This is a work of fiction. All rights reserved by Gainax, Studio Khara and Hideaki Anno. For now.
"Is it giving you a headache too, Blue?" Mari whispered, purposely jogging faster to keep up with Rei- and to get just enough distance from Shinji so he wouldn't hear. She was doing her best to hide the grimace that covered her features, but even underground the sensation of this angel was just unbelievably overbearing.
"No. But I might simply be more used to it." Ayanami commented, leading the trio up one of the emergency shafts that led to the streets of Tokyo-3. There were simpler routes to HQ, to be sure. But none faster.
"Please inform me if it gets any worse. I can reinforce your field with mine."
The First Child didn't like this knot in her stomach that was forming. She recognized it as concern for someone else, of course. She'd felt it before whenever the young Ikari was in peril.
Didn't mean she liked it any better now.
"Through this door." One of the ubiquitous heavy duty safety barriers blocked the exit of the passage, two steel beams extended to opposite sides connected by a gear in the middle locking it safely in place.
Ayanami wrapped her hands around the handles, positioned her body, and twisted.
Nothing happened.
"Here, let me help." Mari put her leg against the side of the tunnel for extra leverage, adding her considerable strength to the effort. Her eye and arm glowed in the dim lighting, but still, the lock did not turn. It did, however, slightly bend from the force.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. It's rusted shut." She leaned against the wall, resting her forehead against it for a second. First the infuriating headache because of the damned angel, and now this.
"I can help too-" Shinji offered breathlessly, taking a moment to recover, sweat dripping from his hair. It had been such a nice day until then, too.
"No, it'll just snap if we try again." Makinami squared her stance, facing the offending piece of badly-built engineering. Rei could feel the metaphysical waves starting to emanate from her friend, gusts of sheer presence washing against her soul.
An almost imperceptible nod told the First Child everything she needed to know. She also faced forward and away from Ikari, before her eyes shone.
"Wait, what are we doing th-" The boy's words died in his throat when he saw the door starting to buckle outwards, dents in the metal getting more and more violent by the second. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but if anyone ever asked him, that was probably the first time in his life he'd seen a layered AT-Field.
New waves pouring into older ones, battering the steel into submission until the sound of shearing metal filled his ears, a deafening echo in the confined space.
When Shinji opened his eyes, he could see sunlight streaming from the doorframe. All that was left of the offending object were the metal locks still embedded into the concrete walls, and what might once have passed for a door laying in the asphalt several meters ahead.
"Impressive, Pilot Mari." Rei regarded the girl with a small knowing smile, her eyes back to the natural crimson she sported. The Second Child winked, smiling back and wiping her brow.
"'s what I do, guvna'" Illustrious replied in a comical english accent, turning back to her boyfriend. "Don't worry hon, just do some sit-ups, push-ups and drink plenty of juice and you'll be able to do that in no time."
The Third Child laughed while they resumed the path to HQ, passing by a handful of abandoned cars on the streets.
"I don't think that's quite how it works, but thanks for the vote of confidence, love."
"There. In the sky." Ayanami pointed at a point of light without looking. Mari would rather not look at all, not when the damned thing was being so annoying. So it was left to Shinji to point out the elephant in the room.
"Wait- is that? It's firing something!"
Both girls looked up to see a streak of light and fire heading directly towards Tokyo-3 at a speed that could only be described as 'terrifying'. Bright enough to outshine the sun the closer it got.
"Scheisse!"
Makinami pushed her hands forward, AT-Field flowing out in droves. This time Rei didn't bother hiding it, joining in the effort to have a chance of surviving long enough to get to their EVAs.
A loud, dull thud echoed through the streets of the empty city. Conical shockwaves followed a line from the outskirts to a point in the sky. The heavens themselves caught fire for a moment, blinding all three pilots to the devastation happening high above.
When they could finally see again, the trail of fire had ended in a shower of small debris, far too distant to make out. The First Child let her hands fall limp to her sides in shock. She tried putting her realization in words to make sure it wasn't a hallucination.
"The Guidestone network has been activated."
Shinji rushed to her side, bewildered. "What do you mean?"
Another streak of certain death descended towards them. Another distant thunder echoed, meeting it halfway. Rei didn't have it in herself to look away from the flash.
"The Guidestones. A railgun defense system built to protect Tokyo-3. The Commander had sworn to the UN that he'd never use them."
She let the bright flash wash over her. "Something happened. He's not here."
Despite how much she'd come to dislike the man recently, her whole body felt numb. He could be dead.
What would she do? What could she do? She felt another shockwave travel through her body. But she didn't notice it.
What was even her purpose if that was the case?
"Gah!" Shinji turned around in fear hearing his girlfriend's cry of pain, seeing Makinami clutching her left eye while kneeled at the ground.
"Love! Are you alrigh-" He was stopped dead when she batted his hand away, looking up at him with an expression he did not recognize at all.
Hate.
Just pure, unbridled hate behind cold blue eyes and crimson bangs. He had no idea what was happening, but he had to help! He had to reach out to her, see what was wrong!
But his body would not move. Deep inside him, somewhere in the edges of his soul, something kept him in place.
Sheer, absolute, unbending terror. He didn't even know why, but the very essence of his being was completely helpless.
Rei slowly turned towards them while more shockwaves steadily rumbled through the city. She saw her best friends, one frozen in place and the other-
-the other needed her help. Now. The fate of the commander could wait.
She had more important things to do.
Marching forward, Ayanami whipped her hand towards the cause of all this, the Angel floating high above the atmosphere. Her will pushed against its own, overpowering it, forcing it back. Once she couldn't feel it anymore, she kneeled besides the other girl. The glare that met her might as well have not existed.
The First Child was looking far beyond such physical things. She could see her friend's self frayed, being pushed aside by this presence, acting like it belonged there.
Not while she had anything to say about it.
For the second time in the day, crimson orbs glowed. Where before they held the intent to break and destroy, they now worked to nurture, to reinforce.
To protect.
She could feel the presence clawing and reaching at her, determined to not be replaced. It didn't matter.
With another wave of her will, she could see Mari's sense of self recover fully, green warmth replacing furious red. Before the Second Child's now limp body could fall to the side, Shinji was holding her, looking very concerned.
And very bewildered.
"What was- what did the angel do to her?" Before Rei could answer, Makinami's eyes fluttered open. Green and red, as they should be.
"Hon? Hon, you're alright." She extended her hand, caressing his cheek and smiling in relief. Noticing she was on the ground, the pilot accepted help getting back up, shaking her head and blinking.
"Bloody hell, what did I miss?" Mari looked around, the city having grown quiet once more. The angel had ceased its assault, the railgun battery falling silent in response.
"Are you alright love? You sounded like you were in pain, and then-" Shinji stopped for a second, trying to find the words. "-then you were delirious for a bit until Rei did something."
"The angel's presence destabilized your AT-Field. I rebuilt it, then reinforced it. But keeping it elevated consciously would be prudent until the source of the issue is dealt with." Ayanami explained, turning to the boy in the group and silently bringing her index to her lips.
A request. He took a second, looking from the bluenette to the brunette, and back, before nodding.
However his friend did what she had just done, he'd just be thankful for now.
"I owe you one, Blue. Even that headache is gone." Mari looked up at the point of light in the sky, narrowing her eyes and striking the palm of her right hand with her left fist.
"Let's get to our Evas. I'm going to punch that bastard in the face."
"In space?" Rei repeated, dumbfoundedly. The pilot trio were following Ritsuko to the hub of the fast deployment system, where their war machines were already being prepared and the current commander of Nerv Tokyo was waiting for them.
That being Misato Katsuragi.
"I'm afraid so. Him and Fuyutsuki were on their way for an inspection of the Tabgha lunar base." Doctor Akagi elucidated, squinting at her tablet before bringing a radio to her ear. "Engineering, we need those provisional launch sites ready yesterday, the pilots will be deploying shortly and I'd prefer if they had the bare minimum support."
An argumentative tone came back through, though far too garbled to make out for the teenagers. The head of Project E raised her voice. "I don't care if you have to blow up the mountain, we have more of those."
"I feel like I have to point out that the angel is also in space." Mari offered, stepping ahead and turning around, keeping up with the group by walking backwards. Ritsuko sighed and turned off the outdated communications equipment with more force than necessary.
"Yes, we are aware. It's also blocking any offworld communications or telemetry, both incoming and outgoing. Until it's taken out, we simply won't know if they are even alive. It's why Commander Katsuragi was able to overrule the lockdown on the Guidestone network."
"Why couldn't we use it before? Was there a problem with it?" That was something that had been bugging Shinji since he'd seen them in action. Sure, they probably couldn't take down an angel on their own, but still- they would be better than conventional explosives and cannons, that's for sure.
"They are too inexpensive to use. It would render most of the other defenses meaningless, cutting into the profits of the ammunition manufacturers." Ayanami pointed out, silently thanking the opportunity to keep her attention to something, anything else other than an existential crisis that she did not need right now.
The Third Child's mouth was agape for several seconds. Eventually, he settled on the reaction of personal offense. "We're risking our lives to save the world and they're worried about making money!?" Shinji couldn't decide between shaking his head in disbelief or just sheer disappointment in the human race. He went for both.
"Yeah, that's pretty much the thing with Lilim. Boundless potential- both for heroism and just being utter cunts. And no, don't forgive my english." Mari quipped, sighing while turning around again so she could actually see where they were going.
Ritsuko raised an eyebrow.
"We catch it." Makinami repeated in deadpan.
"Well, preferably you kill it afterwards, but that's the idea, yes." Misato smiled innocently.
"I-" The Second Child tried putting her thoughts in order. "-I don't even know where to begin to raise concerns with that plan, so- sure. We'll do our best."
All three pilots still looked mildly nauseated.
"We've covered our bases, of course. The MAGI have calculated the optimal deployment positions for your Evangelions based on our predictions of the angel's possible descent paths. No matter where it comes down, one of you will be in range.
Once it has been stopped, the other Units can move in and help destroy it." Ritsuko illustrated with the help of an interactive diagram of the operational area.
"We'll be giving all three of you real time updates on the trajectory of that thing. Unfortunately, we can't use the Guidestones against it. It'd make the calculations too unpredictable." Katsuragi took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair.
"According to protocol, when deploying with a calculated MAGI success rate below a certain threshold, every active pilot must be offered the chance to write their will." The Commander recited, cursing herself for having to ever remember that section of the book.
"What is the current predicted success rate?" Rei asked, tilting her head.
"I don't think we want to know." Shinji countered.
"To be fair, if we all die, the world ends anyway. But if only I die-" The half-british pilot softly squeezed her chin in thought before shrugging. "-I guess you, Puppy and Blue can have first pick. Otherwise, Hikari's family and charities. Just delete my browser history first." She smirked, winking to her boyfriend.
Sadly, the tease didn't get through the serious mood. "Same here I think." The Third Child also shrugged. "Though it's not like I have much."
"I do not believe I own any personal possessions anyone would be interested in." Ayanami pondered, before adding. "But if it can help anyone, by all means." It's not like it mattered either way. If she died, the commander would just-
She blinked while the thought process came to a screaming halt.
-what would even happen if he was dead too? Would Akagi bother to awaken another clone? Or would she just be dead forever, the result she sought for so many years?
Why did that thought now fill her with dread?
She was broken out of her stupor by a facefull of purple hair and an arm pulling her into a hug with the other two pilots. Rei had no idea how to answer, but-
-it was nice. Comforting, even. A feeling she almost never experienced in her life.
Misato let go, taking a step back. "I'm sorry for not having a better plan than this. We'll need a miracle to get this done, but if there is anyone on this planet that can make it happen, it's you three. We'll be giving all the support we can from here."
A siren blared throughout the hangar where all 3 Evangelions were set on the rail systems that'd bring them into position.
"The Angel has begun a deorbit maneuver! Trajectory is within estimated parameters, 15 minutes to impact!" Maya's voice echoed from the walls.
Mari didn't hesitate to pull Shinji into a deep kiss, holding him tight before poking her index at his plugsuit, just above his heart.
"You come back to me, you hear? We're going to kick its ass, and be back home for dinner." She smirked, her eyes still somewhat clouded from the sensation of the kiss.
The Third Child smiled and nodded back, coming down from cloud nine himself. Taking a moment to think, he extended his fist in the middle of the trio, holding it there.
"We're Eva pilots. We can do this. We're the only ones who can do this."
"That is correct." An arm covered with a white plugsuit joined the gesture. "It is our responsibility. Our bond."
Makinami grinned widely, excitedly adding hers. "There we go, that's the spirit! As the leader of the Tokyo-3 Evangelion Pilot Corps: Move out!" She cheered, guiding the other two to punch the air above.
Deep in her heart, Misato Katsuragi's flame of hope rekindled. These kids might just be able to actually save the world.
"Trajectory being refined. It's heading towards Zerogoki's area!" Maya announced in Central Dogma, the MAGI cooling systems just about keeping up with the constant calculations.
"Understood." Rei adjusted her course, following the descent line in her Eva's heads-up-display. She didn't bother looking up to see the angel, she could feel it. Unit 00 kept pace while jumping over buildings and running over trains. It was trivial for the cyclopian beast, but try as she might, it just refused to move any faster.
She knew why, of course. It wasn't a failure of the Evangelion itself, but simply the soul of her past existence being- uncooperative, to say the least. No matter, it'd still be enough.
"Misato!" The voices of the pilots of Unit 01 and 02 rang in unison, looking for ways to redirect their momentum.
"Open routes 485 to 657 and 294 to 444! Standby!" If there was one thing anyone could say about NERV's operations director was that she knew the whole city like the palm of her hand. No better time to use that wealth of information than now.
Large armour plates rose in a semicircle in front of the titanic beings, the sounds of metal striking metal ringing through the countryside.
Both pilots stared in dismay at their displays-
ESTIMATED TIME OF IMPACT - 00:02:14
ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL - 00:03:48
Rei would catch it, but they'd be far too late to help. This would not do.
Mari steeled herself while sending her Eva at full speed up a hillside. She knew what she could do, of course. There was far more to give in her chariot of the soul. Leaping off the top of the mountain, she took a deep breath-
-and the words just did not come out. She looked at her shaking hands in disbelief, trying again but to no avail.
The Beast was afraid.
"Godsdamnit! Fine, we'll do this then! Mode Change, Code Triple Seven!"
The upper armor plates in her Evangelion's back ejected, bright green control rods screwing themselves out of the being's flesh while its limbs changed, shifting form into the heavy paws of a predator. Makinami grit her teeth while the sensation of them elongating into fangs coursed through her, knowing it wasn't her real body she felt.
Hopefully.
The bright pink beast landed back onto the soft soil of Tokyo-3's countryside swiftly, taking off on all fours towards the descending death sentence in the blue sky.
Katsuragi's fists clenched, hidden by her crossed arms. She really didn't like it when Mari pulled those stunts, but this time it was warranted. A glance at the monitoring stations told her that at least this form didn't fully eschew an AT-Field. Thank the spirits for small miracles.
Because the big ones; they'd have to create themselves.
Shinji couldn't help but laugh when he saw his girlfriend's Eva easily outpacing his, each four-limbed stride sending her faster. Of course she'd have an ace in the hole, she always did. Him?
He'd just have to try harder.
'Come on, Shogoki. We need to help them.' The Third Child focused harder, pushing the induction levers forward on instinct and opening his heart.
Such a seemingly simple concept, that. But in no way easy, and he knew it better than most. Six months ago, the very idea seemed alien to him- how were you even supposed to go about it, and for what purpose? Just to get hurt easier? Now, however, he understood.
And Evangelion Test Type Unit 01 answered.
"Sync rate rising! 75%! 78-82- no, 85%! Holding at 86%! Speed increasing!" Maya announced the readouts, including the highest recorded synchronization ratio- at least that didn't involve Unit 02 and its shenanigans.
"Remarkable." Akagi whispered to herself, watching the screens.
E00 - 212m/s
E01 - 366m/s
E02 - 364m/s
"Supersonic?" Katsuragi wondered, internally pondering just how much she didn't know about these machines- nay, beings.
"So it would seem." Her old friend confirmed, voice filled with more wonder than dread. Scientists, Misato scoffed.
"Activity on the angel! AT-Field patterns changing!" The warning shouted by Aoba cut through the moment.
"Give me something!" The current Commander barked.
"It's changing trajectory! Moving away from predicted values and shedding mass!" Hyuga struggled to interpret the data they were getting. No angel had done this before.
"It's not shedding, it's firing." Misato narrowed her eyes, watching the 'debris' separate at high speed- towards the Evangelions below. Towards her kids.
"What? Seriously! Why is every angel a cheating sod!?" Makinami shouted over her exertion, seeing the streak of flame heading towards where she'd be in the next few seconds. Not a hope in hell of dodging.
"Technician Ibuki?" Katsuragi asked calmly.
"Yes ma'am?" Maya tried to keep her nerves in check in the hectic mess that was Headquarters.
"Blow these pebbles out of my sky." It wasn't an order. It was a statement.
"Understood! Aligning and firing the Guidestones!" Her hands flew over the keyboard, setting the new targeting parameters.
In the borders of the urban zone of Tokyo-3, a trio of railguns several stories tall adjusted their position ever-so-slightly away from following the main mass of the angel. Then the air exploded.
For once, the combined shockwave reached Central Dogma, causing some of the monitors to lose signal for a second before turning back on. One could hear a pin drop in the following silence while all eyes watched the trajectories of NERV's most powerful defenses intersect Sahaquiel's offensive.
All three new radar signals went silent.
"New descent path and impact point confirmed! Transmitting now!" Hyuga updated the predictions, to a chilling effect.
Not a single Eva, including Unit 00 which was closest, would get there in time.
Misato opened a radio channel. "Rei!" It was a single word, but the Nephilim knew what it meant. It all depended on her. Easier said than done, when the soul inside her Evangelion was fighting her every step of the way seemingly out of sheer spite. So, she decided to do what she knew to never, ever do.
"Give me a moment, Commander."
And dropped. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
She knew this place, the endless black sea that was Zerogoki's core. She'd been ejected from it- rather violently -several times. The difference this time being that she wasn't asking.
Slow claps broke the silence, a reflection of herself walking up to the pilot.
"My. Oh. My. Look who's decided to show her pretty little face again. We've already settled this, so why are you here?" The being let her head tilt to the side, the visibly broken neck meaning it only stopped by resting against her own shoulder.
"You already know. I'm aware of you always watching. And you'll stop fighting me." Rei stepped forward, her will pressing against her former soul.
Rei I.
"Watch it, doll. This is my place. You remember how this ends." Her previous self righted her head, countering the metaphysical pressure being exerted with her own. Behind her, a single large red orb glowed. "And you know that I hold the keys to the big guy." A much stronger AT-Field tried to wash over her, as it had done in the past.
Ayanami's eyes narrowed while she stood still. "I am not a doll."
"Shut up! You are! And when he's done with you he'll throw you away just like he did to me!" The field pressing against her lost cohesion, changing into an unfocused push with even more force. Ayanami stood still while her previous self's face twisted in madness.
"I am not. A doll." Her voice was resolute.
"Then why are you still doing what he tells you to!? Why do you still need my help!?" A hand reached out for her neck, finding no purchase but a smooth yet solid barrier on the way.
"I need your help to save the people I love." Rei let her AT-Field collapse, stopping the hand of the being with her own. Her earlier self tried to pull away, holding a hand to her head while memories flooded in.
In space?/no communications/if they are even alive/Lilim/and Blue have first pick/we are Eva pilots-
"Stop!" The first version of Ayanami shrieked, finally managing to yank her hand free. Slowly, her eyes went wide before she gripped fistfuls of her own hair, sinking to the ground in despair while tears streamed down her face. A single, all-encompassing scream filled the void in the darkness.
"WHY!?"
It took several seconds for the sound to finally die down and be replaced with sobs.
"Why do you get to have friends- why do you get to be loved- AND I'M STUCK HERE ALONE AND DEAD!" Wails joined in the cacophony of a broken heart, her body shaking with each breath.
Until a pair of arms slowly wrapped around the shattered being.
"Because of him. The trail of suffering he leaves in his wake. And it's why I won't be part of it anymore." Rei's own mind was caught by surprise at those words. Was that her fate? To betray the closest thing she had to a father?
Maybe.
But she knew what she was going to do. She'd fight for her own happiness, and the happiness of those that cared for her. What he had- that wasn't love. That wasn't even care. Just the shadows of feelings he once had for someone else, someone she was built after. She wasn't Yui Ikari. She wasn't a tool or a doll.
Her name was Rei Ayanami, and she was going to fight- and live- for herself. Her own goals and wants.
"And I'll still be stuck here." Rei I whispered hoarsely.
The First Child got up, softly placing a hand on the hair of her sibling. "No. You'll be coming with me." A soft red light glowed through the lower abdomen of a white plugsuit. And two became one.
"Ayanami, come in!" Misato's voice sounded frantic- because it was. They were running out of time, and Unit 00 had been moving forwards seemingly on autopilot for definitely more than 'a moment'. "Rei, come in!"
"Zerogoki pilot reporting. Apologies for the delay." Ayanami responded evenly, focusing her eyes on the predicted impact point. She needed to be there within 30 seconds. So she would. "Heading to objective."
For the first time in its existence, the Evangelion's body moved unimpeded, each stride pushing it faster forward. Off the side of her view, its pilot barely noticed the vapor cone forming before it dissipated just as quickly. It still wouldn't be fast enough.
'I have an idea.' A voice rang out from inside her core. Under the eldritch construct's feet, layered AT-Fields came to life, springing it forward- quite literally. The readout on the First Child's screen stated four hundred and thirty meters per second, not that it mattered. The only thing she cared about at the moment was stopping the angel.
Rei could feel the counterpart to her soul willing the gigantic war machine forward in time with her, and for the first time she felt-
-she felt free.
"Rits, what's her sync rate?" Katsuragi asked, wondering just what the hell else these kids were going to pull out of their sleeves today. In the last 10 minutes she'd seen Evangelions do things she had never imagined enough times to lose count.
The head of Project E Science Department was not faring much better. "I- I legitimately cannot tell you. The numbers are all over the place. But if I had to guess-" The blonde looked at the main screen, showing Unit 00 about to reach the impact point. "-High. Concerningly high."
Ripping up the landscape on their way to a standstill, the entity known as Rei Ayanami looked up at the gigantic angel bearing down on her. And planted her feet.
"AT-Field, max power."
No, I'm not dead quite yet! This story has been planned out to completion and there are no brakes in the crazy train. I want to thank every single one of you for sticking with the story through the hiatuses, it should be updates at least once every few weeks now!