A/N: Okay, so the site's email alert system appears to be on the DL as in Disabled List. But I'm still fired up! My last post has revived my inspiration! So here we go! The time is nearing, where Shinji and friends must face the Reaper, better known as Vladimir Topolov. Are they really ready?
A/O/N: Here's a special treat for you readers. A belated Christmas gift. An extra LONG chapter filled with tons of action! Enjoy! You may need to take an intermission or two because this is by far the longest chapter!
A/O/O/N: My updating will still remain inconsistent because of work, company coming down, and soon returning to school. So I hope this chapter more than makes up for my lack of consistency.
Disclaimer: Zack's opinions of Germany do not reflect my views, or those of the general population.
NERV Hamburg – 4378km (2720 miles) east of Canada
With the exception of the wordings in the facility being German instead of Japanese, to Shinji this base looked almost the exact same as the one back home. Not that it was a serious problem, as Asuka was more than willing to translate every single word and phrase that they had come across, or if one had a question for a certain phrase. As of the current moment, they were on their way to their barracks that a woman who was likely in her late thirties, who was member of the senior NERV staff was leading them to.
As Shinji looked around, he noticed Asuka was gone. "Say, has anyone seen Asuka anywhere?"
"Oh don't worry about it Shinji," Misato replied. "She's probably just taking a look around. She hasn't been here in a long time, so I figure she wants to see this place again."
"Hmm," wondered Ivana as they continued to walk. "She said something about asking where we do broadcasts over the entire base. So maybe she wanted to do something there."
"What would Asuka want with the broadcast system anyway?" Zack asked. "She doesn't need to inflate her ego any more than it already is."
"I wouldn't irritate her here if I were you," Ivana commented.
"Why not?" Zack shot back.
"We're in Germany, and she has the home advantage here," Ivana answered. "She also has control over the native tongue, which you do not, and she knows this country like the back of her hand, which I believe you also do not."
"Whatever…" sighed Zack as they kept pacing along.
"Hey guys!" Everyone turned around to see Asuka running towards the group. "I just had to take care of some business."
"What kind of business Asuka?" asked Misato. "An old flame?"
"You wish," retorted Asuka. "Just listen, you'll get it in a second."
"Listen to what?" Shinji wondered.
Suddenly, the base's loudspeaker system turned on. There was some static for a moment, but the message was loud and clear. "Achtung, achtung, an alle Mannschaften von NERV. Hier ist der Kommandant. Seien sie wachsam, wenn sie einen Jugendlichen mit einer blauen Sportjacke sehen. Er sucht ständig nach Ärger und wird höchstwahrscheinlich versuchen, etwas extrem dummes zu tun. Vielen Dank. Weitermachen."
Ivana and Misato could barely keep themselves from laughing, while the woman who was escorting them looked at Zack with contempt. Zack obviously didn't understand the sudden glare he was. "Whoa, what's with the look? "
Asuka then commented, "I guess I should translate the message for you Casanova." She cleared her throat and then said, "Attention, attention. To all personell of NERV. This is the commander. Be alert when you see a teenager wearing a blue sports jacket. He is always gunning for trouble, and will most likely try to do something very stupid. Thank you. Continue duty. "
It took the Canadian about two seconds to realize what Asuka had just done. He was the only one out of the group wearing a blue sports jacket (Clad with Toronto Maple Leafs logo on back). "This place blows…"
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NERV HQ – Japan 6873 km (4271 miles) west of Canada
Today was supposed to be another quiet day at NERV base for Elly Simpson. Apparently, there was a head lice problem at the school, so it would be closed for the next two days so the place could be thoroughly sterilized. And so, her plan for the day was originally going to go like it would should the day have been a weekend. Elly started her day like she always did. Waking up to the alarm clock like she always did, a good smack to the clock shut it off. Reaching out in the darkness, she found her way to her bedside lamp and turned it on; allowing some light to illuminate what would have been a darkened room.
We then see our pink-haired pilot stretch her arms out with a big yawn. Next she sits up in bed and stretches again.
"Good morning NERV," she says to no one in particular. "It's time for another day in this boring place." Sliding her legs out to the side of the bed, she lets them touch the floor. Since today wasn't a school day, she was in no rush with her morning routine. So she slowly got herself to her feet, wearing a pink pajama shirt and pants. Lazily slipping out of her pink pajamas and leaving them on the floor Elly did as she walked into her bathroom. While she waited for the water in the shower to heat up, she looked at herself in the mirror. Eyeing her strawberry blonde hair made her remember why she was here, as prior to joining NERV and piloting Unit 06 she was a natural blonde. But then that incident several months ago that led to all this. But now as she looks back, she didn't mind that things turned out as they did… well minus that perverted soldier that threatened her well being that unintentionally set the wheels of her destiny in motion. Not long after that boon dazzle most called 3rd Impact and that some weird old men called Instrumentality, Elly had found her way to Japan, where she met a rival in terms of self beauty in Asuka, and a boyfriend in the Canadian pilot Zack.
Ten minutes later, she found herself out of the shower, clad only with a pink towel. Elly decided to tune into the news to find out what was going on in the world while she was getting dressed. According to the news, the UN passed a resolution which demanded that Russia cease all hostilities immediately or be faced with a NATO assault on its forces. As much as she hoped Russia would cease hostilities, she remembered how the UN lacked teeth to really do anything for that matter. Not really feeling like getting dressed, she changed into her pink bathrobe instead. Once she made her bed, put away her pajamas and placed the Zack plush doll on her bed, she put on some pink flip-flops and left her room for the cafeteria.
She passed by a few people on her way there, all taking note of what she was wearing. Some of the men laughed, since it was not typical NERV attire by a long shot, while some of the more senior staff at NERV weren't really approving of a young woman walking through the hallways of a military facility in her bathrobe. Pretty much all the women were disapproving, and one was mortified. But for a girl like Elly, she didn't really care. Only Elly's opinion mattered, be it clothes, favourite foods, or when to have sex with a boyfriend.
Once Elly got to the cafeteria, she walked right up to the counter and got the cook's attention. "Good morning."
"Good morning Elly," one of the older female cooks said. Noticing she was wearing only her bathrobe, she commented, "was someone in a rush for breakfast? It's not going anywhere."
"Nah, I'm just feeling lazy mate," Elly replied. "Got a kick out of some of the blokes' reactions on the way down here though." Eyeing the menu, her decision came quick. She decided to treat herself today. "Let's go with the 3 Meat and Egg sandwich, on toast, with orange juice please," she said handing the cook her NERV card.
Once Elly got her breakfast, she noticed that Dr. Akagi was sitting at a table. Right there and then, she decided that the doctor could use some morning company. And so Elly with tray in hands walked over to Ritsuko. "Hello," she said sitting in a chair across from Ritsuko.
"Good morning Elly," Ritsuko replied half-looking at Elly and half looking at her laptop computer. "I see you've made NERV into your bedroom."
"Well it was you guys who stuck me here," joked Elly. "And I figured I'd at least make my stay comfortable. And on top of that, I don't really expect to be doing anything major today anyways."
"On the contrary Elly, you have some serious work to do today."
"What?" gasped Elly. "But there's nothing to do here!"
"Exactly my point," Ritsuko smirked. "You, Rei, Hikari and Toji are going to do some EVA training today."
"Training? What kind of training?" the Australian asked.
"Nothing too serious. Just a little virtual reality training. Take a look at this." Ritsuko turned her computer around. "This is our new virtual reality combat simulation system."
To Elly, it looked like the harmonics chamber. "Hey ain't that where we do those harmonics tests?"
"Close but not quite. It's a chamber design that's based off the harmonics chamber but with many differences. Although constructed like a harmonics test chamber, the plugs will be completely submerged, the plugs will also flood with LCL, and the coolant will serve to actually rattle the plugs, to simulate any impact. Also, if you noticed, we're on the same level as the cages. This will allow us to link the test plugs with the dummy plugs inside the EVAs. Each plug is designed to take the brainwave patterns you're A-10 neural connectors detect, and transmit it to the EVAs. This will allow you to sync with the EVAs, which will then simulate the battles, and feed the information into your plugs." The doctor looked at Elly who had a confused look in her eyes. "To make things simple, this chamber uploads your mind into virtual reality, where the computer simulates a battlefield. It isn't real, but your mind is made to think it is real."
"Ooh Sci-Fi stuff," said Elly. "So instead of shooting targets in the Geo-Front, we're gonna shoot targets in a virtual world. I guess that would save money on ammo and targets to shoot."
"Not quite again," replied Ritsuko. "This system was designed so you can face off against the other EVA pilots in one on one combat."
"You mean… me versus the others?"
"That's right Elly."
2 and-a-half hours later
Finally all the pilots who hadn't gone to Germany had now arrived at NERV base. While all the technicians were making the last minute adjustments and final checkups to the virtual system to ensure it was ready to go. As Ritsuko finished doing the final briefing of the system, she took a few moments to eye her pilot's expressions by reading their faces.
Elly seemed to be okay judging by her face. For the most part, she had kept a neutral expression. Knowing what kind of life she once led and the life she led now, it was amazing how well and quickly she adjusted to life as an EVA pilot. Ritsuko partially contributed it to not having fully experienced the horrors the others had gone through up to this point. She had some combat experience too, with the 1st and 6th Black Angels, and helped battle the EVA Series too so she wasn't totally inexperienced. The fact that she had a laid back personality, the doctor noted, helped Elly keep a cool head when in combat, and thus could only be really beaten by someone who had more experience.
Rei on another hand was like she always was minus her now brown eyes instead of red eyes. Battle ready, and blindly obedient to her superiors. Though if the doctor knew any better, flashes of worry flew past Rei's eyes once every now and then. This simulation would also stand as Rei's test to see if she really was battle ready as she had been every battle prior. If successful, the Commander may return Rei to active status after this simulation.
Toji was as Toji always was. Very nervous about entering the EVA period. After being almost completely incapacitated during the battle of the 13th Angel, it was indeed an act of God that he had returned to active status. And his relationship with his sister and his newfound relationship with the Eighth Child Hikari was probably what strengthened his resolve to pilot the EVA. But according to the data Ritsuko had on Toji, his nerves about another 13th Angel incident were probably what had been hampering his performance. Even with Ritsuko's convincing that this system was very safe, Toji didn't seem all that convinced though.
And as expected, Hikari was indeed nervous about this simulation. Since she had joined on as the Eighth Child, she had only done a few synchronization tests and a few harmonics test. She had only two sessions in the Geo Front practicing with firearm weapons. This however would be her first combat test period. However, it would be for the better that Hikari get her first battle experience in a virtual simulation. That way, when Hikari made the mistakes that she was likely to make in this simulation, she would get the second chance she needed to improve on her shortfalls.
"So before we get started," Ritsuko began to conclude. "Are there any questions. If you have any, now would be the time to ask them."
"Uh, I have one," Hikari said raising her hand. "What happens if we die in the simulation?"
"The best answer I can give you is that for a moment, you will feel like you have died," answered Ritsuko. "But your body will then realize it is not dead and you will wake up. There may be some phantom pain after the fact from where you were 'fatally wounded' but that will pass. Also, be assured that if we believe one or both combatants can no longer fight or are on the verge of 'dying' in the simulation, we will stop the fight." She looked at the four again, "Are there any more questions?" This time no one had a question. "Good, then let's get started. The first match will be," she started looking at her clipboard, "Hikari Horaki versus Toji Suzahara."
Hikari and Toji both gasped at the same time. For Hikari, her first battle ever, was against her newfound boyfriend. Hikari knew her career as an EVA pilot wasn't going to be an easy one, but she never thought this would happen: having to fight Toji.
Ritsuko noticed this right away and went over to her, "Are you sure you're up for this?" she asked. "You knew before you joined on that you would have to expect the unexpected."
"Yeah I'm okay," replied Hikari. "Just caught by surprise."
"Hey, just imagine you're playing Sega or something," said Elly. "And Toji's the big bad boss! You'll beat him Hikari! You bossed his ass around at school! Now show him why you're the boss!"
"Hey that's not nice! I'm the boss man!" grumbled Toji. "I'll smack down anyone who thinks they can beat me!"
"Says who?" shouted back Hikari. "Let's see once and for all! And if I win, you have to take me to dinner!"
"It's on!" Toji shouted back, "And if I win, you have to cook me dinner!"
"Oh boy," chuckled Elly to Rei, "this is going to be interesting!"
"Okay, settle down," Ritsuko said as she kept herself professional. "Save that energy for the battle. You two enter the plugs, and then wait for further notice."
Toji and Hikari both agreed and entered their respective entry plugs and awaited further orders. Elly and Rei left the room and followed Ritsuko into the test room where other technicians were preparing the simulation. There was also a large screen in the room where one could presume that the battle could be shown on screen.
Ritsuko pressed a few buttons, and small visuals of Hikari and Toji appeared in different corners of the screen. "Okay, are you two ready?" Ritsuko asked. "When you're ready, we'll begin."
"I'm ready," answered Hikari.
"Same here," said Toji.
"Good. Lower the plugs," the doctor ordered. "Submerge them completely."
"Yes ma'am," replied Maya Ibuki who was second in command. "Lowering the plug of the Fourth Child now." Everyone watched as the plug inhabited by Toji was then lowered by the machine into the depths of the coolant. "Plug is now completely submerged, everything reads normal. Sync ratio reads 64."
"How do you feel Toji? Does anything feel strange?" Ritsuko inquired to make sure everything was going as it should.
"No ma'am," was the answer from Toji. "It's all cool in here."
"Lower the Eighth Child's plug then," the doctor commanded once more.
"Yes ma'am," replied Maya once more. She initiated the command into the computer. "The plug is now descending into the coolant." Once Hikari's plug had been submerged, Maya reported that it had been submerged with no problems detected. Her sync ratio scored 28.
"Are you two ready?" Ritsuko asked the two children. They both nodded. Ritsuko pressed forward. "Begin the simulation now."
From Hikari's point of view, everything suddenly flashed white and she couldn't see anything. But as quickly as she was blinded, she was able to see again. However, she apparently was no longer in Central Dogma anymore, as she was now in an area which looked like it was halfway up a very large and active volcano. Taking a look around, she realized she was in EVA Unit 08. A quick observation of the area helped her determine that she was near the peak of the volcano. Up ahead, there was a moderately wide stream of lava flowing from the peak downwards.
However, Hikari realized that Toji was likely somewhere else on this mountain. And he would be trying to kill her. Luckily in this simulation that was impossible, but Hikari was scared about experiencing something that would mimic actually being killed. She didn't know that much about fighting, other than practicing with a few weapons during target practice. Looking near her EVA's feet, she saw a few weapons that she could use to fight Toji with. There was a progressive sword, a pistol, a machine gun, a long gun that looked like a sniper rifle, and a huge weapon that looked like a long tube that was probably some sort of missile launcher.
'Which weapon to pick?' she asked herself. This would likely be a tough choice. A sword would be good for close range, but what if Toji used a gun? She'd have no chance. The giant tube-like weapon must be some sort of missile launcher. Hikari had no experience with such a weapon, especially since it had only one shot, could likely be inaccurate and probably had bad recoil. She liked the sniper rifle, but this line of thought took her back to her video games that she played with Kodama. And Kodama was a goddess with the sniper rifle. However, mastery of such a weapon required incredible practice, something Hikari lacked as she was no expert in military ops. So that was out. The machine gun was a good choice, since it could spay many bullets quickly. But the drawback was that the machine gun was tough to aim with. So with not much choice in that matter, she chose the pistol. It didn't have many shots, but it was easy to aim with.
And now the worst part, which was having to look for Toji. He could be anywhere on this mountain. Remembering some of the controls from the guide, she realized that she could use the EVA's radar to scan for other signals. To her disappointment, she couldn't lock in on Toji's signal. However, the signal was strong enough to indicate that he was in the area somewhere. Hikari figured that she could get a better view of the area from the peak of the volcano. With all the lava and such everywhere it would be perilous. And so began the fateful trek, gun held out in front of her just in case Toji showed up. A few minutes passed and no sign of him as she inched closer to the top.
Suddenly, Unit 08's motion sensors picked up something coming from above. Hikari looked up, it was some sort of light and it was coming right at her! She tried to move, but she froze and flinched for the impact.
"Hikari! Raise your AT Field!" Somehow Hikari was able to hear Ritsuko's voice.
'AT Field, AT Field,' Hikari thought to herself. That special barrier that could help her block attacks. How could she use it? She needed it! She thought how that if she could raise the barrier, she could shield herself from this attack.
She felt the plug she was in rattle a bit, but overall she felt okay. She opened her eyes, and there was a lot of smoke, as if something exploded in front of her. Did she do it? Did she use the AT Field to block the attack?
"That's it Hikari! That's the AT Field!" was Ritsuko's voice. Apparently her voice came from the com. "Now hide before he fires again!"
Hikari looked around quickly for a place to hide. She saw what looked like an indent that she would be able to move the EVA into. So Toji was somewhere up above her watching her every move. How long was he watching her for, contemplating whether he could actually fire at her or not before making that decision?
'If he has the nerve to fire at his girlfriend, the one who would occasionally excuse him from class duties, the one who brought him lunches, the one who visited him in the hospital, the one who actually wasted a good chunk of her teenage years mustering the courage to tell him how she feels, and the one who let him sleep over at her place a few nights back (on the couch mind you), then he's gonna get what's coming to him!' "Time to lay the beat down!" she said to herself out loud with confidence.
Pistol in hand, Hikari rushed out of the indent which she had sheltered herself within to challenge her boyfriend. She looked up the peak. The smoke made it a little difficult to see, but the radar was able to lock onto Toji's AT Field signal. He was up there, and she was going to get him alright. She rushed up the mountain as fast she could. To some extent she felt like she was playing some Sega game. However, her EVA's sensors detected something again from above. Hikari saw that light again, which was probably another missile. Not really thinking, she decided to keep running up the mountain as best she could. The explosion behind her shoved her EVA forward, making her crash into the ground.
"Oww, that hurt," she moaned as she brought her EVA back to her feet. Looking up, she saw a black silhouette in the clouds. It was human shaped, likely Unit 03. Hikari snapped her pistol up and began frantically unloading bullets at the silhouette. As quickly as the shadow had appeared, it had disappeared. Now she was out of bullets and Toji had now vanished. So her only weapon left was her prog knife kept in the B-type equipment on her EVA's shoulders. Taking it out, she inched up the volcano like a nervous woman wondering if she would be attacked any second, getting closer to the top. It was getting hotter too, so she would have to watch out and make sure she didn't get hit by a burst flow of lava. She was now in a narrow corridor somewhere in the volcano, so she had to stay alert. He could either be somewhere in behind her or in front of her.
She heard a sound behind her, so she whipped around. It was Toji, and he had the rocket launcher pointed right at her, from about 100 meters away. Hikari did the only thing she could think of, was raising the AT Field and closing her eyes and hoping for the best.
When Hikari opened her eyes, she noticed that she was sprawled on the ground, and that Unit 03 was down on the ground not far away. She then remembered where she was, in a virtual simulation, in a battle against Toji. She noticed he was also making his way back to his feet.
Hikari saw Toji's face come on screen. He was unsure of what to say for a few moments before sheepishly saying "Hey."
"Hi," Hikari replied. This… moment lasted for a few moments before Hikari remembered her situation. "Hey, you shot at me earlier! How could you?" she asked of him.
"Uh, this is a battle, and it's a virtual battle, so we'll be okay if one of us gets killed," replied Toji.
"And you never gave thought to the fact that this still hurts?" Hikari whined. "See how you like this!" She willed Unit 08 at the surprised Toji. He was even more surprised when Hikari connected with the left side of Unit 03's face with a right hook. She followed up with a few more punches, which all connected with a shocked Toji taking the brunt of every hit.
Unit 03 staggered back before recovering. "Oh you are so going down!" roared Toji right back, commanding Unit 03 to charge and crash into Unit 08. Unit 08 took the hit head on and both Units crashed into the ground with Unit 03 on top of Unit 08. Toji, desperate to end this fight now before something likely got out of hands, used Unit 03's hands in an attempt to crush the neck of Unit 08, therefore forcing Ritsuko to stop the match because Hikari would not be able to fight with her EVA's neck broken.
Hikari struggled to break the cast iron grip Toji had on her EVA's neck, but his grip was very strong indeed. And since she felt the pain that the EVA was feeling, it felt like he was crushing her windpipe, cutting off her ability to breathe. 'Stop! I can't breathe! Please stop!' Hikari silently begged her expression a cross of pain, despair, and desperation to try and get some air into her lungs.
'Please give up Hikari,' said Toji to himself, hoping he could kill her in the simulation quickly rather than have to deal with the fact that she might struggle till this simulation ended.
Meanwhile, on the outside back in the real world, Ritsuko saw what was going on. From the outside point of view, Toji was either trying to break Unit 08's neck or trying to strangle Hikari by crushing the neck to crush Hikari's windpipe. The doctor concluded that this match was fairly much over and that Toji was about to win.
Hikari, in one last act, looked at Toji on the com, giving him the most silent, desperate plea to stop as she was beginning to lose consciousness quickly. She took one hand off her throat and reached for his face on the screen…
Toji saw this, and was immediately stricken with guilt. This was almost like he was throttling her in real life. It was real life; she may be dead in a matter of seconds if not already unconscious. He couldn't do it, even in a simulation. He released Unit 08's neck from his grip. "Oh my god," he whispered, "what have I done?"
"Blew the match…" replied a wheezing Hikari.
"Huh?"
To everyone's shock, Unit 08 grabbed the arms of Unit 03, placed one foot on Unit 03's chest, and with a surge of strength, flipped Unit 03 flying over its head… into a nearby stream of lava with a splash.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Toji in pain as the virtual lava cooked his EVA and him in the process.
"END THE SIMULATION NOW!" shrieked a voice in the background.
Everything flashed white to Hikari again blinding her completely. But like last time, her sight returned quickly, as she found herself in the entry plug she originally had entered to start the simulation. She felt her throat, seeing if she could breathe. The panting she was doing confirmed that her breathing was fine. But her throat felt like something was indeed trying to crush it. She noticed the plug open and began to make her way out, where she noticed some doctors coming towards her and some others toward Toji who was making his way out his own plug, likely suffering from phantom burns.
"Crikey," muttered Elly. "That had to hurt… a lot."
"Dr. Akagi said that anything we feel inside the simulator would be exactly the same inside," replied Rei. "This is nothing to be surprised about."
"Well seeing a guy throttling his girlfriend, even in a simulation is surprising," Elly commented. "Anyways, are you ready for our battle Rei? We're up next."
"I am always ready," said Rei.
"Good!" Elly pumped a fist. "You had best be ready, because the Kangaroo Express is coming for ya!"
"Save that enthusiasm for the simulation," Ritsuko interjected. "You two will be up in a few minutes.
"So how are they?" Elly asked. "They going to be okay?"
"They'll be just fine. Hikari is still chewing Toji out for nearly strangling her, but I think they'll be okay." Ritsuko checked back at the computer, noticing that the plugs were ready to be used again. "All right, you two are up."
So now Elly and Rei went down to the entry plugs where Toji and Hikari were previously. Once both pilots entered their respective plugs, they were submerged in the coolant and Dr. Akagi ordered the simulation to begin. Rei would start this battle with a sync of 45 and Elly with a score of 69.
While she was waiting for the simulation to start, she pondered the best way to defeat an experienced and well seasoned pilot like Rei Ayanami. Rei likely did everything by the book and had decent experience with all EVA-made weaponry. So a direct assault with any weapon was likely out of the picture. However, Rei did have one currently standing weakness: rustiness. Because of that freaky-deaky Angel Rejection Syndrome, Rei had been out of action for a while, and that this battle was to see if she was capable of going into battle. And on second note, Elly figured that even though Rei had been conditioning herself to get back into shape, the shock of trauma to her body might hamper her ability to take a hit or two. So perhaps the way to win was to get close to Rei, and then deliver some heavy duty blows that would rattle Rei and all four previous versions of her. If all else failed, then Elly probably considered going head to head with a prog sword.
Once Elly was able to see what was in front of her, she realized she was in what appeared to be a large virtual city, and that she was in a virtual Unit 06. And about 500 meters in front of her was the blue EVA 00. At her feet, was a progressive sword, which was her weapon of choice since she had had some experience with it during her practice with Zack and some more during the battle with the 6th Black Angel. She picked up her sword and pointed it at Unit 00. "Alright, hope you're ready to face… what?"
To Elly's surprise, Rei and Unit 00 had completely vanished. "Hey, where'd she go?" the pink haired wondered. 'If I knew any better, then Rei is probably going to try to sneak up on me. That always happens to the pretty girls in the movies. But they at least have a 50/50 chance of escape. Sword out in front of her, prepared for an ambush, she paced along, hoping she could track Rei as she was likely hiding amongst the buildings, waiting to strike poor Elly when she least expected it.
Elly peeked around a few buildings and Rei was still nowhere to be seen. "Dammit, how hard can it be to find an EVA in this blasted city?" But then a thought came to Elly. "Maybe Rei can see exactly what I'm doing and is trying to psyche me out. Well I put the "e" in psyche!
One minute later and still no sign of Rei, Elly was getting flustered. "Fine you wanna keep hiding, then I'll flush you out!" She took her prog sword and aimed it at a nearby building, slicing it clean in two. As the top half of the building came crashing down, it created a large cloud of smoke, which would have made Elly cough if she was outside her EVA. After slicing down some more buildings, she had created quite the smoke cloud. "Shit, I can't see a thing in all this damned smoke!"
However, her EVA's sensors picked something up. INCOMING! On woman's intuition, Elly rolled to the side, only to see a large sword land where she was less than a second ago. It was Rei, sword in hand. She had probably been waiting for the perfect moment to ambush Elly. Elly quickly got herself to her feet and brought her blade down to cleave Rei right in half. But Rei blocked the attack and used her sword to push Elly back. Elly ran right back in for a few more cuts, but Rei successfully blocked each one. Now Rei went on the attack. The brunette (with some blue) brought her sword down on Elly on a 45 degree angle. However, instead of trying to attempt another blow, Rei tried to use her sword to force Elly's sword off to the side.
"Nice try," Elly muttered as she matched Rei's strength with her own. "You're rusty, and I'm shiny mate!" She backpedaled and went back in, alternating with high and low attacks, to keep Rei guessing what move Elly would make next.
This was much tougher than Rei had originally presumed. She was definitely out of practice. If she was going to beat Elly, she would have to get her 'groove' back to show that her experience in combat was more than Elly could handle. However, Elly was also better with the blade than Rei expected. Her movements were basic, but practically flawless. She must have had someone teach her those moves.
Elly kept going at Rei, knowing that if she forced Rei to abandon Elly's line of attack, then she would be the one controlling the battle. Elly noticed Rei's rustiness was beginning to show, as there were times where she had almost cut Unit 00, but Rei would have either dodged or parried the attack.
To everyone else outside, the battle was practically an even fight. Sure Elly was currently on the attack and Rei was a little rusty around the edges, but it was pretty much dead even. Everyone, including Toji and Hikari who had come back from being checked on by the doctors, had their eyes glued to the screen like it was the hit battle of the year.
"Wow, look at them go," said Hikari. "They're good."
"Yeah, they're almost as good as Shinji or Asuka," replied Toji.
Elly continued to force Rei to move about to dodge the incoming assaults. Finally, Rei was forced to block an attack. Now Elly took this chance to try and force Rei's blade off to the side. To Rei's shock, Elly was successful in doing so. Rei quickly tried to backpedal to evade the incoming slash, but Elly's slash was fast, as it caught Rei's left forearm.
Rei flinched as she felt the blade cut Unit 00's left arm. It still hurt just as much as it would in a real fight. Suddenly, the com came on. It was Ritsuko, who was wondering if this was too much for Rei at the moment. "Alright, stop the fight for a moment," she ordered. "Rei do you still wish to continue?"
"Yes," Rei replied. "I wish to see this to its end."
"Very well," said Ritsuko. "Continue."
"Choo-choo!" Elly roared as she charged at Rei. "Hiyahhhhhhh!" she yelled as she jumped into the air off a building for an airborne attack.
Rei rolled out off to the side just as the Kangaroo Express came crashing down. The First Child saw this as her chance to counter attack the Seventh Child. She charged in quickly, not giving Elly a chance to recover from her assault. Elly got up quickly, but Rei was already on to her, not giving the pink-haired girl a chance to keep attacking. Elly was not able to make it all the way to her feet! The only thing she could do was use her sword to protect herself from Rei's rain of strikes. So Rei was just hammering away for a while, until Elly lost her grip on her sword. Rei raised her sword to stab Elly for the deathblow when Elly did the unthinkable. Using her hands to support herself, she used 06's feet in a sweeping motion to sweep Unit 00 off its feet. Unit 00 hit the ground hard, and dropped its sword in the process.
'Now for the finishing blow,' Elly said to herself. She sat on top of Unit 00, pinning it down. Rei was still rattled by being suddenly tripped by Elly. She tried to get Unit 06 off her, but Elly had the rattled and exhausted First Child trapped. Elly then proceeded to land several blows into Unit 00's head, which in the real world would have lead to Rei having a serious concussion from the blunt force trauma.
After Elly landed several more punches, Ritsuko interjected, "Okay that's enough Elly. This one is over. The simulation is ending."
Elly ceased her assault on Rei and everything flashed white before Elly found herself back in the plug she was in originally. She then remembered the simulation, and that she won. "Yay! I won! I won! WOOT!" Then she abruptly remembered that Rei would feel phantom pain from having her brains virtually scrambled by Elly. "Oh shit, Rei!"
NERV Hamburg – Late at night
Try as Shinji could, he couldn't sleep at all in the barracks. It wasn't because of having to adjust to the time zones or anything. It was that with the sudden reports of unidentified ships way out in the Baltic Sea that put everyone on edge. Commander Henkel was certain that it was the Russians and that they were going to attempt a land/sea invasion. How they came across this sudden surge of top quality military equipment was beyond ALL comprehension. So this definitely meant there was going to be a battle soon.
Shinji found himself in the cafeteria looking at a can of orange juice. The others were all sleeping back in the barracks, so he could think all to himself, or out loud if he wanted to without disturbing anyone with his lines of thought.
"Guess you got the pre-game butterflies too huh Shinji?" Shinji turned around in the direction of the voice. It was Zack. Apparently he couldn't sleep either.
"Butterflies?"
"Oh it's a hockey saying," said Zack. "People who are nervous prior to the start of a hockey game are said to have butterflies in their stomach. And in case you're wondering, yeah I'm kind of nervous myself."
"You've fought before though haven't you?" Shinji wondered.
"Yeah, I've had my share of fights and such. Mostly when I worked in Canada, I spent my police work dealing with young offenders and such, due to my age. And believe me; it's not easy to take a life. I still remember the first person I killed on the job. It was a hostage situation that probably could have been resolved peacefully. But our usual negotiator wasn't there, and I didn't feel easy about trying to bargain with the hostage taker."
Shinji was intrigued. "So what did you do? Did you shoot him?"
Zack took a sip and answered. "Luckily, the perp didn't notice, but while I was talking to him, I was aiming for a killing shot. And when I was lined up, I took my shot. Went right through the guy's left eye. Not a pleasant sight."
"Does it still bother you at all?" Shinji really wanted to know what killing a person was like so he could have an understanding of what it was like.
"Not really, it doesn't bother me that much, but it's still in my mind, like when I dealt with the Ron and his band of bastards, it lingered a bit in my mind. Heck that asshole still wanders my mind, but I've learned to deal with it."
"How do you deal with it?"
Zack sighed, "That my good friend is something you'll have to discover on your own. But there will come a time where you have to come to grips with what you did. And when you do… let's say you won't be haunted by the echoes."
"Echoes?" Shinji was confused.
"Well, I put it this way. Everything we do leaves an echo. For example, say you killed someone. That one kill will echo within the walls of your mind. It always happens with me. But I come to grips with those echoes. The fact that you hear those echoes shows you have guilt for committing the ultimate sin. Shows you have a heart, and a soul."
This made Shinji think back to when he met Kaowru. During that time, Shinji was likely going through one of the worst times of his life. The fact that Kaowru had befriended him had made Shinji feel a lot better. But then the ultimate betrayal: Kaowru was in fact an Angel bent on initiating 3rd Impact just like his predecessors. And Shinji was forced to kill his friend. That nearly destroyed his sanity, and almost brought his world crashing down. "I felt that once. Those echoes. Kaowru… I killed him."
"Hmm, then you have some understanding then," Zack said. "Glad to know that you have a conscience," he chuckled. He saw Shinji with a frown on his face and corrected himself. "Sorry man, just trying to help."
"Thank you for trying," Shinji replied. "Makes me feel a little better."
"No problem, it's what I do," Zack declared.
"Asuka would disagree with that," Shinji chuckled. "After everything you say to her."
"She just paints herself as a huge target for teasing, and she is fun to tease."
Now Shinji had a question, "Is it really worth getting sacked though?"
Even Zack was stupefied by that question. "That I can't really answer. Well it smarts a LOT, but I can still reproduce… okay that was an odd thing to say but you get the picture."
"Yeah…" muttered Shinji.
"As for Asuka," continued Zack, "do me a favour and stay alive for her okay?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Because," replied Zack, "I don't want to have to deal with the waterworks if you end up dead." When he saw Shinji's confused look, he verified, "Look, I know she'll be okay, but if I was against Asuka on the battlefield, I'd be fucking scared of her. As for you, you're just not as vicious as Asuka is. But at the same time, she needs you."
"Why do you say that?" Shinji had one question after another.
"Man I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition, but going on." Zack took a minute to think then answered. "You two are like opposites, like a positive and a negative charge and how they're drawn to each other. She is always trying to be tough and confident, yet she finds herself drawn to you, one who is more compassionate and not as vicious. And you prefer to be like I said compassionate and non-violent, yet you're drawn to confidence and toughness."
A/N: NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
"I see. That's why we were drawn to each other, yet it took us so long to understand such a thing," said Shinji. He let a smile come to his face. "And now that she's so happy, I can't believe we may lose all that soon," he finished as his smile faded.
"And that's why you gotta fight," Zack stated. "For that smile. So you can keep her smiling when you both return to Japan. Same reason why I gotta fight. So I can see Elly again." He yawned as he was rather tired himself. "Okay, enough talking. Let's finish off our orange juice so we can get some rest. We got a communist bastard to fight sooner or later. And I want to represent capitalism at my best."
"Okay, sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
Baltic Sea – Command Ship – Early morning hours
"This is a bit more like it," chuckled the young man wearing what looked like a black jumpsuit. "It's a good thing we followed him so far. Even better that he's letting us use his equipment to enable our cause." Indeed, Vladimir thought it was good that his master had provided the military power needed to carry out this invasion. Just outside the bridge of the flagship he was on, there were several warships, awaiting the order to carry out the invasion. Some were aircraft carriers, some carried battle tanks, others had loads of infantry, and other ships carried various supplies.
"Awaiting your orders sir," reported the second-in-command. "We can attack whenever you're ready."
"I know. I'm not ready yet," said Vladimir. "But Commander, while you're standing there, you can call for an EVA carrier plane. He'll know why you're requesting it."
"Yes sir." The man gave Vladimir the communist salute, then walked off. Once he had left, Vladimir walked over to the phone on the bridge, picked it up and dialed in a number.
"Hello there my old friend," Vladimir said in English into the phone. "Did you miss me?" He listens for a bit as whoever he is speaking to says his piece. "Yes I am the one leading the attack Keel. This is the best way to defeat Gendo Ikari's EVA pilots, by forcing him to divide his forces. Instead of facing all eight, he can only send four to fight me." Vladimir listens again. "It was unfortunate that I was defeated by that bitch Kharlamov, but I am now more powerful than ever. Trust me Keel, I can feel the power flowing through me. I am ready to send this planet back on course to the fate that is meant for it." Once more, Keel takes an opportunity to speak to the Reaper. "Well send him my greetings. And tell him I'll bring her back dead too when I get the chance. Anyways, destiny awaits. So we must part." He then hung up the phone.
Next he picked up the microphone, pressed the talk button and spoke into it. "Attention all forces. What lies ahead of us is our destined future. A future that promises us great prosperity However, there on the shore are misguided fools who wish to stand in our way. Anyone that gets in our way is our enemy." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You are all likely aware that there are four extremely powerful military weapons awaiting us that will challenge our resolve to win this war. They may snuff some of us out with no effort. But you must remain vigilant. They are powerful, but they are not invincible. They can be defeated. And be aware that one of them is a traitor who now fights on their side. Let this help your will to crush them. Let us go forth, and pave our destiny."
As Vladimir put the transmitter down, his commander returned. "Lord Topolov, your carrier will be here in a few minutes."
"Good," the Russian replied with a wicked smile. "Then everything is ready for my… special entrance. Those unsuspecting fools know not what awaits."
NERV Hamburg
By now, the sun had come up. This was it. The entire country of Germany was bracing for the impending invasion by the Russian forces. The surrounding towns and cities were being evacuated to protect the innocents from the incoming attack. If one looked around the area from high above, one could see that all military posts were manned, there were armed guards at every checkpoint.
Within the confines of NERV HQ, everyone else was at their post, the building littered with armed guards should Russia attempt to use a strike team to penetrate the heart of the German war effort. At Central Omicron, was where Field Operations Director Major Misato Katsuragi and NERV Commander Joachim Henkel directed the military operations, with Misato handling the EVAs and Joachim handling the rest of the military through his many officers that were on the front lines.
As for the EVA pilots themselves, they were to be set up in what looked like a reverse "T" formation. Ivana would engage the forces that landed on shore and such with Unit 04. Her job would be to flatten the shoreline offensive that crawled out from the Baltic Sea. Asuka was granted the task of being placed a little farther back, as there would likely be many forces that would make their way past Ivana, and she could deal with tanks and low flying aircraft. Zack and Shinji were even further back, and then spread out horizontally. Their task was to deal with anything that got by Asuka or Ivana, which would likely be shooting down enemy aircraft that Asuka would be unable to reach.
Now for Ivana, this was a painful game of waiting. She was in a secure position not far from the beach. Her EVA was flat out on its belly while cradling its weapon in hand. She wasn't able to see any ships approaching yet, but she knew they were out there. Armed with a positron rifle she was currently using and her double-bladed progressive sword nearby, she was ready for anything that was coming her way, including Vladimir.
'A part of me still doesn't understand why you jumped at power before common sense,' thought Ivana to herself as she positioned the rifle a little more. 'You knew first hand that I would never betray my people, even if I was in a better position after the fact. Loyalty comes first above all else. And my loyalty to my country and my family came first… and I'm sorry it had to come before your ambitions. But I will never forgive you for what you did because of those ambitions.'
Suddenly, an alarm went off in Unit 04. Ivana checked to see what the cause of the alarm was. Apparently it was a low flying cruise missile, and it was coming straight for her! Ivana quickly raised her EVA's AT Field to deflect the missile. It flew right at her, and exploded upon impact with the holy barrier. Ivana could then hear the alarms going off all over, as to alert the Germans that the Russians had indeed arrived. Ivana looked through the smoke and noticed something approaching: The Russian fleet.
'He's here.'
Elsewhere, Asuka was getting dulled just waiting for the enemy to arrive. "Hier in Bereitschaft zu sein is todlangweilig," she muttered as she waited in her precious Unit 02 for the enemy to arrive. "They had to pick a day like this to attack, especially when I was having one of my best dreams ever." Eyeing her weapon with a smile, she couldn't wait to unleash its force. Especially when it was a large Gatling gun that could unload over several hundred bullets in a clip. Suddenly, she heard the alarms going off. "Scheiße!" Asuka yelled. "Those bastards are here." She checked her rail gun to make sure it was locked and loaded, as our German hero was ready to unleash a craze of lead upon those who dared take hostile steps upon her home country. "Time to kick some serious ass!" she declared. "They had better watch out, as they will cry and pout when I come to town!"
"Hear that Shinji?" Zack asked as they were in position. Both of them were stationed closer to NERV HQ so it could be defended just in case something managed to get past Asuka or Ivana. The two of them were armed with missile launchers with heat seeking vision. "The commies are here. It's time to kick some ass!"
"I guess so," replied Shinji. "I hope this doesn't take too long."
Elsewhere in Central Omicron, Joachim and Misato were watching the events closely. "This is it," said Joachim. "It's everything or nothing."
Misato turned on the com. "Okay kids, this is the reason we came here. So far our sensors are detecting no sign of EVA Unit 10. Its signal has been downloaded into your EVA's computers. So you'll know when you detect it. You've all been assigned to your tasks, and you're to stay at your posts unless your position has been compromised. However, if you detect the sight of Unit 10, you are to engage it immediately and destroy it. The pilot as you know is extremely dangerous and may be heavily armed as well." She paused before she made her final statement. "Now go make us proud!"
Ivana looked ahead again. She saw the ships moving closer and closer. There were smaller ships coming out of the larger ships, which likely carried the Russian soldiers. She hated to have to kill her own countrymen, but it had to be done for her country had become twisted by evil. And she was not evil, so she had to stop them so they did not overthrow the world. Ivana aimed at the ship that she scoped out first, and fired several shots in hopes that they would reach her target. The shots did reach the target, as she noticed the explosions. She noticed there were helicopters and fighter jets about to fly overhead, so she contacted the others.
Zack, Shinji, and Asuka's visuals came on screen. "What's up?" Zack asked. "Getting cold feet?"
"Aerial craft heading towards your positions," Ivana reported ignoring him. "Be ready!"
"I was always ready," said Asuka. She saw the helicopters and fighter jets approaching her position. "And here comes the best part!" She took up her Gatling gun and took aim. "Eat lead you bastards!" she yelled as she opened fire, sending a flurry of bullets in the direction of the helicopters. Most of her shots obviously missed, but some hit home, as a few of the copters went down or moved about erratically before crashing into the ground.
Seeing a few fly past her, Asuka contacted Zack and Shinji. "Flying bastards heading your way!"
"I see them," answered Shinji. "Let's do this already."
"The hell we're going to do this," said Zack. "Remember what we talked about last night Shinji?"
"Yeah. I'm ready."
"Then good." Zack saw a few planes flying overhead. "Then let's shoot the damn things down!" Pointing his rocket launcher into the sky, he let the EVA's computer guide his already exceptional aim. 'Come on… gotcha!" Once the target was locked on, he released the missile. Shinji released his rocket a few moments later. They flew up like lights into the sky until they impacted the planes they were meant to hit.
"Bull's-eye!" cheered Zack. "Let's reload and fire again!"
Over the span of the next few hours, it had become bedlam. Ivana, overrun by enemy forces, was forced back from her original position and was now a lot closer to Asuka, who had finally run out of bullets after expending all fifteen thousand of them. Both of them now had their prog swords drawn and were doing what they could in unison with the German armed forces to try and suppress the surge of the Russians who were making their way towards the NERV base.
Zack and Shinji on another hand were now almost directly defending the NERV base from whatever else had breached Asuka and Ivana during the span of time. They both had their prog blades out, and spent time swiping at aircraft, missiles, or stomping on ground forces in an attempt to keep the enemy out of NERV at all costs.
Joachim liked the way this was going so far. There were many causalities obviously, but this was to be expected. He was currently giving a command to one of the many commanding officers on the battlefield. "Okay, inform your troops to cut off the Reds on the west in conjunction with Unit 04. The east has been recently contained by Unit 02. Once they've been cut off, Unit 01 and Unit 05 will assist in driving them back to sea. By then, we should have NATO's assistance to level the fleet in the Baltic Sea. So keep up the pressure."
"Yes sir," replied the voice over the com.
"We may actually pull this off," said Misato who also eyed the situation closely. But then she remembered about Vladimir. "But what about Topolov and Unit 10?"
"That's what I'm concerned about," replied Joachim. "To save his war effort, he'll have to show himself eventually. The fact that he hasn't shown up yet concerns me."
Suddenly, Asuka came in over the com. "Commander, I have a situation. The Russians were attacking me with everything they had, and then suddenly they stopped."
"I know," interjected Ivana. "They just stopped attacking. Some are pulling back too!"
"I third that," said Zack. "They're retreating!"
"What's going on?" Shinji wanted to know.
"Commander, something's coming in," reported a staff member. "Some sort of wave communication, very powerful wavelength. I can't read the identification though. It's in another language. I think it's Russian."
"Are they wussing out?" joked Zack. "They should have known what they were up against!"
"Let me see the readings," said Ivana. She took one look at them before turning white. "Oh my god… it's him. He's here."
"Put it through," ordered Joachim. Immediately the call was put through. And a visual of a boy appeared. This boy had short brown hair, almost like a crew cut, to go along with his blue eyes. He also had a sickening scar on his left cheek, made by Lord knows what.
"And so we meet again… at last Ivana," the boy said in Russian. "Did you miss me at all?"
"Hey who the bloody fuck is that?" Zack interjected. "Hey asshole, if you don't mind, we're in the middle of a war here!"
"But… how…" Ivana was practically speechless.
"You'd be surprised at how I survived," said Vladimir switching to Japanese. "And you had best tell your friend to keep his mouth shut if he knows what's good for him."
"You're Vladimir Topolov?" inquired Joachim. "You're the one behind this?"
"Indeed I am," said Vladimir. "And for the sake of your entire country Commander Henkel, I advise that you surrender unconditionally before I annihilate you all mercilessly."
"We would never do such a thing," Joachim shot back. "Why don't you show yourself and really prove your mettle!"
"I will. And I'm closer than you think," Vladimir replied with a smug look. "I am also here to get my personal revenge on a certain someone, namely you Ivana Kharlamov!" he finished, with his face turning nasty.
"Don't you see what you've done? And what you're doing now?" Ivana fired back. "You've slaughtered countless innocents all in the sake of acquiring more power for your sick and twisted plans! This is exactly why I turned against you!"
"So naïve," muttered Vladimir. "If you don't know, God intends to destroy this world and everyone who doesn't agree with his plans. So we concocted a way to fight back. Third Impact was mankind's destiny to save itself from destruction. And I'm here to put this planet back on course, for its glorious future. Mankind's evolution, the power to challenge God for the throne. Don't you see the potential we could have with that kind of power?"
"You're insane!" shouted Asuka. "There was nothing good about Third Impact!"
"Really?" retorted Vladimir. "Then why did Shinji go through with it?"
Shinji gasped. He didn't see this one coming. "I… I…"
"Know what? How to bond with people?" Vladimir went on. "That was your chance, to become significant. You always wanted people to know you existed. By bonding with mankind, that was your one shot. And you blew it. You're a nobody again, just some kid who pilots EVA for his no-good father's bidding."
"Shut up!" roared Asuka in Shinji's defense, who just sat there speechless with a spaced out look on his face. Asuka went on, "Who the fuck do you think you are anyways?"
"Who do I think I am?" replied Vladimir with mock shock. "I am just one that sees the truth. One who sees the future of this world. My master intends to save this world from that bastard sitting in his little place called heaven. And I am his Grim Reaper, his Angel of Death. And as such, I cast judgment on you four. Death! Prepare yourselves!"
Asuka noticed Shinji was still kind of out of it. "Shinji! Snap out of it! Don't even listen to that asshole! He's lying! So fucking what if you're a nobody! We're all nobodies! That's what you taught me!"
"I'm useless… pathetic…" Shinji muttered. "I ruined my only chance…"
"Don't make me come over there and kick you in the nuts until you say you're not pathetic," his girlfriend threatened.
"Dude, the only pathetic one is that bastard who can't even show himself. Oh, we should all converge on the same location," put in Zack.
"They're right Shinji," Ivana included. "You made a difficult choice, knowing the way people were acting at that time. And it was the right choice. Now let's take this bastard down and defend that choice!"
"You honestly believe you can defeat me Ivana?" laughed Vladimir. "I am more powerful than ever. You thought I was tough before, just you wait. I'll finally have my revenge!"
The EVAs moved closely together, so in case Vladimir caught them by surprise, they would be able to fend him off quickly. But after a few minutes, there was no sign of him anywhere.
"I guess he's bluffing," declared Zack. "Unless he's invisible."
"Then he'd be emitting some sort of wave pattern," Asuka pondered. "Anyways, keep your head up."
Suddenly, Shinji picked something up on his EVA's sensors. "Something's coming, but where?"
Ivana heard something come from above, so she looked up. It couldn't be any sort of aircraft, because once Vladimir showed up, all German military forces were to pull back because Topolov was indeed deemed that dangerous. She saw something black falling down at rapid speed. "ABOVE!!!" she screamed.
Everyone just needed one look to find a reason to scatter. The black object slammed into the ground with immense force. Through the smoke, Ivana could see exactly what it was. A black EVA. It stood up, revealing its full self. She could see that it was holding two prog swords in its hands. Vladimir… was here.
And so it began. The fight against Vladimir had begun. He lunged at Ivana first with his twin blades. She blocked both attacks quickly, and repelled back. Asuka came in on another angle, but Vladimir, with amazing speed blocked her attacks too and pushed her back. After quickly pushing Ivana back too, he turned to face Zack and Shinji.
Shinji and Zack simultaneously attacked Vladimir, but the Russian may as well have been the ultimate in multitasking. He was able to use both of his blades to block the one blade the two male pilots each used. Next Vladimir sensed that Ivana and Asuka would attack soon. Out of nowhere, he jumped backwards, soaring high into the air. He landed behind Asuka and Ivana who were dumbfounded by his abilities.
On foot, he charged at them at very high speed. Using his AT Field, he may as well have the force of a missile behind them, as he bowled through all four of them. Shinji was the first to make it back to his feet. He was frightened of this terrifying foe, but for his sake, and Asuka's, he would fight. He ran right at Vladimir, sword held out. Vladimir attacked quickly, with his left sword, forcing Shinji to move his sword to his right. The Reaper followed up with a waist high right handed cut, forcing Shinji back to his left. They continued to exchange blows, with Shinji completely on the defensive.
Unbeknownst to Shinji, Vladimir was toying with him. He easily forced Shinji's sword off to the side, before turning around and delivering a forceful kick to the chin of Unit 01, sending the EVA and its pilot flying. Shinji hit the ground hard, and was stunned.
"Shinji!" Asuka cried as she saw her boyfriend hit the ground. "You'll pay for that!" She picked up her sword and charged Vladimir. Despite having one less sword, she was actually having Vladimir on the defensive for some time… or so she thought. She thought she had him forcing to keep both his swords in front of him. However, as Vladimir turned to his left, he followed up with his right hand sword, only to complete his revolution and come back around with his left hand sword. This caught Asuka completely by surprise and was forced to backpedal to save herself from being hit by an attack she could not predict.
"You kids are decent, but nowhere near enough for my skills," Vladimir declared. "In fact, once my shipment arrives, you will absolutely… no chance of defeating me."
"Says who?" shot back Zack. "Shinji and Asuka aren't much of fighters. Take on a real fighter for once!" Zack stepped up. "You got no chance against the powers of capitalism!" Now the Canadian ran up to Vladimir, and brought his sword down on the Russian. Vladimir crossed his swords and caught Casanova's sword, took a few swipes, then pushed him back easily.
"Is this the best you can do?" asked Vladimir mockingly. He then noticed something. "Oh look, my shipment is here." He pointed up to reveal a carrier jet holding a box suspended in the air just below it. The crew on board the jet released the box, letting it fall to the ground. Vladimir opened the box and pulled it out box's contents to reveal a large scythe.
"Oh no," Ivana was horrified. "Not that weapon. Not that weapon."
"What's wrong with a giant farm tool?" asked Zack.
"You idiot, that's his favourite weapon," growled Ivana. "If we don't stop him now, we're done for."
"You ARE done for!" roared Vladimir as he jumped into the sky, scythe in hand. His first target was Shinji. Desperately, Unit 01 rolled out of the way just in the nick of time and dodged the lethal blade. He then got up and attacked Vladimir. Topolov easily blocked the sword assault along with a few other attacks. To get a few moments to ponder how to battle against a scythe, Shinji entered a test of strength and appeared to be trying to push Vladimir back. But to Shinji's shock, Vladimir used the other end of the scythe to hit Shinji in the face! This knocked Shinji completely off balance. Vladimir rotated 360 degrees and used the scythe to severely slash Unit 01 across the mid to lower chest. And to everyone's horror, Vladimir shish kabobbed Shinji through the chest with the back end of the scythe!
Asuka looked on at the sight with horror in her eyes. She found herself almost short of breath when Vladimir pulled his scythe out of Unit 01 and it collapsed to the ground. "Oh my god… it… it can't be… he can't be dead…"
"Asuka! Calm down!" ordered Ivana. "If we attack irrationally, he'll destroy us all!"
"SHUT UP!" roared Asuka. "DAMN YOU BASTARD!"
"Oops, did I just kill your boyfriend?" Vladimir asked with false concern. "I'm so sorry. I just had to spill someone's blood today."
"I'll kill you!" yelled Asuka as she commanded Unit 02 to attack Unit 10. To everyone's surprise, she jumped in the air and drop kicked Unit 10, knocking it flying. Once Asuka had a moment, she shook the fallen Unit 01. "Shinji? SHINJI?" she called out, trying to shake Shinji into consciousness. On the visual he didn't look so good. There was some blood trickling out of his mouth due to the injuries he had suffered at the hands of that bastard.
"Asuka… I feel so… cold…" Shinji struggled to say.
"You idiot! Don't talk! Save your strength! We'll get you help."
By now, Unit 10 had made its way back to its feet. It appeared completely unharmed by Asuka's vicious assault. "Well that definitely got the blood flowing. I should thank you. I was feeling a little stiff this morning."
"Asuka… I'm sorry…" Shinji muttered.
"Look you're going to be okay. And don't apologize," said Asuka.
"So sorry…" Shinji reached his hand towards the screen before his arm went limp and his eyes closed.
Asuka… didn't know how to react. Everything she had fought so hard for. A decent life, something where she didn't feel she had to prove herself the best, someone that loved her merely for who she was and nothing else, had passed on.
"Shinji? Shinji? SHINJI????" It was no use. He was dead. Shinji Ikari… the saviour of the world, and Asuka's only love… was dead. Asuka then just broke down sobbing on the field, mourning her boyfriend's death.
"Aww boohoo," taunted Vladimir. "You gonna sit there and cry?" He picked up his scythe. "If you are, I'll come back and kill you when you're ready."
That was it. This man… no he wasn't a man. He was a monster. One who got his kicks out of killing people. All of Asuka's buttons had been pushed. She noticed Shinji's sword was still in Unit 01's hand. Grasping it with her offhand, she silently vowed to avenge his death. "Vladimir…"
"Yes my dear?" he replied with a taunting tone.
"Dich reiße ich in Stücke!" she screamed, with tears still in her eyes. She charged at him with two prog swords in her hands. And now Asuka engaged Vladimir, and had him on the run too. Little did she know that her sync score had shot up from 81 to a 97.3 in this rain of fury. For a time, they appeared to be equals. But one must know that when it came to fighting this menace, there had to be more than met the eye.
"Come now child," Vladimir continued to taunt. "You can't keep attacking me like this. You'll just wear yourself out."
"SHUT UP YOU BASTARD!" she yelled again as she continued to rain down strike after strike on Vladimir's scythe.
But Vladimir had her figured out. She was only attack with standard attacks and was holding her swords way too tightly. Once she left an opening with her dual blade attacks, she was done in his opinion. And there it was, she swung with her right sword too far to her left. Vladimir quickly turned his scythe so that he could push Asuka almost ninety degrees to her left. Vladimir then spun right around to his right, a quick turn of the blade, and it had found itself in the back of Unit 02.
Asuka felt like something pierced her back. She winced with pain. "Damn you damn you damn you!" she grunted.
"Damn this!" growled Vladimir as he ripped his scythe right through, taking a large piece out of Unit 02's right side. As a result, Asuka felt like she had been dealt a fatal blow, and like her, Unit 02 collapsed to the ground.
"Asuka!" Ivana shouted. "Please be alive!"
"Shinji… I'm coming…" was the last thing Asuka said before she closed her eyes and slipped away.
"Oh no," whispered Zack to himself. "This can't be happening."
NERV Hamburg
Elsewhere, Commander Henkel was devastated by the results he was seeing on the battlefield. But he had to stay in control, otherwise his subordinates would lose all of their will to stay strong as well. "This is not good. This is not good."
"They have to be okay!" said Misato, who was wiping away tears. "Do we have any information on Shinji and Asuka's life signs?" she desperately asked, hoping there was some way of knowing that the two would be okay.
"I got nothing!" a technician replied. "Unit 01 and Unit 02 are showing no signs of activity. "I can't get any sort of readings on them!"
"Oh my god… oh my god!" Misato suddenly shouted, her composure cracking. "We have to help them! Can we send in someone?"
"We cannot! We send in anyone, and we'll be sending them to their deaths as well. It's suicidal!" Joachim yelled, trying to knock some sense into Misato.
"We can't leave them to die!" Misato argued back. "We have to do something!"
"Wait, there is something we can do," said Joachim. He whipped out a satellite phone, and dialed a number. A few seconds later, it rang. "Hello? Gendo I need your help!"
Battlefield – Vladimir 2 – Our Heroes 0
Many more minutes of battle now had the weary Zack Harper of Unit 05 and Ivana Kharlamov of Unit 04, the two best melee fighters in the EVA squadron, against the somehow unstoppable Vladimir Topolov of Unit 10. Using his progressive scythe, he had already slain Asuka and Shinji and now seemed moments away from taking down either Zack or Ivana.
"You seemed so smug before you Canadian sissy, but now I see you're like all those other capitalist pigs. You're powerful because you get everyone else to do your dirty work, but when push comes to shove, you're powerless!"
"I may be powerless, but I'm not a cold blooded murderer!" Zack yelled as he attacked again and again. "You are just plain insane. And you'll pay for what you've done!" He continued his relentless fury. Vladimir tried to counter, but Zack caught his scythe with his sword and had him locked. Ivana saw her opening and prepared to go for it, but the Reaper pulled another trick out of the bag. He kicked Unit 05 in the chest area, then spun around and delivered a nasty kick to the chin of Unit 05, knocking it right down and stunning the Canadian.
"Now this is what I've been waiting for," said Vladimir. "My chance to personally kill you with my newfound power!"
"I don't know what will happen, but I know you will not succeed here today," declared Ivana. "I am sure of it."
"Sure you are," Vladimir readied his scythe. "I thought you knew I am not the same Vladimir you fought and defeated prior to 3rd Impact. I guess you thought wrong!" he yelled as he charged Ivana.
Ivana defended as best she could with her double-bladed progressive sword. But even though she had him outnumbered two blades to one, he was definitely different. He was faster, crueler, and much more vicious than he had ever been. Definitely much more than when they had fought in the NERV base, and then again in the heart of Moscow. But he was much too fast to land a hit on. However, she knew that she was fast enough to stop him from injuring her as long as stayed on the defensive until Casanova put his head back on his shoulders.
"You think you can run do you bitch?" Vladimir questioned. "Well if that's the case, let me show you a taste of my ultimate power. He jumped high into the sky, and began to swing his scythe way above his head in a circle. "AT…" he began.
'What the… oh no,' thought Ivana as she dreaded what this was. She knew it was some sort of AT Field technique similar to what Shinji had. But what? She was about to find out.
Zack by now had put that thick head of his back on his shoulders. He saw Vladimir suspended way up in the air. The sky had darkened, and the communist was swinging his scythe around in a circle. Zack could have sworn the guy had said 'AT' something but he didn't hear the rest. He was about to go help Ivana when…
"RINGS OF HELL!" Vladimir finished making a swinging motion towards Ivana. In an instant, several black rings materialized above Vladimir and hurtled their way at the Russian girl, who had no chance in hell to defend herself. The rings hit Ivana with full force and exploded upon impact sending the white EVA soaring before crashing violently on the ground.
"I DID IT!" Vladimir cheered as he saw the sight of a destroyed Unit 04 in front of him. "I got you, you fucking bitch! Now let's see you suffer for eternity." Unit 10 then landed on the ground. He turned back to face Unit 05. "And then… there was one."
Zack for the first time, was terrified. In his honest to God point of view, he had no chance of defeating Vladimir. However, his instincts told him that he had to try. Anything was better than abandoning your comrades who had put their lives on the line for you. Zack picked up his sword and entered a battle stance. He was all alone out there. With no one to help him. Shinji, Asuka, and Ivana all dead. No one to turn to. Nothing. Nothing except a monster wielding a scythe, ready to snuff out his 15-year-old life like it was an annoying mosquito.
Zack saw Unit 10 bend its knees, then jump into the air ready to strike him down.