Neon Genesis Evangelion, the End of Evangelion, and the Rebuild of Evangelion are owned by Hideaki Anno and written by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. I own no elements from the original Manga, TV show, or Rebuild and EOE films but my OC's.
That said, Please Enjoy The Show!
Talking-"Hello"
Radio/EVA Voice-"Hello"
Thoughts-Hello
VEELE/VEELE Clones-"Hello"
A.I-"Hello"
Chapter 8: Angel Grounds
Central Shaft Tunnel, New NERV Headquarters
Almost immediately Unit-13 gently and silently began down the large shaft. The Geo-Front, while suspended high in the air now, connected New NERV HQ to Lilith's chamber via large metal shaft. Shinji couldn't help but feel tense by the descent though, he felt anxiety fix its way up his throat and his chest tighten more than before.
The last time he piloted an EVA he nearly destroyed the human race and Earth, who was to say it wouldn't happen again. No...No! It won't happen again! He thought to himself, looking to Kaworu who looked downwards on the opposite hemisphere. With Kaworu piloting with me, I should be able to control the EVA slightly without taking full control. Which means it won't go berserk unless-
He cut himself out of his thoughts as he noticed a familiar yellow metal shoe and ankle, glancing up to see Mark.09 holding the cable Unit-13 road down. "I uh, thought it was just us Kaworu..." Shinji murmured, looking away as the Fifth Child looked to his sibling-like friend.
"Who, you mean Mark.09? She's only here to support us it WILLE EVA Forces arrive, nothing more or less." He explained, making Shinji simply sigh in annoyance. "What's wrong?"
"Well, while I am grateful she's here to help us," Shinji started, not bothering to realize the communications window with Rei Q in Mark.09 was open. "I was really hoping it'd just be us you know? Besides, I don't think WILLE would launch an assault after the apparent last raid they tried to accomplish."
"That is true, though you must admit the Second Child is very... Unpredictable." Shinji chuckled at that softly, giving a nod as they continued down. The further they went the darker it got, till they finally reached the end of the metal shaft. Shinji glanced back to Rei Q's Mk.09, feeling a sort of pity for the Rei clone. He knew he should probably explain that he knew who or rather what she really was, but didn't feel he was at the right moment to. Perhaps once the world is fixed he could tell her, and hopefully explain how and why she was created for Rokobungi's sick game.
Perhaps later, he thought to himself. Right now I have to focus….
Lights on Unit-13's cheek armor flashed to life, revealing a twisted image to Shinji. "Oh dear God…." he murmured, looking at the many blood red silhouettes that were seemingly painted onto the wall. 'What…. What is all this….?"
"Ah, yes those are the Failures of Infinite." Kaworu stated, brushing off the imagery beforehand. To him this was not new, but rather as basic as the sky since Near-Third Impact. He glanced to a still surprised Shinji before looking back down to the darkness. "It's nothing to worry about."
The darkness seemed to welcoming more than ever, revealing a large chamber pitch black. As they lowered more, Kaworu began explaining what the chamber was. "Here it is, Lilith's chamber, having been closed off by WILLE and NERV from the outside world for the past 14 years. This will be like opening a lid, in a sense, though for this we'll have to be in perfect sync and harmony with Unit-13."
"We can do it together." Kaworu said with a smile, causing Shinji to return one to his friend.
"Alright, let's do it!"
From the front center between the seats came a machine which connect the pilots to Unit-13, which hummed gently to life with pulsing eyes. "Remember, clear your mind and watch your tempos; it's just like the piano duets from earlier."
Shinji nodded, shutting his eyes with concentration. He felt himself grow clear of everything he feared; he felt his mind open more than ever, even more than when Prof. Fuyutsuki spoke with him about Unit-01 and his mother and Rei. In the center of the pair's large screen, the hologram of the shaft revealed a set of word. Here we go, he thought. For Rei, for Shiro, even for Misato, and most of all...
"Let's do it, Shinji," The Third Child opened his eyes, now full of determination.
For mother.
Monitored Target Object
FINAL CONTAINMENT SEAL
Bottom most level of Central Dogma
Here we go, he thought silently, praying this would work.
The ground below Unit-13 reflected like water, before a groundbreaking act was played forward. The ground collapsed into large cubes which moved away with anti-gravity like forces, opening till the hole was larger than both Evangelions and as wide as the main shaft from before.
"We did it!" Shinji cheered with a grin, making Kaworu smile back with happiness. The opening continued till they finally came upon another chamber.
"Here it is: the lowest level of NERV's Central Dogma." Kaworu stated, his face stoic and stern with a now serious glare in his eyes.
"And the epicenter of Third Impact…." Shinji finished, looking below to the large chamber the Second Angel once slept in. The once bright orange LCL lake was now filled or covered by hundreds upon thousands of EVA sized human skulls. Atop the skulls sat Lilith's cross, now grounded with a large object not far from it. The object was a larger person, or rather corpse, almost 80 times the size of Unit-13. It had the physical body of a female attempting to crawl away, pure white skin with large red openings on certain parts. The head was seemingly ripped off, with one arm reaching out as if to grasp something.
"Is… Is that Lilith, the Second Angel?" Shinji murmured, shock eyes by the giant corpse.
"Yes, you're looking at her corpse." Kaworu explained with a grim look as they lowered, revealing them to be a good distance from the large body.
"My God, this is what Misato and the rest of us tried to protect then…." Shinji spoke to himself with a glare of his own, unsure of how to fell. He felt regretful and somewhat grateful the Near-Impact killed the Angel, as it seemingly halted any Angel assaults, if any now, from before. He watched the corpse, before noticing something sprouting out Lilith's back. "Wait, isn't that the Mark.06?"
"Yes, and my previous Evangelion as well," Kaworu replied, looking to his past vessel. The EVA was now 3 times Unit-13's height, completely white and halfway submerged into the back of Lilith's while clutching two red prongs that dug into its chest. "The Lilim modified it to act autonomous, and this is the result of it."
Unit-13 let the tether it held loose, feet crushing the skulls on impact with a robotic growl. "I'm guessing those two red prongs are our target?" Shinji suggested, looking at Lilith's corpse and the large needle like prongs jutting out of the old Mk.06.
"Yes," Kaworu replied looking up with a slight smirk. "Longinus and Cassius, they're the key to fixing Near-Third Impact. And with the Dual-Entry System, our souls will be enough to pull them out."
"So wait, if you can do it me" Shinji glanced up to the Mark.09, feeling Rei Q's saddened stare looking him down. "Couldn't you do it with Rei Q?"
"No, to use both spears both pilots must be pure Lilin, not clones. Though her soul resides somewhere else." Kaworu stated, red eyes fixed on the center corpse of Central Dogma. "Alright, let's begin."
Evangelion Unit 13 started its walk over the human sized skulls, bone cracking and collapsing under the metal pressure while Mark 9 stayed back. As it moved, Shinji started with interest at the form of Lilith and the Mark.06, which gripped the Spears of Longinus and Cassius in both hands. He pondered though in question as to why no others like WILLE or NEVEC or even NERV had come this far below since Near-Third Impact to try and remove the spears, and why they'd went to such great lengths to protect it if the Angels were all dead?
It can't just have been because of Gendo. Maybe because of the Akrid? Shinji pondered mentally. Can... Can they too be clones of-?
"Wait," all of a sudden, Unit-13 stopped as Kaworu noticed something. "Something's off….."
"What's wrong, Kaworu?" Shinji's question was answered with silence, Kaworu placing a hand to his chin in a studying way. His eyes traversed to the spears, as if concerned by their appearance all of a sudden.
"Odd….. The Spears seem identical. Almost too identical," Kaworu murmured. "And they're placed in an oddly similar formation-"
"... Look, let's just grab the Spears and leave alright?" Shinji asked, impatience surpassing his confusion. "Isn't that what we came here for anyway- ACK!"
Unit-13 was cut off by an explosion which engulfed its figure, the RS-Hoppers from the left shoulder pylon rushing to block it out. The smoke was forced apart by from the impact of Unit-13's A.T Field and the object, a familiar red and black Evangelion.
"It's Unit-02!" Shinji gasped in shock, a very dreadful feeling of its pilot staring him down. "Damnit, its Asuka!"
Blades met with Unit-13's AT-Field, letting sparks fly from the both weapons as Unit-02 pulled back with a glare. Its Gatling gun had been replaced with a more Evangelion like arm, but it still stood out as it was slighter bulkier than the original. "Shinji you damn brat!" Asuka yelled his name out with venom. "What the hell are you doing?! You're not in that damn EVA are you?"
Unit-13 gave a slight growl as Shinji's eyes narrowed in anger. "Yes, yes I am and I'm going to fix the world with it!" He exclaimed, slowly pulling Unit-13 back around towards Lilith's corpse. "So don't try to stop me!"
Asuka gritted her teeth; she hadn't wanted to fight. But if this Shinji was going to be a brat, then she sure as hell had a reason to put him in his place! "You damn brat, you want to help?! Then stop piloting!" She yelled, rushing forward.
Unit-02 Dash rushed forward, but went sailing back as Mark.09 rushed forward. The orange and white Unit-00 clone jumped into the air, ready to slice the red EVA's head clean off, that is still an explosive round crashed into its back. "Goddammit you are always late with your support!" Asuka growled out, rushing forward.
"Oh calm down, Princess at least I'm not back on Wunder." High above at the entrance point sat Unit-08, rifle in hand as it fired down onto the Vessel of Adam that was Mark.09. "A Vessel of Adam, huh? Well, the least I can do is stop you from getting back up!"
Unit-02 Dash rushed forward with its dual blade, trying to cut through the A.T Field. The RS Hoppers, sadly, give a god job at keeping her at bay as Unit-13 watched almost in amusement. "Stop Asuka, why are you doing this?!" Shinji asked with annoyance, looking with his EVA to Unit-02 as if tried cutting into the A.T Field. "Don't you get it? Those spears are our last hope to fixing this, don't you want the Earth to be fixed?!"
"If you want to start fixing the world, then stop piloting the damn EVA, brat!" She yelled back, pulled at the controls as Unit-02 was pushed back by the RS Hoppers. "Christ almighty, Shinji you'll just make things worse!"
"I will not!" Shinji screamed back, the RH Hoppers just barely holding Unit-02 from Unit-13. "How can I make you understand, with those spears we can fix Earth! We can save everyone again!"
Asuka pulled Unit-02 back, and she couldn't help but feel disgust and pity for Shinji, if it was Shinji that is. His desperation for saving Rei killed almost everyone on the planet, and he willing to go all in with Fourth and Final Impact to fix it!? He'd just ruin Earth more! He's truly willing to damn us all to death just so he can be viewed as the innocent one in this?! That…. That on its own is just unbelievably pathetic, Asuka thought before speaking up. Even if you aren't the real Shinji Ikari, why can't you just accept it and deal with consequences?! "You are so damn naive for a brat…." She murmured, but that sentence dug deep into Shinji's skin.
Shinji felt his heart beat fast with newfound hatred at Asuka. How dare she, someone he went out of his way to save, call him naive for trying to fix everything?! "You… You! How dare you call me naïve!?" Shinji finally snapped, Unit-13's mouth bolts cracking as it let out a louder growl. "I'm tired being nice, just that just doesn't work! I tried asking what happened so I could know where to start fixing, but you couldn't just give a straight fucking answer! I wanted to help, but you strapped a bomb to my neck! No, I am not naive Asuka! Your clueless, in the end WILLE's no better than NERV! You just don't get it!"
The RS Hoppers slammed inti Unit-02, sending left and right as the A.T Field popped up at random. Shinji huffed, forcing hair out of his line of vision. Never in his life did he think he'd yell like that again, and to a person he once considered a friend. He sighed and looked to Kaworu, a hint of concern in his eyes and voice. "What the hell's so wrong, Kaworu?"
The Fifth Child didn't respond, continuously looking to the spears atop Lilith. "Those spears…. Yes, we need them but…." He murmured, looking up with a spark of realization in his eyes. "Yes, I get it now, Bastard Lilim!"
Another explosion tore apart the ground surround Lilith's cross, though Mark.09 was unaffected as she'd taken to using the cross as a shielding. "Hey… Hey, SEELE fill-in pilot!" Rei Q looked up, barely catching the thin barrel of Unit-08's rifle. "You should probably get out of that Vessel before it goes all crazy on us, you know?"
"I… I cannot." Rei Q felt compelled to simply say no, but she felt a pinch of…. Hesitation? Never had she experienced such a feeling, and this was no simple feeling either. No, this felt more as if was very familiar to be near. "I was not ordered to leave my Mark.09."
"God, you're so straight-laced." Mari replied, fixing her glasses before firing another round. "Your original was nothing like this, you know?"
"The original? So it is true, I am clone of Rei II and Yui Ayanami….." Rei Q murmured, unsure of how to really respond to such a thing. Even with Shinji's reassurance, she recalled the memory of the other Rei in her episode then and feared the worst. Had she been a defect, a broken model that required such emotions as sadness or anger and happiness? Or had the original simply grow accustomed to these emotions when closer to other Lilim?
Unit-02 jumped high and fast, trying to cut into Unit-13's frame. The Unit-01 descendant simply jumped back, but lost footing as the skulls it landed on were too weak to support its weight. The EVA tilted back as Shinji cried out in shock, and not a moment later did Unit-02 managed to finally destroy the RS Hoppers.
Unit-13 pulled its arm up to protect itself at the RS Hoppers exploded, shaking it and the pilots. Shinji clutched the controls tightly, looking to Kaworu who seemed to be realizing something drastic. "Kaworu, what's wrong?!" Shinji finally cried out, but his friend simply continued looking with concern and fear in his eyes.
Asuka screamed with fury as Unit-02 jumped up, the dual blade broken in two now dual swords. Unit-13 swung its arms, catching the blades with bare hands as sparks flew from either side. "Asuka, please I'm begging you!" Shinji finally pleaded, fighting through the pain in his hands and bubbling LCL. "Please, don't do this!"
"Just shut up and take your punishment, you brat!" Asuka screamed, forcing her EVA beyond its previous limits. The blades slowly dug into Unit-13's hands more, but before more progress could be made Unit-02 gave a whirl of depletion, eyes and Entry Plug shutting down.
"Oh, you're kidding me Unit-02!" Asuka cried out to her EVA, before turning to the communications window. "Four-Eyes, I need a spare fast-!"
Asuka was cut off when Unit-13 finally rose back up, backhanding Unit-02 across the white plain. Shinji breathed through his mouth, finally sighing before looking towards Lilith. Finally, no more stupid distractions! He thought. "Now's our chance, let's get the spears and leave!" He called to Kaworu, though he didn't wait for an answer.
Unit-13 turned to Lilith's corpse, walking steadily up towards its large form. That is, until Kaworu finally spoke up. "We… We should turn back Shinji," He spoke with fear and the sound of exhaustion, a hand over half his face to hide his fear. "I have a bad feeling about this…."
Shinji felt hair on the back of neck straighten up at Kaworu's statement, and he turned to glare at him. "You can't be serious Kaworu, after all we've gone through to get them?!" He asked, trying his best hold back any anger. "How could you want to just throw it all away when we're this close?!"
"You-You don't get it…. For Lilith sake, those aren't the spears we need!" Kaworu cried out, but it clear in his mind that Shinji wouldn't stop. SHinji's mentality remained on the single hope that Longinus and Cassius could fix it all of this; the problem was he was to blinded by his ambitions to realize they weren't the right spears.
"What?! They're not, but how?!" Shinji grunted his teeth as Unit-13 crawled higher, closer to the Mark.06 and the spears. He really had hope Kaworu would stick with him though and through, but in the end he was still on his own against the world! "You're the one who told me we needed the spears! For God sake Kaworu it's the only reason I'm even in this damn Eva!"
Shinji finally pulled on the controls, separating the sync with Kaworu. Kaworu looked up in disbelief as the center machine flat lined with a final warning beep, his control seat veering slightly to the side as Shinji switched all control to himself. "T-The control system!" Kaworu exclaimed, fearful at Shinji's intentions.
Unit-13's once yellow eyes now pulsed crimson red, a dreadful sign that Shinji now had fully taken control over the Evangelion. "I'll take Longinus and Cassius, for Kaworu, for Shiro and everyone else!" Shinji exclaimed, raising his head to look up at the spears. "Then the world will be restored. And even Misato will…!"
Slowly, Unit-13 stood before the large Mark.06 pulling itself slowly towards the EVAs shoulder pylon to climb up.
"Oh God, no!" Asuka gasped in fear, watching as the Unit-01 copy climbed atop the Mark.06's chest, directly in between both spears. "Four-Eyes, I've cleared the RS Hoppers. Use of A.A bullets granted!"
"Finally! Moment of truth!" Mari called with glee, loading her rifle with Anti Air rifle shots. "Here's my ace in the hole!"
The bullets buried into Unit-13's shoulder blades, but to Mari and Asuka's horror they simply faded through the EVA. "T-There's no A.T Field…?" Mari whispered in surprise, watching through her scope as the red circles on Unit-13's chest began to glow red. "T-That Evangelion… It's… It can't be…?"
The chest of Unit-13 finally burst to reveal another pair of arms, slowly raised into air as if in a sign of pure, dark control over the chaos that was Earth. Shinji grunted, tugging at the controls as both pairs of arms grabbed either spear. The spears groaned through the metal that it scrapped, sparks flying as they tilting left and right while Unit-13 slowly pulled at them.
"D-Don't do it Shinji!" Kaworu pleaded with fear, clutching his face with horror as Shinji's grunt grew louder.
"Stop it, you brat!" Asuka screamed through the comms, but no one seemed to notice the occurrence underneath Unit-13. The Mark.06's colors began to fade back, its head slowly looking to see Unit-13 as its visor pulsed red with a familiar angelic growl.
Shinji blocked all sounds and faces out, everything was blocked out as his eyes flashed crimson for a split second. Unit-13 in turn, with one fell swoop, ripped the spear out with a scream of fury from Shinji, slamming both spears together above itself like they were a symbol of hope.
Shinji looked up with a look of desperation mixed with happiness, watching as the spears altering into a pair of Lance of Longinus'. Yes! He thought to himself. All will be right with the world with-!
And just like that, the Devil returned in Unit-13's form.
Only now, there was less and yet so much more as stake.
In an instant Unit-13 began hovering in the air as it lowered the spears beside it, the body of Lilith finally expanding like an over inflated balloon before exploding into a wave of blood with completely covered the once white plain. Shinji blinked, squinting to try and look past the blood as he recognized an object floating in the red lake. It wasn't Mark.09, or Unit-02 or 08, but rather a EVA in similar design to Unit-01 with two horns, a dark blue and yellow color scheme to it and a slghtly more organic look to its frame. "It's EVA Mark.06?" Shinji questioned, before a terrifying alarm blared to life. He looked to his side to see a Blood Type hologram come up, eyes widening as he read there was a Pattern Blue in the vicinity. "B-Blood Pattern Blue? But that's impossible!"
An angelic growl echoed all across Lilith's chamber, and Shinji looked in horror to see the Mark.06 staring at Unit-13 as it spun on its side steadily, its visor pulsing with some sort of distortion behind it. Shinji's eyes widened in horror as the Mark.06 was slightly nudged by a pulsing halo above it, its body slowly beginning to return to life as Unit-02 attempted to intercept its awakening. "Crap the 12th Angel's still alive!" Asuka screamed in anger, Unit-02 rushing forward as it switched its previous arm for weapon of more... firepower. "We have to stop it from waking up!"
The mark.09 as well attempted to cut off the mark.06's head, but the EVA abruptly dodged either Evangelion's attack, rising with a horrifying Angel screech. "This is not possible…." Rei Q murmured, unsure of how the scenario was supposed to act out now.
"What's happening, its like the 12th has a mind of its own?!" Asuka inquired as Unit-02 finally readied its mini gun arm. The EVA fired rounds all around the Mark.06, but they didn't make contact as an A.T Field rushed to life. "Damn it, don't tell me this part of Gendo's plan or something?!"
"I don't think so," Mari called out, reading the newly recorded scan from the DSS Choker: nothing, at least nothing world threatening. "Though something tells me we just opened a bad can of worms..."
A/N: Finally, no more stupid freaking tests! That's right, I finished that EOC Reading crap and now can focus on smaller school problems like classwork and this story. Now I won't lie it will be while before Chapter 9, so please be patient and let me know what you think and hope to in the story for the future.
That said, this is KnightOfZ3R0 signing off!
