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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Note: 100 kilometers per hour (kph) about equals 60 miles per hour.
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" " = speech
^ ^ = thoughts
_ _ = italics
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Angels of Armageddon
Author: Ryan Xavier
Chapter 14: The Monster Within
One would think that the level of activity in a command center during a
battle would be something akin to a bees' nest. For the most part,
this was true of the command tent. But though people were moving with
the rapid efficiency that stemmed from training and experience, there
was an odd silence hanging in the air like a funeral shroud. No one
dared say anything in more than a whisper, even when transmitting
orders to troops. For all around the tent, people were looking up,
pausing in their work to see the events displayed on the television
screens set up against one wall.
On one of the screens, they could see one of the enemy Evas flying
away, its stump of an arm bleeding profusely. Its other arm, however,
still carried its long spear.
Each and every one of the other dozen screens was focused on something
other than the fleeing giant. On all of them, Unit-00 was busily
tearing the enemy Eva apart with its bare hands. Blood sprayed from
torn arteries, acid flowed from destroyed 'eyes' on its head, and
everywhere destroyed flesh could be seen lying about. Through it all,
the Eva was still twitching, still trying to defend itself, still
trying to remain alive.
More and more people looked up from their work, entranced by the grisly
sight on the monitors. Finally, Unit-00 plunged its hand deep into the
enemy Eva's gut, pulling the red orb up to the surface. It studied the
core for a moment, then turned its head to look at the remains of the
MP Eva's skull, as though gloating over its imminent vicotry. The MP
Eva's jaw opened and closed, unable to scream its defiance. Finally,
Unit-00 squeezed, crushing it as though it were no stronger than an
eggshell.
The resulting explosion blocked out their view for almost a full
minute, as the flash blinded the cameras set up on the battlefield.
Some people reflexively covered their eyes, but still, no one in the
command tent made a noise. By now, the silence in the tent had become
complete.
Finally, the effects of the flash cleared enough for an image to come
through. Now, Unit-00 was standing erect again, looking around as
though in search of another opponent, even though both enemies were now
gone, one destroyed and one fled. And _still_, no one in the tent said
anything.
Finally, Unit-00 looked towards the camp, its 'eye' lining up almost
perfectly with one of the cameras. Its fists clenched and it began to
move, slowly at first, then more quickly, towards the camp.
A moment passed, as it registered around the tent just what was
happening. Finally, someone in the tent broke the icy silence.
"Shit."
That was the trigger. All of a sudden, the command tent exploded back
into a fury of activity, with people yelling into radios, rattling off
reports, and lining up pieces on maps.
"Rei! Nagisa!" Misato was shouting into a radio. "Either of you?
_Anyone_! Answer me!" She paused for a heartbeat's worth of static.
"Unit-00's coming this way! Shut it down, now!" Still, nothing but
static as a reply.
Behind her, several American operators were giving evacuation commands
to the shelters they'd set up. They tried very hard not to look or
sound strained, even though they knew there wasn't nearly enough time
to get everyone away.
Lewis, however, was doing something different. "All units, change of
targets!" he commanded into his radio. "Switch to target Delta, repeat
target Delta! Fire at will!"
And again, the war machines stationed around the camp and battlefield
began to open fire. This time, however, they targeted Unit-00, the
thing that until five minutes ago had been their staunch ally. Only a
few of the large guns were in a position to hit it, unfortunately; the
rest had been stationed further out on the battlefield and would have
to roll around to a better location to get a good shot.
The shots had about the same effect as they had on the enemy Eva.
Every bullet, every missile, every bit of shrapnel deflected off the
glowing hexagons of Unit-00's AT field. It continued its advance, now
almost upon the camp. But it still turned away briefly, crushing a gun
emplacement that had had the audacity to stand in its way.
Lewis winced, briefly as the screams of the men on the emplacement cut
off suddenly in a burst of static over the comm channels. He paused,
briefly. Misato looked at him, meeting his eyes but saying nothing.
Yet the look on her face told volumes.
Lewis finally nodded, bringing the radio back up to his mouth. "All
units..." he muttered into it. "All units...fall back. Repeat, break
off engagement."
There was a brief, angered reply, likely one of the soldiers contesting
the order. Lewis shouted back a reply which was mostly expletives,
then slammed the radio down so hard the casing cracked.
Misato mouthed "sorry" at the American commander, then turned back to
the televisions.
"Oh, my God..."
* * *
"Oh, my God..."
Shinji could only watch the destruction, helpless. The Americans were
putting up their best efforts, slinging everything they could at the
out-of-control Eva, all for naught. They were being slaughtered
piecemeal, as the Eva went from one attacker to the next. Even though
their rounds couldn't hope to damage it, their resistance still got its
attention. But this was their undoing; in its current state, anything
Unit-00 focused its attention on was what died next.
He was shaking. He couldn't even stand still, watching it. At least,
that was what he thought. After another moment, he became aware of a
pressure on his arm. That, and someone shouting in his ear.
"Hey!" Asuka was yelling, as she shook him. "Hey, baka Shinji! Snap
out of it!"
Shinji blinked, jumping a little as he focused again. "Asuka..."
"I know!" she shouted at him. "I know, believe me! Now stop standing
around like some idiot and _do_ something!"
Shinji blinked. ^She's...asking _me_? Does that mean she doesn't know
what to do either?^
"I..." he stammered. ^What am I supposed to do? Someone help...^
"Come on!" Asuka shouted, dragging him over to Kaoru's limp form.
"Asuka, what're you doing?"
"We came out here to get them," she grumbled, kneeling down and taking
the pale boy by his shoulders. "Might as well do _that_ much." She
gestured with a jerk of her chin towards his feet. Shinji got the
message and took Kaoru's legs, lifting him up.
It was fortunate that the Jeep's top was down; that made it much easier
to lever him into the back. Now that just left...
Asuka was looking at him, now. Her face seemed to be asking a
question, and he wasn't sure he knew what it was. She almost looked
like she was ready to leave. One hand was already on the driver's
door.
^But...Rei's still back there...^
Maybe Asuka read the answer off his face. More likely, she made her
own decision, like always. Whatever the cause, she let go of the door
and took Shinji's hand, pulling him sharply away from the Jeep and
towards Rei. Her grip was a little too tight; she was practically
cutting off circulation. And this time, instead of grumbling, she was
strangely quiet, walking with a resolve Shinji envied every time he saw
it in her.
She stopped a few meters away from Rei. Still saying nothing, she
looked up at Shinji. This time, he could tell what she was asking: how
the hell were they supposed to get Rei out of here, when they couldn't
even get _near_ her? If that force field was still there...
Asuka reached out, and sure enough, her hand was blown back by some
invisible force. Rubbing her sore fingers and clenching her teeth in
pain, she backed off. Now, her face looked exactly as it had back at
the Jeep. She looked like she was half a heartbeat away from just
walking off, leaving Rei to whatever fate awaited her.
Shinji tried reaching forwards, with the simple disbelief that this
could be happening. It was just too much, too fast...
He felt it. A jolt through his arm, like grabbing a live wire. His
body shuddered with the force. But it didn't hurt, somehow. He tried
pushing, and it pushed back, just as hard. He put his other hand on
the 'wall' in front of him. Still, it didn't hurt. Now he could smell
something burning. But it also felt like something was giving...
Finally, the shield gave way, so suddenly that he lost his balance and
tumbled forwards, catching himself with his hands before his face could
hit the ground.
Then, it started to hurt.
He was lucky he was already on the ground; otherwise, he'd have fallen
from the shock of it. It felt like he was on fire.
Fire. Burning. He looked at his shaking palms. The skin had been
scorched brown by the energy of that...that...whatever-it-was that had
been in the way. It was still smoking, a little.
"Baka!" Asuka shouted, kneeling down next to him. "Are you OK? Oh,
shit...no, you're not. Shinji, you colassal _idiot_!"
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Can it. C'mon, might as well..." She was back to grumbling, as she
lifted Rei. Shinji tried to help, but it felt as though the strength
had gone from his fingers. It hurt to even move his hands.
"Oh, forget it and get in the truck," Asuka chided him. "I'll handle
this." She started dragging Rei along the ground by her armpits, the
blue-haired girl's head lolling about on her neck with each shift and
bump.
"Sorry," he said again.
"I said forget it," Asuka said, her voice not as angry this time.
"Just wait for me. When this is over, we're getting you looked at, got
it?"
"Right."
Finally, they were all back in the Jeep. Asuka half lifted, half threw
Rei into the back, alongside Kaoru, then she jumped into the driver's
seat.
"So now what?" Shinji asked.
"Now we see what we can do," Asuka said, her voice serious. She
started the engine. "Even if it's stupid to go back."
She hit the gas, turning them around and heading back towards the camp.
Because now, the Eva had run out of military machines to destroy, and
had turned its attention to the ramshackle structures that stood before
it.
* * *
A demon, clad in blue armor and seeing through one unblinking red eye,
descended on the encampment. Its enormous hands flexed, becoming fists
which it plowed into buildings with reckless abandon. Concrete, steel,
flesh and blood, they made no difference. All that mattered was
carrying out its assigned purpose of destruction. Anything that lay in
its path was to be annihilated, quickly and utterly.
Shelters collapsed at the slightest nudge from the monster. Vehicles
and equipment were crushed as though they were no more substantial than
paper. The very earth split under its heavy feet, tortured into wide
crevasses around its footprints.
But still, it desired...no, _needed_ more. Its head tracked back and
forth as it stomped through the encampment. Its eye finally locked
onto a building where it could feel the presence of living souls. It
advanced hungrily, knocking over everything between it and its target.
The building was made a bit more solidly than the others it had
encountered so far. Its walls were freshly made, with reinforced
concrete making a hard shell around its occupants. It also appeared to
be built deeper, with the souls contained within hiding under the
illusion that they were safe.
The building's roof shattered under the Eva's hand. The sound of human
screaming filled the air, even over the roar of buildings collapsing.
The Eva shoved the walls in, sending an avalanche of concrete and steel
reinforcement beams onto the building's pitifully weak inhabitants. A
satsifyingly large number of the forms inside stopped moving.
But some kept going, running out of an exit it hadn't bothered to take
into account. They ran, trying to get to freedom, trying to outrun the
monster outside. But the pitifully weak humans did not realize that
Death had come for them, in the form of one of their own creations.
And there was no running from the inevitable. They died under Eva's
feet like so many ants, leaving spreading pools of red surrounding
piles of flesh and bone that might have once been alive.
There were still more, however. It looked to another direction, then
another. All around it were groups of lives, some under constructions
like this, others cowering under less substantial cover. But through
it all, one life in particular stood out. Something that had been
burned in its digitized memory from the moment of its rebirth was
triggered: the desire to finish what had been started years before. To
destroy the enemy it alone had killed, and which now stood alive
again.
Eva-00 shivered with anticipation as it approached.
* * *
Ariel shuddered, suddenly, feeling an itch between her shoulders.
She looked behind her, but no one was there. Well, no one who was
looking at her, anyway. Currently, she and many other of the
inhabitants of the camp were stuffed into this hastily crafted bunker,
sealed inside something that could at least withstand a little
punishment. It was rather cozy, by necessity; the Americans hadn't had
time to pour very large shelters for them.
The ground was shaking regularly, with the recoil of guns and the
footsteps of giants. No one could really tell what was going on
outside, as the tremors were coming almost continuously, from different
distances.
It was nothing to be afraid of, she told herself. It had just felt
like someone was staring at her. That was to be expected, of course.
She was surrounded by people. And as Asuka had explained to her in
great detail, several of the 'perverts' - otherwise known as males -
found her attractive. It should come as no surprise that someone was
staring at her.
But, yet...
Something felt...
..._wrong_.
She felt it again. Someone...no, some_thing_...was looking at her.
Searching for her. Something less than human, something...feral. It
had found her scent. And now, it was descending on her like the
predator it was.
She forced herself to remain calm, in spite of her accelerating pulse
roaring in her ears. She knew better than to pass off these feelings
as simple nervousness about the situation. She looked around again,
trying to look casual and only partially succeding. She backed up a
little, and almost had a heart attack as she bumped into something.
"Oh!" came a voice behind her. Ariel turned quickly, seeing that it
was Hikari.
"Sorry about that," the brown-haired girl said in a shaky voice. "Just
too crowded, that's all."
"Something's wrong," Ariel said before she could stop herself. ^Idiot.
Why should I tell them anything?^
Hikari nodded. "Well, don't worry...it'll all be over soon."
"No, no," Ariel said, shaking her head emphatically. She put her hands
on Hikari's shoulders. "Something's gone wrong. We...we have to get
out. _Now_." She found that she couldn't help but try warn the girl
in front of her. Try as she might, she couldn't keep the emotional
detachment she'd become accustomed to in the sea of LCL.
"But, Ni-san, you're being silly."
Even as Hikari said this, however, a radio crackled. A voice started
barking out orders to the few American troops assigned to this bunker.
Hikari couldn't understand, as the words were in English, but Ariel
heard them loud and clear:
"All units, target Gamma is out of control. Repeat, target Gamma is
out of control. Evac all shelters. Move to quadrant three, under
supporting fire. Repeat, evac..."
Immediately, the troops got up, shouldering their machine guns and
shouting to the crowd inside. "Everyone, listen up! We have to move,
_now_!"
Hikari blinked, and then her eyes widened a little. "Wh...what's
happening?" Ariel didn't answer. Already, she could feel it. Through
the background noise of the constant shaking, one sound was prominent:
a single, powerful tremor, coming at regular intervals. Footsteps.
"I don't know," Touji answered, from behind her. "But c'mon, let's get
moving."
"R...right." But still, Hikari looked questioningly at Ariel, who was
now moving along with them.
Hikari got a few more steps before she stopped dead, much to the
annoyance of the people behind her.
Touji tried tugging on her sleeve, but the girl wouldn't move.
"Hikari? Hey, c'mon, we have to move."
"T-Touji?"
"Yeah?"
"I...I...I..."
"Look, we have to get moving, like the guys with the guns say. Can you
tell me while we're leaving?"
"I...I..."
Touji paused, as well, feeling that something was wrong. "What?" he
asked, concerned. "What's wrong, Hikari?"
"Touji, I..." the girl swallowed. "...I think my water just broke."
The boy blinked. "You...you're kidding."
Hikari shook her head, oblivious to the people shuffling around them.
"N-no, I..."
She was interrupted by the sound of concrete splitting.
As one, everyone in the shelter looked up, to see four giant holes
appear in the far wall, each hole accomodating one gigantic finger. A
large crack spread out from them, forming a circle of wall which pulled
away. Outside, they could see a titanic foot, clad in blue armor.
Even though they were all familiar with what this foot belonged to,
some primal instinct still triggered in most of the people. Much like
Ariel had some minutes before, they could detect that something was,
well..._wrong_.
Screams broke out in a thunderous wave, which was drowned out as the
roof began to cave in. The people, already in the process of
evacuating, charged towards the exit in a mass, shoving each other out
of the way, trampling those who tripped, all to try and get another
second of life. The slower ones met their fate, watching as the bunker
collapsed onto their heads.
Outside, people ran away in all directions, some of them screaming,
others saving their breath to run. The pair of American soldiers that
had made it out were backing away, watching shocked as the Eva stepped
away from the crumpled bunker, and surveyed its work. One of them
snapped, whipping his machine gun around and squeezing the trigger as
soon as he was aimed in the general direction of the armored monster.
His partner followed suit a moment later.
Their bullets weren't even noticed. Instead of haphazardly destroying
everyone in its way as it had moments earlier, it searched, looking
through the rapidly dispersing crowd until its gaze locked on one
person in particular. It started moving towards that person, its foot
just barely missing the American soldiers.
Behind it, the soldiers, having run out of ammo, watched helplessly as
the thing continued on its rampage. One of them pulled out a radio and
delivered a status report, while the other one looked behind them, at
the bunker, before realzing that not everyone had gotten out.
Immediately, he started digging through the rubble, his hands going
bloody on the sharp rock, his blood mingling with what was already
there. The other one joined in, both of them looking for anyone who
might still be breathing.
* * *
She had never run so fast before in her short human life, she knew that
much. Ariel's legs were pumping hard, sending her on a headlong
sprint, through the abandoned encampment and among the shelters that
had been people's homes until just now.
It was coming for her. She could feel it behind her, watching her try
to escape. Then, it began to move, one step after another.
^Why do you run?^
The voice sounded in her mind. Ariel blinked, but didn't let the
distraction keep her from running.
^Why do you run, Fifteenth? Do you not know what confronts you?^
Its was a voice she knew well. Only this time, instead of the
emotionless monotone she'd grown to expect from Zero, there was an
undercurrent of hatred, of a bloodlust surpassing all belief, which
would only be sated with her death.
^Do you not remember that which destroyed you? It is futile to try to escape.^
_It_ was gaining on her. Now, its footsteps were shaking the ground
under her feet. She tripped, then caught herself, continuing on her
sprint and trying not to notice the sounds of shelters crumbling behind
her, carelessly brushed out of the way by the giant bent on destroying
her.
She was finally knocked off her feet, tumbling to the ground. But it
had not been the Eva which had made the ground buck under her, this
time. Rather, one of the American missile batteries had finally gotten
into position, and its projectiles had just roared by, impacting on the
AT field and exploding into fireballs. Unit-00 swayed from the
inertia, but was otherwise unaffected. However, it slowed momentarily,
turning its head to look at the launcher half a klick away and
considering which target it would rather destroy first.
It was long enough for Ariel to get back to her feet and start running
again, though now her legs were burning and her breath was coming in
gasps. She didn't know where she was running _to_, she just let her
legs go where they wished, just to _get_away_.
She felt another shiver, but different this time. She chanced a look
over her shoulder. She'd meant for it to be a quick glance, but found
she had to tear her eyes away from the sight after a few seconds, if
she was going to keep running. For now, she had all the more reason to
get away from that _thing_.
Unit-00 hunched over, its hands clenching and its body quivering with
some kind of collossal effort. Something began to give, groaning
loudly before in finally cracked and broke.
The large shoulder pauldrons of Unit-00 snapped off, falling to the
ground in a shower of metal and wires and blood. The rest of the Eva
contorted briefly, muscles rippling as they were finally freed from
their restraints. On the arms, armor plating popped free, joining the
rest of the mess on the ground. Revealed were bulging muscles, eerily
human in appearance, from the shoulders almost down to the elbows.
Something else creaked and gave way. The lower part of the armor
encasing Unit-00's head snapped off, clanging off its foot and skidding
to a halt. Bone creaked and flesh tore, as something pulled away. It
was...
...a jaw.
Unit-00 had grown a mouth. Long and thin, and lined with pointed
teeth, along with an incredibly long tongue that lolled about, running
over the raw, bloody edge of the jaw and even over part of the casing
remaining on its head.
Breath hissed between its teeth. Its chest swelled suddenly, as it
threw back its head and let out an earth-shattering roar, so loud that
Ariel was very nearly deafend by it.
It was all the girl could do to keep running.
* * *
"Christ..." Lewis cursed under his breath, watching the monitors. As
far as he could tell, the Eva had figured out they were over here. It
was already on its way, stomping towards the command tent. He didn't
know _what_ the hell had just happened with the shedding armor bit, but
he could guess that it wasn't good.
He turned to look back at the command tent. Though most of the people
there were still faithfully going about their tasks, they couldn't hide
the lost looks on their faces when they looked to him, hoping for some
kind of direction.
He didn't bother asking Misato or the others to try and take command of
the rampaging Eva. Just by the similar expressions on their faces, he
knew it would be useless.
"All right, everyone clear out of here," he ordered the people in the
tent. "Take what you can carry, get to the trucks, and get moving."
About one-third of the people immediately got up, grabbed some loose
items around their workstations, and headed for the exit. The others,
however, stayed put, with expressions ranging from nervousness to
defiance.
One of the latter stood up. "Sir, do you mean - " he tried to begin.
Lewis turned on him, giving him a practiced, narrow-eyed stare he knew
from experience could crush nearly anyone's confidence. Sure enough,
the other man got quiet, real fast. He took a step back and swallowed,
looking like he was going to say something else. Lewis' hand went to
his hip.
"I've given you an order," Lewis said before he could speak. He made
sure to keep his voice cold. "Now I'm telling you one more time to get
out."
That was enough to get everyone else moving. The man who'd stood up
was now rather white, and was one of the next people out the door.
Lewis took his hand off of his gun and switched to Japanese.
"Sometimes you have to be that way with them," he said, not looking
behind himself. He could feel their stares on his back, and that was
enough. "I just _had_ to go and bring rookies in here...they don't
realize you're supposed to follow orders, without question."
Now he turned, facing Misato and the handful of Japanese personnel.
"But I recommend you get out of here, too." With that, he headed for
the door.
There was a flurry of activity behind him as the scene was repeated,
albeit without the argument or the threats. People ran past him,
heading for some of the cars and trucks parked nearby. The air filled
with the sound of engines revving up, followed shortly by tires
squealing.
Lewis stopped, closing his eyes and clenching a fist. "Shit," he
mumbled. "I'm just a damn idiot, that's all. Just a god-damned,
_fucking_ idiot." He turned around, just in time to see Misato come
jogging out of the tent. He tried very hard not to notice the form of
Unit-00 approaching them all too rapidly. He wasn't entirely
successful.
"You," he said, pointing at the woman. "Yes, I know what you're going
to say."
Misato shook her head. "No, I understand. You can't help anyone if
you're dead, right? To tell you the truth, I'd probably have cleared
out sooner."
^Thanks for the vote of confidence,^ Lewis thought sarcastically.
"Anyway, can you drive?" The ground rumbled now, as Unit-00
approached. He thought it looked at him.
Misato cracked a grin. "I get by."
Lewis didn't like the look of that grin, but he figured he'd have to
put up with it. He dug around in his pocket and came out with the keys
to his Land Rover.
"Take it," he said, tossing her the keys. "Get everyone you can, and
get out of here."
Misato looked at the keys in her hand. "But, Major, what will - "
"I know you're not under my command, Katsuragi," he interrupted her.
"But _believe_ me, I'm _not_ in the mood to argue. Take it," he said,
his hand going to his hip again, "or leave it."
Misato's lips tightened a little at this, but then she mentally
shrugged and ran to the waiting truck. At least the steering wheel was
on the side she was used to. The truck's engine roared as she put the
keys in.
Lewis, however, did not try to get away.
Cursing under his breath, he strode resolutely back into the now-vacant
command tent. He continued his pace, even in the eerie silence of the
room that had just recently been the site of so much activity. He went
over to a communicator set up near one wall. He picked up the
telephone-like receiver.
Lewis pulled a scrap of paper out of one pocket. On it was a long
string of numbers. Very carefully and deliberately, he started keying
them into the communicator, the tones sounding clearly in the death-
like silence of the tent, broken only by the distant crashes of the
monster's footsteps.
"God forgive me..." he mumbled, as the line 'clicked', registering an
open connection.
"Hello, it's..." he tried to begin. He stopped. He turned around,
looking back out the tent flap. Out there, he could see almost
everyone running away. But some had stopped and looked back. Some
were instantly crushed, but others, the ones who'd gotten further away,
not had an excellent view of the monster destroying their homes.
Lewis' hand clenched into a fist, crushing the paper into a tight ball.
"Hey, Major, how are you getting away..." came a familiar voice.
Misato stepped back into the tent.
The two looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. Then
Lewis hung up the receiver, without looking.
"What're you doing?" Misato asked, suspicious.
"That's my line," he replied. "Why didn't you get away?"
"Forgive me for being a little worried," Misato countered, defensively.
"But if _I'm_ taking _your_ truck, how are you planning to escape?"
Lewis hesitated. "I'll think of something," he said, quickly.
"Now...get out. Get as far away as you can."
"Why so?" Misato asked, her eyes narrowing.
Lewis hesitated again, trying to think up a suitable answer. It was
just then that tires shrieked and a Jeep skidding into view in front of
the tent. A familiar redhead was in the driver's seat.
"Misato!" Asuka shouted. "Misa...hey? Where's everyone?" Beside her
in the passenger seat, Shinji was looking around quizzically, his
expresion asking the same question.
Misato answered without taking her eyes off of Lewis. "They're gone,"
she said. "Everyone's trying to get clear."
"Yeah, and they're the smart ones," Lewis added on, heading towards the
tent flap. Misato stepped in front of him, blocking his path. But he
just put one hand on her shoulder and moved her out of the way, not in
the mood to even talk to her at the moment. He exited the tent and
went up to the Jeep. "So what're you doing here?" he asked, sounding
far too interested.
"We came back to see if we could help out," Shinji explained.
"But...did we come too late?"
"Observant one, aren't you?" Lewis commented sarcastically. He turned
his gaze on Asuka. "Now move it, girl, and let me in."
"Oh, wait a minute," Asuka contested. "I can drive this thing - "
"WAIT!" a near-hysterical voice screamed behind them. Asuka, Shinji,
and Lewis all turned to see Ariel sprinting towards them.
"Let me on!" she shouted.
"All right, get in the back!" Asuka shouted back.
Unit-00 was now almost upon them. The Jeep shook on its suspension
almost continuously, with the huge footsteps coming from behind it.
The command tent trembled, and a few small groups of people ran by,
screaming or just trying to get away. Amidst the bedlam, Lewis saw his
opportunity.
He leaned over and hit the release for Asuka's seat belt. It retracted
with a quick 'snap'. Just as the girl was turning her gaze towards
him, he put one arm under her shoulders and another under her legs, and
bodily _threw_ her out of the driver's seat, over the center console,
and into the passenger seat, on top of Shinji.
He swung into the Jeep, just Ariel made it up to them. She vaulted the
rear bumper and collapsed into the back seat.
"Believe me girl, this _isn't_ the time to argue with me," Lewis
growled out, gunning the engine. He glanced out the window, to where
Misato now stood in the entrance of the tent, glaring at him.
"Get outta here, Katsuragi! You don't wanna hang around!" he shouted
at her, just before he floored the gas pedal.
The Jeep's tires spun for a heartbeat before finally finding purchase
and launching them forwards. Everyone was thrown back in their seats,
grabbing onto whatever was handy to try and steady themselves. The
Jeep's engine screamed into the high RPM's, carrying them off. Lewis
shifted hard, jerking them in their seats again as their speed
increased.
All of them, one after another, looked back. Sure enough, the deranged
form of Unit-00 had taken notice of the truck.
And now, it was coming for them.
* * *
^It is useless, Fifteenth.^
^No.^ She refused. She could not, _would_ not, give up. For all its
drawbacks, life as a lilum was infinitely preferable to death...or
outright oblivion. Considering what was hunting her, total erasure
from existence was a possibility she couldn't ignore.
At the front of the truck, Lewis was driving like a man possessed. The
gargantuan form of Unit-00 was closing them even as the Jeep bounced
over the unpaved terrain at well over 100 kph, and still accelerating.
Each bump sent Ariel flying, as she lacked the support of a seat belt.
Asuka had the same problem, given her position.
Asuka, however, was much more vocal about her discomfort. "You can't
just shove me out of the way like some kid!" she was shouting at Lewis,
who was doing such a good job ignoring her that it was conspicuous.
"You don't have the right!" When the American didn't respond, she
continued throwing curses at him. But she didn't try to physically
back up her words, as she so very often did with Shinji. Even if she
didn't say so, Asuka knew there would be time for that later, when they
_weren't_ flying over the ground at a speed that could only be termed
suicidal.
But still, Asuka could not sit quietly. So instead, she turned towards
her next target; specifically, the boy she was sitting on.
"And don't _you_ go getting any funny ideas, baka Shinji!" she yelled
to be heard over the Jeep's engine. "I better not feel anything
rubbing against me!"
Ariel had discovered that she was in a similar position. The back seat
had been occupied when she'd jumped in, unfortunately. The limp,
unconscious forms of both Kaoru and Rei were sprawled on the small rear
seat, leaving her uncomfortably positioned on top of both of them.
Ariel tried not to touch Rei; the mere thought of coming into contact
with Zero sickened her. But the bouncing of the Jeep left her little
say in the matter.
Unit-00 was approaching. It didn't look like it was exerting itself at
all to match their speed. Indeed, its newly-formed jaw almost seemed
curled into a twisted grin of anticipation. It knew that it had them.
It was just a matter of how long it wanted to let them run.
"Speed up!" Asuka was shouting, now. "It's gaining!"
"It's already floored!" Lewis shouted back. "We can't go any faster,
not when we're hauling six people!"
^I know who it wants,^ Ariel thought. ^I'm putting them all in danger.^
Well, Zero she would just as soon let die with her, and Tabris too.
But the other three...she found that she had some pang of guilt,
thinking about the fate they would share with her. All because she'd
wanted to try preserving her life a little bit, by jumping into
something that could move, once her legs had refused to go any further.
This was Zero's fault. It _had_ to be. Zero had done nothing but make
her existence into hell, from the moment of her creation. Even before
her commitment to the sea of souls, Zero had been there, to destroy
her. And now, the bitch was going to finish the job.
Ariel turned on Rei, who was still lying there, eyes closed, apparently
asleep. She was having a hard time deciding which was the more
fearsome monster at the moment; the blue giant that was now under a
hundred meters from their rear bumper, or the albino girl lying
placidly before her.
Something got her attention: a faint sound, a moan. Tabris. He was
turning, rolling over where he lay. His eyes cracked open, groggily.
"You!" Ariel shouted, pouncing on him. "Wake up! Wake up, damn you!"
Kaoru blinked, looking at her with glazed eyes. He let out another low
groan.
"WAKE UP!" Ariel screamed. She drew her hand back and slapped him,
hard, on the cheek. Not enough. She hit him again. And again. And
again. His head jerked back and forth, under her blows, until finally,
his eyes snapped open. His hand shot up, grabbing her wrist as she
tried to slap him again. He fixed her with the familiar burning stare,
silencing her.
Ariel now became aware of the noises behind her. Asuka and Shinji were
both saying something, both asking what it was she was doing, probably.
She could barely hear them over the breath of Unit-00, which was now so
close it seemed she could touch it.
Kaoru looked up, at the demonic form of Unit-00 descending on them.
Without a word, he threw Ariel off of him and righted himself, standing
up on his knees in the Jeep's seat. Steadying himself with one hand on
the roll bar, he held his other hand out towards the Eva, as though he
actually _did_ intend to touch it.
Unit-00 continued towards them. Now, it reached out its hand,
mimicking Kaoru. The boy began breathing harder, his brow furrowing
with the effort of what he was trying to do. Unit-00's fingers hung
over them. Ariel backed away reflexively, falling down in between the
seats and getting stuck. She was helpless, only able to watch, as the
blue hand came down on her.
Then, Unit-00 stopped.
The blue fingers shot backwards as the Eva stopped short. They clipped
the spare tire, ripping off the whole tailgate and making the Jeep jerk
sideways in a heart-stopping lurch. By some miracle, Lewis was able to
keep them from flipping over, slamming on the brakes and fighting with
the wheel. They fishtailed, then went into a spin over the dusty
terrain, finally crashing to a halt after several complete revolutions.
The Eva was now in front of them, several hundred meters away. It
stumbled, trying to take a few more steps. It stretched its arm
towards the Jeep that was now out of its reach. It tripped and fell to
its knees, shaking the Jeep on its suspension with the crash. It kept
reaching for them, trying now to crawl forward with one arm as its
other hand still stretched towards them. Finally, though, it slumped,
its head plowing into the ground and its outstretched arm finally going
limp.
But, even as the Eva fell still, Ariel heard its last call.
^Consider yourself lucky, Fifteenth. You have not avoided fate.
Merely delayed it.^
No one dared speak, for several long heartbeats. Kaoru, it turned out,
was the first to break the stunned silence.
"Sorry," he said, a rare word coming from him. He took a minute to try
and catch his breath. "I couldn't control the Eva directly. But..." -
another gasp for breath - "it turns out I was...able to cut its link to
the S2 engine. It still...fought a bit, though."
Lewis just grunted out a halfhearted reply, vaguely in the affirmative.
No one else said anything.
"But I believe we should be heading back," Kaoru said. "Rei...needs to
see a doctor, and I..." he didn't finish. His eyes were already
closing again. He slumped in the seat.
Another affirmative grunt from Lewis. They didn't move for a few
minutes, before the man finally shook it off and got them going, giving
the fallen machine a very wide berth as the headed back.
Asuka looked back, at Ariel, who was still jammed between the seats.
"Are you OK?" she asked. Her eyes looked up a little, and she smiled,
just a bit. "I guess you're not. But I guess I can't blame you, huh?"
Ariel looked up to where Asuka had been looking. She saw a large wet
spot on the seat, mirrored by a similar moist spot soaking through her
pants. She hadn't even noticed...
"I'll be all right," she finally said. "Just...give me some time."
"I think we'll all need some time," Asuka said, quietly. Then she
looked back to Shinji. "And you, don't you go getting ideas. I don't
do lap dances. Often."
* * *
He stirred in bed, rolling over before groggily opening his eyes.
"Sempai, he's waking up."
"Good. Just run a quick check on him. He just needs some rest."
Maya held up a hand. "How many fingers am I holding up, Nagisa-san?"
His red eyes struggled to focus. "Four," he slurred out, a few seconds
later.
Maya looked at the two fingers she'd been holding up, as though to make
sure _she_ wasn't the one seeing things. "Uh...right," she said,
slowly. "Sempai's got it, I think. You need some rest."
"Your..." he tried to say. Maya, who'd been turning away, stopped and
looked back.
Kaoru swallowed. "Your...fingers." He blinked, and for a moment
looked fully awake. "What...what happened to them? They're
all...red."
Maya again looked at her fingers. As Kaoru had noted, her hand was
bloody, with multiple cuts and scrapes. Her other hand, however, was
still sealed in a tight-fitting leather glove, the condition of its
skin hidden from the world. The woman had taken to wearing it every
day now.
"Well..." she said, then paused, looking at him.
"I _know_ I should be sleeping," he replied, sounding almost angry.
"But...tell me, Maya-san. I'm interested."
"Well...Unit-00 went berserk" she answered. "The Dummy Plug
activated."
Kaoru nodded knowingly. "Yes..."
"And, well...a lot of people got hurt. We had to dig a bunch of them
out of the rubble. Everyone...everyone helped."
Kaoru again nodded. "That is...encouraging, I suppose."
Maya tried to smile. "It isn't as bad as we...well, it could have been
worse, I guess."
Kaoru blinked again. He thought he could see wetness on the woman's
cheeks, but through the blur that had settled into his vision, he
couldn't be sure.
A small cry to his side got his attention. Kaoru turned his head. It
was a sound he'd known he should hear, but yet in his state, it caught
him off guard. A low moaning, one of utter and complete despair.
"Oh, yeah," Maya said, remembering. "Sorry, we had to group you in
here with Horaki-san and a few others. There isn't enough room in the
tents for everyone."
"Oh..." he said, dazedly. "Don't tell me I'm...sitting in here, when
someone's outside who...needs your attentions more than I." To this,
Maya said nothing. Kaoru had the distinct impression that that _was_
indeed the case. But he could sense that an argument would be a waste
of what precious little energy he had to spare.
"What...happened?" he asked, still looking at the Hikari-colored blur
not far from him. The girl looked like she was slowly rocking back
and forth.
"Well..." Maya tried to begin. But then there was a brief choked
sound, and one hand went to her mouth. "It can wait," she said
quickly. "I...I'm sorry. It's like you said. There's other people I
need to see."
"What about Suzuhara?" Kaoru asked the woman's back as she left,
feeling his focus starting to return. He thought about sitting up, but
he didn't try it, just yet. Maya ventured no response to his question.
She just slipped out of the room.
He closed his eyes, trying to conserve his strength. But he couldn't
concentrate. He kept hearing the low, strained sounds come from Hikari,
no matter how much the girl tried to hold them in.
"I suppose I could answer your question," came another familiar voice.
One he'd have preferred not to hear. Kaoru wearily turned his head, to
see the white-haired form sitting next to his bed.
"Suzuhara covered her when the walls caved in," Ariel explained,
without prompting. "That's why Horaki got out all ri..." she seemed to
catch herself. "Well, why she's here."
"Is he - " Kaoru tried to ask. He was interrupted by the sounds of an
argument outside the door. There were several raised voices, growing
louder by the second, until finally Ritsuko's voice said that it was
all right. Moments later, Touji walked - well, more like limped - in
through the entrance.
Kaoru could see the boy was heavily favoring one leg, and one of his
hands was wrapped in a ball of bandages. His head was also bandaged,
but his eyes were clear. The dark-skinned boy looked over to Hikari.
Neither said anything. He just headed over to her and took her up in
his arms. Kaoru could hear the sound of both of them sobbing. It
sounded like they'd been holding it in for quite some time, now.
"So he is well, I suppose," Kaoru whispered. "But then, why..."
"Well, there were complications, so to speak," Ariel said, answering
him before he could even formulate the question. She paused, looking
at his quizzical expression. "Figure it out, you...I believe the word
is 'baka'," she finished.
Kaoru's mind tried to churn through the problem. It was difficult, as
his thought processes were still a little muddied. So Hikari was here,
obviously. Toji had gotten out alive, if nothing else. So they were
all right, even after that stressful time. Well, stress could cause
people to break down.
It could also...
"Oh...no..." Kaoru said, slowly, looking back at Ariel. The girl just
looked at him, nodding slightly. It might have just been because of
his injury, but he thought he could see real sadness around her eyes,
leaking out even through her commendable self-control.
"No...no..." Kaoru said, shaking his head.
"Quiet," Ariel said sharply, cutting him off. "You sound like Horaki
did." She lowered her voice and leaned in a little closer. Kaoru
closed his eyes, trying to block out the sounds coming from the next
bed. Now, Hikari was just sobbing continuously, loudly. Toji was
trying to sound comforting, but he too sounded like he was about to
shatter.
"They were buried, the two of them. Well, three of them I suppose,"
Ariel explained to him. "Unfortunately, Horaki had gone into labor.
The stress triggered it, I believe. Given their situation, it's no
wonder it didn't survive."
Kaoru said nothing. He just tried to breathe.
"They're saying it may have been a stillborn," Ariel continued. "If
that were the case, then even with the best conditions, there was
nothing that could have been - "
"Stop," Kaoru cut her off. "Just stop, Ariel-san. You've said more
than enough. And this isn't the time or place for this conversation."
^Not while they're here,^ he mentally added on. ^Not while they can
hear us.^ He was sure they'd heard everything he and Ariel had said so
far, no matter how much they hadn't wanted to.
"I have to leave," he said, finally. "Ariel..." he paused to take a
breath. "Help me up."
The girl just stared at him for a long moment, then rolled her eyes and
put her arm under his shoulders.
Vertigo nearly overwhelmed Kaoru as he stood. He had to lean on Ariel
heavily to keep from crashing to the ground. He only noticed now that
the girl was surprisingly strong.
Ariel half-carried, half-dragged him out of the room. It was another
tent, Kaoru saw as his vision began to clear again. They got
outside, the sudden flash of sunlight blinding him as they continued
forwards, trying to get away from the couple in the tent.
Ariel kept walking, getting them a respectable distance from the tent
before lowering Kaoru to the ground again, leaving him in a sitting
position. Then she knelt down next to him. Why she wasn't leaving
him, he didn't know. At least now he couldn't hear Hikari.
"You've no idea how much I'm enjoying this," Ariel said, coldly.
"How's it feel, Kaoru?"
Kaoru looked at her, unbelievingly. "Are you completely heartless?" he
asked. "You...no, _everyone_ is lucky to be alive. And now that
Horaki-san has..."
Ariel waved it away. "You are wrong to call me heartless, Tabris," she
said, using his real name again. "I am simply more careful in choosing
who I display weakness to."
"I doubt anyone would call Horaki or Suzuhara weak, under the
conditions," Kaoru said, angrily. Had he posessed the strength, he would
have struck her. ^And she knows I can't,^ he concluded. ^How does it
feel, she asks. To be helpless...^
"Sometimes, it is right to cry," Kaoru continued. "It is what makes you
human."
"Perhaps," Ariel responded nebulously. "Yet this was an opportunity I
could not throw away. I wanted to memorize how you looked, when you
woke up here. It was worth the wait." She paused. "Now I have some
idea of how you must feel normally, when you're dealing with a
powerless outcast like me."
Kaoru waited. If he ignored her, perhaps she would go away. Also,
this was probably something that it would be best for Ariel to get out
of her system now, instead of later at a less convenient time. But
yet...she wasn't leaving. She was just squatting there, looking at
him.
"Did you - " he tried to ask.
"I had nothing to do with it," Ariel said, at the same time. She
paused, a little caught off-guard. Then she leaned in a little closer,
lowering her voice. "Believe what you will," she said. "But I can say
that I had nothing to do with you losing control over your...machine."
Kaoru listened to her. Not just to her words, but to her tone of
voice. There was hatred in there, that much was obvious. But, under
that...there was a tone of honesty. He nodded slightly, at this. He
had no reason to distrust the girl's words, at least for now.
"All right then," he said, also quietly. "I assume it remained
deactivated, then?"
Ariel nodded once, sharply. "Yes. I suppose shutting it down was the
best you could do. At least the tactic worked."
Kaoru blinked. "You're welcome."
"Excuse me?"
"You're welcome." He cocked his head to one side, a little. "You came
here to say that, too, didn't you? Next time, a simple 'thank you'
will likely work better."
Ariel stiffened a little, then stood up quickly, turning her back on him.
"I had no such intention," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Whatever you say," he answered, knowingly. He watched the girl
bristle at his comment. He chanced a quick look around himself. He
still couldn't see very well, but from the sounds around him, he didn't
want to see what surrounded him, at least not yet. "Where's Rei?" he
asked, finally.
"She was moved to a separate tent," Ariel answered. "I believe Shinji-
kun was going to see if she'd awakened, yet."
Kaoru thought about that, then his breath caught. "That cannot...it
would not be a good idea for him to see her," he said, trying to stand
up, and watching the world vanish in a wave of dizziness.
A firm pressure, courtesy of Ariel's hand on his shoulder, pressed him
back down to the ground. "Rest for now, Kaoru," she said, her voice
sending a small chill up his spine. "You'll have ample time to see her
later."
Kaoru tried to move away, his limbs feeling like rubber. The small
voice in the back of his mind, the one telling him that even if he
could summon the strength to get out of the bed, there was no way he'd
be able to actually walk anywhere, was finally heard. And he admitted
defeat.
^I'm sorry, Rei.^
* * *
She stirred in bed, rolling over before her eyes snapped open, wide and
alert.
She sat up, her crimson eyes scanning slowly around her. She was
sitting on a bed, in one of the many olive-green tents. And she was
alone.
She felt a momentary pang at this. Some part of her struggled against
the onset of the old, familiar apathy. Something was saying that it
did not desire to be alone. That, now more than ever, she had to be
reminded that someone other than herself existed in this world.
Then, the feeling passed. And, just like it had always been, like how
it _should_ be, she was no longer bothered by the vacancy of the room
around her. She did not desire an end to the oppressive emptiness.
Indeed, she could be said to not 'desire' anything at all.
But this feeling, of unfeeling, eternal patience, was interrupted. She
turned a cold pair of eyes on the tent flap, as someone walked in with
her. She recognized the visitor, but that rarely meant anything. She
recognized most of the people around her. But this one...something
made her vocalize her recognition of him.
"Ikari." A simple enough phrase. Sufficient for the task of simple
acknowledgement.
The boy said nothing. There were no chairs, so he did not sit. He
just walked a little further into the tent, his eyes on her. Some
memory tried to awaken in her at this. Something...about being in a
similar position, with this boy. Only with their places reversed. Him
in the bed, and her standing over him, watching.
"You're awake," he said. Another simple phrase. She did not bother
with acknowledgement. There was no need to confirm the obvious.
She blinked, once, watching him. Something about his manner
was...different. Unfamiliar to her. His movements were stiff, his
voice cold. His hands trembled occasionally, their fingers twitching
towards becoming fists. It must have been painful for him to do so, as
both his hands were bandaged. Some of the visible skin appeared
burned, but by what she didn't know. Again, this seemed so familiar to
her, and at the same time so different.
He waited there, for a long time. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. She
looked at him. He was pacing back and forth, slowly, his mood still
the same as when he'd come in. Now that he was closer, she could see
his face was tight, but at the same time his eyes showed fatigue. It
was as though the only thing keeping him on his feet was the unyielding
drive towards...what? Something she could not fathom. Perhaps he was
waiting for her to say something. If so, then what?
"Did you..." he began hoarsely. Then he swallowed, finding some
moisture in his mouth. "Did you do it?"
Silence was her only reply. ^Do what?^
"I don't know...I don't know what to believe right now, Ayanami," he
continued, as though he'd heard her mental reply. "I know what I saw,
and...what happened. But I know what I told you, too. I told
you...never. Never ever, do that."
^Do _what_?^
"I just...I just can't figure out any other explanation," he said,
holding his hands in front of him as though trying to physically grab
the answer out of the air. "Just...just..."
He turned to face her, for the first time since after he'd come in.
She could see the tears building behind his eyes. Those caught her by
surprise even more than the next word out of his mouth:
"_Why?_" he asked, his voice carrying a hint of desperation. "Why
would you...why would..._why?_"
Feeling that her body was in adequate health, she moved, getting out of
the bed. Shinji looked, for a moment, as though he were going to run.
But, he held himself back, through an effort of will.
"I do not understand," she said, looking at him briefly. "What do you
ask, Ikari?"
He shook his head. "Don't you remember?"
She blinked. Her memory...
She could remember nearly everything she'd ever experienced with
perfect clarity. But, now...there was a haze over her mind. The
events of the past several hours had vanished from her memory, stolen
from her by some force she could not understand. Or, perhaps...
repressed by her own mind, in an effort to preserve itself.
She shook her head.
Shinji shuddered with the effort of some internal battle. He turned
away from her, and strode over to the tent flap. "Come here," he said,
coldly. She did as she was told.
He said nothing as she approached. He simply pulled the tent flap
aside.
And outside, there was nothing but destruction.
Ramshackle buildings lay strewn over the ground, reduced to mere
pebbles. A few scraps of metal signified where there might have once
been a truck, or even a proud tank. Smoke billowed from the remains of
some more other vehicle, which lay overturned and smoldering atop a
pile of rubble. And through it all, the stench of death, accompanied
by darkening pools of what could only be blood, collecting on the
ground like rain after a storm.
She blinked, her eyes taking it all in and her mind processing it with
the same efficiency with which it absorbed everything. But again, she
felt something, some pang, of an emotion she did not understand and
knew that she never would be able to. But yet, even if comprehension
eluded her, she was aware that suddenly she was sick to her stomach.
She gave no outward sign of this, however.
"Did you do this?" Shinji asked. "Even after I told you?" She turned
her head, to see that he was now looking at her directly, unblinkingly.
"Did you unleash the Eva? Did you tell it to do this?"
She did not answer, again. She just looked back out of the entrance,
back at the chaos beyond. She could almost feel it...the presence of
that other being, stronger than any of the feeble beings outside. It
felt...contented.
"_Why?_" he asked, again. "Didn't you know? _Didn't_ you?" his voice
was rising. She again looked to him, the feeling of apprehension
growing within her. She unconsciously took a step away from him."
"These...these people, they _trusted_ you," he said. "_I_ trusted you.
And you had to...to go...to go and..." he finished by gesturing in the
general direction of the tent flap. "_Why?_"
Before she could answer, he was continuing. "These people worked.
They worked so hard to live again, Rei. They abandoned paradise, their
perfect world, to come..._here_. And they worked. For _two_years_, to
make life better. Now it's all gone, because of you. It's all
smashed, back to dust. We're right back where we started. It just
took five minutes, and we're back to the beginning. So..." he took a
step towards her. "_Why?_"
He seemed to be waiting for her to say something. "I..." she tried to
say. Something twinged in her at the use of her first name. She
ignored it. "I was in a battle," she said. "And the enemy..."
"Hikari's lucky to even be alive," Shinji was continuing. "She went
into labor because of all this. And now, she...she..." He closed his
eyes and clenched his bandaged fists. Rei saw several drops squeeze out
from between his eyelids, splashing into small puddles in the dirt under
their feet. The open display of emotion intrigued her, briefly.
Rei was listening, but at the same time trying to continue her thought.
"I defeated the enemy..."
"Yes, you defeated the enemy," he said, his voice shaking. "You
destroyed everything, but you won. That's all that matters, right?"
She could not think of an answer for several moments. Then:
"It is my purpose."
A half-second later, she found she was looking to the side.
Interesting, she hadn't meant to turn her head...
And then she heard the sound, of flesh hitting flesh. And then,
moments later, the pain hit. A stinging, burning sensation in her
cheek.
Shinji clenched his hand, as though to try and stay it from striking
her again. "You..." he muttered. "You just don't _care_, do you? You
haven't changed at all. You only care about ending life, don't you?"
His voice trembled, with the effort of containing the explosion of
emotion that was roiling about inside of him.
And then, Rei looked at him.
And then, all the rage, the frustration, the desire to just know _why_,
vanished within him.
Because before him, there stood something more frightening even than
the view of the transformed Unit-00 bearing down upon him, hand
outstretched to squeeze the life from his fragile body. He was looking
at two crimson orbs, which regarded him with a dead, burning stare that
seemed to bore straight through to his soul, and which could see that
he was afraid.
Her posture was the same as it had been just a moment ago. Even her
expression was the same placid, emotionless mask. But the eyes...they
regarded him with such utter, unrestrained intensity that he stepped
back.
One step became many. And then, he was at the entrance. And then, she
had vanished from his sight, because he had turned, and he had run.
He ran until he was out of breath. He did not look back once.
Because he knew that, if he had, he would be dead.
* * *
Misato made her way across the American camp, making very sure not to
look at the people around her. It was a trained reflex, and a rather
effective one at that. She knew if she actually _thought_ about the
carnage around her, that she might break down. There'd be time for
that later, _after_ she'd gotten this...matter...out of the way.
Her hands were cut and bruised, from where she'd helped dig out the few
survivors that had been trapped under the rubble of the shelters.
Already, there were dead bodies lined up on the ground outside of these
ruins, and more kept coming with every minute they spent digging. Five
dead for every one living...you couldn't think about what you were
looking at, what you were doing, if you valued your sanity.
She'd finally had to step away from the work. Actually, it had been
more like Shigeru had _dragged_ her away from it. She could have kept
at it for a few more minutes, she knew. Just until she collapsed, that
was all. And then she'd have dug some more. Shigeru now had a
stinging welt on his cheek, for which Misato already felt guilty.
She'd been angry and frustrated and...well, she'd apologize tomorrow,
when she wasn't so worried she'd just slap the man again, for taking
her away from the people who needed her help.
Then this had come up. Her mind had cleared enough to remember what
she'd seen just before the Eva had gone off after Lewis and the others.
She'd asked around, and found that the ungrateful bastard was sitting
around in his tent, of all places. Was he content to just _watch_ them
try to pull out their dead and dying? This was his home too, at least
temporarily.
Kensuke had warned her that even he'd been turned away from trying to
see Lewis. Apparently, the Major hadn't wanted to see anyone. Misato
didn't care. This had to be done, she knew.
But yet, for all the warnings, she found her way into Lewis' tent
without much trouble. No one was standing guard. Inside, she found
him, sitting in a chair and playing darts with knives again.
"Hello," she said, stiffly. At least in here she didn't have to
pretend not to see what was right in front of her. She still had to
avoid thinking, though. Lewis might be doing the same thing, but at
the moment it looked like he just didn't care. Misato clenched a fist.
"Hey," he said back, not looking. He picked through the knives lying
next to him, finding one he liked. He then took a swing from a bottle
of...something, in his other hand. It wasn't a simple beer. Misato
could tell just from the smell of the tent.
"Is _that_ how you handle things?" she asked.
"Some things," he answered, still not looking at her. He threw the
knife, missing the dart board completely. He cursed and took another
drink. "Things like getting promoted."
"Really?" Misato asked, now getting a little angrier. "Do I have to
call you General, now?" ^Like hell I will.^
Lewis shook his head somberly. "That's a little too high," he said.
"And it's nothin' concrete yet. They just say they might promote me,
for my...what the hell was it...'admirable conduct' in that last mess."
"Yes, about that - " Misato tried to begin.
"Before you start pulling my teeth or gouging my eyes out or whatever
else it is you had planned, I'm sorry," he said, firmly. He paused,
letting that sink in. "I know I had no right to put your kids in
danger like that. I'm sorry." No excuses. No 'I had to do it', not
even 'it seemed like a good idea at the time'. Just an apology.
"And the reason I'm in here instead of out there ripping up my hands,"
he said, throwing a glance at Misato's hands, "is that I know right now
they'll call me a hero, or something."
Misato's fist tightened. "Yes," she said, quietly. "They're saying
you saved everyone, with your 'brave plan', or something else."
"Glad to hear not everyone agrees," Lewis answered, hearing the tone in
her voice. "And you're right, I don't deserve it."
"I never said - "
"You didn't have to. All was was doing was savin' my own ass. It was
just coincidence that that...thing, robot, whatever-it-was, stopped
while I was doin' it. You want any of this?" he asked, holding the
bottle out to the side without looking at her.
Misato's fist relaxed. "You're one lucky guy, you know. That you're
even still breathing, after a stunt like that."
Lewis paused. He carefully put down the knife he'd been holding. "I
know," he said, quietly. "I know all too well. Look over there," he
said, pointing to a table. Misato did as she was told, finding a sheet
of paper lying on top. On it were two long columns of small-print
text. It was a list of names.
"Are these...?" she asked, not wanting to finish the sentence.
Lewis nodded. "The names of the men under my command, who aren't as
lucky as me," he said. "Funny, isn't it?" he asked, not smiling. "I
go and get that many people killed, and the brass _rewards_ me.
Promotes me, gives me more guns...guess that's standard procedure,
nowadays. Reward the ones who live. I got a whole stack of promotions
to hand out to the men who survived, you know," he continued. "Wonder
how they'll take it."
Misato went quiet, and - against her better judgement - thought.
Lewis, for his part, went back to throwing knives at the dart board.
Finally, though, Misato spoke up.
"Major..."
"What?" he asked, curtly. He flung another knife, to where it thunked
into the board.
"I heard you talking on the radio. You had Unit-00 tagged as a
separate target, even before the battle started, didn't you?"
"Don't act surprised." He took another drink. "That's also standard
procedure."
"I guess I can't fault you for it...since you needed to target it,
anyway. But..."
Lewis didn't take the bait, asking what it was. He just took another
drink and threw another knife. Fling. Thunk.
Misato continued. "When I walked in on you back there...when you were
alone in the tent, talking on the phone..."
"Don't bother asking."
"...what were you doing?"
"I said don't bother. It's classified." Fling. Thunk. Drink.
"Why'd you tell me to get as far away as I could? I'd have done better
just finding some place to hide, if it was just the Eva we had to worry
about."
"..."
"What were you going to do?"
"Katsuragi, I can't tell you." He stood up, and offered her the
bottle. "Look, you've had a rough day, and - "
Misato smacked the bottle out of his hand, to where it shattered on the
ground a few meters away. "I have a right to know!" she shouted into
his face.
"No. You _don't_." He turned his back on Misato, flinging one last
knife at the board. It hit very close to the center. Then he looked
back to her. "I couldn't tell you, no matter what you might think you
could do to me," he said.
Misato finally nodded. "All right," she admitted, grudgingly. Even
with most of a bottle of liquor in him, the man still had a few dozen
kilos on her, and the rational part of her mind was telling her this
was not the time to be getting into fights.
"Hang on," he said, as she turned to leave. "I've got something to
show you."
Silence, except for the shuffling as Misato turned around. Lewis
headed towards the back of the tent, as Misato took a deep breath and
let it out slowly.
"You remember I sent out scouts," he said, as he found what he was
looking for: a large, canvas-covered object on a card table. He
shrugged off the alcohol-induced fatigue and brushed off some of the
junk that had collected on top of the canvas.
"Yes, of course."
"Well, they found something," he said. "Even though they were out
looking for those...those..._things_," he said, shaking his head in
frustration. "...they still found some things. Turns out there were
some ruins that had opened up a little more since last we checked."
"Really?" Misato asked. She headed over, as Lewis beckoned. "What did
you find?"
Lewis paused. One corner of his mouth went tight, as he thought
something over. "Look, I dunno any way to make this any easier, so
I'll just show you," he said, reaching for the corner of the canvas.
"We searched the ruins," he said. He started to pull back the canvas.
There was something metal under it.
"We found something big, some kind of underground installation" he
said. "Something you people might recognize."
It wasn't just metal, it was some kind of symbol, like a shield or
something.
"And stuff like this thing was everywhere," he said, pulling the canvas
away entirely. "Does this look familiar to you?"
Misato's eyes widened, as she looked. Her breathing accelerated, as
did her heartbeat. She said nothing. But then again, nothing needed
to be said. Lewis saw the answer in her face.
"Care to have some of this?" he asked, pulling up a fresh bottle of
whatever it was he'd been drinking.
Misato nodded mutely.
They both stepped away, popping open the bottle of liquor. Behind
them, the shield-like symbol glared defiantly towards their backs,
displaying its message for all to see:
God's in His Heaven, and All's Right With the World.
N E R V
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Endnote: Before you can e-mail me to tell me so, yes I am an evil,
sadistic bastard. I am probably mentally ill, too. Welcome to Eva.
BWA HA HA HA HA!!!
Ahem. Anyway, This chapter encounterd a significant delay due to
prereader difficulties and, of course, school restarting. Ugh. In any
case, know that I'm definitely going to stay with this story. It's
just getting good. ^_^
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Started: July 9, 2002
Version 1 Ended: July 31, 2002
Version 2 Ended: August 5, 2002
Version 3 Ended: August 6, 2002
Version 4 Ended: September 19, 2002
Thanks go to the Avatar of Dragonia, Heavyarms Kai, and Judging
Eagle for prereading.
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.
Evangelion belong to GAINAX. They're not mine, and I make no claim to
them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: 100 kilometers per hour (kph) about equals 60 miles per hour.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
" " = speech
^ ^ = thoughts
_ _ = italics
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Angels of Armageddon
Author: Ryan Xavier
Chapter 14: The Monster Within
One would think that the level of activity in a command center during a
battle would be something akin to a bees' nest. For the most part,
this was true of the command tent. But though people were moving with
the rapid efficiency that stemmed from training and experience, there
was an odd silence hanging in the air like a funeral shroud. No one
dared say anything in more than a whisper, even when transmitting
orders to troops. For all around the tent, people were looking up,
pausing in their work to see the events displayed on the television
screens set up against one wall.
On one of the screens, they could see one of the enemy Evas flying
away, its stump of an arm bleeding profusely. Its other arm, however,
still carried its long spear.
Each and every one of the other dozen screens was focused on something
other than the fleeing giant. On all of them, Unit-00 was busily
tearing the enemy Eva apart with its bare hands. Blood sprayed from
torn arteries, acid flowed from destroyed 'eyes' on its head, and
everywhere destroyed flesh could be seen lying about. Through it all,
the Eva was still twitching, still trying to defend itself, still
trying to remain alive.
More and more people looked up from their work, entranced by the grisly
sight on the monitors. Finally, Unit-00 plunged its hand deep into the
enemy Eva's gut, pulling the red orb up to the surface. It studied the
core for a moment, then turned its head to look at the remains of the
MP Eva's skull, as though gloating over its imminent vicotry. The MP
Eva's jaw opened and closed, unable to scream its defiance. Finally,
Unit-00 squeezed, crushing it as though it were no stronger than an
eggshell.
The resulting explosion blocked out their view for almost a full
minute, as the flash blinded the cameras set up on the battlefield.
Some people reflexively covered their eyes, but still, no one in the
command tent made a noise. By now, the silence in the tent had become
complete.
Finally, the effects of the flash cleared enough for an image to come
through. Now, Unit-00 was standing erect again, looking around as
though in search of another opponent, even though both enemies were now
gone, one destroyed and one fled. And _still_, no one in the tent said
anything.
Finally, Unit-00 looked towards the camp, its 'eye' lining up almost
perfectly with one of the cameras. Its fists clenched and it began to
move, slowly at first, then more quickly, towards the camp.
A moment passed, as it registered around the tent just what was
happening. Finally, someone in the tent broke the icy silence.
"Shit."
That was the trigger. All of a sudden, the command tent exploded back
into a fury of activity, with people yelling into radios, rattling off
reports, and lining up pieces on maps.
"Rei! Nagisa!" Misato was shouting into a radio. "Either of you?
_Anyone_! Answer me!" She paused for a heartbeat's worth of static.
"Unit-00's coming this way! Shut it down, now!" Still, nothing but
static as a reply.
Behind her, several American operators were giving evacuation commands
to the shelters they'd set up. They tried very hard not to look or
sound strained, even though they knew there wasn't nearly enough time
to get everyone away.
Lewis, however, was doing something different. "All units, change of
targets!" he commanded into his radio. "Switch to target Delta, repeat
target Delta! Fire at will!"
And again, the war machines stationed around the camp and battlefield
began to open fire. This time, however, they targeted Unit-00, the
thing that until five minutes ago had been their staunch ally. Only a
few of the large guns were in a position to hit it, unfortunately; the
rest had been stationed further out on the battlefield and would have
to roll around to a better location to get a good shot.
The shots had about the same effect as they had on the enemy Eva.
Every bullet, every missile, every bit of shrapnel deflected off the
glowing hexagons of Unit-00's AT field. It continued its advance, now
almost upon the camp. But it still turned away briefly, crushing a gun
emplacement that had had the audacity to stand in its way.
Lewis winced, briefly as the screams of the men on the emplacement cut
off suddenly in a burst of static over the comm channels. He paused,
briefly. Misato looked at him, meeting his eyes but saying nothing.
Yet the look on her face told volumes.
Lewis finally nodded, bringing the radio back up to his mouth. "All
units..." he muttered into it. "All units...fall back. Repeat, break
off engagement."
There was a brief, angered reply, likely one of the soldiers contesting
the order. Lewis shouted back a reply which was mostly expletives,
then slammed the radio down so hard the casing cracked.
Misato mouthed "sorry" at the American commander, then turned back to
the televisions.
"Oh, my God..."
* * *
"Oh, my God..."
Shinji could only watch the destruction, helpless. The Americans were
putting up their best efforts, slinging everything they could at the
out-of-control Eva, all for naught. They were being slaughtered
piecemeal, as the Eva went from one attacker to the next. Even though
their rounds couldn't hope to damage it, their resistance still got its
attention. But this was their undoing; in its current state, anything
Unit-00 focused its attention on was what died next.
He was shaking. He couldn't even stand still, watching it. At least,
that was what he thought. After another moment, he became aware of a
pressure on his arm. That, and someone shouting in his ear.
"Hey!" Asuka was yelling, as she shook him. "Hey, baka Shinji! Snap
out of it!"
Shinji blinked, jumping a little as he focused again. "Asuka..."
"I know!" she shouted at him. "I know, believe me! Now stop standing
around like some idiot and _do_ something!"
Shinji blinked. ^She's...asking _me_? Does that mean she doesn't know
what to do either?^
"I..." he stammered. ^What am I supposed to do? Someone help...^
"Come on!" Asuka shouted, dragging him over to Kaoru's limp form.
"Asuka, what're you doing?"
"We came out here to get them," she grumbled, kneeling down and taking
the pale boy by his shoulders. "Might as well do _that_ much." She
gestured with a jerk of her chin towards his feet. Shinji got the
message and took Kaoru's legs, lifting him up.
It was fortunate that the Jeep's top was down; that made it much easier
to lever him into the back. Now that just left...
Asuka was looking at him, now. Her face seemed to be asking a
question, and he wasn't sure he knew what it was. She almost looked
like she was ready to leave. One hand was already on the driver's
door.
^But...Rei's still back there...^
Maybe Asuka read the answer off his face. More likely, she made her
own decision, like always. Whatever the cause, she let go of the door
and took Shinji's hand, pulling him sharply away from the Jeep and
towards Rei. Her grip was a little too tight; she was practically
cutting off circulation. And this time, instead of grumbling, she was
strangely quiet, walking with a resolve Shinji envied every time he saw
it in her.
She stopped a few meters away from Rei. Still saying nothing, she
looked up at Shinji. This time, he could tell what she was asking: how
the hell were they supposed to get Rei out of here, when they couldn't
even get _near_ her? If that force field was still there...
Asuka reached out, and sure enough, her hand was blown back by some
invisible force. Rubbing her sore fingers and clenching her teeth in
pain, she backed off. Now, her face looked exactly as it had back at
the Jeep. She looked like she was half a heartbeat away from just
walking off, leaving Rei to whatever fate awaited her.
Shinji tried reaching forwards, with the simple disbelief that this
could be happening. It was just too much, too fast...
He felt it. A jolt through his arm, like grabbing a live wire. His
body shuddered with the force. But it didn't hurt, somehow. He tried
pushing, and it pushed back, just as hard. He put his other hand on
the 'wall' in front of him. Still, it didn't hurt. Now he could smell
something burning. But it also felt like something was giving...
Finally, the shield gave way, so suddenly that he lost his balance and
tumbled forwards, catching himself with his hands before his face could
hit the ground.
Then, it started to hurt.
He was lucky he was already on the ground; otherwise, he'd have fallen
from the shock of it. It felt like he was on fire.
Fire. Burning. He looked at his shaking palms. The skin had been
scorched brown by the energy of that...that...whatever-it-was that had
been in the way. It was still smoking, a little.
"Baka!" Asuka shouted, kneeling down next to him. "Are you OK? Oh,
shit...no, you're not. Shinji, you colassal _idiot_!"
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Can it. C'mon, might as well..." She was back to grumbling, as she
lifted Rei. Shinji tried to help, but it felt as though the strength
had gone from his fingers. It hurt to even move his hands.
"Oh, forget it and get in the truck," Asuka chided him. "I'll handle
this." She started dragging Rei along the ground by her armpits, the
blue-haired girl's head lolling about on her neck with each shift and
bump.
"Sorry," he said again.
"I said forget it," Asuka said, her voice not as angry this time.
"Just wait for me. When this is over, we're getting you looked at, got
it?"
"Right."
Finally, they were all back in the Jeep. Asuka half lifted, half threw
Rei into the back, alongside Kaoru, then she jumped into the driver's
seat.
"So now what?" Shinji asked.
"Now we see what we can do," Asuka said, her voice serious. She
started the engine. "Even if it's stupid to go back."
She hit the gas, turning them around and heading back towards the camp.
Because now, the Eva had run out of military machines to destroy, and
had turned its attention to the ramshackle structures that stood before
it.
* * *
A demon, clad in blue armor and seeing through one unblinking red eye,
descended on the encampment. Its enormous hands flexed, becoming fists
which it plowed into buildings with reckless abandon. Concrete, steel,
flesh and blood, they made no difference. All that mattered was
carrying out its assigned purpose of destruction. Anything that lay in
its path was to be annihilated, quickly and utterly.
Shelters collapsed at the slightest nudge from the monster. Vehicles
and equipment were crushed as though they were no more substantial than
paper. The very earth split under its heavy feet, tortured into wide
crevasses around its footprints.
But still, it desired...no, _needed_ more. Its head tracked back and
forth as it stomped through the encampment. Its eye finally locked
onto a building where it could feel the presence of living souls. It
advanced hungrily, knocking over everything between it and its target.
The building was made a bit more solidly than the others it had
encountered so far. Its walls were freshly made, with reinforced
concrete making a hard shell around its occupants. It also appeared to
be built deeper, with the souls contained within hiding under the
illusion that they were safe.
The building's roof shattered under the Eva's hand. The sound of human
screaming filled the air, even over the roar of buildings collapsing.
The Eva shoved the walls in, sending an avalanche of concrete and steel
reinforcement beams onto the building's pitifully weak inhabitants. A
satsifyingly large number of the forms inside stopped moving.
But some kept going, running out of an exit it hadn't bothered to take
into account. They ran, trying to get to freedom, trying to outrun the
monster outside. But the pitifully weak humans did not realize that
Death had come for them, in the form of one of their own creations.
And there was no running from the inevitable. They died under Eva's
feet like so many ants, leaving spreading pools of red surrounding
piles of flesh and bone that might have once been alive.
There were still more, however. It looked to another direction, then
another. All around it were groups of lives, some under constructions
like this, others cowering under less substantial cover. But through
it all, one life in particular stood out. Something that had been
burned in its digitized memory from the moment of its rebirth was
triggered: the desire to finish what had been started years before. To
destroy the enemy it alone had killed, and which now stood alive
again.
Eva-00 shivered with anticipation as it approached.
* * *
Ariel shuddered, suddenly, feeling an itch between her shoulders.
She looked behind her, but no one was there. Well, no one who was
looking at her, anyway. Currently, she and many other of the
inhabitants of the camp were stuffed into this hastily crafted bunker,
sealed inside something that could at least withstand a little
punishment. It was rather cozy, by necessity; the Americans hadn't had
time to pour very large shelters for them.
The ground was shaking regularly, with the recoil of guns and the
footsteps of giants. No one could really tell what was going on
outside, as the tremors were coming almost continuously, from different
distances.
It was nothing to be afraid of, she told herself. It had just felt
like someone was staring at her. That was to be expected, of course.
She was surrounded by people. And as Asuka had explained to her in
great detail, several of the 'perverts' - otherwise known as males -
found her attractive. It should come as no surprise that someone was
staring at her.
But, yet...
Something felt...
..._wrong_.
She felt it again. Someone...no, some_thing_...was looking at her.
Searching for her. Something less than human, something...feral. It
had found her scent. And now, it was descending on her like the
predator it was.
She forced herself to remain calm, in spite of her accelerating pulse
roaring in her ears. She knew better than to pass off these feelings
as simple nervousness about the situation. She looked around again,
trying to look casual and only partially succeding. She backed up a
little, and almost had a heart attack as she bumped into something.
"Oh!" came a voice behind her. Ariel turned quickly, seeing that it
was Hikari.
"Sorry about that," the brown-haired girl said in a shaky voice. "Just
too crowded, that's all."
"Something's wrong," Ariel said before she could stop herself. ^Idiot.
Why should I tell them anything?^
Hikari nodded. "Well, don't worry...it'll all be over soon."
"No, no," Ariel said, shaking her head emphatically. She put her hands
on Hikari's shoulders. "Something's gone wrong. We...we have to get
out. _Now_." She found that she couldn't help but try warn the girl
in front of her. Try as she might, she couldn't keep the emotional
detachment she'd become accustomed to in the sea of LCL.
"But, Ni-san, you're being silly."
Even as Hikari said this, however, a radio crackled. A voice started
barking out orders to the few American troops assigned to this bunker.
Hikari couldn't understand, as the words were in English, but Ariel
heard them loud and clear:
"All units, target Gamma is out of control. Repeat, target Gamma is
out of control. Evac all shelters. Move to quadrant three, under
supporting fire. Repeat, evac..."
Immediately, the troops got up, shouldering their machine guns and
shouting to the crowd inside. "Everyone, listen up! We have to move,
_now_!"
Hikari blinked, and then her eyes widened a little. "Wh...what's
happening?" Ariel didn't answer. Already, she could feel it. Through
the background noise of the constant shaking, one sound was prominent:
a single, powerful tremor, coming at regular intervals. Footsteps.
"I don't know," Touji answered, from behind her. "But c'mon, let's get
moving."
"R...right." But still, Hikari looked questioningly at Ariel, who was
now moving along with them.
Hikari got a few more steps before she stopped dead, much to the
annoyance of the people behind her.
Touji tried tugging on her sleeve, but the girl wouldn't move.
"Hikari? Hey, c'mon, we have to move."
"T-Touji?"
"Yeah?"
"I...I...I..."
"Look, we have to get moving, like the guys with the guns say. Can you
tell me while we're leaving?"
"I...I..."
Touji paused, as well, feeling that something was wrong. "What?" he
asked, concerned. "What's wrong, Hikari?"
"Touji, I..." the girl swallowed. "...I think my water just broke."
The boy blinked. "You...you're kidding."
Hikari shook her head, oblivious to the people shuffling around them.
"N-no, I..."
She was interrupted by the sound of concrete splitting.
As one, everyone in the shelter looked up, to see four giant holes
appear in the far wall, each hole accomodating one gigantic finger. A
large crack spread out from them, forming a circle of wall which pulled
away. Outside, they could see a titanic foot, clad in blue armor.
Even though they were all familiar with what this foot belonged to,
some primal instinct still triggered in most of the people. Much like
Ariel had some minutes before, they could detect that something was,
well..._wrong_.
Screams broke out in a thunderous wave, which was drowned out as the
roof began to cave in. The people, already in the process of
evacuating, charged towards the exit in a mass, shoving each other out
of the way, trampling those who tripped, all to try and get another
second of life. The slower ones met their fate, watching as the bunker
collapsed onto their heads.
Outside, people ran away in all directions, some of them screaming,
others saving their breath to run. The pair of American soldiers that
had made it out were backing away, watching shocked as the Eva stepped
away from the crumpled bunker, and surveyed its work. One of them
snapped, whipping his machine gun around and squeezing the trigger as
soon as he was aimed in the general direction of the armored monster.
His partner followed suit a moment later.
Their bullets weren't even noticed. Instead of haphazardly destroying
everyone in its way as it had moments earlier, it searched, looking
through the rapidly dispersing crowd until its gaze locked on one
person in particular. It started moving towards that person, its foot
just barely missing the American soldiers.
Behind it, the soldiers, having run out of ammo, watched helplessly as
the thing continued on its rampage. One of them pulled out a radio and
delivered a status report, while the other one looked behind them, at
the bunker, before realzing that not everyone had gotten out.
Immediately, he started digging through the rubble, his hands going
bloody on the sharp rock, his blood mingling with what was already
there. The other one joined in, both of them looking for anyone who
might still be breathing.
* * *
She had never run so fast before in her short human life, she knew that
much. Ariel's legs were pumping hard, sending her on a headlong
sprint, through the abandoned encampment and among the shelters that
had been people's homes until just now.
It was coming for her. She could feel it behind her, watching her try
to escape. Then, it began to move, one step after another.
^Why do you run?^
The voice sounded in her mind. Ariel blinked, but didn't let the
distraction keep her from running.
^Why do you run, Fifteenth? Do you not know what confronts you?^
Its was a voice she knew well. Only this time, instead of the
emotionless monotone she'd grown to expect from Zero, there was an
undercurrent of hatred, of a bloodlust surpassing all belief, which
would only be sated with her death.
^Do you not remember that which destroyed you? It is futile to try to escape.^
_It_ was gaining on her. Now, its footsteps were shaking the ground
under her feet. She tripped, then caught herself, continuing on her
sprint and trying not to notice the sounds of shelters crumbling behind
her, carelessly brushed out of the way by the giant bent on destroying
her.
She was finally knocked off her feet, tumbling to the ground. But it
had not been the Eva which had made the ground buck under her, this
time. Rather, one of the American missile batteries had finally gotten
into position, and its projectiles had just roared by, impacting on the
AT field and exploding into fireballs. Unit-00 swayed from the
inertia, but was otherwise unaffected. However, it slowed momentarily,
turning its head to look at the launcher half a klick away and
considering which target it would rather destroy first.
It was long enough for Ariel to get back to her feet and start running
again, though now her legs were burning and her breath was coming in
gasps. She didn't know where she was running _to_, she just let her
legs go where they wished, just to _get_away_.
She felt another shiver, but different this time. She chanced a look
over her shoulder. She'd meant for it to be a quick glance, but found
she had to tear her eyes away from the sight after a few seconds, if
she was going to keep running. For now, she had all the more reason to
get away from that _thing_.
Unit-00 hunched over, its hands clenching and its body quivering with
some kind of collossal effort. Something began to give, groaning
loudly before in finally cracked and broke.
The large shoulder pauldrons of Unit-00 snapped off, falling to the
ground in a shower of metal and wires and blood. The rest of the Eva
contorted briefly, muscles rippling as they were finally freed from
their restraints. On the arms, armor plating popped free, joining the
rest of the mess on the ground. Revealed were bulging muscles, eerily
human in appearance, from the shoulders almost down to the elbows.
Something else creaked and gave way. The lower part of the armor
encasing Unit-00's head snapped off, clanging off its foot and skidding
to a halt. Bone creaked and flesh tore, as something pulled away. It
was...
...a jaw.
Unit-00 had grown a mouth. Long and thin, and lined with pointed
teeth, along with an incredibly long tongue that lolled about, running
over the raw, bloody edge of the jaw and even over part of the casing
remaining on its head.
Breath hissed between its teeth. Its chest swelled suddenly, as it
threw back its head and let out an earth-shattering roar, so loud that
Ariel was very nearly deafend by it.
It was all the girl could do to keep running.
* * *
"Christ..." Lewis cursed under his breath, watching the monitors. As
far as he could tell, the Eva had figured out they were over here. It
was already on its way, stomping towards the command tent. He didn't
know _what_ the hell had just happened with the shedding armor bit, but
he could guess that it wasn't good.
He turned to look back at the command tent. Though most of the people
there were still faithfully going about their tasks, they couldn't hide
the lost looks on their faces when they looked to him, hoping for some
kind of direction.
He didn't bother asking Misato or the others to try and take command of
the rampaging Eva. Just by the similar expressions on their faces, he
knew it would be useless.
"All right, everyone clear out of here," he ordered the people in the
tent. "Take what you can carry, get to the trucks, and get moving."
About one-third of the people immediately got up, grabbed some loose
items around their workstations, and headed for the exit. The others,
however, stayed put, with expressions ranging from nervousness to
defiance.
One of the latter stood up. "Sir, do you mean - " he tried to begin.
Lewis turned on him, giving him a practiced, narrow-eyed stare he knew
from experience could crush nearly anyone's confidence. Sure enough,
the other man got quiet, real fast. He took a step back and swallowed,
looking like he was going to say something else. Lewis' hand went to
his hip.
"I've given you an order," Lewis said before he could speak. He made
sure to keep his voice cold. "Now I'm telling you one more time to get
out."
That was enough to get everyone else moving. The man who'd stood up
was now rather white, and was one of the next people out the door.
Lewis took his hand off of his gun and switched to Japanese.
"Sometimes you have to be that way with them," he said, not looking
behind himself. He could feel their stares on his back, and that was
enough. "I just _had_ to go and bring rookies in here...they don't
realize you're supposed to follow orders, without question."
Now he turned, facing Misato and the handful of Japanese personnel.
"But I recommend you get out of here, too." With that, he headed for
the door.
There was a flurry of activity behind him as the scene was repeated,
albeit without the argument or the threats. People ran past him,
heading for some of the cars and trucks parked nearby. The air filled
with the sound of engines revving up, followed shortly by tires
squealing.
Lewis stopped, closing his eyes and clenching a fist. "Shit," he
mumbled. "I'm just a damn idiot, that's all. Just a god-damned,
_fucking_ idiot." He turned around, just in time to see Misato come
jogging out of the tent. He tried very hard not to notice the form of
Unit-00 approaching them all too rapidly. He wasn't entirely
successful.
"You," he said, pointing at the woman. "Yes, I know what you're going
to say."
Misato shook her head. "No, I understand. You can't help anyone if
you're dead, right? To tell you the truth, I'd probably have cleared
out sooner."
^Thanks for the vote of confidence,^ Lewis thought sarcastically.
"Anyway, can you drive?" The ground rumbled now, as Unit-00
approached. He thought it looked at him.
Misato cracked a grin. "I get by."
Lewis didn't like the look of that grin, but he figured he'd have to
put up with it. He dug around in his pocket and came out with the keys
to his Land Rover.
"Take it," he said, tossing her the keys. "Get everyone you can, and
get out of here."
Misato looked at the keys in her hand. "But, Major, what will - "
"I know you're not under my command, Katsuragi," he interrupted her.
"But _believe_ me, I'm _not_ in the mood to argue. Take it," he said,
his hand going to his hip again, "or leave it."
Misato's lips tightened a little at this, but then she mentally
shrugged and ran to the waiting truck. At least the steering wheel was
on the side she was used to. The truck's engine roared as she put the
keys in.
Lewis, however, did not try to get away.
Cursing under his breath, he strode resolutely back into the now-vacant
command tent. He continued his pace, even in the eerie silence of the
room that had just recently been the site of so much activity. He went
over to a communicator set up near one wall. He picked up the
telephone-like receiver.
Lewis pulled a scrap of paper out of one pocket. On it was a long
string of numbers. Very carefully and deliberately, he started keying
them into the communicator, the tones sounding clearly in the death-
like silence of the tent, broken only by the distant crashes of the
monster's footsteps.
"God forgive me..." he mumbled, as the line 'clicked', registering an
open connection.
"Hello, it's..." he tried to begin. He stopped. He turned around,
looking back out the tent flap. Out there, he could see almost
everyone running away. But some had stopped and looked back. Some
were instantly crushed, but others, the ones who'd gotten further away,
not had an excellent view of the monster destroying their homes.
Lewis' hand clenched into a fist, crushing the paper into a tight ball.
"Hey, Major, how are you getting away..." came a familiar voice.
Misato stepped back into the tent.
The two looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. Then
Lewis hung up the receiver, without looking.
"What're you doing?" Misato asked, suspicious.
"That's my line," he replied. "Why didn't you get away?"
"Forgive me for being a little worried," Misato countered, defensively.
"But if _I'm_ taking _your_ truck, how are you planning to escape?"
Lewis hesitated. "I'll think of something," he said, quickly.
"Now...get out. Get as far away as you can."
"Why so?" Misato asked, her eyes narrowing.
Lewis hesitated again, trying to think up a suitable answer. It was
just then that tires shrieked and a Jeep skidding into view in front of
the tent. A familiar redhead was in the driver's seat.
"Misato!" Asuka shouted. "Misa...hey? Where's everyone?" Beside her
in the passenger seat, Shinji was looking around quizzically, his
expresion asking the same question.
Misato answered without taking her eyes off of Lewis. "They're gone,"
she said. "Everyone's trying to get clear."
"Yeah, and they're the smart ones," Lewis added on, heading towards the
tent flap. Misato stepped in front of him, blocking his path. But he
just put one hand on her shoulder and moved her out of the way, not in
the mood to even talk to her at the moment. He exited the tent and
went up to the Jeep. "So what're you doing here?" he asked, sounding
far too interested.
"We came back to see if we could help out," Shinji explained.
"But...did we come too late?"
"Observant one, aren't you?" Lewis commented sarcastically. He turned
his gaze on Asuka. "Now move it, girl, and let me in."
"Oh, wait a minute," Asuka contested. "I can drive this thing - "
"WAIT!" a near-hysterical voice screamed behind them. Asuka, Shinji,
and Lewis all turned to see Ariel sprinting towards them.
"Let me on!" she shouted.
"All right, get in the back!" Asuka shouted back.
Unit-00 was now almost upon them. The Jeep shook on its suspension
almost continuously, with the huge footsteps coming from behind it.
The command tent trembled, and a few small groups of people ran by,
screaming or just trying to get away. Amidst the bedlam, Lewis saw his
opportunity.
He leaned over and hit the release for Asuka's seat belt. It retracted
with a quick 'snap'. Just as the girl was turning her gaze towards
him, he put one arm under her shoulders and another under her legs, and
bodily _threw_ her out of the driver's seat, over the center console,
and into the passenger seat, on top of Shinji.
He swung into the Jeep, just Ariel made it up to them. She vaulted the
rear bumper and collapsed into the back seat.
"Believe me girl, this _isn't_ the time to argue with me," Lewis
growled out, gunning the engine. He glanced out the window, to where
Misato now stood in the entrance of the tent, glaring at him.
"Get outta here, Katsuragi! You don't wanna hang around!" he shouted
at her, just before he floored the gas pedal.
The Jeep's tires spun for a heartbeat before finally finding purchase
and launching them forwards. Everyone was thrown back in their seats,
grabbing onto whatever was handy to try and steady themselves. The
Jeep's engine screamed into the high RPM's, carrying them off. Lewis
shifted hard, jerking them in their seats again as their speed
increased.
All of them, one after another, looked back. Sure enough, the deranged
form of Unit-00 had taken notice of the truck.
And now, it was coming for them.
* * *
^It is useless, Fifteenth.^
^No.^ She refused. She could not, _would_ not, give up. For all its
drawbacks, life as a lilum was infinitely preferable to death...or
outright oblivion. Considering what was hunting her, total erasure
from existence was a possibility she couldn't ignore.
At the front of the truck, Lewis was driving like a man possessed. The
gargantuan form of Unit-00 was closing them even as the Jeep bounced
over the unpaved terrain at well over 100 kph, and still accelerating.
Each bump sent Ariel flying, as she lacked the support of a seat belt.
Asuka had the same problem, given her position.
Asuka, however, was much more vocal about her discomfort. "You can't
just shove me out of the way like some kid!" she was shouting at Lewis,
who was doing such a good job ignoring her that it was conspicuous.
"You don't have the right!" When the American didn't respond, she
continued throwing curses at him. But she didn't try to physically
back up her words, as she so very often did with Shinji. Even if she
didn't say so, Asuka knew there would be time for that later, when they
_weren't_ flying over the ground at a speed that could only be termed
suicidal.
But still, Asuka could not sit quietly. So instead, she turned towards
her next target; specifically, the boy she was sitting on.
"And don't _you_ go getting any funny ideas, baka Shinji!" she yelled
to be heard over the Jeep's engine. "I better not feel anything
rubbing against me!"
Ariel had discovered that she was in a similar position. The back seat
had been occupied when she'd jumped in, unfortunately. The limp,
unconscious forms of both Kaoru and Rei were sprawled on the small rear
seat, leaving her uncomfortably positioned on top of both of them.
Ariel tried not to touch Rei; the mere thought of coming into contact
with Zero sickened her. But the bouncing of the Jeep left her little
say in the matter.
Unit-00 was approaching. It didn't look like it was exerting itself at
all to match their speed. Indeed, its newly-formed jaw almost seemed
curled into a twisted grin of anticipation. It knew that it had them.
It was just a matter of how long it wanted to let them run.
"Speed up!" Asuka was shouting, now. "It's gaining!"
"It's already floored!" Lewis shouted back. "We can't go any faster,
not when we're hauling six people!"
^I know who it wants,^ Ariel thought. ^I'm putting them all in danger.^
Well, Zero she would just as soon let die with her, and Tabris too.
But the other three...she found that she had some pang of guilt,
thinking about the fate they would share with her. All because she'd
wanted to try preserving her life a little bit, by jumping into
something that could move, once her legs had refused to go any further.
This was Zero's fault. It _had_ to be. Zero had done nothing but make
her existence into hell, from the moment of her creation. Even before
her commitment to the sea of souls, Zero had been there, to destroy
her. And now, the bitch was going to finish the job.
Ariel turned on Rei, who was still lying there, eyes closed, apparently
asleep. She was having a hard time deciding which was the more
fearsome monster at the moment; the blue giant that was now under a
hundred meters from their rear bumper, or the albino girl lying
placidly before her.
Something got her attention: a faint sound, a moan. Tabris. He was
turning, rolling over where he lay. His eyes cracked open, groggily.
"You!" Ariel shouted, pouncing on him. "Wake up! Wake up, damn you!"
Kaoru blinked, looking at her with glazed eyes. He let out another low
groan.
"WAKE UP!" Ariel screamed. She drew her hand back and slapped him,
hard, on the cheek. Not enough. She hit him again. And again. And
again. His head jerked back and forth, under her blows, until finally,
his eyes snapped open. His hand shot up, grabbing her wrist as she
tried to slap him again. He fixed her with the familiar burning stare,
silencing her.
Ariel now became aware of the noises behind her. Asuka and Shinji were
both saying something, both asking what it was she was doing, probably.
She could barely hear them over the breath of Unit-00, which was now so
close it seemed she could touch it.
Kaoru looked up, at the demonic form of Unit-00 descending on them.
Without a word, he threw Ariel off of him and righted himself, standing
up on his knees in the Jeep's seat. Steadying himself with one hand on
the roll bar, he held his other hand out towards the Eva, as though he
actually _did_ intend to touch it.
Unit-00 continued towards them. Now, it reached out its hand,
mimicking Kaoru. The boy began breathing harder, his brow furrowing
with the effort of what he was trying to do. Unit-00's fingers hung
over them. Ariel backed away reflexively, falling down in between the
seats and getting stuck. She was helpless, only able to watch, as the
blue hand came down on her.
Then, Unit-00 stopped.
The blue fingers shot backwards as the Eva stopped short. They clipped
the spare tire, ripping off the whole tailgate and making the Jeep jerk
sideways in a heart-stopping lurch. By some miracle, Lewis was able to
keep them from flipping over, slamming on the brakes and fighting with
the wheel. They fishtailed, then went into a spin over the dusty
terrain, finally crashing to a halt after several complete revolutions.
The Eva was now in front of them, several hundred meters away. It
stumbled, trying to take a few more steps. It stretched its arm
towards the Jeep that was now out of its reach. It tripped and fell to
its knees, shaking the Jeep on its suspension with the crash. It kept
reaching for them, trying now to crawl forward with one arm as its
other hand still stretched towards them. Finally, though, it slumped,
its head plowing into the ground and its outstretched arm finally going
limp.
But, even as the Eva fell still, Ariel heard its last call.
^Consider yourself lucky, Fifteenth. You have not avoided fate.
Merely delayed it.^
No one dared speak, for several long heartbeats. Kaoru, it turned out,
was the first to break the stunned silence.
"Sorry," he said, a rare word coming from him. He took a minute to try
and catch his breath. "I couldn't control the Eva directly. But..." -
another gasp for breath - "it turns out I was...able to cut its link to
the S2 engine. It still...fought a bit, though."
Lewis just grunted out a halfhearted reply, vaguely in the affirmative.
No one else said anything.
"But I believe we should be heading back," Kaoru said. "Rei...needs to
see a doctor, and I..." he didn't finish. His eyes were already
closing again. He slumped in the seat.
Another affirmative grunt from Lewis. They didn't move for a few
minutes, before the man finally shook it off and got them going, giving
the fallen machine a very wide berth as the headed back.
Asuka looked back, at Ariel, who was still jammed between the seats.
"Are you OK?" she asked. Her eyes looked up a little, and she smiled,
just a bit. "I guess you're not. But I guess I can't blame you, huh?"
Ariel looked up to where Asuka had been looking. She saw a large wet
spot on the seat, mirrored by a similar moist spot soaking through her
pants. She hadn't even noticed...
"I'll be all right," she finally said. "Just...give me some time."
"I think we'll all need some time," Asuka said, quietly. Then she
looked back to Shinji. "And you, don't you go getting ideas. I don't
do lap dances. Often."
* * *
He stirred in bed, rolling over before groggily opening his eyes.
"Sempai, he's waking up."
"Good. Just run a quick check on him. He just needs some rest."
Maya held up a hand. "How many fingers am I holding up, Nagisa-san?"
His red eyes struggled to focus. "Four," he slurred out, a few seconds
later.
Maya looked at the two fingers she'd been holding up, as though to make
sure _she_ wasn't the one seeing things. "Uh...right," she said,
slowly. "Sempai's got it, I think. You need some rest."
"Your..." he tried to say. Maya, who'd been turning away, stopped and
looked back.
Kaoru swallowed. "Your...fingers." He blinked, and for a moment
looked fully awake. "What...what happened to them? They're
all...red."
Maya again looked at her fingers. As Kaoru had noted, her hand was
bloody, with multiple cuts and scrapes. Her other hand, however, was
still sealed in a tight-fitting leather glove, the condition of its
skin hidden from the world. The woman had taken to wearing it every
day now.
"Well..." she said, then paused, looking at him.
"I _know_ I should be sleeping," he replied, sounding almost angry.
"But...tell me, Maya-san. I'm interested."
"Well...Unit-00 went berserk" she answered. "The Dummy Plug
activated."
Kaoru nodded knowingly. "Yes..."
"And, well...a lot of people got hurt. We had to dig a bunch of them
out of the rubble. Everyone...everyone helped."
Kaoru again nodded. "That is...encouraging, I suppose."
Maya tried to smile. "It isn't as bad as we...well, it could have been
worse, I guess."
Kaoru blinked again. He thought he could see wetness on the woman's
cheeks, but through the blur that had settled into his vision, he
couldn't be sure.
A small cry to his side got his attention. Kaoru turned his head. It
was a sound he'd known he should hear, but yet in his state, it caught
him off guard. A low moaning, one of utter and complete despair.
"Oh, yeah," Maya said, remembering. "Sorry, we had to group you in
here with Horaki-san and a few others. There isn't enough room in the
tents for everyone."
"Oh..." he said, dazedly. "Don't tell me I'm...sitting in here, when
someone's outside who...needs your attentions more than I." To this,
Maya said nothing. Kaoru had the distinct impression that that _was_
indeed the case. But he could sense that an argument would be a waste
of what precious little energy he had to spare.
"What...happened?" he asked, still looking at the Hikari-colored blur
not far from him. The girl looked like she was slowly rocking back
and forth.
"Well..." Maya tried to begin. But then there was a brief choked
sound, and one hand went to her mouth. "It can wait," she said
quickly. "I...I'm sorry. It's like you said. There's other people I
need to see."
"What about Suzuhara?" Kaoru asked the woman's back as she left,
feeling his focus starting to return. He thought about sitting up, but
he didn't try it, just yet. Maya ventured no response to his question.
She just slipped out of the room.
He closed his eyes, trying to conserve his strength. But he couldn't
concentrate. He kept hearing the low, strained sounds come from Hikari,
no matter how much the girl tried to hold them in.
"I suppose I could answer your question," came another familiar voice.
One he'd have preferred not to hear. Kaoru wearily turned his head, to
see the white-haired form sitting next to his bed.
"Suzuhara covered her when the walls caved in," Ariel explained,
without prompting. "That's why Horaki got out all ri..." she seemed to
catch herself. "Well, why she's here."
"Is he - " Kaoru tried to ask. He was interrupted by the sounds of an
argument outside the door. There were several raised voices, growing
louder by the second, until finally Ritsuko's voice said that it was
all right. Moments later, Touji walked - well, more like limped - in
through the entrance.
Kaoru could see the boy was heavily favoring one leg, and one of his
hands was wrapped in a ball of bandages. His head was also bandaged,
but his eyes were clear. The dark-skinned boy looked over to Hikari.
Neither said anything. He just headed over to her and took her up in
his arms. Kaoru could hear the sound of both of them sobbing. It
sounded like they'd been holding it in for quite some time, now.
"So he is well, I suppose," Kaoru whispered. "But then, why..."
"Well, there were complications, so to speak," Ariel said, answering
him before he could even formulate the question. She paused, looking
at his quizzical expression. "Figure it out, you...I believe the word
is 'baka'," she finished.
Kaoru's mind tried to churn through the problem. It was difficult, as
his thought processes were still a little muddied. So Hikari was here,
obviously. Toji had gotten out alive, if nothing else. So they were
all right, even after that stressful time. Well, stress could cause
people to break down.
It could also...
"Oh...no..." Kaoru said, slowly, looking back at Ariel. The girl just
looked at him, nodding slightly. It might have just been because of
his injury, but he thought he could see real sadness around her eyes,
leaking out even through her commendable self-control.
"No...no..." Kaoru said, shaking his head.
"Quiet," Ariel said sharply, cutting him off. "You sound like Horaki
did." She lowered her voice and leaned in a little closer. Kaoru
closed his eyes, trying to block out the sounds coming from the next
bed. Now, Hikari was just sobbing continuously, loudly. Toji was
trying to sound comforting, but he too sounded like he was about to
shatter.
"They were buried, the two of them. Well, three of them I suppose,"
Ariel explained to him. "Unfortunately, Horaki had gone into labor.
The stress triggered it, I believe. Given their situation, it's no
wonder it didn't survive."
Kaoru said nothing. He just tried to breathe.
"They're saying it may have been a stillborn," Ariel continued. "If
that were the case, then even with the best conditions, there was
nothing that could have been - "
"Stop," Kaoru cut her off. "Just stop, Ariel-san. You've said more
than enough. And this isn't the time or place for this conversation."
^Not while they're here,^ he mentally added on. ^Not while they can
hear us.^ He was sure they'd heard everything he and Ariel had said so
far, no matter how much they hadn't wanted to.
"I have to leave," he said, finally. "Ariel..." he paused to take a
breath. "Help me up."
The girl just stared at him for a long moment, then rolled her eyes and
put her arm under his shoulders.
Vertigo nearly overwhelmed Kaoru as he stood. He had to lean on Ariel
heavily to keep from crashing to the ground. He only noticed now that
the girl was surprisingly strong.
Ariel half-carried, half-dragged him out of the room. It was another
tent, Kaoru saw as his vision began to clear again. They got
outside, the sudden flash of sunlight blinding him as they continued
forwards, trying to get away from the couple in the tent.
Ariel kept walking, getting them a respectable distance from the tent
before lowering Kaoru to the ground again, leaving him in a sitting
position. Then she knelt down next to him. Why she wasn't leaving
him, he didn't know. At least now he couldn't hear Hikari.
"You've no idea how much I'm enjoying this," Ariel said, coldly.
"How's it feel, Kaoru?"
Kaoru looked at her, unbelievingly. "Are you completely heartless?" he
asked. "You...no, _everyone_ is lucky to be alive. And now that
Horaki-san has..."
Ariel waved it away. "You are wrong to call me heartless, Tabris," she
said, using his real name again. "I am simply more careful in choosing
who I display weakness to."
"I doubt anyone would call Horaki or Suzuhara weak, under the
conditions," Kaoru said, angrily. Had he posessed the strength, he would
have struck her. ^And she knows I can't,^ he concluded. ^How does it
feel, she asks. To be helpless...^
"Sometimes, it is right to cry," Kaoru continued. "It is what makes you
human."
"Perhaps," Ariel responded nebulously. "Yet this was an opportunity I
could not throw away. I wanted to memorize how you looked, when you
woke up here. It was worth the wait." She paused. "Now I have some
idea of how you must feel normally, when you're dealing with a
powerless outcast like me."
Kaoru waited. If he ignored her, perhaps she would go away. Also,
this was probably something that it would be best for Ariel to get out
of her system now, instead of later at a less convenient time. But
yet...she wasn't leaving. She was just squatting there, looking at
him.
"Did you - " he tried to ask.
"I had nothing to do with it," Ariel said, at the same time. She
paused, a little caught off-guard. Then she leaned in a little closer,
lowering her voice. "Believe what you will," she said. "But I can say
that I had nothing to do with you losing control over your...machine."
Kaoru listened to her. Not just to her words, but to her tone of
voice. There was hatred in there, that much was obvious. But, under
that...there was a tone of honesty. He nodded slightly, at this. He
had no reason to distrust the girl's words, at least for now.
"All right then," he said, also quietly. "I assume it remained
deactivated, then?"
Ariel nodded once, sharply. "Yes. I suppose shutting it down was the
best you could do. At least the tactic worked."
Kaoru blinked. "You're welcome."
"Excuse me?"
"You're welcome." He cocked his head to one side, a little. "You came
here to say that, too, didn't you? Next time, a simple 'thank you'
will likely work better."
Ariel stiffened a little, then stood up quickly, turning her back on him.
"I had no such intention," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Whatever you say," he answered, knowingly. He watched the girl
bristle at his comment. He chanced a quick look around himself. He
still couldn't see very well, but from the sounds around him, he didn't
want to see what surrounded him, at least not yet. "Where's Rei?" he
asked, finally.
"She was moved to a separate tent," Ariel answered. "I believe Shinji-
kun was going to see if she'd awakened, yet."
Kaoru thought about that, then his breath caught. "That cannot...it
would not be a good idea for him to see her," he said, trying to stand
up, and watching the world vanish in a wave of dizziness.
A firm pressure, courtesy of Ariel's hand on his shoulder, pressed him
back down to the ground. "Rest for now, Kaoru," she said, her voice
sending a small chill up his spine. "You'll have ample time to see her
later."
Kaoru tried to move away, his limbs feeling like rubber. The small
voice in the back of his mind, the one telling him that even if he
could summon the strength to get out of the bed, there was no way he'd
be able to actually walk anywhere, was finally heard. And he admitted
defeat.
^I'm sorry, Rei.^
* * *
She stirred in bed, rolling over before her eyes snapped open, wide and
alert.
She sat up, her crimson eyes scanning slowly around her. She was
sitting on a bed, in one of the many olive-green tents. And she was
alone.
She felt a momentary pang at this. Some part of her struggled against
the onset of the old, familiar apathy. Something was saying that it
did not desire to be alone. That, now more than ever, she had to be
reminded that someone other than herself existed in this world.
Then, the feeling passed. And, just like it had always been, like how
it _should_ be, she was no longer bothered by the vacancy of the room
around her. She did not desire an end to the oppressive emptiness.
Indeed, she could be said to not 'desire' anything at all.
But this feeling, of unfeeling, eternal patience, was interrupted. She
turned a cold pair of eyes on the tent flap, as someone walked in with
her. She recognized the visitor, but that rarely meant anything. She
recognized most of the people around her. But this one...something
made her vocalize her recognition of him.
"Ikari." A simple enough phrase. Sufficient for the task of simple
acknowledgement.
The boy said nothing. There were no chairs, so he did not sit. He
just walked a little further into the tent, his eyes on her. Some
memory tried to awaken in her at this. Something...about being in a
similar position, with this boy. Only with their places reversed. Him
in the bed, and her standing over him, watching.
"You're awake," he said. Another simple phrase. She did not bother
with acknowledgement. There was no need to confirm the obvious.
She blinked, once, watching him. Something about his manner
was...different. Unfamiliar to her. His movements were stiff, his
voice cold. His hands trembled occasionally, their fingers twitching
towards becoming fists. It must have been painful for him to do so, as
both his hands were bandaged. Some of the visible skin appeared
burned, but by what she didn't know. Again, this seemed so familiar to
her, and at the same time so different.
He waited there, for a long time. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. She
looked at him. He was pacing back and forth, slowly, his mood still
the same as when he'd come in. Now that he was closer, she could see
his face was tight, but at the same time his eyes showed fatigue. It
was as though the only thing keeping him on his feet was the unyielding
drive towards...what? Something she could not fathom. Perhaps he was
waiting for her to say something. If so, then what?
"Did you..." he began hoarsely. Then he swallowed, finding some
moisture in his mouth. "Did you do it?"
Silence was her only reply. ^Do what?^
"I don't know...I don't know what to believe right now, Ayanami," he
continued, as though he'd heard her mental reply. "I know what I saw,
and...what happened. But I know what I told you, too. I told
you...never. Never ever, do that."
^Do _what_?^
"I just...I just can't figure out any other explanation," he said,
holding his hands in front of him as though trying to physically grab
the answer out of the air. "Just...just..."
He turned to face her, for the first time since after he'd come in.
She could see the tears building behind his eyes. Those caught her by
surprise even more than the next word out of his mouth:
"_Why?_" he asked, his voice carrying a hint of desperation. "Why
would you...why would..._why?_"
Feeling that her body was in adequate health, she moved, getting out of
the bed. Shinji looked, for a moment, as though he were going to run.
But, he held himself back, through an effort of will.
"I do not understand," she said, looking at him briefly. "What do you
ask, Ikari?"
He shook his head. "Don't you remember?"
She blinked. Her memory...
She could remember nearly everything she'd ever experienced with
perfect clarity. But, now...there was a haze over her mind. The
events of the past several hours had vanished from her memory, stolen
from her by some force she could not understand. Or, perhaps...
repressed by her own mind, in an effort to preserve itself.
She shook her head.
Shinji shuddered with the effort of some internal battle. He turned
away from her, and strode over to the tent flap. "Come here," he said,
coldly. She did as she was told.
He said nothing as she approached. He simply pulled the tent flap
aside.
And outside, there was nothing but destruction.
Ramshackle buildings lay strewn over the ground, reduced to mere
pebbles. A few scraps of metal signified where there might have once
been a truck, or even a proud tank. Smoke billowed from the remains of
some more other vehicle, which lay overturned and smoldering atop a
pile of rubble. And through it all, the stench of death, accompanied
by darkening pools of what could only be blood, collecting on the
ground like rain after a storm.
She blinked, her eyes taking it all in and her mind processing it with
the same efficiency with which it absorbed everything. But again, she
felt something, some pang, of an emotion she did not understand and
knew that she never would be able to. But yet, even if comprehension
eluded her, she was aware that suddenly she was sick to her stomach.
She gave no outward sign of this, however.
"Did you do this?" Shinji asked. "Even after I told you?" She turned
her head, to see that he was now looking at her directly, unblinkingly.
"Did you unleash the Eva? Did you tell it to do this?"
She did not answer, again. She just looked back out of the entrance,
back at the chaos beyond. She could almost feel it...the presence of
that other being, stronger than any of the feeble beings outside. It
felt...contented.
"_Why?_" he asked, again. "Didn't you know? _Didn't_ you?" his voice
was rising. She again looked to him, the feeling of apprehension
growing within her. She unconsciously took a step away from him."
"These...these people, they _trusted_ you," he said. "_I_ trusted you.
And you had to...to go...to go and..." he finished by gesturing in the
general direction of the tent flap. "_Why?_"
Before she could answer, he was continuing. "These people worked.
They worked so hard to live again, Rei. They abandoned paradise, their
perfect world, to come..._here_. And they worked. For _two_years_, to
make life better. Now it's all gone, because of you. It's all
smashed, back to dust. We're right back where we started. It just
took five minutes, and we're back to the beginning. So..." he took a
step towards her. "_Why?_"
He seemed to be waiting for her to say something. "I..." she tried to
say. Something twinged in her at the use of her first name. She
ignored it. "I was in a battle," she said. "And the enemy..."
"Hikari's lucky to even be alive," Shinji was continuing. "She went
into labor because of all this. And now, she...she..." He closed his
eyes and clenched his bandaged fists. Rei saw several drops squeeze out
from between his eyelids, splashing into small puddles in the dirt under
their feet. The open display of emotion intrigued her, briefly.
Rei was listening, but at the same time trying to continue her thought.
"I defeated the enemy..."
"Yes, you defeated the enemy," he said, his voice shaking. "You
destroyed everything, but you won. That's all that matters, right?"
She could not think of an answer for several moments. Then:
"It is my purpose."
A half-second later, she found she was looking to the side.
Interesting, she hadn't meant to turn her head...
And then she heard the sound, of flesh hitting flesh. And then,
moments later, the pain hit. A stinging, burning sensation in her
cheek.
Shinji clenched his hand, as though to try and stay it from striking
her again. "You..." he muttered. "You just don't _care_, do you? You
haven't changed at all. You only care about ending life, don't you?"
His voice trembled, with the effort of containing the explosion of
emotion that was roiling about inside of him.
And then, Rei looked at him.
And then, all the rage, the frustration, the desire to just know _why_,
vanished within him.
Because before him, there stood something more frightening even than
the view of the transformed Unit-00 bearing down upon him, hand
outstretched to squeeze the life from his fragile body. He was looking
at two crimson orbs, which regarded him with a dead, burning stare that
seemed to bore straight through to his soul, and which could see that
he was afraid.
Her posture was the same as it had been just a moment ago. Even her
expression was the same placid, emotionless mask. But the eyes...they
regarded him with such utter, unrestrained intensity that he stepped
back.
One step became many. And then, he was at the entrance. And then, she
had vanished from his sight, because he had turned, and he had run.
He ran until he was out of breath. He did not look back once.
Because he knew that, if he had, he would be dead.
* * *
Misato made her way across the American camp, making very sure not to
look at the people around her. It was a trained reflex, and a rather
effective one at that. She knew if she actually _thought_ about the
carnage around her, that she might break down. There'd be time for
that later, _after_ she'd gotten this...matter...out of the way.
Her hands were cut and bruised, from where she'd helped dig out the few
survivors that had been trapped under the rubble of the shelters.
Already, there were dead bodies lined up on the ground outside of these
ruins, and more kept coming with every minute they spent digging. Five
dead for every one living...you couldn't think about what you were
looking at, what you were doing, if you valued your sanity.
She'd finally had to step away from the work. Actually, it had been
more like Shigeru had _dragged_ her away from it. She could have kept
at it for a few more minutes, she knew. Just until she collapsed, that
was all. And then she'd have dug some more. Shigeru now had a
stinging welt on his cheek, for which Misato already felt guilty.
She'd been angry and frustrated and...well, she'd apologize tomorrow,
when she wasn't so worried she'd just slap the man again, for taking
her away from the people who needed her help.
Then this had come up. Her mind had cleared enough to remember what
she'd seen just before the Eva had gone off after Lewis and the others.
She'd asked around, and found that the ungrateful bastard was sitting
around in his tent, of all places. Was he content to just _watch_ them
try to pull out their dead and dying? This was his home too, at least
temporarily.
Kensuke had warned her that even he'd been turned away from trying to
see Lewis. Apparently, the Major hadn't wanted to see anyone. Misato
didn't care. This had to be done, she knew.
But yet, for all the warnings, she found her way into Lewis' tent
without much trouble. No one was standing guard. Inside, she found
him, sitting in a chair and playing darts with knives again.
"Hello," she said, stiffly. At least in here she didn't have to
pretend not to see what was right in front of her. She still had to
avoid thinking, though. Lewis might be doing the same thing, but at
the moment it looked like he just didn't care. Misato clenched a fist.
"Hey," he said back, not looking. He picked through the knives lying
next to him, finding one he liked. He then took a swing from a bottle
of...something, in his other hand. It wasn't a simple beer. Misato
could tell just from the smell of the tent.
"Is _that_ how you handle things?" she asked.
"Some things," he answered, still not looking at her. He threw the
knife, missing the dart board completely. He cursed and took another
drink. "Things like getting promoted."
"Really?" Misato asked, now getting a little angrier. "Do I have to
call you General, now?" ^Like hell I will.^
Lewis shook his head somberly. "That's a little too high," he said.
"And it's nothin' concrete yet. They just say they might promote me,
for my...what the hell was it...'admirable conduct' in that last mess."
"Yes, about that - " Misato tried to begin.
"Before you start pulling my teeth or gouging my eyes out or whatever
else it is you had planned, I'm sorry," he said, firmly. He paused,
letting that sink in. "I know I had no right to put your kids in
danger like that. I'm sorry." No excuses. No 'I had to do it', not
even 'it seemed like a good idea at the time'. Just an apology.
"And the reason I'm in here instead of out there ripping up my hands,"
he said, throwing a glance at Misato's hands, "is that I know right now
they'll call me a hero, or something."
Misato's fist tightened. "Yes," she said, quietly. "They're saying
you saved everyone, with your 'brave plan', or something else."
"Glad to hear not everyone agrees," Lewis answered, hearing the tone in
her voice. "And you're right, I don't deserve it."
"I never said - "
"You didn't have to. All was was doing was savin' my own ass. It was
just coincidence that that...thing, robot, whatever-it-was, stopped
while I was doin' it. You want any of this?" he asked, holding the
bottle out to the side without looking at her.
Misato's fist relaxed. "You're one lucky guy, you know. That you're
even still breathing, after a stunt like that."
Lewis paused. He carefully put down the knife he'd been holding. "I
know," he said, quietly. "I know all too well. Look over there," he
said, pointing to a table. Misato did as she was told, finding a sheet
of paper lying on top. On it were two long columns of small-print
text. It was a list of names.
"Are these...?" she asked, not wanting to finish the sentence.
Lewis nodded. "The names of the men under my command, who aren't as
lucky as me," he said. "Funny, isn't it?" he asked, not smiling. "I
go and get that many people killed, and the brass _rewards_ me.
Promotes me, gives me more guns...guess that's standard procedure,
nowadays. Reward the ones who live. I got a whole stack of promotions
to hand out to the men who survived, you know," he continued. "Wonder
how they'll take it."
Misato went quiet, and - against her better judgement - thought.
Lewis, for his part, went back to throwing knives at the dart board.
Finally, though, Misato spoke up.
"Major..."
"What?" he asked, curtly. He flung another knife, to where it thunked
into the board.
"I heard you talking on the radio. You had Unit-00 tagged as a
separate target, even before the battle started, didn't you?"
"Don't act surprised." He took another drink. "That's also standard
procedure."
"I guess I can't fault you for it...since you needed to target it,
anyway. But..."
Lewis didn't take the bait, asking what it was. He just took another
drink and threw another knife. Fling. Thunk.
Misato continued. "When I walked in on you back there...when you were
alone in the tent, talking on the phone..."
"Don't bother asking."
"...what were you doing?"
"I said don't bother. It's classified." Fling. Thunk. Drink.
"Why'd you tell me to get as far away as I could? I'd have done better
just finding some place to hide, if it was just the Eva we had to worry
about."
"..."
"What were you going to do?"
"Katsuragi, I can't tell you." He stood up, and offered her the
bottle. "Look, you've had a rough day, and - "
Misato smacked the bottle out of his hand, to where it shattered on the
ground a few meters away. "I have a right to know!" she shouted into
his face.
"No. You _don't_." He turned his back on Misato, flinging one last
knife at the board. It hit very close to the center. Then he looked
back to her. "I couldn't tell you, no matter what you might think you
could do to me," he said.
Misato finally nodded. "All right," she admitted, grudgingly. Even
with most of a bottle of liquor in him, the man still had a few dozen
kilos on her, and the rational part of her mind was telling her this
was not the time to be getting into fights.
"Hang on," he said, as she turned to leave. "I've got something to
show you."
Silence, except for the shuffling as Misato turned around. Lewis
headed towards the back of the tent, as Misato took a deep breath and
let it out slowly.
"You remember I sent out scouts," he said, as he found what he was
looking for: a large, canvas-covered object on a card table. He
shrugged off the alcohol-induced fatigue and brushed off some of the
junk that had collected on top of the canvas.
"Yes, of course."
"Well, they found something," he said. "Even though they were out
looking for those...those..._things_," he said, shaking his head in
frustration. "...they still found some things. Turns out there were
some ruins that had opened up a little more since last we checked."
"Really?" Misato asked. She headed over, as Lewis beckoned. "What did
you find?"
Lewis paused. One corner of his mouth went tight, as he thought
something over. "Look, I dunno any way to make this any easier, so
I'll just show you," he said, reaching for the corner of the canvas.
"We searched the ruins," he said. He started to pull back the canvas.
There was something metal under it.
"We found something big, some kind of underground installation" he
said. "Something you people might recognize."
It wasn't just metal, it was some kind of symbol, like a shield or
something.
"And stuff like this thing was everywhere," he said, pulling the canvas
away entirely. "Does this look familiar to you?"
Misato's eyes widened, as she looked. Her breathing accelerated, as
did her heartbeat. She said nothing. But then again, nothing needed
to be said. Lewis saw the answer in her face.
"Care to have some of this?" he asked, pulling up a fresh bottle of
whatever it was he'd been drinking.
Misato nodded mutely.
They both stepped away, popping open the bottle of liquor. Behind
them, the shield-like symbol glared defiantly towards their backs,
displaying its message for all to see:
God's in His Heaven, and All's Right With the World.
N E R V
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Endnote: Before you can e-mail me to tell me so, yes I am an evil,
sadistic bastard. I am probably mentally ill, too. Welcome to Eva.
BWA HA HA HA HA!!!
Ahem. Anyway, This chapter encounterd a significant delay due to
prereader difficulties and, of course, school restarting. Ugh. In any
case, know that I'm definitely going to stay with this story. It's
just getting good. ^_^
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Started: July 9, 2002
Version 1 Ended: July 31, 2002
Version 2 Ended: August 5, 2002
Version 3 Ended: August 6, 2002
Version 4 Ended: September 19, 2002
Thanks go to the Avatar of Dragonia, Heavyarms Kai, and Judging
Eagle for prereading.
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.