The Screaming Flames

The infernal aurora above continued to burn in dazzling bands and arcs of orange that curved and danced across the sky. Were it not for the chaos below it could be said to be beautiful, in the same way that the bright colors of venomous snake were beautiful. For as beautiful as the aurora was, it was a foul and hazardous thing that immolated oxygen and ozone above to feed itself and rain sparks, embers, and firebrands down from the sky. As the aurora grew in proportion to the fires of Cthugha, it sang a song of swift crackles and muffled bangs, and as above, so below, for the city was wreathed in flames as steel supports of skyscrapers ignited to topple over and fall, raining burning stone onto the streets below. Buildings that still stood had their walls of wood and plaster feed the unquenchable flames, and the conflagration grew stronger with each passing moment.

The creeping flames raged throughout several blocks of Tokyo-3, consuming all in their path and spreading towering fires that lit whole city blocks into a conflagration of such intensity that the rapidly rising heat created and subsequently sustained its own wind system, becoming a firestorm rarely seen outside of bush and wildfires. Burning storm-force winds spread glowing embers, smoke, and ash that blanketed the parts of the city yet to be burned. The air was filled with flickering sparks of ash and the heavy smell of brimstone that consumed the urban sprawl in an infernal splendor of hellish fire, black smoke, and blistering steam. The rising heat had reduced the pressure below, drawing in more and more of the cooler surrounding air, causing inwardly-directed gusty winds to develop around the fire, supplying it with additional oxygen. Low level jet-streams contained its hungry flames, and the rising heat caused an updraft that mushroomed upwards and outwards. While this did prevent the firestorm from growing uncontrollably, the turbulence caused the inflow winds to change direction erratically. This ensured that the mundane fires spread by Cthugha remained fed and burning, and extending its will, the Living Flame began to radiate heat to ignite flammable material at a distance ahead of the fires itself. Causing more fires to spring up around the main inferno.

Had there been any survivors here to bare witness, they may have likened the city to the flaming vistas of Hell itself, as if the city was being drowned under a sea of flames to burn alongside the Devil and his ilk. Whole districts were constantly smoldering underneath the raw destructive power of the marauding flames, and Cthugha squirmed and writhed in perverse glee at the prospect of finally being able to burn and ignite once more.

Then, the humans struck back.

After Second Impact, megafires were depressingly common in the new world humanity found themselves in. The dry conditions post-impact created both hotter and drier conditions in many places, and Japan was no exception. It was a problem that only got worse as time went on. Some wild fires would burn so hot over larger areas that they virtually sterilize soils and unhinge energy, water, and carbon cycles. Smoke billowing from blazes altering atmospheric chemistry, causing ozone alerts thousands of miles away. In addition, burning forests released vast quantities of greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, into the air, making the situation even worse. New methods to deal with wildfires had to be developed to deal with them.

As Cthugha burned all in its path, whole fleets of helitankers, outfitted with front-mounted foam cannons sprayed the fires to snuff them out. Others began dropping water over the city in an attempt to kill the creature below. This did in fact manage to put out several Buildings, but Cthugha itself remained unharmed, and as water fell upon it, upon contact it destroyed the molecular bonds, creating oxygen and hydrogen that merely fueled it further. However, by the grace of whatever alien physical laws there were that bound the creature, the normal fire it created did not possess this same ability. Still, so long as it lived, the Living Flames could simply turn the water into fuel and steam to reignite the extinguished flames. Passing water bombers outfitted with foam and gel-based fire retardant solutions rather than water quickly snuffed out a burning street below by smothering it and, to the surprise of everyone who saw it, the foam and gel even somehow managed to stick to the orange fire that made up Cthugha itself, almost as if it was made of a solid mass that simply looked like fire. It however did not last long, just long enough to be noticeable, and immediately afterwards the foam simply slid right off Cthugha as its flame body flickered, dripping and spraying to the earth below. However this did have an immediate effect as the orange flames of Cthugha grew in intensity before the Living Flame reached out with a growing tendril of fire that rapidly headed for the passing aircraft. Then, somehow tendril-like streams of fire bent and curved around the plane, grasping it via an unknown force before it rapidly pulled it to the ground. The crew within had spontaneously combusted long before the plane hit the earth below, and while the remnants of the fire retardant spilled on ground, the exploding plane also left behind molten scrap and jet fuel that was quickly siphoned away through a swirling tornado-like tendril made of fire. The flames grew higher as the tendrils continued to flail about and snatch aircraft from the air. While some of the fires were put out, Cthugha remained unaffected as it simply reignited anything it could, and avoided anything it couldn't.

The battle raged on.

As the JSSDF attempted to put out the fires, NERV personnel gathered to discuss the raging beast outside that threatened to consume the city in fire and smoke. Even here, far away from the fire itself, the acrid taste of smoke permeated the room, along with a smell like rotten eggs and old chimneys. Ritsuko looked to the assembled members of NERV as they discussed the strangest of the beasts that had yet to appear. A creature seemingly made of fire itself. One who burned in more ways than one. A powerful and terrible entity that hated all that it gazed upon with an all encompassing malice.

Still, even with this strange entity they found themselves against, Ritsuko calmed herself before even entering this room, cleaning her mind of the utter scorn that the beast above invasively implanted and all but raped an alien sense of hate into those unlucky enough to hear it speak but a single unassuming word.

Just a single word, yet it conveyed so much.

However, even with the panic that was slowly bubbling within her, Ritsuko remained as professional as she was able.

"The conflagration has achieved its own wind system, becoming a firestorm. It should be too small to do this, but despite the size, it has managed via unknown means likely related to anomalous capabilities of the creature that started it. Currently the main inferno is confined to a radius engulfing seven city blocks, with smaller fires springing up around the main one in random areas outside of this location from falling embers, however if it continues to grow, the firestorm will develop into a mesocyclone and start to create true tornadoes and firewhirls." Said Ritsuko.

Misato rose a confused brow at the final word in Ritsuko's report. Before Ritsuko could continue further, Misato voiced her question.

"Firewhirls?" Asked Misato.

Ritsuko supposed it wasn't all that surprising Misato had never heard of such a phenomena, even in this post apocalyptic world of intense heat waves, Firewhirls were rare, though not unheard of for those familiar with climatology.

"Vortices created by intense rising heat. Tornadoes made of fire basically." Said Ritsuko.

If nothing else, the surprised look on Misato's face was priceless and did help alleviate some of the tension in the room. It was a much needed reprieve.

"Those exist?"

Ritsuko nodded before continuing.

"Unfortunately yes. Regardless, the greater updraft of a firestorm draws in greater quantities of oxygen, which significantly increases combustion, thereby also substantially increasing the production of heat, this will expand the area and the intensity of the firestorm as time goes on. If we don't find a way to stop it, and stop it soon, then it will start to melt asphalt, some metals, and glass. Eventually it will even turn street tarmac into a flammable hot liquid, making it impossible to engage with anywhere but aerially. It will ignite anything that might possibly burn, until the firestorm runs low on fuel. The problem is the entity itself, it doesn't seem to require fuel of any kind. It arrived by a solar flare, traveling through the vacuum of space without fizzling out from the lack of fuel or oxygen. Whatever it is made of, it's not fire. It looks like fire, but fire can't grasp objects and fire requires fuel, oxygen, and heat to form. As near as I can tell, the entity doesn't seem to require them, or at the very least not in the same way normal fire does. The only saving grace is that any fire it creates is by all accounts normal fire that can be extinguished through traditional firefighting methods."

It was a beast of Hellfire. Possessing impossible properties and traits far beyond that of mundane flames. It even seemed capable of burning materials that shouldn't be capable of burning, or at least not burning as fast as they were. It just moved around to incinerate anything it touched. For all they knew, it could burn souls. For as impossible as that should be… Ritsuko just couldn't get the image of people burning inside out from her mind. The way their throats and chests glowed a bright orange as they choked and died in perhaps the worst way imaginable to die.

It reminded her of the way Makoto died. Drowning on dry land.

"So can we stop it?" Asked Misato, interrupting Ritsuko's thoughts.

Ritsuko merely sighed, exhaling just a little bit more tension away as she fell back into her role as a scientist. The voice of reason trying to describe an unreasonable thing based on too little information and too many questions.

"I honestly don't know. The firestorm itself can be dealt with, eventually, but the creature is a different matter altogether. It has resisted several materials the JSSDF threw at it that if it were made of normal fire, it would be dead. In addition the fact that it can actually grab objects indicates it has mass, something fire does not have. Normal fire isn't an object, it is a process, a chemical reaction between atoms and molecules. Those atoms have mass, but the fire itself doesn't, it's just energy. It shouldn't be able to 'grab' anything."

Maya cleared her throat as she read over a report to further clarify information Ritsuko had neglected to mention. Not deliberately, but just because it was just another mystery Ritsuko knew she would never solve.

"It does interact with outside materials beyond grabbing objects, it did get partially coated with fire retardant foam, but it simply slid right off it." Said Maya.

"So it can be touched at least. Do we have anything that might hurt it?" Asked Misato.

Misato meanwhile, despite her outward carefree attitude most of the time, found herself within her element. As terrifying as that fire creature was… it couldn't replace the image in her mind of a giant of light rising in Antarctica all those years ago. Misato took the very existence of the Angels very personally. A storm of confused emotions regarding her father never to be answered could be directly traced to their actions so long ago. These things, for as alien and strange as they were, couldn't hold a candle to the utter obsession that dwelled within her to strike back and get some form of relief, even if it was something as personal as revenge.

Misato however wasn't a fool. She saw what these creatures could do, and every time she saw one, there was something… off about them that got under her skin. However, they were just an obstacle, and as far as Misato was concerned, they made damn good practice against the things she truly despised.

…

And yet… there was something very… strange about the word that the fire creature spoke. A single word that revealed the monsters intentions to scorch the earth beneath it and burn the entire world to a crisp. A word reflected that same level of hate and disgust Misato felt for the Angels, only it was directed upon Misato herself, and every other living and breathing thing that dared to live unburned. Almost as if it found life's mere existence a personal slight against it. It was a very… uncomfortable feeling that did almost make Misato reconsider her hatred of the Angels… almost.

"The JSSDF will continue using various methods until they find something that actually works. Until then, we're severely unprepared and uninformed. They're going to try and see if Class B fire extinguishing foam is better effective under the assumption that the entity has properties similar to a chemical fire, the hope is to cover it completely and smother it, but they admit that it is a shot in the dark and I have my doubts it will work." said Ritsuko.

Misato hummed to herself. She prepared for nearly her whole life to deal with threats with minimal intelligence… but something that was actually made of fire was not exactly the easiest thing to deal with.

Years of experience told her that water put out fire unless it was a grease fire, then baking soda did the job just fine... yet this thing proves that such a notion was not only false, but it didn't even require weird fire monsters to be false since apparently there were more kinds of normal fire that required very different methods to snuff out, and that was normal fire. This thing was not normal by any stretch of the imagination.

"So what do we know about it?" Asked Misato.

"Not nearly enough. The fire the entity creates burns at normal temperature ranges, while the entity itself burns at a temperature of approximately 1300 to 1500 degrees Celsius most of the time, nearly the melting point of iron, and much hotter than even magma. The Magi indicates lethally high concentrations of carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide emanating from the entity itself as plumes of noxious smoke. Satellite imagery from the JSSDF backs up the Magi on the creation of noxious gases that the creature produces at a slow but steady rate. When water is used against the entity, it manages to create momentary temperature spikes up to extremely and ridiculously high temperatures, somewhere along the lines of 2200 to 2500 degrees Celsius, this is the temperature thermite burns at. It's high enough to allow the entity to induce thermolysis, causing water molecules to split into their atomic components hydrogen and oxygen, which it then uses as fuel. Thankfully it drops back to normal temperature ranges soon afterwards. Other fire retardants do prove marginally more effective, but only on the fire the creature creates, against the creature itself it has no overt effect we can determine beyond somehow adhering to the flames it is made of for a short amount of time. The JSSDF has determined that the entity will ignore areas it cannot reignite in favor of finding areas it can, but it seems able, but unwilling to leave the central firestorm it creates." Said Ritsuko.

"Speaking of the JSSDF, They're requesting an Evangelion to lead the creature away from the city. Maybe to the ocean." Said Shigeru Aoba.

"I'm inclined to agree." Said Misato.

Ritsuko nodded.

"So am I, the salt would raise the water's boiling point, act as a thermal buffer, and potentially cool it down… but at the same time it could prove dangerous, the entity can use water as a fuel by breaking it down to its component elements, but sea water might be different enough to slow the process down. We can't be sure however, but at the very least, it should, in theory, be the safest course of action. Assuming we could lead it to water that is."

"Then we'll lead it to the ocean and cover the bastard in anything that could smother it, if that doesn't work then we'll drown his ass, and if that doesn't work… we'll figure it out." Said Misato

"There is another issue we need to keep in mind. Analysis of the initial footage reveals any living creature to close to the entity will ignite and combust. The Magi determines that close proximity causes the sudden ignition of body fat through unknown means. Fat contains a large amount of energy due to the presence of long hydrocarbon chains, making it an excellent fuel for the fire. This spontaneous combustion is what happened to the people who were too close to it when the entity first arrived, they were incinerated from the inside out… it was not a quick death." Said Ritsuko as she took a shaky breath.

Her nerves were getting to her, as her mind conjured images of people bursting into flames and being slowly consumed by the ravenous fire, but the feeling didn't last, and after a moment she continued speaking.

"Any additional fat serves as a fuel source by the entity. Evangelions do possess a fat analogue with similar biochemistry to normal animal body fat, roughly 5% of their mass is body fat. That may not seem like a lot, but because of their size… each Evangelion, depending on type, is anywhere between 700 and 1200 tonnes. That is anywhere between 35 to 50 tonnes of body fat analogue. While we can't get an accurate range for how close we can safely engage the creature, it seems a 30 meter radius around it immediately ignites adipose tissue with extreme prejudice, beyond that, up to 50 meters away still carries a nonzero chance of spontaneous ignition and subsequent combustion depending on how much fat a single individual has, those with lower amounts of body fat fare better, but not by much. Based on analysis, the only safe range is a recommended distance of over 200 feet so there's a diminished risk of combustion. Unit 00 possesses the least amount of this Fat analogue, and Rei is ready to pilot, but I can't recommend sending her out due to this creature's abilities. Her body fat could ignite even if she were inside the Eva."

"What about Shinji and Unit 01 Shinji melts when he's in one, that means there is no fat to burn… right?" Asked Misato.

Ritsuko grimaced, but only for a moment before she cleared her throat.

"Presumably, through the Eva still has fat reserves. But both the pilot and Eva are combat ready."

"So we'll go with him, and we keep our distance. How well would the armor hold?" Asked Misato.

"Standard B-Type equipment has excellent resistance to creep and stress rupture at temperatures up to 1650 Celsius. Beyond that and it won't last long. It can handle the entity at standard temperatures, but not during the temperature spikes. D-Type could withstand it better, but it would severely impede movement. Still, D-Type would allow the Eva to engage with the entity in close range for an indefinite amount of time at standard temperatures, but for only several minutes at elevated rates."

"How bad is the loss of movement?"

"Enough that I can't recommend engaging in physical combat, and that is assuming that physical combat even works. If you want to outfit D-Type I can get on it, but we're going to need more time to lead the creature to the ocean due to decreased movement speed."

"Make it so Rits, but what about weaponry that can be used to piss the thing off enough to lure it away?"

"It's already pissed," Aoba pointed out.

"More pissed then." Misato clarified, before continuing to speak without missing a beat. "Much, much more pissed."

Ritsuko sighed before she thought about it for a moment. Most weaponry wasn't exactly designed to fight against a creature made of literal fire… but...

"I recommend the Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow MM-144. It's still early in development, originally designed to use an Evangelions AT-Field to launch projectiles, but it has been modified to use electromagnetic propulsion. We have a proof of concept test type, and I believe we can use spare coolant tanks from the D-Type equipment as a projectile, they should be the right size. The tank that the coolant is housed in could be modified very easily to be fired and explode on impact to shower the creature. By replacing the coolant with pressurized fire retardant we can, if nothing else, attract the creature's attention."

"And piss it off enough it might follow us. It's better than nothing." Said Misato.

Ritsuko nodded.

"It does attack anything that tries to snuff it or it's flames out but… Even still we can't be sure the Third Child could meaningfully harm the entity. We might be able to lead it away, but even if we could we might not be able to kill it."

"Well… Shinji neutralized the other two, it stands to reason he could do it again." Said Misato.

"Maybe… but we're still not sure how he does it."

Misato smiled.

"But he might." Said Misato.

Before anyone could say anything else, a phone at the center of the table rang, Aoba immediately picked it up and listened. After a moment, he cleared his throat.

"Hey guys, you know how Shinji spaces out and names these things… well he just did it again."

"Cthugha, The Living Flame. A ravening chaos, an age-old intelligence."

Rei watched passively as Shinji's eyes glazed over, the nictitating membranes twitching at the corner of his eyes. He stared at the screen before them displaying the raging fire and the alien creature within. Rei likewise was staring at the screen uninterrupted until Shinji started speaking. Now her gaze was fixed on him as she waited patiently and listened to what he had to say.

"It is that which leaves blackened earth, and ashlands scoured of life. Mindlessly burning all it can, bringer of desolation, an incandescent sun, the terrifying specter of burning rage."

Rei had heard of this happening before with the Third Child when he saw the other two creatures. It was strange really how well the name Cthugha fit the creature on the screen. Rei didn't know why, but for reasons beyond her limited understanding, that name fit the creature so well that she had no doubts in her mind as to its name. How such a thing was possible she didn't know, nor did the passive girl question it.

"The Burning One, Kathigu-Ra, the Flame Undying, chained by the Elder Gods an eternity ago, Cthugha is now free to burn once more."

Then as fast as it had started, it ended. Shinji blinked and seemed momentarily confused before he rubbed at his eyes. Rei noted that his fingernails were slightly discolored, almost as if they were inflamed.

"What happened?" Asked Shinji.

"You named the entity Cthugha." Said Rei simply before she spoke once more.

"How do you know these creature's names?" Asked Rei.

Shinji blinked before he shifted his gaze in her direction. Blinking his secondary pair of eyelids as he did. When what she asked fully registered in his mind, the Third Child merely shrugged.

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't remember saying anything."

Rei quirked her head to an almost imperceptible degree, before giving a single curt nod of the head. She looked back to the screen, staring at the creature, not even blinking. She watched as Cthugha reached out and dragged aircraft to the ground, causing them to explode upon impact and spread the creature's influence. It was a very unusual creature. Occasionally emitting aurora bands of flaming light that left only ash and cinders in its wake.

Shinji then spoke.

"I'm reminded of a song by Ian Campbell." Said Shinji.

Rei shifted her gaze back to Shinji as he took in a breath of air.

"Now the sun has come to Earth

Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death

Death comes in a blinding flash

Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash

And the sun has come to Earth."

Rei stared at Shinji for a moment as she allowed the words to sink in, she noted that there was sharp and inexplicable increase in the ambient temperature, but chose to ignore it. She had never listened to music, and the only music she could recall ever hearing was the ones played by NERV personnel and technicians near her. Shinji noted her vacant stare held a small spark of what could be interest within her eyes, or perhaps he was just reading into it too much. Either way, he reflected that perhaps his idle comment could be used as a segue to open up the girl a bit more to a different way of thinking.

Shinji continued.

"The song itself is a soothing one, only the latter lyrics are dissonant with the peaceful music. Simon and Garfunkel made a cover of it that I rather enjoy… but the song itself is about nuclear Armageddon, I believe it came out around the time of the Cuban missile crisis, and when the Cold War was in full swing between America and Russia. At that time, it was quite possible that one country could annihilate another and there was no escape." Said Shinji as he crossed his arms and turned his gaze downward.

"I don't think America or Russia quite respected the power of the atom. Even if it was before our time, we saw first hand the destruction that nukes possessed… It was not until Second Impact that India and Pakistan learned first hand the power of the atom held… and unfortunately so did we for a third time when Tokyo-1 was destroyed. All of it for nothing. The U.N. took over and now the world returned to whatever brand of normalcy it could salvage. It's childish isn't it, to start a war when they always end the same way. War is probably the closest thing to Hell we'll ever know, it should be avoided at all costs, but humans do as humans will. They want more than they have, even when they already have so much, no especially if they have so much. The more you have the more you want. Even when the world was on the brink of destruction, humans at the top of society permitted every wicked deed and every cruelty to get more of the dwindling resources in displays that only showed their inner ugliness. Bloody wars that ended as wars always do, with the same cruel and powerful men who started the war sitting in a room to actually talk and negotiate with each other… they probably should have tried that before the first shot was fired, but instead they remained in luxury, untouched by the devastation and played with lives like puppets, lives that were shattered as blood was spilled and empires crumbled, all because of wicked men overcome by greed, ambition, and pride."

Rei said nothing for a moment before Shinji smiled and turned in her direction. It was perhaps a bit manipulative, but he hoped it would plant seeds of doubt in her mind. After all, he wasn't wrong. Wars were usually, but not always, fought for petty reasons, and they were always orchestrated by the upper echelons of society… like NERV or SEELE. It wasn't overt, but it did highlight that the 'powers that be' weren't infallible. They could be wrong… so very wrong.

Memories of a dead timeline ran through Shinji's mind. Everything he did, and every Angel he fought was in the end a waste. He was never meant to stop Third Impact, merely delay it so SEELE and Gendo to do more or less exactly the same thing that the Angels were trying to accomplish, except on their own terms. Wicked men who thought themselves worthy of deciding the fate of an entire species against their will. It made him sick that he played a role in that. To turn all of humanity into a joint consciousness. Incapable of making choices, incapable of living, incapable of doing anything but existing, it was no better than being dead.

Shinji stopped that train of thought before turning back to Rei.

"Either way, It's a good song, and a very deep one that I believe has far more prevalence in the world we find ourselves in, and I think the latter lyrics describe Cthugha rather well… unfortunately."

"I suppose." Said Rei as she turned back to the screen, but she didn't remain silent.

"I have been thinking about what you said before. After our previous discussion, when you said for me to speak what is on my mind, I had no thoughts I believed worth voicing. I do not believe I ever had opinions on anything not directly related to my purpose."

"Your perceived purpose." Interrupted Shinji. "Purpose was thrust upon you, and worse still is that your 'purpose' is for the aspirations of others, not yourself. You have absolutely no obligation to fulfil their goals unless you yourself want to, that is true no matter how much they tell you otherwise."

Rei remained silent for a moment, before she continued. Shinji however, could somehow tell that she was giving his words a great deal of thought. It was the same as the nameless impressions he got when he saw his father. How he knew this was unknown to even himself… but by simply looking at her, he was quite sure she was taking his words to heart.

"I did not pursue my curiosity from our previous conversation overly, but a great many things you had said had implications I could not ignore, no matter how hard I attempted to do so. Such as the potential that those who would wield me as a tool could potentially be wrong."

"Did you come to any conclusions?"

"I do not know, but I find that the possibility of this is not zero. I feel some minor form of distress from this fact that I cannot name."

"Frustrated perhaps?"

"A possibility. It is not a feeling I am accustomed to."

"Sorry to have caused you so much stress."

"No, do not be. I believe I… enjoy our talks. If a belief cannot stand up to scrutiny, then it is fundamentally flawed."

Shinji smiled as he leaned back and nodded.

"Well, if you ever need help figuring it out, my door is always open. Just don't expect much in the way of alternatives, I'm nihilistic by default, just know that I'm the kind of nihilist who believes that 'meaningless' does not mean 'worthless'."

Rei turned to Shinji with the same blank gaze she always had.

"I will keep that in mind?"

Before Shinji could say anything, the door opened and one of the Security Personnel looked at the duo.

"They're ready for you in the Eva pens."

Shinji frowned as he turned to Rei.

"We'll talk more later."

Rei nodded as they stood up, however before they could depart… a voice filled the air.

"RISE!"

Rei found that immediately the room became unbearably hot before she turned to the screens, to see that Cthugha was no longer fighting, but instead had each of its tentacles of fire raised high above it. From this angle, It almost looked like a deformed starfish, only composed completely out of fire. Then she noticed that one of the planes fighting against Cthugha was going down, rolling and spiralling as it made its way down. Seemingly for no reason considering the current state of the now passive creature, and as the plane crashed… she saw that something… else had crawled from the wreckage. Shinji noticed her eyes on the screen, and when he turned to look, he saw it to… And as impressions filled his mind, knowledge was revealed to him as to exactly what it was he was seeing. His eyes widened just a fraction.

"That is most definitely not good."

Cthugha thrashed as it sent out blazing tendrils that it swung around in arcs that ignited all they touched. Creeping masses of semi-solid fire melted the pavement beneath it that it quickly flung at the passing planes, showering one in molten rock and boiling tar that cooked the pilot inside as his plane fell. He passed the threshold of Cthugha's influence long before he crashed, igniting his body near immediately for several agonizing moments before he crashed and burned. Smoldering buildings fell to ruin as the burning tendrils crashed through them to strike at the ones who dared to extinguish the Burning One. Every strike would char stone that was sent flying into the air, raining debris and embers. The Aurora above moved unnaturally in motions akin to squirming as it sent down searing rains of orange sparks. While many a plane and helicopter was singed and scorched, they held firm as they continued spraying Cthugha with all manner of smothering chemicals that did little more than further anger the Living Flames.

However, instead of continuing it's rampage, Cthugha momentarily ceased it's thrashing as it lifted its many burning limbs skyward. Then, the Aurora above slowly dissipated, raining to the ground in shimmering ribbons of orange. Cthugha, for the first time, ignored the Chemicals that doused it, and remained motionless, save for the flickerings of its outermost flames.

Then… It spoke.

"RISE!"

Haru Yamada was a good man.

He had dedicated his life to protecting the people he cared about. Within him was a burning need to bring down those who abuse their power. He was always stronger than others his age. When he was still a student, he would protect the weak from bullies and delinquents. As he grew older, that inner fire never left him, and eventually it would lead him to join the JSSDF where he would learn he had a natural talent as a pilot. When he flew a plane in combat, he was always extremely aggressive, when running dogfight drills, none of the other pilots could maneuver like he could. His natural talent with aerobatics had given him a level of recognition he never thought he'd have, but no matter what he never forgot why it was he flew.

It wasn't for fame and glory, nor was it to state a barely reserved bloodlust. No he flew because he knew that by doing so, he protected innocent people back home. He was a veteran, one who had engaged in multiple battles in the chaos following Second Impact. Every single time he was at the controls, he knew that the only thing standing between certain destruction and innocent loves was him, and his brothers in arms. He didn't like how many lives he had to take, but he knew that if there were other options, they were most likely exhausted, or at least that is what he told himself.

Still Haru Yamada was a good man.

Things however were different. Angels and Monsters now roamed the world. He had personally been there to fight the Third Angel, and he had witnessed the rising of the lizard creature that dredged itself from some forgotten sea. Even as his eyes told him what he saw was impossible, he squashed those feelings and did all he could. Even if it was impossible, he would still try. He had not seen the Fourth Angel, not the Ice Titan. No one had because of the blizzard.

Now another monster attacks, and it was perhaps the worst one thus far. It was pure undeniable evil, a creature of chaos whose only desire was to kill and burn all in it's path. So, Haru Yamada flew once again to fight the creature or at least control its flames before someone could find a way to kill it. It was only by luck that Haru managed to avoid the flaming tentacles of the creature, and every move he made, while risky, had always paid off, even if only a little.

Haru Yamada was a good man, but that all changed when the creature spoke.

"RISE!"

Haru felt the word far more than he heard it, and for as viscerally wrong as the tone of voice was, he did not fear, for he did not get within Cthugha's sphere of influence, he did not combust, but he was close enough that he fell victim to another ability that neither he, nor NERV was aware Cthugha possessed. He was unaware of the sudden spike in temperature, nor did he see the way that small portions of the air behind him simmered in strange and alien ways. So focused on the beast outside, that he couldn't notice his impending doom, though if there was nothing he could do about it even if he did. Perhaps had he not flown too low at the exact wrong moment, he would have been spared, but that isn't what happened, and a good man was going to pay the price.

In the plane's cockpit, shimmering air had taken disturbingly familiar shapes that writhed and thrashed as if in pain. Slowly the shimmers were rimmed in fire that was slowly growing in intensity, until eventually the figure finally took shape. Haru, at this point, noticed something was amiss and it was by instinct that he turned around, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw them.

They were men, people made of fire, or fire that had taken the shape of men. Dozens of them, some slouched over and others walked as though they were puppets on strings, and they were screaming. Screaming a high-pitched wailing scream of superheated air as their flame-tips writhed back and forth. The flames emanating off them licked the sensitive electronics as they screamed, and the interior of the plane began to glow like molten metal. Metal creaked, rubber melted, and smoke filled the air.

Haru could do nothing but stare in abject horror as he realized what it was he was looking at. It was them, the ones this monster burned, innocent people he had failed to save. Still burning… and still screaming as they were incinerated until all that remained was the very fire that had consumed them, and eventually... became them. Upon gazing at then, he knew, oh God he knew with every fiber of his being, that they were still burning in an abstract pain and agony so great that even death offered no reprieve. So they screamed and burned. Some twitched and jerked around unnaturally, sending embers out with each movement, others still moved like marionettes, and even as the cockpit around Haru burned, he could only focus on them. Then they exploded into movement, each one flinging themselves forward towards Haru to embrace him in their own fiery demise. Haru screamed as his clothes caught fire. He screamed as his skin ignited, blacken, and flaked off. He screamed as his fat began to bubble and boil and ooze off his bones and muscles. He screamed even after his burning plane fell and crashed to the world below, exploding and showering the already flaming landscape in more scrap and debris, and after nothing but ash remained of himself… he found himself still screaming as he jerkily crawled out from the wreckage. A high-pitched scream of superheated air emanating from him as he took jerky marionette-like steps.

Haru Yamada was a good man, but he was better kindling.

After the meeting, Misato had made her way to the bridge immediately. The pilots were ready and waiting, all she had to do now was her job. So as everyone hurried to their places, the screen came on…

"RISE!"

The word was jarring, and it rang in their ears. Misato felt burning heat on her face, as if she stood only inches away from a bonfire, though there were no flames. The air itself tasted of acrid smoke for a moment, before it passed… then they came. Everyone had heard it long before they saw it, it was a chorus of incredibly jarring high-pitched shrieks and shrilling screams, and what they saw afterwards immediately ground everything to a halt.

Stalking through the city hellscape were flames shaped like people. Each and every one was wailing, stretching, and contorting in unnatural ways as they awkwardly lurched out from the flames in jerky motions followed by sudden bursts of speed as they flung themselves into anything that was even remotely flammable, and they were screaming. A scream of hurt and pain and agony, the cries of the damned.

"What the hell is that?" Said Misato.

Her tone was anything but level as she watched the horror of human shaped fire shambling forward. Ritsuko closed her eyes, sparing herself from what she knew to be true.

"They're people." Said Ritsuko.

Misato stared for a moment before hardening her features.

"Launch the Eva." She said coldly.

Meanwhile, just over the horizon, a song of glass and shards filled the air in a sirens song of indescribable beauty. Sounds of shifting glass echoed through the air, like the enthralling songs of quartz crystal when rubbed together. To those who would hear it, they would hear a tone that was inhuman and enchanting. Beyond that was the ways that the crystalline structure reflected sunlight into a dazzling array of prismatic light that painted the air around it in shifting luminescent watercolors of high saturation and tone that blended and contrasted each other near perfectly, and at the center of the songs and lights was a massive crystalline trapezohedron that hovered in defiance of gravity. Bathed in kaleidoscopic radiance and rimmed in stark white and bright gold.

Yet beyond that, just beneath each face of the Shining Trapezohedron, was a window of space and time displaying countless stars and distant nebulae. One face depicted the distant towering tendrils of cosmic dust and at the heart of the Eagle Nebula known to mankind as the Pillars of Creation. Another face depicted a luminescent sky bending around a Black Hole. Yet another face depicted… nothing but empty black vastness of some far off region mankind had never and would never see. It was behind this face that It gazed outwards through the Shining Trapezohedron that Ramiel had become. Unknowingly touching a small fragment of chaos itself by choosing this particular shape. The Crawling Chaos beheld the island of Japan as the Angel approached. He watched the rising black smoke in the distance from his Enthropic Throne, and he laughed knowing exactly how Cthugha would react upon seeing his most sacred symbol of his Haunter of the Dark mask.

The Angel flew forward, singing all the while.