Chapter 28: EDUCATIONAL TELIVISION. OH NO!
Even if you think some of the things Shinji has done are not the most heroic of heroes.
Even if we take at face value the fact that he is a bit of a wimp and moans to himself.
Still, consider these cold, hard facts.
He hasn't punched a single person in the show. The one act of physical violence he really commits is in the final episode but by that point, his life had been nothing but one humiliation conga after another and virtually everyone had been killed. He did not even strangle Asuka that hard and he quickly relented in shame. She really didn't seem that badly injured.

Even then. Is it really right that Asuka gets away with literally slamming her fist into his face hard enough to draw blood? What is worse is that a lot of Asuka's abuse towards Shinji is played for laughs and comedy and the show outright wants us to side with her. It's passed off as one of her "adorable" quirks.
No. That is not right. Shinji may well be flawed just like any human being but when you look at how inhumane his daily treatment is, his punishments far outweigh his crimes.
Even when he complains, he mostly does it when he's on his own where no one can hear him.
Unlike Asuka, who rants about her sorrows in front of everyone to get all the sympathy she can.

It really is one of the worst double standards in anime history.

Shinji POV
It really is a code red. The worst kind of red.
We have a tsundere yandere inbound.
The crimson death is gaining on our aircraft with each passing breath as we speak. Even with her grapples missing consistently, she can still outfly us even with us going at full speed and our gatling gun without another nuclear missile fails to make a pinprick in her Evangelion's indominable defence.

Asuka. Why can't you just accept the fact that no means no.
Did you not keep criticizing me for being too soft and unable to stick up for myself?
Are you not the one who told me to get a life, and to stop coming to you for help even when I was desperate at the lowest point in my pointless existence?
Well now that I have Rei to confide my problems to and now that I am making an active attempt to stick up for myself, now you get even angrier.

I don't want to be judgemental. I really don't.
But if that's not blatant hypocrisy, then I don't know what it is.
Tell me to go get some friends and leave you alone. Then when I do, you drop everything to pursue me with the sole intent of tearing me away from my new friends.

I'm sorry Asuka. But for once in my life, you can't come with us.
I'm so sorry Asuka. But for once in my life, I have to break the tragic news that I don't trust you.
Words cannot begin to describe how apologetic I am to you.

She is closing in. Just 510 yards judging by the voice on our jet's collision detector.
Asuka. I've tried asking you nicely. I've tried shouting. I've tried weeping with penitent tears as I grovel and plead, kissing the ground beneath your feet.
When my pleas did nothing, your childhood acquaintance Lola made one final attempt to reach out when I had not the fortitude to do so any longer.
None of that evoked from you even a shred of sympathy for me and my plight.
I know your childhood wasn't good. But are you saying that me, Rei, Mari or these toughened rebel children forced to mature prematurely far beyond their physical years had it easy either?

I believe in Rei and what she said through song. That the past is in the past.
And if I let you catch up to me now, I'll have to go back.
Life does not go backwards. Only forward.

I'll never let you catch us Asuka.
You play no part in my journey to become the perfect husband and partner to Rei and the idealistic leader my team deserves for their dedication to my struggle when all those I once trusted abandoned me as worthless.
You love to be the centre of attention Asuka. But this story has no room for you.

My drifting gaze in this moment of reflection calls my sight to a nearby island just slightly ahead of our flight path. My enhanced senses brought on by years of fusing with my Evangelion, and absorbing the residue of countless defeated Angels allow me to read a big, flashy hazard sign printed in beautiful handwriting for the convenience of passing ships.

"Take us down and turn the jet to 11 o'clock. Setsuko and Fio. It will shake Asuka off, I know it will." I request, clenching my fist to show my conviction in my risky plan which I know in my heart will work for certain.
In my past attempts to bring some sort of peace between myself and Asuka, I took to learning each and every one of her likes and dislikes by heart.
It had unknowingly, taught me one of Asuka's Achilles heels that I had until now kept secret out of my faithful fidelity to her.
It almost broke my heart to have to use it against her, but if she caught us then she would surely take the innocent lives of everyone who wasn't me.
Even if I could withstand going back to be tormented endlessly once again, they certainly did not deserve whatever barbaric torture my father was certain to have cooked up for them.

"Whatever you say, our hero." Setsuko agreed with a crisp salute as she treated my suggestion as gospel, following it to the letter.
We fly so close to the surface of the sea below, that we are forced to take several sharp banks to avoid the vicious waves.

Asuka continues to chase us down but one final glance back at her slowly wrinkling grin of confidence tells me that I've already won.
There will be a reckoning against us once more, but thankfully not today.
If we never meet again, it will be too soon. Please Asuka. Just leave me alone. You told me never to come to you for my problems and I merely wish to fulfil that desire.

Asuka POV
Rei, you little bastard.
How dare you kiss my boyfriend who is mine and mine alone?
You two dumb pilots. Whatever your names are.
You think you can get away with nuking a high-ranking guardian of humanity and the best pilot of the EVA piloting squadron?

The waves may be a little obscuring for my vision.
But if you think these small distractions will do anything to stand in the way of my progress then...

"Nothing will stop me." I boast confidently as I drop my altitude gradually to match theirs.
Just 210 yards. Now 200 yards. I'll close the little distance between us in no time. I can already taste the sweet reward the commander promised me.
Mother. You really missed the best part of my life of glory.

"Not even" I continue but then suddenly begin to panic as I read a crudely forged sign on the island below bearing an even messier message. "GIANT CLAMS!?"

Before I can react, a nearby beach full of gigantic molluscs each the size of a two-story house comes into view from behind the cliff that the sign was fixed upon.
Mutation from the impact really had done some crazy stuff to the biology of Earth.
The aquatic beasts jump my Evangelion without restraint.

It takes me till the next island to shake them all off, but not before receiving a small but very concerning cut to my Eva's midsection. How it ruins the immaculate paintjob this new EVA was lucky enough to come with. The injustice.

"I'm not letting go! Not even for..." I call to try and regain my usual flare only to be abruptly stopped once again by another slightly tidier sign with far better handwriting. This island clearly has more riches than the previous one. I gasp childishly. "CHEESE GRATERS!"

Those weren't just tall metal buildings with round windows from my view further back after all.
It's too late to do anything as even more scratches are dealt upon my once so beautiful looking war machine. This really was a crime of fashion.
Now I wouldn't look nearly as stylish for the big picture the press was bound to want of me in my EVA to mark my most amazing triumph for when I got back.

I'm at least happy that I don't have to experience any of the pain my EVA does.
That would certainly not be pleasant.

There's just one final island. It is full of luxurious looking condominiums and what appear to be drive in theatres with the blaring lights I make out from here.
Hell, there isn't even any danger sign to warn of any impending hazard this time.
Just a big, flashy neon poster on the roof of what appears to be the biggest of the theatres with how many parked cars I can see beside it.

"If you think I'll let go for a little..." Then my blood freezes to ice.
My muscles cramp up all to once. My head swirls round and round as I try to shake myself to prove I read the advertising billboard for this evening's movie showings wrong. It was inscribed in the most neat and appealing font I'd ever seen of any written message.
This cannot be real. It just can't.
Ever since mum started paying my tutors to let me slack off from studying so I could have more me time to dominate the playground and be the alpha star of every school lucky enough to be graced with the fabulous me. I had never thought I'd have to see it again. It couldn't be.

There it was. My worst nightmare. Stupid Shinji must have known this. Damn that brat.
I can't even call him idiot this time with how much of a sucker he's played me for.

"EDUCATIONAL TELIVISION!? OH NO!"
I try to close my eyes and cover my ears but too late. In the time it takes for me to process that this was all very real, I've managed to catch a glimpse of a saccharine music video for a sickeningly sweet melody demonstrating the use of ABC and 1,2,3.
I am powerless to stop my jaw bursting open as wide as it can possibly go without cracking my jawbone.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

My entire world spins out of control as the entirety of my senses shut down with fright.
I know that my Evangelion will soon sink deep into the poisonous sea below but I can bring myself to do absolutely nothing.
When you're stupid Shinji, I hate you.
When' you're smart. I retch with utter disgust at your very presence and want nothing more than to grind you to powder with my own two hands.
I will forever find you distasteful Shinji, no matter what.
It's for this reason, I can't let anyone take you for themselves nor let you have another besides the fabulous me and me alone.

You took away my thunder. You forced me to wait my turn before becoming a pilot.

Kyoko POV

I don't mean to sound spiteful Asuka. But well deserved.
You need to be put in your place after so callously denying me my chance to prove I still truly cared for you. For slapping away so many hands of friendship when they could have spared you of the loneliness you've no doubt endured since my passing.

For punching the nice serving boy who never said nor acted one bit of malice at you, right in the face and crushing his skull beyond repair.
I could sense from my brief link with Shinji that the bones in his body were out of place in such a way that they might never fully snap back into position.
That he'd forever have weaker motions and far poorer posture than that of a fully healthy human being.

From the brief connection to his memories, I deduced that it was you who chose to inflict them upon him in times when he but tried to extend his warmth and compassion.
He could have been lying or remembering falsely, but a look into the minds of those surrounding him revealed them to have extremely fearful opinions of my once so lovely little doll (No. Do not take that out of context) and the harm she was capable of causing them on a whim.

His supposed closest sweetheart, the so called "Rei" also sported a permanently mangled fibre in her cheek. Even Yui's old aide Mari bore a nasty, not yet healed bruise on her arm.
A quick check of their thoughts confirmed that the identity of their savage assailant to be none other than dear, sweet darling Asuka.

Oh, daughter dearest.
Even in death do I weep in the faint hope that one day you find salvation.

Naoko POV
Something strange is happening on the surface above.
Something rather fortunate that I cannot fully fathom however hard I try.

Someone's trying to oust NERV and break me and the others free from our imprisoning Evangelions.
That someone is an Angel. Like Rei.
He's an EVA pilot too. Like Yui's lovely child Shinji. Even not caring much for Yui, I have to admit great admiration for her son and how he's carried on her legacy so diligently.

I can't understand any of this.
So, I decide to take my madness out on yet another meaningless tune that I myself know has no rationale.

We're waiting every night
To finally roam and invite
Newcomers to play with us
For many years, we've been all alone

We're forced to be still and play
The same songs we've known since that day
An imposter took our life away
Now we're stuck here to decay

On second thought, I think I've seen this stranger before. Or at least heard him vaguely mentioned in passing. I know for certain he is a he at least and I wouldn't if he were totally unknown to me. Very odd.

We're really quite surprised
We get to see you another night
You should have looked for another job
You should have said to this place goodbye

It's like there's so much more
Maybe you've been in this place before
We remember a face like yours
You seem acquainted with those doors

Grr. It is so completely terrible that we can't just communicate properly with even the pilots for our Evangelions, let alone the outside world.
To have to sit back and watch as our loved ones continue to be ruined by our absence in their darkest hour of need.

Please let us in
Don't lock us away
We're not like what you're thinking
We are poor little souls
Who have lost all control
And we're forced here to take that role

We've been all alone
Stuck in our little zone
Since 1997
Join us be our friend
Or just be stuck and defend

After all you've only got
One night at NERV
Is this where you want to be?
I just don't get it.
Why do you want to stay?
One night at NERV

I never understood fully why Shinji would continue doing his father's bidding after all the old devil had done to make his son's existence hell.
Whatever the reason, it made me curse my past misdeeds all the more strongly, while fortifying my resolve to one day escape this state no matter the cost.
And if Rei had fallen head over heels for him, setting aside my hatred for her was the first step to properly honouring his selfless endeavours that filled me with dread to even think about how hard they were for him.
No one deserved to be abused like Shinji had been. If her admiration was what kept her ticking, then Rei too had earned complete redemption for her driving me to suicide by now.

Misato POV
"What I have done and what I am about to do, has not been approved by the Vatican"
I regretfully murmured as I sent a sheet of blazing flame billowing forward toward the human turned Angel closest to me.
I was the red exorcist and this was my hardest test of my faith. The work of god would be done today.

Much to my surprise and catharsis, the fires did indeed engulf the hellish beast and cause it to slowly fry apart with an ear-piercing shriek.
But instead of completely burning to ashes, it begun to shrink in size almost instantaneously before my alarmed eyes. Hardly a few seconds later and laying before me in the bloodied asphalt, was a young and morbidly malnourished urchin with short pale blonde hair and sky-blue eyes.
The same shade of blonde that had coated his Angel form's skin and the same blue eyes only smaller now that he'd regained his true form.

Parts of his skin visible behind his now badly torn rags were a little charred but he unmistakably still breathed even as he lay with the most peaceful expression of sleep, I'd ever seen in my years as the children of NERV's major.
My faith would remain strong after all, despite all I'd been through and all my sins.

My squadron were accomplishing similar results as one by one, the monstrosities who came about as a result of NERV's greedy negligence were picked off with ruthless efficiency.
Any Angel that got too close was quickly stunned into inaction by one of Ami's sonic waves or knocked cold by Kaji's chloroform filled exploding "roses".
Minako and Usagi performed the brunt of the "purifying" with their lazercannon (this was how it was spelt) and poison coated razor throwing discs respectively, taking care not to waste any unnecessary energy on those foes already sufficiently damaged to regain their humanity.
The future and past coming together in the most wonderous of ways yet.
Humanity really would not lose to the Angels after all just yet.

There really was a speck of good in every human being after all. We were witnessing a divine miracle, the likes of which had not been seen since the second coming of Christ.
"Oh, Heaven above. Give me strength so that I may tread upon the serpent" I begin to pray, as Minako drops back from the carnage briefly to give me an approving nod.
Glorying in such praise, I continue to recite every psalm I still remember from my days in Sunday school as the battle rages on ward. Each verse acts as an empowering liturgy that uplifts the spirits of my flock, strengthening their might to match that of entire armies.
This bloody battle, had become a crusade. A holy crusade that would inspire generations to come.

No one, expected the Sailor guardian inquisition. Especially not one led by the fiery warlike Sailor Mars in place of the well-meaning but clumsy and cowardly Sailor Moon.

Kaworu POV
"Drive backwards but keep shooting. Everyone aims at the same target. We might not be able to do much but this will slow them down." I bark above the din of my tank platoon as they leap to obey without question.
The Mongol tactic that NERV had all but forgotten in its years of fattening itself up on its own hubris.
Why be purely offensive or defensive when you could be both?

Did NERV never study tactics 101?

As we continue to retreat while always keeping our enemies in range, Squid girl's new rescued companion "Ponyo" utters a series of strange dialects indecipherable to any single one of us, even Squid girl.
She concludes the bizarre incantation with the simple yet cliched phrase "magic missile frenzy" as a lethal barrage of orange bolts the same colour as her hair, fly at lightning pace toward the Angel swarm to engulf it in a flood of blinking lights.
When the flash dies down, standing in their places are the innocent people afflicted by the illness NERV had been unwittingly allowing to spread through carelessness.
A slight twitch from a few of them as they rest blissfully, reveal to us that they will all be safe.

"My father was a great wizard and my mother, a high goddess of the sea" Ponyo briefly reveals as if anyone might be slightly curious.
"I have reasons to believe that NERV took me from Sosuke and imprisoned me, mistaking me for an Angel because of the strong beacon my magic casts around me."

Anemone, the "pink" squid girl named thus for the pinkness in her tentacle hair which almost matched my lady's to a tee was a battlefield titan of a different calibre.
She closed her eyes and put her two palms to her forehead as she silently stared down the rampaging behemoths through her sightless sight.
They looked at her and she looked at them. As she continued to perform this serene ritual, first a few then a flurry of the alien terrors raised their claws and bowed to her .
They nodded almost in an intellectual manner as they slowly began to transformation back.

She would later reveal that the reason she could only do this with some but not all the Angels was that her race, the Azo shared large fragments of DNA with those Angels she could telepathically link to.
She too, guessed NERV's interest in locking her away aside from cutting strand after strand of her constantly regenerating tentacles away to be sold to SEELE for their twisted and probably meaningless experiments, was because they too mistook her for an Angel.

She shed a tear at the mention of her old friends Renton and Eureka while expressing a sincere hope that she'd be able to reunite with them soon in the same way in which I explained that Shinji had probably fled the city, to be able to stay with Rei and Mari.
I promised her that I was certain she soon would with how devoted she clearly was to them.
These quirky two wouldn't get to remain in our regiment for long but long enough to make a difference.

I sensed the dying cries of other Angels not being combatted already by my entourage.
I gave my thanks to that stranger, whoever it could be.
They deserved an eternal place on history's great stage for their aid in the defence of the innocent.
Shinji. Forgive me. I may have to put off returning to your side for now. There are a lot of errands here that require my full attention. But you will understand. I know you will. Let your beloved Rei take care of you in my stead.

Minako "M" POV
Unlike my predecessor, "L", I conscientiously regimented the amount of junk food I allowed myself on a daily basis and continued to strain my arms with regular military press ups even beyond the entry physical exam. I continued to sing and dance and be merry in the little free time I had with my loved ones in any way I could.

Two aspects that a police officer, especially one in these commonly faced were the loss of closeness and the renunciation of their rationality.
The inability to befriend and trust others as they once could before witnessing first-hand the horrors of the depths of injustice mankind could still stoop to when they reverted to their baser instincts.
The lack of reason and the desire to act in the spur of the moment without first looking at all the facts and respecting the shrewd mantra "innocent until proven guilty".
Many officers had lost these once taken for granted virtues in pursuit of a shiner badge at a higher rank by arresting as many as possible, whether guilty or not.
Even more had become consumed by hatred and bloodlust rather than their duty to maintain a balance which was the overwhelming definition of this police force rather than lawfulness.

Too many rules lead to tyranny while too few, anarchy.
Neither extreme made the world a pleasant place.

Near and Mello, kept my kindness near and my wild temperament mellow.
They were no more my inferiors any more than I their superior.
We were like a set of eyes, near blind by ourselves but able to cover up our blind spots together.
In this aspect, our friendship was as selfish as it was selfless.
But selfishness in moderation could be a good thing if not taken too extremes and if encouraging a selfless act. Balance. The art of bushido that third child Shinji once gracefully demonstrated in his piloting which he soon passed on to his fellow pilot Rei and later Mari.

The rule of life my commissioner implemented upon our entire force to abide by in our conduct.
They too, were a diehard Otaku in the anime community.
It had informed them well of how incompetent and poorly portrayed most law enforcement services were in animation, and they'd taken it upon themselves to make this force anything but useless.
This was why the entry exam had to be so difficult.

We did not need another Richard Moore from Detective Conan, nor the useless doughnut chewers from Sword art online who let deadly poisons be taken from supposedly secured medical wards and approved the publishing of a killer device that killed any unaware gamer who put it on thinking to have a fun afternoon exploring a virtual world of complete harmlessness.
We were in fact, asked to watch several Anime series as part of our training course to know what not to do. Yes. Anime was educational in this way.

What's that black Angel over there doing, pointing its clawed finger at us like that? I'm trying to get a good angle on it but I feel so sluggish. So tired.
I'm trying to think straight but find I can't.
My head feels so heavy. I've forgotten my name.
Why am I here?

Who are these...beings before me and what are they saying?
Uhhhhh.

Misato POV
"Come on girls. Attack" I try to order as the dark, sleek beast cracks a grotesque grin exposing its salivating jaws. It seems to be taking glee in the confusion it's causing everyone except me with its evil power. Why am I not affected while even Kaji is drooping his whole body?

I take a look at the talisman's on my sleeve and the new gold plated cross I now wear around my neck beneath my white Shinto robes.
It's keeping my free. My faith is liberating me and me alone through an observable phenomenon.

But now is not the time for celebration.
The young officers and Kaji are in terrible danger. There must be some way I can get through to them.
I let off sheet after sheet of fire from my flamethrower only to gasp in horror as it runs out of fuel at long last. Not now. NOT NOW!

"Please Kaji. Fight it. You have to fight it or else you'll die" I try telling the now nearly asleep Kaji but he won't respond. He doesn't even seem to recognize his own name.

"Please. Don't kill us. You're better than this" I beg in vain to the pitch-black terror that continues to derive sadistic pleasure from our suffering as its smaller minions move in for the kill.

Some of the simpler words seemed to invoke a small twitch even in Kaji's stupefied state.
Maybe if I just simplify my orders to a more abstract manner.
But what combination of words will be simple enough even in this state for them to understand me?
I remember how great the girls and Kaji's love for my childhood cartoon was. How they agreed to spare me on the sole condition that we'd achieve one final victory in such a manner as to convince the broadcasting stations to change their mind about crushing our childhoods when we handed them the footage.
Our fantasy worlds were important to us. More so than the real world since it was our momentary escapism from the ravages of a harsh life, we often had no control over despite all we tried to do.

When Kayaba Akihiko tried to make it so that players in Sword art online died when they died in the game, he made the fantasy world a real world.
He took away what was so fun about his video game in the first place.
That you didn't die in real life when you died in a game since it was a game and not real life.

Nostalgia. The precious jewel nothing could take away from any of us. Not even age and depression. We kept our dream worlds longer than our real ones. Dreams may have been fake but the joy and relief they offered was genuine. That made them vital.

I turned to blue haired Ami as she dumbly tried but failed to uphold her sonic pulse emitter.
"Mercury" I sharply instructed. "Use confuse ray"

Immediately, the blue haired guardian of water's rolling eyes light up and she effortlessly re-steadies her grip on her weapon.
"Mer, cuuu, reeeeee!" She robotically intones as she lets off a strong electromagnetic signal in the nick of time to buckle the balance of the Angels who were so close to eviscerating us.
That will hold them, but not for long.

"Mina...I mean Venus. Use Lock on, on the Gengar." It was the title I decided to give the black mind controlling Angel that was almost ghostly in nature with how it was able to hover a few feet above the ground.
Minako's lazercannon had a tediously long recharge between each shot so each one absolutely had to count. "Venus" she agrees as she carefully takes aim at the exact target, I intend her to.
"Venus?" She asks as she turns to me awaiting the next command.

"Good job. Venus. Now use solar beam." Lazers drew on energy that was very similar to the power of the sun and released it in a destructive beam.

"Venus." She emotionlessly calls in response as a wicked blast of red ionizing energy is loosed at the mind-controller.
I knew even before her attack connected that it would be not very effective. Certainly not enough to take down "Gengar" by itself anyway.
The confuse ray was already wearing off. I had to act quickly, or rather convince the rest of my squad to do so in my stead since I was now weapon less and standing too far away to grab their weapons out of their hands. Which would be a rude gesture anyway with how little they trusted me already.

I just need a bit more time.
"Tuxedo Mask. Start with stun spore, then sleep powder."

"Tuxee...doh...MAAASK"
The combination of paralyzing powders thrown at the master puppeteer trying to take away our free will, manages to make it numb and slow even as it is already beginning to give itself intermittent self-harming slaps in a vain attempt to ward off Ami's confuse ray.
It doesn't release my soldiers from its mental hold over them but primes it perfectly for the finishing blow.

"Now it's your turn Sailor Moon. Let's finish it up with a Magnet bomb."
Angel's had a high concentration of metal in their bloodstream as a result of their gross diet.
Magnets stuck to metal. Shuriken's and most other thrown weaponry were also composed of steel or steel like components.
Magnet bomb was therefore a steel type move.
Now I understood why Sailor Moon always had to be the one to deal the final blow when she had an entire team with seemingly stronger attacks.

No enemy was just going to stand there and let itself get hit. Of course, a homing attack that never missed would be the only way to ensure its demise, especially when it was a known fact that a cornered and wounded beast was all the more dangerous.

"Moon. Moon" The ex-gangster deeply regretful of her past exclaimed as she tossed disc after disc at our adversary with bullseye precision.

But in my haste to deal with just that one Angel, I had ignored the others who had now broken completely free of their mental block.
One such Angel who I'd not noticed till now because of the way its grey tinge covered it perfectly against the building it had been standing beside, made a gleeful lunge for Usagi.

"Dodge that!" I shout only to find the blonde haired meat ball head unable to move a muscle.
Deer in the headlight's syndrome. Something cartoons rarely took into mind but which us majors were well familiar with.
Seeing it trouble Usagi so, I was reminded one more reason why I had not sympathized with Shinji and his struggles nearly enough.
But that was a thought for another time.

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned" I remorsefully whisper as I sprint straight for Usagi.
"But let them live, for they deserve not the suffering I have caused them in my sloth. Enact upon me whatever punishment you see fit but let not those who are most guiltless suffer alongside me."
My greatest regret was that now I couldn't be put before a court to be convicted.
I knew even before diving straight in the way of the Angel's vicious charge that soon the sinister aura that had muddied our thoughts would be gone and that the others would recover in the nick of time to purify these poor victims of NERV.

But for me. Major Misato. Rei Hino. Sailor Mars. The red exorcist.
This was where my story no doubt ended.
Now I could find out whether heaven really existed or not.
Now maybe I could be with my family at long last. I was so tired from the hard blows life had dealt me. Now it was time to have the final rest.

"Major Misato. NO!" I hear Usagi utter in dead shock as she regains her senses and her attacker's gargantuan claws rake a massive cut right over my chest.
Ha. I only just got that fixed and I was only just beginning to get over my heartbreak of losing my son Shinji. How fitting.

Through quickly blurring vision, I witness the whole pack of Angels being unceremoniously finished up by the now fully cognisant others.
Kaji runs to me before the final one falls.
Oh Kaji, do not trouble yourself with my passing. As I said before and will say again, there is always Maya and Ritsuko for you to turn to if you feel you're lonely.
Let one of them be the lucky lady who gets the best man in the whole universe all to herself. They deserve you far more than me.

Kaji POV
"Will she be alright? Err. Agent Kaji." Ami nervously pipes up, knowing when it's time to drop the comedy and be deadly serious. I like her and her squad already.
Something tells me we'll get along like a house on fire, no pun intended.

I almost double over in laughter as I easily rip a section of white cloth from my tuxedo and tie it round my girlfriend's injury. Then I effortlessly identify the correct sedative to feed to her just as her consciousness goes out upon swallowing it down without even needing a prompt from me.
Misato's never been the best at avoiding injury or not making mistakes. But she always finds a way to bounce back every time. It is what draws me to her so and the one good quality she's passed to Shinji despite her unmistakable flaws.

"She's suffered far worse than this. This is just a light scratch compared to what she's been through before." I joyously report, trying hard not to giggle.

The sounds of stomping have ceased. As has the constant guttural, deep throated roaring.
We have removed all taint of heresy from this city and all is right once more. For now, at least.
We've made amends for NERV and SEELE and paid penance where it is due.
All that is left is to call an ambulance for the in all honesty, not too badly hurt people.

"What will you do with her, officer Minako?" I ask solemnly. "Will you put her in jail?"

Understandably, Minako doesen't answer right away.
She takes a look at the sheer relief on Usagi's still very flushed face and at the injury on her target's chest that I am continuing to tend.
The wind blows and all is quiet for what seems like an eternity as I wait with bated breath.

"I want you to start calling me M from now on. You and her have proven yourselves worthy of this privilege of addressing me with the same informality as my good friends at Juban department."
She unexpectedly begins as she allows herself a very light smile.

"I see." I reply, cracking a far greater beam as I turn briefly to her two lower-ranked officers who have not even earned the privilege to a shield number nor uniform as of yet.
If it were me in charge, those two would be zoomed through the ranks to commissioner straight away.
I duly take note of Usagi's warm closeness to me despite barely knowing me and Ami's mild and mellow straight face as she seems to look right through me as if to ponder complex philosophies far beyond anyone else's understanding save her own.
"So does that make Usagi, Near. And Ami. Mello?"

Minako's smile becomes just slightly more noticeable from its previous near invisibility as she crosses her arms.
"I see you are a man of culture too." She crassly but pridefully comments.

She looks the now unconscious Misato up and down.
"Even if the jails were not currently full and we were not beginning the new system of pardoning those convicts who have fully repented their crimes, it would not be right for me to continue the arrest as of yet. I could take her to the supreme court but they are filled to the brim with cases.
Défense attorney Phoenix Wright and Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth are still duking it out and the judge can hardly get a wink of sleep."

She doesn't look up but I can tell that there is a small tear in her eye from the way her next words stumble the slightest bit.
"She saved Near's life. Without Near, I would be far. Too far. It's only near that keeps me close to my heart and my principles without which, I'd be no better than the common scum I'm sworn to guard mankind against."

Now she turns to me, having dabbed her cheek with a sleeve.
"For that, I make you a deal. Our promotions can wait. There is a far more legitimate threat at hand that threatens not just the livelihoods of every last person on this Earth, but also their very sanity. If we do not take action right now to curb this unhinged criminal who grows only stronger each day we let her run free, we will not simply all be dead. The fate she will consign us all to if given the chance, will be one of unending torture and ceaseless misery and guilt. She will very well, create a hell on Earth and proclaim herself its devil."

She twists into a grim frown that makes my very blood go cold.

"The Angels will seem harmless in comparison. Even death will not save us from the horrors she plans to enact upon us all. You have seen for yourself surely, some of her cruelty?"

She leers and gives me a furious sneer.
"Or are you so blind as to think that the bleeding nose and bruises on the premiere third EVA pilot's mangled face come from nowhere?"

I begin to open my mouth to concur completely and utterly with her opinion that Asuka as the new Light Yagami, must be stopped no matter the cost.
But I manage to control myself as I let her go on. I am a law-abiding gentleman after all.

"Join us in our search to find the new Light, better known as second child Asuka, Langley Soryu.
I've spent an enormous fortune just to keep the case against her going and it's nearly starved me to death. No other officer aside from me and the recruits under my protection take the deadly threat that Asuka poses seriously. You will be in our debt and we will pardon Misato for her hand in this grave matter. The light must be extinguished and darkness must reign supreme if we or our future generations are to have any meaning in their existence whatsoever."

"Why me and Misato?" I dare myself to ask when she stays silent for the next entire minute to let me know I may reply with decorum.

"You know the pilot under your command that you've spent the most time doting and fawning over better than any other living soul. You two are our only hope of tracking her and predicting her next move now that she has left Tokyo 3, no doubt to trail Shinji and Rei who we know she always bore an causeless grudge for. If you help us find Asuka, you'll no doubt stumble upon your other two much nicer children on the way. Help us and we'll help you. It is the way mankind got by in the past and will continue to get by even now."

She extends her hand with a slight shake.
With no hesitation in the slightest, I take it and give it the firmest shake I can without hurting her.
"You can count on us. M. Once Light has been dealt with, we will continue to aid you in overturning Ryuk and Rem, this time for good. They must learn that no man or god is above the law just as no one is below it."

"Well said. Mikami. For that shall be your new honorific in light of your decision to stand with us on the side of justice. Together. We will be unstoppable."

The camera girl had already made a run for the nearest broadcasting station. I had the strangest inkling that soon, the daily programme on the big screen would not be all boring propaganda that made me nauseate just to hear. Television would actually be educating and entertaining once more. Or at least this was a start.

Fighting evil by moonlight
Winning love by daylight
Never running from a real fight
She is the one named Sailor moon

I find myself humming uncontrollably as we work together to lift Misato into a police car Ami's called for us on her own cheap phone.
The driver withdraws modestly to let Minako take the wheel with Usagi riding shotgun and me and Ami in the back keeping a close eye on Misato's state as she rests between the two of us.
Wait till she wakes up and hears the good news.
But for now, good major worthy of the highest praises, sleep tight.

Yet once more, really special thanks to fictionelement777, neoWarkid4, bandiras, An enemy of the state, Fantasian, Kycosoccerref and every other unnamed guest for your kind and generous reviews.
You are all great people. Thank you so much for reading and see you all next time and bye.
You're kind reviews bring a tear to my eye.
Any and all reviews welcome. You will be credited and appreciated for your generous patronage.
I'm really glad to have all you epic people here with me.