A/N: Well, let's keep things going, shall we? Also, I have plans to introduce another character. This character is new, but at the same time not so new. That character will appear in this chapter. On with it!
Beginning of October. About 2 weeks after Saul
SEELE was having another meeting. They were busy with their own affairs and were now making more preparations for something else.
SEELE 01: With Saul's failure, I have come up with a new attack strategy with some assistance from our new master. 02 through 10, are your EVAs ready?
SEELE 02: Of course my EVA is ready.
SEELE 03: The chance to get revenge on Gendo Ikari has motivated me to speed up repairs on mine.
SEELE 04: Way ahead of all of you.
SEELE 05: Yes. Time to destroy NERV
SEELE 06: Yes Chairman. I am ready.
SEELE 07: Ready.
SEELE 08: Yes.
SEELE 09: I am prepared to go.
SEELE 10: Jacked up and good to go.
SEELE 11: Chairman, if I may ask. What is our master's new plan?
SEELE 12: Yes. We lost last time. And we outnumbered them 9-6. And now they have seven. What is the plan?
SEELE 01: Oh, but we have our power that we have earned from our master. With this, it would be like eighteen against seven! The Seal will swallow them all!
All SEELE computers start laughing like the idiotic old men Gendo Ikari had always assumed them to be.
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Saturday Morning
It was a wonderful October morning in Asuka's life. She had her Shinji, Zack had left early, and she was deep into a bowl of Shinji Puffs cereal. Yes, Shinji was so famous, that someone had named a cereal after him. Shinji was sitting across from her, also having a bowl of Shinji Puffs.
"So Asuka, what do you suppose we do today?" asked Shinji.
Asuka took a moment to think. "Well, we could… go see a movie!" Her eyes glowed. "I know this awesome action movie that just came out."
Misato came in yawning like she always did in the morning. After gulping a beer, she recovered her composure. "Ah, so you two are going to a movie today? Sounds like fun!"
"I guess so," replied Shinji. "What's everyone else doing today?"
"Well, if no trouble arises today, I'm gonna go see Kaji, Ivana and Rei went down to NERV for a checkup. And Zack will stay far out of everyone's eyesight. Ever since his ribs were healed, he's been back on his feet and up to nothing but trouble."
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NERV HQ – Gendo Ikari's Office (Please turn up heat in the room)
It was another day at NERV for Gendo Ikari and the staff. They had finally installed the S2 organ in Unit 02, and hopefully, they could try to activate Unit 01 and 02 with the new power source.
He picked up the phone and called the cafeteria. He decided to have a coffee and a bagel with cream cheese. Once he was done with that, he looked at the reports from the Section 2 agents at school.
He made a note to Ritsuko to have Shinji and Asuka called in tomorrow to try to activate the EVAs using the organs. Then the use of the umbilical cable would almost be unnecessary.
Gendo took a moment to think about what happened a few weeks ago with that Black Angel. He remembered that he had barely given any orders during that time. Was he in a temporary state of shock? It was a good thing that no one else had noticed. As much as he was worried about Shinji, it would not be a good thing if he showed weakness. He reminded himself that he needed to remain in control at all times.
Right as he finished his thought, his breakfast order arrived. But as he was about to relax, the alarm went off. "Here we go again," he said aloud.
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NERV HQ – Battlestation
"I can't believe it," said Shigeru, looking at the data he was reading. "It's the EVA Series. They're back again."
"They're flying this way," reported Makoto. "All nine are in an attack formation.
"Go to First Stage Alert," ordered Fuyutski. "Are the EVAs ready to go?"
"Yes sir," replied Maya. "All seven are ready to go. And the Sixth and Seventh have medical clearances as well."
"Good," said Fuyutski. "Launch all seven in the six point star formation. Rei will take the middle position." Fuyutski put on a com to the EVA pilots. "Are you kids ready?"
"Yes sir!" all seven said in unison.
"Okay. This is how it will work. We're against the EVA Series again. Knowing our history with SEELE, expect no mercy of any kind. Also, we're using the six point star formation. And Rei will take the middle position. Now go. And make us proud."
"Unit 00 launch!" said Rei as her EVA launched up to the surface.
"Unit 01 go!" yelled Shinji. Unit 01 shot up to the surface
"Unit 02 ready to rock!" said Asuka as the red EVA was sent up.
"Unit 03 ready to kick ass!" said Toji. Up went Unit 03.
"Unit 04 launch!" said Ivana.
"Unit 05 ready to kick some corporate ass!" yelled Zack.
"Unit 06 go!" said Elly.
And thus the struggle continues.
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Once the EVAs had taken their positions in the fortress city, they waited for the EVA Series to arrive. Zack took a moment to speak. "Say if there are seven of us, and nine of them, that's one for each of us with two left over. Who gets the last two?"
"Leave that to fate," replied Ivana.
"Here they come," said Rei.
"Yeah! Time to rock and roll!" yelled Elly.
As the EVA Series flew in, the EVAs fired their machine guns, making the white behemoths scatter all about the city. The next scene was bedlam, with the EVAs trying to shoot down the EVA Series, but to so far no avail.
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SEELE Room
SEELE 12: And so they have engaged in battle.
SEELE 04: We shall win this time.
SEELE 06: We need our EVAs to land. This is going nowhere.
SEELE 01: Use the Lance of Longinus. That will make them cower with fear.
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"This is going nowhere," said Asuka. "We need to shoot these bastards down."
"Then tell them to stop moving dammit!" yelled Zack. "Otherwise stop complaining!"
"Look out Zack!" shouted Elly.
Unit 05 looked up. One of the EVA Series was holding some sort of spear. And was about to throw it at Zack.
"Oh my fucking…"
BOOM! Zack felt something tackle him. Then he saw the red spear pierce the ground right next to him. He looked up to see who tackled him. A pink EVA. Elly Simpson. "Now you owe me!" she said.
"Heads up!" he yelled back. One of them had landed. Elly got back up and prepared to face it.
You wanna go at it you piece of trash!" she said.
Elsewhere, the other EVAs were also landing. They also drew Lances of Longinus. In response, the EVA pilots drew progressive swords they had in caches beside them. However, Shinji and Asuka each had to deal with two of the mass produced EVAs.
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SEELE 09: Perfect. We have our EVAs now engaging in one-on-one combat.
SEELE 06: And the Second and Third Children are being double teamed as well.
SEELE 01: Those two must die. They alone can stop our plan from coming to pass.
SEELE 02: Make sure to at least stop the other EVAs from fighting, and then have them attack Units 01 and 02.
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"Is it just me, or are these things getting vicious?" asked Toji as he continued to parry attacks with his target. He sidestepped a stab, and then tried to get behind it. But the EVA managed to keep up with him, blocking his attack with its spear.
"These things have always been vicious," replied Ivana as she used her double bladed progressive sword to shove the MP EVA's spear aside and kick it down. It got back up quickly and attacked her once more.
Shinji wasn't having it any better. More like worse in his case. He was armed with two progressive swords, and dueling with two of the MP EVAs as two apparently chose to target him.
Asuka was also in trouble. Armed with a double bladed progressive sword, she was fighting for her life fending off two more of the MP EVAs, who seemed totally bent on killing her.
Elly was not in a happy mood. This white… thing kept coming at her with this red weapon it was holding. She herself only knew some basic swordplay that she learned from a manual provided by NERV. Other than that, she was on the ropes.
"Stay still you mass produced bastard!" Zack yelled as he took swipe after swipe at his white opponent. "How come you guys can't be easy like last time?" he asked aloud as he dodged a stab from the MP EVA's lance.
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SEELE 12: This is fun. Watching them tire out like this, struggling to hold on to whatever they have left. It gives off, a euphoria.
SEELE 03: We can't have this go on forever.
SEELE 01: I concur. Deal with the ones that do not matter.
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Zack continued to attack and attack. The EVA he was fighting kept back pedaling. "Oh no you don't. No spear chucking on my watch." He accelerated and caught up to it. But as he did, it sidestepped around him. The EVA then used the lance and stabbed him in the back. "OWWWW! FUUUUUCKKK!" was what he said before falling unconscious from the pain.
"Zack's down!" yelled Elly as she continued to parry attacks from her attacker. "What the hell!" The EVA that had defeated Zack was now attacking her too. And since Elly had no chance against two EVAs, she was also defeated.
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"Unit 05's pilot is down! Unit 06's pilot is down!" reported Makoto.
"Are they alive?" asked Ritsuko
"Both pilots are alive," replied Shigeru. "But they're unconscious. It's almost as if they just wanted to incapacitate them."
"They're targeting Shinji and Asuka," declared Fuyutski. "They're quickly eliminating the others so they can swarm Units 01 and 02."
"Unit 03 is down," interjected Makoto. "Unit 00 is being double teamed and Unit 04 is being tripled teamed."
'Dammit!' thought Fuyutski to himself. 'Can we win this time?'
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Shinji decided to backpedal as the two MP EVAs he was fighting tried another attack. He didn't have a lot of experience fighting two opponents by himself at a time. And when he fought Oholah and Ohlibah, he had Asuka with him. He figured the best thing to do was to get one of them by itself for a few seconds and he could take some swings. Maybe…
Suddenly, one of them got behind him! He barely dodged the incoming slash. But as he looked at his screen, he saw the five-minute timer activate. They had cut his cable.
Asuka began to twirl her double blade progressive sword in an attempt to get her attackers to back off. But they continued to advance, as their lances kept hitting her sword. Suddenly, one of them did back off, and then threw its lance at her. She dodged to her right. As it whizzed by her, she saw her five-minute timer activate. "Oh shit!" Her cable was cut as well.
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"Unit 01 has four minutes and twenty eight seconds remaining! Unit 02 has four minutes and thirty nine seconds remaining of power," reported Maya.
This made Fuyutski flash back to 3rd Impact. This was exactly what happened to Asuka. They wore out her power supply and went in for the kill. And now they were going with the same strategy again. Then he remembered something. "The S2 organs. Can they be activated?"
"Yes they can," replied Shigeru. "But they haven't been tested yet. There's no telling what may happen!"
"We don't have a choice!" boomed the Vice-Commander! He put out a com to Shinji and Asuka. "Shinji! Asuka! Retreat! We're going to activate your EVAs' S2 organs!"
"They'll need time," interjected Maya. "Time they don't have!"
"Leave that to us," said Ivana who suddenly appeared in between Shinji, Asuka, and the MP EVAs. Unit 00 joined up beside Unit 04.
"Rei! Ivana! Don't do it! You'll be destroyed!" yelled Shinji. "There are nine of them! You won't stand a chance!"
"That may be," replied Rei. "But you have a power. A power they fear. If you and Asuka are killed, we will fall not long after. You two share something that will never overcome."
"We will hold them off long enough for your S2s to activate," replied Ivana. "So go!"
And so the seemingly futile fight began between Units 00 and 04 and the nine MP EVAs.
"So who wants it first?" asked Ivana to the MP EVAs. She had her double bladed progressive sword ready. Rei had her single blade sword ready.
"You shall not pass," declared Rei.
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"Shutting down auxiliary power," said Maya.
"Preparing to reactivate both EVAs with the S2 organ," reported Makoto.
"Good," said Fuyutski. "Hurry. Rei and Ivana will not last forever."
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It seemed to be almost impossible, but somehow, Rei and Ivana were pulling it off. They were holding their own so far. The EVA Series was merciless. Judging from the fact that they spared the lives of the others, for now clearly indicated that they are not the ones they wanted.
Ivana was constantly moving around to avoid getting hit, and at the same time, not allowing the MP EVAs to pass. It seemed like an impossible chore, but she was doing it, with help from Rei of course.
Shinji was worried. This activation for some reason felt like it was taking longer than it should. He figured it was just his nerves that made it look like things were going slow.
He could hear the technicians reading off how the activation was going. There were no problems so far; it just felt like it was taking so long. He was also worried for Rei; she wasn't trained in these sorts of situations like Ivana was likely to be. Hopefully the S2 organs would activate the EVAs and he and Asuka could help before it was too late.
His worst nightmare was realized. One of Rei's blocks was just a bit to slow, and one of the MP EVAs managed to stab Unit 00 in the chest. He could hear Rei grunt under the pain. "REI!" he shouted out."
"I'm sorry," was the last thing she said before being sent flying from a follow up attack. She was down. Now it was just Ivana.
"Shinji! Concentrate!" yelled Fuyutski.
Shinji obeyed and resumed concentration.
Ivana kept going though. It had been about a minute since Rei was defeated. Suddenly, she was stabbed and taken down. She was just overwhelmed.
'No,' thought Fuyutski. 'It's over now.'
One of the MP EVAs now prepared to attack the helpless Shinji and Asuka. Right as it was about to strike, a blue and white blur came out of nowhere and cut it in half.
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"What was that?" said Shigeru. "Somehow, Rei is recording a 100 sync!"
"I'm getting interference with Rei's brainwaves!" said Makoto.
"One more minute till activation of Units 01 and 02!" reported Maya.
'What's going on?' thought Fuyutski to himself. 'Could it be…?'
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"What's going on?" said Shinji aloud.
"Don't worry Shinji," replied a voice. "As long as it is within my power, I shall protect you, my son." Shinji saw Rei's face on the com, but it sounded like his mother.
"Mother?"
Yui was controlling Rei again. She faced the EVA Series. "Okay you crazy bastards. I'll show you why I was the one who could keep Gendo Ikari in line." Progressive sword in hand, she fearlessly prepared herself for the MP EVAs that were coming her way.
"Activation in thirty seconds!" reported Maya.
Yui parried the attacks as best as she could. She was really good. Or perhaps it was just to make sure no harm came to Rei. She continued to play defense as they attacked. She was very acrobatic as she continued to jump around and parry the attacks. So far, she had managed to kill one of the EVA Series, but the other eight were still attacking.
Suddenly, Yui got hit with the broad end of one of the EVA's lances. She was sent flying and hit the ground hard. As that EVA was about to throw the lance, it was shoulder barged by something. As Yui looked up to see what it was, she saw two EVAs. One purple. One red.
"Good work my son," said Yui. "Rei will be just fine. Go get them," she finished before losing her control over Rei.
The S2 organs were working just fine. Units 01 and 02 had the power of the Angels at their command now. Power was no longer a barrier for them.
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SEELE 03: So they have S2 organs as well.
SEELE 09: Chairman. Is it time?
SEELE 01: Yes. It is time. Time to use the Seal of Diablos!
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"All right you bastards!" yelled Asuka. "Time to pay for what you've done!"
"Yeah," concurred Shinji. "We're going to destroy you all!"
But what happened next would surprise both. The eight remaining EVAs then surrounded the kids. All eight raised their arms up into the sky. Suddenly, the sky darkened. And a red ring appeared in the sky, and descended down towards where they all were. The circle surrounded Units 01 and 02 and the EVA Series. Then the five point star was drawn.
Shinji and Asuka watched as the Seal could be seen on the foreheads of each of the EVA Series. "This… looks bad," said Shinji.
"Way to point out the obvious idiot!" retorted Asuka. "How are we supposed to get our way out of this?"
"Rei said we have some sort of power that the enemy fears," replied Shinji. "Just what is that power?"
"Well we better figure it out right now!" said Asuka as one of the MP EVAs moved to attack. She redrew her double bladed progressive sword, and Shinji redrew his two progressive swords.
And so the fight began again. Simply put, it was two four-on-one battles.
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"They won't be able to keep this up forever," said Ritsuko. "The human mind can only concentrate on so many things at once."
Misato who had been rather quiet during the battle spoke up. "Ritsuko. Never count Shinji or Asuka out. Those two have been capable of things we never would have been able to do. When it comes down to it, they have never let us down. And they never will."
"Look," interjected Maya. "Their sync scores are rising! They're both at 94 and rising!"
"What?" boomed Fuyutski. "How do they do it?"
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'I have to do this,' were Shinji's thoughts.
'I must do this,' were Asuka's thoughts.
The two fought like they never had before. They were actually keeping the EVA Series at bay. The EVA Series couldn't even land a blow on the two.
"See Asuka," said Shinji. "When we work together, we can do anything."
"Wow. I knew that a long time ago," replied Asuka. "Good thing you know now too."
They were completely unaware that their sync scores were rising. Rising off the charts.
"Let's take them together Shinji!"
"Together…"
For reasons unknown, the two pilots blacked out.
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Maya had another report. "This makes no sense. They were synced at 98, now I'm seeing 500!"
"Unit 01 and 02 are undergoing bio-fusion again!" said Makoto.
'Oh my god!' thought Misato. 'It's happening again! Please let them be okay.'
"We're getting Unit F-01's property readings!" said Shigeru. "It's going like last time!"
Maya spoke up again. "Their sync is now reading 1000!"
There was a bright white light where Units 01 and 02 once stood. The EVA Series tried to advance, but they were being repelled by a very powerful AT Field. A figure could be seen within the light. It had the head of Unit 01, the many eyes of Unit 02, red arms, red legs, and the body and head was purple. It also had ten silver spectral wings, symbolizing its immense power.
"Can you get a visual of the entry plug?" asked Ritsuko.
"Yes we can. Unit F-01 is accepting," replied Makoto.
They were all shocked at what they saw. What they saw, was a girl, who was wearing a purple and white plugsuit, she had a body similar to that of Rei, and she had long brown hair. She almost looked like Rei actually. She then opened her eyes to reveal that they were brown. "All right! Time to kick some serious ass!" declared the girl!
A/N: And what do you think? I was somewhat disappointed with this chapter. Hopefully, you won't be. And if you get the chance, you should read Naon Tiotami's fic: The Archangel Saga. It looks exciting and is worth the read. Well who is this girl? Is she on our side? And what became of Shinji and Asuka? Find out next time! Until 46, be cool!