Misato
Fuyutsuki had never appeared so solemn. "The Third Impact has begun." He lowered his face and turned his eyes. The show of sadness infuriated Misato. This old man had not only played along, but directly aided the insanity which had led to this. If he really felt so bad about it, why hadn't he even once tried to stop it?
As Misato fumed, a few versions of Rei spoke in unison. "No, there will be no Third Impact."
Misato struggled to keep some form of composure as the glowing, floating, naked copies of one of her underlings moved like a holy being. Most of the Nerv members seemed to have given up. A few had throw up, some gaped in empty-eyed confusion, and one had even dove under their desk in horror.
Misato couldn't blame them. Rei had died. Now, for some unknown reason, several copies of her floated around the room, talking to various people.
Wait. Misato caught up to what had just been said. "Third Impact?" she repeated. They'd failed? Nerv had been created to prevent the Third Impact. She and every person on her team had sacrificed sleep and sanity to ensure that the Third Impact never happened. But, if Fuyutsuki thought that was happening, and he knew Gendo's plan…
Finally, some pieces clicked together. The Third Impact. Angels. Evangelions. Reis. The Lance.
The ingredients of an impossible conspiracy, one that would have taken over a decade to realize, fell into place in her mind. "No way," her legs felt weak.
"You understand now," the Rei in front of her said.
Misato shook her head. "I've never understood less in my life."
Rei shook her head. "Major, I need you to listen. Our only remaining threat is retaliation from SEELE. I'm going to take care of that now."
"What?" Misato asked. "SEELE?"
"Yes, with Gendo and the Angels defeated, the only threat is SEELE. They want Instrumentality as much as Gendo did. They also have mass-produced Evangelion. I will remove them as a threat."
"Wait!" the amount of information was too much. "Gendo's defeated? How? What will you do to SEELE?"
Rei looked at Misato for a moment. A strange expression came over Rei. Misato had never seen something like this. The girl's face hardened. Her eyes darkened. She seemed resolved and angry. "Evacuate Nerv. The military will be here eventually. I don't want to hurt anyone if it's unnecessary."
"Wait!"
"Major Katsuragi," Rei said calmly. "We need to act."
In the next few seconds, several things happened at once. The first Misato noticed was the appearance of several dots on a map. Several things were approaching Nerv HQ at high speed. They came from SEELE.
Misato turned to Fuyutsuki. "Is it true? Are the mass-produced Evangelion ready to launch?"
Fuyutsuki began to sweat. "Th— they're scheduled to be finished in five weeks."
"So," Misato sighed. "The bastards lied to us." She looked to the screen. Shinji had united with an Eva, Rei had turned into a giant… "Commander Fuyutsuki. Call the evacuation, or I will." She gestured to the screen. "This is well beyond our control now."
Fuyutsuki nodded.
Misato sighed. All she could do now was try to save them. She scanned the room, resolving to save as many of them as she could. Her gaze returned to the monitor. "Shinji, Asuka," she said to herself. "We'll save you."
Asuka
Nothing existed but rage. She believed that the world had failed her. After all that effort, the genius had been rejected. She'd fought and clawed her way to the top, but the goal had been pushed further away each time she felt that she was about to reach it.
Asuka was the best… she tried to be. She'd worked so hard. After all her work… the world ignored her anyway? She refused to accept it. If the world ignored her, if nobody in all the world would love her, then she wanted to bring it all down.
More than anything, she hated Rei. Miss Perfect had stolen everything. Why had anyone dared even bother existed if the red-eyed wonder was just going to waltz into the spotlight. What about everyone else? What about Asuka?
The pilot gnashed her teeth like an animal. "Move!" She clutched the controls and yanked on them. Her vision had blurred. Her senses seemed numb. She hadn't felt right since the Angel attack. Some part of her knew that she'd been shaken. It might take days to undo the psychological harm she'd endured.
But she didn't care. Asuka could see and feel nothing but anger. That fury needed to vent. It needed an outlet. Asuka needed to be noticed. She was the best. She'd prove it.
"Move!" she demanded the Eva.
With an enraged shriek, the screens came to life. "Yes!" Unit-02 sprung to her feet and looked around. Near her stood something impossible. She gazed up at the porcelain white legs of a giant that disappeared into Tokyo-3
"Asuka!" Misato's face appeared on a screen. "Finally. We've been worried for—"
"What happened?" Asuka barked.
The pilot tried to read the situation. How could she? The corpses of two Angels. Unit-01 standing in a timid pose, looking at a floating Rei. The giant in the middle. "What's the big thing?" Asuka asked.
In response, Rei appeared in the footage beside Misato. "That's me. I'm taking care of SEELE. They've already launched an attack."
Unit-01 began to walk toward her. Misato said, "Asuka, listen. Please report back to the med bay. Your vitals are still in a dangerous place. We need to ensure—"
The giant was Rei. Everything else faded to the background as Asuka stared up at the colossus.
Look at the nerve of that bitch. Miss Perfect hadn't been content to be better than everyone? She had to literally stand above all of them, look down on them like they were insects.
Then, she saw the Lance of Longinus on the ground nearby. Caution, loyalty, and reason gave way to the anger. Asuka moved by adrenaline and emotion. She used Unit-02 to grab the Lance.
Unit-01 stopped its approach. The purple monster raised its hands placatingly. Like an adult trying to soothe a child's temper. He's mocking me, she thought. He wasn't even daring to reply. None of them cared. They'd never cared.
Rei appeared in the entry plug. "Asuka, what's wrong?"
The red-haired pilot hardly noticed. The situation was too much. She literally stood in Rei's shadow while Shinji treated her with kid gloves. She couldn't take it.
"I hate all of you!"
Her cry rang out over the comms as she pounced at the giant Rei. Everything above her hips had gone above Tokyo-3. So, Asuka attacked where she could. The dual points of the Lance pierced Rei's ankle.
Suddenly, a crimson light flashed from the wound.
Rei
The girl felt no pain. Rather, as the weapon struck her ankle, she felt her mind fade. Her copies blinked out of existence. Her growth rocketed. As she stumbled, she moved to brace her hands on the ground. Each finger had grown larger than the buildings. Tokyo-3 pulled away as a strange euphoria rose in her.
The sensation buzzed and grew within her. It spread through every muscle and danced over her flesh. The girl's face twisted into a crazed smile.
No…
Rei felt herself slip. Lilith attempted to take back control. The Angel which had so long suffered humiliation and solitude beneath Nerv pulsed awake within her. It had been kept alive all this time for the sole sake of bringing about the Third Impact. She tried to hold herself, to remember those who fought for her, but the Second Angel roiled within her.
Rei slipped. Lilith spread. Elation took hold of the body. The world stretched further and further away. She became distant. Her vision rose high beyond the clouds. The reddening sky passed away, revealing the expanse of space beyond.
Rei struggled. She would not bring about Instrumentality. She refused!
Soon, the whole world stretched before her. Human and Angel had merged, neither in control, both working for a groggily recognized destiny. Rei felt as if she could wrap her arms around the whole world. It'd be so easy. A thought is all it'd take. She could peek into the minds of all people, grant them the vision they desired, and bring them together in a great red sea which would overtake the earth.
The only people who could save the world had been those who sought to destroy it. The people who'd created the weapons also created the monsters they were meant to defeat. The flawed men and women who sought to keep humanity alive couldn't even manage their homes. Each one of them was weak, selfish, and only a moment away from becoming evil. How much pain had they inflicted upon themselves and their loved ones in ignorance?
The world had needed heroes. What had been provided? The self-loathing, the bitter, the lazy, the immature. At the heart of it all was the failure to understand. They did not know themselves, thus they had refused to know others.
The unending history of the mistakes of humanity stretched before Rei's decaying mind. The emotions unacknowledged. The innumerable mistakes and misunderstandings. Minor qualms ballooned into tragedy. Frustration grew into malice; malice became atrocity.
It'd be so easy to force these people together. Remove their choice. Let them experience the mess that is a human being. For how many years would it be Hell? To swim through thoughts and memories? How many decades would it take before people could begin to accept their situation, and how many centuries from there would it be until people understood each other. How few seconds would last before a new resentment spread?
With Instrumentality, the Angels offered their gift and their revenge against the human race.
Rei held back the instinct. She could not focus. There was no way to focus the force of the Third Impact. Humans became a unified mass to her. She could take all of them. Rei fought it.
Only one thing remained distinct amidst the chaos. The impossible had occurred. At the centre of the storm, at the base of Rei's godly form, Unit-02 had ascended. It hung in the air, the Lance clenched in a crimson hand.
Asuka.
After everything, Asuka had ascended.
Fear came. With it, a cogent thought. What if Instrumentality had been fated? What if nothing could change that? Rei felt her resolve waver. After everything, she remained a puppet. Now, Asuka controlled what she would do, just as Gendo had controlled her all that time.
Perhaps she could stop short of total Instrumentality? Maybe Asuka would realize what had occurred before all had been destroyed. Was that her best hope? To save only a small handful of her fellow people?
But, she thought, I'm not human.
With that, Rei's vision faded.
Rei floated further and further into her new form. Wings sprouted from the back of the Angelic Rei. The mind-numbing euphoria rushed through her. All was joy. All was bliss. All was empty.
But, as she fell, she remembered. Inosuke standing firm in an inferno of sparks. Zenitsu defeating an Angel alone on a broken leg. And Tanjiro.
In the dark, cold oblivion, she saw his face.
He seemed so real. She saw him smile, that same brotherly grin he always held. Devoid of malice, of pain. "Hello, Rei," he said with a gentle voice.
"Huh?" she asked.
Her surroundings had changed. They sat on a small balcony attached to a traditional Japanese home. Her legs hung over the edge, her feet dangling above a carefully managed stone garden. Rei found herself wearing a white yukata with patterns of intricate, cherry red swirls. It looked beautiful. Looking up, she found a night sky, full of stars and a beautiful moon.
Tears formed in her eyes as she looked upward. She'd never seen a night sky such as this. The Second Impact had changed the sky forever. Was this how things had once looked? It was so beautiful.
"I'm afraid we don't have time to dwell, Rei." Tanjiro sat next to her, clothed in a simple white robe. "It's not time for you to join us yet."
Rei wiped at her eyes. "I don't understand." The sentence had become passe. It felt absurd to comment on how little she understood after all that had happened. Nothing made sense. She laughed. It felt so silly. Why did she feel so calm? Shouldn't she be worried?
"I feel so calm," she said. "Was it all a dream? Are we still together in the Angel?"
Tanjiro shook his head, still calmly smiling. "No, Rei. This is the entrance to the world of the dead."
The world of the dead. For a moment, she felt okay with being dead. It even sounded good to spend the time with Tanjiro. She froze. Her expression twisted into disbelief. Pain filled her chest. "Dead? Tanjiro, you—"
Tanjiro calmly shook his head and waved away her horror. "I was in a coma before the Angel swallowed us, remember? Who knows how close to death I'd been for that time?" He continued to smile as he spoke. "I managed to hang on a little bit after falling into the LCL, but I didn't make it."
"Tanjiro?" she stared at him. "How can you be so calm? I… I tried so hard to save you."
"You did amazing. It means a lot to me that you gave your all to help me. Everybody dies at some time. Warriors risk their lives every time they go to battle. I don't have any regrets."
"Tanjiro…" she stared at the rocks beneath her feet. "I wish you'd never come to our world. None of you deserved this." Her voice delivered the words in a flat tone. Grief and bitterness filled her, but she pushed back these emotions she hardly understood. It'd only be a burden to Tanjiro to say them now.
But the boy shook his head. He shuffled toward her and put a calloused hand on her shoulder. "If you're sad, cry. If you're angry, yell. If you're happy, laugh. Please don't hide your feelings. You need to feel how you feel. If you don't recognize that, you won't recognize yourself."
Rei shook her head. That mentality went against everything she'd learned through observation. "I'll only hurt people like that."
"If you make them sad, they'll cry. If you make them angry, they'll shout. If you make them happy, they'll laugh." He smiled. "That way, both of you will learn how each other feel. Yeah, you'll make mistakes, but if you ignore how you feel, you're guaranteed to hurt yourself and others."
Rei stared down. Her fists clenched. "It's not fair that you died. Gendo should never have…" her voice became strange to her. The words choked. She felt her sadness, but it was so strange and foreign to her that it felt as if it were an event happening to her, rather than an active experience.
Her vision blurred. "Am I crying?" she asked.
"Yes," Tanjiro said. His smile shifted into a look of brotherly concern. "You must be in more pain than I thought, if you can't recognize tears." He pulled away and stood. "Do you want to stop fighting, Rei? I can't go back. But you're special. You have a choice to go back and fight."
She raised her glance. At the end of the garden stood an open gate. Beyond it, things became empty and black. Somewhere, Lilith was emptily fulfilling the will of a madman. All that could stop that beast was… the Slayers.
Rei sighed. Fresh tears formed. "I don't think you'd like my plan." She wanted to force all the members of SEELE into Instrumentality, let them rot with Gendo and Unit-00. She couldn't turn stop the unpiloted, mass-produced Evas. So… she planned to damn several humans.
Tanjiro knelt and patted her hand. "I trust you. If you think it's the best thing you can do, you'll do the right thing."
As they talked, the door of the hut behind them slid open. A young woman with dark purple hair, tied back with something shaped like a butterfly, looked out at them. "Are you going to come in, Tanjiro? Many people are waiting to see you."
As Rei looked, Tanjiro's eyes glistened with tears. His smile became peaceful. "Yeah, I'll be right there, Shinobu. I just had to say goodbye to an important friend."
He stood, holding out his hand to her. She took it and stood. "Thank you for everything," she said.
"Thank you, Rei," Tanjiro nodded. "Are you ready?"
The girl nodded and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath.
Instantly, her eyes flew open. The earth splayed out before her. She forced control over her titanic body. Chaos unfolded the world over, but Lilith had not yet taken any more people into Instrumentality. Her hands strained above the world as Rei held herself back. Blind instinct pushed against her from within, trying to begin the simple process of the Third Impact, but she pushed back.
She could hold back the Apocalypse. The person who held the Lance would decide how simple or difficult that became.
Asuka
Asuka's eyes fluttered open. It felt as if she were waking up from a deep sleep, even though she'd only passed out for a moment. Dark clouds, tinted with a dark, rust-like colour surrounded her. Ugly brown and red lights shone from her surroundings. Bizarre, winged giants circled Unit-02.
Slowly, she realized her surroundings. Unit-02 hung in the air, high above the earth. These flying things must have been whatever SEELE launched. Unit-02 clutched the Lance. A strange sensation like roots gave her knowledge of the Eva's wings.
Finally.
Asuka Langley Sohryuu had become the centre of the world. She was the focal point of the heavens, the great winged figure, complete with a holy choir. The paintings and stained-glass images from her youth came to mind. She'd never cared for religion, but those images had been burned deep into her. This, she saw, was a sort of Revelation. She could blow the bugles which signalled the end.
By her order, the seas could turn red and wash away humanity.
Let them try to ignore her now, she thought, as a manic grin snarled onto her face. She held the world in her palm. See me, she thought. I am right. I am the best. I am.
It'd be so easy. So easy.
Even Miss Perfect had become her tool. In her spiteful stupor, Asuka recognized the gigantic presence above. It stood at the ready, about to absolve humanity of the sin of existence. Well, Asuka chuckled to herself, she could ascribe to them whatever sins she chose. The greatest pilot had become arbiter and executor of the only justice which mattered.
She revelled in the power.
But, as bitter resentment brought her closer to damning the world, she heard a strange sound: "Oi! Can you hear me in there? Some freaky shit's happening!"
Disbelief came slowly. With jilted, reluctant motions, Asuka turned to the bottom corner of the screen. Inosuke tapped the hilt of a sword against the Eva. "Where are the ears on this thing? Hello?"
"How the hell are you here, schwein?" Her voice exploded out in a cracking roar.
"Ah!" The pig mask lifted slightly up and back in recognition. "You said something, right? Hello? I almost fell off when you woke up. Don't freak me out like that! My sides still hurt, you know! I had to drive my swords to the hilt just to hang on. Climbing up here wasn't easy either."
"Go away! Go away! Go away!"
She punched the controls and pulled her hair. No. It wasn't right. She could never abide such a horrible offense. The universe had finally granted Asuka revenge. She stood on high as the holy figure about to bring damnation upon the lowly peoples of this wretched earth. How could this pig be here? It ruined everything. She'd ascended! Asuka had seized some strange, divine control over the world to become the harbinger of vengeance for the sins done against her.
She'd become godlike, with a heavenly choir to prove it! Inosuke ruined that! Even this victory had been cheapened. Asuka had struggled all her life to climb toward something incredible, but this fool blundered into her midst like a lost child. How could she abide this boar among angels?
Inosuke continued to smack the Eva. "Does this thing see out of its eyes? You have cameras or something in there, right? Can you hear me?"
"Drop dead!" Asuka demanded.
"Oi…" the pig's shoulders stiffened. "I felt that. Asuka! What's wrong? A whole lot of hate is flowing out of this thing. Is that you?"
"Die!" She focused everything on Inosuke. Let him vanish. This stranger would be the first person to disappear. Let him fall beneath her power, for Asuka decided him to be unworthy. She saw thin red tendrils float around him. Good, she thought. He'd be the first one she struck down. Ignorant pig!
Inosuke turned around, yelled in surprise, then started beating his hands on the Eva again. "Will you stop whatever you're doing! Something serious is happening. There are a bunch of weird floating people around me."
Asuka saw nothing. She supposed that Rei was infecting his mind. It must be the first step.
She watched and waited for him to vanish. But, he didn't slow. Nothing changed. He persisted in ruining her moment. This little brat was just there to mock her.
Asuka screamed "I hate you!" She focused everything on him. If it were possible, she'd slaughter this pig beneath the whole weight of the Third Impact. Yet, he didn't budge.
"Die!" She screamed. "This is my moment!"
Inosuke, clearly, did not hear her. "Oi!" He began slashing frantically at the Eva. The clear panic gave her a faint enjoyment. The guy finally felt something. She'd never seen him do anything other than act like a neaderthal. Now, he'd know pain. She would teach him—
"Azukia!" he shouted resolutely, "are you trapped in there? Come on! We need to do something about the shit in the sky."
She grit her teeth. The light sound of Inosuke's tapping on the exterior drove her mad. Soon, she pulled at her head and wailed. He was ruining everything. "Why can't I even get one moment?" she wept. "What do I need to do to be good enough? I've given everything!"
Even as she strode to Heaven to receive a favour from God, someone made light of her achievement.
Again, she curled back into the fetal position.
"Oi!" the harsh voice screamed. "Are you listening? What's wrong in there? Oh, you are trapped. I feel your despair! I'll pull out the plug thingie and get you out."
She snickered emptily. Let the guy try. He'd be slashing furiously at the entrance of the entry plug. There was no way his puny swords would ever damage—
Pain erupted at the base of her neck. Inosuke had pierced the Eva, and she felt it.
"Damn you!" she jostled at the controls, almost forgetting where the speaker controls even were. She hit the switch would broadcast her voice from the Eva. "Jump off and die!"
"What?" she faintly heard Inosuke through the comms. "You okay?"
"Yes. I'm in charge of the whole world right now, in case you haven't noticed. Apparently, I can't get rid of you, so go die."
"Is there still an Angel in your head, you're talking crazy."
Asuka felt her pulse raging in her temples. She doubted she'd ever felt so humiliated in her life. "Whatever!" she huffed. "I'm done with you. I'm done with Nerv and with everyone. Nobody ever paid attention to me. Now, I'll show all of you—"
As she began to make the command, Inosuke again interrupted her train of thought. "The hell did you just say, Red? You're a Slayer. Don't say you were ignored! You're an incredible warrior and we'd do anything for you."
"Liar! Nobody's ever cared about me. You all—"
"Will you shut up about yourself! Always 'me and me and me' with you! You're worse than Zenitsu. Don't complain that nobody cares about you when you're no fun to be around."
"Huh?" Asuka replied. "The hell did you just say, pig boy?"
"You heard me!" Pain erupted in her shoulder. He must have stabbed the Eva again. "You fought an Angel in a volcano. That's so cool! You're easily the smartest person in the Slayers. You've seen more places than any of us. You're interesting and awesome, but all you do is complain about how everyone ignores you and you're so special. Guess what, if you make people feel bad, they don't want to hang out with you!"
Asuka gripped the controls. Her hands squeezed, but she couldn't move her arms. Anger slipped back. The words pierced harsher than the swords. Stop being a brat… Nobody wants to hear that… Stop acting weird… why aren't you better? Why aren't you good enough? You ought to be better…
It never ended. It would never end.
"Asuka!" Inosuke yelled. "I feel a lot of pain coming from inside. You're hurt."
She didn't reply. Instead, she tried to focus on the countless people below. However meagre it might be, she could find joy in getting rid of them.
"Why won't you accept help?" Inosuke shouted.
She froze.
It felt as if her emotions had gone on a blackout. Her voice came out a whisper. "What did you just say?"
"You and Shinji and Misato. Everyone here. You're all in pain, and you're surrounded by people who care about you. How about you just say that you need help. We'll help you. I know you care about doing the right thing, too! How many times have you almost died now, trying to save the world?"
No, that wasn't right. Asuka risked her life because that was the only way to get attention.
"You went into a volcano, didn't you? Nobody else wanted to do that! Who would sign up to do something like that? You're one of the bravest people I've ever met. Why are you being so distant?"
She gritted her teeth. As she fumed, she heard another unwelcome voice. "He's right about both of us."
Shinji's voice played clearly in her mind.
"Get out of my head. I don't want you in there. Go away."
"You don't want me in your mind?" he asked, his voice speaking directly into her brain. Why did he sound like that? He sounded confident. This wasn't the coward she knew. What had happened? He continued, "This is what my dad wanted. All people to be stuck together. Me stuck in your mind, you stuck in mine, and everyone trapped together."
That sounded like hell. "Shut up," she said. "I don't need you!"
"That's fine!" Inosuke replied.
Of course, the pig made things worse. She'd left the speaker on, so he could hear what she said, but not what Shinji was somehow broadcasting to her. Inosuke yelled, "It's fine if you don't need me. But you can't pretend you're okay by yourself!"
"I've always been alone!"
Shinji's voice replied, "Don't lie."
More memories were forced onto her mind. Misato briefing her. Zenitsu listening to her talk about modern Japan. Inosuke getting excited to hear her talk. Shinji standing with her. She'd been called a Slayer, part of the team.
"You claim nobody wants you, but there are people here, all of whom value you. Don't push people away and pretend everyone's ignoring you. If you want something different, fine. If you want to leave us, fine. But you need to tell us what you want. Do you know what you want?"
Asuka shook her head. "Acknowledge me… I'm not pathetic."
"Pathetic!" Inosuke yelled. "Like hell, you're pathetic. I'll save you!"
Shinji said, "I didn't notice you, Asuka. I'm sorry for that. But people did notice you. You pushed people away. Now, tell me, what do you want? What good will it do to force Instrumentality? This is just you pushing people away again. I always run away from my problems; you push away the solutions to yours."
"Shut up… please."
"Asuka!" Inosuke slid back onto the screen. She blinked in confusion. How were tears coming from the eyes of his mask? "I don't want to hurt you by stabbing the plug thingy, but I feel you're in a lot of pain. Come on. Just tell me what you need me to do. You're the smart one. I'll help you, and we can worry about the rest."
Asuka blinked. He really didn't understand anything.
Shinji said, "He's the most genuine person I've ever met."
"Inosuke's an idiot," she muttered.
"What?" the sorrow left Inosuke's voice. "What was that for?"
Asuka sighed. She no longer felt important, powerful, or special.
Shinji said, "Please, Asuka. You don't need to be alone in your pain."
She sneered. "And what good will it do if I trust you? What happens if I stop trying?"
Inosuke responded first. "What are you on about in there? You never stop trying! And if you ever do stop trying, I'll kick your ass, because the Asuka I know if a beast who doesn't quit! If you do, something's wrong and we're gonna help your through it! Everyone needs recovery sometimes."
Shinji laughed. "I think he summed it up."
Asuka stared out. It'd be so easy… She could force Rei to wash away all the people… it had been so appealing a minute ago. She'd basically gotten drunk on the idea. Yet, now, the idea seemed so dumb. She still felt angry and hollow. More than anything, she felt tired.
Asuka sighed. "We're supposed to be saving the world or something, right?"
Shinji replied, "I think we can trust that to Rei. I think you kinda stalled her, actually."
"What's that, coward?"
Shinji laughed awkwardly in her mind. "Sorry, I shouldn't say anything. If I hadn't met Inosuke and I were in your position… I… I think it shows a lot of strength that you listened to us. Inosuke and I aren't as smart as you, but we do care. So… please…"
Again, Asuka sighed. "Fine… Miss Per— Rei… you better know what you're doing. I'm… this is up to you."
Rei
The restraints dropped instantly. Suddenly, Rei felt each person as an individual rather than the mass of humanity. The red strings of fate stretched from her to all people. Instantly, she knew all of their minds. She peered into the thoughts of those at SEELE. She saw their plans.
The mass-produced Evas abandoned their circling pattern. They encroached on Nerv. The military wouldn't be far behind. Soon, countless guns would wage war against the people who'd been manipulated by Gendo.
Rei forced herself forward. The girl became a truly holy angel, forcing Lilith back down within her. She thought she found a way. It was far from perfect, but she decided.
Billions of red threads pulled away. She'd connected to all of humanity in one instant. Now, she re-channeled the energy. She reached a hand to the earth. Her fingertip hovered over Tokyo-3. With Lilith's power, she formed an AT Field around the city. It focused until only Nerv remained inside. Simultaneously, she cut the billions of red threads which connected her to everyone outside of the cone of the AT Field.
She offered a silent prayer as she made the desperate play.
The AT Field intensified. It sped until the sound must have been deafening far below. She tied the billions of red threads together, connected them to herself, and launched outward. Somewhere, she trusted that there was someone who could save her friends.
Rei connected everything. She used her own body to connect the AT Field to the threads of life.
Her prayer was answered with a crackle of lightning. An earthshaking peel of thunder shook the earth as a white flash shot across the heavens.
The AT Field vanished. Rei's head cleared.
She looked to see Tanjiro standing in an open doorway, smiling and gesturing for her to join.
Misato
Captain Katsuragi blinked. The sunlight blinded her. Her head hurt. Suddenly, she felt arms swoop under her and scoop her off the ground. Before she could comment, the pale foot of a mass-produced Evangelion stomped the ground where she'd been. Immediately after this, a girl with purple hair and a white cape slashed at the foot, cutting impossibly deep and making it stagger.
"What the hell?"
Before she knew what was happening, she felt herself placed in the shade of a tree. Several other Nerv members sat near her. They all seemed disoriented. Others were being dropped off.
Misato looked to the person who'd moved her. It was a young girl with pink eyes and long black hair. "Wait here. Zenitsu's given us the basic info. We'll save your friends and kill the monsters."
With that, the girl sprinted back into the fray at an impossible speed. Misato looked. Before her was a great plain. On it, the strangest thing she'd ever seen played out. Units-01 and -02 lay on the other side of the plain. deactivated. In the shade of a different tree, she saw Shinji and Asuka in a heavy sleep. Shinji was covered in a blanket while Asuka lay in her plug suit.
On the plain itself, a strange battle occurred. The mass-produced Evangelion fought with several humans who moved with impossible speed. They were all dressed in gawdy colours. Even their hair seemed bizarre. They moved with impossible speed and strength, seeming to battle the monsters without worry.
Among the chaos, a bolt of lighting flashed. She recognized Zenitsu's attack.
"This is the Slayers' world," she realized.
A Nerv member inched closer to her. "So… what happened?"
Misato sighed and leaned back. "I think we won."