DISCLAIMER: The characters, story, universe, etc. of Neon Genesis
Evangelion belong to GAINAX. They're not mine, and I make no claim to
them.

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" " = speech
^ ^ = thoughts
_ _ = italics

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Angels of Armageddon
Author: Ryan Xavier
Chapter 13: Broken Chains

Shinji swallowed as he saw the situation unfold before his eyes.

Before him lay the unmistakeable form of a petrified, headless MP Eva
standing in the sea of LCL, crucified to nothing but a Lance of
Longinus impaled through its core. It seemed at peace, its duty done,
its usefulness expired. Everytime he looked at one he'd hoped it was
indeed dead, and not feigning eternal sleep while _something_ -
inside it? somewhere else? - was watching. Waiting. _Learning_.

He'd lost count of the times he had hoped it _was_ dead. But his hopes
were not to be.

The first sign of that was subtle. As he watched, the Lance that
pierced the MP Eva's core began to...evaporate. The grip, the shaft,
and the tines began to shorten, thin, melt away, until the whole weapon
disintegrated, the only trace of its ever having existed being the twin
punctures in the dead grey core.

Shinji blinked.

The core was _red_, now, and there were no holes in it. The red was the
red of blood, and shone fiercely, shouting life in spite of its dead
body. With each passing moment, it seemed more like an eye than a
sphere, staring at him with a gaze that gripped his throat and squeezed
the breath out of him in claustrophobic terror.

In less than a minute, the stone that enshrouded it began to crack,
fissures and fractures winding their way through the MP eva's entirety.
Bits of the rocky shell - or was it _skin_? - fell off at the edges of
those cracks, breaking away and falling to the sea of LCL like some
strange stone rain. Soon, a new skin of white emerged from the now-gone
rock, flawless and perfect from its newly regenerated chestplates to
its long and lanky hands.

Its fingers twitched, then shook, then clenched into fists as the Eva's
arms wrenched forward, breaking free from whatever it had been
crucified to. It bent forward, still headless, its hands clenched in
agony as two new wings grew from its back, that were black from the
front and white from the back.

The stump of its neck bulged, grew, and finally burst asunder as a new
head sprouted where there was none before. Still covered in the gore of
rebirth, the red lips pulled back to expose the grinning teeth and
dead-grey tongue licking and gathering the red that ran into the mouth,
already savouring the taste of blood and craving more. It opened its
maw, releasing a roar of terror as its wings spread to reveal the red-
lined eyes beneath its wings -

- and the TV screen broke into static.

"So, where'd you get this tape?" Misato asked, gesturing
to the VCR. Her tone was even, but her expression was just a little
accusatory.

"I took the liberty of setting up some observation outposts around
these suckers," Lewis explained, from just beside the TV. "And
_that_," he continued, pausing the tape, "was a video one of those
outposts took yesterday." He turned to face the rest of them, pausing
to let it sink in.

"And when were you going to tell us you set up lookouts?" Asuka
demanded. "Anything _else_ you feel like telling us?"

"Wasn't like I was droppin' nukes on your heads," he countered. "I
usually tell people before I do _that_. And anyway, girl, don't act
like you're all innocent, either."

The last part hit home. When Shinji had come back to the camp, looking
very worried about something, Asuka had been the one to convince him
they should wait until morning to go running to the Americans. It
could very well have been nothing. At least, that was what she'd told
Shinji. She hadn't told him about the chill that had overtaken her
earlier, which had left her feeling helpless and afraid. That she
hadn't even known what she should be afraid _of_ had only unsettled her
further. She'd needed the night to think things over. Except it
hadn't helped; sleep had refused to come.

They'd ended up coming out to Lewis first, if for no other reason than
he'd been awake, as well. They'd walked in on him watching this very
tape. He hadn't said anything, just let them watch with him. In the
morning, though, he'd taken the liberty of calling everyone else in to
see.

"There's more," Lewis continued, turning back to the TV. "As though
that weren't enough..." he muttered to himself. He fast-forwarded the
tape they were watching, until the view changed.

They were looking at a different location now, but still similar to the
first. The screen was also washed over with the green tint of night
vision. It was still close to the coastline, as evidenced by the tide
of LCL on the side of the screen, visible even through the static.
Only here, there was no Eva. Or much of anything else. There was
nothing but a crater, blasted down into a rounded bowl whose surface
had been fused into a sheet of glass.

"Last night, one of the observation posts failed to report in," Lewis
explained. "Wasn't responding on any radio channels. So I sent a
chopper out to see what was going on. _This_," he said, thumbing to
the picture, "is what it found." His voice, for once, was not
skeptical; rather, it spoke more of fatigue than disbelief, as if
convincing himself of the truth, and subsequently realizing just how
extreme the situation was, had taken something vital out of him.

Asuka looked at the screen, her mind reluctant to believe her eyes.
Misato simply turned away at the sight of the destruction and the
the calamities she feared were returning to Japan. Kaoru, Rei, and
Ritsuko remained impassive. Shinji just stared, his eyes empty.

Lewis continued. "Not much in the picture to give you a sense of
scale," he commented, his tone almost apologetic. "But our guys
estimate that crater's almost fifty meters across. Not only that, but
_deep_. Burned straight down to the bedrock, and then some." He
looked at them, his eyes asking for an explanation. "I didn't know
there even _was_ a weapon that could do that, short of a nuke."

"N2 mine," Ritsuko ventured.

"That too," Lewis said, throwing her a cursory glance. "But the
shockwave from one of those things would've blasted everything for
miles...'scuze me, _klicks_ around. This was localized damage.
Extreme, and very focused," he finished, pointing to the screen,
referring them back to the only evidence he had. The evidence
that had been able to convince him.

"And was there an Eva at the site?" Misato asked, turning her head back
to meet the Major's eyes.

"_Was_, yes," Lewis replied, shaking his head. "But by the time we got
our chopper out there, it was gone. Could one of those things have
done this?"

"Yes," answered most of the group.

Lewis just nodded at them, then took a cigarette out of his pocket.
"So now what?" he asked, shoving the cigarette between his lips and
managing to look not unlike a mobster.

Blank stares and shut mouths were the only response.

"Oh, c'mon." he said with exasperation. "_You're_ the ones who know
what the hell's going on out there."

His performance was answered with another large round of indifference.
Lewis chewed absentmindedly on the cigarette, apparenly having
forgotten what else to do with it.

"Um..."

All eyes promptly shot to Misato.

"...Maybe it self-destructed?" she nervously ventured. Silence. "It
could happen, you know."

"The blast radius is much too small for an Eva that had gone
critical," Ritsuko countered. "Especially one powered by an S2 engine.
We would have felt the tremor even out here."

"_But_," Asuka cut in, "these things don't blow up, really. Right,
doctor?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at Ritsuko. "We just get
light and heat, like you said." She snorted out a small laugh. "The
first one went just like that," she finished, gesturing in the general
direction of the TV.

"The crater the first one made was smaller than this, Soryu," Ritsuko
answered, giving the girl a glance that was not quite neutral.

"So maybe it felt like making a bigger bang," Asuka countered,
shrugging.

Silence again. Then:

"It is not destroyed."

All gazes turned towards Rei.

"The Eva has not self-destructed," she reiterated. "It is active."

Pause, then a slight sigh from Kaoru. "I am afraid I must agree with
Rei," he said.

"What makes you so sure?" Asuka asked, narrowing her eyes at the
children.

Rei just met the other girl's eyes, staring quietly until Asuka looked
away.

"Some measure of sensitivity comes from being connected to an Eva,"
Kaoru explained, even though Asuka no longer appeared interested in
hearing an explanation.

"So they both woke up at once, then," Asuka announced, as though she
were the only one in the room to have reached that conclusion.

"They woke up at once," Shinji said, quietly. All the heads swiveled
to look at him. But he didn't twitch; his eyes were still out of
focus, looking at nothing.

"Well, that's what I - " Asuka began, rolling her eyes.

"And they're coming at once," Shinji continued, in the same empty
voice.

"Uh...Shinji?" Misato asked, tilting her head to one side to get a
better look at him.

"They've learned," the boy continued. "And they're still learning."

"Shinji, are you feeling all right?" Misato asked, getting up. She had
just started towards him when Shinji blinked, his eyes focusing again.

"Sorry," he said, immediately. "I just..." he said, shaking his head,
"...just didn't get enough sleep."

Misato kept a concerned look on her face. "Well, you were zoning out
on us, Shinji. Are you all right?"

"Yes. Yes..." he repeated, nodding. "Just needed to wake up, that's
all."

"Baka," Asuka said, loudly. "Should've thought about that before
coming here. We need you _awake_, got it?"

As this exchange unfolded, Rei and Kaoru, sitting next to each other as
usual, looked at each other. They said nothing, their expressions
asking the same wordless question of each other. Kaoru finally
narrowed his eyes a little, shaking his head. Rei's acknowledgement of
this was to turn her head back to Shinji, who was now enduring the
latest hits on the head from Asuka. The German girl had, apparently,
decided to make _sure_ he was awake.

"So it's two, then," Misato commented loudly, managing to get Asuka's
attention. She waited until the girl had sat down again before
continuing. "Or in any case, we need to plan for that possibility."

"Ain't life grand," Lewis muttered to himself. "Well...if nothing
else, _I'm_ going to reinforce the defense around this camp, starting
today. I'll pull out all the stops."

Kaoru, listening to this confident attitude, slowly shook his head,
though he kept his peace.

"Great to know," Asuka replied, one corner of her mouth quirking first
up, then down. "...that you don't listen at all." She leaned
forwards, resting her elbows on her knees. "This is _our_ business.
Saber-rattling isn't going to impress these things any more than it
does me."

"She does have a point, Major," Kaoru agreed, cutting in. "As long as
their AT Fields are raised, regular firepower will be worthless."

"Well, what is it you _want_ me to do?" Lewis shot back, his voice
rising as he ripped the chewed-up cigarette out of his mouth. He was
on his feet in an instant, "It wasn't enough that they could _eat_ my
trucks," he said, swinging his arm in the general direction of the TV.
"Now I've got something out there with the strike power of a _nuke_ on
tap, and you're telling me I can't do shit!"

The volumes spoken in that outburst were echoed by the volumes
unspoken in the deathly silence that followed.

Lewis sat back down. "Even if I really can't do anything, I might as
well try," he said, a bit more calmly. "So let me delude myself for a
while." When a slightly less tense silence answered him, he continued.
"Now I've already put out search teams to try and find these things,
but that's not a guarantee by any stretch of the imagination. You'd
think it'd be easy, with robots that big, in a country this small..."
this last part was more to himself than anyone else. "But anyway," he
began again, "that's all I can do until we get them. So what can you
do for your part?"

"I suggest we step up the repairs to Unit-04," Ritsuko suggested,
calmly. "In a few days we should have it up to minimum operational
capacity."

"Yeah, just in time to see it get trashed again," Asuka replied.
"Minimum capacity isn't enough! We need to keep Unit-00 at full power,
at least!"

"Unit-00's never been better, Soryu," Kaoru added in, almost bored.

"Yeah, minus a knife we can't replace," Asuka shot back, throwing him a
withering stare. Kaoru didn't flinch in the slightest.

"Asuka, calm down," Misato said, firmly. She waited until the German
girl had composed herself. "Now, Unit-00's still viable, right? Good.
_I_ say we build up our defense of this camp. If we find them, fine."

"Find them and then drop a nuke on each," Asuka added on, her tone
sounding almost bitter. No one noticed Lewis grit his teeth at this,
then keep his eye on Asuka for a few long moments. Had anyone been
watching, they'd have seen a look on the Major's face that was almost
guilty.

"That's overdoing it," Misato corrected her. "Now, we can use Unit-00,
that much is true. As for Unit-04, I don't know." She glanced at
Shinji, who was still rather silent. "What do you say, Shinji-kun?
You've got a say in this, you know."

Shinji seemed to snap out of some kind of trance at the sound of his
name. "Well..." he began, hesitantly, "I think rebuilding Unit-04's a
good idea. But we shouldn't leave here, now that they're awake. I
mean...last time, we had the jump on it, but if we left now to go
looking for them..." he trailed off.

"...then by Murphy's law, while you're out, these two would come in and
trash the place you call home," Lewis finished for him. "I agree with
the kid," he said, nodding at Shinji. "If we find 'em, it's only to
get a better ETA on 'em." Shinji just nodded mutely to this.

"Play a defensive game?" Misato asked. "All right, that can work, I
know that much. We'll meet them here."

* * *

Days later, Shinji was sitting down for what felt like the first time
in ages. They'd finally sat down and gotten together something
resembling a battle plan. The meeting itself had gone rather well.
Though there were still a few sketchy areas and disagreements over
certain details, they'd eventually been able to hammer out something
workable. It would have to do.

After that, the activity in the camp had gone up by a factor of ten.
All of a sudden Shinji had had a million and one things to do. Areas
needed to be designated as "safe zones", food and medical supplies had
to be stockpiled in case of emergency, and people had to be kept clear
of the American war machines, which were now on the move nearly 24
hours a day, getting into position. But above all, people had to be
introduced to the fact that they might have to leave the place that had
become their home. They had to realize that - even if it was only for
a short while - they'd have to abandon their work of two and a half
years, to go hide somewhere marginally safer. That had been the most
difficult part of all. Asuka had had to deal with the particularly
stubborn people, the ones who would just as soon fight the Evas
themselves as leave their homes behind. The shouting from those
arguments still rung in Shinji's ears.

Shinji sipped from a glass of water, watching the encampment. It was
quiet now, both with the threat of attack and the end of the day. Very
few people could be seen outside their shelters. It suited him fine;
he could do without everyone asking him what they should do and why
they had to do it.

Footsteps signaled the end of that very short time of peace and quiet.
Shinji at first pretended he didn't notice.

"Hi, Ikari-kun."

Shinji's brow furrowed at the unexpected voice. He looked over his
shoulder. "Uh...hi, Hikari." He couldn't keep the nervousness out of
his voice. The strain of the past few days was catching up to him, it
seemed.

"What're you doing out here?"

"Nothing," he replied simply, looking back to the camp.

"Oh." Shuffling sounds of the girl clumsily sitting on the ground.
"So how are you?" she asked, a little while later.

Shinji nodded. "All right. You?"

"Fine."

"That's good."

They sat there, in silence, for a while longer.

"Are you scared?" she asked, finally.

Shinji didn't reply. He wanted to ask why she was bothering to talk to
him when she had so many other people she knew better. But he couldn't
think of a way to ask without sounding impolite.

"That's silly of me to ask," Hikari said, laughing nervously. "I mean,
who isn't, right?"

Shinji just nodded again. More silence.

"Umm...Ikari-kun, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," came the guarded reply. "What is it?"

"Well, that is...I..." she paused, then took a breath.
"DoyouthinkI'llmakeagoodmother?"

Shinji blinked. "Uh...calm down, Horaki-kun. What did you say?"

Hikari turned red with embarassment. "I said...umm...do you think I'll
make a good mother?"

As she was sitting behind him and off to the side, Hikari could not see
Shinji's eyes go wide with surprise. "Wh...what makes you ask that?"

A brief pause, as the girl shrugged. "Just last-minute jitters, I
guess. I don't know if I'm ready for this," she said, stroking her
enormous stomach.

Shinji was tempted to just say 'yes', but knew from experience with
Asuka that simple yes's and no's were usually not enough to convince a
girl of your sincerity. While he was trying to think out an
appropriate response, Hikari continued on, trying to fill in the
awkward silence that had developed.

"I mean, my sisters had to look after me for a while after my mom
died," she said. "They taught me, you know, how to cook and
everything. But I never really had...you know, a mother to tell me how
to...do it," she finished awkwardly, flushing a little. She looked up
at him. "And, well...you know, you've been an Eva pilot since the
beginning. You... um, might know something I don't. And Rei...said
you could tell me."

At the mention of the blue-haired girl's name, Shinji's hands tensed.
He still hadn't forgiven himself for running last time, and he still
hadn't spoken with her since then. Rei probably wanted to know
why he was acting like this, even if she didn't ask him directly. That
was just how she was.

He heard, or rather felt, a crack. He had a heartbeat or two to wonder
what that could have been before the pain hit. He looked down to his
hand, to see that in clenching it, he'd cracked the glass he'd been
holding. Water was leaking out, mixing with blood from a slice across
his palm. Shinji winced, clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes shut
as the pain settled in, making him feel like his hand was on fire. He
placed the glass down on the dirt, hoping Hikari didn't notice.

He turned around, clenching his cut hand and covering it with his
uninjured one. Unfortunately for him, however, Hikari saw the drops of
red falling from his hand.

"Oh, Ikari!" she exclaimed, worried. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, evenly. He instantly started mentally kicking
himself. The last thing the girl needed now was more things to worry
about.

"No you're not. Let me see," she said, grabbing his hand. He tried to
pull away, but Hikari held him firmly, prying his fingers open so she
could look at the cut. She winced.

"It probably looks worse than it is," she said, wiping off some of the
blood. "But you should probably get it looked at."

Feeling Hikari release him, Shinji pulled his hand back. He kept
pressure on his cut, as the pain levelled off. "Thank you," he said.
He smiled a little. "I think that's all the proof you need, Hikari-
kun. You'll do just fine."

Hikari's face lit up, as she cracked a real smile. "Thanks," she said.
"It's nice of you to say that."

"I'm serious, Hikari. You're a nice person. I think you'll be a great
mother."

Hikari looked away, turning a little red at the compliment. She
started shifting around, trying to get back to her feet. Shinji got up
and helped her up, taking her hand and pulling her to her
feet.

"Ikari-kun, I've got one other question," she began, even more
hesitantly than before.

"What is it?" Shinji asked, trying to sound like he wouldn't mind.

"Well, it's just...have you noticed Rei is acting a little...well,
strange?" She paused. "I guess that's a relative term for her, isn't
it?" she laughed a little at her joke. When Shinji didn't reciprocate,
she continued. "It's just...I tried talking to her earlier, just...to
talk, you know. And she didn't seem interested at all. Just a few
days ago, I'm sure she would've at least listened. But instead...she
just walked off, saying she had things to do, and that I
shouldn't...'waste her time'. She seemed kind of, um...serious. I
don't know..." Hikari shook her head, the stress she'd been keeping
inside starting to show. "Me and Asuka, we...well, I don't want to say
the word 'fight', but I think she needs some space for a while, and now
Rei is...Ikari-kun, do you have _any_ idea what it could be?"

Shinji's breathing had gone shallow. Rei had...no, of _course_ he'd
noticed the change in her behavior. But with all the excitement of the
past few days, he hadn't had the time - or the guts - to worry about
it. He'd just pushed that concern away, to some corner of his mind
where it couldn't bother him. But now that someone else had voiced the
same concern...

Was it because of something _he_ had done?

He didn't quite remember...his memories of the last night he spoke
with her were still clouded and obscured, whether by deliberate
repression or by the blow to his head he didn't know. But what had he
said to her, to make her act this way? So quick to turn away a friend
like Hikari, so quick to avoid contact with anybody else...

She'd said something to him. That was for sure. But what? And what
had been his answer?

She'd said something. Something about what she wanted. And he had
done something...something that had put what she'd wanted cruelly out
of reach.

^I want - ^

What had she said?

^I want to - ^

Concentrate on what she said.

^I want to understan - ^

Concentrate.

^I want to understand why - ^

What had she said?

^I want to understand why...^

He could almost hear her soft voice again, speaking, no, whispering,
those words while standing before him -

^why...I...^

- no, while she was closer to him, even closer, too close? -

^why I...feel^

- and she'd, she'd...-

^why I feel this way...^

- been about to -

^No.^

"Ikari?" Hikari asked, putting one hand on his shoulder to get his
attention.

Shinji shook his head, scrambling his thoughts long enough to focus on
the present again. "Yeah...yeah, I noticed," he said, slowly. "I was
going to talk to her about it," he lied. "I just wanted to wait
until...well, after all _this_."

Hikari sighed, a little. "I'll let you in on a little secret," she
said, quietly as though she were afraid some invisible listener might
overhear them. Shinji leaned a little closer, as the conspiratorial
atmosphere got into him.

"Sometimes, it's not good to wait," Hikari whispered to him, after a
few seconds to collect herself. "I know you might say you're waiting
for the best time, but you're afraid of what might happen, right?" she
didn't wait for a response. "Ikari, sometimes you have to just go
and..._do_ it. Because you never know when the person you have to talk
to will be taken away." At this, she stepped back again, looking
Shinji in the eye.

"Sorry," he said. He couldn't even quite remember _why_ he should feel
apologetic, but something in the girl's voice seemed to make him feel
terribly guilty.

"Don't apologize," Hikari ordered, sounding very much like she had in
her old position as Class Rep. "It's just some advice, that's all.
I'll see you later," she said.

"Right. Good luck," he replied, as she left.

^That went as well as could be expected, I guess,^ he reasoned. ^At
least Hikari feels better. Even though I don't...^

Indeed, if nothing else, he was feeling even more stressed, now. But
he didn't have time to think that conversation over in his mind. For
at that moment, the peace was again shattered, and by something
entirely different: the cry of alarms, signaling an imminent attack.

* * *

Asuka made it to the command tent moments after Shinji, the alarms
still blaring in the background.

"All right, all right, I'm here already!" she announced, putting her
hands on her hips. This got her a few glances from the other people in
the tent, but not much else. However, the alarms _did_ shut off soon
afterwards. Asuka smirked a little, at this.

"Where's our pal from the States?" she asked, going deeper into the
tent, where she could see Misato.

The dark-haired woman only paused long enough to jerk one thumb over
her shoulder, off to the side of the tent. She flashed Asuka a
supportive smile, but Asuka had not trouble seeing the strain around
Misato's eyes.

Lewis was over where Misato had indicated, sitting next to a large
radio transmitter. His face was turned away from her, but Asuka could
still see the tension in the man. His free hand - the one not holding
the headset for the radio - was clenched into a tight fist. As she
watched, he banged this fist against the table the radio sat on,
shaking the heavy device. Cursing, he hung up the headset and switched
off the transmitter.

"Something not going the way it should?" Asuka asked, as the big man
stood up.

"Something like that," he replied, bitterly. "The brass doesn't feel
like I need anything more, so they're only giving me the options I had
originally." He paused, apparently thinking something through.
Finally, with a nod, he said, "looks like we take these things as they
come."

Asuka snorted. "There's an alternative?" she asked, sarcastically.
She turned her back on him, but kept talking. "Sure love to hear it if
there was one."

With her back to him, Asuka could not see Lewis's face go deadpan as
she mentioned an 'alternative'. Nor could she see him whisper, "no you
wouldn't" at her. But the man just shook his head and followed her.

Asuka and Lewis made it to what had become the improvised command
center. Shinji was already there, hands resting on a large table, upon
which was spread a map of the general area. Misato was with him,
pointing out areas on the map, speaking rapidly as the boy just nodded
periodically.

"OK, what's up?" Asuka asked, her tone demanding an instant answer.

"We're almost ready," Shinji replied, being the first to speak. It
figured; he was the most familiar with that tone of voice, and had been
trained by the girl to answer immediately when she spoke that way.
"The Eva's in position, and everyone's evacuated."

"One of the scout teams picked up both targets," Misato explained,
picking up smoothly where Shinji had left off. "They were about six
kilometers to our north, but they're moving fast. ETA twenty minutes."

"And together," Shinji added in. "They aren't traveling separately."

"It's fine," Misato said firmly, giving the boy a sharp stare. She
sounded confident, but the quaver in her voice at the end of her
sentence revealed otherwise. She quickly turned to the others,
however. "We planned for this...it just means the job's going to be a
little harder, that's all."

Asuka managed another smirk, though this one was more forced. "We just
get two out of the way at the same time. Makes it easier for us."

No one said anything to this. They concerned themselves with last-
minute details, hammering out the final details of their hastily
crafted strategy. Stress was visible in everyone's face, no matter
how hard they tried to cover it. They worked quickly, as the enemy
would soon appear.

Finally, it was time. On a TV screen projecting the feed from a camera
in the field, the people in the tent could see them: a pair of MP Evas
winging their way into view. At first, the distance made them appear
no larger than a pair of birds, gliding on the wind. Then they came
closer, and revealed their true selves.

They were rather difficult to distinguish from one another. Both of
them looked almost exactly as they had years ago, in their one and only
battle. The only visible difference was that the second Eva was
unarmed, while the lead unit clutched a long spear, looking like two
enormous swords welded together end-to-end. The weapon, though
undoubtedly heavy, was being firmly held in the thing's right hand.

Shinji turned his head towards Asuka. He could see the tension in the
girl's jaw, but otherwise, the girl seemed to be holding together.
Either that, or she was holding it all in. He had no time to figure
out which, as the activity in the tent tripled. Lewis and Misato were
both speaking into radios, their voices exhibiting a sort of forced
calm. The American commander was speaking in English, too quickly for
Shinji to follow with what he'd learned of the language in school.

Misato was speaking to Ritsuko and the team back at Unit-04. The Eva
was nowhere near repaired, but they were still working hard on it,
trying to wrap things up before the attack came. They were really
pushing the envelope, now. Shinji could hear Misato asking Ritsuko, as
politely as she could, to evacuate the site _now_.

Shinji felt his stomach turn, watching. ^Is this going to work at all?^
he asked himself.

He was roused from his thoughts by Misato abruptly slamming her radio
down on the table. Muttering something about a "stubborn old bitch",
she turned to Lewis.

"Alright, Major," she said, nodding at him. "Let's get started."

"Yes _sir_," Lewis replied, mock-saluting and throwing in a little
smile for good measure. He switched channels on his radio. "Battery
four..." he began, in English again, slowly enough this time that
Shinji could at least follow the general meaning of the words. "Fire
on target Alpha."

Maybe it was just Shinji's imagination, but he was sure he could _feel_
the surface-to-air missile battery opening up, even from all the way
back at the command tent. Along with everyone else, he looked to the
TV screen. Sure enough, several plumes of smoke, trailing behind
pinpoints of fire, could be seen, making a beeline for the trailing
Evangelion.

They hit the target, at least as well as Shinji could see. Most of the
people in the tent didn't even seem to notice. There was definitely no
cause for celebration, for as the smoke cleared, it could be seen that
the Eva wasn't even scratched.

No one seemed bothered by this, either. And for good reason; no one
had expected the first shot to do anything. But, it did accomplish
what they'd intended; they now had the Evas' attention.

Shinji's brow furrowed as the other MP Eva veered off and made for the
ground, while the one that had just been fired on turned _away_ from
the missile battery.

"It can't really be _afraid_ of that, could it?" he ventured. No one
answered.

The Eva that hadn't taken the hit - which also happened to be the one
with the spear - touched down, its wings retracting almost before its
feet had hit the ground. On the screen, Shinji could see it looking
slowly back and forth, its lips curled back into a snarl. Suddenly,
with speed belied by its huge form, it whipped its head back around,
directly towards the missile battery that had just fired.

A bright flash issued from the Eva's eyeless brow -

- and the earth shook violently, sending objects and the tent's
occupants to the ground.

"What the hell happened?!" Misato demanded to know, as she was getting
up.

Lewis muttered a curse in English before adjusting the camera feed to
show an answer.

The tinges of static did not entirely clear, but Shinji could see what
had happened. The missile battery was gone, replaced by a firey column
of light that reached toward the sky and spread out into the bars of a
shining cross.

Behind him he heard Asuka choke back a gasp. Apparently he wasn't the
only one who found the sight painfully familiar.

"Guess that's what took out the observation post," Lewis commented. He
brought his radio back up. "All units, repeat _all_ units, engage
target Bravo! Fire at will!"

Now Shinji _knew_ he could feel the roar of guns firing. As he
watched, the screen lit up. All around the camp, missile batteries,
howitzers, and tanks were opening up, unloading everything they had at
the Eva on the ground.

Meanwhile, Misato switched the view on the screen to another camera.
They could now see the other Eva, still airborne, heading for another
part of the camp. She reached for her radio, but found that it was
missing.

"Nagisa, come in, over," Asuka said, speaking into Misato's radio. The
other woman gave her a quick glance of indignation, but then turned
back to the screen.

"Yes, Soryu?" came Kaoru's voice, eerily cheerful.

"It looks like these things still know where you are. Are you ready?
Over."

"Rei and myself are both in position. Unit-00 is ready, yes."

"Good. Deploy on my signal."

Lewis switched the view again, onto to have Asuka switch it back
immediately. The American commander gave her an annoyed look, before
rolling his eyes and sitting down next to his radio. Shinji was, oddly
enough, reminded of how he and Asuka used to fight over the television
channel. If only it were something that trivial this time.

The still-flying Eva could be seen now dipping down, turning its head
back and forth as though its blind visage could actually see.

Asuka brought up the radio. "Now," she said, simply.

No reply came; none was necessary. On the ground, an enormous
camoflage net twitched, then bulged as something under its protective
cover moved. The net tried to resist the force, but it was far too
much. After a second's worth of stubbornness, the tent pegs holding
the net down began pulling free of the ground, launching into the air
as their ropes went tight. The net rose up, falling limp and defeated
about the thing it had been covering. As the form within got to its
feet, a large cyclopean eye, coldly efficient and utterly emotionless
in its gaze, came into view.

The net fell loosely about Unit-00's shoulders as though it were a
cloak, dirt and dust falling away from it in a fine mist, glittering in
the late afternoon sun. The blue titan craned its neck, eyeing its
airborne opponent, and knowing that it had been seen. Without looking,
it smoothly detached the net from its shoulders and held it out at
arm's length before dropping it into a heap on the cold earth. Now
fully revealed, its body went taut, taking a wide, stable stance, as
the MP Eva circled, finally swooping around and power diving directly
towards the blue giant.

* * *

Rei watched, from her position of relative safety about a fifteen
hundred meters away from the Evas, as the two giants clashed. Unit-00
jumped to meet its opponent mid-dive, tackling the Eva and crushing its
wings against its body, which sent them both crashing to the ground.
It didn't last long, as the MP Eva kicked Unit-00 off of it and
regained its feet, clenching its fists.

^Release me.^

Rei blinked, tempted to look around behind her. It sounded as though
someone had just whispered those words into her ear.

^Free me.^

No, the only other person with her was Kaoru, whose eyes were following
Unit-00's every movement, his mind willing the machine to move, ducking
one punch and lashing out with a kick to the shin. The Eva backed off,
its head moving in birdlike jerks as it studied Unit-00, standing at
the ready to deflect another assault.

A boil developed on the white Eva's head, swelling outwards and finally
bursting, spraying out a jet of some kind of orange fluid. The liquid
deflected off a hastily-raised AT field, spraying onto the ground
around it and leaving a semicircle of scorched terrain where it had
touched. As Rei looked again, she could see a single, large eye where
the fluid had come from.

^The song of battle calls for me.^

Rei was already fairly certain of who the prodding voice belonged to,
but she was still uneasy about how it was speaking in her head at all.
And its tone was hardly reassuring; the first few words sounded almost
condescending, but the last few showed an unspoken determination that
it _would_ have what it wanted. Soon.

Rei paid it no heed. She closed her eyes, blocking out the corner of
her mind that the Dummy was speaking to. She could still feel its
urgings, like a second pulse in her, but they were not so persistent,
now.

She needed something to focus on. She looked to the other end of the
battlefield, away from Unit-00, as she felt some apprehension towards
seeing the machine when it was so vehemently trying to wrest control
from her. Over where the second MP Eva was, she could see nothing but
carnage.

A fireball, quickly dissolving into a cloud of black smoke, rose
quickly from the latest kill. All around the white Eva, guns of all
shapes and sizes were opening up. Tanks unloaded shells, missile
batteries launched warheads that could level skyscrapers, and howitzers
bombarded it from afar. All for naught. The Eva's AT field was
faithfully protecting it, as evidenced by the hexagonal distortions in
the air every time a shell detonated. Right alongside this perfect
defense was a highly effective offense: with a glance, the Eva took out
three tanks, all of them vanishing under the harsh glare of a burning
cross. One of the handful of helicopters buzzing around it was swatted
down effortlessly, as the Eva swung its gigantic spear around.

As vehicle after vehicle was lost, as missile battery and tank alike
were crushed or disintegrated, and as hopes continued to dim with every
shot, she could hear them: the screams of the dead and dying. Even
after they were speared or crushed or incinerated, they continued to
echo inside her head, all of their pain and suffering mirroring her
own, every last bit of death and destruction imprinted forever on her
mind.

After only a minute, she could no longer bear to look at the
useless carnage. Try as she might, she just wasn't her old self
anymore.

And she was not the only one to realize that.

^Can you hear them?^

The voice, even muted by her purposeful ignorance, broke through
even her strongest defenses.

^_I_ can hear them.^

The voice had mixed and mingled with the screams in her head, taking
and twisting their strength until its very sound threatened to tear her
heart to pieces.

^Such pitiful squealings your lilim brethren have. Can you not feel
their pain?^

Yes...she could. And for once, she could not simply block it out.
The pain tore at her heart, wracked her mind, rent her concentration
to shreds with claws sharper than any beast's. And the voice continued.

^I can feel the pain all around me.^ It was almost condescending again,
but its next remark left Rei with no illusions.

^I must help to..._deepen_ it.^

The MP Eva sprayed another blast of the orange liquid onto Unit-00.
The blue Eva covered its 'face' with one arm, and rammed its opponent,
sending both of them sprawling.

^No. I cannot let you.^ Rei thought desperately.

^Why? Did you not enjoy this, once?^

Rei froze.

Unit-00 lashed out wildly with a punch. It only scored a glancing
blow, but was still enough to send the MP Eva off balance as it tried
to get back up to its feet. Unit-00 tried to get up quick enough to
capitalize on this, only to receive a kick to the chest, sending it
flat on its back.

^Was it not the only thing you had? Was it not the only thing you
valued?^

Rei could say nothing.

^Was it not the only thing you _lived_ for?^

^...^

More bulges appeared on the white Eva, across its shoulders and head.
They all burst, sending a flood of the corrosive slime down onto Unit-
00. The blue armored giant rolled quickly, getting clear of the worst
of it. A quick maneuver from its powerful arms launched it off of the
ground and back onto its feet, looking a little like a human gymnast.

^Then let our petty differences _end_. We were both created for this.
It is our purpose. It is our function. It is the very thing which gives
us _life_. ^And it is the only way I can achieve my wish...no, _our_
wish.^

^I...I - ^

^I am you, and you are I. We two are mirror images of the same being.
Let us be one in our purpose. Loose these chains you have bound me
with, and we will _both_ be free.^

The MP Eva roared, looking at Unit-00 almost jeeringly, tempting it to
try charging again, to come run to its death.

^I...will not.^ was all Rei could muster.

She could feel the frustrated rage building in the other, and she was
helpless to resist as the voice struck down the last defenses,
overwhelming her mind and blotting out her senses in a wave of alien
emotion. She lost her balance, catching herself by falling down onto
her knees.

Unit-00 took the bait. Holding one arm in front of itself, it charged,
extending its AT field to such strength that the ground itself broke
ahead of its armored feet. The acidic spray hit the AT field and
flattened, going in every direction. Unit-00 hit the Eva and grabbed
it with both hands, ramming its head into the enemy's thick cranium.

Yet these brave actions were in vain. As it had closed the distance,
the acid had broken through the AT field, and armor was dissolving
quickly under the corrosive touch. All of that was relayed faithfully,
going directly into Kaoru's mind. The boy had hit his pain threshold,
and now the Eva froze, both machine and controller paralyzed by the
burning pain that covered their entire bodies. The MP Eva easily
stepped out of Unit-00's grip.

The blue Eva was then knocked back by a vicious punch, not from the
opponent in front of it, but by the other MP Eva, which had apparently
finished its rampage through the American ranks and was now joining its
ally in battle.

With a jolt, the Dummy broke through her mental block. It was not to
be ignored; it invaded her, flooding her mind with its voice.

^I WILL FIGHT.^

"No..." Rei said, under her breath.

^YOU _WILL_ UNLEASH ME.^

"I will not."

^YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO CONFINE ME SO. RELEASE ME, _NOW_, OR DIE
FOR YOUR FOLLY.^

_Definitely_ not a plea, now. "I refuse."

^_I_ REFUSE TO BE KEPT ALOOF. BATTLE IS THE SOLE THING I HAVE WHICH
GIVES MEANING TO THIS PITIFUL EXISTENCE.^

Now Rei was holding her hands over her ears, an instinctive move
against the sound which reverberated in her skull.

^YOU ARE WEAK. YOU MAY ONLY CONFINE ME IF I WISH TO BE CONFINED. NO
MORE WILL I STAND ASIDE, DOCILE AND OBEDIENT. NO MORE WILL I STAND
ASIDE, THE TOY AND LAP-DOG OF YOUR EVERY WHIM. NO MORE WILL I ALLOW
YOUR INSIGNIFICANT MIND TO STAND IN MY WAY. I _WILL_ BE SET FREE.^

Now the message carried a definite force, each word pounding at her
like a battering ram against a door. And that door was splitting.

^I _WILL_ BE FREE OF YOU.^

Rei fought it, throwing all her mental strength into resisting this
sudden, alien force. She was filled with a sense of violation, as she
became aware that something other than herself was inside her. Another
intelligence, pushing for control of her, of the proverbial 'on' switch
for the Dummy Plug.

^NOW!^

Its strength was not to be denied. It shoved against her psyche, a
pulsing force driving her further and further back, no matter how much
she tried to resist. Rei pitched forwards, digging her fingers into
the ground. She shoved her tongue between her teeth and bit down hard,
the sharp pain giving her a momentary shock of focus as the taste of
her own blood filled her mouth. But it didn't last; her vision hazed
over, a profound sense of vertigo filling her as she felt her very
consciousness being repressed.

"No..." she whispered, as she felt her resistance crack under the
strain.

It was all she could say, before her consciousness left her, abandoning
her mind to the thing which sought its freedom. As the darkness closed
in, she thought she could hear a voice...so much like her own, and yet
fundamentally different...laughing.

* * *

A buzzing sounded in Kaoru's ear, but as it was, he could barely even
_see_ through the haze of pain, let alone muster the concentration to
make out words. He damped down his synchronization with the Eva,
separating their two minds until the pain was less debilitating.

"Control, repeat last message," he asked, his voice brittle with the
stress.

"AT field surge!" a voice repeated. He recognized it as one of the
American techs covering the monitoring gear.

"Where?" he asked quickly, trying to divide his attention between the
rapidly degrading fight in front of him and the urgent communications
from the HQ tent.

"Nagisa, it's..." Asuka's voice replied. "...it's right next to you,
Nagisa! Get out!"

Kaoru turned his head, knowing before he even looked where that AT
field could be coming from.

Rei jerked once, arching her back from her position on the ground.
Kaoru thought he saw a few drops of blood fall from her mouth. He was
moving towards her almost immediately, ordering Unit-00 to fall back
from its opponents.

But he felt resistance on the other end, this time. The feel of the
Eva in his mind shrank, as the machine responded less and less to his
repeated commands, until it finally stopped moving.

He glanced over his shoulder in time to see Unit-00 fall on its back,
utterly inactive.

^Get up,^ he thought, at it. Nothing happened. The pair of MP Evas
circled cautiously for just a moment, gauging whether or not this was
some sort of trick. But when Unit-00 didn't move, they grinned,
showing their too-human teeth as they advanced. Hands clenched around
the spear and acidic eyes blinked in anticipation of an easy slaughter.

"Control, we're down to zero capacity," Kaoru relayed, slowly and
calmly. He made it to Rei and went to one knee, rolling the girl onto
her back and glancing her over. "Unit-00 is nonfunctional, repeat
nonfunctional. And Ayanami's had some kind of attack," he continued.
"She's unconscious. Over."

^But still alive,^ he concluded, as he checked her pulse. ^Maybe the
feedback was too much...but she wasn't even synching with the Eva.^ He
had to get her out of here. With any luck - if it could be called
'luck' - the Evas would be occupied with destroying Unit-00's limp
form, and wouldn't notice Rei lying here. At least, for long enough to
get clear. He didn't want to think about what they'd do if they found
the blue-haired girl, here just as helpless as the blue titan lying on
the ground not very far off.

"Nagisa, you've _got_ to re-establish command," Misato's voice blared
in his ear. "Ritsu tells me Unit-04 just isn't prepped, yet. Unit-
00's all we've got. Over!"

"I am aware of that, Misato-san," Kaoru said into the mike, turning and
looking over at the Evas. They were both in position now, with the
eye-covered one standing off at some distance, while the other one
straddled Unit-00, fingers twitching on its lance. Kaoru shook his
head, still pushing at that spot of his mind where he could almost
_feel_ Unit-00. But no response came.

Just as he gave up, he felt something twitch. Blinking, he explored
the sensation. It didn't take long to realize that Unit-00 was going
active again. Even now, he could see its hands beginning to move,
though much too slowly and clumsily to try and block any kind of
attack.

^But I'm not controlling it,^ he thought, confused. His eyes widened
as he felt a force surging through him. His eyes widened as he felt a
surge of power emanate nearby, as if he was burning and freezing to
death at the same time. He pushed the illusory pain away from his mind
and turned his head to see Rei sprawled out on the ground, her eyes
closed.

"Rei..."

The shock quickly faded in the face of another, greater shock, as the
girl's hair ruffled by some unfelt breeze, and she began to rise _up_.
Her skin began to glow, with a cold, pale light.

"Rei...no, Rei! Stop it!"

Some invisible force blasted out from the girl's body, splaying Kaoru's
limbs out and throwing him backwards over a dozen meters. All the air
went out of him as he crash-landed onto his back. Grunting in mild
pain, he coughed, trying to breathe as a wave of dizziness went through
him. It felt like that hit had scored a concussion. He saw double as
he forced his head up.

He looked to Rei as things began to come back into focus. Now, the
girl was suspended in midair, hanging like a puppet held by strings.
She made no effort to move, but her eyes still popped wide open. Only
in place of the eyes that were so much like his own, there was nothing
but a blinding light, outshining the rest of her body. Another surge
of force welled up in her, as the glow condensed, gathering up in her
body.

Kaoru spared a glance over at the Evas. Now, the spear-carrying Eva
was holding aforementioned weapon high above its head, ready for one
powerful chop, likely more than enough to split Unit-00 in half. And
still the blue Eva twitched, only becoming progressively stronger in
its random motion.

"Rei!" he called out, dragging himself to his feet in spite of the
dizziness. He tried to run, but could only stumble along towards her,
reaching out to try and grab her.

"Rei, stop it! Don't do it, Rei!" She didn't hear him.

He somehow got to her before whatever it was inside her burst out. But
just before. He reached to grab her, but his hands stopped half a
meter from her body, blocked by an invisible wall. Kaoru's eyes,
though fuzzy with the shock, were still sharp enough to see the
telltale distortions in the air.

^AT field?^ he thought.

It was his last conscious thought. Just as Kaoru was finding himself
blocked, a wave of light exploded from Rei's body, hitting Kaoru full-
on as it shot outwards. The boy was not thrown back, but his head
snapped up as though punched. His eyes rolled up in his head, and he
crashed heavily to the ground. Rei followed suit a moment later, as
the unseen threads holding her aloft were suddenly released.

Unit-00 was almost too late. The Lancea Longinus copy flashed down,
swinging a broad arc right for the blue Eva's face. Unit-00's hands
flashed up, clapping firmly on the blade as it came down, the CLANG
of metal-on-metal resounding for kilometers.

* * *

Ritsuko looked up briefly at the loud noise. "They're definitely
engaged," she muttered.

"Hm?" Maya asked from her nearby terminal.

"Nothing," Ritsuko replied, shaking her head.

Any further conversation was cut off immediately by the loud pop of
electricity, followed shortly by a loud curse.

"Piece a' shit..." a masculine voice muttered from the ground, in
English. A man climbed out from under a bank of computers, wiping the
soot and grime out of his eyes. "How's that, Akagi?" he asked.

Ritsuko's eyes flashed to one of the computer screens, taking in the
data in the space of an eyeblink. "Still not good enough," Ritsuko
replied, also in English.

The man let out an exasperated grunt and plopped down in a nearby
chair. "Well, _s'cuze_ me," he said, picking up his cold cup of coffee.
"But it's hard tying together all these computers."

"Are you sure we really need all this, sempai?" Maya asked in Japanese.

Ritsuko nodded, smoothly changing languages. "Just think of how much
power the MAGI had, Maya," she stated, authoritatively. "And even if
we can get this...mess...working right," she said, looking around at
the stacks of computers piled on top of each other, with countless
cables running in between them all, "we're only going to have a
fraction of that computing power. We'll need all of it to run real
tests on an Eva."

Maya nodded, lowering her eyes.

"Uh, say..." the man said, speaking to no one in particular. "We got
that thing outside plugged in yet?"

Ritsuko turned to him, changing back to English. "If you're referring
to Unit-04, no. We're far from that point."

"Then...should _this_ be happening?" he asked, pointing to a screen.

Ritsuko followed his finger to see what he was indicating. There, on
one of the two dozen monitors glowing in the room, the readout for the
Eva's battery was shown. A digital timer was being displayed, showing
the amount of time the Eva would be able to remain active. Until now,
it had been reading all zeros. But now...it was counting up.

"What?" Ritsuko muttered, striding over to the screen. She leaned over
it, double-checking to make sure she wasn't seeing things. There it
was, counting back up, the hundredths flashing by so quickly she
couldn't follow them, and the seconds ticking up quickly. The man
behind her swallowed, seeing that the woman supposed to be the expert
on Evas was apparently without an answer.

"This says it's connected to external power, sempai," Maya said,
reading another monitor on the other side of the tent.

"But that's impossible!" Ritsuko asserted. "We haven't even brought in
a power cable big enough to plug into it yet!"

Maya just shook her head. She froze, however, as she saw another
screen change from friendly green hues over to a dark red.
"Uh...sempai..." she said, her voice beginning to quaver.

"What now?" Ritsuko asked, crossing the tent to her assistant. She
followed Maya's gaze. She blinked.

This screen monitored the Eva's onboard computers. With the Eva not
powered, it had, understandably, been showing them all offline. But
now...

"Dummy plug initializing?" Ritsuko read from the screen. "Startup
procedure commencing?"

"What..." Maya asked, then swallowed to get some moisture back in her
suddenly dry mouth. "What's happening, sempai?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "I'm not sure...but..." she turned, quickly
scooping up a few loose papers from a chair behind her. "I think it
would be a good idea to evacuate for now, Maya. You too, sir," she
added on, looking to the man.

He spared her a nod before getting to his feet. "My truck's outside,"
he said, quickly. "We can use that."

Without waiting for a reply, he went out the tent flap. Maya had
already gone into a flurry of activity, switching off screens quickly,
then riffling through the mass of papers blanketing every horizontal
surface, looking for anything that might be important. This task was
made even more difficult as her hands began to shake.

"Calm down, Maya," Ritsuko said, putting one hand on the younger
woman's arm. "It's nothing to panic about, just yet." Maya could only
manage a quick nod.

Ritsuko picked up a radio as she headed for the door, with Maya in tow.
"Misato come in," she said. "We're evacuating the repair site. We'll
be with you in a few minutes. Over."

There was no reply for several seconds. Ritsuko waited, staring at the
dormant radio, waiting for someone to get back to her. She climbed
into the American engineer's Jeep along with Maya. The man took off
almost before they'd closed the door.

Ritsuko checked the frequency, making sure it was set to the right one.
Finally, the speaker crackled.

"Is that you, Ritsu? Why're you still there? Over."

"We're leaving now, Misato. The Eva's registering a response on the
monitors when it shouldn't be. I'd like to study it later, but I get
the feeling I don't have the time, right now. Over."

"No kidding. Well, get over here now, Ritsu. We've got a situation to
deal with, and we might need your help. Over."

Ritsuko was about to reply when she felt an insistent tapping on her
arm. She looked up, to see Maya batting her, as a young child tries to
grab its parents' attention. But what was truly successful in grabbing
Ritsuko's attention was Maya's expression. All the blood had drained
from her face, while her eyes were fixed unblinkingly out the Jeep's
back window.

"What is it?" Ritsuko asked.

Maya could only point. Ritsuko looked, and froze.

What she saw were high-tension steel cables snapping like threads,
whipping around in every direction. Hadn't those been used to tie
Unit-04 to the ground?

A veritable _mountain_ of white metal moved, surging against the
vestigal restraints holding it down. The catwalks stretched over Unit-
04's chest crumpled, tore free of the ground and fell to pieces as the
tons upon tons of metal/flesh shoved them out of the way. Sparks flew
in a surreal fireworks display as electrical connections shorted out
and broke. The hundreds of cables painstakingly inserted into the
Eva's body strained briefly before their melted ends popped free of the
white armor plating, falling to the ground and whipping about like
snakes.

Apparently unaffected by the gaping hole in its chest, Unit-04 kept
moving. Already in a sitting positon, it leaned forwards slowly, then
lifted its arms up high, snapping free of more restraints with a simple
flex of its muscles. Then, it began to move its legs. It got to its
feet shakily, amid a shower of wires and scaffolds breaking away, no
longer able to restrain the beast now that it was awakened. The Eva
wobbled for a moment, as though drunk. It crushed half the outpost
with one footstep as it changed its stance and caught its balance.

It shook off whatever malady may have been affecting it, shrugging
itself into an upright posture and flexing its tremendous muscles. Its
whole body tensed, as the ruined flesh around its wound began to glow.
Cauterized blood vessels broke open, spilling fresh blood from the
wound. Scraps of scorched muscle and organ were ejected, falling to
the ground in a small hail of gore. Even as this happened, its skin
flowed like water, sliding over the wound knitting together in the
space of seconds. What was left was a patch of pale, veined skin
sitting dead-center in its body, surrounded by battered metal plates.

Finally, Unit-04 threw its head back, parting its jaws to emit an
earth-shaking roar, heard loud and clear even as the Jeep sped away
from it. As it lowered its gaze, it became evident that its eyes,
previously a lifeless black, were now blazing bright crimson. The
color of blood, calling for blood.

Maya turned away, curling up into a ball as she covered her ears. Her
eyes, however, remained wide, shaking with fear. The American, to his
credit, was able to keep driving, though he did let out an impressive
slew of curses.

Ritsuko just raised the radio back up. "Misato? Now you have a worse
situation to deal with."


* * *

"It _WHAT_?!" Misato nearly screamed into her radio.

"It activated," came Ritsuko's staticky voice. "Unit-04 has found some
power supply, and its Dummy Plug is active, Misato. Over."

Misato paused, letting out a slow breath as her mind worked. "What's
it doing now? Over."

"It's on the move, Misato. Judging from its direction, I'd say it's
headed towards Nagisa and Unit-00. Won't take long before it reaches
there. Over."

Asuka had been lucky enough to sitting close to this conversation.
"Those two are worthless anyway," she said, loudly. "Can't even
control the damn Eva half the time." She gave Misato a smirk. "Might
as well tell them to get out."

Misato nodded, tossing Asuka a radio as she headed back over to the
monitors.

"Hey, Nagisa," Asuka said into the radio, holding one hand on her hip
and leaning against the tent post. "Get back in here, and bring
Ayanami. Hear me?"

The radio remained mute in response.

"Hey, baka," Asuka said, the tension starting to seep through her
voice. "Don't play this with me. Get _out_, got it?"

Silence.

"Hey!" Asuka shouted to the others. "Is this thing broken, or what?"
she asked, shaking the radio for emphasis.

"Was working fine a minute ago," Misato said, without looking up.

"Well, I'm not getting through to them. Either that, or the idiots
just don't want to listen."

Misato shook her head. "We don't _need_ this," she muttered.

Asuka grinned at some private joke to herself. "Fine, _I'll_ go out
personally. I'll get 'em back in here if I have to _drag_ them back."
She chucked the worthless handset onto a table, where it skidded and
fell off, crashing to the ground with a dull _thud_.

"Wait," cried a masculine voice from behind the girl.

Asuka looked back over her shoulder. "Shinji?" she asked.

"I'll go," the boy said, shrugging. "Asuka, why don't you stay here?
You...at least know what you're doing."

Asuka's eyes narrowed, almost daring Shinji to shrink away. When he
didn't, she turned around and grabbed his arm. "Ah, c'mon. Might
need you to talk some sense into 'em. We're going!" she shouted, as
she half-led, half-dragged Shinji out of the tent. On the way out, she
grabbed a set of keys off a peg.

"Asuka, you're not..." Shinji asked.

"Not like I'm gonna walk all the way out there, not with this mess,"
the girl said, tossing her head.

Shinji just nodded. ^At least I can do some good out here,^ he
thought. ^And maybe...just maybe...I can see what happens to
them...when they kill one of those things.^

The keys had a convenient tag attached to identify which vehicle to
use. The pair ended up in a tan Jeep. Asuka jumped in and was
buckling herself in before Shinji had even opened the door.

"Least I can handle driving on the _left_ side," Asuka taunted, smiling
at him.

Shinji just blushed a little. Much like his other friends, he'd
learned how to drive on the Land Rover, which had the steering wheel on
the right side. This Jeep, on the other hand, was built to American
standards. So far, Asuka had been the only one who'd been able to
drive on either side without crashing.

Asuka gunned the engine, and they were off, all four wheels spinning as
she applied a bit too much gas. Shinji could only hold on for dear
life, as the small vehicle managed to find every little bump and dip in
the terrain.

Shinji looked to the side, to see Unit-04's approach. The white giant
had cleared most of the distance now, and was charging straight for
the other three Evas. From what he could see, it was going to cut
right in front of them.

"Do you see - " he began, pointing off to the left.

Asuka slapped his hand down. "I know!" she shouted back, over the roar
of the engine. She shifted gears roughly, throwing them both back into
their seats. She jerked the steering wheel, causing Shinji's stomach
to lurch as they banked off to the side.

Shinji watched as Unit-04 passed in front of them, growing bigger by
the moment as the distance closed. Asuka kept going, her turn having
lined them up so the Eva would be long gone by the time they reached
its path. The Jeep easily shot between the trailer-sized footprints,
continuing on its run.

Shinji turned in his seat, looking behind them at the battle that was
still raging. Unit-00 was keeping both Evas at bay, first attacking
one, then switching targets and attacking the other when it got too
close.

^Kaoru-kun's doing pretty well,^ he thought, watching. ^He's right, he
really _is_ getting better control of the Eva. But whose side is Unit-04
on?^

Hopefully theirs. But he didn't have time to see, as Asuka slammed on
the brakes. The Jeep and its riders all pitched forwards, the tires
locking up as they screeched to a halt.

"Well, that was fun," Asuka said casually, brushing her hair out of her
eyes. She got up, the Jeep lurching once, then stalling, as she took
her foot off the clutch. Asuka rolled her eyes at this, then jumped
free.

"Fun little drive," she commented, as her feet hit the ground. "Should
do this more often, Shinji-chan. But next time we're going somewhere
quieter. Maybe I'll even let you drive."

Shinji, swallowing, was only able to nod curtly at Asuka's attempt at
humor. He unbuckled himself and jumped out of the Jeep. He caught up
quickly with Asuka, just as they found the objects of their trip.

"Kaoru-kun?" Shinji asked in a panicked voice, as he ran ahead of
Asuka, to kneel next to the gray-haired boy. He grabbed Kaoru's
shoulders and rolled him onto his back. "Kaoru! Can you hear me?" No
response. "Kaoru, what happened? Say something!"

Asuka caught up a heartbeat later, kneeling down next to him. "Very
dramatic," she said, sarcastically. "But he's just out. See?" she
asked, pointing to the boy's chest, which was still rising regularly
with breath.

"Yes, I know," Shinji replied quickly, nodding. "But what happened?
Where's Rei?"

"I think I see her," Asuka said. "No, don't get up. _I'll_ handle
Ayanami. Do something useful and get him into the truck."

"I don't know if we should move him, Asuka..."

The ground shook under the shock of some heavy impact. A loud, inhuman
roar could be heard not too far off. The challenge was soon answered
by other roars.

"Baka!" Asuka shouted, clipping Shinji in the head. "You want to leave
him out _here_? I'd take my chances with moving him."

Shinji cringed slightly at the hit, rubbing at his head. Then, he
looked down at Kaoru. He was about to try lifting the boy when he
paused, running his tongue along his teeth in thought.

^Who's driving the Eva?^ he asked himself. ^If Kaoru's out, then...

^Oh, no.^ He stood up.

"I'll be right back," he said to Kaoru's limp form. Then he trotted
off after Asuka.

He saw the girl standing next to a familiar shape on the ground. "How
is she?" he asked, out of breath from both the exertion and the
adrenaline rush.

Asuka's head snapped over to look at him, her eyes narrowing. "I said
go handle Nagisa," she said. She rolled her eyes, looking back to Rei
as she took a step forwards. "I'll tell you how she is in a min - "

She was cut off as she apparently walked into a wall. The air rippled
briefly, and then Asuka was thrown backwards, crash-landing not too far
away with a loud 'oof'.

"What?" Shinji asked, incredulous. He went over to Asuka and offered
his hand to let her up. Asuka just batted it away and got back to her
feet.

"Kleine Schlampe..." she cursed, under her breath. "What the hell..."

Dusting herself off, she got back to Rei, gingerly reaching out to
grasp at the air. At first, it looked like nothing would happen, but
then her hand was blown back, as though she'd been shocked.

Asuka cursed, holding her sore hand. "What is this?!"

"I don't..." Shinji said, shaking his head. "...it can't be an AT
field, right?"

"How should _I_ know?" Asuka snapped at him. "Look, baka Shinji, _you_
handle this. _I'll_ get Nagisa."

^Don't tell me she's afraid...^ he wondered, as he watched Asuka jog
off towards Kaoru. But this was neither the time or the place to be
thinking about something like that. Shinji slowly clenched one hand,
looking down at Rei. The girl was lying face-down in the dirt. He
couldn't even tell if she was still breathing. But...how to get close
to her?

He picked up a small rock from the ground, throwing it cautiously so it
would go over Rei, just in case the midair wall had vanished. He was
not so lucky; the rock deflected off, sailing back the way it had come
and nearly hitting Shinji in the process.

"Rei?" he asked, trying a different tack. "Rei, can you hear me?"

The girl didn't move.

"Rei? Rei, come on, don't do this..." he reached forwards, clenching
his jaw in anticipation of pain. But he stopped just short of the
field, as a wave of apprehension hit him. He stood up quickly, turning
to look back at the four Evas.

While the MP Evas were savage enough, they appeared docile next to
Units 00 and 04. Those two were battling with inhuman fervor. They
clawed, crushed, bit, and gored. Though they were armed with nothing
but their hands, they were no less devestating than their decidedly
better-armed opponents.

They were not machines; those would have been cold and precise. Nor
were they animals; those would have retained some vestigal concern for
their own well-being. These two Evas were something else entirely;
they were given over to a bloodlust he knew he would never comprehend.
While the MP Evas were frightening in their drive to destroy their
opponents, these were worse: they wished for nothing less than the
destruction of _everything_. Even themselves.

"They're berserk..." he muttered. "No one's controlling _any_ of
them..."

The fight raged on, nonetheless. One of the MP Evas - the one with the
spear - was backing away, holding its weapon at the ready.

The other MP Eva was also backing away, in the opposite direction.
Units 00 and 04 were standing back to back, flexing their hands as they
eyed their opponents.

Unit-04 charged first. Opening its mouth and emitting an almost
mournful howl, it charged at the spear-carrying MP. Unit-00 took off
after the other one, a moment later.

The other Evas were not to be caught off guard. Unit-04's target
switched its grip on the spear, holding it out horizontally. Unit-04's
shoulder pauldron snapped open and the Progressive knife within
deployed. Its opponent deftly blocked the first jab with the knife.
It had to stay on the defensive, though, as Unit-04 drew back its
lighter weapon and jabbed again. This maneuver was also deflected,
though not as well. The knife ended up getting past the MP Eva's guard
and snagging in its armpit. But this left Unit-04 open; now shoved
right up against the lance, it could not defend itself as the MP Eva
spun the large weapon down, burying it in 04's head. Shinji watched,
disgusted, as the Eva's skull cracked, the spear tip lodged in the
right side, with bits of brain leaking out.

Unit-04, however, didn't even seem to notice. It turned the knife so
the sharpened edge was facing up, grabbed with both hands, and threw
all its strength into one upward stroke.

Shinji blinked as the relatively tiny Prog Knife cut through the MP Eva
like butter. With a loud snapping noise, it slashed up through the
shoulder, freeing Unit-04 to step away, sliding off of the lance in the
process.

The MP Eva's arm, its bone sliced neatly, swung away, dangling by a
strip of flesh for a moment before that, too, gave out, and the limb
dropped to the ground. The MP Eva growled in pain and frustration,
holding its heavy weapon with its one remaining arm as it took a few
steps back. Blood poured from its stump, running in rivulets down its
side and leaving a trail on the ground as the Eva moved.

Unit-04 tried another swipe with the knife, but it was blocked, the MP
Eva somehow able to muscle its spear into position. Then the odd
flash of light appeared again on the MP Eva's head. Unit-04 jumped
back just in time to avoid a huge cross-flare burning stright up, right
where it had been a moment ago. Before the pillar of energy had
dissapated, the MP Eva had spread its wings and taken off, quickly
rising out of reach. Finally, it turned and fled, abandoning its
companion to its fate. The Eva had apparently realized that to stay
against these things, these machines turned monsters, would mean its
death.

Changing targets, Unit-04 turned and ran for Unit-00, leaving a trail
of its own blood and brain behind it, seeping through its head wound.
The blue Eva was having trouble with its opponent. The MP Eva had
taken to the air, staying tantalizingly out of reach. Yet it was still
capable of attacking; the eyes dotting its chest and head opened
periodically, spraying out an orange fluid that Unit-00 was hard-
pressed to avoid. The fluid hit the ground and hissed, bubbling as it
dissolved the very earth, amidst clouds of acrid smoke. If it could,
the MP Eva might have been laughing, crowing and taunting with mockery
most cruel as it rained shower after shower of deadly acid with
impunity, all the while remaining frustratingly out of reach for Unit-
00.

Unit-04 was added to this mix. The Eva skidded to a halt next to Unit-
00, spreading its AT field to block the acid tumult. Just as the
attack receded, Unit-04 cocked its arm and threw its Prog Knife. Even
missing one eye, it was still able to aim, and in this case had the
benefit of surprise. The MP Eva, caught off-guard, took the blade in
the chest, right through one of its numerous eyes. This hit a pressure
reserve of some kind, as the eye exploded, spraying out a fine mist of
deadly liquid in every direction. The Eva's wings went limp, either
from pain or surprise, and it plumetted.

Unit-00 was on the move already. Unit-04 tried to follow suit, but its
movements suddenly became sluggish, slowing down to a snail's pace and
finally dropping to nothing. Its joints locked, and it fell forwards,
landing heavily on its shattered face. Either finally dead from its
head injury or simply out of power, it looked as though it were staying
where it fell, this time.

It wasn't missed. Unit-00 plowed ahead through the acid fog, using its
AT field to negate that of the other Eva's, even what remained of its
armor plating began to sizzle and burn under the assault of the
corrosive liquid. It fell on the MP Eva with fervor, fists punching
like pistons. The MP Eva grabbed its arms in a feeble effort to defend
itself, holding back the next blows temporarily. Unit-00 shuddered
with the effort, then tensed, as smoke began drifting up from its arms,
where the MP Eva's hands touched it. It buried its foot into the MP
Eva's torso and pushed, tearing free of its grip.

The MP Eva's hands fell away, revealing two more eyes, one sitting in
each palm. It held its hands in front of it protectively, fingers
splayed, as both eyes sprayed acid onto its opponent.

Unit-00 held up one arm to defend its face, the orange fluid pouring
down it as it regained its footing and came at the Eva one last time.

Unit-00 grabbed the MP Eva's wrists, aiming the deadly palms away from
itself and giving it an opening to headbutt its opponent. The MP Eva's
skull nearly flattened under Unit-00's armored cranium. Shinji
cringed, watching.

Unit-00 fell to its grisly work. The MP Eva was torn limb from limb,
its torso ripped open and gutted like a fish. Finally, Unit-00 reached
in, clenched its hand on the red orb of the core, and squeezed.

Shinji turned his back to the impending explosion, both in the
interests of preserving his vision and to get a better look at Rei,
right as this happened. He tried to brace himself as he heard the
_crack_ of an explosion, but was still knocked off his feet by a
veritable _wall_ of sound as the shockwave hit. He caught himself,
forcing his head up to see Rei.

The girl moved, rolling over and arching her back, her skin taking on a
luminescent quality for a few long heartbeats. Shinji watched,
dumbstruck, as the girl eased herself back down, returned to 'normal',
having never opened her eyes.

He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "OK, then..."
he said to himself, going forward to try to pick up the girl. But he
was caught off-guard as the AT field around Rei shocked him backwards,
just as it had with Asuka.

"It's still..." he mumbled, reaching out.

He turned back to look at the Eva. It had stood up, apparently unfazed
by the explosive death of its foe. Perfectly ignorant of the carnage
around it - carnage that would, had he been seeing through Unit-00's
eye, have left him retching and weeping - it began to survey the
horizon. As blood and gore dripped down the giant machine like the
remnants of some sadistic baptism, it seemed distracted and pensive, as
a hound will seem when it acquires the scent of its prey. It was
looking for something alright - and not long after it found what was
calling it, as it locked its gaze somewhere to right of the
battlefield.

Blood dripped from the titan in a slow rain as Shinji looked on in
terror. It was looking for _something_, but _what_? With both Rei and
Kaoru unconscious and the Eva's stubborn refusal to shut down, no one
and nothing could stop the berserk machine if it did something drastic.
It was looking at something, sizing up something unseen, but the
question of what still dogged Shinji's mind. Was its target the
retreated MP Eva? Its former masters? Or something worse?

Shinji quickly realized, that, thankfully, it would not be a threat to
him, or Rei or Kaoru or Asuka.

But only because Unit-00 began walking, step after confident step,
toward its goal. It was not walking toward him; neither towards Asuka
nor towards the shattered remnants of their military support; but
towards somewhere further off on the horizon.

Towards the tiny, insignificant smudges dotted with the lights of
makeshift fires kindled in preparation for the coming night, the place
of the encampment, the place where he'd assured countless people
countless times that they'd be "safe."

A place now full of people totally unaware that what had once been
their greatest ally...

"NO! You _won't!_" Shinji screamed.

...was now walking there, with a strange sort of swagger...

"You mustn't!"

...and a confident step that spoke of self-assured impunity...

"You CAN'T!"

...and a look of murder in its eye.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Endnote: Nothing like a cliffhanger to keep people on their toes. Next
chapter's mostly done already.

By the way, anyone who tries to make anything out of Shinji and
Hikari's discussion, i.e. tries to say that means they're romantically
involved, will find themselves all alone in that respect, as that was
not the message I was trying to convey.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Started: January 1, 2002
Version 1 Ended: February 12, 2002
Version 2 Ended: March 1, 2002
Version 3 Ended: May 20, 2002
Version 4 Ended: June 29, 2002
Version 5 Ended: July 28, 2002

Thanks go to Ghost in the Shell for giving me the English-German
translation I needed. In case you're wondering, "Kleine Schlampe"
means "little bitch".

Thanks also go to the Avatar of Dragonia and Judging Eagle for
prereading. Extra thanks go to the Avatar of Dragonia, who
contributed ideas for a many of the scenes in this chapter.

My site can be located at
http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/shinjirei/index.html AND
http://www.geocities.com/otakusadist/index.html.

My e-mail address is still otakusadist@hotmail.com.