Apotheosis Echo: Beyond the Gates of Heaven

by StriderInCosmos

Though Third Impact may have been averted, the world will still never be the same. Now, the universe of the Children, of the Evangelion, will step into the Worldsea. Though miracles may occur on worlds distant from each other, one question remains the same: "Will we survive?" Sequel to Neon Genesis Evangelion: Apotheosis Echo

52. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Night of Legions

There are many different tall tales that one must sort through if one is in my position. When wanting to locate such things as the progenitor of one's race, wanting to prepare for the coming of Angels, it is a necessary burden.

I have done such sifting for well over a decade now. Most are able to be easily discarded the moment they are heard, thanks to the Scrolls and their still seemingly endless depths of knowledge. Others take years to disprove.

One such rumor that has recently crossed my desk is that of a secret project of the nation of Japan. Apparently, they have found something quite massive under the city of Hakone, beneath a newly minted golf course, of all things. I would usually dismiss such a claim out of hand, but it comes from a trusted source. One who has backed up his claims. Perhaps there will be a visit from a United Nations delegation soon.

- From the personal journals of Lorenz Kihl, July 1957

15 Kilometers Outside of Brasilia Dois, Nova Brasilia, November 12th 2016

First Lieutenant Mariah Marlowe, pilot of Evangelion Unit-08, found herself still giddy as the Sonne fuzzed her out of existence in Japan, and she looked around with wide eyes as day became night, which narrowed for a moment before the view brightened, technology embedded within the Frame Plug showing a world that was almost like daylight.

She looked beside her at the somewhat familiar form of Frame Titan Unit-07, the glowing Vent Frame shoulder pylons almost obscuring the also familiar shark fin head. She couldn't help but smile slightly. Old habits, old designs, died hard. After all, she was piloting the spitting image of her old Unit-05, wasn't she?

"Hey, hey, bestest battle buddy." she said into an open channel, inwardly pumping her fist in satisfaction as she saw a slight smirk appear on Mana's face. "So…"

She trailed off, her expression fading into slight consternation. "Who do we link up with here? My Portuguese is… not the greatest, I'll fully admit it." she admitted with a shrug.

"Well, I'm sure headquarters will know who we can talk to." Mana replied, chuckling slightly as she keyed up First Lieutenant Mogami. "Lieutenant Mogami, is there someone in command who we can link up with in order to coordinate our defenses with the military? One who preferably speaks English, at least?"

"Yes. One moment." was Mogami's reply as her comms screen blinked out of existence. Mana looked around her, scanning for a moment before her gaze fell on a haze of deep red and orange light to their northwest. And the head and shoulders that stood in the center of it, slowly coming closer and closer, seeming to look intently at them both.

Mogami's voice came back after a moment. "This is General Soares of the Nova Brasilian Armed Forces. He'll be your link to ground forces here in Nova Brasilia." she said simply, the view of her face that both women saw cutting to an 'Audio Only' screen as who was apparently an older man began to speak in a Brasilian accent.

"Pilots, I cannot help but thank you for your assistance." he said, no small amount of relief in his voice. "We are currently in the process of evacuating the citizens in the way of this menace, and rallying the necessary military units to the city to fight off the smaller things surrounding it. How much time can you buy us?"

"As much as we can, sir." Mari replied. "We'll go out to meet it, and we'll win. Promise."

"Against the entire force?" Soares said incredulously. "Surely, even two Evangelions couldn't come out victorious against all that?"

"We'll request orbital support." Mana cut in as Unit-07 began to move forward. "There's a ship, the Cataphract, which should be able to help out."

"Very well. Satellite imagery shows the target and its company about 45 kilometers out from the city. Based on what those images we've seen of its immediate area, the further out you can engage that… demon, that thing, the better."

"We're on our way out, sir." Mari replied, a serious tone a mask for the excitement in her expression. "We'll keep you safe as best we can."

"Good luck, pilots." was the last thing General Soares said before the comms screen blinked out, and the Frame Titans started striding forward, the advance measured and intently watching the enemy just in case it tried to attack them from range.

"Mari?" Mana said into a comms screen almost plaintively after a moment as water flowed from Unit-07's hands and solidified into the shape of a massive, crablike claw, and what appeared to be a large pistol or submachine gun.

"Yeah, Free Willy?" Mari replied offhandedly, her focus on the head and shoulders of the giant in bright white armor pockmarked with blast marks, its downturned horns on the sides of its head reminding her of goblin ears.

"I'm…" Mana said, pausing before she took a deep breath. "I think I'm actually afraid now, looking at this thing coming towards us. At least, if that's what this feels like."

"Welcome to the club, darling." Mari said easily as metal flowed much like Mari's water, becoming a massive rifle whose barrel glowed with rings of glowing yellow, red, and orange Frames. "Happens to the best of us."

"Like you?" Mana said, even more hesitantly than before.

"Exactly." Mari nodded slowly, a smile on her face. "After all, it looks like we're going up against the devil himself and his legions of hell. Who wouldn't be at least a little frightened? We just gotta push through and get the job done. I think you and I can do that just fine."

Mana nodded slowly, then more quickly as a look of determination settled over her and the haze of demons that surrounded the Icon of Sin, as Daniel had called it, became more clear. "Alright, then. I'm calling up the Cataphract now."

After a moment of calling them up, a calm female voice answered. "This is the Cataphract. Go ahead."

"This is First Lieutenant Kirishima of HERZ. I'm requesting orbital support over Nova Brasilia in the form of a strike against an enemy target. I'm sending rangefinding coordinates now."

"Acknowledged, Lieutenant. We're starting maneuvers towards your overhead now. We'll be on location in five minutes. Hold the target in relative place, and our guns will do the rest."

"Good to hear. Kirishima out."

The comms panel snapped off, and Mari scoffed as her pace slowed. "Five minutes. Easy peasy. We can do that much in our sleep, almost."

"I hope so, Mari." Mana said as they stopped roughly 25 kilometers out of Brasilia Dois, the Icon now starting to appear much larger than even the pictures had given it credit.

'Five minutes. We've got this.' Mari thought as she aimed the sniper rifle, the Eva providing a targeting reticle and magnification that, frankly, almost wasn't needed as the Icon just kept getting bigger. 'Right?'

. . .

70 Kilometers outside of Munich, Germany

First Lieutenant Mayumi Yamagishi, and thus the somewhat glowing golden and orange FT Unit-09, came into existence in a mostly flat, somewhat forested and hilly German countryside, shrouded in a night that was pierced by searchlights and the headlights of helicopters passing by.

She found herself looking around at a military camp, one that a query to her GPS told her was Ulm Army Base. Her brow furrowed after a moment as she keyed up Matsushiro. "Is there an ETA I can expect on Arantxa's Eva?"

"One moment." Captain Aoba replied. "EuroEva-Alpha will be en route in one and a half minutes. I've directed the Sonne to lock on and teleport her to your location. I'll link you with her now. I'll also be patching you in with General Gavrilyuk, general commander of the EuroFor elements you'll likely be supporting, along with being your link with the Bundeswehr forces in the area."

"Roger." Mayumi replied, and Aoba blinked out, replaced by a split-screen of Arantxa's face, which lit up with barely contained joy at the sight of her mentor, and a panel that said 'Audio Only'.

"Hello, M-Lieutenant Kirishima." Arantxa said happily, seeming to fight the urge to slightly squeal. "It's good to see you out here supporting us."

"That it is, Lieutenant." a far cooler, older woman's voice replied, her words tinged by what sounded almost like a Russian accent. "We have a hell of a situation on our hands. Whatever this thing is, it's currently about 100 kilometers out from Munich, and approaching quickly. We'll need you to intercept the massive threat, and after that's contained and eliminated, we will strike at its cohorts after we've rallied. Good luck, and good hunting."

"Acknowledged." Mayumi and Arantxa said, and General Gavrilyuk's comm screen disappeared.

Arantxa took a deep breath as she looked at Mayumi expectantly. "My, but I haven't been this excited to deploy against an enemy in…" she puffed out her cheeks and shook her head slightly. "Years, at this point. And I even get to work with you, on top of it!"

As she finished her sentence, Arantxa's Eva fuzzed into existence, Mayumi's Frame Plug allowing her vision to be enhanced enough to see it in the darkness and shadows cast by the searchlights. It was field green, a sniper rifle and a Progressive Glaive requisitioned from NERV both strapped to its back, the shoulder facing Mayumi showing the flags of the European Union and the ikurriña of Santutegia. As she turned to face Unit-09, the glowing Vent Frame pylons revealing a helm that had two bisected horns above a visor and a flat mask, and its chest was emblazoned with a Greek alpha symbol.

"Ready to go?" Arantxa asked, smiling slightly.

Mayumi nodded as she glanced over at the GPS coordinates that showed their enemy's position, along with a possible intercept point around 50 kilometers away. "Let's not waste any more time."

With that, they began their sprint towards the intercept coordinates, the vast, mostly uninhabited forests providing an excellent track for their great, striding sprint.

At the pace that they had established, they would be there in about 3 and a half minutes. Mayumi settled into the pace, feeling the rhythmic up and down motion and finding herself… satisfied, somehow. A feeling that surprised her for a moment, but more and more not unexpected.

As such, she glanced over at Arantxa, an almost serene expression on her face capping a Frame Plug Suit similar in color to her Eva.

"So," Mayumi started somewhat casually, her eyes still focused forward on the path that the Frame Plug's AR system had laid out for them, "does this remind you of any time during the war?"

Arantxa blinked, then her brow furrowed for a moment. "Not directly… but… there were plenty of pests that we chased out of dugouts and trenches that seemed big, at least at the time."

"I'm guessing nothing felt this big back then, though." Mayumi smiled slightly.

Arantxa chuckled. "No, certainly not. But," she continued as they began to reach their destination, slowing slightly, "there's always a first time, isn't there?"

"That there is." Mayumi replied as they came to a stop, about 50 kilometers or so out of Munich, and a rapidly closing 20 kilometers from the army approaching it, Arantxa grabbing the sniper rifle as Mayumi focused, Unit-09's hands frosting over as ice flashed into existence, flowing and crackling into the familiar form of Mayumi's Gun-lance.

"Oooh." Arantxa said as she looked over at the weapon, which glowed with the shifting colors of an aurora as it misted somewhat from the hands of the Eva and their contact with the rather chill atmosphere. "I don't think I've ever seen something quite like that."

"It's Interfacing. Hotaru always said I was fascinated with the Arctic. I guess it translated to my first Aspect Core. Get ready." Mayumi replied almost offhandedly as her brow furrowed slightly, the Frame Plug magnifying the sight in front of them, a cloud of what looked like wyverns swooping about. She noticed as Arantxa's Unit shouldered its own rifle from the corner of her vision before she blinked away the bright lights of exploding long-range missiles, balls of fire in the sky, and billowing up from the ground before, finally, their foe reared its head.

True to the overhead satellite imagery, Buraki looked to all the world like a massive cobra, intense, baleful yellow eyes gleaming as it saw the two of them standing before it, and it opened its mouth and roared, its cavernous jaw filled with prominent fangs.

"Fire." was Mayumi's only reply, the Gun-lance's report the howl of a blizzard contrasted by the biting bark of Arantxa's sniper rifle.

A bolt of ice, trailed by mist, exploded in the monster's face, followed shortly behind by a rod of superheated tungsten-carbide, crumpling against Buraki's skin as it spun off into the night. Buraki merely shook it off, the frost that had covered its head becoming like snow as it slithered forward towards them, roaring once again in a very un-serpentine fashion.

"Well, at least it's only a giant snake." Mayumi said as the Evas began to backpedal slowly. "It could be worse."

. . .

Mari yelped slightly as the Icon of Sin gave a ululating growl, swinging down a blade of crackling red energy that was almost as tall as her Eva was as she jumped back, the greatsword that her rifle had become batting it out of the way, Mana ducking as an AT Field pulsed out from Unit-08's body, the short-range burst slamming into the demons that nipped at her Unit's body like a swarm of flies, sending dozens of them tumbling from the sky.

The Icon's sword swung out to the side, passing through the clouds of demons that it sent falling from the sky like they were never there, then it slowed, then stopped before beginning to swing back towards Mari, who put up a valiant guard.

Before it could pick up much speed, Unit-07 intercepted it, its claw snapping shut around the blade, the sheer weight behind it causing the Eva to skid for a moment as it dug its heels into the ground, stopping just meters short of Unit-08 as Mana aimed the gun in her other hand over her right arm, the crashing of waves following the rounds slamming into the Icon's arm and chest.

"My, but we could have used the warning that it would be twice as big as us!" Mari shouted as she maneuvered around the Icon's side, four floating, slender blades of bright, gleaming metal springing into existence before shooting towards the Icon.

They slammed into the demon's side, and Mari focused as the spikes glowed, then blew apart through an explosive Expression. The attack sent shards of the pale armor flying into the air, exposing a sliver of bleeding, brown skin as the Icon howled in pain, taking a single, thundering step back.

"We only have 2 and a half more minutes until the Cataphract is overhead." Mana replied, brow furrowed as she let go of the blade, dancing away from bolts of black and red energy that struck from behind the Icon's head, slamming into the ground and exploding with crackling fury.

"Well, I hope they hurry a little. I'd quite like to not be swarmed by these stupid little meatballs and such before that point." Mari grumbled as she sent out another pulse, causing dozens, if not hundreds, of relatively tiny demons to tumble dead to the ground.

"We can do it. Like you said." Mana said firmly. "We just need to push this thing back."

It was a moment before Mana continued as her focus turned back to the Icon, a swiping claw meeting the Icon's blade and deflecting it, Unit-07 stumbling to the side before its form blurred and it blitzed forward. "It would be nice to have some support, though. I'll agree with that."

"One moment." Mari said as Unit-08 backpedaled, its greatsword transformed back into the rifle she had wielded at the start of the battle, and she keyed up General Soares. "General," she said as she took one shot, then another, each hit pockmarking the demon's armor, "is there any sort of long-range support that your military could offer us? We'd be able to get the job done a lot faster if it wasn't for this swarm of little things around us."

"We have long-range missiles inbound, and our air elements are in the air and approaching your position in about 4 minutes." Soares said firmly.

"Got it. Thanks for the update." Mari closed the channel as she took a shot at the Icon of Sin, the crack of the metal bolt slamming into the massive demon's torso causing the Thrill within her to flare for a moment before her focus came to the massive fireball that spiraled to life within the demon's outstretched hand.

It threw the flame at her, an AT Field flaring to life and causing the fireball to explode over it, tongues of fire flying everywhere. Especially into the terribly flammable forest beneath their feet.

Mari yelped as the flames began to spread beneath her Unit's feet. "Mana! Mana! We should probably put this out before it gets too bad!"

Mana glanced back at Unit-08 as it jumped back from the flames that were quite rapidly growing around them, sighing quietly as she backstepped from a swing of the Icon's sword. "I'm on it. Keep it busy. We only have to hold it in place for a minute more."

"Now that, I can do!" Mari said with a cocksure smile, Unit-08 bounding forward, sword-like blades appearing around its head and shoulders as her rifle became a spear with a winged head. "Come on, big guy! Let's see how well we can dance together!"

Mari dived into battle, using the blades as, of all things, a staircase to climb up and give the Icon a solid smack across the face, causing the Icon to stumble back a ponderous step, then another as Unit-08 landed back on the ground, dashing past its side as she stuck a floating blade into the opening in the armor she had created earlier.

Mana smiled slightly at the sight of the Icon turning to try and sweep its sword into Mari, then looked back down at the fire that raged through the rainforest beneath her.

She focused, Unit-07's hands held out slightly as a disk of water spun to life in her hands. Then she paused. The countdown to the orbital bombardment was now only seconds away. "Mari!" she nearly shouted. "30 seconds to bombardment! Move back and cover me!"

"Got it!" Mari chirped, deftly sidestepping and dashing past the Icon as it slammed its blade into the ground, the impact's thundering rumble masking the equally pounding footsteps of Unit-08 as it bounded towards Unit-07, its spear disappearing as it slid to a stop in front of the Eva, turning and dramatically raised its arms and AT Field.

In the second after that, night became day again in most of Nova Brasilia as a nearly blinding pillar of golden light slammed into the Icon of Sin, engulfing it and swallowing whatever cries of pain it might have made in the roar of the weapon. Even the sheer proximity to the beam vaporized many, if not most of the far smaller demons that surrounded it, and only Mari's AT Field, battered even in its strength, protected the Evas from any sort of slow, bleeding damage.

The baleful light and thunder continued for seconds that almost felt like hours, then stopped, the return of darkness causing both Mana and Mari to blink for a moment before Mana spread her own arms wide, the disk of water caught between Unit-07's hands descending towards the forest floor and expanding, the curving wave snuffing out the flames with a quick series of hisses as it expanded outward, past where the Icon had stood, until the flames, at last, were out.

Mari dropped the AT Field with a sigh as Mana worked. "Man, a one-woman firefighter service, you are. Maybe that's the job you should get if this whole 'piloting' thing falls through for whatever reason."

"Thanks." Mana replied offhandedly, her focus on the spot where the Icon had been standing under the blast, a comm screen flickering to life outside of her view as she squinted slightly, spotting a shadow, darker than the smoke that surrounded it, then her eyes widened as she heard the rumble of a single, heavy footstep.

"Pilots," the familiar voice of the Cataphract's comms officer rang out, panic clear in her tone, "we still have a big signature coming from the target! We've put a dent in it, but we won't be able to fire that again for another several minutes. It'll be up to you to finish it off."

"Understood." Mana replied, an edge of annoyance and steel in her voice as the Icon stepped out from the plume of smoke.

Its armor was gone, and muscle, flesh, and bone rippled and flowed across its body, a harsh red glow beginning to light up the Icon's body as it became whole again. Mana and Mari couldn't help their sight be drawn towards its head, however, the head once encased in armor looking down at them, showing the baleful red and yellow eyes that glared at them.

"Why do I think we only made this thing angry…" Mari said slowly, with rising alarm, as she summoned her rifle again, the blades she had been using springing back to life as Mana similarly began to rearm.

As they finished rearming, the Icon finally fully roared, the sound rattling Mari and Mana's ears and causing their vision to shudder for a moment before they regained their focus. Then it strode forward, a blade of fire and darkness reappearing in its hand as it raised it overhead.

The Evas dashed to the sides as the blade slammed down, rounds of withering fire slamming into the Icon's skin as they dashed around it, circling to behind its back as they continued their withering barrage.

The Icon growled as it extracted its sword from the earth, a lance appearing in its other hand that it swept around itself, Mari ducking underneath it as Mana dodged out of the way, the Icon turning to fully face them as it brought its plutonian spear back around to stab at Mana, stepping forward and jabbing again and again, Mana giving ground slowly at first, then faster and faster.

"Oh no, you don't!" Mari shouted, her hovering blades flying forward as she pumped round after round into the beast's side, one intercepted by a shield that the Icon had put up to stave off the bullets, the other three arcing gracefully around it to slam into the Icon, slicing around themselves and spilling brilliant red ichor as the Icon howled, and from the edge of Mari's perception, a flight of the meatball demons, as she had so artfully called them, dropped from the sky, dissolving into ash as the Icon's wounds began to heal.

"Oh, come on!" she groaned as she accomplished her goal of attracting the Icon's attention, the demon turning to her and swinging its lance around, Mari's rifle becoming a greatsword in an instant to bat it away before parrying the sword thrust that came after. "This tosser uses its little hellspawn to regenerate itself! That just bites!"

"Is there somewhere that they're coming in from?" Mana asked as she flew into the air on wings of water, balancing somewhat precariously on its shoulders as she pressed her submachine gun into its head, firing round after round into it. But the barrage, while pulping the thing's head for a moment and staggering it, came to nothing as it once again consumed the essences of its diminutive cohort to make itself whole again.

"Probably from one of those Looking Glass mirror thingies Daniel mentioned!" Mari said as Mana jumped off of the Icon's shoulders, landing on the ground gracefully as she dodged a sword swiping overhead. "Hold on."

She used the momentary distraction that Mana gave to key up General Soares and Lieutenant Mogami. "Lieutenant Mogami, where did this thing pop up from?"

"It came from…" Mogami paused for a moment. "A location about 20 kilometers west of you."

"Send those coordinates to the General! This thing is using the little biters that come along with it to regenerate itself. If he can blast the portal these things are coming out of to hell, then we can at least limit its longevity."

"I'll have an air wing on the way as soon as I have a location." General Soares said firmly as Mogami got to work.

"God bless you, sir!" Mari said as she jumped back from another series of attacks made by the Icon. "Heaven knows we'd appreciate some of his help while we whittle this thing down."

With that, she closed the link to the two superiors. "You got that, Mana?" she asked as she dashed in past the spear's reach. "We've just got to hold out until they've taken care of their little doorway into our world."

"We'll do it. I know we can." Mana replied with almost grim determination. "All the way to the end of the mission."

"To the end and back!" Mari said with a proud smile. "That's the spirit! I knew I liked you when we first met."

. . .

Mayumi and Arantxa watched with no small amount of alarm as a thick, black cloud rose from the ground while Buraki slithered towards them, uncaring of the fire that the two Evas poured into it as it barreled ever closer.

"Dodge!" Mayumi finally called out as it came within meters of them, the two Evas dodging to the sides as the massive serpent barreled past them.

Acting quickly, Mayumi shifted the forward grip on her gun-lance from crossing the icy blade to lining up with it, bringing it up then back down in a mighty swing against Buraki's body. Her eyes widened, however, as she watched the blade spark and bounce off the scales, relieving the pressure for a moment as she shook her head. "After it!"

At that, the Evas began to run alongside the serpent, under the sable cloud that almost blended in with the rest of the night. "It's only been a few minutes since this thing appeared!" Arantxa said, her voice filled with concern. "There's no way Munich will be able to be evacuated in time at this pace!"

"I have a solution for that!" Mayumi replied as the gun-lance shrank into a more manageable ax that she smacked against the coiling body, trying to grab its attention even for a moment as she keyed up her solution, but to no avail.

"This is the Sonne. Go ahead."

"This is Lieutenant Yamagishi of HERZ! We need you to teleport the citizens of Munich out of harm's way. It doesn't look like we'll be able to stop this thing from reaching the city!"

"We'll do our best, but… that's likely a lot of civilians. We can't guarantee they'll all be out before you reach the city."

"She's right, Mayumi!" Arantxa interjected. "We're talking about a city of nearly 7 million people!"

"Then we'll just need to keep this thing busy for as long as we can while they work. We need to get ahead of this thing and reach the city before it does. Go, Arantxa!"

With that, Mayumi abandoned the rather futile attempt to dissuade Buraki, and devoted all her focus to simply outpacing it, glancing over to see that Arantxa too had stowed away her rifle and was pushing her Evangelion to the limits, though a little behind her now.

Soon enough, they once again nearly covered kilometers with their stride, racing to overtake the serpent and meet it head-on in front of the city. For what felt like ages, all they saw were the coils of the snake, undulating and seemingly unchanging across the breathtakingly long beast's length. Then, the head came into view, unerringly pointed towards what was becoming the increasingly visible city lights of Munich.

'Come on…' Mayumi thought, willing herself to be faster, pouring her whole soul into the effort. Slowly the head came closer and closer, each pounding footstep making up the difference more and more.

Then she was at its head, a head which came up suddenly and roared, its eyes beginning to glow with a pale white light.

Mayumi threw up an AT Field around herself on instinct as a bolt of lightning crackled down from the black cloud above them. The force of the strike buzzed through Mayumi, her field faltering for a moment before she strengthened it. "Arantxa!" she shouted as she felt another bolt strike. "Put an AT Field up above you!"

She barely heard Arantxa's response as she pushed on, slowly leaving Buraki behind. The city limits were in sight now, and Mayumi dearly hoped that the Sonne had cleared at least what was in front of them as she pulled far enough ahead to have to look behind her to see the enemy she hoped to stop here.

After seconds that felt to her like minutes, Mayumi skidded to a stop, Buraki only several dozen meters behind her and closing rapidly. She turned on a dime, throwing up a wall with her AT Field that the serpent slammed into, causing it to crumple slightly as some of its body continued into the field as well.

Arantxa skirted around the AT Field as much of the dark cloud cover began to descend around it, bolts of lighting continuing to strike out at them for a moment more. Then the clouds began to take form again, streaks of smoke bursting out of the clouds still overhead while those that had fallen to the ground separated, the tiny cloudlets blowing away to reveal the army that Buraki had appeared with.

Mayumi opened a channel to the Sonne as quickly as she could. "Sonne, the army has reached the city limits. Please, act as quickly as possible!"

"Acknowledged, Yamagishi. We're pulling in civilian Seabreakers to assist, and the Cataphract will be on its way after it finishes an operation over Nova Brasilia. Please contact whatever forces are present and direct them towards the army."

Mayumi nodded as Buraki charged forward, causing her to dodge to the side before she could vocally acknowledge the woman on the comms. "Can we get any sort of support from the League Outriders or the Worldstriders? They'll have to be careful, but their help could mean a world of difference for the army elements here."

"We'll deploy them as soon as possible. Sonne out."

Mayumi simply nodded as her gun-lance crackled back into existence, raising it nearly above her head as she wreathed it in an AT Field, growling slightly as she brought it down on the body which had crushed dozens, if not hundreds, of residential homes already.

She could not help but feel some slight satisfaction as she finally broke the creature's skin, blood steaming at the contact from the frozen blade as she saw the coil convulse in front of her, hearing a roar from further to her left.

"Arantxa," she said as she watched her teammate unlimber her sniper rifle, "wrap your rounds in an AT Field. That's the only thing I've-"

She was cut off as she glanced to the side, her eyes widening as Buraki came at her, its mouth gaping open. With a shout, she jumped back, then again as it bit at her over and over.

Before it could lunge forward again, Mayumi heard the crack of the sniper rifle, and a prismatic lance of glowing tungsten-carbide slammed into the side of the serpent, burying itself nearly two-thirds of its length into Buraki's side as it howled and turned to regard Arantxa.

Defying all odds, it shook its head slightly, a ring of shadow surrounding the rod and beginning to push it out as Buraki made its way deeper into the city.

"Oh, come on." Arantxa muttered as the two Evas gave chase. "I know it would kill you to do it, but can you please just focus on us?"

"What could have it so set on getting into the city?" Mayumi wondered aloud as she adjusted her gun-lance, firing again into the advancing monster before swatting at a flight of wyverns with her off-hand.

As the wyverns dispersed enough for her to dash ahead, hopefully empty houses crumbling underfoot, she heard the tritone of an opening comms channel. "Pilots," she heard General Gavrilyuk say, an edge of near panic to the woman's voice, "we have air elements on the way to your location, arriving in 30 seconds. The Sonne has contacted us and is having ground forces teleported to Munich to assist in and secure the evacuation. Take that thing down as soon as you can!"

"Yes, ma'am." Arantxa and Mayumi replied, the crack of another sniper shot echoing through Mayumi's comms from the outside.

Mayumi made her way towards the snake's head as she heard the scream of jets from behind her, saw the bright, flashing explosions of missile strikes on the wyverns that had come to spread across the city skyline, and over the massive scraping of Buraki slithering, the crack and crackle of cannons and other small-arms fire flaring to life throughout the city.

Arantxa found herself settling into a rhythm that, while she didn't like at this moment, was really all that was keeping her alive. Munich, once a far more old-fashioned German city in the distant past, had been modernized after the ruin that befell it during the Impact Wars. Thus, she now used the high-rise skyscrapers that had been built in its place to dodge and weave, leading Buraki's head ever onward as it laced between the buildings after her.

After dodging to the side a few times, she jumped over Buraki's body, its head going up and over its body. With a roar, its eyes glowed, and Arantxa put up an AT Field to block the twin bolts of lightning that snapped out at her.

'I can't do this forever…' Arantxa thought as she looked for some sort of opening, some way she could stop the jaws from snapping after her for a moment… 'Wait a minute!'

She smiled slightly as she took the sniper rifle she had been holding and slid the bolt back, extracting the last shot her sniper rifle had as she grabbed it and set the rifle aside gently. Though not superheated before firing, it was still one of the strongest metal rods on Earth right now. And if she timed this right…

'Come on… come a little closer, little rat snake…' she dared as she backed up slowly, one ponderous footstep at a time, and Buraki paused for a moment before rearing back, its fan spreading and crashing through the buildings around it as it roared in challenge.

Then, after a moment's stillness, Buraki darted forward, its mouth gaping as its fangs glinted in the lights of the city.

'Perfect!' Arantxa's smile grew as she quickly stepped back, shoving the rod into the open mouth as it began to close.

Buraki's jaw jerked to a stop as the rod pierced its soft mouth and jaw, and it jerked back again, howling in pain as it shook its head from side to side, slamming into the buildings surrounding it again and again, pulling still further back as a skyscraper finally gave way, the top third tumbling down, slamming into its neighbor and sending up plumes of debris and dust that gathered at Arantxa's feet.

'I really hope those buildings didn't have anyone left in them…' a spike of worry embedded itself in Arantxa's stomach as she took the Progressive Glaive from the clip on her Eva's back, the blade beginning to whir and glow with a prismatic wrapping of her AT Field as she advanced slowly on where Buraki had been, the sound of its scales cramping across the ground joined by the rumbling of the debris settling on the street and the gunfire that she just now began to notice.

'Alright, rat snake… come out and let me gut you…'

Arantxa's brow furrowed as she listened to the slithering, now seemingly all around her due to their madcap chase through the forest skyscrapers. Where was he?

Then, a shuffling from her left, and she turned with widening eyes as she saw Buraki charging towards her, then… past her?

She had little time to ponder the move before she found out why Buraki had done it as it wrapped itself around her legs, then her torso, feeling her stomach drop as the serpent somehow lifted her Eva off the ground.

She lifted her arms to prevent them from being constricted as well, but at this point, the Glaive had become too unwieldy to effectively use. "Mayumi!" she shouted into her link. "I could use some help here at the front! This thing's giving me…" Buraki squeezed tighter, raising Arantxa's voice an octave into a somewhat strangled gasp. "A hell of a hug!"

"I'll be there in a few moments." Mayumi replied, her calm voice soothing Arantxa somewhat as she continued to struggle. "Try to use your AT Field to break free."

"Got it." Arantxa wheezed as she furrowed her brow for a moment, considering what she might do. Then, her eyes became set in determination, and she wrapped herself in an AT Field that slowly, slowly pushed out from her, pressing against the coils that restrained her.

She focused, setting her jaw as she mentally pushed harder, the coils surrounding Eva-Alpha twitching as they tried to tighten still further. She disregarded as best she could the sound of Mayumi's weapon going off behind her as she felt herself slip down slightly. 'Come on… just a little more…'

Finally, holding the Glaive straight above her head, Arantxa dropped to the ground, landing on her feet as she crouched out from under the coils, giving the body she passed under a good swipe, her AT Field enhanced blade ripping a decent gash that she watched become coated in shadows, much like the sniper round wound she had made that had since pushed the rod out and resealed, leaving a puckered scar.

"So," Arantxa said, taking a deep breath as she joined Mayumi's side, "what's the plan?"

"Pin it in place as best we can, and survive while doing it."

"Oh, good. At least it's something."

. . .

Mari and Mana were still only for a moment, then they dashed back towards the Icon of Sin, breaking to the left and right as they fired their ranged weapons, torrents of rounds pounding the Icon's sword arm as powerful, cracking shots hammered at the spear arm that swung out wildly, Mari ducking under the arm as she continued to fire into the Icon's side.

Even with the damage that she had done, Mari still couldn't help but grimace as yet more of the tiny blighters became so much ash that flowed to seal the Icon's wounds. 'I hope that the airstrike Soares is putting together gets here soon. We could use the help.'

'Then again,'

she continued to muse as she ducked another swipe from the Icon, dodging back as bolts of hellfire slammed down in front of her, 'we could use a few more Evas, with the dents we're making in this thing being patched up so fast. Maybe if we could just overwhelm it…'

Her train of thought was thoroughly derailed as she blocked a hammer blow, swearing she could feel her Eva sinking slightly into the ground. With a grunt of effort, she forced the sword off of what had become her own greatsword, sending her floating blades back in to lacerate the Icon.

"General!" she said into an open comm link to Soares, taking advantage of being able to back off for a moment. "How much time left 'til that airstrike hits?"

"The strike is off the ground, and will reach the coordinates in 4 minutes!"

"Got it." Mari grunted as she chopped into the armor on the Icon's thigh, peeling a portion of it off, along with some of its flesh, as she danced back from a reprisal. "We'll keep it busy 'til then."

She suppressed an altogether out of character sigh as the link closed, and she darted back in to slash and stab at the Icon's thick-skinned stomach. 'As much as I love a good fight, it seems the Thrill can't last forever. Or at least, the Thrill can outlast me. Who knew?'

Either way, she noticed herself beginning to falter. Slightly enough that even Mana likely wouldn't be able to notice it if she were looking, but enough to irk her. A sloppy block here. An imprecise thrust there. Damn it all. She needed to be at her best. The safety of these people, of the world, depended on her and Mana. 'Come on, Superman. Keep up with Batman. Just a little longer.'

As she deflected another sword swing, she shook her head slightly, backing off as her greatsword once again became a heavy rifle that thundered with slow, powerful automatic fire, explosive Expressions weaved into the shells bursting apart flesh that just began to be made whole again by the demons that swarmed around them in what was almost a dome, trapping them in with the Icon of Sin.

'It… enjoys this.'

The realization somehow left her distinctly uneasy. If she looked closer for a moment, now, she could swear the beast was almost… grinning. Then, she got… angry.

"Come on then." she muttered at first, her voice rising. "Come on! Stop playing with us and give us a proper fight, why don't you!"

The Icon looked over at her, and a dagger of anxiety stabbed into her heart. She swore it even made her skip a beat. 'Did it hear me? Are my speakers on?'

It took a ponderous step forward, ignoring Mana's valiant attempt to distract it as it raised its sword, simultaneously leveling its spear at her. Mari prepared as best she could to deflect the oncoming attack, an AT Field spinning into existence.

Then, it struck, the spear flashing forward, into her AT Field… and through it. With a yelp, Mari slapped the spearhead away, her frazzled focus causing the AT Field to fly apart. Leaving her open for a swinging sword strike she saw coming right towards her Eva's head.

At the last moment, however, seemingly against all odds, a brilliant point of light flashed into existence, the hellfire sword slamming into it even as Mari flinched. Then, she looked over at what had saved her, her hope rocketing up as she registered what, exactly, it was.

'A… a star. Wait a minute!'

She grinned as she saw the Icon stumble forward, sheets of brilliant purple flame cascading from its back and sides as it turned to meet the new threat.

Her grin threatened to split her face as she moved to the side, seeing the two new Evas as their pilot's faces popped into existence on comm panels that showed Mana as well, an excited gleam in her eyes.

"Danny boy! Puppy! Oh, thank god you're here." Mari said, not minding the relief flooding into her voice as she watched a flaming bident appear in Unit-01's hands, and a swordspear in Unit-00's.

"Glad to be here." Daniel replied as he and Shinji dashed to the sides to avoid a series of strikes. "What's the situation so far?"

"The Icon is able to use its smaller counterparts as a means of healing." Mana replied calmly. "General Soares of the Brasilian armed forces will be striking at the source of the demons."

"Is there any way we could overwhelm its healing factor?" Shinji asked as he deftly caught the spear thrust at him in the tines of his bident, pinning it to the ground and breaking off the haft, a new set of tines growing in its place.

"With this many Evas?" Mari asked almost incredulously. "We could almost do it without the airstrike, Puppy! Let's get to it!"

She dived into the attack with a renewed ferocity, the Thrill singing through her as she linked her soul, however tenuously, with the others. She could feel the Thrill thrumming in some small part through them too as they danced around the Icon, fire and water and metal and gemstone and the stars pounding against the massive demon like a typhoon against a mountainside.

Mari sent a floating blade to block a strike meant for Mana, ducking slightly as Daniel interposed the blade of his swordspear between her and a hail of fire bolts heading her way, the barrage splattering against the shield of a brilliant nebula that expanded from it.

She heard Shinji rocket into the air on twin jets of sound and watched for a moment as a plume of flame burst out of Unit-01's mouth, enveloping the Icon's head. 'Oh, that is so metal! He's watched his Godzilla.'

As they continued to grind down the Icon of Sin, its attendants became billowing clouds of ash by the score. Soon, the seemingly looming dome they had once made was now reduced to a hellish version of something Mari would have expected to find on a playground somewhere.

'Alright…' Mari thought as she saw the healing beginning to slow ever so slightly, the wounds lingering for just a moment longer. 'Just a little more…'

The fight, which had begun to drag by, now became nearly a blur for Mari, though the Thrill and her renewed focus allowed her to keep track of the rapidly changing battle, finding strength in the connection she had made to the other pilot's souls as well.

After she summoned to her Eva's hand a massive javelin and hurled it up, the javelin slamming up into its chest just below where she guessed its heart might be, another comms screen appeared, an Audio Only one.

"Pilots, my air elements have hit the source of the demon's entrance, and are confirming that no more demons are coming through. Finish the fight!"

"With pleasure!" Mari replied as she intensified her attacks. From the corner of her eye, however, she caught Unit-00 stepping back, Daniel saying nothing.

Before she could ask what, exactly, he was doing, she saw a rather queer sight, as a glowing… something appeared over his brow, a not unfamiliar sight, and Unit-00 spread its arms wide.

A tide of stars swirled from the Eva's back, picking up speed and growing quickly as it slammed into the clouds of demons behind him. The… well, Mari could only call it a galaxy, spread out around them, slamming into the demons that swirled around them as it reached into the sky and towards the ground, arcing over them and forming another dome, this time of what was almost an unimpeded view of deep space.

The fight, amazingly, paused for a moment, caught in the spectacle of the Expression for that briefest of seconds, the Icon even looking around them.

Daniel took a deep breath. "Thank you, Nynrya." he said, almost too quiet for Mari to hear. What he said next, however, was only ever meant for them. "Alright, guys. Let's take it down!"

With that, the Evas fell on the Icon one last time, attacking with a tired, almost desperate ferocity.

Mari fired her rifle, automatic fire and her floating blades taking the legs as the others engaged an arm or battered at its already exposed body. She found an almost feral satisfaction in the fact that finally, finally, there was no trickle of ash to cover up their progress.

As a burst of fire shattered what little white armor, now stained with blood and mud, was left, two slicing blades hacked at the exposed leg, and after one chop, then another, the Icon went to one knee, the both as Mana sent a wave of water towards the back of its other leg, cutting deep enough that Mari could guess that she'd hit its hamstring.

The Icon roared, a scream of pain as it flailed its weapons about, seeming almost desperate now to get a lucky strike as torrents of hellfire rained down from just above its head. Raised AT Fields deflected most of the fire, Shinji even collecting the flames that fell to the forest floor and making a massive, though temporary, blade that he used to slice through the Icon's sword hand, sending it crashing to the ground.

The Icon made a wild stab at Daniel with its spear, but Unit-00 simply disappeared into the starfield, reappearing behind the Icon and sending a cyclone of stars spearing into its back that drove it to its hands and knees.

Its neck was bare as it bowed its head. Mari's chance, it seemed, had come, as her rifle became a greatsword, wreathed in the glowing power of her soul, her AT Field, as she stepped forward with a mighty shout, Unit-08 stepping forward and swinging the blade down.

It bit through the nape, slicing cleanly through as its cries were cut short, its head slamming into the ground as its body crumpled after it, blood that quickly became briefly flaring embers gushing out of the stump of its neck.

Everyone was still for a moment, looking down at the body of their foe while the silence was only pierced by deep breaths.

Then, Mari pumped her fist as she cheered. "Alright! We're all proper demon slayers now! Oh, you guys were so awesome."

She looked over at her teammates, noting the bemused looks on their faces for only a moment. "Starman! That was… amazing! Can we really do something like that, or are you just cheating somehow?"

Daniel chuckled slightly. "I'll admit, I had a little help."

"Aha! Whoever that Nynrya fellow is, give them my regards for the observatory show."

Daniel was silent for a moment, then a wry grin tugged at a corner of his mouth. "She thanks you for your praise, Mari."

"So cool!" Mari turned her attention to Shinji. "And you, Shinji, Puppy, luv! You were a right hellhound there! I loved the whole 'Godzilla flame breath thing!"

Daniel and Shinji glanced at what Mari assumed was each other, then a chuckle rose between them. "Well, speaking of Godzilla…" Shinji said.

Mari connected the dots, but Mana beat her to the question. "Were you actually dealing with Godzilla?"

Shinji nodded. "And another monster named Iris. It was… interesting, to say the least."

"Yes, indeed." Daniel nodded. "Godzilla is, thankfully, friendly. At least, as friendly as a Godzilla can really be."

Shinji scoffed slightly. "Says the man who shook his hand."

Mari's eyes grew wide. "Shut up! Really?"

After a second within which Daniel nodded, Mari blinked. "Come to think of it, where is our dear princess Asuka? I would have thought she'd be raring for a fight like this?"

"Oh, she's just popped home to Germany to help out Mayumi and Arantxa with their giant monster and accompanying army."

"Ah." Mari nodded slowly, then chuckled. "They'll be just fine, then."

. . .

Mayumi and Arantxa dodged out of the way of Buraki's head as it slammed into the building behind it. It seemed almost hellbent now on using it as a battering ram, now that its jaw was stuck as it was.

As it struggled for a moment to extract its head from the wreckage, Mayumi fired again and again at the trunk that twitched and jerked from the impacts, a latticework of frost having built up across its back and side. Arantxa hacked at the body with her Progressive Glaive, tsking slightly as each strike hit an ink-like line, almost perfectly aligned with her blade.

Finally, however, with a crumbling crash, Buraki whipped its head to the side, slamming into an unprepared Arantxa and sending her stumbling back into another building.

Arantxa winced, a hand going to a chest that felt like it had just taken a blow from a sledgehammer while in body armor. 'I really hope there isn't anyone left around here…'

She looked back up, and her eyes widened as she saw Buraki diving towards her. With a shout, she threw herself to the side, the twin thunderings of an Eva hitting the ground and a monster's head hitting the building it had stood in front of blending into each other as Buraki's impact rained debris down on Eva-Alpha's prone form.

"Arantxa!" Mayumi said as she started to jab at Buraki's body. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." Arantxa winced as she began to make Eva-Alpha drag itself out from under Buraki's still struggling form. "I lost my Glaive when it smacked me into the building, though. Can you see it?"

Mayumi scanned her surroundings, but the forest of highrises, and the dust that their destruction had kicked up, made anything on the ground hard to see. Mayumi soon shook her head. "I can't see it. Get over towards me. Do you have any other weapons available?"

"No, unfortunately." Arantxa said with no small amount of annoyance in her expression as she stood, tracing a path towards Mayumi as best she could as she heard Buraki extract itself yet again, releasing a dry, raspy roar as it did so.

Mayumi watched Buraki cautiously as it looked around itself, then fixed its gaze on her. She backed away slowly, fixing her icy gun-lance into its cannon form as Buraki flared its fan, and its eyes flashed for a moment.

Mayumi threw up an AT Field around herself as a bolt of supernatural lightning hammered down on what would have been her head, the charge held within it causing Mayumi's hair to stand slightly on end as the bolt was joined by another one, then another.

Buraki roared again as its eyes began to glow, and a thick thunderbolt arced from its forehead towards Unit-09, Mayumi's AT Field beginning to strain under the attack.

After a moment, however, she found the force of the current lessened, and glanced back for a second to see EuroEva-Alpha slowly moving up behind her, its hands raised as Arantxa likely used her own AT Field. It was nothing fancy, Mayumi mused, but it was all they needed right now.

Buraki was oddly silent as the current's power intensified, and Arantxa and Mayumi's brows both furrowed as the electricity became almost a physical thing, Unit-09 and EuroEva-Alpha leaning forward slightly.

"Arantxa," Mayumi began, "we need to-"

"Hey, Sparky!"

Both pilots blinked as they watched a bolt of brilliant red lightning strike slam into Buraki's head, the current it had generated disappearing as the red lightning remained, crawling around the serpent's head as it thrashed and hissed in pain.

"Is that…" Arantxa said slowly, before the face that belonged to the voice they had heard appeared in a comms screen in both Evas, running a hand through a head of fiery hair.

"Oh, es ist so schön, zu Hause zu sein!" Asuka nearly crowed as Mayumi and Arantxa dropped their AT Fields, looking for where their unexpected, but certainly not unappreciated backup had appeared. "I'm heading your way. What's the situation like?"

"Well, we're dealing with a lightning-throwing snake that uses shadow magic to heal itself and stop AT Field-enhanced weapons."

Asuka tsked as Unit-02 finally came into sight, the lighting playing across Buraki's skull flickering out of existence as Buraki set its head down, dazed for the moment at least. "Stealing my thunder while breaking into my home and trashing the place. It's a close margin as to which one is worse."

She came to a stop at the other pilots' side, regarding Buraki as it began to slowly shake off its daze. "Anything else come through with him?" she said casually as a sword of dark metal flowed into existence in her hands.

"Not so far." Mayumi paused for a moment. "We should probably send someone to go take care of wherever this thing came out of."

"Don't sweat it. I took care of that when I dropped in. That way, we get this big guy all to ourselves."

As Asuka and Mayumi settled into a ready position with their weapons, Arantxa looked at Asuka's sword with no small amount of envy. "Say… you wouldn't happen to be magnetic, would you? Unless you could spare an extra weapon to replace the Glaive I lost."

Asuka scanned the area for a moment, then took a hand off the hilt of her blade to reach out, and after a moment, the Prog Glaive in question, a little more banged up than it was before, tumbled once before the handle slid into Unit-02's waiting hand. "Here you go." she said as she handed the weapon back.

"Thanks. As good as I am in unarmed combat," Arantxa said as she leveled the glaive at Buraki, "I'd hate to try and wrestle this thing. It's wily."

"Then we work to stick it in place. Mayumi, your ice could keep it grounded while we batter away at it, right?"

"You'll need to keep in place for long enough to anchor it to the ground if that's what you're thinking." Mayumi replied as she nodded.

"Battering at this thing's scales hasn't been working though." Arantxa interjected, an edge of concern in her voice as Buraki became more and more cognizant, its baleful eyes gaining more and more focus.

"Then we hit the inside of its mouth." Asuka nodded. "Once we've pinned it, it'll be nice and easy."

"Then it's decided?" Mayumi asked as Buraki shook its head, roaring at them.

"Yep. Let's go!"

With that, Asuka dashed forward, taking all at least somewhat by surprise, even Buraki blinking. "Move to the side, Mayumi! I'll keep it here with Arantxa!"

Mayumi and Arantxa both nodded somewhat jerkily as they blinked away their surprise, determination replacing it as Mayumi moved to the side, Arantxa steeling herself for a moment before she charged in as well.

Buraki responded by… moving back. Each swipe and stab Asuka and Arantxa made caused it to shrink further and further back, dodging and rearing up as if to strike, then slithering back.

After a moment, it began to grate on Asuka. "Come on. Stop being such a coward and let me solidly hit you, damn it!"

But it continued to move back regardless. After a moment more of chasing, Arantxa slowed slightly. "What if it's leading us into a trap?" she said, concern evident in her expression.

"Then we spring the trap and deal with it." Asuka replied, continuing on regardless. "Stick close to me, and I'll get you out of any trouble."

Arantxa wasn't entirely sure, but she knew Asuka's experience. It was that knowledge that pulled her back into the fight. "Asuka," she asked after a moment, "is there anywhere in this city that you know would be a dead end?"

Asuka's brow furrowed for a moment as she watched Buraki dart back again. "There's… the old Olympiapark site! We'll probably need to lead it around a bit, but if we get it in that reinforced amphitheater structure that's there, we can pin it down almost without breaking a sweat."

Asuka began to back off, Arantxa following her lead, as she glanced over at Mayumi's comm screen. "Did you catch that?"

Mayumi nodded, and Asuka nodded in turn. "Track us, and keep up!"

With that, Asuka turned Unit-02 on its heel, activating her speaker systems once again. "Alright, buddy! You want us? Come get us!"

She didn't bother to look back, the roar and the scraping shuffle all she needed to hear to realize the message was received.

Thus, the battle became a chase for the briefest of moments, arcing up into the old sports center of the city, now renewed with far more durable architecture. Asuka hoped, as she dodged in between the buildings that surrounded her, that the reinforcement would hold up to a multi-hundred-ton snake.

'Only one way to find out.' she mused as she broke into the wide-open space that was the Olympiapark. Asuka scanned the scattered stadiums and parks, grinning slightly as she saw the massive, 90-meter hemisphere, pockmarked with tiny holes that made the image of a little girl with a flower, that was the white-painted replacement for the now nonexistent Olympiahalle. 'Perfect. Just the size I needed it to be.'

"Arantxa, Mayumi, stay on the sides of the Dauerhafte Jugend monument! I need this thing focused on me right now. Mayumi, get ready to make a wall around the front of the hemisphere when I tell you to. You're going to need to be quick."

"Oh, don't tell me…" Arantxa said as she and Mayumi both put the dots together.

"If anyone's going to survive being bait, it's going to be me. Now get ready, 'cause this is going to be quick!"

Asuka turned to regard the massive serpent as it slithered to a stop, rearing up as it unhinged its jaw, its mouth slowly opening wider and wider until the tungsten-carbide rod finally dislodged from it, clattering to the ground along with a small outpouring of blood. It shook its head as it reset its jaw, snapping it shut for a moment before roaring.

Asuka shouted back wordlessly, swinging her sword as a bolt of crimson lightning cascaded up its length, striking out from the tip to hit Buraki's eye, popping it quite nicely in Asuka's opinion.

"That's right! Follow me! I'm gonna make a lot of things out of you when we're done here!" Asuka said as she backpedaled into the monument, passing its boundaries. "Who knows, maybe a snakeskin jacket is in the cards."

Buraki roared as it slithered forward, snapping at Unit-02. Asuka danced easily to the side, coming to a stop on its left, the eye that she had put out whole again, but still seemingly blind. "Get ready, Mayumi!" she said into the comms.

She didn't see Mayumi nod as Buraki's head turned to regard her, then darted towards her again.

She stepped to the side and back, Buraki's head following her across an invisible line. "Now!"

Mayumi nodded, an almost hungry look in her eyes as she brought Unit-09's arms, laced with frost, up and dramatically clapped its hands.

As it did, two sheets of supernaturally tough ice, nearly 5 meters thick, sliced in like a closing elevator door, trapping Buraki's head, and a small portion of its body, outside of the monument.

After a moment, the ice around Buraki's neck grew out, stilling the writhing, lashing head as it roared in defiance, snapping its jaws.

"Get ready for your first kill, Arantxa." Asuka said coolly, a satisfied smile on her face as she manifested a pill of metal in Buraki' mouth that grew into a vertical pole at a breathtaking speed, spearing through the bottom and top of its jaw as one top of the pole slammed into the ground, shattering concrete. "Go for the brain!"

Arantxa nodded, sure of what to do as she charged forward, her Prog Glaive glowing with its own heat and the prismatic ripple of her AT Field. With a wordless shout, she drove the glaive deep into its open mouth, Buraki's head twitching as it screamed in pain for a moment, then went limp and silent.

EuroEva-Alpha stood there for a moment, then another, Arantxa breathing heavily as she seemingly regarded for the first time how utterly big this thing was as everything else settled into a dull rumble.

"Hey."

She blinked, her gaze torn to the comms screens, Asuka and Mayumi's faces filled with concern.

"Need a minute?" Asuka asked. "I've been at this for a while, and… well, I know what it's like to freeze up for the first time."

Arantxa nodded choppily, noting that she hadn't pulled her Glaive back out, and did so, a sizzling hiss following it as blood touched the blade.

"You did well for your first sortie." Mayumi said calmly, smiling slightly. "I think you and Keita will have some stories to share in the next little while.

Keita. The mention of his name made Arantxa blink, then nod as she took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, don't guess. It's a sure thing." Asuka grinned. "Keita got to watch Major Theisman shake hands with Godzilla, just to start. And you took down a giant snake… demon… thing. You, girl, are awesome."

Arantxa chuckled. "Yeah. Yeah, I am, I guess."

She blinked, then her eyes widened. "Did the ground forces take care of the army? And what about where they came from?"

"Let me check." Asuka's image was silent for a moment, nodding, then smiling slightly as she looked back at Arantxa. "They've taken care of the Looking Glass that this thing came from, and EuroFor and the Bundeswehr are mopping up this thing's army."

She chuckled. "I mean, most of them are armed with swords. It's not really a fair fight."

Arantxa sighed quietly. "Good. Good." she paused for a moment. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go home."

"You and me both." Mayumi said quietly, a small smile of pride for her pupil adorning her face. "I hope the others can say the same."