.hack/EVA: Catharsis: Raven's Call

Disclaimer: In this universe in the quantum foam, I do not own or in any way shape or form hold a claim to the .hack series or Neon Genesis Evangelion (or of course, any other copyrighted works I might reference here).

" " denotes speech

'italics' denotes thought

'bold' denotes location names

'bold italics' denotes skill use

NERV HQ, Bridge

There were days when Makoto Hyuga thought he had the best job in the world. After all, what could be better occupation for a self-admitted giant robot anime/manga fan than to work as part of an organization that actually built and maintained giant robots to protect the human race? Unfortunately, his illusions had been quickly brushed aside by reality setting in, what with the long hours, low pay, and unfriendly boss not contributing to the morale of those who worked for the secret organization.

'And then there are the Angels…,' he groused mentally, reasonably sure that he wasn't getting enough hazard pay for living in Tokyo-3, the city that attracted more kaiju than old Tokyo in films. 'Someone should have warned me about the dangers of having to face kaiju…or relying on unstable teenagers to save the world, like in a bad anime…'

On the other hand, it was a stable job that would hopefully look good on his resume (assuming the existence of NERV was ever declassified), allowed him to work with Misato (who he harbored feelings for), and occasionally gave him genuinely challenging programming problems to solve (such as figuring out exactly how one was supposed to stop an Angel that had infected the MAGI from activating NERV's self-destruct sequence).

Yet….

'Working in this support role isn't quite the same as working for Helba in the guise of Bith the Black,' the bespectacled bridge tech mused, reminiscing about his days as a "internet security consultant" and hacker, when he had been the lead agent for Helba. 'Five years ago…breaking into CC Corp, being a man of action, saving the world from Morganna's machinations…that was something to be proud of, when I really felt alive.'

Ah yes, the thrills of the cloak and dagger lifestyle, when each day was an exercise in self-reliance, independent thinking, and fluid execution of an all-encompassing scenario—thrills that were largely no longer a factor for the young Lieutenant, as he had mostly parted ways with his old employer since the events of the Twilight Incident. Hence why he resorted to reading giant robot manga for what thrills he could get (and for the feeling of being somewhat in control of his destiny—something that wasn't so common at NERV), when he wasn't reporting sync ratios or checking on the status of the MAGI.

'Like Kaji, I may soon be working more than one job, as it seems my old employer is still alive and well, having recently had business in Tokyo-3, as she gave me orders during the attack of the Spider Angel, and has issued a few since. Though I question the wisdom of making said rogue agent into Fili the White…'

Still, the tech was certain that the Queen of the Dark had a reason for this, even if he did not know what it was, as Helba would not have associated herself with a government spy frivolously. In his rather extensive work with her (with contact largely done via disposable cell phones, message drops in prearranged online locations, and other such, since she had never revealed to him her offline persona), the hacker queen had always thought out her actions well, manipulating things from behind the scene well enough that some didn't realize they were being manipulated at all.

'No doubt she has a use for the unshaven man…'

Or so he thought, at least, as klaxons blared through the Geofront, and a kaiju rose from the sea, a floating creature of black and grey, with a vast red orb inset with its chest, whose killing intent made itself clear as it came on.

It was a moment that NERV desperately hoped would not come—an Angel had come fast on the heels of another, before they had had the chance to repair the damage that the rogue EVA-03 done to the others. With the exceptions of perhaps the 5th Angel Ramiel (whose powerful particle beam had nearly destroyed EVA-00—even with the aid of a special blast shield made from the hull of a SSTO launch vehicle), the 8th Angel battle (which had occurred in a volcano, of all things), none of the other Angel battles had been quite as expensive to deal with. And definitely, none had come so quickly after the previous one.

'Unfortunately, things don't work out as well in life as they do in a super robot series,' he thought silently to himself, something he was reminded of too often these days. 'Though, at the very least, the Angels have the courtesy to reveal their weak points in the form of a bright red sphere…even if this one reminds me uncomfortably of Skeith.'

"All personnel, level one battle alert," Lt. Hyuga spoke over the intercom, his voice carrying well to his captive audience. "Prepare for surface-to-air counter measures."

Outside, the massive form of Zeruel floated inbound over the city of Tokyo-3, as the UN missile batteries, tanks, and mortars unloaded a torrent of firepower and explosives that would have obliterated any normal enemy—in short, using the same tactics that had failed against Sachiel long ago, save for an N2 mine. \Still, they persevered, hurling earthly defiance at the divine messengers of wrath, concussive blasts of plasma and lead, striking for the vulnerable core—to no avail—and worse, as a coruscating shaft of light shot from the skeletal head of the Angel—exploding in a cross-shaped blast that annihilated the entire Komagatake defense line.

"Target status?" the old man Subcommander Fuyutsuki asked, looking intently at the hulking figure on the myriad displays, taking particular note of how easily it brushed aside conventional weaponry. 'Ah, the Angel of Strength may well be the mightiest foe yet, just as the scrolls predicted.'

"Still advancing! It's broken through the Komagatake defense line has been broken through!" one of the techs reported.

Then, the command center itself rocked, as a shaft of purple light lanced from its head into the ground, detonating with yet another cross-shaped explosion.

"First through Eighteenth Armor layers breeched…at once! Eighteen special armor plates were broken through so easily…" another tech said in panic, just as a wounded but functional Misato came up through the lift.

"There isn't enough time to send EVA to the surface," Major Katsuragi mused aloud, eying the tactical map in the front of the room as more cross-flares erupted into existence, silencing the air defenses and breaking through yet more of the plates. "Position Unit Zero in the Geofront to protect headquarters. Have Nagisa attack the target the moment it invades the Geofront! Unit Two status?"

"It cannot be deployed," Maya reported succinctly. "Damage has not been regenerated, and the Fifth Child is unavailable."

Then out the blue spoke the dark lord upon his dark throne, with the Commander of NERV throwing in his own helpful suggestion—or order, rather.

"We have no choice…send Rei out in Unit One."

"But Unit One is...." Misato protested, but was cut off, as the voice of Rei Ayanami came over the intercom.

"I don't mind," the blue-haired girl said simply. "I'll go."

"Rei? Are you—"

"After all…that is my bond."

Unknown Location

He stood within a room of white, clouded eyes taking in the source from where issued winds of plague and despair, the room of Gauf where souls were born and died, a room that now stood empty on the eve of the end. No matter how one might oppose it with will or force of arms, the outcome would be the same, as it had been fated to be, with every resistance, every opposition generating an equal and opposite reaction.

Yet still he fought on, somehow believing that he could carry the burdens of the world, that he could save everyone in the end, as there had already been too much sacrifice to reach this point, this final encounter. So resolved, the Wanderer lifted his gunblade, looking up to see his sworn enemy hovering in the air, surveying the room below with a beatific smile on his face.

"Come now, Alastor, put down your weapon," the shadowed creature spoke in a soft, entrancing voice. "You and I both know that it is futile to continue this endless struggle, as we are both instruments of destruction, avatars of finality. Oppose me, and you simply wield the power of ruin, adding chaos to this world and hastening the end—already there are no more souls for new life to be born, and we are the last of our kind. So why not surrender now, and know your final rest? It would, in the end, be the simplest solution…"

It was a choice the Wanderer had faced a thousand times, and each time, his answer had been the same, a flat refusal to submit, insisting that there had to be another way.

"You are ruin, perhaps, but in becoming anti-existence, you have forged your own chains, become your limit," the traveler replied, his form shrouded by the tattered grey cloak he had worn since the very beginning, his mane of blue-silver hair steaming behind him like memories of spirits past, memories that filled his heart even in the now. "In this troubled world you act as if you have the right to judge, to condemn others for their sins when you do not even consider your own."

"And what sins are mine, dear Lilim?" the floating mage of black and silver asked with a smirk. "I have only ever shown others what must be, allowing them to accept the consequences of fate, of the entropic spiral of oblivion. Everything you know is already at an end, as one way or another you have come to your final duel. As you should know, Lilim, no mortal can withstand my power and live, for I embody all the evils of the world. Now come to me, and accept your just reward, your eternal rest."

In response, the cloaked one simply raised his gunblade in salute, its form wavering in the light of the source. It was an oddly shaped bayonet that was unlike all others in the world, one wreathed in azure flame, a shifting weapon crafted of flowing silver lines, of the all the intangible things that had come before…emotions, fates, choices, wills…a sword that sang of death, yes, but also of a world beyond.

"No…not this time, fallen Angel," he said, eyes hard and unforgiving. "This time, I will not run away."

A few words, but they were enough to change the atmosphere in the room, as the shadowed one himself drifted to the ground, twin fans drawn.

"All the better then, for at last I will have the pleasure of expunging the last of this world's light, to watch the last defender of the Usurper's children fall," the Macabre Dancer quipped with his trademark smirk in place. "For too long have you been protected by those meddlesome abominations of Twilight, but no longer."

Without further talk, the two figures hurled themselves at one another—flying forth in lines and curves, baring teeth and leaping high to cleave one another in twain, in sparks and clashes clangs entangling—

—as a shaken Child's eyes fluttered opened to the sound of Angel Alert klaxons, and Shinji Ikari wakened from his troubled dreams. Still too tired and too pained to get out of bed, he could only look up, wondering who was being forced to pilot this time.

'This ceiling again? But if I'm here, who is piloting EVA-01? And what the hell was that dream?'

EVA Cages

It was a strange coincidence really, how Eve was not only the wife of Adam in myth, but was also, in Jungian psychology, the first stage of development of the anima, the unconscious inner self of the individual. Appropriately enough for the name, not even NERV knew the full potential of EVA, as it had been copied from something they did not understand—and henceforth restrained and made (relatively) powerless without the influence of a pilot—in order to fight against what they most feared.

As such, when selecting pilot candidates, NERV did not seek those who wished to pilot (like Kensuke), but rather, those who would be compatible with the biomechanical constructs, since controlling them was a matter of synchronization between Child and EVA via the A10 nerve—a cranial nerve associated with memories, movement, and emotions, especially love. In a sense, when a pilot entered EVA, he or she became the persona to EVA's anima, bonding with it in an attempt at ego-integrity, drawing two disparate entities together in order to stave off the advance of the untamed Shadow (the Angels).

Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen when one didn't have pilots who were themselves Angels, infected with AIDA (the literal Shadow from another world), or were otherwise not exactly what one would define as a normal human. Of course, perhaps normality wasn't all it was cracked up to be, as it is possible that a being might also need to be psychologically imbalanced to some degree to work at NERV, considering the staff from the Commander on down.

If in broad terms, the entire process of anima development was about opening up to emotionality and sensitivity to others, then most of NERV would not do very well...especially not the command staff, or Rei Ayanami, for that matter, who had been described as maladapted to living.

'So this is what it is like to pilot a giant robot…'

As technicians scrambled around the cages, the third incarnation of Rei Ayanami's body sat within EVA Unit-01's entry plug, awaiting the signal to launch. Unbeknownst to most, the good doctor Ritsuko Akagi had quietly disposed of the second incarnation in an attempt to activate a new clone—only for the attempt to fail miserably, as her soul had still been bound to The World (though Gendo & Company did not know that little detail, or they would be far less inclined to ignore the MMORPG that they considered at best, an annoyance).

Miraculously, after all the technology of NERV had failed to revive her, the First Child had woken up all on her own the day before, with the only apparent effects of her long-term incapacitation being the expected amnesia from re-initialization.

Perched upon the Throne of Souls, the blue-haired girl faintly smiled, opening her mind to the being trapped deep within the EVA's core as a pale-orange liquid began to fill the metal plug, quickly rising to her neck and to her mouth, where the girl's lips twisted in distaste, almost as if it were her first time piloting.

'This is what I have to go through to pilot this?' the girl thought to herself, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as another presence made itself known at the edge of her mind. 'I would much rather be riding my grunty to battle or facing the Angel myself, like I faced down Tabris and made him retreat. Even if he already…'

What most people thought was the First Child didn't care to think about the depressing little goth brat who called himself Tabris, the killjoy who had come into The World with the intent to destroy shadowed ones and shadowless ones alike. While she was normally a very forgiving being, there were indeed elements of her that came from before the time of Aura, elements that longed to show the little pretender just who he was messing with.

After all, it wasn't as if she didn't have the ability to project an AT-field of her own, float in the air, regenerate, or any number of other things that defined the Angels due to her own divine nature, but then, Helba had warned her about having to stick to her assigned role so as not to arouse any suspicion. And since she had promised to help the Bearer of the Bracelet…

'I know, I know, I have to blend in to see what Tabris is planning here, and then get rid of him, since he and his ilk I refuse to bless. Now, hmm, what did Helba say to me about piloting EVA? Open your mind and the rest will come? Let your mind touch the one within, anima to anima? Let's see what I can do then, as daughter of the dawn.'

Sending a tendril of her awareness towards the other presence, she played a little game of cat and mouse with it, until at last it spoke.

'Who are you?' it seemed to ask, uncertain, not recognizing the mind it touched, and yet finding in it something like the Third Child.

'Mother? No…not my mother…Skari's, the sleeping woman powerless in Eva,' the young Child of Dawn realized, pursing her lips. 'It's time to wake up…I need your help.'

'Help?'

'Your son is in danger.'

Eyes blazing to life, Evangelion Unit 01 activated, moving out into the GeoFront to confront the Angel.

GeoFront

It was not a usual thing for Kaworu to encounter feelings of annoyance, but it seemed to be becoming increasingly common in the last days, especially when unexpected complications arose in his plans, with the two particularly irking him at the moment being the unexpected awakening of Rei Ayanami, and the inefficient way in which the Lilim operated NERV. Granted, the latter, combined with Lilim carelessness and lack of knowledge of their enemy's abilities would be useful later on, when he would reveal himself as the Angel of Free Will and eliminate the cancerous vermin from the world, but it did not exactly help now, when he as the Fourth Child was deployed as the first line of defense against the Angel of Strength.

'Knowing what I do of Zeruel, I had best be prepared for his tactics…and I wonder, perhaps it is time for me to reveal some of the abilities I have gained from AIDA? But then, that is a last resort, lest the Committee of fools become suspicious over yet another threat to their precious scenario. I wonder if they understand that creating me and shaping me was a bigger threat to their scenario than any mere Lilim could ever have imagined.'

Cognizant of the danger Zeruel posed in hand to hand combat, the Fourth Child had wisely chosen ranged weapons, eschewing ballistic weaponry for dual positron rifles, which had, after all, proven most effective in the past.

'Why the Lilim bothered to create giant rifles for the Shadows of Adam escapes me, considering that they knew of the AT Field, and how projectiles had no chance in breaking through them. But then, that is why they are a failed species, never learning even though they ate of the Fruit of Knowledge. Sometimes, I pity them, but one cannot afford to pity the Children of the Usurper, as they are all guilty of crimes beyond compare.'

Ensconced within the bulk of EVA-00, the grey-haired youth smiled as an explosion rocked the Geofront, with dust and debris blooming from the breech in the Black Moon's armored shell, and the form of Zeruel proceeding downward.

'Angel of Might you may be, but as the saying goes, Knowledge is Power, and I know you of old, Zeruel. As powerful as you are, you are but a distraction at this point, and thus I am afraid you can play no role in my scenario. Goodbye.'

Positron beams lanced out at the descending black and silver form of Zeruel, providing cover as EVA-00 hurled itself into the air in a flying tackle, flaring its AT-Field to neutralize that of the Angel of Strength's.

The titans collided with a massive CRASH!, their masses and momentum wearing against one another as the cyclopean EVA pushed through the Angel's AT-Field, bringing both positron rifles to bear against Zeruel's arms firing.

With a whoosh-whoosh-BOOM!, twin streams of azure light blasted from the muzzles of the twin particle cannons, searing into Zeruel and literally ripping off the foil-like limbs, with the force of impact blowing the grey and silver Angel to the ground, with EVA-00 right on top of it. Having taken out Zeruel's primary melee armaments, Kaworu redirected his rifles to the head and core, opening fire—

—just as the not-particularly-happy Angel of Strength slammed shut its core's protective lid (capable of stopping N2 Mines), and loosed a torrent of unrefined energy at the EVA, the resulting blast overwhelming his own positron beam as Kaworu hastily pulled EVA's head down, so that it was only blew off one of his shoulders, causing the Fourth Child to cringe.

'A pity NERV does not have one of those electromagnetic shuttle shields on hand, as that would have proven most useful. Then again, a Lilim's understanding of events that are destined to happen are…somewhat limited, at best, so I suppose I cannot fault their race for failures in preparation.'

Seeing a blur of purple rapidly approaching from the edge of his vision, the Fourth did the sensible thing—that is, pushing himself away from the Angel with a snap-kick to the core, as EVA-01 entered battle by jump-kicking Zeruel, sending the Angel of Might sprawling to the ground.

'That…is certainly not the Third Child piloting,' the grey-haired youth allowed, bringing his rifles back up as he charged around and in, jamming both weapons against the head of the Fourteenth and unleashing several shots, resulting in a most satisfying spray of high-pressure blood. 'Ah, fallen thou art, oh de-limbed Arm of God…without intelligence, abiding to your purpose alone, you have not the means to defeat me or the Lilim. As one of your brethren, you disgust me, failure.'

And then a bestial roar erupted from the two-eyed one-horned giant purple Angel eater called Evangelion-01 as it faced the cyclopean EVA, snarling, its limbs tensed as if to attack. But while it was a tempting thought for Kaworu to strike down the EVA of its sworn enemy (and what more, eliminate an unknown while he was at it), he had seen what this particular unit, the sole shadow of the Usurper, had been capable of when berserk.

Deciding that discretion was indeed the better part of valor in this situation, he retreated, leaving the field to the berserker, who promptly tore into the fallen Angel, as within the entry plug of EVA-01 two minds and voices joined as one.

'Awaken to protect your child! Awaken! I wonder if I overdid it…'

'Join me…we have much to discuss…'

In the background, radio chatter continued as those on the bridge and elsewhere in the Geofront bore witness to the spectacle of EVA regenerating its lost limbs and ripping out the Angel's S2 organ with a satisfied snarl.

NERV HQ, Bridge

"Berserker…but how did EVA…" Misato stood in silence, watching as the EVA mutilated the corpse of Zeruel, ripping and tearing off bloody strips of flesh for its consumption. "There was nothing to induce it to…"

Maya carefully made a point of looking only at the synchro-data returns, not the viewscreen, as she did not enjoy seeing blood. That was one thing to be said about The World…combat there was bloodless, even if could be extremely brutal at times.

"The synch-rate of Unit One…its over 400%," she reported, to the sound of gasps and stunned looks. 'I know Zefie likes dramatics, but I didn't think she would go that far…'

"That means…she has awakened," whispered a reverent Ritsuko, torn between admiration and fear of the carnage. "Taking the S2 Engine into itself…"

All fell silent, as the form of EVA-01 finished its feasting and stood tall, tapping into its power to snap its bindings and unfurl eight spectral wings of light from its back, like the giant of light that had caused Second Impact so long ago.

From the window of a room in NERV Medical, Ryoji Kaji looked out at the vista before him, amusement and regret warring on his face.

"The awakening and liberation of Unit One," he murmured, raising an eyebrow. "The Committee won't overlook this. I wonder, was this in your scenario, Commander Ikari?"

'Or perhaps it is in yours, dear Queen of the Dark?'