Disclaimer: I can't think of a funny way to say that I do not own Evangelion.
Fourth Impact
Chapter 49: Detonations
She plummeted, folding her wings and tucking her head in preparation for contact with the ground. Planes shot at her, tanks and soldiers joining in, and then…
She hit.
The ground exploded beneath her, chunks of the street showering downward beside her as she fell into the Geofront. Screams filled her ears as the ground forces fell into the rapidly expanding hole she created. Then she spotted her enemies, a pair of bright AT fields in the midst of battle. She swooped down and smashed a small group of soldiers with a huge fist, then turned to her enemies. A blast of crimson thorns flew from her mouth, tearing through the soldiers and tanks, then through planes and buildings as her head swerved. And then it appeared. Her other nemesis.
Takoru stared at the monster that his girlfriend had become, his hand shaking as he leveled the grenade launcher at her.
He didn't have to fire, though, as Unit 16 came crashing down into the Geofront, righting itself and immediately charging Lilliko. Lilliko reared back and slashed at Unit 16, but Unit 16 pulled away and fired a tight beam at Unit 19's exposed core. With a single slash of her claws Lilliko tore the beam to shreds and leapt forward, grabbing Unit 16 and lifting it into the air. Unit 16 struggled, its blades digging into Lilliko's belly, its claws smashing at Lilliko's hide. Then Lilliko dropped her prey and Unit 16 went crashing toward the ground. Only a hastily spread AT field stopped it from slamming headfirst into the ground. Unit 16 fired another beam at Lilliko, then another, both missing.
Ariline lined up another shot, desperately hoping that the dragon would stay still. She had no idea of who had been in the Eva at the time of its mutation, but she wanted to kill it quickly.
"Stay still," She whispered, "so that I can end your pain. Please, stay still."
Suddenly Lilliko opened her mouth, and a stream of crimson thorns flew out at Unit 16. Ariline flung up Unit 16's AT field, but the thorns, made from the Splinters of the Lance of Loginus, pierced it easily and dug into Unit 16's body. Ariline screamed as her Eva roared and thrashed in pain.
Then the rage came. Fear and pain pushed aside as hatred boiled up in Ariline's fragile soul. That beast had hurt Unit 16, and the damage was most likely irreparable. The beast would pay for that. An orange sash the color of LCL formed out of the liquid surrounding her and settled about her body, across her chest, over her shoulder and down her back to tie off at her waist. The sash pulsed, as did the entire Eva.
"You're going to die!" Ariline shouted as her body burst into orange light.
Outside, Samantha watched as Unit 16's head shot up and a glowing ball appeared at the tip of its eye. "14th Chosen AT Beam Fountain Apocalypse!" screamed a deathly, roaring voice from Unit 16, and the ball burst, turning into a huge column of orange light burning its way into the clouds. Samantha stared in horror, not at the beam itself, but at the absolute children's-television-show cheesiness of the move.
Then her horror became real as the fountain of light began to curve outward, splitting into a corona of light, then into individual beams each dozens of meters thick…
Then fell.
Like rays of heavenly light the beams crashed down to Earth, tearing through buildings, through tank and planes and soldiers, through the streets and into the Geofront. The lakes boiled and evaporated, the ground exploded with craters, and the vegetation was all burned to a crisp. Up above all the buildings around were shredded by light as beams continued to sprout from the main column and fall. The sound of explosions filled the air, and light blinded everyone. Those who could flung up AT fields and held out with all of their strength. Those in the SSDF were not so lucky, and died by the hundreds at each beam hit.
NERV headquarters went up in smoke and fire, and even the mountains rumbled and shook.
Still the beam poured out from Unit 16's eye, the orange turning blood red and the fountain growing wider. Soon Tokyo 4 was in ruins, all the buildings torn apart and burning, the streets ripped and full of holes. All the grass and vegetation in the Geofront was dead, as were almost all of the SSDF soldiers. The NERV personnel still alive huddled beneath Unit 20's AT field, and Lilliko had taken to the air, dodging the beams with ease.
Then, Lilliko let out another stream of thorns at the base of the beam, the thorns piercing the beam right above Unit 16's eye. The beam was suddenly shredded and ceased to pour out. Instantly the sky was clear and the deadly rays stopped falling. Unit 16 fell back down, exhausted. Lilliko let out a roar of triumph as it descended toward Unit 16's fallen body.
That's when Takoru forced Unit 20 to its feet. He got Lilliko's attention, smashing a fist into Lilliko's head, then ran off, Lilliko following him and firing thorns wildly.
Meanwhile, Dai-syo and Samantha were dusting themselves off when Adam and Adamu caught up to them. Immediately they attacked, trying to kill Adam before they themselves were killed. Samantha noted that Dai-syo wasn't fighting full strength, and that he kept glancing over at Unit 16. She could see Ariline, who had gotten out of the plug and was sitting on Unit 16's head right above its eye ridge.
"Concentrate!" she shouted at Dai-syo, before dodging a blast by Adam. She had them all surrounded by her dots, but Adam's AT field was too strong for her.
She was suddenly hit from behind by Adamu, and fell forward, sending a stream of dots out behind her. She could hear him curse in pain and smirked, bouncing to her feet again.
"Our forces have been completely wiped out. Requesting permission to move on to next stage of attack, sir."
"Permission granted. Fire at will."
Takoru suddenly looked up. "Everybody down!" he screamed, running back toward NERV headquarters. Lilliko looked up and stared as the missiles descended toward them.
Samantha and Dai-syo retreated to Unit 16, the three of them firing up their AT fields and preparing for the blast.
"I will protect you." proclaimed a booming voice coming from Misa's limp body. Lilliko shot skyward as Adam's AT field expanded to fill the entire Geofront. Unit 16 roared in glee as its mother's AT field enveloped it. Ariline too had a look of wonderment upon her face, Unit 16's ecstasy flowing through to her. Dai-syo and Samantha were not as happy to be held within their nemesis's soul. Samantha, in fact, was terrified.
"NO!" she screamed. "NO! Don't take me!" she curled up into a ball, her AT field building in power. "I want my soul…don't take my soul from me…" Dai-syo knelt next to her, wrapping the girl in his arms without thinking and wondered if they ever had any chance at all to survive.
The first of the missiles hit, sending shockwaves throughout the entire city and surrounding countryside. Everything within Adam's AT field was unaffected for the most part. Lilliko, however, was flung to one side by the blast.
Unit 20 pounded on the inner wall of Adam's AT field, demanding to be let out. "Please, I need to save her!" Adam floated up to look Unit 20 in the eyes, before nodding. An Eva-sized hole appeared in the AT field and Unit 20 stumbled through just as the hole snapped shut again. He ran towards Lilliko, who was falling out of her control.
She slammed into him and they skidded back several hundred meters before Takoru managed to lock his feet into the ground. Her tail lashed him in the face, forcing him to drop her, and she bounded off, her mouth open and the thorns budding faster than ever. She let them loose.
The stream of blood-red thorns flew out straight and true, piercing the incoming missiles with ease. The combined explosions were enough to set off the missiles above them, sending a chain reaction high into the sky.
Lilliko was flung back yet again, but Takoru somehow caught up with her, extending his AT field to protect her. Their fields merged, and for the first time since she had disappeared, Takoru felt whole again. He could feel Lilliko's mind and soul beside him.
Then, just as suddenly as they had started, the explosions stopped. He looked upwards to find the blinding flashed gone. The clouds had all been vaporized for kilometers all around, and he could see clearly all the way into space.
Then Lilliko stirred. He spun to face her. She growled at him, stepping forward very slowly. His impulses screamed at him, telling him to confront her. So he did, sliding the entry plug out until he could open the door and climb up his Eva. He came to stand on Unit 20's head just as she came up to him, hissing.
"Lilliko…" he whispered. Their AT fields were still mixing, still sending emotional information across to each other. Loneliness, betrayal, pain, boundless sadness emanated from her in palpable waves. Finally getting a good look at what his girlfriend had become, he tried to send his own feelings through the bond. His fear of losing her, his pain of not knowing where she was, the cold, lonely night when he finally realized truly how much she meant to him. He sorted through his emotions and thoughts, letting her see them all, until he came upon what he wanted to say. "I missed you…"
Lilliko screamed, her eyes flashing red, the blue scales shimmering with inner light. Her AT field jerked and twisted, then pulled away from his own. The sensation as the bond shattered was one of unbearable cold. Lilliko took one final, longing-filled glance at him, and collapsed.
"Sir, our missile supply is out! Something set off all of the missiles we have!" shouted the launch technician.
"What?" demanded the general, glaring at the technician. "How did this happen?"
Reports filed in quickly. Something had detonated or disabled all of the UN's N2 equipped missiles.
No one noticed Kaoru and Rei slipping back into the Geofront. Nor did anyone notice the translucent whiteness following them, or the other ghostly figures. The four figures faded in and out of sight, clinging to Kaoru's form and flowing in and out of one another. A blue form, a blood-red one and two white shadows intermixed as they followed Kaoru and Rei into the Geofront.
"Thanks, Fifth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Sixteenth." Kaoru grinned to his siblings.
Samantha wasted no time after Adam's AT field went down. Rage filled her and her dots swarmed up at Adam. "You will not have my soul!" She screamed, flinging her dots at Adam. Adam calmly deflected each blast and blow, staring at her. Dai-syo joined in with his blades, but not nearly as enthusiastically. Adam had just saved them from destruction. Should he really fight her? Did he want to fight her?
Samantha believed that Adam would steal her soul. Yet, Adam was nothing more than a soul currently, clinging to existence within the soul of the body before them. And Samantha had the power of the AT field, and no matter how strong Adam's own AT field was, surely nothing could steal a soul through an active AT field, right?
Lillith, perhaps, believed otherwise. Her voice rang in his memory. Do this, do that, kill this man, frighten this woman, what was Lillith's real goal? The destruction of Adam, surely, if Adam could have this much power even when nothing more than a disembodied soul, why couldn't Lillith do something herself? Was she trying to do something else?
And then came her treatment of her Chosen. All he had gained from Lillith was a chronic headache, more bad luck than good, and a blade that he could control with his mind. The immediate rewards did not outweigh the pain and fear he had lived through, the ever-constant loneliness and hatred.
Would Adam's death change that? It would kill all of the Adam based Evas, that was true, but what of him, what of the humans? Would Adam's death solve humanity's problems? Adam had no hold on humanity. Only Lillith had power over her children…
His thoughts were interrupted by Samantha's scream. She flew past him, burned all over, and landed in a crumpled heap several meters behind. He immediately spun around and shot his AT field up to protect her.
"STOP!"