A/N: Here we are again for Part 8 of the Project V Saga. So let's get brought up to speed shall we? Shinji and Asuka, who were both killed in the Battle of Hamburg, find themselves preparing for what seems like an inevitable rematch with the Russian Reaper, Vladimir Topolov. What training do the divine beings of God have in store for our heroes?

A/O/N: Chapter not pre-read. Bear with me.

"So how exactly are we going to train?" Asuka asked of the two Angels standing before her and Shinji. "We gonna do combat training or something? What exactly can you teach us that some old man in a dojo can't teach us?"

"We do not intend to teach you anything," Lilith answered. "You already have what you need physically for your impending battle."

"Rather, we desire to train your souls rather than your bodies," Kaowru put in. "Spiritual strength and cleansing of the soul is just as strong as any powerful body. Your adversary, Vladimir Topolov seeks to increase his power through making himself physically more powerful. However, his soul is slowly rotting away and eventually there will be nothing left of him. It will be up to you to be ready to exploit that flaw."

Shinji was also full of questions. "So how are we going to have our souls trained? How do you train a soul exactly?"

"That cannot be explained in mere words," said Lilith. "It is something you have to experience for yourself, and how you handle the situations life gives you that make your soul what it is, be it pure or tainted."

Shinji asked once more, "So how will we go about doing that?"

"Just relax, and be ready for your trials begin now," Kaowru replied. From behind the two Angels, came a large flash of light which appeared to engulf the entire stretch of land they were all on. Shinji and Asuka couldn't see anything, as they seemed to be blinded by the holy radiance stretching across the glorious kingdom of Heaven.

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Useless… err United Nations Emergency Conference – London, England (Thanks nick2951)

Many people of many different worlds had gathered here. These people, although stemming from different cultures, backgrounds, and various histories. But all these people who had gathered at this emergency meeting in London, England had one thing in mind: Russia's military aggression and the chaos it has been causing all around the world. The objective of the meeting was as a united people to find a solution as how to stop Russia before it single-handedly destroyed the world. And thus, the UN Security Council sought to find a solution.

The ambassador from the United States spoke first. He was a pale skinned man in his late forties to early fifties. "We must ignore the ultimatum set out by the Russian aggressors and stop them now before they spread their evil to the world," the American spoke to the large assembly of ambassadors. "This is merely what the former leaders of the Soviet Union desired to do but didn't dare to do. And now that they have a pilot who is borderline psychotic with an Evangelion of all things at the wheel of their military force, they will annex the entire world if not stopped! We cannot surrender to President Vasilev."

The representative from Spain then took the floor. Spain was represented by a dark haired woman who was concerned about the amount of casualties "But how will we with our conventional weapons be able to defeat the Evangelions? The Evangelions were the only weapons capable of defeating the Angels. We will just be sending our men and women to the slaughter!"

The thin older man from France sought a different approach to the conflict. "Do we not understand as a modern and peace-seeking world that violence will only lead to more violence and destruction?" he demanded of the council to ponder. "Russia for decades has been deprived of economic prosperity because of the way they have been forced to live. It is only natural for them to claw at what they desire." He beckoned with the Security Council, "If we approach them with an offer of peace and the promise of non-violence, they will be compelled to act in a similar fashion. We are human beings, not monsters! If we fight, then when is all said and done, there may be nothing left of us!"

Commander J.C. Moorehead of NERV London was also there, as he was the one who called this emergency meeting. He knew damn well the power that the world was put up against. It reminded him of how his forefathers long ago had stared down dark forces who had threatened the stability of the free world. Now it was his turn to speak up. "Do we forget the lessons our forefathers had to learn the hard way in World War II?" he asked the assembly. "Do you not understand that power hungry dictators cannot be appeased? Valisev will never be satisfied until he has everything within his grasp! We must make a stand at all costs! There is no room for negotiation!"

This brought a round of applause from many of the other ambassadors in the room. Unfortunately they still appeared to be somewhat in division. Some had expressed concern about the amount of casualties; others had expressed the desire to give peace the chance it deserved. Once the applause died down, the young female speaker who represented Canada had her say.

"We as a united body must confront and put an end to anything that threatens the current existence," she stated, "I'm sure many of you have heard the reports of the atrocities that have been taking place in occupied countries such as Poland, Sweden, Denmark and other nearby countries neighbouring Russia." She then elaborated, "To be more specific, entire populations of innocent civilians have been enslaved by this rapidly growing army. Men are being forced into labour camps that are similar to concentration camps in World War II. And women and even young girls are forced into becoming sex slaves for soldiers when they're not on duty. The elderly and disabled are being killed off as if they were diseased animals. If we as the world government do not act quickly against this expansion, a mass genocide will be the least of our problems that we as a united body will have on our hands."

The debate seemed to rage on for hours, the world appeared divided on whether they should bow to a smaller yet stronger army, or use the massed numbers to make a stand against President Boris Valisev's army and against all odds save an already ravaged world. Gendo Ikari was watching this debate from a video screen and was taking an active role in this debate as his role of Supreme Commander of NERV. He seized the moment and spoke to the divided council. "We here at NERV are ready to take any measures necessary to combat the rogue pilot of Evangelion Unit 10. We will do everything we can to stop it."

"How do you propose to do that Commander Ikari?" the younger man from China wished to know. "Four of your 'best' pilots were sent to Germany specifically to stop Unit 10, and they all failed miserably! What more do you intend to do? Send the rest of your band of poorly trained pilots to their deaths?"

"You underestimate the resolve of the remaining pilots," Gendo countered the ambassador from China. "They are more than ready to do everything they can to stop Unit 10. We have learned much about the Russian tactics and we will be ready for the next time the Evangelions engage in combat." Unfortunately for Gendo, he didn't have much to stand on in terms of the credibility of his pilots. Pilots Ikari and Sohryu were killed by Unit 10, Kharlamov was seriously injured, and according to psychological reports on Harper, he had suffered a great deal of mental trauma, as he seemed hell bent on preparing himself and the backup pilots Simpson and Ayanami for the impending rematch, depriving himself of much needed rest. Simpson also was not very experienced in up-close combat as the 6th Black Angel had shown, and Gendo was concerned that Rei would be combat ready in time as she was thrust back into Unit 00's pilot role.

Unfortunately, China's ambassador wasn't done with Gendo yet. "You say that Commander, but have you actually been paying attention to the reports going around? The morale over there is shattered since the Battle of Hamburg. Shattered! That includes the children your organization babysits! How do you expect the council to believe your pilots can destroy Unit 10?"

"Because all we have left is to believe," Commander Joachim Henkel who was also watching live via video interjected. "We do not have much more than that. And I do not wish to see Germany occupied by invaders from foreign lands. The people of Germany have spent several decades struggling to reclaim our identity after two terrible wars, and we are not about to let Russia take away what little we still have of our pride to be Germans. Regardless of the world's decision whether to surrender or fight, we will fight to the last man if we have to." He cleared his throat before going on. "And as for the children, they have already seen many things they should have not yet seen before they've reached adolescence. But nonetheless, they are showing an incredible resolve in the face of evil. And I'm sure that same resolve will be shown when they have to take to the battle field once more."

The American seized his chance to put in two more cents. "The United States will not allow evildoers to seize and hold the world hostage. We are ready to face this threat wherever it may come from. Whatever is destroyed can always be rebuilt. We as a nation must be prepared to do whatever it takes to destroy our enemies."

"So you all still insist on meeting violence with more violence!" charged France's ambassador. "Where will it stop Commander Henkel? Will you insist on dropping N2 mines on the enemies if all else fails? Will you ask the Americans to send nuclear weapons? Your blind approach to this matter will result in horrible bloodshed for everyone, including the innocents!"

"Has the Security Council already forgotten what we are up against?" Commander Moorehead put in. "That the monstrosities currently running the Russian government don't care whether we surrender or fight? That our doing nothing so far has already amounted in massive bloodshed for the victims of occupied countries?" He then boldly faced the ambassador of France. "You on the other hand are the blind one here. You seek to make peace with someone who doesn't give a damn whether you are alive or lying in a pool of blood. That being you wish to make peace with wants to see you dead. I say we as humans who value life must do all we can to stop that, that wishes to continue to take lives. This force feeds on the deaths of others, and as it knows it can kill en masse, its power will continue to grow!"

'You have no idea Commander Moorehead,' a person who was in a black trench coat and head covering standing way off to the side away from the center of the debate, out of everyone's eyesight and mind had thought, 'you have no idea how close you came to defining how my child Vladimir's power grows. It's quite humourous to watch you fools debate over a simple matter of life or death. You know what the right decision is, but question if you can handle the ramifications of that decision.'

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Asuka felt like she was right back where she started when this whole mess of being dead began. Once Tabris and Lilith had blinded her and Shinji with that large flash of light she wasn't able to see anything for what felt like several minutes. Once her sight had returned to her, she had found herself all alone again. "This sucks," she grumbled pacing off somewhere aimlessly. "I have no clue what being out here in the middle of nowhere has to do with training the soul."

Patience young one, all in due time…

"Huh?" Asuka heard something but couldn't tell where it was coming from. Looking all around her, she saw no indication of where the voice had just come from. Her failure to find anything left the redhead even more frustrated. "Great, now I think I'm going crazy. First off I somehow died and ended up here. Next I get told I have to train my soul. NOW, I'm out in the middle of who knows where, and now I'm hearing things! How does this get any worse?"

"Oh it can get a lot worse Child," a flat toned voice called out. "Knowing you, it can get a lot worse."

Quickly, Asuka snapped around to where she figured the voice had to come from. And there was the source of the voice. It belonged to what appeared to be a human figure, clad completely in black clothing. It was wearing a black coat with a hood covering all except its nose and mouth. "There you are!" Asuka snapped. "What's the big idea acting all weird and such?"

"The idea… is you," the black figure responded, his tone staying flat. "It's remarkable knowing all that has happened to you that you haven't gone and lost your mind. Or so I would think."

"What are you talking about?" Asuka raised her voice. "I demand to know what in hell makes you think I've lost my mind."

"So easily you forget… or so you would presume. You've mastered it quite well, burying memories of days long forgotten. Days that tend to stick out in your mind forever, yet you go on as if it never happened."

Asuka began to well up with anger. This mysterious being was right in a sense. Thoughts about the past were beginning to take form in her mind. Thoughts about her mother, her battles during the First Angel War were leaking out from within the archives of Asuka's mind. Asuka was trying her best to suppress her sub-conscious thoughts and focus on the here and now, which was how to deal with this… thing that happened to have a poor sense of fashion who was trying to pry her brain open. "Okay, what's your beef with me anyway?" she asked calmly, trying to keep herself stable and clear minded.

"Everything about you," the figure responded. "Who you are, who you were… and who you will end up being once I am through with you. It's time you took a small trip into the past Asuka Sohryu." He waved his hand through the air, and to Asuka's surprise black smoke began to creep up all over the place.

Asuka quickly began to feel nauseous from the smoke that the mysterious figure had somehow called upon. Not only did the smoke terribly assault her senses with its nauseating smell, she felt herself begin like the fumes were suffocating her. Not long after, she gave in the fumes, and collapsed to the ground.

After what felt like an eternity, Asuka felt herself begin to awaken to behold the new sight that had cast itself before her. To her, it looked like a rather large computer room that overlooked to what Asuka assumed was some large test room. From Asuka's point of view, everything seemed like they had super sized, including the computers and the people operating them. As the images slowly melded their way into Asuka's memory banks, they retrieved old memories from Asuka's mind. The day her mother first tried to activate Unit 02!

"No way," Asuka whimpered. "This can't be. No I don't want to see this again! Stop it! Make it stop!" But it was to no avail. As her pleas went unnoticed, even by childlike self everything commenced just like that day so many years ago. An initial preparation to make sure Unit 02 was suitable for reactivation, releasing of all restraints on Unit 02, entry of the plug into Unit 02. It was going just as she remembered it. And all this time, Asuka was forced to watch through her younger self's eyes as a younger Commander Henkel ordered his staff to activate Unit 02 for the first time. In perfect resemblance with the events of the past, the technicians at first began the startup process with apparently no problems, but then the problems began to arise. Asuka remembered hearing something like the EVA was acting berserk and that Kyoko's brainwaves were ecstatic with whatever activity was going on inside the EVA. She remembered Henkel's voice ordering the abortion of the test activation. Even as a child she knew something horrible had happened to Mama.

"Mama!" Asuka and her child self seemed to scream in perfect unison at the sights cast before them. Asuka knew where this nightmare was going. Her mother had somehow completely lost her mind due to whatever had happened in Unit 02, reducing her to an almost vegetative state.

"Humourous sight eh?" the voice behind her asked mockingly. "I love trips down memory lane."

"Who do you think you are you bastard?" yelled Asuka, who was clearly shaken by the reenactment of her mother's disastrous test activation. "What are you trying to prove by doing this to me?"

"I'm showing you the truth," the man replied. "These very events shaped you into what you are today. These very events, although occurring so long ago have dictated your every thought, movement, and action." He held out a hand towards Asuka, and an invisible burst of energy thrust toward Asuka, striking her directly.

While the burst of power didn't push Asuka back or anything, it was however making more images appear in her mind. "NO!" she screamed. "I don't want to see this again!" The sight brought before her was the sight of the hot springs at Mt. Asama Volcana where she talked with Misato. Misato had revealed to Asuka that she knew of her dark past and Asuka asked Misato never to disclose it to anyone for any reason at all. Next she was assaulted with the image of the phone call her stepmother made to Asuka. And after the fact, when Shinji had asked her about the phone call, Asuka at first responded that it was merely her stepmother calling to see how she was doing. But abruptly as the thought of Mama came to mind, having those nightmarish thoughts being exposed by the 15th Angel, the facts of it all made Asuka give in to rage and she blew off Shinji for no reason at all.

"Why?" Asuka demanded to know, brought to her knees by the images of her past. "So what I had a shitty past." She tried her best to calm down and not lose control of the situation. "What's your purpose with showing me these images?"

"My purpose is to show you that regardless of what you do," the man responded, "that the past dictates your life now and it will always. You think you may have rebounded from the incidents of the Angel War, but we both know it's a façade and your mighty breakdown is inevitable. And if you're lucky you won't take your loved ones with you when you ultimately fall."

"S-shut up!" Asuka quickly shot back. "You may know what h-happened to me! But you don't know M-ME at all!"

"You're so sure of yourself are you? Then why are you beginning to stutter?" the man half-taunted. "Are you slowly beginning to understand that you are controlled by your memories? Perhaps this shall enlighten you." He waved his hand and that same black smoke arose which Asuka had found nauseating before and she quickly passed out from its overwhelming effect on her.

Once she awoke, Asuka found herself in what looked like an oversized hospital room. It didn't take Asuka long this time to register where she was. The hospital where her mother was confined to because according to the doctors who treated her, she had completely lost her mind. The sight before Asuka was yet another horror for her to behold, as she recalled being tormented by the sight of Kyoko referring to some doll as Asuka and assuming the real Asuka was some random stranger peeking through the window.

"Don't cry my dear," Kyoko would say to the doll, "otherwise that girl out there will make fun of you."

"And now to show how this dictated your future through your hatred of dolls," a voice that belonged to the stranger said. Before Asuka came another vision. This one depicted the argument between Asuka and Rei before the 15th Angel. Asuka remembered this was the moment in her state of depression where her hatred of Rei solidified, as she thought of Rei as Commander Ikari's windup doll who would follow any orders without question.

"STOP IT!" Asuka screamed. "I'm gonna fucking kill you when I get my hands on you!"

"Will you now?" the figure asked her mockingly. "You still don't know who I am. Here on this plane, powers and manifestations beyond the wildest imaginations are here." Asuka still had that half confused half angry look so the redhead was in serious need of some enlightenment. "I am you in a sense. I am the manifestation of your memories."

"My memories?"

"Everything and anything you can remember, is what makes me who I am. And on top of that, your hate and your anger have tainted me with darkness. Thus you have made me very powerful. You can't just simply kill me, because I am a part of you. Now behold the memory that shall break you."

"No…" Asuka whimpered dreading the memory that was coming, "please don't…"

Even Asuka's best pleas would not have deterred her memory's manifestation from revealing the final memory within her mind. She tried to close her eyes and shut out any and all sounds. But it was all to no avail. She saw herself through her child-self's eyes running towards where her mother she figured was. She remembered this was the day she was officially chosen to be an EVA pilot. It was supposed to be one of the best days out of the past days that were terrible. But her life since that day had completed its revolution from right side up to completely upside down. The sight of Kyoko Sohryu having hanged herself while still clutching the doll had completely traumatized Asuka and its effects were still taking their toll on Asuka to this very day.

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NERV Berlin – Central Omicron

"Hmm, this is an issue indeed," noted Dr. Akagi. "Is the MAGI absolutely certain that Units 01 and 02 are completely silent?"

"There's no stating otherwise Dr. Akagi," replied a male technician. "Ever since the pilots of Units 01 and 02 were killed on the battlefield, it's almost as if the EVAs have completely shut down and refuse to accept any sort of response or command."

"This is just great," Ritsuko sighed. Ever since their crushing defeat at Hamburg, they were now going to be spending the next seven days trying to plan some sort of counter attack to the inevitable assault by the Russian forces, whom for reasons that seemed supernatural had a might that was on the verge of swallowing up Europe. "So instead of being able to try and get four EVAs into battle, we'll have to make do with three."

"That is unfortunately the case ma'am," a female technician replied. "Unit 00 is in great condition. Unit 01 needs all of its armour layers replaced, which can be done in time. Unit 02 will need several layers replaced. Unit 04 is heavily damaged and may not be repaired in time. Unit 05 is undergoing repairs and will be battle ready. Unit 06 is also in great condition."

'But why is Commander Henkel repairing Units 01 and 02?' Ritsuko wondered. 'If they've completely shut down, there's no point in trying to repair them.' Ritsuko noticed that the commander was indeed in the room, just returning from his meeting. Ritsuko saw her opportunity. "Commander, I have a question."

Henkel sighed for a moment. The debate was indeed an intense one and he was tired. But there was a dire situation at hand, and he needed to be as available as possible. "Go ahead."

"Why are you ordering repairs on Units 01 and 02? There's no one that can pilot those two EVAs. Our resources are better spent on preparing the EVAs that we know will be able to function."

"Sometimes Dr. Akagi, we have to hope that fate will shine on us," Henkel replied. "Just because they don't work today doesn't mean they will not work tomorrow. I've always known that these machines tend to have minds of their own." He motioned for Ritsuko to follow him down a corridor where they could be unheard by those who shouldn't know the darker secrets of the Evangelions. "I know that EVAs themselves are grieving. And that they miss the pilots they're used to having in the entry plug. I can't really explain the whole phenomenon, but they need to be given time to grieve too. They have souls just like us."

"That makes sense and all," countered Ritsuko, "but what are we going to do if the EVAs don't stop 'grieving'?"

"That is also why I ordered that Units 01 and 02 be outfitted with the F-type armour," Henkel went on. "If conventional ways do not work, then we should try adding additional armour to try and bind the EVAs to our will. The MAGI claim that it is very much a long shot, but we must try everything. If we can activate Units 01 and 02, then Rei can pilot Unit 01 with Unit 00 as backup, and Ivana can try to pilot Unit 02 with the extra armour protecting her."

"I see," sighed Ritsuko. 'So basically we're placing our future in the hands of two grieving souls who saw their children die because we sent them into battle. We don't deserve their help after what we've done.'

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"So Asuka," the figure began, "we've had quite a nice stroll down memory lane. Did the refresher make you understand, how your every move has been manipulated by your memories?"

Asuka was near speechless. The redhead's face had gone completely pale from the revelations. It all made sense to her. After her mother's suicide, she was never the same girl she once was. She became determined to prove that she would not be lost in her mother's shadow. She pushed herself beyond her limits, quickly grinding out a college degree and making beyond remarkable progress in being able to pilot Unit 02. But she had never allowed herself to make many friends, and all her peers although saw her as an intelligent beautiful woman; she had the personality of a komodo dragon.

"The Angel War was my ultimate chance to show that I was indeed destined for greatness and superiority above all that dared to oppose me. But as she left Germany for Japan, my anger and my memories followed closely behind, but lay dormant for the most part." But that day on the cruiser Over The Rainbow, was the day her life took another turn, it was the day she met Shinji Ikari. It surprised yet angered her that some nobody from out of nowhere with little to no training was already pulling off scores that had taken her years to accomplish. And over time Shinji had surpassed her and proved to be a more superior pilot to her. "And as he continued to rise up, me against everything I once stood for began being drawn to him. Drawn to his compassion, and especially the underlying strength that pushed him to victory after victory while I was pushed out of the spotlight by my failures to beat the Angels."

"Even as my scores began to freefall, others tried to reach out and help me and they all meant well too." But Asuka now realized that her determination to be the best with no help at all had made her angry to see others offering her, the ultimate child prodigy… HELP. "Even Wondergirl, who lacked almost any emotions at all could even sense my hidden perils and offered a few words of advice. But my anger afflicted on me from the past had once again manipulated me. Instead of accepting her help, I had slapped my fellow teammate and shoved her away."

"And then, it all came back," she muttered. "My foolish pride finally came full circle that fateful day. The day I faced the 15th Angel, and I almost lost everything, including my own life." Asuka could recall clearly the day she was attacked by the Angel floating way out in space. The Angel had stripped away the surface and exposed all of Asuka's fears and nightmares and threw them right in her face, showing her over and over that she was bound by her past and that she was destined to be the same failure her mother was. "I was destined to follow my mother's path… and I almost succeeded too."

"It was merely put off by a lucky intervention," the figure spoke. "And now your past has come full circle. You have realized for the first time that your past truly dictates who you are. It is time to follow in your mother's footsteps, and slip away into the darkness created by your memories of anger, sadness, loneliness and despair."

"I'm sorry…" Asuka muttered. She could feel the darkness slowly beginning to consume her soul, trap her in the familiar feeling of being eternally lost within a nightmare. "I guess it's who I am. A failure… if only I saw this sooner, I never would have suffered like I did…"

"No! Don't give in!" a voice from the void called out.

"Huh?" Asuka snapped to attention. "Who said that?" It was a boy's voice. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where it was coming from.

"Do not let the past decide what kind of person you are to be," a girl's quiet voice called out.

"What are you talking about?" Asuka asked the voices.

"They mean that the person you are is decided in the present," an older woman's voice answered. "The past is already set. You may have been one person in the past, but you become a new person with every coming day. And you evolve and change overtime. How we change with time never goes stagnant, not even for a moment."

"But I was always a bitch," Asuka countered as she floated in the darkness. "And I was reminded of it every day. Everyone, including Shinji, Toji, Kensuke, Elly, Casanova, and even Misato for fucks sake!"

The quiet voice spoke next to her, "It's because you refused to let go of the past. And you let it corrupt and corrode the happy child you once were. You were capable of overcoming such traumatic events, but you held on to them with such vigor that you did not change as much as you wanted to."

"You didn't want to move on Asuka," the boy's voice said to her. "You were determined to let your mother's accident and her death motivate you into achieving your goals. You were angry that your mother killed herself and left you all alone to fend for yourself. And you carried that anger with you."

"What was I supposed to do?" Asuka shot back at the voices. "I loved Mama when she didn't jump off the deep end. I didn't want to forget her, even if she killed herself!"

"That's natural," the older voice said. "A child's desire for their mother is very natural. But your love for your mother rotted into anger when she went insane and then later died. But you must understand that it was not your fault she died like she did."

"But look at me now," Asuka began to sob. "It's all come back to haunt me. And it will for eternity. I'm dead and I'll be stuck remembering the horrors of my life forever. And one day, I'll forget everything that was good… and I will be all alone."

"That's right," the dark voice replied. "So it's best you give in, and hold on to your memories while you still have them. You will one day forget, but that's still a long ways off. But if you cling to your past as tight as you can, you can stay in the past and be locked away within the core of your memories. That much I can say about your state of mind."

"He's lying Asuka," the boy called out. "He's lying and you know it!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're still in denial," the quiet girl responded. "He wants you to admit you are incapable of changing, and incapable of moving past the dark times people encounter in their lives."

"But I don't want to forget the past," Asuka said right back. "It's all I have left of Mama."

"There's nothing wrong with remembering the past," the older woman stated. "But you shouldn't cling to the past like it's all you have. Otherwise you will never live in the present nor the future and all it has to offer."

"So I can still remember Mama, and live in the here and now at the same time?" Asuka asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You're understanding now," the quiet one answered. "Once you come to grips with the past and accept it as it is, and move on is absolute proof that you have changed from the person of yesterday."

"Pathetic," the dark one put in. "Letting go of what you hold dear in your heart Asuka. You disappoint me. I thought you would understand more clearly that your past dictates who you are, and will always be so."

"You shut the bloody fuck up, du verdammter Bastard!" Asuka roared at the dark being before her. "You tried to manipulate me into being consumed by my memories. And for that, Dich röst ich auf kleiner Flamme..." her frown now turned into a smile of confidence. "My past is still the past, and it sucks a lot of dirty ass, but to hell with it. I'll just have to deal with it! And Shinji had better support me every step of the way unless he wants to sleep on the floor for the rest of his unnatural life here in heaven!"

"You really think you can vanquish me this easily?" the dark figure roared at her. "I am YOU! And I'll prove it!" Clenching his fists, more black smoke appeared. This time there was so much smoke that it completely concealed the dark being that was trying to manipulate Asuka all this time. "I'll completely crush you then!"

To Asuka's surprise, the darkness had completely disappeared, and the endless clouds had once more brought themselves before her. But however, something was creating an enormous shadow behind her. Turning around, Asuka sighted what appeared to be a gigantic humanoid shaped being that was coloured in black and red. It was an EVA! But with renewed resolve, she didn't budge. "You think you can scare me with an EVA?" Asuka challenged. "I am who I am. Asuka Langley Sohryu! And today, I put my past to rest! Go ahead and stomp me if it makes you feel stronger! I am not afraid anymore!"

As the black EVA raised a foot up in preparation to stomp her, Asuka did nothing but close her eyes and stretch out her arms almost as in victory. 'Ah well, I guess I can say I went out with a bang. He can crush me for all I care; it only proves he couldn't break me in the end. Thanks you guys… Misato… Wonder… err Rei… and thank you Shinji.'

Right as the black EVA's foot was about to crush our favourite redhead into a German pancake, something stopped it in its tracks. Asuka felt the shock of the EVA hitting something other than her head. Opening her eyes, she saw herself surrounded by an orange barrier. This barrier was keeping her from being stomped. "Huh? What's going on? Where did this barrier come from?"

"It is the barrier of your soul," a voice behind Asuka responded. "This barrier shields your soul from outside forces that seek to destroy or corrupt your soul." Lilith faded into view. "This is what mankind calls the AT Field. This barrier shows that you refuse to let your memories consume you and you're ready to seek your true identity. One not bound by the just the past, but also the present and the future."

"Ah I understand. By accepting my past, I have finally emerged from the darkness," Asuka exclaimed as she looked up at the foot trying futility to penetrate through. "So I guess I passed my test of my soul then."

Lilith gave Asuka a heartwarming smile. "Yes you did Asuka. I am very proud of you. You are ready for the next step indeed."

"But… before you do that, can I ask one favour of you?" Asuka inquired.

Lilith quirked an eyebrow. "What exactly do you ask of me?"

"Do you think you could materialize my Unit 02 or something like that?" Asuka asked. "For putting me through all that bullshit, I wanna give this bastard the beat down!"

Lilith was still slight surprised but understood that this was just who Asuka was, a girl who had seen many things throughout her life: happiness, sadness, anger, despair, love, acceptance but above all else, a master at delivering distributive justice. "Very well…" Lilith replied with a smile as she faded out. Asuka then was surrounded by darkness again, until she abruptly choked on some fluid she abruptly breathed in. Although caught by surprise for a moment, it didn't take Asuka long to figure out she was in an entry plug. The feeling felt familiar too. So Asuka figured that Lilith had managed to replicate her 'precious' Unit 02.

"Alright!" Asuka shouted as she gripped the control yokes in front of her and faced down the black EVA. "Okay asshole! Pissing off Asuka Langley Sohryu and making her cry is a serious capital offence. One that is punishable by SERIOUS pain and possibly death! So prepare yourself!"

At Asuka's command, Unit 02 roared headlong into battle at high speed. Asuka's attack was so quick; her memory's manifestation wasn't prepared for her assault and took the shoulder barge head on. As a result it was thrown clear by Asuka's forceful impact. Not wasting another moment, Unit 02 leaped into the air preparing for an airborne attack. The black EVA quickly rolled out of the way though. As Asuka turned to face the fallen enemy, she was greeted by two feet to her EVA's face knocking her over.

"Dammit!" Asuka grunted as she rolled out of the way of an intended stomp from her attacker. Acting quickly, she sought to gain the upper hand again through a sweeping her EVA's legs and tripping up the black EVA. It crashed hard to terra firma and Asuka wasted no time in climbing on top of it to rattle some punches into its head. But the black EVA caught her hands and delivered a kick to Asuka's chest, knocking her off the EVA. Asuka rushed back to her feet to start back at square one. "Not bad," Asuka grinned. "I'm glad you're at least willing to put up a decent fight." She took a combat stance, "Because it'll look that much better when I stomp you down for good."

"Oh will it now?" her opponent finally spoke to her. She could hear his voice deep in her mind. "I am the manifestation of your memories mind you. And I know everything about you. Your attack patterns, what you love, what you hate, what makes you sad, and what makes you scared."

"So what?" taunted Asuka. "You're a little late to the party, because I know all that too! Nothing you do can scare me!"

"Are you so sure of that?" the dark one asked back mimicking Asuka's tone. "Why don't I use the one weapon that sliced the life out of you?" With a poof of smoke around the black EVA's hands, Asuka gazed on in horror at the weapon clutched in his hands. It was exactly the same scythe that Vladimir Topolov with great mastery, had used to kill her and Shinji in the Battle of Hamburg. The figure held pointed the sickle end at Asuka. "Feel afraid now little one?"

"As if!" Asuka replied. "At least you're not really Vladimir! How do you think you can use that effectively anyways?"

"So quickly you forget. I am your memories. Your subconscious has recorded his moves and patterns. And so I know all his movements up until you died." He twirled the scythe a few times. "And all you have is your prog knife to defend yourself with."

Asuka indeed had the one knife in her hand, as it was her only weapon. 'Okay, so trying to block his attacks is clearly not an option,' she told herself. 'He's got the sickle end for reaping purposes, and the spear end for alternate attacks. I'm gonna have to rely completely on dodging and waiting for the right moment. Heh, if he has my memories, he's still living in the past then. Bound by foolish pride he is. Maybe I can provoke him.' She pointed her knife at him. "Heh, you needed to resort to a scythe to take on a girl who you think is too cocky for her own good. Are you sure it's not you who's compensating for something?" she taunted him.

"Shut up!" her opponent roared as he lunged at her with the scythe, furiously attacking her with both ends of the deadly weapon. Asuka did not bother trying to counterattack, but merely dodged every swing. As she kept evading, her enemy's moves became more and more sloppy. Sloppy to the point where he was getting predictable. When the black EVA brought the scythe overhead for an overhead cleave, Asuka was so focused and in position that she was able to do a back flip to evade the scythe. And as a result it missed her and struck where she once stood with incredible force kicking up dust and whatnot.

But as Asuka looked at her opponent again, she knew she had to keep moving otherwise risk being sliced and diced. The black EVA raised its scythe again and swung down at a 45 degree angle. Asuka ducked and advanced so she could get behind him. However the shadow saw this and continued to follow through with the original cut. Abruptly he brought the other end of the modified scythe around to Asuka. Asuka saw this attack coming and ducked again dodging the other end. Left wide open, the black EVA couldn't defend itself from a quick stab from Asuka's progressive knife and then a kick to the chest. Her opponent was not likely injured, but the fact that she was able to wound him using only a knife against his scythe would leave its mark.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Asuka taunted him again. "Now I can see why it sucks to be bound in the past. Especially my past. I was able to let go of my pride, while you cling to it like two monkeys in mating season."

"I'll destroy you and assimilate you into the darkness!" the black EVA growled, as he was quickly losing his composure. "Just you wait! You'll slip up and then it'll be all over! You are a fool to challenge me!" He jumped in the air for one final strike, bringing down every bit of might the EVA could muster.

Asuka looked up and sighed at the sight before her. Strangely, everything seemed to slow down around her. "I really wish someone could have seen this. Me, Asuka Langley Sohryu in my finest hour. Able to finally step out of the darkness into the light. Surprising what a little spiritual enlightenment can do to someone. But I guess it can't be helped. I think it's time I ended this fight. But how could I do that… that's it! I'll just take a handful of anger from the past and let him have it! I'm living in the here and now, but I'm not afraid of my past either! And I think I'll borrow a page from Shinji's book too."

"This is the end!" the dark one declared as he brought down his scythe on Unit 02… or so he thought. He felt his whole body crash into something and stopped him cold in his tracks. As he looked at whatever hit him, he noticed he was lying on top of an orange barrier that was being generated around Unit 02.

"You're right, this is the end!" Asuka retorted. "The end for you. Like I said before, it's time you met your punishment for upsetting me!" The AT Field Asuka had generated began to glow completely orange, eclipsing Asuka from the sight of her foe. "Take this! AT… EXPLOSION!" Stretching out her arms, her AT Field expanded at the rate of the shockwave of an N2 mine, decimating everything that would be in its path. The resulting explosion sent the black EVA flying, doing immense damage to it in the process.

When all was done and the smoke cleared from the explosion, the black EVA saw something floating in the air. It was Unit 02! And somehow, it had spawned orange spectral wings and had taken flight. He tried to move so he could resume the battle. But he was in too much pain to move. "Dammit," he growled, at his failure to consume Asuka, and his inability to move. "Go ahead and finish it then."

"I don't need to," Asuka replied. "I have already conquered you. Mind, body and soul. You stay where you belong. In the past, while I move on to the future. I can't destroy you anyways, since that would be destroying my own memories. And while most of my memories I'd like to toss to the wind, some of my thoughts I actually like thinking about. So you can stay there. And just be a part of something greater. The new Asuka Langley Sohryu!" And as she finished her statement, everything faded including her EVA and the dark figure who had transformed into an EVA. Before her was Lilith, and she seemed impressed with the results.

"I'm impressed Asuka. Instead of using the chance to vanquish the memories that hurt you with their presence, you've accepted that they are a part of who you are. You have successfully completed the task we've put before you," Lilith stated.

"Whew," Asuka sighed as she wiped her forehead with her forearm. "So now what? What happens next?"

"Patience," Lilith replied. "Soon Shinji shall return from the dark abyss too, his soul cleansed of what burdens him the most. And then Tabris and I shall give you our final test."

'Well whatever that is, bring it on!' Asuka thought to herself. 'Shinji, you had better not take long, or I'll be coming after you!'