Unravel

by Homer's Disciple

Shinji rejected Instrumentality, but he made so many mistakes. He has one last chance to set things right, to unravel everything and save what matters. A retelling or altering of the series, an altered version of Shinji with an altered past. Life takes a different path, but do all paths lead to the same destination? Is Shinji doomed to never know happiness?

35. Crucible Part 2

Hey guys, back again to finish that cliffhanger!
This chapter seems like a lot of action, and it is, but it's also very character based.
Here's Chapter 35 "Crucible Part 2"

---

"I held her in my arms.

A broken shell of who she had once been. She was cold to the touch, with dried blood running down her face. I wept as I cradled her. I wasn't fast enough... it was all my fault."

- Shinji Ikari

---

The Over the Rainbow
During the events of Chapter 8

The Other Shinji avoided Misato's gaze. His eyes always gave him away, so he hid them. He played up his role as the lonely little boy he had once been himself.

They stood aboard the UN ship, Nerv having sent them to oversee the transport of Eva Unit 02 to Japan. Misato was worried about how quiet and he was being, and that suited the Other Shinji. He needed to get away from her and Shinji's friends, Toji and Kensuke.

There was something he needed to do.

He improvised. The Other Shinji made excuses, pretending to struggle with the responsibilities of being an Eva pilot, and asked the boy's guardian for time to "get some air."

"Are you sure?" Misato said. The boy's guardian looked at him with a worried expression, obviously concerned for the boy.

It was a much more 'motherly' affection this Misato had for Shinji than in his own timeline. The Broken Man was glad for it, the boy needed that in ways that he had not.

The Other Shinji left them behind and searched the ship. He raised a hand, and the Angel network was visible to him. The threads emerged into existence as a representation, an overlay, in the real world.

Adam... where are you? He considered.

The Broken Man moved using the boy's body. He traced the lay lines of power and followed the energy that radiated out into the network.

He found Kaji's room. Stepping inside, the Broken Man found the spy's suitcase with ease. He reached inside his mind, accessing the many memories he had brought with him to this new timeline and found it... the combination to Kaji's suitcase.

The access numbers symbolized Misato's birthday.

The Broken Man opened the suitcase and his eyes grew cold at the sight that met him.

The Adam sample, a bundle of cells resembling a human embryo kept frozen, imprisoned.

What no one, not even SEELE or Nerv realized, was that the First Angel was not as dormant as they believed. Adam was awake even in this form. Conscious and very much active.

The Broken Man raised the boy's hand over the sample.

What I wouldn't give to kill you here and now, Adam. He thought.

Instead, the Broken Man reached into the Angel powers. He remembered the lessons Lilith had taught him. He manipulated the Angel network and marked Adam.

A tangible unique thread apart from the others. One that the Broken Man could tug and pull on if the situation ever called for it, an act which would trigger the blow-back effect for both himself and the First Angel.

A mark that would also allow the Broken Man to 'hear' any conversations the other Angels tried to have with their father. Even if the Angels hid their presence from him in the future, if Adam was aware of them then the Broken Man would be too.

The act left a visible wound on the bundle of Angel cells.

Adam stirred from within his prison. Blood dripped from the sample, a loss of mass as the weakened being fidgeting from the effect.

CRACK

A single small crack emerged along the frozen dura-bakelite that imprisoned the First Angel. A warning that Adam was still very much awake.

---

Present Day
The Five Angel Crisis

Young Shinji emerged into the hangar eerily calm on the outside, a mess of nervous and panic on the inside. Asuka followed after him, her nerves spiking but seemingly more at peace with herself than her partner.

"Eva Team One, prepare for launch," Maya said into the intercom. The young woman's voice boomed out into the hangar.

Aboa worked the console from his workstation and released the Entry Plugs of Evangelion Units 01 and 02. The metal tubes released and were laid bare for their pilots.

Things were tense at Nerv. Five Angels had appeared at once in an unprecedented event, one that broke all previous patterns and any predictions that the Magi Supercomputers had made. To top things off, this would be the first time Eva Unit 01 was deployed since the incident where it had 'woken' and absorbed its pilot for nearly 2 months.

The staff and engineers gazed at the monstrous machine with a hint of fear, the Eva's pilot proved another odd case in this matter. Shinji Ikari, the boy who had spent years in a mental ward, who had spent two months 'gone' and inside his Eva, who had emerged from that experience changed. The boy that had returned as the first and only universal Eva pilot, and with the highest recorded sync ratio.

Shinji ignored any eyes on him and entered his entry plug. His plug suit stuck to his skin as he tried to breathe and keep his cool.

Evangelion Unit 01 come to life with a low hum, there was no power cable inserted as had been procedure from the beginning. That capability had been cut off the day Unit 01 had killed the Zeruel and taken the S2 engine from within the Angel into itself, the result had been an Evangelion with a completely self-sustaining power source.

Unit 02, by comparison, took more time to come online, the Eva booted up its computer systems and locked its power cable in place aboard its launchpad.

Maya's nervous voice called into his comm.

"Shinji… how are things in there?"

"Fine." The boy answered over the comm. LCL filled his entry plug, and he breathed it in as the staff worked things out on their end.

"Shinji… be careful. Things are desperate right now, and we still don't know everything that happened to Unit 01." Aoba said over the comm suddenly. From his workstation, he eyed the mysterious Eva with a tentative gaze.

"I've got this, Aoba. Send me up" Shinji answered back. The boy was quiet, only speaking when spoken too. And something in his voice sent the others on edge.

Aoba exchanged glances with Maya, before pressing the commands.

"Eva Team One. Launch!" Maya shouted into the intercom.

With a rush of sparks and a roar of mechanical whirls, the Evangelion Units were shot free of their launchpads and up into the city.

...

"I hope Misato and the others are okay" Asuka muttered to herself. She sat in her entry plug, barely flinching at the sensation of being launched.

"They are. The Angels don't care about them, only us" Shinji answered her suddenly.

Asuka blinked at that, forgetting that she still had the comm open

"... I hope you're right," she said.

---

Tokyo-03

Eva Units 01 and 02 emerged onto the surface. The two mechanical titans stood tall and vigilante, awaiting whatever came next.

"Asuka," Shinji called on the comm.

The German girl turned to look at him from inside her Eva.

"Whatever happens... stay close. Alright?" Shinji said.

The boy's words only made Asuka feel more anxious. Just what was with Shinji today? He looked so scared. She understood that 5 Angels was one hell of a problem, but acting this way wasn't going to help anyone.

We're Eva Team One. With no word on Mari and Rei hospitalized, it's up to us. Asuka thought firmly.

"Don't be so scared. We can handle this!" Asuka said confidently. She put on a brave face, but inside she felt it too. Fear. Her fingers twitched when she considered the situation.

I am Asuka Langley Sohryu, a child prodigy, the best Eva pilot. I can do this. She thought sternly.

Unit 01's hand moved to take Unit 00's, a movement that surprised Asuka. She still wasn't sure what exactly her relationship was with Shinji, but 'this' was new.

"Don't be proud. I know you're strong, I'm not denying that. But- but promise me. We stick together. Okay" Shinji said over the comm. The boy's voice came out steady and serious like he had aged another ten years when no one was looking, and Asuka could almost imagine the pleading look in his eyes.

Her lips trembled at Shinji's voice, and she didn't know why.

"I... Shinji?" Asuka stammered. She didn't know how to feel.

"Promise me"

Any other day, Asuka would have been annoyed at being cut off mid-speech. But today was different. She moved the Eva's display and saw her Unit's fingers intertwined with 01's. She could actually feel Shinji's hand in hers.

"I promise," Asuka said slowly.

"Thank you" Shinji said, and his Eva released her hand.

Asuka stood silent for several moments. What had caused this? She rubbed her fingers together in the entry plug, feeling the last traces of the warmth Shinji's hand had brought her.

She shook her head. This wasn't the time for distractions.

"Deploying weapons." Maya's voice called on the comm.

The weapons built for an Evangelion were launched up to the surface, and Shinji and Asuka equipped them. The Heavy Hitter, a missile launcher that fired N2 missiles with the force of a small nuclear age weapon but without the deadly fallout, for Asuka and a rifle for Shinji.

Asuka tried to beam at the heavy weaponry given to her, but the emotions didn't come. There was no time for joy today. The gun was one of the most powerful in their arsenal but reloads were expensive and they still did a lot of environmental damage, it was only for desperate situations and now seemed to fit the bill.

"No sign of the Angels. Where are they?" Shinji called into the comm.

Asuka turned her head and listened in.

No answer came.

She turned her Eva to look at Shinji's.

When no answer came again, Asuka raised her hand to the comm and spoke up.

"Hey, what's going on? Don't leave us in the dark"

The reply that came back made the teenagers pause.

"Guys... the Angels have stopped moving."

"What do you mean the Angels stopped moving?!" Asuka said into the comm.

There was another pause on the comm, and Asuka hefted her weapons impatiently.

Shinji stayed eerily silent. Eva Unit 01 stood tall and still, gazing outward into the vastness of the city where the enemy no doubt lay waiting.

Maya answered the Eva pilots in a frantic squeaky voice.

"The Angels just stopped. They're holding position at equal distances from each other. The 5 of them are divided into groups. Three Beast Angels off at the edge. The infected Unit 04 in the center and the flying Angel is even further away.

I- Asuka, Shinji... they're not moving. They're literally standing still in a coordinated stop."

A coordinated stop? Asuka thought. What the hell was going on?

"They want us to come after them," Shinji said suddenly. The boy's voice was hollow, somber and serious and caused a chill to trail down Asuka's spine.

"What-"

"Asuka. The Angels want us to come to them. Worse... they want to separate us." Shinji said gravely.

Through the eyes of her Eva, Asuka stared at her partner opened mouthed.

"We made a promise, Asuka." Shinji said firmly into the comm, his voice soft and somber.

---

Adam's Children

At three different parts of the city, the 5 Angels stood.

Arael hovered at the center between the three groups of Angels. He flew gently from side to side, moving in between the tallest buildings from the city's skyline, his luminous body visible even in daytime.

To the west of Arael, the Beast Angels prowled their section of the city. Bulky monsters with ghost white faceplates, like hairless gorillas armored in scales, they awaited their foe.

Bardiel stood to the east of Arael, the infected Evangelion still as a statue. The creature loomed over the city block. Deep within the machine, trapped inside the Entry Plug, Mari sat panting and barely conscious, aching from her injuries.

Mari groaned and sat up in the seat of her cockpit. The red emergency light cast everything in a strange fever dream that did nothing to help the situation.

"Shit" the girl scowled as she glanced down. Her safety harness was broken, it must have snapped sometime during all the commotion from earlier.

Weakly, she reached for the controls of the Eva and saw some of the computer systems still active. Whatever the Angel inside the Evangelion had done to power itself, it had evidently booted up the computers too.

Warning messages flashed the screen and Mari rolled her eyes.

Blood dripped down her forehead, and she was pretty sure a rib or two had been cracked if not broken outright.

"Ah!" Mari cried in shock as suddenly she felt a sensation her fingers.

…

Bardiel flexed the fingers of the stolen Eva Unit. The Angel's true flesh, the strange protrusions that had erupted from the Eva, swirled around the palm.

He could feel the little Lilin still inside. His prisoner, taken as ordered.

Bardiel squeezed his hand.

…

Mari gasped at the sensation.

The Eva's phantom sensations had been reactivated.

Mari stared at her hand with wide terrified eyes, the Angel's movements crept across her skin as if they were one in the same. The 'infection' whirled around through the machine's very blood and skin, and Mari felt absolutely all of it.

"Goddamn, you. You... you bastard" Mari hissed. She let out a heavy breath and coughed violently. The movement sent her chest reeling in pain, and she balled up, holding herself below her breast in pain.

…

The Beast Angels turned to each other. They communicated in their non-vocal language, processing information transfer at the speed of thought.

Two of the Beasts went their separate ways, each spreading out and taking up positions. The one that remained stepped forward and opened its mouth.

Bright red structures erupted from the Angel's gums in a shower of Angel blood. The structures had ripped open the Beast's own flesh to bare its fangs. The monster roared, and the sound of it echoed across the city.

BAM

The Beast raised a fist and brought it down upon the city street. Again and again, it pummeled the street. Cracks emerged into the pavement before the surface broke leaving a deep crater. Clouds of debris, dirt, destroyed concrete and steel flew into the air.

Underneath the surface lay the underground bunkers used to protect the citizens when the city went into lock-down mode. The buildings had been retracted into the ground when the Angel alarm had sounded, now lay open to the world.

The Beast brought its fist to the bunker.

---

Inside the bunker

People shouted, children cried, and the platform shook. The thick steel walls screeched, long harsh dents emerged along the internal structure.

"What's happening?" someone shouted.

"We're under attack!"

"Someone help!"

Voices cried out from deep underground.

---

The lone Beast Angel roared again, its enormous muscle bulging as it did so. It reached into the underground with its colossal hands and grabbed a hold of the bunker. Its fingers broke dents into the metal.

SCREECH

The infrastructure holding the bunker in its place cracked and bent along the force of the monster tugging at it.

---

Eva Team One

"We have a problem!" Maya called on the comm.

Eva Units 01 and 02 stirred. Both at the ready.

"One of the Angels is attacking civilians. It broke through to the underground! It's trying to rip the bunker out" Maya called frantically. The woman's voice shook as she spoke.

"What about the others?" Shinji called into the comm.

Asuka glanced his way but found the boy eerily still.

"The other Angels haven't moved. They're holding position." Maya reported.

Asuka felt her chest drop. Attacking civilians? They never cared about them before?! The German girl thought.

"Shinji! Your Eva doesn't rely on a power cable anymore. Maybe we should send you out and-" Maya stammered.

"No"

The boy's words were surprisingly firm, a calm sentence that would not yield.

Asuka turned her Eva to face his.

"Maybe you should. I can cover you from a distance and hold off the other-" Asuka began.

"NO." Shinji said.

Asuka blinked at that.

"We promised. We stay together" Shinji said sternly.

"The two of you have to do something! We can't just let those people die!" Maya called into the comm.

"If we go, we do it together." Shinji answered.

"Shinji is right" a new voice added suddenly.

All of them checked their comm systems to see who had joined the channel.

Asuka felt a weight in her chest lighten. Misato was alive.

"Sorry, we weren't around earlier. Our tech was down. We're on our way to command. Shinji, Asuka, the two of you stay together. Don't split up under any circumstance." Misato said on the comm.

"Misato" Shinji whispered into the comm. The boy breathed a sigh of relief

"We're tracking the Angels via the Magi. I think its a plot to separate Eva Team One, and the simulations agree." Ritsuko added suddenly.

Asuka shook her head in frustration. While they debated this an Angel was trying to rip a bunker free from the city's infrastructure and harm civilians.

"We can't leave the civilians on their own. So go together. The JSSDF is being called in to lend their support. The military can't kill an Angel, but they sure as hell can slow one down." Misato said.

The Eva Units nodded and departed together. Both heading out towards the lone Beast Angel that had turned its attention to civilians. They ran together, neither taking point, but rather side by side.

Distantly, Asuka heard Misato and Ritsuko taking over the situation at command. Maya had done a decent job in their absence but this was their role.

…

Nerv

Misato and Ritsuko took their posts in the command center, and Maya and the others gladly relinquished control over to them. Kaji entered last, with a JSSDF liaison following close behind.

"I want the satellite data transferred to the Magi Supercomputers. This is a lot of ground to cover, and we need all the information we can get." Ritsuko said. She gestured to the display, which had already roughly mapped out the 5 Angels and their positions in the city.

Misato turned to Kaji and the JSSDF liaison and began coordinating with them for how to deploy the military aid.

"I have an idea. I think we can get another pair of eyes and ears on the other side" Ritsuko said suddenly.

---

Elsewhere

Mari pried at the bay doors of the entry plug, grunting from the effort before she slipped and fell.

THUD

She landed hard in the seat of her entry plug's cockpit. All that work, climbing up to the bay doors and trying to manually open them had failed.

Ah. I think I just made my ribs worse the girl thought through a gaze of pain.

Mari crawled into a sitting position and banged a hand against the controls in frustration. The Angel that had infected the Eva didn't seem to care what she did.

BEEP

BEEP

Mari sat up in disbelief and whirled to look at the computer systems. A message was displayed on the console.

"HELLO. MARI, ARE YOU THERE? TYPE INTO THE COMPUTER TO ANSWER."

Mari blinked in surprise. She wasn't sure if it was the blood loss or not, but if she wasn't hallucinating then maybe Nerv had found a way to help her.

She crawled over to the controls and yanked out the keyboard.

"I'm here." she typed and entered into the console.

"THIS IS RITSUKO. ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT CAN YOU SEE?"

Mari looked around the entry plug, and hurriedly typed a response detailing her surroundings.

"I STILL HAVE ACCESS TO THESE COMPUTERS. I WILL DISABLE THE WARNINGS AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO. DO YOU HAVE YOUR COMM?"

Mari stared at the computer screen. What a terrible way to talk.

"Stupid thing is broken," Mari said aloud even as she weakly typed her response.

"DOES IT HAVE POWER?"

"I think so" Mari typed back.

"CONNECT IT TO THE COMPUTER. I CAN TRY TO WORK SOMETHING OUT." Ritsuko typed back.

The computer warnings flashed off the display, and Mari watched in awe as some of the old readouts were available to her. She could see what the Evangelion could see, which meant she could see what the Angel was doing.

Mari did as Ritsuko asked.

---

Eva Team One

Shinji ran alongside Asuka, their Eva's footsteps echoing across the city as they did so.

Arael is watching us. The Broken Man said.

Shinji turned the Eva's head and glanced out the display.

The luminous Angel hovered far above them in the distance. From that bird's eye view, it tracked their movements.

Why didn't he attack?

He's out of range. And he knows that 'I' am here.

Damn it. What are they doing?!

The Angels are coordinated, boy. They've taken actual formations. Be ready for anything.

The Broken Man didn't project a mental image, he simply spoke to Shinji mentally.

How are they doing this?

I don't know. They've learned. Adam's Children have never been stupid, their intelligence is simply different than ours. Angels don't 'exist' the way me and you do.

Young Shinji scowled.

"Misato." Shinji called into the comm suddenly.

"Yes" his legal guardian answered back.

"Is there any word any Mari yet?" the boy asked. He tried to keep his voice calm, to steady himself, but even he heard the tremble in his voice.

It took a moment for Misato to answer.

"... she's still trapped in the Entry Plug. Ritsuko's trying something but we don't know how to get her out yet." Misato answered truthfully.

Shinji cursed.

"We'll think of something" Asuka called reassuringly into the comm.

"We're doing what we can. Shinji, I know this is hard but you need to focus." Misato said somberly.

Shinji closed his eyes, and memories flashed before his eyes. The memories of his first friend, the girl he'd met in the mental ward and formed a connection with. The girl who had helped him break out of his shell, the person who had always been there for him. His first and only girlfriend, his first... everything.

CRACK

The boy winced and distantly he heard Asuka do the same via the comm. Static was filling the comm channel, he reached up about to fiddle with the comm unit when a voice made him stop.

"Hello," a strained voice called out.

Shinji and Asuka froze, Eva Unit 01 and 02 stopping mid run.

"Hello. Is anyone out there!"

"Mari!" Shinji cried. His heart leaped at the sound of her voice, and he felt himself standing up in his entry plug.

"Shinji" the older girl said weakly.

"My god. Hey, how you doing in there?" Asuka called into the comm.

Shinji felt his hands clench into fists as he heard Mari coughing violently on the other end of the comm, he went into a strange hyperfocus. Every grunt of pain or wince, every labored breath, every pause in Mari's voice he heard as loudly and clearly as if it was being magnified tenfold.

"Ah... could be better. Got stuck in this 'thing'. The Angel bent the entry plug so I can't eject manually, and Nerv already tried remotely." Mari stammered weakly.

The older girl breathed out heavily, obviously in pain, before she continued.

"Ritsuko did something with the computer system and the comm. We can talk and I can see what this Eva sees."

"Mari, I promise you I'm gonna get you out of there. Just hold on" Shinji said into the comm. His emotions dripped into his voice, and he heard himself shaking as he spoke.

"... oh dummy. That's sweet, but I think we have bigger problems right now" Mari answered weakly.

"Are you hurt?" Shinji said pulling the comm closer as if that somehow made a difference.

"Ah! Nothing I can't get over." Mari coughed.

"I'm coming to save you. No matter what happens." Shinji told her firmly.

…

Distantly, Mari smiled softly. Her head bobbed and blood from her forehead dripped down her check and she almost felt tears. Not from the pain but from her boyfriend.

She wiped them away, they both had to be strong right now.

...

"Mari, we'll get you out of there. But for right now, you need to be an extra pair of eyes and ears." Misato called into the comm suddenly.

"I can do that." Mari wheezed.

"Shinji, Asuka, get going," Misato ordered.

Eva Team One continued onward.

---

The Kill Zone

Armaros the Beast Angel stood waiting for them.

Overhead in the distance, a small fleet of JSSDF fighter jets emerged in the sky. The military had come to lend its support in an attempt to slow the other Angels and allow Eva Team One to handle the civilian crisis. The plan was for the JSSDF to take on Arael if they could then divert and provide air support for Eva Team One against the Beast Angels.

Nerv and the JSSDF deployed together in a rare occasion.

...

When they reached the civilians under siege, they found that the lone Beast Angel had stopped its assault on the bunker. The building in question had been nearly ripped free of its protective shell underground and lay exposed to the outside world.

Asuka raised the Heavy Hitter and scowled. She wasn't sure if she could risk firing it with the exposed bunker so close to the target.

Shinji raised his Eva's rife and fired off a warning shot.

Aramaros raised a hand and an AT Field erupted into existence. The bullets hit the shield and did no damage.

BANG

A single shot fired... and struck Unit 01's side.

Shinji was sent reeling from the phantom sensations. Asuka covered him in an instant, she brought an AT Field up and placed herself in front of him.

"What was that?!" Asuka said.

Shinji brought his Eva to stand back to back with Unit 02 and raised an AT Field to cover their flank.

BAMN

Another shot rang out. This time the bullet bounced off Shinji's shield.

"They stole a pair of rifles designed for the Evas!" Misato cursed into the comm.

BANG

BANG

Two shots fired off from the distance. Each bullet struck an AT Field, first Asuka's and then Shinji's. A kill zone, an enemy shooter on both sides.

The Beast Angel in front of them leaped into action, the monster bared its fangs and charged towards them.

…

"How did they get Nerv's Eva rifles?!" Misato whirled.

"They have found the depots where we send them up for the pilots. If they knew what to look for they could rip one open and take the topmost item" Ritsuko answered gravely.

Kaji stared at the display and exchanged a look with Misato. Together they turned to the JSSDF liaison.

"Get that air support. Eva Team One needs all the help they can get." they said.

...

Back in the city

Shinji and Asuka stayed close, each covering the other with their AT Fields.

Watch out for... the Broken Man started before his voice stopped mid-speech.

Young Shinji blinked. He cursed and closed his eyes.

---

When he opened his eyes again he was in the Other Place. The white void that seemed to stretch on endlessly.

The boy turned to the man and gasped.

Old Man Shinji knelt on the grounds of the void, and he grunted in pain clutching at his chest. It was unbelievable to see the Abomination, the man who had killed an Angel with his bare hands, brought low even for a moment. The man with a willpower that had seemed invulnerable when Young Shinji had tried to fight against it. Now... he lay wounded.

"You're hurt?!" the boy cried in astonishment.

"Blowback. I'm under attack." the Broken Man grunted.

Young Shinji reached over to help but the Broken Man rejected him. The Elder shoved the youth back shouting, "you need to focus on your end, boy!"

Next thing Shinji knew, he was forced back into the real world.

---

BANG

More bullets clanged against the AT Fields. From both sides of them, the other two Beast Angels emerged. Each holding a stolen Rifle.

They must have ripped them right out of the deployment centers. Nerv uses them to send us our guns, never imagined an Angel would figure that out. Shinji thought darkly.

The lone Beast from before came charging at them and tackled Asuka. Eva Unit 02 tried to brace, to move or deflect the attacker, but Asuka was too slow.

Unit 02 and the Beast went flying off to the side, and Asuka's AT Field faded as they rolled. They landed with a heavy thud that sent cars and chunks of street up into the air.

Shinji turned after them and was shot from behind by another Beast Angel.

They formed a kill zone! The boy thought. Shinji whirled, sheathing his rifle, and raising his now freed hand to create a second AT Field.

Unit 01 back away, covered by two shields. Bullets clanged against both.

Shinji watched helplessly as Asuka rolled trying to break free of a Beast' grip.

They have to run out of ammo. And I doubt they bothered to steal reloads. Can they reload? Do they know how? He thought.

Shinji cursed and made a decision. He began moving with both his AT Fields raised, heading for the closest target he could reach. If he could take out just one, then the kill zone would be broken and he could help Asuka.

The boy moved with the wisdom of a man, the benefit of the Broken Man's memories bled into his own. The years of experience Old Man Shinji had gotten from the road to Haven, his training with a former JSSDF soldier known as 'Kay', and finally ten years of training with Lilith herself, pieces of it all were his now.

Shinji rushed an awaiting Beast Angel. The monster bared its fangs, as it fired at him. The bullets clanged harmlessly off his AT Field.

His foe raised the rifle like a club and threw it at him.

Shinji batted it away with a gesture, his AT Field barely flickered at all, before he slammed into the Angel. The boy used the Shield like a battering ram and struck the monster with all his strength.

The Beast was sent flying back. More shots fired at Shinji from behind, but with two AT Fields, he was able to cover himself effectively.

Shinji raised a single AT Field and brought it down hard on the Beast he'd hit. The creature tried to get up, to bring up own its Shield, but Shinji was faster. He brought the wall of light down upon the monster's head.

The Beast Angel howled as its faceplate was caved in. The AT Field acted almost as a blade as Shinji cleaved it down further and further. Angel blood dripped down the monsters face, the armor cracked and cut apart. Exposed Angel flesh poked out from the damaged armor, and the core was visible.

Shinji lowered the AT Field he'd used as a battering ram and unsheathed his rifle. Unit 01 brought the gun to the bleeding and downed Beast.

Even now, after the damage to its head, the monsters clawed at him attempting to fight.

Shinji emptied a clip into the exposed flesh. The Angel core shattered and luminous LCL like blood splattered to the ground.

The Beast died still trying to fight him. Hatred visible in what was left its eyes, before it crumpled to the floor beaten.

Shinji, still covering his flank with his other AT Field, turned to Asuka and the others.

…

Asuka struggled against the Beast that had tackled her.

She had been forced to drop the Heavy Hitter, and now fought to regain her footing and stand against the Angel that bore down upon her

The creature sunk its fangs into her shoulder and Asuka hissed. She felt the teeth digging into her flesh via the phantom sensations.

Pain is a part of life Asuka thought.

She let the Beast bite her deeper, letting herself be pulled by the monster, and brought a fist to its face. The Angel stumbled but refused to let go, so Asuka punched it again and again.

That was all it took, the Beast released its grip on her, and Asuka whirled. She elbowed the Angel in the chest and shoved it back, getting to her Eva to its feet.

I killed one of you already! Want to die again?! Asuka thought bitterly. She went for the Beast, ready to take this thing out with her bare hands if need be.

Shots fired nearby and Asuka shouted as her back was struck three times. The bullets dented her Eva's heavy armor and one pierced through into the flesh underneath.

Asuka wobbled uneasily. She wasn't used to being 'shot'.

"Stop cheating!" Asuka shouted. Unit 02 raised another AT Field to cover her back.

The Beast that had pinned her leaped at her again but was stopped in mid-air.

Shinji had arrived, his Eva caught the jumping Beast by the foot and whirled it around. Unit 01 tossed the Beast wide where it landed with a heavy thud.

Asuka knelt as Shinji brought his AT Field next to hers for cover.

"You okay?" he asked via the comm.

"No. I was just shot at" Asuka hissed.

The German girl calmed herself and breathed in deeply.

"Thanks... for the save" Asuka muttered softly.

Shinji looked at her through his display.

"We made a promise." the boy said.

"Yeah" Asuka admitted.

The two of them exchanged glances through the Eva's displays. This was bad, the enemy had known to form a kill zone and get them trapped in it. Though Shinji had taken one of them out, the precedent the tactic set was terrifying and they knew it.

"Shinji! I'm on the move! This thing is coming for you!" Mari's voice called into the comm suddenly.

---

Bardiel

The infected Evangelion Unit broke its vigil and started to move.

Up in the sky, Arael did the same.

The two Angels moved in unison, both heading for the kill zone created by the Beast Angels.

Arael swerved through the air as the JSSDF sent a small fleet of aircraft on its way. The military had no hope of destroying the winged monster, but they planned to slow it down for Eva Team One.

The military pilots engaged the enemy.

Miniaturized N2 missiles flew through the air, and a hail of gunfire rattled the skyline.

Arael dodged, swerving through the sky as the shots went wide. Then the Angel dove forward and the military spread their formation, the pilots desperately trying to swerve as Arael rammed itself into the aircraft.

BOOM

Dozens of planes exploded as Arael cut through them like butter, the Angel flesh was stronger than any metal the JSSDF had. Arael turned mid-air without losing any speed in a physics-defying stunt and struck again, using its own body to cut through the military formation.

One pilot, a brave soul, flew in closer and fired off a standard missile. The missile struck true and when the explosion went off Arael flinched back momentarily wounded.

Before the pilot could celebrate, a foreign object collided with his fighter jet and cleaved it too. The jet exploded in a shower of shrapnel just as the Angel below retracted an elongated arm.

Bardiel had stepped in.

With strange mutated Eva flesh Bardiel stretched its host's limbs and weaponized them. The gathered pilots changed their targets and launched a hail of gunfire at the infected Evangelion.

Bardiel opened its arm wide as if welcoming the attack. And deep within where the entry plug lay trapped, Mari screamed.

…

"Ahhh!" the imprisoned Eva pilot cried. The phantom sensations went into overdrive, and the girl curled into a ball at the feeling of bullets slamming into her torso.

Mari bit her tongue in agony and hissed.

…

Seeing that their standard issue gunfire did little damage to the infected Eva Unit, the JSSDF broke formation and scattered. Only for Bardiel to strike again, moving its limbs like whips of flesh that sharpened into jagged edges upon impact. Fighter jet after jet exploded as the formation was further decimated.

Arael recovered, and joined in to cut through any fighter that stood in their way.

More than half of the formation was destroyed and the process took less than 2 minutes.

The Angels met each other's gaze and communicated in their language. An exchange of information at the speed of thought, no verbal sounds needed.

Bardiel went on ahead. Arael stayed behind momentarily to handle the rest, the Eva Units would not be receiving any of this so-called 'air support'.

The infected Evangelion twisted and contorted, moving on all fours in some nightmarish hybrid of man and cheetah. Bardiel ran with an incredible speed that surpassed even with the Eva Units were capable of on foot.

---

Back with Eva Team One

Shinji covered Asuka and her Eva, together they got to their feet.

"Mari! Where are you? Are you hurt?!" Shinji shouted into the comm.

Hey! Old Man! I could really use some help here! He thought frantically.

No response came. Wherever the Broken Man was, whatever he was doing, the man was preoccupied.

"Damn it" Shinji muttered under his breath.

"Don't worry about me! Worry about yourselves! This fucking thing is on the move!" Mari shouted through hisses of pain. Even through the comm unit, Shinji could tell she was in bad shape.

The boy felt his hands clench into fists again.

How can I not worry about you? You're my... my everything he thought.

"Shinji. Asuka. The Angel reactivated the host Eva's phantom sensations. Any damage it takes... Mari feels too" Misato said gravely into the comm.

Shinji lowered his eyes. He already knew. He'd known the moment he had been debriefed about her status as a prisoner.

"... How the hell do we fight it then?!" Asuka cursed.

"Try to disable its limbs or else... or else wound it quickly," Misato said struggling to come up with an answer.

Nearby, the two remaining Beast Angels circled them. One armed with a stolen rifle, the other baring its fangs.

Asuka scrambled forward with Shinji covering her, and she scooped up the fallen Heavy Hitter.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD

The sound of thunderous footsteps in quick succession erupted onto the battleground.

Bardiel had arrived. The Angel moved with unnatural speed on all fours limbs and came to a stop just as it reached them.

The three Angels cornered Eva Team One, forcing them back and back up against a series of defensive pillars. The structures had been meant to provide the pilots cover, instead, they were being used to back them into a dead end.

Asuka breathed harshly, and Shinji brought up another AT Field to cover them completely.

Bardiel rose to a two-legged stance once again and walked forward with its arm held wide. The Angel flexed its host's mouth and smiled at them.

What once had been a weapon of the Lilin had been turned against them. Lightly armored, the Evangelion still possessed an incredible ability to take damage as well as Angel enhanced flexibility and speed to create a terrifyingly versatile enemy.

COME AND FIGHT ME – Bardiel seemed to say. The Angel welcomed them to fire, spreading its arms higher and walking at an almost comical pace.

To Shinji's horror, Asuka raised the Heavy Hitter and aimed at the infected Evangelion.

He could hear her labored breathing as Asuka struggled internally with the implications of what hitting Bardiel would mean. He could imagine Asuka's lip trembling and her fingers frozen over the trigger.

"Asuka" Shinji whimpered.

The German girl lowered the gun. The three Angels continued to circle them.

Bardiel smiled again, warped mouth twisting to mock them further.

Mari's voice emerged on the comm again.

"What are you morons doing?! Fight back!"

"No... no... not you... I can't" Shinji whimpered. Tears fell from the boy's eyes as the Angels grew closer.

He held both AT Fields up to cover him and Asuka, and time slowed for him. Images of Mari flashed by his mind, of their childhood, of their first date, of her hand in his, her holding him after his nightmares, of her and him... together in bed sleeping softly.

Bardiel lurched forward and raised a hand. The limb stretched to absurd lengths and shot forth cracking like a whip, the flesh sharpened into an edge moments before it struck one of Shinji's AT Field.

BANG

BANG

A Beast fired two rounds at Shinji's other shield.

"Shinji." Mari's voice called.

He couldn't look up.

"Shinji" his girlfriend pleaded.

The boy wept. Not even caring as his tears filled the comm channels. Not caring that Asuka could hear him and that the Angels were closing in on them.

Is this what my Other felt? To hurt the ones you love? To fail in everything you ever did? Young Shinji pondered.

"I can't." he hiccuped.

"You can" Mari countered through her labored breathing.

Shinji gritted his teeth, his hands trembled and tightened so much that his knuckles turned white.

THUD

THUD

THUD

Bardiel came for them in the front, to the sides the Beast Angels came, and to their back lay a wall.

Where is the JSSDF support?! They were supposed to help! If... if they had slowed one of them down I could have- I could... gah! Young Shinji thought.

"It'll be okay." Mari whispered to him sweetly.

He could imagine her sitting beside him, just like she had when they were two kids trapped in a mental ward.

"Don't be scared." Mari told him. He could hear her crying on the other side.

"Please, dummy. If you don't fight... then the Angel will kill you. You have to fight" Mari pleaded with him.

Then before he could protest... Mari deactivated her comm unit. The silence was bitter and cold.

Shinji looked up with hollow empty eyes, he felt dead inside as Bardiel approached with the Beast Angels.

Before Shinji could choose, Asuka chose for him. With an agonizing, frustrating, angry shout, Asuka stepped out from the cover Unit 01 gave them.

Asuka raised the Heavy Hitter, turned away from Bardiel and fired the N2 missile at the unarmed Beast coming from the left.

The missile flew through the air and hit its target.

BOOM

Shock-waves erupted in the area, windows shattered across buildings, and smoke pooled outward as a ball of fire materialized where the Beast Angel had been struck. With the power of a low grade nuclear aged atomic bomb, the Beast in question was sent flying back burned and heavily damaged.

CLANG

CRACK

THUD

The Beast hit a defensive pillar, cracked the surface and formed a crater before falling to the floor with a heavy thud.

Without wasting a second, Asuka whirled and threw the Heavy Hitter with all her strength. The Eva sized gun struck the other Beast Angel just as it raised the stolen rifle. The monsters stumbled and dropped the rifle, Asuka pulled up her Eva's pistol and fired three quick rounds.

BANG

BANG

BANG

All three shots struck the Beast in the head and sent it reeling and half blind. Asuka Langley Sohryu, the greatest of the Eva Pilots.

The German girl whirled to Bardiel handgun raised. But even the child prodigy wasn't fast enough, Bardiel moved first.

The infected Eva cracked its deformed arm out, reaching outward to slice the head off of Unit 02. Shinji moved in between them AT Field raised.

CLANG

Shinji covered Asuka for the third time.

Bardiel retracted his arm and Asuka whirled back to the Beast. The German girl fired another two rounds, each striking the monster.

Shinji stepped back as Bardiel came forward.

The infected Eva grew taller, its legs stretching themselves with each step until it had gained a third of its length in size. It stood a head taller than Eva Team One, Bardiel launched forward using its contorted limbs to yank itself across the distance.

Bardiel landed atop them even as Shinji tried to cover them with his Shield. The Angel stood atop the Eva's AT Field. Shinji tried to throw the infected Eva off his Shield, but before he could he felt something wrap around his Eva's wrists.

Shinji gasped.

Bardiel had wrapped his whip-like arms around Unit 01's wrists, and with a single tug broke them in a sickening snap.

CRUNCH

"Ah!" Shinji cried.

His arms slackened and his AT Fields disappeared. Asuka tried to cover him, to help in any way, but Bardiel lurched himself forward heading butting Eva Unit 02.

Asuka stumbled back winded.

Bardiel brought Eva Unit 01 to the ground, its feet on the Eva's chest. The Angel brought a hand up and moved to cut off 01's head.

Asuka fired her handgun blindly and struck Bardiel across his chest.

Bardiel redirected his attack and struck Asuka's Eva through the shoulder. The Angel lifted Unit 02 impaled by its wound and made to strike at the neck. The Angel knew where the 'human' Asuka was inside the Entry Plug.

Shinji heard Asuka's gasp of surprise as she realized what was happening. This was her death. Bardiel planned to cut through the Eva's neck and cleave through the entry plug itself...

Mari... forgive me. Please... I'm so sorry...

Shinji let out a bloodcurdling scream and stabbed his prog knife in Bardiel's leg. The Angel stumbled, surprised at the injury.

Eva Unit 01 rose from the ground, shoving Bardiel off his chest, and sucker punched the Angel across the face.

Bardiel released Asuka and Unit 02, teeth flew from the infected Eva's mouth.

Before it could recover, Shinji moved going on the assault. He tackled Bardiel and together Angel and Eva slid across the pavement.

Whip-like arms struck his side but Shinji only grunted as he was stabbed. Warning messages flashed across his display but they weren't important. His Eva's wrists were broken but he moved them through sheer force of will.

Shinji wrapped the Eva's arms around Bardiel neck, and through the massive machine, his fingers touched the twisted and bent entry plug.

Bardiel tried to escape but Shinji pulled him back down with all his weight. Bardiel grew frantic in Shinji's hold, the creature twisted and turned fighting to break free. The boy refused to let go even as he was stabbed in his sides. The pair of titans and their dance crushed cars and left cracks along the grounds of the city.

Unit 01's fingers struggled against the barrier Bardiel had created between the entry plug and the rest of its body. But Shinji felt it... Mari. Just behind this pile of flesh and steel was Mari and by any god or divine power, by anything he believed in, he would break her out! Even if it meant ripping the entry plug by force.

Something yanked Bardiel's arm out of his side, and he glanced at the display to see that Asuka had joined him.

Unit 02 joined its partner. Asuka pulled on Bardiel's distorted limbs, freeing Shinji and letting the boy focus on his work.

Bardiel struggled against the both of them. The flesh tore and the metal began to part, the tip of the entry plug was exposed and open to the world.

Almost there! Shinji thought.

Then Shinji's world turned upside down and his fingers lost their grip on Bardiel... as the two remaining Beast Angels returned. The burned one, badly injured by the Heavy Hitter, slammed into Asuka and yanked her back prying her off of them.

The half-blind Beast tackled Shinji and his Eva before sinking its fangs deep into Unit 01's neck. Bardiel broke free of his grasp and pulled away

Asuka yelled as the power cable was ripped from her Eva Unit. The burned Beast tore it off with a snap. Weakly, the Beast tried to bare what remained of its fangs but it stumbled.

Unit 02 rose trying to finish this job before the internal power ran out, but Bardiel was quicker.

STAB

Bardiel pierced Asuka's Eva in the chest, pinning her to the ground with his whip/spear of a deformed arm.

Shinji tried to fight but Bardiel and the remaining Beast pinned him together. The boy yelled as both Angels brought their weight upon him.

The burnt Beast stumbled away from Asuka and her Eva, joining the others and adding its weight to hold down Unit 01.

Too many Angels! Too many for us to fight! I almost had it! Shinji thought frantically.

Unit 01's armor began to crack, the combined weight of three titans bore down on the plate armor. He felt his world ending, he had failed. He was just a boy beaten down by the monsters at the gate.

No! It's not over! Not yet! the boy thought.

Shinji gritted his teeth, and from within the entry plug, he raised his hands as if in prayer. He reached into the abilities that the Broken Man had shared with him. He accessed the power of the First Angel.

The boy's contact lens fell to the floor as he rose. Deep red eyes revealed, Young Shinji felt the power at his fingertips. A taste of what it felt to be Old Man Shinji.

Eva Unit 01 rose against the weight of all three Angels upon it. The monsters clung to him, forcing him down but the titan that was Unit 01 stood against their vigil. Bardiel whimpered, and the two Beast yelped as the Abomination that was Shinji Ikari got an arm free.

Energy gathered around 01's hand, and AT force erupted into existence. Not a shield, but a blade that shimmered with white light. Adam's power formed into the AT Blade.

Shinji brought the AT Blade up, his strength enough to overcome those who would stop him. First, he decapitated the burned Beast, cutting through its entire body and slicing the Angel core in two.

Next, he whirled and the last surviving Beast slammed a fist into his Eva's faceplate. The blow had no effect, and the monster felt fear for the first and last time. Shinji beheaded the half-blind Beast, its head landed with an anticlimactic thud.

Lastly, Shinji turned to Bardiel.

The Angel in question leaped back, trying to escape the moment Unit 01 had stood.

A protective AT Field emerged between them and Bardiel tried to retract the arm that was pinning Asuka down.

SLICE

Shinji cut that arm off, Asuka was freed but nearly powerless. The blade didn't stop, Shinji brought it forward continuing the slash he'd started. Bardiel raised his Shield and winced as the AT Blade collided with it.

Sparks flew between the AT Field and Blade, and Bardiel cowered before the boy.

BANG

Bardiel's AT Field shattered like glass and the Angel was forced back as the Blade grazed his torso. That single hit cut completely through the infected Eva's plate armor, the enhanced protrusions that acted as a second layer of defense, and the original Eva's skin leaving a deep gash in the titan.

Shinji and Bardiel both stumbled back winded. The Angel struggled to stand, having lost an arm and suffered a deep wound to the chest.

The AT Blade flickered in and out of existence. Shinji struggled to keep it materialized, using this power was incredibly difficult. Yet... it called to him. Wielding it was to have the fire of a star running through his veins. It was addictive, he wanted more of it!

His wounds were nothing to him. In this state he was unstoppable, invincible, the world would bend to his will. There was nothing he could not do.

No... that wasn't right.

Shinji let the power of the First Angel fade. His nose was bleeding again and his head throbbed like mad. This power was too hard to maintain, even with the Broken Man's help he could only handle it in short bursts. And holding it even for a moment scared him.

Asuka lay there in awe of what happened. A weapon that destroyed everything in its path.

Shinji brought the Eva into a boxer's stance panting heavily. He wheezed but continued forward as Bardiel backed away in fright.

"Shinji... above you" Asuka called into the comm weakly.

Shinji froze, and when he looked up his red eyes widened in shock.

Arael had arrived. The luminous Angel with telepathic abilities loomed over the scene, and Bardiel nodded.

"No!" Shinji shouted just as he and Asuka were struck by the unseen force.

Arael took both their minds and twisted them.

---

The Broken Man

Old Man Shinji was pulled deeper into the Other Place. He flew through the void, dragged along by a single well-defined thread along the Angel network.

"ABOMINATION." a deep voice called.

The Broken Man gritted his teeth and fought back, he stopped himself mid-flight and tugged back.

Adam was on the other end. The First Angel used the Broken Man's own trick against him. Tugging on the mark between them, tugging on their connection. The network that bonded all things Angel went haywire, it fired back and rejected both of them.

Both Adam and Old Man Shinji grunted in pain. Their cells burned like they were on fire, their bones ached, their brains throbbed, and yet both stood. Neither backed down. A near God-like being vs an Abomination.

Old Man Shinji grunted. Although he had been pulled 'away', the Broken Man was aware of what was happening in the Real World. He knew that Young Shinji was in trouble and that he needed to end this fast.

What the Eva pilots on the outside didn't know, was that Adam was behind all of this.

The First Angel had launched a mental attack of his own against Old Man Shinji. Adam had abused the blowback effect to weaken the Broken Man before striking at his mind from a distance. It was a truly bizarre thing to experience and one that he had not expected. The attack had been planned, built up by the Angels and the ever recovering Adam.

Their minds battled across the void, the Giant of Light in his weakened state raging against the Abomination from another timeline. It was not physical combat, it was a battle of wills.

Old Man Shinji breathed in the pain, and let himself swim in it. Adam had never known true struggle, had never faced a foe that could destroy him with a thought, the First Angel had always been the most powerful thing in any fight. The Original Shinji had been fighting uphill for most, if not all, of his entire life.

To the Broken Man, pain was an old friend. This mental attack was something he'd thrown off once before and so he did it again.

Adam roared and the Broken Man launched his own assault. The First Angel backed down, unable to hold out against their battle and the blowback effect.

"NO MORE!" the Broken Man said as his mind fought the Angel's.

Adam's mind was thrown back. Old Man Shinji tugged on the thread, the mark he had planted on the First Angel so long ago, and the blowback grew even worse. The network rejected them, burning them alive from the inside.

He was brought to his knees, but so too was Adam.

The First Angel howled in agony. In terms of raw power, Adam may have even been stronger than him, but the Broken Man had a much higher pain tolerance. For it is not always the strongest whom wins, but the one who can endure the most.

When he was satisfied that Adam was once again too weak to pose a threat, the Broken Man broke off the assault. He released the thread that connected them, and he grunted harshly as the burning faded.

The Broken Man turned back from within the void and returned to the boy. He had lost so much time in this pointless struggle, he only hoped he wasn't too late.

…

---

The Nightmare

Young Shinji lost all sense of time and purpose. His memory was scattered and a haze of emotions without context.

He was back in the mental ward. White, they always dressed in white. The ward staff milled about ignoring him as usual.

Dr. Page appeared beside him.

"So sorry, Shinji. Things are worse than we feared. Time to come back." Page told him.

"No" Shinji whimpered. He was a little boy again, small and afraid of a cold indifferent world.

Page smiled that infamous fake smile of hers.

"I don't want to go." the lonely little boy croaked.

The ward staff grabbed him by the arms and hauled him along kicking and screaming.

"No!" Shinji cried.

"Take your pills, Shinji" Dr. Page called in a falsely sweet tone.

"They're not medicine! They're poison! You can't make me-" the boy cried.

His mouth was pulled open by the ward staff, and red pills were shoved down his throat. He tried to fight it but the men in white forced his mouth shut. He swallowed the pills.

Mari was watching his struggle from the table they used to sit at.

He cried out to the little girl with long hair. She met his gaze and turned away from him. Then she stood up and left the ward without him, not so much as a goodbye.

"Mari!" he cried as he was dragged away.

...

They locked him in his room. He waited there for what seemed like days... until Page and a series of nurses entered. They strapped him to a table and drew blood from him.

Dr. Page and the medical team poked and prodded him, taking samples and making him take test after test. They ignored his protests and shoved him into the MRI machine again and again.

They made him draw for them no matter how much pain it caused him.

Then they strapped him to a bed again and left him in the white room.

Shinji cried and cried, struggling against the restraints. No one came. No one visited. No one cared.

"Mom!" the boy wept.

Yui Ikari emerged, materializing into the room to watch over him.

Weakly he looked up at her. "Please... don't leave me. Get me out of here" he begged.

The lonely little boy begged his mother to help him. To be there for him.

Yui tilted her head at him.

"No, Shinji. I have better things to do." his mother told him with a smile on her face. Her face took on a zealous glimmer and the shadow of an Evangelion emerged behind her.

"Mom..." the boy whimpered.

"It's all about the Eva, Shinji. My dream, and without it... why did I ever need you at all?" Yui said.

Gendo materialized beside her. Tall and stern, eyes hidden behind tinted glasses. His parents loomed over him on the bed, neither willing or caring enough to help. Yui smiled falsely at him, artificial and manufactured, a loving facade put on for her own ends. Gendo regarded him as a tool and nothing more.

Shinji tossed and turned, trying to break the restraints.

"We never loved you. And why should we?" his mother told him.

"Who could ever love a boy like you?" his father asked simply.

They left him there... alone in the white room strapped to a bed.

Rejected by Gendo and abandoned by Yui.

Shinji wept, body filled with thick heavy shudders. He lay there for what seemed like hours, and then the walls began to crumble. The white room faded and he sank deeper and deeper into a black void.

A litany of faces passed him by, faces of the dead. Misato, Rei, Asuka, Mari, Ritsuko... everyone he had ever cared about all turning to ash.

He landed somewhere else, a cold pavement on grounds wet with rain. When Shinji rose he found he was wearing a straight jacket, imprisoned even here.

I know this road he thought bitterly.

The ruins of an abandoned bridge loomed over him and the street. Above, the stars were gone leaving behind only a dark cold sky.

"This is where 'he' died" Shinji shuddered. He fell to his knees.

This was the grave of Shinji Ikari.

All roads lead here, didn't they? His fate, inescapable. Ever-present. He knelt there in the dark, aimless and lost until it happened.

The sky flashed and suddenly the darkness cleared as if ripped in half. A white void replaced the night sky, seeping into and bleeding into the nightmare world.

A figure dropped down from the void and landed with a soft thud beside Young Shinji.

The Broken Man grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him up.

"Get up, boy"

Young Shinji looked up at the old man in ragged clothes, his eyes hollow and empty, lost to the world and all around him. The boy had given into despair.

The Broken Man grabbed the straight jacket by the collar and ripped it in two, where the fabric turned to dust and vanished. Shinji stumbled as he was freed.

"You're not insane, Shinji. And this..."

The Broken Man gestured to the nightmarish world around them. To the recreation of his own grave on the empty road.

"This is my fate. My death. It doesn't have to be yours" the Elder comforted the Younger.

Shinji whimpered and nodded struggling to even stand. The Broken Man held him not unkindly, letting the boy breathe and recover.

"I... where were you?" the boy whimpered. His voice hiccuped as he spoke. Shinji's knees buckled and the Broken Man held him tighter to stop his fall.

"It's a long story. I was fighting Adam. But I'm here now, and the others need our help." Old Man Shinji said softly.

"I... I can't... this... this cold- I" Young Shinji stammered. He had trouble talking, this thing that ripped his mind apart and tugged at his worst nightmares took its toll.

"I know it's hard, boy. I've gone through this before. But I need your help. The trick to beating this is not to run away. If you cower you let it win, you let it break you. You have to face it. Swim in this pain because it's part of you. Fight back."

Young Shinji nodded slowly and breathed.

The Broken Man let him go.

Already, the nightmare world was threatening to regain its hold over them. Arael's twisted reality was fighting to take control and repair the damage the Broken Man had done.

"Together," the Broken Man said. He reached out his hand, and Shinji took it.

The Shinji(s) closed their eyes and focused, the youth guided by the elder, and together they broke the nightmare apart. Arael's reality came crashing down around them and the Angel roared in frustration.

---

The Real World

Young Shinji sat up inside his Entry Plug. He whirled and Unit 01 moved with him.

The Eva grabbed a rifle off the ground, previously dropped, and turned the gun to the Angel in the sky.

Shinji fired.

The bullets struck Arael mid-air and the Angel screeched. The winged creature flew back and dove for cover behind a series of buildings.

Shinji got the Eva to its feet and hurriedly span around aiming for Bardiel. He turned and turned but the infected Eva was nowhere to be found.

Bardiel is gone. He left the moment Arael got inside your mind.

Why? I thought this was about me again?

No. This was Adam. He laid out the foundation and his children did the rest. They're going to him right now.

So all of this... what was the point of this trap?

To incapacitate 'us'. We are a threat unlike anything the Angels have ever seen. And we fell for it.

"Asuka!" Shinji said aloud. He turned to see Eva Unit 02 on its back, the remains of Bardiel's arm still impaled in its chest, and motionless without its power cable.

He hurried over, glancing behind for any sign of Arael. He grabbed Bardiel's arm and yanked it out, dried Angel blood splattered to the ground, and he tossed it aside. He hauled Unit 02 up and reinserted the power cable.

"Asuka. Asuka, can you hear me?" Shinji called into the comm.

He cradled her Eva in his arms but there was no response.

She was hit by the nightmare too. It ended when you shot Arael, but she didn't have me to help her through it.

Will she live?

Yes, but she's going to need our help. A lot of it. This will break her... I had hoped that I... that 'we' could have saved her from this fate. We failed.

I failed

No, this one is on me. Not you.

"... Shin... ji..."

Asuka's weak voice sounded on the comm. The girl was crying, barely able to speak, and he heard her hiccuping as she tried to continue.

"Stay down, Asuka. You need to take it slow."

She didn't respond.

Arael is coming back.

Shinji whirled and aimed the rifle one-handed, and when the winged monster reemerged he fired again and struck the Angel in the torso.

Arael dived and retreated back behind the cover of the buildings. Blood dripped down from the sky where the creature had been hit.

Shinji lowered Asuka and Unit 02 back to the ground.

Together, the Shinji(s) raised Unit 01's hand.

...

Deep within the Other Place, the Broken Man's body shimmered with the white light. The glow of Adam's might.

…

When Arael emerged for another assault, another attempt to break into their minds, they were ready for him.

An unseen pulse shot outward and struck Arael. The luminous winged enemy faltered in mid-air and was sent spiraling down unable to balance itself.

It landed with a heavy crash in the distance.

What did you do to him?

Gave him a taste of his own medicine.

… Good. Shinji thought bitterly.

"Shinji! Shinji!" Misato's voice called on the comm suddenly.

"Misato. I'm here"

"What happened?! You and Asuka went silent for minutes?! We thought... we-" Misato stammered frantically.

She thought we were dead. Minutes? How long were we in the nightmare?

The attack messes with your mind. It's not coherent. Your perception of time is changed.

"I'm alright but Asuka needs a recovery team," Shinji called back.

"We're on it. Shinji, we need you. The infected Eva is heading toward Nerv HQ." Misato said.

Shinji cursed and looked around the ruined city block where he stood. The corpses of the Beast Angels littered the grounds, hulking masses of faded grey, and Asuka lay recovering in her powerless Eva. He didn't want to leave her here, but he couldn't take her with him.

Will Arael come after Asuka again?

No. I bought us time but all of this is for Adam. They want to free him, that's the only thing that matters to them. Get going.

"Send me the coordinates. And launch a resupply for me I'm out of bullets." Shinji said into the comm.

He put a comforting hand on Asuka's Eva, wishing he could do more and went on without her. He hoped she would be okay.

Misato briefed him as he ran.

---

Nerv

Misato and Ritsuko had been evacuated along with the entire base. The two women worked from a temporary field base that had set up miles away from the Geofront where it was safe.

The JSSDF was holding a defensive perimeter around them. They had learned their lesson about trying to get too close to an Angel, even in large formations and kill zones, and so they fired artillery shells and rockets from a distance.

The military tried to slow Bardiel's advance until they could think of something. Commander Gendo Ikari seemed to have a plan but would not provide details. The man had ordered the complete evacuation of the headquarters save for himself and his sub-commander.

…

"Is she here?" Gendo asked plainly. If he was afraid, the man didn't show it.

"Rei arrived 2 minutes ago. I didn't have time to get her a plugsuit, but she's ready." Kozo Fuyutsuki answered.

"Good." Gendo said.

The leaders of Nerv stood in the empty command center. Gendo used his master override and set the stage he wanted.

He opened the walls of the base and retracted the launch pads. He removed the seals in-place on the grounds of the hangar and revealed the lower levels of the base. The classified and closed off sections of Nerv.

At the lowest level lay Lilith herself, the second Angel. One level above that was their secret labs hidden from even SEELE. Gendo laid it all open up to the third level. Two layers of protection for Lilith. Two levels of the complex still completely hidden.

"You may go now" Gendo said.

Fuyutsuki gave him a curious glance. Eva Team One had failed, and the Angel known as Bardiel was on its way. He glanced at the still active display screen and gulped at the sight.

The wounded Bardiel, missing an arm, and with a deep gash in its chest, was running towards the base at a terrifying speed. The Angel contorted and disfigured its own limbs to propel itself faster.

"Are you sure that's wise? Your plan is... incredibly dangerous." Fuyutsuki said.

"Do you think I fear death?" Gendo said with a bemused tilted of his head.

Fuyutsuki considered that but kept his answer silent.

"Go. I will handle it from here." Gendo repeated.

"A moment ago I received word that Shinji has reentered the battle. Unit 01 is active and is coming to help. Perhaps-"

"It won't be enough. He's too far and Arael will slow him down." Gendo said dismissively.

Fuyutsuki frowned but admitted defeat. "Very well, good luck... sir."

Gendo didn't watch him leave. Instead, the cold man turned his own way and took the elevator down into the deeper levels of the complex.

---

The city

Shinji and Unit 01 ran as fast as they could. His Eva had suffered damage but the machine was already repairing itself in ways the other Units could not.

He could actually see Bardiel running up ahead in the far distance. The JSSDF were firing artillery shells and rockets to slow him down, but they had little to no effect.

Shinji raised his rifle and aimed using the enhanced vision of his new eyes. He fired a burst of rounds... and hit Bardiel in the legs.

The Angel faltered but quickly recovered, barely slowing at all.

It's getting hard to keep pace with him let alone catch up Shinji thought flustered.

He gritted his teeth and kept running.

"Mari." Shinji whispered darkly.

We have a problem. Arael is back.

Shinji glanced at his display and saw it. The luminous winged Angel was soaring above them again, it wobbled noticeably weakened but not defeated.

Unit 01 twisted around and fired a burst of rounds into the sky.

Arael dodged it and dived bomb, getting closer and closer, its telepathic powers reaching out.

Can he do his trick again? Shinji asked his Other nervously

Not while I'm here. No.

Arael tried it, and Shinji felt it. He felt the unseen pulse reaching into his mind and winced as the probe or whatever it was bounced back. Deflected. So long as the Broken Man was with him, Arael could not get inside his mind.

The Angel visibly grew angry, flying with a ferocity rarely seen in the strange creatures, and dived bombed them.

Shinji fired into the Angel, scoring hits, as Arael slammed into his Eva. Together they slid across the city pavement, cars trampled in their wake. The Angel flew trying to push him back and back, it wasn't even trying to kill him anymore. Only keep him away from Bardiel.

Shinji dropped the rifle again and cursed. He let it go and brought his fist into Arael's face.

The Angel left him, soaring up into the air before he could grab it again.

How can I put this thing down for good?

Hmm. Get us close. Put the Eva's hand on his face and I'll handle the rest

Shinji picked up the rifle and considered that. Bardiel was so far away and getting further with each passing second. He needed to finish this fast.

Arael maneuvered backward and forward, circling overhead and daring Shinji to fire at him. It wanted him to waste his ammo. With its telepathy rendered useless by the Broken Man, the Angel could only stall Shinji.

So Shinji ignored the Angel above him and kept after Bardiel. The Angel soared after him from above, furious in its approach.

Eva Unit 01 fired shot after shot and they struck Arael. The Angel flinched but took the shots as it dived again.

Shinji stopped in his tracks and instead of fighting the attack, he went into it. The Eva leaped into the air with all its considerable strength behind the jump.

Arael tried to move out of the way but Shinji was faster. Unit 01 slammed into Arael mid-air and Shinji grabbed the Angel by its wings. Together, two titans tumbled to the earth and sent a shower of dirt and pulverized pavement into the air.

The Angel tried to escape his grasp but Shinji held on. It batted its wings against him and brought its beak like face to his chest trying to cut away at him.

"Ack!" Shinji grunted.

He tackled the Angel and brought into the wall of a defensive pillar. The wall cracked as the two of them collided with it. Then Shinji pinned its face to the remains of the pillar, he put all his Eva's weight behind the move.

Arael struggled and struggled, but in this 'smaller' form than its original one, it simply didn't have the strength to escape the Eva's grasp.

A voice rang through their minds, Young Shinji and the Angel, a powerful stern cold proclamation that shook the monster to its core.

"I can see your soul, Arael." The Broken Man said harshly.

…

The Other Place
Where souls had physical form.

The Shinji(s) stood in the white void... along with Arael.

The Angel in question panicked, visibly stunned by its appearance here in the void. It stood as tall as it had in the real world, its soul laid bare.

"This is too much for you. Stay back, boy."

Young Shinji did as asked even as Arael roared. The soul of the Angel came for them, an enormous and towering figure even here.

The Broken Man moved unblinkingly to meet their foe from within the white void.

Soul combat.

Old Man Shinji's skin lit up. Pure white light flashed from underneath his skin. His veins flickered with the power of the First Angel, a shining light that illuminated his skeleton and exposed fractured and dented bones, scars upon scars revealed.

The outline of a Giant of Light materialized and loomed over the Broken Man, encasing him in an armor of an Angel the size of an Evangelion.

The soul of Arael came charging forward but faltered before the power in front of it.

The Broken Man moved and the outline of the Giant moved with him, a twisted recreation of Adam driven by the will of the Original Shinji. The Giant of Light struck the soul of Arael and the Angel was sent hurling back. Its soul flickered in and out of existence from the hit.

Arael tried to recover but the Broken Man was faster. The materialized Giant of Light grabbed ahold of Arael's soul in a death grip and held him close.

The Broken Man stepped forward and plunged his hands directly inside the living soul of the Angel.

Arael panicked, its soul desperately trying to escape. The monstrous bird-like creature thrashed violently to break free of the recreated Giant's grasp, but to no avail.

"Twice now, you've hurt my sister. This is for her." The Broken Man said.

Old Man Shinji ripped Arael's soul apart with his bare hands. In a flood of light, the Angel's soul fell apart. The figure came undone in a wave of broken pieces that scattered like ashes in the wind. Death from within the Other Place.

The true death, the death of the body, mind, and soul.

…

The Real World

Arael's body crumpled and died.

Young Shinji let the corpse fall from his grasp.

"Misato, the air based Angel is down. I'm heading back to base," Shinji reported into the comm.

Just hold on Mari... the boy thought desperately.

Eva Unit 01 left the corpse behind and continued running for Nerv HQ.

---

Nerv

Bardiel reached the human base of operations with no resistance. The Angel found the Geofront unprotected and its walls lowered.

The infected Evangelion reached the launchpads for the Eva pilots and dropped down one ready for anything.

THUD

Bardiel was surprised to find no defenses of any kind. Zeruel had breached this base before, surely they would have prepared for something similar.

It didn't matter.

The other launchpads and been retracted, revealing levels of Nerv below and deep into the ground.

Bardiel reached out into the Angel network and felt the pull of his father down there. A lay line of power that radiated off of Adam.

The Angel leaped down without hesitation. The fall took minutes.

Bardiel landed in a strange chamber big enough even for an Evangelion to maneuver in. The rooms had ceilings tall enough for him to stand at full height with space to spare.

The Angel continued onward, searching for his father. Part of Bardiel was concerned that his missing arm and gash in his chest had never healed. Whatever the Abomination had done to him, it seemed permanent.

Bardiel grew closer and closer, moving through narrow hallways until something called out to him in the dark.

Child... I hear you.

Bardiel paused. The Angel tilted its head.

LILITH? Bardiel questioned through the Angel language. A speech that worked via the network that connected all their kind in a series of channels. It was completely non-vocal, transference of pure thought.

You know my name. What is yours?

Bardiel reached out and felt the Second Angel even deeper below them. Adam was of greater importance.

The infected Evangelion moved forward ignoring the call of its elder and searching for its father.

Bardiel. Your name is Bardiel. - Lilith spoke.

The Angel in question froze again.

IGNORE HER. - Adam called via the Angel network.

Bardiel rose. After so long the call of its father pleased it.

Why do you act this way? Lilith called to him.

Bardiel ignored the call of Lilith.

What you are doing is wrong. Lilith told him.

Bardiel kept onward. If Adam required her, then he could find her as well, but for now, it was irrelevant.

My parents would be ashamed of you.

Lilith's words made Bardiel stop once again. The Angel faltered, then continued down the chamber.

---

When Bardiel reached his father it had not been what he was expecting.

A single Lilin awaited him in the dimly lit room. The room itself was again massive, large enough for Eva Units to move in. And in that feeble creature's hands... was the First Angel.

Gendo Ikari stood calmly and in his hand was the Adam sample imprisoned inside its container. The frozen dura-bakelite had been removed. Below at Gendo's feet lay a large metal box.

In his other hand, the director of Nerv had a trigger. It was a dead man switch rigged up to the largest N2 mine Gendo had been able to procure.

Bardiel drew closer and took in the sight of the lone human. Adam was moving weakly, injured from its mental battle with the Abomination. Even in his weakened form, a bundle of cells resembling a human embryo, the First Angel was a sight to behold.

"I know you can understand me," Gendo called suddenly.

Bardiel hissed with the deformed mouth of the host Eva Unit. It was still missing teeth from where Shinji had sucker punched him.

The Angel raised its remaining arm and began contorting it into a whip. Yet Bardiel never struck, the attack never came.

Gendo met the Angel's gaze without hesitation. Eyes hidden behind tinted glasses, the man stepped forward.

"You know what this is?" Gendo said gesturing to the bomb at his feet.

Bardiel made no reply yet still did not attack.

"You can't be sure if Adam could survive it or not. He's terribly weakened. There's a chance that he wouldn't survive the blast. That he wouldn't be able to regenerate." Gendo said calmly.

The man spoke as if lecturing a rather bothersome student who refused to listen. An Angel brought low by a mere man.

Bardiel slammed its mutated arm down to the ground, the blow smashed into the floor several feet from where Gendo stood.

"An empty threat," Gendo called coldly.

Bardiel hissed down at him, red eyes shining in the dimly lit room.

KILL HIM - Adam commanded.

Gendo was oblivious to it. He understood more about the Angels that perhaps even SEELE, but even he did not know their language.

Bardiel glared down at the director of Nerv. Put in check by a human, it made him furious.

The two, the Angel and the Man, stared each other down for minutes in silence. Gendo did not budge and the Angel did not back down.

RELEASE ME! - Adam called finally.

Bardiel gazed longing at his father, at this pale imitation of what once had been the most powerful being in the universe.

THUD

THUD

Footsteps echoed behind Gendo and the man allowed himself a small smirk.

Eva Unit 00 emerged into the room with them. Rei had arrived.

The pale skinned girl sat in the entry plug, hospital gown sticking to her skin, and watching the scene with tired eyes.

Rei had not come unarmed. In one hand, her Eva held another Heavy Hitter with an N2 missile locked and loaded, and in the other... the Spear of Longinus.

Bardiel snapped to attention staring at the Spear in Unit 00's hand.

"Rei." Gendo ordered.

Eva Unit 00 raised a hand and Bardiel instinctively brought up an AT Field.

Rei hurled the Spear of Longinus at Bardiel.

The Angel's eyes widened and it leaped back moments before the Spear broke through the field like paper. Bardiel wrapped its arm around the Spear's hilt and swerved just in time to avoid the tip.

Rei fired the Heavy Hitter.

This time, Bardiel was hit. The missile struck the Angel in the lower torso and a brilliant bright fireball erupted into existence. A shock wave reverberated around the chamber and the walls, dozens of meters of thick steel and concrete cracked from the force of it.

Bardiel disappeared in a cloud of smoke, fire, and sheer destructive force. The Angel became a silhouette in the blast.

Rei raised an AT Field around herself and Gendo. Together, they stood protected from the chaos of destruction that bounced from wall to wall of the chamber.

The ceiling cracked above and debris fell from up high. The stone and metal clanged off of Rei's AT Field and slid to the grounds of the Nerv level.

When it was done, Bardiel lay burned and badly disfigured. Only Zeruel had had the armor to take such a blast with no damage.

…

From within the trapped Entry Plug of the infected Eva, Mari coughed up blood.

The 17-year-old prisoner felt bones break and blood fill her eyes and mouth.

She shook from the blunt force of the explosion and the phantom sensations that ensured she felt every inch of scorched flesh Bardiel suffered.

The rubble and debris landed atop Bardiel, and Mari twitched as she felt the impacts. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, all she knew was the agony of existence.

…

When the debris stopped falling, Rei lowered the AT Field.

Gendo examined the damage done.

Bardiel lay covered in burns and rubble, yet the Angel was not dead. N2 weapons could only hurt and slow an Angel, never kill them.

Rei tossed the Heavy Hitter aside. It was no longer needed.

With a low hiss, Bardiel made to get up. The rubble shifted and the dust scattered as the Angel moved its weak and wounded body. What remained of the plate armor was melted to the skin underneath the Eva, its eyes were blackened out from burns, and its flesh smoked from the blast.

"Rei. Finish it." Gendo commanded.

Eva Unit 00 stepped over him and went to Bardiel and the heap of rubble. Rei placed a single boot over Bardiel's chest and pinned him.

The Angel was too weak to fight her off.

Rei brought the Eva's hand down and picked up the Spear of Longinus, dropped during the explosion and half buried by debris.

She brought the Spear up and loomed over Bardiel's weakened and fearful body.

…

Inside the Entry Plug, Mari watched on through the lone functional display.

Mari saw Rei standing over her and Bardiel with the Spear in hand. Her eyes were filled with blood and she felt the pale girl's boot over her chest via the phantom sensations.

"... Rei," Mari wheezed.

…

"Mari... " the pale skinned girl whispered.

Rei did as she was ordered. She brought the Spear of Longinus down on Bardiel, the strange weapon cut through the Angel's chest with ease. The Spear pierced all the way through and struck the Angel core deep inside.

Bardiel died with a whimper. The protrusions of flesh withered and faded, the infected Evangelion's blackened eyes closed for good.

Rei grabbed the Spear by the hilt and pulled it free, luminous Angel blood seeped out from the corpse.

Gendo nodded his approval then turned to go.

"Sir?" Rei called.

Gendo paused, his back to her.

"... what about the pilot?" Rei asked softly. The girl spoke in a low murmur, quieter than ever before. A hesitation in her tone, one that the director of Nerv noticed.

Gendo considered that.

"What about her?" the man asked simply.

"She is... important to the Third Child. She is an Eva pilot," Rei said slowly.

"Leave her. A recovery team will extract her if she is still of use," Gendo answered. Then without another word, the director of Nerv went on his way taking the Adam sample and the bomb with him.

Rei lingered, looming over Bardiel's corpse with her head hung low, before she followed after Gendo with the Spear in hand.

---

The surface of the Geofront

Eva Unit 01 reached the headquarters to find it empty. The base had been evacuated just like Misato had said.

"Mari!" Shinji shouted into the comm. He wasn't sure if she could still hear him or not, she had deactivated the comm when he and Asuka had been backed into a corner. Knowing her, she hadn't wanted to him to hear her screams as they fought. But he knew that every wound he had given Bardiel he also passed to Mari, the pain of it if not the actual injury.

That guilt ate away at him.

He hurried across the grounds of the base.

Shinji. Bardiel is dead. The Broken Man stirred suddenly.

Shinji stopped in his tracks.

"... how?" the boy asked.

I'm not sure. He lingered for a time and then he died. It was a few minutes ago.

What could have killed him? I... Rei? No, she's in hospital. Shinji thought. He considered the possibility if Gendo would deploy an injured Rei for combat and decided that the man was very much capable of doing just that.

He scowled.

A new voice emerged on the comm unit, broadcast on all Nerv frequencies.

"This is Commander Ikari. The last Angel has been neutralized. All emergency staff is to begin taking aid delivery measures and assess damages." Gendo's voice sounded off. Cold and empty, a man reading out a report and nothing more.

"All other units await further instructions," the Director of Nerv finished. Then, the comm channel died.

Shinji blinked at the last statement and shook his head. He continued onward ignoring that last comment.

Shinji found the launchpads open with no damage. That confused him, had Bardiel not broken them to get inside?

Further inside the Hangar, Shinji found all the other launchpads retracted. He could see a clear path to very deepest levels of Nerv.

And more... Shinji could see the ruins of something below down the shaft of the retracted launchpads.

...

He dropped down the entryway and landed with a heavy thud. Eva Unit 01 made its way down the corridors and the massive chambers until he found it.

The ruins of an explosion in a massive chamber, big enough for an Eva, and there on the grounds under a heap of debris and rubble... lay the corpse of Bardiel.

Shinji rushed forward his heart pounding every step of the way. Whatever had happened here had been big. A battle? An explosion of some kind?

Shinji pulled the corpse of Bardiel out of the debris and gasped at the state of the formerly infected Eva. The mangled and blackened skin, the utterly destroyed eyes, the hole in its chest... and the melted armor.

"Mari!" the boy cried.

He turned the corpse over and cut through its neck with the Eva's fingers. He grasped the metal tube and pulled the Entry Plug free, placing it on the ground.

"This is Shinji Ikari calling on. I need help! Send a medical team!" Shinji shouted into the comm not caring if everyone heard the order. Not caring that he was still a child and under no position to give orders at all.

Distantly he heard someone confirm his call. Misato maybe? He wasn't sure and at that moment he didn't care.

The entry plug was dented and smoking, with no working release mechanism. Unit 01 grasped the metal tube, and gently Shinji pried open the container. The metal came undone with a harsh screech, and a lone figure was revealed inside.

Shinji issued the command to his Eva and he safety ejected his Entry Plug. The Eva knelt as Shinji stepped outside and climbed his way down to the ground.

"Mari!" the boy cried as he ran to the girl below.

He reached into the broken Entry Plug and scooped his girlfriend into his arms.

Her face was covered in blood, her leg was bent unnaturally, and her skin was pale. She was light as a feather in his arms, cold to the touch, a broken shell of the girl he'd known.

Shinji cradled her close whispering her name, pleading for her to be okay. Still, empty, bloodshot eyes were his only response. He wept at the body in his arms. He ran a hand through her long hair and found it burnt and stiff.

That was how the medical and recovery teams found them, a boy cradling his girlfriend.

---

A lot of action for a chapter, but it is much more "character-based".
Hope there wasn't too much going on this chapter. The pacing has become an issue in this part of the story.

We had Shinji and Asuka, Shinji and Mari (poor Mari), Rei and Mari.
Young Shinji using the Adam power, the Broken Man and Shinji, and the nightmares of Young Shinji. However much the boy has grown, he's still a pretty messed up kid.

Arael and the Broken Man.
Bardiel and Shinji, Lilith, Adam, and Gendo.

What did you think?
I doubt people saw 'that' coming with Mari and Rei.

Thanks for Reading and please Review!