All right! She's asleep! Maybe now I can produce something mildly sane. Oh, wait, I promised a big fight. I should probably wake her up.

DreyonLegacy: Layra-chan? Wake up.

Layra-chan: But the sugar intake of blue pen ink is hyperbolically proportional to the number of ticket stubs underneath the seats.

DreyonLegacy: ?

Layra-chan: I'm asleep. Don't bother me.

DreyonLegacy: well, then I guess I'll have to eat all the chocolate myself…

Layra-chan: No! I'm awake! I'm awake!

DreyonLegacy: Good. Now you can help me write this chapter.

Layra-chan: Back to bed.

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. I do not own the SSDF. I do not own the UN, or Japan, or any of the places mentioned in this fic, with the possible exception of Tokyo 4.

Fourth Impact

Chapter 47: Convergence, part 1

He woke to a steady beeping noise. His eyes opened and he looked up at the ceiling, then at the woman sitting beside him. "Where…"

Rei sighed, shaking her head. "She disappeared. We lost track of her a few hours ago."

Takoru looked away. "How's Adamu? And Misa-chan?"

"Misa is still unconscious. Adamu…He's recovering. He's still getting adjusted to his new arm."

Takoru looked up. "New arm?" Rei nodded.

"He lost his left arm during the last battle, and stole a new one from his opponent." Takoru grimaced, not wanting to think about arms, and the mangling of them. The fact that he couldn't feel his own, even though he could feel the pain from the cuts on his face, was a bad sign. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't feel his legs either, or any of his lower body…

"Where are they?"

"In Adam's holding chamber. He refused to leave her side since the battle." Takoru winced. He had failed. Tears welled up as he remembered everything he could have done, should have done. "What's wrong?"

"Adamu was right. I should have proposed." Takoru forced out. "I was going to after the battle; I thought it would be an easy one. Why do I have to be so stupid!"

"There is nothing you could have done." Rei told him. But he didn't listen to her, only struggled against tears. She slowly got up and went to the door. A doctor looked questioningly at her. "Get him a phone. Find his family and call them." She commanded. The young doctor nodded and went searching for the information.

She waited until she was in her husband's arms before breaking down and weeping.

"We cannot let this continue!" shouted a tall, red-faced woman. "Tokyo 4 and NERV have defied our orders ever since it was founded." She looked about the crowd. "We've all seen the footage that Deransh sent us. NERV has been keeping secrets from us, of powerful biological and biomechanical weapons." Images of the rogue Evas, as well as the transformed Unit 19, appeared on the screen behind her. The gathered UN representatives nodded.

Deransh had managed to install hidden cameras all around Tokyo 4 prior to his capture. He had also hacked the database, using his power as an ambassador from the UN to get past security. Everything had been going as planned until his arrest.

"Furthermore, we have evidence that NERV has been dealing with the Angels!" a picture of Adamu with his shirt off appeared, his core carelessly displayed. Another picture of Lilliko with her AT field manifested was shown later. To push the issue, she even included a picture of Unit 16 tearing through the city.

"Fellow UN Delegates, you all have seen the evidence laid before you. NERV is no longer working for us, or for mankind, but against it. We must attack and destroy NERV before they can set off another Impact."

She stepped down from the podium as the chamber burst into applause. Quickly exiting the room and into an empty hallway, she closed her eyes as her form began to grow transparent. It is getting harder to escape my host. She fumed silently. My projection is already dissolving with each death of my Chosen. The loss of communication with them has severely limited my options. This will have to be my last manifestation. Fortunately, my children are too caught up in their own scheming to notice. Lillith let her form fade away.

Misa kept her eyes closed, not wanting to face the boy beside her. How could she have forgotten so easily? How could she have been manipulated so simply, to the point where she was ready to kill the boy she loved? And why had it felt so right at the time, to put her hands around his throat and squeeze, her fingers clenching like they did when she was mad?

She didn't want to return. The world was so painful, perhaps if she locked herself away it would be all right. If my conscience tries to hurt me now she'll have a lot more to work with. She though bitterly.

"I also do redemptions, remember?" asked the six-year-old girl. "I can make you feel better."

She turned away from the girl, only to find herself looking at Adam, who still shimmered with power.

"You should listen to her." Adam said in her quiet, commanding voice. "Though I have yet to comprehend the chaos that is a lillim mind, I know that the subconscious usually has the answers."

"Quiet." Misa snapped. "I don't want your advice. I want to stop hurting people."

"Then open your eyes." Her conscience begged. "He is weeping for you. You can hear it. He needs you to wake up."

"No. NO!" Misa shouted, stepping away from both of them.

"Misato-chan…" She spun to see a woman with a striking resemblance to her mother. She knew this woman from somewhere, had met her before.

"Grandmother…" She waited passively as Kyoko wrapped her arms about her, pulling her into a loving embrace. "Please…"

"Don't be foolish, Misato-chan." Kyoko told her. "Listen to your heart, and your conscience. He loves you, and knows that you would never hurt him on purpose. Don't be like your parents, or like me."

"But in the dream…" she protested. "I was manipulated so incredibly easily."

Flashbacks of her hands around Adamu's throat filled her senses. But Kyoko simply held the girl and stroked her hair, refusing to abandon her.

"That wasn't your fault, and would never happen in real life. Lillith's Chosen manipulated you. But you are in control now. And you will never hurt him. You only cause him pain when you hold yourself away from him. Go to him."

"Go to him." Repeated Chibi-Misa.

"Go to him." Repeated Adam.

"I—" she looked at the three females, then sighed and nodded. "Yes. I won't cause him any more pain."

She opened her eyes. Immediately he spun and pulled her into his arms, holding her at arm's length. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"You knew that I was awake." She accused. He nodded. "But you didn't try to wake me up."

"You were upset. I didn't want to disturb your thoughts." He told her. Impulsively she leaned forward and locked her lips to his, wrapping her arms about him.

Inside a pocket of her subconscious, Misa's conscious, maternal grandmother, and resident symbiote watched.

Kyoko smiled. "I never would have expected to see my granddaughter and your grandson together." She remarked to Adam. Adam smiled, a smile that looks awfully like the one that Kaoru often wore. "I guess I'd better go, though. This body is coming apart from the strain of having three souls within it. Take me back to Heaven, Adam."

"Bye, grandmother!" Chibi-Misa shouted as Kyoko faded away.

Misa and Adamu pulled apart to stare at each other for a long moment. "Adamu-chan, your arm…"

"I stole it from one of Lillith's Chosen when he tore my old one off." He explained. "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt." He touched his hand to her face to demonstrate. She leaned forward into him again.

"Hey, Adamu I—" Misato stopped, staring at the two. She coughed, and they broke apart. "I hate to break up the moment, but we've got a situation."

The two Children got up and followed her to the bridge. Looking around at the damage, Misa stiffened.

Misato called everyone to order. "We have a situation here, a bad one. Unit 16 is parked just outside Tokyo 4, and there are reports of three humans with it. Two of them are openly manifesting AT fields." Several people gasped. "Unfortunately for us, we're down two pilots. Lilliko-chan," her voice choked, "has fled, and has most likely merged with her Eva. Takoru-chan is incapacitated. That means that at the moment we have no working Evas." She turned to Adamu before he could object. "With your new arm, and your extensive contact with Lillith and Adam during their fight, you have been deemed contaminated to an extreme. The only reason we let you out of quarantine is because your parents vouch for the strength of your AT field." Adamu nodded.

Misato sighed. "Furthermore, the UN has decided that we've kept Deransh here too long, despite our explanations. They have also grown fearful of us, again, and are sending the SSDF against us. The SSDF will arrive tomorrow."

She looked everyone in the eye, catching the gaze of those who had survived the attack seventeen years earlier. "Dr. Akagi will give us a report on the damage to the computer systems."

Ritsuko stepped forward, a clipboard in hand. "The main sensor and analysis systems are down, and the Magi have locked themselves away. The security system is offline, and we are locked out of the main power grid because of the damage to the computers. The hospital and launch facilities are still functional, as are the Bakelite pipes. We're running on emergency power right now, as one of Lillith's Chosen disabled the power system."

"So, we're trapped between a demon and an army with no lights and no weapons, and no one with any clue what's happening." Adamu summarized. "And we have one day to stop the end of the world."

"Let's get started."

Takoru looked up as Ritsuko entered the hospital room. "Takoru, we have a proposal for you." she told him. "It is more of a demand, but you can refuse, though you most likely won't."

He nodded at her to continue. "Currently, your neck is largely broken and your spine is deformed. We can fix that overnight, but…"

"What's the catch?" he asked. "What will I have to sacrifice?"

"Your humanity." She replied. His eyes widened. She nodded. I can't believe I'm offering him this. The procedure, still experimental, will take away his humanity and possibly thrust him into the same situation that his girlfriend is in. But do I have a choice? "You have the opportunity to have an super solenoid engine installed in you, which would heal all of your wounds within hours. But you may go berserk in the process."

He looked up at the ceiling, wondering where his Lilliko was, what she was doing. If he ended with the same fate as she, to protect this small city… "Do it."

Dai-syo looked up at all of the sticks that Samantha poked into the ground around the fire, twelve in all. He watched as she took another stick, thrust its tip into the fire, and used it to light the other sticks. "What are you doing?"

"Commemorating the fallen." She replied. "The First, Jennifer Smith. The Third, Searai Ilana. The Fourth, Koto d'Rembre. The Fifth, Raiterasho Inoto. The Sixth, Karles Sudermann. The Seventh, Esserach Talkenoh. The Eighth, Ilissalra Caesar. The Ninth, Ralkonik Veriankovski. The Tenth, Kiran Sacks. The Eleventh, Tenyana Selvanski. Te Twelfth, Eletha Siras. And the Thirteen, Juan del Roges."

"So, you are the Fifteenth?" he asked. She nodded.

"Fifteenth and Last. When I die, or fail, this will all be over, no matter if you survive or not. I am the Last, and my actions determine the fate of the world. As it has always been." She shook off the serious mood and watched at the burning pieces of wood.

Samantha looked back at Dai-syo. "Perhaps I should light some for us." She asked. He shook his head. She placed two sticks in the ground with the others anyway.

"What about Ariline?" Dai-syo asked.

They both went silent for a moment. They could hear the girl in question crooning softly to Unit 16, whispering hopes and reassurances to the great beast.

"She's not really one of us." Samantha told him, for once without spite or hatred in her voice. "She cares more about her Eva than she does about us, than she will about any human. I hope that you realize this. We can't depend on her fully."

"She does not care more about her Eva than humans." He retorted. Samantha simply gave him a sad smile.

"She's in love with the damn thing." She replied, but put a third stick in with the others. "She's in love with it, and blind to your affections. She doesn't see how hard you have been trying to tell her how you feel." How ironic that I am saying these words to him. "She sees you, and will always see you, as just a friend."

He turned and left. She sighed. "To the apocalypse of love." She said, raising the stick she had lit the others with. She brought it down and lit two of the three new sticks. "The Second, Dai-syo Kai. The Fourteenth, Ariline Jiray." She watched the two burn for a bit before lighting the last. "The Fifteenth, Samantha Azrael."

AN: Sorry, I lied. No big fight in this chapter. Don't worry, the big fight starts in the next chapter: Convergence, past 2.

Layra-chan: You mean you woke me up for nothing? You idiot! *Gets out 2-by-4*

Whack! Whack, whack, whack! Whackwhackwhackwhackwhack…thud.

DreyonLegacy: ow