Episode: 2 (part 2)
"(R)evolving Door"
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Unit-01's entry plug has been docked for several minutes now. Finally, the hatch opens, and Shinji falls out, but there's someone there to catch him. He can't remember ever having such a hard time synching with his Eva. It felt more like he was fighting with it. But, he hadn't been in Unit-01 since his fight with Kaworu, and he figures that probably has something to do with it.
"Whoa," says Yoshi, who had caught him, "you okay there?"
"I… I'll be fine," Shinji says. His attempt at bravado is weak and transparent.
"Just have a seat for a minute," urges Yoshi. "I wanted to talk with you, anyway." Shinji complies, and is glad to be resting, but he still worries about what Yoshi may have to say.
"You had a good run today, Shinji," he continues, "but I could tell it was rough on you. This is pretty blunt of me to ask, but is everything all right at home?"
"I'm just tired," Shinji lies. The nightmare was actually disturbing his sleep less and less. He was remembering less of it, too, except the part with Misato… kissing Misato.
"How are things between you and the Major?" Yoshi asks, and Shinji flushes red.
"We're okay," Shinji says, but Yoshi's obviously not satisfied with that answer. "At least… we are now. We didn't talk for a while, after… after Kaworu died. Misato kept saying how he deserved to die. She was so cruel, it really scared me. I didn't have anyone to talk to, then. My friends were gone. Asuka was in a coma. And Rei… Rei still scares me."
"Why?"
"You have Dr. Akagi's old job… I thought you knew about Rei."
"Shinji, Dr. Akagi's involvement with the project went a lot deeper than just being Head of the Tech Department. But if Rei's got some dark secret, I'd rather she be the one to tell me, if she even wants me to know it. And, speaking of secrets…," (Okay, thinks Yoshi, either I gain his trust here or shame him into never talking to me again.) "…you know that you five pilots are invaluable to the project, right?"
"Uh… yeah."
"So… if one of you were in, say… a coma, we'd be very concerned."
"Uh-huh?"
"So concerned that we'd… monitor the room. On video. And keep the tapes," he finishes. Shinji has turned from red to pale. "There was a tape of you visiting Asuka, but that one's gone now. I "lost" it, so no one's ever going to see it."
Except the six or so security guards I caught re-screening and laughing at it, he thinks, but I won't mention that.
"Thank you," says Shinji, equally embarrassed and relieved.
"So, why don't you and Toji take a break?" Yoshi says, moving quickly off the previous subject. "I've still got more work to do with Rei. Her new Eva has a lot more hardware than her old one."
Shinji then notices Toji, standing in the doorway of the plug-boarding room. His dark-blue plug-suit still bears the number 03, as if seeing Toji's face wasn't reminder enough of what had happened. Shinji stands, and they walk silently together to the nearest lounge. They sit down in separate chairs, with nothing to do but listen to the monotonous hum from the vending machines.
"I know it wasn't your fault," Toji says after a while. Shinji keeps staring down at his own feet. "Misato told me that your Eva was stuck on auto-pilot… the "dummy-whatever". And I should know, those things can sure get out of your control sometimes."
Toji smiles at his stab at irony. A thought floats through Shinji's brain, but it's gone before he can grab hold of it. Toji stands, and continues talking.
"Dr. Kaiu says I'm doing well," he tells Shinji, "and you know what? I'm glad! See, I did a lot of thinking while I was gone. And I decided that I was going protect this city from the Angels, no matter what. Because… when they find donors for the transplants my sister needs, and she can leave that damn hospital like I did, I'm gonna make sure she's got a home to come back to."
Shinji watches his friend lean on the front of a snack machine, facing away from him. Toji takes a pair of deep breaths, then suddenly pounds his fist angrily on the glass. Shinji stares, puzzled and scared.
"Damn it!" Toji says. "I'm so hungry… and I don't have any pockets on this suit to keep change in!" He turns back to Shinji, to find Shinji laughing with relief. Toji just shakes his head and laughs along with him.
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At Matsushiro, Maya Ibuki mans a workstation, monitoring Kaagi and Asuka's neural links to their Evas. Outside the observation window, Unit-02 sits idle. Elsewhere, Kaagi sits in a test-plug, half-submerged in red liquid. But Asuka has been directly plugged in. Still, her synch ratio is abysmally low.
Maya was the first technician to volunteer for this assignment, and it wasn't because she's any braver than the others. She was as scared as anyone to come here after what happened during Unit-03's activations test. However, any day she can spend not watching Yoshi do Ritsuko's job is a more pleasant one, in her opinion.
"I guess Dr. Akagi was wrong," Maya says out of the blue. Misato turns her attention from Asuka's readings to the timid tech seated next to her.
"About what, Maya?" she asks.
"About Kaworu being the last Angel," Maya explains despondently. "I mean… we've got a new pilot, and three new Evangelions. If he really was the last one, we wouldn't be doing all this, would we?"
"I don't know, Maya," Misato answers truthfully. "I don't like to think about it."
Inside her Eva, Asuka is getting increasingly more discouraged. Unit-02 still won't synch with her, and she doesn't know why. She's tried to be calm and she's tried to be angry and she's tried everything in between. Nothing's worked.
I don't understand what's wrong! she thinks. I'm better than this. I know I am! Even Kaagi knows it. He said that I'm independent, intelligent, bold… and it's true. All of it's true!
She punches the controls in front of her in anger. At the same time, Unit-02 punches the protein wall of the test chamber, sending panels flying. The observation window cracks and everyone dives for cover. Asuka looks out at their frightened faces with an unapologetic smile.
"Oh yeah," she declares with sinister delight, "I'm back!"
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The next two days come and go swiftly. Everyone settles back into their old routines, or, in the case of Kaagi and Yoshi, integrates the routines of others. Kaagi's lunch plans with the other boys go forgotten. And Rei keeps forgetting to return his jacket. Too soon, though, the time comes when routine alone will not get them through the day.
"Get up!" Misato shouts into each bedroom. "Get up now!"
In the living room, dawn is barely peeking through the front windows. Kaagi is up and dressed before Shinji or Asuka, and he stands staring at the TV news.
"…urge all citizens to report to their designated shelters," the anchorman continues. "This is not a drill. The government has issued-" Misato tunes out the newsman's warning as she ushers everyone out the door. She can't spare the time to be haunted by Kaagi's look of smug satisfaction as he watched the news, knowing what it meant.
Rei and Toji are already at NERV HQ when Misato arrives with the others. Kaagi races ahead of Shinji to the locker room, but they're all hurrying frantically. Misato enters the elevator to the Command Center, takes a deep breath, and calms herself. When she steps onto the command deck, she is the eye of the storm.
On the main viewscreen, the 18th Angel looms.
It's at least a third taller than an Eva and shaped like an hourglass. Two great bulbs sit one atop the other, connecting in a tapered midsection. The Angel's body is shiny and smooth, like still water. Markings that resemble eyes encircle the upper bulb, and an ivory-colored dome sits on its very top, seemingly made of coral or bone.
Sirens wail as the floor-staff man their stations. Maya, Hyuga, and Aoba all sit before Misato, awaiting orders. Misato watches a secondary screen, waiting for each pilot's entry plug to be inserted until issuing her first command.
"All pilots, prepare for launch," Misato announces over the open communication channel.
"No Major," calls Fuyutsuki from the higher command deck. "The Commander has reinstated the hold on Unit-01. Also, Unit-07 is not to be launched without his direct authorization."
Is it Unit-07 he's protecting, thinks Misato, or is it Rei?
Looking pointedly at Hyuga, she draws a hand quickly across her neck. In response, he kills the open com-channel. She then looks up at Ikari, sitting next to the Vice-Commander above her.
"You want me to send my least reliable pilot and two novices up there alone?" she asks loudly. Misato still feels an undercurrent of guilt for talking about Asuka like that, even from beneath the waves of anger she's riding.
"Have the Second Child take point," Ikari answers coldly.
"Hey," Toji radios to Asuka, "my Eva looks just like yours!"
"It does not!" she replies, punching his face on her Heads-Up-Display.
"It really does, except for the color," says Kaagi, popping up on both their HUDs.
"And yours is…" Toji starts, but doesn't finish. It was a while ago, but Toji will never forget. Kaagi's Eva looks just like Unit-03.
"Did we lose the open com-channel?" Shinji asks meekly. Kaagi's equipment is bothering Shinji, too, but it's not the Eva. His plug-suit is black… like Kaworu's was.
"Not anymore," Misato cuts in. She takes another deep breath. "All right, here's the plan…. The Angel is about to pass the Final Defense Line at Gora. The city is almost in fortress mode. I'm sending Units 02, 05, and 06 to intercept. Asuka, you're on point. Are the three of you ready to launch?"
"Affirmative!" Asuka replies.
"Let's do it!" says Kaagi.
"Good to go," adds Toji.
"Okay, launch!" shouts Misato.
Moments after the skyscrapers have finished receding into the ground, three Evas burst forth in their place. Unit-02 stands closest to the Angel. To Asuka's right, about 400 meters away, Unit-06 stands flexing its fingers in anticipation. The same distance to her left, Toji sits in Unit-05. He's not sure what disturbs him more: the Angel in front of him, or Unit-06's uncanny resemblance to Unit-03. Asuka's shrill voice over the com quickly stirs him from his reverie.
"Okay, rookies," she shouts enthusiastically, "time to show you how it's done!" She reaches Unit-02's hand down into empty space. The Eva gropes the air aimlessly until Asuka actually looks where she's reaching. "What the-? Where's my carbide axe?"
"Asuka," Misato radios from the Command Center, "the ordinance towers were destroyed when the city flooded. We haven't had time to rebuild them all." Unit-02's head looks over each of its shoulders in turn.
"My pallet gun and SAM launcher are gone, too?" moans Asuka. She glares at the Angel ahead of her as it glides ever closer. Slowly, her pouting lips spread into a feral grin. "Well, I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way!"
In a flash, Unit-02's progressive knife is out of its shoulder compartment and in the Eva's hand. The blade extends, and Asuka drops her Evangelion into a ready stance. Units 05 and 06 follow suit, though Toji is a bit slower and less graceful than Kaagi. Asuka takes one quick moment to savor the absence of Shinji and Rei before detailing her plan to the others.
"Kaagi," she says, "you flank it low. Toji? You take the other flank high. I'm going right up the middle! On my mark…"
"Asuka!" yells Misato. "What do you think you're-?"
"3, 2, 1, mark!" Asuka interrupts, screaming over her. Knives held high, the Evas converge on the Angel.
As they close in, its body appears to melt. Strings run down its upper body like dripping wax filmed and sped up tenfold. Then, suddenly, the strings begin braiding together and coming almost completely free of the main body. With its newly formed tentacles, the Angel lashes out at its attackers.
Leading the charge, Asuka receives the brunt of the counterattack. First, her Eva's right arm is gripped. She moves the left to try to free it, but that, too, becomes ensnared. She feels more tentacles wrapping around both legs and the torso, just as another slithers around her Eva's head. In seconds, Unit-02 is totally immobilized. Asuka manhandles the controls in the plug, trying in vain to move. In front of her, she can only see what the Eva sees: nothing but a writhing, black sludge.
Fewer tentacles than the large amount covering Unit-02 are sent to seek out Toji and Kaagi. Still, Unit-05's advance is halted by the onslaught. It takes all of Toji's concentration just to keep himself from becoming entangled as well. He swings his knife wildly back and forth, doing his best to fend off the Angel's appendages. Severed pieces fly wetly all around as red blood showers Unit-05's blue armor.
On the other side of the Angel, Kaagi fares much better. Unit-06 ducks the first barrage, and the Angel's limbs shoot harmlessly through the air. Then, after rearing back, they whip downward, kicking up dirt and gouging huge divots in the ground. But Kaagi's Evangelion has already rolled out from beneath them. From a cat-like crouch, Unit-06 uses its hands and feet to leap, but not at the Angel.
The black and red Eva soars across the sky. As it lands, it brings its knife down in a sweeping arc through the forest of tentacles connecting Asuka's Eva to the Angel. Blood sprays from the flailing stumps onto Unit-06 as the dead arms fall away from Unit-02. Asuka pulls the last of them from her Eva's face, tossing them aside and resuming her charge.
She barrels toward the Angel with Kaagi right behind her. Wounded by Kaagi's bid to free Asuka, the Angel cannot hope to fend them off. Asuka tears through its A.T. Field, stabbing viciously. But, just before her knife penetrates its body, the Angel is gone.
The three pilots stop to look around, finding nothing but each other. Their Evangelions stand motionless. Blood drips from their armor onto the trampled earth as a flock of birds flies overhead, making the only noise on the now-quiet battlefield.
"Hello, Darkness, my old friend," Kaagi sings, breaking the silence.
"Where did it go?" barks Misato, in the control room. The topographical maps on the view screens show the Evas alone in this sector.
"I don't know," admits Hyuga. "It's off the map. I'll expand the search."
"Find it," commands Ikari from above.
"Did you get it?" Toji asks Asuka. She rolls her eyes at his pitifully hopeful face on her HUD.
"No," she says. "It just… disappeared."
"It's still here," says Rei, listening in.
"Sir!" Hyuga calls to Ikari. "I've got something now. Wavelength pattern is blue."
"Where is it?" asks Misato, hunching down to stare over his shoulder.
"It's, uh…," he stutters, distracted by Misato's closeness, "…it's about four miles away. Bearing: 72 degrees southeast of its last location."
"Unit-05," Misato orders, "hold position. Asuka and Kaagi, pursue the Angel to the new coordinates."
"We're on it!" says Kaagi, driving his Eva forward. Units 02 and 06 dash off, leaving Toji alone.
"Thank goodness we replaced most of the umbilical towers," says Misato quietly.
By the time the Evas reach it, a couple of umbilical changes later, the Angel is almost within the city limits. It's just as they'd found it before, carving an unrelenting path toward the center of Tokyo-3. The tentacles have mostly regenerated, swaying around the Angel like seaweed in a slow current.
Asuka and Kaagi rush at it, hoping to give it no chance to react. It does appear caught off guard, and the two pilots cut their way through the mass of arms faster than before. Still, when the time comes to strike the body, Asuka thrusts her knife forward and Kaagi slashes diagonally… both through empty space. They've managed only to strike dynamic but pointless poses.
"Find it again," Misato says wearily. Hyuga complies, sweating all the while. The maps on the control room screens spin, shift, and zoom out.
"Got it, Major," Hyuga says after a moment. "It's traveled only a slightly shorter distance than last time. New bearing: 36 degrees southwest. It's put itself in the bay."
"You'll want to send Unit-06," says Yoshi, joining them on the command deck.
"Why?" Asuka and Misato ask together, one more annoyed than the other.
"Unit-02 still has the B-Type equipment," he says. "Unit-06 is outfitted with C-Type. It can function under water, and the other can't. Simple as that."
"Alright," concedes Misato. "Asuka, hold position. Kaagi, pursue."
Alone, Kaagi makes his way to the new coordinates. He finds the Angel hovering on top of the water, still making for the city. Unit-06 jumps forward, disappearing beneath the waves. Only its umbilical remains visible, snaking into the water after it.
The Command Center watches and waits. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Angel is gone and Kaagi's progressive knife is breaking the water's surface where it stood. Unit-06 looks around, then punches the water in disappointment.
"It's using its A.T. Field to teleport," says Maya. "Somehow, it's folding it in on itself…"
"Got it again, Major," says Hyuga even quicker this time. "Bearing: 36 degrees northwest, now."
"Wait a minute," says Aoba. "36 degrees again? There's gotta be a pattern… Hey, Hyuga, how many "eyes" has that thing got on its upper body?"
"The recon choppers say five," Hyuga tells him.
"I knew it!" he replies. "Each time it moved, it turned 72 degrees, relative to itself, not the map. Look at the landing points! It's circling around the city in a pentagon!"
"Acknowledged," says Misato. She looks up at Fuyutsuki and Ikari. "Since Kaagi's already on his way to the Angel's current location, I propose deploying Unit-07 at the bay site, and Unit-01 at the projected fifth "landing" point."
"Very well, Major," says the Commander begrudgingly. "You may launch the Evas."
Unit-01 emerges from the ground with the city and the morning sun at its back. Shinji locates one of the remaining ordinance towers, and finds a pallet gun within. With its grim stare, Unit-01 looks to the south, as if awaiting the Angel's arrival. Shinji shoulders the gun, and turns on his targeting computer.
In the bay, Unit-07 stands just off shore. Rei knows that if the Angel keeps to its apparent pattern, she's the farthest from harm's way, since it just left this location. Somehow, that knowledge comforts her.
"Do you fear death?" someone asks her. The voice is Kaworu's.
Yes, she thinks. I am the last. If death comes, there will be nothing after.
"Major, we've lost Rei's com-signal," Hyuga reports desperately.
"Not now!" she breathes. On the map, the blip representing Kaagi's Eva is engaging the Angel. He's using the tentacles like ropes, pulling himself closer and closer to the body. He pulls his knife down through the Angel's arms before swinging up into its torso.
"Some of the Lilim liken death to a door," Kaworu continues. "Life, too, is like a door. In many ways, they are the same door."
As soon as the Angel appears in front of Shinji, he opens fire. Shell casings fly from the gun as he blasts off each arm as the Angel forms it. In the middle of his salvo, he holds the gun in just one hand, and draws his knife with the other. The endless stream of bullets cuts him a path to the Angel's body, and he strikes.
"There is something after death, Rei," Kaworu tells her. She realizes his voice isn't coming from the radio. It's coming from behind her.
Toji isn't facing the Angel when it appears, and the tentacles take him from behind. Before they can grab his feet, Toji sends Unit-05 into a backflip. As the Angel's arms pull him down, he aims his knife for the dome on its head. The Angel disappears, and Unit-05 lands hard on the empty ground.
"Mind, body, and soul," says Kaworu, looking all about him. "Only one can travel through the door… in either direction." She's looking at him now, hovering in the plug behind her. She wonders if he was in here, even before she boarded, waiting.
As soon as the Angel's tentacles grab Asuka, she grabs them back. Turning and heaving, Unit-02 uses them to swing the Angel through the air. It slams into a hillside with such force that the arms Asuka is holding tear off. She jumps to stab it, but it's gone.
Rei turns away from Kaworu and gasps, finding the Angel towering in front of her. Its arms reach for her, and she shudders at its cold embrace. Instinctively, she tries to stab it, but it's gone as quickly as it came.
"We can't keep this up, Major," says Aoba worriedly. "The enemy can wait us out. The power grid is on the verge of collapse, because the system wasn't designed for five Evas running at once."
"Rei's com keeps cutting in and out," Hyuga adds.
"I'm going off my umbilical," Kaagi says in response to Aoba's words. He stands away from the Angel, not impeding its progress. "And I have a plan."
"Well, what is it?" asks Asuka impatiently. Unit-06 creeps closer to the Angel, hiding behind whatever cover is available.
"Well, the Angel doesn't seem to be appearing in exactly the same places it left from," he says. "I think that's because it moves around while we're fighting it before it "teleports". So, what if we don't let it?
"It's obviously afraid of the prog knives. So, I say let's throw them at it. As soon as we see it, before it can move, we force it to "jump" again. When it gets back around to me, it should be exactly where it was, and I'll be waiting for it."
"That's too dangerous!" says Misato. "If your Eva and the Angel try to occupy the same space, who knows what could happen?"
"Well, Major," says Kaagi, sighing, "I'll give you ten seconds to come up with a better plan. Otherwise… is everyone else with me?" The other pilots give Kaagi uncertain affirmatives. Unit-06 holds its knife aloft.
"Go for it," Misato whispers with reluctant resignation.
Kaagi throws and the Angel disappears. Unit-06 starts to run, taking its first step toward the Angel's last position. Shinji throws, the Angel disappears, another step is taken. Toji throws, another step taken. Asuka throws, another step. Rei throws, hitting the mark despite Kaworu's distracting presence. One more step…
Kaagi throws Unit-06's arms around the thin middle of the Angel. As he does, the tentacles wrap him over and over. The Angel's A.T. Field can't invert or reform with Kaagi's in the way. Each has caught the other.
The other four Evangelions jettison their umbilicals and run toward the Angel. Asuka and Toji's paths converge, and the two run together.
"Why are you running?" Asuka asks, looking over at her Eva's blue twin. "Shinji and Wonder Girl are a lot closer than we are. They're going to get the kill."
"Well," Toji answers, "sometimes, when Angels die, they blow up, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, I thought we could use our A.T. Fields to keep the blast contained, if we can get close enough in time. Unless you want the city to get wrecked again."
"Uh… no!" Asuka scoffs as she tries to hide her awe over Toji's inspired idea.
"Aaa!" Kaagi cries out in pain, and everyone jumps at the sound. The tentacles around his Eva have begun constricting. Inside his plug, Kaagi can hear the groan of Unit-06's armor buckling under the pressure. Worse still, he can feel it.
"Prepare to sever Kaagi's neural link," orders Misato.
"No!" Kaagi yells in frustration and agony. Tears stream down his face as he struggles to speak. "I'm not letting of this thing until it's dead! Please… just, everybody, hurry up…."
"Damn it," mutters Misato. "He's been off his umbilical longer than anyone. Even if I leave him linked, he's only got another couple of minutes."
"Not so, Major," Yoshi interjects. "Unit-06 has one more minute of battery power than the other Evangelions. We were able to increase it by-"
"That's great," interrupts Misato. "Hold on, Kaagi. You can do this."
He lets out another yelp of pain, and the other pilots try to run faster. Asuka and Toji are still farthest off. Trying to watch where he's going while checking the range on his targeting computer hampers Shinji. Rei just charges on.
"You're still quite far away," Kaworu observes, and Rei tries to ignore him.
"We've lost Rei's com again," reports Hyuga.
"That one may die," continues Kaworu, indicating the mass of tentacles surrounding the Angel and Unit-06. A feeling crawls up from Rei's stomach, tightening her throat and burning her brain. It's not anxiety, or determination, or even fear. She's never felt it before, but she knows its name. It's rage.
"I hate you," she tells Kaworu. Using two progressively taller towers as steps, Unit-07 climbs up, up, and leaps. The shoulder protrusions open, exposing jets that push the Eva even higher. At the apex of the jump, two pointed shafts of metal that look like sword blades extend from Unit-07's back. Then, each shaft fans out into five, and ten separate spires form terrible wings, carrying Rei in a dive straight down at the Angel.
The steel wings fold back into place as Unit-07's feet come crashing down on top of the Angel. One swift punch shatters the bone-like structure on its head, revealing its pulsing, red core. The Angel's arms release Unit-06, and reach upward for Rei's Eva, even as she begins to hammer away at the exposed core. The swaying tentacles, climbing higher, look like snakes on the hunt, giving the Angel the appearance of the Gorgon Medusa. That is, until they strike.
Unit-07 is mummified in seconds, wrapped over and over again until its shape is unrecognizable under the coils upon coils. But just as quickly, its wings deploy again, fanning out and shredding the Angel's arms. Blood splatters the pristine armor of Rei's white Eva, as pieces of the Angel rain down on Unit-06.
Shinji stops in his tracks, mesmerized by the savagery of Rei's blood-soaked Eva. A thought that had escaped him earlier now strikes his brain like lightning. He's seen brutality like this before. When his own Eva tore apart Unit-03. When it was being controlled by the dummy-plug. What Rituko had told him made horrible sense now. Rei is the dummy-system's core.
"You hate me as much as Shinji loves me," Kaworu tells her, sounding pleased.
She punches harder and faster.
"…You perfectly compliment him, because you are his antithesis…"
Rei locks the Eva's fingers together, and brings the fist down hard, onto the core.
"…He is hope and Life…"
The core cracks with each hit. Rei doesn't stop.
"…And you… are Death."
The Angel explodes in a white-hot mushroom cloud. At its edge, Asuka and Toji hold their ground, protecting the city and the new dam. Still, acres of vegetation are incinerated. The air for miles shimmers from the heat. And Rei and Kaagi were at the center of it all.
In the quiet aftermath of the explosion, the only discernable sound is that of the approach of distant helicopters. Evangelion Units 06 and 07 lay sprawled in the blast crater, partially buried in the churned-up soil.
With a mechanical whirring, and the hiss of expelled fluid, Kaagi's entry plug ascends from the back of his Eva. Shortly after, the hatch opens, and he exits following a spill of yellow-orange liquid.
"Rei!" he shouts as soon as his lungs are able. Unit-07's neck is exposed, but its plug is still inserted. Kaagi's hands are shaking as he grabs the vid-phone from Unit-06's shoulder-blade compartment. He dials Rei first, but gets no response. Next, he dials the Command Center.
"Hello, Major? This is Kaagi!" he shouts as the sound of the helicopters draws closer. "I need you to eject Rei's plug. I'm not more than fifty yards away, and if she's hurt, I can help her!"
"Do it," Misato orders Maya.
Inside the plug, Kaworu leans his face close to Rei's ear. She's still shaking from her recent surge of adrenaline. He opens his smiling mouth to speak, but the plug begins to spin before he can. Though attached to nothing, Kaworu remains in place despite the motion. Once it stops, he's still at her ear.
"I envy you, Rei Ayanami," he whispers to her. "You have taken the first steps down the path to our destiny." The hatch opens, seemingly of its own accord, and Kaworu steps out. Rei, in turn, shields her eyes from the intruding daylight, then climbs from her seat to follow him.
Standing on the back of her Eva, Rei's view is quite expansive. But of Kaworu, she sees no trace. She does spy Kaagi sprinting toward her, and she kneels to help him climb onto Unit-07. Once he's up, they help each other to their feet as they're buffeted by the high winds from the helicopters above.
"Are you hurt?" Kaagi asks her, barely audible above the descending aircraft. Rei starts to shake her head, and he's hugging her before she stops. His gentle embrace grows slowly firmer, and suddenly he lifts Rei off her feet, spinning her in a tight circle. After setting her back down, Kaagi thrusts a fist triumphantly into the air and hollers with unbridled joy.
"Ha-ha! We did it!"
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After the battle, Shinji is changing into his street clothes in the boys' locker room. His progress is slowed, however, by repeated attempts to look at the other two boys without being caught. He tries to keep these observations purely clinical, and ignore the inner voice that tells him to be excited by what he sees. It's a voice that feels like Kaworu's hand, grasping his, in the bath area of this very room.
Shinji is most impressed by Toji. His fitness doesn't appear diminished at all by weeks spent in the hospital. He's still a little taller, broader, and more muscled than Shinji. Kaagi, on the other hand, is built just as slightly as Shinji, though he has more body hair than either Shinji or Toji.
Shinji looks quickly away as he sees Kaagi begin to turn in his direction. He hopes Kaagi didn't notice his attention. He can't look back without feeling completely obvious. Shinji nearly jumps a foot when someone's hand slaps his naked shoulder.
"Nice shooting out there!" says Kaagi, apparently oblivious to Shinji's discomfort. "And hey, Toji! That was a great idea, shielding the city like that. We rock, you guys! Seriously."
Toji smiles and gives a "thumbs-up", but the smile doesn't last. Shinji just nods and starts to pull his shirt on. With his head in the shirt, Shinji hears before he sees another person enter the locker room. Once he can see again, he's shocked by the scene before him. His father, Gendo Ikari, stands hovering over Kaagi, while Kaagi himself seems to deliberately ignore the Commander's presence.
"Kaagi Chuda," addresses Gendo. Kaagi doesn't acknowledge his name. He just finishes tying his shoes. Gendo continues, "I wish to commend you on your-"
"Save it," Kaagi says with contempt. He stands and pushes past the Commander in order to exit the room. Gendo seems angered at first, but then he half-grins and grunts with amusement. By the time Shinji has recovered from his shock, his father is also leaving the room.
"Father," Shinji calls. Gendo Ikari leaves without turning back, giving no indication whether Shinji's call went ignored or unheard.
I hate you, Kaagi! Shinji thinks. I hate you.
Meanwhile, the object of Shinji's hate has tracked down Rei in the hall outside the girls' locker room. Kaagi's palms are sweating and his heart is pounding. He's glad that no one else is around, because the slightest distraction could make him waver, now that he's so close. Before he can say anything, she notices him and walks over.
She noticed me! he thinks as his heart beats even faster. And she's actually walking over here. I've got to do it now. Stop stalling, stop worrying, and do it.
"Did you wish to speak with me?" she asks.
"Yes!" he blurts out. "I… I want to ask you out… on a date…. Would you like to go out on a date with me?"
Rei looks at him incredulously at first. She can tell that he's unsuccessfully trying to hide his anxiousness. She can see his hands shaking, and his chest heaving with nervous, ragged breaths. Then, she looks at his face. Their eyes meet, and he smiles at her. Memories flash in and out of her mind. First Gendo smiling, then Shinji smiling. Then, a memory of Kaagi smiling, from the first time she met him. Just like he is now.
"Yes," Rei decides. "I'd like that." And she smiles back at him.
To Be Continued…
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Next Episode Preview:
Romance is in the air, but not just for Rei and Kaagi! Many desperate hearts lead their owners down intertwining paths of pain and pleasure. Will they reach what they desire? It takes hard work to get anything worth having…. Next: "Love's Labors/Lost".