Disclaimer: If you've been reading this story then you should know that I have not, do not, and will not own NGE.
Chapter 7 – The Thirteenth Angel, A New Threat Appears.
"Attention all passenger's. We are about to land, please place your trays in their upright position and buckle your seatbelts. Thank you for flying Southwest Airlines."
The young man did as was asked and stared out the window he was next to. Looking down he saw Tokyo-3 Airport and smiled at the thought of who was in such a city. Opening up a small compartment in the duffle bag next to him, he pulled out a photo of a red headed girl who he was in love with.
'Soon Asuka, This time though I will make you mine.'
-o0O( )O0o-
"Hey Class Rep."
Hikari looked behind her seeing Touji come running up to her during lunch. Not wanting him and Asuka to get into another fight she was about to motion off to the side when Asuka spoke up.
"What do you need Touji?"
Hikari froze in mid wave, and looked back at Asuka with her mouth hanging open.
'Hell has officially froze over.'
Hikari…are you alright?" Touji asked concerned because she hasn't moved in the past minute. "Great Asuka, I think you broke her."
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I 'BROKE' HER STOOGE?!"
"You spoke to me as if we were old pals remember? She doesn't know that we put aside our differences."
"Wow Touji that was a perfectly logical explanation with a big word stuck in it as well." Asuka said sarcastically.
"Bite me Sohryu."
"Back on last names now Stooge?"
Hikari shook her head and stepped in between the two of them. "Look at yourselves. A moment ago you were talking civilly to each other and know you're back to insults."
"Maybe I can help with this problem then." Came a voice behind everyone. Asuka's mood immediately brightened as she turned around and threw herself into Shinji's arms making him stumble back a bit before he regained his footing. He wrapped his arms around Asuka and returned the hug that she was giving him. After a few minutes of this though Shinji was beginning to run out of air.
"Asuka, honey, many things in this world are overrated; air however isn't one of them." Shinji wheezed out.
Asuka sheepishly broke the hug and smile up at him. "So where are we going to eat today Shinji?"
"Hey Asuka, I thought that you and I were going to eat together." Hikari said.
"Normally Hikari I would but Touji still needs to talk with you, so I'll see you after lunch." With this she left the classroom, dragging Shinji behind her.
-o0O( )O0o-
Hikari shook her head at the hasty exit that her best friend had made, and turned back towards the young man behind her. She was hoping that he would finally ask her out, because after all this time it became obvious even to her that he liked her.
"So, you needed to talk to me about something?" she asked.
"Um…w-well…you see…" Touji let out a sigh then took a deep breath. "Iwaswonderingifyouwouldliketogooutwithme." He looked at Hikari when he finished, a part of him hoping that she understood him and another part hoping that she didn't.
Hikari stood there looking at Touji for a minute or two, and upon realizing that he wasn't going to say anything decided to speak.
"What?"
Touji slumped down and looked at his feet. Sighing heavily he looked back up at Hikari.
"Would you like to go out with me?" he said slower and looked immensely proud that he was able to as well.
Hikari stood there silently and calm with a thoughtful look on her face but on the inside she was having a full-blown congratulation party. She placed a finger to her lips and began tapping them while pretending to think about it.
"Tell you what, give until tomorrow to come up with an answer to your question then after school I'll tell you, okay?" With this she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked out of the classroom looking for Asuka.
Touji was left standing there with his jaw unhinged staring at the door that Hikari just waltzed out of.
-o0O( )O0o-
In Tokyo-3's International Airport an airplane landed and was currently unloading it passengers. A teenager, 15 from his looks just picked up his bag from the baggage claim and was currently calling a taxi. From there he was taken to his new pre-paid apartment complex, and was finishing unpacking when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
On the other end of the line one Gendo Ikari spoke up. "Is this Jonathan Summers?"
"Yeah, this old man Ikari?"
There was silence before the commander replied. "Call me that again and I'll destroy you chances at Pilot Sohryu, Agent Summers. Do you know the plan?"
John gulped at the threat of separating him from his love before replying. "Yes sir I'm aware of what to do and the expected hazards and how you want the results to be."
"Good your payment will be fulfilled when the operation is finished." With this the commander hung up.
Jonathan stood there before walking into the bathroom. He turned on the tub and allowed the water to run hot before getting onto his knees and allowing the water to run through his black hair, sweeping the dye that was in it out.
Standing up he brushed hit now golden blonde hair dry and pulled out the colored contacts making his once green eyes hazel. Sighing at the shit that he has to put up with just to get to Asuka he walked beck into his bedroom and fell asleep without changing clothing.
-o0O( )O0o-
Another day was upon the students of Class 2-A. They were bright, happy, and energetic…actually no, they weren't, except for Hikari. Touji was currently sleeping with his head propped in the hand with his eyes open. Shinji was trying to figure out just what kind of demons were out there. Asuka and Rei were chatting happily, though if you looked at the two you wouldn't know it.
As Shinji was looking up old Japanese legends, he received an e-mail from Rei, requesting to meet her on the school roof for lunch. Shortly after agreeing to, Touji was called up to the principles office.
When he arrived to the office after wondering what he did wrong, he saw Ritsuko sitting in the chair facing the schools principle.
"Ah good now that Mr. Suzuhara has arrived I'll leave you two to talk." The principle said then walked out of the office.
"Mr. Suzuhara, my name is Ritsuko Akagi, I'm the Head scientist for NERV."
Touji nodded in understanding but still remained confused about what she was here for.
"I was looking over you test score and I must say that I was impressed at how well you do."
Touji chose this moment to speak up. "But my test scores are average only. Tons of people do better than I do."
"I was talking about to test that your class took a little over a month ago. That was for when we needed to…recruit… someone. Comparing that score with your grades, it's not that difficult to tell that you're smart."
"Define recruit for me please."
"Touji Suzuhara by the Marduke Report you have been selected for position as the Fourth Child."
Touji stood there a moment before bursting out laughing. "Oh, man, d-did Shinji p-put you up to this?" he gasped out between laughs.
Ritsuko just sat there waiting for it to sink in. After a little while he noticed that she wasn't doing anything to promote that joke even more.
"Y-you're serious aren't you?" he asked.
"When it comes to something as big as this you don't joke around."
"Why should I? That thing indirectly put my sister in the hospital, and you expect me to pilot one of those things?" he yelled. "Screw that. Find someone else."
Just as he was about to open the door Ritsuko spoke up. "Speaking of your sister I happen to have her medical reports right here. From what I see she hasn't improved in four months. While the hospitals resources are great, NERV's is better."
Touji spoke up without turning around. "I-if I pilot, will you heal her?"
"I guarantee that she will be given the best treatment possible."
"I'll do it." He whispered. With this he walked out leaving a triumphant Ritsuko behind.
-o0O( Meanwhile )O0o-
Shinji made his way up towards the school roof to meet Rei for lunch. Frowning slightly wondering what she needed to tell him he missed the looks of hunger from the females and envy from the males. Opening to door the final door he shielded his eyes from the almost painful brightness after walking through dark hallways.
Looking at the one bench on the entire rook he made his way over spotting Rei leaning up against the banister. Hiding his amazement at the major change in the young woman he sat down and waited from her to start.
"Shinji…what I'm about to tell you will be difficult and in the end you may not like me anymore and you hatred for the commander will increase exponentially."
Shinji frowned at this. "Rei whatever it is just say it. Unless you killed everyone I know and love then I doubt that I would hate you."
Rei sat down next to him and began talking. She told him about Central Dogma, Lilith, Adam, the truth behind the Eva's and finally about herself. The last thing was what she was afraid to tell him because throughout all of the story his face grew noticeably darker. When she finally told him about her origins he sat there, looking at her with a blank face.
"S-so you're my…sister?"
Of all the questions he could have asked, this was one that never occurred to her. "More like half sister really." She scooted back a little when he stood up and over her. Without warning he grabbed her roughly and she closed her eye's thinking that he was bout to slap her. What she didn't expect was him wrapping his arms around her.
After a minute he let go and Rei noticed that he had tears in his eye before his face darkened again. Turning around he asked something that she knew wasn't directed to her. Wondering what he asked, she felt more than saw the air around them ripple. Shinji turned back around and closed his eyes willing his power to surface. He felt his mark show up on his face and began to create a mist in front of him. When that was complete he formed it into a human shape. From there it began to color in and sharpen until he heard Rei gasp. Opening his eyes he saw a perfect Shinji clone standing in front of him grinning.
Rei was shocked to say the least. She watched fascinated by what he was doing and couldn't help but be a little jealous by how in tune he was with his element. She gasped when the mist took the shape of her brother and was even more shocked that it moved, sounded, and acted like him as well. She shook herself out of her stupor when she heard him speak.
"Rei this clone will follow be taking my place for the rest of the day. Only tell Asuka and Touji if no one else is around. Don't use the computers because NERV may be monitoring ours."
"Why is it going to take your place? Where are you going?"
"Somewhere I can take my anger out without worrying about harming anyone or being noticed." He focused on his powers once more and with another ripple he vanished making Rei go wide-eyed.
Rei was sitting there looking at the spot Shinji was standing in and jumped when she heard him speak up.
"You know you really should get to class, and before you ask, I found out that I can distort the air around me somehow turning me invisible. It takes a lot out of me and as for my clone, as long as no one hits it more than handful of times then it'll be fine. Unfortunately I can't make more than one right now because of how much energy is used." With this he left Rei alone and jumped off of the school roof and gently floated downwards.
-o0O( )O0o-
Jonathan walked down an empty alleyway that was full of trash and filth. Upon reaching the end of the alley, he proceeded to knock three sets of knocks three times with three seconds in between. Looking back and seeing no one, he grasped the handle that appeared in a flash of black fire and opened the door that just appeared.
Inside was a bar filled with loud music, Hard Rock. Demons were scattered everywhere and it was almost impossible to walk without touching any of the customers. Jonathan walked up to the bar and sat on a stool that was made out of human bones.
"Do have something that won't kill me?" he asked the bartender, a skinny demon, and pitch-black with glowing purple eyes. This was only intensified by the fact that you couldn't see beyond the bar. The eyes stared at him for a few before looking away, and a little later a cold soda was placed in front of him. Jonathan placed a set of bills on the counter that was grabbed by a forked tail.
He spun around in his seat and watched the demons dancing, drinking, and killing each other while keeping an eye out for a specific demon. Hearing a glass being set down on the glass counter, he turned to his right and was met with a Master Demon.
"My lord demands that you join him, now." Before Jonathan could protest the Master Demon picked him up and shadow traveled them into a small room. From there Jonathan was stripped of all weapons and potentially dangerous things. After this he was shoved through the large double doors.
He stumbled a bit before straightening and walked towards the chair that was obviously for him. In front of him he saw a small demon sitting in a far more comfortable chair than his, sipping what looked like blood. Thinking to himself that this tiny thing was controlling the other almost made him laugh out loud.
I rule the others because I channel the great Fortenbras.
Jonathan jumped a little and looked around wildly. The voice was deep and powerful but the part that freaked him out was the fact that it was inside his head.
Mortals you can never do proper business with them. The voice said to a demon that appeared out of nowhere.
Speak mortal; what news do you have about this NERV?
Jonathan sat there collecting his thoughts when he felt the air around him grow with annoyance. Once more looking around the room for the source he saw nothing besides the two demons in front of him.
"Jonathan."
He turned around hearing Asuka say his name and saw meet with two glowing blue eyes. Unable to look away he felt something tear into his mind searching for information without bothering to mask any of the pain.
Jonathan looked up from the ground after what seemed to be an eternity of pain. Wiping something tickling his ears, nose, mouth and eyes, his hand came away with blood.
Take him out and remind him that even though he is allowed here, he is not better than the great demons.
The last thing that he remembered was the smaller demon disappearing in a cloud of red mist.
-o0O( )O0o-
Shinji opened the door to the apartment and stumbled in muttering a weak hello before he collapsed at the kitchen table. Asuka who heard this came to see why he was weak but found that he fell asleep and was currently snoring gently while his arms occasionally twitched. She smiled and went to shake him when he muttered, "Asuka I didn't know you could bend like that."
Asuka turned a bright red and began searching the kitchen for anything that might have pick up on that and after satisfied that she couldn't find anything she breathed a sigh of relief. Moving Shinji into their bedroom, she stripped him down to his boxers and turned the fan that Shinji used on before leaving the room. Re-entering the living room she saw that her show was cut for some 'breaking news'.
'Earlier today, around twelve fifteen, a massive explosion went off in the slums of Tokyo-3. NERV security is unsure as to what caused the blast and assures everyone that it had nothing to do with the Angels.' The reporter breaks off looking at someone pass the screen then nods. 'We were given clearance as to show you the damage of the blast and looking at it, it's truly remarkable that no one was hurt.'
The blast radius was a mile in circumference and everything in that area was leveled. At least Asuka now knew why her boyfriend was so tired.
-o0O( )O0o-
Touji walked into the hospital room that was his little sister's home for the last few months. Sighing heavily he walked over to the chair closest to her bed and sat in it, placing his head in his hands. He rubbed his eyes seeing that Mari was asleep. Damn it, she was to use to the beeping noise that the machines made.
"Today, at school someone from NERV came to see me. S-she said that they needed another person to help save the world, and apparently I was that person. I didn't want to do it, but when she swore that she would give you the best medicine possible I had to agree. I want you to know that I'm only doing this for you, Mari. Everything that I've done has been for you."
He stood up and walked towards the door but stopped before he exited.
"Hopefully after all of this is over I can gain forgiveness for the lives lost by my indecision."
-o0O( )O0o-
In the skies over the Pacific Ocean a steal carrier was currently making its way towards Tokyo-3. Its cargo was in a crucified position with a perpetual grin on its face. As it passed through a cloudbank electricity sparked around the Eva and for a moment its eyes lit up in an eerie glow.
-o0O( Mount Matsushiro )O0o-
Evangelion Unit-Three was currently residing on a platform in the mountain, being looked over for any abnormalities that the scientists might find. After three hours of tests they cleared it and began moving it to the surface for the activation tests.
On the surface of the mountain a jeep pulled up to the command center, and Touji stepped out of it in a black plugsuit. He looked around and walked over to Misato, but before either one could say anything the meter thick titanium metal doors slid open to reveal Unit-Three. Touji stared at the one thing that he hated more than NERV, and missed hearing Misato speaking to him.
"What did you say Misato? I was kind of zoned out." Touji asked while shaking his head a little.
"I was just asking you how you felt, but you just answered that question for me." She stated while smiling a little.
Touji gave a small grin in return which died when Ritsuko told him that it was time to activate Unit-03.
-o0O( Eva Unit-03 )O0o-
Touji sat inside the darkened plug, eye's closed, and breathing heavily, telling himself that this is all for Mari.
"Alright Touji, were beginning activation right now alright? All you have to do is sit there and be patient." Ritsuko's voice came on over the speakers.
Touji nodded even though she couldn't see it and waited through the flashing color, and before the final step of the synchronization process, he felt something wrong, and the final thing he heard before blacking out was Misato's scream.
-o0O( Outskirts of Tokyo-3 )O0o-
The purple behemoth called Unit-01, looked like it walking casually and settled into the designated position, Units 00, and 02 two hundred yard too either side with Asuka and Rei a little behind him. Shinji made the biological machine kneel on one knee bringing the pallet rifle that was in its hands into position.
"This is Unit-01. I'm currently in position and waiting for further orders." Shinji stated.
"Alright Shinji. Were now receiving information about the target, and before you ask there weren't any deaths from the resulting angel explosion, so Misato and Ritsuko are fine." Aoba said to the calm pilot of Unit-01, who visibly relaxed when he heard the news.
"Thanks." He said while smiling a little.
Before Aoba could say anything though a silhouette appeared over the horizon, with the sun behind it. Shinji was shocked speechless seeing the angel.
"I-is that an Eva?" he asked with a slight stuttering.
"It's the target." Came the cold voice of the commander over the intercom.
"But if it's an Eva then that means that someone is piloting it. Someone my age, someone that I go to school with."
"Regardless. The pilot is lost. You have your orders to carry out pilot Ikari."
"Y-you bastard!" Shinji yelled at his father. Everyone in the command center stopped what they were doing and stared at the third child in surprise for it wasn't often that they saw him become truly angry.
Before Gendo could reply, Asuka spoke up.
"Target within range. Disabling now." With this she began firing at the black Angel controlled Eva while slowly spreading her own A.T. Field to try and neutralize the angels. Unfortunately though this wasn't working and the angel proved just how much control it had over the Eva, when it lashed out towards the red Eva unit.
Thinking that such an attack was useless since she wasn't anywhere near the Eva, Asuka kept trying to overpower the A.T. Field, but was shocked when she saw the arm that was thrown towards her stretch outwards and slam into her stomach sending her crashing into the fields behind her.
Before she could recover her senses, the thirteenth angel was upon her about to bring its fist, which formed into a point down, on the head. Asuka closed her eyes while trying to get loose of the hold that the opposing Eva hand her in when she head a gigantic clapping sound coming from her far left. Opening her eyes she saw the hand that was about to take off her head explode into a cloud off red mist.
Rei loaded another round into the sniper rifle that she was using and lined her shot up with Bardiels right fist when she heard a crunching sound underneath her. Just as she jumped over to the side, a spike of compacted earth shot out of where she was standing. Looking up she saw Bardiel close its fist in her direction and looking down she saw earth surround her legs while slowly crawling upwards.
Shinji watched all this with wide eyes before opening up a secure channel into Unit-03. "T-Touji?!"
-o0O( Eva Unit-03 )O0o-
Touji was shaken awake after falling unconscious when the Eva was started up by an explosion. Looking around in confusion he saw that the Eva had just landed after jumping off of the mountainside and was now walking eastwards towards the main city of Tokyo-3.
As the outskirts of the city came into view he saw three other behemoths standing in different locations waiting for something. When he came closer he saw that the three monsters ahead of him were his friends Eva Units. Just when he was about to call out to them, the light in the plug turned blood red. Wondering just what the hell was going on, he began to try and wave to them or something like Ritsuko told him but realized that he didn't have any control over his Eva.
He sat there and watched as Asuka was thrown around easily and called out uselessly, telling her to move or run, or to do something, knowing that she wouldn't hear him. He cheered when he saw the hand that was about to kill Asuka disappear, but it died on his lips when he felt something covering his hand. Looking down he saw that the metal that surrounded the seat was crawling over his limb.
Looking outwards and wondering what the hell the Eva was doing, he saw it flick it hand upwards, the first and middle fingers pointing up, and the ground where Rei stood before turn into a spike. It was then that he realized that the Eva was somehow tapping into his earth powers and being able to use them. He began to try and fight with everything he could but the Eva just covered his other arm and legs, holding him immobile.
"T-Touji?!"
His head snapped up from where it was resting, him being unable to watch as his friends were being attacked. "Shinji! Oh my god, man I need your help. This…thing is holding me hostage and somehow using my powers!"
"Yeah we kind of noticed that…hang on."
-o0O( Eva Unit-01 )O0o-
"Asuka!" Shinji opened up another secure window to both Asuka and Rei.
"Yeah." Asuka asked as she slowly got up after recovering shortly from Unit-03's attack.
"Look it's Touji in that thing and I need you to try and distract it while I talk to him."
Asuka nodded once and rushed towards the now distracted black Eva Unit. She launched a kick at its mid-section and watched as it flew through that air only to land on it feet and come charging at her.
"Rei, the Angel is able to use Touji's powers someway, so you might be able to use your powers as well. Just try channeling it through the Eva." Shinji saw her nod once before he ran back a little and ducked behind an old abandoned building. Before he could open his mouth and speak with Touji, the commander spoke into the com-link.
"Pilot Ikari what-"
"Shut up old man I don't have time to listen to you preach about some shit." Shinji cut off the link that was showing a shocked command center and re-focused on Touji. He told Touji all about the Angel controlled Eva and about possible solutions to saving him. When none came, he told Touji how to eject the plug manually but the was shot down when Touji yelled that he was still trapped in his seat. Before he could offer a better solution the plug around him went all black and after a minute was re synched but this time it was red inside the plug.
-o0O( Command Center )O0o-
Everyone was now watching the Commander who was sitting there watching the screen while the battle raged on outside. Rei was able to free herself when Unit-02 created a large wave of water when it landed in the rice fields and used that to soften the dirt that was still slowly covering it to break free. Both Units were currently trying to subdue the angel and the pilots were ignoring all orders to kill the renegade Eva Unit.
"Lieutenant Ibuki, shut down all of Unit-01s synchronization circuits and upload the Dummy plug system."
The bridge crew looked up from their computer screens in shock. "But sir, the Dummy system isn't fully operational yet! Doctor Akagi hasn't approved it for combat!"
"Damn it, its better than a pilot that wont listen to his superiors!" Gendo roared down at the shaking bridge bunny.
Maya slowly nodded and with trembling fingers typed the override command into her console followed by the start up command for the dummy plug. After she hit the enter button, she fell out of her seat, eyes shut tight as tears leaked out of them. "May god forgive me for what I've done." She whispered to the command center.
-o0O( Battlefield )O0o-
Even with Rei being able to get out of the imprisoning ground, her and Asuka were still having a hard time against Bardiel. It didn't matter that they both were now using small amounts of their ability when they thought that the command center wouldn't pick it up because Bardiel could use Touji's without worry. This was proven when Asuka was launched into the air a second time and was pelted by ball of earth with spike on them.
Rei ran away from Bardiel to where she dropped her sniper rifle and brought it around and aimed at Bardiel left leg. With a man made thunder clap she watched as it exploded into pieces, but was stopped from celebrating when she saw that it was a huge block of earth that she hit. Before she could reload her weapon Bardiel grabbed her left arm and her next with his stretched out limbs and was dragged towards him.
Struggling to free herself she didn't notice the needle-like spike of earth that shot up from behind until the last moment. She cried out when she felt it enter and exit her right thigh leaving a hole big enough for a man to crawl through. Even though she knew the pain that she was feeling was only phantom pain, she still felt as if that happened to her real body. As she looked at the black Eva, looking like an angel of death in the failing light, she was surprised when it took it's glowing red eyes off of her a lock onto something else.
-o0O( )O0o-
Bardiel heard the voice of father, a slight whispering, commanding him to come for him. Before he could complete his task though he met three abominations of his mother and father, mocking him. Two were made out of father, and while this angered him, knowing that the pathetic lilim were desecrating his father like that, it was the third that made his anger grow into a sweltering rage.
How dare they mock the great mother in such a way as to create something from her flesh yet make in fathers image! It was this creature, the purple one, which needed to be destroyed before the release of father or else father would become angry.
Before Bardiel could attack that which mocks both his parents first, the red beast attacked him. He took it down easily enough and just before he could end its existence in the plane, the blue one attacked him. This increased the rage that was boiling inside of him, but it was this time that he noticed that the lilim the he was carrying around was different from the others.
This lilim appeared to be touched by the mother and father of this plane. Bardiel smirked, the Eva copying this on its visage, making him look far scarier than norm. He used the technological aspect of the abomination that he controlled to tap into the power and to force it to act for him. When it worked he would have laughed if possible.
It was with this power that allowed him fight the two monsters that were fighting him as the purple one ducked out of sight. This was what made his rage explode, thinking that the purple abomination didn't think that he was good enough to fight. After a little amount of time though the purple beast stood back up when the other two weren't around. He once more smirked and flexed his hands thinking of the feeling of its life force fading away underneath him.
-o0O( )O0o-
Unit-01 was standing there, it's now red eyes staring into the red eyes of Unit-03. With a strong gust of wind a newspaper stand blew across the land between the two and when it finally rolled out of sight down a hill, the two Units attacked.
01 threw a punch that was countered by 03's hand. Grabbing the fist and yanking it forcefully caused 01 to stumble and 03 launched a punch into 01's stomach making 01 double over, then went flying when 01 kicked 01, it's foot wrapped in earth making the kick a lot stronger than normal. 01 flipped over and landed on its feet while sliding backwards before finally stopping.
01 bent down into a linebackers stance and launched forwards, propelling it faster than 03 expected and allowing it to land a hit to the left side of 03's face followed by a roundhouse kick to the right side. Before 03 could fall, 01 caught it by the next and began swinging it around in a circle, 03's feet leaving the ground, and let go sending 03 into the building that was there.
As 01 slowly began walking to where 03 landed, a spike shot upwards out of the ground, making 01 jump backwards and just as it landed another spike shot , once more causing 01 to jump back. This continued until 01 landed on a large patch of ground that was extremely softer than the surrounding ground, and it was when it began sinking that 01 did what 03 did to its pilot and tapped into Shinji's air powers.
Waving its hands around as if wrapping something around them it forced them downwards causing the air that built up in between 01's hands to launch 01 into the air. While in midair, 01 launch an x of burning air that screamed towards 03 with a soft red glow.
03 lumped out of the building and landed a little ways from it before seeing another x coming towards it. Crouching down it slammed its hand into the ground and raised them creating an earth shield just in time to stop the attack from hitting itself. When the attack hit the shield it created a large explosion of earth and wind that blocked the two fighting behemoths from everyone.
All everyone in the command center and the two female pilots heard were the sound of metal of metal, grinding earth and roars that came from the two units. Finally 01 was launch out of the cloud of earth backwards, and as it sailed through the air, 03 stepped out of the cloud and brought it's hands behind it pointing towards the cloud.
Just as 01 flipped and landed on it's feet once more, 03 whipped its hand towards 01 making the earth cloud to fly towards 01 becoming hundreds of small needle-like spikes. Unable to form a defense in time, 01 crossed its arms and braced itself for the attack. When the hundreds of needles hit, they tore threw 01, tearing off chuck of Eva flesh and cracking the armor that was covering the vital areas.
Before 01 could recover, 03 was there, launching an earth-covered fist into 01 face, making it fly upwards, where it was met by an earth covered foot making 01 slam into the ground. Before 01 could recover from the attack, 03 had the earth cover 01's hands, arms, feet and legs, effectively prohibiting any movement from the purple Eva.
03 shifted the earth that was still covering its hands and left foot and merged it with the earth that was already on its right foot. When 03 brought its foot upwards, over the area where the plug was located, the added earth turned into spikes, which all pointed at the selected area.
Before 03 could slam its foot down though, 01 broke the jaw bracers and opened its maw, pointing the now opened mouth at 03. 03 stopped the foot from coming down and backed away a little, it's head cocked to one side in confusion. The shoulder blades of 01 opened up revealing a coolant fan that was installed after the eighth angel, allowing the Eva unit to fight in extremely hot temperatures.
With a flash of light and a high pitched whine the fan began operating backwards so that the air that it sucked it came from the back. As more power went into the fan, a small ball of light that was crackling with electricity began forming in front of 01's mouth. It was then that 03 realized the threat and jumped into the air, the earth that was previously on its foot formed a spike with a flat top on it, but before 03 could ram it into 01's plug, the purple behemoth fired.
Everyone watching the battle had to shield his or her eyes from the intensity of the attacks light and it was at this time that an old janitor that was cleaning the bottom floor of the command center decided to wipe this battle from everyone's mind. Just as he was leaving the old man smiled at the picture of a legless 03 and a jawless 01 before the EMP wave from 01's attack hit the cam and disabled them.
-o0O( )O0o-
At the emergency hospital tent that was set up at the base of Mount Matsushiro, Ritsuko and Misato were currently catching up on some much needed rest while Shinji and the girls fought the angel. Misato never noticed the strange older woman that entered the tent who placed her hand on Misato's forehead and placed her in an even deeper sleep. The old woman began to change her bandages, carefully maneuvering around her broken arm but smiled when she heard Misato mumbling about being Shinji's mother.
When she was finished she place Ritsuko into the same deep sleep and began to exchange her bandages with fresh ones as well. Just as she finished placing the final bandage in place, Misato began stirring and with a small touch to Ritsuko's forehead, she began to wake up as well.
With a loud yawn and a long stretch that popped her back, Misato looked over seeing Ritsuko copying her movements and an old lady that gave off feeling of safety and love. Misato slowly sat up so as not to aggravate her injuries any more and began going over the last twenty-four hours.
"Um, excuse me nurse, do you happen to know what's going on outside?" Misato asked wanting to know what all she missed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ritsuko looking at the old woman with relaxed interest. This surprised Misato, knowing that Ritsuko didn't relax around anyone beside herself, Kaji, and the sub-commander.
The old woman smiled and began to tell them a rather detailed account about the fight which instantly made them suspicious of her but these thoughts were wiped away when they heard her talking about some of the things that the Eva's were currently doing in the fight.
"Now that you know what's currently going on in the fight against Bardiel, I would-"
"Wait a second." Ritsuko interrupted the old woman. "Who the hell are you? How do you know about the pilots, including Suzuhara, whose name hasn't been released yet? How did you know a detailed account of what was going on in the fight? How in the hell did you know about the thirteenth angels name?" She asked all of those questions in one breath while glaring at the old nurse. Misato realized the truth to those questions and pulled out her pistol and aimed it towards the woman.
"My name is currently unimportant but you may call me Mother. I know the pilots because I'm their mother, while my husband is their father. I know what's going on in the fight because everyone is watching it on the viewing screen in the makeshift mess tent. And I know the Bardiels name because Rei told me when I asked."
Both younger ladies mouths were currently hanging open, Misato's because this woman was saying that she was related to Shinji by being his mother and Ritsuko because Rei willingly told the person everything that she wanted to know.
"Ms. Katsuragi, I'm not related to Shinji through blood. I'm called his mother for certain reasons. The other three teens also call me Mother…I guess that you can say that my husband and I adopted the group. Dr. Akagi, the reason Rei told me was because she needed to in order to help the group's goal move towards eventually winning."
Both young women's eyes widened when they heard the answers to their unasked questions. Both ladies looked at the other and both of them thought the same thing. 'Is she able to read our minds?!'
"It's not mind reading per say. I'm actually skimming the top of you minds and from there I can pick up the questions and thoughts that you're currently thinking."
"W-who are you?"
"I'm going to explain everything to you right now because they need your help in fighting." And true to her words she told the two women everything that has happened thus far. After an hour of explaining things, showing examples, telling about Shinji's fight against the first demons to come out during the daytime, the two ladies thought that nothing could shock them any more.
"Mother, not that we're ungrateful for including us in this group and trusting us enough to tell us all this, but what are we going to do?" Misato asked.
"Misato I need you to train them in martial arts, weapons fighting, finding a blacksmith so they can learn the ways of the old fighting. Basically you'll be in charge of making sure that they survive. Shinji may have fought off five Time Impeders by himself but he was lucky. If he knew how to properly wield his powers then the battle would have been more evenly matched. Ritsuko, I need you to make some changes to the Eva units that won't become noticeable from the outside."
"What kind of changes?"
Mother waved her hand in the air and it rippled until a screen showed up and began playing the remaining fight against Eva Units 01 and 03, from where 03 knocked 01 out of the cloud. She froze the picture when 01 opened up its shoulder blades showing the progressive knife in one and the fan in another.
"Shinji's Unit-01 needs to have another fan similar to this on in the other shoulder blade, and the existing fan needs to be upgraded for this attacks purpose along with stabilizers that will activate before the attack fires."
"What does the attack do?" Mother unfroze the clip and the three of them watched as the resulting beam disintegrated Unit-03's legs. Before Ritsuko could ask what 01 needed the stabilizers for she saw that 01 was laying in a crater that extended five feet around the fallen Eva and that it was deep enough that the Eva could stand up straight in it and still need a hand getting out.
"The stabilizers will act as a buffer, transferring the crater inducing energy that ran through the Eva and distributing it through the ground evenly. This attack relies on the fan an as you could see that having one fan took a while to charge it. By adding a second fan and upgrading the previous one will cut down the charging time by half, if not three-quarters. Also add a cannon system that connects to the fans. Having the cannon system will give the charge a focus so that it isn't raw power. By having it extend a little when in use, will ensure that Unit-01's jaw won't be ripped apart again."
"How does the attack work?" Ritsuko had pulled out a tape recorder and was currently making sure that she got everything the Mother was saying.
"The fan sucks inwards, pulling different types of particles towards the Eva Unit. When the particles reach past the fan and enter to system, Shinji's Eva Unit is able to super charge each and every single particle that runs through the system and when it reaches the end, it stops and begins to form a clump and when that clump is overcharged or at full power, whatever it may be, Shinji releases the safety net of air particles. Having the cannon system will give the charged particle a set path to follow, because I think that when you look over Unit-01 you'll find internal damage to be greater than the external damage since Unit-01 forced the particle to the mouth."
Ritsuko listened to all of this with poor concealed glee written on her face, looking like Christmas had come early. Looking over to see if Misato was just as excited as her, she saw Misato sleeping and snoring rather loudly. Ritsuko hurriedly check the recording to see if it interfered and gave a sigh of relief that it didn't.
-o0O( NERV Headquarters )O0o-
When the Eva units had been brought down and they were all secure in the cages, the pilots were finally able to leave their respective Evangelions. Touji was the first to bolt out of the black, legless creature of war and running passed all of the medics who protested, and straight towards Eva Unit-01. Coming to a stop, Touji saw Asuka and Rei were already waiting for Shinji to exit his entry plug.
Just when the plug was pulled out of the base of the neck, the three waiting pilots heard the sound of people walking towards them and when they turned around they saw Commander Ikari stand in front of them with six Section 2 men standing behind him.
Shinji exited the plug and instantly knew that something was going to happen when he saw his father smirking at him and a struggling Touji and Asuka being held back by Section 2 guards. He walked towards his father, chest out, and head held high knowing that it was going to annoy Gendo by not giving him the satisfaction of acting meek.
Gendo frown a little when he saw that the intimidation tactic didn't work but his smirk returned fully when he came up with a new plane.
"Pilot Ikari, due to your ineffectiveness out on the field, disrespect a superior officer, disregard for the Eva's safety and disregard of your teammates lives, you shall be place under arrest and held for a total of three months. The only time your to leave your cell is for interrogation sessions, or if an angel attacks."
Shinji barely showed emotion as a Section 2 agent threw him an apologetic look just before he cuffed Shinji who looking at Asuka, Rei and Touji, silently telling them not to do anything about this. He snapped his gaze back to Gendo as he stepped forward and leaned down so he could speak into Shinji ear with being overheard.
"Did you enjoy ripping you best friends legs apart Shinji? Did you feel the fear inside of him as you shredded his flesh from his body? We have the recordings from the fight, we also have the look of terror on his face as he saw what his best friend was doing to him. We have he screams of pain as you carved each bone out of him, starting with his toeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
To the shock and amusement of everyone watching they saw Gendo whispering something in Shinji's ear and saw what the elder Ikari didn't, the darkening evil look on Shinji's face. As they heard Gendo say the last part above carving the bones, the three pilots that were restrained all wanted to kick Gendo's evil bastard ass to the moon a back, but the settled for Shinji ramming his knee into his father groin…twice.
The Section 2 agents that watched the security monitor were now laughing their asses off, editing that part out, video and audio both, placing it on a DVD disc, burned it then sent it to every major humorous sight in the world. Later on they would re-edit the short video with and extended ending of everyone who was down there walking on the almighty commander and his now damaged beyond repair equipment.
-o0O( )O0o-
A/N:…Oh…My…God. I finished… I mean I actually finished this chapter. Truly this is a day for rejoicing so everyone must get up…and dance.
Seriously though, this chapter was a bitch to plan, write, proof, and upload, mainly because I lost interest in NGE about halfway through writing this thing and the remaining parts were, collage, work, laziness, traveling, and projects. After a while though I finally saw this staring at me tucked away into a corner, words wrapped around its knees, rocking back and forth asking me why I didn't love it any more…oO (wTf???)
Anyways hopefully this will hold you over until this coming chapter…Chapter Eight! Just to lay something down for anyone who is still reading this story: I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS FIC. I WILL STICK WITH IT UNTIL THE END EVEN IF IT MAKES MY FINGERS BLEED. I swear upon the great Anime nation that Chapter eight will be sent out in a quarter of the time it took for this one to come out.
Later people, and sorry once more!
Dragonmage182