Hey, everybody. I'm back…and relatively intact…-ish. If this chapter doesn't make any sense, it's not because I'm trying to confuse you. *waits for surprised gasps to end* I'm really sleep depraved right now, and my head hurts, and a bunch of other stuff, so I can't think very clearly. I just did at least a year's worth of college level math in six-weeks. I know how to prove Quadratic Reciprocity! Take that!
More rambling later.
Disclaimer: I'd tell you that I own NGE, but then I'd be lying.
Last time, on Fourth Impact:
…"Lillith, no!"
…"TAKORU! LILLIKO! WHOEVER'S THERE, WE NEED YOU AT NERV, NOW!"
…Their efforts ceased as a fountain of LCL erupted from Rei's mouth.
Fourth Impact
Chapter 30: First and Second
Shooting rapidly toward Tokyo 4, wings glinting in the afternoon sun, was the Second Angel, the Mother of Humanity, once again wearing Rei's form.
Misato spun to face the new Children. "Lilliko, Adamu, Takoru, get to the Evas. Now!"
Lilliko shook her head, her eyes wide and full of tears. "No…mother…" She looked back and forth between the huge white Angel flying toward Tokyo-4 and the now quiet but still writhing Angel lying behind her. "I can't fight…it's wearing mother's body…"
"That's not your mother out there." Misato told the girl. "We need you out there."
Lilliko still refused to move. Adamu had more resolve though. Grabbing Takoru, he dashed out of the bridge toward the changing rooms.
A few minutes later Unit 18 and Unit 20 shot to the surface just as Lillith came into view. Takoru stared at the creature that looked just like his girlfriend…he looked away as blood began to seep into the LCL from his nose.
"Hey!" Lilliko shouted from the bridge.
Adamu raised the pallet gun and began to fire. As expected, the bullets just bounced off the AT field that flung up as soon as he shot.
In return a wall of force came down at him, pushing him back. Takoru was knocked aside by a second wall.
"Damn!" Takoru shouted, firing wildly.
He charged at Lillith, firing as the Second Angel landed. Lillith brushed him aside, and took to the air as Adamu swung an ax at her. She came down again on the other side of him and landed a kick to the back of Unit 18's head, sending it spinning away.
Takoru threw a spear at her, then his knife, but she dodged both and fired another AT field-wall at him before taking to the sky again.
"She's too mobile. Take out her wings." Misato commanded. "Be careful, Rei was a master of hand-to-hand combat, and Lillith surely has her memories in addition to her body."
As if to emphasize Misato's point, Lillith slammed an elbow into Unit 20's face, knocking him back. He fell onto a weapon storage box as it shot out of the ground. He quickly opened it and pulled out…a progressive sword with a disturbing blood-red edge.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that the red lining was actually made out of tiny, jagged chunks. His eyes widened.
"This will help." He turned to see Adamu slamming a progressive knife down on Lillith's AT field. Using Lillith's distraction to his advantage, he crept up behind her.
He raised the sword over his head, his Eva letting out an involuntary roar. Lillith turned to face him as he brought the sword down. She screamed and flung up an AT field, but the Splinters of the Lance of Loginus cut through easily, slicing through her wings.
In return Lillith dropped into a crouch and kicked Unit 20's legs out from under it, then spun around, flipped up and smashed both feet into Unit 20's chest. Unit 20 roared as the sword flew from its grip and fell into the lake of LCL.
"No!"
On the bridge Rei had stopped moving completely, the only signs of life being her barely audible whimpers. Kaoru knelt by his wife, looking up at the screen.
Misa had her eyes glued to the fight, watching Units 18 and 20 get flung around like rag dolls.
"I have to do something." She whispered.
I can help. Her eyes shot open wide at the sound of Adam's voice. Relax your AT field, and I can get to one of my copies. I can give it enough power to defeat the Second.
"But—"
Trust me. I only want to survive.
She could feel the tugging of the First Angel at her soul. Closing her eyes, she nodded.
Several heads spun to see Misa rise off the ground, eyes glowing red, skin glowing black. Her core pulsed rapidly and her mouth opened in a silent scream.
Adamu looked up to see the glowing figure in the plug with him again. "I need this copy." Adam told him. "You must leave.
"Why should I trust you?" He could feel the eject mechanisms activating.
"Unlike the Second, I will not absorb my Children just to gain power. You must leave." The glowing figure disappeared.
"Commander! We are getting ejection signals from Unit 18!" Misato turned just in time to see the entry plug shoot from Unit 18's back. It sailed through the air, plunging into the lake of LCL.
Meanwhile, Unit 18 was going through some changes. The restraints shot off in all directions, leaving the Eva bare. Just like Unit 21, Unit 18 began to change shape, becoming more and more human. Its chest bulged, as did its hips, while its waist narrowed. Long hair flowed out from its shifting head. The harsh face grew softer, more feminine. The Eva's stance grew more confident as muscles shifted into place.
Everyone on the bridge stared in shock at the scene that lay before them.
A pitch-black Asuka faced off against an alabaster white Rei.
AN: I could end the chapter here. I should end the chapter here. I should end the chapter here and leave you for another month wondering what the hell just happened.
But I won't. Because my head hurts. That made no sense.
Adam yanked a progressive knife out of her shoulder and charged at Lillith. Lillith did the same, slashing at Adam with all her might. Their AT fields shot out, orange and blue light filling the air and tearing through buildings.
Misato stared at the screen. The two looked just like the First and Second Children, color aside. They looked, moved just like them, even used the same fighting techniques, Lillith's silent and graceful, Adam's strong and quick. And they were trying to kill each other.
Misa had collapsed, and had been moved next to Rei. Asuka sat between them, on the verge of tears as the two women closest to her heart lay on the brink of death. "I feel so helpless!" she wailed.
"How do you think I feel?" everyone was shocked by Adamu's exclamation. "That's my mother and my girlfriend lying there, and I love them both. But I can't do a thing. I can't see, I can't hear what is going on outside this stupid plug! I'm supposed to be piloting the Eva to save them, but now all I can do is wait. I hate this!"
Asuka looked up at the screen to see a kindred spirit across the one-way video feed. Adamu hated feeling helpless just as much as she did. Misa-chan, you picked a good one.
(AN: Irony, eh? They'd make the perfect couple, don't you think? But they're just lying to everyone.)
Adam shot forward and slammed into Lillith, knocking them both to the ground. They slid several blocks, clawing at one another.
"Stop staring you perverts!" Asuka shouted at the NERV faculty. They all looked away guiltily.
Takoru slowly forced Unit 20 to its feet and stared at the fight, before spinning away. It was one thing to fight a giant replica of one's girlfriend. It was quite another to see said replica and another giant replica of one's best friend trying to kill each other while wearing nothing but AT fields.
He ducked as a chunk of flying debris slammed into the building beside him. He couldn't see them, but he could the results of the deadliest fight that the world had ever experienced. He could feel the energy radiating off of the two, and got a sinking feeling that if the fight lasted much longer, Japan would be sunk.
Adam grabbed Lillith's neck and began to squeeze. They both knew full well that that would never kill her, but it stopped Lillith from attacking as she clawed at her throat. A knee slammed into Adam's stomach and she dropped the Second Angel. The two slid back and glared at each other, Adam's core pulsing bright red in counterpoint to Lillith's glowing blue core.
A roar erupted from beneath the ground. Unit 01's eyes lit up. More equipment shattered.
"Unit 01 has activated!" Maya shouted. "It's moving toward the catapults!"
Misato spun to glance at the technician, then at her goddaughter. She spun back to face the screen. "Who's piloting?"
"No pilot." Maya reported. "It's being controlled from outside."
"Lillith." Kaoru hissed. "Lillith is controlling Unit 01."
Misato could only nod, opening an audio link to Takoru. "Takoru! Get ready to fight Unit 01. It's under Lillith's control."
"Damn. Right." Takoru replied. He grabbed the pallet gun that lay beside him and caught the knife that rocketed up from the ground nearby. He waited as the people at NERV tried to determine where Unit 01 would appear.
Suddenly the beast appeared behind him. He spun just as Unit 01 roared and grabbed his arms. He kicked Unit 01 in the stomach, narrowly missing the core. The beast fell back and Takoru began to fire. An AT field sprang up between them, but Takoru managed to wrench open a hole and shoved the knife in, piercing Unit 01's chest. In return, Unit 01 twisted his arm, dispersing the field, and leapt forward, biting down hard on Unit 20's neck.
"Cut nerve connections!" Takoru suddenly went blind and deaf as he was forced from the Eva's consciousness. He sat in the lukewarm darkness of the plug, feeling the shockwaves as Unit 01 tried to bite through the thick neck armor.
"When Unit 01 stops biting him, get the connections back on as soon as possible. We need him to be able to fight."
Unit 01's jaw only tightened around Unit 20's neck, slowly breaking through the armor. There came a tremendous crunch as the neck armor began to give way…
AN: Now this is a horrible place to stop. It's one thing to stop when the bad guy is about to slice our poor hero in half, and quite another when the sword's already between his ribs. In the first scenario, at least the hero has a chance to block. Oh well.
I'll write more when my brain returns, or at least once Layra-chan calms down. Stupid muse. She wasn't actually in the PROMYS program, so while I had to sit around doing work and killing my head, she got to read up on complex analysis. Yes, I'm envious. Very.
Maybe next year.
In the meantime,
"Doctor says I's got dain bramage."