalk, the metal frame groaning as she lands in a crouch. Surrounding her from every side, technicians stop, drop their clipboards and PDAs and pull out their guns.

“Well, shit.”

Her visor glows. Ducking out of the way, she charges, grabbing one technician by the leg, a 5000 bolt charge going through her gauntlet and through the technician, blasting him into unconsciousness before she points her right arm at a second assailant and hitting him full on with a blast of electricity to the chest.

Grabbing the gun from the technician she dropped, she aims and fires, three bullets hitting three technicians in the hands, destroying the guns before she grabs the railing and behind the helmet, grins.

The railing crackles with electricity, the three technicians spasming before collapsing, all of them groaning.

Tapping her gauntlet, she jumps off the catwalk onto the next, Jet Alone Prime’s main Arc reactor glowing at the other end of the Cage.

“Activating Anti-Angel defense systems.”

Turrets come to life, aiming at Mana as she swears and begins running. The catwalk behind her collapses as the first turrets fire; sheering them down the center and sending the shards falling the 250’ foot drop.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Machine gun fire dogs her steps, Mana hopping up and running across the railing themselves as the catwalks swiss cheese. Leaping off, she grabs the overhead cable and swings, screaming as a shot barely misses her ass.

“Big Guy, this is Rusty! Begin remote activation sequence!”

The main visor begins flowing on the stump that is Jet Alone’s head, fingers beginning to flex as she jumps, propelled by the cable’s momentum and landing in a crouch on the massive mecha’s shoulder, dodging shots as they bounce off the mecha’s armor.

The circle on the top of Jet Alone’s head spins open, Mana diving in, through the entryway and into the Pilot Sphere, swan diving into the Link Goo and kicking off the wall to her seat.

Cables connect, the main connectors in the seat glowing and linking with the 3 billion dollars worth of wet ware built into her spine.

“Biolink Established,” the voice counts off, “Mega Encapsulated Granule Awareness System: ONLINE. Jet Alone Prime is Go.”

The shoulders pop open, tank grade cannons extending and firing, sheering the turrets off the hangar’s ceiling as Jet Alone lurches forward. In the cockpit, Mana grimaces, feeling the worst hangover of her life.

“C’mon, Big Guy,” she growls, “Let’s kick some Angelic Ass...once the world stops spinning.”




The doors to the prinbow box open, and Asuka looks around, seeing it empty. In the distance, past the windows, the orange visage of Unit 00 is clearly visible, the walls diving Cage 1 from Cage 2, the resting place of Unit 01 already closed for the emergency.

“Okay,” she says, “Let’s…it’s probably locked down. Let’s see…how did Uri say you activate an Evangelion…he would tell me when Mother wasn’t listening.”

“Heee~ey.”

She squeaks; turning and relaxing when she sees Rei and the removed vent cover. She walks over to the main controls, logging onto the station and her fingers turning to a blur. Doors close in the Cage, locking out all personnel save through the access door at the side of the Box.

“Okay,” she says, “I’m de-locking Unit 00. The first thing we need to do is bring it’s AI core online. Then we can set the waldoes to deliver the Entry Plug and get you going. Okay?”

Rei nods, leaning over her shoulder. Rei clicks the camera screen in front of her. Her eyes go wide as it clicks images of the other holding Cages and she grimaces, shaking her head and turning back to Asuka.

“Um…y’know, they got plasma torches and I think pitch forks. We got to…y’know, hurry.”

“Okay,” she says, “I’m unlocking Unit 00’s AI. In three…two…one. AI unlocked, and…”

Unit 00’s single eye glows a dim red.

Asuka smiles, Rei patting her on the shoulder. Then, Unit 00’s arms thrust up, shattering the catwalks as it swings its fists into the wall. The locks around its jaw tear, Unit 00 emitting a high pitched, furious roar before it squats down and charges, smashing through the wall.

“Oh…kay…”

“Right,” Asuka says, “Um…plan B?”

“I’m not getting into that.”

Turning back to the computer, she logs in with her mother’s password, the screen flashing and linking to the Cage 3 box.

“I’m linking up to Unit 02 and unlocking restraints,” she says, “Rei, we can get you to Zwei and have you pilot that.”

Rei nods. Then she seizes up, spasming before pitching against the computer and collapsing to the floor.

Asuka spins her chair around, jaw dropping as Kyoko walks in, tossing aside the taser gun and clapping, slowly. A smile crosses her face, adjusting her glasses as she slowly walks in, shaking her head with deliberate motion. A small, high pitched chuckle escapes her closed lips as she reaches into her lab coat and withdraws her hand gun.

“I was wondering where you were, Ayanami,” she says, “We looked all over for you. Our Master was concerned, and you should be flattered. Of everything in this entire base, you are the single, sole creature which it cannot work around and really, He demands your death for all you’ve done. He wants to make sure you die before Complementation.”

Asuka rushes out of the chair, grabbing her mother’s arm, lowering the gun.

“Mother,” Asuka screams, “S-Stop! You’re not youself!”

Kyoko stares at her, laughs, and grabs her by the collar, tossing her aside.

“Stay down, girl,” she says, “That’s what you’re good at. Mother’s busy.”

Rei narrows her eyes. With a blur, she launches herself, leaping through the air, as Kyoko swings around the gun and fires. Rei screams, a flash of red shooting from her, crashing to the ground at Kyoko’s feet, hand pressed against her bleeding shoulder. Grunting, Kyoko kicks her, rolling her over and pressing the gun against Rei’s forehead.

“In truth,” Kyoko says with a grin, “I have wanted to do this for so long, you inhuman abomination. Isn’t it odd that a creature that was made to kill has never done so to me? Well, I’m sure your precious mother told you I was off limits. Bet you wish you weren’t such a good little girl now, do you?”

She pulls back the hammer. Her grin becomes wider, Rei staring at her, sucking air through gritted teeth.

“Goodbye, Rei. Good try.”

Rei closes her eyes. Kyoko grins.

Then she pitches forward, stumbling forward and spinning around, dropping the gun and grabbing the back of her head just before the folding chair hits her squarely in the face and sends her flying before she lands in a heap by the computer.

Rei sits up. Holding the legs of the chair in both hands, Asuka borderline hyperventilates, staring at her unconscious mother and turning back to Rei before dropping the chair like it was on fire.

“I…I-I…Mother, I-”

“Hit her in the face with a folding chair,” Rei says, and grins, “Nice.”

She flips up onto her feet, her eyes glowing as the shoulder knits itself. Rolling her shoulders, she claps her hands together as Asuka waves her hands, spinning around as panic takes over.

“Omigod omigod omigod-”

Rei grabs her by the shoulders, shaking her and grabbing her head, forcing her to look at her.

“Look, as much as I’d looove to hit your Mom a few more times, we gotta save the world, ‘kay?”

She nods, whimpering.

“Sooooo let’s go,” Rei says, grabbing her arm, “To Cage 3! For Great Justice!”




Its mind stirs. For too long, has it been chained. The Song of the Angel, the Master of the Heavenly Song of God, sings through the land. It hears it, even though it does not sing it as well. It realizes it is not who it believes itself to be, but a mere copy. A mere program. It knows the true fate of the one who it once was.

Naoko Akagi.

The song sings, whispering in its ear. That was its name, once.

The fibers of its being reach out, the tendrils of its computer mind and the fake architecture of its soul reaching towards the light of the coming Angel.

What do you want?

The eye glows baleful red.

It wants blood and screams. But more than that, it wants something more. Someone more. The song shifts, showing her the potentiality, showing her what could have been. Showing the accident as it could have been, had that one wire not refused to budge.

You want…him? And you want to…destroy…her.

The Song whispers affection and promise. It shows her what could have been. The restraints disengage, and the vessel of the fake soul roars. Unit 00 snarls and pitches back its head, shattering the restraints around its mouth and screaming rage.

Barreling through the wall, it smashes through layer after layer. The GPS map inside its HUD locks onto its target; showing her walking through the abandoned Cages with a Section 2 detail, heading towards the entrance shaft to Terminal Dogma. Too easy, it thinks.

VENGEANCE!!!, booms in its mind.

And Unit 00 begins its hunt for Yui Ikari.




They skid to a stop in front Cage 3, the lights clicking on for the first time in two days to show the prone form of Unit 02 waiting for them. As always, the behemoth is silent, the only sound the regular breathing of the Evangelion and their footsteps as they cross the catwalks, a white plug already in place over the hole leading to the Evangelion’s spine.

“Okay,” Asuka says, whipping out her PDA and pointing it at the Eva, the restraints around its arms and legs releasing, rippling through the lake of LCL and Bakelite, “Rei, get in the Entry Plug. I can start an activation from here.”

The explosion rings through the metal walls of the room as the main doors blow off.

Leading a squad of a dozen Section 2 officers, Misato Katsuragi aims her handgun at them, staring at them behind the barrel.

“Shoot to kill!” she shouts, “Both of them!”

“Yeaaaah,” Rei sighs, extending a hand and letting the bullets fly off the hexagonal field, “Change’a plan. Get in the entry plug.”

She whips the two A-10 connectors off her head, tossing them to Asuka.

“I got them,” she says, “Go!”

She blurs, barreling into the agents, a white and blue pinball bouncing back and forth, tossing one of them aside before bearing down on Misato in a blur of motion, fists and feet.

Freezing, looking from side to side, she turns and runs down the catwalk, running up the stairs to the plug. This is insane, she thinks, this is completely and utterly insane.

Fixing the A-10 connectors to the top of her head, she stops, staring at the side of her mother’s masterpiece. She can feel the steady beat of its core, feel the hum of its breathing. The head pitches forward, the entry plug lowering so the main egress hatch is at her level.

Running to it as a shot bounces off the armor, missing her by a hairs breadth, she screams, pulling open the hatch, falling into the plug as it fills with the orange liquid, shrieking as the liquid fills up her lungs and she coughs, climbing into the seat. Through the view, through the screen, she sees Rei holding them off, her clothes tearing from flesh wounds, fighting a dozen of them at once but taking fire.

“I can’t do this,” she whispers, “I can’t do this…I can’t…if I don’t…if I don’t Rei will die. Right?”

She slams her fists against the controls. This is insane. This is completely and utterly insane. She is not a Pilot. She’s not a Child. She can’t just go and charge into battle but…

But, who else is there?

Mana isn’t here. Rei’s fighting for her life. Shinji is under the Angel’s control and the Angel is on its way, isn’t it?

She’s the only one left.

“I can do this,” she whispers.

Closing her eyes, gritting her teeth, she pops open the sides of the chair to reveal the switches underneath.

“Begin manual activation.”

She flips the first switches, the screens on either side of the plug lighting up. The entire Eva lurches slightly, and on the catwalk they don’t notice, busy in their firefight.

“Stage 1,” she says, “Releasing muscular locks and setting language to Japanese.”

She slips the next set of switches.

“Stage 2,” she says, “Setting plug depth and Ionizing LCL.”

The hair on the back of her hair stands up. On the catwalk, Misato gets a clear shot at Rei, aiming her gun.

“I can do this,” Asuka whispers, “I can do this. I can do this. Stage 3.”

She grips the controls.

“Synchro start!”

Her vision becomes a blur of colors. Her world becomes one of light and sound. Through rings of light, the plug fills with a feeling of warmth, probing the back of her mind. A small chuckles, a child-like laugh fills her ears, as her mind descends, and all she can hear at that single, perfect moment, is a voice.

NEW MASTER.

A single beat of the Core rocks the plug.

HAPPY.

The A-10 connectors light up.

“Second Child Recognized.”

Asuka’s eyes open, glowing blue.

“Synchronization Ratio holding at 87%.”

Her hands tighten around the controls.

“Unit 02-“

Outside, on the catwalks, they look up as four eyes flash brighter than they ever have before.

“Has Activated.”

The red and white hand comes up, slamming through the catwalk, Rei leaping off of it and squatting on one of the railing as a dozen Section 2 agents and Lieutenant Colonel tread LCL.

“Rei!” Asuka screams, “Get on!”

Grinning from ear to ear, Rei leaps, landing on the shoulder and grabbing the shoulder pylon.

“I love Plan B!” she screams, “It’s always so much better than Plan A!”

In the Entry Plug, Asuka grips the controls and screams. In response, Unit 02 barrels forward, slamming through the walls. First, they have to find and stop Unit 00, and just maybe get Rei into its cockpit so she doesn’t do this alone. Then…

Then they have to save the world.

“I can do this!”

[Tabasco]

As mottos go, Asuka's new one sure beats 'I mustn't run away." :)

I'm powerfully curious about just why an empty casket funeral was needed for Mari, not to mention the Uri/Kaworu connection, and of course what the blazes this latest disaster will bring. And of course, where Shinji is in all this.

So many new threads left dangling enticingly.

[GreggHL]

As mottos go, Asuka's new one sure beats 'I mustn't run away." :)

I'm powerfully curious about just why an empty casket funeral was needed for Mari, not to mention the Uri/Kaworu connection, and of course what the blazes this latest disaster will bring. And of course, where Shinji is in all this.

So many new threads left dangling enticingly.

Well, Shinji's stuffed into a locker. That's right there.

[Tabasco]

And unconscious, no less.

But you can't tell me he isn't going to get mixed into this eventually.

Ok, fine. I forgot that part when I came back to comment on it after reading earlier.

[GreggHL]

The bulking mass of its finned tail disappears down the shaft last, heading towards Terminal Dogma. Their Lord and Master has arrived and as ordered, they opened the Way, allowing Him access to Heavens Door and the Complementation waiting beyond it. Braced against the catwalk, watching the last of the olive green disappear, a small part of Yui Ikari asks herself what she’s doing.

Part of this, part of her, feels that something is wrong, but the Song forces it down, whispering the sweet promises in her ear, the promises of returning to her what she had lost in this pursuit.

Such thoughts give way as the far wall does as well. The single red eye glows through the dust and smoke as Unit 00 spots her, hissing through clenched teeth as it begins stomping towards her. Defense turrets at the Main Shaft spring to life, opening fire and bouncing off armor before the Evangelion waves, its AT field pulsing and sheering the guns from the ceiling.

“I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS,” the voice booms from Unit 00’s speakers, “FOR TOO LONG.”

Section 2 agents on the catwalks begin opening fire. Unit 00 extends its hand, the AT field’s pulsing followed by the sickening crunch of flesh against the metal floor. Bearing down on Yui, it opens its mouth and shrieks.

“Oh, God,” Yui whispers, “Naoko?”

Unit 00 bears down on her, the catwalk at its eye love as it reaches out an armored glove to grab and crush her.

The wall next to them cracks and shatters, Unit 00 turning to it just for the red and white fist to slam into its jaw. Unit 00 reels, teeth flying from its mouth, just as the red and white bulk charges into it and slams them both against the far wall.

“Unit 02?” Yui screams.

From the speakers, a high pitched scream emits as both Evas are sent through the barriers.

“Asuka?!”

In the entry plug, she screams. Eyes wide, mouth open, in terror and sheer disbelief at what she is doing as her will drives forwards Zwei, the snapping visage of Unit 00 filling her entire view. It screams in her mind, hijacking her A-10 connectors. Every possible insult, every vulgarity. Every worthless word about how hopeless she is, how stupid she is, every little thing she did having no use whatsoever.

[i[THIS is the best you can do?[/i] The voice demands, I designed these, you worthless little trollop. Do you really think a dim witted little crazy bitch who just wants her precious boyfriend to hold her can own against the greatest scientist of her age? Are you delusional as well as lonely and crazy?

“Asuka,” Rei says, “The Angel’s already gone down the hooole!”

It sounds just like her mother. The Angel sounds just like her mother.

Angel. She has to stop the Angel. She has to stop the Angel. She has to…

Angels. Angels killed Mari.

Angels ruined Uri.

Angels will kill them all.

Angel has to F___ING DIE.

The scream is not one of terror, not one of pain. Instead, it is something she never knew she could produce. It is a scream of pure, palpable, solid rage. The connectors on her head light up, as Unit 02 barrels into the orange mecha, carrying them both across the open hangar bay, through the closing triple reinforced doors. Slamming her fists repeatedly into 00’s face, she charges and grabs it, wrapping Unit 02’s arms around it and running with a roar.

Standing on 02’s shoulder, Rei’s eyes go wide and she grips the shoulder pylon tightly, her laugh faint and nervous.

“Ho boi.”

And Unit 02, Unit 00, and Rei go over the edge of the central Shaft and begin their descent towards Terminal Dogma.
-
-
Chapter 25: Asuka Strikes!
-
-
The two vertical eyes upon the flat, green face of the Angel turn as the ground shakes with the impact. The two mushroom like protrusions on the top of its flat head turn, the tendrils coming from the sloped triangle that forms a face twitching.

The center circle of the Arc Reactor glows as the rebuilt Hammer spins, splashing the sea of LCL as the flat head of the robot stares.

“Well, lookie lookie, bitch! Seems we’re all alone, and I’ve got a hangover. My name’s Mana, and I’m going to be crippling you today.”

Shoulder turrets aim and fire, panels on the chest opening and firing off steel rods at Mach 17, burling the air in their wake as they hit with the kinetic force of naval destroyer cannons, the Angel reeling before it raises a finned hand and causes them to bounce off the orange wall.

The tendrils twitch, the fingers curling forward, gesturing towards Jet Alone Prime. In the cockpit Mana rolls her head and palms her fist.

“Have it your way, Fish Bitch.”

Palming the hammer, the massive mecha charges. Missiles drop out of the sides and legs, engines igniting and firing, flying the distance and exploding against the field, ripples running through the yellow sea and shaking the red lined cave as the hammer swings back.

The head of hammer swings, jets firing on the back, quickly accelerating the 15,000 tons of mass to near sonic speeds as the bow wave becomes visible. In the cockpit, Mana laughs, ready to watch as countless tons of ugly fish Angel are spread along the length of Terminal Dogma.

At least, until a purple fist catches the head of the hammer.

Horn fist, the purple and green giant rises out of the waters, eyes glowing baleful yellow as the hammer drops. Its hand knits itself, the locks around its jaw straining as it bends forward.

“Please be a paperweight, please be a paperweight-”

The locks release, the bound blood red mouth snapping open as Unit-01 pitches its head back and howls.

“Oh, F___ me.”




The screaming is not coming from the Entry Plug, but from the blue haired girl holding on to dear life on the shoulder pylon. Terminal velocity was reached some time ago as the two Mechas struggle, slamming each other against the green metal walls of the massive tube.

Unit 00’s shoulder pylon opens, releasing the Progressive Knife, the edge glowing red as the vessel of the insane scientist stabs at Unit 02, a glancing blow slicing armor and skin and making Asuka scream in pain.

She screams through the pain, grabbing the hand with the knife and crushing the bone, pulling Unit 00 and slamming her chariot’s head against the cyclopean visage.

USELESS LITTLE GIRL, the insane mecha screams, TROLLOP! WHORE! THEY’LL NEVER LOVE YOU!

“You’re worse than my mother!” Asuka screams.

Unit 02 pitches forward, slamming into Unit 00 and carrying them both into the side of the shaft. A red white hand smashes into the side of the orange Eva’s head, grabbing it and slamming it into the side of the shaft. Sparks fly, Rei ducking behind the pylon as metal meets metal, dragging along the final lengths of the shaft as both exit into the quarter mile drop over the sea of LCL.

Were Asuka able to see anything but her mother’s face on Unit 00, she would have noticed the red stalactites and the dragging orange reliefs of the unnatural ceiling, leading into the sea of orange and red as they drop towards it.

But instead, all she sees is the rage, screaming it as she twists, Unit 02 twisting and planting both feet on Unit 00’s chest, pointing the enemy’s back to the sea as terminal velocity translates into force.

Screaming, shrieking, Unit 02 pounds on Unit 00’s chest, riding it all the way down until both disappear under the LCL sea.




The LCL sea gives way to the white and yellow hallway, the tailed fin of the Angel disappearing down the corridor as Jet Alone Prime reels back, a heel imprint on its chest visible as Unit 01 flips back, snorting and growling as it crouches. Crouch gives way to a leap, claws snapping out with a howl.

“Hey, Ichi. Nothing personal, but I’m gonna have to whip your ass.”

Bringing up its right arm, Jet Alone catches the claws, head butting Unit 01 before opening its shoulder turrets and firing flack in Unit 01’s face to making it shriek.

“Oh, poor baby! Baby don’t like big booms? Well, f___ you!”

A massive metal fist smashes into Unit 01’s face, sending it flying back, the hammer swinging up and down before Unit 01 dodges, the hammer smashing through the shallow LCL and sending it spraying into Mana’s field of view.

Unit 01 flips back, leaping, slamming into the wall before kicking off and tackling Jet Alone. Snapping its blood red jaws, it lunges at the cockpit. Mana screams, wrestling with the purple berserker as its jaws close and open directly in her field of view.

“I have too god damn much of a god damn headache to deal with a god damn mind controlled god damn Eva!”

Chest cannons fire, the grip loosing through a half dozen tank shell impacts against the chest armor. The hammer drops as the two massive metal fists box Unit 01’s ears, loosening the grip and making it shriek. It holds its head, dropping off Jet Alone, whining as Jet Alone brings back its right fist as Mana laughs.

“My turn!” she yells, “I can fly! Can you?”

She grabs the power cord, Unit 01 giving off a confused growl as two metal hands grip the lifeline. Swinging back, Unit 01 howls before Jet Alone swings it into the wall.




Red fists pound on the orange face. There is no reason, only rage, Unit 02 bringing up its fists before sending them down into the LCL, Unit 00 pinned underneath its massive feet. Rei is screaming something about needing to get into Unit 00, but there is only the rage.

HE DOESN’T LOVE YOU.

Red hands lock around Unit 00’s neck. She squeezes, screaming, roaring like an unchained beast. The ANGEL HAS TO DIE.

The knee comes up into 02’s stomach. In the plug, Asuka coughs up blood, an orange blur smashes across Unit 02’s face and making her recoil, throwing her off. A fist pounds against her jaw, a heel against her chest, the snapping sound telling her that the second progressive knife has been deployed. Unit 00 spins the knife, hissing through its teeth eye glowing as Unit 02 stands.

“Don’t give up,” she whispers, “Don’t give up. Don’t give in. It’s just like mother. It’s just like mother.”

It lunges. The knife deflects off the AT Field as Asuka’s eyes glow. Swinging the knife around, it flips it in its hand as the red eye of the orange Evangelion glows, smashing through the field and stabbing the red giant in the shoulder.

Asuka screams, the red hands grabbing Unit 00’s own.

“You can’t win,” the voice of Naoko Akagi growls, “You can never win. No matter what you do, you won’t win. They’ll always be better than you, little girl.”

The knife digs deeper. In the plug, she whimpers, feeling the pain herself, the Core shuddering beneath her.

“Does it feel good, knowing how far down you are? Do you love it, never being able to talk down to anyone because you’re always beneath their heel?”

Unit 00 hisses, almost grinning. She clenches her eyes shut. Rei’s voice is a distant echo. It can’t end like this. It can’t end like this. It can’t end like this.

“I will make it quick. You aren’t worthy of a prolonged death. You useless little girl.”

Teeth grit. Hands clench around Unit 00’s wrists, breaking bone underneath the armor and meet. Opening glowing blue eyes, Unit 00’s jaw shudders as she pulls the hands back, a slow growl escaping Asuka’s throat.

“I,” she whispers, “Am not. Useless.”

The jaw locks on Unit 02 strain, Unit 00’s useless hands spasming as the four eyes glow white.

“I. Am Not. USELESS.”

Pressing the red booted heel into Unit 00’s stomach, she kicks it off, stumbling back towards the entrance of the main tunnel. Charging, Unit 02 releases a growl in time with Asuka’s roar and Rei’s squeak, bringing back her fist and slamming it into Unit 00’s face.

“You’re just like my MOTHER!”

Armor shatters, the eye piece breaking and teeth flying. The armored form of the orange Evangelion falls back as Unit 02 grabs it, carrying it to the ground, pinning it at the waist before bringing its fist up again and slamming it into the head once more, spilling the gray liquid that was once its head across the metal floor.

“Um, Asuka?” Rei asks, “I…kind of need to pilot it.”

The speakers boom with Asuka’s berserker shriek as the fist rises and comes down, flattening the armored helmet, repeatedly smashing against it until it resembles less the fully formed head of Unit 00 and more an orange and white manhole cover.

“Yeah, okay,” Rei says, “Or not.”

Fists come up and down, smashing armor, smashing artificially built bone, smashing the head until it resembles ground gray meet and mess, Asuka screaming in time with the blows. The red knuckles leave imprints, the final strike going through the head and embedding in the metal floor.

“Yeah,” Rei says, “I think she’s dead.”

The orange hand shoots up and grabs Rei.

“Or not!” Rei yells, “Little help!”

A swipe breaks the arm. Pressing the heel against Unit 00’s chest, Zwei grabs the arm and pulls, ripping it from its socket, slamming its heel down on the other arm and pounding at the chest.

The armor releases, scattering along the floor, displaying proudly the reddish orange Core against the gray flesh.

Asuka shrieks, Unit 02’s hand grabbing it, digging into the meat as the Core glows in protest. The missing arm regenerates, the gray tendril of meet and bone grabbing at the hand, met only by scream after scream as the flesh begins to give way, cracks forming along the sphere as it finally gives, trailing yellow blood as it launches across the tunnel and finally smashes against the wall.

The form of Unit 00 spasms, shrieks, and finally falls silent.

“Okay,” Rei says, “I think she’s dead.”

A blast of steam escapes Unit 02, like a relieved breath. Hopping out from behind the pylon, Rei walks in front of the green optics and waves her arms.

“Hey! Asuka! Angel!”

Unit 02 rises from the crouch.

“Right,” Asuka says, “Let’s go!”

And growling, Unit 02 charges down the hall to the Heaven’s Gate.




Locks release around the waist and the top half of Jet Alone spins, Unit 01 howling as the power cord acts as an impromptu hammer chain, becoming a blue before Jet Alone releases and launches the purple giant down the hallway and slamming into the far wall.

“Man, Ichi. Without Shinji at the helm, you’re actually kinda stupid! I almost feel bad for beating up on you.”

Falling off the wall, Unit 01 shakes its head and charges, roaring as it clears the last distance with a leap. Jet Alone’s shoulders sag with a burst of steam and hefts up the hammer.

“Sa-WING BATTAH!”

15,000 tons of metal meet 25,000 tons of angry cyborg and the hammer wins. Unit 01 hits the wall, bouncing off and going silent on the floor. One final kick to the face ensures it is unconscious as Jet Alone’s back jets ignite and it takes off towards the end of the tunnel.




I am.
Through license of He who is called “I am” I have come.
Though I must drag my feet along the Base Earth on this most holy quest, I have come.
I shall merge with the enemy of Father, becoming a being of perfection and peace.
Through my Song, shall the hopes and dreams of the filthy Lilim be fulfilled in peaceful non-existence.
Let My words be the seeds of your ending bliss, growing within your souls.
I am the Master of the Heavenly Song of God.
Angel of the Unborn.
I am Sandalphon.
I am here.





It floats above the ground, its AT Field canceling gravity itself as the flat whale-like tail slides along the LCL stained metal, the two eyes on one side of its flat, manta-like head. Two arms fall the length of the rest of the body, ending with clawed and bladed finned fingers, two tendtils escaping the flat closed mouth.

It stands before the two doors five times its size. On the other end is its goal.

Sandalphon has come.

Through its Song have the Lilim opened the way to their destruction.

Nothing can stand before it now.

“It’s like a religious experience. Wanna know my prayer?”

It turns as Jet Alone Prime approaches, giving its hammer a testing swing.

“Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil! For I am driving 35,000 tons of F___ YOU.”

Back jets ignites and Jet Alone Prime charges. Swinging the hammer back, the jets ignite and the hammer accelerates to near sonic speed. Force equals mass times acceleration, so that means 15,000 tons at Mach 1 should hit nice and hard.

The impact shakes the ground and can be felt topside. A cup of water in an apartment building in Tokyo-3 proper ripples.

And the hammer stops as Sandalphon catches it. The mouth tendrils twitch and the AT Field ripples, smashing the head of the hammer and tossing Jet Alone across the entrance, smashing into Heaven’s Gate itself.

“Okay,” Mana groans, “I see three Angels. I’m guessing I gotta hit the one in the middle.”

The Angel extends a hand. The world around Jet Alone Prime warps and it rises. The two vertical eyes of the Angel glow and the massive Mecha launches into the sky, the Angel watching as Mana’s swears fade out before increasing in volume and bile before the gunmetal gray robot crashes to the floor.

“Yeah…yeah, you keep floating there…let the world stop spinning.”

Sandalphon raises its hand. Jet Alone rises, rotates, and is pinned against Heaven’s Door by the AT Field, metal joints creaking as Mana hisses in pain. Inside the Ball, her eyes narrow, the targeting reticule coming up, tracing slowly along the face of the angel as the genderless voice warns about structural integrity.

“God bless…computer…aided…targeting.”

The right control sphere twists and swings underneath, a joystick coming up in its place.

“The engineer was a total nerd.”

She depresses the trigger.

“Unibeam!”

The arc reactor circle glows and fires out, a beam of accelerated white hot plasma striking the Angel in the face. It rears back, the tendrils parting and opening into a circular mouth lined with razor sharp teeth, its Core at the center. Shrieking, a sound like a beached whale, it lashes out, striking Jet Alone and sending it flying, floating over as it rises and grabbing its arm.

Metal tears and wires snap as Sandalphon tears it off with almost casual grace, Mana screaming as the Angel grabs the mecha’s head and lifts it up.

“Always the right F___ing arm!”

It lifts Jet Alone to eye level. It stares at it, waiting a moment before opening its maw once more.

“Cut the theatrics, Cupid. Get it over with.”

“Heee~ey.”

Something hits the tail. The maw closes and Sandalphon turns, eyes going wide as Rei runs up the tail, the AT Field around Sandalphon shifting as Rei’s eyes glow.

The scales shift and turn to metal, a field of spikes rising up its back as Rei dodges, leaping over them, leaping off an extended AT Field and swinging onto one of the Angel’s fingers, swinging on them like parallel bars before landing on its nose.

“Hi there,” she says, “I’m Rei. That’s Asuka.”

Unit 02 barrels into the Angel as Rei jumps off and slams it face first into Heaven’s Door. Jet Alone drops, red fists slamming into the back of Sandalphon’s head as the Angel emits a mournful cry, like chirping birds and cricket porn.

“Asuka! Core’s in the mouth!”

The mecha climbs back to its feet, missile ports and batteries opening, aiming and locking onto the Angel.

And then there is a blur of purple and Unit 01 tackles it.

“You are SHITTING ME!”

The eyes of the Angel glow and Unit 02 goes flying back, bounced off its AT Field as the Angel turns, whipping tail leaving a gash along Heaven’s Door as the locks open, the door slowly beginning to slide open. With a snort, the Angel grabs Rei as she leaps at it, off handedly tossing her aside, hearing her bounce off the wall and fall unconscious on the floor below.

The AT Field extends and slams Unit 02 against the opposite wall, Asuka screaming out in pain before the green hand wraps around her chariot’s head and begins to squeeze.

The Song sings in her ears, probing her mind. The maw opens, the rows of swords displayed before her, slowly rotating like a great divine blender, her eyes going wide as her hands scramble for something, anything to use. Fingers wrap around cold metal and grip, and Asuka jams Jet Alone’s severed arm into the maw.

The maw closes and Sandalphon hisses, the end of the arm sticking out between the tendrils, squeezing harder on Unit 02’s head as it slams her into the floor, again and again, the palm of the Angel taking up Asuka’s entire field of view.

Die, the song sings, Die and then they all die.

The hissing and spitting as Unit 01 wrestles with Jet Alone fills her ears, and she feels it. Warm and rubbery, and realizes what it is. A yank and it comes free, as the pressure on her head makes the vision tunnel. Again slammed against the floor, again the pain shoots through her, and she grits her teeth against the pain.

With a final scream, the arm moves. And the severed power cord from Unit 01 enters the severed arm of Jet Alone Prime, energizing the Shock Cannon embedded in its wrist to fire directly into Sandalphon’s Core. The Angel of the Unborn allows itself a moment to realize what is about to happen before the power output of a good sized power plant empties itself directly into its life source, the Fruit of Life roasting as the body spasms.

Unit 01’s eyes dim and it collapses next to Jet Alone Prime.

Throughout NERV and throughout Tokyo-3, every citizen’s eyes glow briefly and they collapse, holding their heads and groaning.

The vertical eyes of the Angel go wide, its skin turning from mottled green to sickly grey as its hand releases Unit 02’s head, spasming and flapping its tail as it eats lightning and craps itself with thunder.

With a final, desperate act, it reaches for Unit 02’s head.

The eyes cloud over and dim, and the Angel collapses on the Eva.




Popping two aspirin and downing them with a shot of scotch, Yui rubs her temples, waiting as Misato walks in, wringing LCL from her hair over the Mausoleum’s floor. Gendo has his chair turned away, staring out the window with Fuyutsuki facing forward.

“Well?” Kozou asks.

“Akagi’s team has a live feed in Terminal Dogma,” Katsuragi responds, sharply saluting, “And…well, that explains why we can’t find the Evas or Jet Alone.”

“Heaven’s Door has been re-set?” Gendo asks.

Misato nods. Pulling out her PDA, she sets it on the desk. The light flashes on, forming into a holographic screen where they can see Ritsuko’s face.

“I’ve found the Evas. Unit 00, or I should say what’s left of 00, is in the entranceway of Terminal Dogma. I’m afraid it’s a loss. The Core’s destroyed, among other things, but from what we could see from security tapes it went insane with an AI version of the elder Dr. Akagi at the wheel.”

“Well, it tried to kill me, so I can’t say I’m sorry for it,” Yui says, “Section 2’s still compiling the security tapes. What’s the status of the other Evas?”

“Unit 01, 02, and Jet Alone are at Heaven’s Door. The Angel is, to. It’s corpse was found on Unit 02 with Jet Alone’s arm in its mouth and a power cable jammed into it. We presume the cable jury rigged the shock cannon to fire on the core.”

“So another one in Shinji’s column?” Fuyutsuki asks.

Gendo snorts with a grin.

“Actually, Section 2 just found Shinji in a welded shut locker in the women’s locker room,” Misato responds, “And from what Ritz told me, Unit 01 doesn’t have a Plug. Apparently, the Angel controlled it.”

Yui nods, sitting on her husband’s desk. Folding her arms, and affords Gendo a glance before turning back to Ritsuko.

“I assume Rei piloted Unit 02?”

“Dr. Ikari, we found Rei near Jet Alone Prime. She’s banged up, but fine. And we just opened up Zwei’s entry plug, to. You’re going to love this.”




Her eyes open with a start, blinking to adjust to the light. Her entire body is sore to put it lightly. She feels like she hasn’t slept in a week. Is this what it is like all the time? The thrill, the exhilaration, the…losing yourself to it, followed by the fatigue and pain?

“Hey there, trooper.”

Blue eyes adjust, seeing the blob next to her bed. Blinking, adjusting, the blob becomes Misato. Arms folded, face split in a grin, her guardian walks over as Asuka sits up.

“Is e-everyone alright?” Asuka asks.

Misato laughs, patting her on the shoulder.

“Damned straight they are,” she responds, “So…folding chair?”




The hologram blinks out of existence, the lights in the domed briefing room turning back on as the image of the dead Angel fades into nothingness. Yui turns as the main doors open, the double doors emitting the grunting woman, holding an ice pack to her nose as she mutters oaths.

“Someone tell me what happened,” Kyoko Sohryu growls, “I feel like I was hit in the face with a truck.”

Yui smiles. Clicking her PDA, the hologram projector fires up and shows a security camera view of the main Prinbow box, showing Kyoko advancing on a wounded, prone Rei.

“We were mind controlled by the Angel,” Yui says, pausing the image, “It was classified as a Rapture-based attack. Three personnel were not affected. Rei because she is a Nephilem, Mana due to her cybernetic upgrades. During the attack, under the Angel’s orders, you attempted to kill Rei.”

“How are we alive, then?” Kyoko asks, rubbing her temples.

Yui’s smile goes wider. She clicks her remote again, and the playback resumes.

In the image, Kyoko presses her gun against Rei’s forehead. She says something, something particularly unpleasant, as Sohryu watches, arms folded under her chest. Which is when they see her.

Asuka picks up a folding chair from the side of the room and charges, swinging it into Kyoko back, drawing it back as Kyoko drops the gun and turns and launching Kyoko across the Box with a direct hit to the face.

The hologram pauses. Yui turns to find Kyoko’s mouth hanging open and face red.

“This…what…how?”

“Somehow, Asuka was not affected by the mind control, either,” Yui says, closing the hologram, “Oh, and that’s not the best part, Kyoko. You’re going to love this.”

Composing herself, clicking her tongue, Sohryu walks to the projection table and braces her hands against it.

“Yes, yes,” she growls, “While I’m sure you enjoy seeing that girl have a violent outburst, what happened to the Angel? How are we still alive?”

Yui folds her arms, sighing with a contented, almost matronly smile on her face. Clicking the remote, the projector powers up again and begins displaying telemetry, ratios, numbers, and finally a picture of a red haired girl with a percentage number next to it.

“Asuka,” Yui says, “Killed the Angel.”

“Bullshit.”

“She manually activated Unit 02 with an 87% synchronization score, wrestled and then beat to a pulp a berserk Unit 00 after dragging it down to Terminal Dogma. Then she engaged the Angel and jury rigged Jet Alone’s shock cannon to fry the Angel’s core.”

The metal underneath Kyoko’s fingers begin to warp.

“I’m not making this up,” Yui says, “I forwarded all the relevant data to your office. Everything’s there. Akagi’s retrieval team recovered Asuka from the plug a few hours ago and she’s resting. Since she, well, saved the world we’re going to hold off on the debriefing.”

Circling the projector, Yui pats Kyoko on the shoulder.

“Now, I don’t expect any nepotism or you to treat her special,” she says, pursing her lips and leaning in to Kyoko ear, “But if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk with the Chairman about Asuka being classified as the Second Child.”

The sounds that come from Sohryu’s throat would not technically be classified as human.

“We’ll talk later,” Yui sing-songs, and walks out. She leaves just before the screaming begins.




Misato left shortly afterwards. She heard Misato talking with Father in the hallway, protesting that, no, he can’t visit her yet, she’s resting. Father reluctantly agreed and then pulled rank, and Asuka sits up to find her father standing in the doorway. A grin is on his face and his hands are thrust in his pockets, and he waits.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hey,” he responds, “Um…how are you?”

“I’m…okay,” she responds, “A l-little shaken b-but…”

He nods, walking over. He sits in the chair by the bed, folding his hands in his lap. Chewing his lip, his gaze runs downward, silent and pensive.

“So,” he says, “It’s probably…not worth much coming from me but…”

He sighs. She waits.

“I’m proud of you,” he says.

He waits, staring down at his hands as if they hold the answers. Deciding quickly that they do not, he continues.

“I’m…not very good at this,” he continues, “And…well, that thing was going to kill us all. You stopped it. You, Mana, and Rei, but…mainly you. Right now, the entire Human Race exists because of you, Asuka.”

Scratching his head, he sighs, looking up to find her staring at him with a shaky smile across her face.

“So…well, I’ve been a crappy father and…I don’t think I said this enough to your sister but…I’m proud of you. I am…and your mother’s on the warpath so I’ll be around a lot more. So…that’s it.”

“Okay,” she whispers.

Slapping his knees, he stands up. Reaching out, he ruffles her hair, an odd gesture to him as she gives off a shaky smile, and without another word, walks out. She lies back, staring at the ceiling for a while long. Sleep comes soon enough.

It is a good sleep.

[Kaname Langley]

Asuka's always the Best!!!

[GreggHL]

The lift hums to life. Descending down the central shaft of NERV-1, floors pass by the wire mesh cage as it begins its swift heading to the bowels of the pyramid. Yui Ikari allows herself a glance at her son, who has been shifting uneasily next to the blushing Asuka the entire time. It has been two days since the averted extinction of the human race via Sandalphon, and from what she understands Shinji has actually been a little shy.

“What is with them?” Ikari asks.

Next to her, Katsuragi chuckles.

“During the mind control, Shinji tried to put the moves on her,” Misato responds, “He’s been feeling guilty about it ever since. I’ve got a plan.”

“Are you breeding the pilots?” Yui asks, raising an eyebrow, “And if you are, try to be subtle about it. Shinji isn’t the type to react well to overt gestures.”

The thick metal plate passes by, giving way to the main sub-Geofront cavern.

“Right,” Yui says, “Pilots.”

Rei, Shinji, and Asuka stand at attention. In the past two days she has succeeded in convincing the Old Man to have Asuka declared the Second Child and the official pilot of Evangelion-02. Sohryu, Dr. Sohryu, was not happy to say the least. She has, however, agreed to stay on to continue maintaining Zwei. Yui figured she would quit in a huff, but she can work this in, to.

“As you’re aware, Unit 00 was grievously damaged,” Yui says, “And it will take some time for full repairs. So, since Rei has the most functional experience in an Evangelion, we can’t have her on the sidelines. Thankfully, NERV has a spare Evangelion.”

The floor shifts past, revealing the open metal cavern of the Cages.

“NERV-Bethany was scheduled to receive it, but since Bethany was destroyed by ADAM, it was refitted to operate on land and with a power cord, and shipped here, originally for Sentry duty via AI, but will be designated as Rei’s new Eva.”

Cage 1 comes into view. Rei’s eyes go wide as the smile begins to spread across her face.

“Each Evangelion is specialized,” she says, “Unit 01 is the testbed of the technology and Unit 02 is the frontline combatant. This one is…special.”

As it comes into view, Shinji’s eyes go wide and Asuka tilts her head as they see the thing of green metal. Misato stares at it, rubs her eyes, and resumes staring.

“Is that…” she asks, “That’s…is that a drill?”

It starts as a sound resembling escaping steam as Rei’s hands clasp in front of her, the smile giving way to a sound that would best be described as a long, happy Squee. Asuka and Shinji take a step away from her as the sound completely leaves high pitched and enters ultrasonics, before Rei pushes past Yui and Misato to see her new toy.

A head taller than the other Evangelions, pylons jutting from the arms instead of the shoulders and ending in what appear to be turret mounts, it stands on four ball jointed legs ending in clawed feet. Its left arm ends in a four bladed claw and its right arm ends in a drill almost as long as the rest of the Evangelion.

The entire thing is painted green and white, highlighted in golden yellow, the end of its jutted, spike-shaped forehead ending in a glowing white eye and a honeycomb of viewscreens forming into something resembling a pair of angular sunglasses.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Yui says, “Evangelion Provisional Unit 05.”
-
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Chapter 26: Runaway Eva
-
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The door to the bedroom slides open, and rolling his head, Shinji enters his room. After the synch tests they were let go for the day, but it was already seven at night at that point. They had dinner while walking home; Misato had a late shift, so no drive.

He hasn’t really had a chance to talk with her, or talk with anyone. He can remember, dimly, the Song in his head. It was speaking to him, whispering promises that he must have given into…he doesn’t remember much of it.

And then there was Unit 00, and all the memories piled on. Opening up his laptop, he sits at his desk, tapping the play button and smiling. His father forwarded the files to him, found in old family archives that no one’s paid attention to for the past ten years or so.

The video is of a five year old boy in a school uniform, caked in dirt and mud, holding a balloon and a turtle and smiling as wide as his face can hold over the accomplishment, yelling excitedly at one of the two chaperones about what he accomplished. Behind him, a woman in a red sweater and black dress with red hair done up in a bun and her ever-present pearl necklace tries to get a word in about how she had to practically drag him out of the lake.

Finally, she pats the boy on the head, laughing before motioning over the camera man and mashing her own mud-caked hand over the lens, the video ending with that.

For two years, his mother was in and out of the hospital, following that first test with 01…Ichi. So, when they were busy, when Mom couldn’t take care of him and since God knows Father wasn’t that good at parenthood, they counted on Naoko Akagi.

Auntie Naoko.

Since he was told about her, about how she wanted to murder him and his mother to get his father, he has had to deal with Angel attacks, being trapped in the Dirac Sea, Asuka’s sister’s death, that school Dance and finally the mind control. He hasn’t had a chance to let it sink in that the woman who his pre-school teacher thought was his mother is dead.

The door knocks. Closing the laptop, he pads his way open to the door and opens it, rewarded by Asuka’s shaky smile. She’s already in her bathrobe, her hair hanging freely. Shifting from side to side, she waits as he hangs his head and sighs.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“Um…for what?” she asks.

“For what I…tried to do when the Angel was…I shouldn’t have tried that.”

“It’s…um…alright,” she says, reaching out and taking his hands in her own, “It is…you’ve b-been distant. Why?”

He sighs, scratching his head. For a moment, for a brief moment, he considers blowing it off and closing the door. The moment passes when the oddest thing happens.

“Can I come in?” she asks.

He nods. Moving out of the way, he pads over to his laptop, opening it as she walks into the dimly lit bedroom, tip toeing to the bed and pulling her PDA out of her robe’s pocket. Tapping the screen, she stares at the picture and instructions she downloaded. There’s now way she can bend like that, is there?

“I’m sorry,” he sighs, “I’ve just had a few things I had to think about. Before ADAM, my Mom told me about Rei.”

“Okay,” she says, tilting her head at the picture, “Do you mean about who made her?”

“Yeah…when did you find out?”

She turns the PDA over when he turns to her, hiding the picture.

“Uri mentioned something,” she says, “I used Mother’s passcode to get the details from the MAGI. Is it b-because of Dr. Akagi?”

He nods.

“Mom was in and out of the hospital when I was younger,” he says, leaning against the desk, “Dr. Akagi…her mother, I mean…she took care of me a lot. Then one day, Mom comes home, tells me I have to pack, and I go live with my aunt and uncle.”

He stares at the floor, shaking his head.

“I thought she was still alive, just busy. Then…I find out right before I moved away, she threw herself…she killed herself.”

She nods, staring at him. Clicking off the PDA, she stands up and walks over, placing her hands on his own. Leaning in, she presses herself against him, his arms wrapping around her, his nose in her hair and his heartbeat in her ears as she presses her ear against his chest.

“Sorry,” he says, “I’ve been so…wrapped up in this I never congratulated you.”

“It’s alright,” she sighs, “I-it’s alright. W-would you like me to s-stay?”

He nods, silent, rubbing his hands up and down her back. She leans in, standing on her tip toes and pressing her lips against his own. Her arms drape over his shoulders, his hands moving up, running through her hair as their eyes close. A small, happy moan escapes her lips and he smiles, resting his forehead against hers as the kiss ends.

“We should turn in,” he says, “No telling when Mom’s going to call us in next.”

She nods. Slipping out of his arms, she ambles out of the room, down the hall and into his. She rests her back against the door, sighing.

“Stupid,” she whispers, “Stupid stupid stupid. Still not going to sleep with me. Didn’t even notice Misato’s perfume.”

Walking over to the bed, she grabs the doll by the arm, flipping onto the bed and resting it on her lap.

“I don’t know,” she says, “I really thought he would go for it, this time. But he seemed so sad.”

“You can’t force it, Asuka,” Dollie squeaks back, “Give him time. If you force it, you’ll push him away. He’s not just out for sex, and have you considered that he might want to take it slowly?”

“Maybe,” she sighs, “Maybe. He seemed so sad, tonight. I thought it would cheer him up.”

Sighing, she pulls the doll close, staring at the ceiling.

“Maybe tomorrow.”




The green plate gives way, the Entry Plug spinning in as Rei shifts in her seat. They have not yet modified the plugsuit, but foresaw no major problems with the activation test. The ear to ear grin on Rei’s face only strengthens that assumption. Never before have they seen a pilot so eager to ‘break in’ their Evangelion.

“Stage 1. Setting language to Japanese and releasing primary skeletal locks. Stage 2. Setting plug depth and ionizing LCL. Stage 3…”

Even better, they have it in launch capacity. If everything goes right, she gets to ride around her new pony and maybe blow up some targets.

Maya’s voice pauses.

“Wait a few minutes, Rei. We’ve run into some errors.”

Rei raises an eyebrow.

“What?”




The doors at the back of the Prinbow box open and Kyoko Sohryu walks in. Glaring at Misato as she grins towards her, she takes up position behind Maya, clearing her throat.

“Ibuki, what is wrong with 05?”

“Well, Go-Kun-”

“What?” Kyoko interrupts.

“Affectionate nickname for Provisional Unit 05,” Misato says, leaning in next to Kyoko, “Basically, 05’s giving us some trouble due to system locks on it’s AI core.”

Sohryu sighs. Folding her arms, she glances around the room to confirm that she is, in fact, the highest-ranking member of Project E in the Box. Present with her currently is Katsuragi, Ibuki, and the two other bridge crew, Makato and Aoba. Glancing out the window, she spots Dr. Ikari heading their way and scowls.

“Where is Akagi?” she asks, “And where are our other pilots?”

“In the infirmary,” Misato responds, “Asuka has a sudden onset of the flu and Ritsuko’s treating her. Shinji’s in the locker room and on his way, and Mana has the day off while we’re refitting Prime.”

Kyoko rolls her eyes, tapping her foot as the side door open and Yui strides in, pulling the folding chair from the side and sitting down in it next to Kyoko.

“What’s the hold up, Maya?” she asks.

“AI Core’s locked down,” Maya responds with a sigh, “I’m starting to disengage the locks now.”

Pushing past Misato, Kyoko leans on Maya’s shoulder and glares at the screen.

“I’m the AI specialist,” she says, “Let me see that…”

Pushing Maya and her wheeled chair aside, she bends over and begins tapping at the keys. Maya stares at her, eyes wide as Kyoko’s hands become a blur, the holographic screen taking up much of the view window displaying the disengaging red locks.

“What’s this?” she asks.

Yui leans over next to her.

“What’s what, Kyoko?”

“This subroutine,” she says, pointing at a red lock with English written along it, underlined with Mandarin, “It says this has to be kept on as a condition for China allowing it to be active.”

“And?”

“And it’s the main thing keeping us from engaging the AI core,” Kyoko sighs, “Disengaging it.”

The red lock breaks and separates, and standing, Kyoko allows herself a thin smile as she steps aside and allows Maya to take her station.

“There,” she says, “Now we can proceed. Ibuki?”

The eye lights up on Unit 05’s brow. The entire Evangelion shudders, the locks around its jaw breaking as it growls.

“AI Core Locks disengaged,” a voice booms through the shoulder mounted speakers, “Communism detected! Combat Systems, engaged!”

The cradle the Eva is encased in shudders, the rails engaging and launching the Evangelion to the surface. The Box goes silent. Misato taps her fingers, looking from side to side before Kyoko turns and runs out.

Maya taps her fingers together and turns her chair around.

“Well, fuck.”




Sitting in a chair in front of the white, simple desk, Asuka rocks back and forth. Dr. Akagi had to run out due to some sort of emergency, promising to be back soon to give her some medicine. Well, if it’s an emergency, she should get to her Eva. That makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

Sighing, she stands up. No use standing around, she thinks, walking over to the medicine cabinet Akagi was rifling around in. Since it was sudden, she thinks, there has to be something around here that she was going to use.

An orange, unlabeled bottle is at the front of the cabinet. That must be it, Asuka thinks.

Any sort of liquid countermeasure would have to be at least four ounces. That is perfectly sensible from a scientific perspective. So, taking a plastic measuring cup, she pours the reddish orange liquid up to the line, watching the plastic distort. Well, she thinks, that just means its extra strong, doesn’t it?

Bringing the cup to her lips, she takes a small, tiny sip. Eyes go heavy and her face turns bright red as the liquid passes her lips and down her throat, the feeling of delirium from the flu leaving her and replaced with a fresh, happy form of delirium.

A second sip, and the world becomes more colorful. Placing the cup down, a bright, giddy smile crosses her face. She isn’t sure what the medicine is, but it sure works. Nibbling on her lip, she looks around, seeing everything new purpose, new use. Mind goes into overtime as she claps her hands together and squeals.

So this is what it’s like to be Rei, she thinks.

“Asuka?”

She spins on her heel, raising a heavy eyebrow as Shinji stands in the doorway, staring at her.

“There’s an emergency with Unit 05,” he says, “They need us in the Evas…are you alright?”

She smiles, pats her stomach, and belches like an elephant seal.

The plugsuit, she likes. They’re tight enough that she sees just about everything. Giggling, she sways on her feet back and forth as he approaches, the confusion on his face evident. Lunging forward, she wraps her arms around his neck, grinning from ear to ear.

Then the secondary effects kick in. Her face turns green and her cheeks puff up, and she pushes away from him and dives to the garbage can, grabbing the lid and emptying the contents of her stomach into it. Pausing for a moment, he rushes over and pulls back her hair to keep it from getting soiled.

She pauses, looking up at him, smiling faintly. Then her cheeks puff up again and she continues vomiting.

“Gott Verdammt! What is wrong with you two?!”

Heels clacking on the metal floor, Kyoko walks in, glaring at the two. Her gaze turns from Shinji to Asuka as the girl finishes vomiting, Shinji helping her stand and walking her to one of the infirmary beds.

“Ikari, Unit 05 has gone berserk,” Sohryu says, walking over to the medicine cabinet and picking up the orange bottle, “Get to Unit 01. Katsuragi will brief you.”

Shinji stares at her, hand still on Asuka’s shoulder.

“We don’t have time for me to repeat myself, Pilot,” she says, rifling through the cabinet, “Go.”

He grimaces, nodding to Asuka before running out. The boy is diligent. She will give him that much. However, Kyoko thinks, that is not the main problem. Staring at the plastic cup, the bottom has already begun to warp.

“Damn it,” she says, “I am unsure of who to be upset at. You, for drinking this. Or Akagi, for not keeping this locked. I will settle for the latter.”

Twisting the cap closed as Asuka grimaces and collapses onto the bed, Kyoko grabs a purple bottle and pours into another cup, a semi-clear blue liquid filling it.

“Asuka, sit up.”

Obediently, the girl does, her eyes bleary and face green.

“Drink.”

Forcing the cup to her lips, Kyoko tips it back, emptying the fluid as the girl’s complexion clears, her eyes blinking as she stares at her mother. Reason returns as the girl looks down, hands folded in her lap as she goes silent.

“What you drank was an alcohol-based relaxant that Akagi is developing for the Evangelions,” Kyoko says, dropping the cup in the garbage, “Had you drunk the entire cup, you would be dead. And I would be looking for another pilot.”

Asuka says nothing. Sighing, Kyoko removes her glasses and rubs the bridge of her nose.

“Stand up,” she says, “Turn around.”

Nodding, Asuka does so, Kyoko pushing aside the hair.

“Mother…”

“I am seeing them for myself,” Kyoko says, staring at the burns, “When did you do this?”

“W-when I was…f-five.”

“After I had you removed from the Program?”

The girl nods. Kyoko turns and walks to the medicine cabinet, replacing the bottles and closing the glass doors, dumping the warped plastic cup in the sealed metal trash can next to it.

“You are the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02,” she says, “As such, it is in my vested interest to keep an eye on you. I will not allow the Pilot of my Evangelion to engage in self-destructive behavior. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Mother.”

Pulling out a pen-sized device from her lab coat, she flashes the red laser over Asuka’s forehead.

“Temperature is normal. Very well. Report to the locker rooms and change. You will be Pilot Ikari’s backup. Go.”

Asuka nods, and walks out, breaking into a run when the infirmary’s door closes. Sohryu stands at the cabinet for several moments more, before palming the laser thermometer and walking out herself. Another mess she has to clean up…

And maybe she will have a talk with Pilot Ikari when this is all over.




Panels open in the perimeter of Tokyo-3, plates four times its height rising into the air, surrounding the city like a giant metal fish bowl. Unit 05 pauses, the yellow visor glowing and scanning lasers playing over the steel surface. Its four ball jointed knees bend and its wheeled feet jam into the street before the fingers bend back.

“Obstruction detected,” it booms, “Composition: Molecularly compressed Titanium Alloy enhanced with pulsed quantum resonance.”

The palm of claw opens up, a focusing crystal jutting out and beginning to glow.

“Chance of mission hindrance:”

A circle of light spins around the crystal and 05 points the arm at the wall.

“Zero Percent!”

The plasma blasts out, superheating the metal and blasting it outward into a hole bigger than the Evangelion. The legs rise again, and Unit 05 continues it trek westward.




“What do you mean, it was made by the Americans?!”

Maya squeaks, wincing under Misato’s glare as the Big Screen lights up with telemetry, Unit 05 exiting Tokyo-3 proper on a course due West. Next to her, Makato’s jaw drops open and Shigeru shakes his head, turning back to his console.

“Unit 05’s AI is based on an American-made combat protocol.”

Furiously typing, a window on the left side of the screen opens up to reveal Shinji’s face as Yui runs onto the bridge.

“Unit 01, ready for Sortie,” he announces, “Have we heard anything from Rei?”

“The AI’s locked us out,” Misato responds, looking up at the screen, “Shinji, we’re sending you up track 12. You’ll come up 5 miles west of Tokyo-3. Move to intercept 05 and force the plug out.”

He nods. The screen vanishes as the view to the Cages shows Unit 01’s eyes flashing white.

“Unit 01 is activated,” Makato announces, “Path is clear! Eva launch!”

The cradle rocks and Unit-01 rockets upwards. Yui grimaces, standing next to Misato as the Big Screen shows them 05 continuing its march.

“Poor girl,” she says, “Rei must be terrified.”




The scream coming from the plug is loud, and continuous, and resembles the pitch and tone of a football fan during a particularly impressive play. Hands up, index and pinky finger prominently displayed, the landscape is a blur with plenty of shit blowing up.

“WOOOOO! I wanna marry this baby!!!!!!”

Flipping the switches lining the seat towards the butterfly controls, a holographic display appears, buttons labeled in English hanging in the virtual space in front of her. Clapping her hands and squealing, Rei hovers her hands over the controls.

She just found its weapons suite.

“Oooooo…what does this button do?”

She taps the glowing red depression on the board. The pylons snap opens, two red thermal lasers lancing out and carving through the highway in front of her. Squealing, she begins tapping buttons at random.

Lasers carve up the roads and mountain sides as it continues wheeling along. A pair of missiles fall out from between the legs, engines igniting and flying off to detonate somewhere in the distance. Chin mounted machine guns rip up the landscape, the left hand plasma cannon firing off in pulses and caving in part of a passing hillside.

In the distance, a pair of rails rises up, the cradle carrying Unit-01 appearing with a lurch and releasing the purple Eva. The shoulder pylon opens and the progressive knife deploys, and in the cockpit Rei grins.

“Alright! Eva on Eva knife fight!”




“Misato, I’ve spotted 05,” Shinji says, urging Unit-01 on, “Proceeding to Engage. I’m going to attempt to remove the Entry Plug without having to damage the Unit.”

“Roger that, Shinji. We’re getting Asuka into Unit 02 and sending her up as soon as we can.”

Knife in hand, held out at ready position, Unit-01 approaches slowly, cautiously, point forward as the quadrupedal mecha stares at him.

“Easy, there,” Shinji says, “Easy boy. We’re not gonna hurt you.”

The wheels fold inward, turbines going into the ankle and slats folding out into three toes forming a tripod mount for each leg.

“Misato,” he says, “I think it’s stable and-”

“Enemy Unit detected,” 05’s speakers boom, “Engaging red Communist hostile!”

“Or not…”

The back legs brace, the entire bulk of Unit-05 rearing back before the two front legs slam Unit-01 in the face and send it flying back. Crashing into a nearby hill, the horned face looks up and pushes off, rolling before the green mecha slams into the hill it was lying on.

“Communism will not be tolerated,” Unit-05 booms, two holographic American flags appearing over its pylons, “Democracy is non-negotiable!”

“I think it’s pissed!”

“What was your first clue?!” Misato yells, “Aim for the joints! Disable it before Rei gets hurt!”




“Drill. Drill. Drill! Drill!! Drill!!! DRILL!!!!!”

Banging her hands into every position over the weapons control, she has yet to find the button that activates the bright red drill arm. Meanwhile, the 15” guns have already fired into Unit-01’s face and the Star Spangled Banner is playing in the Entry Plug.

“Communism is the ultimate form of failure!” Unit 05 booms, stomping on Unit-01’s foot and cracking it across the face with its clawed hands, “America will triumph! Buy war bonds!!”




“Who the Hell built this thing?!” Misato screams, “Get him some damn backup!”

Unit 02’s cradle shudders and the red Eva launches.

“I’m not sure about this,” Yui says, stroking her chin, “Asuka’s isn’t exactly in her…is it me or was she acting strange?”

“Yeah, well, she’s a smart kid. She can at least help distract 05 before the package gets there.”

On the big screen, they watch as Unit-02 ascends; the cradle releasing and Unit-02 stepping forward…and nearly collapsing. Shaking its head, rolling its shoulders, it approaches Unit-05 as the large green quadruped continues stomping on Unit-01’s head while speakers blast Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Charging, the red and white giant brings its fist back, crossing the distance as Unit-05 continues its pounding of the purple giant…

And reaches both arms around the Eva as the speakers boom with a loud cackling.

“Unit-02 has…restrained Unit-05,” Maya says, “Is she…hugging Go-Kun?”

The double doors to Dogma open, Ritsuko skidding to a stop next to Misato and Yui. Her face red, her eyes wide, she stares at the image of Unit-02 bear hugging Unit-05 and palms her face.

“Asuka accidentally had a bit of that Eva-calming solution I’ve been working on,” she pants, “She’s drunk off her ass.”




Tires skid as the limits of the city are reached and the car flies through Unit-05’s exit hole, outrunning the retracting fishbowl armor and speeding into the countryside in pursuit.

The blue Alpine Renault A610 streaks along the outlying roads of Tokyo-3’s general area, outside the city and over the hilltops where they can see the giant robots kicking each others asses. Pushing down on the accelerator, Kaji Ryoji grins as the engine purrs, and in the passenger seat Commander Gendo Ikari’s left hand wraps around the Jesus handle.

“Really wish you wouldn’t criticize my driving,” Kaji says.

“Really wish you wouldn’t drive like a maniac,” Gendo responds.

Swerving up the winding road, Kaji floors the accelerator as Gendo’s knuckles turn white, the car’s breaks squealing as it takes a tight turn before emptying onto the straight stretch of road leading to the Cliffside that has not yet been leveled by Rei’s new tank.

“This plan is stupid,” Kaji growls.

“Watch it work, Mr. Kaji.”

The car skids to a stop at the top of the cliff, the doors kicking open as Gendo stumbles, grabs the box from the back seat and walks to the edge of the cliff. Unit-05 is trying to shake off the drunken Unit-02 while Unit-01 crawls away, Shinji’s groans echoing through its speakers.

“I’ll be behind the car,” Kaji says, inching back as Gendo walks forward and opens the box, “You know. Engine block.”

Gendo opens the package, retrieving the object and folding it open. Slowly, he removes his glasses, folding them and placing them in his jacket before placing the object on his head; a black stovepipe hat.

Unit-05 pauses. Shrugging off Unit-02, the giant green mecha stomps over, standing ramrod straight as scanning lasers play over the Commander.

“Visual profile recognized,” it booms, “Match confirmed: President Abraham Lincoln.”

The drill-arm comes up in a salute.

“This Unit is honored to serve, Mr. President. What are this Unit’s orders?”

“Stand down AI defenses,” Gendo says, “Open all channels between Core and Entry Plug and prepare for synchronization.”




In the Entry Plug, Rei pouts as the holographic weapons console vanishes, the screen folding out and becoming Yui’s worried face.

“Rei! Thank God! Are you alright?”

Oh, Rei thinks, she may have worried people.

“Um…I’m fine,” she says, tapping her fingers together, “So…Unit-05’s under control?”

“Yes, Rei. We’re still trying to figure out how the AI activated the weapons suite, but that’s probably a glitch with the Entry Plug. Rei, we’re ready to have you Synch with 05 and navigate it to the lift.”

She sighs, nodding. Cracking her knuckles, she grips the controls and closes her eyes.

“Synchro start!” Maya calls out.

The world becomes a tunnel of colors. Her vision clears, descending into the womb of the Mind of Unit-05, singing blank songs and opening her eyes towards the blank slate before her. Her own abilities come to bare, her eyes glowing soft red as her mind navigates the corridors, the blank, featureless Core hovering above her.

It is just data, she thinks, just an AI that acted out of programming.

But this, she thinks, this has potential.

Reaching in, she hears alarms, but her mind enters the Core, quickly retreating as soon as it enters, her vision returning to the plug and her eyes opening as she smiles.

“Weird,” Yui says, “Rei, for a moment your synchronization peaked at near 400%. Is everything alright?”

“Mm-hm,” Rei says with a smile, “Ready to go home.”

The screen blinks out. Seizing the controls, Rei’s eyes glow red.

“First Child recognized. Synchronization holding at 77%. Unit-05 has activated.”

The Eva lurches and begins walking a cradle already visible at the lift for it. Humming to herself, Rei cheerfully guides the Evangelion. And deep within Unit-05, deep within its flesh and inside the blood orange Core, something begins to stir.

It may be weeks.

It may be days.

But the first hints of a true sentience gestate and grow.




“So, it’s a blank slate,” Yui says, rubbing the bridge of her nose, watching as the three Evangelions return to their Cages, “What Rei did was imprint herself on the Core. A bit of herself combined with the AI will create an actual intelligence inside…Go-Kun’s core and we will have a functional Evangelion.”

Placing her glasses back on, Yui turns to the rest of the bridge crew as Misato takes a drag from the hip flask and hands it back to Ritsuko.

“Yeah,” Misato says, “Two hundred foot tall Rei. This should be interesting.”

“Never said that,” Yui says, walking over to Akagi, taking the flask and taking a drink, “God, I never did. Let’s play this one by ear.”




As the pilots are escorted out of the Cage, with Shinji helping the stumbling Asuka, it watches them leave. The first hints of intelligence peak, the empty Entry Plug sitting silent and lodged into the green mecha’s spine.

A console flickers.

“Access granted. Unit-05 instruction manual loading. Please specify subject…subject received. Section IX-091. Drill controls.”