Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Evangelion or the Devil May Cry franchise as they belong to GAINAX and Capcom.
Author's note: Sorry for the delay, readers, trying to think of ways to put the finishing touches of a story such as this is kind of hard at times, (especially when it comes to trying to decide how Gendou should suffer because of the endless possibilities…) but here is the chapter you've all been waiting for so long, the chapter which our lovable Dante Sparda gives Gendou a taste of eternal hell for his crimes. Thanks to all who have been so patient and supportive with the past updates, I was really glad to see the majority of you loving this fic. I won't take up too much of your time any longer, so let's say we get going and get close to finishing this story, shall we? Enjoy as always.
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End of Evangelion May Cry
Chapter 10: Legendary Battle, Part 2
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Shinji and Asuka had already returned to NERV headquarters, their minds heavy with concern and worry for everyone else in the base during the invasion. Shinji himself was on edge, trying to think to himself that both Misato and Rei are alright, not to mention mostly what became of his father.
"Please, Misato…Rei...everyone else, be alright somehow…" Shinji muttered to himself as he came out his Unit 01's entry plug, while Asuka was waiting already out of her own Eva unit and was waiting for him near an express elevator that was still operational. The two Eva pilots were still in their plug suits.
"Come on, Shinji! We don't know if any more of those enemy troops may show up around here!" Asuka called out to him as he rushed into the elevator with her in time. Asuka pressed the button which would take them to a hallway located near the Command Centre. It didn't take them too long to get to the surface as the elevator door opened up as soon it reached the surface level. But what the two pilots didn't expect to see was a truly grisly sight that greeted their return.
Numerous corpses of the fallen JSSDF invading troops laid out before them, most of them bore unusual and somewhat nasty looking wounds, while they were a few of them who stumbled about, holding unto vital organs which were heavily damaged before during the invasion, heavy burn marks and electricity sizzled around the walls of NERV's hallways, while even some areas of the walls were heavily covered in ice. Shinji tried to keep his stomach in as he saw heavily bullet riddled troops lay dead in front of him, but every time he looked away, his sight always was on the other set of causalities that lay on the JSSDF's side, which there were several troops who were eviscerated during the long battle.
Asuka tried to swallow what she had in her stomach before the battle or else she'd throw up. She began to tug at Shinji's plug suit. "Hey, Shinji…who do you think is responsible for all of this? You don't think that guy from outside…"
"I told you before, Asuka. He was giving all of NERV a hand, but not even I thought seriously he was capable of all of this…" Shinji spoke. "He certainly is not human to take on an army like the JSSDF and live on to take on the Mass Production Evas…"
"Yeah, I could see that plainly." Asuka simply replied. "Well, those suckers got what was coming to them. Thinking they can come and take us out when we had some surprises of our own…we showed them, didn't we, Shinji?"
"You said it." Shinji couldn't help but grin a bit, as he really felt where Asuka was coming from and had no pity for the enemy which tried to destroy and annihilate everyone dear to him by first invading NERV and trying to initiate Third Impact.
Before they could proceed further, several clicks from several automatics were heard as the two pilots were surrounded by Lady's private demon hunting military force, the White Devils. Soon, both Shinji and Asuka were speechless in front of the new set of troops they encountered, until Trish came out from behind the troops that surrounded them, and with her were Ritsuko, Maya, and Vice Commander Fuyutsuki.
"At ease, boys," Trish simply said, taking off her sunglasses as the troops nodded and lowered their guns. Trish was pleased to see Shinji again and started smiling at both him and Asuka "Hey, Shinji…good to see you again, and that you've done a good job kicking ass out there. I was quite impressed as was every one of your friends."
Shinji blushed slightly as Trish's comment, while Asuka stared down at the strange blonde's attire with quizzed looks.
"Ah, it was nothing, I only did what you told me to do before, and you know what, you are right, Trish. I got to make a stand now for what is important to me, or else no one else would be able to do what I had done for humanity up to this point and beyond." Shinji replied. "Though, I can't help but not still feel a bit guilty over what has happened as well…"
"You can feel as much remorse if you want to, Shinji, but the most important thing is that you did the right thing for everyone who depended on you today." Trish said, patting his shoulder, and then looking over at Asuka's direction. "Oh, and you must be Asuka, huh?"
"Yeah, that's me, the great Asuka Langley Sohyru; now back in the game for good!" Asuka spoke proudly as Trish smiled at her. "I did take on nine other fake Evas by myself, before that weird guy came out and raised some hell out there, didn't I?"
"My, my…you're just full of yourself, huh? I know you'll be fast friends with Dante when this is over." Trish said.
"Ahh…Asuka, the 'weird guy' that helped us before out on the GeoFront against those Evas and the enemy troops was the guy she just mentioned, Dante's actually part demon himself." Shinji simply replied, causing Asuka to nearly shriek in shock.
"Mein Gott! Is that for real?" she asked, looking at Ristuko's direction.
"That's the truth, Asuka. I myself still find it hard to believe that demons actually exist in this time of science and technology, especially when there are those who even come close to looking like us." Ritsuko replied. "Not to mention the kind that has decided to fight among us to stop the Third Impact like today. Dante Sparda, Trish and Lucia are among those who had used their powers to help and preserve mankind."
Shinji then remembered why he came back to NERV in a hurry and didn't give a moment to relax further. "Speaking of which, I don't see your partner and Misato here…where could they be right now? Have they already found my father and Ayanami?"
"It has been a while since they left for Terminal Dogma…" Maya spoke. "Dr. Akagi, you don't think…"
"I shouldn't worry about Dante encountering any problems disposing Shinji's father, he's a professional." Trish explained with a shrug. "But, if he's down there for more than ten minutes, well it's safe to say that he may need a hand from me."
"What's that suppose to mean, Trish?" Shinji asked out of curiosity.
"Well, I think it's better to show those who are interested in seeing how Dante does his work than telling and you'll believe it for yourselves." Trish said. "Come on, Shinji…don't you want to see what happens to people like Gendou firsthand and see Rei again?"
"Of course, I want to help Ayanami!" Shinji spoke aloud in a tone of exclamation. "I can care less for my father anymore…he has done enough to hurt everyone, and if he even hurts Rei…"
"Well, I'll go with Shinji too to see this Dante in action once more." Asuka said, while folding her arms. "I bet Dante has a whole world of hurt waiting for that guy."
"I'm coming as well." Ritsuko stepped next to the two pilots. "It's about time I see the look on his face just once before he's gone from our lives when he gets his redemption for what he has done."
"He may be an old colleague of mine, but not any longer. Now, I have to take responsibility for not stopping him in acts such as this." Fuyutsuki said. "Allow me to join you three in this once in a lifetime chance for seeing him have everything he has worked for crumble in the last moments of his life."
"Looks like I was right when no one here liked him." Trish said, placing her hands on her hips.
"You don't know the half of it." Ritsuko replied.
"In any case, we'd better get to Terminal Dogma right away to join up with Katsuragi and the First Child, assuming they are still alive." Fuyutsuki said, showing the group to an express elevator located close by.
"Let's get a move on." Trish beckoned everyone along and upon entering the elevator; she patted Shinji's shoulder once more, giving him more assurance. "Don't worry, Shinji…I doubt Dante and Lucia has let anything happened to them. We'll get to them in time for the finale of this crazy party."
"I hope so too, Trish." Shinji replied, knowing in his heart she was right about Dante being able to put a stop to his father once and for all. His thoughts began to wander as the elevators closed and the long trip down into the deep underground areas of NERV began.
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Back in the Terminal Dogma area, a stand off between Dante's true demon form with his Sparda equipped and Gendou's infused and near deformed state from the effect of Adam fusing totally with him had started in front of the towering Lilith, while Misato, Rei and Lucia stood below on the platform down below, watching the event unfold.
"Dante's true form under the Sparda influence…I'd never think it was necessary for him to even use his full demonic powers against Gendou like this." Lucia muttered, causing Misato and Rei to watch her.
"You mean Dante's really going to let it all out on Gendou, huh?" Misato asked.
"The Adam embryo seemed to have twisted Gendou as a host body to its liking," Lucia said, sensing the powers they were both emitting from one another. "And the poor bastard hasn't even realised he is lost once he is bound to Adam like this."
Rei remained silent as she returned her gaze to the Dante and Gendou/Adam hybrid confrontation. Clearly from her position, she can see the possessed appearance her former Commander now has. Gendou let out a small laugh as he used his right hand to produce a smaller type version of the Lance of Loginus from his own skin and bones; its appearance was as twisted as the owner itself wielding it.
"Damn, you have no idea just how gross that is, man." Dante said, holding up his nose and fanning the air in front of him. "Trash like you just gets more and more stagnant the longer it stays around. No matter, I'm still going to get rid of your sorry ass for everyone's sake."
"You should give up while you still can, son of Sparda." Gendou said. "However much you continue this futile struggle is useless. You who are the product of a human and a demon...whichever you choose to call your kind, both will be finished with the coming of Third Impact."
"Heh, give up?" Dante smirked at this. "That's more what I'd expect from you, who pretty much gave up being human, and that was before you even got that Adam thing in you."
(The theme of 'Mundus 1Boss Battle' begins to play in the background.)
Gendou sneered at his enemy at first, but drew up his weapon. Dante, still in his Sparda demon form, had equipped the Beowulf gauntlets once more and started to fire a barrage of Zodiac fireballs at Gendou, who dodges the first three of them before meeting with a sudden Volcano attack from Dante's fist that Gendou ended up rushing into and stopping him in his tracks. As he was stunned by the move, Dante then used his Sparda combo slash, before going into Devil Trigger and extending the Sparda sword during the Million Slash attack, piercing Gendou through his obscured body with multiple hits.
"Having fun?" Dante said, being careful not to kill Gendou so fast right away. He still had more hell to give him before closing the curtain on his life. Taking out his twin pistols, Dante was playing a mind game with his enemy, who started to mindlessly swing his makeshift weapon around, until Dante used a Stinger attack and caught him stunned and defenceless. Dante rolled closer to his enemy and used the Million Slash attack from his Sparda, before switching to Beowulf and using his Type 1 combo attack, hitting Gendou with repeated kicking attacks, before Dante used a one legged jump kick that sent Gendou air borne.
After he landed, Dante started to power up his Rising Dragon move for a good ten seconds, while Gendou was in a deep state of near unconsciousness. As soon he stood up to attack Dante, he was meet with a string of ascending punches from Dante's charged Rising Dragon, the effect causing Dante to rise as high as Lilith itself while giving Gendou repeated hits while going upwards in a twisting motion.
"Grrrraghhhh!" Gendou shouted as Dante slammed him back down into the platform with his Hammer haymaker attack. Another standoff began as Dante beckoned Gendou to come at him with everything he got while he waited.
Misato and Rei stood there watching as they then heard a door open behind them. Shinji, Asuka, Ritsuko, Trish and Fuyutsuki stood there with eyes on Gendou in his now deformed state and Dante kicking his ass all around Terminal Dogma.
"F…father!" Shinji muttered in shock as he stepped forward. Asuka was speechless at seeing what was taking place in front of her, while Ritsuko felt even more disgusted seeing Gendou like this now, but at the same time, getting a sense of relief that it will be all over for him soon. Fuyutsuki only shook his head in regret as he thought of the actual monster his once in the past colleague had now become because of his obsession.
Misato looked back and was pleased to see both Shinji and Asuka were still alive. "Shinji, Asuka, you're both okay!"
"Of course we're okay. We wouldn't want to miss this for the world." Asuka said, getting to their position with Rei and Lucia, while everyone else followed to watch the battle against Gendou and Dante.
"Good to see you're back, Shinji." Misato smiled, as he did as well to return it.
"So am I, Misato." Shinji replied, as he then looked at Rei and her missing right arm. "Rei….what happened to you! Your arm…"
"I'll be fine, Ikari…you wouldn't need to worry…" Rei said as she held unto the jacket Misato gave her tighter now. Shinji felt his father was responsible for this as he looked back to the battle.
(Father…how can you do this to Rei? I…I will never forgive you!) Shinji thought to himself in anger as he clenched his fists, but Trish had placed her hand onto his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Shinji…I'm sure Dante will have his way of getting the answers you need out of him one way or the other." Trish said.
"Did we miss much?" Ritsuko said in a near grin. Even though she hasn't gotten used to seeing Dante like this, she was beginning to think this even looked pretty damn good to watch, especially if it's Gendou on the receiving end, which made a whole lot better.
"Oh, a good bit." Misato replied simply.
"Wished we had a camcorder…" Asuka cut in as she herself was enjoying Gendou like this.
"While we're on that subject, I wished the rest of NERV could have seen this as well…" Ritsuko said as well.
Gendou stood up and now was facing everyone who had just joined in seeing him like this. The looks from their faces even didn't show a hint of fear from his presence or appearance, but more like hatred towards him now more than ever for what he had done. Particularly, Shinji's, who was staring at him hard enough to reveal that he was not the same Third Child that he had seen as a tool or someone to take advantage of his emotions since he was called to Tokyo 3. Shinji was now full of intent of showing his father now what he thought of him right there and then.
"Why, father…? Why would you want to start Third Impact? Why are you doing this to hurt Ayanami, Asuka, and everyone else close to me when all you're doing is showing yourself as the real enemy to all of us!" Shinji cried out. Gendou merely smiled as he heard Shinji's plea for an explanation for this.
"I'm doing this for your mother's sake, Shinji. It is the only way she can return to me." Gendou said, standing up. "Third Impact is the real goal I have been seeking for all this time…preserving humanity from its extinction has never even crossed my mind one bit, but rather the other way around."
Shinji's eyes widened as he heard this from Gendou. "You…you're insane…"
"You're telling us that we've been duped all along?" Asuka shouted, putting her hands on her hips, causing Gendou to smile a bit.
"That's right…I've used everyone one of you worthless fools to get me this far, and no half demon or any one of you will stop my ambitions!" Gendou said, getting up with his weapon on the ready. "And I will start with you, Third Child!"
"Shinji!" Asuka, Misato and Rei shouted at the same time as the looked on in shock when Gendou threw his weapon at his own son's body, with intent to kill him. But before the weapon got close to his body, he was pushed out of the way and it ended up piercing Trish's abdomen in his place. Dante saw this and called out her name.
"Trish!" Dante said as he rushed next to her, holding her before she fell. The weapon disintegrated into nothing, as Gendou produced another one while Dante was distracted. From the spot where the weapon pierced her, there was a deep wound.
"Why…why did you do it, Trish?" Shinji asked, kneeling to her, but Trish let out a small laugh, despite the fact the wound she had hurt like hell.
"Heh…this is…nothing, Shinji. I survived worst stuff than this. The power of an Angel is less lethal than that of Mundus's." Trish said, feeling faint. "And besides, I must have picked up some of Dante's dirty habits of protecting humans as well…you're needed to be unharmed in any case, Shinji and I have to see to that."
"Thanks, Trish; I'd never thought you were serious until now about this." Shinji said.
"Don't scare us like that again, Trish. Get yourself fixed up if you can do it with your powers." Dante said, as he then glared at Gendou once more. "Now, back to you, Gendou Ikari…you just broke two important rules in a fight…one: Never hurt the kids and two: Don't mess with my woman. Prepare to suffer big time."
Dante jumped back using Air Hike a distance away from Gendou, who was charging up an attack from the weapon he created using Adam's power. With his Beowulf gauntlets equipped, Dante prepped himself for an attack he knew Gendou was going to pull and started the opening animation for his Real Impact move as Gendou closed in with a mindless, charge attack, holding the lance like weapon in his left hand.
"Here's a taste of my own Impact, Gendou." Dante said as he pulled back his right fist and said, "Kiss this…"
Gendou's raised left arm was right over Dante's head as he swung down, but Dante had quite a nasty surprise for him. Dante's raised right fist met the underside of Gendou's left hand which held the lance, and everything seemed to freeze between them, that Dante even had time to stare at Gendou with a death glare for a good two seconds, before shouting, 'RISING DRAGON!"
What happened next was so unbelievable and almost horrid to watch at the same time. The force of Dante's ultra powerful Rising Dragon move actually countered the incoming attack Gendou had tried to use on him, and instead, as Dante rose into the air upwards with the attack, a loud, deafening crack of bones and shredding of skin from Gendou's left arm was heard and seen for Shinji, Asuka, Ritsuko, Trish, Fuyutsuki, Misato, Lucia and Rei to witness as Dante's Real Impact actually killed two birds with one stone. One of them was countering an attack using the move and knocking away Gendou's weapon from the opening punch, while the other was using the same move to rip apart Gendou's left arm from the force and power it produced. The decapitated left arm goes flying off away and landing into the LCL pool, staining it with Gendou's blood.
"Grrrrrraaaaagggghhhh!" Gendou shouted in extreme agony and pain as Dante then landed a distance away from his enemy to get a good look at now.
"Know your sins through your suffering, Gendou Ikari!" Dante said out loud in demon form as he stood there and watched Gendou writhe in pain, using his right hand to hold unto the area where his left arm used to be, as blood heavily gushed out from its socket, staining the floor of Terminal Dogma and even the LCL chamber pool. A blood curdled cry was heard from his lips as Gendou got one part of the punishment he deserved, but Dante was far from done.
"You know…seeing you like this really makes me think back on what you did to the Fourth Child, Touji Suzahara." Dante spoke, causing Gendou to look at him alarmed and in shock and now losing a lot of blood. "Quite fitting and ironic that you had to experience what he had lost what was dear to him, because of your stupidity."
"I had to do what was necessary to eliminate the enemy!" Gendou shouted back in defence, and thanks to Adam imbued into him now, he can at least endure some of the pain. "The Fourth's well being wasn't vital to the operation; he was more of a hindrance as it caused the Third to hesitate in destroying the enemy…"
Before Gendou can finish, Dante had already used a Straight attack on him to punch Gendou backwards, tumbling all the way causing a bloody trail to appear. Dante's blood covered Beowulf gauntlet was clenched in pure anger and hatred towards Gendou for what he just said.
"You're only asking to make the suffering even more painful for you if you go on thinking your own son's own interests weren't that important, even if it meant a human life!" Dante said, as he was in the Beowulf stance attack for Swordmaster attacks. Amazing to everyone who was watching this, expecting Dante, Gendou stood up and started to charge at Dante once more. The Adam embryo had taken full advantage on his insanity.
"No one, not even, half breed demon like you, will stop me from being with my Yui!" Gendou shouted as he charged, still thinking he can still beat Dante with his Adam infused power.
Little did he know how wrong he so was, as Dante used his Doppelganger After Image move, causing a second image of himself in Devil Trigger form to appear. The shadow form was equipped with the Agni and Rudra dual swords, while the real Dante still had on the Beowulf gauntlets.
Misato's eyes widened even more at the sight before her. "Okay…just what is it he just did this time?"
"He is using his own shadow to help him take on Gendou. Dante's really pissed off now if he has to use his Doppelganger like this…" Lucia said, knowing Dante can be scary when he's mad. This was one of his examples of letting out his frustration on someone like Gendou Ikari, especially if this was his attitude towards what he done to Touji Suzahara.
"Damn, I'd hate to be in Gendou's shoes right now…" Misato shuddered as she watched, though admitting she's having a guilty pleasure of seeing Gendou getting this sort of punishment; it was one hell of a show and she, Shinji, Asuka, Rei and everyone else had ringside seats.
The real Dante used a Zodiac move to stop Gendou in his tracks, while the shadow image rushed in using a Jet Stream attack, slicing Gendou with a combo string of wind and fire slashes. During the shadow's Jet Stream, the real Dante used a Straight to get close to Gendou as he started to pummel him with the Beowulf Type 2 combo attack, while the shadow used the Agni and Rudra Combo Type 3 attack and then the two had cornered Gendou from both sides with a mix of light, wind and fire.
"This is too much for even me to believe all at once…" Shinji muttered seeing this.
"No matter how much your friend punishes him, the bastard just keeps on ticking," Asuka cut in.
"Don't worry, you two…he won't last long any time soon after the next major attacks coming." Trish said, as she held onto her abdomen from the wound, while using her own demonic powers to heal the wound before it can turn into an infection.
Dante had now pinned his enemy using his Beowulf move and his shadow had surrounded Gendou as well with the Agni and Rudra dual swords, and the two then pulled off their consecutive combo attacks, consisting of Beowulf's Hyper Fist and the Million Slash move, both cutting and bludgeoning Gendou with slashes and punches of lightning fast speed at the same time. Before the Doppelganger shadow executed the overhead slash to end the attack, and Dante used the energy infused blow to end his Hyper Fist, they were both cancelled as a new move was going to be inputted.
Dante then used his Real Impact move once more, hitting Gendou with the initiating first punch, while the shadow figure used the Twister attack with the Agni and Rudra swords equipped, searing Gendou with a heat vortex. During this, Dante's Real Impact was now rising Gendou upwards higher with its Rising Dragon move, as the shadow then cancelled its Twister move and used Tempest, causing the shadow to rise into the same height with the real Dante in an even more powerful heat vortex. Gendou was caught in a powerful shockwave of flame, fire and extreme pain.
After Dante cancelled his After Image move, he reverted to normal as Gendou was sent flying across to Lilith's position into the LCL water. Panting for air, Dante was now close to the limit of tiring out. Even as a demon, he still had to deal with his natural human body and the conditions for it. Before he can relax, he started to see the LCL water began to bubble suddenly.
"Now what?" was all that Dante muttered, as suddenly the true form of Adam appeared before him and everyone else as Gendou's transformed, final form appeared. The body was far from human anymore, as it had turned completely white as Lilith itself, his eyes had turned red, while the veins of his body actually moved on their own and some of them stuck to his missing left arm.
"It's Adam!" Ritsuko shouted in shock.
"The fool had finally given in…I will now be one with Lilith and Instrumentality will take place, son of Sparda!" The now full in control Adam spoke as he rose and was close enough to merge to Lilith.
"Not so fast, buddy!" Trish said, charging up her powers. "Dante…use my power!"
Hurling the lighting at Dante, the energy was then transferred to his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory.
"Take both him and Lilith out, now!" Misato shouted to Dante, who nodded at her in response. Dante held up his guns in time before the merging began, as he then felt another surge given to him. But the power he got was much different, now as it intermingled with Trish's powers. He looked back and saw Rei extending her left arm at Dante, projecting her AT-Field to assist Dante as well.
"Rei's helping out as well." Shinji spoke, amazed to see what was happening before him. The First Child quietly nodded at Dante, as he smirked at her for her backing him up. Dante took aim at Adam closing into Lilith's heart area.
"Looks like we have a winner," Trish said with a smile.
"Jackpot," he said, now firing a powerful Charge Shot that riddled into Adam and Lilith's chest in one shot at the same time, immediately searing into their chests and organs. Gendou's cries of agony can be heard as the shot started to melt his body slowly from where the shot hit, while Lilith started to combust and lose its body parts as well.
"Noooooooooo!" Gendou shouted, as his left leg suddenly dropped off from its joint and turned into ashes and blood before it landed in the LCL. His contorted face began to peel away of its skin and muscle tissue and into his skull. Shinji clenched his fists and shut his eyes away as he started to sob seeing his father die like this, but he felt it was much deserved. Misato held him into his arms and comforted him while Gendou's and Lilith's body burned themselves out of existence.
Silence filled the Terminal Dogma after Gendou's cries were gone; Dante was now dusting himself of the LCL that may have splashed unto his now torn up red coat. He then walked towards his partners and those of NERV.
"Everyone here alright and accounted for?" Dante asked, as Misato nodded at him.
"Yeah, you just did humanity a great favour there, Dante," she said with a light smile. "Now, Instrumentality will never take place by anyone. Thank you…thanks a lot, all of you."
"It was your boss that put all of us through one hell of an ordeal today," Trish said. "But since you're not bad people, we'll let it slide and make this an exception. But, Dante…anymore of this freelance, pro bono stuff like the LAST time you helped someone out and we'll soon be out of business."
"Hey, at least the extended contract will make up for all the trouble," Dante said, and then looking at the three Evangelion pilots, Shinji, Asuka and Rei. "Oh, after all this time, I'd never get to meet the famous pilots themselves. Come on…introduce me to them and stop hogging them to yourself, Trish."
"Well, the one who helped you before was the First Child, Rei Ayanami." Ritsuko spoke. "And these are the two who you helped a while ago on the GeoFront, this is the Second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu, and this is the Third, Shinji Ikari."
"Pleased to meet you, Dante." Asuka said, nervously shaking his hand. (He even looks cuter than Kaji himself…wait a minute, what I was just thinking?)
"As the same with myself." Rei calmly said, even though her right arm was gone. Dante shook his head at the sight of this.
"Damn…you'd better get yourself fixed up right away." Dante said, nudging Trish. "Hey, Trish…help her out, will you? You have my permission to use the power from my mother's soul and this is basically a minor duty that you can do, right?"
Trish glared at Dante, before she rolled her eyes. Dante actually shook his head at this.
"Pretty please?" Dante said, now pleading with her. Trish threw her arms in defeat and sighed.
"Fine then…but this alone is extra as well. Don't forget that we have to eat to live as well, especially when your appetite is involved." Trish said.
"Hey, money can't buy everything, you know." Dante replied. "Just do your thing."
"Okay, then…here goes." Trish said, as she placed her hand on Rei's right shoulder. "Rei, I'm going to use some of my powers to stop what's happening to you because of your true nature for a very long time, so you don't need to fear your own life anymore."
Using some of the powers from the amulet stored in her from Dante's mother, Eva, who still watches and protects him to this day with her powers through Trish, the joint where Rei's missing right arm now began to grow slowly into a new one to everyone's astonishment. After a few moments, Trish had completely restored the First Child of her right arm, not to mention her being a breed of an Angel as well.
"Rei…?" Misato asked, hoping she would be alright. "How do you feel now?"
"I…I feel…reborn somehow." Rei said, now showing a small, gentle smile while she examined her right hand. "This feeling I had…it was something the Commander took away from me…"
"Well, now you have it back and no one else will take it away from you, that's a guarantee." Lucia spoke, as Dante got closer to meet Shinji, who was now wiping his eyes after seeing his father removed from existence like that.
"Shinji, right? No hard feelings, man. I had to do the right thing and put him in his place or else we'd all be screwed right now in Third Impact." Dante said, patting Shinji's shoulder.
"I…understand well, Dante. I knew all along that my father was no good…I just wished I knew why exactly he would go through such lengths to do such horrible things…he took away my mother, tried to kill Touji but only ended up hurting him badly, put Asuka and Rei in danger many times and now…" Shinji stopped and thought it was best to focus on the present and what can happen now that his father is gone and can no longer destroy people's lives.
"Easy there, dude. You did good today all around, facing up to your fears and your old man like that. That is what I call guts, my friend." Dante said. "There's nothing you should be ashamed of…your father just turned in the wrong direction and just headed down the road that was not supposed to be taken. Had someone stopped him long ago, it would have saved all of us a lot of trouble."
"Point taken." Ritsuko said with a grin. (Mother, you can rest in peace now…there's no need for me to be joining you anytime soon).
"Well, at least we all pulled together to stop his biggest ambition, so we shouldn't be really feel bad about it." Asuka said. "Come on, Shinji…you have to admit your dad was a total asshole, he got what was coming to him even worse than those JSSDF and the Evas we busted up ever did, compliments to Dante."
"Yeah…you're right." Shinji grinned a bit. "My father made some mistakes in the times I knew him that got him into this; it was inescapable that this had to happen."
"So, what happens now?" Lucia asked Fuyutsuki.
"We start cleaning up the mess you created, of course." Fuyutsuki said, before breaking into a smile. "But I do believe we all need some kind of break after all that has happened. Let's take this chance to do so and lick our wounds, while we contemplate what SEELE is up to now after all that has transpired."
"Finally, time to get loaded!" Dante said, nodding his head. "I haven't had a workout like that in years and now it's worked up an appetite for enough beer to quench this thirst I got since I started to deal with those troops, Evas and that Commander boss of yours. I do hope your refrigerator have enough beer in stock, though…"
(This guy sounds like he can beat me in a drinking game…) Misato thought to herself with a grin on her face. "It's settled then; we go to the mess hall and have ourselves a feast while we find out what SEELE's up to."
"Done deal." Dante replied as the group left the Terminal Dogma altogether.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In the mess halls of NERV, Dante, now coatless, had his legs rested on the table he had enjoyed a good meal from. Sipping on some Yebisu beer, he was surrounded by several NERV personnel taking in the environment, (especially when the large number of them were females), while his partners were listening to the reports from Lt. Ibuki over the number of causalities that had occurred during the invasion. Trish was patched up thanks to Ristuko's help, while Shinji ate along with Asuka, Rei, Trish and Misato. Lucia stood alongside with Fuyutsuki, Makoto Hyuga and Shigeru Aoba.
"Over the course of the eight hours, fifty minutes and twenty second duration of the invasion posed by the JSSDF, NERV headquarters suffered a massive loss of 78 percent of its headquarters, with fifty of it being accumulated within the protective barriers of the base. Estimated cost of damage may as well put us into debt with our current defence budget. " Maya spoke.
"And the causalities?" Misato asked.
"From the roundup of the…victims in the invasion, the JSSDF had lost over eighty percent or even more of its five hundred platoon unit, heavy artillery units with tanks and VTOL's included, while NERV suffered thirty to forty percent of its people with an estimated of over one hundred and nine victims or more. We weren't able to save every one of our personnel members, ma'am." Maya spoke.
"How unfortunate…" Lucia said, shaking her head.
"I will have honorary funeral services prepared to send them off; at least they are at a much better place than here after the hell this base has just been through." Misato said, pulling back and drinking a beer herself. "And SEELE?"
"No activity from them thus far." Maya said. "Though I'd bet the shock of knowing the Third Impact they were trying to initiate failed big time must have gotten to them by now, thanks to Dante and his partners."
"Yeah, they must be shaking in their boots knowing Dante messed their plans up," Trish said. "But we can't be too careful…they may as well try another invasion and this whole thing starts up once more all over."
"You're right. The old men of SEELE will not let NERV go down so easily, even with Dante in the picture now." Fuyutsuki said. "They will prepare a surprise for all of us now that their grand plan has failed."
"So, what can we do to prevent another invasion from happening?" Misato asked, as Dante stepped up from the table, the beer can in his hand.
"Take the fight to them, of course." Dante said with a grin. "We can't just sit on our asses, thinking what to do next or else they will come with everything they got. They are SEELE after all."
"You think you can stop the most powerful organization in the world that attempted to destroy this base and the human race in one single day like that, Dante?" Misato asked. "You don't know that this is simply suicide if you go take them on like this."
"Relax, babe." Dante smirked. "By the time Lady gets back here, we're all going straight to SEELE headquarters and give them a send-off party they will never forget. But by the meantime, let's take the time to get to know one another and settle in while we can, this party is far from over."
"Well, as long as I can trust you on this, I guess its okay." Misato couldn't help but shake her head and get plastered. "Still…I would like to know who it that's helping Lady and her faction of troops to go and find Touji Suzahara before the JSSDF gets to him first. You wouldn't mind spilling the beans since you've been such a great help to us all this time, huh?"
"I guess we should be discreet and let them know, Dante." Trish said.
"You said it, Trish." Dante nodded. "Okay, babes…I'll let you in on the secret, but promise me one thing."
"And that is?" Misato asked.
"You don't freak out on us on who exactly we got ourselves mixed up with in this mess." Dante said as he leaned back and started to tell his story…
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ShardclawK: And there you have it, the chapter which Gendou dies and our heroes triumph over the Third Impact! Glad to have this done in time for those who waited for this specific part of the story, so I'm hoping everyone liked how things in it turned out, especially with the extreme over the top Gendou suffering. (Man, I am so evil to do this to wanker men…)
With that aside, there's only probably three or four more chapters at the most before I finally finish this story, so I will do what I can in terms of updating as soon as I can to bring this fic to a close before the year is over. Again, to everyone, thanks to your support and comments, I was glad to keep this fic going and give it a satisfying ending.
Next chapter: What was happening on Lady's side during the final battles in NERV? Who is the mysterious partner who has dark secrets of his own that has set him different from anyone else? The only clue I'll give is that this character (and the associates who will also show up with him) are from another game series, but they've been around much longer than Dante has. Hmmm, I wonder who could it be?
See you in the bonus chapter next update.
Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.