Disclaimer: Death and Rebirth time folks, the end is nigh.
The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
Chapter 28 They're Talking About You Boy
By Marik Kurakashi
From out the side entrance of NERV HQ came a red car, rocketing off at high speed. Of all the things Ritsuko thought she'd be doing in this plan, being the wheelman for one of the Angels they ended up adopting like a pet wasn't anywhere on the list. Still, Bardiel kept quiet and she had a special radio that got past any attempt by SEELE's hired goons to block it so she had decent mood music for this.
That had been a kick, when the Commander finally told her a few months back that Third Impact was off and they were going to destroy the Electronic Old Men and their metal gimp butler for their bullshit. If not for how no one had actively tried to sabotage Shinji when he showed that he was a competent pilot, she'd never have believed it. As it were, she still barely did right now but the encounter on her way to the garage cleared up any lingering doubts.
"We're really doing this shit huh?" Ritsuko mused, just barely audible over the radio playing some old ass American song about being wild or some shit. Sometimes she regretted being able to understand English, but not right now.
"Doctor?" Bardiel asked, still laying down so no one would see him.
"You gotta understand, kid." Ritsuko said, not caring that Bardiel was actually older than the entire human race. "Up until Shinji showed up, I was supposed to be on these bozos' side and helping bring about Third Impact. I had years to get comfortable with the idea I was going to be finishing what Adam and Second Impact started. Then, I got told we're going to save the planet instead and here we are."
"A very curious twist of fate, but it doesn't seem so objectionable." Bardiel commented after a moment to absorb what she had said. "I mean a couple days ago I was mindlessly floating in the void of space so I am able to get what you mean when you talk about sudden whiplash." He would, wouldn't he?
In another time, in another world, Ritsuko's chief vices of wanting to surpass her mother and her desire for knowledge she wasn't allowed to know would end up driving her mad. After snapping and wiping out the Rei clones, she would have tried to stop Gendo as revenge for denying her when all she did was what he wanted and demanded. Of course that would end in failure because she didn't know that her mother's mind lingered in one of the MAGI and would foil her before he'd put a bullet in her.
But again, that was another fork in the road, one where she had attempted to sneak her way to the top of the world and failed. In this world, at this time, she took a different fork and was here in a race to get Bardiel to a special place at a certain time. Honestly? It wasn't such a bad hand.
"Don't mind me, I'm trying to keep my focus on driving and not wasting time worrying about either being followed or fired upon." Ritsuko said with a faint sigh. This was actually one of the harder prongs of the plan. Of course, if she didn't, Misato would and they needed Bardiel in a functioning state.
"It's fine, I've actually rediscovered being nervous thanks to assuming this form due to bonding with Unit-03." Bardiel just put it all out there casual like. "More unbelievable stuff for the pile huh?"
"Tell me about it." Ritsuko grumbled. "But it's not all bad, if this goes off right, then everything else in this plan is going to be cake."
"Ah, sorry." Bardiel said after a few moments of awkward silence. "I'm not used to human slang yet." The perils of temporary insanity and such, pre-space trip he would have been a better conversation.
"It's fine, it's just a human quirk to reference things that sound straightforward and simple but are really complex when you get down to it." Ritsuko allowed the twist in the conversation to further calm her nerves. "For example, baking a cake requires some form of measurements and proper equipment and such. To say nothing of the stuff already done by someone else like growing grain, harvesting it before milling it into flour."
"Really?" Bardiel said, his tone filled with curiosity. "Sounds like there are many layers to human conversation."
"Human language is often less about communication and more like an elaborate prank we play on each other." Ritsuko sighed, feeling something fleeting and warm pass through her. Was this what it was like to be a teacher? Probably not, there wasn't an unearned feeling of entitlement or a need to bash the subject's face into their failures. "Talk to Shinji and the rest some time and you'll find a lot can be said without actually saying it."
"Leliel mentioned something about that." Bardiel noted, before making humming a little. "Curious, I would have expected at least someone to open fire on us at least."
"NERV HQ is pretty well defended so they're doing their best to hold out for holes to open." Ritsuko explained. "We're lucky the JSSDF took our poaching with a little bit of good grace because we won't have their pet psycho marines to deal with. The UN might have blown Tokyo-2 to shit during the wars following Second Impact but Japan's long term wet working projects ended up with a body count akin to a plague." As it turned out, there were special frequencies played in Japanese Enka ballads that kept them docile. When the subject was deprived of exposure for too long, they would black out and carry out a set number of hits on a list seeded to them through manga. Often, they'd die but more than a few finished their kill list and were now seated in the Japanese Diet as a fuck you to the rest of the planet.
"Sounds messy." Bardiel said, more to move things along.
"It can be, but all it really means is that we won't have to let the Sub-commander off his chain." Ritsuko said, nodding a little as she pulled down another road. "Let me be up front with you, had you guys been more humanoid from the start, we might not need the Evangelion at all."
"Really now?" Bardiel hummed. "I suppose that's how he does it."
"Kindly old man, seems like you can let your guard down and share your troubles with him." Ritsuko said, just to firmly plant the picture. "He seems more the type to need to pray for a fly he swats and cries over the death of vermin. And then he cuts your throat without a single hint of malice or emotion, as if you were just dirt on his shoulder."
"My," Bardiel chuckled. "I had thought the Commander to be the scary one of them."
"Oh he's terrifying but most of it is your own imagination." Ritsuko said with a sigh. "Really, his bark is worse than his bite."
"Uhhh..." Bardiel said after a few moments. "I guess?"
"Oh right, not human." Ritsuko sighed, wishing Misato could have driven him to their destination. But again, they needed him functional in some capacity so the job fell to her. "It just means he makes a lot of noise but nothing comes of it usually. He prefers to use intimidation than waste time being violent."
"A more intelligent Zeruel then." Bardiel decided after a brief deliberation.
"Not saying much there." Ritsuko cracked.
"I suppose not," Bardiel agreed with an easy laugh. "Are we nearing our destination?"
"Just about, the last bit is making sure no one sees the hand-off." Ritsuko answered, already having the conversation mapped in her head. "Your appearance is to be a surprise to the rats."
"Sounds fine to me." Bardiel said with a bit of verbal shrug. Not much he could do about it and not be dealt a swift murder. "I don't think anyone is following us."
"Better to make sure than have things go bad." Ritsuko replied, feeling like she was getting the hang of this Angel.
"Right, being cautious has its perks." Bardiel said, completely flat. "Like making sure you could actually turn on the machine you're hijacking."
"There is that yes." Ritsuko agreed. "Not that the Evangelion are something you ever encountered on other worlds right?"
"Mmm, indeed." Bardiel agreed. "Humans have exceeded the benchmark set by the Haguromo, the race of the third world."
"What were they like?" Ritsuko found herself interested enough ask.
"Industrious, hard working with a knack for luck." Bardiel recalled after a couple moments to recall. "It took Zeruel and Arael clinching their teeth and working together to 'win' our little war game. A pity, Adam enjoyed that world a lot even though he spent his time asleep for most it."
"The First is an ever enigmatic being huh?" Ritsuko said, turning and doubling back towards their destination.
"Not as much as humans, by my estimation." Bardiel said, a bit contemplative. "This was the first world where the Lilim race created a mythos that encompassed all our names. You even got the name of the computer system at the core of the Black Moon."
"Eve right?" She wasn't someone heavily into any religion but she made sure to have some knowledge in case it became useful.
"Yeah." Bardiel didn't need to further elaborate that.
"I guess the Evangelion make sense, considering we spent our time constantly lashing Gods, Devils and anything in between from our fevered imaginations." Ritsuko commented, feeling a bit better about those things now. "Still, the truth of everything makes it all feel weird."
"I remember reading the cover up as I was looking for Unit-03." Bardiel said, more to keep it moving forward. "A meteor hitting the South Pole? The only real lie was that it was the First not Second Impact."
"That Adam and the Black Moon had always been there, waiting to either wipe us out or signal the start of our little Wargame, just makes it worse." Ritsuko commented. "We're here, let me do the talking."
"I'll remain in the car until you say otherwise." Bardiel agreed.
"Even better." Ritsuko put the car in park and got out. Swift steps brought her to the door of this mundane looking house in Tokyo-03, valuing cheap effective building techniques over looks since all the chaos left the idea of aesthetics in the waste of time bin for a spell. Quickly, she rang the door bell.
The door popped open, revealing Kairyu Kamina, standing there in a Metro PD uniform-likely his day job. "Dr. Akagi, this is a surprise. Did Simon get in trouble?"
"No, nothing of the sort. In fact, he'll probably easily make a full time employee, provided things go well with our final operation." Ritsuko could afford small talk, Leeron told her that the man was very amenable if you talked to him like he was human.
"Well, then, I am out of guesses as to why you're visiting me then." Kamina replied, being polite enough to avoid asking super bluntly since NERV operated in such secrecy Simon was almost never home.
"Your quick thinking with the Arael attack and comments from Sergeant Littner and Chief Engineer Leeron had us come to you with a request for help." Ritsuko explained, cleanly and professionally. "We need to deliver a package to the base of Major Adai but our usual transportation methods will tip our hand."
"I suppose I can help with that, depending on what it is." Kamina wasn't saying yes, but he also wasn't saying no.
"Bardiel, you can come out of the car now." Ritsuko ordered.
The Angel/Evangelion disguised as a human boy made a show of sitting up before exiting the car, to provide an explanation of where he was since she parked where he wouldn't be able to see down into the backseat very well.
"Well now, perhaps you can explain things for me to understand the job you're asking for." Kamina said, looking the boy over and finding there was something off about him.
"As he is being brought on for this Operation, he is allowed to be let in on things." Ritsuko said. "I'll allow you to attempt to explain it first."
Bardiel didn't wince, he hadn't much in the way of knowing he was being left in the lurch. "I am Bardiel, Evangelion Unit-03."
"You mean the pilot?" Kamina was more or less double checking.
"Well yes but also no." Bardiel hummed. "I can't demonstrate it too well either."
"Wait, did you guys at NERV figure out how to turn one of those things into a person?" Kamina asked, impressed as he came to his own conclusion.
"I suppose, in a manner of speaking." Ritsuko agreed.
"Awesome, tell me what you need then." Kamina was fully on board.
"We need you to drive him to Major Adai's base, who will air lift him back in giant form." Ritsuko held up a hand. "While it would be simpler to keep him here, it is more for building rapport with the JSSDF and others after this operation is through."
"A flair for the dramatic huh? I got ya." Kamina wasn't about to argue. "I can't be the one to drive him unless you don't care about his state upon arrival though."
"Really?" Ritsuko asked.
"Yoko insists on driving in most normal situations, saying she'd take Major Katsuragi over me." Kamina explained.
"Oh." Ritsuko seemed stricken by the idea of someone preferring Misato's driving.
"Don't worry, I got your wheelman covered." Kamina turned back into the house. "Hey Kittan! NERV's got a job for you."
Without a sound, a well built blonde guy popped up. "Yeah? What'd ya need?" Kittan asked, looking at Bardiel and then Ritsuko.
"Just drive the kid there to Rossiu's base." Kamina pointed at Bardiel. "Don't sweat the little details."
"Got it." Kittan nodded. "As long as I won't get any tickets, I'll get him there and sane faster than anyone else."
"Water under the bridge." Ritsuko assured him.
"Garage is around back, let's get going." Kittan replied, disappearing back into the house.
"Kittan's the safest driver of us, though he still manages to be the fastest too." Kamina assured Ritsuko. "He's practically there already."
"Can he go through your place to avoid being seen?" Ritsuko asked.
"Sure sure, just be mindful of your step, we have the allowed small pet Simon bought once the adoption papers went through." Kamina stepped aside.
"Go on, the MAGI have uploaded a list of personnel from NERV and friendly JSSDF forces, anyone else trying to stop you is to be exterminated." Ritsuko ordered.
Bardiel nodded. "Roger." He stepped with a purpose, vanishing into the house.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Ritsuko said.
"No problem, just keep letting Simon do his thing and everything else is good." Kamina gave a little salute. "Be careful wherever you're headed next."
Ritsuko stepped off the porch, pausing to wave before getting into her car. Swiftly, she started it and was headed back to NERV, there was one more part for her to play.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Who exactly was Gendo Rokubungi and how had he managed to just stumble into so many influential people's lives to the point he had his finger in every secret pie on the planet? Being a student of Kouzo Fuyutsuki was just a coincidence, but how would someone who was described as dull witted and angry at everything capture someone who seemed very much the picture of intellectualism? To say nothing of being able to keep the attention of a fireball known as Yui Ikari, a woman so angry that things existed she seemed delighted at the mere act of destruction.
In many respects, it is less who he is and more just how he is. Gendo was just an ordinary young man from unremarkable backgrounds who was just good at stuff enough to enter the tail end of the fast track to success. But key to his success was being able to lower expectations of him by everyone else.
Or, to put it another way, he was not as stupid and oafish as he appeared.
Many were surprised to find him an engaging person to converse with, others found his formidable appearance made him perfect for things that required you to scare the shit out of people without cheap horror. Existential dread of being broken open and devoured by this ogre sure seemed an effective negotiation tactic.
He is, to a fault, a man who learned early on to keep his mouth shut unless he had to talk. And if he was given the floor, say something with enough oomph and impact to leave an impression. Silent but not too stoic, dark but not quite evil, giving off just the right amount of moral ambiguity that made him easy to conspire with.
And all this before Lilith crammed the approximate knowledge of both mankind and every other world into his head to try and drive him insane.
Some would call it a short drive, others would argue there was no need to drive when you're already there. Yes, indeed, even now at the apex of power, people still found it easy to underestimate him. He was just too stupid and dogmatic to betray anyone.
Perhaps, that was precisely why he had. Being looked down upon by cowards without the spine to get their hands dirty themselves was a grave enough insult on its own. Add onto the fact they thought him too stupid to notice them doing it to his face was a great way to facture what loyalty he had.
Then Lilith's ill-timed revenge brought to mind a back-up scenario just in case an opportunity would arise.
In the myriad ways this world could or should have gone, Shinji arriving as anything but a spineless shell starved for affection was probably one that no could have seen coming. The boy had barely been raised or reared when Yui was soul munched by Unit-01 as punishment for trying to interface with it. But she was still the 'good' parent, the one he turned to for emotional fulfillment.
Consider further the guardians chosen for him were to raise him as little more than a dog, neither praising nor punishing him in any significant fashion. The brutal menu had been set by Yui, understanding that too much negative reinforcement early on might ignite a defiant spirit with in or a masochistic one that would delight in the abuse to render its effect on him null. Yet he arrived somewhat well adjusted and lacking the sullen hunger for someone to praise his existence and give him some kind of emotional nutrition.
Apparently, the universe writ large worked on equivalent exchange in some regards.
Namely, the tumble he took was one that Asuka's father took in another life. Instead of the girl seeing her mother and the doll she had been convinced was her daughter hanging from the ceiling, she was there to break the icy facade Eugen had built around himself. Yui had selected him for Kyoko specifically because he was a philandering sort who would move on the first woman to throw herself crotch first at his dick.
Frankly, the scenario's two easiest prongs being broken simply by swapping who fell down what stairs was almost too absurd. But as Gendo peered into those events through the approximate knowledge of all things, he found it making sense. Asuka's descent into being an attention whore who cried herself to sleep because the attention would never fill her soul was largely dependent on Eugen remaining far enough not to view her as his child but something his wife had burdened him with before she went crazy.
Hell, if Shinji gravely injuring himself didn't change how he was raised, Gendo would have shot those two lunks in the face.
Shinji's cooperative rebellion, one where he just wanted to say his piece before he went along with things, had been a pleasant surprise. A dream three nights before technically spoiled it, but Gendo had been drinking heavily so it was dismissed as his dreaming self being a weepy drunk wishing for something that couldn't be. Then it was true and he had to move with it, while unfurling and making his plans come to fruition.
Indeed, Gendo Ikari was not an unparalleled genius. He got okay marks and he studied the bottom of a beer bottle more than the textbooks at times. But he had the most invaluable thing you could ask for a conspirator to have, the ability to keep a secret.
No one would really know just how far his reach extended, past, present or even future.
And that suited him just fine. "Sensei." Gendo said, alerting the old man who was always his shadow.
"Yes Commander?" Fuyutsuki asked, keeping his tone flat to hide his anticipation.
"Take Leliel and collect Armisael." Gendo said. "You three will guard the west entrance where their initial breach is supposed to take place."
"Sir." Fuyutsuki said with a nod.
"And sensei?" Gendo asked before the old man and the angel left the bridge.
"Yes?" Fuyutsuki paused, one foot over the threshold.
"Do with our intruders as you would a Russian Nationalist." Gendo ordered.
The old man smiled, the shadow of death covering his gentle eyes with the purest murder. "Of course Commander." The pair left without a further word.
Gendo turned to the Bridge Bunnies. "Alright, you have no further job right now except to escape into Terminal Dogma, where all loyal Section 2 agents are waiting to protect you."
"Commander." All three saluted and moved to the left part of the bridge, which slid a panel out the way to reveal an emergency elevator down to the Terminal Dogma. All three boarded and left.
"Major, you and I have the bridge until the next phase begins." Gendo said, looking at the woman who he accidentally orphaned.
"Sir." Misato said, before she actually looked at him. "How many steps ahead are we?"
"About four right now. Depends on how much Armisael's addition pans out." Gendo admitted. "I would have honestly rather he died but that would mean they'd already have breached us the second Ritsuko left."
"Because the threat is still there, even if we convinced him to join humanity." Misato realized, before shaking her head. "The West entrance will be a slaughter, Armisael will definitely make sure of that."
"Oh?" Gendo asked, though he had actually felt that too.
"A simple prediction based on how easily he fought the Evangelion even with everyone goofing around." Misato said, nodding a little. "I'm happy things have gone this well, as he'd be a nightmare to actually fight."
"Because he can see the future?" Gendo asked, taking a guess.
"No, as he said, anyone could see the shape of the future if they're willing to let go of their fear." Misato said, giving a quick bit of thinking. "He remained unflappable against Shinji and Asuka, even holding back against Nagisa. Plus he seemed to grasp whatever it was Rei did down in the lab with a glance. That kind of opponent is too annoying to plan against because he'll either adapt or won't care."
"I suppose that is true." Gendo said, letting silence fall on the Bridge.
"Years ago." Misato broke the quiet. "I had thought if I met the person behind the containment breach, I would have shot them until not even hamburger remained."
"But?" Gendo prompted after he let her finish and made sure she needed it.
"But Shinji arrived and this place spun around into a real military outfit seeming overnight." Misato said, keeping her eyes on the Commander. "And it stopped being something driving me forward. Honestly, by the time you explained it all to me... I had already let it go."
"It still hurt obviously." Gendo mentioned after ten seconds of awkward silence.
"Obviously." Misato agreed. "I suppose this whole thing was to make sure I wasn't going to gun you down once the Sub-Commander and everyone else was out of the way."
"A little bit." Gendo admitted. "But there is still one little secret to share."
"There is?" Misato was surprised.
"The original mole was a German piece of shit by the name Keel Lohrenz, who took over as the head of SEELE and other assorted shadowy committees upon the end of World War III." Gendo explained. "But he bitched out because he thought it was a suicide mission."
"Okay?" Misato just wanted to know where this was going.
"He also pulled the strings to put you and your father in Antarctica because he thought your father might neutralize Adam before I could breach the containment." Gendo explained. "Make no mistake, your father was mere hours away from cracking the code on being able to safely observe Adam and opening the Black Moon when I sabotaged it. He was a bonafide genius and yet another reason to kill all those assholes."
Misato looked mad, but controlled herself. "And we will."
"So I really wanted to know if you had a favorite brand of beer you can't get normally." Gendo said with ruthless smile. "Because I'm going to turn that tin-headed asshole's skull into a cup to drink the finest booze out of and felt you deserve the first sip."
"Haven't had a real truly good beer since a trip to Osaka-4 back in college." Misato said after a moment to think. "In fact, the only downside to this posting has been that Tokyo-3 can't brew a beer for shit."
"I know that all to well." Gendo went back to his command chair and slammed a fist on the arm rest, revealing a recently installed mini-fridge. "We'll be safe here, I just sent the others away so we can discuss personal business. Would you care for a sampler of some beer I had delivered a while back?"
"You're the best." Misato said with a pleased sigh.
"I like to think so." Gendo pulled out a pair of blue bottles. "Here's a little something Sensei picked out back before our foray into space. Let's start with something a bit elegant for beer, just to mark the occasion."
"Yes sir." Misato came over from her usual post as operations commander, deciding to sit on the little divider that served to separate Gendo from the rest. "To another successful operation?"
"And the start of our mission to shape the future for the betterment of us all." Gendo pulled a couple mugs from somewhere, before he got ready to pour.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Shinji breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Sub-Commander enter the locker rooms used for the pilots, who were on stand-by with the recently converted Angel to see what was next. Stil, he was the one who did the protocol stuff so he gave a quick salute. "Sir."
"Thank you, pilot." Fuyutsuki smiled, realizing even more that the boy did indeed have a bit of Yui's flare for the rote processes. "I am simply here to ask Armisael to join me over by the western entrance."
The tall man who was the King of the Angels, looked towards Leliel, who nodded her head. "Of course, sir. With pleasure." He moved from where he stood by a seated Rei, his step quick with anticipation.
Kaworu sighed a tiny bit, knowing what was to come once those three left.
"Do not worry, Brother." Leliel said once Armisael was close enough to hear. "You have seen much of what is to happen today so long ago. Everything has already been decided, your presence is a welcome bonus."
"Indeed, Sister." Armisael gave a smile, then nodded to Fuyutsuki. "Let us go then... there are rats waiting to be slaughtered."
The Sub-Commander chuckled as he lead the way out the room. "I can see why Leliel was so keen on you joining us. We will all get along fabulously."
Whatever his response was, the door muffled it as it snapped close once all three were past its threshold safely.
"I guess we can finally stop pretending." Asuka said, standing up from where she was seated.
"Yeah, it's our part of the operation." Shinji agreed, looking at Kaworu.
"It's not like we needed the Commander to spell it out for us, but confirmation was nice." Rei said, hopping up to form the triangle of the three experienced pilots against the FNG. "Kaworu Nagisa, the ever so lucky and plucky new kid sent to the frontlines out of nowhere."
"You being a mole wasn't surprising." Asuka continued, nodding her head. "It's that they didn't ever deign to give you some kind of training to supply some cover."
Shinji smirked. "I suppose we should be shocked or surprised to some degree." He dropped it like the temperature did, his face now serious. "But you know, this whole thing stank from the moment you arrived and got more rank afterwards."
Kaworu just stood there, impassive. "So? Now what then?"
"I'm sure," Asuka said, pulling what looked to be a replica Kamen Raider belt from seemingly nowhere. "That as those assholes' ace in the hole, you got some cool thing you were supposed to be able to do that you got froze out of."
"Unit-04 was supposed to disappear in another Dirac sea, disposing of anyone in NERV-America who might know something approximating the truth." Rei said, her own belt shimmering into existence from the use of the powers granted by unifying her soul. "I suppose they probably sim-trained him on our theoretical combat model Unit-02."
"Sucks the genius lived up to the billing then, huh?" Shinji laughed, pulling his own belt out of nowhere too. "But you did well enough, all things considered. I'm not sure any other candidate would have gotten it ready to sortie on Earth let alone space."
Deep within Kaworu, Tabris was understanding just why Kaworu was losing his shit during the fight with Armisael. The game had been rigged from the beginning, no one at NERV believed he was on their side but tolerated him until their main enemy had been removed. And now, the boy was trapped alone with the other three who were going to activate some kind of armor mode to fight him.
Kaworu, meanwhile, just kept his face placid and his tone calm. "Yeah, I suppose a newbie trying to measure himself to a veteran's benchmark was pretty stupid."
"Buck up," Shinji ordered. "At least we're gonna let you fight back instead of throwing Makinami at you."
"How nice of you." Kaworu covered the flinch he wanted to make with a drawal. "Giving me a chance to swing a bit before you put the boots to me is so much better."
Asuka snickered. "I'm sure being eaten alive would be better."
"I mean, if you were looking to die in agony shitting your intestines out your ass, sorry." Rei said, affixing her belt. "But you'll just have to deal with us instead."
Asuka and Shinji wordlessly followed suit.
"I dunno, you guys could probably still do it." Kaworu said, looking from Asuka, to Shinji and then Rei. "But probably not as wicked as The Beast would."
"Probably not." Rei agreed, looking and nodding to her co-pilots. "HENSHIN!"
"HENSHIN!" Asuka and Shinji echoed her, and all three were covered in light.
Blue lightning swirled and spun around Rei, as silver and blue armor pieced itself together in the air around her, before flying in and connecting to her body. The helmet was in the style of Unit-00 with a slight stag beetle motif. A gust of wind signified the end of the transformation. "The Raider of the Storm, Kamen Raider Ikazuchi appears now!" She even struck a little pose and everything.
Red light wrapped around Asuka, sprawling out into the likeness of a rosebush before the light scattered into petals, leaving her in red, black and gold armor. She struck a cocky little pose, right hand gesturing to the faceplate not too dissimilar to Unit-02. "The Raider of Beauty, she who is Venus made flesh, Kamen Raider Roze stands before you now!"
Purple and silver energy surrounded Shinji for a moment, before spiraling into purple and silver armor. A black scarf unfurled from his neck, covering the lower half of his face-which had more than passing resemblance Unit-01 and Hercules beetle. He pulled his hands into something close to a Ninja hand sign. "The Raider of the Night, the Genius of Assassination, Kamen Raider Shinobi enters here."
Kaworu wanted to quip, wanted to try and snark but he knew his role in this little farce was to be the villain. He hadn't earned enough cred to talk smack, hadn't done more than fill a slot no one observing their battles would dare suggest needed filling. More than Tabris or Adam, he was simply expendable-to both sides.
"Well now, if you're ready?" Kaworu said with a flat kind of tone, trying his best not to just break into a rant about how unfair it all was. Life wasn't fair, why would this be? They wouldn't listen to him, they never would have.
Rei said nothing, coming forward like a bolt of lighting to spin kick towards Kaworu's seemingly opened right side.
Seemed that way, but he put up an AT-field with a slight smirk. Still, the impact was enough to push him an inch or two to the side. Impressive, even without doing anything to remove the field, this was going to be a rough little brawl.
Asuka drove a knee towards Kaworu's chest at the very second he stopped sliding from Rei's kick.
'Still so very coordinated huh?' Kaworu couldn't help be slightly amused at how they managed to get this down without any out of Evangelion training to point to. 'Must be a mental thing.' Still, he blocked with another field, this time allowing himself to be pushed back past the lockers.
He didn't wait for Shinji to come at him, he just escaped into an emergency escape tunnel to move it out of this confined space.
"Leaving already?" Shinji asked, already ahead of the other boy, arms crossed like Gunbuster. "I mean, I get that you're scared."
"Facing three Kamen Raiders? Who wouldn't be?" Kaworu decided to play along this time, seeing as the banter branch was extended.
"Oh sure." Shinji agreed. "But even without that, you've never gotten your legs under you here huh?"
"I joined just in time for the last two bosses of a lengthy playthrough with beginner stats yes." Kaworu said, rolling his eyes just a bit. "I mean, if you guys let me do more than be your scratching post, things might be different."
"Perhaps." Shinji said. "Then again, before Zeruel, we'd have probably tried to kill you just because."
"Hmm?" Kaworu wasn't supposed to know much if anything about what happened before he ended up here.
"The worst thing that can happen to a soldier is remind them their enemies are human." Shinji said, laughing at all now. "Part of the whole issue was remembering mocking the first couple angels for being childish... but what if we could have let them mature a little? Grow enough to talk to us? Maybe we could have talked it out and no one really had to fight and die."
"A nice sentiment." Kaworu agreed. "But likely wishing for too much."
"We were angry at ourselves, at the world for how things had turned out with a couple missions." Shinji went on without responding to Kaworu's statement. "A mole, representing that humanity wasn't even going to roll over, shut the fuck up and let us save it just sucked even harder."
"Ok.." Kaworu said, not understanding what this meant.
"Asuka would have torn your head off and killed you." Shinji said. "She would have seen through you in half a second and they'd be cleaning you off the walls for weeks."
"Really?" Kaworu didn't believe it for a second.
"She's the nice one, but that doesn't mean she's the soft one. When it comes down to it, if it has to be done she'll do it." Shinji said, taking a fighting stance.
"I guess." Kaworu was completely lost.
"All of this is to say none of us hold it against you." Shinji said, chuckling at how confused the other boy was. "You never had a choice because if you did, you'd never side with those assholes. Maybe no one in this farce had a choice even from the beginning... but that's why we want you to go down swinging, give a better account for yourself."
Kaworu braced himself, deciding he didn't need to say anything.
"It's the only way to apologize for not having the guts to neutralize you out the gate." Shinji said, before vanishing.
Kaworu's eyes shot wide before Shinji's boot collided with the front of his AT-field. 'Oh goddamnit! They were... they were...!' A single tear slipped down his cheek, all their disrespect had been trying to convince him to rebel and get put on the bench so he wouldn't have to be accounted for in this. Of all the times, his stupid pride had to win out and he stayed a threat that needed to be neutralized.
They had been trying to spare him-and by proxy themselves-of having to do this.
'If Adam were around and capable of knowing what was happening, he'd laugh himself sick at my stupidity.' Kaworu seethed as he ran down the tunnel, blocking attacks from Asuka and Rei.
'Kaworu, what?" Tabris asked.
'All this time, they were telling me to give up so this wouldn't need to happen. Makinami could easily keep me under lock! I did this, me!' Kaworu ranted internally. 'I could have said fuck it and dipped once Unit-03 gotten taken over by Bardiel!'
'But you didn't because you have that virus in you.' Tabris reminded him. 'You would have come here eventually, even if you didn't want to.'
'If I live, I'm gonna make whatever's left of that asshole into my own personal toilet.' Kaworu seethed.
'If?' Tabris repeated.
Shinji suddenly kicked Kaworu into the wall at the end of the hallway, a good forty five feet from where he was standing. It was only because he could bring up an AT-field that he didn't die from either the boot or the impact. Still, the field trembled a little in reverb from the strike.
'Yeah... if.' Kaworu thought with a bit of sarcasm.
'Well crap.' Tabris managed to get out over the mental link before Kaworu was swarmed by all three other pilots.
/-\ /-\ /-\
"We're going to be at Adai's base soon." Kitan said, well, more like shouted as the car was roaring like a demon from hell.
"I'm glad you're paying attention." Bardiel said without sarcasm. He was paying more attention for anyone trying to kill them at the moment.
"Been doin' this from time to time between dives up north!" Kittan replied, his face split into a grin that showed off some impressive looking teeth. "Learn a thing or two about picking up your surroundings even if you're going full throttle."
"Very nice indeed." Bardiel commended. "Though it's probably pointless paranoia, you should likely stay at the base until NERV HQ is clear."
"Just in case of crossfire huh?" Kittan asked.
"Yes, but also the commander has a thing I've been told about avoiding wasting the lives of talented people." Bardiel answered. "Plus, if those people go full out, there's bound to be a bit of a splash zone so entering Tokyo-3 will be hazardous."
"I hear ya, been meaning to congratulate Rossiu on his promotion for a bit but recovering from that attack up in Hokkaido took a bit out of me." Kittan said, humming a bit. "There shouldn't be any cars on this road right now, especially something exactly like ours."
"A little too civilian hm?" Bardiel asked in a rather roundabout way. "The MAGI are scanning them so I can cross reference them just in case."
"Tell me what you need and you got it." Kittan said.
"Just be ready to stop in ten seconds." Bardiel replied, his eyes beginning to glow. "I'd rather not miss, nor risk injury doing something about our tail."
Kittan settled for easing the car down so he could brake without flipping the vehicle violently.
"Splendid!" Bardiel complimented, before he fired off an AT-field from his eyes that blindsided the other vehicle and sent it flying off the road to crash into a tree, splattering the passengers into something resembling a chunky tomato sauce.
"Whoo." Kittan whistled. "So this is the kind stuff you Evangelion people can do?"
"To a degree, yes." Bardiel went with the easiest explanation. "Of course, you'd have to submit blood samples and undergo heavy tests to see if you have enough latent psychic abilities to do that. Domain Control is a mainstay in certain circles of the esper community because it is easier to use though still hard to learn."
"Nothin' easy is worth your time to master anyways." Kittan said, restarting the car and getting their journey restarted. "Kamina likes to look up occult stuff since Simon thinks the world of it. He was talking about some new thing they're coming up with down in Ryugu called Domain Expansion."
"Ah, yes, I heard Shinji mention it a bit before I took off." Bardiel said after he thought on it. "The next stage of Domain Control; actually manifesting the Domain of your mind through psychic and other related energies. Very tough to do but possible with the right inspiration."
"Suppose that might be something to look into then for you guys eh?" Kittan asked with a rolling laugh. "We're almost at the base now."
"Major Adai should be aware of the situation and expecting us." Bardiel said. "Sergeant Littner or someone else should have sent a private communication to him that we're coming."
"Hey hey, good deal." Kittan said. "If that's the case, we can hit the boost and coast the last straight away then!"
Bardiel said nothing, just relaxed as the car suddenly rocketted up to a speed far beyond what they were already traveling. Idly, the senses of this humanoid body lit up with joy as he could feel the exhilaration of this high speed. Maybe he should have listened to Armisael when his brother said this world was gonna surprise him...
"We're at the base," Kittan said after another minute and a half of pure acceleration. "I've let off the gas and we're gonna coast down to a proper braking speed. But still, be ready in case something goes wrong."
"Thank you for the heads up." Bardiel said with a hum as the Magi pointed out where Major Adai was.
It wasn't soon before long the car finally slowed to a stop.
"Hold your fire, hold your fire!" Rossiu called, just in case anyone might be a little jumpy. Finding out NERV was under siege hadn't been a pleasant bit of news for the nerves of the soldiers at the base. "If they're coming in like this, they must be from NERV!"
"Hey hey hey, got it in one Major boy!" Kittan roared as he exited the car. "How's it going man?"
"Kittan, you're okay!" Rossiu called, stopping his approach when Bardiel stepped out. "Who?"
"A greetings are in order, Major Rossiu Adai." Bardiel said, bowing a little. "My name is Bardiel, I am for all intents and purposes Evangelion Unit-03."
"Really?" Rossiu was almost ready to call bullshit but NERV did the impossible every other day.
"You should have the hypersonic transport ready at your airfield yes?" Bardiel said. "It is better I show you proof instead of merely hoping you'll take my word."
"Kid splattered a car with just an angry look on his face." Kittan added, vouching for his passenger. "They were out to kill us both though, so don't worry about it."
"Goodness, let's go to the airfield then." Rossiu called, gesturing to Kittan and Bardiel both to follow him.
Five minutes later, Bardiel stood alone in the airfield with enough room for him to shift back into the giant form of Evangelion Unit-03.
"Just visualize it in my mind's eye." Bardiel murmured to himself, the form of Unit-03 appearing in his head. "Yes, return to me my true form! The form that I have made my own! Here on this base Earth, let me stand as a giant beyond comprehension! Oh come to me, my machine god so that we may save the lambs of this world who only wish to live their lives!"
Blue energy snaked around his body, washing away his flesh and turning him into a human sized version of Unit-03. Then, once this was complete, the energy coiled and snaked towards the heavens, winding itself into a great tree of light. Two large branches formed for just an ephemeral second before they became the arms of Unit-03, from the trunk emerged its legs to stand upon the base Earth.
"Amazing." Rossiu muttered in awe, witnessing Unit-03's head and body emerge from the light.
"Hahaha, now that's just what you gotta expect from NERV!" Kittan cheered from a spot beside Rossiu.
"It is indeed a very miraculous transformation, is it not?" Bardiel inquired, looking towards the transport. "There is but one final component to this deal and this transport is yours from today forward."
"I'll ride along, make sure the pilots keep their wits about them." Rossiu said, pointing to the transport. "Figure out how to get on board and we'll go."
"Don't make me wait too long." Kittan said. "We got some stories to swap in the eight months since we last spoke."
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it." Rossiu said, running towards the transport, turning to wave once before he boarded it.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Kaworu grunted with exertion as he blocked a strike from Shinji, a roundhouse kick that would likely take the poor boy's head off if not for the timely block. Inside his mind, he began to take notes for how long before the next attack would come. He didn't quite make it to two before he had to throw himself to the floor to dodge a scything hook from Asuka.
Rei was waiting for him to finish his tumble, her boot rising ot meet Kaworu's face at a speed approaching terminal velocity of fuck your couch. It could only push into the AT-field deployed by the mole in their midst, a defense they decide to allow him to have. All this fight was, all it could be, was just a formal courtesy. A bit of politeness before they would be satisfied and rip him limb from limb.
This was the role he had to play after all, the powerless trump from a different game entirely.
He couldn't even find the space to rage internally, just focused on not dying for a moment or two longer. Shinji and his two partners were a well oiled machine and given the space and means to focus on just a single target, it was like siccing trained war hounds on an underfed rabbit. Still, he clung to the shield they had yet to rip from his hands, a bitter pill of false hope he could only bite down on.
'Well crap.' Tabris, being unconnected to defense and being put on ignore for the time being, could only do little more than be the morose and sober observation of how this was playing out. 'I have to hand it to them, they out played their opponents so hard they probably have eight different games at the ready to beat them in should it come to it.' It likely wouldn't though.
How hard had this world underestimated Gendo Ikari? How long had it danced to the sounds of the songs he wrote in secret, seeding them through the lands to poison his foes? Even if Kaworu could rat the bastard out now, there was little it could do to change the course of this battle.
NERV was going to win, SEELE was going to be embarrassed at best and utterly slaughtered as a matter of course. It was almost impossible to come up with a worst case scenario for the secret rulers of the world, those who thought they knew the truth of humanity and this world. But as the fight drug on, Tabris could only see what a self serving lie that was.
They had been outgunned before they realized they needed weapons. Even if the other nations and even Japan itself was not happy with Gendo shaking his ass in their face with every victory, they could all agree they'd like being dead even less. Without the general public and the malice of a world brought to the brink by the buffoonish antics of an outfit not ready to face the threat at hand, NERV was too entangled to the environment to remove. Only those still loyal to the Scenario would remain, a far cry from a massive coalition chomping at the bit to remove the Hegemon know as NERV from the planet.
'This goes beyond predicting their opponents or even future sight or knowledge. This is borderline divine intervention here.' Tabris could only make this rationalization, even if he knew such things did not exist. It was all so absurd, you could easily fall into the delusion to cope with the reality that your world was such a clownish farce that one cannot fully comprehend. 'Then again, betrayal from within often fells such an organization as SEELE. Gendo Ikari would already know most of their personal, their tactics and even their plans. Many held him up as a dogmatic idiot so why would they even conjure up the ghost of the idea he would betray them?'
Instead, it was simply preposterous.
Kaworu continued to fight back, blocking when needed and flashing an attack or two just to keep from being pinned down. His lungs hurt as he churned air in and out in near hyper ventilation. There were so many commands and desires pulling him everywhere he was about to have a nervous breakdown at this rate.
"Hey." Shinji pulled Asuka and Rei back to let the boy breathe.
"Huh?" Kaworu managed to get out.
"Why did you do it, man?" Shinji felt like he deserved to know. "Of all the stupid things, going against my Father like this is pretty fucking stupid."
"I was made in a lab, created to be the 'spare plan'. If everything else was untenable, I was to infiltrate, steal Adam and force Rei to initiate Third Impact." Kaworu confessed, figuring it was about time this fight was to reach its climax. "I am a vessel, same as her, but I was made from Lilith too. Still, I was able to contain Adam's soul somehow."
"And you just went with it?" Asuka asked.
"No, if allowed a choice, I would have killed them all instead." Kaworu admitted. "But being created in a lab means I am not like you. I am more or less like a bio mechanical machine, different even from Rei. I can't catch most diseases but they can use 'viruses' as a means to program me to do things. As far everything here, your father anticipated things well enough and I'm actually 25% in control right now."
"So that's why you were minded so heavily by the Doctor." Rei murmured. "To keep you from moving before we were set."
"Correct." Kaworu managed a smile. "I would be dead otherwise right?"
"Nothing against you, but we got a world to save." Shinji said, slowly bringing his hands up and managing to crack his knuckles through his armor. "Another time, another me and another you would probably be friends. That don't mean jack now, but at least hold your head up high, Nagisa."
"You're human." Asuka said softly. "To us at least."
Those words hurt almost much as Shinji's fist burying itself into Kaworu's stomach. But it was still only almost as the boy cough up blood and some other fluids as his body was flung a number of feet back at alarming speeds. He managed an AT-field to slow himself, switching it to protect himself from Rei and Asuka's double attack.
Punches flew, raining into the barrier with the brute force of a humanoid typhoon. Still, he managed to weather the storm enough to escape them, running in a direction that allowed him space to breath. Every second he could breathe was a second to cherish.
Still, Shinji's brutal strikes jostled Kaworu to and fro, sending the pilot of Unit-04 tumbling this way or that. Sometimes Asuka or Rei followed up, sometimes they let Shinji continue to press the attack. It was all so very overwhelming but it had to be, for this was the part of Operation Death and Rebirth for them.
If Kaworu Nagisa was to be eliminated-though the debate raged on if that was synonymous with killing here-it'd be handled by his fellow pilots.
The sheathed blade of Shinobi crashed into the AT-field, pushing it into Kaworu's side and sending him tumbling away. Asuka's punch slammed the field off his head, they were using his shield and defense against him now. Rei's kick shoved it into his back, as they intensified their attacks, knocking him around more and more.
'Such ugly brutality.' Tabris lamented. 'If only this could go another way.' Kaworu wouldn't survive some of those other ways, which seemed to ring hollow since it didn't appear he was gonna live through this right now.
Kaworu managed a kick to ward off Rei, swung a wild haymaker to push Shinji back. His breathing was still ragged and erratic, his vision just barely focused enough to see a few feet in front of himself. He fought back however he could, swinging his limbs when he had a moment to, flailing to keep the three armored pilots at bay.
His pride would not let himself just die like a bitch. If he was gonna die, he was gonna die fighting. They'd have to earn this kill, even if he couldn't win he would make them feel like it was a loss.
With a twitch of his forebrain, his shield gained a bladed edge and he swiped it at his foes. It may be little better than a pocket knife just remembered and pulled from his shoe, but if it was enough to keep him space, Kaworu Nagisa would use it. His resolve hardened and his eyes were resolute and unmoving.
On this battlefield, Kaworu Nagisa was going to die with his pride intact.
No virus could string him up anymore, no talk of plans or Scenarios mattered. His fetters had fallen free and he was ready to finally stand proud and roar. From deep within his gut came the cry of a hellish berserker, the pure rage and fury of a machine soul pushed to its absolute limits.
Red clouded his vision, but it didn't matter. He didn't need to see, only feel in this moment. The whispers they made in the air gave him enough warning to put his blade towards them. Every second he denied them was a second more he felt even more alive. Seconds turned to minutes and eventually, he stopped caring about time. He stopped caring about lasting, about pride or anything really.
Eventually he even stopped thinking, moving with instinct powered by his unrelenting will.
Twenty five minutes into this part of the skirmish, Shinji got the call he had been both anticipating and dreading. "Son, it's time." Gendo's voice came over the comms. "Do it."
He didn't want to but he knew someone would have to bear this weight. If Kaworu was to die, then he had to be the one who could take it. Lay the burden on him, Shinji Ikari will bear it like a proud Titan under the sky.
Shinji moved too fast for Kaworu's instincts to catch, slamming a fist into the boy's stomach again. The blow was tremendous, sending Kaworu through four walls before he landed somewhere close to the command center.
All three solemnly followed the boy, who was surprisingly cognizant when they came upon his body.
"Nice punch." Kaworu congratulated.
'Kaworu please, you can stand up at least.' Tabris implored him.
'Nah, there's no point, I can't stay standing long enough for it to matter.' Kaworu replied internally.
'STAND UP PLEASE.' Tabris screamed inside Kaworu's mind. 'Don't forsake that pride you finally found.'
'It's ok, this is just me returning to where I really belong.' Kaworu managed to reply. 'This body should make a nice vessel for you.'
'But that's meaningless if you're not there too! This is your body!' Tabris broke down after that, quietly sobbing inside Kaworu's mindscape.
Shinji produced a gun from somewhere, while Asuka and Rei averted their gaze out of respect. "Any last words?"
"Can't think too well, got knocked through some walls." Kaworu said, managing a smile through the blood. "You're a smart guy, tell everyone else I said something cool ok? For the New Guy if nothing else."
"I can do that." Shinji said, his tone becoming quiet as he took aim. "Ready?"
"No..." Kaworu muttered, but he chuckled in spite of the pain. "Not like it matters, I can't feel my legs right now so hurry up before I pass out at least."
"Understood." Shinji said, squeezing the trigger.
The sound of the gun retorted throughout NERV and suddenly, everything went dark.
End Chapter 28
Author Note: Sorry no preview for the last chapter, too bad!