Well, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, I thought it was quite interesting and fun to write, albeit a bit short and chaotic.
I hope you picked up the little hints at crossover last chapter, because Part Two's crossovers are going to be way less subtle…ehehhehe…
Well, let's get on with Chapter Twenty Five!
It sort of sucks though that my fanfic Shinji's Stronghold has more reviews than this and it only has ten chapters. It's pretty popular, I reckon. Unlike my poor End of Evangelion; Darkness.
Well, let's start the show.
Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or its characters. Gainax does, and they rock. Who else could create both Evangelion and FLCL!
Vatican City, Italy
Unspecified Location
Father Alexander Anderson let out another agonizing scream as the flaming inferno licked the flesh right off his bone.
Amon stood there, solemn, ignoring the screams bouncing off the dull walls of the hall, maintaining whatever madness he had put upon the dying priest.
Indeed, Father Anderson was a regenerator, and an efficient one at that, created by God, or so he liked to think, to combat the forces of darkness and the enemies of Catholicism. However, under such a constant, burning, hellish flame, Anderson couldn't regenerate his skin faster than the rate of burning, his skin almost evaporating.
And one could tell by the ashes and melted steel around him that it was far too to use scrolls to escape or even let out a dying, enraged lash of bayonets at the solemn man standing in front of him.
No, for the first time in his life for a long time, Father Alexander Anderson was completely helpless, screaming and moaning in agony as he ascended up to the heavens into smoke, piece by agonizing piece.
Amon slowly turned away, a dull thump behind him which he ignore, the smell of roasted flesh thick in the chambers.
He peered at the creature clad in crimson on the opposite wall, pinned there, writhing slowly in utter agony, and cocked an eyebrow.
A comrade? No…He is finished, I have the object. Now to return to…him…
Tokyo 3, Japan
NERV Headquarters, Commander's Office
Commander Shinji Ikari sat in his normal position, behind his desk, peering listlessly at a data screen floating in front of him.
It seemed be a feed of a news network of some sort, as a vaguely attractive female anchor began rambling on about "economic depression" or something.
Then, underneath, on the ticker, Shinji Ikari's eyes focused on something, from behind their shade shields.
"Explosions rocked Jerusalem today, as more than twenty people, as well as four Israeli military helicopters were destroyed. Sources attribute the attacks to Palestinian resurgence forces and propose a renewed campaign against terrorism in the region."
Suddenly, under Shinji's dark glasses curved a wide grin.
And then, in an instant, a great siren spread around the Headquarters, startling all within, except Commander Shinji Ikari.
Ah…so the old men have begun…they must be overflowing with fear.
Unknown Location
SEELE Committee
Eleven dark obelisks stood solemnly in the room, lights flashing upon them. Except a single obelisk that read "12" in the corner. All lights and displays on it were shut off.
"So…he was found dead."
"To think that a force is capable of defeating a member! This is madness! This is the end!"
"Calm yourself, six! The great ceremony will be initiated soon, it is disappointing that such a thing has occurred, but it will not matter in the end, they shall all reach oblivion."
"Indeed, indeed. It is odd that there were sources aware of twelve's location and identity, it is quite alarming."
"However it must have been his fault, that is the only answer, his security detail was lax."
"Yet we must raise a swift precaution against further attacks while we strive to reach the Final Answer."
"Deploy him…Deploy Les Enfants Terribles!
Vatican City, Italy
Unspecified Location
Alucard groaned as his hand fell slack to his sides, the gray desecration that the Lance of Longinus had created now creeping towards his heart.
Through his blurry eyes he could see a smoldering corpse on the ground in front of him with a crucifix someone untouched in the ashes and burnt skin.
In front of him was a silent, vaguely familiar man, standing tall, staring at him.
But he too was gone, walking away seconds later, a container clutched in his hand.
The only thing in front of the dying vampire's distant eyes now was a figure that looked vaguely like a woman, beckoning towards him.
He recognized her now, recognized what had been hidden from him as he gasped his last breath.
Thousands of images flashed through his head, men bearing torches and spears chasing after him, a gruff man with a wooden stake, a young police girl staring down at him, everything but the truth.
Sir…Integra…Hellsing…forgive me…my true master…
Unknown Location
In the middle of the dark abyss, the great screaming yawning and void, there floated a single figure, staring upon the great bulbous crimson pods that seemed to number in the hundreds of millions, leaving a red luminescence in the darkness.
He was a rather tall looking man, clad entirely in black. He would appear to be "normal" in the mortal sense, if his head did not consist of a large exposed brain, peeled back lips to reveal bone, and sewn up eyes.
However it seemed that he could indeed see and speak, for he was the first of God Hand, the First Apostle.
A short, fat, pinkish man with a studded collar floated behind him, speaking, his voice clear but his lips still.
"Brother Void…ho…ho…ho, are you enjoying the current proceedings? Everything has gone well."
The man in black turned and spoke, although his skeleton jaws did not move.
"Indeed. Zodd has dispatched of the first in a line of massacre, they cannot halt the inevitable."
"Ho…ho…Indeed, now they are desperate, they are attempting to push forward what is written in the Scrolls."
"They do not understand that the Scrolls are the manifest of Idea, and therefore will lead them all to nothing but destruction."
"Which will simply speed up Femto's birth! Ho ho ho! This is all so amusing."
Void seemed to pause, looking the pink fat man up and down, and then responded.
"Indeed…Brother Conrad…Indeed."
Unknown Location over the Atlantic Ocean
The man sat in the army helicopter bearing him impatiently, staring out into the sloshing blue of the ocean all around him with a scowl.
He seemed to be tall and muscular, his skin pale, his hair barely straddling the line between white and blonde.
He seemed quite bulky, although whatever the reason behind that was, he was covered from neck to heel in a long, flowing blue cape.
The man peered at the pilot impatiently, his one good eye blinking, the other covered in a thick black eye patch.
"Pilot."
"Sir?"
"How long until our destination?"
"Approximately ten minutes, don't worry, we'll get there in time."
George Sears cocked an eyebrow, turning away from the pilot and scowling, still remembering his conversation with the young Japanese man who headed one of the most powerful organizations in the world.
Tokyo 3, Japan
NERV Headquarters, Control Room
Sub-Commander Misato Katsuragi's eyes widened as the sirens swept through NERV Headquarters, sweeping her and hundreds of other NERV officers into the Control Room. The only empty spot was the Commander's chair, something which confused and perturbed Misato greatly.
Where is he? This is an emergency…He did heal from all his battle wounds.
Suddenly she felt a cold, vaguely familiar presence behind her and was quite glad she hadn't voiced her opinions out loud.
Behind her sat Shinji Ikari, in what had seconds ago been an empty chair.
So he's got Rei's knack for sneaking up on people, huh…It's like stealth, you can barely feel they exist…
Shinji's commanding voice boomed in the Control Room, somehow amplified even more, making Misato think that the Commander's position was chosen for more than just the view.
"What is the current situation?"
Before the technicians could answer, the Commander's answer came in the form of an eerily familiar recorded voice.
"Foreign entities invading perimeter."
Misato peered at Shinji, who simply nodded at her, his eyes hidden behind his glasses, his face unreadable.
Striding forward, Misato began blurting out orders, the various men and women typing rapidly on their consoles.
"Switch to emergency blue communications and satellite! What is the current situation in the eastern and western sectors?"
Maya gasped, typing rapidly on her console.
"No! Unknown entity trying to jam our communications in that sector!"
"Dammit! What's their target!"
"They're attacking the MAGI? Once again?"
"Data is being entered from outside networks, they're invading the MAGI system!"
Ritsuko stood, shaking her head.
"Just as I thought, once again…Last time there was only one source…How many sources assaulting the system currently?"
"It's no longer a local invasion! The sources are from multiple areas with similar systems! Germany, China, England, America, and there may be more…."
Misato turned, looking grim.
"So SEELE is finally using their full force…I don't understand this…We're outnumbered and outgunned."
Ritsuko strode forward, typing rapidly on Maya's console.
"Ah! The fourth defense level has been breached!"
"The main database is locked! They're trying to make any possible resistance impossible!"
"It's trying to enter the deepest level of the system itself! Not even the back-up system can halt the invasion!"
Misato shook her head.
"Can you do anything Ritsuko? We can't let this happen, if they capture the MAGI we've lost everything!"
Ritsuko seemed to look down, and then peer over at the MAGI, specifically Caspar.
"Yes…maybe…"
She seemed to hesitate, taking a side glance at the Commander's unreadable gaze and then turning back to Misato and Maya, her voice suddenly firm and in control.
"Alright, Maya take your position right now, I'm going to the Computer Room, the only way to deal with the MAGI is to go directly to the source."
Misato and Maya nodded, turning back to the work at hand while Ritsuko quickly walked out of the Control Room, the Commander's eyes following her as she departed.
Unknown Location
SEELE Committee
The obelisks stood in the darkness, and then suddenly shimmering, for the first time disappearing completely.
In their place stood a large round table, and twelve seats around them, one empty.
In the eleven other seats stood various men, of all different races and nationalities, all different shapes and forms, although their was one in particular that stood out from them, a gruff looking man with a visor where his eyes would normally had been.
He, or that is, his hologram peered at the other holographically projected men, his face unreadable.
Suddenly a man on the opposite position as the visored man spoke, a pale man with a jutting chin.
"Ikari has applied the 666 Protection Program on the MAGI system…He still resists, it will not be easy penetrating those protections."
A short, tan man to his right spoke up, responding.
"Indeed, it appears we must break contact with the MAGI."
Silence seemed to descend on the chambers, and then suddenly, the visored man finally spoke, his voice as gruff and solemn as his appearance.
"We wanted this all solved as peacefully as possible, as quickly and as peacefully as possible. However it appears that is now impossible and foolish. Proceed with the final plan; take over Ikari's headquarters immediately!"
The pale man with the jutting chin opened his mouth, responding.
"Indeed, we must-"
Suddenly a scream seemed to echo from the pale man's mouth, although it did not sound like it was him screaming and then the man shimmered and then blinked out of existence, his holographic connection cut.
Keele, Number One, the visored man, stiffened, staring at the empty seat of Number Eleven as the other nine did so as well, their eyes widening.
"What…What is the meaning of this!"
Tokyo 3, Japan
NERV Headquarters, Computer Room
Ritsuko Akagi sighed as her fingers nimbly began typing on her laptop, staring at the connections between it and the MAGI and then typing rapidly.
Is this the right thing to do, mother? Can we really stop them? Why am I doing this? What is the purpose of all this? Am I doing this for the bastard or for his bastard son?
She stopped all of a sudden, her laptop screen flashing, and then turned to the MAGI Caspar, patting it as she stood.
"See you in a while, mother."
Lyon, France
Unknown Location
The pale man with the jutting chin let out a strangled scream, stumbling backwards onto a luxurious antique couch.
He was Number Eleven, of the Ruling Council, and he had just watched another heavily armed soldier of his fly into his private chambers, body crushed and crumpled.
Number Eleven quickly opened his closet, a great antique of strong oak, and found the ladder and the hole inside, leading up to what he hoped would be salvation.
The members of SEELE spoke often on death and destruction, calmly and coolly, for they where never faced with it, but now, the tables seemed to have turned.
Number Eleven climbed up through the tunnel, which seemed to go higher and higher and on and on, occasionally a great tremor shaking him as he climbed up. He didn't really like to dwell on what the explosions were from, although he remembered what had happened some time ago.
Number Eleven peered at the other holographic men, sitting comfortably in his dining room table, opening his mouth to speak.
"Indeed, we must-"
Suddenly he noticed an enormous beast of a man, with reddish tan skin, apparently over twelve feet tall and God knows how large across, staring placidly at him, blood flowing from the beast's mouth and fists, apparently not his own.
Zodd stared at him, blinking and then spoke, his great mouth bearing jutting canines.
"I have come to kill you, Charles Chirac."
It was then that Number Eleven had screamed in agony, not only from realizing that the console in front of him displayed that 80 of his elite security force had been decimated, but also from the sound of his Given name, a secret which only the members of SEELE knew of.
Chirac sighed, finally emerging from the laddered tunnel, and atop his mansion, which was still quaking from whatever was going on inside.
He peered at his undamaged helicopter here on the helipad on top of the great manse and smiled for the first time that morning, a happy, human expression.
Chirac sprinted towards it, coming within twenty feet of it when a great tan fist burst through the very helicopter itself, ripping it into shreds.
The fist slowly came into his view, from behind the dust and flame of the explosion the damaged helicopter had made, and the view grew to reveal that same creature, a bulking monster with huge muscles, red eyes and a great sword strapped to his back.
Zodd stared down at Chirac and then simply scowled, surprising the cowering man as a pool of urine pooled around the legs of the Eleventh One.
Zodd peered at the Frenchman and growled.
These mortals are such weaklings…Damn Void for sending me to this, I thought it would be entertaining, challenging, but this is a chore, treading around while they strike me with their primitive weapons…This is not amusing.
The great creature almost sighed as it reached down to crush yet another human, almost as if he had grown tired of it, when he felt a great pressure, almost like a huge fist, slam into his back, sending him stumbling forward, almost accidentally trampling Chirac.
Zodd turned around, confused, expecting another foolish tank or squadron of helicopters.
Instead there stood a single man, draped in a flowing dark blue cape, with an eye patch on his left eye.
The man was tall and muscular, for a mortal, but he was a miniscule compared to the size of Zodd.
What truly caught Zodd's eye was not the fact that he was standing there alone without any other mortals as backup, or the fact that there were two long silver tentacles protruding from behind his cape. No it was the fact that this man, this mortal, was smiling.
The man strode forward, his steel boots clanking down on the roof, his grin opening as he spoke, his voice unfriendly and gruff.
"I am Solidus Snake, otherwise known as George Sears, protector of what you know as SEELE or the Patriots or the Council…Whatever you call it, I cannot allow you to continue any longer."
Solidus Snake paused, and then threw off his flowing cape, exposing a lean muscular body covered in dark blue armor, almost like a mechanical suit of some sort, two metallic, prehensile tentacles jutting from his back.
Chirac stumbled backwards, rising from the wet pool and creeping back towards the tunnel that had led him up, staring in fear at the two figures standing opposite each other.
I must contact the others…I will survive this, I have not come all this way to die at the hand of…God Hand.
Zodd simply smirked, staring back at Solidus Snake, glad that he had finally found a human opponent who would probably last him more than a few seconds.
Well, that's all folks…Short? Lame? Eh…I liked it, and hopefully it's getting more exciting for you…Yeah, we lost two great characters this chapter, but oh well, that's life…Things will be getting even more crazy, exciting, and dramatic as we near the end of Part One in approximately five more chapters!
Well, later, see you Chapter Twenty Six.