A day after Kaji's departure
Seated in a small garden inside the Geo-front
were the four children. They had just finished school and
Shinji had suggested that they took a break to relax from
the stress of life.
Shinji was siting under a tree, enjoying himself
in the peaceful environment. He was especially happy because
of several things. He wasn't having painful headaches. He
hasn't had anymore episodes lately. And his other co-pilots
had managed to not start up any conflict for quite a while
now. He closed his eyes, barely conscious that Asuka was droning
on about something. He didn't care
He was at peace.
A small smile sneaked its way onto his face before he slowly
drifted off to sleep.
Asuka was siting on the edge of a small fountain
not too far from where Shinji was. She still couldn't believe
what Misato had told her yesterday after she got back from
NERV. Kaji had left!! She said he had some urgent business
out of the country and that he would be away indefinitely.
How dare him! Leave with out saying goodbye! How could he
leave her here with Shinji and wonder girl? In reality it
wasn't actually the fact that he didn't say goodbye that got
to her. It was the fact that he left. Just like everyone else
in her life. But he would be back for her, she was sure of
it. He would, right? And why did she agree to come here with
those two? She must be getting soft. But, in a way, she felt
that it was the right thing, it felt good to be out and about.
It felt good to be amongst friends. Friends? Since when did
she start calling Rei a friend? Or even Touji for that matter.
She couldn't remember. It didn't matter any ways. Even if
they were insignificant bugs in contrast her mighty presence.
It was nice to know whom you could trust.
She felt a hint of jealousy towards Shinji
and Rei. Which wasn't something out of the ordinary, in fact
she felt that she should be even more aggressive towards them.
But with that has been going on recently, she was starting
to think that they had their fair share of problems too. However,
she still hated the way Shinji made it look so easy to beat
the Angels. She hate the way Rei was such a doll when it came
to people ordering her around. She knew that her sync-ratio
was not what it used to be, and that Shinji's was constantly
on the rise. But she'd had a dreaded feeling lately. That
something was going to take them away from her. What happened
to Shinji in the cafeteria did not help calm her nerves.
Rei on the other hand found herself intrigued
with the prospect of 'hanging out' with her fellow pilots.
She was seated on a bench facing the small fountain Asuka
was sitting at. Carefully, she brushed a small strand of hair,
which was getting in her sight. Ever since she had been overwhelmed
by the presence, several days ago, she had been able to sense
emotions radiating from various sources. The emotions weren't
hers. Instead, they were of others, but she found herself
able to explore them, the fluidity of human feelings. The
waves of ever changing perceptions.
Sadness. Joy. Anger. Despair. Hatred. Love.
She sensed them all, she was currently still learning to identify
them all. That didn't change how she acted or lived her everyday
life though, by much. She did however actually started to
realize that she never knew what she wanted on her own whim
because she had never been able to interpret her own feelings
as clearly as she did now. She found herself able to cope
more with the 'high and mighty' attitude of second child.
Though she didn't know why. The words 'empathic' obviously
have yet to find it's way into her thoughts. Being able to
sense someone else's emotions would do that to you. To the
others though, she was the same old Rei.
At the same time, she had begun to question
the reason of this sudden ability. And being that she had
already so much time to think, Rei realized that there were
some obvious connections with the arrival of the fellow student
known as Conrad Lervino. Still, she could not know what to
make of the evidence, which pointed his way. Certainly, there
was nothing to accuse him of, for he had done nothing. So
she resorted to what she does best; observe. She would keep
an eye on him, as she did with many things nowadays.
Touji on the other hand was laying flat on
the grass with his eyes closed. Of the four he was the only
pilot without an Eva. He sort of felt left out under the circumstances.
He joined because he wanted to guarantee the best medical
treatment for his sister, but then he realized that he was
also doing it because he wanted to help Shinji, Rei and even
Asuka. He knew what kind of pain Eva had brought to Shinji,
but he also knew its value in the war against the Angels.
Plus, with the Angels getting stronger and smarter, they would
need all the help they could get, even though both Rei and
Asuka would probably not admit it. Now he could only sit around
as a reserve pilot. Although there were still parts of Unit-03
left after Unit-01 had gone through with it, they did not
wish to risk regenerating it with the treat of contamination.
The expense of screening out all traces of the Angel was just
too much, the Henflick limit had been reached and thus all
remaining parts were to be destroyed. At this point Touji
didn't know whether to dread or wish for the completion of
another Eva unit for him to pilot.
Exhaling softly he finally opened his eyes,
and turned his head to face the other three. He was puzzled
at how they could spend time like this without tearing each
other apart. Whilst at other times their argument could be
heard on the other side of the city. He was also beginning
to realize what kind of relationship Shinji had with his father.
Shinji was not the type to easily hate other people, but his
father certainly inspired it. It however, wasn't simply in
Shinji's nature. Even now, although he had expressed how he
despised the Commander, Touji knew that deep down Shinji still
longed for acceptance. He wondered if one of these days, the
Commander would go too far, and bring upon himself the wrath
and Shinji and Unit-01. If he did so, Touji was sure no one
would be able to save him.
Currently in Shinji's dream
Shinji was standing in a circle of light.
He could see nothing around him but for pitch darkness. Suddenly,
a screen appeared in front of him, much like a holo-display
seen in the entry plugs. He felt apprehensive at what was
happening, for he was conscious that he was dreaming and he
feared that it would result in the same effect as the previous
one. The screen showed an image of Unit-02, it stood stationary,
head and arms were missing. Shinji's heart leaped, he was
in shock. Then something else came into view. He realized
then that it was an Angel.
Voice: That is what will happen.
Shinji gasped in surprise at the sound of
the voice. It was a familiar voice, but he was still unable
to recognize it. Then he realized that it was the same one
from the balcony.
Shinji: Who are you?
But the voice ignored him.
Voice: When the time comes, you will know
what to do.
Shinji: But this is a dream! How can I be
seeing the future?
Voice: This is past.
Shinji: What?!?
Before he could do anything else, Shinji disappeared
from the dream world. The screen vanished back into the darkness
and silence engulfed the room. Then, from the shadows, the
figure of Conrad Lervino stepped out into the circle of light.
Conrad: Good luck, Shinji.
Back in the real world, Shinji woke with a
gasp. He was disoriented and woozy. He grasped his head as
he tried to understand what he had just dreamt. Then he became
aware of something else, a ringing in his ear. It was the
sirens.
An Angel.
In came from out of nowhere, thus there was
little time to prepare for it. Zeruel, the latest Angel smashed
through Tokyo-3's defenses like they weren't even there. Nothing
could even slow it down. And anything that got in its way
was totally annihilated. With another shot from it's eyes,
Zeruel finally ripped it's way into the Geo-front, the multiple
layers of armor but a mere nescience to it. As it descended
into the underground facility, it was to be met by three fully
prepared Eva units. But was that enough?
Misato's voice could be heard shouting, as
always through the Comm-lines.
Misato: There it is! Get ready!
Asuka: Yeah! Yeah! We're not blind Misato!
Misato: Just watch it Ok? This one's not going
to be easy.
Shinji: Understood Misato.
Touji: Right on Shinji! Sock 'm once for me
Ok?
Touji, who was standing behind the Major in
the Command center, receive a nasty glare from the aforementioned.
The Major was making a silent statement towards him, that
he was only here to observe as a reserve pilot and not as
a cheering squad.
Touji ( sweating under her glaring ): Ok
.
I'll shut up now
Asuka: Hrmp! I'll take care of the Angel myself.
Shinji won't even get a chance at it.
Shinji: Please, Asuka, just this once, be
careful
Asuka: And what's that suppose to mean?! I'm
always careful! It's you who should be watching your steps
3rd Child!
Rei: It's here.
The explosion rocked the ground as several
building collapsed from the force. The Angel calmly hovered
down it was met by the combined volley of several Palette
rifles and Rocket launchers. But even the combined assault
was not enough to penetrate it's AT-field.
Asuka flinched as she realized that this was
not looking good already. No, this time she couldn't loose.
She couldn't be beaten like she was last time. Shinji would
not outclass her again. Asuka continued to fire a rain of
rockets on the Angel, anger blinding her to the fact that
she wasn't even slowing it down.
Shinji, could not believe his eyes, it was
the Angel. The one saw in his dream. He could tell. But there
was something missing
He couldn't quite put a finger
on it
But he didn't have time for that right now. It
was impossible, but yet it was there. He could not help but
to assume that the dream had revealed him what was going to
happen. Would he be able to change it? Could it be change
at all? It didn't matter. He had to at try at least to protect
his friends.
The Angel landed on the grounds of the Geo-front
with a heavy thud. The earth shock as the massive beast crushed
trees and pavements underneath its body. Zeruel seemed to
stare at the Evas with nothing but mild annoyance. It soon
turned its attention firstly to Asuka, where it kept facing
her until it's eyes suddenly flared.
Asuka: Shiest!
Asuka lost no time in discarding her Rocket
launchers and diving out of the way just before the massive
beam of energy scorched hundreds of meters of land where she
was previously standing on. Trees and plants were incinerated,
while water was instantly evaporated. As she turned around,
Asuka also noted it had turned her weapons into nothing but
molten slag.
Shinji: Asuka! Are you alright?!
Asuka ( responding angrily ): Of course! It
would take more than that to take me out!
Shinji: Asuka! Watch out for the
!
Asuka turned to face the Angel just in time
to see it had unfolded its arms into what seemed like thin
sheets. In fact, they were lined with mono-molecular edges,
thus able to cut through the thickest and toughest of materials
with incredible ease. Before she could do anything, she found
that the Angel had already lashed out the arms straight towards
her.
Kensuke: How do you think they're doing?
At that very moment, Kensuke, Conrad and Hikari
were seated within the relative safety of the shelters. They
were playing a game of cards seeing that there wasn't much
you could do at times like that.
Conrad: Who knows? With all the information
withholding they have around here, I'm be surprised they would
even inform us if we were dead
Hikari: Oh don't be such a pessimist! I'm
sure they're beating the crap out of that Angel right now.
Kensuke: Class rep! Such language!
She frowned in embarrassment as she realized
what had just come out of her mouth.
Hikari: Sorry
I must have been hanging
around too much with Asuka lately.
Kensuke: Ah
That explains it.
At that moment a massive explosion shock the
whole shelter, causing people to fall over and their playing
cards to fly all over the place.
Kensuke: I don't like how things are going!
It sounded very close!
Hikari: I'm sure we'll be alright. These shelters
were made to protect us
and I'm sure our friends would
protect us
However, Kensuke could tell by the sound of
her voice that she was trying to convince them with her words,
just as she was to trying to reassure herself. He then noticed
that Conrad was strangely looking very distracted, he was
looking up to a corner of the room, staring at something unseen
by Kensuke.
Kensuke: Conrad, what's wrong?
Still, Conrad seemed to not hear a word. Hikari
noticed it too.
Hikari: Conrad? Are you ok?
Conrad: No.
Kensuke: ???
Hikari: No?
Conrad: We have to get out of here
Hikari: This is no time to panic
just
stay calm and everything will be fine.
Conrad: No.
Before she could protest, Conrad grab both
Hikari's and Kensuke's arm. He begun dragging them both to
the door. Hikari was surprised, as hard as she tried, she
could not pry Conrad's grip off her arm. She could see that
Kensuke was similarly attempting to dislodge his hold as she
was but also failing miserably. He must have been much stronger
than she had originally thought to be able to hold on to both
of them or very stubborn. More likely the second one.
Conrad: Hikari, tell everyone to get out of
here
Hikari: But why? They're safe here
Conrad ( digging his fingers in her forearm
): Damn it! Tell them!
Hikari: Ouch! Stop that Conrad! You're hurting
me!
Conrad: I'm sorry, but we don't have time
for this. Please you just have to trust me
Kensuke: Class rep, I think you better do
what he said, he was right about the Unit-03 incident.
Hikari: Alright
I'll trust your word
is it alright we move to D-2?
He gave her a quick nod.
She turn around to face the rest of the people
inside the shelter, Conrad still kept a firm grip on her.
Hikari: Ermm
Everyone excuse me
I've just been informed that it might not be safe to stay
in this shelter anymore. I would like everyone from our school
to move to D-2 and recommend that everyone else do the same.
Their classmates quickly followed Hikari's
instructions and began to gather their stuff and leave. Most
of the other adults also followed, but some decided to remain
there.
Woman: It's too dangerous to go out there!
It's safer to stay put.
Conrad: Please, you have to come with us!
Woman: Dammit no kid! You can go, we're staying
here!
Conrad: Very well
Goodbye
He exited the shelter and met up with Hikari
and Kensuke who were waiting for him.
Hikari: What of the others?
Conrad: Leave them, they will not follow us.
It's too late for them.
The trio had stayed until everyone who was
going had gotten out and then begun to leave. They didn't
even manage hundred meters when they were thrown forth by
the force of an explosion. Hikari and Kensuke both picked
themselves up and stared wide-eyed at the devastation they
had left behind them. Shelter D-3, which they had been in,
had been hit by a stray shot from the 14th Angel. Raging flames
flickered in anger as the rubble and dust settled. It was
obvious that no one inside could have survived.
That was it! He realized what was missing
from the Angel when he saw it. The arms. It's arms were missing
from when he had seen it in the dream. He hastened towards
Asuka's side as the Angel advanced menacingly towards her.
Then he remembered Unit-02 in the dream, armless and headless.
He then put two and two together and understood what was going
to happen.
Shinji: Asuka! Watch out for the
!
Too late, the Angel's mono-molecular arms
sliced cleanly through Unit-02's shoulders, taking of its
arms cleanly. Shinji's ears rung as he heard Asuka's screams
of pain and agony from the emphatic wounds.
Touji: Holy shi
!!
Misato: Cut the connections now!
Maya: We can't Major! There's a fault in the
system!
Aoba: Attempting a bypass, but it will take
some time!
Ritsuko: Not now! Shinji! If she gets hit
again like that again with the connections still on, she could
suffer from serious nerve damage or even die!
Shinji ( angrily ): Understood Misato!
Rei: Major! Unit-02 is charging!
Misato: What?!? Asuka! What are you doing!?
Asuka: I won't be defeated again! I won't!!!
Shinji: Asuka!!!
He saw it then; the Angel prepared itself
to lash out at Unit-02 again. This time he was sure it would
be going for her neck. Suddenly, he knew what had to be done.
He didn't know where the idea came from, nor did he care.
Palette rifles couldn't do jack squat to the Angel and was
too far way to attack it in close combat. On the other hand
he was also too far away from Asuka to restrain her and couldn't
risk ( though he was tempted ) to knock her out of the way
with the rifles. So he did neither.
Maya: Ma'am! Shinji's sync ration just jumped
twenty points and raising!!
Ritsuko: What!!
Shinji: Rei! Get to Asuka and hold her! I'll
deal with the Angel!
Rei: Affirmative.
Misato: What are you doing Shinji? You can't
take that thing on alone!
Shinji: I know what I'm doing Misato. Now
please, we don't have much time, release the locks on the
city block Thirteen-B.
Misato: What!?
Shinji: It's vacant right?
Misato: Yes
everyone's been evacuated
from the city blocks to the Shelters already
but I don't
know what you hope to accomplish
Shinji: Trust me Misato and do it
Gendo ( out of nowhere ): Why?
Shinji ( thinking ): Damn it! We're wasting
time!
Shinji: Because
I need it done
Commander
The older Ikari paused for a moment, apparently
considering his son's strange request.
Gendo: Request granted.
Maya: Locks to city block Thirteen-B has been
removed Sir!
Shinji: Good!
Misato: ?
At this point everyone turned their attention
back to the actual fight, just in time to watch in horror
as the Angel was about to lashed its arms out towards Unit-02
again.
Suddenly, Unit-01 turned to face where block
Thirteen-B was and aimed both its Palette rifles at it. He
fired. The explosive rounds tore through the concrete and
metal structure.
Misato: Shinji! What the hell are you doing!?!
Eventually, the rounds found their mark, the
machinery that elevated the block to the surface were quickly
blown apart. It's destruction meant that the whole block was
now without anything to support it's massive weight, so it
begun to slide down and fell towards the Geo-front's floor
just in time to intercept Zeruel's
arms as they sailed across to decapitate the frenzied Unit-02.
Block Thirteen-B was directly in the path between the Angel
and Unit-02. The arms stopped short of Unit-02's neck by but
mere meters. But it was still enough to stop Asuka dead on
her tracks. Thus allowing Rei to reach her and pin her down
before she did anything else liable to get her seriously injured
or even killed.
In the Command center, everyone was silent.
Even Gendo was surprised by the bold tactical ploy conceived
by his son. It was something which even he would never had
thought up. The result was a two-fold effect, firstly it enabled
Shinji to save pilot Sohryu from getting herself foolishly
decapitated for nothing, and at the same time, the Angel had
been pinned. Even Zeruel was having problems removing its
arms from underneath the demolished ruins of block Thirteen-B.
Misato: How the hell did you manage to think
that up?!
Shinji: No time for that now. Terminate Asuka's
connection as soon as possible and tell Rei to come and help
me when she's free.
Asuka: NOOOO!! Don't you dare!!!!! I will
kill you after this Shinji! You hear me?!!!
Shinji: Please Asuka, forgive me
Misato: You heard the man Ritsuko.
Ritsuko: I'm on to it.
Unit-01 dropped the now empty Palette rifles
and drew its Progressive knife. There was only one option
at this point, which was to engage the Angel at close quarters.
Shinji pushed the Eva to it limits as he charged the Angel
who was attempting to free itself. It turned to face him when
he got fairly close and fired it's cross flare at him. Shinji
managed to dodge just in time and headed towards the Angel's
side. Behind him a stray shot struck Shelter D-3 and erupted
into a massive fiery blast.
Wasting no more time, Shinji spun up and drove
his knife into the Angel's flank. The blade was however stopped
by it's AT-field, which Shinji was having trouble neutralizing.
Shinji: Damn you!!
Unit-01 rolled towards it's right as the Angel
fired again, reducing the grounds where Shinji was previously
on to a smoking crater.
Rei: Ikari! I'm here, what should I do?
Shinji looked up to find Unit-00 standing
several hundred meters behind the Angel.
Shinji: Come on! We have to neutralize it's
AT-field! I can't do it on my own!
Rei: Understood.
Unit-01 made an act of attacking the Angel
to distract it, whilst allowing Rei to get into place. Rei
quickly positioned herself nearby and concentrated. Her own
AT-field flared suddenly and overwhelmed Zeruel's already
weakened field. The Angel clearly didn't appreciate this and
turned to face her. It fired again. Rei tried to dodge the
incoming beam but was struck on the leg. The whole section
below her knee was blown to shreds completely. Unit-00 fell
backward onto the ground, having had its foot literally blown
up from underneath it. Shinji's anger rose to dangerous levels
as he heard Rei's cries through the Comm.
Shinji: Rei!!
He turned to face the Angel now. With its
field down, he had a standing chance of beating it on one
to one.
Shinji: It's you and me now you bastard!
He leaped onto the Angel and struck the Prog
knife deeply into its flank. The Angel roared in anger and
pain as it trashed about in an attempt to dislodge Unit-01
off its back.
Misato: Shinji! Watch out it's getting free!
Zeruel had managed to pull one of its arms
out from underneath the rubble and had managed to reach out
to grab a hold on Unit-01. The beast lifted Unit-01 up and
threw it with incredible force towards the pyramid structure
that was NERV headquarters. Misato was thrown off her feet
as the ground shook from the force of the Eva slamming into
the side of the building. Ritsuko fell on her knees and toppled
over dangerously close to the level's side. Incredibly, Shinji
wasted no time and raised itself again to attack the Angel.
Shinji was channeling his hatred towards all that would harm
his friends in an outburst of pure bloodlust.
The Angel launched its free arm towards Unit-01,
snaking its way in the air towards the Eva's neck. However,
Shinji acted faster, he sidestepped the arm and grabbed a
hold of it. Though the edges were possibly the sharpest things
in the world, the thin arms easily crumpled under the Eva's
grip. Shinji jerked on the arm, pulling the massive creature
straight into a full on punch. By doing this, Shinji had unwittingly
freed Zeruel's other arm as well, but by now, he was beyond
the point of caring. Inside the Entry plug, he was like a
man possessed.
Touji: Alright! Give him a right and a left
and there! Kick 'm where it hurts! Yeah! I taught him that
you know
? Huh
?
The same glaring as before, but this time
from quite a few more people and twice the intensity.
Touji: Erm
Errrr
.
Lieutenant Maya Ibuki shivered as she saw
the sinister grin that was worn on Shinji's face on the side
screen. She never would have thought that the boy could have
looked so intimidating until this moment. What have they done
to him? She was sure that he would never have become like
this if he'd ever come to Tokyo-3. Then again, they might
have been all dead already if he hadn't. She felt a slight
chill, which caused her to turn around. Never had she felt
such fear as she did there and then when she saw that the
Commander was wearing the same grin as Shinji was.
Rei watch in silence inside her plug as Shinji
pounded the Angel into the ground. She felt uneasy from the
way that Shinji was fighting, it was more like an attack of
some savage primitive predator than anything else. And the
Angel was its prey. She watched helplessly as the Angel fired
another flare at Unit-01 at point-blank range. The blast tore
the Eva's entire right shoulder off to shreds. Bits and pieces
of debris showered the area. The flare went on to strike HQ,
this time throwing of their feet everyone who hadn't already
fallen on the ground and threatening to cutting out the power.
The entire flank of the building was showered with blood and
gore, painting it red from top to bottom. Rei stare in mute
silence as Unit-01 shrugged off the loss of a limb as simply
as a slight setback.
Unit-01 went on to strike the Angel with a
heavy left hook, followed by a low kick, which sent the Angel
sprawling onto the ground. Shinji leaped onto the fallen beast
and begun to beat it with his Eva's fists. But Zeruel responded
by cunningly warping its arm around Unit-01 and pulling its
feet from under it. Seeing it's chance, Zeruel didn't hesitate
in firing a flare directly into Unit-01's umbilical plug.
The explosion ripped into Unit-01's spine and triggered a
secondary explosion as most of the internal batteries too
detonated, threatening to tear the Eva in two.
Aoba: We've lost 70% of the sensor nodes!
Internal batteries have sustained severe damage!
Maya: Pulse reversing! Pilot life-signs are
unstable!
Hyuga: All primary lower torso circuit clusters
are out! Backup clusters are failing to come on-line!
Aoba: Entry plug armour and midway clusters
are holding but heat levels are dangerously high!
Maya: Sync frequencies are hyper-fluctuating
at critical levels!
Ritsuko: Reroute circuits B64 to D41! Engage
internal coolant! Lower the neural feedback regulator!
Hyuga: Attempting to reroute connections,
B64 to D33 have succeeded but D34 to D41 circuits have completely
crashed!
Maya: Feedback regulator is not responding!
We can't reduce the feedback!
Aoba: Coolant released, temperature returning
to acceptable levels
what the..!!!?
The already damaged power supply finally failed,
shutting everything in the whole command center down. Save
from the emergency lights.
Ritsuko: Dear god no!
Inside the Entry plug Shinji screamed as mind-numbing
pain tore into his back as the immense feedback overwhelmed
his senses. He felt as if he was being ripped apart from inside
out. Physically he was also being knocked around as the blast
had dangerously reached close to the plug. No matter how much
he tried he knew was falling on the verge of unconsciousness.
But he couldn't let it win. He couldn't fail. Too much was
at stake here. He wasn't fighting anymore because he felt
the shame from running away. He was fighting because he wanted
to protect his friends.
Zeruel looked down triumphantly at Unit-01,
who was still attempting to get up. A massive chunk of the
Eva's back was missing and gore covered components were exposed.
There wasn't much active time left neither as the blast had
also critically damaged the remaining batteries, leaving the
Unit-01 with less than thirty seconds. By now, Misato and
the rest of the bridge crew came rushing out of Command HQ.
Her heart fell when she saw what had befallen Shinji. Commander
Ikari was there too; he frowned, mildly displeased with the
turn of events.
Maya ( who had brought out her laptop ): Ma'am!
Unit-01's got 5 seconds of active time left
3
2
1
batteries have been purged
. It's over
Misato: Damn it! He was so close!
Ritsuko: Well
guess it's over then
Back inside the Entry plug of Unit-01, Shinji
had passed out cold. However
in is mind
something
was stirring
Shinji was floating in a faint haze of blue
light. He glanced around, finding nothing but emptiness for
as far as he could see. When he turned back in front of him
was a flicking image of a white flame. His first instinct
was to jerk away from it, but he soon realized it wasn't making
any hostile movements towards him. It was simply floating
there. He felt a strange tingling sensation radiating from
the flame. The same warmth of which he had felt was missing
until recently. The warm feeling of being loved
but
this was more specific
it had a feeling of family
Shinji: W
who
W
what are
you?
An image flashed by of Unit-01 rampaging across
the city to get to Sachiel, the third Angel.
Another of Unit-01 tearing it's way out of
the black globe that was Leliel, the twelfth.
Shinji: That was you
?
The flame seemed to nod
though Shinji
didn't really know how a flame could nod. It seemed to him
fairly obvious what the flame was expressing now, even though
there was no way he could do that in reality.
Another image appeared
showing Unit-01
tearing apart Zeruel.
Shinji: No
The flame looked questioningly towards him.
Shinji: I can do it
I just need
to be able to move for a few seconds more
The flame seemed a little hesitant to
agree with him, but then seemed to concede.
Shinji smiled as he slowly faded from
the scene, he was returning to finish off his job.
When he vanished completely, the white
flame disappeared, replaced by the form of a young woman.
Yui: Good
he's learning
|
|
Back in the real world, Misato could not help
but look away as Zeruel lined itself up for a perfect clean
shot to finish off Unit-01 one. Everyone wore a disappointed
look on his or her faces, believing that this could only be
the end.
By now, Asuka had climb out of her plug as
furious as hell for that stunt that bitch Rei and that fucking
prick Shinji did to her. She froze when she saw the limp bloodied
form of Unit-01 along with the fourteenth Angel hovering above
it. She looked around and saw Unit-00, attempting in vain,
to crawl it's way to aid it's purple counter-part. She turned
back to Unit-01, where she saw the Angel charging up for it's
finishing shot.
Asuka: No
She watched as the Angel preparing to deliver
its final blow. Regretting everything she'd previously thought
about Rei and Shinji.
Maya: Ma'am! Unit-01 is reactivating! Shinji's
sync is over three hundred!!!
Ritsuko: That impossible! Is it going over
four hundred!?
Maya: Negative! It's stable at three hundred
and twenty nine!
Misato: What's the hell is that idiot doing!?!
 |
Asuka gasped as Unit-01 suddenly rose
from the ground and rammed the fingers of its remaining
arm into Zeruel's eyes. The flare went off immediately
after with Zeruel's face being ground zero. The blast
vaporized Unit-01's remaining arm and proceeded to backfire
into the Angel's own face, causing the massive creature
to erupted in a giant blast. Asuka was forced to cover
her face with her arm, the brightness of the explosion
blinding her temporally. Chunks of the creature were
blown apart in every direction, as the whole upper body
was ripped apart by the immense force. Shrapnel comprising
of bone and armour shards were thrown across the Geo-front
creating a barrage of deadly projectiles. Whilst everyone
else tried to take cover, Asuka ignored it all. A massive
piece larger than her passed by over her head, it embedded
itself a few hundred meters behind her in the ground.
She didn't even finch.
|
After she had recovered from the blinding
light, he could see the heavily damaged Unit-01 slumping onto
the ground, the Angel's lifeless lower body simultaneously
falling away from it. Shocked beyond belief, she could not
believe in her own mind that Shinji would have dared to do
such a thing. It reminded her of the way he defeated the fourth
Angel. He had gambled everything on a single act and had turned
out victorious. And now, he did it again. Her eyes lingered
on the inert unit. She remained that way till the recovery
team came to finally pick her up.
Misato: So
how is he?
Ritsuko: He sustained serious nerve damage
through the neural feedback. He's in a coma right now but
he'll be fine if we can regenerate the damaged brain cells.
I'm surprised that he even survived the feedback since his
sync ratio was over three hundred percent.
Misato: WHEN we regenerate the damaged cells
when
Ritsuko: Right
when
Misato: How long?
Ritsuko: I'm not too sure, depending on how
the cells react, I'd give it a week or so
Misato: He'll be in a coma for a
week
?
Ritsuko: Yes. That means that you and Asuka
will have to all your own house chores for once.
Misato: Hey! How could you kid around at a
time like this?! That's not funny!
Ritsuko: Remember
think positive.
Misato: Right
positive
Ritsuko: I must tell you however that, although
I must agree with you that he will be able to recover from
the coma, I must also mention the very real danger that he
might have problems with his senses.
Misato: You mean
Ritsuko: The feedback he receive from the
Eva was beyond anything the human body was designed to cope
with, it is very likely he will retain permanent damage in
his nervous system or even his brain.
Misato:
Ritsuko: We can now only fix what can be fixed
and hope for the best
Misato: Ritsuko
Ritsuko: Yes
?
Misato:
thanks
Ritsuko:
Asuka walked slowly across the devastated
landscape of the Geo-front in silence. She was now in her
school uniform, having changed and rinsed off that stench
of LCL. She didn't know what she was doing, she didn't know
why she was out there. It felt as though she was seeking something.
They hadn't bothered to tell her of Shinji's
conditions, but then again, she didn't ask. Asuka found herself
wondering what must have driven him to pilot Eva this time.
Sure, he had mentioned that he did it for his father's praise,
but she wasn't so sure of that being the case any more. Asuka
didn't like contemplating her own reasons very often, this
is because most of the times she realizes that they aren't
very good ones. But what could she do? She wanted to stop
lying to herself, but at the same time she couldn't. The truth
was still too hard to grasp, maybe some other time
All
she could do at this point was to continue
living
She turned around a burnt out tree and was
about to make her way back when she came across the ruins
of shelter D-3, the shelter where her class mates where assigned
to.
Asuka:
Hikari, even those idiots Kensuke and Conrad
they would have been here during the battle
that means
no
but it can't be
no
She fell to her knees on the singed grass,
attempting in vain to block out the tears
She should
have been about to protect them, she should have be there
to stop the Angel's flare
Instead, her pride, stupid
aggressiveness and shear stubbornness clouded her judgment.
And now Shinji's in probably god knows what kind of situation
and even Rei had tried to help him when she had her leg blown
off. She, however, had to be restrained because she was a
danger to others and herself
How pathetic, how low a
level had she reached. How could she go on, knowing this
?
If only they'd have a second chance at it.
Hikari: Asuka?
Asuka looked up from the floor, her face covered
with tears. In front of her stood Hikari, in the flesh, as
alive as anyone could be
Asuka: H
Hi.. Hikari! You're alive!!
Hikari: Asuka! What's wrong! Why are you crying?
Asuka ( indicating the shelter ): H
how?!
You would have been in there when it when up! No one could
have survived!!
Hikari: Well
we would have been if Conrad
didn't suddenly have an anxiety attack in the middle of the
battle! For some reason he didn't feel safe about staying
in there
he was so serious about it he was literally
dragging me out by force until I agreed to evacuate everyone
out to D-2. Look
you can still see the bruise on my
arm
Asuka ( instantly forgetting her tears and
her anger flaring ): That lowly maggot! How dare he hurt you!
I beat him senseless for that!!
Hikari: No
don't worry about it
If he hadn't done it I probably wouldn't have listened to
him and we'd all have been still in there
Asuka:
Hikari ( looking back towards shelter D-3
): Anyway, I convinced everyone in our whole class to move
to D-2, and almost everyone else too. But some
refused
to come
so
they're
still
in there
Asuka: So... where's Kensuke and Conrad now?
Hikari: Oh, they're still visiting Shinji
in the hospital, I just came from there
You didn't visit
him did you?
Asuka ( feeling terribly guilty ):
no
not yet
Hikari: Oh! Come on Asuka! You can't do this.
He 's in a coma! Touji told me what happened, what Shinji
had to do to save us. Simply visiting him is the least you
could do
Asuka: I
I can't
that idiot humiliated
me
Hikari: Damn it Asuka! Would you rather be
dead? And don't even try to answer that! He wouldn't have
had to do that if you hadn't gone and charged the Angel without
any arms!! Anyway, do you have any idea how much he must have
suffered?
Asuka: What do you mean
?
Hikari: I am not totally ignorant Asuka. I
may not know how the Evangelions fully work, but from what
I do know from what you had once told me, is that you can
feel the pain from any injuries inflicted to your Evas. How
much of it you feel of it, is proportional to well you can
control your Eva. Touji told me Shinji's Sync was over three
hundred at the end of the battle. I'm sure you can imagine
what that means?
Asuka: T
that I'll never beat him now?
Hikari took a moment to glare at Asuka, as
if she'd committed some unspeakable sin. Which in Hikari's
mind, she wasn't for from it.
Hikari: Asuka. For such a smart girl, you
must be really thick
is being the best all you ever
think about?! I don't even want to know how having your arms
shredded to pieces amplified three times over would feel like.
That's what it means Asuka, he felt everything amplified three
times over, all the pain. And you know what? For some reason,
I don't think he fought this battle for his own satisfaction,
I think that he did it to save us
When he first came
here he would have cared less
He didn't have to stay.
He didn't have to suffer; you just don't realize how much
he actually gives
rather than take. He cooks, he cleans,
he even washes your clothes
and what does he do it for?
He's certainly not getting paid to be your servant! I have
to do what he did, but it's for my sisters! My family! And
don't try to deny it Asuka, I've been around you enough to
know that you've let him do all the work, and it's not that
you can't do it, it's just that you've convinced yourself
that you can't or that you don't have to!
For the first time since she known her, Hikari
was scolding Asuka. To make matters worse, everything Hikari
was bringing up was hitting home. Stunned beyond any comprehensible
response, Asuka could do nothing but stand there and take
the brunt.
Hikari: You know what? I might be actually
wrong there
I think
that maybe to Shinji, you
and the Major are family, who knows? Maybe you are even more
to him than that. But you just can't see that, can you? You
don't want to see it
I can tell that you've been hurt
before, but it doesn't mean that you have to go and hurt others
who try to be there for you. I've always found your ways were
a little bit too selfish but I was willing to withstand it
because deep down
I know you are a good person. But
this time you've gone to far Asuka, you must realize that
he could never wake up again! That you may never get a chance
to repay him for all the things he's done for you
I
know you don't like owning anyone anything, but that's the
way things are, and the only decent thing for you to do is
acknowledge that
please listen to what someone else
tells you to do for once in you life. Please
listen
to yourself
Asuka sniffed hard as she contemplated what
Hikari had brought to her attention. She knew that it was
the truth and that she was wrong. Honestly, from the very
end of the battle, she wanted to running to Shinji and tell
him how much she really cared for him and admit how much of
a bitch she'd been. But she didn't allow herself to do that,
she had remain frozen on the spot because she was unable to
do anything else but to keep herself from running to him.
She was wrong to do that. She should have gone. She should
listen to herself and do what she knows is right. However,
old habits die hard.
Asuka: Al
alright
I will go and
visit him
Hikari ( exhaling in defeat ): Oh well, it's
a start
Asuka:
Hikari:
Asuka ( managing to crack a small smile ):
Thanks Hikari
since when did you become so wise?
Hikari: Me? Wise? Naaa
I'm just telling
you what you already know
The two girls stayed exactly as they were
for a while. Then, both stood up from their kneeing position,
both, now knowing what was the right thing to do.
Conrad: Never thought I'd see you cry over
us
The girls spun around to see Conrad standing
on a nearby path with his arms crossed. He wore a smug face,
having see the all-powerful Asuka in a vulnerable position
for once. Unfortunately for him, that turned out to not be
very wise action, as Asuka wasted no time in flipping him
for all this troubles.
Asuka carefully cleared her eyes and begun
to walk away with Hikari whilst waving a finger at Conrad.
Asuka: Just because you effectively saved
Hikari's and other people's lives because of your cowardice
I'll go easy on you for now. But if you dare tell anyone about
this, next time you'll find yourself needing some new body
parts.
Conrad ( still on his back and smiling softly
as they walked away ): Hmmm
. So
now you've finally
realized you've got a better for piloting reason too
but will it help?
Finally he got up and begun to dust his pants
off. All of a sudden he turned to face a group of trees not
too far away, the dimming light of the fading day had cast
thick shadows underneath the foliage. From someone in his
point of view, Conrad could have not seen anything within
those shadows, but still, it seemed that he could detect a
presence. A smile had crept onto his face. Then, he silently
turned and walked off into the distance.
From the hidden shadows beneath the trees,
a certain red-eyed, blue-haired girl had studied the scene
with meticulous detail. From her point of view, things were
starting to get interesting indeed.
Rei: Who are you? What
are you?
Somewhere in Europe
Two figures were in a car, inside a large
elevator much like the one used by NERV to transport vehicles
into the Geo-front. They stayed motionless as they descended
into the depth of the ground. After he'd been sent to Canada,
the woman he was now seated next to met him there. She called
herself Danielle and was with OMBRA. A petit brunette, he
guessed of around twenty-five. She'd been with him ever since,
directing him to another flight and guiding him through the
streets of Bern, Switzerland after they'd landed. He'd been
blindfolded then, and after a strenuous two hours drive he
found himself in this elevator.
Danielle: Mr. Rouji Kaji. Welcome to Antrum-4
or what those who live here call 'The hole'.
Kaji: Wow
that's
one big hole
The elevator exited the tunnel and brought
them into the OMBRA installation. Kaji surveyed the massive
underground cavern. It was not as large as the Tokyo-3 Geo-front,
but it was still of considerable size. Within it was what
seemed like a large military complex. But in fact, surrounding
it was magnificent parkland, as in the Geo-front.
Danielle: This is one of several bases that
OMBRA possesses across the globe. We modeled them in a similar
fashion to the NERV's Geo-front, but instead of being primed
against Angel attacks, they are designed primarily to keep
any hostile human incursions at bay indefinitely. We are so
deep underground, that even if they dropped an N2 directly
on top of us, we would barely feel it.
Kaji: But why? Why do these bases exist and
what are OMBRA's aims?
Danielle smiled at Kaji's questions, he was
like a child staring out of the car at the wonders that they
had achieved hidden away from the eyes of even SEELE and NERV,
two of the most secret and powerful organizations in the world.
Organizations which effectively wanted him to feed the worms.
Danielle: OMBRA originated as a strictly research
and development arm of the organization you know as SEELE.
These bases were actually built originally as secondary alternatives
as locations for us, since our first base was actually in
Greece, that, for obvious reasons was called Antrum-1. This
was all but solid rock eleven years ago
Kaji: You mean this whole place and all the
others were dug by hand from solid rock only 11 years ago!!
Danielle: Well
not by hand I can assure
you, but I know what you mean, our bases did not utilize an
existing cavern like the Geo-front did, we had to make use
of the latest mining equipment developed in the last decade.
Most of it was dug up using a device which amplified sonic
waves, in fact, I believe that's what eventually led to the
development of the Progressive knives the Evangelions use.
Kaji: Why do they want me anyway? Surely you
must have betters sources of information on SEELE or NERV
than me
Danielle: You assume correctly Mr. Rouji,
you know much more than you even realize. No, we want you
for your skills Mr. Rouji, we have many agents, all trained
in the arts of warfare and intelligence, but we recognize
a potential recruit when we see one.
Kaji: You want me to join you and take an
active role?! But I'm an Intel agent, what good is an Intel
agent when everyone knows who he is.
Danielle: Oh
well, that's true but we
intend to re-train you in other 'fields', plus there's also
the small detail that there's someone who'd like to see you.
Kaji:
?
Danielle: You'll see
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