The Girl vowed revenge. She would not let those who shattered her friendship with the Boy go unpunished.

Episode 07:

Perfect Shift

-Crisis on the Battlefield-

Kaworu emerged from the cave in which he had first awoken. Looking out, the cave would have to have been placed on a beach, most likely. What he noted when he emerged was that it was not a beach that the cave had been placed on. It was on an outcropping of a small lake that extended for a few feet before dropping into the water below.

"You realize that you won't be able to stop anything this time?"

Kaworu looked up, only to see a young boy sitting on wooden stills which assisted in holding the cave entrance. He too had silver hair, albeit a lighter shade. His skin was also pale as snow. In the boy's young hands, he held a book sealed with a lock. Beside the boy, Kaworu noted, was a figure clad in blood. The figure was intimidating, given first appearances.

"Nagi Homura." Kaworu rolled the words off his mouth, almost as if intending to give off the intent of anger. "What is it that you want?"

"Can't I say hello to an old friend?" The boy, Nagi, laughed. He leaped from his spot on the wooden beams. He vanished and reappeared next to Kaworu. "You won't change anything. The Shift's already started. You've tried before and yet failed. What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"What are you implying?"

"Chill, Tiberius." Nagi raised one of his free hands. "How do you intend to get close to them? NERV, I mean. Assuming Ikari is in charge this time like before, don't you think the precautions are the same? Blood-type and all," the boy shrugged, "makes a difference when it comes to getting access. Unless you're intending to try something different this time…"

Kaworu smiled. "I do intend to try something different. I won't tell you though. After all, you'd just tell." Kaworu raised his hand and pointed to the sky. To a red star, in particular. "We don't want that, do we?"

Nagi sighed and vanished again to reappear back in the stone pillars. "You're no fun. I'm assuming you remember my friend here?"

The figure standing beside Nagi simply made a sound from its throat, almost like a growl. "You see," Nagi added, "It would be impossible for you to escape if I gave the order."

"Try it." Kaworu smiled.

The figure lunged, unsheathing what appeared to a large sword. It closed the distance between it and Kaworu in an instant and brought the sword down, all in one fluid motion.

The sword would not connect. Kaworu had raised his hand. The sword was stuck in mid-swing as tiny glimpses of an orange square light appeared to crackle between the two.

"An A.T. Field?" Nagi was laughing to the point where he nearly fell off of his position on the stone beams. "I can't believe it! You're still…"

Kaworu didn't move. Instead, what happened next made Nagi stop laughing. A sudden pulse from Kaworu's hand sent the figure rushing backwards, almost as if an unknown force strong enough to push it back had. The air seemed to manifest, however briefly, into a figure behind Kaworu as he did.

"13."

"Huh?" Nagi had just started to get up when Kaworu spoke.

"Number 13."

Nagi's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're…really serious, aren't you?"

Kaworu smiled. "I very much am. Now, if you will excuse me, I have things I need to accomplish."


"Separated."

Aika was even more perplexed than usual. "What do you mean, 'Chroma separated from Saver's main body?"

"Even by my standards and this data that we gathered," Kryska was busy typing away on what appeared to a computer screen but in reality, was actually a direct-input interface. "it should be impossible. Chroma's main intelligence systems, however, have indeed separated from the main body."
"What does that mean exactly? I'm unaware myself." Chroma herself had chimed in.

"I don't know. From what I understand, however, it has something to do with the machines themselves, your systems and Aika." Kryska ran her hand through her hand. "This is just too much trouble. I only taped your systems and the machines together, so to speak. It would eventually break, resulting in a loss of connection. I just…never thought it would be so soon."

"Can you fix it?"

"That would be a…negative."

"So, we can't deploy Guard until we get this all figured out right?" Aika didn't understand the technology aspect of all of this. He tried to follow along the best he could however. "Did you check the Mana Conductors?"

Kryska was about to answer Aika's first question but then he had proposed the later. "No…" she was dumbfounded. How could he have known about the conductors? "That might be it."

Kryksa ran outside, with Aika shortly behind her. She kneeled down under the Gaea's main vent and ran her hand across it. "This is disgusting. It's all sticky." She closed her eyes but continued to move her hand around. She only opened them again once she had found the lever that she had to pull. She pulled down incredibly hard, only for the lever to move ever so slightly. It was as if it refused to come down.

"Aika…You mind helping me out with this?" She pulled her hand out and was washing her hand in a mere two minutes after pulling it out. "It's by my right, so your left."

Aika obliged, and reached underneath. He had no problem however. "Sticky? Really? This feels kind of nice."

He pulled the lever and felt the exhaust sip onto his hand. "This…"

"Aika?"

It was Chroma. She had regained control. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Just a little shock, nothing to worry about." He was lying. He had felt something under there. When he was finally able to pull his hand out, he looked. He felt sick although nothing was wrong. "I…What was that? It felt so…weird." In reality, it had felt just like…

"Back then." It was the same feeling he had when his shuttle had come under attack and he first made contact with Chroma. "Why didn't I realize it sooner?" Aika was laughing. "The thought had crossed my mind before but now, it seems to be a reality."

"You okay there, Aika?" Kryska approached him with cloth still in hand. She offered him the cloth but he shook his head. "You seem a little out of it, even for you."

"Just a little tired, I guess. Say, Kryska…"

"What is it?"

"When we first met, did you notice anything…abnormal about me?" Aika was careful as not to state his thoughts directly.

"Now that you mention…" Kryksa had thought of something. "You do seem to be a little too good for someone who has never piloted before. Not to mention the entirety of Chroma. What was that other thing? You seem to have a tendency to fade in and out?

"Fade in and out?" Aika shivered. Was he really…No, it couldn't have been.

"You know, mind wise."

"Oh." Aika breathed a sigh of relief. He pushed the thought out of his mind. He'd always been kind of absent minded so it didn't bother him that he was just overreacting.

"Now, that we've got that fixed, how about we go help out?" Kryska smiled at Aika, hoping that he too would follow her into the battle.

"It's only right." Aika returned the smile but he couldn't push the sense of dread that had implanted itself in him. No matter what he wanted to do, he couldn't forget the feeling that he would regret going.


Reiji, despite his fatigue, had stayed steadfast. The Armas threw themselves towards Vardant, completely ignoring the fact that the Machina had already cut down their brothers. Rather than run and fight another day, the Armas wanted to fight now.

After impaling numerous Armas with swords, Reiji was running low on stock. His guns were also out of ammunition. Forcing himself to stay concentrated on the task at hand, Reiji ignored the hulk of metal fighting off its own supply of Armas.

Rachel, who Reiji had been in constant communication since the unknown had appeared, was startled by the current turn of events.

"I still can't believe it's not attacking you, Reiji. I guess it must be scared of Vardant."

Reiji stayed silent as Rachel ranted. His eyes were both on the unknown and Armas. "How are the repairs of the others coming?"

"The D-Soil is working, but not at the speed required to have them in active combat so soon. Ms. Kujou is also in critical condition."

Reiji continued to slice open Armas. Occasionally, he would pick up one of their weapons. He, however, was getting tired.

"Let's try this again! Your reinforcements are here!"

Reiji noticed a section of Armas immediately explode, much to his surprise. It appeared to have come from the distant north. Numerous pink beams continuously impaled the Armas. Missiles, too, were involved in the barrage of fire. The beams themselves were of a smaller variety than the large ones used by the bulky unknown.

"Rachel! IFF?"

"Already on it! It's reading…Friend? The other unknown has also changed theirs to friend as well!"

Reiji cracked a smirk before stopping himself. He knew he wouldn't lose. "I'm moving on ahead." Vardant dashed forward, with blades. It took numerous Armas with it as it ran. When it had finally entrance to the main building, it reached down to pull open the gigantic canister with its metal hands. "Perfect."

Vardant had released its swords and instead, mounted the long range bombardment artillery it had stored previously. Two long range linear rail guns had now been attached.

It began to coordinate its fire with the unknowns. When Reiji fired his rail guns, the other two would also fire theirs. It was timed perfectly so that anyone who got caught in the crossfire would be trapped, unable to escape.

"Finally here!" It was a young boy's voice. "God, Kryska. Could you lose some weight or something?"

"Not my fault that you wanted to stop for drinks!"

Reiji was shocked, albeit in a good way, to see more reinforcements. "The IFF?"

"Now, these ones I recognize! It's Tanaka's folks!"

"Saver Guardian is this unit's name. It's a pleasure, Factor of Vardant."

Reiji heard it in Rachel's voice. "Kryska? Is that really you, Kryska?"

"Good to hear from you too, Rachel."

"That's Saver Guardian? Nice piece of work. Could use a bit of my own touch buuuuuut…"

Reiji cut the link as he stared at the newcomer. Compared to his own Vardant, Saver Guardian was much more flamboyant. Its colors atrocious and the weapons were unusable if the components were damaged in the right places.

It did, however, give Reiji a greater fear than the previous unknown had. He was unaware of its capabilities, unlike when he had read the name of the previous unit, which had automatically reminded him of the White Devil of the One Year War, the RX-78-2. It also shared similarities with it. This one, however, did not.

The machine was powerful though the pilot was a complete novice. Reiji examined the way the machine moved, its weapons and even the tendencies of the pilot as they danced across the battlefield. Despite the unit itself having much more of an armament at one time than his own, the pilot stuck to the two handed sword that emerged.

Even that did not distract Reiji from the important task he had been given. Vardant had moved back to using its swords as it disembarked the rail guns. The machine leapt back into the fray, more determined than ever.

Aika was frantically hitting buttons and pulling levers. He had no idea what he was doing, but whatever it was, it was working. The majority of the forces that had been here when he arrived had either been wiped out or simply fled. He still had the sense of dread, despite that. He gazed down at his own eyes. They quivered yet they weren't cold.

"Drop me off at the entrance!"

"What?" Aika shook his head. "How do you expect me to do that?"

Kryska grinned. "Fine, I'll do it myself!" She forced her way into the button pad that sat before Aika. She pressed the button that sent signals to the cockpit hatch to open and she struggled to get her way out. She placed one foot on the protruding hatch. "I've just gotta go for a bit. I'll be right back so don't think you can get away from me." She smiled. Aika was improving day by day.

Aika closed the hatch after Kryska had leapt outside. "I just don't get her sometimes."

"What is there to get? She's naturally that way. Humans are really unique creatures, I'll give them that."

Aika chuckled. "Was that sarcasm? You're unique too, you know."

"What is this 'sarcasm' you speak of? I was just observing."

Aika knew Chroma at her base, was still part machine but the thought that she didn't know what sarcasm was hit him in the wrong spot. "After we're done, I'm going to teach you all about humans. Make sure you pay attention this time."

"I'll try. I can't help but find humans most interesting when they do not know when they are being observed."

Aika sighed. "You have one sick twisted sense of humour; you know that, right?"


Kaworu Nagisa had finally reached the top of the cliff side he had been climbing. He had refused to use his abilities because. The words that Nagi said, however, still haunted him. He gazed around. Armas filled the ground as far as the eye could see. A blue flash struck across his view and so did an orange one. Kaworu knew the site all too well. This was the fourth time, after all.

"He said I couldn't change it." It pained Kaworu to admit but perhaps Nagi was right. Perhaps there was no need for him to intervene? Perhaps it was this world's fate to forever repeat the same events, over and over again?

He refused to accept it. He knew what was going to happen. They would lose this battle and JUDA would fall. Katou would win this battle, thus propelling the world into even greater war. The fifth Machina would never appear to be an ally to JUDA like it had before, thus killing all hope they had.

There was only one choice. He had to intervene.

He would never get the chance.

Kaworu noticed a tear in the sky. It was stained black. It was a familiar site, but not at this moment. Things were already moving differently without his intervention. He saw it at that moment.

Black feathers scattered across the sky, monstrous claws protruding from what appeared to be hands and hooked talons for feet. It was reminiscent of a harpy, to put it bluntly. It sat there, in the tear. It noticed Kaworu as it noticed him. Its curved beak opened wide as if to smile. It flapped the wings on its back and sped towards the battlefield.

Aika didn't see it coming. The monstrous bird-like creature sped towards him that he only caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. Aika met the creature's gaze directly. He felt as if his entire body was being torn apart just by looking at it. His heart rate had increased, forcing him to clutch his chest. Even Chroma was speechless at the abnormal take of events. The creature simply hung there, waiting.

Kryska had turned her back for a moment. Now, as she turned back to wave towards Aika, she was horrified at what she saw. The winged creature had latched onto Guardian with its claws and talons. She wanted to scream. Her entire body screamed.

Run away, it told her. She couldn't move. Her entire body was stunned.

The creature's claws began to scratch against Guardian's cockpit. Aika couldn't help but hear the sound of the claws scraping against it. He was scared. Where had such a beast come from? Why was it here? The thoughts ran through his head as he tried his best to shake the creature off to no avail. The creature held on.

The claws finally pierced. Aika saw the monstrous claws at point blank. They were that of a bird, a monstrosity. He wondered if it was death itself.

Kryksa flipped open her com. "Aika, Aika!" She screamed.

No response.

"Aika! AIKA! If you can hear me, say something! Anything!"

Again, no response.

Kryska looked up towards Saver Guardian. The mechanical behemoth had white light piercing in it as the creature buried its claws deeper into it.

"Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it." Kryska felt all her energy leave her body. What the hell was happening? Her mind rushed with thoughts, ugly thoughts. Was this her fault? Had she brought this upon herself? What had she tampered with?

"Stop it. Stop it. Stop it."

Tears ran down her eyes. "I'm sorry I can't do anything!" Saver Guardian's metallic body exploded into a ball of orange flame. Kryska screamed as she saw the winged creature emerge from the flames, its harpy-like body unscathed.

"KAZUMA! KAZUMA! KAZUMA! KAZUMA!"

Tears still ran down Kryska's face. Her eyes, however told a different story. They were bloodshot, almost demonic looking. "I'll kill you...I'll kill you...I'll kill you...I'll kill you. I'll kill you...I'll kill you." She looked up, her face twisted into a blood-lust. "I'll kill you!"

Something had snapped inside of Kryska. It was as if something evil had awakened. She clenched her chest tightly, wrapping her fingers tightly around the key she had been given prior.

The key, however, beat too, like Kryska's enraged heart. It felt her anguish. It felt her sadness. It felt her rage. It felt everything that she felt. To Kryksa, unaware of the key's true nature, life had taken a new purpose. Rather than protect the world, she would change it. She would get her new friends back, even if it meant destroying everything else...


Silas Irene had been shipped to the outpost on the Moon against his will. He'd been to the moon before, albeit under rather different circumstances. Today, he had been to sent to investigate an alert sent from one of the numerous moon bases that had scattered.

"I'm not fit for this kind of job." He muttered as he turned one of the corners in the large facility, pistol drawn and loaded.

He heard something around the corner. He readied himself as he peered around. What he saw would stay with him for the rest of his life.

The creature stood on all four of its legs. Its tail, at least what Silas would classify as a tail, was tipped with a snake head. Its rear body was that of a goat but had lizard scales scattered underneath. Its frontal body and head, was that of a lion. The teeth of the creature were dug into what appeared to be a corpse lying on the ground.

"Just what the hell?"

Irene, jolted by the creature's appearance, opened his communicator. He accessed the photo function and took a picture, being sure to turn off the flash. "That'll teach them."

On his way back, Irene's mind was in a different place. "The creatures I saw when that shuttle went down, and now this one...Are they connected?" To think such creatures could exist at any other place would be ridiculous. Silas knew better. After managing to sneak a peak at some of the things that Feds had been experimenting with, Irene was positive of the connection. Near the exit to the base, Silas retrieved one of the numerous space suits and slowly tucked his body into it.

Silas Irene had left the moon base. Rather than directly head towards he was supposed, Silas left for the right of the base. On his way inside, he had noted an abnormally large crater beside the very same base that he had just exited.

"The reports indicate..."

Silas was too observed with mental thought to acknowledge that he had just fallen into the very crater he had been looking for. He didn't come out of his trance like state until his right foot connected with something.

He looked down, startled.

To many the initial shock of finding a metallic being stranded on the moon would be enough to cause fainting. Silas was too startled already by what he had witnessed inside to be startled anymore.

Or so he thought.

The being started at him, its eyes a dark red. Claws protruded to either side of the machine's body, on opposite sides of the crater. Metal fangs extended to shortly in front of where Silas stood. What caught him most of guard was the abnormal feet. They were double jointed towards the rear. Rather than simply being straight, the machine's feet were reminiscent of a horse hoof.

"Who is it that disturbs me?"

Silas, however, did not answer.

"This smell," massive exhausted forced itself onto Silas's entire body, "I know it. It is...human. This smell, yes. It is very human. A human has disturbed my sleep?" The machine growled. "It has been a long while since I have seen a human. Speak, human!"

The voice was rasp, dry and almost wise. Silas wanted to speak but he couldn't. The way the voice spoke reminded him of his encounter with the city people of Krugis. Understanding that not speaking would simply anger the machine even more, Silas spoke.

"Private Silas Irene, of the Earth Federation Army, Union Forces, 423rd Recon Force, sir! It's a pleasure to meet something as wise as you, sir!"

"Sir?" More exhaust flowed out from what Silas assumed was a mouth. The machine had laughed. "Bwah! Don't make me blow more circuits than I need to, human!"

"May I ask of what...you are?" Silas asked, dropping the sir as per the strange machine's request. It may him feel at ease as well. It was uncomfortable addressing something as sir when he didn't know the thing's gender to begin with.

"I was waiting for this question." The fangs protruding in front of Silas snapped shut and then again, opened. "I am what simply is and what is not. I am a being who protects the world you call Earth from the Invaders from Beyond The Stars. It seems I have failed, however. Even my sister, the one who successfully landed upon your rock, has failed. I can no longer sense her presence, nor the one she had chosen to become her user."

"Invaders from Beyond The Stars?" Silas wanted to ask about the Sister part first but he found Invaders from Beyond The Stars to be a more important subject all around.

"Yes." More exhaust. Silas wondered if he would need to actually shower once he got back, given the amount of steam that had now find its home on him. "They are beings from what your kind would call Deep Space. They are beings who's very numbers dwarf even the populations of the greatest planets in the galaxy. They are blight upon the galaxy itself! Tell me, human! Did my sister fall valiantly in battle against the Invaders from Beyond the Stars?"

"I'm unaware of the one you call Sister. We haven't had any extra-terrestrials land on Earth in nearly a decade. I think the last ones were the Muge guys."

"I am at a loss for words, human. Answer me one last question: I understand I am currently on the rock orbiting your planet. This rock, as humans put it, is the Moon, Luna. If I had landed here, and had a hold on my sister before I hit the ground as released my grip, where on your planet would my sister have ended up?"

"Depending on the angle of the trajectory and your momentum, your sister would have ended up..." Silas was no expert on space science. He had failed that course multiple times. What he did know was that it wasn't his forte. If he told the machine the wrong answer, who knows what would happen. "Your sister would have ended up in the vicinity of..." It hit Silas like a speeding bullet. If he had encountered this machine, assuming there had been another, "Arkham City. Your sister would have arrived in the outskirts of Arkham City."

The machine rose up, revealing its true shape. The claws and fangs that Silas had seen were only part of the machine. It was humanoid in nature and gigantic in height. Below the claws were gigantic metal hands. The fangs, however, were part of the lion included in the chest itself that. The face was humanoid, capable of moving what appeared to be a jaw and a fully emotional.

"My sister's name in your language would have been...Chroma. My sister's name is Chroma. Please, human. Have you heard that name before?"

Silas nodded. While it sounded vaguely familiar, he had no means of understanding where he had heard it from.

"If you need of my help in any way, human," the machine had knelt so that it could speak face-to-eye with Silas, "I will heed your call. While my sister may not be alive this day, I have met someone else who may be of a great service to me."

"What is your name? I mean, what should I call you?" Silas asked, turning away. "It would be hard to ask your help otherwise."

The machine pondered for a moment as it too turned around to face the opposite direction. "Unlike my sister, my name has no meaning in your language. For now, Belphegor will do."

Belphegor.

Silas ran away in the direction he was originally supposed to leave towards. He wondered if he had just made a grave mistake.


Kaworu stared onward. It had all happened in a split second. Everything he knew had changed, for the worst. What he had intended could no longer happen. The energy left in his body had left. The world had changed yet again, without his intervention.

The familiar sound of his otherworldly former-friend rustled. "What did I say?"

Nagi Homura sighed as he appeared directly beside Kaworu. "You can't change anything even if you wanted to do. You might as well give up. After all, Father wouldn't be happy that you keep on messing up."

Deep down, he knew Nagi was right. He wanted to deny it so hard yet he couldn't.

After all, what was there to change now?