WOOT! New chapter guys. It's a bit long, which in my book is a good thing. I hope you guys'll like it. Some of you might be unhappy with me re-naming one of the Eva's and/or with it's name, but believe me, there's a point to it. You'll see later on. Enjoy
"Rei, I can't do this." Shinji's eyes swept up and down the silhouette of the stone-like monstrosity against the setting sun.
"Shinji you have to. If you don't bring it down, it will have reached the city by nightfall… Though it is extremely slow… You only have until nightfall to defeat—"
"No! You don't understand!" Shinji cut her off abruptly. "I can't do this! Look at how big that thing is! Look at what it's made out of! Even from here, I can see that it's got disaster written all over it if we engage it!" Shamefully, Shinji buried his forehead in his hands. He was obviously stressed out.
"But you have to…"
"That's the problem Rei… Even if I DO have to, I'm not strong enough. You know this Rei… Everybody does." Shinji exhaled in a sigh. "I'll always be the weak one… To everybody… I'll never be good enough."
"Shinji I don't know this, because it is not reality. You are capable of doing this in every way. If this creature reaches the city, all hope will be lost entirely! Many more beings will descend upon this earth soon, because this rock behemoth is their messenger! Something wicked this way comes, and this is only the first of many hardships with which you will have to deal!" Rei exclaimed all of this worriedly, a hint and a plea of desperation in her voice. "Shinji, you—"
"I can't fucking do it! Don't you realize that Rei? Of all people to receive this responsibility, why in the hell did it have to be me? What the fuck did I ever do that was so great to gain me so much attention? And could you tell me exactly who it is that you're getting all of this from?"
"Shinji… I haven't the time…" She didn't have the time. Shinji of all people should have known what it was like to feel like time to spare was almost a self served salvation. Over the course of a year, he had been trying to constantly tell himself that he hadn't enough time. He thought he had to live in the present the best that he could but alas, once again he'd proceeded to drown himself in self doubt and misery blinding himself with the dark and looming walls of his own mind.
"Rei I just can't do it. I can't do it…" By now Shinji would have been crying, but orange liquid surrounding him robbed him even of his tears. His body slumped over and he dragged his knees up to his chest. "I'm so fucking useless…" A delicate hand landed itself on his shoulder. Rei tried her best to comfort him, but could bring no words to part her lips, nor could her hand part his shoulder. Finally, she regained her thoughts and knowledge of the most important thing at hand.
"Shinji… Do you remember that time when you fought your first angel? Or one of those times that your Eva continued to function long after it's power source was supposed to deplete?" She probed, gripping his shoulder a bit tighter.
"Yeah… But that wasn't me… I blacked out. It was Unit-01's doing all of those times… I had no part in any of those victories." Shinji buried his face deeper into his legs, trying to stifle and hide tears that Rei could never have seen in the first place.
"You have no idea how wrong you are Shinji… You must stop viewing Eva as a machine, as a tool… You must feel it, as an extension to your own physical and mental body. You must bond with the Eva, and only then will you ever fully understand…"
"There is nothing to understand… I'm useless, and therefor don't need to understand anything…"
"Shinji, those blackouts were a result of your own rage and fury. The only reason that you don't remember, was because all of your fear, rage, and insecurity was for an instant transferred into Unit-01's own mentality." They stayed silent for a minute or two, before they both saw the walking mountain of stone lift it's mighty foot and take another sluggish step, causing the Eva to sway.
"Shinji… A friend told me to deliver this to you, just in case you needed some help… I'm sorry, for what this will do to you…"
"Wait, what?" Shinji attempted to protest, just as Rei clamped her hands down tight on either side of his head.
"Rei! Tell me what you're doing! Do what to me?" He struggled, but Rei had already achieved what she wanted.
"Geeeaaaaaaaaah!" His body started to convulse, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Multitudes of scenario's and images danced through Shinji's mind, and it seemed that he was forced to watch. Screams echoed out, blood curdling screams that cried for help, for salvation, for vengeance. He saw skyscrapers falling in flames against a blood red sky. Entire cities that he did not recognize were decimated by monstrous explosions. Within his own head, he witnessed such horrible things. Oh what phantasm wreaked it's havoc on his mind? What looked to be once humans numbered in the hundreds before him. They were all twisted, blood soaked monstrosities of flesh that looked as if multiple people had been melted into one. The blink of an eye, and the toss of a shovel. Mounds upon mounds of the dead and rotting piled up. Their eyes bloated out of their skulls, and rotting lacerations and blisters covered their corpse's. Atop the mound, a winged figure with a glowing blue aura appeared, and within his hands hung something vaguely familiar to a chainsaw. A glint of sun caught the diamond tipped teeth of the chain and the shine echoed out with vibrancy. The ravenous instrument in this angelic figures hands protested an alien humming sound. With a mighty thrust he jammed the moving teeth of the blade between his feet and into the mound, chewing apart the limbs and appendages of dead bodies. A few more appeared to partake in this gloriously gory ritual. Taking positions around this mountain of wasted humans they too thrust the saws down and began to reduce the sizes of all the dead that occupied it. Coagulated brown and red blood spattered and stained their white feathery wings. The people reduced in numbers, the angelic figures set fire to the mound and took their leave elsewhere. The blink of an eye, red skies, and a towering stone figure that roams the wastelands beneath sovereigns of smoke and the smell of blood which hung heavy in the air. Then, darkness. Light started to expand outward from a pinprick in the middle of the dark. The memories of zero impact.
Shinji was thrown back into the real world violently, not but a minute or two. The brightness of the setting sun stung his eyes. Shinji felt queasy, overheated, and delirious. The world outside and in the plug was a blur, melting into a collage of fuzzy figures and fluctuating colors.
'Just… What the hell was that? To what do I owe these dreams?' The same comforting hand touched down upon his shoulder, gentle and soothing on his skin. Numbly he swayed back and forth, head spinning in a maelstrom of confusion and fleeting emotions.
'Rage… Fury… Vengeance… More beautiful, than they will ever be…' Shinji snapped back into awareness. His eye danced in an involuntary spasm, and an ember of belligerence sparked into an intense inferno of blind fury. His shoulders began to heave, and his breaths morphed to pants.
"Mother-f-f-ffffucker!" Shinji shouted. His blood ran on the brink of boiling, and his heart rate jumped threefold. He tried to stay relevant and aware, but in this blind rage his head once again started to swim and he began to sway.
'Shit! I'm gonna to black out again!' This stray thought struck him to late, for they were the last thoughts that he remembered before all faded to black.
Things were different through Rei's eyes. Shinji did not black out, but went completely silent. Neither of them spoke for a minute, before Shinji chiseled through the silence.
"Let's do this damnit." These were his only words, and Eva Unit-01 took off into a sprint. Tree's and grasslands flew by in evanescing blurs of green and brown. They stomped through puddles, and bogs Unit-01's massive foot imprinting the mud on the bottom with it's tread. It's ninja-like spidery figure leapt and bounded over boulders and small hills. Finally out of the cover, Unit-01 broke out of the forest triumphantly. It stopped there for a second, it's wicked figure gracing the ground behind it with a shadow. Glowing eyes squinting as Unit-01 tilted it's head upwards towards the stone offender, it's mouth opened and the Eva bellowed a ferocious roaring war cry.
Inside of the Eva, Rei shrank back as Shinji tilted his head upward and let out a savage scream. His body language was almost predatorial. Rei rocked side to side some as the Eva was jeered by another tremor set forth from their enemy's foot.
Shinji did not look down and see his hands upon the trigger handles as usual. Rather, he gazed four to five stories down at hands composed completely of metal, purple and gray in color. Though he did not conciously know it, he was seeing what Unit-01 saw, and as he rubbed his hands together, was feeling what Unit-01 felt. A quake rattled the ground underfoot, and Shinji spread his legs to stabilize himself. He swore that something else was present.
'It's as if… That invisible hand from before, rests on my shoulder again…' Relevant thought soon disappeared when his goal was remembered. A kick of his right leg, and he was off into a sprint again. Metal legs pumped and pounded the dry terrain as he made his way across the now open plane. He quickened up the pace, and the Eva turned to a purple blur, and running to beat hell it broke the sound barrier. A cone of vapor formed in front of the unit momentarily, but he soon broke through it at a speed of Seven Hundred and Twenty miles per hour. Unit-01 met up with it's foot. With a primal leap he clawed onto the edge of it's foot and began to climb up. Once on top, he dashed along the length of it. Meeting up with the joint where the foot and the rest of the leg connected, Shinji engaged Unit-01's assault rifle. Taking aim, he unloaded an entire clip into the cracks where the rock folded everytime it took a step. Tracers skipped and bounced back, pinging off of his armor. The clip was wasted to no avail, for the bullets only chipped and cracked small pieces away from the stone, not even a dent worth bringing it down. Rei said that it was a messenger, with the same intent as the rest of the angels as before. Shinji decided that he would classify it as an angel.
'Damnit! Looks like I'll have to work at this.' Thrusting it's fingers into the stony leg of the enemy that loomed over the distant Tokyo-3 Unit-01 began it's long and perilous climb.
"WHAT? ANOTHER ANGEL?" Misato screamed into the cell-phone that NERV HQ contacted her through. "Unit-01's already missing? Shit! Alright, I'll be there with Asuka in about ten minutes." Misato folded her cell shut and jammed it into her coat pocket.
"Shinji's already gone? What IS that kid thinking!" Asuka protested loudly.
"Shut up Asuka! Quit shouting! I'm trying to drive here okay?" Misato snapped at her.
"Well, it's not my fault Mister valiant had to rush out of NERV without telling anybody to fight this thing alone!" Misato stayed silent, concentrating on taking the now empty street corners at full speed without crashing. The back end of the car slid out behind them in a powerslide. Misato was a devil when it came to driving, let alone a stickshift sports car. "He's not stealing the spotlight that easily…" Asuka mumbled, hanging onto a support handle near her window.
"Jesus Christ Asuka! Is that all you ever think about? Being better than everybody else? That's what fucked you up the last time! Remember? SHIT!" Misato swerved off of the road as they were almost railed by a bus evacuating people to one of the shelters. The front end of her car knocked a parking meter out of the ground like a toothpick. It flipped up onto the hood and cracked the windshield, clanging into the ground behind them. She jerked the wheel to the left and brought the car back off to the sidewalk. The rest of the ride was just as violent, but silent nonetheless.
"They say that it's located somewhere west of the city. I wonder if we can see it once we get past all of these building and complexes? After a minute or so the wall of buildings blocking their view out of the city ended abruptly, and they became enveloped in another kind of shadow. "Oh my god…" Misato uttered in pure shock and disbelief. Asuka had nothing to say, her jaw simply dropped and hung there as she gazed out the window. It had a somewhat human shape, but easily towered over any of the tallest buildings within Tokyo-3, and quite frankly it could probably pick up one of the skyscrapers and swing it about like a bat if it wanted to. They could tell it was distant from the city because of the obscurity in it's shape against the skyline, but even as far away as it was, both Asuka and Misato knew that if this were to reach the city, all would be lost. With Misato completely disregarding the speed limit signs, they made it to NERV headquarters in just over Eleven minutes, with Asuka suited up and present in Unit-02 within four more. After another minute later she was being shot up to the surface on the service lift.
"He climbed out?" Misato asked one of the nearest engineers.
"Yes Major Katsuragi, the powers been cut out here for the past couple of months now. You had us cut grooves into the side of the shaft just incase of this type of situation, do you not remember?"
"Yes, I remember…" She said in a dissatisfied tone, rubbing her temples in a gesture of uneasiness and frustration. "Have you tried to use any other force besides the Eva's?" She questioned a nearby representative of NERV's strategic battle planning sector.
"Yes ma'am we have, but have had no effect. We've hit it with cruise missiles, Air to Surface missiles, basic ballistic shells via JSSDF tanks and offshore vessels. None have proven to be effective, not even a barrage of N2 mines."
"Hmmm…" Misato puzzled over the matter for a second."
"Excuse me ma'am?"
"Huh? Oh, yes?" She replied as her thought broke.
"We do have a satellite image of Unit-01 attempting to climb the angel. The angel doesn't seem to have noticed him yet."
"Wait! He's climbing that thing, and you guys tried to hit it with N2 mines and missiles?" Frustration began to suffocate any peace of mind left within her.
"Well… Unit-01 was not affected by the blasts of any of the JSSDF's attacks Miss Misato. It was protected by the angels AT field." The official pushed his glasses up on his nose with one finger; a fashion that was suited to most NERV employees sporting white coats and glasses.
"Wait, what? How is that possible?" Misato demanded, obviously confused.
"Well, if you'll come this way Misato, I'll show you what we mean." He motioned her to come with him into the next room. They rounded a corner into the Control Room. There Misato met up with Ritsuko and Maya, her second in command.
"You'll find this very interesting Misato." Ritsuko stated proudly, stepping over to the main data screen computer console. She opened up two windows, each focusing on the massive stony angel approaching the city. The first one was a regular exterior view, and the latter was a green digitally reconstructed grid shaped like the angel. "You see, we don't believe that the angel completely knows how to use it's own AT field. We're positive that it basically knows how to project it's AT field's extra energy, and strongly so. However, we don't believe that it knows how to repel an enemy once it's too close. Allow me to show you what I mean." Ritsuko stepped over to the main console. She poked and prodded at a few buttons, turned a few switches. "Aoba, would you please run the simulation?"
"Yes Dr. Akagi." Aoba Shigeru initiated the sequence. The green geometric grid of the angel enlarged, temporarily blocking out all other windows.
"You see Misato, for this we sent out a new prototype of information gathering device. We call it N.A.D, otherwise known as a Nanoscopic Analysis Device. Once again Misato's usual self surfaced, and she snickered.
"Nice name for a piece of spy equipment Ritsuko."
"Oh do grow up Misato. It wasn't intentional. Now if you'll please set your attention to the screen…" The simulation started. A small red dot advanced on the digital model of the angel rapidly. Using hand motions Dr. Akagi pointed out all of the details. "Aoba, slow the simulation down by two times."
"Got it Dr. Akagi." The red dot advanced on the angel more slowly now.
"As you and I both know Misato, an angels AT field also serves as it's shield, thus it uses it as such, only raising it to repel an immediate threat." Ritsuko nodded.
"I'm following ya." Misato signaled.
"Well, when the red dot which of course symbolizes the NAD, hit's the target it will explode." She motioned towards the screen as the red dot collided with the digitally imaged angel, it then separated into hundreds of smaller red dots. "Now you also know that an angel will let it's AT field down again a few seconds later, justifying the belief that it is not a continuous field. These red dots symbolize the smoke of the explosion. It is composed of a metal filament in which the nanites reside." Another green grid, nothing short of a wall appeared on the screen. Temporarily it prevented the red dots from advancing any further towards the angel, but soon disappeared. "The nanites found a way in through a few cracks in the angels body, and it's eyes. After about thirty minutes of searching the insides of it's body, about twenty four thousand nanites concluded that the angel is very basic, but very powerful. It's outer layer is composed of a very hard and very durable stone that we have not been able to identify yet. It has basic organs, such as nerves and contracting masses of a soft kind of clay material for movement, along with an energy output organ somewhat similar to the S2 engine. It has a central nervous system, and a very basic and crude one at that. It is located just behind and between the eyes, and we believe that if either Unit were too impale it with an active progressive knife, the molecular vibrations would disrupt and travel through it's entire nervous system. The angel would begin to vibrate profusely, and start to fall apart." Ritsuko stopped speaking for a moment.
"So that's all that either of them have to do too stop it?" Misato questioned, ready to issue the commands to both Units.
"Well, the thing is that the angel is so big that it did not notice the first Unit, but after Shinji opened fire on one of it's joints we think it has become more aware. If Asuka isn't careful, she could be hurt very badly. I urge you too tell the both of them this Misato, and tell Asuka to disengage and stand by for backup. This is something only Shinji will be able to carry out, for the angel is not coordinated enough to suck it's AT field any closer to it's body, thus giving Shinji a clear road to victory if it is unable to throw him off."
"Alright then… I'll tell them right now." Misato nodded to Dr. Akagi and headed over to the communications hub.
"Shinji! Can you hear me? Come in""Huh? What? Misato?" Shinji questioned as the radio cackled
"Shinji! Are you alright?" She replied worriedly.
"Yeah Misato, I'm fine."
"Shinji, why did you leave so early? How did you know about this angel before we did?" Misato demanded. The angel's AT field littered the airways with static. "Do you even know what you're doing up there?"
"Well… I don't have the time to explain that right now… As far as what I'm doing I don't really know Misato. Right now I'm just tryin to find a way to bring this thing down…"
"Shinji, if it reaches the city—""I know what's going to happen if it reaches the city Misato… I know…"
"Well Shinji. I have some good news. Dr. Akagi's told me some things that will likely help you in bringing this thing down, however you won't likely get a whole lot of help from Asuka due to the Angels AT field."
"Why not? I managed to get up here just fine."
"Well Shinji, when you shot at the angels ankle joint, it became more aware. It didn't notice you, but it'll sure as hell notice Asuka. Then there's the fact that her Eva doesn't yet contain a working S2 engine. The angel isn't smart enough to suck it's AT field in close to it's body so you're safe, but even if Asuka did manage to get on the angel, one it decided to raise it's AT field it would sever her umbilical cord. She's there for backup, but most of this I'm sorry to say… Lies in your hands Shinji."
"If only I could in some way help…" Rei sighed.
"Shinji, who was that? Is somebody in there with you?" Misato questioned, hearing Rei's voice in the plug with him.
"Uh, I… Asuka I don't have time to explain that just yet, can you tell me how to kill it?"
"Uh… Sure. Shinji, there's a central nervous system located right behind and between it's eyes. What you have to do, is stab it with your progressive knife. Once it's in, leave it there. The angel will fall apart, so do your best to get out of harms way. I'll send you the data that Dr. Akagi's given me via the Eva's data comm. Port… But seriously, is there anybody in there with you? Who is it? Shinji I could have sworn that I heard somebody else's voice!"
"Misato I don't have the time to explain right now! okay?" Shinji said hurriedly. "Just wish me luck." With that said Shinji switched off the comm. System. "Right behind it's eyes Rei… This is going to be one hell of a climb…" Now just above it's knee Shinji continued to climb one arm length at a time, making his long procession up the moving cliff face. He felt his stomach heave into his throat, knowing that the angel was taking another step. Digging his fingers into the stone, he clung tight while digging his heels in the best that he could. His stomach heaved downward and the entire Unit rattled.
"Aah!" Unit-01 lost it's grip and found itself hanging from the angels leg by one hand. Shinji pulled himself back up and regained his grip on the angel. "Damn…"
"Be careful Shinji." Rei warned him. "If you fall, there will be no second chance to defeat this angel. Once you are out of it's AT field, you—"
"I know Rei. I won't be able to get back in." She nodded.
"Correct Shinji." He sighed and stretched for a moment.
"Well, I suppose we better keep moving."
"What do you mean I can't get through?" Asuka shouted scornfully over the Comm. Link. "If Shinji did, I sure as hell can!"
"Asuka! No you can't! And even if you do make it past the AT field, if he chooses to raise it your umbilical cord'll be severed!"
"I won't hear of it!" Asuka switched off the communications console and took charge of her Eva once again. She attached an umbilical cord from a nearby power station on the outskirts of the city. She was guaranteed at least Seventy Five miles of cable from the massive reel that was stationed underground. She bolted off towards the angel, kicking up dust as she made her way along. After about fifteen minutes she was just coming up on the angel which towered over her. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Drawing her progressive knife and rifle she charged towards it's foot, ready to climb.
"Uagh!" Asuka jolted to a halt, and she felt her Eva tip over onto it's back. She had hit the AT field. "What the hell!" Her visual screens filled with static momentarily. Soon after though they once again came back into focus. A large shadow fell upon Unit-02. Asuka's eyes filled with panic as she gazed upon the bottom of the offenders massive foot. "Shit!" She tried to roll out from under the angel as the impeding stone armageddon rushed down at her. The light of the sun once again spilled onto her face and she thought she was in the clear. This she only thought, for in truth it was not reality. The stone appendage crushed down upon the ground, crushing with it Unit-02's legs. They were severed completely from the rest of the Eva. Asuka's ears were filled with the shrieking of twisting and tearing metal, and her legs were washed over by the most intense searing pain imaginable. She felt as if they were on fire, every last nerve below her waist screamed in agony.
"Eeaaaaahgh!" She wailed, clutching her legs. Tears welled in her eyes, floating away in the Orange LCL. It was five or so minutes that she lay there, writhing and screaming whilst she clutched her legs in unbearable pain before the angel lifted it's foot once again. A piece no bigger than a phone book littered the ground where Unit-02's legs once lay, for even if there was it was likely buried beneath the soil. Laying there in a fetal position clutching her legs, Asuka watched as the angel lumbered forward with another step. The crash caused her Eva to launch a few feet from the ground as if they were on a trampoline. When she hit the ground another jolt of pain shot through her legs.
"Eaaahgh!" She screamed again. Limply placed sideways in her seat, she surveyed the visual screen with sorrow filled eyes. To her despair, she noticed that the severed stub of an umbilical cord lay on the ground before her. It sparked with electricity occasionally.
"Damnit…" Mustering what energy was left in her body Asuka switched her reserve power over to the life support system, and slumped over in her seat. She switched on her Comm. Link once again.
"Asuka! Are you okay? The control room computers are saying that your legs are badly damaged! What's going on out there?" The voice probing her for an answer was that of Makoto, one of the three operators responsible for tracking the Eva's during operations and missions.
"They're gone…" Asuka uttered.
"Say what?" cackled the voice on the other end of the line. Before he could get a reply out of her, another jolt shook the Eva and Asuka struck her head on a piece of equipment inside. Rendered unconscious, she crumpled into her seat.
'This was too damn easy…' Shinji thought to himself. He was just below the angels massive chest, and steadily climbing upwards. All seemed fair and well, and he felt as if he were in the clear. No sooner had he thought this that something orange appeared on his visuals. It grew larger, and then completely enveloped him. Shinji watched the external temperature readout rise dramatically.
"Shinji… It looks like magma." Rei piped over his shoulder in her characteristically soft tone.
"Yeah Rei… I think you're right." He stated. "What is this, some kind of defense mechanism?" Shinji's brow furrowed. The temperature was rising outside, but not at a completely alarming rate. All in the name of irony it seemed, every single emergency indicator went off all at once. Shinji watched be-dazzled in confusion as the external temperature began to skyrocket.
"Shinji!" Rei exclaimed. "You must get to the top, before the temperature exceeds your Eva's limits." She impressed her hand upon his shoulder once more. Looking on, Shinji seemed to become angry. A snarl surfaced underneath his lips, and his eyes filled with a fiery rage. His breaths grew shallower, and quicker.
"Geaaah!" His body jerked back. The same horrid images from before began to pour into his head. Mounds upon mounds of bodies, angelic figures hacking them apart. Entire cities in flames, and flesh born crimes against humanity. Zero Impact.
Shinji blacked out again, or rather passed into a side of himself he did not know, one that possessed neither reasonable thought nor memory. The jerked downward a little as Shinji lost some of his grip thanks to the downward current of molten rock. His fingers started to slip, and they began to slide away. It was here that this fury known to be quit so alien to Shinji surfaced once again, and he became whole with Unit-01.
"I swear to all that's unholy, by nightfall you ARE going to fall by my haaaaaaand!" Shinji screamed at the top of his lungs. Rei shrank back once again, this side of Shinji unbeknownst to her. Shinji looked down at his free hanging hand. Once again, it was not white but purple and gray, and composed of metal and polymer materials.
Unit-01 issued forth a monstrous roar capable of rivaling in size and spirit, that of the giant stone angel from which it hung. Clawing into the stone, Unit-01 fought the currents of rushing lava. Arm length by arm length, it fought every inch of the way. What seemed like hours, indeed took hours, three to be exact. Hours of meticulous planning and strategically re-locating himself often to avoid the continuous onslaught of magma brought him to the stony beasts shoulder. Inside the plug, during this time he rarely uttered a single word. Any noises coming from him were no more than grunts and the occasional curse, accompanied by Rei's words of assurance, transparent in Shinji's ravenous state of mind.
"Shit… I never noticed how beautiful Tokyo-3 was at night…" Something dark had lodged itself in Shinji's voice. Not to be confused with something sinister, for this new tone in his voice that could often be found in his times of anger held no air of evil, but nonetheless nothing short of sounding grim.
"What Shinji?" Rei questioned, lost in this observation of his general tone and body language.
"The city, it's beautiful… So peacefully glowing, elegant… Almost as much so as the one accompanying me in this seat… Whom hopefully someday I may call my intimate, but until then—"
"Shinji!" The cackle of the radio interrupted them. It was Misato. "Our scouts have told me that you're on the shoulder, and just standing there! Why aren't you moving?"
"Oh… I'm sorry Misato… Well, I guess it's time to carry on then." Rei watched from behind as Shinji's body language shifted. The metamorphosis took place, what was for a special few minutes docile, gentle and elegant evolving into something primal, predatorily and ravenous for something. The first answer to that something in Rei's mind was violence. It was something so alien to Shinji, so blasphemous. An occasional outburst was common with him, but when these same emotions had fallen prey to hyperbole he seemed nothing short of bloodthirsty. He moved with Eva, he groaned and growled with it. Meticulously staring ahead over his shoulder, Shinji moved the Eva forward. Step after step, heel to heel he inched forward.
"Shinji! Take it down now! If it doesn't break up it'll fall on parts of the city, and the quake'll be catastrophic! HURRY!" The angel turned it's massive head. Thought it was undersized for the rest of it's body, it was still quite large. To the angel, the purple and green Eva was no bigger than an insect on it's shoulder, but most insects weren't armed with a gas powered fully automatic assault rifle who's power rivaled that of a battlecruiser's double barreled Anti-Aircraft gun, capable of piercing some of the deepest and most state of the art anti-ballistics armor. The rifle spat a steady stream of yellow tracer rounds into the pupil of one of it's gigantic green eyes. The angel turned it's head away from the armed insect on it's shoulder, filling the air with the deepest and most acrimonious groan. It sounded musical, and sadly almost beautiful. If only the beast had been making the sound during another time rather than when it was about to die, it's beauty might have been realized.
"Whoa!" Unit-01 dropped down and clung to the angels shoulder, crawling as close to it's head as possible. A tremendous crash rattled the Eva profusely, almost causing Shinji to fall off. The angel had tried to shake him off, but it was a sad attempt for if it tipped to much, it was sure to fall thus limiting it's ability to throw him away. Rising to his feet once again Shinji turned around to witness the angels massive stony hand clamped over a part of it's shoulder. "Shit that was close…" He uttered irately. Turning back he saw that the Angel once again had it's head turned. It's head was a simple shape, that of an upside down bucket. It adorned two massive green eyes, one of which had been shredded by Shinji's assault rifle. It had what one might assume to be a mouth, which was really nothing more than an "O" shaped hole located below it's eyes. Shinji stared back into it's green eyes.
"You're really starting to piss me off, you brick on fucking legs!" Unit-01 lunged forward, drawing it's progressive blade modeled after a bowie knife. Shinji jammed the length of his arm through the ooz pouring out of the angels now exposed pupil. His visuals went blue, mapping out where the nervous center was behind it's eyes. Shinji activated the blade and impaled it. Doing as Misato had instructed he left the blade in there. Unit-01 climbed on top of the angels head, gazing down upon the city which lay about a half of a mile out before them, it was beautiful.
"Jeez… We really cut it close…" Shinji closed his eyes, and opened them once again. Now, not only did he see through Unit-01's eyes as if he himself were the Eva, but he swore that he could feel the cool winds against his skin, now composed of metal. A strange sort of adrenaline coursed through his body, and he could feel the presence of Unit-01's own soul. It was a proud feeling, justified and dignified, but plagued with a darkness that all instruments of war must endure. Shinji could feel it as well. The spiritual shadow flourished, and was racing back and forth in Shinji's mind.
'These are… The feelings, the thoughts of Unit-01…' Shinji knew that his Eva was mapped after Lilith, but had no idea that it was anything more than a tool. No. As Rei had stated, his Eva WAS an extension of his own self, a mirror. Something with which, he could actually relate. The adrenaline coursed through his body in short bursts, and he felt something panicked in the back of his head.
'It's… Okay…' He thought, gazing down upon the city and rest of the world that lay a mile below. 'As much as I might now truly know you… I understand… I truly do…' He must have been talking to Unit-01 somehow, connecting with it in a way he had never before because the distant panicked feeling that felt as if it were in the back of his head, yet somehow distant vanished. He thought that he could almost feel the presence of easiness and docility, evanescing off of some other being close by.
"Shinji…" It was Rei. He could see her, but could almost feel her inside.
'Huh?' He placed a metallic hand on the back of his neck, where he thought he could feel the voice coming from.
'Yes Rei?' he thought.
"Shinji… You realize Unit-01's true presence do you not? That it is no longer simply a tool?"
'Yes… Yes I do Rei…'
"Now is the time that you stop referring to Unit-01 as it, and give it a name with which you can recognize his identity for who he is. Something more heartfelt than a unit number… Now after this, and after immense victory… This is the time to christen your Eva…"
'Right…' Shinji thought for a second. Shinji knew the name, to be called after his most favored emotion, vengeance.
'Neo-Vengeance…'
"Why is this Shinji?"
'Because, vengeance is one of the best ways to get a person to remember…Brother to revenge, the act of bringing justified punishment, of bringing swift justice to those who have hurt you in the past. The word Neo symbolizes new, and with this Eva I will bring swift new vengeance before the crime can be carried out, and anybody can be hurt. For those who have fallen, I will deliver the revenge that they could not.'
"I am glad Shinji… Now please, return to me… We have a friend to help…" The short conversation, and the christening of Unit-01 happened in a rather awkward way, as if a scene from a poem. Shinji did not really think about what he spoke, but rather spoke what he felt he had to. Shinji knew that Rei knew more than she was letting on. He hadn't even had the time to question Rei over all of these things of which she spoke. Half of them she spoke in riddles, as if some kind of prophet. Both of their thoughts were interrupted by yet another jolt that rocked the Eva.
"Damn! Hold on tight Rei, this things going to rock and roll the hell out of us. It's starting to fall apart." Making itself noticed for the first time in the past few minutes, the angel let out another tortured groan, identifiable with a couple hundred killer whales were it's cries. They lurched from side to side as Shinji attempted to keep his balance. The angel began to tip towards the city, picking up incredible speed.
"Shit! Misato! Try to have everybody prepared for a very large quake in both the shelters and NERV central! We're about a half a mile away from the city, but this thing's at least a mile tall!" The radio cut out soon after. The angel stumbled forward stupidly, slowing it's descent by only a little bit. The effects of the progressive knife in it's nerve center were starting to take effect. Chunks of rock began to fall from under Shinji's feet, magma burst from the open cracks.
"We've got to get away from this thing! Otherwise we'll get caught up in the wreckage when it hits the ground, and we're toast!" Shinji alerted Rei. "Grab on tight, it's going to be a bit bumpyyyyyy!" She wrapped both arms around his shoulders, and her legs around his waist holding on for dear life. It felt as if they were being hurled through a belt of asteroids as Shinji desperately tried to bound from mass to mass of free falling rock, getting as far away from the falling angel as possible. He saw the last decently sized rock, and falling freely he reached out. The newly christened Unit Vengeance clawed into the massive boulder, and with all of it's strength pulled itself up and over the rock shooting out into the open.
"Thank god for physics!" Shinji shouted. The ride was still bumpy, as they were pelted by smaller rocks continuing to fall away from the angel and large blobs of magma that rained from above. Due to the angel falling forward, the inertia at which the angels shoulders swiftly moved forward and downward caused Vengeance and it's pilot to be flung forward in an arch like a pebble from a catapult. They were now free falling above the city, as was half of the walking landmass classified as an angel.
"Ten se-cond-s unt-il im-pact!" Vengeance poised for impact, readying the position of it's limbs to be used like springs.
"Eight seconds!" The ground hurled up at them, the ants of buildings growing much more distinguishable.
"Fou-r se-cond-s!" The plug rattled more violently than ever before. Street lines were now visible, they could see cracks in the rooftops of some of the buildings. One second left…
Vengeance almost made a clean landing, just like it would have had it been dropped from an aerial transport, but a stray stone just above them about the size of a gas station convenience store complicated things. They hit the ground cleanly in one of the city parks, the Eva's limbs absorbing the impact with precision. Shinji turned his head to gaze upon Rei, her face was nestled into his shoulder. Just when she looked up, something quaked the inside of the plug and she saw Shinji crash into the ceiling of the plug before all of the internal lights shut off and the visual monitors disappeared. There was a sound of twisting metal, and it felt like some sort of pressure was being impressed on Vengeance's frame.
"Shinji!" Rei called through the darkness. Groping about, trying to feel her way over to him she crawled forward. After groping about for awhile Rei thought that she had accidentally passed him up, going unnoticed from likely being unconscious.
"Shinji?" She thought about crawling further, when her toes touched down on something warm. She pressed down on whatever it was a bit harder, keeping it there so as not to loose him. It felt to her like his face. She ran her hand down the length of her leg, up her thigh and down her shin before finally locating his cheek, replacing her foot with her hand.
"Shinji…"
"Yeah?" She heard him reply weakly.
"Hmmm… Shinji…" Locating the rest of his body, she wrapped her arms around Shinji and pulled him closer. He did the same, wrapping his arms around her waist but with difficulty. Pulling each other tighter into one another's embrace, they sat there in the admiration of darkness, appreciating how it felt to hold somebody so closely, and so warmly.
"Shinji… The rescue team should be here soon…"
"I know…" He said, hugging her tighter. "For now… Let's just get some rest…" Shinji fell asleep in her arms. Normally it was his custom to be respectful if you would call it that, and never cozy up to a girl like this, but after the previous events he didn't feel like he had the energy to debate such things with himself. Rei followed suit not long after, cradling her head into his chest. The both of them drifted off to a deep slumber in each other's arms with dreams in their heads that rivaled those of a fairytale. Both had never slept better within the past year or so than they did today. Even Rei was lost to unconsciousness, though she had been dead for a year. Their chests rose and fell in breaths synonymous with one another, both awaiting the rescue teams yet never wanting them to come.
