Chapter #13
"No way, make Shinji watch him!" Asuka nearly screamed.
"Yea right, I had to watch him the past two nights in a row!"
"Now, now, hold on you two, I don't think Kaji needs anyone to watch him now. Speaking of which, I think you guys can go back to school tomorrow."
"Damn, why can't an Angel come and destroy that stupid school sometime?"
Unfortunatly for Asuka, her wish would come true all too soon. Misato's cell phone began to ring.
"Yes, hello, what is it.........no, it can't be, right now? ............ Okay, I'll get them together. Kids," Misato said after she hung up, "that was Ritsuko, Asuka; you may just not have a school in a few minutes. An Angel is attacking."
"Why didn't we know earlier? All of the other ones we knew about before they started attacking, what happened this time?"
"I don't know, but I have to get all of you to NERV right now. Touji is already on his way there, so we don't have to worry about him. Asuka, go get Jonathan."
---
Asuka was growing more and more impatient. This was the third time she'd knocked on Jonathan's door and she still didn't hear anything. Asuka tried the handle and it opened, much to her surprise. She walked into the apartment and smelled breakfast being cooked. She walked to the kitchen and found Jonathan setting out two plates.
"Um...Hi Asuka, I didn't expect you to be coming over so early... I was going to ask you over, but..."
"There's no time for that, Dummkopf, an Angel's attacking, come on, we've got to go."
"No way! Alright, I finally get to fight an Angel, so what's it look like?"
"I don't know, but if we wait around here, pretty soon there won't be anything left for us to protect, come on!"
"Okay, so we're going with Misato, right?"
"No, I thought we'd have Shinji drive." Asuka said sarcastically.
"Okay, I get it; you don't have to be so mean." Jonathan said as he struggled to put his shoes on.
"Jonathan, is it really that hard to put on shoes?"
"Hey, it's not my fault." Jonathan said as he finally slipped his foot into his shoe, "Okay, let's go."
Asuka nodded and left for Misato's car. Jonathan lingered only long enough to lock his door and soon he was chasing after Asuka.
---
"We have positive, its reading blue." Maya says to Ritsuko as they begin the procedure for an Angel attack.
"It's about time, don't you think? Alright, are Misato and the children here yet?"
"The children are heading to their Evas right now, Major Katsuragi should be here any second."
As if on cue, in steps Misato from the hall outside.
"Ritsuko, what's the status of the Evas?"
"The children are entering them at the moment."
"Okay, once all the children are inside, launch the Evas and send them some weapons."
"Major, don't you think that's a little rash?" Fuyutsuki asks quietly from his place behind Gendo.
"Considering what we've faced from the last five Angels, sir, I don't believe that it may be rash enough."
"Major, the Evas have been launched and are awaiting your orders." Maya says as she interrupts the brief conversation between the sub-commander and Misato.
"Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Jonathan, Touji, can all of you hear me?"
The view screens from the various Evas appear almost instantaneously on the main screen.
-"Yea, I can hear you"- Touji responds
-"Misato, what kind of Angel is it?"- Shinji asks in a worried tone.
"We aren't really sure yet, most of our cameras and sensors can't get a good reading on it, it seems to be using the AT field to disrupt them."
-"Great..."- Asuka mumbles under her breath.
---
Inside the entry plug of Unit 00, Rei seems almost oblivious to what is going on around her as she sees a strange form appear over the crest of a hill. Not unlike a giant marble, a dot of black travels slowly above the ground towards the five Evas.
-"What the hell is that thing?"- Touji asks as he takes notice as well.
-"Don't get to close to it, we don't know what it's capable of."-
-"What're you talk'in about? It's like a speck of dust!"-
Rei pays no attention to the conversation around her as she focuses on the pinpoint far in the distance.
-"Use extreme caution when approaching it. Unit 01 will lead, Unit 02 and Unit 05 will provide backup. Unit 00 and Unit 03 will flank from the right side."-
-"Why do I have to be backup? Misato, it's just a little speck of light!"- Asuka complains over the comm.
Rei maneuvers Unit 00 around to Unit 03 as they begin their march towards the Angel. As the Evas edge closer, Unit 00 tightens its grip around the spear it holds as it anticipates what is to come. Suddenly, Unit 03 runs past Unit 00, leaving Rei in a state of mild shock, and stops just before the Angel.
-"Don't worry, Misato, I'll just clean up this little spot and be on my way back."- Touji says arrogantly as Unit 03 raises its hand to the Angel.
For a moment the Angel stops moving as the titan wraps its hand around it. Rei watches on in horror as sparks of electricity begin to leap from the Evas hand, quickly making their way up the Evas arm and to the rest of its body.
-"What the hell is this thing?!"- Touji asks before he is cut off by his own screams as the Evas arm is slowly ripped from its socket. The Eva stumbles back, holding the place where its arm once resided. Seemingly of its own will, the Eva's now decapitated arm slowly rises and sets into place next to the ball of darkness. Unit 03 charges the ball madly with its prog. Knife held high. Before it can reach its intended target, however, the floating arm turns and punches the grey and black Eva in the chest, bringing its charge to an immediate halt. Inside the entry plug, only the screams of Touji can be heard as the rest of the pilots watch on in horror at the atrocities yet to ensue. The ghostly arm continues its barrage against Unit 03 as the strange black orb begins moving again, this time towards the glimmering form of Unit 05.
-"Uh...it's coming towards me! What am I supposed to do? Misato? Asuka?"-
"Stay still."
Rei's statement comes as a surprise to all who hear it.
The orb continues on its course as it makes its way up to the green Eva's face. Jonathan watches as the shape begins to change, first forming a blob, then changing into various geometric forms in front of the Evas two eyes.
-"It...it's changing shape?"-
"Do not move your Eva."
The strange creature begins to float around to the Eva's back when it stops, seemingly eying the compartment which houses the pilot within. Suddenly, the sphere begins to grow, reforming it's self. Unit 05's neck snaps around to see what it happening, and with the movement, the sphere begins to form a long cylindrical tube of black, before plunging into the entry plug beyond the armor.
-"What the hell?! Someone help!"- Yet before anyone can respond, the vid screen blinks, then disappears.
-"No! Jonathan!"- Asuka screams over the comm.
"Do not move, I will take care of this."
-"What're you talking about?! That thing has him! What could you do?"-
Rei merely ignores the girl's questions and begins to move Unit 00 forward, towards the heaving form of Unit 05. The shoulder compartment opens on Unit 00 and it soon pulls the knife from its protective casing. Like an animal, Unit 00 leaps onto Unit 05's back and brings the prog. Knife into the armor around the entry plug.
-"No! You'll kill him!"- Asuka's cries fall on deaf ears, however, as Unit 00 struggles and pulls the protective casing off of the Evas back. The strange creature seems to have encased the entry plug around it's self, but it rears at the sight of the cycloptic beast before it. With a roar coming without vocal chords, the black dot once more reforms outside of the entry plug and hovers in front of the blue Eva. It seems to regard it for a moment, before a small piece of it, roughly the size of the Eva's eye, breaks off, and begins to shoot off into to sky away from the battle ground. Unit 00 lifts its head and lets out a deafening roar as two gigantic wings sprout from its shoulder blades. The Eva pounds the strange sphere once with its fist, sending it into the ground before the wings begin to flap and catch the wind around it.
---
"What the hell is going on?!" Misato rages.
"We've lost contact with Unit 05 and with Unit 00! Unit 00 has jettisoned its power cord!" Aoba answers.
"Do we have any visual on the Evas?"
"We only have visual feeds from the Evas, maam."
"Well, then, bring them up!"
On cue, the feeds from Unit 01, 02, and 03 all show the same event taking place at different perspectives; the huge form of Unit 00 flying off into the distance.
"Asuka, what is going on?" Shinji questions in a state of disbelief.
-"I don't know, but that thing is coming back!"-
The black orb rises from the dent in the earth worn by it after the impact of Unit 00's fist. The screams of Touji can still be heard as the suspended arm continues to pound mercilessly into the form of Unit 03.
-"I've lost contact with Unit 03!"-
"Asuka, we've got to help Touji!"
To Shinji's dismay, however, just as these words are uttered from his lips, the arm swings down once more, plunging deep into the chest of his friend's Eva.
"No!"
Unit 01 takes off at blinding speed towards the now limp body of Unit 03. It weaves in and out of buildings before suddenly the world is turned upside down. Shinji looks around frantically when he finds the reason for his Eva's sudden stop. The once spherical form now has taken on the form of a jet black Eva, shining in the sun. Underneath its foot lies the Eva's power cord.
"Get-Get off!" Shinji screams as Unit 01 pulls free from the Angel.
-"Misato, it...it looks like an Eva!"-
-"You have to beat it, Shinji! Asuka, help Shinji out. You two are our only hope now."-
"What about Rei?"
-"She's outside our sensor range now. Touji's gone unconscious, but you and Asuka have to destroy that thing before you can help him."-
-"What about Jonathan?!"-
-"We have no idea, we lost all contact with him after the Angel attacked his entry plug."-
-"Bastard! Shinji, let's kill this thing!"-
"Roger, Asuka, I could use some help, though!"
The Angel soon regains its footing and begins attacking Unit 01 furiously, its fists periodically shifting into what looks like sharpened spears before reforming into fists again. Unit 02 comes running around another building, offering a happy sight to Shinji before his vision is again encompassed by the mutating fist hitting Unit 01's face. Unit 02 raises its rifle to its shoulder and peppers the Angel's back with gigantic bullets. It shrieks in pain as it stops its assault, turning to the red Eva.
-"Shinji, use your progressive knife!"- Asuka says just before turning her Eva to avoid a wild leap from the Angel.
Unit 01 struggles to its feet as piles of built up concrete fall off its titanic frame. The housing for Unit 01's prog. Knife pops open to reveal the handle which the Eva quickly pulls free. Unit 01 gives chase as the Angel begins to gain the advantage against Asuka. Just as Shinji sees the Angel, the Angel starts weaving through a cluster of building while chasing Unit 02, forcing Shinji to play catch up.
-"Hey, I could really use a hand out here!"-
Shinji finally gets out of the maze of skyscrapers to find the Angel giving chase to Unit 02 across the plains adjacent to the city. With a desperate cry, Shinji wills his Eva to continue.
"Don't worry, I'm..."
Shinji is cut off, however, as his Eva again falls on its back.
-"What's wrong now?!"-
-"Shinji, you need to reconnect your power cord, you've reached its limit!"- Misato yells over the comm.
The cord ejects from Unit 01's back with a burst from its jets as Unit 01 gets back to its feet once more.
"If I do that, then Asuka won't have any backup!"
-"Shinji, you'll only have five minutes of power! You need to reconnect!"-
"I'm sorry, Misato, but I've got to help her!"
With that, Shinji cuts the link to the command center on his Eva and wills it forward, directly in the path of the Angel.
The Angel finally gains the advantage against the red Eva in the open and soon has it on its back. Once more it begins pummeling its target, armor tearing off the Eva's head with every hit. Inside the Unit's entry plug, every skull cracking blow is transferred to its pilot. Asuka contracts into a ball holding her head with every hit.
"NO! Make it stop! I can't lose, not now!"
The Angel swings its left arm down once more to contact, but it is met instead with an orange disruption. It does not shake the Angel's concentration, however, as it continues to pound against the shield, now the only thing keeping it from achieving its goal. As it draws its arm back for another swing it encounters the blade from Unit 01's prog knife, instead. The purple giant slices upwards, severing the makeshift hand from its arm. A spray of black shoots from the wound, coating the two remaining Evangelions.
"It's about time you got over here!"
-"Sorry, Asuka, I was going as fast as I could!"-
"Whatever, just keep on attacking it!"
Now Unit 02's prog knife pops out, offering to end what had begun. The Evas head rears back as it takes the knife in its hand and lets out a roar that reverberates even down towards the core of NERV. The red behemoth charges the now retreating black Eva, slashing the air around it as if to give some indication as to what will soon be facing the imposter. Unit 01 pulls it's prog knife free of the now decomposing arm and begins to run towards the Angels back.
"I'll kill you!"
Asuka's declaration is followed with a huge gash torn into the chest of the Angel, spilling yet more black fluid on the ground and the enraged Eva. The Angel stumbles backward, grabbing at the hole freshly created with its remaining arm. Unit 02 continues its fury and soon slashes the Angel's right arm to shreds. The Angel finds its balance and seems to look to the heavens as it releases a roar from its throat. It is silenced suddenly as Unit 01's prog knife is driven through its back and through the core. The giant creature slumps forward and begins to slowly decompose into a dark black liquid, dripping to the ground.
---
Inside the entry plug of Unit 00 is silent, save for the breathing of its pilot and the humming of the engine within the machine. The five vid screens encompassing the Evangelion's sight have long since remained in a state of static, no video and no audio. It is the line of sight of the giant creature that draws its pilot's attention, however; a small black dot darting about the sky in front of the Eva. Suddenly the strange object darts towards the ground, catching the pilot and machine off guard. Outside, the huge 30 meter long white wings straighten to become perpendicular with the ground and send the Eva they are attached to plunging towards the ground. With the grace of a professional diver, the Eva changes position and uses its wings to quicken its decent. Below, the object of the creature's desperation darts about in random movement before coming to a stop just before the ground. The Eva stretches its arms out in an attempt to grasp the speck just to have it move east before the hands can grasp it. The Eva crashes into the ground with a force greater than that of a freight train and tumbles before it comes to a stop on its knees. The pilot does little more than let out a slight grunt. The Eva once more continues on its trek, running before lifting once more into the air. The dot still darts about in an easterly direction before plunging into a gigantic crevice in the earth's crust. As the blue Eva gives chase, the pilot finds that with every second that passes, the end of the tunnel becomes closer and closer, as well as the strange, glowing white light that serves as the only indication of perspective, the light from the sun long since dissipated.
---
"What the Hell do you mean?!"
"Just what I said, Unit 00 is too far out of our sensor range."
"But she was just running on internal power! She couldn't have gotten that far with only five minutes of power!"
"We honestly don't know, Shinji, we already have search teams covering the area she left towards, but so far there haven't been any signs of the Eva."
"What about Rei?! She's far more valuable than that stupid Eva!"
"We don't have any contact with Rei, Shinji, I'm sorry, but we're already doing as much as we can."
"But...how did her Eva grow wings? I didn't know that the Evas could fly! Why didn't I know about that?"
"Because we didn't even know. No one knows how she did that, Shinji, but I think you just need to calm down."
"I can't calm down Misato!"
"Shinji, please, we're doing all we possibly can right now. It would be fruitless to continue this."
"Misato! Where is Jonathan?! What happened to him?!" Asuka nearly screams as she enters the room, still wet from the LCL.
"Asuka, we lost contact with him a few seconds before we lost contact with Rei."
"What about his Eva?! Have you checked his entry plug?! He might not be able to get out!"
"We have a team working on that right now, please, you two, just go home and try to calm down."
"I can't believe you!" Asuka huffs as she storms out of the room.
"Misato, please tell me if you find out anything about Rei, I don't care about the Eva, just please, please, find Rei."
"We'll do our best, Shinji, now please go home and try to calm down."
"Okay... Hey, Misato, what about Touji? Is he alright?"
"It's the same as with Jonathan, the recovery teams are on their way now. Oh, and Shinji... when you get home, try to calm Asuka down, she seems to be taking this really hard."
Misato turns and leaves the room, leaving a despondent Shinji in her wake.
"Yea, sure..." Shinji says softly to himself.
---
"This was unexpected, don't you agree?"
"We must recover Unit 00 at any cost."
"But she is far outside our sensor range, how will we find her?"
"It does not matter how we find it, but that we find it. You are well aware how large of a role it plays in our plan."
"Of course, but what of the fifth?"
"You remember the prophesy."
"It won't do us any good, Unit 03 is nearly completely destroyed, its pilot is unusable, and we only have two Evas for defense now. Hopefully the prophesy is wrong."
"Do not wish for such things, otherwise you may find that your wish is turned into a curse."
"You are far too careless."
"It is all a matter of opinion."
"SEELE has something to do with this, no doubt."
"Yes, they always do."
---
"Asuka, are you here?"
Shinji enters the apartment cautiously, yet he finds nothing to hint that anyone even resides within it.
"Asuka?"
As Shinji walks next to Asuka's door, he can hear the sound of soft sobbing.
"Asuka, are you in there?"
Shinji listens through the door only to hear the same sound. He opens the door slowly to find Asuka collapsed in the middle of her room holding something in her hands.
"Asuka, is there something I can do?"
"Can...can you bring him to me?"
"I'm sorry Asuka; I don't know where he is."
"Then...Leave! Get out of here!"
Asuka can say no more, as the crying grows louder, the tears flowing freely. It is then that Shinji discovers Asuka holding onto a picture frame. Shinji turns his eyes towards the floor and exits without another word.
"Don't leave me, mama! Mama, I'll be a good girl! Don't ignore me!"
"She can't do it; you'll put to much stress on her."
"No! I can do it!"
"Little Asuka, it's too much for you, now mama has to go do some work..."
"No, mama! I can do it! Just pay attention to me! I'll do it! I can do it!"
"I'm afraid that if I begin to love him, then he'll either leave or die..."
"I'll never leave you..."
"You said you'd never leave..." Asuka whispers softly to herself, "I couldn't help you..."
"You have to be strong, Asuka. You can't do anything to help her."
"I can be strong."
"Be strong, Asuka."
"I...I can't be strong...I wasn't strong enough..."
With this Asuka curls up into a tighter ball as her thoughts continue to assault her fragile mind.
"He'll either leave or die..."
"I don't want him to die..."
"I'll never leave you..."
"Be strong, Asuka. Don't cry."
"Don't cry, Asuka, you know I hate it when you cry."
"I don't need anyone, I can be strong alone."
"I won't leave you behind like Kaji did. I...really, really like you."
"Poor girl, it's really too bad..."
---
Much further away, Unit 00 still continues its pursuit. The timer long since expired on the Evas internal power supply, the red flashing numbers serve little distraction as the massive beast finally reaches the end of the tunnel. Landing on the synthetic floor beneath it like a swan, the wings fold and return into the back of the blue creature. Before the behemoth lies a door that seems to dwarf even the Evangelions. Etched across the surface in red lettering are the words 'SEELE, the Throne of Souls'. Without heading it even a second glance, the Cyclops brings its hands to the seam of the door and slowly, painstakingly the seam grows larger until finally it allows the gigantic form of EVA-00 to proceed into the depths of the lair.
End Chapter #13
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