2015, October 10th, 10:50 AM

The very foundations of the city shook as the Demon King and the Angel of Thunder clashed. Ramiel's AT field flashed into life, protecting itself from the Qliphoth roots. The usurper summoned the crystal that defended and twisted its form, changing it into a crystalline blade. Channeling the power he took from the Second Angel, he slashed at Ramiel's AT field, leaving a gash that quickly patched itself. Ramiel had enough, the diamond shaped Titan began charging its energy, preparing to fire a massive beam at the Demon. Urizen called upon his own power, and fired a purple beam that was intercepted by Ramiel's. The two sides fought for every inch of ground as their beams collided in a brilliant explosion of blue and violet. The sheer impact causing every glass pane in the city below them to shatter. Urizen quickly ceased firing his beam before using his blade to slash at the angel. Ramiel let out a deafening sound akin to hundreds of glass windows breaking before throwing its AT field again. Urizen grit his teeth, this fool was proving to be more trouble than he's worth. He'd have to gain the advantage by commanding the Qliphoth itself

"Scatter, like dust!"

The Usurper called out before sending all the roots directly towards Ramiel. They all harmlessly slammed against the AT field. But that's exactly what Urizen wanted, using the distraction from Ramiel trying to repel the roots, he charged forward so fast he became a blur, charging through the Angel's AT field. But just as he was about to attack, Ramiel fired its beam at full power, throwing the Usurper back into the Qliphoth. The tree closed in on itself, protecting its master. Urizen had lost...

11:20 AM

As V and Dante were making their way to the Command Station. V suddenly fell over, coughing up blood. A feeling like he was on fire spread through his body

"Hey! You okay, there?"

Dante helped V up, supporting him.

"Something is... Wrong."

V choked out. He had never felt this much pain, he had no reason to in the first place. Which could only mean that it was his other half again.

"Get me... To the Commander. I need to speak with him."

V requested. Dante only gave him a strange look, before helping him walk through the halls of NERV.

11:34 AM

If Lilith could laugh in her current state. She would have, she would have probably cackled. But, alas, she couldn't. She could already tell the Usurper was defeated by the fact that she no longer felt his presence in Tokyo-3. But he couldn't have gone far, oh well, another problem for another time. But there was still something else bothering her, that dark-haired man that had freed her from the roots... His presence felt identical to the Demon King... But he was Lilim, so how could that be? It was lucky for that this was the only she could occupy her time with, because she wanted the truth...

11:36 AM

The Command Center, as per usual, was in a frenzy. They were not expecting the Fifth Angel to show up so soon, let alone fight the Demon King, to their relief he lost. But there was still the Angel to deal with, from what they observed it had the ability to fire a powerful beam of energy and its AT field was stronger than the others. But they had an advantage, the gash left by Urizen gave them a direct view of its core. If they could hit it precisely, the Angel would go down. The wheels in Misato's head were already turning as she thought how they could hit it without being instantly disintegrated, and Ristuko was more than happy to help.

Gendo looked from his elevated position onto the Command Center. If one were to look close enough, they'd see the slightest hint of worry in his eyes, but those people would usually be told they were insane as Gendo Ikari had no emotions. But The Supreme Commander really was concerned, if the Usurper had the power to negate AT fields and go toe-to-toe with the strongest Angel yet, then he was a way bigger threat than he initially thought. As he thought about their current predicament, Dante entered, carrying V.

"Commander, we need to talk. Now"

The mage made it clear it was not a request

11:40 AM

As Shinji was heading down to the Geofront through the elevator, he crossed oaths with Nero who was heading towards the Commander Center.

"You're the Eva Pilot, right?"

Nero asked, Shinji took a good look and recognized him as one of the Devil hunters

"Yeah. You're Nero, right?"

The young man just nodded. Usually, he would have liked to converse with the pilot, but now he was scared out of his mind. The bastard who took his arm was now powerful enough that he could fight an Angel. The idea of a rematch did not sound good anymore.

The elevator dinged as they arrived at their destination and both of them rushed out. Shinji mentally braced himself for what was about to come next, fighting Angels was never as easy as it seemed. And this one just might be the hardest battle yet...

11:50 AM

At this point. Shinji thought he had seen everything. Demon kings, giant robots, laser-beam-shooting messengers of God. And yet, he felt boggled. NERV's plan to take down the fifth angel was to use all the power in the entirety of Japan, reroute it to a giant sniper rifle he'd be using, and in case anything went wrong Rei would back him up with a shield made out of spaceship parts... Well, he'd seen it all now. The mission was set to take place at midnight, so he resigned himself to listen to his SDAT and get some rest. Lord knows he needs it, if he's out there...

10:02 PM

Misato sometimes felt as if God was punishing her for something. Maybe it was her overindulgence in alcohol, or the million other examples she could think of. Well, no better way to repent than to kill his Angels... Right? Well, whatever, she's over it now anyway. She took another sip from her beer can before checking the time, two hours till launch, she'll have to get Shinji and Rei ready. Maybe if all turned out well she'd kick back with a coffee instead of a beer... Who was she kidding? If they won, she was gonna get wasted.

11:44 PM

As the time drew closer to attack Ramiel. Shinji became more anxious, he sat on the catwalk next to Unit-01, in quiet contemplation, he looked over and saw her again, Ayanami. The girl he'd started this whole thing to protect, funny, he still didn't know if he regretted that choice or not.

"Ayanami... Why do you pilot the Evangelion?"

Before he could decide if that was the best thing to ask, it was out there. She looked over at him, curiously, and thought for a moment before responding

"I pilot the Evangelion because... It is my link to everyone. You, The Commander, and the others."

She said

Shinji just felt bad for her, she'd closed herself off to everyone and the only thing tethering her to this world was Unit-00.

"Ayanami... Why would you do this? Willingly put yourself in harm's way just to be seen? No one will abandon you if you don't pilot the Evangelion, you know."

She ignored his last statement

"I put myself in harm's way to protect you. If I am hurt or killed I can be replaced. You can not, that is why."

What? No, that was wrong. Shinji knew it was wrong, he wanted to speak out, but she stood up

"It is time."

Was all she said before she disappeared inside the cyclops. Shinji entered Unit-01... And hoped for the best...

12:00 AM

"Fire!"

Shinji pulled the trigger, the positron beam flying out of the rifle and breaching the Angel. It screeched in agony, but it wasn't dead, not yet. Shinji braced himself and expected pure agony, but the impact didn't come. Instead he saw Unit-00 protecting him with it's shield, and if Rei's pained groans were anything to go by, it was torture. Come on, come on, the recharge time for the rifle was painfully slow, every second felt like an eternity, Rei only felt even more pain. Finally, his crosshairs turned green and he pulled as hard as he could on the yoke to fire. This time, The Angel fell to the ground dead, the attack ceased and Unit-00 went limp. Shinji quickly jumped out of the plug and ran over to the orange Titan, he needed to make sure she was fine. The Entry pulg had been ejected, and when he tried to wrench it open it burned his hands. He didn't care, he only gripped harder as he twisted the hatch open. Finally, it came loose and he frantically looked inside

"Ayanami, are you okay?!"

To his relief, she was still alive, but she didn't look all that well. Now or never, and he began speaking

"Don't ever talk like that, that you can be replaced. Your value isn't determined by your ability to follow orders. You... You matter, Rei."

She just stared at him, Rei didn't understand what she was feeling in that moment... Was she... Happy? She was happy. She looked at Shinji's hands, they were charred and burnt, he had risked himself for her, just like the Commander. And for the first time in a long while, Rei smiled...

12:05 AM

Urizen was usually a relatively patient man, he had tricked the entirety of NERV, stolen the progenitor's power. Yet here he was, defeated by Ramiel. To say he was furious would be an understatement. But luckily, he found the perfect opportunity to gain the upper hand again... The pilots of the False Angels were out in the open, and could be dealt with right now, but he needed to regain his power. So, how better to get rid of these weak children than to send the Black Angel after them? The roots carried the usurper's orders to Cavaliere Angelo, and the knight charged out to appease his master...

12:10 AM

V found himself stirred from sleep when he was barraged by several images, a figure in black on a horse, The corpse of Ramiel, but most importantly the hulking figure of the Evangelions deactivated. He quickly summoned shadow and sped through the facility to the surface. If he was lucky, he could intercept Cavaliere Angelo and bring him down, he just hoped the pilots were safe...

12:18 AM

Rei though the worst had passed when they destroyed the Angels. But she was wrong, oh so wrong, she had let her guard down, and now Shinji was severely hurt and a Demon with a sword of lightning was standing over her, his horse was bursting with blue fire. But still, she stood in front of Shinji's unconscious body, determined to protect him, even if she was just a meat-shield. The imposing figure sneered at her and swung his blade down, but instead of hitting her she heard a metallic clang as a creature black as night stopped the attack by using its tail. Another one flew by, hitting the warrior on his head

"Pick on someone your own size, you freakin' Knockoff!"

Did the bird just... Speak? Then, from the trees, V appeared and ordered both Griffon and Shadow to assault the Angelo. Shadow took the lead, transforming himself into a tornado of blades and slashing mercilessly at the Geryon. Griffon followed up, charging his power and calling down thunderbolts onto the black knight. Cavaliere shouted in frustration, these... Slaves would never best him! He used the power of his mighty steed to freeze them and tried attacking their pathetic human leader. But before he knew it, said leader's hair turned white and a nightmare appeared out of nowhere, the hulking beast slammed down on the Geryon, beating it until it was lifeless. Cavaliere Angelo flew off, landing onto the grass, he quickly turned around and fleed. That human's power... There was no way.

V breathed a sigh of relief as the black angel took off, he turned his attention towards the pilots

"Are you injured?"

He asked Rei, she shook her head and kneeled beside Shinji's unconscious body.

"Do not worry. Help is on the way."

He reassured... And then he got a better look at her, Blue hair, Red eyes. Ikari... What game are you playing at?

12:22 AM

Rei and V found themselves in the back of a transport truck. Shinji had been taken by medical workers to be cared for. V found himself preoccupied with reading a poem to calm his nerves about the chaotic day they had faced. Rei looked over, she recognized what he was reading...

"You are reading an anthology book of William Blake?"

V was pleasantly surprised, he expected to be in quiet contemplation the whole ride

"Yes. It is a very dear thing I've owned since I was a child. You've read his poems?"

He asked her, if she was what he thought, it would be interesting to discover more about her

"Yes. The Commander finds them to be good reading material. So I have begun reading some of them."

Ah, she picked it up from Ikari. Of course, V must admit he has good taste

"V, how do you and the Commander know each other? I have not heard him speak of you before."

V now found himself on the receiving ends of a question. Well, no point in hiding it

"When we first met, we fought. I beat him, quite easily I might add. And I was only holding back."

He said with pride, she seemed interested so he kept talking

"His form was rather good, despite him now wielding a blade before. And he had ingenuity, too, using the environment to his advantage. I admit, if he had fought a normal human, he would have won. But you know me."

She just nodded, and stared off into space, like she was thinking about something. Which in turn, left V to think. Think about how he was so proud he didn't care to sully his blade with Gendo's blood back in Fortuna. So proud that he refused his brother's hand after he was defeated. And now... He would live with the consequences of his pride...