Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion. All characters and related material is the property of Gainax.
Shinji Ikari watched as the creature at last brought itself before him. It was truly terrifying; horrible in its simplicity. The air was filled with the smell of LCL as the AT fields swam about the beast. The world was silent except for the horrible breathing of the Wraith. Moments passed, and soon Shinji could hear Asuka and Rei reloading their weapons. A small flash swam across his screen from the glint of Damon's blade against the sun. The creature swung its arms backward slightly, its menacing claws seeming to grow as it did so. Silence again, and then the air was pierced with a horrible scream. Three of the Evangelion pilots did not comprehend this sound for what it actually was, but Shinji Ikari knew. It was his scream; the shrill roar he had uttered upon the cross. The monster almost seemed to be smiling, though it had no mouth. And then the attack began.
The swarm of AT fields lurched forward, dividing into separate masses and each targeting a different Eva. Immediately Shinji Ikari could see nothing but red. The lingering souls seemed to envelop him; to surround him completely. Shinji could feel their pain, their sorrow, and their remorse.
"No."
Shinji extended his AT field with all of his might, blowing the swarming souls away from him. It was at this point he noticed that the other pilots were being attacked by the AT fields as well. Shinji concentrated harder and managed to extend his AT field large enough to keep the souls combating the other pilots at bay as well. Shinji could feel his pulse quicken and his blood flow.
"Hurry! Attack it!" Shinji screamed. The pain was becoming too much to
bear.
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Asuka Langley Soryu felt the red lifted from her gaze and the screams from her ears. She heard Shinji yell to attack, and she quickly brought her rifle up to firing position.
"Asuka, Rei! Cover me!" Damon yelled over the comm..
The second child began to fire.
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Damon Robinson charged straight at the fifth Wraith sword at the ready. The creature had its arms extended before it as if it was controlling the AT fields with its fingertips. Damon swung forward and landed his sword directly into the creature's stomach. It screamed and pulled its hands to the wound. Almost immediately the souls that had been bearing down upon Shinji's AT field began to float away into the air.
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Shinji gasped as he brought his AT field back upon Unit-01. He felt light headed, and soon he found that he had fallen to the ground. He raised his head as the Wraith howled in fury and swung its massive right claw outward, striking Damon across the chest and sending him flying. The whole in the beasts armor began to pour LCL, and upon noticing this it reached its arms up to the heavens trying to draw some of the retreating fields to its aid. The flying red objects immediately began to return, heading strait to the open wound. The souls seemed to be absorbed and almost instantaneously the gash had been healed.
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Rei Ayanami began to unload shells into the Wraiths massive body. The shells seemed to make the monster stumble slightly but besides that the bullets were having little effect. Then, with one last squeeze of the trigger, Rei felt the chamber empty She reached back for more ammo, however at the same time something caught her eye. The black moon. It had been out of sight when the battle had began, but now it seemed to be directly above them. Rei Ayanami pushed the observation out of her mind, instead trying to concentrate on reloading; again, however, something caught her eye. There was a man standing upon the ground beneath the Wraith.
"A man?"
"What was that Rei?" Asuka asked.
"There is a man on the ground next to the Wraith."
"Where I-"
Asuka was caught off as the creature pushed its claws through her torso.
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Damon Robinson shook himself as consciousness returned to him. Immediately he heard the screams from unit-02 and began running again.
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Shinji Ikari heard the two females exchange words and he was soon on his feet. Moments later the screams of the Second child pierced the comm. channel. Shinji turned to see the creature lifting unit-02 into the air, its claws impaled through the red armor. Rei was on its back, firing shells into its spine but it seemed to be having little effect.
"No!"
Shinji rushed to the back of the creature with his sword drawn. Shinji swung back but before he could strike the blow he was hit by a massive wall of red. The screams of the tortured souls filled his mind again and again he reached out for his AT field. This time however it did not come. Shinji tried to see Asuka in his mind but found that he could not. He could only see horrible images from his memory. His mother's death filled his mind, followed by his father abandoning him, and then the third impact. Suddenly Shinji felt weightless, and then gravity returned to him as he felt himself strike the hard earth once again. All of a sudden Shinji could see the cloud of red departing, and in its place he could see a man standing before him on the rocky earth.
It was the man from the Russian base. The only man Shinji had left alive.
"You? How?"
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Damon Robinson leapt into the air, aiming his blade at the Wraith's right arm as he did so. The cut was clean, and he watched as Asuka fell back to the ground. The monster let loose yet another ear shattering howl, flinging Rei from its back and pointing its remaining arm at the seventh child. A red surge poured through its being and Damon watched as a swarm of AT fields barreled in his direction. However they never reached Unit-X. The souls immediately shot to the right, and as they left the Wraiths outstretched they headed straight toward Shinji. However they never reached the third child either. Damon didn't look long enough to verify this fact as he tried his best to pull the severed arm out of Unit-02.
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Shinji Ikari watched in horror as a massive swarm of souls plummeted directly at him. He closed his eyes in anticipation of an attack that never came. Instead the fields surrounded the man standing in front of him. Shinji could still see the small figure despite the swarm. The dark haired man had his eyes closed, and his face was calm; he looked serene; peaceful. Suddenly his features tensed and Shinji watched as the man's veins bulged.
"Go."
The third child could hear a voice in his mind; it was the man's voice, though his lips had not moved.
"What?"
"Hurry."
"Who are you?" Shinji asked.
"I am Cain."
"Cain? What are you? What are you doing here?"
"There is no time. If you wish to live you must attack now."
"I don't understand. Why are you doing this?"
"You spared my life once. Now I spare yours."
Shinji watched as the man who called himself Cain began to bleed from his outstretched arms.
"Go, Iesous. Now."
Shinji leapt to his feet, feeling the earth rumble from the tremendous force of unit-01 doing so. He could see Damon struggling to pull the Wraith's severed arm from the body of unit-02, and to behind him the creature held Unit-05 by the throat. It was then that Shinji realized what Cain was doing. The Wraith was not healing itself. Cain was pulling all of the AT fields to his body.
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Damon Robinson let loose a final yell as he ripped the silver claws from unit-02. He dropped Asuka to the ground and turned immediately back to the creature. It was facing away from him, its remaining arm stretched to the sky as it strangled Rei. Damon found his blade upon the ground and swung upward with all of the strength that remained in his being. The remaining arm of the Wraith fell to the ground.
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Shinji Ikari reached the beast at last as Unit-X severed its remaining limb. That wasn't important to the third child; it hadn't been his target anyhow. Shinji felt the spray of LCL as his blade hit armor, skin, jugular, spine, skin again, armor again, and then, finally, air.
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Rei Ayanami stood silently as she watched the head of the beast fall to the earth. The Wraith dropped to its knees as a red jewel emerged upon its chest. Rei gripped her shotgun vertically, reloading it with a quick upward jerk. She placed the barrel upon the red orb.
"Goodbye."
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Asuka Langley Soryu watched through pained eyes as the innards of the fifth Wraith exploded from around the back of its spinal column. She watched as Rei Ayanami reached a leg up to the kneeling corpse and kicked it to the ground. Then Asuka was engulfed by darkness.
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Toji Suzahara stared it down. He simply stared at it. He was not frightened of it. He was angry at it. The fourth child read the label on the massive black arm.
"03."
They had rebuilt it. Apparently enough of the original had survived to make that possible. Toji wished they hadn't. He wished they would have built a new one instead.
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"Well here they are," Misato Katsuragi said, "The White one on the left is Unit-V, that one is yours Hikari. The Silver one on the right is Unit-I, it's Kensuke's.
Misato watched the expressions upon the new pilot's faces. Hikari's expression showed no change, though it already looked solemn. She almost laughed when she saw Kensuke Aida's features. He was grinning from ear to ear.
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Kozo Fuyutski hung up the telephone and rubbed his eyes. He had just gotten off the phone with the governor of California. He was making sure that the Evangelions would be properly stored. He watched slowly as a fax came through his machine. Fuyutski sighed.
"Damage assessments…"
Unit-00/Demolished: recovery ratio (14%)
Unit-01/Shinji Ikari: 73%
Unit-02/Asuka Langley Soryu: 57%
Unit-03/Toji Suzahara: Unactivated
Unit-04/Unmanned: Missing (Dirac Sea)
Unit-05/Rei Ayanami: 74%
Unit-06/Unamnned: Unfinished (part shipments pending)
Unit-07/Nishka Zalomai: 100%
Unit-X/Damon Robinson: 79%
Unit-I/Kensuke Aida: Unactivated
Unit-V/Hikari Horaki: Unactivated
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Shinji Ikari could not sleep. All of the lights were off and there was not a sound in the entire room. The bed was extremely comfortable and the third child did not doubt that he was staying in one of the nicest hotels in the entire city. Shinji knew that jet lag probably was not helping either; San Francisco II was in quite a different time zone than Tokyo3. Shinji Ikari still however could not sleep. Even the knowledge that Asuka's condition was stable did not ease his thoughts. Shinji Ikari could not rid himself of the image of the man from the battle; the man who called himself Cain. The phone rang suddenly, prompting Shinji to stray from his thoughts and turn on the lights. This was an expected call.
"Hello? Commander Fuyutski?"
"Yes, Shinji. It's me."
"Thank God. Please tell me what's going on."
"Of course. First things first. Early yesterday morning a massive weapon was dropped upon Sacramento; a bomb. We don't know exactly what it was, only that it separated the AT fields from everyone in the city and the immediate surrounding area. The American president used this weapon to kill the fifth Wraith after refusing Japanese aid. However, something else happened in the aftermath. A sixth Wraith was formed from the remains of the fifth, as well as the souls of the residents of Sacramento."
"The president attacked his own people?"
"Yes. He was likely worried that once we came to help we would take over. Now however his situation is much worse. From what I am being told by the governor of California secession seems imminent. California and Nevada have already agreed to this end, and more are likely to follow. Tomorrow secession is to be officially declared and the Pacific States of America is to be formed."
Shinji sighed.
"I guess it really has begun, hasn't it?"
"Yes. It seems it has."
Shinji suddenly realized that the commander had not yet talked about the man from the battle.
"Commander, what about the man from the Russian base? Who is he?"
Shinji could here the commander clear his throat.
"The man you saw earlier today was private Kyle Murtagh. He is 21 years old and maintained an apartment residence in Sacramento. He was recently granted honorable discharge from the U.S. Marine core after being the sole survivor from his squad after our attack on the Siberian base. It is also noted in the report that Murtagh displayed signs of mental disturbance after the incident and is currently receiving a government pension."
"I see. He didn't call himself Murtagh."
"I know, you mentioned that earlier. He called himself Cain."
"Yes," Shinji said, "That's right. What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well Shinji, Cain was the first son of Adam. That is the best answer I can give you."
"The first son of Adam?"
"Yes. Cain is noted for being the creator of the first city, as well as committing the first murder."
"Murder?"
"Yes. He killed his brother Abel when God rejected his sacrifice. As punishment he was banished from Eden forever."
"I see. Commander, I have another question. Cain, he called me Iesous. What does that mean?"
There was a long pause after this question.
"Shinji, Iesous is Greek. It's the root word for Jesus."
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Kozo Fuyutski set the receiver of his telephone back into its cradle and stood from his chair. He turned, and gazed upon the elegant decorations of what had once been the office of Gendo Ikari. The tree of life stared back at the commander, etched around Sephirothic runes. Things were moving faster than the commander had expected, though the scrolls specified not specific times. The emergence of Cain was too real to disregard, for it was just as the scrolls had said. He had even referred to Shinji as Iesous. The God of the black moon had picked its champion. This man, Cain, would pilot the true Unit-01 when it returned from orbit, and wield the Lance of Longinus along with it. This man was said in the scrolls to have mastery over death, and had thus demonstrated himself through his ability to manipulate the AT fields of others, as opposed to Shinji who could manipulate his own. Fuyutski knew that souls were not returning to heaven as they once had. Because of the disturbance the halting of third impact had caused, souls were now floating to and from the black moon; they would be in limbo until the fate of the world was determined.
The war would cause even more death, and with every man killed Cain would grow more powerful; to be able to draw more lingering AT fields to his side. This man was said to be an imbalance, a result of Shinji's actions. Where Shinji could have killed, he had instead spared, forsaking the path of the murderer. And as such, the spared man had become Cain, the first son of Adam; the first son of man; the first killer.
"And now the debt has been repaid," Fuyutski said quietly to himself. Cain had in turn spared Shinji's life by dropping the Wraith's defenses, allowing its defeat. Fuyutski knew this mercy would not be shown again, though interestingly enough, this man's true motivations were quite pure.
"He wishes to save Shinji from the suffering of the world; he wishes to save all," Fuyutski thought. But Shinji would not allow this to happen. The commander knew that the third child had seen what instrumentality truly was, and would not allow it to occur again. There would be no truce, there would be no compromise, and there would be no turning back. The son of God, Iesous would duel the son of man, Cain, for the fate of the world.