Alright guys, this has been a fairly anticipated chapter, judging by many of the reviews I've read. Hopefully this it will deliver.
Also, I would like to try to get the next chapter out by Sunday, but if it isn't out by then it probably won't be until around the 19th before my next update. I'm going to the beach with my girlfriend and a few friends next week, and I don't think I'll be able to get any writing done over there. But who knows? Maybe I'll find the time.
Anyways, just wanted to keep you guys posted on that so if I'm gone for two weeks, you're not wondering what's taking me so long.
Enjoy!
Misato leaned back in the seat of the transport vehicle heading for Matsushiro and took in a breath as she closed her eyes. Ritsuko sat across from her, gazing out of the window next to her. The Japanese countryside had remained surprisingly scenic even after Second Impact. The never ending Summer paired up with periodic showers had graced the nation with undying Summer beauty. Trees remained in full bloom, the grass was always green and healthy, and it had been longer than anyone could remember since the last time they had to put on a coat to keep warm.
"You haven't told Shinji who the Fourth Child is, have you?"
Misato opened her eyes, and directed her attention to the blonde sitting across from her. "No." She shook her head. "Asuka already knows, though." She frowned, recalling their conversation in her head.
"Why the Hell is Suzuhara piloting Unit 03?!" She had confronted her at the apartment complex's parking lot, being sure that Shinji wouldn't over hear them.
"Asuka, I don't know how you found out about that, but you have to understand…"
"Understand what?" She put her hands on her hips, her eyes lit with fire. "That you're putting an immature, idiotic, impulsive jock inside of an EVA Unit?!"
Katsuragi narrowed her eyes, stiffening her posture. "I understand you're proud of your piloting skills, but you need to get over yourself. Just because he's piloting Unit 03 doesn't mean that your prestigious view of yourself is in danger."
The redhead groaned and smacked her palm against her forehead. "Misato!" She exclaimed. "Don't be so dense! It's not about me, it's about him!"
Misato felt a tinge of anger at Asuka's comment, but remained silent to hear what she had to say before lashing out at her.
"If you send someone like him into battle, he's just going to end up dead the second he makes contact with an Angel, and he'll probably get the rest of us killed along with him!"
The lavender haired woman almost found herself at a loss of words. Asuka was actually thinking about the well being of someone else for a change. Then again, it was in a condescending way, so she couldn't be too surprised.
The Major blinked her eyes and found herself back in the present, only a few seconds had passed by since delving into her memories from the night before. "I guess you could say she wasn't very happy to hear about it."
"Can't say I'm surprised." Ritsuko kept her stare at the grassy fields in the distance. "Toji didn't even want to be the pilot. I had to bribe him by taking his sister into NERV's care to get him to sign on."
"That's good, at least." Misato stretched out her arms. "How's her condition?"
"Better than expected." She replied. "All things considered, Tokyo-3 Hospital did a pretty good job taking care of her. With our physicians at NERV, she should be able to walk without a crutch in four to six weeks, and should be fully healed in six months."
"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that when this is all done and over with."
Ritsuko nodded, but didn't reply. For a moment the two remained in silence, letting the sound of the transport's engine rumble through their ears. Dr. Akagi took in the scenery for a little longer before turning her attention back to the Major sitting opposite of her. It wasn't often for her to see Misato dressed in her formal NERV attire. Typically she'd simply wear her red jacket with a black skit and shirt. This time she had her jacket buttoned up and her red beret sitting firmly atop her head.
"So who's watching the children?" Ritsuko asked, growing tired of the silence.
"Oh, I'm having Kaji stay over and keep an eye on them."
XXXXXXXXXX
"I've gotta say, Kaji." Shinji put down the hose, little drips of water still pouring from its mouth. "I never did take you for the gardening type."
"Everyone needs a hobby." He shrugged, sprinkling one last batch of melons before cutting the pressure. "I appreciate you coming with me. I have to admit it does get a little bit lonely being out here all by myself sometimes."
The pilot of Unit 01 rolled his eyes. It wasn't by choice that he was out here, it was by deception. Kaji merely suggested they take a stroll and give Asuka some privacy, whom had admittedly seemed rather on edge as of late, or at least more than normal. Then from one smooth sway in conversation to another, Shinji found himself spending his Friday evening helping Kaji water his batch of melons in the GeoFront.
"It's not a problem." He replied as politely as he could. "Can we head back home now?"
"We need to make another stop first."
Shinji narrowed his eyes, looking over at Kaji. He wasn't about to be tricked into helping him run more errands. Kaji seemed to catch onto Ikari's concerns, and quickly loosened his expression to reassure him.
"Don't worry." He waved his hand off to the side. "I always like to go out for rice cakes afterwards."
Shinji kept his eyes fixed on him, waiting to hear specification if they were going out for rice cakes, or if he was just going to be tagging along to watch Kaji eat them.
"It's my treat." He said with a genuine grin.
Shrugging, Shinji felt he had to reason to refuse. Once the two stepped into his car and buckled up, Kaji began driving down the fairly unused roads of the GeoFront. Most of NERV's employees took the cable cars that went directly to Central Dogma, which was much more convenient than driving through the vehicle lifts and then scouring for a parking spot at NERV HQ. The only two people that came to Shinji's mind that did that was Misato and Ritsuko, the latter of which would often leave periodically to check on her cats. The former just really liked to speed down the highway.
"I guess you know why Misato is in Matsushiro?" Kaji spoke, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, and the other rested on the console.
"Yeah." He nodded, his voice just a little more than a whisper. "She told me that all the rumors are true. That Unit 04 was destroyed, that we have a new pilot for Unit 03."
"Did she tell you who the pilot was?" His eyes glanced over at Shinji for a brief moment before turning back to the road.
He shook his head. "No. Do you know who it is?"
The long haired man remained quiet for a moment, thinking of a good way to respond. "Its not my place to tell you."
"Why not?"
Kaji sighed. Shinji wasn't the type of person to pry, but the boy seemed to have a knack for picking the worst times to make exceptions for that trait. He slowed his car down to a stop as they reached the lift elevator, still having not given Shinji an answer.
The light around them started to vanish as the lift pulled the car up through a dimly lit shaft. Every six meters or so, Shinji would squint his eyes at the orange lights bolted to the wall as the lift raised him past them, their dim, yet intense light momentarily blinding him each time he passed them by.
"The pilot should be the one to tell you himself." He finally answered.
Shinji blankly looked at the lights falling past his gaze, expecting to hear that sort of answer. He couldn't even fully grasp the idea of another child like him willingly becoming an EVA pilot. He himself became a pilot just to gain his father's praise, and now he continued solely for those he considered to be his friends. Asuka had known nothing outside of the life of being a pilot. And Rei… Her reason for piloting Unit 00, much like herself in general, was still a complete enigma.
"Kaji," Shinji spoke after a brief moment of stillness between the two. "can you at least tell me how they find pilots for EVA Units?"
Ryoji blinked, taken back by the strong curiosity of the otherwise quiet boy. "The Marduk institute, of course." He knew it was a lie, but it was the only answer Shinji needed to hear.
"I know that." He turned his gaze to the man sitting next to him. "But how? How do they pick out pilots? Is there like some sort of test they take, or something?"
Kaji had trouble feeding the boy lies. One day he'd learn the truth. Today was not that day, however. "You could say that, I guess. Though they're not exactly traditional tests." He wasn't necessarily lying, but he wasn't giving him anywhere near the full truth either.
"Why wasn't I tested then?"
Kaji forwned, not knowing how long he could continue to give him ambiguous answers before Ikari eventually caught on. "You were a special case. Commander Ikari had prior knowledge that you would be able to synch with Unit 01."
"How?"
"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Kaji tried to sound chipper to keep face.
"Sorry." Ikari turned back to the wall, watching the lights as they rose the last thirty or so meters to the surface. "Its just I feel like I've been kept in the dark a lot lately, and I want to know what's going on."
Kaji threw his gaze forward as the setting sun peaked through while the lift carried them up to the surface. "Trust me Shinji," He narrowed his eyes slightly, both to block out the intense light of the sun, and to also express his own frustration with seeking out the truth. "we all want to know what's going on."
XXXXXXXXXX
Asuka bit down on her lower lip while playing video games on the television, Pen Pen laying comfortably across her lap. She normally refrained from playing anything other than time burning games on her handheld. But whenever she felt like she was going to explode with anger, she would pull out the t.v. console and play violent video games to help vent her frustration. Today it was a fighting game. She couldn't recall the name of the game, but its goriness was nearly entrancing to her.
She still hadn't fully gotten over Toji becoming the new EVA pilot, and she figured she probably never would. He could be brash, much like her, but he lacked the ability to calculate and assess situations. This would make his self assertiveness a hindrance on the battlefield as opposed to an asset.
The creaking sound of the front door opening caught her attention for a moment, causing her character in the video game to take a hard hit in the face from the opponent, eviscerating it into a fountain of digital blood and gore.
"Shiesse." Asuka hissed before turning off the console as Kaji and Shinji made their way into the living room, each carrying a to-go box in hand.
"We're home." Kaji called.
The redhead turned around to see both her mentor and her roommate cutting through the living room and heading towards the kitchen. She managed to catch a glimpse of the logo printed on one of the Styrofoam boxes Shinji was carrying, identifying it as the same logo of one of the local mochi stores.
"Aw," She moaned, directing her whininess at Kaji. "you got rice cakes without me?"
He smirked, opening up the box he was carrying and handed her a green one. "Here ya go."
"Thanks, Kaji." She said in her sweetest tone, taking the treat in hand. Even though any romantic feelings she had for him were long gone, he still had a very soft spot in her heart.
"Don't thank me." He looked over towards the kitchen, spotting out Shinji laying the boxes down on the table. "Shinji's the one who suggested we get some for you." As soon as Kaji's words rang through his ears, Ikari quickly turned away from the two to hide his blush. He never did like being the center of attention.
"Oh." Her glimmering eyes started to dull, regaining her irritable façade. "Well it looks like Stupid Shinji might not be so stupid after all." She internally grimaced, expecting for Kaji to taunt her about Shinji's nickname, but when no taunt ever came, she continued. "I guess I'm training you well." There was a bit of a snarky hiss in her tone before she took a bite out of the rice cake.
"Training?" Ikari turned around to face her. "Like a dog?"
"What can I say?" Her voice was slightly muffled by the food in her mouth. "Boys are like dogs. You have to teach them how to behave, otherwise they just mess everything up"
"You make it sound like you're dating." Kaji's tone was neither accusatory nor playful. It came across more passively observant than anything.
"It's not like that!" He heard in stereo.
"Well I'll let you two work out your differences alone." He didn't come across the least bit fazed by their irate tones. "I think a nice hot bath would be absolutely fantastic right about now."
"The towels are in the closet by the front door." Shinji pointed, still feeling a bit embarrassed by his comment. "Everything else should be in the bathroom."
"Sounds wonderful." He stretched before heading down the hall, leaving him and Asuka to awkwardly try to find something else to look at other than each other. Shinji quickly turned around to face the kitchen table, while the redhead slowly turned towards the blank television screen, finishing up her rice cake.
The next hour or so remained in perpetual silence between the two pilots. Asuka turned her focus to the television, flipping through various television shows, not finding anything particularly interesting, while Shinji pulled open his laptop and went to his studies. Although he found it rather hard to focus on them, as curiosity had overwhelmed his mind in regards to the mysterious pilot of Unit 03.
"Kaji sure does take a long time to take a bath." Asuka murmured, breaking the silence. Ikari raised his eyes to her, though he had nothing to add. Once she felt his gaze upon her, the redhead turned to face him. "You know about Unit 03, right?"
"Yeah." Shinji nodded, dropping his eyes to the floor. "Misato told me they'd be doing the activation test for tomorrow. She wouldn't tell me who the pilot was though."
"What?!" Asuka's upper body shot up from her prone position and she looked at Shinji with wide sapphire eyes. "You mean she didn't tell you?!"
"No." He shook his head. "Who is it?"
The pilot of Unit 02 opened her mouth to utter the pilot's name. As soon as she was about to let it escape her though, she just found herself unable to speak the boy's name. She wanted to tell him. She felt he deserved to know that his best friend would be piloting Unit 03, and it wasn't fair for him to be kept in the dark like this. However she couldn't help but think about what might follow if she told him. Shinji knew better than anyone what the downsides were to piloting an Evangelion Unit.
She could only imagine how upset he'd be to hear that his best friend would be put into the same dangerous circumstances that they had all gone through and would continue to go through until the final Angel was destroyed. He was already worried enough without that weight on his shoulders. He didn't need another one. Not yet.
Just as she was about to dismiss her outburst, she suddenly saw a face flash by her mind's eye. One of a brunette with pigtails and little freckles on her cheeks. Her own best friend, Hikari. She couldn't help but think about how she'd feel if Hikari was put in Toji's position. Asuka would want to know if her best friend would be piloting an EVA Unit. Though she'd be angered to hear it, she'd want to know at the very least. That alone was reason enough to not keep this a secret from Shinji any longer.
"Toji is the pilot of Unit 03."
"What?" It took a moment for her words to sink in. At first he gave her a look of confusion, looking like he had just heard a joke with only half of the punch line.
"Toji is the pilot of Unit 03." She reiterated much slower and an added weight of seriousness in her tone.
The realization was starting to take effect on his expression. His eyes grew wider by the second and his hands began to tremble over his keyboard. "W..what do you mean Toji i..is the pilot of Unit 03?"
"I mean exactly what I just said, you idiot!" She rolled herself over so that she was now sitting on the carpeted floor, her expression beginning to grow stern. "Toji, your friend, is the pilot of Unit 03. He's the Fourth Child!"
Suddenly there was the sound of splashing water from the bathroom, causing both of them to direct their attention at the door as the sound of wet footsteps quickly smacked against the tiled floor. There were a few other rummaging sounds before the door quickly shot open, revealing Kaji, still dripping wet with a long towel firmly wrapped around his waist, covering up his lower body completely, save for his bare feet.
"Asuka!" He shot his eyes at the redhead, who was returning the same glare. "Why did you tell him that?!" It wasn't often for Ryoji to seem genuinely upset with her, but it was even less often for Asuka seem upset with him.
"Sorry, Kaji," She stood up from the floor, and kept her eyes fixed on him, not seeing that Shinji's entire body was beginning to tremble. "but he deserves to know if his best friend is going to be in Unit 03's activation test!"
"Even so, it's not your place to tell him!"
"I don't care!" She hissed. "It's not fair to keep things like this a secret from us!"
Kaji felt an internal twitch at Asuka's words. The two pilots had no idea how many secrets NERV had been keeping from them, and if Toji piloting Unit 03 warranted this type of response, he couldn't imagine how they'd react if they heard all of the dark little secrets that NERV had kept safely hidden away from them in the past few months.
"Asuka, sometimes NERV keeps this type of things a secret from you for your own benefit." He had to bite his tongue on the words, but he had to maintain his appearance as a simple NERV employee, even if it meant having to contradict his personal feelings on the matter.
"The benefit of ignorance, maybe." She firmly placed her hands on her hips. "Sorry, but I'm not going to just sit here and…"
"Asu…ka?" Shinji stuttered, catching her attention. As soon as she laid her eyes on him, she could see that his trembling had grown immensely since she last looked at him. Both of his arms were shaking, as were his legs. "Please tell me that… that you're just joking? Please?" His voice was as shaky as his body.
"She's not joking, Shinji." Kaji sighed, rubbing his temples with his thumb and middle finger. "Toji Suzuhara is indeed going to be the pilot of Unit 03."
Ikari felt a surge of pain shoot through his torso, causing him to clench his chest. He was breathing heavily, and to both Asuka and Kaji it was obvious he was beginning to have a panic attack. Memories of all the trauma he had faced up to that point started to rush through his mind. The feeling of the Third Angel bashing Unit 01's head in with an energy spear, sending waves of pain into his right eye. The searing pain of the Fifth Angel's particle beam blasting into the mech's chest with a force so powerful he thought his sternum would collapse in on itself. Even the blanket of dread that shrouded him while trapped inside of the Dirac Sea. All of these events were things that he whished upon no one. Nobody deserved to know what it was like to feel the pain of traumas that should have otherwise killed them. He knew what it was like to feel a blade pierce through his skull. He knew what it was like to feel his heart and lungs explode from sheer pressure. Though none of those things had ever physically happened to him, he had still felt them through the EVA.
"Shinji," Asuka walked up to the boy and took hold of his chin, pulling his head up so his eyes could meet her face. "relax. Everything is going to be just fine." In truth, she didn't know if everything would be okay. However telling him that certainly wouldn't help ease him. "Just take in a deep breath." The redhead sucked in a big gulp of air through her nostrils, demonstrating what to do. After watching her do it, Shinji tried to slow down his breathing, giving his tired lungs a rest as he pulled in a deep breath of air. "Now breath out." Asuka exhaled slowly through her mouth, blowing some air onto Shinji's face. He couldn't help but notice her breath smelled like mint. The smell reminded him of what her lips tasted like when they kissed. Suddenly he found that he wasn't shaking anymore as he exhaled just as Asuka did. After taking a moment to recompose himself, Shinji started to feel his heart rate returning to normal.
"I'm good now." He exhaled, sounding exhausted.
"Good." The redhead abruptly pulled her hand out from under his chin, letting his head fall as she turned around and made her way away from him. "I'm getting tired of playing nurse every time something like this happens."
"Sor-" He stopped himself, warranting a half glance from her. "Thanks, Asuka."
She huffed and then began making her way towards her room, not giving so much as a glance in Kaji's direction. Once the door shut, the long haired man looked over at Ikari and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Shinji. I just couldn't tel-"
"With all due respect, Mr. Kaji," The pilot raised his eyes to the man, anger seeping through his exhaustion. "I'd like to just be left alone." He pulled himself up from his chair, shut his laptop, and strode down the hall, entering his room to retire for the night.
Ryoji shook his head once more, looking down at his feet. Between Unit 03's activation test, Commander Ikari growing wise to his tricks, and the old men of the SEELE Committee starting to show signs of aggravation with his lack of useful Intel, he just couldn't find a good time to tell the two pilots all of the information that they needed to know.. The fact remained though, that for their own sake they had to be filled in on what NERV, or at least Commander Ikari's true intentions were. However it was too soon for that. The Angels had to be destroyed first. As they were a mutual enemy to SEELE, Ikari, and the human race as a whole. They needed to be removed first, and then the children could be told the truth.
However he was starting to wonder if he'd even live long enough to tell them.
XXXXXXXXXX
The blocky frame of Gendo Ikari stood motionless in his office, standing in front of the great window that overlooked the GeoFront's artificial lake. Nightfall had come, and the lighting of the GeoFront had changed to match that of the outside world, simulating the darkness with little white specs shimmering above, to give the feeling of looking up at the stars.
His mind was too preoccupied to even attempt sleeping, not after the scene he had witnessed earlier in the day when the Fourth Child arrived at NERV HQ to be transported to Matsushiro. Upon arriving, he was accompanied by a rather small and frail looking girl, who could be no more than nine years old, strapped down to a stretcher. From the dossier he gathered that she was Sakura Suzuhara, the younger sister of the pilot.
Before she was sent to NERV's medical wing in Central Dogma, she was seen off by the Fourth Child. From afar, watching from the shadows with Sub Commander Fuyutsuki, Ikari could see in the boy's eyes that he had no desire to pilot Unit 03, yet he did so anyways just for the sake of his sister.
In a strange way, it reminded him of when his own son piloted Unit 01 for the first time. He had no drive to use the giant mechanized monstrosity, yet he did so anyways for the sake of Rei, who like Sakura, had been hospitalized due to severe injuries. Though the overall circumstances were much different, he couldn't help but draw parallels between the two events.
Thinking back on the moment when Shinji decided to stand up and fight the Third Angel that had since been dubbed Sachiel, brought a strange feeling upon Commander Ikari that he had not felt in quite some time. He felt a sense of pride in his son.
Though he had grown to dislike Shinji over the course of time, he could never dare say that he hated him. To hate his own son would be to hate both himself and Yui, as Shinji was both the best and worst aspects of them. While Gendo did find it possible to hate himself, he could never feel anything but love for Yui. That alone was enough reason to not hate Shinji. Perhaps he could never love his son, but he would never wish ill upon him.
Even if he did blame Shinji for what happened to Yui, he knew deep down that it was not his fault. The choice Yui made was her own and nobody else's. Though Shinji's mere existence may have influenced her to give her own life for the betterment of the world, in the end she was the one who made the choice. Even though Gendo knew this, he had to find someone to blame for her death for the sake of his own sanity, and Shinji was the perfect scapegoat.
Shinji had always been Gendo's default for placing blame. Even when it wasn't his fault, he was the one who was always crucified for events that he had no way of preventing. Did this make Gendo a terrible person? He thought so, but what he thought of himself or anyone else for that matter would all be moot once the Human Instrumentality Project was commenced. By then he would be with Yui forever, and not even God himself would be able to separate them.
XXXXXXXXXX
The teacher's long winded lecture had gone completely unheard by Shinji as he kept his gaze focused on Toji's empty seat. Today was the day of Unit 03's activation test, and not a single soul in the class other than Shinji and Asuka knew that Suzuhara was the one partaking in it. Ikari had also figured Rei knew as well, but she was notably absent yet again.
The pilot of Unit 01 felt something slip in under his arm, causing his attention to be drawn to his desk, where caught a glimpse of Asuka pulling her arm back to her desk after quickly dropping a small piece of folded up paper onto his.
It actually wasn't too uncommon for her to pass him notes during class while the teacher's back was turned. Although they were hardly anything as scandalous as all their classmates thought they were. Typically, Asuka's notes were nothing more than simple questions about clarification on a kanji symbol, or sometimes just one of her occasional uncalled for jabs at his intelligence. This letter looked to be the latter.
"Quit looking over at Toji's desk, you idiot. He'll be fine."
Ikari almost mouthed a 'sorry' after reading the note, but stopped himself, this time warranting a little more than a half glance from her. Instead it was s very, very, very faint grin from the redhead before she turned her eyes back to the teacher. Shinji felt like a little bit of the weight that had been pressing down on his shoulders since last night had been removed the second she graced him with the softened expression. It could've barely passed as a smile, but it was close enough for him.
He made a soft sigh as he took in her features. Her golden red hair flowed elegantly behind her, while her trademark A10 Connectors sat atop her head like little red cat ears. Her ice blue eyes shone under the lights of the classroom, and her pretty features seemed to be even more prominent with her softened expression.
"Mr. Ikari." The elderly teacher called, causing Shinji's head to jolt to towards the front of the classroom. It was at this point that he realized he had been staring at Asuka for a considerable amount of time. "Should I move you to another seat where you will be less easily distracted?"
The entire class tried to stifle their laughter and giggles while Shinji began to blush furiously. Asuka merely rolled her eyes, well aware that the boy had been staring at her for nearly half a minute before finally being called out by the teacher. About two months ago, she would have made a huge outburst about it by calling Shinji a pervert and rant about how disgusted she was with him. Now though, she couldn't help but simply try to hide her smile.
What could she say? She was flattered.
XXXXXXXXXX
Matsushiro was normally a very quiet place. Aside from the testing facility, there really wasn't much there aside from Mount Asama, which being an active volcano, had scared off most of its residents years ago. Today though, Matsushiro was anything but quiet. The sound of VTOLs reverberated through Misato's ears over the creaking sound of gantries turning and moving all around the jet black Unit 03.
The pilot had already boarded the Entry Plug, and was being lifted to the loading hatch in the base of the EVAs neck by a crane while technicians attached the umbilical cable to the back of Unit 03. They would not be using the S2 engine for this activation test, as to avoid an incident like the one in Nevada. Major Katsuragi was able to take a little bit of solace in this, but even then, the fear remained.
"Toji," Misato spoke into the microphone, trying to ease both his and her worries. "how are you feeling?"
There wasn't an immediate response, but one did eventually come. "Not gonna lie, Major Katsuragi. I'm feelin' a little nervous."
"Well don't be." She smiled, even though he couldn't see it, she hoped that her tone could carry it through to him. "You're going to do just fine. Oh, and please, call me Misato. Just because your with NERV now doesn't mean you can't spare the formalities with me."
She heard a breath coming from the speaker, she could hear the smile on his face. "Thanks, Misato." He replied. "I'll do my best."
"I know you will." She nodded. "I'll see you in a few minutes, okay? After this we'll head back to Tokyo-3 and I'll treat you out to a nice sushi bar Asuka, Rei, and Shinji showed me. How does that sound?"
"Sounds great." His tone now seemed much calmer and relaxed. "See ya in a bit, Misato." With that, the connection between the two was cut as the crane reached the loading hatch, snapping the Entry Plug in place, and then sliding it into the EVA.
Behind her, Misato could feel Ritsuko's presence striding across the room, approaching a computer terminal next to a window. Dr. Akagi looked up from the terminal and gazed at the nearly demonic profile of Unit 03's face. While Evangelions had always sported intimidating visages, Unit 03's just seemed a bit more ominous. Nobody in the observation room could quite figure out what it was that made Unit 03 appear so much scarier, perhaps it was its solid black color scheme, or perhaps it was the stigma that it carried from Unit 04. Either way, it made Ritsuko nervous just by looking at it for too long.
"Is the pilot ready?" Dr. Akagi looked over at one of the techs sitting next to her.
"The pilot is ready." He answered.
"Alright." The blonde nodded, looking back at her terminal before doing one more check of Unit 03's system, ensuring that everything was ready for the activation test. "Begin activation."
The technicians started to carry out their various tasks, monitoring the EVA Unit as it came online. Its yellow eyes lit up and the sound of various machines in the observation room began to beep and chirp as they took in the readings from the Evangelion's performance.
"Synch level is rising." The technician sitting next to Ritsuko announced. "The pilot is approaching the borderline threshold."
Misato walked up next to Ritsuko and peered over her shoulder, watching as the synchrograph began to align and the red bars indicating the pilot's synch ratio started to light up. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight bars lit up, one after the other, growing closer and closer to the borderline threshold, the synch ratio required to activate the Evangelion Unit.
Then it passed the threshold.
Within seconds of Unit 03 fully coming to life, every single alarm in the Matsushiro testing facility began to roar. Misato started frantically looking around the observation room, trying to identify the problem, but when she looked back at Dr. Akagi's terminal, it all became clear to her.
The synchrograph began to drastically shift out of alignment, yet Toji's synch ratio continued to rise. Ritsuko had seen this happen before. This was exactly what happened when Unit 00 went berserk with Rei and Shinji. As she looked up out the window, she could see that was indeed what was happening.
Unit 03 made one firm motion with both of its arms, pulling them out of their bolted restraints. Within seconds its umbilical cord was detached, which in theory should've deactivated it. Instead it merely continued on its rampage, unaffected by its lack of external power.
"It's not shutting down!" Misato screamed, as the giant robot pulled one of its legs free.
"Its using the S2 engine!" Akagi shouted over the loud banging of Unit 03's rampage, feeling her feet tremble as a shockwave was sent through the building. "It will continue to operate without external power indefinitely!"
Before Katsuragi could respond, a loud bellowing roar shook through the facility, causing everyone in the observation room to cover their ears as the reverberating noise rumbled through their eardrums, bringing them all to their knees. Misato felt like her head was about to implode from the sheer volume the creature was creating. After a few seconds of being bombarded with the raging noise, she managed to pull her head up and take one last look at the berserk Unit 03, seeing its mouth restraints shatter into tiny little shards of metal, freeing its jaw and exposing its blocky red teeth. After that, everything went dark.
XXXXXXXXXX
NERV Headquarters had gone from idle to full alert within the blink of an eye. It took no time for them to receive word of Unit 03's ballistic state, as well as the complete destruction of the testing facility in Matsushiro. There was no word on the casualties, but they did have a positive I.D. on the rogue Evangelion.
"It's code orange." Hyuga spoke, looking up at the giant screen being projected in front of the Command Center's front deck, showing the black EVA Unit slowly trudging its way through the hilly countryside, making its way towards Tokyo-3. "We can't tell if its an Angel or not."
Up at the top in the command deck, Gendo remained seated, intently looking forward at the screen. Behind him Fuyutsuki stood, but instead of having his hands clasped behind his back, he was leaning forward on the barrier of the command deck, looking down at all the technicians below him.
"Is the pilot still inside?" Commander Ikari inquired, keeping his stony features.
"Roger." Aoba answered. "The pilot is also still alive. We are picking up a faint heartbeat and fairly regular breathing. He hasn't seemed to have sustained any injuries at this time." He paused, and gulped. "Of course, its also very likely that the Fourth Child has been…"
"Contaminated." Ikari finished. "I know. Regardless, eject the Entry Plug."
"Roger." Maya replied, punching in the force ejection code. About thirty kilometers away, the Entry Plug containing Toji shot out of the loading hatch, but was quickly halted by a gooey, grayish substance that locked the Entry Plug in place with its sticky tendrils.
"It won't eject!" Hyuga exclaimed. "There seems to be a core-like substance encasing the Entry Plug, keeping it locked in place!"
"Unfortunate." Gendo didn't seem too fazed by this. "EVA Unit 03 is to be declared the thirteenth Angel. Our top priority is to destroy it at all costs." Everyone else in the Command Center looked up at Ikari, looks of shock spread across all their faces.
"But what about the pilot?" One of the technicians asked, though Commander Ikari couldn't pick out which one it was. It was very likely one of the lower ranking ones.
"The pilot is to be considered K.I.A.. Now contact the pilots of Unit's 00, 01, and 02, and have them on them prepped for launch as soon as possible. I'll be taking command of this operation." Though there were no verbal objections, Gendo could feel the disgruntlement radiating from all of the technicians. He could also feel it radiating from his Sub Commander.
"Gendo," It wasn't often for Fuyutsuki to call him by his first name. "the pilot could still be rescued. We should at least consider the possibility that we can save hi-"
"A rescue operation would prove to be too risky. Our priority is to prevent the Angel from breaching Terminal Dogma at all costs, even if it means killing the Fourth Child. Should the pilots be able to subdue the Angel without harming him, then so be it. However the safety of Toji Suzuhara is to be of minimal concern."
"But…"
Gendo cut him off. "Let me ask you something, Sub Commander. Would you risk the lives every human being in the entire world for the sake of one boy?"
Fuyutsuki didn't have an response to give. Instead he merely lowered his head and nodded. "Very well." He said. "I'll be sure that the Evangelions are prepped for launch by the time the pilots arrive.
XXXXXXXXXX
The sun was starting to set by the time Unit 01, 02, and 03 were in position. Due to the urgent nature of the situation, the three pilots received just the basic information about the Angel. It first appeared near the Matsushiro testing facility around the time of the activation test, and it was heading towards Tokyo-3 at a steady pace. All the questions and concerns Shinji had for Toji's wellbeing went completely unanswered, as Misato, the only person in all of NERV he could ever get a straight answer from, was currently in Matsushiro, and hopefully still alive.
The purple Evangelion stood alone atop a hill on the outskirts of Tokyo-3, catching sight of Unit 02 in the distance, while Unit 00 remained completely unseen. They had been ordered to hold their position here, and to form a chokepoint for the Angel to walk right into. From there, subduing it with a three on one advantage wouldn't be a problem.
"Asuka, any sign of the Angel yet?" He asked, tightening his grip on the controls.
"Not yet." She answered.
Rei's ghostly voice broke in. "I've found it." She spoke. "Look towards the sun."
Both pilots turned their EVAs towards the setting sun, where they could see a humanoid silhouette contrasted against the bright orange light of the sun. Its upper body was slouched forward, letting its arms to dangle around its knees, and its steps were barely more than slow trudges. Once the two pilots took a good look at the approaching figure, Shinji's heart dropped.
"T..t..that's an EVA Unit!" He stuttered. "That means that… Oh God."
"Shinji!" Asuka barked. "Snap out of it! The last thing we need is for you to start freaking out right now!" The redhead looked back at the approaching figure, slowly making its way towards them like a traveling colossus that would not even let mountains stand in its way. "Is the pilot still inside?" She asked, trying to assess the situation.
"That isn't relevant." Commander Ikari answered.
"What the Hell do you mean it isn't relevan-"
"You are not to concern yourselves with the Fourth Child." His voice grew a little more stern, causing for even Asuka of all people to falter a bit. "Unit 03 has been contaminated by the Thirteenth Angel, and as such needs to be destroyed at all costs. Is that understood."
The redhead sighed, looking down at her controls. "Yes sir." She brought her gaze back up at the setting sun, watching the daunting figure continue its approach. "Wondergirl, do you have a visual of the Entry Plug?"
"Roger." She replied, looking through the scope of her sniper rifle, zooming in at the base of its neck to see the plug partially sticking out while the rest of it was held inside by a sticky substance that ensnared it like a spider web. For the moment, her position remained behind the Angel, out of sight and out of its way as she took careful aim.
"Good." Asuka replied. "Blow its legs off."
"What?!" Shinji interjected, his tone betraying his emotions. "You'll hurt Toji!"
Asuka glared at Ikari though the video monitor, her ice blue eyes burning red. "Of course he'll get hurt!" She hissed. "But being hurt is a hell of a lot better than being dead!"
"But…"
"Shinji," Unit 02 began to approach Unit 01, which continued to stare unbelievingly at the Angel in the distance. "I know this sucks, but if we sit here and do nothing then we're all gonna die!" She made no effort to hide her frustration with the Third Child.
"But Toji…"
"Take the shot, First Child!"
"Roger."
Unit 00 tightened its finger around the trigger, flinging the firing pin forward, impacting square into the primer of the bullet. With a deafening bang, followed by a head shatteringly loud crack, a six hundred and twenty millimeter bullet roared through the air. The large slug pierced through the back of Unit 03's knee, sending a gush of blood red LCL shooting out from where its kneecap used to be as it bellowed in pain, falling down onto its weakened leg.
"No!" Shinji cried, unable to watch his friend be put through the pain Rei was inflicting onto him.
"Again!" Asuka commanded.
"Reload." Rei spoke as Unit 00 pulled the bolt back, putting another bullet into the chamber. "Center the target." Looking down her scope, she zoomed in on the back of its other knee, her finger slowly starting to squeeze the trigger. "Fir-"
Before she could pull the trigger, Unit 03 pushed its hands towards the ground, projecting an AT Field as it did so. With the force of the AT Field, it shot itself up about two hundred meters into the air and avoided the incoming bullet.
The blue haired pilot managed to let out a gasp before the jet black Angel came crashing down onto her. It buried its good knee into the back of Unit 00, sending it crumbling down into a prone position while Unit 03's hands firmly grasped both of its arms. At first she could only feel a sharp pain in her back, and made a few vain attempts to struggle out of the Angel's grasp.
Then the real pain came.
Unit 03 tightened its grip around Unit 00's arms, sending little tendrils of contamination through the EVA's body, crawling under its skin. Rei screamed and squirmed in an effort to writhe out of the Angel's grasp, but the blinding pain kept her from being able to even attempt to fight back. Over the speakers, she could hear the technicians in the Command Center spouting out something about contamination, but she was in too much agony to make out any more than the gist what they were saying.
"Sheisse." Asuka hissed as Unit 02 sprinted forward, charging towards the Angel and her downed partner. "Come on, Shinji! Get your ass in gear!"
Unit 01 remained motionless as Shinji found himself unable to do anything, as though he were completely frozen. He had had nightmares like this before, being able to consciously tell his body what to do, but his body itself being unable to respond. It was like being paralyzed.
"T..t..this c..can't be happening…" He felt a lone tear cascade down his cheek, quickly being absorbed into the LCL.
"Ugh!" Asuka growled. "Your worthless!" Unit 02 continued its sprint towards Rei and the Angel, preemptively withdrawing her progressive knife from her right shoulder pylon. "Sorry, Suzuhara." She snarled. "No hard feelings."
Unit 03 looked up to see its approaching opponent, its arms still locked around Unit 00. Knowing that it didn't have much time until Asuka came within range, the Angel made one firm jerking motion, pulling both of Unit 00's arms off with ease, making a loud crack and snap as it did so. Followed by this was a bloodcurdling scream from its pilot. Her wail sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the Command Center, even Commander Ikari felt his lip twitch at the god awful noise. Inside of Unit 01, Shinji could feel his heart drop even further as her cries of pain echoed through his ears.
Still holding onto both severed arms, Unit 03 withdrew its tendrils from inside of the limbs, causing them to shrivel up and start to darken in pigment. As the arms began to rot in its grasp, the hole in its leg began to heal itself, rapidly regrowing bone and tissue, making it as though it had never been shot in the first place.
By the time Asuka reached the Angel, it was already back on its feet. In her charge, she lunged the knife forward, aiming for where Unit 03's core would be. The jet black creature shifted to the side, avoiding the attack, but not avoiding the second slash from Unit 02, cutting into its narrow abdomen. LCL started to drip from the wound, the dark red contrasting strongly with its black armor.
"Die, you bastard!" She made a downward swing, only for the Angel to leap back and skid its feet against the grassy ground, shooting a cloud of dirt up into the air. Asuka tried to follow up with her relentless offense by charging Unit 03, knowing what could happen if she gave it a second to breath.
Seeing her lunge forward, the Angel crouched down, letting the knife go over its head. Now that she was completely open, Unit 03 placed its left hand around the base of Unit 02's extended forearm, holding it in place while its right hand shot upward into the red Evangelion's wrist, causing for Unit 02's radius and ulna to snap like twigs, splintering out of its arm.
Asuka reared her head back and screamed in agonizing pain, dropping her prog knife. She tried to pull her wounded arm back, but found herself unable to as Unit 03 still had its grip firmly around her arm. The Angel slowly stood up from its crouching position, its yellow eyes glaring into hers. Asuka tried to escape its grasp, knowing that it wasn't finished with her yet, but it was useless.
"Shinji, for Christ sake, help me!" She was too afraid of what the Angel would do to her to let her pride hinder her from begging for his assistance.
Ikari felt his body tremble as she called for him. He wanted to move. He wanted to save her. He wanted to rush forward and subdue Unit 03, but he just couldn't. If he did then he would hurt Toji. Yet if he did nothing then the Angel would hurt Asuka just as it had hurt Rei.
"I…I can't." He whimpered.
"Shinji, you bastard!" She hissed as Unit 03 delivered a crippling blow to Unit 02's abdomen, fracturing its ribs. The red EVA collapsed to its knees and Unit 03 mercifully let go of its broken arm. Fortunately it seemed to be done with her, just finishing Asuka off by kicking Unit 02 in the face, knocking it square on its back before moving on.
"Shinji," Commander Ikari's voice came in through the speakers. "You are the last line of defense between the Angel and the GeoFront. You must stop it here."
"But I can't!" He cried. "Toji's inside!"
"I've already told you that is irrelevant." Gendo growled. "Now kill the Angel and be done with this."
"No!" He shook his head. "I can't do it! I won't do it! I won't kill Toj-" Before he could finish, he saw Unit 03 shoot itself into the air the same way as it did with Rei, using its AT Field to reach an incredible altitude before coming crashing down onto the purple mech, slamming its back into the grassy hill, crushing a small house as it landed.
Unit 03 grasped both of its hands around Unit 01's neck, digging its thumbs into its windpipe. Shinji could feel his own throat start to close up from the pressure as it tightened its grip. At this rate it would be no time before Unit 01's neck would snap, and after that the EVA would be completely worthless.
"Fight back." Gendo commanded. "If you don't, you will die."
"I can't do it!" He shook his head, having to fight to breath. "I won't kill…" Shinji trailed off as he looked into the eyes of the beast that was throttling him. Its yellow eyes beamed into his as it watched with what Ikari could only imagine was pleasure. This creature wasn't Toji. This creature was not his friend. It was a monster.
"Shinji!" Commander Ikari barked. "Fight back!"
Shinji let the words of his father sink in. Even though he had grown a distaste for him after their meeting at his mother's grave when he told him to sever all emotional ties with Asuka, he couldn't help but admit that Gendo was right. He had to fight. If he didn't fight, then not only would he die, but Toji would die as well. Then what good would that do? If he fought though, then there was a chance, even if only a small one, that Toji might survive.
It was better than doing nothing.
"I'm sorry Toji." Shinji had to stifle back a tear as he took hold of the Angel's wrists, pulling them away from his neck. At first its grip remained tight, but Unit 01 proved to be the stronger of the two. With one hard push, he managed to knock the EVA back, giving him enough time to get back onto his feet.
Once Unit 01 was standing again, he rushed forward and delivered a hard punch to the gut, causing Unit 03 to lurch forward, revealing the back of its neck. Ikari looked down to see that Toji's Entry Plug was still inside it, but enough of it was exposed for him to pull it out.
He quickly reached for the cylindrical pod, but was just as quickly buffed back when Unit 03 shoved him away with its right arm. The purple mech stumbled a bit, but regained its balance by the time its opponent began to charge.
Shinji quickly deployed an AT Field to stop Unit 03 in its tracks. Though it would only hinder the Angel momentarily, it did give Shinji enough time to assess the situation. He had to find a way to subdue the Angel without delivering fatal damage so he could retrieve the Entry Plug, but the question was how would he do that?
Before he could come up with a good plan, Unit 03 ripped through his AT Field and continued its charge with a roar. Knowing that he had to keep moving, Shinji leapt upwards, letting the Angel rush right past him. Once the EVA landed, the ground around him began to tremble, and he found himself standing directly behind Unit 03.
Now was his chance.
In one quick motion, Unit 01 dashed forward and dug its knee into the center of the Angel's back, knocking it flat on its face while he pressed it down with all of his weight. The black Evangelion squirmed and writhed, trying to shake him off, but Shinji stood firmly. Toji's Entry Plug was completely within his reach, but if he were to grab it while it was shaking so much, he could risk severely hurting him.
"Stop moving!" He growled, delivering a hard elbow to the back of Unit 03's head, causing it to tense up in pain. Followed by this, Unit 01 took hold of the armor plating around the Entry Plug hatch and began to rip it off, exposing Unit 03's gray skin. Shinji reached for the Entry Plug, but just as he took hold of it, the EVA made another attempt to fight him off.
Frustrated, Ikari bashed his elbow against the back of the Angel's head again, and again, and again. Each blow caused it to bellow out in pain, and though he knew he was also hurting Toji, he knew the damage wouldn't leave him with any severe injuries. After the final hit, the Evangelion ceased its resistance.
Seeing his chance, Unit 01 reached into the completely exposed hatch and grasped onto the Entry Plug, pulling as hard as it could. The sticky substance was proving to be stronger than he expected, but he could feel it giving way one tendril at a time.
"Don't worry, Toji!" Shinji said through gritted teeth. "I'll get you out of there! I promise!" With another hard pull, The Entry Plug came loose as the tendrils holding it in place snapped one by one. Just as he was about to pull it out of the hatch, one final blue tendril shot out and grasped onto the Entry Plug, as if to make one final effort to hold Toji hostage. It was not enough though, as Unit 01 ripped the Entry Plug free of its grasp, severing all connections it had with Unit 03.
"He's done it!" Maya exclaimed, feeling her heart race with joy as she stood up from her seat. "He's saved the pilot!
"Life signs are normal!" Aoba added. "There are no signs of contamination either!"
On the battlefield, Shinji cradled the Entry Plug like a running back would a football before unleashing all of his fury onto the Angel with his free hand. Now that the connection between Toji and the Angel had been completely severed, he held nothing back. With his right hand, he smashed his fist into the back of Unit 03's head repeatedly as hard as he could, blood red LCL oozed from its wounds with each hit as the armor around its head fractured and flew off, completely exposing its round gray head.
"Just die!" He roared with one last smash of his fist, causing for the back of its exposed cranium to explode into a pool of gore. The Angel made one last involuntary twitch as his fist came crashing down onto it, but then went completely limp underneath him.
It was finally dead.
"Good work, Ikari!" Fuyutuski couldn't hide his smile. "The Fourth Child is safe, and the Angel has been destroyed!"
The brown haired pilot began to realize that his breathing had become labored and intense. He looked down at the Entry Plug he had tucked away in his arm, seeing that it was completely intact. Slowly, Unit 01 rose from atop the destroyed Angel, uncradling its arm and slightly loosening its grasp on the Entry Plug Toji was safely tucked away in.
"What about Asuka and Rei?"
"They're fine." Hyuga answered. "No signs of infection, and no severe physical injuries to either of the pilots."
Ikari didn't reply, noticing that Hyuga had to specify there were no physical injuries. He heard Rei's scream, and he could hear the fright in Asuka's voice. He knew that even if their bodies weren't injured, their minds most certainly were.
"Just sit tight." Maya said, feeling her heart finally starting to slow down. "We'll have a retrieval team come pick you up within the hour."
Once the connection to the Command Center ended, Shinji found himself in complete silence. He looked down at the Entry Plug in his hand, feeling a wave of relief hit him as the realization that he had saved his best friend started to settle in.
"Open communication with Unit 03's pilot." He said, prompting for a static filled screen to come into view. Even though he couldn't see Toji, and he was fairly certain that his friend wouldn't be able to hear him either, he still had to talk to him. Even if it meant that he wouldn't hear it. "Toji…" He started. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm so, so, so sorry you had to go through this. But God am I so glad that you're okay. I mean, hell, what would Sakura do without you?" He couldn't help but crack a smile as he felt a tear form in his left eye. "You're my best friend, Toji. I really want you to know that. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have ever come back when I ran away all those months ago. You just have no idea how great its been to have a person like you who I can always count on whenever it looks like I have nobody to turn to." The tears started to stream freely, being absorbed into the LCL one by one. "Thank you so much, Toji. I don't think I ever told you how great of a friend you've been to me, and I really want you to know that. I've always taken everything I have for granted. You, Kensuke Asuka, Rei, Misato. Every single one of them I just accepted but never truly realized how important they actually are to me. Thank you so much for making me realize that, Toji." He closed his eyes and let a smile form across his face. "Thank you so much."
Shinji felt as if a thousand pounds had been lifted from his shoulders. All this time he had done hardly anything more than acknowledge all the great things he had. Sure he and his father didn't get along, and perhaps he hadn't lived the best life, but that didn't mean he had nothing to be thankful for. All of his friends had stood by him, and he merely took them for granted. That was going to change. Never again would he not be thankful for all the wonderful things he'd been graced with.
Suddenly, there was a lightness in his left hand.
Shinji's eyes shot open as he caught a glance of what was happening. A blue, fungus like substance grasped onto Toji's Entry Plug, and then ripped it right out of Unit 01's hand before he could even react. His wide hazel eyes traced the blue substance as he watched it pull the Entry Plug away from him, seeing that it was originating from the mouth of the severely disfigured Angel.
Like a frog's tongue, it pulled Toji's Entry Plug into its wide maw, Shinji was so shocked and terrified that he couldn't properly react. The Angel's wide yellow eyes stared directly into him as it took the entire metal cylinder into its mouth, and then clasped its jaws around it. By the time Shinji could fully comprehend what was happening, he could see a large bulge in its throat move down into its stomach.
What followed was something that Shinji could only imagine would happen in a nightmare. The disfigured and bloody Angel began to morph its exposed face into one that Shinji had seen before. As a matter of fact, it was the face of the very person he had just saved, the very same person whom he had just poured his heart out to, the very same person who was his best friend.
Black hair started to sprout from its bald gray head, and a dark brown eye began to form on the right side, while the left side attempted to form one, only for it to come out half developed due to the extensive facial disfigurement it had sustained at the hands of Unit 01
As Shinji watched this sight unfold before him, he felt a sudden rush of sickness run up his throat and out of his mouth, quickly deteriorating in the pool of LCL. He couldn't believe the horrendous scene unfolding before his very eyes. He could hear the voices of those in the Command Center, but none of them made any sense to him, as they were all just muffled noises that were being drowned out by the concerto of horror occurring before him.
"Shinji!" Commander Ikari's voice finally reached through the mental block that Shinji had put up. "You have to destroy the Angel before it fully regenerates!"
"But its…"
"Your friend is dead!" He snarled. "Now destroy the Angel before it destroys you!"
"I can't…" His entire body was shaking as he watched the Angel sickly pull itself up while thick blood oozed from its gaping wound.
"Damn it!" Gendo slammed his fist down on his desk, knowing that he couldn't coach his son into fighting the Angel before it was too late. "Activate the Dummy Plug!"
Everyone in the Command Center turned to the Commander, their eyes wide. "But sir," Maya spoke. "it is still in the prototype sta-"
"Do it!" He roared. "If we don't stop this Angel now, there's no telling what kind of power it will have when merged with a human!"
Not wasting any time, the technicians complied and began the activation sequence for the Dummy Plug. Although, some were still trying to compose themselves after watching the event of Unit 03's transformation unfold before them. Hyuga saw at least three of the technicians, Maya being one of them, vomit at the sight, and he was sure there would be a lot more before this was over.
Shinji didn't notice when the nerve connectors to Unit 01 deactivated, as he was too frozen with horror to comprehend what was going on around him. It wasn't until Unit 01 started moving on its own when he realized that it was operating without his control as it slowly stomped towards the still recovering Angel.
"What the Hell is going on?!" His eyes went even wider as he started reaching for the controls, trying to stop the EVA, however it did nothing to stop Unit 01. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Don't hurt Toji!" He cried, only for his EVA to respond by delivering a vicious right hook to Toji's face, causing a spew of blood and gore to shoot out as it knocked the Angel's right eye out of socket, leaving it to dangle by the strands of the optic nerve.
While its pilot screamed in horror, Unit 01 followed this up by tackling the Angel, knocking it down onto its back while the purple mech straddled it. The Evangelion then grabbed the chest armor and ripped it off violently, exposing its bare human-like chest, save for the glowing red core in the sternum. Shinji expected for it to attempt to crack the core next, but instead it did something else entirely. Unit 01 plunged its right fist into the left side of the Angel's chest, causing blood to shoot up like a geyser into the air, dousing Unit 01 in the thick red liquid. The severely ravaged face of Toji looked on with its one disfigured eye as the Evangelion ripped its hand out of the Angel's chest, holding a still beating heart in its grasp.
Shinji vomited again, screaming like a madman as he watched the Evangelion crush the organ, making a sick squishing sound as its grip tightened. Blood poured from Unit 01's hand and fell onto the core of the Angel. However even though the core seemed to still be intact, the Angel was already starting to show signs of its life slipping away.
To finish it off, Unit 01 grasped both hands around Toji's head, while the one disfigured eye continued looking dead ahead, straight into Shinji's eyes as the EVA tightened its grip more and more until its skull cracked and it collapsed, spewing brain matter all around where its head used to be, oozes of blood slipping between Unit 01's fingers. The Angel's body then went limp once more, this time for good.
Shinji's screams of horror continued even long after the sickening scene had come to an end. In the Command Center, most of the technicians had either began crying, vomiting or had passed out entirely. Some did all three. Even Fuyutsuki shook his head in disbelief. The only person in the entire room who seemed unfazed by this was the Commander himself, who kept his hands folded together covering his mouth, not betraying any emotion whatsoever.
Hyuga looked down at his terminal, still hearing the cries of Shinji echoing throughout the room. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and shook his head as he punched in a few keystrokes with one hand to sever the communication channel with Unit 01, bringing an end to his bone chilling screams of terror, but filling the room with an unnerving symphony of silence.