CHAPTER 33: THE BETRAYAL
"There's been an explosion at Matsushiro!" Makoto cried out as NERV went into crisis mode. "Cause unknown! We can't reach anyone at the site!"
"SAR crews have been dispatched," Shigeru confirmed as he hung up the phone. "JASDF patrol planes report serious damage to the area." At that moment the Commander and Vice-Commander of NERV arrived in the control room. They were escorted by Captain Tokarev.
"All stations go to first stage alert," Commander Ikari ordered. "Where are the pilots?"
"The Second and Third Child are being brought in now, ETA ten minutes" Maya reported. "First Child has already arrived in Unit-00's cage."
"What could've happened?" Fuyutsuki asked Gendo. "You don't think…?"
"It's beginning to look that way," Ikari nodded.
"Where do you want me, Comrade Commander?" Tokarev asked his employer.
"Stay here for now." Gendo ordered as he sat down at his console. "Consider it a learning opportunity."
"Commander!" Shigeru announced from his terminal. "We're getting a live feed from the Mount Nobe observation site."
"Put it on the main screen." The image appeared and showed a quaint valley and an equally quaint Japanese country side bathed in the orange hue on the setting sun. There was a road that cut through the valley along the left side of the image. Soon, movement was seen behind the mountainside along the road.
Within seconds, Evangelion Unit-03 marched out into the open. Its arms hung limply as it strode forward like a zombie from the old Romero movies. "Is that…Unit-03?" Maya asked.
"We're picking up a wave form," Makoto announced. "Analysis is orange. Wait…" He double-checked the system. "We're not getting any reading from the entry plug aside from the pilot's vitals. He's alive but…"
"Send the shutdown signal," Ikari ordered calmly. "Eject the entry plug." A moment later a puff of smoke rose from between the EVA's shoulder blades. But, no entry plug.
"Negative!" Shigeru called out. He resent the signal in case there was an error. "The signal went through but the plug isn't ejecting!"
"There's a foreign substance covering the plug hatch," Makoto said as he ran a scan. "Wave pattern analysis is complete. Pattern blue! It's an angel!"
"As we feared," Fuyutsuki whispered. One of the most dangerous possibilities of an angel attack was if an angel ever to control of an EVA. And now, it finally happened.
"Yes," Commander Ikari whispered back. "Strike Unit-03 from the roster." Surprised gasps came from the tech crew. "Re-designate the target as the Thirteenth Angel and scramble Unit-00 for intercept."
"Y-yes, sir!" Makoto confirmed.
Down in the cage, Rei was just synchronizing with Unit-00 as she spotted Shinji and Asuka being escorted to the locker rooms. "I will have to scramble ahead of them."
"What the hell is going on?" Asuka asked as she and Shinji ran for their locker rooms. "Why did Section 2 pull us out of class and not Misato?"
"She's out of town remember?" Shinji reminded her through the wall. "Both her and Ritsuko."
"Okay but still, SOP dictates that the Operations Director, and not NERV special security call us personally anyways!" That made Shinji pause.
'If Misato didn't call then…' "You're right…"
"So what does that mean!?"
"I can only imagine that something happened at Matsushiro…"
As soon as Shinji got in his EVA the unit was mobilized. "Send Unit-01 to the secondary intercept site," Ikari ordered. "Keep Unit-02 back in reserve." The technicians confirmed the order.
"Unit-01 here," Shinji's voice called out. "What's the situation? What's going on?"
"There was an incident at Matsushiro," Maya replied to him. "SAR crews are moving now to locate any survivors."
"Survivors? What exactly happened? What about Misato and Ritsuko? A-and Toji?"
"We don't know," Maya shook her head. "We've lost all contact."
"Shinji," Makoto interjected himself. "Everything will be alright. If they're alive the rescue teams will find them. Try to focus on the mission at hand."
"Roger that." Shinji exhaled, relenting himself to the task at hand.
"We're still fully staffed down here," Makoto reassured the most experienced EVA pilot. "All our systems were unaffected. And Commander Ikari is personally taking command of this operation."
'That does not inspire confidence in me,' Shinji said to himself as Unit-01 was brought to the second defense line. A battle rifle was already waiting for him. He still recalled the Commander's order to use N2 depth charges if Asuka had failed to capture or destroy the eighth angel. "Rei," he called out to his battle buddy. "I've arrived at the second intercept position. Are you in position?"
"Yes." Was her quiet reply. At that moment, the HUD opened a window that displayed the target labeled '13th Angel'.
"What the-?" Shinji recoiled as he looked at the image in front of him. "Command, I…is there something wrong here? I'm getting Unit-03 here being labeled as the 13th angel?"
"That's correct," his father's voice replied to him.
"You knew and you didn't bother to share this with me!?"
"That information was irrelevant."
"'Irrelevant' my ass."
"There will be time for that later!" Ikari barked at him. "Rei, the target is approaching your position. Recommend you avoid close quarters combat with it."
"Understood, Commander," Rei replied.
'If Unit-03 is the angel…then…What's happened, or rather, happening to Toji?' Recalling the mind fuck session he went through with number Twelve, Shinji knew that whatever was going on, it wouldn't be good.
XXXXX
Rei had her back to a cliff side as she waited for the possessed Unit-03, the new angel, to pass by her. Shinji had used a similar tactic to defeat the 9th angel single handedly while she and Asuka were trying to come to his aide. She hoped to do the same in this instance, catch the target by surprise by letting it pass and then opening fire.
She heard the telltale sounds of an EVA unit's footsteps approach. Sure enough, her tracker also picked up on the reverberations through the ground and the subtle changes in air density. It first appeared at her eight o'clock, slowly moving along the road to her nine and then ten o'clock. That's when she saw it.
Unit-03 was slowly walking down the center of the freeway in the direction of Tokyo-3. Rei shouldered her rifle and took aim. As she did so, she spotted the luminous blue fungi covering the unit's entry plug. 'The pilot…he's still in there.' This made Rei hesitate to fire. Her target stopped in its tracks. This confused her for only a second. But it was a second that she'd pay for.
Before she knew it, the target had leapt into the air and came crashing down on Unit-00's shoulders, violently pinning it to the ground. That's when she felt an intense burning sensation on her left arm. She screamed as she took note of a glowing ooze seeped out of Unit-03 and onto Uni-00's arm.
"We're got a foreign substance invading Unit-00!" Shigeru shouted as an alarm was triggered at his console.
"Confirmed!" Maya double checked. "It's the angel! It's trying to fuse itself with Unit-00's arm! Nerve contamination is spreading!"
"Sever the left arm, immediately," Ikari ordered coldly.
"But sir!" Maya objected. "The nerve links are still active! If we sever the arm-!"
"There's no time for that," the NERV Commander growled. "Cut it off." Reluctantly Maya complied.
"GYAAH!" Rei screamed in absolute pain as the unit's left arm was divorced from the rest of the unit via explosive bolts. Unit-03 jumped back in surprise before righting itself.
"Left arm severed," Maya's voice came over the radio as Rei clutched her shoulder. The burning sensation was still there, joined by a very sharp stabbing pain that seemed to be jammed into her socket. The whole arm was numb and would not move. "The pilot has been injured." Rei took note of Unit-03 departing as she passed out from the pain.
"I can't believe he did that," Shinji growled as he overheard what had happened with Unit-00. 'At least she's still alive.' But that didn't calm Shinji down about how cold his father had been.
"Target is back on the move," Makoto announced. "It's proceeding towards Unit-01."
"I got it on my scope," Shinji announced. "Any word on the pilot inside?"
"Negative."
"Shinji," his father's voice came on the line next. "The target will be within weapons range in twenty seconds. Destroy it at all costs."
"But what about the pilot?" The Commander's son asked. "What about Toji?"
"Destruction of the target takes priority," Gendo replied. "That is your mission."
"Target has arrived at the site," Shigeru announced. Everyone looked up as Unit-03 slowly strode across a farm pasture towards Unit-01. Strangely, Shinji didn't open fire. He didn't even move.
"What's he doing?" Maya asked her colleagues who offered no theories.
'Toji is still trapped in there,' Shinji said to himself. 'And the angel won't let him go. If he's still inside there's no way I can destroy the target without seriously injuring him.' "It's holding him hostage." Shinji then righted his unit from the combat stance he had been holding. He then tossed his rifle to the side.
"Unit-01 has discarded its rifle," Shigeru announced. "But, he's not going for his prog knives. The AT field isn't even up!" They were then shocked to see Unit-01 step out of the way and turn its back on Unit-03.
"Shinji!" Makoto yelled. "Have you gone mad!? You're leaving the final approach into Tokyo-3 exposed!"
"I know what I'm doing," Shinji replied in an even tone.
'It ceased its assault on Unit-00 when it was no longer a threat,' Shinji said to himself as he kept Unit-01 perfectly still. Unit-03 didn't seem to pay any heed to the Evangelion that seemed to be standing at attention. 'If it doesn't perceive me as a threat…'
"Unit-01," Gendo's angry voice growled over the airwaves. "Engage the target now!" He ignored him. "Do you hear me? Engage the target! Shinji!"
'Not yet,' Shinji kept a close eye on his monitor. Waiting for the target to be in just the right position for him to make his move.
"Shinji! Shinji!"
"Shut up," Shinji growled. 'Almost…'
Unit-01 struck out with its left leg, connecting with the back of the target's right knee. Shinji then grabbed a hold of the unit's shoulder in an attempt to wrestle it to the ground where he could rip the entry plug free. But, as he applied pressure Unit-03 rolled forward and threw him off.
"Shit!" Shinji swore as Unit-01 landed on its back two hundred yards away. "So close!" He righted his unit just in time to see Unit-03 lash out with both arms extended like stretch Armstrong and reaching out for Unit-01. Shinji was able to duck before they could grasp him. He then rushed forward, hunched over and threw his shoulder into Unit-03, pushing it back.
The black EVA recalled its arms and jumped straight into the air, coming down right behind Unit-01. Shinji brought his left arm around in a spinning hammer fist but it was caught in a vise by the hostile Evangelion. He was then thrown into the mountain side and felt his air supply being cut off as the enemy unit began to throttle his. Shinji brought his arms up and smashed them down on Unit-03's elbow joints, breaking the choke hold. He then delivered a kick to the target's mid-section and forced it back.
Unit-03 crouched down on all fours and began crawling around the farm field like a spider, waiting to pounce.
Back in the control room, everyone was silent as they watched the first ever EVA vs EVA fight. "Why isn't Shinji being more aggressive?" Makoto asked as Unit-03 kept trying to latch onto Unit-01 with its elasti-arms. "This isn't like him."
"He doesn't want to risk the life of the Fourth Child," Maya said matter-of-factly.
"But he's not the one driving this fight," Shigeru observed. "The angel is. If he doesn't seize the initiative…"
"Shinji," Ikari called out to the pilot. "Why aren't you fighting back?"
"I can't," the pilot of Unit-01 replied. "Not while the angel is holding Toji hostage!"
"Quit playing around and engage the target!" The commander raised his voice. "Destroy it!"
"No!" Was Shinji's sharp reply. "Not until I can get the pilot free!"
"It's a lost cause, Shinji."
"I can do it!" Shinji shouted back forcefully as Unit-01 dodged a lunging attack by Unit-03. Unit-01 tried to grab ahold of Unit-03's legs but the black EVA flipped out of the way. It then lunged again, this time, it was able to wrap its legs around Unit-01's midsection. Shinji was able to grasp his enemy's forearms to keep it from trying to strangle him again.
"Forget about the pilot and destroy the target!" Gendo Ikari was becoming impatient. "That's an order!"
"Fuck you! I'd rather die!"
"God damnit," Gendo growled through his teeth. "Shut down Unit-01's synchronization circuits!"
"What!?" The techs wheeled around to stare at him.
"But, commander," Maya objected. "Unit-01 is still active and in battle!"
"Shut them down and switch control over to the Dummy System remotely."
"The Dummy System!?" Fuyutsuki was shocked. "But, Commander. It still hasn't finished beta testing."
"And we don't have Dr. Akagi here to oversee it use!" Maya had great reservations about using it.
"It'll be of more use than the current pilot!" Ikari barked.
Shinji was on the verge of body slamming Unit-03 onto the ground in hopes of freeing it from his waist. If he could turn it into a ground battle he may be able to grapple with it, free the entry plug and save Toji. But, before he could make his move the entry plug went dark and Shinji lost all sensation when his synchronization to Unit-01 was cut off.
"What the hell!?" He asked as he looked around. He pulled at his controls, but got no response. "I couldn't have lost power!" At those words, the entry plug lit back up with red emergency lighting. "What's going on?" The console in front of him chirped and he looked down at the display. He froze in horror at what he saw: -Remote Dummy System – Unit-01 – Rei-.
"What the fuck are you doing, father!?" Shinji's outraged howl echoed through the command center. Was ignored.
"Dummy System, engaged," Shigeru announced from his terminal. "All connections are green."
"Control system is stable," Maya added form her station. "Emotional elements are unclear. We have no way of restraining the unit."
"Irrelevant," was Gendo Ikari's cold reply. "Engage the system. Destroy the target." What happened next, would change the course of NERV forever.
The revitalized Unit-01 began lurching as it adapted to the alien control of the Dummy System's input signal. Then, in a burst of motion, it tossed Unit-03's arms aside and began to throttle the possessed EVA. Unit-03 tried to claw at Unit-01's face and arms but to no avail. "No," Shinji whispered as he saw Unit-03's head begin to quiver. "No. No! NO!" Snap. The EVA's neck snapped and its arms and legs went limp like a rag doll.
But Unit-01's assault didn't stop there. Whipping the limp black EVA around like a towel, it slammed its target down onto a low rise office building. The barbaric Dummy-controlled EVA then brought its fist down onto Unit-03's head with enough power to crush it like a grape and splatter blood over the adjacent buildings. The EVA then began to tear into its enemy, ripping whole chunks of armor and flesh out and tossing them across the countryside. Inside the control center, Maya shielded her eyes and attempted to block out the nightmarish sounds that were echoing through the room.
Unit-03's arms were ripped off. Its abdomen, along with internal organs was eviscerated and discarded with utter violence. Unit-01's assault was relentless and vicious with massive amounts of Unit-03's blood being splatters all over the scene.
Inside, Unit-01, Shinji was freaking out. "God damnit! That's enough!" Shinji howled as he tried to get the EVA to respond to him and not the Dummy System. He tried resetting the controls, rebooting the main computer, he even tried disconnecting the power. Nothing responded. It was like all the controls and switches inside the entry plug were disabled. "For fuck's sake! Stop this! It's over! Unit-03 is down! Stop! Stop! STOP!" Shinji was on the verge of trying to hit the self-destruct when he heard a sickening sound of grinding metal. "Wha-what's that sound?"
He looked up into the windows of a hillside office building to see that Unit-01 had placed Unit-03's entry plug in its mouth and was starting to bite down. "No! For the love of God! No! Don't! Father!" It was of no use. Unit-01's teeth collapsed into the entry plug and crushed it around the pilot trapped inside.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Shinji's scream of protest hurt everyone's ears as Unit-01 finally ceased its assault. The Dummy System, having achieved its objective, shut down. Control was restored to the pilot.
"Unit-03…I mean," Shigeru spoke up hesitantly. "The angel…has been destroyed."
"Confirmed," Makoto acknowledged from his position. "The target has gone silent…No signal from Unit-03's entry plug. Scrambling rescue crews." Gendo Ikari was silent. Everyone was. It was though they were afraid that speaking anymore would cause the universe to explode. Eventually, the silence was broken. By someone who was very, very angry.
"Father…" Shinji's voice softly echoed through the control room. "Father?" At her console, Maya looked up when she heard it beep. The screen displayed Shinji's heart rate, brain waves and synch ratio. Though he sounded calm, his heart rate and brain waves said otherwise. And his synch ratio was also spiking dangerously.
'Shinji?' Maya asked herself. 'What…what are you…what are you doing?'
"I know you can hear me, father. Answer me."
"What is it, Shinji?" Commander Ikari asked, as though he were oblivious to his son's emotional state. Suddenly, his heart rate leveled off to a stable rate and his brain waves decreased in a similar manner. The synch ratio however peaked at 214%!
'He…he broke the record by nearly twenty points,' Maya realized. She also realized what this said about his current emotional state. "Oh…" She looked up at the main screen to see the picture of absolute rage on Shinji's face. "…shit."
"You're a dead man."
Topside, Shinji, gently placed the damaged entry plug down in the grass before righting his EVA and taking off full sprint towards Tokyo-3. "Do you hear me!?" He howled as he raced back. "I'm going to end you!"
"Stand down, Shinji," Gendo Ikari's calm, detached voice replied. "That's an order."
"Shove it, you asshole! I'm going to kill you and anyone who gets in my way!"
"Shinji, stop this!" Makoto shouted. "Don't do this!"
"Don't get in my way, Hyuga. Or I'll kill you too!"
"Please, Shinji! Listen to reason!"
"Shut the fuck up!"
"Shinji, please!" Maya joined in, tears running from her eyes. "I hate it too. But there was no choice!"
"There's always a choice!" Shinji shrieked. As Unit-01's umbilical was remote ejected. "I've still got three minutes of power. That's enough to destroy half of HQ if I want. And more than enough to reach you and crush you like a bug, father!"
"Shinji, please stop this!"
"Activate the plug suit's defibrillator," Gendo Ikari ordered. "And increase the LCL pressure to maximum."
"Sir?" Makoto went wide eyed at this. "That dangerous! It could cause him serious, even permanent harm!"
"We have no time for a child's tantrum."
Back in his EVA Shinji convulsed as an electric shock racked his body. He then felt it incredibly difficult, near impossible to breath. 'They've still got control of the life support systems,' Shinji realized. 'Father can kill me in here if he wants.'
"Retrieve Unit-01 and forcefully extract the pilot," Ikari ordered. "And place him in custody with full restraints." Gendo Ikari, thinking that Unit-01 and its pilot had been subdued, got up to leave.
"Fa…fath…er," Shini's voice seeped through as he forced himself to remain conscious.
"How can he still be conscious?" Maya asked herself as the vid-screen showed Shinji forcing himself into an upright posture in obvious pain. He then looked right up into the HUD, his eyes glaring like a savage wolf and his teeth clenched in a combination of pain and fury. Maya trembled at the sight. Never had she seen anyone let alone Shinji, looking so terrifying.
"Father…you…" Shinj growled in absolute rage.
"You fucked with the wrong Wolverine," Shinji spat before bringing his fist crashing down onto the emergency eject.
XXXXX
Eight hours later…
Matsushiro, Japan
Pain. That was the first thing Misato registered as she regained consciousness. Dulled pain, mitigated by pain killers. But still pain. She'd suffered worse and if one could feel pain, then that meant they weren't dead. "I-I'm alive…" she let out as her eyes began to adjust to the portable lights of the rescue sight. It was nighttime.
"Thank God, for that," a soft voice from the side drew her attention. Slowly, to avoid aggravating any injury, she turned her head to see Kaji smiling softly.
"Kaji."
"You're damn lucky, Misato Katsuragi." Kaji said as he gently stroked her uninjured cheek. The other sported a bandaged for a small gash she had suffered.
"Uh, what about...is Ritsusko…?"
"Don't worry," Kaji said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "She's fine. Just some scrapes and bruises. She wasn't injured as bad as you were."
"Good," Misato smiled. Then her memory caught up with her. "What about Unit-03?"
"Unit-03…" Kaji hesitated. Misato could see a wide range of emotions flash across her lover's face. Fear. Despair. Anger. Revulsion. "Unit-03 was classified as an angel and destroyed…" He then looked her in the eye. "By Unit-01."
"U-Unit-01?" Misato shuddered in fear over what that meant.
"Commander Ikari activated the Dummy System. The Fourth Child suffered severe injuries but survived."
"But…but what about Shinji?" Misato began to panic. 'If Commander Ikari had used the Dummy System, then…'
"He…he's," Kaji hesitated. "It's been over seven hours since he…" He briefly looked away, squeezed his eyes to keep his emotions under control.
"Is he alive?" Misato asked. "Please, Kaji…"
"As far as we know," her lover replied.
"What do you mean 'as far as we know'?" Kaji then looked back into Misato's eyes.
"The Commander pissed him off…"