25: The Beast II - Acperience

Four hours. Four long hours and nothing had been done to try to retrieve Unit-01. Other than reeling in the umbilical cable, finding that the end had been severed, nothing could be done. All they could do now was watch as Tokyo-03 began to sink into a pit of shadows.

Attempts at destroying the Angel had been made, but nothing seemed to work on the creature, not even the modified weaponry that made use of the Eva's A.T. Fields.

It was hopeless.

Touji, on the outskirts of the city, paced along the extreme edge of the Sea of Dirac. "This is bull! Why aren't we doing anything!?" He growled, looking around at all of the NERV personnel moving around the area, "We're probably Shinji's best chance at getting out alive, and they've got us all on stand by duty!"

It took all of Asuka's patience not to slap the brawny teen. In truth, even though her outward appearance was calm, she was a wreck. The moment the other Eva's arrived along with Mari and Mana in tow, the two girls had gone straight to her and wrapped her in their arms while Rei had nearly bowled right into the black nothingness after her brother. Had it not been for Unit-04's restraining hands, she probably would have done just that.

"Look," Asuka breathed out as she stared at the Sea, "You saw what that thing did to Unit-01. Shinji couldn't even move, and got sucked down before any of us could think about getting to him before we lost him...if we so much as touched that thing, we'd be in the same situation." She looked up at the boy, frowning angrily, "What good would that do him?"

Touj just shook his head, "I know that, but...it's just...why's it always him?" He asked, aggravated, "It's like these things target him because of how good he is! Like he's the one...the one person we can't do without..." he hung his head and sank to the ground, plopping down beside the female captain. "That's it, isn't it? They know we need him, so they keep trying to take him away from us just so we'll fall apart."

Asuka shook her head, "I don't really know if the Angels are actually that smart, or if they even have intelligence, Touji," she said, looking out across the city as a building sank below the surface, "All I know...all I feel is that Shinji's still out there, somewhere." She said, absently twisting the ring on her finger. "I can't explain it, but if he were...weren't coming back, I think I'd know..."

Touji looked at the girl in surprise, and smiled, "You really do love him, don't you?"

Asuka huffed out a laughed as a few tears worked their way to her eyes, "Hasn't done a lot of good, has it?" She asked, looking at him, "Yeah, I love him, but doesn't that mean I need to support him in everything, or at least try to help him? Look what happened; I lost him again!"

"He's not dead, yet," Kensuke said, coming up to the pair, "Misato and Ritsuko are doing their best to figure this thing out, and when they do, you can bet I'll be first in line to start tearing that thing apart to him out of there!" He growled, smacking his fist into his palm, his glasses glinting.

"I will be right there with you when you do," Rei said, coming to stand next to him, "I do not wish to lose my brother again, nor will I lose any of my friends, either."

"M-me, too!" The four pilots turned around to see their newest member standing behind them nervously.

Touji rose to his feet, "Hikari, look, you know you don't have to help us," he told the girl, "We've all had combat experience, hell, even Mana has, and she doesn't even have an Eva. This...this whole thing with you being a pilot is messed up beyond belief. You're not a fighter."

Hikari smiled tearfully, "I know I'm not...but I already told you I wanted to stand beside you...and now I have the chance to do something to help you, all of you, even if I don't have your experiences, I want to be able to do something for you guys, not just being able to treat you to a meal, or clean house, I want...I wanna be part of it all!" Hikari cried as Mana and Mari came to join them, "You guys are always coming back from a fighter patched up, even if Shinji gets the worst of it, you guys get hurt, too. And when Mayumi died...I was so afraid the same thing would happen to one of you, and it did...Shinji nearly died..."

The girl's shoulders began to shake violently as her tears fell freely, and Touji stepped forward to hold her, feeling just how small she was. Not two days ago, she was a normal girl, his girlfriend no less, but now she was caught up in something that could very well get her killed. The thought of that happening made him hold her all the tighter. If Shinji can put his life on the line for us, we can do it for him.

=x=

"How are we doing with the probes?" Misato asked tiredly, "Has there been any progress?"

Maya sat back in her seat, frowning, "Nothing. Every time we send one out, it goes blank as soon as we submerge it. We only get a small glimpse of what could be Unit-01, but it's so deep inside the Angel that it'd be impossible to reach it."

Misato sighed, and took a sip of her coffee, "What options do we have on the table?"

Ritsuko looked at the woman, "The only chance the Shinji has is if he can manage to break free before his life support system fails, which is only ten hours away from now...The UN wants to bomb the afflicted area with all of the remaining N2 mines in stock."

"WHAT!?" The Major roared, "Are you out of your mind?! That's close to seven hundred bombs! They'd level the entire country!"

Ritsuko glared at her, "I don't like it anymore than you do, Major, but the only chance Shinji might have would be this!" She yelled back, "We'd have to have all four remaining Evas stationed around the city, but we can contain the blast so it'll only effect the area afflicted by the Angel."

"And what about Shinji?" Misato growled, "Are you just gonna give up on him? I won't let that happen!"

"You don't have a say."

"The hell I don't!" Misato turned purple with rage, "That's my son out there, of course I've got a say in this!"

A deathly silence filled the control room as the major glared at the woman. Many of the staff had forgotten that she'd begun to think of the boy as her own, as well as the other children, but this was the first time she had admitted as much.

Ritsuko looked at her and sighed, "Misato, I know how you feel about him, but this might be his only chance before he suffocates in there. The Eva can handle the blasts from the bombs, as a matter of fact, the safest place to be would be inside of the Evas to stay alive, even the Geo Front would take heavy damage."

Misato glared at the woman one last time before spinning on her heel, "You do what you have to do," she muttered as she made for the door, "But if I lose one of them, I'll be worse to you than the Angels."

=x=

Shinji sighed as he worked his garden, hovering over the small patch of watermelons as his wife, heavy with child, watched him work. "Are you sure you don't want any help, Shinji?" Asuka asked, rubbing her stomach gently. "I'm not so far along that I can't lift a finger, yet."

Shinji gave her a warm, loving smile, "It's alright. I actually enjoy this more than anything." He told her, "Besides that, you're due any day now. I'd rather not take the chance."

Asuka huffed, "Who knew you were such a mother hen?" She laughed, getting to her feet and moving over to him, "I'll be glad when this little heathen comes out," she remarked, smiling widely, "I swear he does summersaults at night!"

Shinji chuckled and tenderly kissed her cheek, "I still think it'll be a little girl."

Asuka grinned at him, "And I know it's a boy." She said confidently, "And you cannot change my mind about that."

Shinji just shook his head and ushered her back onto the porch, "Whatever the baby turns out to be, I'll be happy as long as I know its healthy and strong, just like their mom."

=x=

Mayumi was pacing in agitation as she watched the goings on down below. Not only was Shinji in trouble, but Liliel was keeping him from activating his Bestial Eva. The young Angel fumed as she looking in on the illusion. Shinji's dearest wish. To be with the one he cared most about, surrounded by their friends and family. It was a cruel image that she knew would enrage him the moment he found out it was fake.

If only she could find a way to break Liliel's hold on him...

"He doesn't hve long left," Marielle said, drifting into the misty woods where Mayumi paced, "Whatever Abraham has in store for our little brother, then he should act soon, or Shinji will not survive."

Mayumi fluttered her wings, "I know, but I haven't seen Abraham in days, not since the previous attempt on Shinji's life by Gabriel."

"He left instructions for you to act in his stead should something happen to him."

"Yes, I know, but I don't know what to do, or how to handle this," Mayumi muttered helplessly, "I don't know how to reach Shinji to tell him he's being tricked, or even if he'll hear me for that matter."

Marielle smiled at the girl, and flared out her wings, much larger than the younger Angel's, and closed the window she was looking through, "Perhaps you can help someone else get to him," she suggested, drawing the girl's attention, "You should that an Eva pilot, whether he or she enters the battle field as a single Unit, is never alone...think about it. Shinji isn't alone right now. Someone else is with him."

Mayumi, at first, didn't quite understand what the Angel of Death was inferring. The only other being that was with Shinji was Liliel, and they were seperated by Unit-01 Stage-2...unless...

"Yui!" Mayumie squeaked, and fluttered off the ground, "I know what to do! Thank you, Marielle!" She yelped and disappeared toward Earth, Marielle smiling after her.

"Good luck, little sister," she sighed, raising her hand in farewell, "you will most definitely need it."

=x=

Mayumi flew at breakneck speeds as she homed into on the area afflicted by Lilliel's Sea of Derac. She could see many military bombers hovering nearby, knowing that they would soon attempt to destroy the Angel that swallows the world. Further down, she could see the Evas and their pilots arguing with some of JSDF's soldiers, the most vocal being Asuka, who was being restrained by Touji and Misato, though it seemed the both wanted to let her go to town on the fools that were very close to killing Shinji.

Ignoring them for the moment, she flipped up and over herself and dove straight down into the black moment she sank below the surface, she was assaulted by the voice of the Jaws of God. He was furious at her intrusion, and wanted her gone.

His voice was not a true voice, however. It was pure intent. She could feel his anger and loathing for the Evangelions, and their pilots. His devotion to Adam and Gabriel's cause. His overwhelming desire to see Shinji drown in his dreams while his own kind murdered him.

Mayumi tuned it all out as she dove ever deeper into the belly of the beast, searching for her quarry.

She found it near the very bottom of the bit, along with the shredded remains of ships, shuttles, and other vehicles that had sank into the Sea of Derac by Liliel's doing.

There were also the remains of an Evangelion. Not Unit-01, but another. It was similar to Unit-02 in looks, save for the fact that the armor was grey instead of red. The chest around the core had been torn to shreds, signifying that whatever had happened began within the core itself. The word EURO was emboldened on one of the shoulder pylons. It was a unit she had never heard of, but perhaps she could make use of it later if she had to, making a note to ask Abraham if she saw him again.

Next to the destroyed unit, however, was the one she was searching for. Curled up as if asleep, Unit-01 lay on its side, even the white of its eyes dimmed as the power slowly ran out.

Mayumi hurried to the hulking Evangelion's chest and passed into it. She found herself against the core, smiling as she saw a small spark inside the red orb. She placed her hands against the core and began to phase inside. "Yui," she called out as she entered, her hands moving out to cup the small flame she found there.

It was warm, and fluttering like a little heartbeat. She cradled it against her chest as if it were a child, "Yui, I need you to wake up." She whispered to the soul she held, which was now beginning to glow brighter. "Shinji needs you, right now," she told the soul, "I can't do it for long, but I can act as the soul of Unit-01 long enough for you to call him back to reality. Can you do that for me?"

As if in answer, the soul glowed a brilliant blue, and Mayumi smiled, "Alright, then. Go get our boy."

=x=

"Stop it!" Asuka roared as she and the other pilots were dragged onto the air crafts, "You can't do this! He's a pilot of an Evengelion! You're gonna kill him!"

She was shoved inside as the Evangelions were also loaded into transport units and taken away from the blast zone. Touji and the others that were present on the battle field were also pushed into the craft, the door slamming behind them. Kensuke roared and slammed his fist against the wall, "I officially hate the fucking military!" He snapped as Rei wrapped her arms around one of his in an attempt to comfort him.

"We can't let them do this!" Hikari cried, tears running down her cheeks, "Shinji's still - !"

The craft rocked as a shock wave hit them, and a blinding light erupted through the windows. Asuka felt her heart beginning to stop as she saw the enormous cloud rising from Tokyo-3. "No..." she sank to her knees. "How could they...after all he's done for them..."

"This is so fucked up," Touji growled, punching the wall, "He's died for them, and come back, and now our own guys just killed off the best chance we had!"

Rei felt hot tears running down her face the third time in her life. Her brother was once again gone, and she never had the chance to save him...but as the flames and smoke began to die down, she saw that, even with the massive amount of damage that would have been dealt, the area around Tokyo-3 was...unharmed.

"No way," Kensuke said as he saw the same thing, "After all of that? It's still alive?!"

Asuka looked up and hurried to the window just in time to see the last of the smoke disappear, the sheen of n A.T. Field shimmering over the city. "It's that powerful?" She breathed out, "How do we fight something like that?"

"Something's happening to the shadow!" Touji yelled, pointing down to the streets, "Look, it's pulling back toward that ball-thing!"

It was true. Liliel's bodies were moving toward each other. The black sea moving toward the ethereal body floating about the city. Soon, a round black pool sat directly beneath the Angel, and began to move.

"I'm getting orders from NERV HQ," the pilot yelled, "We're relaunching the Evas!"

No sooner had he said that than two shapes began to rise up. Black as shadow at first they rose from the Sea of Derac, two enormous bodies, before they shaped themselves. The pilots' eyes widened as the two figures shaped themselves into something frightfully familiar. Both were exact copies down to the horn atop their heads. Where the shadow of the Angel once lurked now stood two Unit-01 Stage-2 models, F-type armor and all.

"You've...you've gotta be shitting me!" Kensuke yelped, his glasses nearly falling from his nose, "Is one of those things Shinji, or are they both copies?!"

Below, both Units opened their mouths, and roared out as if issuing a challenge. It also answered their questions. These two were merely copies, dangerous copies, but copies nonetheless.

The black and white sphere shrank and hovered above the ground, only half as large as it had been. A core glowed bright red on the chest of the replicated Evangelions, their eyes glowing bright red.

=x=

Shinji held the wriggling bundle close as he gazed down at his child, a small tuft of red hair on her head, and the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen. Gathered around him were all of his family and friends. His mother and father stood close to the door while Hikari, Mana, and Mari crowded around him to see his new daughter.

Asuka lay behind him, resting in the hospital bed, smiling up at him tiredly. His mother came forward for a moment, her husband looking a little startled for some reason. She leaned down and placed a gentle hand on the child's head. "She's beautiful, Shinji."

"I know," he said, smiling tenderly as the little girl gripped his finger tightly in her tiny hands. "this is a dream come true."

Yui smiled sadly, standing back to full height, "A dream is still a dream, Shinji, and that is precisely what this is," she said, looking over at Asuka, "Asuka, could I ask what your maiden name was before you married?"

"Hm?" Asuka turned toward her, "Oh, it was Soryu...why?"

Shinji stiffened for a moment, "Soryu?" He asked, looking back at her, "Asuka...when did we first kiss?"

She blushed a little, "It was in the kitchen of Misato's apartment, remember?"

Shinji rose and placed the child in her arms, his eyes downcast, "Asuka, as far as I know, what you said is right...for the past that I already knew." He growled, his fists clenching, "But for when I went back in time," his eyes glowed angrily, "The Asuka I knew was named Shikinami, and we kissed under the mistletoe!" Shinji roared, "Who are you!"

The vision of Asuka seemed stunned, but then she smiled thinly as the baby in her arms melted away into sand, "I should have known things would have been altered more than I remembered." She said as the others in the room began to fade away, except for Yui, and Shinji, whom she placed an arm around protectively. "Really, though, you should have stayed in this happy little dream world I created for you, Shinji Ikari."

Shinji's frame shook violently with concealed rage, "Happy?!" The room began to crack, the walls beginning to crumble, "Do you have any idea what this means to me!? What I've just lost! What you've just taken from me!"

"I am a child of Adam," the fake said, looking at him with dull eyes, "We know nothing of familial bonds. I only found out by looking through your memories of the past...but it seems that woman beside you had other ideas."

Yui glared at the girl, "You really think I would allow my son to be harmed in such a way?" Yui asked, "I'd rather spend my days as the soul of Unit-01 than watch my baby wither away in here!"

"With what's to come?" She asked, "It would have been kinder to leave him to his dreams."

Yui growled, "Shinji?"

Shinji lowered his eyes for a moment, then a red gleam appeared in them so bright it was as if his eyes were made of molten fire. "Invert controls. Backdoor code: The Beast!"

The dream world shattered, leaving Yui and Shinji alone in cockpit of Unit-01. Shinji grasped the controls as the interior turned red. The LCL boiled around them as Shinji ground his teeth, the temperature rising.

"Shinji," Yui said, placing her hand on his shoulder for a moment as her body began to disappear back into Unit-01, "Tear that Angel apart."

"I'm going to get you out of here," Shinji told her, not looking back at the woman, and missing the smile on her face, "I swear it!"

Mayumi suddenly appeared beside him, "My part's done, too, Shinji. The rest is up to you!"

As Unit-01 began to to rip its armor and restraints off, Shinji's sync rate skyrocketed, and the wild Unit let out a gutural roar was its mouth opened wider than ever.

Outside, Liliel's spherical body began to bulge and twist, much to the NERV staff's shock. The two replicas turned their attention toward their former body as an arm ripped its way free, blood spraying the ground in front of it.

Back at the base, Misato and Ritsuko were watching the screen with growing horror as Shinji's vitals reappeared on the screen, his sync ration roaring passed three hundred easily. "There's no way he could have gotten out! Not like this!" Ritsuko yelled.

"I'm detected a powerful A.T. Field from within Unit-01 Stage-2!" Maya relayed, sweat beading her brow, "Pattern...oh, god! Pattern Blue! Angel presence confirmed!"

"WHAT!" Misato and Ritsuko roared, "That's impossible! The core infection was destroyed!" Ritsuko went on.

"The systems don't lie," Aoba said, his voice quavering, looking up at the screen as another arm appeared through the rupture, "Whatever's coming out of that thing, it's not human."

"Scramble all pilots!" Misato roared, "Arm all Units with the best A.T. Modified weapons we have, on the double!"

Unit-01 tore its way free of the body, ripping and tearing its way out like a rabid animal biting and clawing its way out. Its body had changed drastically. The main body was longer, sleeker, as were the legs. But the arms were much more deformed. Both had stayed the same length down to the hands, from there, however, the fingers branched out into wing-like appendages, webbing between them.(Half-formed bat wings)

The head and the parts that had shed what armor there was, was grey, and grotesque, gnashing teeth in its maw as its tongue lolled out, long and forked. It's green, bestial eyes landed on the two replicas, or more precisely, their cores.

It gave out a roar, and lunged forward.

The first copy went down without a fight as Unit-01 slammed into it with its titanic form, its teeth coming down on the Angel Carrier's throat. Its partner lept into the fray as it was ripped open by the rogue Evangelion with feral glee as Unit-01 devoured its flesh. The moment the second copy tried to pull the wild beast off, it round on it, and latched on with its teeth, ripping off one of the arms. Then it went right for the core, knocking the Angel Carrier over, and crushing the sphere in its jaws.

As the NERV staff watched, some becoming sick from the sight, it was clear that the rogue Evangelion was far from finished with its meal. It ripped into the body of the fallen replica, devouring it down to the barest scraps before it returned to the other carcass.

"The S2 engines," Ritsuko realized, "She's taking them into herself!"

"But that's impossible!" Misato snapped, "All of the testing revealed that an S2 engine was impossible to install in an Evangelion!"

Ritsuko nodded, unable to take her eyes off of the carnage, "Install, yes, but she's...she's eating it! It's becoming natural part of the Evangelion! She'll never run out of energy at this point!"

"What about Shinji!?" Misato snapped.

Hyuuga looked up from his screen at her, shaking his head, "There's no video feed, all I'm getting from the other end is static and screaming, lots and lots of screaming. And not all of it sounds like Shinji."

As the other Units arrived, Unit-01 began to mutate once again, the wings on its arms fully forming, and a single horn rose from from its head, curving back over its head as it narrowed its eyes at the approaching Evangelions.

Asuka was at the front of the line, her eyes wide with shock as she saw her lover's Unit. "Mein Gott..."

Mistato ground her teeth, her fists as the warning lights blared "Pattern Blue" even though the Angels were destroyed. Only Unit-01 remained. She reached for the communications, "Attention all Units. Unit-01 has ascended into an Angel. Your tasked with restraining and capturing it with hopes of rescuing the pilot. If this proves impossible...then eliminate Unit-01 as the Sixteenth Angel."

BAM! Now that's what I call insanity!

Review if you liked the chapter, and let me know how you felt about it!