[The Black Egg Cracks Beneath It]
Central Dogma, NERV HQ
Alarms screamed in Central Dogma as Misato stepped onto the command bridge, a flurry of words and actions kept at least nominally under control by a somewhat flustered Captain Hyuga. She stepped over to Hyuga's side, putting a hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there and took command. "Alright, I need an update, Captain. What's the situation so far?"
Hyuga turned to salute her, then began to speak over the noise. "Retractable buildings have been pulled into the Geofront, and evacuations are underway. They should be complete by the time the Angel reaches the city."
Misato nodded. "Alright. How long until the Evas are ready to sortie?"
Hyuga grimaced. "Unit-01 is ready to move out. Unit-00 and 02 are in the process of having the Dummy System activated, and will be ready to go 30 seconds after that."
Misato grimaced herself as she looked at the holographic map. The Angel had made quick work of their outer defensive lines, and it was long-range cameras that showed what the thing looked like.
It looked like a half-butchered penguin writ large, a tubular body that floated along with its AT Field, with boney spurs for legs and odd, grey squares in the place of arms. On its chest, a bone-like mask comprised its face, which seemed to scream silently at all it saw, breaking through the Komagatake defense lines without a scratch.
Faez turned to look at both of them. "The Angel has engaged the city's defensive batteries!"
Maya looked over at them, a wide, horrified look in her eyes. "It's firing some kind of…"
The Angel's eyes flashed with a baleful light, and 18 layers of tungsten-carbide reinforced steel armor were pierced like wet paper.
The explosion that followed rocked everyone within Central Dogma. Maya turned back to her console, and her eyes widened still further. "Weapons Building 9 has been destroyed. It punched through… 18 layers of armor!"
Lieutenant Aoba shook his head in almost dazed shock. "All those armor plates, in a single shot? We can't take another hit like that!"
Misato's jaw clenched for a moment. They couldn't afford to wait for a second longer. Not anymore. "Launch Unit-01!" she turned to the link to Unit-01's Entry Plug. "Rei, we're sending you in now. Keep this thing busy until Unit-00 and Unit-02 get to the surface to assist."
On the screen, Rei nodded. "Affirmative, Major. Launching now."
Misato could see the fear she hid behind her eyes now. She couldn't blame her. Misato herself struggled to keep fear out of her own expression. She needed to be strong. They all needed to be strong, now.
. . .
Rei breathed deeply as she tightened and loosened her grip on her controls. She wasn't quite sure why she did it, or where she got it from, but it occupied her mind without showing much to Commander Ikari.
She was going into battle again. She was going into battle alone. Her face was as serene as she could school it into being, but it hid a storm of anxiety. 'My only support will be the Dummy Plug systems within the other two Units. But they haven't won against the Angels before. Only Shinji and Asuka have done that.'
She knew of what would happen if she perished. She would be reborn in a new body, and she would continue in her life. But it would not be living. She would be a doll again. She would not accept that. Not anymore. She would not be alone again. 'I will see my friends again. I will win this battle. That will be the only way that will happen.'
She closed her eyes. Felt the vibrations of the gantry locking into place. The snap of the locks securing her to the launch tube.
Even before she started her ascent to the surface, she could feel the Angel's AT Field. It was almost a living thing itself, powerful, crackling, almost seeming to try and reach into the Geofront before the creature it was tied to. It needed, more than anything else in its entire existence, to get through her.
As Misato gave her the order to launch, she opened her eyes, doing her best to try and keep the fear within her from showing as she answered. After she did, the restraints on her platform released with a bang, and she rocketed to the surface, emerging in seconds.
Before she floated the Angel, looking for all the world like a true messenger of the gods. Its AT Field was oppressive, seeming to beat down on her without even being activated as it turned to regard her.
As she looked upon it, an old thought crossed her mind. 'If I die, I can be replaced.'
As she steeled herself and dropped into a ready stance, she appended something to it that had never thought after it. 'I will not let that be so.'
. . .
In the cages for Unit-00 and Unit-02, Daniel and Eleanor toiled feverishly with the other technicians to get the Evas to the surface as fast as they could get them there. As the Units moved away towards the launch platforms, Daniel turned to the technicians around him. "Alright! Get to the shelters! Our work is done here, and we need to get to safety! Move!"
As the technicians scrambled for the reinforced safety rooms, Eleanor found her way to Daniel. What she spoke vocally was almost lost in the noise around them, but their link made up the difference. "Daniel, Rei isn't going to last very long out there on her own. You and I know that."
Daniel nodded. "That's true. But we can also expect that Asuka and Shinji will want to help. Desperately. We need to be ready for them."
Eleanor shook her head. "They're going to be able to do this. It might be Zeruel, but they've done this with Unit-03 when we've read of it."
Daniel sighed. "But every Angel we've encountered has had something else up their sleeve. What could Zeruel have here that we haven't seen?"
A look of determination slowly flickered to life in his eyes. "They need an insurance policy. They need backup."
Eleanor looked at him in confusion for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Daniel… that is an absolutely stupid idea."
Daniel shook his head. "They won't let Toji anywhere near Unit-04 while it's contaminated. That won't be a problem for me. And Unit-04 needs a pilot to function."
Eleanor gripped his arm. "Daniel, if you do what you're thinking of, the sympathetic feedback isn't just going to hurt. You'll actually be injured! You could even-"
Daniel put a hand on Eleanor's. "Eleanor, we've done far more dangerous things than this. And…" a desperate look began to mingle with his determination. "I need to protect them. Please. I need to make sure that they're safe."
Eleanor was silent for a moment as she processed the meaning and the memories behind those words, and her eyes widened slightly. She sighed after a moment. "Alright. Alright. Let's go get to the other cages then."
They turned and made their way towards the back and silver giants.
. . .
The Angel's eyes flashed, and Rei knew that whatever came next, she had to get out of the way, and now. As she began to move, twin lances of light came at her with breathtaking speed. Her AT Field came to life, deflecting the blast into a hilltop, the hilltop vaporizing as a cross-shaped explosion plumed into the air.
Even as she dodged away, Rei felt the power of the attack behind her glancing off her AT Field, like a sword pulled straight from the forge and swung at her. She needed an answer. She saw such an answer in a nearby Weapons Building, diving behind it and out of the Angel's line of sight.
As the Building opened, she grabbed a pair of Pallet Rifles, sprinting around the side of the building. The Angel turned and faced her, with all the slow assurance of a victor waiting for the battle to finish in its favor. Rei leveled the Rifles towards its core, and let the rifles sing a staccato litany of defiance.
330-millimeter shells, larger than anything carried on anything save even a battleship, thundered towards the Angel, tracers painting a line that could sweep away anything else in the city away in an instant.
The Angel hung in the air undisturbed, its powerful AT Field constructing a defense that left the body of the Angel spotless in the face of the withering barrage. Rei's own AT Field tried to press at the defense, but at the distance, she was at, it would have been as effective for her to try toppling one of the skyscrapers of the city with her bare hands. And the Angel's AT Field pressed against her as well. If she let up, even for a moment, the AT Field, like the skyscraper, would crush her beneath it without a moment's notice.
In time, the rifles clicked heavily, signaling the end of their ammunition. Rei threw them aside, dashing in the other direction as the Angel's eyes flashed again, and the patch of ground she once occupied was also occupied by a cross of pure chaotic energy.
She ran for another weapons building, grabbing at the missile launchers stored within, and hoisted them beneath her arms, turning to the Angel as it hovered slowly and steadily closer. Two missiles were all she could throw at it before she dashed for the cover of a pop-up plate barrier.
The missiles splashed against the AT Field, providing what amounted to little more than a spectacular display, the cloud of smoke and fire dissipating to show an intact, and perhaps rather annoyed, Angel.
Its eye glowed again, and before Rei could dodge, she went tumbling through the air, slamming into the street almost a kilometer behind where she once stood. Everything in Rei's chest burned, and it was no small blessing that her AT Field held firm enough for her to get physically pushed back instead of annihilated.
She struggled to her feet as Misato's face came up in a popup screen to her left. "Major Katsuragi," Rei said, struggling not to wince, "I require assistance. This Angel's AT Field cannot be broken alone. What is the estimated arrival of Unit-00 and Unit-02?"
Misato nodded slightly. "They're on their way, Rei! They'll be appearing at Catapult Ports 4K and 8C in about 10 seconds! Just hold on!"
Rei nodded, saying nothing else aloud. 'And yet these reinforcements will be less experienced than even I am. They won't be Asuka and Shinji. They never could be.'
She dashed towards yet another Weapons Building, hastily grabbing the rocket launcher and switching her plug, before circling the Angel as best she could, rocket after rocket streaming from her launcher.
In moments, a semi-circle of flame and smoke billowed from the Angel's AT Field. But 8 rockets made as much difference as 2 did, and the Angel slowly turned to try and track her. She had to keep moving, or else its attack would be far more effective than it was the first time.
As Misato promised, the Evas, red and blue puppets, appeared behind the Angel. It turned slowly to regard these new contenders, and Rei gripped the almost spent rocket launcher tightly and ran towards the next Weapons Building.
. . .
Across the city, two Children watched, one hand squeezing the hand of the other, and their other hands gripping the guard rail of the veranda hard enough to whiten their knuckles as they leaned as far as they dared to watch the spectacle.
Kaji shook his head as the battle started in earnest. "Kids, we need to get out of here. I'm supposed to be looking after you, and that means I need to make sure that you two are safe."
Asuka shook her head, never taking her eyes off the sight of Unit-01 pouring fire into the Angel's AT Field. "Kaji, we're safe. We're on the other side of town from all this. We could run if they started coming this way."
Shinji nodded slightly, similarly nearly entranced by the sight in front of him. "And besides, it's heading for the Geofront. They always do."
Kaji nodded slowly after a moment. That wasn't the worst line of reasoning, with what he knew. He nodded slowly. "Alright. But we still need to be ready. Just in case."
Shinji and Asuka nodded slightly, the both of them groaning as the Angel sent Rei and Unit-01 flying. Asuka shook her head in disgust. "What does it take to scratch this thing? I've watched a quarter of the ordinance they've thrown at this thing cripple any other Angel."
After a few more moments of desperate defense on Rei's part, Asuka cheered, pumping her fist and waving as she saw Unit-02 and Unit-00 rise from the ground behind the Angel. "Yeah! That's right! Go get it, Mama! You can do it!"
Unit-00 and Unit-02 got to work arming themselves. It was a noticeably more stiff, almost robotic movement, as Unit-00 picked up its favored sniper rifle and Unit-02 picked up a Progressive Ax, Asuka's favored weapon. The pilot in question sighed heavily as she turned to Shinji. "You know, it would really be more fun to actually do this myself." a look of worry crossed her face as she turned back to watch the action. "We need to be out there helping Rei. If it weren't for those stupid Dummy Systems being in the only two Evangelions we can deploy, we'd be kicking its butt in no time."
Shinji nodded slowly. 'The only two Evas we can deploy. Are they?' his mind began to turn.
. . .
As the Angel continued its turn, Rei took advantage of its momentary distraction to fire her last two rockets at the Angel.
It turned back to her more quickly than she could have guessed it would, the rockets splashing against the AT Field, obscuring its upper body in smoke. The smoke was pierced by the flash of the Angel's eyes, and Rei threw everything she could behind strengthening her AT Field when the attack struck her.
The Angel's beam collided with a wall of rainbow octagons, the strength of the beam pressing the wall into a convex lens as Rei struggled to stand her ground. Rei watched as the Angel's attack refracted off her slowly doming shield, a hellish light caught in the cracking flashbulb of her AT Field, slicing through the buildings around them like they were never there.
After a moment that felt like an eternity, the Angel's attack let up. Rei stumbled backward, looking around for the next Weapons Building when she saw another flash out of the corner of her eye.
The Angel's next shot lanced through the meager defense she had set up, tearing through her left shoulder pylon and burning and bubbling the skin underneath. Rei clutched at her own shoulder as sympathetic feedback screamed through her own nerves and desperately tried to keep the now undiluted pain from showing too much in her expression.
She reeled back, stumbling to behind the safety of a pop-up plate barrier. She forced herself to pull her hand away from her shoulder, and gripped the controls tightly. 'It is the Eva that is injured, not me. I can still fight. I need to still fight.'
As the Angel slowly floated over to her, a crack pierced the air as Unit-00 fired a rod of tungsten-carbide from its sniper rifle at many times the speed of sound. It splashed against the Angel's AT Field at Mach 12, pieces of the round embedding themselves into buildings or the ground, or simply spiraling off into the open sky, and the follow-up shots did much the same.
Unit-02 charged with its Progressive Ax as the Angel turned to regard the Units again, its mask tilting to follow Unit-02 as it leaped into the air with its Ax raised overhead, slamming down onto the Angel's AT Field and bringing the Ax down with a shower of sparks as the Progressive element began to try slicing its way through the barrier in front of it.
The Angel seemed unperturbed by this, as the squares where its arms would have been unfurled to become ribbons, gathering in small piles on the ground.
Then, the ribbons flowed to life, rippling as one of them effortlessly bisected Unit-02 at the waist, another taking off one of its arms as it fell to the ground, the Progressive Ax hitting the ground with a massive clattering noise.
. . .
Asuka's face was the picture of rage as she leaned further over the rail, shaking her free fist at the Angel. "Du Arschloch! Das ist mein Mutter, du Engelsfick! Ich werde dich mit meinen bloßen töten! Dig its core out, Rei! Make it suffer!"
Shinji put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from dropping off the edge, a wellspring of worry not just for her, but for Rei, and the Units. 'Our mothers. Please… stay safe.'
They could hear the bellow of agony from Unit-02 as it hit the ground, echoing out from closed jaws. That sound held new meaning to them now, and both Shinji and Asuka sorrowed to hear it. They saw the gouts of blood spray into the sky as Unit-02 thrashed and convulsed in pain, its remaining arm tearing up the building faces and the streets around it.
After a moment, it seemed to get itself back under control, trying to prop itself up on its remaining arm. The Angel looked at it, the cloth-like blades fluttering for a moment, then it turned as Unit-00 continued to fire into the Angel's AT Field.
Unit-01 remained out of sight, crouched behind a building, and watched as the Angel's arms grew shorter as it floated towards the blue titan. Unit-00 stared back with stillness as it waited. The Angel's eyes glowed once more, and the crack of the sniper rifle sounded once more.
. . .
In Central Dogma, the atmosphere was tense, and Misato clenched her jaw as she watched the next shot Unit-00 took share the fate of every shot before it, bouncing harmlessly off the Angels AT Field. Nothing was working. She needed… something. Anything. She needed one of her harebrained plans that somehow worked in the end, and she needed it now.
She mentally grasped at straws as her mind whirled, processing what they knew. This Angel's AT Field was second in raw strength only to Ramiel's, an Angel which had taken the entire power grid of Japan and hours of setup just to crack. They had none of that at their easy disposal right now.
She had… nothing that would fully work, but at least she had an idea of how they could buy some time. She keyed up Rei, her face appearing on the display in front of her. "Rei, we're going to link you up to Unit-00's trigger and the rest of the city defenses! When they fire, everything else will hit where you aimed for as well. Wear down the Angel's AT Field enough, and the weight of fire might just get through!"
Rei nodded on the screen. "Affirmative." they both knew how slim the chances were that the last part would come to pass, but it was better than nothing. Misato could see the anxiety that Rei had hidden behind her calm demeanor, and she couldn't help but feel the weight of Commander Ikari's silent gaze on her back.
All they had left were two Evas now. Lieutenant Faez tried to order Unit-02 to do something, anything, but the damage and pain that had been dealt to the Eva made any semblance of control almost impossible. The city's defenses continued to batter at the Angel to no effect, and the JSSDF forces were like miniatures in an old kaiju movie, achieving nearly nothing.
Misato looked at the situation with a grim view. 'If that thing reaches Terminal Dogma, we're done. Hell, depending on where Adam is in here, it might not even have to do that. We have to stop this thing. No matter the cost.'
She turned to Captain Hyuga with grim certainty. "Captain," she said, as calmly as she could, "make sure the self-destruct charges are ready to go. And… get the JSSDF Special Liaison on the secure line."
Hyuga looked back at her, mirroring the grim look she gave him. The Special Liaison was there to coordinate only the biggest demands of the JSSDF from NERV, like an N2 strike. Or even a fully nuclear one. "Ma'am, it's in the city, right above us. If we call a strike down on ourselves… then we won't be here to see if the Angel survives it."
Misato nodded. "I'm fully aware of that."
A look of desperation began to trickle into Hyuga's eyes. "Ma'am, most of the shelters up above aren't rated for an N2 blast, let alone a-"
"I know that, too. But we have to stop this Angel. We may not have any choice." Misato shook her head silently after that. 'Damn it all, Kaji. I wish I didn't have to get you banned from here for "spying".' "Go get the Liaison on the line now. We'll need their planes in the air as soon as possible."
As Hyuga nodded and reached for a clearly marked landline, Misato looked back towards the main screen with no small amount of dread. 'We need Shinji and Asuka. Hell, we needed Shinji and Asuka when this all kicked off. Come on, Rei. Don't let us down. Please.'
. . .
Rei dropped her spent rocket launcher as she looked for another Weapons Building, finding it as the Angel advanced towards Unit-00. It tried to keep its distance, its umbilical cable going taut as it reached its limit, Unit-00 still aiming at the Angel as it stopped.
Its eyes began to glow when a calm voice echoed through the city over a loudspeaker. "14th Angel."
The Angel turned, and a beam of off-blue light hammered into its mask.
Unit-00 fired simultaneously, and the city's batteries opened up only a moment later. The combined barrage seemed to do the impossible, and as the Angel's AT Field finally stretched and tore, the sniper round shot by Unit-00 slowed only somewhat and gouged a portion of the Angel's chest out, the Angel wailing as those in Central Dogma cheered.
Rei hefted the Portable Positron Cannon in Unit-01's hands. 'I see Asuka was right to place her faith in this weapon's abilities. I shall have to congratulate her for such.' she aimed for the Angel's mask again as she spoke into the loudspeakers again. "14th Angel, I am Rei Ayanami, the First Child of NERV. As pilot Soryu would say, welcome to Tokyo-3. I will not allow you to make any further progress." her voice gained only the slightest edge. "You will not pass."
. . .
Asuka cheered as she heard Rei speak. "Finally! They actually hit it! Go, Rei! You can do this!"
In Central Dogma, Maya turned to Ritsuko with hope in her eyes. "Doctor, Rei's synch score just jumped up 3.5%! Her neural ping is also down drastically! This is the best she's ever been in Unit-01!"
Ritsuko leaned over to look at the monitor, noting the changes Maya had pointed out with no small amount of worry in her eyes. "Maybe, but she's still behind Shinji and Asuka. It may be her best…" she looked back up at the screen that showed them in combat and heard the groan throughout Central Dogma as the Angel's wounds began to bubble, slowly closing. "But her best might not be enough."
Misato turned to Hyuga. "What's the ETA on our air support, Captain?"
Hyuga nodded. "UN and JSSDF flights will be here in less than a minute, ma'am. The special flight is still arming… they'll be here in about 25 minutes."
Misato said nothing, nodding as she turned back to look at the Angel. 25 minutes. Rei just had to hold out for 25 more minutes.
. . .
Rei waited and watched as the Angel's eyes began to glow again, then fired the Positron Rifle, crashing through its AT Field and gouging a mark next to the previous one, which was almost done healing. A sniper rifle shot and thousands of bullets and missiles chased after it, pockmarking the Angel. The Angel rumbled out a growl, and its eyes began to glow yet again.
Another shot from Rei, followed by the barrage, sent it floating back, as Rei stepped forward. 'I see I was correct. It must weaken its AT Field to attack. I and the others can take advantage of this. I believe Asuka would refer to this as "stunlocking" the Angel. I am unsure. My grasp on video game nomenclature is still rudimentary.'
Rei fell into a short, but deadly pattern. Step forward. Fire. Step forward. Fire. Unit-00 marched in unison, following Rei's lead in stepping and firing. Rei felt a flicker of confidence as the Angel continued to float back towards the edge of the city as it unfurled its arms once again. 'I'm beating it. I… I can do this. I can win. Then I can request that Shinji and Asuka be my fellow pilots again. I won't-'
The cloth blades flashed, and Rei felt a strip of heat and pain tear across her stomach, far greater than any pain she could ever feel from Unit-01. A scream tore its way past her lips, and a starfield of lights flashed across her vision as nausea swept in like a tidal wave.
As her vision blurred, she sighted the rifle on the battle-scarred blur that was the Angel and saw two blue blurs lying in the street. As her vision cleared, she saw what had happened. Unit-00 lay in two halves on the street, cleanly bisected at the hips.
. . .
Shinji and Asuka watched in shocked silence as the top half of Unit-00 slid off its legs, toppling onto the street as it lost its grip on the sniper rifle, which clattered to the ground with an artificial thunder.
As Kaji watched Unit-01 stumble back with a shaky aim on the Angel, he shook his head, walking forward and putting his hands on the Children's shoulders. 'Misato, if that was your plan… I'm sorry I wasn't there beside you.' he spoke up with a husky voice. "We can't afford to stay here anymore. Rei's…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.
Asuka turned, batting Kaji's hand off her. "No, Kaji. Don't say it. Even if it's true." Asuka sighed explosively. "We need to be there for her! She needed us, and Commander Shitwit benched us because we didn't play to his tune! And now…" she trailed off as well, not wanting to speak what she thought into existence.
Shinji simply stared. "Alone… we have to do something..."
Kaji sighed and shook his head. "That's all of the Evas out there, Shinji. What can we do?"
Asuka looked back at Shinji as he turned to them, fully expecting the same despair in his eyes that filled her own. Instead, she found an odd look. Was that… hope? Did he have something to try?
Shinji's eyes filled with determination as he took out his phone. "No, Kaji. Those aren't the only Evas we have. And I have an idea."
He dialed a number, which answered immediately. "Shinji?" Daniel said, no small amount of relief evident in his voice. "I really hope you've got a plan."
Shinji nodded his head. "I do. And we need to get to the Eva cages, fast. Can your Interfacing help us with that?"
He heard Daniel chuckle on the other end of the line. "Shinji, I had every hope you'd say that. Get ready."
As the line disconnected, a small twister of seawater sprang to life beside them, and Eleanor stepped out of it, reaching out her hand. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, take my hand and get ready to go."
. . .
Rei fought to keep nausea that roiled in her stomach from making its way out. If she threw up in here, there was a better than good chance she would choke on it. 'Stay on top of this. You can still fight. You have to fight. Everything rests on you.'
The Angel turned slightly towards Unit-01, its eyes glowing once again. Forming any sort of usable defense with her AT Field was out of the question, as her mind floated in a jetstream of pain. She threw herself to a side, signaling for the pop-up barrier where she would land to activate.
The Angel's attack lanced out, neatly severing her umbilical cable and the power cable of the Positron Rifle. It collided with the building that was once behind Unit-01, annihilating it. Within Unit-01, the timer sprang to life, counting down the minutes until she would be helpless. 'Five minutes. I must use them wisely, or I'll die, one way or another.'
Her Positron Rifle had an internal battery for ten shots, maybe more if she lowered the power setting on it. That seemed an unwise thing to do with an enemy this powerful. Every shot needed to count. Otherwise, a Pallet Magnum and her remaining Progressive Knife were all that were available to her readily.
They would have to do. Otherwise, the other plans that NERV relied on without the Evas included the destruction of the city, and even the Geofront itself, should she fail. She couldn't fail. Otherwise, everything she loved would be gone.
She thought, for an instant, back to the people she loved, as she stood and prepared to run. To Shinji and Asuka. They were… beautiful. Their souls were beautiful. She knew what she felt for them now. Though she could never break the bond that they had forged between them, she could protect it. 'And that is what I shall do now. Protect this city, to protect their bond. I will not fail.'
She dashed out from behind the panel, stopping and spinning around for just a moment to fire two shots at the Angel's core before dashing back into cover. Both shots punched through, though as the blast dissipated, she saw for just a second two hemispherical plates slide back from around the Angel's core. 'This one protects its core using armor. I'll have to destroy it before destroying the core. Luckily, I have assistance in my efforts.'
"Major, I require a new umbilical cable and power supply for the Positron Rifle. The Angel's core is protected by a retractable layer of armor. I require assistance in destroying it."
Misato's face on the screen nodded. "Will do! There's a Weapons Building 800 meters south of you! Air support will be sweeping in from the west in about 20 seconds. Make a break for it when they get there!"
Rei waited until perhaps literally the last second, then bolted for the indicated tower as a swarm of VTOL aircraft crested over the horizon, sending an even greater swarm of missiles at the Angel, a fireworks display rippling to life on the Angel's AT Field as Rei spun around again to fire another flurry of shots.
. . .
Shinji, Asuka, and Kaji stepped out of the vortex, somewhat surprised that they weren't soaking wet. In front of them stood Unit-03, silent in its gantry. Asuka turned to Shinji. "Okay, mastermind, what's the plan?"
Shinji nodded. "We can activate Unit-03. If Hikari is in there, and Mrs. Horaki is in there too, then the both of us synchronizing can balance it out and allow us to pilot it."
Kaji looked up at the Unit. It was repaired at least somewhat, but he still had his doubts. He turned to the two Children. "Are you sure you two can do this?"
Shinji nodded. "We have to. And Asuka and I have synchronized in a single Unit before. We can make this work. We have to make this work."
Kaji nodded after a moment. "Alright, then. Good luck."
Eleanor tossed the Children their Plugsuits. "Suit up. The Plug is almost ready. Remember, you have an S2 Organ in there, the same sort as the Angels. That means you have unlimited battery life. Use it!"
Shinji and Asuka nodded as they caught their suits. Asuka blinked as she noticed a particular absence. "Where's Daniel?"
Eleanor shook her head slightly. "He'll be providing you backup."
Shinji tilted his head. "What? How?"
After a moment of thought, Asuka's eyes went wide. "Unit-04? How will he even make that work?"
Eleanor shook her head again. "Asuka, even I don't know, and I'm linked to his soul. But if there is anything I know about him… it's that he'll make it work."
. . .
Rei's hands clenched the controls with a white-knuckle grip to keep them from shaking. She leveled the Positron Rifle at the Angel, her last three shots a present weight in her mind. She fired, and the three-shot burst cracked through the Angel's AT Field, but once again, its armor proved too tough for the last bolt to crack.
Rei started to toss aside the rifle as a blade arm whipped out, severing her right arm, which dropped beside the rifle it held. Rei awkwardly unholstered the Magnum, aiming at the Angel shakily.
The pain threatened to overwhelm her. She was operating at the limits of her endurance, even though she had lived with far worse pains before. But those had been smothered by her medications. Now, she felt everything in full, and it was a challenge to keep a steady bead on the Angel. Her AT Field was nearly shredded, and most all of her air support was gone, either driven off or destroyed. One more plane loitered on the edge of her radar. The Special Attack plane, with its payloads that had the capacity to crack even the Angel's AT Field. To say nothing of the city which it would level in the process.
The Angel continued to press Rei back, and she stopped as her back pressed against one of the Main Access shafts, made for bringing Eva-sized cargo down into the Geofront. 'This must be its goal. I can't let it past.' She looked at the silent Angel, steeling herself for whatever came next. 'You shall not pass.'
The Angel growled, then lashed out with its blades. Rei instinctively ducked, and fired the Magnum until it clicked empty. Her shots pinged off of the Angel's AT Field uselessly. She wondered at what it hoped to accomplish before hearing the screech and clatter of the Main Access shaft gate falling apart as she looked back at it fall into the cavernous shaft. She glanced back and saw the Angel's eyes gleam. 'Oh, dear.'
The Angel's beam smashed through a meager AT Field to catch Rei in the center of her chest, sending Unit-01 tumbling down into the Geofront. The Angel followed after her slowly, patiently.
. . .
Shinji and Asuka suited up, and even in the heat of the moment, Shinji took a moment to appreciate the beauty of his girlfriend. She caught him glancing as she pressurized her Plugsuit, smirking slightly. "Head in the clouds before a battle, Shinji? I guess there are worse places for your mind to be than on me."
Shinji shook his head slowly with a blush as he pressurized his own Plugsuit. "You're… beautiful, Asuka. I hate having to fight like this, but… you make it worth it. If I'm going into battle, I'm glad it's with you."
Asuka chuckled slightly. "Thank you, Shinji. Never change with your weird but sweet thoughts."
Before he could reply, a thud rumbled through the room, sending bits of dust down on their heads as they looked up. "That probably means the Angel's broken through." Asuka said, leveling her gaze at Shinji and filling it with all the authority she could muster. "Now, come with me and get in the robot, Shinji."
Shinji smirked as he followed her out. "Yes, ma'am!"
. . .
Alarms went off in Central Dogma as Rei pinwheeled and plummeted the 900 meters from the top of the Geofront to its surface, hitting the ground with a mighty crash. Central Dogma shook at the impact, sending dust and light debris raining down on everyone.
Misato shook her head, coughing slightly. "Get our internal defenses trained on Main Access shaft 7!" she looked to Maya. "Status report!"
Maya turned and Misato saw the fear in her eyes that mirrored her own. "Rei is alive, and vital signs are relatively stable. Most of her limbs are disabled, back armor has been heavily damaged, and the plug won't eject! We can't supply her with any more power!"
Misato grimaced, putting in a major effort not to turn and give Gendo Ikari an evil eye. "What's left besides internal defenses?"
Faez's fingers flew across her keyboard. "We're sending up another Pallet Rifle and a Progressive Spear. She'll have to use them one-handed."
Misato nodded. "As long as she can degrade the AT Field, we can try and batter down on it. Maybe we can breach that armor that it deploys around its core with enough firepower." Even as she said it, she recognized how slim their chances were of actually making such a thing come to pass.
Up above them, Rei leaned against the NERV pyramid as she tried to stand, at last coming to one knee and taking the Pallet Rifle, aiming it at the Access shaft as the Angel floated down into the Geofront proper, seeming to be healed of most of its previous injuries.
As the Geofront's defenses roared to life to strike at the Angel, she steeled herself against the pain that she felt. 'I have to fight. I have to… to keep them safe.' Her rifle soon joined the thunderous ensemble in battering at the Angel descending from the heavens.
. . .
As Daniel stood alone in the bay for Unit-04, he noted the rumble that signified Rei's arrival and looked up at the form of the Evangelion. It was wrapped in bandages over most of its chest and across its mouth, the arms that had taken place of the pylons amputated, along with its right arm. That would be taken care of in short order. His gaze settled on the core. 'Well, Mrs. Suzuhara, it seems like it's showtime.'
He turned as Eleanor stepped out of a vortex of water. As she approached, she shook her head. "Daniel, if you're going to do this, do it now, because Zeruel is here."
Daniel nodded silently. He took her hand for a moment, kissing it lightly. "Eleanor… I love you."
Eleanor nodded in turn. "I know."
She stepped back, and Daniel focused, energizing his Frame. After a moment, the physical matter of his body became soul matter, and Daniel floated towards the core as a cloud of starlight. In a moment, he was subsumed into the core. Eleanor made preparations to release the soon-to-be-active Unit-04.
Daniel found himself afloat in a surreal scene, color and sound and images flowing together and intermingling and passing on within the core. In the center of it all, a shining figure stood, clad in what seemed like an ephemeral dress, dark brown hair appearing to float around her.
She opened her eyes in apparent confusion. "Hello? Who are you? What's going on?"
Daniel rose his hands slowly linking his soul with hers to operate the Eva. "Mrs. Suzuhara… Firstly, I'm Captain Theisman of NERV. There's a lot to explain, but right now, what matters is that your son and his friends are in terrible danger. And they need our help."
Mrs. Suzuhara's eyes seemed to mist over. "Toji? My Toji?" her eyes seemed to focus again "In danger?"
Daniel nodded. "Yes. I need to control the machine we're currently in so we can go and help. But I need to be able to work with you to make it able to do its job. So… shall we?"
As the connection between them deepened, Mrs. Suzuhara came to understand the situation at hand. Her eyes hardened, and she nodded. "Alright, then. Let's get this Zeruel bastard."
. . .
Misato wracked her brain, desperately trying to think of some way, any way she could ensure that power could be given to Unit-01. It had spent a Pallet Rifle already, making only a few scratches in the Angel, and it had received yet another Pallet Rifle that it waited to shoot until the Angel came closer.
She blinked after a moment, then turned to Maya. "Maya, could the launch platform system give power to Unit-01?"
Maya thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. That could work!"
Misato nodded, then turned to the screen showcasing Rei. "Rei, you'll need to get to the catapult launch access. It's 450 meters behind you!"
Rei nodded on her screen. "Yes, ma'am."
Misato turned back to Maya. "Maya, get the launch platform moving!"
Maya nodded, then a puzzled look entered her eyes. "I'm already reading an activation. Out of two of them?"
. . .
Rei stood, and moved as fast as she could towards the launch access, but her crippled leg made her pace little better than a hobble. Her movement attracted the attention of the now descended Angel, and she felt its AT Field crackle and snap against her back like barely contained lightning.
As she hobbled faster, she heard the unfurling of the Angel's arms, then looked down to find herself wrapped in them as she tried to dodge. In a moment, she felt the pressure of velocity, as the Angel bodily picked up Unit-01, swinging it in a graceful arc into the air.
The endpoint of that arc was the NERV pyramid, and Rei slammed into the ground, throwing up dirt and rock that rained down on Unit-01.
. . .
Within Central Dogma, everything rocked like they had taken a direct hit, which, in a sense, they did, pieces of rubble raining down from the ceiling.
Hyuga, looking up, watched as a piece of the ceiling dislodged above them, then looked down at Faez. In a snap decision, he grabbed her by the shoulders, yanking her from her chair as a sizable piece of ceiling crashed into her console.
Ritsuko wasn't so lucky. Maya turned as she heard the "unmph!" from behind her, and her eyes widened as she saw Ritsuko laying on the floor, unconscious and with a small pool of blood flowing from a gash in her head towards the chunk of ceiling that had struck her.
Maya jumped from her console, shaking Ritsuko's shoulder. "Senpai! Senpai, answer me! Please answer me!"
From above her, a cool voice came crashing down on her. "Lieutenant Ibuki, return to your station and report on Unit-01's condition."
Maya looked up and saw the gaze of Commander Ikari boring through her. She stuttered for a moment. "Sir, she needs medical attention, immediat-"
An edge of annoyance crept into Ikari's voice. "She will be taken care of later. The most important thing right now is to know the status of Unit-01." he motioned for some other techs to get her off the bridge, while Maya nodded shakily, sitting back down at her console
Misato couldn't fully hide the grimace that came to her face as she turned away. 'That's my friend, you bastard. I don't care if you care about your wife that much. You can't be that cold.'
. . .
Rei struggled to get Unit-01 to its feet, as she looked up at the Angel. The impact had crippled Unit-01, and the Pallet Rifle which lay only about 100 meters away seemed like it was on the other side of the world. More pressing was the Angel that floated near it, towards her, cracking with an energized AT Field and its eyes glowing with barely restrained power.
So this was to be it, was it? Well, at least she could struggle until the end. "I will not yield, Angel." she said over the loudspeakers, as much for the benefit of those below her as for the Angel as she rose what little was left of her AT Field. "I will not run away."
The eyes gleamed still brighter, and Rei closed her eyes. If this was the end… 'Then perhaps I will see them again. Wherever we go…'
But another voice pierced the air, causing the Angel to begin to turn. Two voices, actually. "NO!"
A black and white mass slammed into the side of the Angel, which roared as it was pushed away, the shape that crashed into it landing beside Unit-01.
Unit-03 reached down and hefted the Progressive Spear. "Now, get away from our friend." Shinji and Asuka said in unison from the Plug of Unit-03.
. . .
As cheers went up in Central Dogma, Daniel heard them, felt them really, from his position in the core of Unit-04. "Good to see that they're still in top form." Daniel said, a slight smile on his face. He gazed out the eyes of the Unit as if they were his own, and watched as Zeruel turned to face this new contender. Its eyes flashed, and Unit-03 caught the beam before it struck, throwing up an AT Field. It wouldn't last forever under the barrage.
As he considered the thousands of spent shell casing that littered the ground, an idea came to him as a fire stoke in his chest, burning up to peek out of his eyes as he used the AT Field to gather the shell casings, heating them into a glowing ball of spinning metal in his hand.
He focused, and Unit-04's right arm burst out of the stump of its arm with a sickening crunch, as he held the white-hot sphere in front of him, aiming at Zeruel. 'No, you don't get to look at them. You don't look at Shinji and Asuka, or Rei, or anyone else. You. Look. At. ME!'
A sphere of copper the size of an SUV shot out at an appreciable percentage of the speed of light, shattering through Zeruel's AT Field and exploding on its left shoulder, nearly vaporizing the arm it was connected to as the velocity of the projectile shoved Zeruel backward, causing its aim to fly up towards the ceiling before it stopped firing.
Unit-03 moved towards Unit-01, coming between the prostrate Evangelion and the Angel as it floated down, its armor around its core snapping shut as it lowered to the ground. Its skin bubbled, and its regenerative abilities seemed to kick into overdrive as a sickening series of crunches filled the air and its shoulder and arm reappeared in fairly short order. It floated back up into the air, looking directly at Unit-04.
Daniel nodded, and the Unit nodded with him. "That's right. Look at me. I'm right here! COME ON!" He threw his arms wide, and a roar only slightly muffled by the bandages around Unit-04's mouth echoed into the Geofront.
. . .
"Now get away from our friend." As the words echoed through Central Dogma, Misato's eyes lit up as she pumped her fist. "They're here! The other pilots!"
A cheer roared through Central Dogma as despair was washed away by hope, as Shinji and Asuka, the pilots who always won together, came to save the day once again. Misato gave it everything she had not to look back at Commander Ikari and show the triumph in her eyes.
Maya turned to Misato, a look of confusion in her eyes. "Ma'am, I'm also seeing Unit-04 active too. It's on approach."
She turned to Maya, confusion entering her expression as she tore her gaze away from the sight of Unit-03 standing against the Angel's blast. "What do you mean? Who's piloting Unit-04?"
Maya shook her head. "That's the thing, ma'am. There's no Entry Plug in Unit-04. It shouldn't even be moving."
Misato looked at the screen showing Unit-04. It walked slowly, seeming to regard the ground around it for a moment as it stretched out its left hand. Shell casings began to float towards it, spinning faster and faster as they became red, then white-hot, fusing into a globe of nearly molten metal.
It stood still, regarding the Angel as its right arm appeared in a spray of blood and bandages, and it aimed at the Angel.
Maya shook her head. "I'm getting a massive reading on its AT Fi-"
A lance of white light cracked the sound barrier as it shot away from Unit-04, piercing the Angel's AT Field and causing a massive amount of damage to its left side as it wailed and slowly floated to the ground. A wave of shocked silence swept through Central Dogma in the shot's wake.
Misato looked at Unit-04 with wide eyes as it threw its arms wide, and a roar echoed from a bandaged mouth. 'What's going on here? How is Unit-04 doing this?'
. . .
"Now get away from our friend." Rei heard the two voices that she had missed here more than all the world, and she rested her head against her seat. 'They're here. My friends. I'm not alone anymore.'
She regarded the tense standoff and knew she could do little to help. What she could do, however, was inform them of the Angel's abilities. The communications equipment was housed mostly within the Entry Plug. It should still work.
Rei suppressed a sigh of relief as the faces of her two friends appeared on her screen. She paused for a moment to ensure that she wouldn't slip. "Pilot Soryu, the Angel must weaken its AT Field to use its attack. You can take advantage of that, and can stunlock the Angel."
Asuka nodded on the screen. "Thank you, Wondergirl. We'll… OH, SCHEI-"
The Angel's eyes unleashed their beams of energy on Unit-03, as it crossed its arms in a desperate defense as it threw up its AT Field. They wouldn't last for long like that. She had to do something. Anything.
She looked down at the Pallet Rifle, then back at the Angel, and slowly started to scoot her way towards the rifle, keeping an eye on the Angel. Rei grunted in frustration. She was too slow. She wouldn't get there in time. She needed…
Her eyes went wide as she felt an AT Field spring to life that almost, but not quite, overpowered even the Angel's. A lance of white light sliced into the Angel's arm, exploding as it impacted, and the Angel wailed as it slowly came to touch the ground it once so imperiously hovered over.
Rei's eye widened as she looked towards the source of the blast, and saw Unit-04, its arms outstretched as it roared through a mask of bandages. 'How… Who…'
. . .
"Now get away from our friend." Asuka and Shinji's spirits soared as they stood in front of the Angel. They were in their element, linked together in a way that they knew was only possible for them here.
It was a delicate balance, trying to synchronize four souls. At first, as they activated Unit-03 in the gantry, who they assumed was Mrs. Horaki was skittish, scared even. They couldn't really blame her for that, after what she had gone through. Sitting in the gantry was tense until Shinji started to tap the controls to the beat that they had trained to.
After a moment to synchronize, Shinji turned to Asuka. "I think you should take the lead with synching with Hikari. She's much more your friend than mine, after all."
Asuka nodded, as their synch rate had crawled up to a measly 30%. But it was enough to fight. That was all that mattered.
Asuka's mind had wandered back to their synchronized training as they worked together to decrease the thought noise in the Plug. It was like dancing, wasn't it? 'Maybe we should get into dancing for real with each other.' Both Asuka and Shinji smiled at the thought. This wasn't too dissimilar to the mental part of being in bed at night either, Asuka thought, as memories and emotion swam through her. She felt shock and embarrassment from within the core, then a growing sense of curiosity. 'I guess Hikari knows about us now. Oh, well.' she thought as she reached out. 'Hikari, we need your help. We're all that's left between NERV and an Angel. Rei needs our help! Work with us, please, so we can stop this thing and save the world.'
A jolt of fright, something that felt like a plaintive nod, and their synch score climbed even higher. Now, they were ready to go to work.
And now, they stood ready in front of the Angel, as it regarded them with a low growl. Rei's face and voice, a welcome sight, showed how battered and worn she was as she warned them of the Angel's capabilities.
The warning she gave was just a moment too late, as they watched the Angel's eyes flash at them, and threw their arms in front of them as they raised their AT Field. It was a strong one, stronger than any other they had put up, but they saw the Angel's eyes glint again as it increased the power of its barrage.
They couldn't hold for long, and they needed to do something…
They heard a crack of thunder as a lance of light punched through the Angel's own AT Field and blew its left side apart, sending burning pieces of its arm flying off as the force of the impact tipped the Angel back, the beam of energy sliding off their AT Field as it ceased firing with a wail.
As Shinji and Asuka put themselves between the Angel and Unit-01, they looked back at Unit-04 with no small amount of shock. 'Unit-04… Daniel did that? Was that just an AT Field?'
. . .
Daniel nodded within Unit-04's core as he got the Angel's undivided attention, watching it as it began to float into the air again, made whole by its regenerative powers.
Mrs. Suzuhara shook her head. "So this one's tougher than most, then? If we can do what you just did, then that shouldn't matter much at all."
Daniel shook his head. "That shot took a lot out of me. And I'll need to be able to use my AT Field for a lot more than just that."
He looked at the glowing orb that was the S2 Organ, marveling somewhat as it took the Flux created by his spectacular use of the AT Field, and converting it back into usable Metos. 'So that's how it works. Huh.' he wondered silently.
He turned his focus back to the outside world just in time to catch the Angel's eyes glowing, and Unit-04 threw its arms up and raised its AT Field as an energy beam more powerful than any that it had fired before slammed against the chromatic barrier.
The Angel's eyes flashed as it intensified its attack, hammering at the AT Field that Daniel put up until it shattered. Only a last-second Field surrounding the core ensured that they would live at all, as armor heated and melted off, skin nearly boiling.
Everything was pain. It took every ounce of will for Daniel not to scream. Mrs. Suzuhara had far less will, wailing as they both felt the attack tearing into them. They just had to hold on. Just hold on. Just…
Unit-04 fell to its knees, and the Angel growled as it pressed its attack. Then it wailed, as a spear pierced its throat, Unit-03 sawing the spear back and forth as the Angel ceased its attack.
What was left was not a pretty picture. Everything, from armor to bandages, was stripped away, leaving exposed the cracked, burned, and bleeding skin that had begun to slowly heal.
. . .
As Misato, along with the rest of Central Dogma, watched in horror as Unit-04's grizzly form emerged from behind the Angel's attack, she turned to notice Eleanor stepping off the elevator and walking towards her.
Misato nodded as Eleanor stopped at her side. "Where's Daniel?" she asked quietly.
Eleanor looked up at the screen that showed Unit-04. "He's making sure everyone's safe." she said, equally as quietly.
Misato turned back to look at Unit-04 with a puzzled look that slowly became a horrifying realization. 'My god… Daniel… you can do that?'
. . .
The Angel, enraged by this latest development in its biological stability, swung wildly with its arms, Unit-03 dodging out of the way as they flailed towards it.
Asuka looked back at Rei. "Alright, we need a plan! We can't afford to fight this thing forever. How can we destroy that core?"
Rei shook her head. "We require some way of forcing it open. Perhaps…"
Asuka and Shinji didn't quite catch what Rei might have said next, as the Angel's eyes flashed and they ducked from the ensuing blast. "We need to pin this thing first, or whatever else we try to do won't matter!" Shinji said.
Asuka nodded. "Alright, then. How do we do that?" she said, as they continued to dodge around the Angel's many attacks, battering away blade arms and ducking beneath energy blasts.
After a moment more of this, Shinji and Asuka felt the presence of another soul, one that was… familiar. As it, as he spoke, they knew exactly who it was. "Guys… I have an idea…"
As Daniel relayed his plan to them, Unit-03 slowly made its way back around to Unit-01, Shinji pulling the link to Rei back up. "Rei, deploy your Knife!"
Rei's eyes went wide. "What?"
Asuka shook her head as they opened a pylon on Unit-03, the handle for the knife folding into position. "Just do it!" Rei nodded after a moment, deploying her only remaining Knife.
Unit-04 raised slightly shaking arms in the distance and used its AT Field to grip onto the knife handles, which flew away from their owners as Unit-03 came back around to stand between the Angel and Unit-01.
It batted away the blade arms of the Angel, waiting for the flashing eyes that always came. As they did, Unit-03 threw up its arms, deploying its AT Field as the Angel battered at it. Shinji and Asuka could feel the heat and energy behind the attack as they cringed away from it subconsciously. "Any day now, Daniel…" Asuka said, as she poured all she had into defending from the attack.
Daniel acted, and the Prog Knives flew towards the Angel's core. The armor snapped shut, the blades impacting the crack between the two plates. 'Perfect.' As Daniel powered up his AT Field, he used it to add length to the knives, the blades slowly slipping into the crack and turning at right angles to grab hold of the plates.
Satisfied, Daniel began to pull the plates apart with a mighty effort, throwing everything else into weakening Zeruel's AT Field.
As the plates slowly began to pull apart, Rei saw what was happening, and crawled once again towards the Pallet Rifle, now near Unit-03's feet as it continued to stand firm against the Angel's attack. After agonizing moments, she grabbed the rifle, aiming with it as the plates continued to pull apart.
Shinji and Asuka watched this and continued to throw everything they had into holding the Angel back for as long as possible. Their friend's lives counted on them being able to do this, and everything they loved was at stake. In a moment of pure synchronicity between pilots and souls, their synch rate skyrocketed, and the barrier which they erected began to push the attack back.
At last, the plates were held fully apart, and Daniel reached out, soul to soul, to Rei. "Take… the… shot!"
Rei's eyes widened as she, at last, knew who was with them, pulled the trigger, a burst of shells slamming into the core, shattering it.
Then, at last, Rei's view of the world vanished, and she was left in quiet, relieved darkness.
. . .
As the Angel hit the ground with a thud, Central Dogma was silent for a moment, then a riotous cheer erupted. They had defied all odds… and won again.
Misato turned to look at Commander Ikari, not caring to keep the triumph and relief from her eyes, and her look turned to puzzlement as she found no one there, the chair which he sat in vacant.
But that didn't matter right now, as she turned back to regard those on the bridge. "Alright! Eleanor, coordinate on getting the Evas recovered! Hyuga, get on the line and call off the Special Attack plane!"
Hyuga and Eleanor nodded, and Maya stood, raising a shaky hand. "Major, may I go and attend to Doctor Akagi, please?"
Misato regarded Maya, and a stab of fear entered her heart. Ritsuko. She worried suddenly and deeply for her friend as she nodded. "Go."
Maya nearly dashed for the door as another technician stepped in to do her duties. Misato turned to look at the screen, panels showing each of the Evas in fairly sorry states. 'You've won. Now, we just have to get you out of there.'
. . .
Shinji and Asuka sat together in the darkness of the deactivated Entry Plug, eyes closed as they snuggled each other as best they could in the LCL.
Shinji sighed after a moment. "I can't believe that worked."
Asuka chuckled. "Believe it, Shinji. If you hadn't have come up with this plan…" she decided not to finish the thought. She shook her head, opening her eyes as she looked around the Plug. "And it still feels like Hikari is still around." She craned her head to look behind them. "Almost like…"
Shinji nodded, opening his eyes and looking around as well. "Like she's right next to us. Or…"
With a sound not unlike a large bubble popping underwater, Asuka felt the weight of a fully physical, completely naked Hikari land in her lap. Shinji stifled a wheeze as best he could, and Hikari shook her head, blinking for a moment before looking at Asuka and exclaiming. "Oh! Asuka! I… I…"
Asuka didn't care for an explanation, simply throwing her arms around the startled girl. "Hikari! You're alright…" Hikari blushed, but accepted the hug.
After a moment of silence, Asuka blushed. "You know about Shinji and I, don't you?"
Hikari similarly blushed and nodded slowly. "I kind of figured, with what I saw… and felt..."
Asuka sighed after a moment. "Alright then, I can say this without worrying." She glanced back at Shinji. "Shinji, I love you, but if you're looking, there's going to be consequences."
Shinji, eyes squeezed shut, nodding quickly as he blushed perhaps the most out of all of them. "No worries here, Asuka. I promise."
. . .
Daniel nodded as he closed the Eva's eyes, then turned to look at Mrs. Suzuhara. "Ma'am… thank you. You made this possible as much as I did. And I had no right to put you through all that…"
Mrs. Suzuhara shook her head. "I'm a tough lady, Daniel. If I couldn't take the pain, I would have washed out of any one of my martial arts classes. And please, after all this, call me Chizue."
Daniel chuckled. "Alright then, Chizue. I have to go. I would take you, but then there would be too many questions. I'm sorry."
Chizue nodded her head. "I understand." she was silent for a moment. "Daniel… could you give my Toji a message?"
Daniel nodded. "Of course. What is it?"
Chizue was quiet for a moment. "Tell him… I'll be there for him. That I'll be proud of the man that he's become if this is what he'll be doing."
Daniel nodded. "I'll see to it. Goodbye, Chizue."
Chizue smiled. "Goodbye, Daniel. And good luck."
Daniel began to glow and exited from Unit-04 as invisible starlight, making his way to somewhere inconspicuous.
Next Time on Apotheosis Echo...
At last, the massive Angels cease their assault. But another Angel comes, wearing a familiar face. With so much on the line, and more enemies around them than a single world can provide, the Children, and those around them, must train harder than ever to ensure that they will survive. Next Episode: Forgefire.