Chapter 5

Battle / Recovery

"……..Prepare Unit-04 for Launch."

Sayoko had been sitting listening to what was happening above.

'What good am I going to do? How could he treat his son like that? Is Asuka alright?'

Maya's voice was then heard in the plug. " Sayoko, Are you ready."

"Y..yes.." replied Sayoko.

She felt a lurch as her Eva was moved towards the Launcher.

'What can I do? I can't harm Asuka. Kami-sama help me. Auntie help me. I'm scared. I don't want to hurt Asuka. She can be nice. She hasn't had a chance.'

Her Eva was now in Launching position.

"EVA 04….."

'I wish someone would help me'

"LAUNCH!"

Your wish has been approved

Sayoko looked up.

"Momma?"

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Unit-04 raced towards the surface. As it rose, it eyes changed from white to blue, and its jaw broke loose. The Eva then let out a ground trembling roar.

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Everyone in Central Dogma stopped as the roar echoed throughout NERV.

"What the hell was THAT?" asked Misato.

"SEMPAI! Unit-04! The Sync rates! They're at 156 and rising." shouted Maya.

"What!" Ritsuko shouted as she leaned over Maya to see the terminal screen. "That can't be!"

"Sync rate still rising, now 240." Maya said, looking around Ritsuko. "S2 engine power out put is increasing!"

"My God." Ritsuko whispered, "It's Berserking!"

Fuyutsuki leaned towards the Commander.

"Was this in your scenario Ikari?"

"No Professor. It most certainly was not."

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In a Tokyo-2 apartment.

The room is empty. On a coffee table, a cup of water begins to shake. The form of Skuld bursts forth.

"'Thank-you for bringing this to my attention. I will assign someone to look into it. Return to your assignment on Earth.' Gee, thanks Dad."

Skuld laid out on the couch.

"Ugh……I wonder how Sayoko is doi…"

Skuld fell off the couch as she was hit by a powerful presence. Her mind reeled at the onslaught. The presence, though, had a familiar feeling to it.

"It….it….it….can't be."

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"PEORTH!" shouted Chronos. "We have a massive drain on Yggdrasil!"

"What? How?"

"Someone has tapped into Yggdrasil, and they are drawing off a huge amount of power."

"Peorth! What the hell is going on?"

"Urd quick get over here! Someone's accessed Yggdrasil."

"Peorth! Yggdrasil is starting to crash!" shouted Erie.

Urd and Peorth flew to terminals.

"Quick! Lock down all gates. Engage emergency firewalls!" ordered Peorth.

"Who can this be? They know all our procedures." muttered Urd.

Urd typed a few more commands. And then she stood back shocked.

"P…P…Peorth! Get over here!"

"What?"

"GET OVER HERE! NOW!"

Peorth raced over to Urd. "What is it?"

All Urd could do was point. Peorth looked at the monitor. As soon as she had finished reading, her jaw hit the ground in shock.

"But she's…… she's…….."

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"We're detecting an Unknown power signature emanating from Unit-04!"

"Is it the S2 engine?" asked Misato.

"No. And its not an AT-Field either. Magi are currently classifying it as Type Purple."

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Just before Unit-04 burst from the ground, the locks holding it to the launcher disengaged. The Eva flew off the launcher and sailed into the air. As the Eva reached the top of its arc, it deployed it's wings. It let loose another roar and began to head towards Unit-02.

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So, another Lilim to play with. The Angel said, She will join…..wait…..This one is different. WHAT! IT CANNOT BE! This one has the power of the Heavens with her! She's a Norn! That is not possible!

Asuka raised her head slowly and saw Unit-04 circling above.

"Sayoko?"

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Touji slowly climbed out of his entry plug. He put a hand to his head then brought it away and looked at it. His hand was covered in blood.

"If that's all, I'm lucky."

Touji surveyed his surroundings. In the distance he could see his headless Eva. He also could see Unit-02 walking away from Unit-01, which seemed to have been pressed into the hillside. A roar from above startled him. He looked up in time to see Unit-04 diving in and attacking Unit-02 from behind. Unit-04 grab Unit-02 and tossed it against another hill. Soon both Evas were wrestling each other, both trying to end up on top. It was then Touji saw sunlight flash off something near him. It was an Eva plug. He immediately headed towards the plug.

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Shinji sat inside his Eva. The last thing he heard before the radio cut out was the launching of Unit-04. He had been spending the last several minutes trying to resync with his Eva.

"Come on! MOVE! Asuka and Sayoko need us! MOVE DAMMIT! MOVE!"

Alright. I will.

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Everyone in Central Dogma stared at the main screen as both Evas fought for supremacy. They remained locked on the battle until Maya noticed something on her monitor change.

"Unit-01 is reactivating!"

"What? The charge hasn't had time to dissipate!" said Ritsuko.

The screen changed to show Unit-01 rising to its feet. Its jaw then opened and it let loose with a roar.

"2 Berserkers?" said Misato, shocked.

Fuyutsuki turned towards Ikari.

"She always did hate to miss the fun."

"………"

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Unit-01 ran towards the other Evas. When it reached them, it grabbed Unit-02, which had been getting the upper hand in the fight. The Eva tossed Unit-02 into a nearby lake. Unit-04 turned and looked at Unit-01. Both Evas stared at each other. Then, as if they understood what needed to be done, both turned and faced Unit-02. Unit-04 roared and ran in. It grabbed Unit-02 and soon had it on the ground. While Unit-02 was being held down, Unit-01 raced to its back and ripped the entry plug hatch off the Eva. It then grabbed the entry plug and ran to get cover behind a hill. Unit-04 grabbed its progressive knife and ripped the chest armor off Unit-02, revealing the Angel's core. Unit-04 cut the core loose and then tossed it as far away as it could. The core exploded, sending out shock waves that leveled the forest for miles around. Unit-04 let loose a victory roar before it sat down on the ground and shut-down.

On the other side of the hill, Shinji awoke inside his entry plug. He realized that his Eva had gone berserk, again. He was once again synced with his Eva. He looked down and saw that he was carrying Unit-02's entry plug.

"Asuka!"

Shinji carefully set down the entry plug. Once it was safely on the ground. He ejected his own plug. He quickly scurried down his Eva and ran to the emergency entry on the plug.

"Asuka! Can you hear me? Hold on Asuka! I'm coming."

Shinji grabbed the handles on the hatch and strained to unlock it. He finally got the hatch open and he immediately stuck his head inside.

"Asuka!"

The plug was dark inside. Shinji carefully crawled into the plug and went towards where the pilot seat would be. Before he got there, his hand brushed against an arm.

"Asuka? Are you ok? Asuka!"

Shinji reached around and pulled Asuka towards the hatched. At the hatch, he stepped out. He then reached in and pulled Asuka out of the plug. He laid her on the ground, cradling her head in his lap.

"Asuka wake-up! Please wake-up Asuka!"

"Shinji?" came a weak voice.

"Asuka. Thank God. I thought you were..umphhhhh" two arms reached around and grabbed Shinji in a tight-hug.

"I thought I won't see you again. When your Eva stopped moving… I thought…"

"Shhhhhh, Its ok. Everything is alright now."

"Shinji….." Asuka said softly, a strange look on her face. "Can you….. forgive me."

"For what?"

"For all those bad things I've said and done to you."

Shinji smiled, "Of course I can."

"How can you? I've hurt you so much and….."

Shinji placed his hand over Asuka's mouth.

"I can because I care for you Asuka."

Asuka looked up at Shinji's face. Her hug got tighter.

"I care for you too Baka."

It was at this moment Touji came up to them, supporting Rei. Touji and Rei took in the touching scene. Touji turned and looked at Rei.

"Think we should leave the lovebirds alone?"

"It may be better if we all stay in one spot. It will make it easier for us to be retrieved."

"Good point. Ummm, Where's Sayoko?"

Off in the distance. A figure sat in one of the few remaining trees. She watched as Shinji and Asuka continued to hold one another.

"How revolting."

The figure tossed a CD into the air, and disappeared into it.

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A few hours later in the Commander's Office.

"Status Report."

Dr. Akagi brought out her clip board and read off each item.

"The First Child has several broken ribs and a sprained ankle. The Fourth has received 6 stitches, but is otherwise fine. The Second Child will be held under Observation for approx 3 days to check for contamination from the Angel. The Fifth is unconscious, I have no idea when she will wake up. The Third Child is total healthy. The Evas on the other hand: Unit-00 will be ready in 2 days. Unit-01 will be up in 5 hours. Unit-02 is out indefinitely. Unit-03 is also out indefinitely. Unit-04 is at 100."

"All Evas are to be repaired as soon as possible."

"Yes sir."

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Misato wondered through the halls of the hospital, trying to find Asuka's room.

"Let's see. Ritsuko said it was…….room 403. So……..where's that?"

Misato saw a Lieutenant standing Guard at and intersection.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Where can I find room 403?"

"The end of this hall and to your right Ma'am."

"Thank-you Lieutenant……?"

"Nagisa. Kaoru Nagisa."

"Ah, Thank-you again Lieutenant Nagisa." Misato quickly went down the hallway.

Nagisa began to smile.

"No problem……Major."

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"Dammit! Why do I have to stay here! I'm fine!" shouted Asuka.

"Dr. Akagi wants you to stay for 3 days for observation. Just to make sure that there are no problems as a result of the last battle." said Misato.

"Yeah, yeah." mumbled Asuka.

"Don't worry. It's only 3 days. Sides, Shinji said he'd stay here with you."

Asuka's expression softened. "He …did?"

"Yep."

"So….where is he now?"

"He's over with Touji checking on Sayoko. She's still unconscious."

"Will she be alright?"

"I don't know Asuka. I just don't know."

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In another part of the hospital, Shinji and Touji stood inside the room containing the unconscious form of Sayoko. The only sound was the beeping of the equipment. A pitcher of water sat near the bed.

"How'd she do it Shinji?"

"Hmmm?"

"How was she able to fight that well in her first battle?"

"Misato said that her Eva went berserk. She wasn't in control."

"Berserk. Isn't that what yours did?"

"Yeah."

"So why aren't you unconscious?"

"It's happened to much. I got used to it."

The sound of the door opening caused both boys to turn around. Rei limped into the room.

"Ikari, Suzuhara. How is Sayoko?"

"Sayoko? What happened to calling her Morisato?" asked Touji.

"We have reached……. an understanding." Rei explained, "She is my friend."

"She's still out. Dr. Akagi doesn't know when she'll wake-up. Touji and I thought someone should check on her every once in a while." said Shinji.

"Doesn't Sohryu also require your presence?"

"Well, yes."

"Then I will stay and check on her." Rei stated, "You should go to Sohryu."

"If its ok with you Ayanami."

"It is."

"Comon Shinji! Your red-headed demon awaits." said Touji as he pushed Shinji out the door.

Rei limped over to the bed and placed her hand on Sayoko's.

'Wake-up soon.'

Rei then limped out the door.

The room was quiet for a few seconds, and then a hum filled the air. The pitcher of water began to shake. Skuld burst forth from the water. She then slowly floated to the floor and walked over to the bed.

"Oh Yoko. I've told you to be patient. But you're always eager to jump into things without thinking them through."

Skuld began to chant and held one of her hands over Sayoko. The area below he hand began to glow softly.

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"SIR! We're detecting that Energy signature again. The Type Purple!"

Fuyutsuki turned and looked down at the bridge crew.

"Location?"

"It's located in……… It's vanished sir. Last known location was here in the Geo-Front."

"Keep me posted." Fuyutsuki picked up a phone. "Sir, I have something I think you'd better know about."

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Shinji and Asuka were sitting in Asuka's Hospital room watching TV.

"Shinji?"

"Yes Asuka?"

"Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"Sayoko."

"What about her?"

"Have you felt anything…….strange when she's around?"

Shinji thought about it for a second.

"Well, the first night she was here, she touched my arm. I felt….good. Like all my troubles really weren't that bad."

"I felt something similar when she talked to me the next night. Both her and Rei acted weird around each other those first 2 days."

Shinji nodded. "Yeah I noticed that too. But whatever was going on between them, they seem to be good friends now."

"Yeah, who would have thought that Wondergirl had it in her. There's something else. When my Unit was……possessed by the Angel. It said something when it saw Sayoko's Unit. It something about her Eva having the power of the Heavens, that she was a Norn."

Shinji had a puzzled look on his face.

"What is a Norn?"

Asuka shrugged. "I don't know. But there is a Magi access terminal near here. We could go and check."

"Alright, I think that would be ok."

Asuka and Shinji left out the door. As soon as they left, a foot tall blond woman popped out from under the bed.

"Well Sayoko, It looks like someone's trying to find out your secrets. What will they do when they find you out?"

The figure jumped and disappeared into a CD with a cackle.

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At the terminal, Asuka typed in the term Norn. The Magi came up with the information quickly.

Magi Information Resource

Norn

From Norse Mythology, the Norns are sometimes referred to as the fates. The three supernatural women tend the Yggdrasil tree and determine the fate of all people. Their names are: Urd Past, Verdandi Present, and Skuld Future. It is believed that a Norn is present at a person's birth to determine his/her fate.

Asuka and Shinji stared at the information.

"Boy, That's really useful."

"Um….Asuka…."

Asuka turned and looked at Shinji. Shinji was slowly growing pale.

"What's the matter Shinji?"

"The first night she was here, she called her Aunt….."

"Yeah. So what?"

"Asuka…… She called her Aunt 'Skuld'….."

Asuka's eyes went wide.

"Mine Gott!"