A/N: Wow. Super sorry about the VEEEEERY long delay in updating, folks. Being stuck out at sea for seven months kinda puts a pin in interweb connectivity. That and I kinda procrastinated a little…well, maybe more than a little. But, have no fear, I am not letting this one die! Oh, and I apologize if I don't respond to every PM, I just don't have that much time on my hands. I do appreciate the support though. Now, let's get back to our fanfiction epic…
CHAPTER 41: DEMONS
Kozou Fuyutsuki left his penthouse apartment right on time at 0530. Just as he had every day for the past year. The routine was the same. Wake up, breakfast of egg whites, English muffin and orange juice followed by a quick shower and then he'd leave for NERV HQ. His security detail was usually blended with the civilian population. Recently, they've been more overt if only because the civilian population had steadily been declining in the city.
This both aided and hindered any surveillance of the Vice-Commander. On the one hand his bodyguards were more easily identified. But, conversely anyone performing extended surveillance of him or his residence would stand out. Such was one agent's dilemma. Thankfully, he had already done his homework on the Vice-Commander prior to the exodus from Tokyo-3 and therefore only needed one last 'drive by' to confirm the numbers of his security detail.
He didn't want to do this job, but he had no choice. They threatened Misato's life. Not so much in words or even actions. A blank envelope had been slipped under the door of his apartment by some anonymous errand boy. The envelope had two items: a note directing him to bring the Vice-Commander to a specific location at a specific time; and a photo of Misato shopping at the minimart, taken surreptitiously by another anonymous errand boy. He got the message: do what we say or else.
For the hundredth time that morning, Kaji cursed SEELE…
XXXXX
-One week ago…
Kaji was spending more and more time at Misato's, if only to help keep her spirits up. Shinji may be 'gone' but the fight was still here and he'd want them to keep going. Rei had the right attitude, she felt that if Shinji wouldn't quit she couldn't either.
The formerly reclusive girl had stepped up and was gradually improving her abilities in Unit-04. The advanced HUD unit in Unit-04 aided in this, cutting back 'processing' time by putting data right into her view. Already her synch scores were up fifteen percent from what they were prior to her absorption by the fourteenth angel and then Unit-01.
Asuka on the other hand had slipped since the last attack and now scored only marginally higher than Rei in synch ratios. Thankfully, she had bottomed out so there was little risk in her becoming non-viable as a pilot. That didn't make her feel much better though. She was still hung up on her recent defeat. Throw in the fact that Rei was becoming closer to being her equal in piloting abilities and it was a wonder her ego hadn't taken a bigger blow.
The biggest sticking point for Asuka was still how she had been blind to the fact that Shinji was a combat veteran when nearly everyone else seemed to know. She'd walked the halls at NERV where he had killed several of their security personnel. The blood and blast damage had been cleared away but she could feel how 'off' everything felt. It gave her chills knowing that her former roommate had killed people in those very same halls.
Kaji, on the other hand, went about his 'business' as usual. He knew he was likely under observation by Section 2. Thankfully, they weren't very good at it and he was still able to maintain his cover even when he was right under their noses. That's one reason why the delivery of the envelope was so unnerving, he wasn't expecting it.
Almost on a whim, he had decided to stop by his apartment before heading into 'work' to change his shirt. But, when he stepped inside something crumpled under his foot. It was a small, unmarked, manila envelope. It was too light to contain anything dangerous, but Kaji was cautious to open it; just in case there was a poison laced razor blade taped to the inside of the flap. The contents turned out to be less hazardous to his health but no less threatening.
XXXXX
Now he was conducting recon and carefully planning how he'd take the Vice-Commander. Fuyutsuki wasn't a 'bad guy' per se; he just happened to be stuck working with the wrong people. His motives, although well intended, being twisted for more nefarious purposes.
'Only two days until the deadline,' the agent told himself. If he didn't have the Vice-Commander delivered by then…Kaji doubted that he alone would be able to protect Misato from SEELE. Not without heavy firepower and friends bringing more firepower. But, before he could ponder any further the angel alarms began to blare across the city.
Normally, when they sounded the streets would empty in an orderly manner and the buildings would retract. This time, with the civilian population below fifty percent, little changed with the city's posture. "I guess that does it for today," Kaji said to himself as Fuyutsuki was escorted to his sedan as storm clouds began to roll in. "Hmm," he hummed to himself. "After an angel attack he usually drives himself when he leaves HQ…" Now he had the beginnings of a plan.
XXXXX
"…Prepare for aerial assault…" The facilities PA system echoed in the EVA chambers. Asuka had been sulking in front of her EVA, pondering the enigma that was the late Shinji Ikari. She kept trying to wrap her mind around what made him tick. She thought she knew, but then his one-man invasion of NERV threw all her theories right out the window like a Tom Brady 'Hail Mary Pass'.
"An angel?" She snapped out of her brooding. "Another one?" 'And Shinji isn't here…' She realized as she looked over at the statue-like Unit-01, as if expecting it to begin moving out. 'He…he really isn't here…' A couple months ago Asuka would've been a bit happy at the thought of not having Shinji around to steal all the glory. But now it felt…wrong.
"The angel's orbit is just outside our defense envelope," Makoto reported as Misato took to her post. She'd shot gunned a whole cup of coffee in order to make herself presentable and focused. On the monitors the Fifteenth Angel actually looked angelic: bright winged, crystalline body glowing with an ethereal brilliance.
"It's maintaining its distance in perfect geo-synchronous orbit," Shigeru confirmed.
"So, is it just looking for a nice place to land?" The Director of Operations asked. "I hope this one isn't another flying bomb."
"Either way," Makoto replied, "we can't attack it from this distance."
"Yeah, the EVAs weren't designed to combat an enemy that's still in orbit," Misato growled. "Why can't things ever be easy?" She turned to Maya. "EVA status?"
"Rei and Unit-04 are ready," the brunette replied. "Asuka is locking into Unit-02, now."
"Understood," she nodded. "What are our armament options?"
"We still have the particle accelerator from Operation Yashima," Makoto replied. "but we don't have the time to rig a mass power system for it. It can cover the distance, but I doubt it'll have the necessary power to do any damage."
"We'll just have to make do with HQ's local system," Ritsuko advised. "Luckily there's plenty to spare since there's no need to power as many shelters."
"Nothing else to it," Misato agreed. "We'll use it as the backup weapon. What else?"
"The prototype positron rifle is also ready," Maya spoke up. "It's got more of a punch. That is, if the angel comes within range and the pilot can maintain a constant aim for the beam to bore through the target. Otherwise it'll lose trajectory."
"Very well," Misato nodded. "Mobilize Unit-04 with the positron rifle and Unit-02 with the particle accelerator."
"What's that!?" Asuka shrieked over the radio. "I'm the backup?"
"That's right," Misato replied. "Unit-04's targeting system is more advanced and better equipped to handle the calculations."
"You've never had faith in me!" The German teen shouted back. "I can do this!"
"Colonel," Makoto spoke up. "Is she really in the best state of mind-?"
"Fine," Misato grumbled. "Let her take point, if that's her wish."
"Wunderbar!" Asuka cheered as Unit-02 was deployed to the surface.
"If she screws up," Ritsuko growled as she looked over the sync-ratio data, "she'll never be allowed to pilot again."
"That'll be my call, Doctor Akagi," Misato growled back. "Pilot orders are my department. Not yours." Her former best friend scowled but remained silent.
Topside, it took several minutes of waiting for the angel to begin drifting closer to Tokyo-3. But, even then it was at a snail's pace. In the meantime, Tokyo-3 was beset by a deluge that perfectly reflected the general mood of the NERV staff. "Verdamnt!" Asuka swore as her head remained inside the targeting module. "What is taking so long? Come and fight already angel!" Then, as if answering her challenge, the angel began to glow brighter.
Without warning, the clouds parted as a ray of light poured forth from the angel and lit up Unit-02. "GYAAAAAH!" Asuka shrieked as her mind was assaulted by horrible sensations: emotional pain, anger, hatred, tortured memories she tried to bury…they all began to flood both her consciousness and subconscious. Every time she tried to think of something else that thought would warp into something terrible.
"No thermal emissions detected!" Shigeru reported as alarms began to warn of the attack on Unit-02.
"Readings from Asuka's psychograph!" Maya shouted in alarm. "Back contamination has started! It's a psionic attack!"
"The AT field isn't blocking it at all!?" Ritsuko queried as she began to go over the raw data.
"Negative! It appears to be coursing through the AT field!"
"What does that mean!?" Misato demanded.
"The Angel is attacking Asuka's mind by using Unit-02's AT field as a conduit. It's assaulting her across her ego-borderline."
Topside, Asuka tried in vain to fight back. "Damn you!" Reflexively she fired her weapon, pulling the trigger twice both shots however harmlessly passed their intended target. As she continued to scream in mental anguish, her finger kept pulling the trigger. Three more, random blasts created blast craters across the city before the weapon overheated and shutdown, no longer viable. "Noooo! Get out of my head!"
"How's Asuka?" Ritsuko asked as Asuka's shrill cries of terror assaulted their ear drums.
"The back contamination has begun to cross her ego-borderline-!"
"Rei!" Misato barked over the radio. "If you have a shot take it!"
"Firing!" The albino pilot replied as she fired the cannon.
A green beam of energy lanced out from Unit-04's position among the suburbs. It passed through the atmosphere, right on course to strike the angel dead center…Pang! It hit the AT field and deflected harmlessly into space.
"Negative effect, Colonel," Rei reported. "My weapon is ineffective."
"Commander," Fuyutsuki leaned in to Gendo's ear. "We may have to use the Lance."
"That runs the risk of allowing Lillith to recover," Ikari replied. "It's too soon."
"If we don't the angel could take over both EVAs and possibly Unit-01 and there wouldn't be damned thing we could do to stop it."
"Stop it! Make it stop!" Asuka began pleading, begging with tears.
"Get her out of there," Misato ordered. "Eject her plug, now, before permanent damage is done!"
"Negative!" Makoto replied. "The Angel's energy field is blocking all signals going to the EVA. We can't eject her and we can't override!"
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"
"Very well," Gendo relented.
"Stop raping my mind!"
"Colonel Katsuragi," Genod stood up. "Order Unit-04 to-" He was cut off by another alarm blaring. This one coming from Unit-01's holding cage. The bridge crew also felt a shockwave reverberate through the facility.
"What now!?" Misato screamed as a video monitor popped up on the main display.
On it was the Unit-01 cage, and the purple Evangelion had come alive and was thrashing in its restraints like a psychotic in a straight-jacket. "Unit-01 has activated!" Shigeru reported. "The entry plug inserted itself and now the internal and external readings are off the charts!"
"Colonel!" Maya shouted form her station. "We've been hacked!"
"What was that?" Ritsuko now began to panic. "Who's hacking us? Trace the source."
"What the hell is going on?" Commander Ikari barked. "Who gave the order to move Unit-01 to the launch pad!?" Sure enough, on screen, EVA Unit-01 was being deployed to the catapults.
"Commander," Ritsuko stood up straight, her face paled with fear. "The order came from…" She turned to face him. "It came from Unit-01!"
"What are you saying!?" Misato demanded as she grabbed Ritsuko's collar.
"The EVA somehow hacked our systems and the Magi in less than a second and ordered an immediate deployment!"
Before any more discussion could be had on the matter, Unit-01 was launched directly to the surface. When it arrived, it didn't even wait for the shutters in the elevator to open, it just burst forth, breaking the last restraints in the process, as it charged directly into Unit-02 like a linebacker making a blind-side sack on the QB.
As her EVA crashed to the ground Asuka heard a voice in her head: "Dieser Schmerz wird dich entweder zerstören oder stärker machen...es ist deine Wahl, Asuka…" (This pain will either destroy you or make you strong…it's your choice, Asuka…)
"Was…? Wer…?" Asuka mumbled out before she slipped into unconsciousness. (What…? Who…?)
"Shit!" Misato swore as the berserk Unit-01 took Unit-02's place in the path of the angel's attack. Now it was thrashing under the psychic onslaught. "Now Unit-01 is being assaulted by the Angel!"
"If the angel overrides control of the Unit…" Ritsuko shivered.
"If that happens we're fucked!" Misato turned to the radio. "Rei! You're going to have to shoot Unit-01!" Gasps echoed throughout the command center.
"Colonel Katsuragi," Gendo barked. "What are you doing?"
"Blasting Unit-01 clear of the angel's attack is our only chance, sir," she reasoned. "If Unit-04 moved in then it would be Rei's turn in the hot seat. We can't play musical chairs like this."
"She's right, Commander," Fuyutsuki stated. "Retrieving the Lance may take too long." Gendo returned to his seat, relenting to the advice of his subordinates.
"Proceed, Colonel…"
"Rei? You have your orders," Misato said to the girl.
"Roger, Colonel," Rei nodded as she snapped her monocle into place and reoriented her particle cannon. A part of her began to hurt as she did so. That was Shinji's Evangelion. No matter what had happened to him, that much would never change. "I'm sorry, Shinji…"
It didn't take long for her to line up the shot, she was practically at point blank range for the weapon. But, before she could pull the trigger she heard a voice in her head: "Don't do it, Rei…"
"Huh?" She blinked as the cannon's barrel drooped slightly.
"I've got this…"
"That voice…"
"What was that, Rei?" Misato asked next. "Repeat your last?"
"…Who said that?"
"Who said what?" Misato replied, but the voice was gone. "Rei? Rei!"
Suddenly, Unit-01 began to control its thrashing and right itself towards the Angel. The EVA clenched its fists, turned its head directly into the beam of light and let out an unearthly roar so loud it shattered the windows of the office buildings on both sides of the street directly ahead of it. "Unit-01's AT Field is being channeled directly into the enemy AT field!" Makoto replied. "It's redirecting the attack!"
Sure enough, as Unit-01 roared the beam shot backwards all the way into orbit. When it reached the 15th Angel the ethereal being shattered into millions of specks of light that glittered in the sky for a moment before dissipating. Simultaneously, a shockwave followed along the path of the light beam and impacted directly into Unit-01, sending it flying right past Unit-04 and into a crash right on top of the main building of Tokyo-3 High Scholl #3.
"I…I don't believe it," Maya continued to stare at her monitor. "The…the target has been destroyed…"
"Unit-01 was somehow able to turn the enemy's attack back onto itself," Makoto observed. "Like a power surge going the wrong way down a power line from a lightning bolt."
"What's Unit-01's status?" Commander Ikari ordered. "I want to know what happened out there."
"I can't explain it, sir," Shigeru spoke up. "We're not getting anything form the EVA. No emissions, no signals, nothing. Nothing from during the…event either."
"No indications of someone controlling it?" Misato asked. 'Could Shinji have somehow…?'
"Negative," Maya shook her head. "The entry plug was empty when it inserted into the EVA. It didn't even have a control seat installed."
"Security footage confirms," Makoto chimed in as he brought up a replay of Unit-01's cage.
The video played through the preceding fifteen minutes, from the last time anyone was in the cage, until the EVA self-activated. No one even went near the plug or the EVA. "What about when the MAGI were hacked?" Fuyutsuki asked next. "Perhaps that could give us a clue?"
"I'll have to go over the data, sir," Ritsuko spoke up. "But…going with my gut I'd doubt we'll get much of anything off of it."
"Just glancing over the data," Maya spoke up, "it doesn't look like an actual 'hack'. The system wasn't overridden it was…by passed. Almost like there was a back door left open just for Unit-01."
"Impossible," Fuyutsuki whispered to Gendo. "The EVAs weren't designed to interface with the MAGI at all. Their systems are all self-contained."
"This could change things considerably…" Ikari nodded.
XXXXX
Asuka woke with a start. She bolted upright to find herself in a hospital room in HQ. No one was in the room with her. "Wait…how'd I get here?" She looked at her hands and arms before felling her head through her hair, which still smelled of LCL. "The…the angel…Those horrid memories of mother and…" She recalled something smashing into her EVA and knocking her out. Closing her eyes, she recalled a blur of purple just before the impact. "Unit-01!?...Shinji!?"
"It's strange," Ritsuko said to Misato as they went over Asuka's charts in the doctor's office. "During the Angel's attack her mind was clearly being assaulted…"
"She said her mind was being 'raped'," the Director of Operations growled. "I can't imagine what something like that could be like."
"Indeed," the faux blonde nodded. "Mental contamination should be present but there's none." She flipped a page on her clipboard. "I can't be sure until we run a synch test but, it appears that when Unit-01 knocked her EVA out of the way all the damage was siphoned off from her and 'redirected'."
"And then the berserker used the enemy's own attack against itself." Misato looked outside the window. "The recovery crews found nothing wrong with Unit-01 and no sign of anyone having been inside it."
"Get your hopes up?"
"Fuck you," Misato snapped. "Doesn't matter anyway. The commander ordered the restraints on Unit-01 to be doubled and for it to be encased in solid Bakelite."
"Probably for the best," Ritsuko said as she set her clipboard down. "With no way to know what's going on inside the EVA we have to be prepared for the worst. The commander doesn't want to risk Unit-01 becoming a Trojan Horse." Misato just grunted.
"Whatever," she grumbled. "Is Asuka cleared to be discharged?"
"Yeah," the doctor turned as Misato made for the door. "There's nothing wrong with her. She should be fine, just keep an eye on her." Misato didn't reply; she just exited the office.
XXXXX
Late that evening, Hikari was just getting home. Her sisters were already packed and ready to leave the city. But Hikari had gotten a call from Miss Katsuragi asking her to take PenPen with her. With things turning darker in the city and at NERV the older woman didn't have time to look after her pet and it wouldn't be fair to the little guy. Hikari was happy to help since she liked the penguin and considered Misato to be a friend.
"Here we are," she said as she set the bird down. "Don't get too used to the place, though. We'll be leaving for Aomori tomorrow."
"Wark," the penguin barked. It then turned its head to the living room. "Warp?" It made a curious sound and marched over to the doorway.
"What is it?" Hikari stepped into the darkened room. "Did you mph-!" A hand clasped over her mouth and a strong arm wrapped around her waist. Before she could begin to panic a calm voice whispered in her hear.
"I'm not gonna hurt you," he said. "I just need to borrow your phone…"
"Wark! Wark!" PenPen barked at the person holding Hikari.
XXXXX
Meanwhile, across the city, Misato was solemnly looking at PenPen's refrigerator. She knew it was for the best, but she was already missing her avian companion. Asuka had already gone to bed and Kaji was 'working', leaving her with her own thoughts. Before she could grab a bear from her own fridge her phone rang. "Great," she grumbled, "now what?" She answered it and before she could say anything the person on the other line informed her of a recent event. "The Vice-Commander's been kidnapped!?"