Chapter 112: Secrets Out

"…!?" the older man reacted darting his head to the right.

Strangely, the curtains were closed up. On the other side, there was a silhouette of a teenage. About to ignore it, he felt a surge of apprehension and became alarmed. Recognizing who that aura belong to, Dr. Conrad grabbed the curtains and opened them. What was revealed was carnage.

Various monsters were chasing people while others were torturing and mutilating them. Every piece of furniture was splashed with red and black iron smelling liquid. The four teens saw one man get his face ripped off followed by his death scream. A loud pitch cackle emitted from the hideous looking figure as it chomped the man's head off. Dropping the body to the floor, it slithered to another victim.

"…aahhhh!…ahhhh!…ahhhh!" one of the male teens said gripping his head and hair as he curled into a ball. "We are all going to die here! It didn't get us before…it's here to finish us off!"

"…" Ernst responded ignoring the carnage. Instead, he was looking for a particular person among the monsters. Seeing a hermaphrodite come through the glass flooring, it was levitating. Blinking, the figure was suddenly standing in front of him with an alluring but wicked smile.

"…HeLlO…dOcToR…" the seductive voice with black-red eyes whispered in front of the older gentleman. When all saw it, the four teens instantly backed away. Cowering all the way to the corner of the booth, they held each other. Shivering in place, each one couldn't look at the naked dark clone.

"It…has been #$ %& #AGGEEESS-sInCeWeLaStPrAcTiCe," it stated with static before cracking its neck. The figure blinked its eyes separately and gave a haggard sounding inhale of air.

"…you…" Dr. Conrad said as flashbacks came to him in waves. Tightening up, the older gentlemen bared his teeth at the corrupted figure. Immediately reaching into his inner jacket pocket, he produced a mini Uzi and pointed at the creature.

"You…YoU…YOU-YOU LITTLE FUCKING SHIT!" he shouted in mad aggression and hate pulling the trigger. The weapon spewed bullets rapidly at the hermaphrodite. Blood splattered out from the multiple hole wounds as the entire clip unloaded on it. When the doctor was out of bullets, it's body was more Swiss cheesed as it spasm a little while standing.

"I have been waiting for this revenge to come!" the older man barked. He unloaded the empty clip and grabbed another from inside his jacket. More screams were heard in the background as the sounds of rapid feet sounded.

"I should have taken care of you years ago you wretched imbecile!"

" #$% #$heeeeeeee #$% #$%" the dark clone chuckled demented out loud. Its wounded body self-healed itself back to what its form was. Grinning impossibly wide and narrowing its eyes at the gentleman, it slowly hovered backwards. Watching the man load his firearm, it mockingly gestured him to come at it with its shorter appendage at the groin region.

"Get back here and fight me like a man you demonic wench," Dr. Conrad yelled. Going after it while firing again, various shouts and death screams were heard going away from the booth.

"…" the Third Child commented watching the chase go in and out of sight.

Slowly peered outside through the opening, he checked the surroundings. The massacre that was on the 2nd floor dining area suddenly went to static. When it went away after a couple of moments, it showed that everything was semi-unturned. There was no one else around. Looking to his left, there were a few plates and glasses that had spilled and smashed onto the floor.

Looking at the bar area, a couple of bodies were seen lying on the ground. Narrowing his eyes, it seemed there was blood that had spotted the enclosing bar table heavily. Hearing a twisted giggle in the background followed by more gunfire, he blinked and bowed mentally.

"Shall we go Miss Rana?" he asked. He turned toward the female twin who was still standing in shock, fear, and beyond confused. Moving only her eyes, she saw the male pilot stoically looking at her.

"…where…where are we going?" she asked a little louder than a whisper keeping still.

"I believe regrouping with our party is a wise choice at the moment."

"…will…will we be…safe from him…there?"

"From whom?"

"…from the two…that are chasing each other."

"For the time being, yes," he replied slowly blinking. Nodding her head slowly, she shook while walking to him. In close proximity, she clung onto him feeling some of her shaken nerves calming down. About to turn his head, rapid movements were heard from the corner of the booth.

"W-W-Wait! Don't leave us!" two of the teen subjects stated at the same time. They grabbed at both twin's clothes while still shaking like a leaf. Rana jumped and forced herself to not swipe their desperate hands away.

"P-Please…help us," the male teen that got slapped asked in fear. The area around the corner of his mouth was red and tender.

"What help are you seeking?" the Third Child stated turning his head toward them. More distant death screams were heard followed by muffled gunfire. Mocking shouts and screaming was heard making the scared teens flinch in terror.

"We don't want to be abandoned here," the female teen that was behind Sid said. She walked to him and touched his arm. Compared to her trembling of fear, he was calm and still. Turning his head back to Rana, she blinked and nodded her head.

"…very well…" the male pilot said turning toward the open dining space. "Please follow."

"W-W-We are g-going out t-there!?" the panicking male teen stated in a loud whisper. "W-We'll be killed!"

"If you wish to stay here sir, then I will not stop you," the Third Child said as he began to walk forward. He instantly stopped feeling four hands grab and pull on his jacket. Rana blinked seeing the four grab his jacket. They looked at him then then at her.

"Y-You'll…protect us…r-r-right?" one of them asked nervously.

"…" Rana said nodding her head a little then looked at him. "We'll be fine…right?"

"…" the male pilot said turning his head toward her. A dull pop was heard in his neck causing their eyes to widen a little.

"I believe so."

"Two minutes of emergency battery power remaining!" a tech in the observation room stated.

"Unit is going into shock!" another stated as they saw the Eva tilt its head up. It was trembling all over and hyperventilating with savage sounding breathing. Blood started seeping out of its eyes and mouth.

"Is Dr. Akagi on the line?" Kozo asked stressed.

"Negative. All comms outside of this room are being intercepted and corrupted by the Unit sir."

"What is it using for communication?"

"The general comm-links."

"Disable them and keep trying to hail Dr. Akagi."

"Yes sir…all comm-links are disabled," the technician stated out loud.

All of them suddenly heard the ragged fast breathing go away. Instead, they just heard the mild rumbling of the observation glass. Looking back at the Unit, it was clenching its head and emitting short aggressive body pulsations. At first, they didn't hear anything besides the window rattling a little. However with each repeated one, they could hear the forced air through its teeth. The sounds of wet metal bending and cracking were heard as well. Looking at the observation window, it was rattling more and sounding louder. The staff become more and more unsettled as the volume kept increasing slowly.

As the group of teens exited the booth, they walked along the back wall to the opposite corner of where the front stairs were. Continuing along the wall, they slowly headed towards the 2nd floor kitchen area. The Third Child lead the group as they all kept up with his calm stride. The closer they got to the kitchen entrance, the smell of rancid started to hit their noses. Reaching the first set of double doors, the smell of rot and blood caused the teens to cringe and pinch their noises. Looking at the twin brother, he only blinked as he opened the door slowly.

"H-Hey…R-rana?" one of male teens whispered while poking her shoulder. She slowly turned around while pinching her noise. The teens saw she looked a little sick.

"How…how can he stand that?"

"…oh…he…he is use to it."

"W-What do you mean?" a female asked as they saw the male pilot entered the kitchen and scanned the inside. Seeing nothing, he came out and motioned them to enter.

"He's been in similar situations like this," she answered. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she entered the kitchen area.

The other teens blinked in surprised and reluctantly followed her. When the last teen entered, everyone except Sid felt beyond sick. Inside was a gory butcher house with human body parts being hacked off, people being skinned alive, and others screaming as they were being cooked in ovens. With the overwhelming vile aura, all turned to nearby trash cans and threw up in them. As they emptied their stomachs, they noticed something amiss. In the waste bins was more body parts that were moldy, rotting, and covered with maggots.

A male and female teen rolled their eyes back and fell backwards to the floor. As they fainted, Rana saw the remaining two turn pale and back away. Not staying near the trash can either, the female twin immediately went to where the Third Child was and embraced from behind. Burying her head in his upper back, she held onto him for dear life. The scent of him and his clothes made her breathe deeply to rid of the vile air she inhaled.

"Miss Rana?" he asked seeing her not moving or responding.

Looking back at the other teens, two of them had fainted on the floor. The remaining two were scared stiff and held each other with eyes closed. Blinking, he tilted his head watching them kneel to floor and mumble to each other. Moving his head back straight, he glanced back at the kitchen and saw that most of the staff was gone. Walking forward awkwardly, he felt her grip him instantly tighter.

"W-W-Where are you going?" she asked speaking into his jacket.

"There is an elevator located at the far end wall from the doors we entered Miss Rana. We will need to use it to get to the first floor."

"…what's…down there?" she asked not letting go of her grip.

"Other than the dining area, it is where our party is still sleeping."

"Still sleeping!?" she asked still not removing her face from his back.

"It is only a guess Miss Rana," he replied calmly hearing muffled gunfire and shouting in the background. "May I suggest we go to the elevator?"

"…" Rana said giving a small nod. "L-Let's help them too."

"Very well," he said. Both walked toward the two conscious and saw severe trauma on their faces. Kneeling down to them, both didn't react.

"H-Hey…" the female twin said touching both of their shoulders. It caused the two teens to blink and look like they came out of a dream. Instead of a thousand mile stare, a look of perplexed apprehension came over them. They slowly looked around themselves with widen eyes and blinked several times.

"What…what happened?" the female ask slowly letting go of her male friend.

"What do you mean Miss?" Sid asked stoically. Turning to him, she noticed that his eyes were giving off a mild haunting glow. At first, the eye color and his mannerisms were scary. Given the things she seen already, his didn't seem to affect her as greatly.

"Wasn't there…a massacre here?"

"…I'm afraid I do not see anyone here that has been killed here. Can you two stand?" he asked offering his hands.

Both she and the male teen blinked and looked at his hands. Mental triggers went off in both of their minds as they began to panic. However looking at his stoic face, murky presence, and haunting glowing eyes, they quickly calmed down. Nervously, they slowly grabbed his hands. Feeling the warmth from his rough hands, the two slowly stood up.

"If you two will follow Miss Rana to the lift at the end of the kitchen, I will meet you there shortly," he stated letting go of their hands. Both reluctantly did so and looked at their hands. The male teen shook his head and spoke.

"W-What are you going to do?" the male teen asked seeing him go towards the two unconscious teens. Kneeling down, he slowly got one over his shoulders. Getting the other one into his arms, he stood up carrying her. Walking more slower, he made his way toward the lift.

"…" the other two teens said blinking in surprise then turned to the female twin.

"Is he really your twin brother?" one asked quietly.

"…" Rana said narrowing her eyes at the teen before walking forward. Both immediately followed her.

"Of course he is. Why do you ask?"

"The doctor use to do experiments with some of the other kids and would put red liquid from one to another."

"You mean like blood transfers?"

"Not…exactly…he would take samples then come back much later and inject them into the same subject or another one."

"…okay…what are you getting at?" she said seeing that no one was in the lift when the doors opened.

"If we all shared blood…wouldn't…that make us related and a part of each other," the female teen asked quietly. The male pilot entered first then followed by the remaining three.

"I believe his alteration of blood samples from one subject to another does not constitute a family relationship through injection," the Third Child stated calmly as the doors closed. The elevator started going down slowly as a loud rumbling came. It had the sound of blades cutting through air as the sound of massive amounts of glass getting smashed came. The rumbling sound boomed instantly louder as many thuds hit the floor.

"30 seconds remaining!" a tech stated with sweat coming down his forehead.

The Eva was pulsating faster and grunted louder. A couple pieces of the observation window started cracking and spreading throughout its entire length. The vibes that were emitting from the Unit were now being felt by the staffers in the room. Everyone felt their skin become clammy as apprehension started to fill their minds.

"Everyone maintain your positions and stations!" Kozo ordered firmly.

Despite the sensations he was feeling, he continued to the stare down match with the purple war machine. He watched it rhythmically thrash to its grunts as if it was head banging; however, it was its entire body was twitching, shaking, and glitching in small gyrations. Blood was now seeping out of more places of the Unit. A good majority of the Eva was dripping with crimson as it continued its hyperventilating groaning, growling, and tight thrashing.

Back on the second floor of the Sakura Palace, Dr. Conrad had blasted and shot at the figure he was chasing for the past few minutes. Each time parts of the figure would be ripped apart; however, it would regenerate itself. After healing, it would taunt it and shout things from the past.

'How does it know so much of all those secrets?!' he thought angrily tossing the mini Uzi aside. Getting out a large revolver, he saw the humanoid creature slithering quickly down the staircase. Reaching the top of the stairs, he immediately fired at it.

"Why won't you die like a good creature of the damn!?" he shouted as he heard an echoing cackle. The figure's head snapped to the left as it went out of sight from the staircase.

"hAhAhAhAaaaaaaa! ThIsIsToOmUcH #$%#$^ ISTHISHOWYOUFELTWITHALLTHOSECHILDREN!?" it bellowed in the open dining area.

Slithering to the middle, its black-red eyes instantly shifted to the kitchen doors. Seeing and knowing what was there, many eyes pierced through the top of its head. Seeing many dark figures above the glass ceiling, all of the eyes narrowed and exploded. It giggled out loud and slowly turned around. The older man was standing a few yards from it pointing the large revolver at it. Mentally sounding a click, it forced feed what it was hearing into someone's ears. It also asked a request from that person. Hearing a favorable comply, its insides squirmed. Overjoyed, it cut open another part of its skin and forced another grinning mouth through the wound.

"…you sick freak…" Ernst stated pulling the hammer back on the pistol.

[10 seconds!]

"…soooooooo…what NEXT DOCTOR!?" it shouted with excitement as it forced aligned its neck. The doctor started walking closer while shooting at it.

"I know you are dying. You can only regenerate so many times. With massive blood loss and no replenishment, you will not survive."

"I will have the pleasure of ending your life failure!" he said as more and more body parts got blown off. The floor surrounding the creature was drenched in black and red blood. Oddly, the figure did not falter or move around. It continued to stand firm and grin dementedly at him. To his observation, it gave a sickening aura of morbid bliss.

[5 seconds!]

"Any last words my wrenched subject?" Dr. Conrad asked speed loading the revolver and pointing it back at the dark figure.

[4 seconds!]

"AlLoWmEtOiNtRoDuCe…m…y…s…e…e…d…" it hissed evilly at the man when the revolver went off.

[3 seconds!]

"Rubbish," he said seeing the head of the figure shot back to the floor. It uttered no sound as it hit the ground.

[2 seconds!]

About to go to the figure and abstract a sample of it, the sound of glass breaking from above erupted. The sounds of bodies zipping down rope occurred followed by heavy boots hitting the ground filled the air. Blinking and looking around, there were many muzzles and flashlights pointing at him.

[1 second!]

"Freeze! This is the police! Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air!" a man shouted in full SWAT gear as a dozen men and women took their positions. All of them were at different points of the dining area and pointing heavy submachine guns at the lone man standing in the center of the floor.

"Emergency batteries are depleted. Unit-01 is shutting down!" the tech stated.

Everyone in the observation room looked through the web cracked observation window. They saw the purple Eva slowly stopped grunting, hyperventilating, and pulsating. It slowly brought its hands and arms back to its side. Oddly, it inserted the power crane back into its slot as its last act. Back in a neutral stance, the illumination in its eyes went dark.

"God…finally...It's over," a tech said with a heavy sigh of relief. A murmur of agreement came out from the rest of the staff in the observation room. Sighing to himself and relaxing himself, Kozo was about to give the new orders when the entrance door behind him suddenly opened. Turning around, it was Gendo.

"Commander."

"What is going on here?" Gendo asked with a stoic expression.

"Unit-01 activated itself," Kozo said with a straight face.

"…" the Commander commented putting one hand in his pocket and pushing his shades up with the other. "Did you say Unit-01 activated itself?"

"Hard to believe, but it did. I will have the crew here figure what exactly happen to cause it to self-activate," Kozo replied turning around then noticed something very different about the surroundings. Blinking and looking again, the surroundings did not change. Looking at the entire crew, they were all looking at the same thing.

"What is the matter old friend?" Gendo asked causing the older man to blink.

"Either I am getting too old or…strange…the entire observation window was web cracked from Unit-01's activation and shutdown."

"Seems others have the same observation," the Commander agreed watching the techs looking at the window. A few of them were touching it a couple of times. Clearing his throat, he grabbed everyone's attention.

"When was the last activation of Unit-01?"

"It became self-activated approximately 10 minutes ago sir," one staffer stated out loud.

"Is that what the records say?"

"Checking the records for confirmation," a female employee stated logging into the history for activations. Finding the last entry, she recoiled a little.

"Is something wrong?"

"Y-Yes. I will refresh the screen…how…how is that possible?" she asked looking bewildered at the screen.

"Tell me what is the last record of activation," Gendo stated again flatly.

"…last activation of Unit-01…was…a month ago to this date," the tech stated firmly. Disbelief spread throughout the entire observation room. Seeing all of them becoming alarmed from the statement, others checked it and muttered the same disbelief. Turning his head at the Sub-Commander, he was mildly surprised to see the look of shock and dumbfounded on the older man's face.

"What tests were being conducted on Unit-01?" Gendo stated.

"General calibration and system checks for sensors and feed lines in the head region sir," one tech with a clipboard answered.

"Resume those tests and report the results to Dr. Akagi when completed," the Commander ordered turning around. "I have something to show you Kozo. Come with me."

"I repeat! This is the police. Drop your weapon on the ground and put your hands in the air now!" the police officer stated training his submachine gun at the lone figure with the revolver.

"Police do not have rights to force entry into the Sakura Palace without special permission and permits of the owners," Dr. Conrad mentioned tossing his revolver to the side and putting his hands in the air.

"We are well aware of that doctor," another male voice came from the entrance. Everyone looked over at the figure walking in with similar SWAT gear. Recognizing the person, all the strikers stood still and waited for the next orders. The older man turned toward him.

"Who are you?"

"I am Chief Ryu Yogosami of the Southern Neo-Tokyo Police Force," the officer with a beard answered with authority. Walking to be a yard away from the older man, he pulled out his service pistol and pointed it at him.

"Dr. Ernst Conrad, you are under arrest," Ryu said with a grave voice while having an expression that matched his tone.

"Ohhhh, under what charge officer? For all I know, I have just killed a demon that was massacring the guests here and destroying this fine establishment."

"What demon?"

"Are your eyes that bad for someone your age?" the gentleman mocked with a chuckle and pointed behind him. "That demented subject on the ground."

"I have no time for your mind games doctor. What demon are you talking about?" the chief responded not changing expression or tone.

"Arrogant and brash you peacekeepers are…I'm talking about…that…!?" the older man answered turning his head and looking behind him. At the area near two of the officers, there was no distorted figure of a female with tentacles. Instead, there was physical destruction of the wall with bullet holes.

"…no…NO…it was there! I saw it! I killed it," Dr. Conrad spoke loudly turning back toward the Chief. He saw that the officer did not flinch or change expression. The pistol pointing at him was still and unwavering.

"In case you were wondering doctor, we got a call from this establishment. It was regarding about a mad man that started firing randomly at other goers in this…fine…establishment. It was reported that he was carrying an Uzi and high powered handgun."

"You imbecile! I was killing the demon that was terrorizing the people here!" the older man shouted at him.

"In case you didn't notice doc, there isn't a carcass of a monster lying around dead. Instead, there are five people who are shot dead with a dozen more severally wounded from your wild gun blazing!" Ryu shouted angrily as his voice echoed in the dining room.

"…?" Dr. Conrad reacted with wide open eyes. "Preposterous! I did no such thing. Everyone was gone or killed before I started shooting."

"You piece of shit," a couple of the other officers stated training their submachine guns back on the older man.

"Stand down! This will be done by the book!" Ryu shouted still training his firearm at the doctor. "Team Alpha, search for survivors at this floor. Team Bravo, check upstairs again. Team Charlie, arrest and escort the doctor to detainment humvee outside."

"You are making a grave mistake here Chief," Ernst stated as he felt his hands being put behind him and handcuffed. "I will personally make sure that you can never serve the force ever again. You'll be hearing from my lawyers soon."

"Sounds great doc. Take him away," he replied and gestured with his hand.

"Get your hands off me! Where are my subjects? They will be coming with me," the older man demanded.

"Read him his Miranda rights on the way to the humvee," Ryu commented not turning around as two officers took the shouting man away. Seeing the rest of his team moving to other areas of the floor, he changed the channel on his walkie.

"Ikari…do you copy?"

[...Yes Mr. Yogosami…I am here.] he stated stoically and calmly.

"Where are you?"

[I am in the first floor kitchen with others.]

"Are you or them injured?" he asked while immediately walking toward the closest set of double doors. One of his officers was already at the door and looked through the viewing window. Turning to the chief, he waved at him.

"Found some survivors chief," he said watching the leader nod and get closer. When at the doors, he pressed the door open as the chief walked in. Seeing that kitchen was relatively undamaged, there was a lot of food prep that was suddenly abandoned. Looking around, there were many cooking staff members hiding.

"It is alright. We are the police. The threat has been neutralized," he said seeing a couple of people poke their heads out. Immediately, there were several heavy sighs of relief. Watching the staff members come out shaken from the shooter event, they were directed to head towards the entrance. Ryu scanned everyone till he saw dark magenta eyes staring at him from where the stoves were.

'…I can never get use to that death stare…no matter what color his eyes get,' he thought while heading toward where the male pilot stood. As he passed tables and equipment, he saw who was standing around him. The Chief stopped and saw someone that made him blink more than once. Rubbing his eyes, he saw the group of teens walking toward him.

"…holy…Christ," he said seeing the group stop a short distance away from him. Looking back and forth between the Third Child and the person standing next to him, he still couldn't believe it.

"So what Rayne was saying was true…there was a twin," he muttered seeing the female twin holding the hands of two trembling meek teens. The male pilot nodded his head a little while carrying the other two that were unconscious.

"Greetings Mr. Yogosami. Thank you for you and your teams assistance."

"…s-sure…uh…so," he said looking back and forth between them then pointed at Rana. "She is your sister…right?"

"From appearance, yes. Based on birth and technicality, a brother."

"…?" he said blinking and opening his mouth. Closing it, he shook his head and put a hand up.

"G-gotcha. Anyway, these are the subjects that the doc was saying?"

"Y-Yes sir," one of the teens responded nervously.

"…" the chief said with a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. Before we get anywhere else, do you know what happened to your group and Rayne?"

[Chief…got survivors in a table booth in the corner…looks like a large group of people that are sleeping] the walkie of the officer with him went off.

"I believe that would be our group…minus the naked men there," the Third Child mentioned with a blink.

[There's five naked men here too… none of them are the lap dance or stripper type]

"…" Ryu said frowning and pinching his nose again.

Gendo lead Kozo to the nearest security room in which he instructed the guards to play back the past 15 minutes. Pulling up video feed of the Eva cage and the observation room, both commanders watched it. When it was finished, Gendo looked at the older man and saw a lost look on his face.

"Shall I play the feed again sir?" one guard asked not looking back.

"Do you need a second look for confirmation Futuysuki?" the Commander asked moving his shades up a little.

"N-no," Kozo answered looking down a little and trying to comprehend of what happened and what actually happened.

"Good. I will ignore what happened today; however, have the entire staff there go through a screening…including yourself."

"…yes sir."

"Good. I will leave you be. Have Dr. Akagi conduct a full analysis and report to you. Hopefully there is something to gather from the stunt that was done," Gendo stated and exited the security room.

"…" the Sub-commander stated.

Closing his hands into fists, he was still trying to figure out what happened. Telling the guards to resume their duty, he left and went back to the observation room. Upon entering and giving all of them the new orders, a majority of them did not protest or argue. Watching them leave, he went to the observation window and looked at Eva-01. It continued to look offline and neutral as its head was tilted down a little.

'…it had to have done something…' he thought turning around and heading toward the door. 'There is no way all of us could have had the same false reality…the Evas aren't known or capable of that massive telepathy…does that mean…they are evolving or have more abilities yet to be discovered?'

'…h…e…l…p…m…e…'

"…!?" Kozo said whipping around hearing a sound of a boy's voice. Scanning with trepidation, there was nothing in the room. However, the more he stayed, the familiar eeriness began to creep closer to him. Exiting and watching the door close, the aura vanished. Rubbing his temples, he walked down the hallway heading toward the medical facility.