Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Archipelago

"Break into NERV?" Misato asked, incredulous.

"That is correct," Jet replied. "Gendo Ikari is cooperating with SEELE. I have reason to suspect that he may have information regarding the group and their plans stored in either his office or the MAGI computers. If we could get access to one or both of them, we may be able to find out where they are building the Mass-Produced Evangelions."

"And thwart their plans," Misato finished.

Jet nodded.

"How the hell are you going to break into NERV HQ?" Asuka demanded. "It's the most heavily guarded place on Earth!"

Gordon snorted. "It might be well-guarded by your standards, but they have nothing on us. Do you really think they could keep out a team composed of a mutant, a robot, and a psychic?"

"Don't forget a spy who has a good grasp of the situation at hand," Kaji added.

"If that's the case, I'm going with you," Misato said. "I know my way around the base, I could help you avoid raising any alarms."

"If I recall correctly, you get lost all the time," Kaji replied with a chuckle.

Misato merely grunted in response, crossing her arms angrily.

"I think Misato has a point," Miki said. "She probably still has access codes to some of the more restricted sections."

"What about me?" Asuka asked.

Gordon shook his head. "You would only get in danger on this mission. You, Shinji, Dr. Otonashi, and Kensuke will stay on the island."

Asuka grumbled angrily, but otherwise said nothing. Shinji remained quiet, having barely listened to the conversation. Noticing his new friend's distress, Junior strolled up to the boy and gave him a slobbering kiss.

Gordon chuckled, then his face hardened. "All right then, let's move out."

Planet X, (G)Earth

"What's the point of this meeting?" X whined, leaning back in his chair lazily.

"This particular self-aware Kilaakian individual must agree with the self-aware male cybernetically-augmented human-subspecies individual," the Kilaakian leader said in a distinctly female monotone. "There appears to be no reason for the self-aware male Simeon in-"

"Must you always use terms like that?!" the Nebulan leader asked in exasperation. "It is completely confusing. My carapace aches when I listen to you for too long."

The Kilaakian leader's face showed no sign of emotion, there were no muscles in its finely sculpted shell to do so with. "Non-human contaminated self-aware Kilaakian individuals do not see the point in having names. If the self-aware Nebulan male in-"

"Enough!" Rogar barked angrily, slamming a hairy fist into the table. A spiderweb of cracks appeared where the blow landed, silencing any further arguments amongst the assorted alien leaders. Straightening his posture, Rogar continued. "This meeting concerns a covert organization on the target world. It is called 'SEELE'."

"What about it?" X asked impatiently.

"This organization, according to the information we have managed to liberate from their communications networks, has the same goal in mind as we do," Rogar replied. "That is, human extinction."

"Why would they want the extinction of their own species?" the Nebulan leader asked.

"They have some deluded belief that they could become gods in the process," replied Rogar. "Unfortunately, we have yet to decrypt their most important documents, the ones concerning how they intend to bring about the end of the human race."

"Why are you so concerned about a group of crazies?" X inquired.

"These 'crazies' are an ancient conspiracy that have directed the human race for millennia," the Simeon leader replied. "They practically have the world in their pocket, and they seem to have complete confidence in their plan."

"What are you suggesting?" the Nebulan leader asked.

Rogar grinned. "They're trying to do what we're doing. Why not help them along?"

NERV HQ

Breaking into Headquarters, Misato found, wasn't as difficult as it seemed.

They had flown the Super X close to the ground for the entire flight, arriving at Japan two hours later. By then, they had smoothed out any wrinkles in their plan, and soon disembarked from the Super X, which had been secreted away in the woods surrounding the city. Upon arriving at the entrance to Headquarters, it was a simple matter for Jet to use a connection to the security systems to put the cameras on a loop, for Miki to pull some Jedi mind trick on suspicious guards, and for Misato to use the passcode in order to open the door. Rinse, wash, and repeat.

They were already in the bowels of Headquarters. Gordon, Ozaki, and Miki had expressed amazement at the sight of the Geofront, causing Misato to grin inwardly. It appeared that these people out of a science fiction movie didn't have all of the neat stuff. She brushed the thought out of her head, there was too much at stake for such childish thoughts.

Miki was under some sort of strain now, presumably from constantly deflecting the countless personnel in the halls of HQ. Beads of sweat were rolling down her face, and occasionally her hands would shake. Misato wondered how much longer they could keep from being discovered.

Fortunately, they were soon at one of the main MAGI terminals, located deep within the base. Jet promptly pulled a plug out of his head and attached it to the terminal, suddenly becoming very still. For such a vital operation, it was rather anticlimactic.

"How long will it take for him to secure the information?" Misato asked.

Gordon shrugged. "Could take minutes, could take hours."

"In the meantime, it's time to pay Commander Ikari's office visit," Ozaki said.

Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Archipelago

"Got any threes?" Kensuke asked.

"Go fish," Shinji replied.

Otonashi sighed. It had been more than two hours since Gordon and the others had gone in the Super-X, leaving her on a deserted island with nothing to do but watch three teenagers play card games. Anguirus was nearby, napping by the beach. Rodan had disappeared into the interior of the island, presumably to go visit Godzilla, who was guarding Mothra's egg. The Shobijin were in a box by her side, but had fallen quiet. Junior and Pen-Pen were swimming nearby, racing each other through the warm shallows.

It was a rather quiet and peaceful day on the island, and she hated it.

The only source of amusement she had was the tension between Shinji and that Asuka girl. The two clearly liked each other, but there were self-made obstacles in their way. It was only a matter of time, Otonashi decided, before something interesting happened.

She would have no idea just how soon it would be.

Commander Ikari's Office

"Have we had any luck in finding Major Katsuragi and the Children?" Gendo asked.

Fuyutuki shook his head. "Satellite images are still very fuzzy over the Ogasawara Archipelago, we would have to actually send agents there in order to verify whether or not they are there."

Gendo sighed. "If that's the case, send them."

Fuyutsuki nodded and left the room. Shortly thereafter, the intercom buzzed to life. "Commander, someone's hacking into the MAGI!" Ritsuko said frantically.

"Who?" Gendo demanded. "Can you block them out of the system?"

"It's no good, sir," Ritsuko replied. "We have no idea where they're coming from, and they've bypassed all of our firewalls!"

So it has come to this, Gendo thought to himself. It was a possibility that he had given a great deal of consideration to. Either SEELE, the UN, or some third party was attempting to gain access to his plans by mistakenly hacking into the MAGI. It was likely that armed men would be barging into the office at any moment, ready to capture and interrogate him.

There would be no chance of that. Rising from his chair, he silently slipped his pistol into its holster and calmly collected all of his documents. It was time for him to go to Plan B of the Scenario.

Several armed men did in fact enter the Commander's office, weapons raised. To their disappointment, however, the Commander was nowhere to be found. And when they promptly tore his office apart in an attempt to find anything regarding his plans for Third Impact, they found nothing.

"Shit," Kaji said, running a hand through his hair. "He must've known we were coming."

Alarms blared, flooding the halls with red light.

"It looks like everyone else knows now, too," Gordon said.

Chichi-jima

Anguirus howled.

The titanic angilasaur rose from the ground, his footsteps shaking nearby trees in the process. Narrowing his eyes, he turned to a point on the horizon. The familiar tingling sensation was in the back of his head, the one that had guided him for countless millennia. Something was once more threatening the balance of the world.

The others could sense it, too. Rodan whizzed overhead, a sonic boom sounding in his wake as he made a beeline to the source of the danger. Godzilla roared, smashing through the trees and nearly crushing the unfortunate quartet on the ground.

"What the hell is going on?!" Kensuke exclaimed, quickly backing away from the agitated leviathan.

"Something's not right," Ontonashi muttered. "They can sense it."

Anguirus and Godzilla appeared to be communicating via facial signals and brief vocalizations. Finally, Anguirus turned away and entered the sea, furiously paddling after Rodan. Godzilla turned back to the forest, his movements much more relaxed now.

"It appears that Godzilla's staying behind to guard the egg," Ontonashi said.

"Should I go after them?" Shinji asked.

Ontonashi shook her head. "Anguirus and Rodan are two of the toughest monsters on the planet. I'm sure they have a handle on the situation."

Shinji sighed and sat back down. Unbeknownst to either him, Kensuke, or Dr. Ontonashi, Asuka produced a flask she had secreted away from the Super-X, hoping to relieve some of the stress of the past day or two. Uncapping it, she eyed it warily, then took a hearty swig.

"Damn," she said. "It's nothing but water." Nonetheless, she drained the rest of the flask and casually dropped it on the sand. Wiping her mouth, she rejoined the others.

Had Asuka been literate in Mysterian, the de facto international language since the 1970's, she would have realized that the flask read "CAUTION: G-CELL SERUM, AUTHORIZED USE ONLY."

NERV HQ

Kozou Fuyutsuki was not having a good day.

First, he had spent the first few hours of the morning (as well as the previous night) going over reports regarding the search for the missing Children and Major Katsuragi. It was not easy work, and he was already feeling exhausted when suddenly alarms began to blare.

"Sub-Commander, it appears that there are intruders in HQ! The MAGI have been hacked into!" Hyuga exclaimed.

"Where are they?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"They're moving away from Commander Ikari's office and heading for Exit 27-B!" Hyuga replied.

"Put them on the main feed," Fuyutsuki ordered.

"Yes, sir."

The feed came up, showing two men quickly making their way through the halls of HQ with expert precision. One was a young Japanese man with spiky black hair, while the other was a tall and burly Caucasian man dressed in a trench coat and a katana over his back. The third man, however, was immediately recognizable as Ryouji Kaji.

"What's Kaji doing with them?" Maya asked.

"Have Section II apprehend them ASAP," Fuyutsuki said. "Try to capture them alive."

"Section II is on its way," Aoba replied.

Sure enough, several armed agents were already in sight, weapons raised. Then something unexpected happened. The Japanese man suddenly sprang forward with unbelievable speed, weaving amongst the agents and striking them with well-placed blows that barely registered on the camera. In 3 seconds over half a dozen Section II agents were down. More agents came, but met the same fate. Anyone missed by the Japanese man was quickly dealt with by the burly Caucasian, who didn't even bother to bring out his katana.

"Shut the exit door!" Fuyutsuki barked.

"Yes, sir," replied Hyuga.

The door slammed shut right before the two men could get past it. Fuyutsuki grinned, there was no way they could escape now. Then, to his utter astonishment and horror, the Japanese man actually pried the doors open with his bare hands. He blinked a few times, trying to make sure he wasn't in some surreal dream. When he stopped, the two men were gone.

"The targets... have disappeared," Hyuga said, clearly in awe.

Fuyutsuki sighed and rubbed his temples wearily. Can this day get any worse? he wondered

"Sir, a Blue Pattern has been detected at Mount Asama!" Maya exclaimed.

Yes, yes it can, he told himself, regretting his words.

Mount Asama

The top of the volcano disappeared in a massive explosion of rock and ash, peppering the countryside with rubble. A massive shape, easily twice the size of an Evangelion, began to crawl out of the crater it made, dragging itself along with two long and muscular arms. Its body shape as reminiscent of that of prehistoric sea creatures during the Cambrian period of Earth's history, albeit on a much larger scale. Its flesh was armored and segmented, and a fin-like tail dragged behind it as it slowly moved down the slope, lava trickling around its body.

Sandalphon, the Eighth Angel, was on the move.

Its appearance had not gone unnoticed. Already VTOLs were surrounding it, peppering it with artillery shells and missiles. The attacks were futile, however, they simply glanced off of its AT-field. Even without an AT-field it would have barely noticed the attacks, its thick armor was ample protection.

The Angel chose to ignore the VTOLs, instead focusing on reaching its destination: the Geofront. It continued clambering down the slope, leaving a furrow in the ground behind it. The VTOLs eventually expended their ammunition and retreated, a counterattack was already being planned. Columns of armor were being deployed from their bases, the tank crews fully knowing that it was simply a stalling action.

Fortunately for them, however, something would get there first.

NERV HQ

"What's the status of the Evangelion Units?" Fuyutsuki asked. His eyes were grim as he surveyed the video feed, watching as the Angel sluggishly moved down the slope.

"None of them are in operation order, sir," Aoba replied.

Even if they were working, we have no available pilots with experience! Fuyutsuki grumbled mentally.

Suddenly, a flashing light appeared on the holographic map. "Sir, a large unidentified object is making its way towards the Angel!" Maya exclaimed. "It's a pattern orange, just like Godzilla!"

"What is its estimated time of arrival?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Approximately 15 seconds, this thing's fast!" Hyuga replied.

The object in question was visible now. At first glance, Fuyutsuki thought it was an aircraft, it had large wings and an aerodynamic body. It even had a contrail following behind it.

And then he realized that the wings were flapping.

The Angel took notice of it as well, raising its armored head. It was just in time for the large bulk to slam into it at more than twice the speed of sound, shaking the earth for miles around and sending the Angel flying back a good half-kilometer. A good portion of the mountain was obscured in smoke now, hiding both the Angel and the new combatant from sight. A flap of tremendous wings, however, dispelled the clouds and gave them their first good look at the new attacker.

It was tall, rivaling Godzilla himself in height. Its body was strikingly similar to a pterosaur, except on a much larger scale. Its skin was as red as blood, except for the light-brown scales that armored its torso and the front of its legs. The crest of the creature was as black as coal, forming a regal crown that matched its long beak. Bright blue eyes regarded the Angel with contempt as flapped its wings once more, taking to the air with a cackle.

Rodan, Lord of the Skies, had come.

Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Archipelago

Storm clouds were brewing in the distance now, promising rain. Ontonashi sighed, wishing that she had took some raincoats from the Super-X before it had left for NERV HQ. Junior and Pen-Pen took notice of the clouds as well, the two ceased their playful swimming and began to make their way to the trees, seeking shelter against the coming downpour.

"Come on, let's go find some place we can stay dry," she told the others.

"Why on Earth didn't we bring umbrellas?" Asuka lamented loudly. She roughly hoisted Shinji to his feet. "Come on, baka, I don't have all day!"

The red-haired pilot, Ontonashi noted, seemed a bit more aggressive than usual. Her musings as to what could behind it, however, were interrupted when Godzilla reappeared, growling angrily and glaring at the coming clouds.

"What's gotten into the overgrown lizard this time?!" Asuka demanded.

Before anyone could answer her, the clouds suddenly overtook them. A torrential downpour fell from the sky, drenching the group in seconds. However, something else also began to fall from the sky. Golden spores began to gently drift downwards, settling onto the ground and disappearing in a manner in contrast to the violent storm raging about it.

"Wow," Kensuke said.

"Oh shit!" Ontonashi, Shinji, and Zone Fighter said at the same time.

"Everyone, get away from the spores!" Ontonashi shouted. "Run!"

Asuka and Kensuke did as told, sprinting away from the falling spores, Junior tailing behind them with Pen-Pen perched on his back. Shinji, however, didn't budge. Instead, he slammed his palms together, fully knowing what was coming. In a flash of light, he was at giant size once more. Godzilla took notice and made a gesture of approval.

Ontonashi decided to follow her own advice and followed after them, eventually catching up after a few minutes. The rain continued to beat down upon the ground, soaking the soil and littering it with large puddles.

"What the hell is going on?" Asuka panted.

"It must've regenerated from one of the missing tissue samples," Ontonashi panted back. "We fought this thing before in 1989."

"Fought what?" Kensuke asked.

As if on cue, the ground close to where Shinji and Godzilla were exploded upwards, sending dirt, rocks, and uprooted trees flying everywhere. Fissures appeared in the earth, and a massive shape emerged from the ground, its body silhouetted briefly by a flash of lightning. It was absolutely titanic, more than twice as tall as Godzilla himself. The main body of the monster was almost like a swollen sphere that began to taper towards the top until it met with the creature's crocodilian head. Dozens of tendrils rose alongside it, some tipped with bone spikes and others with miniature mouths lined with needle teeth. Sickly yellow eyes glared at Godzilla and Shinji, and the beast opened its titanic jaws. A ghastly wail echoed across the island, chilling the group to the bone.

"Biollante," Ontonashi replied.

Mount Asama

Rodan rushed at the Angel, quickly covering the ground between the two combatants. He careened upwards just in time to avoid a swipe from Sandalphon's arm, then swung back down, slamming both of his feet into its back. The Angel was forced into the ground with a terrible crash, but was otherwise unharmed. It heaved upwards, shaking Rodan off of it. Its eyes glowed, then fired a beam that barely missed the massive pterosaur. In response, Rodan landed in front of it and began to rapidly flap his wings, quickly stirring up a hurricane-level gale that forced the Angel back. He then followed up by gouging one of its eyes out with his beak, spraying LCL everywhere. The Angel shrieked in pain and swatted at Rodan, catching him in the torso and sending him back.

Rodan clucked angrily. The Angel's armor was far too thick for him to breach within the time they had before it could reach the Geofront. Fortunately, he had an idea.

The Angel lunged forward, trying to crush him in its arms. Rodan dodged the clumsy attack and flew upwards, slamming back down into the Angel again. Before it could throw him off, however, he took its arm in his talons. He flapped his wings rapidly now, lifting the Angel into the air in an impressive show of strength. At a few kilometers into the air he dropped it, watching as it slowly fell to the ground below with a great crash. When the smoke cleared, the Angel was lying still in a fairly large crater.

Rodan descended, landing a good distance away from the crater, preferring to remain out of reach in case it proved not to be dead. It didn't protect him, however, from the sudden energy blast that struck him in the chest. Rodan tumbled backwards, crying out in pain. Sandalphon emerged from the crater, battered but not broken from its kilometers-high drop. Before the Angel could strike, however, the ground trembled beneath it, then exploded outwards. A humongous frame smashed into it, knocking it away from Rodan in the process. The creature shook the soil from its body, then released a strange howl. Before the Angel could recover from the attack, the beast charged into once more.

Anguirus had joined the fight.

Chichi-jima

Biollante lashed out with her tendrils, fully intent on skewering the two who opposed her. Shinji dodged the attack, taking to the sky. Godzilla wasn't so lucky, however, and roared furiously as his torso was harpooned, the tendrils adding to his injuries by releasing green corrosive blood. Grasping the tendrils, he ripped them out and paid back the favor with an atomic ray to the face. Biollante wailed as the beam burned and blasted away large chunks of her flesh, but the wounds quickly sealed up.

Zone Fighter, where are its weak spots? Shinji asked.

That red orb in its stomach, the alien replied.

Like an Angel? Shinji inquired.

Yes, he replied.

Shinji charged his Proton Beam and fired, blasting away a good portion of the orb. Biollante cried out in agony, then focused her glare at him. She lunged forward with several more tendrils, murder plain and clear in her eyes. Shinji dodged the initial attacks, but was promptly swatted out of the sky and fell back to the ground with a boom. Just as he began to rise, he was knocked back down by more tendrils. They began to coil about him, intent on crushing the life out of his body. To make matters worse, his belt light was beginning to blink yellow.

Biollante was so focused on Shinji, however, that she failed to take into account a very pissed off Godzilla. An atomic ray lashed out, burning away her tendrils with ease. As she cried out, the nuclear saurian charged at her, slamming his massive bulk into hers. Biollante toppled, her trunk-like legs being forcibly pulled out of the soil in the process. She countered Godzilla's attack with her own, electricity crackling about her head as she spewed radioactive sap from her titanic maw. Godzilla shrieked in pain as the sap corroded away at his hide, sparks flying where particularly radioactive clumps detonated against him.

Before she could press her brief advantage, several Meteor Missiles jabbed into her core, detonating shortly afterwards with great force. The orb's light began to fade, great gouts of green blood pouring forth from her horrific wounds. Shinji rushed forwards, firing another Proton Beam that aggravated the wounds even as they tried to heal.

To make matters worse for the plant-creature, Godzilla's wounds had healed. Roaring, he rushed forward, taking her head in his hands. With a great heave, he lifted her into the air and flung her over his shoulder. Biollante smashed into the ocean, a titanic geyser of water rising from the impact. Godzilla followed the attack with a blast of his atomic ray. Then another. And another. He was beam spamming now, refusing to let up with his attacks. Biollante's flesh was scorched and torn with each attack, staining the ocean with her blood. She began to burn now, the flames resisting the storm's attempts to douse them out. Finally, the light disappeared from her orb completely.

The battle was over. It was quiet now on the island, save for the dying patterings of rain and the crackling of flames. Godzilla turned from Biollante's corpse and once more began to make his way inland. Shinji stood, watching Biollante burn, then finally disappeared in a flash of light.

Watching from a distance, Ontonashi breathed a sigh of relief. That relief disappeared, however, when she turned and saw that Asuka was missing.

"Shit," she muttered.

Mount Asama

Sandalphon screeched, wildly firing off another blast that went wide as Anguirus tackled into it. The titanic angilasaur gave the Angel no reprieve, swiping at it with his massive paws. He may have lacked the agility and speed of Rodan, but he made up for it with endurance and strength that rivaled Godzilla himself. He used that strength, pushing the Angel uphill and cracking its armor with his blows. When it swiped at him with one of its arms, he responded by taking the offending limb in his jaws and wrenching it free of its socket.

The Angel howled, LCL spraying out of its wound. It redoubled its efforts, frantically trying to shake Anguirus off of it. It fired a blast that struck home, hitting the angilasaur in the face. While he was distracted by that, Sandalphon pushed him off and fired another beam, striking him in the chest. While it failed to outright break his thick hide, it was quite painful for Anguirus, forcing him to backpedal some more.

Before the Angel could press its opening, however, Rodan swooped in and floored it with a double kick moving at a few hundred miles an hour. Then, in an almost comical fashion, he began to smash his beak into its head like a woodpecker, chipping off hunks of its armor in the process. The Angel managed to shake him off, only to receive another tackle from Anguirus.

Rodan was beginning to get frustrated. The Angel's armor was absurdly hard to penetrate, it could be much longer before they actually killed the thing. Fortunately, help was on the way in the form of the Super-X, which provided another surprise for those at NERV watching the battle. It opened fire with its twin cryo-lasers and a salvo of missiles, peppering the Angel in explosions. Parts of Sandalphon's body were frozen in places, ice breaking off of its massive frame.

The distraction gave Rodan the opportunity to use his weapon of last resort.

"What's it doing?" Fuyutsuki asked.

Before the bridge crew's eyes, the pterosaur creature began to inhale deeply, the sheer force of it distorting the smoke that hung in the air. It stood before the Angel, chest held proud.

"Sir, the MAGI are detecting a massive flare-up of energy coming from the creature," Maya stated.

Before anyone could ask what that meant, they got their answer. A stream of purple flame blasted forth from the creature's throat, striking the Angel and driving it back. The beam stopped briefly as the pterosaur inhaled again, then started once more. A ghastly scream of pain came from the Angel as it was roasted by the beam.

The attack ceased. The Angel was still alive, if only barely. Its armor was slagged and molten in places, and steam rose from it in a great cloud. Fuyustuki was briefly reminded of a cooked lobster.

The flying tank that came out of nowhere (which Fuyustuki strongly suspected was related somehow to the men who broke into headquarters) open fired once more with its twin freezing beams, aiming for the molten areas of the Angel's armor. The attack was far more devastating than before, as the sudden drop in temperature caused thermal shock, which promptly caused the armor to shatter.

The spiky quadruped that had joined the fight against the Angel pressed its advantage and charged once more, smashing away great hunks of armor and flesh with its paws. Eventually the core was exposed, larger than previous ones-

-and was promptly used as a supersonic landing pad by the pterosaur.

"Blue Pattern... terminated," Hyuga stated in awe.

The pterosaur cackled triumphantly, then took off into the sky with great speed, soon disappearing from sight. The spiky quadruped also began to leave the battlefield, tunneling into the ground with surprising speed. The only one left was the flying tank. Already it was beginning to move away, but still slowly enough for it to remain in sight.

"Have the UN try and intercept that aircraft," Fuyutsuki ordered.

"Yes, sir," Aoba replied.

Chichi-jima

Kensuke was feeling rather left out the loop.

For the past half-hour he had been following Ontonashi, trying to help the scientist find something important. However, he was not told what the object looked like, nor did he know what was so important about it. He suspected it had something to do with Asuka's disappearance.

Suddenly, Ontonashi stopped. The scientist stooped down, picking up a flask of sorts from the sand. She brushed off the sand and read the label, then cursed softly under her breath.

"What's going on?" Kensuke asked.

"This is a G-Cell serum," Ontonashi answered. "Did you drink this?"

Kensuke shook his head. "G-Cell serum? As in, Godzilla cells?"

"Yes," Ontonashi replied. "Miki takes a weekly dose of the stuff in order to maintain her emphatic link with Godzilla. There's a thin balance with it, hence its rare usage. Either your immune system eventually destroys the cells, or the cells kill you. Thankfully, this is a really weak dose, so I'm pretty sure Asuka won't die from it."

"What will happen to her?" Kensuke asked, starting to feel a little panicked.

"She'll have enhanced senses, strength, and speed, amongst other things," replied Ontonashi. "The more concerning thing, however, is the effects it has on your hormone levels. Miki and Ozaki are used to it, but Asuka isn't. She'll be incredibly aggressive, as well as..." Ontonashi trailed off, a clear look of discomfort on her face.

"As well as what?" Kensuke asked, now feeling very panicked.

"Do you happen to see how she was looking at Shinji?" Ontonashi asked.

Kensuke suddenly recalled what she was talking about. The red-haired pilot had frequently stared at Shinji with an almost... hungry look in her eyes.

"Uh-oh," Kensuke said.

Shinji stretched, trying to get rid of some of the post-fight stiffness. Zone Fighter told him that it would be another ten minutes before all of the bruises went away. Compared to how badly his fight against the Seventh Angel went, he felt that it was altogether a success.

That was when something tackled him to the ground, frantically tearing at his clothes. He struggled against his attacker, and eventually managed to shake it off. Shinji rose, and received a rapid series of surpasses as he got a look at his unexpected assailant.

Firstly, it was Asuka. Secondly, Asuka was half-naked. Finally, and most shockingly, her eyes were a fiery orange instead of sky-blue.

"You are strong, mate," she purred, a sound that sent both a chill down his spine and a growing warmth in his heart. "That makes you all the more desirable."

With that, she lunged.