Chapter 19: Hurt

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion. It belongs to Hideaki Anno, Gainax, and Tatsunoko Productions. I only own the characters I made up.

"Three more," I whisper to myself, voice shaking. "Just. . .need to take out three more."

Taking a big gulp of LCL to calm myself, I take a quick survey of the area. Most of the buildings in the city have either been severely damaged, or knocked down. The roads are all shattered due to the intensity of my battle, and debris litters the landscape. Which brings me back to the three entities I have to defeat. Three humanoid creatures blue in color, with slightly transparent bodies.

Despite not being Angels, they've been giving me a hard time.

Sending a command to Unit-01, I get it to aim the rifle it's carrying at one of the creatures, and pull the trigger. A hail of bullets spew from the weapon, killing one of the creatures and causing the other two to scatter.

"Dammit," I curse, then run after the two entities. While running, I continue to shoot at the non-Angels, but I keep missing! Every time I try to aim at one of the creatures, they move out of the line of fire by jumping or hiding behind buildings.

They're so damn fast!

One of them makes a sharp turn to hide behind a building, so I decide to follow that one. When I reach the building the creature was hiding behind, I prepare to fire but. . .it's gone.

"What the-"

Before I could react, one of the non-Angels jumps on my back, causing me to drop the rifle. The entity then starts to dig its fingers into Unit-01's back, trying to tear it apart. Desperately, I slammed my back against one of the surrounding buildings multiple times until the creature lost its grip.

The thing falls to the ground, allowing me to pull out my Progressive knife and drive it into its chest, killing it.

Panicking slightly, my chest begins to ache due to my heavy breathing. I reach for the cross around my neck, grab it, then attempt to slow my breathing. After that action, I frantically look around me to find the last entity.

Doesn't take me long to find it.

At a speed too fast for me to process, the creature jumps onto my Eva, causing us both to crash into a building. The impact of that surprise attack causes me to drop the Prog. knife, leaving me without a weapon. The creature then tears at Unit-01's chest, pulling off the armor in order to get to me!

I start flailing about, trying to get the creature off my Eva, but that thing's relentless. I then start clawing at its "face" before commanding Unit-01 to choke the damn thing! I start squeezing, and the thing actually looks like it's getting weaker.

But. . .then something happens.

I can. . .feel my hands wrapped around the creature's neck. I can feel its life slowly draining away. It causes me to go numb, then causes my mind to flood with images of Unit-03 being eviscerated by me! Eventually, all I see is my hands wrapped around Toji's neck.

I nearly puke as my entire form starts shaking.

I can't breathe! I can't breathe! ! !

Unit-01 shuts down as the simulation ends.

"That's enough for today," I hear Ritsuko say over the speakers, sounding slightly irritated.

"No," I say after catching my breath. "One more time."

"That was the third time you desynchronized with Unit-01," the doctor states. "Those weren't even simulations of Angels, yet you still had a hard time dealing with them. So yes, the test is over."

I go silent, allowing Ristuko's words to sink in. My face twists to a scowl before I let out a sigh. A few seconds later I exit my entry plug, then walk out of the testing area. While walking out, Misato approaches me.

"Don't worry about Ritsuko," the Major says, putting her hand on my shoulder. "She's just been under a lot of stress lately."

"Hmm," I respond.

The woman pauses for a moment, then smiles. "Hey, at least you lasted longer in the simulation than last time."

I grunt. "That wasn't good enough."

She shakes her head. "You shouldn't sell yourself short. You're improving so much in such a short amount of time."

I give her a deadpan stare. "What was my sync score this time?"

Her smile turns to a sheepish one. "Umm. . .it was 20 percent above minimum capacity."

I sigh. "Just what I thought."

"That's besides the point," says the woman. "You're improving, even if it's just by a little." The woman looked me in the eyes. "It took a lot of courage for you to want to pilot again, and I am proud that you took that first step. But, it's going to take some time before you can pilot like how you use to, so be patient."

I breathe in deeply and then exhale. "Yeah, sure."

I start walking away from Misato. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"Kay," responds the woman. "Will be in the car."

I grunt in response and head to the showering area. Moments later, I'm taking a shower, allowing the warm water to run over my body. I let out a relieved sigh as the water soothes the soreness across my body. Though, it doesn't really make sense why my body's sore. You don't really feel pain in simulations, just pressure.

. . .

Then again, I was tense my entire time inside Unit-01, so that might be why I'm aching so bad. But, the warm water does help ease the pain.

It's been nearly a week since I tried to get back to piloting. I've. . .deteriorated a lot due to me not training properly for weeks. So, in order to get better, I had to train two. . .no, three times harder than usual. Had to get Misato to take me to Nerv real early in the morning in order to get used to being in Unit-01. I would've gone by myself, but Misato won't let me be alone for a second.

To be honest, I thought I would've given up after the first day of training. When I got back into Unit-01 and seriously tried to connect with it, nothing happened. I stayed in that Eva for well over an hour and thought about giving up multiple times. The only reason I didn't was because Asuka was there that day, refusing to allow me to quit trying. Eventually, after another thirty minutes had passed, I connected with Unit-01.

It's. . .odd. Well, it's kinda funny actually. Asuka of all people is pushing me to improve. The same girl I've constantly gotten into fights with seems to genuinely care about my progress.

I just don't understand that girl. Perhaps I never will.

While finishing up my shower, a thought pops into my head. I'm still having trouble staying connected with the Eva for long periods of time. More specifically, I have trouble staying connected when I'm in battle. Every time I fight. . .I see his face. Every time I see his face, I'm reminded of what I did to him. Every time I'm reminded of what I did I-

I grab my chest, close my eyes, and slow my breathing to prevent another panic attack. I then open my eyes again.

I need to find a way to stop this, otherwise, I'll never be able to continue piloting.

After I'm done taking a shower, I start getting dressed. It's probably seven in the morning by now. Just an hour before school begins. Great, more work to do today. This is my life now.

Fully dressed, I exit the showering area and head toward one of the elevators to get to where Misato is. When at the elevator, the doors open, revealing a blue haired girl.

I nearly froze at the sight of Rei. I wasn't expecting to see her here, not this early. The girl gives me a blank stare which makes me want to walk away as soon as possible. But, instead of running away, I walk into the elevator as the doors close.

I'm gonna be around her eventually, no point in going out of my way to avoid her.

After putting in the floor I want to get to, I head to the corner of the elevator, and stand there. Rei, continues to stand in the middle of the area, never offering a glance. We spend this time in silence, not once attempting to speak to one another. I want to say something, but I'm just too scared to talk. Besides, she has no reason to want to speak to me. Not after what I said to her.

The elevator comes to a stop and the doors open. Obviously arriving at her destination, she begins to leave the area. But, before the doors could close, she stopped them with her hand, back still toward me.

"You need to open your mind to her if you want her to obey." The girl says out of the blue.

I blink a few times. "What. . .what do you mean?"

"The Eva is a living being," Rei clarifies. "You must not hide your pain from her. You must open yourself to her, reveal who you truly are. You must be genuine in your intentions, if you want her to obey." A pause. "That is all."

She lets go of the doors, causing them to close behind her. Now alone, I take a moment to think over what she just said.

As per usual, Misato drove me to school today. She's been doing that a lot, not allowing me to go places by myself. I can't walk to or from school by myself, she always has to be there with me. I guess it's to prevent me from running off or something. And if it isn't Misato sticking with me, then it's Asuka. Somehow, it also became the redhead's mission to keep an eye on me when Misato can't. It's. . .surreal.

Though. . .I guess that means they care.

Anyway, school has been very busy for me for the past week. Today is no exception.

I have weeks of missed work I need to make up, so now I'm always carrying a stack of paperwork in my backpack. I always had to work on things during breaks in class so I could attempt to catch up on missing assignments. I'm barely done with a fraction of my missing work, so I have a shit ton of things to do in order to prevent myself from failing.

During lunch, Kensuke and I were engaged in conversation. Well, Kensuke's doing most of the talking, I'm just listening to what he has to say while occasionally chiming in. I'm still tired from this morning's battle sim. Add that to the fact that I forgot to bring my lunch today makes me not all that much for conversation.

Besides, I still feel slightly awkward around the guy.

"Sooo," Kensuke continues. "Are you okay or. . ."

"Yeah, I'm good," I respond, my head lying on my desk. "Just tired." I then glance at Kensuke sheepishly. "You don't mind sharing some of your food, do ya?"

The guy raises an eyebrow then smirks. "I don't know. I'm a growing boy, and food sure is hard to come by. . ."

I glare at him. "Don't be a dick."

He snickers which gets me to laugh. When the laughter dies down, I sit upright and gather my thoughts.

" *Sigh* I'm. . .sorry for being so much of a shut in."

Kensuke blinks a few times, concern slowly crawling on his face. He opens his mouth, as if he was gonna say something.

"Listen," I cut him off. Looking at my desk, my lips twist to a frown. "When. . .Toji died, I pushed everyone away. I was so focused on my own pain that. . .I didn't bother considering how all this was affecting you."

I rub my forehead then let out a short laugh. "I just left you alone to deal with a friend's death. That. . .wasn't fair."

I look back at Kensuke and reveal a small smile. "Heh, you must think I'm such an ass."

There was a pause, before the guy shook his head. A smile slowly molds itself onto his face.

"No, I don't think that at all," says Kensuke. "I mean, people grieve in their own way, right?"

I shrug. "I guess."

Kensuke adjusts his glasses then continues speaking. "Remember when I told you I felt nothing when I heard about Toji's death?"

I stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

"I. . .always questioned why I didn't feel anything." For the first time since I met him, Kensuke looks conflicted. "He was my best friend, so why do I feel like it's just another normal day?"

He then looks around the room, a somber smile paints his face. "Well, I think I know why. I think I'm in some sort of denial. Like, none of this is actually real."

My eyes widen slightly as he continues speaking. "It's. . .weird. Even though I know he's gone, it feels like he's still here." His gaze lingers at the classroom door. "Like at any moment, he'll just walk into this classroom, or if I go to the arcade he will be there."

Kensuke looks at his desk then sighs. "He's gone yet. . .it still feels like he's here. Heh, like a phantom limb."

We go silent for a few seconds before Kensuke let's out a strained laugh. "Sorry for getting all. . .depressed I guess."

"No. It's fine," I respond.

I take a moment to think. "Tell me what you need."

Kensuke looks confused. "Huh?"

I smile. "I've been a shitty friend, so I want to make it up to you somehow."

"Oh." The guy shakes his head. "You don't need to do that."

"You're right, I don't need to. But I want to anyway," I snorted out a laugh. "Listen, I'm trying to make things better, so come on. Just tell me what you need me to do."

He looked puzzled, but took a moment to think. "Well. . .there's this battleship presentation at the old Tokyo-3 museum. A bunch of historians, military officials, and engineers will be there discussing the different kinds of ships used in sea warfare. It's happening this weekend, maybe you could come see it with me?"

A battleship presentation? Well, I wouldn't have expected less from this guy.

My smile becomes wider. "Sure. Count me in."

My answer seems to knock him out of his somber mood. "Cool! Thanks."

"No problem," I respond. My stomach then starts rumbling. "Now, can I have some of your food."

Kensuke laughs, but decides to share his food with me.

When school ends, I stick around the front of the campus, waiting for Misato to pick me up. After ten minutes had passed, I received a text from Misato, saying she has to stay at work for a bit. She's trusting me to head home by myself, and wants me to call as soon as I make it back.

With that in mind, I begin to start walking back to Misato's place, but am stopped by Asuka. She wants to walk home with me. When I asked her why, she said she wants to make sure I don't run off or something. Resigning myself, I let the girl tag along.

We spend around ten minutes in silence while walking. That's when I decided to ask a question.

"Isn't this too much of a hassle?"

"What do you mean," Asuka asks absentmindedly.

"Well, you're still living with Kaji, so that means you'll have to walk all the way back to his place after I get home."

She rolls her eyes. "His place isn't that far from where you live. Besides, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

I grunt in slight annoyance. "Noted."

The redhead glances at me. "So, have you talked to 'Wonder girl' yet?"

I look to the ground before giving a sheepish response. "Kinda."

She blocks my path then glares at me. "What do you mean 'kinda'."

"Well," I start, slightly shrinking under the girl's gaze. "This morning at Nerv, I encountered Rei. She noticed I was having trouble connecting with my Eva, so she gave me some pointers."

"And, did you say anything?"

"Well. . .Rei did most of the talking." I start chuckling.

Asuka stares at me for a few seconds before face palming. "Thing's must be really bad if Rei's the one doing the talking."

The girl sighs then looks me in the eyes. "Michael, she's your friend, ain't she?"

"Well. . .yeah, but-"

"Then quit stalling!" She snaps, interrupting me. "The next time you see her, you're gonna have a proper conversation with her!"

I shake my head. "You don't understand. I said something. . .terrible to her. I made her a promise, and I broke it. I don't think she could ever forgive me for that. Hell, I can't forgive myself for that!"

I put a hand on my face. " *Sigh* Besides, I don't think she wants to see me."

When I look back to the redhead, I see her crossing her arms then rolling her eyes. "You'll never know if she'll forgive you or not unless you talk to her. And I mean really talk to her. It's pointless sulking around and feeling sorry for yourself."

She puts a finger to my chest. "So talk to her already. Because if you don't, I'm gonna keep bothering you until you do."

I stared at her for a while, then began laughing, much to her confusion.

"What's so funny?" She asks.

"Nothing," I respond. "It's just. . .I don't think I'll ever understand you."

She points her nose in the air and reveals a condescending smile. "Well, you should give up on that. I'm not someone that's so easy to figure out."

"Sure, whatever. Let's get going before Misato worries."

Asuka and I eventually make it back to Misato's place. When there, the girl stayed with me for about half an hour. During that time we just. . .talked. We didn't talk about anything related to Nerv, just generic and mundane things. Things I assume normal kids talk about. When Misato finally arrived, Asuka bid me farewell, then left the apartment. Some more time passes before I decide to head to my room, and sleep.

Lying on my mattress, I think about Asuka. I can't help it, it's just. . .I never know what to think about her. Every time I think I have her pinned down, she does something which causes me to reevaluate her. For better or for worse.

Frowning slightly, I shift my weight on the mattress.

This girl, for all intents and purposes, should hate me. She should not want anything to do with me. Yet, she keeps hanging around me. Hell, I didn't want anything to do with Asuka when I first met her. I thought she was arrogant, a brat, and cared for nothing but herself. I'm pretty sure that even if I knew then what I know now about her, I still would've held the same opinion.

Still, that same girl who I thought would never lift a finger to help someone, is trying to help me. Shit, she seems to genuinely care about my well being.

I could probably make up dozens of excuses on why she's helping me, all of which are negative. But, at least for now, I'll trust that Asuka has my best interests at heart.

Besides, Asuka revealed something about her past. Something which was personal and obviously a painful memory. You. . .don't just do that for anyone, especially if you hate them.

Letting out a long exhale, I reach for the cross around my neck, and hold on tightly to it.

"Please," I speak, seemingly to no one. "Make things be alright. Don't let things go back to hell."

Today started out the same as usual. I got up so early that it was still dark out, and bothered Misato so the woman could take me to Nerv. When there, I did a few harmonics tests, then spent the rest of the time in battle simulations. Rei was there at Nerv again, but this time she didn't acknowledge me. I briefly considered what Asuka said yesterday, about me approaching Rei, but in the end I kept my distance. It just doesn't seem like a good time.

When it was seven in the morning, I quickly changed into my school clothes and got Misato to drive me to school. Halfway through our trip, Misato began speaking.

"You did good today," praises the woman.

I grunt. "My score got even lower. Hardly worthy of praise."

"But you did better in the battle simulations," Misato points out. "And you didn't disconnect with your Eva once."

I shrug. "Yeah. . .I guess."

Never mind the fact that I wasn't even fighting simulated Angels.

"I know you're frustrated about how slow things are progressing," says Misato. "But remember, you just need to remain patient. I'm sure in time, you'll be one hundred percent."

There was a pause before the woman glances at me and displays a smile. "I'm proud of you. I hope you know that."

I snort out a short laugh while rolling my eyes. "Yeah. . .I know."

Honestly, she sounds like a mom.

We arrived at the school's campus, so I exited Misato's car. Before I closed the door, a thought appeared in my head. I turn to look at the woman.

"Misato," I start. "Thanks. . .for putting up with me."

The woman gives a puzzled look, then smiles slightly. "Just. . .have a good day at school."

I nod, close the door to her car, then walk onto campus.

School seems to never change, despite all the shit that goes on in this city. Sure, less people might show up at some point, or we might get different teachers, but everything eventually returns to some form of normalcy. Repetitive, boring, normalcy.

Honestly, I kinda wish things would stay that way.

The only interesting thing that happened at school was the conversation between Kensuke and I. It's almost the weekend, meaning it's almost time for that battleship presentation Kensuke was talking about yesterday. So, you can imagine how excited he was to finally get to talk about this with someone. He would ramble on about what kind of ships we would see there, or what veteran was going to be presenting. Honestly, most of what he was saying was flying over my head. I mean, everything he was talking about was interesting, it's just that every time he mentioned a model number or an overly complicated weapon name, I would get lost. Though I was confused, it was nice to see how they guy's eyes sparkled when he talked about something he was passionate about.

During one of the class breaks, I went to the school's roof in order to have a little me time. When on the roof, I sat on the ground and overlooked the city. My thoughts started to wander, but they weren't anything important. Those thoughts just revolved around fleeting ideas or unanswerable questions. Thoughts like, "did I came to this world for a reason", or "am I here by accident". If I'm here for a reason, then why me specifically? Why not choose someone more versed in this world's history, or someone that's a born leader? Hell, why not choose someone who actually wanted to come here? But, if all this is some sort of cosmic accident, then what are the chances? What are the chances that I would be transported to a world so similar to a tv show, survive the trip to get here, and arrive here at the exact moment they needed a pilot? Like, what exactly is the probability of all that happening?

I let out a sigh while shaking my head. Sometimes, I feel like I think too much.

I spend a few more minutes sitting on the roof before hearing someone entering the area. Glancing at the entrance/exit to the roof, I spot a certain redhead casually walking to where I am. Shaking my head, I look back at the city.

"Why are you here?" I ask.

"You know why," is her response.

I roll my eyes. "I'm fine. Just wanted to be alone for a bit."

She snorts. "Yeah, you know that's not gonna happen anytime soon."

I grunt in annoyance as the redhead sits next to me. I stare at the clouds in the sky and I assume Asuka's doing the same. We stay like that for about a minute before Asuka asks a question.

"So, have you talked to Rei yet?"

". . ."

She huffs in slight frustration. "I'll take that as a no."

"Things have been. . .difficult," I explain. "I'll talk to her eventually. Just. . .not now."

"No."

I give the girl an odd look. "No?"

"No," simply replies. "You're not putting this off any longer." She then gives me a challenging expression. "Because I'm going to make sure you talk to Rei sometime today."

I want to argue with the girl, but just by looking at her, I can tell I'm not gonna stop her.

" *Sigh* It won't end well."

"You don't know that," responds Asuka. "You'll never know how things will turn out unless you see for yourself."

Her expression changes into something I don't recognize. It's not sadness, anger, frustration, or annoyance. It's just. . .something I can't explain. Closest description I can give is that it looks like she's in deep thought.

"Asuka," I say, getting the girl's attention. I then choose my next words carefully. "About your mother. . .why did you tell me about her?"

The girl looked slightly uncomfortable when I asked that. Nonetheless, she puts up a strong front. "I. . .you. . . *sigh* It was just something you needed to hear."

She isn't looking at me, so for a moment, I thought I might have done something wrong.

"Michael," she says, snapping me back to reality. "Promise me that you will never give up. No matter what."

I stare at the girl for a moment. Where did this come from?

Getting over my initial shock, I think over what she just said. After allowing the girls words to settle, a small smile appears on my face. "I'll try."

She simply nods.

This little moment was interrupted by both of our cell phones ringing. I took a look at the device, and my heart nearly stopped.

Not now. It's too soon.

Asuka looks at her phone, then gives me a look. I try to not look disturbed and simply nod. We both then run toward the roof's exit.

Another Angel. Dammit! I need more time.

It was around fifteen minutes of Asuka and I running until someone from Nerv spotted us. We were guided into a car so we could get to the Geofront quicker. Our short drive through Tokyo-3 gave Asuka and I a glimpse of the city being destroyed by an Angel. Military fighter jets were bombarding the creature with missiles, so the thing would respond by blowing up an entire city block! Everyone in the city was in a panic, trying to get to some shelter so they could wait out the attack. The streets were on fire, and every building in the surrounding area was falling apart!

Why hadn't the city sirens gone off earlier? It's like the Angel just suddenly appeared!

When Asuka and I finally arrived at the Geofront, we were immediately ushered to the Command Center to be briefed on what was happening. That's when the tremors started.

Literally the entire Geofront started shaking as explosions echoed across the horizon! It's like we were caught in a terrible earthquake. This place is the size of an entire city, so if the Angel's causing these tremors then. . .I really don't want to dwell too long on that.

Inside the Command Center was chaos. Everyone was screaming orders at one another, trying to maintain some sort of order. In the sea of people, I managed to spot Misato at the lower command deck, and Gendo seated at the upper command deck with Fuyutsuki standing at the man's side.

Every once in a while, the place would shake, and every time that happened, someone would report that the Angel destroyed one of the armored layers surrounding the Geofront.

"Shit!" curses a technician named Shigeru. The man then turns to Misato. "The Angel has just destroyed eighteen more layers!"

The woman, who up until this point was calmly shouting orders, became rigid.

"Dammit," curses Misato. "Bring up the feed! I want to see what we're dealing with!"

At her command, the large screen at the front of the room starts displaying a creature slowly descending down a large hole it apparently made.

My stomach drops. I only caught a glimpse of this Angel when in the city, but now that I can see it more clearly, I immediately recognize the entity. My face becomes drenched in dread as I stare at the creature displayed on the large screen.

The Angel is vaguely humanoid. It has a barrel shaped body, with two stubby legs sticking out at the bottom. Those legs look too small for the creature to walk on, which is why it's probably floating. Its "arms" hang from two boney shoulders extending from the upper body. These same "arms" are completely flat, and folded up into squares as if made of paper. In the chest area is an eyeless face which resembles a malformed skull. Meters below the face, in the stomach region, is a large red orb, the core.

The video feed continues to show this Angel slowly descending down the hole it made, meanwhile, I'm slightly panicking.

This Angel is bad news, and honestly, I don't know how we're going to defeat it. From what I remember, it didn't display any obvious weaknesses.

"Okay! Change of plans!" Misato yells, snapping everyone out of their trance. "Prepare Unit-02 to fight the Angel here in the Geofront!" She snapped her head to one of the technicians. "Status of Unit-00?!"

"It's still missing its left arm," responds one of the technicians.

"Then it's not ready to battle," Misato mutters. "Shit."

Multiple plans were thrown about on how to deal with the Angel. The main problem came from the fact Unit-00 is damaged, meaning we're potentially down an Eva. So the main idea was to have Asuka fight the Angel alone! That, of course, did not bode well with me. The worst part is that I was completely ignored. Because of my lackluster sync scores, I wasn't even considered as a potential option.

"Prepare Unit-01," says a cold voice, breaking through the sea of noise. Everyone stops what they're doing to look at the commander of Nerv.

"But. . .commander Ikari," Misato speaks tentatively. "The pilot isn't ready."

"I know," the man responds. "That is why Rei will pilot Unit-01. She will act as backup while Unit-02 engages in ranged combat with the Angel."

That's not going to work! Trying to shoot down the Angel isn't gonna work!

Everyone in the Command Center began discussing the plan in detail. Meanwhile, I'm struggling whether to say something or not. Sure, this current plan isn't the best, but I don't think I can come up with anything better. Still. . .

"Hey," I say in a slight whisper. When no one hears me, I clear my throat and speak louder. "Hey!"

People are still running around, unaware that I said something. This time I inhaled deeply.

"HEY! ! !"

My yelling caught the attention of a few Nerv staff; but, more importantly, it got the attention of Misato, the other pilots, and Gendo. All eyes are one me which causes me to shrink a little. Still, I continue speaking.

"This plan of yours. . .isn't exactly the best idea."

It was Gendo who spoke. "And why is that exactly?"

I take a moment to come up with my answer. "With a few exceptions, most of our projectile weapons have been useless against Angels. With this in mind, we need a better plan than have Asuka shoot the Angel out of the sky."

"You've made your point," says the man shortly. "So what do you suggest?"

I began glaring at this man's condescending tone. I manage to calm myself down. "The only weapons that constantly tore through A.T. Fields were sonic weapons such as the knife or glaive. I suggest we get one Eva to constantly pelt the Angel's field with some gun, distracting the creature, while the other goes in for the kill using the Sonic glaive or knife."

Gendo actually pauses to consider the plan. "This Angel is extremely dangerous. Having one of the pilots attack it directly is risky."

I nod. "I know. Which is why I should pilot Unit-01. I have the most experience with it, and the Eva itself can take more damage than the other two Evas."

Gendo's expression changes slightly, as if disappointed. "We will take your plan into consideration. But you are not piloting Unit-01."

I raise my voice slightly. "My sync score may be low, but I can still operate Unit-01! All I have to do is stab at the Angel! Even I can do that!"

"Why have you pilot over Rei," the man asks.

I pause for a moment. He. . .brings up a good point. Why should I have to pilot? Rei can pilot Unit-01 instead and still get the job done. Hell, the mission would probably go smoother if she did pilot.

. . .

But, there's no guarantee that Unit-01 won't reject Rei. Even if the Eva allowed the girl to pilot. . .I have to be the one to do it. Only I know exactly how dangerous this Angel is. I can't leave this responsibility on someone else. But. . .why? Why can't I just let someone else handle things?

"Because," I start, looking at Gendo once again. "It's just something I have to do."

It looks like the man is going to say something, but another explosion shakes the entire Geofront. Someone reported that the Angel almost got rid of the last armored layer.

"I will pilot Unit-00," Rei spoke up suddenly. "Though the Eva is missing an arm, it is still capable of using ranged weaponry. Besides, having three Evas on the battlefield will increase our chances of victory."

I stare at Rei for a moment, she continues to look at the commander of Nerv. Gendo, on the other hand, has an unreadable expression. Nothing is said for about ten seconds before Gendo once again speaks up.

"Very well," says the man. He then raises his voice so everyone can hear. "Prepare all Evas for combat!"

Everyone gets back to work, and I'm quickly ushered to get dressed into my plugsuit.

I take a deep breath and pray I know what I'm doing.

In the locker room, me and the other pilots start putting on our plugsuits. I take my time a bit so I can psyche myself up for battle. I mean, this Angel came sooner than I thought. I just wish it took its damn time! Barely a week has passed before I had started to train seriously, and the Angel decides now is the best time to start attacking? It couldn't have come at a worse time, but despite that, I need to stay calm. If my mind isn't clear, my Eva won't activate.

Rei and Asuka leave the locker room, leaving me alone for a few seconds. I grab the cross around my neck, mutter a prayer, then exit the room.

Our little group is walking down a seemingly endless hallway which leads to the Eva cages, with Rei at the front of the group and me lagging behind. Eventually, Asuka slows her pace and forcefully grabs my arm.

"Asuka," I hiss at the girl. "What the hell?"

"You need to talk to her, now!" She hisses right back.

"Now isn't a good ti-"

"Hey Rei! Michael needs to talk to you," Asuka yells, much to my horror.

The blue haired girl stops for a moment, then looks toward both Asuka and I. The girl has an unreadable expression, though I can detect a bit of hesitation on her face.

Before Rei could say or do anything, Asuka drags me toward the girl, then leaves me with her. The redhead then walks a distance away from where Rei and I are standing to give us some semblance of privacy.

Rei and I stand there for a few seconds in silence. It was Rei who started talking first.

"Hart, if you have nothing to say then I must be off." There's a slight harshness in her tone which caught me off guard. "We have a mission to complete."

I take a deep breath and prepare myself to speak. But. . .what can I say? What can I say to fix things between us? Am I supposed to say "I'm sorry"? How is that gonna fix things? I always apologize for things. Like, almost every single time I'll do something stupid, make some stupid apology, then proceed to repeat that same damn mistake! So what reason does Rei have to even believe that my apology bears any kind of weight? Just what am I supposed to say?

"I. . .hurt you." Those are the first words that come out of my mouth. Exhaling through my nose, I attempt to weave some more words together. "There's. . .nothing more I can say about that. I hurt you."

Shaking my head, I continue. "When. . .Toji died, I was looking for someone to hurt. I wanted. . .no, I needed someone to hurt because of what happened. I don't know why, maybe I thought seeing someone else in pain might've rid me of my own. Maybe it was my own twisted way of seeking justice."

Maybe. . .it's because I like causing others pain.

"The reason doesn't matter," I continue. "The fact is that I lashed out at everyone around me. . .including you. I hate that."

I tighten my fists. "I hate that I keep losing myself to this anger. I hate that I keep making the same mistakes. I made you a promise, that I'd never hurt you, yet broke it as soon as I was pushed! There's no excuse for what I did."

"I. . .just want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that I'm sorry." I shake my head and sigh. "You didn't do anything wrong. You've never done anything wrong. I had no right to lash out at you, you didn't deserve any of that." I look Rei in the eye. "I don't expect you to forgive me. You have every reason not to. But. . .I guess I just wanted to let you know that I really mean this. I. . .just don't want you to hate me."

There was a long pause. The girl stares at me for a long while before speaking.

"Do you remember when we fought the fifth Angel?"

I nod.

"When you saved my life, you told me that I was not replaceable. That I was. . .unique." Rei looks to the ground for a moment. "For a long time, I've questioned why you would say such a thing. Why you would say that I am unique, despite knowing the origins of my birth. At first, I attempted to not concern myself with what you said. After all, they were just words. But, you never stopped at just your words. You actively showed me that I was something more than a thing to be thrown away. That I was an individual."

"You did everything you could to help me discover myself," continues the girl. "You seemed to care about me. You. . .even called me a friend. I've. . .never had a friend before."

Rei then looks me dead in the eye. "So, when you of all people, the person who brought so much joy in my life, called me a doll. . .it hurt."

I flinch. I almost instinctively say sorry, but stop myself.

"I. . .never thought I could feel such pain," she closes her eyes. "The pain permeated through my mind, and forced me to question the past few months I spent with you. Eventually, the pain became too much, so I could no longer be around you."

I look away for a moment, shame hovering over me.

"I do not hate you," says Rei much to my surprise. "But, I do not know if I can forgive you right now. Perhaps eventually, but not now." She looks to the side. "I have much to think about."

There was a pause.

"But. . .thank you for apologizing," says Rei, this time with a barely visible smile.

I look at her for a moment then smile as well. "Thank you for listening."

"Will you just kiss and make up already?!" Asuka yells, walking towards us. "We still got an Angel to kill!"

I glare at the redhead and Rei lets out a slight giggle. Rei takes a step, preparing to go to the Eva cages, but stops to whisper something to me.

"You should consider thanking pilot Soryu," she starts. "She spoke to me on numerous occasions, convincing me to listen to what you had to say."

Rei then continues walking. I stare at the girl, then stare at Asuka in awe for a moment.

"What," questions the redhead.

"Nothing," I say while letting out a short laugh.

We all finally reach the entrance of the Eva cages, where everyone's working up a storm. I take a long hard look at my Eva, and start realizing I'm gonna be in an actual battle against an Angel. The more I thought about it, the more my heart started to beat against my chest. My legs start becoming weak, so I had to lean against the wall to stop me from falling to the ground.

"Hart?"

"I'm fine," I wave off Rei's concern. "Just need to catch my breath."

Rei gives me a long look, then looks to Asuka. Asuka nods, causing Rei to run to her Eva.

I slide down the wall, and eventually sit on the ground. I briefly rest my head against my hands letting out a frustrated grunt. Asuka looks at me for a moment, then kneels next to me.

"You know, you don't have to do this," says the redhead softly. "Rei and I can still take this Angel by ourselves."

I catch my breath then shake my head. "No. I need to do this."

I slowly get to my feet. Asuka, much to my surprise, grabs my hand. I would usually try to pull from her grip, but I don't this time. She tightens her grip, then gives me a look of determination. I nod in response.

Eventually, we all enter our respective Evas, and prepare for battle.

The LCL enters and exits my lungs, somehow bringing a sense of calm in my body. Testing Unit-01's movements, I take a good look at my current arsenal.

As of now, Unit-01 is equipped with a Sonic glaive and has a pistol attached to its left hip. The reason I chose the glaive is because I want to be able to poke at the Angel without getting too close to it. After all, I still have a shitty sync ratio. As for the other Evas, Unit-02 is using some form of an assault rifle with a scope. Unit-00, still missing its left arm, had to resort to using a hand bazooka. That weapon is difficult to aim long distances with, but it's extremely powerful.

I take another breath of LCL while reminding myself of the plan.

The plan's pretty simple. Asuka and Rei will be pelting the Angel's A.T. Field at a distance, distracting it. Once distracted, I will charge at the Angel and try to pierce its core. If I miss, Rei and Asuka will provide cover fire while I go back into hiding. We try this again until we succeed at killing the Angel.

There were some arguments thrown about as to why I'm the one directly attacking the Angel. After all, my low sync score makes my movement clunky, so perhaps I should be one of the snipers while someone else attacks the Angel. The thing is, my low sync score is precisely the reason why I must be the one to directly fight the Angel. I won't be able to aim a gun properly with a low sync score, but I can still handle a lance or a knife. That and my shitty connection with the Eva also dulls any pain I may feel, so I can keep going even if my Eva's damaged.

At least, that's the idea anyway.

Right now, my Eva's in the Geofront's forest, hiding behind some elevated land. Miles from where I'm at, Asuka and Rei are in a sniping position, readying themselves to shoot at the Angel. We all wait, as the Geofront continues to shake due to the Angel attacking the outside.

The place shakes one more time before the reinforced glass ceiling shatters. The buildings from the surface falls down the now gaping hole, crashing into the ground. I'm already coming up with ways to use those buildings as cover.

After a few large chunks of debris falls into the Geofront, a creature slowly floats out of its improvised entrance.

The Angel.

"Don't shoot yet!" Misato orders from the radio. "Wait until it gets closer to the ground!"

I intensely stare at the creature slowly floating down to the surface. I command Unit-01 to tightly grip the glaive and ready myself to attack.

The Angel gets halfway to the ground before stopping in midair. Its eye sockets start glowing, suggesting it's about to attack Nerv headquarters.

"Now!" Misato yells.

Suddenly, the Angel is assaulted by a barrage of bullets and energy blasts. These attacks bounce of its A.T. Field as it turns in the direction those attacks came from.

Sheer! ! !

Two beams of light exit the Angel's eye sockets, and takes away a chunk of the landscape! Luckily, Asuka and Rei already moved and now are resuming their attack. The Angel, in turn, once again attacks the two Evas with another energy beam.

"Get going!" Asuka yells over the radio. "I don't know how long we can keep dodging its attacks!"

I can feel my heart bursting out of my chest, but somehow remain calm.

"Just keep its eyes on you," I respond. "I'm on my way."

Think my umbilical cable can stretch that far, so no need to eject it. With this in mind, I anxiously wait for the perfect moment to strike.

The Angel continues to attack Asuka and Rei, wiping out most of the surrounding landscape. The two pilots had to resort to using the debris that fell into the Geofront as cover. But, now the Angel's back is turned toward me! Now is the perfect moment to strike!

Grunting, I will Unit-01 to run as fast as it can toward the Angel. Quickly approaching the creature, I raise my glaive, preparing to strike it down the middle.

"HYAAAAHHHH! ! !" I yell while bringing down the glaive, splitting the Angel in half.

"Shit!" The thing moved at the last second, causing me to miss the core! Wasting no time, I stab at the creature, once again aiming for the core. The Angel manages to wiggle its mangled body around my attacks, then uses both its arms to attack me.

Unable to dodge the attack, I manage to use the glaive to knock away one of the arms, but I had to use that same weapon to block the last attack. The weapon gets cut in half, leaving a large gash across Unit-01's chest!

Grunting in pain, I watch as the Angel fully regenerates its body. Its eye sockets glow, hinting it's gonna shoot an energy beam at me. Before it could do that, a hail of bullets and energy shots rained down on the creature, staggering it and interrupting its attack. Seeing the Angel's now distracted, I retreat and find cover.

I found a piece of a building to hide behind, and watch the ensuing battle. Every projectile Asuka and Rei throw at the Angel just bounces off its A.T. Field. The creature isn't even budging an inch. But, if projectiles really do nothing against it, then why did it stagger when its eyes were on me?

. . .

It can't be that simple.

"Hey, I'm gonna try something stupid." I report over the radio.

"Michael, I would advise against doing anything risky" Misato warns.

"We need to try something, we don't want to drag out this fight," I reply while mentally measuring how far away the Angel is from myself. I think the umbilical cable can still stretch that far.

"Asuka! Rei!" I call the pilots. "Only shoot on my command!"

Before either pilot could respond, I immediately dash toward the Angel. The Angel immediately spots me, and shoots beam after beam at me. I manage to dodge each of its attacks, so the creature starts tearing up the ground using its arms, sending pieces of earth at me at high speeds! I had to back up partially in order to dodge some of the debris, that's when the Angel threw a piece of a building at me!

I literally couldn't dodge it, so the object collides with me, slamming me into the ground. The object collapses on top of me, and for a moment, I couldn't move. That's when I see the Angel building up a shit ton of energy. The air becomes cold and the entire area seems to have a red hue to it.

How much energy is it pooling into this attack?

I managed to squeeze Unit-01 out of the rubble, but instead of running away, I ran toward the Angel.

The Angel's full attention is on me, and it prepares to fire all the energy it gathered directly at me. I don't stray from my path.

Hope this works.

"Now!"

At my command, Asuka and Rei shoot at the distracted Angel. When the projectiles hit the creature, it bellows out in pain. It still fires its beam, but it misses me and blows a literal hole in the Geofront! If that attack had hit me, I would've died instantly!

Now close to the Angel, I pull out my Progressive knife, and aim for the Angel's core. Letting out a scream, I attempt to drive the knife into the red orb, only for it to be covered by a hard membrane. The knife just bounces off when it makes contact with the membrane!

Shit! Forgot it could do that!

Suddenly, I'm knocked to the ground, as if a building was dropped on me! I briefly wonder what's happening before I hear some technician over the radio saying the Angel's somehow using its field to immobilize me.

Wasting no time, it quickly charges its attack, and shoots a beam of light at me!

I scream in pain as the creature proceeds to shoot me three more times! I can't see or hear anything other than smoke and bright lights! The LCL started boiling around me, and I almost passed out from the pain!

"GET AWAY FROM HIM! ! !" I suddenly hear someone say as a hail of bullets rain down on the Angel.

Since the Angel was distracted, it's once again staggered by the projectiles. It takes a moment for my mind to come back, but once it does, I see Unit-02 use the butt off its rifle to attack the Angel. The attack doesn't go through the field, but the force is enough the knock the Angel away from where I am.

Unit-00 suddenly appears next to me, and uses its single arm to drag me away from the battlefield. When at a fair distance, Unit-00 helps my Eva get to its feet.

"Hart," Rei speaks over the radio.

"I'm fine," I respond, waving off the concern. My head hurts like hell though.

Quickly surveying my Eva, I recognize that my umbilical cable is somehow still intact. With that checked off of my mental checklist, I look back at the battle.

Asuka's fighting the Angel on her own, and is doing surprisingly well. The girl would shoot at the ground to provide a smoke screen and try to stab at it using her knife. The Angel in turn, would shoot beams of light to keep her at bay. If Asuka did manage to close the distance, the Angel would use its paper-thin arms to slash at Unit-02. But, despite the speed the Angel would flail its arms, Unit-02 easily dodged them.

"No way," I say in awe. I don't think she was hit once! I've never seen her fight like this before. Then again, I've never seen her fight seriously before.

But, despite her skill, I know she can't keep this up.

"Rei," I start. "You noticed its weakness, right?"

"Yes," replies the pilot of Unit-00. "Its A.T. Field and attacks are so powerful because it focuses its energy into a single point. But, that leaves the rest of its body relatively vulnerable."

Glad we're on the same page.

"Can you fight close-ranged?" I ask.

"Not effectively in Unit-00's current condition," she responds, obviously referring the the machine's missing arm.

"Okay," I breathe out. "This is how things will go. You continue providing cover fire while I go in for the kill. Asuka will switch between close and long distant combat when needed. We're going to try to split its focus."

Unit-00 nods, showing Rei understands.

"Misato, you hearing this?"

"Yes," says the major. "But you all can not let up on your attacks, even for a second. Don't give it time to react."

I let out a sound of acknowledgement before preparing myself for battle.

"Be careful, all of you," commands Misato.

I immediately run toward the battle while Rei shoots at the Angel. The Angel staggers at Rei's attack and shoots at the pilot. This distraction gave the pilot of Unit-02 some time to breathe as I took a stab at the Angel. The creature, now noticing me, swipes at me with it's arms. I'm too slow to dodge completely, so the attack cuts deeply into Unit-01's face.

"Shit!"

Asuka lets out a battle cry as she cuts the Angel's arm off with her own knife, temporarily disabling it. Quickly recovering, I get Unit-01 to deliver a powerful kick, which actually sends the Angel flying for a few miles.

"I overheard you and 'Wondergirl' talking," Asuka tells me. "Do you think this plan of yours will work?"

At a distance, I see the Angel slowly recovering, regrowing its lost limb. Rei continues to shoot at the creature, eventually having to replace her current weapon with a more powerful hand bazooka. Each shot just bounces off the Angel's A.T. Field, and it seems to be ignoring Rei.

"I don't know," I say, taking a moment to catch my breath. "But it's the best we got."

Without even speaking, we both eject our umbilical cords in order to get a better range of movement. We then run at the slowly approaching Angel.

The creature flies towards the both of us at blinding speeds. Using its arms, it tries to cut both of us in half, but we manage to dodge the attack. Putting away my knife, I pull out my pistol and start unloading on the creature. That does nothing more than annoy the creature as it shoots a beam at me, which I dodge. This allows Unit-02 to get close enough to take a stab at the Angel's core.

"What?!" I hear Asuka question as her knife bounces off the protective membrane covering the Angel's core.

Suddenly, both my Eva and Asuka's were knocked to the ground by an invisible force! We try to move, but are kept still by the Angel's A.T. Field.

How is it doing that?!

The Angel raises both of its arms and prepares to cut us in pieces with them. That's when a glaive goes through its head. There, holding the glaive with its single arm, is Unit-00. The Eva's attack frees Asuka and I, allowing us to retreat. Once at a fair distance, we insert umbilical cables into our Evas, charging the internal batteries.

"Dammit! I almost had it," Asuka curses.

"I know," I wheeze out. "Doesn't matter if we get to the core, it'll just be covered up by that membrane."

We both watch Unit-00 attempt to fight off the Angel with a glaive. Surprisingly, it's able to hold its own against the creature. But Rei's gonna need help at some point.

"What do we do now," asks Asuka, frustration laced in her voice.

I pull out my Progressive knife and get into a fighting stance.

"We stick to the plan," I respond. "Only there's a slight variation. Tear the Angel apart faster than it can regenerate, then get to the core!"

I once again release my umbilical cable and charge at the Angel. I attack it a few times as Rei begins to retreat. I duck under a swipe, then use my knife to cut through its A.T. Field, then its arm. Its response is to push me using that same field I cut through!

"Switch!" I yell out!

Immediately, Asuka gets behind the creature and is able to cleave off a part of the thing's head with her knife, allowing me to back off and charge my Eva's battery with an umbilical cord.

Asuka dances around the creature, cutting chunks off the Angel's body. The Angel, seemingly tracking her movements, shoots a beam aimed directly at Unit-02's chest. The impact causes an explosion, and Unit-02 briefly writhes in pain.

"Shit!" curses Asuka. "Switch!"

I was about to jump in, but Rei comes out of nowhere and starts attacking the creature with a glaive. Rei, incredibly, uses the glaive to separate the Angel's top half from its waist! Seeing an opportunity, Asuka and I charge at the fallen creature.

"EEEEYAAAAHHH! ! !" The Angel screams in frustration. It suddenly expands its field in such a way, it creates a powerful explosion. The blast throws me and the other pilots miles away from the Angel. When I finally land, I felt something crack. Not something in the Eva, something cracked in me!

I started moaning in pain slightly as I felt my side. I think a rib cracked! That or it's broken, I wouldn't know. Taking a quick look at my Eva, I see it isn't doing much better. Its left hand is torn to shreds and some of the armor is ripped off.

"Everyone! Report!" I hear Misato's command in a worried tone.

"Unit-00 has several puncture wounds in the abdominal area," Rei reports. "But it is still functional."

"Unit-02's right leg is busted!" Asuka reports, obviously upset. "I can still fight, but the leg's gonna slow me down!"

"Unit-01 left hand is no longer functional," I managed to grunt out. "Also. . .I think I broke a rib."

"Dammit!" Misato curses.

"The Angel is approaching Nerv HQ!" I hear one of the technicians report over the radio.

"Shit!" I hear Asuka curse. "I'm gonna try to stop it!"

"Asuka wait!" Misato pleads, but the pilot of Unit-02 won't listen.

Despite Unit-02's right leg no longer working, Asuka's able to catch up with the Angel by running on three of her limbs. Rei quickly follows the redhead, wanting to also stop the Angel.

As I prepare to get back into battle. Misato says something to me.

"Michael, stop for a moment."

"We don't have time to talk!" I respond. "I need to hel-"

"Shut up and listen," orders the Major. "Every time you and the other pilots try to pierce the Angel's core, it protects it using some kind of shell!"

"You need to hit it with greater force," Misato continues. "I have a plan which I will relay to Rei and Asuka, but you'll have to trust me, okay?"

I look at the battle going on between the pilots and the Angel. They're getting demolished. Every time they try to stop the Angel's progress, it just knocks them to the side like they're nothing. If I don't do something quick, then they're going to die! But. . .

I take a deep breath, then exhale.

"Fine," I say begrudgingly. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to run," replies the woman.

"What?!" I question.

"Run to the very end of the Geofront then wait for my signal," Misato clarifies.

"Do you know how big this place is?!" I question. "It'll tak-"

"Just do it!" Misato yells, clearly tired of my questioning. "Asuka and Rei will be fine, they can handle themselves. But you need to get going now!"

I pause for exactly three seconds before ejecting my umbilical cord and running away from the battle.

I hope she knows what she's doing.

While running to the end of the Geofront, Misato informed me of her plan. Basically, she wants Asuka and Rei to hold the Angel in place just long enough so I can charge at it full force. Her reasoning is that if I can generate enough force by running at the Angel, then I can either pierce the protective membrane surrounding the core, or tear the core out entirely. I questioned her logic multiple times in regards to this plan, but she remains firm on the idea.

When I reached the end of the Geofront, I took a moment to charge Unit-01's internal batteries. After that, I brace Unit-01 against the ground like a track runner, and wait for Misato's signal. Three minutes has passed, and I'm growing more anxious. If it wasn't for someone occasionally reporting something over the radio, I would've thought someone had died by now. It took everything I had to not jump back into battle.

The radio comes to life again, and I listen carefully.

"Alright Michael," Misato starts. "Asuka and Rei managed to pin it for a moment! The MAGI will show you the quickest route to the Angel!"

As if to confirm this, my display screen starts painting the ground with glowing arrows.

My heart beats faster while preparing myself to run.

"Go now!"

I let out a war cry as Unit-01 pushes against the ground and goes into its first stride. Its second stride completely shatters the ground beneath, pushing me a great distance forward. I keep running forward, each step increasing my speed exponentially!

The constant shaking in my entry plug causes my side to hurt due to the probably broken rib. I had to bite my lip to prevent me from screaming in pain. I stay focused and attempt to increase my speed even further.

Now able to see the battle, I see Unit-02 and Unit-00 badly damaged, but somehow holding the Angel in one spot! Somehow, after all that, Asuka and Rei are still alive!

With renewed determination, I raise my Eva's A.T. Field and run even faster. The machine breaks the sound barrier as I raise its A.T Field to max power!

The Angel, spotting me, prepares to shoot an energy beam at me.

Oh no!

"NO YOU DON'T! ! !" I hear Asuka yell. She then shoves Unit-02's left hand into the Angel's eye socket, and pulls back. This results in an explosion, throwing Asuka and Rei back. When the dust cleared, Unit-02 was missing its entire left arm. I can hear Asuka attempting to hold back her screams of pain. The Angel tries to move, but Rei uses her umbilical cable to temporarily stop if from moving!

"Hart!" I hear Rei call out.

"END IT! ! !" Asuka yells!

"RAAAAAAHHHHHH! ! ! !" I bellow as I raise my Eva's right arm. I aimed for the core, but was stopped by the Angel's A.T Field. I try pushing past it, but the thing won't budge!

I won't lose! I won't lose! I WON'T LOSE! ! !

Fire seems to grow beneath my skin as my field pushes against the Angel's. Finally, my arm pierces the field! The protective membrane covers the Angel's core, but I don't let it deter me! With all the speed and power I built up, I drive my arm through the Angel's chest, getting a good grip on both the core and its protective membrane! The momentum of the attack sends both the Angel and I flying and crashing into Nerv HQ!

When inside, I can see all the staff panicking at being so close to the battle. But I have to ignore them for now. I still have a mission to complete.

Arm still in the Angel's chest, the thing starts flailing about, but it's too late! Getting a good grip on both the orb and the membrane surrounding it, I pull them out of the Angel's chest and throw it out of Nerv HQ!

The Angel's body started convulsing for a moment, then it went still. The body starts shriveling up as the creature lets out its last breath.

The entirety of Nerv went silent, before cheering started. I started to feel relieved as well, but I knew I wasn't out of the woods yet. Looking at the membrane surrounded orb I threw out of the building, I insert an umbilical cable in Unit-01, run toward the Angel's organ, pull out my Progressive knife, and start stabbing at the object. The knife doesn't pierce the membrane, so I keep stabbing at it until it starts cracking! I then start using the knife as a wedge trying to get the membrane to open just a little!

Come on! Open! I know the Angel can still regenerate, so open!

With one final blow, the membrane cracks open, revealing the bright red orb inside. Wasting no time, I prepared to drive the knife into the object!

That's when I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen.

Looking down, I see the Angel already began regenerating, for two of its limbs grew out of the orb and have now pierced my Eva.

"Shit!" I breathe out.

I can still kill it!

I drive the knife down, but more organs and tissue grow from the core, all of which are attacking me!

The tissue wraps around my arms and legs, immobilizing me. The Angel continues to regenerate as I struggle against its grip. More flesh grows around me, like it's trying to devour me!

I let out a yell as I manage to get my right arm free, and start cutting away at tissue with my knife. I keep cutting into everything so I can free myself from this creature's clutches. That's when the Angel's face appeared.

I stopped what I was doing and just stared at its face. It was nothing more than an eyeless mass of muscles, nerves, and tendons. But, for some reason, it looked. . .human. Like. . .it looked scarily human! Why does it look human?! I almost get sick just looking at this thing!

Then it looked at me.

It's mouth was wide open, as if in shock. It looked like it was in pain, and was making these whimpering noises. My breathing started to increase as my chest started hurting. Its jaw moves, as if it were trying to speak, but all that comes out is pained gasps. It's like. . .it's desperately clinging to life.

The blood, the sounds, the torn flesh, causes morbid images to scrap themselves against my skull.

An Eva being torn apart. Intestines spilling from an Eva's gut. Flesh being boiled off bone.

Toji's dead body.

I started hyperventilating, and the world became mute. I become aware that I'm breathing in liquid, not air, which causes me to panic for some reason.

Unit-01 shut down. Not because it ran out of power, or because it was broken. I just simply lost connection with it.

The Angel's face finishes reconstructing itself, turning into its original form. It opens its mouth and hovers over Unit-01's head.

It's gonna eat me!

I try moving Unit-01, but it's not listening to me! Everything's dead!

As the Angel's jaws prepare to snap my Eva's head off, the creature's face gets bashed in by a giant hand. This hand belongs to Unit-00, and the Eva manages to get me out of the Angel's hold.

The Angel staggers, most likely still weak from not regenerating fully. Before the creature can recover, Asuka tackles it, pushing it away from Nerv HQ, as well as away from myself.

I tried getting Unit-01 to move again, but it's still not listening to me!

"Dammit!" I hit the controls in the entry plug. "Move dammit!"

"It is alright Hart," says a soft voice over the radio.

Looking through my display screen, I see Unit-00 looking down on me, carefully placing my Eva on the ground.

"You did the best you could," continues Unit-00's pilot. "Soryu and I will take care of the Angel for now."

Rei's Eva gets to its feet and runs head first into battle. I can do nothing other than watch.

Asuka, despite her Eva missing an arm and having a broken leg, is relentless when attacking the Angel. She would use her working leg to make the Eva jump incredible distances then smash her fist into the Angel. This seemed to actually damage the Angel at first.

Then it finished regenerating.

The creature shot a quick beam of light at Asuka, completely burning a hole through her Eva's shoulder, causing the redhead to scream in pain.

Getting a better look at the Angel, I see it has changed. Hovering in place is a now insect-like creature. The bottom half of its body, including the legs, has morphed into an insect-like abdomen, covered in a skeletal pattern. Several paper-like arms extend from its back, and together, resemble the wings of a moth.

Rei charges at it, using her Progressive knife to stab at the creature. The Angel simply uses one of its arms to stab Rei's Eva, stopping it dead in its tracks. Asuka, seeing Rei is in trouble, quickly gets back into the fight. She punches at the Angel, but it doesn't penetrate the A.T. Field. The Angel's whole body glows.

"GYAAAAAHHHH! ! !" Bellows the creature as a field of energy expands from its body, destroying everything in its path.

Seeing the aftermath, I lost all hope. Unit-02 looks nearly burnt to a crisp, and its umbilical cable has completely disintegrated. Asuka's now running on limited power, and I can't see where she can find another cable in this area. Unit-00 is somehow still standing, but it looks like it can't take another more hits.

My breath gets caught in my chest, and my body becomes numb.

"We're all gonna die," I say in almost a whisper.

Asuka and Rei can't hurt the Angel anymore. The Angel has somehow gotten stronger, and all of our Eva's are severely damaged. There's literally now way for us to win.

We've lost.

"Soryu," I hear Rei say over the radio. "I need you to keep the Angel at bay for two minutes."

Asuka doesn't say anything for a few seconds, then lets out a tired laugh. "Don't underestimate me."

Unit-02 get off the ground, supporting itself with its single arm and working leg. "I can give you ten!"

Unit-02 then jumps at the Angel, while Unit-00 runs off somewhere.

Asuka's attacks barely scratch the Angel. The best she's doing is serving as a distraction. The Angel, having patiently waited its turn, manages to cut bits and pieces off of Unit-02. Bits of the armor fly off, then flesh, then bone. If Asuka wasn't moving around so fast, I think the Angel might've killed her by now.

That's when the Angel pins her Eva down with one of its arms, then starts tearing flesh off the machine.

"AAAAHHHHH! ! !" Asuka screams at literally being torn apart.

She's dying out there! I need to do something! But every time I try to get Unit-01 to move it ignores me!

Come on! Move!

That's when I see something dash and crash into the Angel's A.T. Field. It's Unit-00, and it's holding an N2 missile!

"A.T. field, max power!" I hear Rei say, as her field begins to interact with the Angel's.

This entire scene looks too familiar, which causes my heart to nearly stop.

"Rei stop!" I yell over the radio! "That's not gonna work!"

"I know," she replies softly. "But. . .it will buy us some time."

The Angel begins to retaliate but is stopped by Asuka stabbing at its A.T Field with her knife, slowly peeling it back.

Once Asuka removes the Angel's field, Rei is able to get the missile to hit the creature's body. Before the object could explode, she quickly grabbed Unit-02 and tossed it away from the area.

Rei said something, but I couldn't hear her words.

That's when everything was consumed by a white light.

The howling wind.

That's the first thing my ears registered when gradually returning to consciousness. Just the howling of the wind.

Then came the pain. Oh god, the pain. It made me conclude that my rib was definitely broken. Guess the adrenaline made the pain more bearable. The pain is sending electricity through my entire form. It's nearly paralyzing.

When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by a fallen world.

All the power in the Geofront was gone, leaving a purple hue of the now set sun. Ash falls from the sky, and the air is cold. Looking around, I see Unit-02 a mile away from where I was. The Eva was damaged, but I have a feeling that Asuka's still alive.

Good.

Once again scanning the environment, I'm greeted by a huge crater, several miles away from where I am. My Eva's umbilical cable is gone (most likely disintegrated), meaning it's out of power. Still, it had just enough power for me to use the display screen to zoom in onto the crater.

What I saw stopped my heart.

In the center of the crater, body twisted and burnt beyond recognition, is Unit-00. Its waist is fused to the ground, and the rest of the body is frozen like a statue. The Eva looked like nothing more than a charred body.

All the blood left my face, my limbs, and sunk into my stomach. I attempt to speak, but my jaw doesn't seem to listen to me. When I do speak, nothing but LCL comes out.

I reach out, as if I could touch the charred Eva.

"Rei," I finally managed to croak out. Finally finding my voice I begin screaming. "Rei! ! !"

I frantically activate the radio in my entry plug. Unit-01 had just enough power for me to do that.

"Rei! Answer me! ! !" I yell, desperate for a response, any response! "Please! Say something! ! !"

There was a moment of silence, before I heard soft painful groans over the radio.

She's alive!

"Rei, just hold on!" I plead. "You're gonna be alright! I promise! ! !"

Please stay alive! Please God let her stay alive! I don't want to lose her!

I grip tightly onto my controls in the entry plug, and start trying to move Unit-01.

Come on! Move!

Slowly, I start feeling something knocking at the back of my skull. My Eva shortly activates, pulling itself toward Rei before shutting down. This gets me frustrated, so I reactivate Unit-01 again, get it to pull itself toward Rei, before it shuts itself off again.

I need to save her! I need to make everything right! I can't give up! I need to-

My eyes widen when I see the Angel looming over Unit-00's charred remains. The creature just stares at Unit-00 for a minute before opening its mouth.

No.

"No! No! No! ! ! NO! ! !" I start yelling, then start frantically hitting my controls.

"Get up!" I yell at my Eva. It doesn't listen. "Get up! ! ! Move dammit! ! !"

The Angel's jaw unhinges so it could hover its mouth over the top half of Unit-00.

Please. Don't do this.

"Stop it! ! !"

Snap!

That sound echoed across the entire area as the Angel's jaws shut, completely devouring Rei and her Eva.

I stare in shock at what little remained of Unit-00. I stare as the Angel's body slowly morphs into a more human looking shape. A familiar feeling envelopes me. The same numbing feeling I felt when seeing Toji's body. That same damn feeling.

I. . .couldn't do anything.

The Angel, done with Rei, then looks to me. With its new human legs, it slowly walks to me. My grip on the control handles became lax as I accepted what was gonna happen. After all, there's no point in fighting. I barely have enough power to turn on the radio, much less to fight an Angel. Even if I did have power, all of us barely did anything to it. It just kept getting stronger.

It's. . .pretty pathetic. I actually thought I could do something about this.

As the Angel is about to reach me, I hear a yell as Unit-02 slams its body against the Angel.

Asuka? But. . .her Eva must've run out of power by now! How is she moving it?

The redhead lets out a feral yell while continuing to push the Angel from where I am. In response, the creature stabs Unit-02 with its paper-thin arms, then slams it into the ground.

This time, Asuka has the Angel's full undivided attention as it opens its jaws, and prepares to devour the girl!

No! Not her too!

"Why won't you do anything?" I whisper to the Eva.

I grab my cross tightly. My body tenses up and I start to feel sick.

"Why won't you do anything?" I ask again, seemingly questioning thin air.

Fire rushes beneath my skin.

"Why can't I do anything?!"

The Angel takes its time, seemingly savoring the moment it will eat Asuka.

My skin starts to burn.

Why do the people I care about have to keep getting hurt?!

My breath becomes fire.

I hate being this weak! I hate being this useless! ! ! I fucking hate all of this! ! !

Everything hurts.

The Angel prepares to snap its jaws around Asuka, and my blood reaches its boiling point.

"LEAVE HER ALONE! ! !"

Everything in Unit-01 powers up suddenly. Unit-01 then lets out a scream so powerful, it creates a shock wave which blasts the Angel away from Asuka. A second later, red flames appear in my entry plug, causing the surrounding LCL to boil. I let out a scream as I feel my skin start to boil.

It hurts! It hurt so fucking bad! And it's all that Angel's fault! ! !

The flames spread, eventually consuming all of Unit-01. I feel Unit-01's armor pop off as its muscles and bones rearrange themselves. Its human-like fingers grow long and sharp, resembling claws. Any injury the Eva received starts to heal rapidly, and I start to see rainbow colored fields around every plant, around Unit-02, and around the Angel itself. Lastly, my head becomes incredibly heavy, as if I had suddenly grown horns.

Once everything stops hurting, I glare intensely at the Angel. At my enemy.

The creature, in response, hesitantly lets out a cry before shooting a powerful beam of light at me.

Instinctively, I raise Unit-01's left arm, and it takes the full brunt of the attack. It burns, but once the pain was endured, I found myself absorbing the attack into my body. Letting out a scream, Unit-01 opens its mouth and shoots the energy beam it absorbed right back at the Angel, severely damaging the creature!

My skin is falling off.

Roaring, I charge at the Angel! The Angel, quickly recovering from the last attack, flies at me and tries using it's A.T. Field as a battering ram. When we clashed, I simply absorbed the Angel's field, directed it to my hand, then delivered a powerful punch to the Angel, shattering every bone in its face!

The Angel, now writhing on the ground, is completely defenseless as I start tearing the thing to pieces! I start ripping off its arms, then tearing out its organs, laughing as its blood flew everywhere!

I could've destroyed the core several times by now, but I wanted to make this thing suffer! I want it to pay for killing Rei! I want it to feel nothing but absolute agony!

Every movement I make causes the flames around me to spread. Each time the flames spread, they cause the LCL to boil even more, causing more skin to peel off my body. But I don't care. I just want this Angel to suffer!

I continue this onslaught for a few more minutes before preparing to deliver the final blow.

"Hart?"

I pause, then stare at the Angel. It's face had morphed into Rei's.

Less than a second later, the Angel uses one of its arms to stab Unit-01 in the left eye.

"GYHAAA! ! !" I grab my eye and try nursing the pain!

IT'S BLEEDING! ! ! MY EYE IS BLEEDING! ! !

The Angel pushes me to the ground and starts tearing me apart. As it's doing this, its body slowly changes to make itself look like Rei. Eventually, I'm granted with the sight of a naked Rei smiling innocently as my intestines hang from her mouth.

So much pain is reverberating through my body, it's near indescribable. The sight of my Eva's organs, my organs, being torn apart is fucking horrific! I've never experienced anything like this in my life. It's a fucking nightmare!

Yet, despite all of this, I manage to form a small, tired smile.

Slowly, I let out a painful laugh. All of this is so fucked up. The person who I cared about the most in this world, is currently eating me alive with an honest to god smile on her face. Heh, it's just so fucked up.

It's. . .kinda funny.

Suddenly, the Angel stops moving, then starts convulsing. It starts clinching its arms until they bleed until a sudden calm washes over it. The Angel, still looking very much like Rei, stares at me. It gives an expression which resembles. . .recognition?

"H-Hart," the Angel repeats, as if tasting the name. Slowly, it raises its hands to its chest, and digs into it. Pulling its chest apart, it reveals the core.

I stare at this in confusion and horror. Why is it doing this?

"You. . .must. . .kill. . .me," says the Angel.

It took a moment to realize what was happening before it hits me.

"R-Rei?" I asked tentatively.

"There. . isn't much time," Rei struggles to say. "I. . .do not know. . .how long I can stop it."

"You. . .must. . .kill. . .me," the girl manages to say.

My eyes go wide.

"I. . .I can't," I manage to say. I then manage to speak louder. "I can't do that! You can't ask me to do that!"

"Hart. . .you must."

"I can't," Blood and tears start rolling down my face. I lower my head. "I. . .can't kill another person. Another friend."

I look at my hands, and watch as the skin slowly peels off.

"I could never forgive myself if I did."

There was a brief pause, before Rei raised her hand, and laid it on Unit-01's cheek. It was warm to the touch.

"And. . .I could never. . .forgive myself. . .if I killed you," Rei says in response. "Please. . .end it."

I stare at the girl in disbelief, then tighten my fists.

Why? Why is this happening? Why do I have to do this?

Suddenly, Rei lets out a short yelp as her veins become visible. She digs her fingers into her arms, as if to stop herself from doing something.

"DO IT NOW! ! !" She yells at me.

I pause for a moment, then scowl.

Dammit! Fuck! ! !

"GOD DAMMIT! ! !" I yell then drive my arm into Rei's chest, crushing the core. She goes limp, and lies her head on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I say weakly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

More blood and tears roll down my face as my body turns to stone.

Weakly, ever so slightly, Rei's arms wrap around me. She then whispers something.

I tried to listen. I honest to God tried to hear what she was trying to say to me. But her voice was too weak to reach my ears.

Then. . .nothing. She stopped moving, and the warmth has escaped her body.

I say nothing for a moment, then command Unit-01 to carry Rei's body while getting to its feet. I then look to the sky and began screaming. The Eva, in response, lets out an inhuman scream as well.

I continue to scream as my skin peels from my body. I continue to scream as blood fills my vision. I just let myself scream in agony at what I just did.

At what I had to do.

Author's Notes: Long time no see. Didn't update because school and all that crap, but I finally found time to write this chapter (Also spent time to gather money to watch Joker. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out). Now, I knew this chapter was gonna be long, but I didn't expect to write this much. Guess all this reading will make up for all that time waiting. Also, before I forget, a reader brought up something in regards to Michael's knowledge which I think I should clear up.

Yes, Michael has seen two of the Rebuilds of Evangelion, and has general knowledge of the original series, but he doesn't know Evangelion like back of his hand. He's still technically new to the series, so there's a handful of things he simply doesn't know; which is why sometimes he's knowledgeable on some things, and other times he's clueless. I was a bit too subtle on this, so sorry for all on the confusion. Now, you're probably wondering why I didn't have Michael either know everything about Evangelion, or just be clueless. Well. . .that's something I'll explain later. As for now, just know he has general knowledge of the world he's now living in.

With that out of the way, Thomas once again correctly guessed the name of the artist in the last chapter. Congratulations!

Chapter 19 hint: To change things up since the name of the song is already in the chapter, just guess the name of the artist/band. Though, this time there are two answers. One answer, is the band who made the song in this chapter. The other answer, is the artist who arguably popularized the song. Try to guess both of the answers.

Thank you for all the reviews and for sticking around even though I was taking a long time to pump out chapters. See y'all next time.