Relapse
Chapter 34: "…'Cause I'm all alone again…"
Somewhere among the piles of wiring, solder boards, and scrounged computer parts, the girl's phone rang and that feeling once again found itself settling in her stomach.
Mari had been waiting for it to ring, ever since she had received the briefing on what had transpired with the 9th Angel, she knew it would only be a matter of time for her to be called to action. She just never expected it to be so soon.
Having pushed small screwdrivers and tweezers aside she answered, only to be told the situation.
Those two familiar feelings ran through her stomach again. The same feelings she had known during the action at Bethany Base.
Excitement.
The chance to finally pilot a production EVA. The thrill that battle had always given her was intoxicating, the adrenalin that pumped through her heart was something that nothing else in her life could provide.
Fear.
The dance with death was always so frightful. One wrong step and she could lose her life. One wrong decision and hundreds, if not thousands of people could die.
The girl knew after the very first time she felt that hypergolic mixture, that she would be addicted to the sensation all her life.
Because it made her feel alive.
It wasn't long after the call that IPEA agents had come for her and with one silent, yet insanely fast car ride later through the barren streets of Tokyo-03 the girl spotted a familiar scruffy man waiting for her.
By the time they had gotten to the long-term storage facility, Kaji had briefed her on the situation. The 10th Angel, rapidly approaching Tokyo-03, and how it seemed to disregard even the largest munitions thrown at it.
Stopping in front of a doorway, the man turned to her. "This is it, they'll have Unit-02 reactivated in a few minutes." He explained.
"Right now, you'll be the only operation Unit we have, don't forget what it means if you fail." He reminded her with a low yet stern voice.
Like she needed reminding.
Turning, the man took a few steps before stopping, "Your new plugsuit is in a case just beside the door, they told me it was tailored perfectly."
He started to move again, this time it was her turn to talk.
"Where are you going?"
He stopped again but didn't turn this time.
"I'm going to get another pilot."
ʡʘʘʢ
The commander of operations braced herself the best she could as the funicular shook once more from what had to be the Angel assaulting Tokyo-03 up above. To feel it down here though…
With one arm still in a cloth sling, she pushed her back into the wall of the car as the other hand was currently holding a phone.
Misato gritted her teeth, as countless rounds of massive ammunition passed her on their way to the surface.
"Status Red. We need every weapon at our disposal firing at this target, hold it back." She barked, not that such a command was needed, with the authorization of N2 mines they currently were throwing everything they had against it.
Suddenly a flash of red caught her eye, twisting, she watched as the unmistakable figure of Unit-02 rushed up to the surface.
"They're launching Unit-02? Who's piloting it?"
"Unknown." Came a staticky response "Operations did not order its launch!"
Misato couldn't keep herself from staring at the giant humanoid rushing to the surface, confusion swirled in her mind, before ultimately, she had to push it down. Right now, there were more important matters and she would figure it out later.
Running as fast as she could towards the command center, Misato tried to ignore the pain from her previous injuries. She was sure there were more than a few stitches that would be torn after this, but right now a few bleeding wounds were the least of her worries.
Bursting into the command center, she spotted Ritsuko standing there, with all three computer technicians sitting at their respective seats.
"Divert Unit-02 to the GeoFront, it wouldn't make it to the surface in time!" she barked as Makoto turned to her. Pushing up his glasses he nodded as the violet-haired woman turned to Maya.
"What's the status of Unit-00?"
"The left arm is undergoing emergency treatment," the girl explained "It should be ready soon."
"I want it deployed as soon as it's ready." She ordered.
"The dummy system is being activated for Unit-01." Ritsuko explained.
Misato froze. She hadn't even let herself think of it on her way here, nor had she thought of its pilot.
"What about the pilot?" she asked quietly.
ʡʘʘʢ
The boy had kept Dr. Akagi's keycard, meaning he was perfectly capable of leaving the quarantined room by himself.
Heaving back up to the observation deck, there were only two personnel there, both eyeing him warily but neither left their station even as another shockwave rippled through the underground facility.
Shinji figured they must have been ordered to stay, as it was rare for NERV personal to be here during an Angel attack, perhaps the care of one of the pilots was simply too important to leave up to computers and automation alone.
Walking over to the glass he peered down at her, raising his hand to the window, he witnessed one more artificial breath from the ventilator before turning to the two others in the room.
"Take care of her, please." It was all but him begging them. Much to his surprise one of them nodded to the pilot, who gave a sad smile in response.
Taking his hand off the glass he made his way to the door and let his feet carry him to the EVA cages.
As explosion after explosion rocked the base, he refused to steady himself against anything. He had done this before, too many times, and even as the occasional NERV personal passing him stumbled, he continued without hesitation.
Until another set of footsteps alerted him to company.
"Shinji!" He heard Kaji call out behind him.
He didn't stop, but he slowed down to let the man catch up. He of all people had the right to talk to him right now.
What the boy hadn't expected was him grabbing his shoulder. Kaji spun him around, earning a look of annoyance from the body.
"Keep walking if you want to talk." Shinji said bluntly as he turned and continued moving through the hallway.
"Are you going to Unit-01?" the man asked, while also catching his breath. Shinji was willing to bet he had sprinted to find him. He noted how far removed the man was from the calm and collected one he knew so well.
"Yes." The boy replied simply, "The commander will be there too."
"This isn't like the 3rd Angel Shinji. We need you…" but he was cut off.
"I know exactly what it is Kaji, you don't need to tell me about it."
The man finally grabbed him and pushed the boy against the wall, not earning so much as a surprised gasp. "What the hell does that mean?! Who the hell are you?!"
Shinji said nothing and just looked at the arm currently holding him against the wall. "If you want me to keep the Angel from reaching Lilith, then you need to let me go."
Kaji seemed to search his face for some sense of dishonesty, but Shinji didn't have time for this, Zeruel didn't have Asuka to slow it down, Unit-00 was still under repair and it wouldn't last long even if they set it against the Angel.
Somehow the situation seemed even more hopeless than his first time fighting the creature. Yet this time he knew he would fight, and he knew he could win.
Slowly the pressure lifted from his chest and he turned to keep walking.
"I need answers Shinji. What the hell happened with Unit-03?"
Shinji stopped on his own this time, but he didn't turn to face the man. "I made a mistake." He said quietly as the hallway was rocked by another shockwave, sprinkling both of them with bits of dust from the ceiling.
"Asuka shouldn't have been the pilot, she wouldn't have been able to pilot it… I should have…" he stopped, his words catching in his throat.
"You knew there was something wrong with Unit-03?"
Shinji didn't respond, he just started walking again. He didn't want to have this conversation, at least not right now, he needed to get to Unit-01.
"Shinji!" Kaji called after him as he once again trailed the boy.
"This is over your head Kaji, let it be."
"You're not with me, but you know about what I do. Should I expect your father to know as well?"
"How about you go find Misato, be with her after this. She'll need you."
Kaji said nothing, but he kept pace with the boy, much to the Third Children's annoyance. For once he didn't want to be around the man, he wanted to be alone right now.
After a while, the footsteps stopped, but he pushed on, not caring that the man had stopped following him.
"Shinji…"
At that tone, he did stop, however. It was a tone of voice he rarely heard from the man. Shinji was sure that Kaji held plenty of distrust towards him, especially after the last talk they had, but despite this Shinji knew what that voice meant. It was completely genuine
"Asuka… Asuka isn't that girl you failed. You understand that, don't you?"
At that moment it took all his strength to keep from shouting back at him. He wanted to rage at Kaji, tell him that he had failed her too many times to count. He wanted to explain who he was and what he did so bad it was making him shake.
But he forced those feeling down again… perhaps after this battle… he would explain things, but still… he could at least tell him something now.
"You're wrong."
ʡʘʘʢ
At least Kaji had been right that her new suit was tailored. It didn't help against the freezing conditions of long-term storage, but that chill was soon replaced by the warmth of LCL flooding the entry plug.
Standing there in the GeoFront, Mari watched as the retractable skyscrapers showered down from Tokyo-03, each crashing down like spears from the heavens.
For the first time, she could experience the true feeling of being in a proper Evangelion. Not a simulator, not a half-working provisional unit, this was a production model that she could tell had none of the coarseness she experienced previously.
She took a deep inhale of LCL, relishing the smell, even if it was accented with the scent of the Second Child, it was still pleasing.
As the debris and buildings continued to rain down in the center of the GeoFront, the girl picked up two Type MM-99 Assault Rifles from one of several containers surrounding her EVA.
Taking aim, she took a deep breath, there was no reason to start shooting if she couldn't see anything yet. Her fingers twitched, itching to finally feel real recoil from the weapons.
Finally, black tendrils seemed to grow from the dome while more buildings fell as it squeezed its way through the hole it had made through the armored layers.
Mari's index fingers flexed, unleashing a stream of 209mm shells towards her opponent. The 10th Angel hardly seemed fazed by the constant explosions enveloping it, instead, it simply floated down towards the growing pile of buildings at the bottom of the GeoFront.
The girl refused to let up on the triggers, even as the Angel projected its AT field towards her. The stream of shells and AT Field began to push against one another, pushing back and forth between the two foes.
Finally, her rifles expended all their ammo and Mari simply threw them aside. The AT field wouldn't be penetrated from this range, it was simply too strong.
But maybe…
The girl pushed her glasses up with a smirk and turned to another crate. As it opened, she stomped down on the deploy button and up shot her weapon of choice.
She recalled the designation, GB-012. Of course, it had a considerably longer and more complex name that she could barely recall, but it also had been given a nickname from the engineers that had designed and built it.
"Thunder Spear," she smiled as its blade extended, "lets see what this bad boy can do!"
Charging at the Angel, Mari smiled as her heart pounded in her chest, this would seal its fate, she was sure of it.
Launching into the air, she held the weapon above her head, thrusting it downwards as she landed on the 10th Angel.
Its AT field flashed violently at the power being projected from the tip of the weapon, even driving it down into the earth.
Mari gritted her teeth, she expected it to have gone through, but perhaps all she needed was a bit more force.
Deploying the left shoulder pylon launcher, she watched as 6 rods shot out at point-blank range, but it was in vain.
The Angel's eyes glowed and she was hurled backwards, skipping along the GeoFront while crashing through building after building, finally coming to a stop against a particularly thick skyscraper.
Shaking her head, she noticed the attack just in time as she pushed herself upright and jumped out of the way while an AT field came down where she had just been a minute ago. If she had just sat there, Mari was sure she'd be flattened
Landing, the 10th Angel just stared at the EVA, seemingly daring it to make the first move.
Pushing herself out of her seat, Mari adjusted her glasses. The Angel's black tendrils had stretched out before it while it just hovered there.
She hadn't expected it to be so strong, but now it was looking like there might only be one way of beating it.
That specific plan wasn't something she was exactly looking forwards to, but right now… there was no backup, there was only her and this gamble was the only way.
"Alright, lets show you the power of an EVA that's abandoned its humanity."
That line was more about getting herself ready than it was meant for the Angel itself.
This was going to hurt… a lot.
"Invert controls, backdoor code: 'The Beast'."
Instantly the entry plug's screen went dark, filled only with red outlines warning of danger. The girl closed her eyes and tried to steady her breath, but the hammering of her heart made that all but impossible.
She could feel it creeping up on her, only for the pain to wash over her as the Evangelion convulsed.
"Bear with it Unit-02, this isn't easy for me either."
She could feel the restrictor rods being pushed out of the EVA's body as if it were her own skin being pierced, but she refused to let out any audible protest.
Mari was sure those in the command center would be watching their screen in horror or confusion as the EVA's body morphed. Twisting and contorting into something more… dangerous.
"Nothing… ventured… nothing… gained." She choked out as the pain was forcing her to her knees.
"C'mon Unit-02, just a little more!" she shouted as the feeling of armor popping off tore at her nerves.
Finally, the power cable ejected from the Unit as she could hear the roar of the Evangelion ring across the GeoFront.
"THERE IT IS!"
To her right, the five-minute timer started to count down on a malfunctioning screen, but she had already launched forwards. Both the girl and the EVA were ready to tear the Angel apart.
The ground was torn away at the speed of Unit-02. Trees were ripped from the ground at every footstep and when she had finally come into range of the Angel, she once again launched herself through the air.
Its AT field shattered upon the impact, or at least half of it did.
Unit-02 found itself blocked by a second layer, seeming even more impenetrable as the first had been, still blocking her from the Angel itself.
Climbing onto the Field itself, she reared back and brought down the EVAs hands, smashing through layer after layer.
"CMON!" she shouted, how many layers could there be!?
In her drive to smash her way through, she barely noticed the Angel pulling back two of its tendrils. Mari could do nothing as they shot out at Unit-02.
She screaming in agony as the feeling of her arm being ripped away washed over her. Thrown back, simply pushing herself up was all she could manage.
She barely felt the next impact.
ʡʘʘʢ
Rei Ayanami was expendable.
She had known that since the day she was created.
The girl was able to be replaced, it had always seemed to give her a different view of the world compared to others. At least that was how she felt, considering she didn't have much interaction with others.
At least until him.
Shinji Ikari, who had changed so much since forcing his way into her entry plug, who had been nice to her, who had brought her food, who had displayed just how alive someone could be.
On her hip rested the SDAT player he had carried; she hadn't placed it back before leaving her apartment. Rei wasn't exactly sure why, but it made her feel warm for some reason, so she kept it.
Unit-00 rose into the GeoFront, she cared one last N2 missile, one that would be the last hope for the world.
The shouting of Misato telling her to stop rang her ear, but she ignored her, this was her purpose, this was what she was made to do.
But there was more.
The 10th Angel turned in time to stop her from hitting it, the missile's nose impacting its AT field as the rocket motors fired.
"AT Field, full power."
The entire force of her EVA, the missile, and her AT field pushed against the Angels, but it felt useless.
"I can do this… for him." She gritted her teeth, willing the Evangelion forwards "So he never has to pilot again."
She struggled against the power of the 10th Angel, it pushed back against her, even as she believed the missile had pushed through the field, she found herself being forced backwards. There was nothing left for her to give.
There was simply no way she could do this by herself.
Suddenly, to her left, she saw the red outline of Unit-02, or what Unit-02 had become. Its humanoid figure had been abandoned in favor of something much more animalistic. Yet, despite missing an arm and gushing red fluids from its body, the inhuman teeth of the EVA ripped away at the AT field's layers one by one.
Finally, as it tore away one more layer, Rei felt the resistance to her missile falter. It slammed against the body of the Angel, while she turned to Unit-02 and its mysterious pilot.
Grabbing them and tossing them back, Unit-00 turned to whoever was inside.
"Now run, get out of here," she pleaded "and thank you."
The enormous power of the N2 warhead was unleashed and Rei's vision went dark.
ʡʘʘʢ
The sound of Unit-01's protests echoed off the walls as Shinji entered the cages.
The commander was there, leaning over a terminal shouting commands to technicians as they tried to keep the Evangelion from rejecting the dummy plug.
"Why? Why are you refusing me, Yui?" he heard the man mumble as he walked up to him.
"It won't make a difference."
Turning, the bearded face of Gendo Ikari met with the younger pilot's. Shinji clenched his fist, making sure he wasn't about to do anything that would keep the man from letting him back in that entry plug.
"What are you doing here?" that same lifeless voice asked.
"You know what I said and by the looks of things you're going to need me in Unit-01." Shinji just looked out to the Evangelion.
"Are you going to let this Angel just waltz into Terminal Dogma, or are you going to do what I asked?"
By then the whole room had gone quiet, the technicians stopping their work to stare at the two of them as more shockwaves shook loose debris down around them and lights flickered.
Neither commander nor pilot backed down from each other. Both stood there, seemingly fighting a battle of wills that no one could see.
In the end, however, there can only be one victor.
.
.
.
"I… am sorry, Shinji."
Gendo's voice seemed to reverberate through the room, it was plainly obvious to all those there that the words spoken had been choked out. The boy hadn't lied, it was indeed the hardest words for him to force out.
The boy said nothing, frowning at those words as he pushed past the man and heading towards his Evangelion.
"If I didn't know better, I might've thought that was genuine."
ʡʘʘʢ
Mari could just barely make out Unit-01 raising from the ground. The haze left from the N2 blast had obscured her vision only till recently, now she could see the 10th Angel clearly.
Mari felt herself being pulled from the plane of consciousness, the pain was doing that. She was sure the Evangelion's life support systems were doing their best, despite the damage the EVA as a whole had sustained.
Over her comms, a window of the boy she had met on that rooftop appeared, somehow bypassing the two-way link she had cut.
His face, just like when he threatened her, gave the girl a chill down her spine. Those eyes were cold, focused, and had the most unforgiving look to them.
"You need to get out of here." He said calmly yet firmly, somehow his voice was steady despite the scene of destruction around them.
"I can still help," she said weakly, doing her best to push the Evangelion back and upright.
Shinji just shook his head "Your EVA is too damaged; you'll just get in the way. Eject or get it down to the cages."
"You need to know what you're going up against." She mumbled, doing her best to stay awake. The boy didn't know how powerful that thing was, how it had tossed her around like some play toy. It was a suicide mission for a single EVA.
"I already know." He said simply "We're old friends."
The screen went blank and Mari barely remembered pushing the eject button. Her vision turned dark as she drifted off into the void.
What did he mean by that?
ʡʘʘʢ
"So… it's you."
Shinji watched the 'face' of Zeruel crack open. Eyes widening, he watched as a massive petal-shaped mouth rushed forwards and came down around a charred Unit-00.
Returning to its host, the Angel's body began to morph, the lower half flexing and changing color until it transformed into a humanoid form.
"It absorbed Unit-00." He breathed.
"What does that mean?" An equally perplexed redhead asked behind him.
She was here, much to his annoyance, but perhaps the extra set of eyes would be useful, especially now. This was unlike anything before and he was sure this fight would be very different.
The 10th Angel straightened itself into the air, the lower human half almost being draped in the black tendrils the Angel had from its first form.
"Nothing good I guess." He said as his hands gripped the controls tighter.
It seemed it was another piece of his destiny to face this creature. The two of them were well acquainted, even if he was the only one that knew it.
The question now became, how was he going to save Rei? He had a feeling this fight wouldn't be as easy as it normally was and he needed to keep a level head if he was going to beat this thing.
"You know, after everything, I always wanted to see you fight when you were really pissed off." Soryu mused from behind him.
"You do remember that you lost this fight when you got carried away." He smirked.
"Hey! At least I didn't run away first!" she countered.
He shrugged at the comment "You got me there.".
"Let's end this."
Yeah so I'm late, trust me… alright I don't have a good excuse, I just kept putting off writing the fight scene tbh. So to be clear we'll have chapter 35 (which WILL be out before August 14th) and I'll talk about what happens after that at the end of the chapter.
SHOUTOUTS!
UltraSpink of Da USA – Thanks!
EvaPilotFair – "LETS GET READY TO RUMMMMMBBBBBLLLLLEEEE!"
Tomdj1701 – Oh I mean 2 more chapters till our first break, don't worry we'll talk about that next chapter.
skyf0x – Thanks! You'll have to wait and see!
YodaMorpheus7 – Technically, Zeruel isn't the last Angel, because in 3.0 there's another one that comes out of Unit-06 I believe when they go down to Lilith at the end of the movie and then there's Kaworu, but as for Angels in the classic sense of attacking the city, yeah last one.
calborghete – "Why do I hear boss music?"
JIM D. ZAS – Thank You!
NoseGum – This is EVA of course we'd get drama haha!
Guest – 2 more till a break, but we're far from done.
JDH1080 – Hope you enjoy it!
cyz17 – Thanks, always love it when someone understands where the chapter titles come from.
Guest(2) – Um…
Alright, I'll have 35 up by next Friday hopefully. If I cant manage that, then expect it by the following Wednesday, there's just some things going on that might keep me from finishing it.
Until Next Time.