* * *
"Come on, Tricia! It isn't much further!"
Two children run down the park's sidewalk. A young boy has his hand around a girl's, which is running behind him. The sky is blue. The grass green. And the wind blows the leaves on the trees.
"Where are we going?"
The girl asked, trying not to trip over her own two feet as they came to a slow hault. She stopped at his side before leaning against some railing, seperating them from a hillside. She glanced out over the horizon.
"What is that, Sam?"
She asked, her expression one of awe. He smiled a little bit, absolutely glad that his sister was amazed.
"Dad told me that was where he worked. They call it Nerv. Someday, I want to work there."
The girl looked up to him.
"Really? Is it that great?"
He looked back to her before looking out to the pyramid-shaped building.
"Yeah. Dad seems to enjoy it..."
His expression changed to a more upset one as he turned away from the railing and walked slowly down the sidewalk, hands in his pocket and head slumped down.
"He enjoys it so much that he's never around..."
* * *
"We have a security breech!"
"Where are Evas 09 and 10?"
"Still in the bay, sir! We're having trouble locating the pilots."
""Trouble?! We don't have time for this! What about Ruby!?"
"Ruby is still in the medical wing. We put her in Eva 11 and she won't synch or be able to put up a fight."
A young man stood aboard a lookout deck, surverying the technitions and military personnel below, all of which were busily looking at screens and hitting buttons.
"Find the missing pilots! We're going to need them!" He said, turning away and walking through a door and into a hallway.
* * *
"I thought I'd find you here."
The park. The hillside. The railing. Everything was too much the same, althought showing the test of time.
"Always knew where to find me."
A young man stood, leaning against the railing and looking out to a pyramid- shaped building.
"How is your dream so far? To work for Nerv."
He closed his eyes and smirked a bit.
"It isn't what I had planned. Never would I have guessed that we'd be going through this again. Seele made a mistake restarting this project... And we just happened to be the pawns."
She walked over and sat on the railing, looking at him intently and caringly.
"You know the end is coming. And we're going to have to be there."
"Yeah... I know."
"The fate of all this rests in us. And with Ruby out of commission, it seems we're going to have more to deal with."
"Yeah..."
He looked up at her, standing straight up. She could tell by his face he was upset, and didn't want this to go on anymore. She jumped down off the railing and stood next to him. She was still a little shorter than him after all these years.
"You've always been the stronger one..."
He said to her, tears swelling in his eyes.
"We have to go... Just know I'll always be there when you need me. In an Eva or not..."
* * *
"Deploy the units. Get rid of the Evas at all costs. And their pilots..."
"We're going to begin it. Begin the end..."
* * *
"Ruby. You have to get up. We can't find Tricia or Samuel anywhere. They could be dead for all we know..."
Jason sat in the medical bay by a young girl. She was unconscious. Breathing. In bandages.
"Ruby... We need you to do this... I need you to do this... Destroy the Eva series and Seele can't use it to initiate a second Third Impact..."
* * *
"Father..."
A young girl with brown hair stood alone. In a darkened room and the only light shining down from a round space above. She looked around to find nothing. No familiar faces.
"Father where are you?"
He words echoed as she took a few steps in one direction. North possibly. There was no way of knowing. Another light emitted from behind her. She quickly turned, opening her mouth to scream but no sound escaped. It was like someone pressed mute.
An Eva. Not one that she was familiar with. But she was sure she knew something about it. There was something familiar. Like it was around before...
Long before...
* * *
Tricia and Samuel stood in an emergency elevator, heading upwards.
Evolution has reached its peak, at least when man is concerned. Once more, we're going to initiate another stage. No difference. Everyone will join in one lifeform. The Third Impact... And someone can stop it... But who?
Tricia stared in deep thought until the elevator stopped. She looked to the door as it opened to reveal Eva 10. She turned to Samuel, still in the elevator.
"I guess I'll be seeing you around, bro."
She smiled a bit, tossing him a pendant and winking before she turned and walked ahead.
He looked to the pendant. A leaf...
* * *
"I want you to have this..."
A old man, laying in a hospital bed, handed over a silver pendant to a young Tricia. She watched as the IV dripped to his arm and then looked to the item in her hand. A silver leaf.
"That's the symbol of the project I work for... I sense that you'll do well there... You and your brother..."
"Well... you're going to be there with us... Aren't you?"
She asked, glancing over to her brother who was sitting in the corner, legs pulled up to his chin and head buried in his knees.
"I don't think so honey..."
* * *
The leaf that her father gave her.
"I think you should have it instead. You did better off in this project."
He took a step forward to stop her, but realized it was no use. She wasn't going to stop. Not now.
A gunshot. A scream. And blood, splattered on the walkway in front of Eva 10.
"No!!!"
His scream rang through the shooters ear. Seele had breeched the bay and was going to get rid of them.
Another gunshot. This time the shooter fell to the ground. More blood. The gates closed quickly after a slam of someone's hand on the controls.
"Tricia!!!"
"Get to your Eva! That's an order!"
"Jason!?"
"GO!"
The elevator went up and away from the scene. Samuel sat back in the elevator, curling up like he did in the hospital room.
She was always the strong one... Even when mom died... And when dad died... I wish I was like her...
* * *
"Eva 09 has been launched. It seems that Samuel was finally found."
The technitions watched his vital signs as Eva 09 walked onto the scene. Surrounding the area were more. More Evas. Different from his model. Mass produced on top of that.
"You're all sent by Seele, right!?"
He gripped the controls tightly with his hands as he surveyed the Evas. He eyes widened.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!"
The Eva moved quickly, grabbing the nearest one by the head and tearing it off. 09's leg spun around, hitting another on the side. The umbilical cable swung around behind him, vunerable to any attack. If that was severed, he would only have three minutes to destroy them all. All nine...
An mass produced Eva came behind him, but with one swing of his arm, his attack was stopped.
"You killed her!"
He cried as he tore into the white Eva. He threw pieces of them everywhere. All over the place. But none of it seemed to make him any better. Only more angry... Only more fueled...
He moved forward, stopped and pulled back by something. The cable. One of the Evas had grabbed it and pulled 09 backwards.
Stumbling, Samuel eventually found his cable disconnected. And an Eva fast approaching, weaponry in hand.
"Leave me alone!!!"
The Eva reached up, blocking the weapon with its AT Field.
"Mom..."
* * *
A woman sat along side Samuel's father. She wore a lab coat like him. Had auburn hair like his sister. And the same eyes he had.
"Mom..."
"This is your sister..."
She held a small child in her arms. That small child that he originally thought would be more important. More important that father. More important than everything. Including him...
"Tricia... I named her Tricia."
* * *
Coming back from the memory, he realized something too late.
The weapon coming down from the Seele Eva morphed. Changed. It became pointed. Spiraled. Almost like DNA.
* * *
"The Lance of Longinus."
Jason stood on the observation deck once more, watching as the battle persued.
"What should we do sir?"
"We can't do anything. Not even his AT Field, with how strong it is, can stop that."
* * *
Tricia... I need your help...
The lance pierced his AT Field. And his body. It pinned his arm down on the ground. Samuel errupted in scream, letting go of the right hand controls and gripping his shoulder tightly.
"Tricia... Help..."
There was a crunching sound. He looked up. The black foot of an Eva was crushing the white one's head. It twisted around, crushing it like a bug under someone's foot.
"Y- You're alive..."
"Of course I am. A silly gunshot isn't going to keep me down."
Tricia sat in the Eva, a patch over her side. Stained red. She examined the white Evas, along with 09. It's umbilical cord was cut. And he was low on time. She glanced down at her lap.
"I know mom stayed with you all the time. I was never more important than you, Sam. She's the soul of your Eva. She's why your AT Field is so strong..."
"What are you saying?"
"Get yourself out of here."
Eva 10 grabbed the lance protruding from Eva 09's shoulder and wrenched it out.
"Get out of here... NOW!!!"
Eva 10 rushed forward, jamming the lance into one of the remaining Evas and pinned it to the ground. A progressive knife protruded from 10's shoulder, which was quickly used to fillet another.
Another lance. A copy. It flew towards Eva 10's back.
"TRICIA!!!"
"GET OUT N--"
Her words were cut off by a deafning scream as the lance entered the back of the Eva. The two points were visible in the front. As the black Eva fell forward, the Seele Evas converged on it. They grabbed it with their hands, tore it to shreads.
And she could feel it all. Her own body was being torn apart with the Eva's. Eva 09 stood up, running on only a few seconds of power. He watched as 10 was torn. Ripped apart. As with her last ounce of strength, she reached out towards the sky. He could see the Eva's hand show itself from the pure white. It was mutilated. The flesh of the Eva exposed.
And then it dropped and the white Evas moved away. What remained was a mess. Scattered pieces of 10. Scattered pieces of his sister...
* * *
"Eva 10 has fallen. She isn't getting up soon either."
"Damnit..."
Jason turned, looking to the ground. His eyes came upon a pair of feet. He looked up.
"Ruby...? You're awake?"
The girl in the hospital gown remained silent. Instead she moved forward and hugged him as Seele operatives moved in and shot the technitions.
"Don't worry. It's over..."
She looked at everyone and the blood-stained consoles. Walls. Floor. She looked to Jason and squeezed him tighter. Almost immediately, his skin... his body... exploded into a orange liquid. Link connected liquid. Blood.
She moved to everyone in the room, each one exploding quite the same as they saw her. Or didn't. Depending on it they were alive or not.
* * *
"It's only his choice you know. If he wants it to happen, it will."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then we have once again failed in our task to bring about the Third Impact. And once again, we've killed off so many innocents."
"Face it. This project is a failure. We should've never tried it again!"
"We'll just wait and see."
* * *
So what are you going to do now, Samuel? You have no power. You've lost it all. You have no one to turn to for help... No more sister to hide behind...
Samuel sat in the darkened Eva 09. His power was all used up.
But amazingly, the white Evas hadn't attacked. It was as if ripping up his sister was enough for them. There were no other Evas around fighting them. So what was stopping them?
Just kill me and get on with it... End this now!
Of course, his thoughts went unheard.
Are you going to let this happen?
The voice was different this time and he looked around quickly. Nothing but dark and a entry plug.
"Tricia? Where are you?"
A figure manifested before him.
"Ruby?!"
She stood in front of him. White in color. Red eyes.
"What do you want from me?"
"You're the key to the impact. It's your decision to make."
He closed his eyes and clamped his hands over his ears.
"I-I can't do this! Not without my sister! Not without her!!!"
"I told you I'm never going to leave you..."
He opened his eyes again and removed his hands. The figure had fallen back and was replaced by his sister. Features as white as Ruby's. But her look was more caring.
He reached out as if to touch her. To make sure she was real. She reached also, but once they made contact, her hand slid through his.
"I don't know what to do... I-I don't know what's going on..."
"If you make the impact happen everything will be one. If you don't, people are going to have to start out again. The beginning of man... A rebirth..."
"But..."
"Its your decision, I can't make it for you."
The figure disappeared and Samuel dropped his hand. Alone again. Again alone. Darkness.
"So, what is it?"
Ruby stood in front of him once more.
"I-I..."
"Will humanity continue on? Or will it all come to the end?"
"I d-don't... know."
He rested his head in his hands, tears seeping through his fingers.
"People need to have chances. People... What's life without them? One being... no pain... no difference. I need that... The pain... The difference..."
"So be it.."
"Come on, Tricia! It isn't much further!"
Two children run down the park's sidewalk. A young boy has his hand around a girl's, which is running behind him. The sky is blue. The grass green. And the wind blows the leaves on the trees.
"Where are we going?"
The girl asked, trying not to trip over her own two feet as they came to a slow hault. She stopped at his side before leaning against some railing, seperating them from a hillside. She glanced out over the horizon.
"What is that, Sam?"
She asked, her expression one of awe. He smiled a little bit, absolutely glad that his sister was amazed.
"Dad told me that was where he worked. They call it Nerv. Someday, I want to work there."
The girl looked up to him.
"Really? Is it that great?"
He looked back to her before looking out to the pyramid-shaped building.
"Yeah. Dad seems to enjoy it..."
His expression changed to a more upset one as he turned away from the railing and walked slowly down the sidewalk, hands in his pocket and head slumped down.
"He enjoys it so much that he's never around..."
* * *
"We have a security breech!"
"Where are Evas 09 and 10?"
"Still in the bay, sir! We're having trouble locating the pilots."
""Trouble?! We don't have time for this! What about Ruby!?"
"Ruby is still in the medical wing. We put her in Eva 11 and she won't synch or be able to put up a fight."
A young man stood aboard a lookout deck, surverying the technitions and military personnel below, all of which were busily looking at screens and hitting buttons.
"Find the missing pilots! We're going to need them!" He said, turning away and walking through a door and into a hallway.
* * *
"I thought I'd find you here."
The park. The hillside. The railing. Everything was too much the same, althought showing the test of time.
"Always knew where to find me."
A young man stood, leaning against the railing and looking out to a pyramid- shaped building.
"How is your dream so far? To work for Nerv."
He closed his eyes and smirked a bit.
"It isn't what I had planned. Never would I have guessed that we'd be going through this again. Seele made a mistake restarting this project... And we just happened to be the pawns."
She walked over and sat on the railing, looking at him intently and caringly.
"You know the end is coming. And we're going to have to be there."
"Yeah... I know."
"The fate of all this rests in us. And with Ruby out of commission, it seems we're going to have more to deal with."
"Yeah..."
He looked up at her, standing straight up. She could tell by his face he was upset, and didn't want this to go on anymore. She jumped down off the railing and stood next to him. She was still a little shorter than him after all these years.
"You've always been the stronger one..."
He said to her, tears swelling in his eyes.
"We have to go... Just know I'll always be there when you need me. In an Eva or not..."
* * *
"Deploy the units. Get rid of the Evas at all costs. And their pilots..."
"We're going to begin it. Begin the end..."
* * *
"Ruby. You have to get up. We can't find Tricia or Samuel anywhere. They could be dead for all we know..."
Jason sat in the medical bay by a young girl. She was unconscious. Breathing. In bandages.
"Ruby... We need you to do this... I need you to do this... Destroy the Eva series and Seele can't use it to initiate a second Third Impact..."
* * *
"Father..."
A young girl with brown hair stood alone. In a darkened room and the only light shining down from a round space above. She looked around to find nothing. No familiar faces.
"Father where are you?"
He words echoed as she took a few steps in one direction. North possibly. There was no way of knowing. Another light emitted from behind her. She quickly turned, opening her mouth to scream but no sound escaped. It was like someone pressed mute.
An Eva. Not one that she was familiar with. But she was sure she knew something about it. There was something familiar. Like it was around before...
Long before...
* * *
Tricia and Samuel stood in an emergency elevator, heading upwards.
Evolution has reached its peak, at least when man is concerned. Once more, we're going to initiate another stage. No difference. Everyone will join in one lifeform. The Third Impact... And someone can stop it... But who?
Tricia stared in deep thought until the elevator stopped. She looked to the door as it opened to reveal Eva 10. She turned to Samuel, still in the elevator.
"I guess I'll be seeing you around, bro."
She smiled a bit, tossing him a pendant and winking before she turned and walked ahead.
He looked to the pendant. A leaf...
* * *
"I want you to have this..."
A old man, laying in a hospital bed, handed over a silver pendant to a young Tricia. She watched as the IV dripped to his arm and then looked to the item in her hand. A silver leaf.
"That's the symbol of the project I work for... I sense that you'll do well there... You and your brother..."
"Well... you're going to be there with us... Aren't you?"
She asked, glancing over to her brother who was sitting in the corner, legs pulled up to his chin and head buried in his knees.
"I don't think so honey..."
* * *
The leaf that her father gave her.
"I think you should have it instead. You did better off in this project."
He took a step forward to stop her, but realized it was no use. She wasn't going to stop. Not now.
A gunshot. A scream. And blood, splattered on the walkway in front of Eva 10.
"No!!!"
His scream rang through the shooters ear. Seele had breeched the bay and was going to get rid of them.
Another gunshot. This time the shooter fell to the ground. More blood. The gates closed quickly after a slam of someone's hand on the controls.
"Tricia!!!"
"Get to your Eva! That's an order!"
"Jason!?"
"GO!"
The elevator went up and away from the scene. Samuel sat back in the elevator, curling up like he did in the hospital room.
She was always the strong one... Even when mom died... And when dad died... I wish I was like her...
* * *
"Eva 09 has been launched. It seems that Samuel was finally found."
The technitions watched his vital signs as Eva 09 walked onto the scene. Surrounding the area were more. More Evas. Different from his model. Mass produced on top of that.
"You're all sent by Seele, right!?"
He gripped the controls tightly with his hands as he surveyed the Evas. He eyes widened.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!"
The Eva moved quickly, grabbing the nearest one by the head and tearing it off. 09's leg spun around, hitting another on the side. The umbilical cable swung around behind him, vunerable to any attack. If that was severed, he would only have three minutes to destroy them all. All nine...
An mass produced Eva came behind him, but with one swing of his arm, his attack was stopped.
"You killed her!"
He cried as he tore into the white Eva. He threw pieces of them everywhere. All over the place. But none of it seemed to make him any better. Only more angry... Only more fueled...
He moved forward, stopped and pulled back by something. The cable. One of the Evas had grabbed it and pulled 09 backwards.
Stumbling, Samuel eventually found his cable disconnected. And an Eva fast approaching, weaponry in hand.
"Leave me alone!!!"
The Eva reached up, blocking the weapon with its AT Field.
"Mom..."
* * *
A woman sat along side Samuel's father. She wore a lab coat like him. Had auburn hair like his sister. And the same eyes he had.
"Mom..."
"This is your sister..."
She held a small child in her arms. That small child that he originally thought would be more important. More important that father. More important than everything. Including him...
"Tricia... I named her Tricia."
* * *
Coming back from the memory, he realized something too late.
The weapon coming down from the Seele Eva morphed. Changed. It became pointed. Spiraled. Almost like DNA.
* * *
"The Lance of Longinus."
Jason stood on the observation deck once more, watching as the battle persued.
"What should we do sir?"
"We can't do anything. Not even his AT Field, with how strong it is, can stop that."
* * *
Tricia... I need your help...
The lance pierced his AT Field. And his body. It pinned his arm down on the ground. Samuel errupted in scream, letting go of the right hand controls and gripping his shoulder tightly.
"Tricia... Help..."
There was a crunching sound. He looked up. The black foot of an Eva was crushing the white one's head. It twisted around, crushing it like a bug under someone's foot.
"Y- You're alive..."
"Of course I am. A silly gunshot isn't going to keep me down."
Tricia sat in the Eva, a patch over her side. Stained red. She examined the white Evas, along with 09. It's umbilical cord was cut. And he was low on time. She glanced down at her lap.
"I know mom stayed with you all the time. I was never more important than you, Sam. She's the soul of your Eva. She's why your AT Field is so strong..."
"What are you saying?"
"Get yourself out of here."
Eva 10 grabbed the lance protruding from Eva 09's shoulder and wrenched it out.
"Get out of here... NOW!!!"
Eva 10 rushed forward, jamming the lance into one of the remaining Evas and pinned it to the ground. A progressive knife protruded from 10's shoulder, which was quickly used to fillet another.
Another lance. A copy. It flew towards Eva 10's back.
"TRICIA!!!"
"GET OUT N--"
Her words were cut off by a deafning scream as the lance entered the back of the Eva. The two points were visible in the front. As the black Eva fell forward, the Seele Evas converged on it. They grabbed it with their hands, tore it to shreads.
And she could feel it all. Her own body was being torn apart with the Eva's. Eva 09 stood up, running on only a few seconds of power. He watched as 10 was torn. Ripped apart. As with her last ounce of strength, she reached out towards the sky. He could see the Eva's hand show itself from the pure white. It was mutilated. The flesh of the Eva exposed.
And then it dropped and the white Evas moved away. What remained was a mess. Scattered pieces of 10. Scattered pieces of his sister...
* * *
"Eva 10 has fallen. She isn't getting up soon either."
"Damnit..."
Jason turned, looking to the ground. His eyes came upon a pair of feet. He looked up.
"Ruby...? You're awake?"
The girl in the hospital gown remained silent. Instead she moved forward and hugged him as Seele operatives moved in and shot the technitions.
"Don't worry. It's over..."
She looked at everyone and the blood-stained consoles. Walls. Floor. She looked to Jason and squeezed him tighter. Almost immediately, his skin... his body... exploded into a orange liquid. Link connected liquid. Blood.
She moved to everyone in the room, each one exploding quite the same as they saw her. Or didn't. Depending on it they were alive or not.
* * *
"It's only his choice you know. If he wants it to happen, it will."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then we have once again failed in our task to bring about the Third Impact. And once again, we've killed off so many innocents."
"Face it. This project is a failure. We should've never tried it again!"
"We'll just wait and see."
* * *
So what are you going to do now, Samuel? You have no power. You've lost it all. You have no one to turn to for help... No more sister to hide behind...
Samuel sat in the darkened Eva 09. His power was all used up.
But amazingly, the white Evas hadn't attacked. It was as if ripping up his sister was enough for them. There were no other Evas around fighting them. So what was stopping them?
Just kill me and get on with it... End this now!
Of course, his thoughts went unheard.
Are you going to let this happen?
The voice was different this time and he looked around quickly. Nothing but dark and a entry plug.
"Tricia? Where are you?"
A figure manifested before him.
"Ruby?!"
She stood in front of him. White in color. Red eyes.
"What do you want from me?"
"You're the key to the impact. It's your decision to make."
He closed his eyes and clamped his hands over his ears.
"I-I can't do this! Not without my sister! Not without her!!!"
"I told you I'm never going to leave you..."
He opened his eyes again and removed his hands. The figure had fallen back and was replaced by his sister. Features as white as Ruby's. But her look was more caring.
He reached out as if to touch her. To make sure she was real. She reached also, but once they made contact, her hand slid through his.
"I don't know what to do... I-I don't know what's going on..."
"If you make the impact happen everything will be one. If you don't, people are going to have to start out again. The beginning of man... A rebirth..."
"But..."
"Its your decision, I can't make it for you."
The figure disappeared and Samuel dropped his hand. Alone again. Again alone. Darkness.
"So, what is it?"
Ruby stood in front of him once more.
"I-I..."
"Will humanity continue on? Or will it all come to the end?"
"I d-don't... know."
He rested his head in his hands, tears seeping through his fingers.
"People need to have chances. People... What's life without them? One being... no pain... no difference. I need that... The pain... The difference..."
"So be it.."