CHAPTER 37: SING YOUR DEATH SONG

Shinji looked back to the door just in time to see it open, revealing Tokarev, his Five-seveN pistol already drawn. Keeping up the turn his body was making, Shinji swept the gun to the outside with his arm just as a round went off. Shinji brought his pistol around and whipped the Russian captain on the side of his head. Tokarev, his pistol knocked away, grasped Shinji's gun arm and wrenching it to the side, but Shinji held onto the pistol even as a round was fired into the ceiling.

Shinji went with the momentum and slammed Tokarev into the door jam. What initially followed was more of a shoving match between two schoolyard bullies than a mixed-martial arts bout with both fighters trying to throw the other to the ground or into a wall. Tokarev managed to kick Shinji in the left knee causing him to lose balance, but the Wolverine repaid the Russian by palm striking him in the jaw, causing the Russian to see little dots in his vision.

Shinji reached for his belt and drew out the SOG Trident folding knife from its position in his waistband and jammed the blade into the upper right bicep of the recovering Russian. This allowed the teenager to gain the upper hand and push his opponent back through the door. The Russian slammed back first into the railing and began to flip over it, but not before grabbing ahold of Shinji's tactical vest and pulling him over with him. When they landed on the catwalk below the H&K pistol tumbled into the pool of LCL.

From his position at the console next to Unit-01, Commander Ikari watched as Captain Tokarev and another person fall over the railing and onto the catwalk below. The Russian seemed worse off from the fall than his opponent who rose to one knee and delivered a sweep kick to the ex-Spetsnaz operator's head that knocked him unconscious. Ikari motioned for the two Section Two agents at his side to move in.

Shinji heard footsteps and looked up to see two Section Two agents running towards him. Their weapons weren't drawn, yet, since they assumed Shinji was unarmed. That was their mistake as Shinji quickly drew a Remington R51 handgun from his pack and fired five rounds into the approaching agents. He got back on his feet as the agents collapsed on the catwalk.

The Commander realized who the attacker was the second he drew a bead on him. But, Shinji didn't fire. Instead, after doing a tactical reload to top off the pistol, he limped forward along the catwalk, keeping the handgun's sights trained on his father. As he came to the steps that lead up to the commander Shinji discarded the body armor and his pack. "You have no idea how badly I want to pull this trigger and put a hollow point right through your eye socket," he hissed as he came face to face with his patriarchal arch nemesis. Shinji glanced over at the EVA as the facility was rocked by an explosion caused by the angel.

"You want to pilot the EVA?" Ikari asked, his voice steady despite the fact that a 147-grain projectile was just a 6.5-bs trigger pull away from being imbedded in his brain pan.

"That's the only reason you're still alive at the moment," Shinji growled.

"Because I control the access codes." Ikari realized.

"And you have no choice but to let me pilot," Shinji said noticing the text on the control console. "Do you?" Reluctantly, Gendo turned to enter in the necessary code to exchange the Dummy Plug for the standard one. As he did so he looked down at Shinji's left flank and noticed a growing red wet spot near the hip.

XXXXX

The Command Center's own walls reverberated with the latest shockwave. "Target is descending past Dogma Layer seven!" Shigeru announced as he recoiled back from his terminal.

"It's heading here!" Misato recoiled as well. "Everyone out!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Evacuate the Command Cent-!" She was cut off when the front wall crashed down as the Fourteenth Angel marched into the Command Center. Everyone froze in terror at their first up close look at an Angel.

Everyone except Misato, acting as if on instinct, she drew her USP40 and emptied the magazine in vain at the angel. She knew it wouldn't even be enough to piss the thing off, but she'd be damned if she just stood by and died without doing something. Defiant to the end. Her slide locked back and she dropped the pistol just as a gleam appeared in the angel's eyes. Misato grabbed ahold of her cross and braced for the end.

But, before the angel could fire the side wall exploded into a shower of concrete, rebar and plaster as a violet and green behemoth barreled through it. An armored fist connected with the angel's face and knocked it off balance. Time froze as Misato recognized the figure that was attacking the angel. "It's…Unit-01?" She stared upwards, bewildered.

"But…the Dummy System…" Ritsuko was just as bewildered as she picked herself off the ground.

"It's Shinji!" Hope began to flood into Misato's heart. 'There's still a chance.' She said to herself as Unit-01 brought its arm back and elbowed the angel in the face, then it received a backhand with the same arm causing it to stumble backwards in time to receive a powerful sidekick from Unit-01 that sent it back through the hole in the wall that Unit-01 created. "Go for it, Shinji!" She cheered him on. "Kick its ass!"

"HYAAAAH!" Shinji howled as he furiously assaulted the angel. He crashed into his target, tackling it into the EVA cages. He then grabbed it by its jaw, hauled it up, spun around it and flipped it over his shoulder further through the main hanger. When it landed Shinji launched forward delivering a knee strike to its face and knocking it back down. He then mounted the angel and brought his left arm back only to have it blown off above the elbow by the angel.

"GYAAARRRRGGGG!" Though he lost one of his EVA's limbs this did more to piss Shinji off even more, than it did to give the angel any advantage. Shinji retaliated by grabbing the angel by the face, slamming said face into the wall and pushing it along until both EVA and angel slammed into the catapult. "Misato!"

"Launch catapult four!" Misato ordered even though Makoto was already on it.

As the combatants were launched Shinji continued to hold the angel's face against the wall as it ground past at a high speed. When they came to end of the launch tube they were shot into the Geo-Front with enough force that Shinji was able to cause the angel to slam against the ceiling of the cavern. As they fell back down he flipped the angel underneath him causing it to slam, face first into the ground this time.

Shinji still held onto the face, pushing it backwards by the jaw, allowing him easy access to the angel's core. 'That's where Rei's got to be,' Shinji said to himself. 'If the angel absorbed Unit-00 it had to absorb Rei along with it.' Shinji removed his hand only to replace it with a foot. His hand now free, he began to pull at the ribs that flanked the core, hoping to tear his way in. He applied pressure with his foot and pulled with his hand and could feel the ribs and tendons of the angel strain and even begin to tear.

Then, everything went black and a red text box with '00:00.00' and 'ALERT' appeared before him. "Are you fucking kidding me!?"

"Unit-01 has lost all battery power!" Maya announced from her portable terminal as the command team rode the express elevator up to the Geo-Front. "Backup power is offline!"

"No, Shinji…" They exited the elevator just in time to see Unit-01 get impaled in the chest by the angel's arm ribbons and hurled against the NERV Pyramid. The ribbons withdrew and reformed back into the humanoid ones as blood spurted out of the EVA's wounds like ruptured fire hydrants. "SHINJI!"

XXXXX

The entry plug was dark. The only light coming from a small number of tritium bulbs that were meant for emergency lighting. The plug was as still as it was dark. No movement could be seen nor heard. The human form sitting in the control chair appeared stiff and immobile, as if it had died and been petrified in place. Blood was trickling out the corner of the mouth.

The pilot truly seemed dead; eyes closed, no breathing, not even the telltale movement of the eyeballs that could be seen by looking at the eyelids. One could've easily mistaken the whole scene for an elaborately realistic sculpture it was so still. But any conclusion that the pilot was dead and unable to fight would soon be shattered.

The EVA shook as the pilot's eyes snapped open. The blue-hazel irises replaced by bright red ones that glowed with almost demonic fury. "Give." The pilot growled, his breath coming back in deep, animalistic grunts. "Give. Rei. Back. I. Want. Her. Back…GIVE HER BACK!"

Without warning Evangelion Unit-01 let out a savage howl and lurched to its feet. The command team recoiled at the sudden sound and movement. What's more, the green highlights on its body began to melt away, replaced by glowing, red hot patches of what could've been mistaken for hellfire.

"U-Unit-01?" Misato stammered as the berserker EVA righted itself. "Did it go…berserk again!?" The EVAs eyes similarly began to glow bright red and it let out a challenging roar at the angel.

"I-I don't know!" Ritsuko stammered in fear. "I've…I never thought an EVA could do this!" The angel shot its arm ribbons forward only to have them blocked at the last minute by a single, AT field. EVA Unit-01 didn't even flinch. The ribbons then pulled the angel forward in an attempt for the angel to fire a point black energy blast. Instead, the blast was redirected in all directions, causing more damage to the walls of the Geo-Front than anything else.

"Unbelievable," Misato muttered. "Unit-01 is untouchable!" The EVA then held up its severed limb and, as if by magic, a glowing arm formed in place of the severed one. This arm formed itself into a fist and then shot out at the angel like a cannonball sending its target crashing through a hill.

Its target knocked to the ground Unit-01 fired an energy blast of its own at the hill causing it to explode and send the angel tumbling further along the ground. The EVA, as if possessed by a murderous spirit, began to march towards its helpless quarry.

"Doctor Akagi!" Maya announced. "The entry plug is at a depth of 180 and reading a sync ratio of nearly 400%!"

"No! That's not possible!" Ritsuko screamed in horror. "If Shinji pushes himself that far…!" She paused in utter shock at what it meant.

"What!?" Misato barked. "What will happen?"

"He'll…he may not remain human…" Ritsuko stammered in fear. "We…we may not be able to bring him back! Shinji!" She grabbed the radio from Misato, he voice sounding of near panic. "Please stop! You're pushing yourself too far!"

"I don't care," Shinji's growl came back almost barbaric.

"Shinji! If you continue this you won't be able to come back!"

"I don't care what happens to me! I just don't care anymore! But I am bringing Rei back! Even if it's the LAST THING I DO!" Unit-01 fired another energy bolt at the angel that was powerful enough to both cause Unit-01 to recoil and blast through the angel's AT field and blow off its left arm. Misato snatched the radio back from Ritsuko.

"Then go for it! Go for broke!"

"Misato!" Her friend barked at her as Unit-01 began to march towards its fallen enemy. "You don't know what-!"

"You can do it, Shinji!" She cheered him as though she were a spectator rooting for her favorite boxer at the Heavyweight Championship. And, in a way, she was. "Do it for yourself! Do it for Rei! Tear that fucker apart!" He did just that.

Unit-01 reached the mortally wounded angel as its target struggled to pick itself up. Its attempts were met by a foot that stomped onto its face and ground it into the earth beneath. The EVA, now hovering over its defeated opponent brought back its right arm and swung it at the core but stopped the would be strike just above it, its fingers spread. The core's insides began to ripple as if a pebble were dropped into a pond.

The wind picked up and seemed to be emanating from the two combatants. "What's going on!?" Misato asked Ritsuko as the two creatures began to float up into the air and Unit-01's armor plating began popping off as if by explosive force.

"I don't know," Ritsuko said. "Unit-01's bindings are being cast off."

"'Bindings'? You mean, that's not armor?"

"No," Ritsuko shook her head. "Not really. They actually serve as bindings that both restrain the EVA and allow us to control it." For some reason, she was feeling uncharacteristically honest at the moment. "But no more…its power is now beyond any means to control it."

"What?" Everyone within earshot, save the Vice-Commander, gasped.

"Evangelion Unit-01 is now awakened and becoming the closest thing to a demi-God!"

Up above them, Unit-01 roared as its glowing arm joined the other in trying to work some kind of magic on the angel's core. Inside, the entry plug was a kaleidoscope that would've given sent a mushroom junkie into cardiac arrest from sheer sensory overload. As if sensing the object of his search, Shinji crawled out of the pilot's seat and moved down the plug towards the bottom.

As he neared the bottom, it seemed to become transparent and he could see her. He could see Rei. She was nude and curled up into the fetal position. "Just hold on, Rei!" He shouted to her as he continued to crawl forward. He felt something invisible pushing against him, trying to keep him away. But it would not stop him. "I'm coming!"

"I am not important," he heard her whispering. "I am replaceable."

"Rei!"

"I couldn't help him…I couldn't help Shinji," she sounded sad. "He wouldn't have failed. But I did. But it's okay…if I die, I can be replaced." This made her sound even sadder. "I am…replaceable."

"Rei!" Shinji shouted out to her.

"I am not important. I am replaceable."

"Rei!" Finally, she seemed to hear him as her head turned to look up at him. "Rei!" That's when he reached the bottom. He pushed against it with all his strength and willpower. "Rei! I'm not going to leave you!"

"Grrraaaaarrrr!" Shinji howled as he was finally able to push his right arm and then his head and upper torso through the barrier. "Rei! Come on!" He called out to her as he felt a horrendously painful burning sensation run all over his exposed body. He felt his skin boil and peel off as the angel continued fighting his will. "Climb!" But he would not be deterred. "Rei!"

Slowly, Rei's arm extended up toward him. Her arm inched closer and closer until he was able to summon the last bits of his strength, dart his arm forward and grab her by the wrist. And then, as if he were pulling a fish he had caught with his bare hands out of the water, he recoiled back past the barrier, pulling Rei with him with a triumphant yell.

Outside, the others watched as Unit-01 yanked something out of the angel. It looked like a small glowing orb. As soon as it was clear the angel burst into a million pieces before reforming into a small point of light. This ball of light slowly inched towards Unit-01's exposed core until it had fully merged with the unit. The orb in Unit-01's hand similarly merged with the EVA as its light spread all over its body until it reached the severed limb. The light gathered at the limb and it was regrown as a dark gray, human like hand.

Inside, Shinji embraced Rei as if they were both the last human beings alive and they had just found each other. "Rei," Shinji half-whimpered in joy. "I swear…I will never leave you…"

"I…" Rei spoke softly. "I'm sorry I…" She hesitate to speak anymore. This felt strangely familiar to her.

"It's alright, Rei," he chuckled as he stroked the back of her hair. "You don't have to apologize. You're special to me," he finally said it. He finally voiced his innermost feelings about her. "And I love you, Rei." Rei gasped as she remembered. This was her dream. The first dream she ever recalled having. Shinji pulled back slightly and angled his head.

"Sh-Shinji…" Rei muttered softly as his lips met hers.

In the Geo-Front, the others could only watch in wonder and tension, not knowing what was about to happen. Some thought Unit-01 would explode and take the planet with it. Others thought it would emit an energy wave that would vaporize all life. And some thought it would come back down as an all-powerful and immortal god and subjugate the human race. All were surprised by what actually happened: nothing.

The EVA just stopped glowing and, as the wind coming from it disappeared, it fell back down to Earth in a mighty crash on its back. The NERV personnel just stared awestruck as the dust settled about the area. Feeling nervously brave, Makoto Hyuga decided to break the ominous silence: "So…what now?"

XXXXX

TF-141 HQ, Fort Knox, KY, USA

"Shit's getting real, sir," brevet-Leftenant Woolcroft said to Major Price as the VTC briefing with the CIA and MI6 on the recent shit storm in Japan ended.

"Couldn't have put it better m'self," 141's field commander agreed. "Better call in the rest of the lads." The veteran SAS operator stood up and marched towards the armory. "We've got some drills to run."

"When do you expect we'll get the green light, boss?" Frost asked Price as he adjusted the lacing on his boots.

"Not just yet, mate," Price replied as he waited for the two of them to catch up. "But it won't be long now. SEELE is going to be quite pissed off about Unit-01."

"All this science and pseudo-religious shit those chaps were spouting gave me a migraine, sir," Woolcroft groaned.

"Apparently you never learned about the hard-on Hitler had for that kind of stuff," Frost shot back. "We'll have to give the 160th a call, Price. And probably start practicing HALO jumps again. You know, depending on how we want to infiltrate Tokyo-3."