Carcaptor Evangelion
Chapter 3
The Beast
by Teknomancer

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - KATSURAGI APARTMENT
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"And it's the city that you saved."

The words echoed in the head of Shinji Ikari, raising what spirits still remained after the fight with Satchiel. He had faced the Angel, and he had won...but somehow, things seemed to be going downhill for him afterwards.

First, there was the 'party' Misato threw for him after moving into the apartment with her. That was his first clue that maybe he should have chosen to live alone. Sure, the food was good...but it was instant. And the beer...

Shinji sighed, shaking it off. Misato was probably right...he should get a bath, to cleanse his spriit.

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - EVA TESTING BAY CONTROL ROOM
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"So, how was Rei today?"

Gendo's lack of an answer only caused Ritsuko to continue. "You did see her at the hospital this afternoon, didn't you?"

Gendo didn't turn, continuing to stare at the frozen Unit 00. "She'll be ready to work in twenty days. By then, we'll be ready to re-activate Unit 00 from cryostasis."

Ritusko sighed. "It's so hard on those poor children."

"There is no one else who can pilot the Evas," Gendo said. "As long as they survive, that is what I'll have them do."

"With no regard to what they may want?" Ritsuko inquired.

"There is no choice," Gendo said. "With SEELE aware of magic not under our control, we must do what we can to keep what little autonomy we still have."

Akagi nodded. "You're talking about that wood, right?"

"Yes," Gendo said. "The Complement...the forgotten magic. Only that can save us from the Angels."

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - KATSURAGI APARTMENT
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Shinji rested in bed, trying to sleep. But with everything that had happened, he knew that it would be a long time before he would ever sleep again. The battle that day...what he saw at the end...it would torment him forever.

"Another unfamiliar ceiling."

Even now, he was seeing it again.

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TOKYO-3 - THAT AFTERNOON
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The Third Angel's energy lance smashed into the head of Unit 01, sending the purple Evangelion flying backwards, crashing into a building. Its head dropped down, and blood began to leak out.

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - CENTRAL DOGMA - THAT AFTERNOON
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"The brain case has been damaged! Extent of damage, unknown!"

"We're having problems maintaining activation!"

The frenzied voices of NERV techs were a shrill counterpart to the deep, blaring sound of the emergency alert, as well as a perfect match for the mood of NERV. Unit 01 was in trouble...BIG trouble.

Only Misato was maintaining a cool head down there. "Status report!"

"The synchrograph is reversing! The pulses are flowing backward!"

"Break the circuit!" Dr. Akagi ordered. "Block it!"

"We can't!" the tech replied. "It's not accepting the signal! It won't take it!"

"What about Shinji?" Misato asked another tech.

"His monitors aren't responding," he replied. "His condition's unknown! Unit 01's gone completely silent!"

"Misato!" Akagi yelled, slowly becoming panicked.

"We've got to stop this," Misato whispered to herself. "Abort the operation! Rescuing the pilot is our first priority! Eject the entry plug!"

"We can't!" another tech yelled. "It's completely out of control!"

"No way!" Misato yelled, equally panicked now.

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TOKYO-3 - THAT AFTERNOON
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Shinji clenched his arm tight...his broken arm, despite being told otherwise. But it wasn't his arm...was it.

"No," he whispered to himself.

And Unit 01's eyes lit up.

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - CENTRAL DOGMA - THAT AFTERNOON
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"The Eva's re-activating!" said a voice over the loudspeaker.

"Impossible!" said a tech. "How could this happen?!"

"Impossible!" Misato repeated.

Only Dr. Akagi knew what it was. "A berzerker?"

And Unit 01 roared.

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - CENTRAL DOGMA - THAT AFTERNOON
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Unit 01 dropped into a three-point crouch, then lept towards the Angel, planting a spinning kick into its chest, reaching down to tear at its neck. The Angel reached up, trying both to pull off Unit 01 and tear it in two as well.

Leaping backwards, Unit 01 crashed into the ground, before spinning around and roaring.

Gendo and Fuyutsuki watched all this on the main screen. "It looks like we've won," Fuyutsuki said.

Unit 01 charged towards the Angel, only to run headlong into an AT field.

"An AT field!" Ritsuko yelled.

"No!" Misato breathed. "As long as the Angel has that AT field up..."

"...He can't get near the Angel!" Ritsuko finished.

Unit 01 stood back, and raised its left arm. Suddenly, a purple energy field appeared where the wound was, only to be replaced by the original armor plating.1

"The left arm has been regenerated!" a tech yelled.

"Incredible!" Misato whispered.

And Unit 01 began to claw at the AT field.

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TOKYO-3 - A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY - THAT AFTERNOON
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"What do you mean?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

"The Time card," Syaoron repeated. "Freeze time, and cut the energy field open! It's the only way that robot can defeat the Angel!"

Sakura sighed, nodded, and clenched up on the sealing wand. "Time Card," she yelled, the Sakura Card sigil appearing beneath her again, "Freeze the moment!"

Sakura's magic cast a parchment-colored tint over all of Tokyo-3, leaving only Syaoron, Kero, and herself untinted.

"I can do this now," she said to herself, tossing two more Sakura cards into the air. "Cards crafted by Sakura, your mistress commands you, bestow thy power unto me! Fly! Sword!"

As the cards came into contact with the sealing wand, they glew bright and vanished. Wings grew on Sakura's back, and the sealing wand reshaped itself into a sword. Kero flew up. "You know what you're doing, Sakura?"

"I know what I have to do, Kero," Sakura replied. "That's all I can hope for."

And Sakura flew towards the Angel...and Unit 01, the orange AT field flickering brightly as Unit 01's hand touched it, never moving, like a movie on Pause.

With a scream, Sakura stabbed the Sword card down, cutting deeply into the AT field where Unit 01 was clawing at it.

"Will that be enough?" Kero asked as Sakura flew out of sight, the Time Card's magic already fading.

"Let's hope so," Sakura replied.

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - CENTRAL DOGMA - THAT AFTERNOON
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"Unit 01's expanding an AT field of its own...wait!" a tech yelled, the previous report rapidly changing. "The Angel's AT field just collapsed!"

On the screen, the orange, hexagonal field shattered.

"Unbelievable!" Misato said. "It went through that AT field so easily..."

The Angel fired another energy blast, leaving a cross-shaped scar in Tokyo-3. But the blast barely staggered the Evangelion. Reaching forward with its left hand, it grabbed the Angel's wrists, twisting them until they broke.

Unit 01 kicked the Angel in the chest, sending it flying backwards, hitting another building. It looked up in time to see Unit 01 ramming into it, sending the Angel...and the building...backwards, leaving the Angel unable to move.

Unit 01 began to claw at the red orb in the Angel's chest, punching it, then trying to rip it out. Ripping only flesh instead, the Evangelion reached back, pulled out a progressive knife, and began to stab at the red orb. As it began to shatter, the Angel screeched and gathered itself into a ball...a ball covering the Evangelion's head.

"No!" Misato yelled. "It's going to self-destruct!"

All Shinji could see from inside the cockpit...the cockpit he was barely controlling...was a bright white light.

On the screen, a bright, cross-shaped pyre of energy lanced up from where Unit 01 stood, obscuring everything else.

"Is the Eva..." Misato breated, but her questions were answered when she saw something...she never expected to see.

Ritsuko saw it too. "That must be the Eva's..." she began, her voice dripping with wonder.

"...true form," Misato finished, sounding shocked for her part.

Gendo simply smiled a half-smile.

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TOKYO-3 - THAT AFTERNOON
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"Circuts reconnected. Systems restored. Graphs back to normal. Pilot life sings, confirmed."

The voices in the cockpit of Unit 01 were heard by Shinji, but ignored. He was too shocked by what had happened.

"Send out the recovery team. Hurry!"

The darkness slowly faded away, being replaced by a vision of the heavily damaged purple Evangelion, Unit 01.

"Preserving the pilot's life is our first priority."

The head fell off Unit 01, the right eye socket positioned in perfect view of Shinji. All the pilot could do was watch, still in shock...and afraid. Afraid of what he controlled.

He could barely breathe. The armor was gone, leaving...something...behind. It looked...almost organic.

Suddenly, the eye socket began to bubble, as though something was growing inside it. The bubbles soon coalesced, and a pinkish slit appeared, surrounded by the greyish-brown...flesh?

An eye appeared...a green eye. Entirely green, from the iris to the 'whites'. Only the pupil was black.

The eye stared straight at Shinji. It focused, three smaller black spots appearing in a triangular shape.

And Shijni screamed.

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NERV HEADQUARTERS - KATSURAGI APARTMENT
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Shinji woke suddenly, realizing that it was a nightmare. But the nightmare was true. Everything he had seen was true.

He could barely move. The sheets were soaked in a cold sweat. He turned, trying to get back to sleep...a sleep he knew would be haunted.

Misato paused outside Shinji's room, toweling her hair off. "Shinji, can I come in?"

Not waiting for a response, Misato slid the door open. "I forgot to tell you something. You did a very good thing today. You should be proud of yourself. Good night, Shinji."

She paused, then added, "Hang in there."