Wow, it's been a REALLY long time since I uploaded chapter. I vanished back
in January without a trace, and here I am, back again, uploading chapters
to the story I never finished. What happened during that period while I was
gone? I was really busy, but I'm never going to disappear like that again.
I've been working on some major projects, one of which including
Philanthropy vs. Nerv, but I've got to finish up these fics first. And
Maya's OOCness in this chapter is obviously intentional.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Between Day and Night
Chapter VII: For Something
It's been three days since the attack of the computer virus Angel, and all hell seems to breaking loose in everyone's minds with the exception of two.
Gendou Ikari put down a sheet of paper that explained an evaluation of Ritsuko Akagi. "Suffering from schizophrenia?"
"That seems to be the case," answered Fuyutsuki.
"Interesting. What is the case of Major Katsuragi."
Fuyutsuki handed Gendou another paper. "It seems that her condition is nominal."
"Yes, but we've hidden some cameras in her apartment recently, and according to them, it seems Major Katsuragi is talking to Kaji."
"How accurate are these evaluations?"
"Highly accurate."
"What is the status of Maya Ibuki?"
"She had locked herself in her bedroom. We got a hold of her before she had committed suicide. She seems to have control of her life at this moment, but we are observing her carefully."
"I have heard some rumors that concern two of our pilots. How true are they?"
"It seems that the First Child and Third Child are in fact, pursuing a relationship."
Gendou sighed. Fuyutsuki let out a light laugh. "What seems to be so funny?"
"Nothing."
"Something tells me that I am the one you are laughing at."
He stopped laughing. "Ikari, I would never. I just knew that you would have bad feelings about it. Let it go, Ikari, they're merely children."
"I realize that. However, it may lead to the worst." Gendou replied. "What is the current status of our special search team?"
"They seem to have found the Specialized Central Halo Angel Amplifier. However, everyone time they approach it when it is alone, they begin to feel as if they have been paralyzed."
"I understand. Where has she been sighted?"
Fuyutsuki handed a picture to Gendou. Gendou stared at it. Shinji was in it, so was Rei, but most importantly, "she" was there.
* * * * *
A rainbow colored silhouette of a female appeared in the sky. It was so beautiful and so bright. The blinding beauty was so much that you couldn't help but be blinded. The most beautiful part were the butterfly-like wings that spread across the sky. The seven-year-old little girl that we all knew watched it. But then, it suddenly began to fade into colors slowly floating away. She chased after them, but as she did, a gigantic arm grabbed her from behind. She turned her head and saw the gigantic face of what was grabbing her. She looked at it with no fear, but merely innocence and strength in her face. Then, the fading colors of the female rainbow silhouette appeared above the giant, and the giant gave it a very suspicious look. Only then was the little girl scared . . .
Schala shot awake and screamed. Rei ran into the room and saw Schala. "What's wrong?!"
"I . . . I . . . I had a bad dream."
Rei walked over to the bed and kneeled down next to Schala. She gave her a smile, which seemed to become easier to do because of more reasons to do it. "Is everything fine?"
"I'm alright, mommy."
"Go back to bed, it's too early to wake up now."
"Okay. Goodnight, mommy."
"Goodnight, Schala." Rei walked out of the bedroom and back toward the couch. As she walked, she collapsed to the ground in pain. An enormous pain entered her back. For a few seconds, Rei felt as if she was going to die. But after a short moment, the pain suddenly stopped, and Rei was no longer immobilized. She rose back up and lied down. She didn't know what was wrong with her.
* * * * *
In a place too far away for a mortal to reach in his living portion of life . . .
"I'm becoming very worried," said Kaworu.
"Why? You now know that the two lilum you care about most are pursuing happiness . . . and with each other. What is the point of being worried?"
"What I mean is that I'm very worried about you, Arael."
"For what reason?"
"You've been disappearing often."
"I told you already, I think I may have found a way to return to the lilum World."
"But I'm worried. What if it is really impossible, and that someone is trying to deceive us."
"Stop being absurd, Nagisa. There is no reason to be worried."
"You are not the only thing I'm worried about. I am also worried about us."
"What do you mean?"
"What I am referring to is all of us – the Angels, Arael. Four of us have disappeared. Any one of us could be next."
"That is true. It is Bardiel's work, and we can't do anything about it."
"It is Bardiel, who else would be behind this."
"But how is he pulling Angels from this World to the other World?"
"He could be manipulating his own Sea of Dirac."
"Interesting. He can do that?"
"It's possible, as long as there's a Sea of Dirac, it can be opened."
* * * * *
Misato walked around Nerv with nothing to do. No Angel attacks, no filing, no nothing. She sighed and stared at the ground as she walked.
"Follow me."
"Kaji?"
"Follow me."
Kaji walked toward a file cabinet and pointed at it. Misato opened it.
"Look between the letters "Q" and "R"."
Misato did just that, and deep in the cabinet she found a card. It was Kaji's card.
"You're going to get a lot of answers now, Misato."
* * * * *
Rei rested her head on her hands during class. She didn't even try to pay attention to the teacher. Her CPU then received a message. "What's wrong?"
"Hello, Shinji." She knew it was him. It had to be.
"Hello, Rei. Something is wrong with you. What is it?"
"I will speak to you after class."
"Alright."
The exchange of messages ended there. Shinji could tell she was somewhat disturbed by something.
Later that day . . .
Rei and Shinji walked together toward Rei's apartment. "Schala has been having nightmares lately."
"That's normal," said Shinji.
"I am aware of that. However, she has them every night and she insists that nothing is wrong with her. I fear for the worst."
"You shouldn't worry about it. It's normal." Shinji turned Rei's head toward him and smiled. She smiled back. But in that smile, she hid a lot of worry.
* * * * *
"Bardiel, we await your next move."
"We're growing even more impatient."
"We do not have any time to think."
"Will you all please shut up!" Bardiel screamed. "My current plan is flying over there as we speak."
"Would that merely be another Angel?" Keel asked.
"The last one I will send."
The members of Seele were confused. "You have made little progress, but you are only sending one more Angel?"
"Can't you all please shut up and let me explain! One minute you are all asking for me to speed up the process, and the next, you want me to send more Angels! This will be the last Angel I send . . . the last before I send myself." The members of Seele calmed down. "This Angel should do much damage, since it is original, it is unlike many of the others. If anyone can get the job done, it's myself. Now, if you all excuse me . . ." The light of Bardiel vanished.
* * * * *
Maya came through the door. Hyuga watched as she staggered into work. "Lieutenant Ibuki! What are you doing here?"
She didn't answer him.
"You shouldn't be in work!"
She kept silent.
"Come on, Lieutenant Ibuki, you have to stop this. You did what you had to do."
She took a deep breath and exhaled as she began her work.
"Please, Maya, just talk to me."
"You know . . ."
Hyuga merely stared at her. He was surprised she talked.
"Life is . . . really short. I might as well make the rest of my time on Earth a useful one. I hope they court martial me for what I did so I can burn in hell."
"Maya . . ."
"Wow . . . you rarely call me "Maya". Usually people just call me Lieutenant Ibuki. Is that all I am? Somebody here only to serve my superiors? I'm beginning to think we're all being used . . ."
"That's not true."
"You know what, Makoto, umm . . . can I call you by your first name?"
"Uh . . . sure."
"Great. Will you listen to me . . . I really want someone to talk to, and Doctor Ikagi is too busy with her damn obsession with the Commander."
Hyuga was surprised. He never heard her use any sort of foul language. "Yeah, sure I'll listen to you."
"My great grandfather was an American . . . he was one of the top members of the Manhatten Project. He had to live with the guilt of incinerating Japanese cities for the rest of his life. His twin sons were born the exact same day as Hiroshima was destroyed. One of the two died in a car accident on the fourth day of the Cuban missile crisis. The other, my grandfather, married after moving to Japan, and had a daughter - my mother. My mother was a member of the project that put together the very first N2 mine. God is funny, isn't he? I guess God got tired of throwing my family into situations that involved high powered bombs and put me in a project that involved big robots. No different . . . I'm still responsible for death . . . even if most of them are Angels."
"Oh, Maya . . ."
She began to break out in tears. "All I ever wanted to do was help people . . . but all we do is kill! Kill, kill, kill! When will the killing stop!?"
Hyuga grabbed Maya by the shoulders. "Maya, get a hold of yourself."
"It doesn't matter. I died at the same time I killed Shigeru, and for my soul ready to escape my body at any time, I am happy."
Hyuga couldn't say anything. He really didn't know what to say or how to respond.
"That's okay. You're not a very good talker. You're a lot different then everyone else around here. In a lot of ways, you're a lot like me."
"A lot like you?"
"Or a lot like how I used to be. After I deleted the Angel, God decided that there weren't enough pages of me in the joke book. I've got a sixth sense now – a sixth sense that tells me when an Angel is coming. And one is coming . . . it'll be here real soon."
"Are you serious?"
"Very serious," she said in a seductive sort of voice.
"Are . . . you okay, Maya?"
"No, silly, I'm dead, remember?"
"Uh . . . right. You're scarring me Maya."
"Am I?" She looked at him dead in the eyes. "You look like you need a tension release. What about me?"
"What about you?"
"Do I look like I need a tension release?"
"I don't know. What am I supposed to look for?"
Maya stood up from her seat, walked over to Hyuga, and kneeled on his lap. She then gave him a passionate kiss. She then got off his lap and began to walk away. "Tell me, Makoto, was that your first kiss?"
He didn't answer.
"To tell you the truth, it was my first kiss. It felt pretty good. You want to go get some coffee?"
Hyuga was still shocked by Maya's "phase".
"I guess not. I'll see you later."
* * * * *
Rei finished the last of her cleaning, and her room for the first time since she moved in was officially spotless. "Done," she told herself. She cracked half a smile. "It feels good . . . to have accomplished something." She walked out of her bedroom and saw Schala half-asleep on the couch. Rei was beginning to wonder about Schala, it could even said she was extremely worried as a mother would be. Schala hasn't been getting much sleep lately. Rei walked over to a table and saw that Schala had had drawn two pictures. Rei picked up the first one. It was a drawing of Rei, Shinji, and Schala. It would give anyone that "aww" feeling, no matter who you were. Rei put it down and examined the second picture. The look on Rei's face immediately became a puzzled one. She walked over to Schala and sat down next to her. She saw that she was still awake, but wasn't sure. "Schala."
"Hmm?"
"Schala, what's this?" Rei showed her the picture.
Schala immediately became pale. She didn't answer.
"Schala?"
Schala almost looked like she was about to vomit.
Rei all of a sudden became worried, breaking any sort of anti-emotional barriers that had stood in her way. "Schala, what's been wrong with you? You've been depressed for the past two days? What is wrong?"
"I think I was five . . ."
"Five? What happened when you were five?" Rei looked back at the picture – the picture filled with little stick figures holding guns and fighting each other.
"I think I was five when they took a gun and put in my hands."
Rei was shocked. "Who?!"
"Them. They would move me from country to country. I remember when the adults would talk about how lots and lots of children were homeless after Second Impact, and they would use them to fight these little wars. I . . . I was so scarred. I can't remember how many other children I killed. I killed a lot of adults, too. The worst part was the fire . . . the fire . . . I hate fire. I hate fire. I can still see it. It wasn't just a fire. It was my fire . . ."
"Schala . . . Schala . . . please answer me."
"Mom . . ."
"Yes, Schala?"
"Please . . . stop using the Evas . . . stop using them . . . everyone is a toy . . ."
Rei was shocked. She didn't think Schala knew that the mechs were called "Evas". "Schala . . . that is not something I can do . . . it is a responsibility I was given."
Schala immediately began to break out in tears. She hugged Rei and held her tightly. "Mommy . . . I don't want you to die! Don't leave me alone, mommy! Not like big brother Johnny or big sister Meryl! Not like Jackie, Shiro, Norra, Fiona, Lia, or Roy . . . or . . . or . . . Larry or . . . or . . ."
"Schala, please, please tell me what's wrong?"
"I don't want you to die!"
"And I won't. I won't die, Schala."
"Do . . . do you promise?"
"Yes, I promise. I won't die." Rei began to wonder why Schala was so worried she would die.
Schala wiped her tears. "Neo Angel . . ."
"What?"
"We all had code names . . . mine was Neo Angel. Johnny was Sniper Fox and Meryl was Assasin Raven . . . I remember how bad those men were too us. But none of them were as bad as him."
"Who is "him"?"
"I think I remember his name . . . it was . . . hmm . . . Gendou . . . yeah, that was it. He told us all what to do. He was like a big boy without a person to talk to."
Rei was shocked. How did she know the Commander? Suddenly, the alarms went off. It was Angel . . .
* * * * *
Misato entered Central Nerv and saw Maya. "Lieutenant Ibuki?! What are you doing here?"
"Work, what else would I be doing?"
"Are you alright?"
"Sure I am. Everything's just fine."
"Okay . . . if you say so."
"And before we get into multiple conversations between you, Makoto, and me, I might as well tell you everything in one sentence instead letting life let itself be one huge dramatic movie. The pattern is blue, so it's definitely an Angel, it's coming from the Southwest of the city – clear as day, and all the exits for Units 02 and 04 have been jammed ever since the virus Angel ran a mock in our systems and we haven't been able to fix some of those damages. Got it?"
Misato gave Maya an odd look. "Are you okay, Lieutenant? You look like you need a vacation."
"I'm just fine."
"You're acting a little strange. Actually, you're acting very strange."
"I'm trying decaf for the first time. Maybe that's it."
"Oh . . . alright." Misato took two steps back. 'Geez,' Misato thought to herself. 'After Rei becomes half-decent in her personality, we've got another chick that begins to act weird.'
"Hey," said Kaji, appearing right next to Misato. "Did you use my card yet?"
"No."
"What's taking you so long? Do you realize how important this is?"
"Give me a brake, I've been busy."
"Alright, but when you check the disk out, take Maya with you. I think we can trust her."
"Are you sure? She's been acting as if she was . . . possessed."
"They said that after Second Impact, everyone was a sinner. If Satan can make use off of people by grabbing their souls, we can, too."
"Kaji, that was cold."
"Well, this is a matter of life and death. We can't screw up."
"Whatever."
"I'm serious."
"Alright, alright."
Maya turned to Misato. "Major Katsuragi, who are you talking to?"
"Huh? Oh, no one. Umm . . . Lieutenant, I need to talk to you later."
"Alright."
"And Lieutenant."
"Yes?"
"What was that you said about Units 02 and 04 before?"
"They can't exit because they were jammed by the Angel virus."
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I did. That was the second time!"
"Ooh . . . never mind!" Misato quickly ran out of the room to quickly meet with the three children.
* * * * *
Evangelion Unit 01 launched and reached the surface. "Here we are mom. Fighting for the World one more time." Unit 01 slowly advanced toward the Angel armed with only a machine gun. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, and a laser flew past the Eva. A second later, a barrage of lasers flew past the Eva, each only a few feet off from hitting the Eva. "Whoa . . . those were all close." Out of nowhere, the Angel leaped forward and crashed into Unit 01, knocking it on its back. Shinji let out a large scream. As soon as Shinji pulled himself together, he looked at his monitor, and saw the Angel. "M-Misato . . . is that an Eva?"
"No, it's not."
"It looks like one . . ." Maya told herself. "A stroke of genius by whoever is putting together these pseudo-Angels." Hyuga turned his attention to Maya for a second, but then turned back to his work.
Unit 01 rose back to its feet and stood face to face with the enemy. The Angel extended its arms and grabbed the Eva by the throat. Slowly, it tightened its grip, choking the life out of both the mech and its pilot.
"Pressure is increasing!" Maya screamed.
Misato's eyes widened, she thought Shinji would be able to handle a predicament like this one with ease. "Shinji! Get out of there!"
Unit 01 slowly lifted its machine gun, but the Angel quickly knocked it aside. It then threw the giant robot into the air as if it were nothing. The harbinger of God then leaped into the sky and kneed Eva 01 in the stomach. Shinji immediately felt the pain. It then used both fists and hammered the back of the Eva, causing it to crash into the ground. Both the Eva and the Angel then landed on the ground – Shinji hitting the ground harder.
Both Rei and Asuka watched Shinji fight the Angel. Rei slowly became worried. It was apparent that the Angel's power was far beyond that of Unit 01.
Unit 01 came to its feet, but began to stagger. The Angel, as if it were a cold assassin, stood in place waiting for its target to come to its feet. As soon as the Angel saw Unit 01's eyes, it grabbed its arm and through it at a building. A barrage of lasers formed in front of the Angel and flew toward the Eva. The lasers crashed into the buildings behind Shinji, destroying it. The last laser crashed into the arm of Eva 01, disintegrating it. Shinji screamed at the top of his lungs. The sudden pain threw him unconscious.
"Shinji!" Both Rei and Misato screamed.
Another barrage of lasers appeared, and crashed into Unit 01, throwing it about a mile and a half. The Angel slowly made its way over to its dormant prey, ready to eliminate it. It prepared another laser barrage – one that would be the last.
"Stop!" someone screamed.
Shinji struggled back into consciousness. He wiped the blood off of his face and looked at the monitor. He couldn't believe what he saw. Neither could anyone in Nerv.
Rei's cleared her eyes to make sure she was seeing clearly. There she was, clear as day. "Schala is . . . flying?" Rei watched in wonder and awe, but suddenly, a pain entered her back. Rei hid herself from everyone else as she began to feel these pains.
"Whoa," Maya said. "I wish I could've done that when I was a kid. Umm . . . Major Katsurgai! I think you should take a look at this!"
"I already see it!"
"No, take a look at what my screen says – "Specialized Central Halo AngeL Amplifier – Evangelion S.C.H.A.L.A."."
Gendou stood up. "So, she's returned. Schala, the most defective Evangelion Unit . . . and the most powerful."
Rei looked back at the screen and watched as the Angel launched its barrage of lasers. "Oh no! Schala!"
Schala's large AT Field dissipated the lasers before they could get anywhere near her. Schala extended her hand and formed a laser of her own. She launched it, and it threw the Angel back, right off of its feet. Everyone in Nerv watched in wonder and awe. The Angel wobbled back to its feet. Schala extended her thumb, index finger, and middle finger, and held it up. The Angel was "telekinetically" dragged over to Schala as if it were being pulled by the throat. "You're not very nice." She closed her fist, and the Angel levitated into the air. She then extended both of her palms, and discharged another laser, blowing a huge hole in the Angel. The Angel, with nothing else to do, leap forward and self destructed.
Everyone in Nerv watched patiently, all silently awaiting the outcome. After the smoke had cleared, Schala stood in the air in front of Unit 01, looking around at the aftermath of the battle. She kept her face firm, showing no signs of any other emotion other. Then, her eyes closed, and she collapsed into the remaining hand of Unit 01 . . .
To Be Continued . . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Between Day and Night
Chapter VII: For Something
It's been three days since the attack of the computer virus Angel, and all hell seems to breaking loose in everyone's minds with the exception of two.
Gendou Ikari put down a sheet of paper that explained an evaluation of Ritsuko Akagi. "Suffering from schizophrenia?"
"That seems to be the case," answered Fuyutsuki.
"Interesting. What is the case of Major Katsuragi."
Fuyutsuki handed Gendou another paper. "It seems that her condition is nominal."
"Yes, but we've hidden some cameras in her apartment recently, and according to them, it seems Major Katsuragi is talking to Kaji."
"How accurate are these evaluations?"
"Highly accurate."
"What is the status of Maya Ibuki?"
"She had locked herself in her bedroom. We got a hold of her before she had committed suicide. She seems to have control of her life at this moment, but we are observing her carefully."
"I have heard some rumors that concern two of our pilots. How true are they?"
"It seems that the First Child and Third Child are in fact, pursuing a relationship."
Gendou sighed. Fuyutsuki let out a light laugh. "What seems to be so funny?"
"Nothing."
"Something tells me that I am the one you are laughing at."
He stopped laughing. "Ikari, I would never. I just knew that you would have bad feelings about it. Let it go, Ikari, they're merely children."
"I realize that. However, it may lead to the worst." Gendou replied. "What is the current status of our special search team?"
"They seem to have found the Specialized Central Halo Angel Amplifier. However, everyone time they approach it when it is alone, they begin to feel as if they have been paralyzed."
"I understand. Where has she been sighted?"
Fuyutsuki handed a picture to Gendou. Gendou stared at it. Shinji was in it, so was Rei, but most importantly, "she" was there.
* * * * *
A rainbow colored silhouette of a female appeared in the sky. It was so beautiful and so bright. The blinding beauty was so much that you couldn't help but be blinded. The most beautiful part were the butterfly-like wings that spread across the sky. The seven-year-old little girl that we all knew watched it. But then, it suddenly began to fade into colors slowly floating away. She chased after them, but as she did, a gigantic arm grabbed her from behind. She turned her head and saw the gigantic face of what was grabbing her. She looked at it with no fear, but merely innocence and strength in her face. Then, the fading colors of the female rainbow silhouette appeared above the giant, and the giant gave it a very suspicious look. Only then was the little girl scared . . .
Schala shot awake and screamed. Rei ran into the room and saw Schala. "What's wrong?!"
"I . . . I . . . I had a bad dream."
Rei walked over to the bed and kneeled down next to Schala. She gave her a smile, which seemed to become easier to do because of more reasons to do it. "Is everything fine?"
"I'm alright, mommy."
"Go back to bed, it's too early to wake up now."
"Okay. Goodnight, mommy."
"Goodnight, Schala." Rei walked out of the bedroom and back toward the couch. As she walked, she collapsed to the ground in pain. An enormous pain entered her back. For a few seconds, Rei felt as if she was going to die. But after a short moment, the pain suddenly stopped, and Rei was no longer immobilized. She rose back up and lied down. She didn't know what was wrong with her.
* * * * *
In a place too far away for a mortal to reach in his living portion of life . . .
"I'm becoming very worried," said Kaworu.
"Why? You now know that the two lilum you care about most are pursuing happiness . . . and with each other. What is the point of being worried?"
"What I mean is that I'm very worried about you, Arael."
"For what reason?"
"You've been disappearing often."
"I told you already, I think I may have found a way to return to the lilum World."
"But I'm worried. What if it is really impossible, and that someone is trying to deceive us."
"Stop being absurd, Nagisa. There is no reason to be worried."
"You are not the only thing I'm worried about. I am also worried about us."
"What do you mean?"
"What I am referring to is all of us – the Angels, Arael. Four of us have disappeared. Any one of us could be next."
"That is true. It is Bardiel's work, and we can't do anything about it."
"It is Bardiel, who else would be behind this."
"But how is he pulling Angels from this World to the other World?"
"He could be manipulating his own Sea of Dirac."
"Interesting. He can do that?"
"It's possible, as long as there's a Sea of Dirac, it can be opened."
* * * * *
Misato walked around Nerv with nothing to do. No Angel attacks, no filing, no nothing. She sighed and stared at the ground as she walked.
"Follow me."
"Kaji?"
"Follow me."
Kaji walked toward a file cabinet and pointed at it. Misato opened it.
"Look between the letters "Q" and "R"."
Misato did just that, and deep in the cabinet she found a card. It was Kaji's card.
"You're going to get a lot of answers now, Misato."
* * * * *
Rei rested her head on her hands during class. She didn't even try to pay attention to the teacher. Her CPU then received a message. "What's wrong?"
"Hello, Shinji." She knew it was him. It had to be.
"Hello, Rei. Something is wrong with you. What is it?"
"I will speak to you after class."
"Alright."
The exchange of messages ended there. Shinji could tell she was somewhat disturbed by something.
Later that day . . .
Rei and Shinji walked together toward Rei's apartment. "Schala has been having nightmares lately."
"That's normal," said Shinji.
"I am aware of that. However, she has them every night and she insists that nothing is wrong with her. I fear for the worst."
"You shouldn't worry about it. It's normal." Shinji turned Rei's head toward him and smiled. She smiled back. But in that smile, she hid a lot of worry.
* * * * *
"Bardiel, we await your next move."
"We're growing even more impatient."
"We do not have any time to think."
"Will you all please shut up!" Bardiel screamed. "My current plan is flying over there as we speak."
"Would that merely be another Angel?" Keel asked.
"The last one I will send."
The members of Seele were confused. "You have made little progress, but you are only sending one more Angel?"
"Can't you all please shut up and let me explain! One minute you are all asking for me to speed up the process, and the next, you want me to send more Angels! This will be the last Angel I send . . . the last before I send myself." The members of Seele calmed down. "This Angel should do much damage, since it is original, it is unlike many of the others. If anyone can get the job done, it's myself. Now, if you all excuse me . . ." The light of Bardiel vanished.
* * * * *
Maya came through the door. Hyuga watched as she staggered into work. "Lieutenant Ibuki! What are you doing here?"
She didn't answer him.
"You shouldn't be in work!"
She kept silent.
"Come on, Lieutenant Ibuki, you have to stop this. You did what you had to do."
She took a deep breath and exhaled as she began her work.
"Please, Maya, just talk to me."
"You know . . ."
Hyuga merely stared at her. He was surprised she talked.
"Life is . . . really short. I might as well make the rest of my time on Earth a useful one. I hope they court martial me for what I did so I can burn in hell."
"Maya . . ."
"Wow . . . you rarely call me "Maya". Usually people just call me Lieutenant Ibuki. Is that all I am? Somebody here only to serve my superiors? I'm beginning to think we're all being used . . ."
"That's not true."
"You know what, Makoto, umm . . . can I call you by your first name?"
"Uh . . . sure."
"Great. Will you listen to me . . . I really want someone to talk to, and Doctor Ikagi is too busy with her damn obsession with the Commander."
Hyuga was surprised. He never heard her use any sort of foul language. "Yeah, sure I'll listen to you."
"My great grandfather was an American . . . he was one of the top members of the Manhatten Project. He had to live with the guilt of incinerating Japanese cities for the rest of his life. His twin sons were born the exact same day as Hiroshima was destroyed. One of the two died in a car accident on the fourth day of the Cuban missile crisis. The other, my grandfather, married after moving to Japan, and had a daughter - my mother. My mother was a member of the project that put together the very first N2 mine. God is funny, isn't he? I guess God got tired of throwing my family into situations that involved high powered bombs and put me in a project that involved big robots. No different . . . I'm still responsible for death . . . even if most of them are Angels."
"Oh, Maya . . ."
She began to break out in tears. "All I ever wanted to do was help people . . . but all we do is kill! Kill, kill, kill! When will the killing stop!?"
Hyuga grabbed Maya by the shoulders. "Maya, get a hold of yourself."
"It doesn't matter. I died at the same time I killed Shigeru, and for my soul ready to escape my body at any time, I am happy."
Hyuga couldn't say anything. He really didn't know what to say or how to respond.
"That's okay. You're not a very good talker. You're a lot different then everyone else around here. In a lot of ways, you're a lot like me."
"A lot like you?"
"Or a lot like how I used to be. After I deleted the Angel, God decided that there weren't enough pages of me in the joke book. I've got a sixth sense now – a sixth sense that tells me when an Angel is coming. And one is coming . . . it'll be here real soon."
"Are you serious?"
"Very serious," she said in a seductive sort of voice.
"Are . . . you okay, Maya?"
"No, silly, I'm dead, remember?"
"Uh . . . right. You're scarring me Maya."
"Am I?" She looked at him dead in the eyes. "You look like you need a tension release. What about me?"
"What about you?"
"Do I look like I need a tension release?"
"I don't know. What am I supposed to look for?"
Maya stood up from her seat, walked over to Hyuga, and kneeled on his lap. She then gave him a passionate kiss. She then got off his lap and began to walk away. "Tell me, Makoto, was that your first kiss?"
He didn't answer.
"To tell you the truth, it was my first kiss. It felt pretty good. You want to go get some coffee?"
Hyuga was still shocked by Maya's "phase".
"I guess not. I'll see you later."
* * * * *
Rei finished the last of her cleaning, and her room for the first time since she moved in was officially spotless. "Done," she told herself. She cracked half a smile. "It feels good . . . to have accomplished something." She walked out of her bedroom and saw Schala half-asleep on the couch. Rei was beginning to wonder about Schala, it could even said she was extremely worried as a mother would be. Schala hasn't been getting much sleep lately. Rei walked over to a table and saw that Schala had had drawn two pictures. Rei picked up the first one. It was a drawing of Rei, Shinji, and Schala. It would give anyone that "aww" feeling, no matter who you were. Rei put it down and examined the second picture. The look on Rei's face immediately became a puzzled one. She walked over to Schala and sat down next to her. She saw that she was still awake, but wasn't sure. "Schala."
"Hmm?"
"Schala, what's this?" Rei showed her the picture.
Schala immediately became pale. She didn't answer.
"Schala?"
Schala almost looked like she was about to vomit.
Rei all of a sudden became worried, breaking any sort of anti-emotional barriers that had stood in her way. "Schala, what's been wrong with you? You've been depressed for the past two days? What is wrong?"
"I think I was five . . ."
"Five? What happened when you were five?" Rei looked back at the picture – the picture filled with little stick figures holding guns and fighting each other.
"I think I was five when they took a gun and put in my hands."
Rei was shocked. "Who?!"
"Them. They would move me from country to country. I remember when the adults would talk about how lots and lots of children were homeless after Second Impact, and they would use them to fight these little wars. I . . . I was so scarred. I can't remember how many other children I killed. I killed a lot of adults, too. The worst part was the fire . . . the fire . . . I hate fire. I hate fire. I can still see it. It wasn't just a fire. It was my fire . . ."
"Schala . . . Schala . . . please answer me."
"Mom . . ."
"Yes, Schala?"
"Please . . . stop using the Evas . . . stop using them . . . everyone is a toy . . ."
Rei was shocked. She didn't think Schala knew that the mechs were called "Evas". "Schala . . . that is not something I can do . . . it is a responsibility I was given."
Schala immediately began to break out in tears. She hugged Rei and held her tightly. "Mommy . . . I don't want you to die! Don't leave me alone, mommy! Not like big brother Johnny or big sister Meryl! Not like Jackie, Shiro, Norra, Fiona, Lia, or Roy . . . or . . . or . . . Larry or . . . or . . ."
"Schala, please, please tell me what's wrong?"
"I don't want you to die!"
"And I won't. I won't die, Schala."
"Do . . . do you promise?"
"Yes, I promise. I won't die." Rei began to wonder why Schala was so worried she would die.
Schala wiped her tears. "Neo Angel . . ."
"What?"
"We all had code names . . . mine was Neo Angel. Johnny was Sniper Fox and Meryl was Assasin Raven . . . I remember how bad those men were too us. But none of them were as bad as him."
"Who is "him"?"
"I think I remember his name . . . it was . . . hmm . . . Gendou . . . yeah, that was it. He told us all what to do. He was like a big boy without a person to talk to."
Rei was shocked. How did she know the Commander? Suddenly, the alarms went off. It was Angel . . .
* * * * *
Misato entered Central Nerv and saw Maya. "Lieutenant Ibuki?! What are you doing here?"
"Work, what else would I be doing?"
"Are you alright?"
"Sure I am. Everything's just fine."
"Okay . . . if you say so."
"And before we get into multiple conversations between you, Makoto, and me, I might as well tell you everything in one sentence instead letting life let itself be one huge dramatic movie. The pattern is blue, so it's definitely an Angel, it's coming from the Southwest of the city – clear as day, and all the exits for Units 02 and 04 have been jammed ever since the virus Angel ran a mock in our systems and we haven't been able to fix some of those damages. Got it?"
Misato gave Maya an odd look. "Are you okay, Lieutenant? You look like you need a vacation."
"I'm just fine."
"You're acting a little strange. Actually, you're acting very strange."
"I'm trying decaf for the first time. Maybe that's it."
"Oh . . . alright." Misato took two steps back. 'Geez,' Misato thought to herself. 'After Rei becomes half-decent in her personality, we've got another chick that begins to act weird.'
"Hey," said Kaji, appearing right next to Misato. "Did you use my card yet?"
"No."
"What's taking you so long? Do you realize how important this is?"
"Give me a brake, I've been busy."
"Alright, but when you check the disk out, take Maya with you. I think we can trust her."
"Are you sure? She's been acting as if she was . . . possessed."
"They said that after Second Impact, everyone was a sinner. If Satan can make use off of people by grabbing their souls, we can, too."
"Kaji, that was cold."
"Well, this is a matter of life and death. We can't screw up."
"Whatever."
"I'm serious."
"Alright, alright."
Maya turned to Misato. "Major Katsuragi, who are you talking to?"
"Huh? Oh, no one. Umm . . . Lieutenant, I need to talk to you later."
"Alright."
"And Lieutenant."
"Yes?"
"What was that you said about Units 02 and 04 before?"
"They can't exit because they were jammed by the Angel virus."
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I did. That was the second time!"
"Ooh . . . never mind!" Misato quickly ran out of the room to quickly meet with the three children.
* * * * *
Evangelion Unit 01 launched and reached the surface. "Here we are mom. Fighting for the World one more time." Unit 01 slowly advanced toward the Angel armed with only a machine gun. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, and a laser flew past the Eva. A second later, a barrage of lasers flew past the Eva, each only a few feet off from hitting the Eva. "Whoa . . . those were all close." Out of nowhere, the Angel leaped forward and crashed into Unit 01, knocking it on its back. Shinji let out a large scream. As soon as Shinji pulled himself together, he looked at his monitor, and saw the Angel. "M-Misato . . . is that an Eva?"
"No, it's not."
"It looks like one . . ." Maya told herself. "A stroke of genius by whoever is putting together these pseudo-Angels." Hyuga turned his attention to Maya for a second, but then turned back to his work.
Unit 01 rose back to its feet and stood face to face with the enemy. The Angel extended its arms and grabbed the Eva by the throat. Slowly, it tightened its grip, choking the life out of both the mech and its pilot.
"Pressure is increasing!" Maya screamed.
Misato's eyes widened, she thought Shinji would be able to handle a predicament like this one with ease. "Shinji! Get out of there!"
Unit 01 slowly lifted its machine gun, but the Angel quickly knocked it aside. It then threw the giant robot into the air as if it were nothing. The harbinger of God then leaped into the sky and kneed Eva 01 in the stomach. Shinji immediately felt the pain. It then used both fists and hammered the back of the Eva, causing it to crash into the ground. Both the Eva and the Angel then landed on the ground – Shinji hitting the ground harder.
Both Rei and Asuka watched Shinji fight the Angel. Rei slowly became worried. It was apparent that the Angel's power was far beyond that of Unit 01.
Unit 01 came to its feet, but began to stagger. The Angel, as if it were a cold assassin, stood in place waiting for its target to come to its feet. As soon as the Angel saw Unit 01's eyes, it grabbed its arm and through it at a building. A barrage of lasers formed in front of the Angel and flew toward the Eva. The lasers crashed into the buildings behind Shinji, destroying it. The last laser crashed into the arm of Eva 01, disintegrating it. Shinji screamed at the top of his lungs. The sudden pain threw him unconscious.
"Shinji!" Both Rei and Misato screamed.
Another barrage of lasers appeared, and crashed into Unit 01, throwing it about a mile and a half. The Angel slowly made its way over to its dormant prey, ready to eliminate it. It prepared another laser barrage – one that would be the last.
"Stop!" someone screamed.
Shinji struggled back into consciousness. He wiped the blood off of his face and looked at the monitor. He couldn't believe what he saw. Neither could anyone in Nerv.
Rei's cleared her eyes to make sure she was seeing clearly. There she was, clear as day. "Schala is . . . flying?" Rei watched in wonder and awe, but suddenly, a pain entered her back. Rei hid herself from everyone else as she began to feel these pains.
"Whoa," Maya said. "I wish I could've done that when I was a kid. Umm . . . Major Katsurgai! I think you should take a look at this!"
"I already see it!"
"No, take a look at what my screen says – "Specialized Central Halo AngeL Amplifier – Evangelion S.C.H.A.L.A."."
Gendou stood up. "So, she's returned. Schala, the most defective Evangelion Unit . . . and the most powerful."
Rei looked back at the screen and watched as the Angel launched its barrage of lasers. "Oh no! Schala!"
Schala's large AT Field dissipated the lasers before they could get anywhere near her. Schala extended her hand and formed a laser of her own. She launched it, and it threw the Angel back, right off of its feet. Everyone in Nerv watched in wonder and awe. The Angel wobbled back to its feet. Schala extended her thumb, index finger, and middle finger, and held it up. The Angel was "telekinetically" dragged over to Schala as if it were being pulled by the throat. "You're not very nice." She closed her fist, and the Angel levitated into the air. She then extended both of her palms, and discharged another laser, blowing a huge hole in the Angel. The Angel, with nothing else to do, leap forward and self destructed.
Everyone in Nerv watched patiently, all silently awaiting the outcome. After the smoke had cleared, Schala stood in the air in front of Unit 01, looking around at the aftermath of the battle. She kept her face firm, showing no signs of any other emotion other. Then, her eyes closed, and she collapsed into the remaining hand of Unit 01 . . .
To Be Continued . . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
