Disclaimer: I don't own NGE, if I did, it would be AIRing AROUND THE GLOB, and there would be NEW EPOSODES for it too. HINT, HINT for any Gainax staff that could be out there.

Chapter Twelve:

Three

"Zero," grunted Commander Ikari over a COM, "We will be monitoring your progress carefully. Do not fail us."

"Understood," Zero replied through his head set calmly.

"Launch Evas!" ordered Misato.

The Evas were released into the center of Tokyo-3, Zero being in the left hand of Eva-00.

"Are you satisfactory?" asked Rei as Zero tried to regain his footing.

"I am satisfactory," replied Zero, "The velocity was greater than what was expected. I shall now begin work on my mission: Detain One."

Zero jumped to the ground and waited.

"Where are they?" Asuka asked, "I don't see them any where."

Just then, a much larger transport ship flew over-head and dropped a large mecha, which was about the same size as an Eva. It was covered in a dull reddish color metal, with flecks of sliver in it. The Mecha seemed to pulse rhythmically as it stood staring at the Evas. On its shoulder, One stood visible for a split second until in vanished, only to hit a wall of energy head on.

"Now to avenge my honor!" yelled Asuka as she, Shinji, and Rei moved in for the attack.

"Is it just me..........."murmured Shinji, "But, does that color red, look a lot like dried blood?"

"Affirmative," stated Rei, "It does appear to be dried blood."

"Charge!" shouted Asuka as she began to hack at the mecha, while Shinji and Rei gave support fire.

Else where on the battlefield..........

Gibberish, came from the mouth of One as she again, it a wall of energy.

"No One. I can not let you pass," stated Zero calmly.

More gibberish.

"Yes, I know your mission here is to defeat your enemy, however, what am I?"

No reply came.

"You stand at a paradox, you must defeat your enemy, and protect you family. But, when your own brother is considered an enemy, what do you do?"

Again, no reply was forthcoming.

"You asked me once, why I did not envy you and Two for having Limited Will. This is why. It is better to be blind, then to be able to see only enough as to catch your interest, and to never understand or see clearly what it is you are seeing."

"I....don't understand.." sighed the girl called One, as she slumped to the ground.

"You are growing tired. Do not fear, in time, you shall regain your energy, as well as to understand."

"Yes..........I know............I love being tired.....I get to see my surroundings........this place is beautiful......."

"Yes, I agree. If one is to be dismissed, it is best to be on a planet such as this."

"Dismissed?"

"Yes, you have lost, have you not?"

"I...............suppose..........I have...." One murmured as she fell asleep.

"Sleep well sister."

"HA!" shouted Asuka as she forced the mecha into a near by building, "Take that! Let's see you get up from that!"

"Asuka! Watch out!" shouted Shinji as he pushed Eva-02 to one side.

"Hey! Don't you dare PUSH me!" Asuka shouted as he Eva turned to face Shinji, but what ever was to follow her sentence died in her throat as a judo like chop severed Eva-01's legs from the rest of it's body.

"AH!" cried Shinji.

"Pilot Ikari!" shouted Rei as she opened fire on the mecha once more.

As the last round of bullets finished, the mecha fell to the ground, and melted away to reveal the stronger of the experiments, Two, lying belly up in the dirt.

"One, and Two have failed me again, and Zero has proven to be a traitor," growled Oni as he sat in his chair on his spaceship, "Release Three. Orders are to kill."

"But sir...........what about all of your soldiers?" asked an alien soldier.

"Do it!"

"Yes sir........."

Just as the body of Two was lifted off the ground by tentacles of energy provided by Zero, a large object dropped from the sky, and what ever the object was, it began to destroy every thing in it's path, it apparently decided to start with the alien soldiers.

From the glimpses that the Magi recorded, the creature as some, huge Eva sized monstrosity that appeared to be some kind of hybrid of Zero, One, and Two. The only difference was where ever Zero had been tattooed with the number zero; the creature was tattooed with a giant number three.

Soon, the Evas lay smashed into the ground in a tangled heap. They would have been destroyed but, Zero used his energy to pull them towards him, where he then produced a giant dome that protected everyone, as Three began to pumble the barrier. With each bash, a small crack appeared in the dome.

Zero stood on the chest of Eva-00 as Rei, slowly recovered from the pain. Asuka and Shinji were fairing much the same way, only with Two standing on Eva-02's shoulder, and One standing on Eva-01's crushed waste.

"I...............can not..........hold...........it back......much.........longer.........I must.........defend............" murmured Zero has he struggled to maintain his dome.

Zero dropped to one knee, as his eyes began to swirl once more.

"My power, "chanted Zero as if in a trance, "Into your power. Myself, into yourself. My essence, to make your soul stronger. Our wills, united as One," Zero began to glow, "Shall prevent the destruction of a species that is destined to survive. We are as one."

The last sentence Zero spoke, seemed to come from inside Eva-00, as they merged together. Eva-00 got to it's feet, and before Zero's dome could vanish, Eva-00 deployed a very strong AT Field which, Three bashed on and on, but to no avail.

"Zero has the right idea," grunted Two having regained conscious ness shortly after he returned to normal, "Come on One, if the weakling Zero can fuse with these things, so can we!"

One, having awoken when Three landed nodded her head.

Both began to glow and sink down into their respective Evas.

(A/N: This means, One fuses with Eva-01, and Two fuses with Eva-02. And yes, I did mean for it to be ironic like that.)

"What the Hell!" shouted Ritsuko, "All three Evas are in perfect condition! And there is a storm of thought noise in each cockpit! What the Hell is happening!"

A/N:

There we go, another chapter over and done with. Only 1 chapter remains. But before I get to that, it's time for something I haven't done in a while! It's Reviewer Mail!

Today I have chosen the review from Taekmkm.

Now, about this comment about 'space jam rejects'. These 3 words had my totally confused, until I started digging. Apparently, there is a movie called 'Space Jam' in which Michael Jordan stars, with loony toons characters. And in said movie aliens apparently steal the bodies of several NBA players so they can play basketball, in some odd attempt to capture Michael Jordan. After having a look at the pictures of these aliens, and comparing them to my 'aliens' I have concluded that, although, 'Space Jam's' are funny looking, mine could kick their sorry assess faster than you can blink. So, no, there are no 'space jam rejects' in my story.

On a side note, playing with this Quick edit is fun.