Rebuild Of Evangelion 3.5: You (Must) Protect
Chapter 2: A Wakening
-EVANGELION-
Meanwhile, watching the Tesserect descend back onto the land of mortals, Evangelion Mark Six stood at a salute of sorts, with a grey-haired red-eyed teen in its palm. The boy smiled kindly; yet there was an element of danger as well.
"Welcome back, Shinji," Kaworu said jovially. "I've been waiting for you."
-EVANGELION-
Of all the things Shinji expected to wake up to, he was confined in a square box, a red visor before his eyes. He fidgeted briefly, but he tried to suppress his panic, as he heard voices around his prison of sorts.
"Cardiopulmonary function is normal. No palsy of the extremities is discernable." It sounded like someone on a phone, and by the terms he was unfamiliar with he suspected someone trained by Ritsuko. 'Maya maybe?'
"Yes, he has opened his eyes." And a beautiful girl leaned over the visor, and he was taken aback. She was around sixteen years old, with a beret and kind eyes. For some reason, she seemed familiar, but he could remember why.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" She asked politely, but Shinji was still groggy, so he didn't answer immeadiately. Instead, he asked; "Where... am I?" He looked around, and there were armed soldiers aiming guns at him.
Meanwhile, Sakura was inspecting him with an air of curiosity; there were armed men aiming AK47s at him and he didn't react at all. She noted it down mentally to tell Miss Ritsuko. She put her phone back to her ear.
"He's able to talk, and he is fully aware of everything; he has regained consciousness." She stopped talking as whoever was on the other side spoke in return.
"The desert..." Shinji said, and Sakura looked at him. "I was walking in it... looking for Rei, after that Angel..." His memory was returning, with all the details filling in.
"Yes, his memory is returning; he remembers the 'incident' with the Tenth Angel." Shinji spoke up again.
"Sorry..." He began apologetically. "but, do you know where Rei is?" The girl instead seemed uneasy, and instead asked him in turn.
"Do you know who this is?" the visor blinked and showed his reflection. Deep down he was irritated; why was she asking these questions? Nevertheless, he answered.
"That's me..." He said, and he looked down at his neck; there was a choker there that hadn't been there before.
"He can recognise himself; there are no apparent problems." She then asked him a variety of questions based on his hunger, and to his embarassment his toilet needs.
'What is this?' he wondered, and then he was brought into some sort of core; like a ship.
"Delivery clearance up to 86%."
"Maintain the power generation of the N2 reactor at 90%."
"No ships visible within a radius of twelve hundred."
"Open the pressure valves manually."
"No UFOs discernable."
"Don't worry about the condensor."
"Prioritize the Block D ships in transferring personnel."
Shinji blocked out all the other confusing talk as he looked at the strange, Entry Plug like chair; and he spotted Unit One sitting in it, eyes dimmed. He was confused; what were they doing with his Eva?
"We have brought Specimen BM03!" the girl said proudly, and Shinji turned his head towards the figure she was addressing. She was dressed in military garb similar to Russians; a fur coat, gloves and a hat and sunglasses covering her eyes. When she spoke, Shinji again got a sense of deja vu.
"Good. Release him." The restraints on him broke apart, leaving him to inspect his clothing; a grey garb like a hospital gown.
"Now, you may all go." The soldiers hefted their weapons and only the girl stayed, a look of concern in her eyes. As Shinji sat up, he was aware that there were hateful glares directed at him; from everyone. And Shinji was confused.
"Misato..." Shinji said to the blue-haired woman, and he had expected a response, but she regarded him with cold indifference. Unlike the woman he knew as his lodger.
"Shinji Ikari..." She turned to a blonde woman he recognised as Ritsuko, but with shorter hair. "Can I call him that?" He was confused by the way she was acting; asking if she could call him his name? When had Misato become a military officer like his father?
"I suppose..." Ritsuko said. "His physiological data perfectly matches with the Third Child, except with some discrepancies, but very minor ones. Nothing to worry about." She spoke professionally.
"His dental profile and body composition are 100% identical to during the Near-Third Impact." Shinji was surprised at the word; 'Near-Third Impact? When?' Shinji was gripped by a sense of fear; had he failed against the Tenth Angel? Had he failed Rei and his friends?
"The results of his deep-level synchronization test are currently being analyzed." Misato looked at him coldly; and Shinji was taken aback again; last he remembered, Misato was a care-free woman who was teasing when drunk.
"What about the DSS Choker around his neck?"
"It's been installed around his neck, Captain Katsuragi." Ritsuko replied, and now that her face was revealed, she looked older, and more lined.
"Captain...Katsuragi? You really are Misato." And Shinji was relieved; for some reason he had thought she had been a different person based on her personality alone. Ritsuko held a controller to Misato who took it.
"Hey, what is this thing?" He tried to claw it off feebly, and Shinji just stopped; he felt something happen, a minor electric shock that barely registered. "Help me take it off, please."
"There's no way we'll take it off." The young medical officer said to him, and he was confused; no way?
"We're done with him, take him to quarintine." Misato ordered, and she turned away from him. Suddenly, alarms blared.
"Decoys One and Five destroyed. Wavelength identified." A ditzy-looking girl with gray hair looked curious.
"It's blood type blue!" One of the 'Bridge Bunnies' said urgently. Shinji felt a pain in his gut; blood type blue meant an Angel! "Target identified; it's Mark Four C Type. The Nemesis Series!"
"They're back." Misato said, much like herself during the Eigth Angel's assault.
"Their attack is three-dimensional." Ritsuko said. "They want to start by locking us in here." Misato replied immeadiately.
"We cannot leave just yet, Doctor Akagi. Stop work on everything except the main engine. All ships! Battle Station Two! Target the entire Nemesis Series!"
"Prepare for an aerial, sea or underwater confrontation!"
"Abandon transfer of supplies, prioritize transfer of personnel!" Aoba shouted into the phone, transmitting his every word.
"Head to meeting point two with all haste. All airbased vehicles proceed to Meeting Point Two. All cannon towers prepare to fire!"
"Keep working on the injection of the main engine transmission system!" A burly bearded man said gruffly, like Misato but less so.
"N2 Reactor operating at 99% output. Working on the injection. Opening the first ninety valves."
"Prepare for flight!" Misato's voice cut through the atmosphere. Every Bridge personnel looked at her in shock. Even Ritsuko.
"Captain, it would be insanity to prepare for flight, especially as the Engine has just been installed!" Ritsuko protested, and everyone agreed.
"Prepare for flight!" Misato barked, and everyone stiffened up, and Shinji was majorly confused; usually, Misato wasn't this short with everyone.
An alarm blared in the bridge, and everyone looked at it, displaying several of the units, of the Nemesis Series. Shinji was surprised, since they didn't resemble the Eva's he had become accustomed to.
They had a circular top with four or so blocks around it, making it look more like a 3-D shape than an Eva. It was also coloured purple. Suddenly, however, there was a new barrage of blasts, and everyone looked behind the league of ships; the Mark-4As Asuka and Mari had confronted in space were there.
"Prep Unit Two and Unit Eight for launch immeadiately, and attach the atmospheric flight devices as well; if we achieve flight, they'll need to catch up to us." Misato ordered, and throughout the bridge there was a whoop of delight.
"Alright~! Time to dance, Princess!" Shinji's eyes widened dramatically as a pink Eva burst from the last-most ship in the armada. Attached to its back was a flight unit like an F-22 Raptor from the days before.
"Tch, try not to blow this in our faces, Glasses!" Shinji's eyes again widened, as he heard the voice of one of his friends.
"Asuka!" He turned to Misato. "She recovered from that Angel attack?" He asked, but Misato said nothing. He gritted his teeth; why wasn't anyone talking to him? It was frustrating!
And yet he felt guilt for what Unit One had done to Asuka. Granted it had been under the influence of the Dummy Plug, but still; he had felt Unit Three's neck snap, saw the carnage Unit One had committed and had seen Unit One bite through her Plug! If anything, he would apologise to her next he saw her.
-EVANGELION-
Meanwhile, Kaworu was in his Plugsuit and inside Mark Six. His red eyes were closed in concentration, and his Eva was levitating in the middle of a lake far more south.
"You dare communicate now Tabris? After what you did?!" He heard the voice of his brother, with the presences of the others, clearly feeling rage.
"Forgive me, brother, but it was neccessary to do what I did. Do not be angry." He said calmly and politely, but it was evidently the wrong thing to say as his brother let out a roar of rage.
"You prevented the Third Impact, You helped protect that perverted copy from us, and You have joined with our enemies in containing HER! WHY SHOULD I NOT BE ANGRY!" The others felt the same, Kaworu knew.
"You know as well as I do of the manipulations we were subjected to fourteen years ago. I did what I had to." He said in response. "Even now, the Third One is being endangered, and it would be counterproductive to let him die so soon."
"I agree, yet you betrayed us by protecting the slayer of Zeruel, our brother and countless others! Sachiel and Sahaquiel to name but two!" A feeling came through all of their minds, and they all felt it was familiar.
"You see?! Even now the humans use our brother like a battery, to be discarded when finished with!"
"That is not my fault, Brother. But I am wasting time right now. If you keep me, our brother will be destroyed by SEELE, for good or ill." He posed, and the other Angels thought on his words.
"Very well, Tabris. Be gone from our presences, and know you are the reason we are confined to this world of imitations." And the presences in Kaworu's mind began to disappear, before he called the leader out.
"Goodbye, for now Arael. Shalom." Arael ignored him, and he was again alone. Kaworu opened his red eyes, full of conviction.
"Shinji Ikari, the Promised Time is arriving, and I will help you through it." With that, Mark Six ignited its halo again and took off for the north, Spear of Cassius clenched between its right hand.
-EVANGELION-
"Well, come on Princess. Unless you want me to take your prey?" Mari teased, a cat smile on her face as usual, arming Unit Eight with a pistol and various guns. It flew into the air towards the Mark Four's, while Unit Two was equipping itself with a rifle arm.
"Shut up Glasses! Just let me fight!" Asuka shouted as she shot several bullets at one of the enemies, but predictably, it blocked it with an AT Field. Wasting no time, Asuka shot up and activated her own, allowing her to stab it in the core.
"That's for space you bastards!" She yelled and shot it again for good measure. A transmission was sent to her and she listened with boredom.
"Unit Two, the Mark Four C-Types are now below the ice and are trying to sabotage the Wunder. Destroy them all." Asuka tutted.
"Damn, just when I got started!" Asuka complained. "But I really want these bastards dead!" So she dove beneath the water, and kept going until she saw the rest of the Nemesis Series.
She spotted the Series deep down, and dove towards them, the flight equipment now acting as submarinal equipment. They had learned their lesson after the Gaghiel incident.
She shot several shots at one of them, and predictably it raised its own AT Field, and she tried the same trick as before. However, as she had negated the opposing AT Field, a blast hit her Eva in the back, and she quickly dissected her target before dashing towards the other offender.
Ducking underneath, she spotted an oscillating core, and she submerged the feeling of deja vu; memories of her, Shinji and Rei came to mind, and her own uselessness at defeating the Eigth Angel.
Nevertheless, she drew a Prog Knife and attempted to stab it, but it just began spinning rapidly, and she found it hard to pin down the location, which was changing every moment.
"Damn it! Stay still!" As she was unable to stab the Core, she instead crippled it by stabbing it repeatedly in the 'appendages'. Fortunately that slowed it down enough that she was able to destroy the damned Core.
She looked at the time left in her battery; over the last fourteen years, the battery capacity had increased from five minutes to little over fourty-five. Currently, she was on thirty minutes and counting down.
Despite her tiredness, she put together a polearm from parts on her Eva and dashed towards the other C-Types.
-EVANGELION-
Oh, how Mari loved the feeling of bloodshed in the morning.
It was refreshing, as she hadn't had any action since recovering Puppy Boy from space, and she loved the opportunity to stretch her limbs.
Mari was different from other officers in WILLE, of course; she didn't see Shinji as the cause of the Third Impact, though he was somewhat responsible. And she was reluctant to place blame on the brilliant machine Evangelion.
No, most of her blame was actually directed at the Tenth Angel, though that mysterious Pretty Boy had probably destroyed it with that Spear. She sighed heavily; that veiled Evangelion gave her a sense of adrenaline, and she looked forward to seeing it and its pilot again.
Shaking herself back to reality, she shot several AT bullets at the offending unit and was satisfied that it exploded in a crucible fashion. She noted the other Mark Four A-Types heading for her, and smiled again.
"Aww, didya miss little ol' me? Well, let's get reaquianted!" She said and dashed forward, putting her AT Field up high, and disposed of several units. She smirked; this was where the magic happened, not in a command center, not in planning but in participating.
However, she snapped to attention as towers began to encircle the small fleet of ships; the tower joints looked like eyes, similar to the infamous Eighth Angel.
"Hmm? What's this, Skipper?" She asked Misato, who merely sighed in exasperation and replied. Mari was satisfied; it was very fun to get underneath the skin of others.
"Those are the D-Types of the Mark Four Series. Be careful; most likely they are going to encompass us." Mari rolled her eyes and focused back on the Mark Fours, when the prison of cheap-knock offs began to constrict, reducing several ships to nothing.
"Well, maybe that other guy'll save us like last time." Mari wondered. She didn't know how right she was.
-EVANGELION-
Shinji watched as the mass of Mark Fours began to constrict, getting closer to the ship they were on, and a canopy of sorts covered the fleet. He turned to Misato in urgency.
"Misato, Unit One's here right? Why don't you send me out in it!" He shouted, but Misato ignored him. Then he burst.
"Dammit Misato! Stop ignoring me and tell me WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!" Several personnel as well as that medical girl looked at him in shock. And for the first time, Misato addressed him.
"Well, then Shinji, since you crave attention you vitally need, the Nemesis Series is after Unit One in the first place." Shinji's eyes widened; they wanted Unit One? Why?
"Why? And who made those units? Was it you, NERV?" He asked, and instantly he knew it was wrong to ask, as Misato's face tightened and they all focused glares on him, except for Sakura, but he didn't know that.
"We have given you enough information Shinji," Misato said venemously. "And you don't deserve anything else, after what you've done." And as she turned away Shinji yelled at her.
"WHAT DID I DO?!"
Before Misato could reply, if she was going to, a flash of light was seen and a spear pierced the flesh covering, exposing the moon. Shinji looked on in wonder as a sole mechanical figure descended through the opening.
An Evangelion.
-EVANGELION-
"It seems I am not too late. Good." Kaworu recalled his spear to his arm, and began to locate the presence here, besides the one in the biggest ship.
"So, you're back Pretty Boy. Didya miss me?" A voice cut through the Entry Plug and the face of Mari Makinami Illustrious appeared. Kaworu smiled kindly.
"Well, I observed that SEELE was going to try recover Unit One, so I decided to help. Is that alright, Miss Makinami?" Before the female could reply, Mark Six dashed down towards the water, eventually submerged.
"Aww..." Mari whined. "I wanted to spend more time with my toy!"
-EVANGELION-
Kaworu eventually reached the depth Unit Two was at, and briefly watched as she disposed of the remaining C-Types. 'What interesting creatures the Lilim are...' Kaworu thought briefly as he focused again on his mission.
Abruptly, a beam nearly lanced Mark Six nicely, and Kaworu focused his attention on the four legged Angel Matarael.
"Well brother, it seems we meet again." Instead of replying, Matarael merely shot another beam at Kaworu, who dodged to the side, his AT Field covering Mark Six, allowing full mobility.
"Let us take this upward, towards Heaven. Shall we?" Kaworu said persuasively, and he accelerated up again, this time Matarael following him, firing AT Beams. Kaworu tensed up as one of the beams scorched his Eva's shoulder, but shrugged it off.
Eventually, they both breached the surface, and Matarael began to spew acid once again from its eye, which despite his stance on his siblings, Kaworu found very very annoying. He dodged and shot several bullets from his Pallet Gun as well, returning fire.
As the battle dragged on, Kaworu became more and more aware of a growing presence, in the center of the Wunder, and it took him several moments to realise what and who it was.
"So, you survived..." Kaworu muttered to himself as he dodged beams again. "This changes everything..."
After several minutes, Kaworu decided enough was enough. "You will not harm the Lilim, Matarael, I will not allow it." Kaworu said dangerously, and boosted towards Matarael, who was now shouting obscenities at the traitor.
TRAITOR! COWARD! BASTARD! I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL YOU TRAITOROUS HEATHEN!
And Kaworu brought his spear to hand, pointing its tip at Matarael's eye, and prepared himself for the deed. 'Forgive me, brother.'
A great torrent of red splashed as he and his sibling hit the water, and an even bigger tower of blood issued when Matarael's core exploded, and a cross explosion destroyed the remaining Mark Fours.
A silence echoed, as the crew of the ships held their breath.
A moment later, as like a true Angel, with a holy Halo upon His brow, Mark Six rose from the sea, and looked down upon the ships.
"Now, the time has arrived. Reckoning shall begin. Shinji, I pray you will be strong enough."
-EVANGELION-
As Shinj and the rest of the bridge occupants looked in wonder at the Evangelion Unit, Shinji felt a pain in his head, and he cried out as he clutched it and fell to his knees.
So brother, now it is time! For fourteen years ago, I SHALL HAVE YOUR HEAD!Shinji heard dim voices, as his eyes were coloured red. He barely felt himself hit the ground, and into an Abyss of His making.
-EVANGELION-
This is the second chapter of Evangelion 3.5, and I hope you enjoy it! Wow, a second chapter up on a fanfic; something I haven't done in ages! And as usual, Read and post a Review with your thoughts on this chapter! Goodbye!
I will also be starting to write outtakes for this after the 'real' chapter, like an omake, so watch out for that!