I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.
The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.
NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.
This will be Shinji/Rei.
For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.
Note that this is the REVIVAL-Edition. Compared to the original from 2010, significant changes have been made, though the basic story is still the same. More about that at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 25: Zeruel
"The Angel appeared over the ocean out of nowhere and is approaching rapidly! It'll make landfall in mere minutes," Lt. Aoba reported, while everyone went to battle stations. It had come as a total surprise for them that the next Angel had appeared so soon after the last one.
Misato had been at her desk, being busy with paperwork, when the base was put on alert. An Angel at this time was maybe the worst that could have happened to them - there simply hadn't been enough time to get back from the little disaster that was the previous Angel - and thus they could only hope for the best. It did create the question if this monster had waited on purpose.
"Damn it! Where are our pilots?" She knew Shinji wasn't in any shape to pilot right now, since he was still recovering from his depression, so that left them with four pilots available.
"Pilots Horaki and Suzuhara were already in the geofront for a routine test and are preparing for deployment right now. Pilots Ayanami and Soryu were picked up by Section 2 at the school and are on their way," Maya reported while frantically checking all systems.
Right then, Ritsuko remembered something important. "We had planned to attach the new arm to Unit-00 in one hour. Right now it still only has one arm and we don't have the time to attach it now."
These were not good news for Misato. "Fantastic... Can this get any worse? That means Unit-00 isn't battle-worthy. Get Rei into Unit-01, it's proven she can pilot it. Deploy Units 03 and 04 outside as soon as the pilots are ready."
Misato also felt unwell because her two superiors were again supervising the battle from the command level. She couldn't help but to feel they look a bit like vultures observing the damned ones, waiting to pick up the remains, as morbid as that sounded. Also, after last time the Commander was present, there was some resentment and fear he could again make things worse. Her thoughts were interrupted when someone else appeared on the tactical level.
Shinji knew his uncle would have to wait in the general area, where he would at least see what was going on over the screen, because his guest clearance simply didn't allow him entrance into these parts of the building. He himself however, did, although normally the personnel didn't want the pilots enter the command center on a whim.
"Misato, what the hell is going on?" he gasped, having run all the way from the hospital to the command center.
"An Angel is attacking, that's going on. Sorry, but right now you are in no condition to pilot, so Rei will pilot your EVA," Misato told him, hoping he would understand.
Shinji did understand. He still didn't feel so hot, and that meant he wasn't up to piloting right now. "Can I at least stay here?" he asked her, hoping that he at least could follow the battle directly.
Misato didn't know. The Commander hadn't reacted at all and the Vice-Commander looked to her as if to say that it was her choice. "OK, we'll make an exception," she decided. There would be no damage done if Shinji stayed with them.
"The Angel is making landfall and starts to slow down!" Lt. Aoba called. "We are about to get a visual from the outer defenses!"
The main screen changed, showing the Angel making its way through a gap in the hills. The Angel looked... a bit bizarre. Essentially, the Angel looked like a tightly wrapped-up mummy, only that it was missing any kind of visible arms or legs. The only thing visible was its face, which resembled a bony mask that somehow radiated rage. The outer defensive batteries had already opened fire, but to no effect. Curiously, there even wasn't the flare-up of an AT-field, which was strange.
"Normally, I would ask how this thing is planning to attack us, but after a huge crystal and a sphere I know better." Misato looked to Lt. Hyuga. "Anything we don't already know?"
He shook his head. "No. We can't detect an active AT-field, but otherwise we are blind. It's like these wrappings, whatever they are, do shield the Angel from our scanners."
Ritsuko felt like groaning when hearing these news. "It is like this Angel is doing this on purpose to throw us off..."
"Units 03 and 04 are ready for deployment. The other two pilots have arrived and are preparing themselves," Lt. Ibuki called.
However, before she could say more, Lt. Aoba interrupted her. "The Angel has simply waltzed through all the outer defenses like they don't exist and is about to appear at the edge of the city!"
Outside, the wrapped-up giant appeared over the hills surrounding the city. All batteries at once opened fire on the Angel, but with only little effect at all, explosions bouncing off it like rain on a plastic coat. There still was no visible AT-field, yet the Angel was not harmed in any way.
FOOLS! That won't help you! The Angel known as Zeruel almost exploded in pure anger. You won't stop me from avenging my brother! Nothing can stop me from killing his murderer!
He had been known as a pacifist by his siblings; one that didn't want to bully them despite his enormous power. He was the physically strongest of Adam's children, and yet he never wanted to use his power to force his will on others. However, that had changed now. First there was what the Lilim had done to their father, which had already angered him.
Then however, the Lilim had killed his brother.
Sachiel had always been like a little brother to him. Sure, they were all siblings and around the same age, but he and Sachiel had been especially close to each other. And then this... this perversion created from their traitor-mother Lilith had murdered him. Every peaceful thought had left him after that horrible crime, his heart crumbled to bits, leaving behind a being of pure rage - rage that grew stronger with each new sibling killed by the Lilim. Oh yes, he would free his father and destroy the Lilim. But foremost he wanted to MASSACRE the murderer of his brother!
I have had ENOUGH of your games! Finally he had enough of these useless attacks against him and prepared to let loose a burst from his eye-weapons, targeting the central battery. He knew that he would have an easy time breaking the armor of that Lilim-fortress. His eyes flashed up, and...
-BLLLLLLAAAARRROOOOOUUUUM-
Several alerts went off in the command center when the massive burst hit home, causing a huge, cross-shaped detonation to rise into the sky. Lt. Hyuga looked in sheer horror at the screen. "Unbelievable! That single burst from the Angel has destroyed 18 of the armor layers in one go! Another one at the same point and it can enter the geofront! Such power..."
"Launch Units 03 and 04 now ! Exit points where the Angel can't see them. We have to stop it before it can break through the armor!" Misato ordered. She was horrified by the sheer firepower this Angel was packing, which was even worse than the 5th Angel.
At once the two EVAs were launched and arrived in the city while Zeruel was busy with demolishing the defense systems one after the other, cross-shaped energy clouds rising from the points where his weapon had hit and vaporized the weapon emplacements. He seemed to totally ignore the EVAs for now, concentrating on cleaning the field.
Hikari and Toji were a little surprised by this - they had expected the Angel to attack them right away - and they also were scared at the sheer destruction this Angel was right now causing to the city. "Hikari, Toji, attack the Angel as long as it is distracted!" Misato told them, stress clear in her voice. She knew they wouldn't get a chance like this again.
"All right, Hikari, we sneak up from behind and then stab it together with our prog-knives. That should also take care of the field if we manage to get close enough! Are you with me?" Toji suggested to Hikari. He had seen this in countless action movies and couldn't wait to try this himself.
She didn't have any better idea, especially when seeing how weapons fire simply bounced off the Angel. So she took the chance. "All right, I'm with you," she said, readying her knife.
Holding their prog-knives ready they ran up to the Angel from behind, where it couldn't see them, until they were sure to be close enough that the field would fizzle out. "On three! One, two, THREE!" Toji screamed, and then both of them tried to ram their prog-knives into the back of the Angel.
Much to their astonishment however, the blades seemed to slide off the Angel, instead just cutting the wrappings. The cut wrappings acted as if being in a storm, flying in all directions. Toji and Hikai had to retreat further away, as they saw to their horror how the wrappings were ridiculously sharp, slicing into their surroundings like swords. Several buildings being cleanly cut in two were a big warning sign.
"What the hell? Why didn't it work?" Toji gasped. Shouldn't they have neutralized the field?
Lt. Hyuga looked in alarm at his screen. "Major! The Angel still hasn't activated its field! That's some kind of natural armor protecting it! Wait... look at the screen."
Misato saw what he meant. The wrappings were now all removed, showing the true form of the Angel. It actually was relatively humanoid in shape, its body colored in a black-and-white pattern. However, its legs looked a little short and had no feet, while it lacked arms entirely, instead something looking like folded paper hanging from its bony shoulders. The huge red core in the middle of its chest was hard to miss as well.
Toji and Hikari had no time to ponder about that when the Angel turned around. They could have sworn its face showed anger. "Not good!" Hikari gasped at the sight.
Zeruel was not impressed at all. Now he was facing some of the abominations, but not the one he wanted to get his hands on. Still, for now they would suffice to vent his anger on. No one would sneak up on him without paying the price. You were foolish to try that! No one does that to me! Like a freight train of death he attacked them.
"Scram!" Toji called, both EVAs running into different directions, just in time who a detonation blasted the ground open.
Unit-03 was running as fast as possible, but the Angel clearly had decided to blast it first. "Damn, we're like targets!" Toji screamed, then barely made a dive, the particle beam passing by.
"Hold on, I'll attack it from behind!" Hikari called, having grabber a particle rifle from a weapons building.
"Easier said than done!" Toji called, throwing his knife at the Angel.
Surprisingly, the knife did hit the Angel on its face, and it howled when the knife managed to make a nick into it. The Angel did lose its levitation and landed on its legs. Toji had little time to think about it however when the Angel trembled and then looked up, its eyes glowing bright with what he clearly felt was anger. The only thing he'd achieved was to make the Angel even angrier.
Bad move from you! Zeruel seethed.
Oh shit! I made it really mad! was the only thing Toji could think.
Trying to get away before a disaster could happen, he suddenly got halted by something at Unit-03's back. To his horror he saw that the power cable had reached its maximum length and he couldn't got further. While the cable did get ejected right away, he had no time to get away when seeing the Angel's eyes flash brightly.
He had known that this could happen; that he could die. But that it would happen right at this moment... He wasn't prepared for it - nothing could have prepared him for it. After all, you didn't expect death hiding behind the next corner, until it was too late... Right?
-BRAAAAMMM-
"Toji!" Hikari gasped when the Angel fired at the ground under his Unit-03, the huge detonation obscuring everything for a moment.
To her horror she saw Unit-03 being flung through the air by the detonation like a rag doll. The legs below the knees were cleanly ripped off by the sheer power of the attack, blood shooting out of the leg stumps. Then the EVA smashed hard into the side of a hill at the edge of the city, where it remained, unmoving, blood pooling around it.
"You monster!" Hikari screamed.
Her anger at the Angel burned bright. The Angel had hurt him, the boy she felt so much for. She wanted to hurt it for that in return, all caution leaving her at this moment. Wasting no time, she opened fire with the particle rifle Unit-04 was holding. However, the blasts simply splashed against the Angel's natural armor, doing only very little to no damage.
One blast however impacted close to the Angel's face, the energy splash causing it to howl again, a burn mark visible on its face. "Oh-uh!" Hikari gasped, feeling she'd just made a critical error. Throwing away the useless rifle and ejecting the cable, she made a run for it.
"Hikari, watch out!" Misato tried to warn her, but it was too late.
She had not seen the Angel pulling together its AT-field, making it jump wide. Unit-04 barely managed to stop when the Angel landed in front of it. There was no time left for Hikari to react when suddenly there was a flash of light in the Angel's eyes...
-WAAAM-
The blast from the Angel hit Unit-04 cleanly in the lower body, ripping a gaping hole through it. Its innards hung out of it like macabre decoration, followed by a stream of the EVA's blood. For Hikari it felt like her stomach had been ripped out.
Holding her mid-section, scraps of thoughts shot through her mind. Gods... I... don't want to die! Toji... I wish we could have become... much closer... Then the pain became far too much for her and she passed out, her Unit-04 collapsing on the ground, becoming partially buried under the rubble from a collapsing building.
Zeruel looked pleased at his defeated enemies. He wouldn't lose anymore time than necessary with them, despite both of them having managed to hurt him thanks to his carelessness. He had more important things to do, but again the Lilim didn't stop firing on him, despite knowing better by now. It only served to make him even madder than he already was.
I will level this whole place after I'm done with the killer! Oh yes, Sachiel, you won't be disappointed in your big brother!
His siblings had been scared at how brutal he had become since Sachiel's death. Sure, all of them became more embittered with every death of their siblings, but they had started to actually fear him. He had totally changed after that fateful night. Only hate, anger and pure rage were left in him. Take this! He again started to cleanse the city of any resistance.
"It... it simply swatted them aside... like flies." Misato's horror had grown when seeing this display of power. "The pilots?"
"They are still alive, but the immense pain from the perceived injuries overloaded their brains. They are unconscious," Maya reported hastily, checking the status of the pilots while remotely disconnecting them from the system and venting the LCL so that they wouldn't drown.
Looking to Shinji, Misato had no trouble to see that he was scared to no end by this monstrosity above their heads. "There's no time to send the other units to the surface! Send them into the geofront; they will intercept the Angel there." She then looked to Lt. Hyuga. "Please tell me you have good news."
"The Angel still hasn't bothered to protect itself with its AT-field. It is only an idea, but using a concentrated energy beam from one of our positron rifles directly against its face could cause serious damage," he suggested. He knew it was a far shot, but they couldn't be picky right now.
"Not the core?" Misato asked.
Lt. Hyuga shook his head. "The Angel made sure no defensive fire hits its face, but howled in pain when the pilots hit it there. The face is a really small target as well, thus why the defensive batteries couldn't hit it."
"We can't be picky. Transfer the rifles to the geofront!" Misato ordered. "Status of the EVAs?"
"Unit-02 has arrived inside the geofront. We are about to activate Unit-01," Lt. Ibuki reported.
Rei tried to stay calm inside the entry plug of Unit-01 while waiting for the start of the synchronization process. She knew what was going on outside and that the situation was serious. Despite her concentration she felt very nervous.
"-gasp!-" For Rei the start of the process felt like being thrown into cold water.
Unit-01 checked out the inside her head as if wanting to make absolutely sure that it was her. It was very unpleasant and intrusive for Rei, feeling as if her soul was first stripped naked and then forced into a humiliating cavity search. Even if she had wanted to, she was unable to hold any secrets from the EVA. It now knew everything about her. To Rei it was a serious violation of the sanctity of her mind.
Then however it stopped and she all of a sudden had a feeling as if she was a child that was lectured by her mother not to go further, while the EVA at the same time... apologized for the rough treatment?
I have to succeed! They needed her out there.
The feelings she received changed, now it felt like a disappointed mother scolding a child, but not in anger. And then... She held her hand over her mouth when it felt as if unseen fingers poked and tickled her stomach, obviously gentle pressure to tell her that she wouldn't succeed here. The feeling that the EVA was still apologizing for this treatment made this even more confusing.
"Unit-01 isn't accepting the pilot. It's disconnecting her," Maya called.
"Impossible, it isn't made to do that!" Ritsuko barked, even though she knew quite well what could be going on. Or better, she knew who was responsible for this.
On the command level, Fuyutsuki looked to Gendo. "Do you think that it is her?" he asked him. He had the greatest respect for Yui, but if that was her doing, she had picked the worst moment to voice her protest.
If Gendo had been surprised by this turn of events, he didn't show it. Deep inside however, it disturbed him greatly. Why was Yui doing this? This again endangered the black-and-white view he had on things; his idea that Yui approved of his doings. It was quite clear what Yui was trying to accomplish with this behavior.
"Unit-01 is going against me... She wants the regular pilot." Looking down where Shinji watched the fireworks at the surface on the screen, he added "But he is useless right now."
You speak of your son as if he is a tool. I can imagine why she wants him to pilot, and not Rei, Kozo Fuyutsuki thought, feeling that should Yui ever return, Gendo would be in for a rude awakening. "And what do we do now?"
The Commander looked down to Misato. "Send out Rei in Unit-00. Desperate times call for desperate measures." For him that was maybe the best chance, should they survive, to get rid of the second Rei and activate the third, thus getting rid of a huge problem.
Misato didn't know if it was even remotely smart to send a one-armed EVA into battle, and Shinji, knowing the condition of Unit-00, looked up to his father in a mixture of disbelief and anger. But before he could utter a word, Rei said, "I will do it."
Now Shinji was scared. "Rei... You can't..."
"No, Shinji, I do have a plan," she reassured him before the connection was cut. In the cage, Rei barely managed to get out of the plug before she fall to her knees and had to violently throw up; both from what Unit-01 had done to her and from what she was planning to do.
Shinji, please forgive me what I want to do...
She knew what could happen to her. If she did survive it, Shinji would be very disappointed in her for risking everything like that. However, after seeing the sheer destruction this Angel was capable of, she was determined to not let it win. Even if it meant making a sacrifice.
I'm scared... but I have to do it.
Running to the entry plug of Unit-00, she tried to get in as fast as possible, preparing herself for the usual difficulties she had with starting it up. However, it actually was surprisingly easy this time. While it had become easier over the previous months to pilot Unit-00 - even though she had no idea why that was the case - this sudden change was strange.
She tried to think what could have changed and when remembering her confrontation with the Commander in the elevator, she sudden felt... approval? It was strange. At the beginning of her piloting career Unit-00 had felt hostile to her. Over the previous months however, the hostility had grown less, and now the Evangelion actually was approving of her piloting it. It almost was as if her cutting her ties to the Commander made the EVA happy.
"Amazing, Rei's rate suddenly improved by five points," Lt. Ibuki gasped when seeing the numbers.
Rei knew what she had to do and the EVA's help was welcome. "I need to get a weapon first. I join Pilot Soryu as soon as possible."
-BAAAAOOOOOOOOMMMMM-
"The Angel has broken through the armor!" Lt. Aoba called.
A huge explosion ripped through the ceiling structure of the geofront, debris raining down on the vegetation below. In the midst of all the smoke, Zeruel slowly descended down to the ground. He felt it; he was close now with the call being much clearer. Looking down, he spotted another enemy, and at once knew what this abomination planned to do.
You think you can hurt me? Think again! For you, I have something special in store! It wasn't the murderer, but this was another great chance to vent his anger. This time however, he would show them what else he had in store for them.
Da ist er... [There it is...] Asuka couldn't hide her fear while waiting for the Angel to descend, so that she could fire her particle rifle at its core.
She had seen what this monster had done to Toji and Hikari in a frightening show of power. Some months ago she would have entered this battle in anger and being sure of her victory in her ego-fed over-confidence. Now however she just hoped... prayed that she could defeat this thing. Even all the confidence she had still managed to gather couldn't hide her uneasiness. For some reason Rei had been unable to activate Unit-01, so she was totally alone in trying to stop the Angel.
In the past she would have seen it as her chance to prove that she could do the job. Now it felt for her like an immense weight on her shoulders. Even the EVA now feeling like a very safe place ever since the incident with the 12th Angel didn't help with her feeling like part of her wanted to run away.
Finally the Angel had lowered itself onto the ground, close enough that she was sure to have neutralized its AT-field. "All right, eat this!" she shouted, more to ensure herself, before aiming the rifle directly at the Angel's ugly face, firing off a concentrated beam.
She was in for an ugly surprise when instead of impacting with the face, the beam fizzled out in a yellow wall glowing in an octagonal pattern. Asuka looked in sheer disbelief at this. "Warum funktioniert es nicht?! Ich sollte das Feld doch neutralisiert haben!" [Why isn't it working?! I should have neutralized the field!]
Desperate, she tried it again and again, but with the same result. The Angel didn't move, as if mocking her ineffective attacks. "Verdammte Scheiße!" Asuka cursed.
Lt. Hyuga meanwhile frantically checked the results from the scanners. "Major! Unit-02 alone isn't strong enough to neutralize the field! Its strength is immense and would take at least two Evangelions!"
"But this means..." It dawned on Misato that when the Angel activated its field, no single EVA would have a chance to break through. She then saw the Angel reacting. "Asuka! Watch out!"
"Wha...?" Asuka saw the Angel, who had sat still up to now, do something.
Was that all? All right, now it is my turn! Zeruel now would show what his name also meant.
That moment, the paper-like arms of Zeruel unfolded, looking like long, thin strips of paper. They looked a little like whips, but at first sight seemed harmless enough. However, the look was deceiving. Zeruel didn't simply want to blow this one to bits, his sadism wanted to be satisfied.
With greetings from my siblings!
The paper-arms shot forward and cleanly sliced through the arm joints of Unit-02 like ultra-sharp razor blades! Asuka's eyes widened, the sheer shock not yet letting her feel the pain. The arm-blades remained there for a second, before moving up and down, cleanly separating the arms at the joints. The severed limbs fell aside the EVA. The deed done, Zeruel retracted the arms, looking at the crippled EVA, its blood shooting out of the huge wounds where its arms had been.
"YYYOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!" Asuka didn't care about anything else but screaming and crying right now. It felt like her real arms were cut off by two guillotines. It HURT! It hurt like nothing she'd ever felt before! "NNNEEEEIIIINNN! AAAAHHHHRRRRRRGGGHHH!"
Misato looked in horror at the crippled Unit-02, Asuka's cries of pain echoing throughout the command center. "By all goodness..."
"Es tut so weh! Es tut so schrecklich weh..." Asuka whimpered.
She wanted the pain to stop, regardless how! She was so lost in her pain that she didn't notice the pressure of the LCL rising until it started to dull the pain and she blacked out into merciful unconsciousness. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the crippled Unit-02 collapsed onto the ground into a pool of its own blood.
"Great Gods..." Shinji stammered when seeing this horrific display. The Angel had defeated Asuka just like that, without even breaking a sweat. "Is there anything that can stop this thing at all?"
"What about Asuka?" Misato barked, hoping that this didn't mean the worst.
"She's alive. The LCL pressure had risen because of unknown factors and knocked her out," Lt. Ibuki reported while severing Asuka's connections to Unit-02. "That actually was a mercy, considering the sheer pain she was going through..."
Everyone on the tactical level knew that after the Angel had effortlessly swatted aside three Evangelions, their chances for survival had become dim at best. Unit-01 was not available and Rei in her damaged Unit-00 had little chance of going against this living tank. The Angel meanwhile started to move around, as if searching for something.
Zeruel knew that if his counting was right, three of the five abominations were now out. But there still were two left and one of them was the one he wanted. He wouldn't give rest until that one's head lay severed at his feet! Where are you? WHERE ARE YOU? The failure of the murderer to appear was igniting new anger. Hearing something, he turned around to see another of his enemies rising out of the ground, but this one seemed unarmed. So, and now what?
"That's Unit-00, but it isn't carrying any weapons..." Ritsuko stopped cold when seeing on the screen what Unit-00 was carrying in its hand. "She has an N²!"
"REI!" Shinji shouted, not caring about anything else when seeing Unit-00 starting to run towards the Angel. "What the hell are you doing?" He had a dark suspicion what Rei planned to do and he hoped that he was wrong.
"It is the only way..." Rei's voice seemed calm, and yet the fear in it was clear.
"That's madness! Don't do it!" Shinji pleaded with her, but it was too late, Unit-00 had already reached the Angel's AT-field, trying to force the N² through it to detonate it directly against the core.
"I'm sorry Shinji. Forgive me..."
Not stupid. Really not stupid. But even this won't stop me! Zeruel ranted. Right when Unit-00 managed to get the N² mine through the field to detonate it against his core, he surprised her by pulling a bony membrane over it and covered his face with his arms.
Rei had no time to react...
-BBBBBBBBBBRROOOOOOUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM-
Everyone in the command center was silent when the inferno of the explosion, only contained within the AT-field of the Angel, filled the screen. They were shocked that Rei had done this, going on a kamikaze attack to defeat the Angel. So much selflessness to ensure their survival...
Shinji looked at the inferno with tears in his eyes. He still couldn't believe that she had decided to do this, to accept her possible sacrifice to save them. "Rei... what have you done...?" He felt like his heart was about to crumble. If Rei didn't survive this, it would mean that a part of him would die as well.
The dust from the explosion slowly settled, and to everyone's horror they saw that the Angel was still standing, as if the explosion of the N² hadn't hurt it in the slightest. Instead, one of its arms shot out, cleanly slicing through the top of the Evangelion's head. The EVA dropped like a stone. Unit-00 laid collapsed at the Angel's feet, unmoving. Blood poured out of its head wound while a good part of its paintjob got burned off by the explosion.
This was the worst case scenario. Now no one was left to go against the Angel.
"Futile... It was futile," Ritsuko said in utter defeat. She knew what would await all of them now. This Angel had no trouble destroying all their defenses and now they would be next. She felt cold inside. She hadn't thought that being so sure of her impending death would feel like this.
Misato also knew what it meant, but she tried to push it away. "The pilot...?"
As if getting out of a trance, Maya looked on her screen. "She... She is still alive. She has suffered severe burns and has blacked out after getting this strong head trauma. She won't go anywhere."
The seconds seemed to be very long while the Angel did nothing more than looking around, as if searching for something. Misato frowned when, after a minute had passed, the Angel still hadn't done anything. "What is it doing? It could have blown us away by now. What is it waiting for?"
Outside, Zeruel was seething. Where was that murderer? It enraged him to no end that this one dared to ignore him completely. It had been below his dignity until now to verbally express himself. But it seemed the Lilim would only finally reveal their final perversion, the biggest of them at that, after he would order them to do so.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" Zeruel's voiced boomed through the geofront like a thunderstorm. "I'M WAITING FOR YOU, MURDERER OF MY BROTHER!" From his voice it became clear that he didn't have much patience left.
Everyone had again fallen silent when they heard the Angel suddenly starting to speak in a very angry male voice. By now they knew that the Angels could speak, but it had surprised them that he had deemed it necessary to do so at this very moment. Additionally, that the Angel had a demand they had no idea what it meant made it even worse.
It seemed the Angel was really impatient, as his voice boomed through the geofront again. "I SAID I'M WAITING! SHOW YOURSELF, OR I WILL START TO TAKE THIS PLACE APART PIECE BY PIECE!"
"It is me he wants."
Everyone looked to Shinji, who had said these words. His horror and fear had left him. Instead he now looked determined, and, judging from the clenching of his hands, there also was a fair amount of anger involved. Shinji looked hard at the picture of the Angel.
"Look at him, it finally dawned on me how much he looks like the first Angel that attacked. He wants revenge. He wants me, he will get me," Shinji stated calmly.
Looking at the picture, they found that he was right. That Angel really looked a lot like the first that had attacked Tokyo-3. The Angel's rather strange behavior now made sense. Misato looked to Shinji in great concern. "Shinji..."
"No, Misato, I have to do this. He has hurt my friends - really hurt them. I won't let him get away with this and I now know where to hit him where it really hurts." His voice was trembling, testament to how he barely suppressed his anger at the Angel.
Shinji's insecurity had left him the moment it had become clear to him that he alone could now turn the tide and save them all from certain death. The seriousness of the situation had silenced any doubts for the moment, and the anger he felt for what had been done to his friends, especially to Rei, fueled a fire deep inside him he hadn't thought he possessed. For now he only wanted one thing: to defeat the Angel and save everyone from certain death. He himself had been surprised at how he felt, but for now it was unimportant.
Reaching around his neck, he removed his locket, giving it to Misato. "Keep it safe for me." He then ran out of the command center, towards the cage of Unit-01.
Looking at the locket in her hand, Misato was about to order someone to stop Shinji, but the Commander held up his hand. "Do not stop him and immediately prepare for deployment from the cage," he calmly ordered.
Everyone was silent for a moment, and then the voice of Zeruel again boomed through the geofront. "I'M LOSING MY PATIENCE!"
To underline the threat, he let loose a burst that cleanly blew off the upper ten meters of the NERV-pyramid. Huge chunks of concrete flew everywhere. The command center shook under this attack, dust falling down from the ceiling and the superstructure groaning. Like a wake-up call, it served to get everyone back to work.
"He's our last hope... Should he also lose..." Misato said while looking at the locket in her hand. It spoke of how much he trusted her. Pocketing it, she returned her attention to the main screen, where the Angel seemed to prepare for another burst to underline his ultimatum.
On the command level, Fuyutsuki looked with concern at the Commander. "Do you think he can do it? Succeed where all the others have failed?"
"Yes, I do," Gendo said. "However, not in the way you might think."
Fuyutsuki wondered what Gendo could mean with this; if he had a plan behind a plan. "What are you planning, Gendo?"
Gendo's eyes looked as if in total concentration, kike he was going through the possibilities. "If the event that I expect really happens, victory is ensured. It also is the most crucial step in the new plan. I do not so much believe in him, as I believe in her."
The Vice-Commander knew what this meant, at least vaguely, and he didn't like it at all. I really hope we don't trade one evil for another. Great Gods, what have we done by creating something like this? I can only pray the world after this war can forgive us our sins, should the world still exist at all.
...meanwhile in the cage...
Running up the stairs to the entry plug, Shinji wondered if he was brave or immensely stupid. However, right now he didn't actually care in the slightest. He only had one goal before his eyes right now and was a little scared at his newly found courage, especially after his recent breakdown, but this also was secondary right now.
Climbing up the last steps, he stood before the entry plug of Unit-01. Another explosion rocked the cage, causing some cracks in the concrete walls. The Angel must have destroyed something else in the geofront, reminding Shinji that time was of essence. Climbing into the entry plug, Shinji's thoughts returned to Rei.
She had been willing to sacrifice herself to ensure their survival. The thought of doing nothing when the Angel wanted him, while Rei had been willing to make such a big sacrifice out of pure selflessness, had filled him with shame. Right at this moment he had decided not to run away from his responsibility and confront his enemy. He wouldn't make Rei ashamed by being a coward.
While the plug closed and was filled with LCL, his thoughts wandered.
He of course still was scared of the possibility that he could find his death in the battle. But that not only was human nature but reminded him what he told Misato months ago. If someone stopped fearing death, then this person was truly lost. Stopping to fear the Angels - monsters he had every right to be afraid of - would mean he lost any respect for the power they were holding. He wasn't ashamed of his fear, he accepted it and drew strength from it.
When the EVA synchronized with him, he felt that something else also strengthened his confidence. It was a presence that realized how serious things had gotten and was giving him every possible ounce of strength. Right now he didn't care what it exactly was and simply accepted it openly.
Now he would meet his greatest challenge yet.
On the tactical level Lt. Ibuki looked in astonishment at the numbers for Unit-01 while it ascended to the geofront. "Shinji's synch-rate has risen to well over 80 percent! Astounding!"
"I wouldn't have thought of this as possible after his strong depression. His sheer determination must have strengthened his rate," Ritsuko speculated. She knew, even Yui couldn't do wonders with Shinji's rate, only work with what was there in the first place. So it had to come from the boy himself.
In the geofront meanwhile, Zeruel was about to lose the last bit of patience and blow open the ground. If his enemy wouldn't come to him, he would come to the enemy. "MY PATIENCE IS AT ITS END! NOW I WILL COME TO..."
"Here I am!"
Looking around hectically when hearing this voice, Zeruel's anger rose to critical levels when he finally saw the murderer appearing from the ground. However, the anger was held in check by the knowledge that he could finally avenge his brother. After waiting for this long, he would enjoy every moment of it.
"Finally..." Zeruel growled, facing Unit-01 as if in a man-to-man showdown.
"It's me you want, don't you?!" Shinji challenged Zeruel.
"Oh yes... Now hold still so that I can destroy you!"
"First you have to get me!" Shinji challenged him, before jumping to the side, the sharp cutting arm that suddenly shot forward barely missing him, but cutting his cable in the process.
Right now Shinji didn't care about this, as he was too focused on beating this monster. Thanks to his friends, he did know the weakness of this Angel. The Angel was a walking tank, but that also forced the Angel to be quite slow, meaning that if Shinji stayed in motion, he wouldn't get hit. Not exactly an easy task, but doable.
Of course the most important information was to not attack the core, despite the fact that its destruction would doom the Angel. No, the core was too obvious of a target. However, seeing how the Angel had howled in pain when his face got hit, this was the weak point. It also was small and hard to hit - pointing to how Angel was trying to minimize the danger.
Zeruel was seething, his enemy made fun of him. His blasts missed and he had no time to cut it to pieces with his blade-arms. "Hold still!"
"In your dreams!" Shinji screamed, jumping away just when a blast ripped a deep trench into the ground.
This went on for a bit longer until one blast did connect, blasting off Unit-01's left arm a little under the shoulder. However, by now Shinji was running so much on adrenaline, that he barely even noticed the pain shooting through his arm. He was about to have the Angel exactly where he wanted him to be.
"You want me? Here you have me!" Running towards the Angel so that his arms missed him by a mile, knocking him to the ground and giving him no chance to activate his AT-field. his right fist he started to bash on the boney face of the Angel, causing him to howl loudly
My concentration! My concentration! The direct and concentrated strikes hurt Zeruel, really hurt him, his only weak spot. He was a walking tank, but had only little tolerance for pain, and right now the pain paralyzed him, making him unable to attack or build up his field.
"You will pay... for this! It has been a long time since... Zeruel had been this hurt!"
"I dare to doubt that I will pay!" Shinji screamed, seeing that his bashing on the face had created cracks all over it.
Grabbing the Angel's face he pulled hard on it, trying to rip it off the body. It didn't come off, but the howls of the Angel proved that it really hurt. Letting go, Shinji prepared to grab for his knife in order to slit open this ugly visage, when all of a sudden the light around him went out and he lost all controls.
Now he remembered his severed cable and that all the running did drain the batteries really fast. "No..."
On the tactical level, everyone was frozen when they saw that Shinji had been about to defeat the Angel, only to be stopped when his batteries ran out. Even their last resort had failed, and this only because of lacking power.
Now they knew that their death was assured.
Zeruel had no idea why his enemy had suddenly stopped attacking him, being frozen in motion. But he didn't care. Now was the time to settle the score. "I have waited a long time for this..." Grabbing Unit-01 with one of his arms, he slammed it hard into the NERV-pyramid.
"You've almost managed to kill me... For this, I will grant you a painful death." Full of hatred he looked at his paralyzed enemy. "I will cut out your very heart..."
That said, he let loose a full blast directly against the chest of the Evangelion. In the following explosion, hot metal pieces flew in all directions together with chunks of brown flesh. Waiting for the smoke to clear, he then saw exactly what he had aimed for, now laid bare and waiting for him to be destroyed.
On the tactical level, Misato looked in horrified wonder on what the ripped open chest of Unit-01 had revealed. It was a huge, dull-orange sphere, not unlike the core of an Angel. "What is that?" she wondered aloud, looking to Ritsuko.
She knew what this was. "The central core of the EVA. If he breaks it..."
Ritsuko looked up to Gendo. The Commander looked very different from his usual self. He seemed concerned, really concerned, now that the core was laid bare. Ritsuko knew exactly, why. The destruction of Unit-01's core would be also the destruction of the one woman Gendo wanted to regain. Right at this moment, everything he wanted to gain was at stake.
Zeruel started to attack the core with his blade-arms, but to his astonishment, the core didn't seem to be fazed by his attacks. This was the first time his arms hadn't cut through something in the first strike. "Whhaaaaat?! I WILL destroy your heart, regardless how long it will take!" Angry, he again started to hit the core.
Inside the entry plug, Shinji was panicking, feeling the EVA tremble each time the Angel hit it. Helplessly pulling the controls, he was desperate and starting to panic and screamed, "Damn it! Work! WORK! You stupid piece of shit! Everyone will die otherwise!" It was useless. "WHY CAN'T ANYONE HELP ME?!" he screamed.
"What is it, that you want?"
This ghostly voice that suddenly appeared in his head calmed Shinji down in an instant. He had no idea who it was, nor did he care. This voice was so calming for him, so familiar. Totally unmoving, he whispered: "I want to save everyone."
"What are you willing to give for it?"
The answer came to Shinji on its own. It was the only thing he knew that was right to say. "Everything."
"So be it."
Shinji then felt so weightless, as if floating, as if at this moment nothing mattered anymore. There was a vortex of chaos coming closer, he felt it. It wanted to swallow him. But moments before it could reach him, two gentle arms wrapped themselves around him, pulling him to safety..
"That however does not mean I won't save you."
Then his mind couldn't process it any longer. Everything went white around him.
Meanwhile, Zeruel finally saw a crack in the core - a few more good strikes and it would be broken.
One of his arms again shot forward... But suddenly the eyes of Unit-01 burned in a pure white and its hand shot up. Much to Zeruel's complete surprise and horror, its fingers suddenly were like even sharper blades, his own arm simply ripping into several strands, causing him horrible pain before the EVA grabbed his arm to pull him towards it!
"ARRGH!" Zeruel came face to face with it and he had no trouble to see murder in its eyes and hear the threatening growl coming from it. Then a strong kick forced him away, ripping off his arm! "AAAHHHRGGHHHHH!" screaming in pain, he landed at the far side of the geofront, wondering what the hell had suddenly happened.
Growling, Unit-01 looked after its fallen enemy, then it slammed the ripped-off arm against the wound at its left shoulder. Its material seemed to liquefy, re-forming the lost arm, its brown flesh a stark contrast to the purple armor.
Everyone in the command center was taken aback by this sudden turn of events. "It has reactivated... Great gods, Ritsu, what have we created?" Misato stammered when seeing this regeneration of the left arm.
"Impossible!" Everyone looked to Maya, who looked disbelieving at her screen. "Shinji's synch-rate has jumped to... over 400 percent!"
Ritsuko knew exactly what this meant. It had been a theory, something she had dismissed as impossible to ever achieve, because everyone who reached 400 or more would disappear forever and the EVA would still be the same. But this was different. "I feared this would happen..."
Misato looked to her friend, who seemed to have become several shades paler. "What? What did you fear would happen?"
She didn't look to Misato, instead staring at the screen when Unit-01 started to roar. "Unit-01 has awakend," she said cryptically.
Unit-01 roared loudly. It now wanted to feast on its enemy, its bloodthirst awakened. The most primitive corners of its mind wanted it to become whole, to gain what was left to gain. Greedily, it looked to its enemy, who had managed to get up again, drool running down over its teeth.
Zeruel had been really hurt, but he wasn't defeated yet! "YOU WILL REGRET THIS!" he screamed, shooting his other blade-arm at his enemy. For what had been done to him, he wanted to kill!
But to his horror, his enemy slammed its hand to the ground, and a massive AT-field shockwave shattered his arm, the fragments shooting back at him! He activated his field and tried to stop them. However, it was a futile effort, the fragments ripping through his field and into him like deadly shrapnel, blood oozing out of countless wounds.
"Auuuurrrrgghhhhh!" Screaming, he fell to the ground, helpless. The mighty Zeruel, Angel of Might, had fallen.
Like an animal on all fours, Unit-01 ran towards the fallen Angel, looking greedily at the dying Angel. Zeruel was too weak to put up any resistance, even his eye weapon simply fizzling out. Instead, the horror now grew in him when he had a good guess what his enemy was about to do, seeing its greedy mouth.
"Gluurkk... No... No! Not like this..."
Roaring, the EVA ripped out a bit of his flesh, eating it. "Arrgbbgl-ll! It can't end... like this...!"
Everyone watched in horror when the Evangelion started to eat the Angel alive and heard the desperate voice of the Angel, mixed with its death screams. It was a horrible sight and Maya was unable to hold in the contents of her stomach when seeing this. Everyone now wondered what the bigger horror was: the Angel or Unit-01.
Shigeru Aoba was quite hardened, but this sight was almost too much even for someone like him. "Am I actually strange to feel sorry for the Angel?"
"I know that thing is a horrible monster, but I wish this on no one, not even an Angel," Makoto added, also only barely holding down the bile.
Ritsuko then realized what was going on. "It wants to eat the Angel's S² engine..."
Zeruel saw what the enemy now wanted to do. "Sachiel... father... I fail-l-lleeed-d-d-d..." Silence followed when Unit-01 ripped the core out and swallowed it in one piece, killing Zeruel in the process.
Unit-01 felt good... it felt GREAT! It felt the missing piece of the puzzle of its very existence moving into place. It felt the energy burning inside its depths! It felt the POWER! Its muscles started to grow, destroying the outer armor in numerous places, while it roared in triumph. It was finally COMPLETE!
"EVA-01 is freeing itself..." Ritsuko said, stunned.
For her that was a nightmare coming true. She had always seen this only as a mathematical possibility, not something she would ever see becoming reality. But to see this first-hand was horrifying and scared her to no end. All of her cool front had fallen away, laying bare the image of a very scared woman who was only seconds away from wetting herself in terror.
"Freeing itself from what?" Misato asked.
"The whole outer armor was also designed like a straightjacket, to tame the power of the Evangelions so that we can control them. But now Unit-01 is free! We can't control it any longer. The beast in this EVA is now free to do as it pleases..." she explained to them.
Everyone continued to look in horror at the picture of the roaring Unit-01, standing triumphant over the remaining corpse of its defeated enemy. They had become aware that maybe they had traded one monster for another, even worse one.
o
Ryoji watched the roaring Unit-01 from the edge of the geofront. He had been on the way into the geofront when this mess had started and the way had been blocked when the battle had moved inside the geofront. So he had retreated into a safe place near the outer wall to see what would happen. To say that the bloody carnage had been hard to watch, even for him, was an understatement.
However, what he saw right now was a total disaster. Now Unit-01 was totally uncontrollable, SEELE would surely step up whatever they had planned in light of this, and Ikari had surely planned for this to happen. Since he did see Unit-00 laying in a pool of its own blood, he knew it had been Shinji in Unit-01. He couldn't help but hope that the boy was all right.
"SEELE won't like this... I have to report it as fast as possible to stay in their good graces. My true employers also need to know. But first I have to see that Misato is all right..." That said, he made his way towards the HQ, now that most of the danger was over.
o
Kaldor Ikari had watched the entire horror on the screen in the general area. He had seen much in his life, including the suffering caused by the Second Impact, but what he had witnessed right now was the most horrific thing he had ever seen. Having seen the purple Evangelion enter the fray, he knew that Shinji had decided to try and save the day.
Despite all the worry he felt for his adoptive son, a small part of him felt proud that Shinji held so much courage.
And then this had happened; this bloody carnage where the battle machine had turned into... into a monster. Kaldor by now was sick with worry about Shinji and he prayed that he wouldn't lose Shinji as he had lost his sister Yui.
"Please be alright, Shinji," he hoped, watching the roaring beast, that had once been Unit-01, on the screen.
o
Kozo Fuyutsuki had seen much in his life, but for him this display had been really hard to watch. Looking to Gendo, he was surprised to see the man actually looked pleased. "Gendo?"
"Now I have the lock and the key," was the only thing Gendo said.
to be continued...
Next Chapter: The Love of a Mother
Notes
This chapter was highly unusual to write, since in essence it just is one big battle from start to finish. That of course proved to be difficult, since it left next to no room for any other scenes and the length of the original chapter suffered severely from it. It was one of the shortest chapters so late in the story.
While the end result of what happens to Zeruel is still the same, I decided the way to it should be different and let my imagination run free. In canon, everything after this episode was starting to go down the drain. However, from the next chapter on, things will go totally different ways.
Of course, for Revival a serious change was needed. Besides the changes to Zeruel and his much increased screentime, as noted blow, many changes have been made. Zeruel's approach is now much, much more detialled and longer. Toji and Hikari have a much better and longer performance against the Angel, which can now be called a battle. Asuka now has an actual plan. Rei entering Unit-00 is now seen.
Angel Notes: Zeruel
I have to admit that the idea for Zeruel's character was planted even before writing the story. I read an
article that speculated that Sachiel and Zeruel look so similar and share some abilities, that they are very closely related - despite all having the some parents - the big and little brother. I liked the concept so much, that I took it over for my story.
Here, Zeruel had been a pacifist, but the death of his little brother Sachiel enraged him so much, that he now only want revenge. While he does care for his father, his main fury goes against Unit-01, as he wants to avenge his brother. I found the idea that the unstoppable juggernaught is a grieving brother who is incedibly pissed, something really new.
That said, the battle goes mostly the same, but with some deviances. Toji and Hikari are defeated on the surface without trouble. Zeruel doesn't behead Unit-02. He also doesn't break open the central shaft, instead he sets an ultimatum. The battle against Shinji also has differences, but his end is the same as in canon.
Zeruel went through significant changes in Revival. Besides his much increased screentime, Zeruel now at the start does sport the bandages of the Revival Zeruel (I liked the look). However, underneath these bandages is still the classic Zeruel.