And for myself, if with my privity
He gain admittance to my hearth, I pray
The curse I laid on others fall on me.
See that ye give effect to all my hest,
For my sake and the god's and for our land,
A desert blasted by the wrath of heaven.
- Sophocles, Oedipus the King
Chapter Two: Heaven's Wrath
"Commander?"
"What is it, Rei?"
"May I tell Pilot Ikari the identity of the Fourth Child?"
"No. He will find out when he needs to."
"...I--"
"Is there a problem?"
"No, Commander."
"Good. Are you not hungry? You should finish your udon."
"Yes."
"An explosion at Matsushiro!" shouted Aoba.
Kouzou Fuyutsuki stood beside the Commander, hands clasped behind his back as a scrambling chaos ensued in the command center. Amber telltales flashed on displays everywhere, while countless crimson warnings flared across the main screen. Great, he sighed. "Send a rescue team," he instructed. "Take care of everything before the JSSDF arrives."
"Roger!" acknowledged Hyuuga, eyes never leaving his screen. More noise and shouting followed as the techs relayed orders to the ground teams.
"Uknown object moving at the site," reported Aoba moments later.
"Pattern is orange," added Hyuuga. "Cannot confirm as an Angel."
"First-class combat alert." Gendo's voice was calm, unworried.
This was an insane gamble, decided Kouzou, not for the first time. His eyes slid towards the seated form of his one-time student. We suspected this was coming, but he was still willing to risk the Matsushiro facility and our senior command staff there, not to mention a pilot and an entire Evangelion. All in the hopes of luring out the Thirteenth Angel. Insane. There had to have been a better way. He had not been able to think of one, however, and when he'd brought the attention to Gendo's attention, the younger man had not even bothered to reply.
Far above, on the ground, stood Units 00 through 02, scrambled and deployed. The tactical network carried the pilots' tinny voices to the command center as they made nervous chatter, Shinji worrying about Major Katsuragi, Asuka bickering with him, Rei's levelheaded rejoinders. Kouzou shook his head minutely in agreement with Asuka's words. Nothing to do yet. We must wait.
"We've got visuals!" shouted Aoba. One of the scout helicopters must have found the target. "On the main screen." He tapped a button, and the view on the screen changed to an airborne shot of a mountain road... where the dark shape of an Evangelion walked zombie-like towards Tokyo-3.
A collective murmur rose from the techs in the command center. Kouzou shook his head again. "Just as we thought," he muttered.
"Transmit the terminal signal," ordered Gendo curtly. "Force ejection of the entry plug."
"Impossible," answered an agitated Ibuki. "It's not accepting either signal."
If this surprised Gendo, he revealed no sign of it. "The pilot?"
"We... have respiration and pulse," reported Hyuuga uncomfortably.
The Commander fell silent briefly. "As of now," he decided, "Unit-03 is abandoned. Target is redesignated as the Thirteenth Angel."
"Sir?" wondered Hyuuga.
"Advance the front in Nobeyama as planned," ordered Gendo. "Destroy the target."
Hyuuga swallowed another reply and relayed the orders. More shouting drifted over the net.
Kouzou leaned slightly towards the Commander. "You must handle this one carefully, Gendo."
The other man's only response was a sour grunt.
Grimacing, Kouzou kept his eyes on the screen. That was... a bad choice of words, he realized; Gendo was careful with everything, even down to brushing his teeth, but what this situation required was delicacy, something not to be found anywhere in the man's soul. We've already screwed this one up enough, old friend. No more unnecessary risks here, but don't let the pilots blow up in your face either.
Beside him, Gendo stared at the screen over steepled fingers, features inscrutable.
"The target is approaching!" Lieutenant Aoba's voice carried well over the net.
"All units, stand by for ground battle!" instructed Hyuuga.
Rei clutched her pallet rifle, waiting patiently in her assigned position. Is this the day? she wondered absently, staring around the bend, where the target was due to appear. LCL surrounded her with all the gentle warmth of a tank of blood. Outside, heat-waves rose from the pavement, rippling the view of distant objects.
Soon a figure emerged in the video feed in her Eva, a shape she recognized. An Evangelion?
"What?" gasped Ikari from Unit-01. "No way. You mean that thing's an Angel?"
"Yes," came the Commander's cold voice over the network. "That is the target."
"The target?" repeated Ikari in disbelief. "It's an Eva."
"Can't believe it," muttered Sohryu. "Taken over by an Angel!"
"Is it...?" Ikari hesitated. "Is there a kid in there? A kid our own age?"
Rei felt her features tighten. He still doesn't know. Someone should have told him.
"Don't you know?" wondered Sohryu shrilly. "Unit-03's pilot..." Her transmission fell into a sudden garbled static as the Angel turned its silent gaze on her; the feed went dead.
"Asuka?" prompted Ikari nervously.
While he still spoke, the Angel leapt skyward, landing with a thundrous crash on Unit-02's head. The red mecha convulsed; Sohryu's screams pierced the tactical network.
"Asuka!" shouted Ikari.
Rei frowned; he was farther around the mountain, in a position where he could not yet see the battle or the enemy Eva. To his credit, however, he remained where he was stationed. What he said was true, she reflected. He worries for everyone.
"Rei," came the Commander's voice. "Avoid close combat and stop the target. I'll send Unit-01 soon."
"Roger." Rei backed off, away from the Angel's path as it resumed its walk towards Tokyo-3, and the thing proceeded to ignore her. Today will not be the day, she decided; she and Ikari together should be able to stop the Angel. Good. I did not want to die fighting Suzuhara's Eva.
Satisfied, she raised the rifle, not waiting for the targeting electronics to resolve; at this range she could hit it without their aid. A detail caught her attention, however, and she spent a moment examining the Angel more closely. Unit-00's video feed to her increased magnification accordingly, confirming what she thought she'd seen. An entry plug. "He's still inside," she whispered to no one in particular, surprised.
In her moment of hesitation, the Angel stopped as though sensing her gaze, then once again leapt into the air, flipping gracefully and tackling her Eva. Convulsing limbs squeezed off a few useless rounds from the pallet rifle, but the target brushed the weapon away, a mere annoyance.
Gritting her teeth, grunting against the effort, she struggled with the Angel. Even compared to Unit-00's titanic strength, Unit-03's grip felt like an iron vise, squeezing her arm. Metal flexed under its claws; blinding pain lanced through her body and Rei clutched the injured limb helplessly. I have to stop it, she reminded herself, attempting to grapple with the enemy, futilely. A faint buzzing grew in the arm, an alarming numbness.
A red telltale popped up on her screen, giving her an instant's warning before planted charges exploded, blowing Unit-00's arm completely off. Rei dropped to her knees, feeling tears drift into the surrounding LCL as stars danced in her vision. Words, barely registered moments before, echoed in her mind. Cut off the left arm, now. The Commander. He had done that.
Why? she wondered foggily. Why didn't... Darkness washed in, drowning all thought.
Shinji was shaking. His hands wouldn't move quite the way he wanted or expected, and his eyes felt like they were as wide as they'd get. Breath came as shallow panting, drawing the warm LCL slitheringly down his throat and expelling it again.
Touji. I did that to him. The image of his friend, broken and unconscious, maybe dead, would not leave his mind. Neither would the guilt, a stone so heavy it threatened to crush him. My Eva did that to Touji, by Father's command.
"...okay, Shinji?" Misato was still talking to him, bruised and bloodied herself, arm in a sling. Her girlish voice sounded unusually gentle over the network. "The dummy plug has been deactivated, and the techs are going to give you enough power to get you back into the cages. It's easier than us carrying Unit-01 down there again."
Power, he echoed silently, too numb to respond. His heart pounded, a jackhammer in his chest. They're powering me up again.
"So we'll get you down there and out of the Eva," she continued. "Then, after you clean up, we can go home and talk about it all, right? Touji's okay; he's alive, they say, and he's... he'll get better soon. I can see that you're upset, and I'd think it's totally normal, so I'll ask the Commander if you can get a day or two to..."
Touji will be better soon? he wondered, tuning his guardian out. Bullshit. I saw him there. Saw my hands crushing him. Why had the Eva done that? The entry plug had not been a threat to it. Then again, why had it hesitated? Did the dummy plug have a mind, to make it indecisive like that? I... I hate fighting in this thing. I want to get out.
A tingling throughout his nerves spoke to the Eva's power supply getting reconnected. He stood motionless, staring blankly at the NERV structure while Misato continued to try to comfort him. Outside, the sun was still shining, an incongruously cheerful sight. The sun had been shining at Nobeyama as well, shining on red water, glittering in twenty-meter pools of blood on the pavement.
Eventually Misato fell silent, perhaps discouraged by his lack of response. Or perhaps she'd just run out of words. He could hardly make himself care.
As he waited for the power supply to charge, a screen appeared inside the Eva, a screen with his father's face. "Pilot Ikari," began the Commander coldly, his glasses impenetrable ovals of light. "Once you have finished warm-down procedures you will present yourself in my office. I have words for you." The image winked out.
"Father," whispered Shinji, eyes sliding without focus to where the visual had been. "You did that."
Nobody answered him. The faint hiss of static informed him the tactical net was still active. He can hear me.
"Father." His arms hurt, he realized; glancing down in the red-tinted LCL, he watched his shaking intensify. Father did that to me. To Touji. He almost killed Touji, used me like a puppet. "Father, I..." Despite the liquid surrounding him, his lips felt dry. "Father... you'll pay for that," he whispered.
The silence on the network took on a subtly different character. "Shinji?" asked Makoto's voice uncertainly.
"You heard me!" he shouted, surprised by the intensity in his own voice. "Father, you tried to kill Touji! You'll pay!" The tingling in his nerves stopped; they'd cut his power, then. No matter. I have plenty now. Enough for this.
"But Shinji," answered Makoto, "if we hadn't done that, it would have killed you!"
He bared his teeth. "I don't care!"
"But it's true," countered the lieutenant.
Bullshit. Asuka and Rei are still alive. "Don't make me even angrier," he warned, checking the countdown timer in the entry plug. "Unit-01 has 185 seconds remaining. That's enough to destroy half of headquarters!"
"Shinji, listen to us," urged Maya's voice. "Without the Commander's decision, everyone could have died!"
"I don't care!" he repeated. "My father was going to kill Touji with my hands!" No one answered him right away; doubtless they were trying all the override functions he'd disabled. Fists curling, he stepped towards the NERV structure. "Father, are you there? I know you can hear me! Say something!"
More silence. Whatever was happening in the command center, they no longer wanted him to hear it.
"Father! I still have a direct..." Pressure. Pain. He clutched his head, feeling as though the entry plug were trying to crush him. "Damn it," he rasped. "Damn it!" Quickly the sparkling in his vision flashed to a crimson oblivion.
Rei opened her eyes to find herself under a white ceiling, a soft sight intended to be comforting. The hospital, she recognized. I've been here before. Somewhere nearby, a rhythmic beeping reported the steady rhythm of her pulse, confirming her guess.
A few meters away, a middle-aged man in a labcoat glanced up from a handheld display and smiled at her. "Ah, you're awake, Miss Ayanami," he observed. "I'm Doctor Watanabe. How do you feel?"
She regarded the man briefly, recalling him from an earlier visit, then shifted her gaze to her left arm. The limb tingled constantly, as though she'd just struck her elbow wrong, but her fingers curled and straightened with no loss of movement. The sheets of the hospital were smooth and cool under her palm.
When she did not reply, the doctor cleared his throat. "There was no physical damage," he explained, "only some complications from the sympathetic limb loss. We've resolved them, but the arm will tingle for a day or so. Do you feel dizzy at all, or nauseous?"
"No."
Doctor Watanabe smiled again. "Good; I thought not. We'll keep you here for another twelve to twenty-four hours for observation, but you'll be fine. You should try to get some more sleep."
Rei nodded, settling back into the bed once more. Closing her eyes, she let herself drift into a warm slumber.
When she awoke again later, the ceiling remained white as ever, but there was an artificial quality to its hue, as though it strained against darkness somewhere nearby. It's night, then, she realized, eyeing the curtains pulled shut over the windows to her side. How long have I slept? The room lacked a clock, but she'd been out long enough for the medical staff to remove some of the equipment; the pulse monitor no longer beeped with every heartbeat.
Smoothing a frown, she sat up, examining herself. They'd clothed her in a pale hospital gown, though she spotted her folded clothes on a nearby chair. Her arm still tingled but the sensation seemed to have weakened somewhat. I no longer need to be here, she decided.
Swinging legs over the edge of the bed, she slipped to the floor; cool white tiles greeted her bare feet. She would not have been surprised to find herself weak or shaking as she stepped to the chair, but such was not the case; she felt steady as always. That makes sense. The doctor said I was not damaged.
Pulling the gown off, she set about donning her school uniform. Whoever had brought had also seen fit to include her NERV identification card, she noted with satisfaction. Once dressed, she glanced about the room, but nothing of importance remained in it. With a nod, she pulled open the door and made her way into the hall.
White halls and floors floated past as she followed the arrows on the exit signs. The familiar sterile hospital scent remained constant despite her movement.
Shortly she came across a desk where a nurse sat, keying something in to a computer; a faint bluish glow shifted on the woman's face from time to time as she worked, but she quickly noticed Rei and blinked. "Miss Ayanami?"
Rei hesitated. She'd planned simply to leave and go to NERV, but a question surfaced in her mind, something the nurse might have clearance to know. "Is Shinji Ikari here?"
The woman's expression shifted to something unreadable. "He is," she acknowledged. "Why? Did you want to see him?"
She considered. "Is he awake?"
"I'm afraid not." The nurse, A. Sato, by the picture id hanging from her neck, frowned; the expression seemed... wary somehow.
Rei wondered about the woman's manner, but questioning it would not have been appropriate. "Then I will see him later."
Sato nodded, her posture relaxing somewhat. "Do you need transportation? Commander Ikari was here earlier, checking on your status, but he did not stay."
The Commander was here? It was not unusual for him to come, but this time something about his behavior seemed... inconsistent. Whatever it was, she could not identify it. "I will walk," she answered, turning to go. She could feel the nurse's eyes on her back until she rounded a corner to the elevator bay.
Perhaps a half hour later, she reached the NERV facility, where her card assured her entry. The descent to the GeoFront transpired in silence.
When she arrived at the command center, it was sparsely populated. Lieutenant Aoba proved to be the only technician present; he lounged back in his chair, flipping through a music magazine while idly keeping track of some process executing on his display. Doctor Akagi stood nearby, nursing a cup of coffee as she perused some report.
As she entered, the doctor's head turned slightly in acknowledgement. "Rei," she greeted without turning around. "I thought you might come here."
The doors whispered shut behind her, and Rei stepped forward into the room. "I have not yet been debriefed on the last battle."
Doctor Akagi made a thoughtful noise, finally turning around to study Rei from behind her reading glasses. "There's little enough to learn, and most of that we've already gotten from Asuka. How did it feel when the Angel was encroaching on Unit-00's arm?"
Rei tilted her head. "Encroaching?" That would explain things.
"Yes," confirmed the doctor mildly. "The Angel was attempting to gain control of your Eva as it had done to Unit-03."
"It felt... it... buzzed," answered Rei uncertainly. "I didn't think about it much."
Doctor Akagi pursed her lips, waiting for more, but then bent and made some notes on a laptop. "I see." A short distance away, Hyuuga chuckled at something in his magazine.
Rei paused, ordering the questions she needed to ask. "Doctor Akagi, what happened to Pilot Ikari?" She'd asked the nurse of his whereabouts only because the Third Child so often seemed to suffer injuries in the Angel battles.
The older woman straightened, a twisted smile on her face. "Ah," she mumured, sipping again from her coffee mug. "That was something to see. I suppose you missed much of it." She fell silent momentarily in apparent thought. "When Shinji realized there was still a pilot in Unit-03, he refused to fight, even at the cost of his own life, so we switched control of Unit-01 to the dummy plug, which defeated the Angel. It also crushed Suzuhara's entry plug, injuring him badly in the process. Shinji was so distraught after this that he threatened to destroy as much of this facility as he could, but we... subdued him." The doctor chuckled. "He's due to be released from the hospital tomorrow, and we'll be moving him straight to confinement."
Rei felt her eyes widen at this. Ikari did that? Why? All because of the Fourth Child? That his concern for others might motivate him to do something so rash and desperate seemed... she could not think of a word to describe it. Incomprehensible, perhaps. Also, somewhat endearing, as silly as it seemed; it brought to mind the selflessness he'd displayed in cleaning her room, originally. "Is... how is Suzuhara?"
"Short a leg," shrugged the doctor, "but fine, otherwise." Her eyes slid towards the report she'd been reading earlier. "There's no need for you to stay here at three in the morning, Rei. Don't forget; you have school tomorrow." Her musical voice carried a note of amusement.
"Yes." Turning, Rei left the command center and NERV in general, walking back to her apartment by Tokyo-3's night streets, streets that never got dark no matter the hour. During the twenty-minute walk, only four vehicles passed her, two of which bore the NERV logo.
Back at her apartment, she slipped out of her shoes and lay on her bed, not tired at all after sleeping for the better part of a day and a half. Instead she simply waited. Waiting was something she knew, something comfortable.
Though she'd not planned to attend school, she was still awake when morning arrived, so with a mental shrug she rose, gathered her things and left. School contained no surprises, full as it was of knowledge she would have no use in learning even if she hadn't already known it. Pilot Sohryu seemed uncharacteristically subdued throughout the day, though it was to Ikari's empty desk that Rei found her eyes drawn.
Confinement, she mused, as the teacher droned on. He challenged the Commander. His caring has become a weakness for NERV. Though she could find no fault with the decision to imprison him, it still struck her as somehow wrong. He will not enjoy it.
When the bell rang to signify the schoolday's end, Rei made her way back to NERV for a few brief checkups, then headed directly to the hospital. If Pilot Ikari was still there, she could perhaps see him; if he was in confinement, there would be no chance. The hospital staff made no attempt to stop her, even directing her towards his room, but when she reached it, Pilot Sohryu was somehow already present, leaning against the wall a short distance down the hallway. Rei regarded the other girl for a moment, then tried Ikari's door, but it was locked. Even her NERV card would not open it.
Frowning, she wandered back to the bench next to Sohryu and sat on it. More waiting.
Long moments later, Sohryu stirred, shaking her head. "Idiot's gone and messed it all up," she sighed. "I suppose he won't make it, after this."
Rei compressed her lips. That is perhaps true. "How is he?"
The other pilot grunted. "He hasn't been injured, so they're supposed to let him out soon. Here we're all worried for him, but the idiot's probably just taking his ease, dreaming."
"Dreaming?" Rei spared her companion a sideways glance.
"Yeah." Sohryu's red eyebrows climbed. "Don't you dream?"
Uncertain, she shifted her attention back to the wall. Neither the Commander or Doctor Akagi had ever mentioned dreams.
After a moment Sohryu shook her head. "Why did you come here?"
"I... don't know," admitted Rei. Why? "I wanted to explain about the Fourth Child. I should have told him sooner."
"Yeah," chuckled the Second Child. "You, me, and everyone. It was a pretty stupid way for him to find out. Commander Dickhead should have told him or something."
Rei frowned at this characterization of the Commander but said nothing. A soft female voice spoke distantly over the public announcement system, summoning some Doctor Kuroda to emergency surgery. At the end of the hallway, a pair of nurses stood chatting, and one giggled.
Eventually she glanced at Sohryu again. "Is that why you are here also?"
Blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "What do you care?"
Rei met the other girl's gaze for a moment before staring off towards Ikari's door again. She dislikes to talk about him except to complain about him. I should not have asked.
As the silence stretched, Sohryu sighed again. "What he did was totally stupid," she explained, "but it actually took some balls. I figure after I smack him, I should congratulate him."
Balls, wondered Rei silently. That means courage? Ikari is not a coward. Risking one's life to avoid hurting another is not the same as fleeing.
"Anyway, whatever," muttered the German, idly cracking her knuckles. "Not like you care anyway."
No, I do, corrected Rei. It was getting easier to think of others' welfare, or at least Ikari's. He worries about me; I should worry about him.
At an empty train station, Shinji stood with his few belongings packed. For the first time in memory, he felt at peace.
I stood up to him, he marveled, as a warm breeze tugged at his uniform. Not once, but twice. The second time, I didn't even yell. I can leave with a clear conscience. No more hurting my friends. No more letting them use me. Letting him use me.
Abruptly he chuckled. I'm only happy when I fight with my father. How messed up is that? People are supposed to get along with their parents. Somewhere in the distance, a cicada's buzz arose, a call welcoming the heat.
Who will I miss? he wondered idly. Not Asuka. I might still see Misato, if she ever has time; that would be nice. She meant well, at least. He frowned, adjusting the backpack straps on his shoulders. I wish I could have seen Ayanami once more, though. Just... to explain things. It was strange, he reflected; Misato was disappointed, he knew, but was putting on a face to pretend otherwise, and Asuka was just being herself, but he wanted Ayanami's approval, or at least her understanding. I got her to smile. I don't want her to think ill of me.
After a moment he shook his head. There was nothing he could do about it now in any case.
A sudden alarm blared into the silence. What the...? Glancing up, he saw the sign for his train's destination blink from "Shin-Atsugi" to "Emergency Route." Oh, shit.
"As of now," called loudspeakers all over the city, echoing faintly, "a special state of emergency has been declared over the Tokai region. Residents are advised to evacuate to the designated shelter areas as soon as possible. To repeat, a special state of emergency has been..."
"An Angel," he whispered, twisting around to study the cityscape, but of course he could see nothing from the train station. Asuka and Ayanami can... they can take it, he assured himself. The last one wasn't that hard, when we got right down to it. Once Father... A knot of anger arose in his belly, and he forced himself to breathe deeply, to unclench his fist. No. I'm done now. They'll be fine.
As he stood chewing his lips, the train approached, whispering to a halt on his platform. I may as well go to the shelter, he sighed. Not like trains will be going anywhere else for a while. Shaking his head, he stepped into the empty vehicle and waited for it to carry him away.
The ride to the shelter proceeded quickly; the train was one serving only NERV, and as such made no other stops before dumping him off at the nearest shelter. Grimacing, he hurried onto the platform and down the steps to where a trickle of other Tokyo-3 residents were running for the shelter entrance.
Before he reached it, however, the ground rumbled, sending him staggering. Startled, he twisted around to find the source of the disturbance, and found it in the shape of a rigid-looking Angel off in the distance, a tri-colored monstrosity overlooking a handful of glowing cross-flares about where the NERV headquarters would be. Several screams and a great deal of shouting erupted from the civilians running into the shelter.
There it is, he realized distantly. The Angel. I could... no. I've decided I wouldn't pilot anymore. Asuka and Ayanami are good enough to handle it.
"Hey, kid!" shouted a man's passing voice behind him. "What are you doing? Get into the shelter!" Someone grabbed his arm, and Shinji let himself be dragged along, unable to tear his gaze from the Angel.
Once the shelter walls blocked his view of the battle, he shook free of the man who'd grabbed him, then sought out a place in the corner and curled into a ball. All around, panicked people were attempting not to be afraid; he knew that sensation well. A handful of children had started to cry.
I hate this. Folding arms over his knees, he let his head thump into them. These people are terrified.
Though he wasn't paying attention to the conversation in the increasingly-crowded shelter, his ears caught some recently-arrived kid bragging that "the red one" had come out to fight. Asuka. She'd want to be first. She'll cut this thing apart without me, and everyone will be fine. Every now and then the floor shivered, and buzzing fluorescent lights flickered overhead, as the battle outside unfolded.
Shortly a deafening roar shook the bones in his body. Gasping in surprise, he glanced up and at the east wall, only to find it gone; a cloud of dust and debris swirled in its place, slowly settling. Shrieks and terrified crying filled the shelter, and someone started to shout for everyone to escape to one of the undamaged structures.
As the dust settled, however, the bottom dropped out of Shinji's stomach. Slowly he stood on shaking legs, staring into the enormous and motionless eyes of Unit-02's severed head lying just a few dozen meters away. Oh, fuck. Asuka.
Again he found himself unable to move of his own accord, but eventually the flooding mass of humanity pushed him along, and he was forced to pay attention if only to avoid getting trampled. Out the crowd went, out into the hills, streaming towards the third shelter; he followed, at least until an opportunity presented itself, allowing him to break away to watch.
Shuffling to a halt, he stared at the Angel, watched it float eerily past the headless and armless form of Unit-02. Oh my God. It shredded her, and it doesn't even look hurt. Behind him, everyone was still shouting, people calling for him to get into the next shelter, but this time no one bothered to grab him.
"Hey, it's Shinji," greeted a male voice.
Blinking, he turned and gaped. "Kaji?" The other man stood a short distance away, watering can in his hands and a laid-back smile on his face. "What are you doing here?"
Kaji chuckled, stepping closer. "That's my line. What are you doing here, Shinji?"
"I..." He paused, trying to get his mouth to work right. "I won't pilot anymore. I'm done."
"Ah," murmured the older man, apparently unconcerned by the Angel. "As for me, since my... extracurricular activities have gone public, I'm no longer welcome on the combat roster. So... I'm watering here." He shrugged.
Watering? wondered Shinji. Is he nuts? "At a time like this?"
"It's because it's a time like this," answered Kaji with a grin. "Although it's pleasant to be between Katsuragi's breasts, I'd like to be here when I die." He gestured at the green and leafing plants all around, as though they presented all the explanation he needed.
Katsuragi's... gaah. Wait. "What do you mean, die?"
In response, Kaji turned and faced the distant Angel thoughtfully; the thing's face glowed briefly and another cross-shaped flare erupted into existence. "They say that when an Angel comes into contact with Adam, who's in stasis underground here, everyone will die, and it'll be Third Impact. Only Evangelions can stop it, since they're as strong as the Angels."
Only Evangelions, sighed Shinji angrily. Well, Ayanami's still available, and she's been at this way longer than...
The appearance of Unit-00, still missing an arm, without even a rifle, derailed his train of thought. Without hesitating, the blue Eva raced out of the ascent tower, towards the Angel, something tucked under its good arm.
Realization struck him like a kick in the stomach. "That's an N2 mine," he whispered, horrified. Ayanami, what are you doing? As Unit-00 reached the Angel, AT fields colliding, the Evangelion thrust the mine forward, slowly, as though through honey.
Brilliant white light blinded him a few seconds before the rumble struck. Hot wind buffeted him, tugging at his hair, flapping his clothes around, drying his skin like air from an oven, and debris pelted his skin at bulletlike speeds, bits of stone and tree bark, carried by the blast from who knew how far away.
Coughing, Shinji pushed himself to his feet, trying to shake away the strobing afterimages in his eyes. "Ayanami," he croaked, though all that came out was a choked gurgle. As his vision recovered, he watched helplessly as the Angel floated unharmed past the still, wilted form of Unit-00. Ayanami. She was the last one. Moisture burned at his eyes.
"Shinji," came Kaji's quiet voice from behind him, "I can't do anything but water here, but there is something you, and only you, can do. Nobody is forcing you. Think for yourself and decide what you should do now. I hope you will have no regrets."
"Kaji." His voice was hoarse in his ears. "What's the fastest way to the command center from here?"
Well, shit, thought Misato, staring at the form of the Angel crouching in front of the command deck, gathering its power. Kaji had arrived with Shinji some time back, but apparently they hadn't been quick enough. Funny. I never figured it would end this way. Shows what I know. All around, the techs were screaming, scrambling to escape, not that it would help them any when the flare came.
Suddenly the wall exploded outward, and a hulking purplish mass crashed into the Angel, tackling it to the ground. "Unit-01," she recognized. "Shinji!" That was damn close. The tactical net carried his wordless shouting to her as he battled with their celestial enemy.
His screams intensified as the Angel's foil-like limbs sliced one of Unit-01's arms clean off. Not this again, she sighed, but Shinji kept fighting, apparently too angry to notice or care that his Eva was missing a limb.
The two titanic forms rolled about, wrestling, until they shortly struck a wall and stopped. "Misato!" shouted Shinji, desperation thick in his voice.
She blinked, realizing where he'd put the Angel. "Number five hatch," she shouted. "Launch immediately!" One of the bridge bunnies hurried to do so, but she kept her gaze on the Eva and the Angel, watching them hurtle upwards in a rain of sparks. Part of her felt a sagging relief to see the Angel sail safely towards the GeoFront surface, but she silently reminded herself that the thing could quite possibly dispatch of Shinji anyway and return moments later. We'll see about that.
On the surface, one of the few cameras remaining after the N2 blast focused on the two combatants flying out of the lift shaft. Misato watched them, feeling a swell of pride as it became clear the Eva was winning. Go, Shinji. Kick that thing's ass. Back and forth they rolled, throwing one another around, until Unit-01 was straddling the stunned Angel, delivering blow after crushing blow to its prone form.
Then it stopped in mid-punch. Oh. Oops.
"Unit-01's at its operation limit!" reported an alarmed Maya, gazing at her laptop in horror. "The backup isn't working either."
"Shinji," whispered Misato. Indeed, the Angel took a few moments to recover, then hurled Unit-01 off of it in a contemptuous display of power. "Shinji!" Helplessly she watched as the target rose, following the Eva to where it had landed, and began to hack at Unit-01's core with great thundering stabs of those ribbon arms. Shinji, wake up, she pleaded silently. Do something.
The Angel kept attacking. The Eva's core began to crack, little fissures spreading like spiderwebs across its surface. Shinji, please.
Then something changed. Unit-01's eyes lit up in a way she hadn't seen very often. Growling almost ferally, the Eva rose and ripped off one of the Angel's arms barehanded, using the tangled remains as material for regenerating the limb Unit-01 was missing. Holy shit.
"The..." Maya cleared her throat, then started again. "The Eva has restarted."
Misato shook her head in relief. "Great," she replied. Go, Shinji! Wait, does that means it's gone berserk again?
"Impossible!" breathed Maya as figures scrolled rapidly down her screen. "I can't believe it. His sync rate is over four hundred percent."
Misato raised an eyebrow at this but did not reply as the newly-reactivated Evangelion tore the Angel's second arm off and began to rip savagely into the thing.
"It means she has awakened," murmured Ritsuko pensively.
Who has? wondered Misato, but before she could speak, something in the battle caught her attention, demanded it, like a train wreck. "It's... it's eating the Angel," she noted breathlessly. Maya gurgled, holding a hand to her mouth in an attempt not to vomit.
Well, that's a new one, even around here. Misato swallowed her own fear, watching the battle -- the feast -- proceed as calmly as she could.
Some twelve hours after she was released from the hospital again, Rei found herself on the catwalk in the Eva cages, staring down at the silent Unit-01, locked firmly into place with heavy restraints. She had her doubts that they were doing any good; if the thing wanted to escape, it would. The Eva is content to be here, for now. It was strange, thinking of the mechas as things with their own wills.
Unit-01 definitely has a will, she reflected. Ikari's will. He was... stuck inside, she was given to understand. Absorbed. Dissolved into LCL, somehow.
Why do you keep doing this, Ikari? she wondered. Why do you keep fighting? I know you dislike it. The giant machine gave her no answer. Why do you run away, and then run back? You left after your Eva crippled Suzuhara, but then you came back, even though nothing had changed. Why? Did you worry about Sohryu? About me? What happened to change your mind?
In thoughtful silence she regarded the Evangelion. You pleaded with the Commander to let you battle, after you had defied him earlier. Why?
At the thought of the Commander, something unfamiliar, something cold, sparkled in her middle, touched her throat with ghostly fingers. He had hurt her in the battle with the Thirteenth Angel; she'd spoken with the Subcommander to confirm her vague memories. The Commander had ordered her Eva's arm severed without cutting the nerve connections first, had in fact spent longer explaining his order to Lieutenant Ibuki than it would have taken to do it safely, without pain. Just the memory of that feeling, the agony ripping through her shoulder, the fire burning down her arm, made her tense. Pain brought with it the fear of more pain, and with fear came distrust. It was not reasonable, she knew -- fear sprang from the body, not the intellect -- but it was there, just under the border of thought, and Rei could not change how her body felt. He'd hurt her, and he had not needed to.
I must not fear him, she reminded herself, still gazing at the unmoving Unit-01. Do you fear him? It was a reasonable decision, if not ideal. But you would never do such a thing to me. This last came from nowhere; she blinked, but suspected it was true, though she could not put the reason to words.
Something tickled her senses, a new weight in her awareness. Someone was watching her. Turning from the Evangelion, she gazed up at the command center to see the Commander staring down. Not at Unit-01. At her.
Rei met his gaze for a silent moment, then turned and started walking away. It was past time to be going home.