12th June 2015
Apartment Complex – 2010 hours
Fear: a basic human emotion or reaction to a situation where someone may experience anxiousness or a sense of unease. Fear can manifest itself in many ways: shaking, sickness, paranoia, dizziness or a mixture. It was an emotion Rei Ayanami was quickly becoming acquainted with as she followed behind Agents Ikari and Sohryu through the cramped apartment building.
The feeling only heightened with each corridor they entered and with each room they explored as they saw more and more of the sticky white cobwebs hanging from the ceilings and the walls. Sometimes tangling themselves around the Agent's feet, as Rei walked she could hear the crunching and cracking of dead spiders bodies beneath her, each step causing her to feel slightly more sick than she already was.
Looking ahead she saw the light from her torch shining against the back wall, illuminating more webbing and a distant door. Both Ikari and Sohryu noticed the obvious obstruction and paused taking a few moments to think. Rei stood silently, trying to keep calm and focused, as she had been taught to be in tense situations, trying to will the fear out of her mind. She had always had a hard time trying to grasp emotions, yet for some reason this one fear of hers was always there watching her, waiting to pounce or bite.
Asuka began to speak, her voice echoing through the corridor.
"Looks like this is the last room, and judging by the state of the entrance the one we're looking for."
Shinji stepped towards the door and brushed away some of the webbing on the handle, before readying his gun. Asuka and Rei both did the same and moved towards it, Rei took a deep breath and readied herself as Shinji began to pry the door open. Slowly, and with a loud creaking noise, the door opened, revealing the room. The very sight of it sent a collective shudder down all their spines. Rei slowly stepped backwards as she stared straight ahead. Inside it was the familiar cobweb they had seen all around the rest of the building but it covered the entire room. Except for the solitary hanging light, the entire room was entirely white, grey and in some cases red, the cobwebs stained with blood.
All three Agents exchanged glances until Asuka finally gave in with a sigh.
"Okay I'll go in first seeing as you two look too scared, you're lucky I'm here y'know, just think where you'd be if I wasn't."
With those words she stepped into the room, kicking away some of the cobwebs. Shinji merely smiled at her comments, however Rei felt herself frowning slightly. One thing she had noticed in the brief time she had known Agent Sohryu was that she could be quite arrogant towards others at times and could often insult others such as Shinji without really thinking about it. A few more moments went by until Asuka's angered voice came out from inside the room.
"Look, as much as I love treading in cobwebs, I would appreciate a bit of help in here. That means you Ikari, get your ass in here, there must be at least four bodies in here."
Shinji took a step forward into the room and knelt down near one of the bodies buried beneath the webbing. He began to move some of the webbing away when he felt something creeping across his neck. It moved slowly but with each slight movement it sent an ice cold chill down his spine. He tensed up and got ready to speak until he heard Rei speaking behind him.
"Agent Sohryu, what are you doing?"
He turned to see Asuka, kneeling near him, smiling awkwardly, her hands placed on his neck. Shinji frowned slightly and turned back to the body, as he did so he heard Asuka replying to Rei.
"Nothing I was just examining the body and using Shinji here to help balance myself."
"I see…"
Shinji felt himself go slightly red as he felt Asuka's hand move onto his shoulder, allowing her to kneel down closer to the body. Tearing away some of the webbing, they got through to the body. Asuka carefully put on a set of gloves and tilted the head of the body, examining the neck, noticing the bite marks. What she found remarkable about this particular set was they seemed to be larger than the others from before.
She put her torch down next to her as Rei switched the light on in the room. It was a lone light providing a small amount of illumination and lighting up the cobwebs a dull orange. Asuka shuddered as she saw a group of spiders converging and dying in the corner of the room.
Getting up, she made her way over to another mound underneath the webbing. Assuming it was another body she immediately began to tear some of the webbing away when the lone light in the room suddenly shut itself off, along with all the torches.
Asuka swore.
"Shit, could that thing still be inside here?"
There was a brief moment of silence as Rei walked over towards the window and looked out across the city.
"The power has gone out across the entire city. It would be logical to assume the power outage has nothing to do with our case."
Asuka nodded, Shinji however shook his head and looked out across the darkened cityscape.
"No, this is related, it might not have been our guy who did it, but I'm sure it's related. It's too convenient." he said.
"Maybe you're getting a bit too paranoid there, Shinji. Who would want to do something like this?"
"Sohryu is right, we should get to our next location. Our cell phones do not appear to be working either." Rei nodded.
Asuka was surprised to hear Rei agreeing with her, she exchanged glances with Shinji and waited until Rei had left the room before whispering to Shinji.
"Keep it to yourself for now, I think you're right but if someone did trigger this, then they could be watching us."
"What you believe..." Shinji started to blurt out before Asuka stopped him.
"I was there when we met Spender you know, and you're right, it is too convenient."
Director's Office – 2030 hours
"The entire city is without power, most electrical devices don't appear to be working either. Cell phones appear to be none functional and traffic is at a complete standstill."
Gendo lit the candle in front of him and looked across at Fuyutsuki, a stern expression on his face.
"What about the backup generators?"
"Someone cut the fuses, tomorrow we will sweep the building and look for any sign of an intruder. It would seem this blackout was planned, whoever is responsible knew exactly what they were doing. Perhaps we should begin a search for the culprit?" The elder man suggested.
"Searching the building is unnecessary" Gendo answered "Whoever was responsible will have already gotten what they were looking for and will be gone by now."
"That might be so, but taking out an entire cities power to find one thing in this building. It's a bit extreme don't you think?"
"Some people will go to extreme lengths to get what they want, humanity is a strange creature professor."
"Perhaps you're right. I am concerned though, as it stands, we are completely defenseless and there is an Angel in Tokyo 3. If that was to get inside NERV it could jeopardize everything."
"The Angel has limited intelligence and is acting on instinct, the three Eva's are currently tracking it down and will exterminate it soon."
Fuyutsuki's eyes widened at the words, they sent a chill down his spine. He took a seat on one of the sides of the room and replied curtly.
"Extermination, sounds like something you'd do to an insect, not something that is human."
Gendo quickly replied almost as if he was correcting the old man.
"It was human, but the Angels are no longer human. Some may appear so, but they are so far beyond humanity, they are a new species. They are the joining of one species with another and bred for a specific purpose. They are living experiments whose time is running out. We, the creators, are the ones who hold the true power."
"Even so, they are still dangerous and some have knowledge of what we have done. If one was to get into NERV it could spell the end."
"That's why we have all three Eva's under our control." Ikari Said.
"But how long will they be under our control though?" Fuyutski questioned.
Gendo brought his hands down onto the table and smiled knowingly, "As long as we need them to be, I have instructed Rei of what to do if there are any problems with Unit One or Two. We are the ones with the control, do not let Keel's antics trouble you Fuyutsuki, his attempts to gain their trust will go unrewarded."
Fuyutsuki turned to look at the image of the tree of life on the floor, he had never really understood Gendo's fondness for the image, yet it had always been present since the time he worked at GEHIRN with him. There was a strange sort of arrogance to him as well, yet the words he spoke rang true, with the Evangelions within NERV there was hardly any risk. But still, he couldn't help but feel some concern for both Shinji and Asuka, knowing what was to come and what their true nature was.
'It is for a better future though, isn't it?'
NERV Offices – 2045 hours
Misato lay her head down on the desk, resting uncomfortably on the folders and looking into the flickering flame in front of her. She had always questioned why she felt a need to keep a few candles in her desk drawer and tonight seemed to provide the perfect answer to that question. Early reports from other people she had spoke to who were also working late seemed to suggest a complete power outage across the entire city and also other electronic devices seemed to stop working as well.
Her thoughts drifted to Shinji and the other two Agents with him and she began to worry slightly. It was perhaps paranoia on her part, but she couldn't help but feel this power outage wasn't an accident.
'Come on Misato stop thinking like that, it's just one of those things. It's not like it's another Impact Incident'
She raised her head and looked out at the darkened skyline and up at the stars above, it was an amazing sight, something she had never noticed before. Millions of stars all twinkling, slightly seeming to stretch out into infinity, it was a beauty she would never have noticed had it not been at the expense of the city wide blackout. A strange thought began to cross her mind as she looked out at the expanse.
'What if Shinji's right, what if we aren't alone?'
Smiling slightly she swept the thought away, she still didn't think it could be possible. As much as she supported Shinji and his work she was still skeptical, perhaps not to the same level as Asuka but she still needed some sort of proof. She sighed as she went back to her desk, just as she sat down, her office door began to open slightly. Watching quietly as a figure entered the room she stood up, ready to pounce on the person until she realized who it was.
"You idiot, haven't you ever heard of knocking before entering."
In the dim light she was sure she could see Kaji grinning slightly.
"Sorry, thought I'd surprise you."
"Well you did achieve that, how come you're working so late?"
"I had a meeting, and what about yourself?"
"I'm waiting for news from my Agents on this case they're working on." She paused for a moment and then continued, "Kaji, can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can."
Misato stood up and looked out her window at the darkened city, the few candles inside the room illuminating the two of them both slightly.
"What is the Evangelion project?"
Kaji was actually glad the room was in full darkness, just so Misato could not see his reaction to the question. He moved over to the door making sure it was closed properly, before moving over towards Misato.
"I've never heard of it." he answered abruptly.
Misato knew he was feigning ignorance. She could tell the name was, on some level, at least familiar to him.
"Don't give me that, I know that you know more than you're letting on, Kaji."
"You're right, but what makes you think I know what you're talking about?"
"You knew who Shinji's father was," Misato said "You knew just the right time to leave the Over The Rainbow and you knew about those twins. I wouldn't be surprised if you knew about this one as well."
"You're playing a dangerous game Misato." Kaji warned. "There are powers who w..."
"Dangerous or not, I'm Shinji's direct superior and have a right to know if one of my agents is in danger."
"He's not in danger," The unshaven man assured her. "In fact, he along with Asuka and Rei are probably the safest of all of us when it comes to what they're against."
"So you do know something?"
"That depends, how much do you know already?"
"I know that both Shinji and Asuka are part of something called Project Evangelion. I know that it has something do with things called Angels. I know Shinji's father is involved and I suspect NERV is involved somehow."
Kaji frowned, it was not the answer he had expected from her and severely limited his options on a response.
"I see. How did you come to know this?"
"Cut the crap Kaji, just tell me what I want to know or get out."
"If I tell you all of what I know they'll kill us both."
Misato turned her back on him and moved back over to the window, glancing out at the city.
"In that case get out." she growled.
Kaji swallowed a lump in his throat, the words slowly snaking their way up his throat.
"Genetically enhanced soldiers" he blurted out.
"What did you say?"
"The Angels, that's what they are. Genetically enhanced soldiers, bred for a specific purpose."
"What purpose?"
"That I don't know."
Misato knew he was being truthful about this at least.
"How is NERV involved?" she questioned.
"They supply the means to defeat the Angels."
"You mean the Evangelions don't you? That's Shinji, Asuka and Rei."
"Correct."
"Why though, why NERV and why those three?"
"Shinji was chosen because of his father and his father's link with GEHIRN. That's all I know…"
Misato quickly stopped him.
"GEHIRN, I thought they were dissolved fifteen years ago after their main laboratory was destroyed in old Tokyo. My own father was a scientist there, it was a medical research facility, what do they have to do with this and Shinji's father?"
"Shinji's father was an advisor there up until the impact incident, Shinji's mother worked there as well, up until she died a few years prior to impact."
"What does this have to do with the Angels?"
"GEHIRN are responsible for part of them, they were conducting research into human genetics and were being funded."
"Funded by who?"
"The same people who would kill me for telling you this information."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know, but they're powerful, they've been active for over twenty years. They have ties to government agencies all over the world, even NERV."
Misato looked on in shock, hoping somehow Kaji would be joking, she examined his face. He wasn't, the usual grin he wore had gone but was now replaced with a deadly serious expression. Their eyes met for a brief moment as they both stood in silence, Kaji turned his head towards the window and looked out across the darkness. He turned back to Misato and spoke softly.
"I should be going."
He opened the door quietly, leaving Misato to contemplate what she had just heard, before he was able to leave however he heard her calling him back.
"Kaji…when I hear back from Shinji do you want to go out for a few drinks?"
"Sounds good to me, where at?"
"I'll contact you, I know a few good places around here."
He nodded and left the room, Misato lay her head back down on the desk and spoke to herself.
"GEHIRN, The Impact Incident, my father…Am I…part of this too?"
Abandoned Warehouse – 2115 hours
"Agent Sohryu, where are you taking us?"
Shinji glanced up at the mesh fence in front of them and watched Asuka climb over it easily and land on the other side. He looked up at the building in front of him, it was an old warehouse, a short walk from their previous location. Around the windows on top he could make out the vague outlines of cobwebs. Immediately he began to climb the fence, slowly followed by Rei. As he got to the top he noticed that there were thin streams of light coming from inside the warehouse.
"It's in here." Shinji said.
Asuka nodded slightly, "Yes, I know."
"How did you know it was here?"
She turned to him and smiled knowingly, "I'm just that good, I guess."
Without giving him a chance to reply she began to make her way over to the warehouse to try to find an entrance. She got halfway across the tarmac area before a sudden pain stabbed at her head. She continued walking, trying to ignore it, but it still lingered. She turned around, trying to make sure she was out of view before bringing her hand up to her head. As she did so she felt something flash before her, she could see a strange distorted image in front of her.
The pain had subsided but was now replaced by another feeling, a strange floating sensation, almost as if she wasn't there. Looking around, she realized where she was. She was somehow inside the warehouse. It was a two tier warehouse with various size boxes scattered around, simply dumped by the previous owner. Steel staircases and ladders lead up to a platform going all around the warehouse and a set of offices towards the back.
Several huge white bags hung from various areas, Asuka could count about twelve of them in total before she spotted something moving towards the center of the floor. Her heart began pounding as the thing stood still for a few moments. It was a squat spider like creature, Asuka could see only traces of human within it as it was covered in a hideous black slimy skin. It was crouched on all fours, its head tilted slightly as it looked around the room, it's eyes were surrounded by thick orange liquid, beneath which appeared to be more smaller eyes.
The pain suddenly returned as the creature seemed to look directly at her, she felt a presence behind her and closed her eyes tightly, trying to will the pain away. She could hear the echoes of a voice floating around her, it got louder and clearer until she heard it from directly behind her. She felt Shinji's presence behind her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, asking if she was alright.
Blinking twice, she looked around and realized she was on her knees clutching her head, she felt herself going slightly red in embarrassment and quickly stood up, pushing Shinji away slightly. She snapped back, trying to assure them and herself she was fine.
"I'm fine, it was nothing. I was just checking something."
Her eyes met Rei's for a moment and she felt a wave of nausea sweep through her, she forced herself to swallow the sickness down and looked away from Rei.
"Lets go, it's in there."
She began to walk away but Shinji stopped her. "Wait…"
Impatiently, she turned around to face him, he was looking up at the warehouse window. She questioned him sharply, "What is it?"
"If that thing is in there, we can't just storm in and attack it, just in case it is what we suspect it to be. It's going to be fast, we know it has some form of acid within it, if all three of us just rush in we're going to get killed." he said.
"So what do you suggest?"
"I don't know yet, I'm thinking."
Irritated, she then turned to Rei,
"And what about you Wondergirl, surely you'll have something?"
"Agent Ikari is right, we do not know the layout of the warehouse which makes it slightly harder."
Asuka stopped to think for a few moments until she remembered what she had just seen previously. She pointed towards the back of the warehouse, speaking quietly to the other two Agents.
"It's a big open area, an upper area and a lower area, a series of offices towards the back of the upper area and several small rooms towards the back."
She turned to them both secretly hoping they wouldn't question how she knew, she wasn't even sure what had just happened herself. Shinji looked at her quizzically, he was about to ask how she knew but decided to wait until a better time, after all her hunch had paid off this far. Instead he questioned her about the entrance to the warehouse.
"That must mean there's another entrance towards the back, probably leading up to the upper levels as well."
"Probably, I didn't see that part."
Asuka immediately cursed herself after saying that last statement, she tried to see the reactions of the other two Agents. Rei appeared to either not hear the comment or was just ignoring it. Her eyes then met Shinji's, he didn't say anything but Asuka could tell he wanted too. The strangest thing was he was looking at her understandingly, almost as if he had seen the same thing or had had a similar experience. She decided it would probably be a good idea to change the subject quickly, before she made herself look even weirder.
'Gott, if I keep this up I'm going to end up looking as weird as Shinji. I know what I saw, though even if they don't believe me I know I'm right.'
Turning back towards the building, she withdrew her pistol and knelt down, checking for her torch. As she was doing this she was giving out instructions to the other two Agents.
"Ok I've got an idea Ikari, you and Ayanami go round the back and check for another entrance. Once you find it, enter through the backway. Be as quiet as possible. One of you try to find a way up onto the upper level and stay hidden and in position until I give the signal."
Rei turned to her replying quietly, seemingly scared at what they were about to face, "What if we encounter the being?"
"You won't, it'll be in the main area of the warehouse." She paused for a moment and then quickly tried to cover up her mistake, "In case you do though, unload everything you have into it."
"I see. What will the signal be?"
"Me firing a bullet into it, hopefully killing it. Once you hear that, attack it, we'll attack from three separate locations to try to confuse it."
Rei began to move off towards the back of the warehouse without waiting for Shinji, Asuka was about to start moving when Shinji stopped her.
"What will you be doing?"
"I'm heading in the front entrance."
He stepped back slightly, a shocked expression came over him, he stuttered out.
"You're entering the front way, but if it's there you'll be killed. It's too dangerous."
She snapped back at him, "I don't need you to tell me what's dangerous or if I'll be killed, I know it's risky but it's the only chance we have. Besides, do you think I'm that stupid I'll let some overgrown spider kill me?"
"N-No, but…" Shinji stuttered.
He couldn't think of anything else to say, instead he brought his hand up to her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
"Just…be careful."
She pulled his hand off her shoulder, still sounding quite angry at him, "I'll be fine, just go to where you need to be, Ayanami will be waiting. "
He nodded and began moving towards the back of the warehouse, leaving Asuka standing alone, looking up at the warehouse windows. Once she was sure he was out of ear shot she whispered to herself.
"Be careful Shinji."
Medical Labs – 2115 hours
Blood, that's what it looked like, what it smelt like and Ritsuko presumed it's what it tasted like. She sealed off the vial and placed it inside her case, next to the other vials inside. Each vial carefully labeled with only a set of initials, in the dim torchlight she checked each one was in place next to their respective initials, Vial One lined up with S.I, Vial Two lined up with A.L.S and vial three lined up with R.A. She shut the case and shuddered as the thought of what she was doing swept over her, she tried to force it out of her mind, reminding herself of why she was doing this.
'It's for the greater good Ritsuko, it's not about what they will become but about what they can do for humanity.'
She got up off her seat, adjusting her lab coat and taking hold of the case. Throughout the building she could hear the sound of the doctors and other scientists walking around and talking about the blackout. Slowly she began moving towards the door, trying to plot the quickest way out of the building so as to not attract any unwanted attention. She had little time to get to her destination and didn't want to be slowed down.
Just as Ritsuko was about to start making her way out of the room the door opened suddenly. She shone her torch only to see Misato standing at the entrance to the room, lowering the case, she smiled.
"Good evening Misato, you're the last person I expected to see here."
"Funnily enough you're the first person I expected to see here," Misato remarked. Although seems you're heading off somewhere. I wanted to know what you found regarding the body brought in the other day, the one with the shell."
"It's in my report, unfortunately it's on the computer over there." She pointed at the Magi system set up in the corner as she spoke. "So I can't really show it to you."
"That's fine, I just want to know the basics of what you found."
"Like what?"
"Was it human?"
"An unusual question. Yes it was human. Was being the operative word, something had altered it to be like that. If you'll excuse me I have to go."
She stood up with the case but was stopped when Misato's cell phone started ringing. She looked at it in shock, having previously thought it had stopped working during the black out. She answered it but before she got a chance to speak Kaji's voice came across.
"Katsuragi, all three Agents are in danger. There's an abandoned warehouse not too far from here you need to get there as soon as possible, if Ritsuko is with you take her too. Sorry I can't tell you more, it's important you get there as soon as possible though."
Abandoned Warehouse – 2125 hours
Upper Area
Rei climbed up the ladder and entered the small office area, she switched on her torch and resisted the urge to scream out as she saw various cobwebs, each occupied by various spiders. She moved towards one of the doors and saw it covered in cobwebs and shuddered, she focused slightly and there was a brief flash of light as she used her A.T. Field to sweep them out of the way of the door. She entered the small office, only to find it empty, she reached into her jacket and readied her gun. At the front of the office was a small window, through it she could see the rest of the warehouse. Several small cobwebbed sacks hung from the ceiling.
She moved towards the door and again used her A.T. Field to sweep away the webbing and quietly opened the door, keeping crouched down so as to not attract any unwanted attention. Looking out over the main warehouse area, she saw the main door slightly open, towards the center was the creature, the angel Materiel. It stood crouched, ready to pounce, it's long spindly arms and legs taking up a vast area of the warehouse.
Rei felt a sickly feeling sweep over her as she watched it moving, breathing deeply, she moved towards one of the staircases and awaited Asuka to make her move.
Lower Area
Shinji watched Rei disappearing up the ladder and readied himself for the walk through the lower offices. Readying his pistol, he made his way over to the doorway and opened it slightly. It opened into a small office area, through the window he could see the main warehouse area. Asuka had been right, he couldn't understand how, but she was correct about the layout.
He crouched next to the window and looked out. Fear rose within him as he saw the creature sitting in the center of the room. Shinji focused his eyes directly on the doorway, waiting for Asuka to make her entrance. The creature lifted itself up and turned, Shinji saw for the first time exactly what it was. It was grotesque, it's arms and legs morphed into strange spider like limbs, split up, giving it the appearance of having eight.
It's head was covered in a dark black liquid, LCL trickled around where the monsters eyes would be, running over what appeared to be hundreds more tiny insect eyes. LCL dripped from several wounds within the creature and leaked out more tiny spiders. Shinji stood, transfixed on what it was. It rose on two of its legs and moved towards the door. He reacted immediately, if it stood near to the door it would kill Asuka as soon as she entered, he knew he had to do something. He quickly opened the door and fired a shot at the back of the beast.
Front Entrance
Asuka breathed deeply as she rounded the entrance to the warehouse, she opened the door slightly, taking a look inside. Just as she expected the creature was sitting in the center of the storage area, surrounded by white webbing. Beneath her she could see the smaller spiders running around aimlessly.
She pressed her back against the wall and waited for the right moment, from inside she could hear the sounds of the creature moving around. Her stomach knotted as she heard it edge nearer to the door. She readied herself to burst through the door and fire several shots directly into its face when the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the warehouse.
She cursed and quickly span back round, opening the door. A few more shots echoed out from above her. She looked up and saw Rei crouched by the staircase, firing wildly at the beast, her eyes wide with fear and hatred for the creature. Asuka ducked behind one of the empty boxes and fired at the beast, trying to make out what it was attacking.
She heard Shinji screaming out as she jumped out from behind the boxes and ran towards the creature, firing rapidly. Asuka watched Shinji as he dropped to his knees after being hit by one of the beast's limbs. Reloading, the beast now turned its focus on her, she approached it and fired, only to be knocked back hard by its fierce blow. It moved over towards her, the deathly stench of blood hovered over the woman, nearly making her sick.
LCL dripped off one of its limbs as it ran it across Asuka's body, she screamed out in pain as the LCL burnt onto her skin. It raised its limb and prepared to finish her off. More gunshots rang out, saving her. The creature focused its attention on the source of the shots, this time it was Rei. She stood with her gun pointed directly at the creature, a bright orange field in front of her. Slowly the spider began moving towards her, yet she stood fast, fearful but still firing.
The creature raised its limbs and attempted to punch it's way through the field, only to have its limb rebound off of it. Asuka slowly got to her feet and went over to check on Shinji, she turned him over and found him barely conscious, his jacket had been ripped apart from the creatures attack and he was bleeding heavily from his chest and where the LCL had dribbled onto him.
Anger boiled inside her as she turned to see the creature finally break through Rei's field and send her flying back into the warehouse walls. It spat LCL in Rei's direction, causing her to scream out. Asuka fired a shot at the beast, trying to attract it's attention, it turned towards her and began moving. She quickly ducked out of its way and reloaded her gun again. The beast however did not follow, instead it raised its arms and brought them crashing down on Shinji's chest. The young man screamed out in pain as LCL dripped into from his wounds.
Asuka felt herself stood frozen as she watched, everything around her seemed to slow down as something else took hold. She ran forward towards the creature firing again, it raised it's limb and tried to attack her only to be met with a similar field to what it encountered against Rei only twice as vast. It hit the field and recoiled in pain. It attempted to break through the field again, only to be met with the same resistance.
Asuka screamed out in rage as she dove directly into the creature, knocking it onto it's back, she stamped on one of its limbs sending LCL spraying everywhere, the pain from the boiling hot LCL only causing her to attack with more force. She found herself no longer firing but now using the butt of the gun to continuously hammer into the creature's skull.
Using one of its feet, it kicked itself free and Asuka felt herself flying backwards and landing with a thud on the ground. Swaying slightly, she got to her feet, seeing her own blood trickling to the floor. She span round, seeing the creature rolling around in pain and fired her remaining shots directly into it's skull, killing it. As it died it let out an almighty screech that echoed all around the warehouse, sending chills down her spine. Everything around her was a complete blur as she felt her way to the entrance.
Asuka dropped to her knees, looking directly at the dead creature, her clothes torn and covered in burning LCL. She breathed deeply as she felt her previous rage leaving her, behind her she could hear the voices of both Misato and Ritsuko, who had just arrived at the warehouse. Across from her she could see Rei regaining consciousness and getting to her feet. Slowly, Asuka began to get to her own feet, only to nearly fall backwards, she felt herself falling into something however, turning she looked directly into the face of Shinji.
His jacket torn and his white shirt covered in blood from where the creature wounded him, she watched him flinch slightly as he kept her on her feet. They stood there for a few moments, not exchanging any words. He carefully let go of her, allowing her to stand on her own for a while. She stepped away from him, for a moment their eyes never leaving each other, and then she moved back towards him, this time wrapping her arms around him and moving her lips closer to his.
He obliged and moved closer, their lips met as both of them closed their eyes each, entering their own world for a brief moment. Their tongues briefly met each other, as the kiss went on as they stood, oblivious to everyone around them. Eventually Asuka opened her eyes and moved away slowly as both hers and Shinji's eyes locked again.
Immediately she tore herself away from him and looked around, the other three were looking at them. Misato and Ritsuko in complete shock, Rei too appeared to be looking on, quite shocked at what happened. Asuka felt a torrent of emotions run through her, she opened her mouth to speak only to be met with nothing. Shinji spoke, but it registered as barely above a whisper to Asuka.
"Asuka I…"
She finally found her voice, and shouted back to him.
"Don't say anything, what the hell do you think you were doing."
She slapped him and pushed her way past him, running out of the warehouse, not sure of what she was doing or where she was anymore. Shinji looked on, shocked, not sure of whether or not to go after her. His question was answered for him when he felt Ritsuko and Misato behind him, Ritsuko spoke, but he couldn't focus on what she was saying, something about poison and an antidote. He felt a needle prick his arm as he faded into unconsciousness.