Shinji stared up as the black ball shredded and a gigantic fiery bird took its place. "Whoa!" He muttered squinting up at it. A visor automatically dropped over his view screen to spare his eyes.

"All EVAs! Launch!" Misato's voice shouted over the communication link.

"Roger!" Shinji hit the release button and the cable detached as Unit 01 raced towards the heart of Tokyo-3. On a digital screen 5:00 appeared and began counting down.

Units 00 and 02 also released their cables and began racing after the descending Angel.

In Central Dogma the radars and sensors were coordinated by MAGI with the impact point being updated constantly.

"Shinji-kun!" Misato called out. "It's heading toward your sector!"

"I know! I know!" He cried as he ran as fast as possible to get into position in time.

"Damn it," Asuka muttered as she saw the Angel moving away form her.

"AAAWWWWAAAAAAKKK!" A screeching cry boomed out penetrating even to the depths of her entry plug.

As Asuka watched the Angel's mouth opened and it spat out balls of flame. They landed and entire city blocks were enveloped in fire and blow apart as the earth shook.

Over her com link she heard Shinji crying out in terror.

"Got in Himmel!" She screamed. "Hold on!" She pushed Unit 02 even harder and ran on.

XXX

The proximity alerts whined out as the balls of fire rocketed in. On his view screen all he could see was fire coming straight for him. He instinctively dodged to his right and only just avoided being hit. The fireball struck and exploded reducing steel and concrete to rubble in just seconds and pouring out liquid fire in all directions. Some of it splashed onto Unit 01's unprotected back.

"Aaaaaahhh!" Shinji howled. "I'm burning!"

All around him the city was exploding and being turned into a vision of Hell.

"Shinji-kun!" Misato called out to him. "You have to get up! You have to get out of there!" Misato looked at the Angel on the overhead. It was attacking Unit 01 deliberately. Does it know? Does it understand what we're trying to do?

"Shinji-kun," Rei's voice called out. "You have to move. If you stay where you are you're a sitting target. Please move Shinji-kun!" Her voice was pleading and filled with desperate concern. Shinji mattered to her more than her own life.

Through the haze of pain Rei's voice reached him. "Right," he called out and forced himself back to his feet. Unit 01 began running again through the burning city.

Up above him the Angel's wings spread out and shook.

XXX

"Angel's trajectory is changing!" Makato warned. "It's veering off!"

On the overhead the enormous Angel banked around like a bird in flight.

"Where is it headed?" Misato called out desperately. Only 4:10 remained.

"MAGI is updating and replotting," Maya told her.

For a few frustrating seconds they were forced to wait helplessly. Then a new impact point in sector B-3 came up.

"Rei! It's heading toward you now!" Misato called out.

"Understood," she replied calmly.

"Rate of descent has increased," Makato said. "Impact expected in thirty five seconds."

"AAAWAAAAKKK!" The Angel bellowed out like some prehistoric monster. It's mouth split open and spat out a dozen balls of fire.

XXX

"Deploying AT Field." Rei imagined building a wall in front of her and her EVA responded throwing up the protective barrier.

The buildings before Unit 02 were leveled by her AT Field but it was in place as a pair of the fireballs crashed into it. The energy barrier became a sheet of flame. Inside the entry plug Rei grunted at the force of the impact and at the heat she could feel through her connection to her EVA. All around her other balls of fire exploded and caused the ground to shake. She stumbled but managed to keep running. The internal clock hit 3:40. She thought she could make it.

XXX

It was nearly to the ground when it's wings again moved.

XXX

"It's banking again!" Makato informed them.

It was now getting near the ground.

"Where?" Misato asked desperately. "If it hit's the ground we're done!"

MAGI gathered the information and gave them an answer.

"Impact point in sector E-7!" Maya declared.

Misato looked at the computer screen. "Asuka! it's you!"

XXX

"I know!" Above her the sky seemed to be nothing but flame. The Angel was plummeting straight at her.

She brought her Eva to a crashing halt as she smashed through a series of buildings.

"AT Field deploy to maximum!"

All the remaining buildings were flattened as Unit 02's AT Field appeared above her just in time.

The fiery Angle crashed down and was halted… but only for a moment.

Her AT Field became a wall of fire as two blazing talons broke through. The Angel grabbed her about the forearms and the armor instantly began to bubble and melt.

"Yaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Asuka howled as she could feel the skin burning off of her arms and could smell her flesh cooking.

"Her sync rate has dropped to 40%!" Ritsuko told them.

"Asuka!" Misato called out to her. "You have to hold on! You can't let it get past you!" Misato's eyes looked at the timer 2:44 remained.

"Her AT Field is weakening!" Maya related.

"Sync rate down to 36%!" Ritsuko said.

"Asuka! Hold on! Shinji! Rei! You have to help her!"

"The pain! The pain! It's too much!" Asuka screamed. "PLEASE GOD SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"Asuka! I'm here!" Shinji shouted as Unit 01 ran up to her. "I'll help you!"

Shinji added his AT Field's strength to hers pushing the wall of fire back. With his prog knife in both hands he hacked through the wall.

"Misato-san! Where's the core? I don't see the core!"

"It's here," Ritsuko brought up a thermal image of the Angel. Where its neck met its body there was a section cooler than the rest.

"Shinji! It's at the base of the neck!" Misato told him. "Hurry! You have less than 90 seconds of power."

"The neck! Got it!" He stabbed his prog knife into the Angel's long neck and saw it writhe and twist in pain. Shinji's prog knife was turning red hot in his hands but he continued to stab it deeper slicing and hacking through.

The Angel's beak turned to bite down on him.

As it did so Unit 00 arrived and tore though another section of the burning wall. Without hesitation she grabbed the Angel about the head and held shut it's beak wrapping both arms about it and holding it to her chest. Rei bit down in pain as she felt her hands, arms and chest burning. "Shinji… hurry…"

"Shinji! Less than thirty seconds!" Misato watched the timer counting down.

"I know!" He panted. he hacked and hacked cutting open the neck.

The Angel struggled desperately to break free as Unit 00 held on.

"Twenty seconds Shinji!"

Both arms ripped down and suddenly he could see the red core there in front of him surrounded by torn and bloody flesh.

"Found it!" He cried exultantly ignoring the blistering pain from his hands.

"Ten seconds!"

"Yaaaaaahhh!" With a furious scream Shinji brought the white hot prog knife up above his head with both hands and stabbed down with all his might.

The tip of his knife cracked through and the blade was shoved in all the way in to the hilt.

The core broke in two.

XXX

The Angel burst and exploded in blood. It's fiery skin died away as first the EVAs and then the entire city were awash in its blood. A huge cross of energy marked it demise.

XXX

Misato and the rest of the command crew were staring at the now lifeless corpse of the Angel lying atop the three damaged and powerless EVAs. 0:00 flashed above them.

"Tha… thank you all for your help," Misato said in a shaky voice. We pulled off another miracle, I wonder how many we have left and how many we're going to need. "Send out the recovery units to collect the EVAs and free the pilots. Recovering Unit 02 takes priority." She got on the com link to them. "Asuka, Shinji, Rei you all did amazing work today. We couldn't have done this without all three of you."

XXX

In her EVA's darkened plug Asuka was weeping with relief. She reached out and touched her communication button. "Shinji? Rei?"

"Yes Asuka?" Shinji answered.

"What is it pilot Soryu?" Rei replied.

"Thank you for helping me," she said in a tear choked voice. Shinji, Rei, and the command crew listened to her as she wept. "I could never have done this alone."

"That's all right Asuka," Shinji told her comfortingly. "It's all right."