The Once and Future Angel of Humanity
By Kraven Ergeist
Chapter Eight
Unit 00 instantly froze.
In it's hand, the lance of Longinus was held point down, straight towards Shinji.
It had stopped millimeters from striking him.
Unit 00's eye was locked onto Ayanami, as she floated almost casually in the air. She came to about eye level with the bio-mech, and stopped, hovering in mid air.
The Eva responded by withdrawing the lance form the air directly above Shinji, and standing it point-up beside itself, resting it in the ground (resting, of course, about fifty feet into the ground it was in), releasing its death grip on Kaworu and letting him float away, and lowering it's head in humble obedience.
Rei, now almost glowing, with steadfast white wings of her own, her clothing long since gone, pointed her finger towards her Eva. Then, she swiped her hand towards where the commander was standing.
The Eva turned and found its target.
"Dr. Akagi!" Gendo stammered at the woman. "Get the dummy plug back online! Now!"
Ritsuko typed frantically. "I can't! Her…her AT field is linked directly with the Eva's. No dummy plug imaginable would fool it now."
Gendo returned his eyes to the face of bringer of his undoing, before sighing.
"I see…I suppose it's fate then."
Ritsuko, through breaths of fear, stood by his side.
"You needn't die as well, Akagi," Gendo said. "You should go."
Ritsuko shook her head. "No. I didn't argue when you ordered your so…the third child executed. If I were in any way innocent, I would have refused."
Gendo nodded. "I…I thank you."
"Goodbye, commander."
"…Goodbye."
And the clone of god undid their lives forever.
xxxxx
Rei descended into the welcoming arms of Shinji Ikari.
"You're alive," he sobbed, unchecked, holding her close.
"Yes…" she said, her voice now more angelic in tone. "And…I remember."
Shinji caught his breath, holding her at arms length. "You've recovered your memory?"
Ayanami nodded. "Yes, Shinji. I remember you…from before…and…everyone…even him…"
Shinji blinked. "My father?"
Rei smiled. "Before, you denied that he was as such. Do you rescind that sentiment now?"
Shinji shook his head. "No…he threatened to kill you…and me…no father of mine would do that."
Rei embraced the boy again. "Thanks for coming after me."
They shared a moment as Kaworu landed next to them.
"Fantastic job. Our existence here is now no longer needed…"
Shinji and Rei had about a second to blink, before Lillith suddenly dropped from the cross and into the pool of LCL.
As the two children looked on in a mixture puzzlement and concern, the crater that remained of Gendo and Ritsuko shone, as Adam evolved back into his original form, a white giant that shone brightly and looked shockingly similar to the Evas.
The two behemoths approached one another and slowly joined hands. The two began to slowly rise into the air, slowly rotating as they did.
Shinji and Rei were so transfixed, that they almost failed to notice Kaworu levitating as well.
"Kaworu!" Shinji shouted. "You're leaving!?"
Kaworu nodded. "Yes, Shinji. I am no longer needed here. I must return the realm of the heavenly ones."
Shinji followed him up as he rose. "I don't want you to go! You saved Rei's life! And mine!"
Kaworu smiled. "And you would have done the same for me. Thank you, Shinji, Rei. My life…had meaning because of you."
Shinji let out a long sigh. "Well…at least, let us follow you for as long as we can."
Kaworu nodded. "That would be acceptable. We could enjoy our last minutes together."
The two embraced. Rei, too, even decided to share in their happiness. They trailed up into the sky until they were beyond the reaches of NERV, and that's when they saw them.
"Kaworu!" Shinji cried.
"I see them," he replied.
"What are they?" Rei asked.
"Evas," Kaworu answered him. "Units 5 through 13. All of them dummy plugs."
"No…" Shinji muttered. "Keel must have programmed them to launch the day after the last angel arrived. Are they Rei's dummy plugs?"
"No…they are mine…" Kaworu replied. His eyes were locked onto the flying carriers. Sweat was appearing on his face.
"We'll have to fight them," Rei said, bodingly to Shinji.
"I know," Shinji replied. "But those aren't petty soldiers, those are Evas. Each of them possesses an AT field. There are nine of them, and only two of us."
"Three," Rei corrected.
They both looked at Kaworu.
"I…I can't…" Kaworu said. "My presence here is no longer appropriate. I must leave."
Shinji took him by the shoulders. "Kaworu, please! We can't do this without you!"
"Impossible," Kaworu said. "I am bound by my fate."
"Kaworu! You're the angel of free will! Though bound to fate, you are still at the liberty of deciding when!"
Kaworu hesitated. The Evas were jettisoning out of the carriers now, one by one, and spreading their wings.
"Then…I will stay and help you." Kaworu decided.
With that, he spread a pair of wings of his own, and brought his AT field out to full power.
The three winged children took off to meet their adversaries.
xxxxx
At first, the fight took place in the skies. While the mass-produced Evas were reliant on their wings and the basic concepts of lift, the children of Eva were completely unbound by the physics of the world.
The Eva MP's wizened up and landed. Then things became more difficult.
While one Eva plug would neutralize their AT field, another would attack them while exposed, forcing them to make a retreat. Even when successful blows landed, the Eva's quickly healed themselves.
Kaworu confronted one of the MP's, only to realize how similar his waveform patters were with it. He kept his distance and stretched out with his feelings, intent on reasoning with the beast.
The MP's response took the form of a backhand that struck Kaworu, sending him flying into a hillside. He quickly regain his composure and modified his tactics.
At first, the fight looked helpless. Although Shinji, Rei and Kaworu were powered by AT fields, so were the Eva plugs. And they were outmatched three to one.
But this was only the beginning.
Rei was locked on combat with a plug, when a second suddenly appeared behind her. There was no time to flee, and she was sure the blow would hit her.
But it never came.
Standing there, blocking the scathe from the Eva plug was Unit 00, still armed with the lance of Longinus. The scathe was lodged between the prongs of the lance, and with a quick twist, Unit 00 broke the scathe in to, and stabbed the Eva plug directly in their core.
Unit 00 removed its spear, and stood tall, facing Rei, and lowered its head in silent reverence.
Rei smiled.
Unit 01 was soon to follow. Recognizing the waveform patter in her pilot's AT field, the mother came quickly to defend her child, blocking another of the MP's.
Both the Eva's possessed an AT field, enough to neutralize that of yet another MP, thus making it vulnerable to attack.
Rei and Shinji both landed on their respective Eva's backs, and spread their wings wide. The Eva's they rode growled in approval, and went off to face their foes.
Shinji quickly found a reliable tactic; he would neutralize his opponent's field with his Eva's AT field, and use his own as a weapon, drawing back one hand, stretching the field tightly as an arrow, and let it fly, striking his target through the core.
Now it was five against eight. Still uneven, but not as hopeless.
After a strong winning streak, Shinji was suddenly struck to the ground, flung from his Eva. He landed hardly on the ground, and the MP stood over him in triumph, until…
A flash of red, and the MP was gone.
"Ha-HAA!" Shinji heard a familiar voice shout. "She's finally alive!"
Shinji blinked, unbelieving. "Asuka?"
Unit 02 turned its head back to Unit 01. "Glad to see me?"
Shinji nodded. "More than ever. We need you."
"No problem, lover boy."
Shinji sighed. "Oh, Asuka…"
Now it was six to six.
The MP's instantly retook the sky, retreating.
Shinji and Rei recovered their breath, eying the sky in question.
"How do we deal with them now? If we abandon our Eva's, we give up two of our AT fields."
"Three," Shinji corrected. "Asuka can't fly either."
Since they were speaking across from the backs of their Evas, only Kaworu could listen in. Asuka, meanwhile, was confused as hell why her normal transmissions weren't picking up.
"I reached him just fine a second ago. What's the problem?" she demanded to no one.
Kaworu stepped in on Shinji and Rei. "I believe there is an easy solution. Bind your AT field with your Evas. You'll find the combined strength more than enough."
Shinji and Rei attempted what Kaworu dictated; it was basically like syncing with the Eva's from the outside. It was actually quite easy; they've been doing it for the better part of a year.
Both their AT fields merged with their Eva's, transforming the look and feel of the field left behind. This new field held twice the power of the older one and twice the capabilities. The field itself was blue now instead of orange, and it was decagonal, rather than the usual hexagonal and octagonal shapes usually held by AT fields.
And it had no need for external power.
The umbilical cables ejected.
"What you see and feel now," Kaworu narrated, "Is an S2 field. The power of two melded into one."
Shinji drew in his breath, coming to a startling realization.
"That's it. That's the connection. This is the meaning behind the connection between man and Eva!"
Rei looked over at him, confused.
"All this time, they've wondered how to create an S2 device, when all we had to do was bind our AT fields. That is the intended nature between man and god. Our AT fields bind, and what's left is a complete picture; unlimited power, unlimited knowledge. It's the key to all things."
Rei blinked. "What does this mean?"
Shinji smiled, and Unit 01 suddenly unfurled a pair of translucent spider wings. "It means that we may not be out of the game just yet."
Shinji and Rei, upon their respective Units, took off after the Eva's.
xxxxx
Asuka, for her part, was understandably peeved. That was until a certain gray haired boy showed up on her screen.
"Guten tag, frau Soryu," he called.
"Uh…" Asuka blinked. "Who are you?"
"Das fünf kind," he said in German. "Kaworu Nagisa."
The fifth child? Asuka asked.
Yes. Your friends have gained the power of flight. There's not much time for an explanation, but the long and the short of it is that you can do the same. Very easily as a matter of fact.
Asuka blinked. How?
Kaworu smiled. Stretch out with your feelings…
Before Asuka could question further, Kaworu tapped into Unit 02 AT field.
"Hello, Unit 02. You want to protect your child, correct?"
The Eva replied in the affirmative.
"I'm afraid she's still inexperienced in handling her AT field. Perhaps you could lend a hand?"
That was all that happened, before a pair of clear spider wings of her own, and in a flash, took off after the Eva MP's.
Kaworu hitched a ride on her shoulder, quickly informing her of the MP's S2 engine that gave them unlimited regeneration unless the core was destroyed. He also aided her with AT field, blocking those of their adversaries, while the Eva units made short work of them.
By the time Rei plunged her lance through the core of the final Eva, dawn had fully broken, and the four children landed back on NERV soil and dismounted.
Shinji and Rei shared an embrace, as they landed on the ground.
"We did it, Rei," Shinji said. "Keel and the commander are gone. And the last Eva's have been destroyed. Ours are all that remain, and if all goes well, that shall be how it stays."
Rei smiled. "So, humanity is saved?"
Shinji nodded, kissing her. "Humanity is saved."
Kaworu watched the happy couple, before flying away into the distance. Shinji thought he saw something, but when he looked, there was nothing.
So instead, he went to congratulate Asuka.
"So, you got your Eva working again," Shinji asked, as Asuka stepped out of her plug.
"That's not the only thing that happened while you two were enjoying yourselves," Asuka said proudly.
Now, Shinji was once a gain in awe.
The back of Asuka's red plug suit had burst open, and pair of white wings were waving, illustriously, from behind herself.
Asuka smiled, looking quite proud of herself. "You guys still beat me to it, but I caught up eventually."
Shinji laughed. "No one said either of us were better than you, but damned if we aren't just as good."
Asuka nodded. "I guess that kind of attitude can be expected."
Shinji sighed. "Hold still for a moment, Asuka. Take a breath. It's over. Finished. We did it. Angel's, Evas, NERV, all of it…we can leave it all behind, and it wouldn't even matter. We're finally…finally…"
"Free?" Rei offered.
Shinji shrugged. "I was trying not to say that, but I guess you could think of it that way."
Asuka shook her head. "I'm not leaving, though. Tokyo-3's going to be completely refurbished, you realize? All our friends are gonna come back, at least, if I have any say."
"Things won't be the same, though," Shinji pointed out. "We're all three of us part angel from here on out."
"That's the beauty of it though," Asuka said, retracting her wings. "No one has to know."
The kids spied rescue choppers coming to search for them.
"Well, something tells me we won't need to keep any secrets from NERV, since they're gonna find out anyway. Just wait till Misato finds out."
Asuka nodded. "I can just imagine her reaction. She'll say something like "I can't take this crap" and break down and have a beer."
Shinji shook his head. "Oh, Asuka…"
xxxxx
Misato toppled onto the floor of her apartment after Shinji, Rei and Asuka had shown her their wings.
"I can't take this crap," Misato sighed, withered, and crawled over to her fridge for a beer.
Asuka winked at Shinji, and went to help the lady to her feet.
Shinji, for his part went to sit on the couch with Rei.
"You're right about one thing," Rei said.
"What's that?"
"Things will never be the same. Everything will change."
Shinji sat next to Rei on the couch.
It was morning, the sun was shining brightly already, and the morning glow practically flooded the apartment. The heat from the sun almost conflicted with the heat of each other's bodies, but not quite.
Rei coiled her arms around Shinji's waist and rested her head n his shoulder. Shinji returned the gesture by wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her forehead.
"Hopefully," he said. "Things will change for the better."