-from the outside-
Makoto, Nabiki, Archer, and Dr. Akagi Ritsuko watched in horror as Kyle was suddenly encased in hundreds of tentacles before being pulled into Lillith's body, the shaft of the Lance of Longinus piercing the bundled figure as it was drawn rapidly inward.
"Nooooo!!!!!!!!" Ritsuko shouted, collapsing to the floor.
"Kyle!" Nabiki and Makoto shouted. Captain Archer winced, and stared at the giant figure that now held his charge. Captain Bowen had given her life to protect Lady Makoto, and here he stood, unable to do much more than stare as supposedly-divine beings fought a battle he had no chance of understanding, much less interfering with.
Suddenly, the figure on the cross shifted, and the Lance of Longinus withdrew from Lillith, floating before the figure as its torso suddenly sprouted legs. Then Lillith fell forward, LCL flying at the four witnesses to the beginning of the unplanned Third Impact.
Makoto sputtered, wiping the salty fluid out of her eyes and trying to ignore the coppery odor of blood that suddenly permeated the area. Nabiki, doing the same, squinted when she realized there was a rapid, semi-rhythmic pounding drawing nearer. Turning towards a large cavernous tunnel into which the LCL seemed to slowly flow, she watched the blue, purple, and red Evas run into the room, surprised something so big could move so swiftly.
Makoto stared into the sea of fluid, unsure of what to do. She'd not yet detransformed, and currently the sixth-sense she and the other senshi seemed to have was warning her that, indeed, something powerful was beginning.
A moment after that, a white figure began to stand within the pool, growing larger as it did. Its arm reached out and took hold of the hovering Lance of Longinus, as it quickly grew to dwarf even the giant Evas.
"But.. I thought Adam had to join with Lillith inside Rei for this to happen!" Makoto said, recognizing what was happening from reading the summary of End of Evangelion.
"I guess Kyle's Angel body was part Adam," Nabiki mused, staring as the figure continued to grow. In a matter of moments, the three travelers, three pilots, and one doctor found themselves staring at a pair of pale legs that disappeared through the roof.
"You know... times like these, Makoto, you should be a bit more assertive... stop those male impulses of his..." Nabiki mumbled.
Makoto just snorted, then turned when she heard a soft sigh off to her left. Staring up towards the ceiling was the Rei clone that had apparently taken a liking to her husband, the clone seemingly comforted by his current situation.
"We should move to a more beneficial location," Archer said, suddenly. Nabiki nodded, and Makoto began moving towards the door, before stopping to grab the horrified Doctor.
Nabiki's Rei-clone followed Nabiki with a grin on her face, though Nabiki and Makoto both thought that it had turned somewhat... calculating, compared to the previous, empty grin it'd had plastered to its face.
When Ritsuko was far enough away that she was unable to stare at the figure growing in the other room, she suddenly shivered, and pulled herself out of Nabiki's grasp. Following behind them slowly, the other Rei clone tagged along, occasionally pausing to stare up towards the ceiling, as if she could see the growing figure above.
Frowning at the pleased look on the lagging clone's face, Dr. Akagi led them towards a door, "this way.. We can watch the end of the world from the bridge." They followed quickly behind her, Dr. Akagi opening the locked doors in their way with a swipe of her card and an override code.
Turning a corner, the group was unprepared for the sudden appearance of a third Rei clone, who stepped out from around the corner, and quickly glanced at everyone, before staring at the transformed Makoto.
"Not again," Nabiki moaned, looking at the clone that was following her. The clone didn't appear to move, but Nabiki could have sworn it's grin had grown a little bigger for a brief instant.
"What's it matter, we're all dead, anyway," Ritsuko said, glancing between the clone and the Senshi for a moment, before turning and continuing towards the bridge. Sailor Jupiter finally rolled her eyes, and slipped around the now-grinning clone, who turned to stare at the departing Senshi for a second, before her grin trembled, and it began following behind them, a few steps ahead of the skyward-gazing Rei Clone.
Finally, they emerged on the bridge, where Maya, Makoto, and Shigeru stood staring at the giant display screen on the back wall.
Makoto's follower stared at Makoto from the doorway, while Kyle's peered around the corner, before stiffening up, and staring at the large monitor dominating the far wall.
Spotting the group from across the room, Maya Ibuki shouted for her mentor (and obsession), drawing everyone's gaze.
"Is it...?" Shigeru Aoba said, slowly. Ritsuko nodded sadly, and the Bridge officers all slumped visibly.
"Why," Makoto Hyuga said, softly.
Sailor Jupiter scowled, "Kyle's not like that! He wouldn't kill everyone on a planet, he's probably got some sort of plan."
"Well.. he did say he hated this series," Nabiki said, softly. The Senshi scowled at her, but said nothing, though Dr. Akagi winced slightly.
Finally Jupiter frowned, "Don't they need Unit-01 to do this? And the other Evas?"
"No," Ritsuko said, glancing up from a monitor, "from what I read, the only reason SEELE would have done that was because there were no more Angels.. and Unit 01, with an S-2 Engine, was the only possible substitute."
"Sempai... what...?" Ibuki asked, staring at her idol in shock. Ritsuko ignored the bridge bunny for a moment, glaring at the confused Senshi of Thunder.
"Apparently, an Instrumentality Third Impact requires a merger of either Adam an Angel with Lillith, using a human soul as a sort of focal point."
"So, then... this is Instrumentality?"
"No, this is Third Impact. That Angel Merged with Lillith. There is no Human Soul-"
"But there IS!" Nabiki and Jupiter interrupted, making Dr. Akagi frown..
"Impossible," the doctor countered, turning away to look back at the screen. The others did the same, a moment before Hyuga shouted, "Anti-AT- Field detected.. it's growing rapidly!"
"At this rate," Aoba said, turning towards the others, "all life will be extinguished."
"No!" Jupiter yelled, staring at the figure displayed on the screen, apparently a live-feed from a satellite. Makoto gasped suddenly as the unmistakable form of the Jupiter's Thunder drifted onscreen from above the camera, on a course that would take it over the gigantic figure emerging from the Earth's Atmosphere.
"What the-"
"Holy-"
"Is that a-"
"SHODAN!" Nabiki shouted, looking around for a way to communicate with the ship. Unnoticed by her, but drawing the bridge-crew's attention was the Clone, who, after a moment of watching, began copying Nabiki's frantic searching actions at an imaginary control board.
"Umm... why is Rei naked?" Aoba asked, softly.
"I thought she was in Unit Zero..." Hyuga mumbled, before tearing his gaze off the naked First Children.
"Damnit, where's the-Ah!" Nabiki said, diving for a darkened panel near the corner. Flipping it on, she grabbed the microphone and started speaking.
"This is Admiral Tendo calling Jupiter's Thunder from NERV Headquarters. Come in Jupiter's Thunder. SHODAN? Are you there?"
Flicking a couple switches she tried again.
"NO!" Someone shouted, turning Nabiki around. She glanced at the screen the others' were suddenly staring at, and felt the Microphone slip from her suddenly numb-fingers.
Across the face of the Earth, a reddish wave rapidly expanded, green cross- like lights popping up randomly from the areas passed over, before millions of red, glowing globes raced towards the figure standing with it's back towards the camera.
The Senshi of Jupiter turned when she heard a pop, followed quickly by a splashing sound, and realized that the guy who'd been sitting in the chair, the one with glasses, had disappeared, his clothes lying in a puddle of the stuff, LCL, they'd seen enough of down below.
"Mother?" Dr. Ritsuko said, a moment before her body melted, the fluid collecting in a puddle around the lab coat and other articles of clothing she'd been wearing.
Jupiter and Nabiki looked at each other with horrified expressions on their faces as the people around them dissolved. When Nabiki suddenly collapsed, Sailor Jupiter ran to her friend's side, not noticing as her body flashed green for a moment, or Captain Archer suddenly paling and wobbling slightly on his feet.
"Nabiki!"
"I'm... I'm okay.. I think. I just felt like someone tried to rip me to pieces..."
"But..."
"Seriously, I don't even feel it anymore," The Tendo said, climbing to her feet.
"Whatever it was, My Lady, It's passed," Captain Archer said, staring at the puddle at his feet before making his way towards a relatively clear spot on the floor.
Nabiki looked over at the Rei clone, who'd watched everything going on with detached interest, then frowned, "I suppose you didn't feel anything either."
The three interdimentional travelers were shocked when the clone responded flatly, "didn't feel anything."
"You spoke!"
"Spoke."
"Great, it's just copying us," Nabiki said, scowling. The clone scowled back and said nothing. Unnoticed by the others, the clone that had followed them from the Lillith room silently slipped back out the door.
Sailor Jupiter glanced at the puddles on the floor and chairs around her for a moment, before sighing and detransforming, "now what?"
Nabiki glanced at the monitor, still showing the winged figure, though it seemed to be spreading it's arms out, now.
"I guess we wait and see what happens... Why would Kyle do something like this?"
"Well, in that summary, it said Shinji and Asuka came back, right? Maybe he intended to bring us back?"
"And leave an entire world trapped in some sort of mega-soul limbo?"
"Lord Kyle has pulled through in the past... we shouldn't discount any possibilities just yet," Archer said, pulling a dry chair over for Makoto to sit down in.
"Thanks," the brunette said, collapsing into the chair then looking at the puddles around her. "At least-" Makoto's voice froze as the LCL around the room started glowing a bright red.
"What the?"
Nabiki, Makoto, and Captain Archer all covered their eyes as the room was engulfed in a bright white flash. When their arms dropped, they stared blankly at the figures scattered around the room, lying where the LCL had sat a moment ago, their clothes still crumpled beneath them.
Nabiki's Rei-clone smirked at them all, then turned to smirk at Nabiki, who was too busy staring wide-eyed at the naked NERV staff to return it with a glare.
Makoto glanced up at the monitor, ignoring the pair of naked guys on the floor to find out what the giant figure towering above them all was doing. She blinked as it fell back, arms extended, into the clouds, growing more and more transparent as it neared the ground. For a brief moment, Makoto saw its face, upside down, as it looked towards the satellite recording the image.
"...Kyle..." She said, softly, recognizing the face as her husband's cursed form. A moment later the figure sunk below the clouds, and the NERV Staff around them began to stir.
It was Maya Ibuki who opened her eyes first, before screaming. Dr. Akagi, Hyuga, and Aoba jerked awake, turning to stare at the blushing woman, who was suddenly trying to cover herself up, grab her clothes, and crawl away at the same time.
She managed to back into a surprised Ritsuko, who grunted as the younger woman tripped over a shoe and collapsed into the doctor's lap.
"Ibuki..." She said, frowning. Apparently, this was too much for lieutenant, who managed to turn purple before passing out.
Aoba and Hyuga, having realized that staring would probably land them in a bit of trouble, quickly began pulling their clothes on. After squirming out from under the unconscious Lieutenant, Ritsuko quickly pulled her clothes back on, before she draped her lab coat over the lieutenant.
Finally, the three NERV personal turned towards the three interdimentional travelers expectantly.
"What?" Nabiki asked. The Rei-clone just continued smirking and crossed her arms, still naked, and just as silent as the others remembered her. Makoto, however, turned to look around when she realized the clone that had followed them from the room full of LCL was no longer with them.
"That was..." Makoto said, finally turning her gaze back to the screen.
"Anticlimactic," Nabiki interjected, Leaning back over the communications board she'd been trying to contact the Thunder with earlier.
Dr. Akagi turned towards the door, a frown plastered to her face. Makoto, seeing this, followed her out into the hall, before asking where she was going.
"Back to the LCL Manufacturing Plant," Ritsuko stated, as if it were the most obvious answer.
Makoto nodded, and followed silently, her Senshi uniform morphing back into the clothes she'd been wearing before everything had started.
-on the inside-
It was wet. Actually, it was weird, waking up and realizing I was breathing a liquid. That I wasn't drowning was ignored as instinct made me thrash violently, doing my best in my newly-awakened disoriented state to find the surface of whatever I was currently drifting in.
Finally breaking the surface, I coughed up the fluid, blinking in the yellowish light as the room swam into focus. I was a couple hundred feet away from the platform, and towering above me, not two feet away, was the crucified form of Lillith, Longinus Lance still firmly imbedded in her chest.
"Wha...?" I asked, before turning towards the platform and slowly swimming towards it. Glancing down, I realized I was still in my cursed form, and that swimming with wings isn't quite the same as swimming without. They created drag no matter how hard I tried to minimize their profile, and trying to keep them above the surface just sent the rest of me under. Not that it mattered, since I could breathe the LCL, but I didn't particularly wish to continually switch from fluid to gas and back.
Finally, I stumbled across a solution, holding my breath for a moment before diving and using my wings like I would have in the air, which propelled me through the water a lot faster than I'd expected. Before I knew it, I was at the platform, and I arched my back, launching myself out of the water with enough force to carry me to a wet landing on the platform.
A landing that lost much of it's grace as I slipped on the slick fluid covering me and the floor and landed on my ass. A humored snort alerted me to another's presence, and I glanced up from my sitting position to see a naked Rei Clone, apparently the same one who'd stopped me on my way here, smirking at me from the nearby doorway.
"Nice welcoming party," I mumbled, wondering what the hell had happened. One minute I was with the others staring at Lillith, the next I was swimming at her feet. And where had everyone gone?
"Do you know where the others are?" I asked the Rei Clone as I quickly stripped out of my slick clothes and began wringing them out. The pants were quick to come off, but the shirt I had to rip, the holes for my wings making the transformation easy, but not their removal. The LCL was a little thicker than water, but came out readily, so after a moment of wringing, I had a pile of damp, wrinkled clothes, as opposed to the soaked uniform I'd awoken in.
"They're on their way," The Clone responded. I blinked. From what I had read, Rei, in all her iterations, was rather lifeless and robotic. This response, while factual and to the point, was said with amusement, interest, and curiosity. Likewise, her expression, unlike when she'd first detached herself from the shadows, was also very lifelike, and she seemed to almost be leering at my naked che-
"The Hell!" I shouted, turning around before pulling my shirt back on. Clothed again, I glared at the Clone, who smirked at me before looking down at herself and sighing. Further conversation was suspended as Makoto and Ritsuko entered the room. Or, somewhat entering the room. Ritsuko, upon spotting me, froze, and with the floor liberally coated with LCL, Makoto slammed into her, sending the Doctor to the floor. Makoto, now without any forward momentum, straightened up, freezing as Ritsuko had when she finally spotted me over the fallen scientist.
"You're... " Ritsuko said, shakily climbing to her feet.
"-back!" Dr. Akagi was cut off as Makoto ran/slid over to me and caught me in a hug that took us both to the floor. After a moment in which we held each other, during which I grew more and more confused while Makoto mumbled incoherently at me, we climbed to our feet, and turned when Akagi cleared her throat.
"What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?"
I blinked, "Actually... " I turned to the Rei Clone, then Makoto, before turning my gaze on her again, " I was kind of hoping you could tell me..."
"We told you he wasn't an angel!" Makoto stated, scowling at the doctor.
"Third Impact can't happen without one, and that... that... what just happened certainly LOOKED like a Third Impact."
Makoto pointed over her shoulder at Lillith, "Everything looks just like it did before, doesn't it? So obviously it was undone."
"But that's not possible!"
Making my way over to the Rei Clone, who was watching the argument with amusement and interest, I quietly asked her if she knew what happened.
"Yes," was her monosyllabic reply.
"... and?" I asked, again wondering why this Rei was acting so unlike the robot I'd read so much about.
"Third Impact."
"Why THANK you for stating the obvious so bluntly. Think you could elaborate a bit?"
She turned to me and smirked, "Elaborate? You were absorbed into Lillith, and the Adam-portion of your body merged with Lillith. But with your human soul, you created Instrumentality. Obviously, you elected to return everyone to the status quo, and as such, everyone is back."
"... oh."
"Glad you understand, now."
"Rei?" Ritsuko asked, pausing at some point during the summary to listen to the clone.
"I'm not... well.. I am, but only in body."
"But... you're ... you should be a mindless Clone... the Dummy Plug system... did Rei die?"
"Eloquent today, aren't you, doctor?" The cone responded, her smirk growing.
"Yeah.. I'm lost." I muttered, making my way back to Makoto. Nabiki chose this time to enter, two more naked Rei clones following her. A moment Later, Captain Archer entered as well, relief obvious upon his face when he spotted me.
"Rei.. and.. Rei..." Ritsuko mumbled, turning from each clone to the next, before shuddering.
"Well, technically, we're not, really. Bodily, perhaps..."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Ritsuko screamed at the Rei who had responded. She'd taken up a position near Nabiki, while the third had made her way over to us, and was standing near Makoto.
"Well, when we were released from the tank, we were, as you so eloquently stated, virtually mindless," the one I'd been speaking with earlier said.
The Clone by Nabiki continued, "Apparently, nature abhors a vacuum, or something like that, because we all migrated towards people with souls of abundant power."
"Makoto's follower spoke next, "My sisters and I, if you will recall, locked gazes with these people, and, well..."
"-The Eyes are the window to the soul, right?" Mine asked rhetorically. Nabiki's finished up.
"We took a small portion of the soul, and used it, and the power of the aborted Third Impact to build up a complete soul based upon the patterns and basics within the original piece."
"... You stole my soul?" Makoto asked, shocked.
"Not stole, we took a small piece... by the time we finished integrating it and building up our own, your own soul would, and has replaced it's missing piece," Nabiki's Clone said.
"But you're not supposed to be autonomous! You just sit in a tank and take orders from Gendo or I, and control Eva's from long distances!"
"We took orders from Authority Figures. WHO was never specified. And our release from the tank released us from those orders, though the compulsion still existed. However, at this time, I doubt any of us are going to be willing to submit to the commands of Ikari or yourself."
"But... what of the others?"
"If they didn't bond, they're probably going to be Rei-like in their thoughts and actions," Makoto's clone said.
"So.. what should we call you, if not Rei?" Nabiki asked, finally.
I grinned, "That's easy." I pointed at the one by Makoto "You'll be 'Mei," I turned to the one who'd been waiting for me on the platform and was apparently bonded to me, "'Kei,'" and then I pointed at Nabiki's clone, "And... err.. 'Nei?'"
The three clones looked at each other, then the person they'd chosen to bond with, before nodding together.
"Acceptable" Mei, Kei, and Nei stated at the same time.
"Great!" I said, startling the others, "Now that that's settled, and everyone is alive and well despite, apparently, every soul on earth being collected then disseminated or whatever the hell happened, I'd like some hot water, and access to my ship, where I'm sure SHODAN is probably preparing to raze the city."
"A good plan... I might, however, suggest getting some clothes for us, first," Kei said, glancing appreciatively at Mei. Nei was looking at Kei in a similar fashion, and I frowned.
"Did.. err.. sexual orientation get copied in that bonding-thing?"
Kei quirked a brow and grinned at me, before dropping her gaze to my chest again, "What do you think?"
"I think I need that hot water."
Makoto, Nabiki, Archer, and Dr. Akagi Ritsuko watched in horror as Kyle was suddenly encased in hundreds of tentacles before being pulled into Lillith's body, the shaft of the Lance of Longinus piercing the bundled figure as it was drawn rapidly inward.
"Nooooo!!!!!!!!" Ritsuko shouted, collapsing to the floor.
"Kyle!" Nabiki and Makoto shouted. Captain Archer winced, and stared at the giant figure that now held his charge. Captain Bowen had given her life to protect Lady Makoto, and here he stood, unable to do much more than stare as supposedly-divine beings fought a battle he had no chance of understanding, much less interfering with.
Suddenly, the figure on the cross shifted, and the Lance of Longinus withdrew from Lillith, floating before the figure as its torso suddenly sprouted legs. Then Lillith fell forward, LCL flying at the four witnesses to the beginning of the unplanned Third Impact.
Makoto sputtered, wiping the salty fluid out of her eyes and trying to ignore the coppery odor of blood that suddenly permeated the area. Nabiki, doing the same, squinted when she realized there was a rapid, semi-rhythmic pounding drawing nearer. Turning towards a large cavernous tunnel into which the LCL seemed to slowly flow, she watched the blue, purple, and red Evas run into the room, surprised something so big could move so swiftly.
Makoto stared into the sea of fluid, unsure of what to do. She'd not yet detransformed, and currently the sixth-sense she and the other senshi seemed to have was warning her that, indeed, something powerful was beginning.
A moment after that, a white figure began to stand within the pool, growing larger as it did. Its arm reached out and took hold of the hovering Lance of Longinus, as it quickly grew to dwarf even the giant Evas.
"But.. I thought Adam had to join with Lillith inside Rei for this to happen!" Makoto said, recognizing what was happening from reading the summary of End of Evangelion.
"I guess Kyle's Angel body was part Adam," Nabiki mused, staring as the figure continued to grow. In a matter of moments, the three travelers, three pilots, and one doctor found themselves staring at a pair of pale legs that disappeared through the roof.
"You know... times like these, Makoto, you should be a bit more assertive... stop those male impulses of his..." Nabiki mumbled.
Makoto just snorted, then turned when she heard a soft sigh off to her left. Staring up towards the ceiling was the Rei clone that had apparently taken a liking to her husband, the clone seemingly comforted by his current situation.
"We should move to a more beneficial location," Archer said, suddenly. Nabiki nodded, and Makoto began moving towards the door, before stopping to grab the horrified Doctor.
Nabiki's Rei-clone followed Nabiki with a grin on her face, though Nabiki and Makoto both thought that it had turned somewhat... calculating, compared to the previous, empty grin it'd had plastered to its face.
When Ritsuko was far enough away that she was unable to stare at the figure growing in the other room, she suddenly shivered, and pulled herself out of Nabiki's grasp. Following behind them slowly, the other Rei clone tagged along, occasionally pausing to stare up towards the ceiling, as if she could see the growing figure above.
Frowning at the pleased look on the lagging clone's face, Dr. Akagi led them towards a door, "this way.. We can watch the end of the world from the bridge." They followed quickly behind her, Dr. Akagi opening the locked doors in their way with a swipe of her card and an override code.
Turning a corner, the group was unprepared for the sudden appearance of a third Rei clone, who stepped out from around the corner, and quickly glanced at everyone, before staring at the transformed Makoto.
"Not again," Nabiki moaned, looking at the clone that was following her. The clone didn't appear to move, but Nabiki could have sworn it's grin had grown a little bigger for a brief instant.
"What's it matter, we're all dead, anyway," Ritsuko said, glancing between the clone and the Senshi for a moment, before turning and continuing towards the bridge. Sailor Jupiter finally rolled her eyes, and slipped around the now-grinning clone, who turned to stare at the departing Senshi for a second, before her grin trembled, and it began following behind them, a few steps ahead of the skyward-gazing Rei Clone.
Finally, they emerged on the bridge, where Maya, Makoto, and Shigeru stood staring at the giant display screen on the back wall.
Makoto's follower stared at Makoto from the doorway, while Kyle's peered around the corner, before stiffening up, and staring at the large monitor dominating the far wall.
Spotting the group from across the room, Maya Ibuki shouted for her mentor (and obsession), drawing everyone's gaze.
"Is it...?" Shigeru Aoba said, slowly. Ritsuko nodded sadly, and the Bridge officers all slumped visibly.
"Why," Makoto Hyuga said, softly.
Sailor Jupiter scowled, "Kyle's not like that! He wouldn't kill everyone on a planet, he's probably got some sort of plan."
"Well.. he did say he hated this series," Nabiki said, softly. The Senshi scowled at her, but said nothing, though Dr. Akagi winced slightly.
Finally Jupiter frowned, "Don't they need Unit-01 to do this? And the other Evas?"
"No," Ritsuko said, glancing up from a monitor, "from what I read, the only reason SEELE would have done that was because there were no more Angels.. and Unit 01, with an S-2 Engine, was the only possible substitute."
"Sempai... what...?" Ibuki asked, staring at her idol in shock. Ritsuko ignored the bridge bunny for a moment, glaring at the confused Senshi of Thunder.
"Apparently, an Instrumentality Third Impact requires a merger of either Adam an Angel with Lillith, using a human soul as a sort of focal point."
"So, then... this is Instrumentality?"
"No, this is Third Impact. That Angel Merged with Lillith. There is no Human Soul-"
"But there IS!" Nabiki and Jupiter interrupted, making Dr. Akagi frown..
"Impossible," the doctor countered, turning away to look back at the screen. The others did the same, a moment before Hyuga shouted, "Anti-AT- Field detected.. it's growing rapidly!"
"At this rate," Aoba said, turning towards the others, "all life will be extinguished."
"No!" Jupiter yelled, staring at the figure displayed on the screen, apparently a live-feed from a satellite. Makoto gasped suddenly as the unmistakable form of the Jupiter's Thunder drifted onscreen from above the camera, on a course that would take it over the gigantic figure emerging from the Earth's Atmosphere.
"What the-"
"Holy-"
"Is that a-"
"SHODAN!" Nabiki shouted, looking around for a way to communicate with the ship. Unnoticed by her, but drawing the bridge-crew's attention was the Clone, who, after a moment of watching, began copying Nabiki's frantic searching actions at an imaginary control board.
"Umm... why is Rei naked?" Aoba asked, softly.
"I thought she was in Unit Zero..." Hyuga mumbled, before tearing his gaze off the naked First Children.
"Damnit, where's the-Ah!" Nabiki said, diving for a darkened panel near the corner. Flipping it on, she grabbed the microphone and started speaking.
"This is Admiral Tendo calling Jupiter's Thunder from NERV Headquarters. Come in Jupiter's Thunder. SHODAN? Are you there?"
Flicking a couple switches she tried again.
"NO!" Someone shouted, turning Nabiki around. She glanced at the screen the others' were suddenly staring at, and felt the Microphone slip from her suddenly numb-fingers.
Across the face of the Earth, a reddish wave rapidly expanded, green cross- like lights popping up randomly from the areas passed over, before millions of red, glowing globes raced towards the figure standing with it's back towards the camera.
The Senshi of Jupiter turned when she heard a pop, followed quickly by a splashing sound, and realized that the guy who'd been sitting in the chair, the one with glasses, had disappeared, his clothes lying in a puddle of the stuff, LCL, they'd seen enough of down below.
"Mother?" Dr. Ritsuko said, a moment before her body melted, the fluid collecting in a puddle around the lab coat and other articles of clothing she'd been wearing.
Jupiter and Nabiki looked at each other with horrified expressions on their faces as the people around them dissolved. When Nabiki suddenly collapsed, Sailor Jupiter ran to her friend's side, not noticing as her body flashed green for a moment, or Captain Archer suddenly paling and wobbling slightly on his feet.
"Nabiki!"
"I'm... I'm okay.. I think. I just felt like someone tried to rip me to pieces..."
"But..."
"Seriously, I don't even feel it anymore," The Tendo said, climbing to her feet.
"Whatever it was, My Lady, It's passed," Captain Archer said, staring at the puddle at his feet before making his way towards a relatively clear spot on the floor.
Nabiki looked over at the Rei clone, who'd watched everything going on with detached interest, then frowned, "I suppose you didn't feel anything either."
The three interdimentional travelers were shocked when the clone responded flatly, "didn't feel anything."
"You spoke!"
"Spoke."
"Great, it's just copying us," Nabiki said, scowling. The clone scowled back and said nothing. Unnoticed by the others, the clone that had followed them from the Lillith room silently slipped back out the door.
Sailor Jupiter glanced at the puddles on the floor and chairs around her for a moment, before sighing and detransforming, "now what?"
Nabiki glanced at the monitor, still showing the winged figure, though it seemed to be spreading it's arms out, now.
"I guess we wait and see what happens... Why would Kyle do something like this?"
"Well, in that summary, it said Shinji and Asuka came back, right? Maybe he intended to bring us back?"
"And leave an entire world trapped in some sort of mega-soul limbo?"
"Lord Kyle has pulled through in the past... we shouldn't discount any possibilities just yet," Archer said, pulling a dry chair over for Makoto to sit down in.
"Thanks," the brunette said, collapsing into the chair then looking at the puddles around her. "At least-" Makoto's voice froze as the LCL around the room started glowing a bright red.
"What the?"
Nabiki, Makoto, and Captain Archer all covered their eyes as the room was engulfed in a bright white flash. When their arms dropped, they stared blankly at the figures scattered around the room, lying where the LCL had sat a moment ago, their clothes still crumpled beneath them.
Nabiki's Rei-clone smirked at them all, then turned to smirk at Nabiki, who was too busy staring wide-eyed at the naked NERV staff to return it with a glare.
Makoto glanced up at the monitor, ignoring the pair of naked guys on the floor to find out what the giant figure towering above them all was doing. She blinked as it fell back, arms extended, into the clouds, growing more and more transparent as it neared the ground. For a brief moment, Makoto saw its face, upside down, as it looked towards the satellite recording the image.
"...Kyle..." She said, softly, recognizing the face as her husband's cursed form. A moment later the figure sunk below the clouds, and the NERV Staff around them began to stir.
It was Maya Ibuki who opened her eyes first, before screaming. Dr. Akagi, Hyuga, and Aoba jerked awake, turning to stare at the blushing woman, who was suddenly trying to cover herself up, grab her clothes, and crawl away at the same time.
She managed to back into a surprised Ritsuko, who grunted as the younger woman tripped over a shoe and collapsed into the doctor's lap.
"Ibuki..." She said, frowning. Apparently, this was too much for lieutenant, who managed to turn purple before passing out.
Aoba and Hyuga, having realized that staring would probably land them in a bit of trouble, quickly began pulling their clothes on. After squirming out from under the unconscious Lieutenant, Ritsuko quickly pulled her clothes back on, before she draped her lab coat over the lieutenant.
Finally, the three NERV personal turned towards the three interdimentional travelers expectantly.
"What?" Nabiki asked. The Rei-clone just continued smirking and crossed her arms, still naked, and just as silent as the others remembered her. Makoto, however, turned to look around when she realized the clone that had followed them from the room full of LCL was no longer with them.
"That was..." Makoto said, finally turning her gaze back to the screen.
"Anticlimactic," Nabiki interjected, Leaning back over the communications board she'd been trying to contact the Thunder with earlier.
Dr. Akagi turned towards the door, a frown plastered to her face. Makoto, seeing this, followed her out into the hall, before asking where she was going.
"Back to the LCL Manufacturing Plant," Ritsuko stated, as if it were the most obvious answer.
Makoto nodded, and followed silently, her Senshi uniform morphing back into the clothes she'd been wearing before everything had started.
-on the inside-
It was wet. Actually, it was weird, waking up and realizing I was breathing a liquid. That I wasn't drowning was ignored as instinct made me thrash violently, doing my best in my newly-awakened disoriented state to find the surface of whatever I was currently drifting in.
Finally breaking the surface, I coughed up the fluid, blinking in the yellowish light as the room swam into focus. I was a couple hundred feet away from the platform, and towering above me, not two feet away, was the crucified form of Lillith, Longinus Lance still firmly imbedded in her chest.
"Wha...?" I asked, before turning towards the platform and slowly swimming towards it. Glancing down, I realized I was still in my cursed form, and that swimming with wings isn't quite the same as swimming without. They created drag no matter how hard I tried to minimize their profile, and trying to keep them above the surface just sent the rest of me under. Not that it mattered, since I could breathe the LCL, but I didn't particularly wish to continually switch from fluid to gas and back.
Finally, I stumbled across a solution, holding my breath for a moment before diving and using my wings like I would have in the air, which propelled me through the water a lot faster than I'd expected. Before I knew it, I was at the platform, and I arched my back, launching myself out of the water with enough force to carry me to a wet landing on the platform.
A landing that lost much of it's grace as I slipped on the slick fluid covering me and the floor and landed on my ass. A humored snort alerted me to another's presence, and I glanced up from my sitting position to see a naked Rei Clone, apparently the same one who'd stopped me on my way here, smirking at me from the nearby doorway.
"Nice welcoming party," I mumbled, wondering what the hell had happened. One minute I was with the others staring at Lillith, the next I was swimming at her feet. And where had everyone gone?
"Do you know where the others are?" I asked the Rei Clone as I quickly stripped out of my slick clothes and began wringing them out. The pants were quick to come off, but the shirt I had to rip, the holes for my wings making the transformation easy, but not their removal. The LCL was a little thicker than water, but came out readily, so after a moment of wringing, I had a pile of damp, wrinkled clothes, as opposed to the soaked uniform I'd awoken in.
"They're on their way," The Clone responded. I blinked. From what I had read, Rei, in all her iterations, was rather lifeless and robotic. This response, while factual and to the point, was said with amusement, interest, and curiosity. Likewise, her expression, unlike when she'd first detached herself from the shadows, was also very lifelike, and she seemed to almost be leering at my naked che-
"The Hell!" I shouted, turning around before pulling my shirt back on. Clothed again, I glared at the Clone, who smirked at me before looking down at herself and sighing. Further conversation was suspended as Makoto and Ritsuko entered the room. Or, somewhat entering the room. Ritsuko, upon spotting me, froze, and with the floor liberally coated with LCL, Makoto slammed into her, sending the Doctor to the floor. Makoto, now without any forward momentum, straightened up, freezing as Ritsuko had when she finally spotted me over the fallen scientist.
"You're... " Ritsuko said, shakily climbing to her feet.
"-back!" Dr. Akagi was cut off as Makoto ran/slid over to me and caught me in a hug that took us both to the floor. After a moment in which we held each other, during which I grew more and more confused while Makoto mumbled incoherently at me, we climbed to our feet, and turned when Akagi cleared her throat.
"What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?"
I blinked, "Actually... " I turned to the Rei Clone, then Makoto, before turning my gaze on her again, " I was kind of hoping you could tell me..."
"We told you he wasn't an angel!" Makoto stated, scowling at the doctor.
"Third Impact can't happen without one, and that... that... what just happened certainly LOOKED like a Third Impact."
Makoto pointed over her shoulder at Lillith, "Everything looks just like it did before, doesn't it? So obviously it was undone."
"But that's not possible!"
Making my way over to the Rei Clone, who was watching the argument with amusement and interest, I quietly asked her if she knew what happened.
"Yes," was her monosyllabic reply.
"... and?" I asked, again wondering why this Rei was acting so unlike the robot I'd read so much about.
"Third Impact."
"Why THANK you for stating the obvious so bluntly. Think you could elaborate a bit?"
She turned to me and smirked, "Elaborate? You were absorbed into Lillith, and the Adam-portion of your body merged with Lillith. But with your human soul, you created Instrumentality. Obviously, you elected to return everyone to the status quo, and as such, everyone is back."
"... oh."
"Glad you understand, now."
"Rei?" Ritsuko asked, pausing at some point during the summary to listen to the clone.
"I'm not... well.. I am, but only in body."
"But... you're ... you should be a mindless Clone... the Dummy Plug system... did Rei die?"
"Eloquent today, aren't you, doctor?" The cone responded, her smirk growing.
"Yeah.. I'm lost." I muttered, making my way back to Makoto. Nabiki chose this time to enter, two more naked Rei clones following her. A moment Later, Captain Archer entered as well, relief obvious upon his face when he spotted me.
"Rei.. and.. Rei..." Ritsuko mumbled, turning from each clone to the next, before shuddering.
"Well, technically, we're not, really. Bodily, perhaps..."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Ritsuko screamed at the Rei who had responded. She'd taken up a position near Nabiki, while the third had made her way over to us, and was standing near Makoto.
"Well, when we were released from the tank, we were, as you so eloquently stated, virtually mindless," the one I'd been speaking with earlier said.
The Clone by Nabiki continued, "Apparently, nature abhors a vacuum, or something like that, because we all migrated towards people with souls of abundant power."
"Makoto's follower spoke next, "My sisters and I, if you will recall, locked gazes with these people, and, well..."
"-The Eyes are the window to the soul, right?" Mine asked rhetorically. Nabiki's finished up.
"We took a small portion of the soul, and used it, and the power of the aborted Third Impact to build up a complete soul based upon the patterns and basics within the original piece."
"... You stole my soul?" Makoto asked, shocked.
"Not stole, we took a small piece... by the time we finished integrating it and building up our own, your own soul would, and has replaced it's missing piece," Nabiki's Clone said.
"But you're not supposed to be autonomous! You just sit in a tank and take orders from Gendo or I, and control Eva's from long distances!"
"We took orders from Authority Figures. WHO was never specified. And our release from the tank released us from those orders, though the compulsion still existed. However, at this time, I doubt any of us are going to be willing to submit to the commands of Ikari or yourself."
"But... what of the others?"
"If they didn't bond, they're probably going to be Rei-like in their thoughts and actions," Makoto's clone said.
"So.. what should we call you, if not Rei?" Nabiki asked, finally.
I grinned, "That's easy." I pointed at the one by Makoto "You'll be 'Mei," I turned to the one who'd been waiting for me on the platform and was apparently bonded to me, "'Kei,'" and then I pointed at Nabiki's clone, "And... err.. 'Nei?'"
The three clones looked at each other, then the person they'd chosen to bond with, before nodding together.
"Acceptable" Mei, Kei, and Nei stated at the same time.
"Great!" I said, startling the others, "Now that that's settled, and everyone is alive and well despite, apparently, every soul on earth being collected then disseminated or whatever the hell happened, I'd like some hot water, and access to my ship, where I'm sure SHODAN is probably preparing to raze the city."
"A good plan... I might, however, suggest getting some clothes for us, first," Kei said, glancing appreciatively at Mei. Nei was looking at Kei in a similar fashion, and I frowned.
"Did.. err.. sexual orientation get copied in that bonding-thing?"
Kei quirked a brow and grinned at me, before dropping her gaze to my chest again, "What do you think?"
"I think I need that hot water."