A/N: Like I said in the previous chapter, this is part two of the season finale. Now, in a twist, Varian and the Eva Series have arrived. Can our Heroes win this time?

Disclaimer: I don't and won't ever own anything Neon Genesis Evangelion, related or otherwise.

A/A/N: This contains slightly mature material. You have been warned.

"…I can't believe Chivalt…no, Sir Eran, actually managed to reach that level of power." Morlina mutters darkly, watching on a hologram in the Crimson Angel meeting room, both Darvin and Shalock present as well.

"He's reached a level none but Varian could achieve. Complete mastery and control of a Crimson Angel's abilities and powers without any friction between the two separate beings inside that body." Darvin notes calmly, frowning slightly.

"Should we help then?" Shalock asks curiously, playing with Chivalt's spare knife, which he left behind in the room where his chair once stood.

"No. Varian told us not to interfere…they know about the powers that three of us wield…let's not give them any more information than they already have." Darvin states firmly, watching Varian stopping in the air, facing Chivalt as he approaches. "Besides, he still has his newest weapon he can use against the traitor."

The skies become filled with dark, ominous clouds as Lord Varian stares calmly at approaching Chivalt. "Ah…good thing I decided to wait this long until showing up. Facing you at your full power while completely synchronized with the Crimson Angel might have made you a match for me in power." Varian notes calmly, snapping his fingers. Four pillars of darkness shoot up into the sky, the darkness spreading to the others and creating a large black box around the both of them.

"We're detecting a massive AT Field outside of Tokyo-03!" Hyuga shouts, "It's blocking out our scanners! We can't detect either of the Crimson Angels!"

Misato's eyes narrow, 'What's going on?' she wonders to herself.

"The Dark Arena Pillars…" Chivalt mutters, glancing at the black walls surrounding the two of them from the sides and above. "What are you trying to pull, Varian?"

Lord Varian chuckles before opening a massive portal of darkness behind him. "I'd prefer Nerv not detect what I'm about to use against you. After all, there is no need for me to fight you personally…"

A large Eva Unit, taller than Chivalt by ten meters, walks out of the portal. The armor is blood red, has two arms and legs, each limb having claws at the end. The Eva possesses three red eyes and a single horn on its head. On its back is a pair of black metal wings, a metal tail, and is armed with a multitude of weapons systems in various places on the Unit's body.

"Heh, you made an Eva in your Master's form. How cliché, Varian." Chivalt snorts with amusement, readying his blade. "Okay, I'll turn your toy into scrap before I kill you myself."

"Don't be a fool, Chivalt. This Eva was made from Crimson Angel DNA…our Master's DNA." He smirks, watching Chivalt's eyes become filled with a hint of fear as he backs away. "That's right. It is equivalent to His power, slightly unrefined but enough to match you in terms of strength."

"…Heh, so what if it's powerful? I'll tear both of you apart!" Chivalt roars before charging at the Eva, his thoughts trailing off before speaking telepathically to Shinji. 'Sorry kid, but it looks like I won't be alive to see you save the world or kill this bastard…'

Shinji wakes up sharply, clutching the back of his head in pain before realizing that his Eva is going down the elevator and back to the Cages. "M-Misato…" He mutters softly, opening communications to the Nerv Command Center. "Send me…back up…"

"No Shinji. You aren't in any condition to even move right now." Misato states firmly, "They can handle SEELE on their own, so trust them."

"I'm not…worried about them…" Shinji mutters weakly, forcing his Eva to reactivate at his normal sync. "But…Varian will kill…Chivalt for helping us…"

"Shinji, that thing was a Crimson Angel. They are our enemies-"

"So you're saying that I should let him die?" Shinji snapped angrily, "He is still a person…the same as Kaworu was!"

Misato becomes deathly quiet. "…Shinji, go into Terminal Dogma and bring up the Lance copy." Commander Ikari orders.

"Commander, what are you-" Misato demanded before he cuts her off.

"He has made up his mind…and the Lance copy is the only weapon we possess that can counter Lord Varian's AT Field." Ikari states coldly. "Proceed."

"Right." Shinji replies weakly as the elevator stops at the access to the main shaft. Shinji felt very weak as he slowly walked out of the Elevator, closing his eyes. 'Mother…please give me strength…'

Yui Ikari's voice is disapproving. 'Shinji…you're exhausted…please stop this. You can't save Chivalt from his fate.'

'I have to try…please Mother…'

Yui sighs sadly, 'Very well…but I'm not letting you go higher than 100 sync or you might die.' Shinji feels his exhaustion fading as Unit 01 enters the main shaft and steps onto the foothold, slowly lowered to the bottom. After two minutes, he jumps off before landing on his feet in the same body of water he crashed into when fighting Unit 02 during the incident with the last Angel.

Unit 01 starts dashing towards the doorway that Tabris went through in order to reach Lilith before letting himself die by Shinji's hand. As he approaches, a large doorway opens and reveals a room with a large cross, the same one that Lilith was pinned to. There were a few new additions to the room as well. The Lance copy was stabbed into the exact center of the cross. A number of high-tech machines are next to the pool of LCL on the far sides of the room, which is used in the Pilots Entry Plugs.

Unit 01 steps into the LCL, wading over to the Lance before grabbing it with both hands and pulling the copy out. Shinji turns his Eva around, moving it out of the LCL before dashing back to the foothold cable, planning to help Asuka and the others before saving Chivalt. 'Don't worry Asuka…I'm on my way…'

Hikari deflects a Lance copy thrown at her Eva Unit with the shield, very grateful she had it. Unit 03 dashes up to the fallen Lance, about to pick it up when he is forced to side jump out of way of a Lance thrust aimed at him by another Eva Series Unit. Just as Hikari is about to counterattack with her spear, a red blur flies past her and Toji, cutting down two of the four Eva Series Units with a single swing of its Heavy Prog Sword. It was Unit 02…and its wings were cracked along the center.

"Great attack Asuka!" Hikari states cheerfully, impressed and shocked at the appearance of Unit 02.

"Not bad…I guess…" Toji grumbles, deflecting a Lance swipe from another Eva Series Unit before kicking it in the chest and knocking it back into a building. He slams his Prog Axe down at the Eva Series Unit. It attempts to block with the Lance copy, but Toji cuts through both its Lance and the Eva's S2 Engine, taking it offline. Behind him, the last remaining of the four Eva Series Units slashes the Lance copy it wields down at Unit 03's head. Toji turns around sharply, but not fast enough to counter the attack.

The Eva Series Unit stops moving, a thrown Prog Spear pierced into its S2 Engine. "Wow…I actually did it!" Hikari whispers in amazement.

"Nice throw, Hikari!" Toji shouts, "I owe you one."

Hikari blushes faintly, "Oh, your welcome Toji."

"You two can save that for later…" Asuka mutters, her AT Field Wings separating into two from the crack, reforming into a total of four wings as a golden aura surrounds her Eva. "Let's win this battle now!" She charges back into the battle taking place in the center of the city. Units 03 and 07 run after her, the latter picking her Prog Spear out of the Eva Series Unit she took down as she passed by it.

Unit 04's armor shifts to a golden color before ducking under a Lance swing and deflecting another with his staff. Unit 00 has discarded her positron rifle, wielding two Prof Knives, one from her shoulder holster while the other (surprisingly enough) came from Unit 04's shoulder holster. She deflects a Lance down into the ground with a Prog Knife, her sync currently 100 as she kicks the Eva Series Unit that attacked before evading a stab aimed at her Eva from another of SEELE's Eva Units.

Units 05 and 06 each hand one opponent rather than two against one, which Patrick and Rei had to deal with. Unit 05's machine gun is broken on the ground, now using a Prog Knife to fight against SEELE's Mass Produced Evangelion. Unit 05 sidesteps a stab made by the Eva Series Unit and grabs onto the Lance copy, planning to rip the weapon out of its hand, but regret it shortly after. Numerous spikes erupt from the Lance shaft, cutting deeply into Unit 05's hand as he pulls away, crying out in pain.

"The Lance copy damaged Unit 05!" Maya reports, "The Magi theorize that the Lance copies have been made with a program that rejects anyone other than the Eva Series Units."

"What's the status of the pilots?" Misato demanded.

"Rei's at 100 sync, same with Patrick. Kensuke's sync has been dropped slightly in order to numb some of the pain, but he won't be able to use his left hand." Hyuga reports bleakly, "Unit 01 is beginning his ascent to the surface and will be coming out of Gate 5 in the northern section of the city with the Lance copy he has."

"…That's our last remaining Lance…so he better not screw up." Ritsuko mutters, glancing at the sync scores of the pilots. "Asuka's score jumped to 400 again…and Shinji's sync has risen to 100."

Rei ducks under Lance swipe by a hair, sweeping her leg at the Eva Series Unit and trips it up. She quickly jumps off the ground by her hand, flipping in the air before stabbing one Prog Knife into her target's S2 Engine while the other Prog Knife deflects an incoming stab by the other Eva Series Unit she is facing. Suddenly, a sharp cry of pain causes her attention to be diverted to Unit 05, a Lance going through his chest and barely missing the S2 Engine.

"Kensuke!" Sarah shouted, turning around to assist him but is pierced in her Eva's right shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain before collapsing onto her face. The Eva Series Units fighting the two of them now go after Rei and Patrick without their Lances. Neither of the Evas pinned by the Lance copies move to assist.

Unit 04's pilot became distracted at that point from Sarah's cry of pain but refocused himself, barely ducking under a Lance copy in time. However, he was unable to evade another Lance copy when it stabbed straight into his back. Patrick coughs up blood as his Eva deactivates, remembering that at a sync of 100, all injuries that the Eva got were reflected on the pilot. His chest felt like it was burning.

"Units 04, 05 and 06 have deactivated!" Hyuga shouts. "The Lance copies still possess the ability to deactivate an Eva in possession with an S2 Engine!"

"What about the Eva's backup power supply?" Misato demanded.

Ritsuko sighs, "I took it out after the S2 Engines were installed since we didn't need them anymore."

Misato glares at her before staring at the main viewer. 'Hurry Asuka…'

Rei was definitely outnumbered five to one here. Suddenly, she hears a familiar voice. 'Rei, do you wish to live or do you wish to help your friends?'

Rei becomes silent. "I want…to help my friends." She replies softly, looking at the five Eva Series Units closing in around her. "I want to protect them."

'Very well, my daughter…' The voice continued, 'Your body once shared part of my soul but now you possess a soul of your own. Use it to protect the people you care about…'

Rei nods as she feels power flowing through her Evangelion Unit. "Thank you…Lilith."

"Impossible!" Maya shouted, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. "Rei's synchronization just jumped up to 300!"

Ritsuko's eyes widen in shock. "But that's impossible!"

"Well…these kids tend to do the impossible on a regular basis." Misato mutters, glancing at the main viewer as Unit 00 grows two diamond-shaped AT Field wings on her back.

Unit 00 discards the Prog Knives it wields and charges straight at the Eva Series Unit in front of her, ripping the Lance copy out of its hands and cutting both the Unit and S2 Engine in half with its own Lance copy. The Lance copy makes no move to reject Unit 00 even though it's not one of SEELE's Evas. Rei charges her Eva's AT Field into the Lance copy and slashes it at the other four Eva Series Units even though they are out of range. Two of them jump up into the air as the other two are cut in half by the center of the chest, also hitting their S2 Engines.

The two remaining Eva Series Units pulls their arms back, planning to throw their Lance copies at Unit 00 from the air. However, they don't get the chance as Unit 02 flies up behind them and cuts both of their heads off as well as their arms. The Eva Series Units drop to the ground, trying to struggle to their feet before Units 03 and 07 pierce their S2 Engines with their Prog Axe and Prog Spear respectively.

"Heh, nice job Rei!" Asuka shouts to her as Eva Unit 02 lands next to her. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Thank you Asuka." Rei replies happily, causing Asuka's jaw to drop. Rei raises an eyebrow curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Wondergirl?" Asuka demanded, still in shock from seeing Rei showing ANY emotions.

"What are you talking about?" Rei asks calmly, "I'm Rei Ayanami, not 'Wondergirl.'"

Asuka becomes silent, her sync dropping to 300 and two of her AT Field Wings shattering. "You know what I meant! You're acting less like a puppet and more like a human being!"

"Really?" Rei asks calmly, looking faintly curious at this. "I was unaware that I was acting human."

"Hey…is that Unit 01?" Toji asks in a confused voice, watching as Unit 01 reaches the surface of the Geofront before dashing to the North, away from the city.

"That idiot!" Asuka snaps angrily before gasping in pain. 'What's going on…?'

'Asuka…you're exhausted.' The redheaded pilot's mother replies softly as Asuka's sync drops to 100 and her Eva's AT Field Wings vanish. 'You can't hold higher than a sync of 100 right now.'

"Great…" Asuka mutters darkly before charging after Unit 01 on foot. Rei watches them leave as her AT Field Wings disappear, exhausted from using them for the first time.

"Let's get Kensuke, Patrick, and Sarah back to Nerv." Toji mutters, tempted to follow Asuka in her pursuit of Shinji but believing that they could take care of themselves.

"Right…" Hikari replies softly, also deciding to stay and help the fallen Eva Units and pilots.

Chivalt is blasted back into the wall of the Dark Arena Pillar, his breath coming in as gasps of pain as he struggles to stay on his feet, stabbing his sword into the ground and using it as a crutch. "Damn…you…" The Crimson Knight gasps out, glaring at the abomination standing in front of him. The Enemy Eva doesn't have a single scratch on it and now has a black bladed long sword in its right hand.

"How pathetic…had you fled rather than engage me in battle, you might have recovered enough to actually fight and defeat my toy in battle. However, you charged after me recklessly, not caring about your own fate." Lord Varian states mockingly, sitting on the Eva Unit's shoulder. "Now that you're too exhausted to attack or defend yourself right now, how about we have a little chat?"

"Screw you…Varian!" Chivalt roars, stumbling towards Lord Varian and his Eva, slashing his sword down at him but the Eva deflects the sword with ease, knocking it out of Chivalt's hands before kicking the Crimson Angel in the chest. He cries out in pain as he is knocked into the barrier wall again before he collapses onto the ground on his hands and knees.

"There…now that I have your complete attention…" Varian states calmly, hovering down to ground level as he opens a portal of darkness under the Eva he brought with him. The Eva sinks into the dark portal and it closes as Varian reaches the ground. He watches as the form Chivalt has fades away, now resembling his normal human self. "Let's have a chat, shall we Chivalt?" He pauses, "No…I'll call you by your human name, Sir Eran."

Chivalt glares at him angrily, barely able to breath out his retort. "Go…to…hell…"

Lord Varian smiles faintly, "If I recall, you told Ikari that you joined me for power and your beloved resurrected because of an incident where an army attacked the castle and killed everyone, your lover included, while you stood helpless." He smirks, pulling his hood off and revealing his face to Chivalt.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" He roars angrily before trying to stand up, but he coughs up a great deal of blood which causes him to collapse. "You were there?"

"I was more then just there, Sir Knight." Varian states in an amused voice. "I believe I told you that I've used Shalock's helmet a number of times, right?" Chivalt's face suddenly becomes deathly pale. "You got it. I took over your neighboring king's mind and had him order that attack."

Chivalt tries to struggle to his feet again but Varian kicks him in the side, knocking him five meters away and onto his back. Lord Varian puts his hood back over his face as he approaches Chivalt slowly. "Of course…you remember that I was there, masquerading as one of the soldiers who raped her in front of you. I'd have to say…no wonder you fell in love with her. After all, she had an amazing-"

Lord Varian was cut off as a AT Field charged punch hits him square in the chest, knocking him back three feet. "Impossible…" He gasps out, falling to one knee as he glares at Chivalt, surrounded by an aura of bloodlust as blood runs down from his numerous wounds. "You're moving…through sheer willpower?"

Chivalt doesn't reply to this, his eyes now blood red in color as his armor shifts to black again. He roars with hatred in his voice as he charges at Lord Varian. The leader of the Crimson Angels smirks, summoning Chivalt's own sword before stabbing him in the chest with it. His eyes widened as he collapses onto his knees.

"How ironic…killed by your own weapon." Lord Varian states mockingly before pulling the sword out and putting the tip against Chivalt's neck. "Before I kill you, I'll tell you one last thing. You were under the impression I didn't resurrected your beloved Princess Loriana…but you were wrong."

"What…are you…talking about?" Chivalt gasps out, his voice filled with rage.

Varian laughs, "I'm surprised you didn't figure it out sooner. Morlina is Loriana." Chivalt becomes silent, "Just rearrange the letters and replace the 'M' with an 'A' and they have the same name. You did know that when a human that doesn't have any combat abilities is infused with a Crimson Angel with a similar name, correct?"

Chivalt couldn't believe this, tears streaming down his face as he realized he attacked the woman he loved and nearly killed her, even if the Crimson Angel was in control. "You…monster…"

Varian closes his eyes. "Monster? That's all you can think up as your last words? What a pity." He prepares to swing Chivalt's sword before the Lance copy shatters the barrier behind him. Unit 01 charges inside and slams the Lance copy down at Varian. He barely manages to block it with Chivalt's sword, his eyes wide in shock at the appearance of the Third Child. Suddenly, Chivalt's sword vanishes and reappears in its owner's right hand, taking away his only defense. "SHIT!" he screams as the Lance copy slashes down through the both of them.

"Heh…you lose…" Chivalt gasps out as his body begins burning from the feet up, the Lance copy having cut through his heart.

"I don't think so…" Varian stated coldly, the Lance copy suddenly set ablaze by red flames and Shinji is forced to drop it or his hands will be burned. The Lance copy is reduced to ashes as the dust cloud brought up by the attack clears, revealing Varian's hood has fallen off and is staring at Unit 01 with eyes filled with hate. A large demonic claw is skewered next to Varian, who is standing to the right of where he was previously. "You forced me…to use my Master's power and even damaged it…" He glares at the remains of the arm and it is also covered in red flames before burning to ashes.

The entire barrier shatters into fragments and begins to break down, revealing Unit 00 above Varian and about to throw the Lance copy she stole from the Eva Series while Unit 02 is holding her Heavy Prog Sword in both hands, ready to slash it down at Varian. The darkness in the area makes it impossible to see Varian's face clearly before he pulls his hood back up, however. Shinji frowns slightly, feeling that he's seen the outline of the face before, but can't remember where.

"…Very well. Next time we fight, Ikari, you will die." Varian growls before sinking into a dark portal formed under him. Unit 02 slams her sword down at him but is unable to reach Varian in time.

"Heh…more like he's scared…" Chivalt muttered weakly, looking up at Unit 01 as the flames reach his waist. "You're an odd one, Shinji…but I respect you." He lets go of his sword and it begins to float in the air in front of Unit 01, growing in until it's the same size as the Prog Sword Shinji normally uses. "…Take it, Ikari. You'll need it more than I do…and thanks…for trying…to help…"

"I'm sorry…" Shinji mutters softly, "If I got here sooner then-"

Chivalt chuckles, rolling onto his back as the flames consume his arms and chest. "You always…apologize to people even…if it isn't you fault…" He closes his eyes as the flames consume what's left of his body, leaving nothing but ashes.

Shinji couldn't help but pity the Crimson Angel…he fought with Unit 01 in order to awaken it…and even helped, although briefly, against Varian. Unit 01 grabs the hilt of the sword tightly, swinging it to his side. Suddenly, a white light surrounds it and changes its form. When the light vanishes, the sword resembles an Eva-sized single-bladed sword with a cross-shaped hilt that has purple as a primary color with green highlights.

The main command center was deathly quiet. Everyone, Commander Ikari included, was stunned by the events that just took place. Maya gulps before breaking the silence. "Chivalt, the 9th Crimson Angel, has gone silent…" There were no cheers about this, as they had, in a way, just lost an ally in their fight. "SEELE's Eva Series has also fallen and...The sword Chivalt left behind seems to have been altered by Unit 01's AT Field."

"How is that Lance copy not affecting Rei the same way it affected Unit 05?" Misato finally asked.

"Rei's using her own AT Field to suppress the pain she's feeling right now…" Ritsuko mutters bleakly, pointing to the view screen as Unit 00 drops the Lance copy with blood leaking out of her hand. She opens communications with the pilots. "Everyone…return to the Geofront immediately."

Shinji sighed as he stared up at the ceiling of the room he was put in after falling unconscious from the strain on his body yesterday. He wasn't injured that much compared the Patrick, who had a lung punctured and barely kept himself alive with his AT Field blocking off the injured areas of his lung so he didn't choke to death from his own blood. Sarah and Kensuke had a few torn muscles, but that was due to their lower sync. Hikari and Toji were both uninjured, much to their dislike because they were the only people without injuries, except Rei and Asuka.

Both the First and Second Child suffered from exhaustion from their high syncs, but that wasn't technically an injury. Shinji was told after he woke up an hour ago that his entire body nearly shut down after he fell unconscious.

Suddenly, the door opens and Asuka slowly walks into the room. Shinji smiles at her, "Hi Asuka…" he says softly, still feeling weak. "How are you doing?"

Asuka smiles at him fondly before sitting on the bed next to his body. "I'm fine…but you nearly died out there…" she replies in a calm voice. Asuka hesitates before an expression of resolve showed on her face briefly before going back to her smiling face. "Shinji…despite how crazy you are sometimes when fighting for my sake or anyone else…I love you."

Shinji smiles back at her, his eyes filled with love. "I know…and I love you too, Asuka."

Asuka giggled softly before bending her head and chest down towards the Third Child slowly. "You idiot…I already knew that…" she whispers in a soft voice before gently kissing Shinji on the lips. Just when Asuka is about to pull away, Shinji wraps his arms around her back before kissing her back on the lips. 'Wow…' Asuka thinks softly to herself, surprised at his boldness.

Unknown to the both of them, Misato was watching the two of them through a crack in the door with a smile on her face. 'Took them long enough…' she thinks to herself before going to check up on the other pilots.

Lord Varian seems calm as he walks down a dimly lit hallway with SEELE 01, other known as Keel Lorenz, walking at his side. "The Eva Series was successful in recording the attack patterns and strategies the children use in battle, correct?" Varian asks in a cool voice.

"Correct. The next twelve Eva Series Units will be fully prepared to counter Nerv's Evas the next time we fight." Keel replies calmly as they approach the door. "I'll begin construction plans right away-"

"No need. It can wait for a few months." Lord Varian states firmly, cutting him off. "I've brought you here, to my stronghold, to show you something you might find interesting." He opens the door and enters with Keel following him inside. At the far side of the room is a large container engraved with blood red symbols with a glass cover visible to the both of them. Inside, and visible to the both of them, is the true Lance of Longinous.

Keel stares at the Lance, which has a reddish aura around it. "You've shown me the Lance already but…I've never seen something like this before."

"Unit 01 was about to fully awaken, just like it tried to before Third Impact when it came out of Nerv." Varian states calmly. "However, the Lance returned in order to keep it from doing that, which helped your own goals."

Keel nods, "You once told me the Lance of Longinous has a will of its own. If a progenitor of life goes against what it is meant to do, then the Lance puts the progenitor of life into stasis." He stares at the Lance, "It's what happened to Adam for what he did during First Impact, correct?"

"Yes." The Crimson Angel replies, "That is correct, Keel. However, Unit 01 almost reawakened yesterday. However, his power stabilized rather than go out of control." He glances calmly at the Lance before facing Keel. "I believe the Lance was responsible for this, which would explain why the Lance is glowing."

Keel nods, "That sounds accurate, but I doubt this is the only reason you've brought me here."

"Correct. Look to your right, Keel." Varian raises his right hand and the room lights up. Both Lord Varian and Keel are standing on a raised platform overlooking five dozen black-armored Eva Series Units, each equipped with a grey Lance copy. "This is what I wished to show you, Keel."

Keel stares at the Evas, amazed at this small army that Varian actually managed to assemble, speechless at this display. "Despite Unit 01 awakening, this war is far from over." Varian states calmly with a smirk on his face.

A/N: Wow, didn't see that coming did you? Anyways, I feel that these two chapters could have gone better but the stress of actually FINISHING them before the last day of school is over made me rush a bit. After all, I don't have Microsoft Word at my house…only Microsoft Word Processor. Ugh, I'm rambling. Hopefully you've enjoyed this 'season finale' and, unfortunately, I'm leaving you guys at a cliffhanger for a few weeks. Sorry, but I really need a break from writing all this. See you next time!

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