Author's Note:

In this update we begin in the universe of NGE: Valkyrie, the Eva/Marvel fusion I started last fall but haven't updated for some time. If you came here from there, just Ctrl+F "I will speak to you now" to jump down to where this chapter picks up from that update.


Previously on

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

Shinji Ikari, pilot of Mobile Suit Evangelion Unit 1 awoke to a living nightmare. His world was invaded, its people put to the sword, and the skies set aflame by an army of darkness led by... himself.

Outgunned, outnumber, and trapped aboard the hellish Astartes Battle Barge Shikinami, the flagship of the Crimson Vengeance, the Legiones Astartes Second Legion led by the Primarch Iquarius and his sinister allies, Shinji was forced to flee when his suit's onboard computer triggered an experimental hyperspace jump drive that carried him out of his native universe...

...and into a hostile realm dominated by monstrous aliens that overran the world and destroyed Nerv. Again forced to flee, he jumped without first supplying a destination and found himself in the strange, otherworldly realm of the Yellow Aliens and their Great Atrium that houses Yggdrasil, the World Tree. The Aliens charged Shinji with a vital mission: Gather an army of heroes and defeat The Adversary, the alternate version of himself who started the war and now threatens to unravel all of space and time in his mad quest to achieve his sinister ends, whatever they may be.

Meanwhile, Emmett Brown and Marty McFly found their universe thrown into chaos as a terrifying event in their future began cascading backwards through time, threatening to consume them as the entire multiverse begins to skew towards a single disaster- Third Impact.

Asuka, a native of Iron Shinji's universe, was unable to escape and fell into the sinister clutches of the Primarch, whose mad goal requires him to collect Asukas from across the multiverse... and he has a particular interest in her.

To have any chance in defeating his foes, Shinji gathered the Autobots, Maximals, and a team of professional paranormal eliminators, who were strange, otherworldly variants of the people he knew from his own life. In addition he gathered an alternate universe version of himself known as the Hunter, from a strange and disturbing world overrun by the living dead.

The assembled heroes quickly found themselves charged with the task of leaping headlong into an invasion of the universe known as Neon Genesis Evangelion: Valkyrie, a world in turmoil fused with the Marvel Universe.


Of all of them, it was only she who was free, and yet every breath of air held the tang of a dank cell, and every wall may as well have been bars. Her black dress uniform may as well have been prison stripes, and as Asuka walked and saw judging eyes laying her soul bare, she felt as guilty as she ever had in her life. It was the uniform that drew some of the looks, and her hair, now tightly braided behind her head. In her black dress fatigues and high boots, her uniform adorned with the insignia of the Latverian high command, medals on her chest and the personal seal of von Doom hanging from a red ribbon around her throat, she was as much an alien to these people as the uniformed soldiers riding down the street on a half-track, gazing about grimly.

She wished desperately that she might run away, but there was nowhere to go.

Once, in a time of confusion, she had walked these streets and found succor in the strange freedom these people were allowed. Now she found all of that gone. She walked to the newsstand, where she'd read a magazine accusing her illustrious father of depravity and cruelty, images that mocked von Doom and proclaimed the Latverian hegemony over Europe a cruel tyranny, accusing him of genocide and violence, of mad obsession that led people to starve while his resources went to weapons of war. At the time she hadn't believed it, at the time she had been sure, but she marveled at it all the same. Now she stood in front of that same magazine stand. The counter was smashed to bits, the empty shelves torn down from the brick wall where they'd stood. As she turned she glimpsed the old man who'd run the shop. He said nothing, but nothing needed to be said. It was as plain in his eyes as would be if it screamed in her face.

You did this to me.

She tried to stand proud, but failed. Every eye that fell on her was full of reproach, and behind them all she saw Shinji's face as his hands were bound behind his back, the tears that flowed down his cheeks as he turned away from her, his gaze sinking to the floor. They were all imprisoned down below, in the Geofront.

She stopped in her walking. A crudely chalked image -a spider's web- was drawn on the brick. They weren't all imprisoned. Asuka stopped to brush the chalk away with the thumb of her glove and kept walking, glad that heat never touched her. It was sweltering in Tokyo-3, and the other Latverians were all sweating like mad and tugging at their collars. As she passed, they stopped and bowed until she motioned for them to stand. The attention earned her more recriminating looks from the people. If they were bowing and scraping before a redheaded girl, it was obvious who she must be. She hurried through the throng, feeling a prickling sickness in her stomach at the ease with which they accommodated her passing- hoping she would go away.

The library. She headed for the library. She had her library card in her pocket. The kind woman at the desk had given it to her, with her name and picture on it. When she turned the corner, she froze. She should have known. A knot of black-clad Latverians stood before the library doors. They'd already mounted cameras on the walls, facing the door, to capture entrants from every angle. She jogged up the steps, ignoring them as they knelt and whispered "Your grace". She pushed through the doors.

The kindly woman was gone. The front desk was shuttered. All of the computers had been removed, leaving the desks bare, festooned with cut cables like gray stubble. She walked through the silent structure until she entered the stacks of books, books upon books, only to find that most of them had been removed. Those that remained where Latverian approved texts, endless stacks of the same two or three books spread out on the shelves. She sniffed a little and in her minds eye she saw Shinji again.

She didn't go back out through the front door. She ran to the back of the library, knowing she was on camera, not caring. She pushed through the doors at the rear of the stacks and into the service area behind, where some of the old books still sat on carts, bound together with lengths of tape. They would be taken away, thrown into great macerating machines, and their remnants incinerated. There would be no more history, or philosophy, or any form of the written word that contradicted Doom. She sighed and went out the back door of the library, ducking into a small alley.

She tensed when she felt something looking down at her, and turned around.

Hikari lowered herself on a silvery strand of web, hanging upside down with it clasped in her hands and fed through her feet. She'd hacked off her pigtails and her short hair was a tangled mess. Her cheeks looked raw, as from tears, and her eyes were bloodshot. She sank down until she was hanging by her thread a few feet away from Asuka. She had a backpack tightly cinched to her body and secured around her waist with a belt, and a few odd and ends in pouches tied to the legs of her track suit.

"You," said Hikari.

Asuka faced her. "Fighting me is hopeless. I can incinerate you with a gesture."

"Maybe," said Hikari, cocking her head, "What about him?"

Toji stepped out from the end of the alleyway and stalked forward, slapping his palm into his fist. Asuka tensed, taking her lower lip under her teeth. His gifts made him unique. He would stride through the fire and through he was no stronger than an ordinary boy, she would be helpless to stop him, and once he had a hold of her she would have no hope of escape.

"What do you want?"

"Shinji," said Hikari. "I want him freed, I want the others released."

Asuka looked at the ground "I put my life on the line for him. I did not wish to see him imprisoned. I have no authority to-"

"The hell with authority," Hikari snapped, dropping into a crouch. She stood up and pointed her finger at Asuka's chest. "You have the power to fight back. You can do things no one else can."

"I am powerful," she said, hugging herself, "but no one is a match for von Doom, and he is my father…"

"Is he?" said Hikari. "Last I heard, you were adopted."

"He is my father. He raised me. I have known no one else. You would ask me to betray that?"

"If you have to," said Hikari. "We can take him together, if we free the others."

"You don't understand," Asuka snapped, blinking away tears. "He is my father."

"I understand one thing," said Hikari. "With great power comes great responsibility. We're going to do this with you, or without you."

"I'll warn him," Asuka snapped, spitefully. "I'll ruin your plans. He brings peace and order and stability, and he'll destroy the angels and set us all free. The world will be a better place and when he's gone, I'll follow after him and rule over a golden age that will last a thousand years."

"A thousand years," said Hikari. "I'd tell you to look into the other golden age that was going to last a thousand years, but some jack booted thugs stole our library. Do what you have to do, Asuka. I don't give a damn about you, but Shinji believed in you. He believed enough to choose you over me."

She turned. Toji had vanished, slipping around the corner. When she turned back, she caught a glimpse of Hikari swinging up, kicking her feet out for momentum. Asuka waited until she was gone, folded her arms under her chest, and walked out of the alley with her head down.


A comfortable prison is still a prison. Shinji had spent the last… he'd lost track of the time. It had to be more than a week, he was sure. He was totally isolated from the outside world, and the inhibitor collar was back around his neck. He tugged at it, thought better of it, and folded his hands on his chest. He had a cot with a thick mattress, but otherwise this chamber was totally blank and white, walls, ceiling, even the combined toilet and sink in the corner. In a fit of what was no doubt hilarious humor, someone had left a copy of von Doom's purported autobiography lying on top of the sink. He'd very carefully torn up the first one and flushed it down the toilet, but when he awoke, there was a new one in its place.

He closed his eyes. He didn't need to tap into his mutant ability, his innate connection to the electromagnetic field, to use sorcery. The problem was, whenever he tried to still himself, a speaker lowered out of the ceiling and began blaring high-pitched, autotuned pop music. If he managed to fall asleep, it stopped, but if he attempted to meditate, the volume would only increase. This time, he set his jaw and focused.

Or rather, he tried to focus. His mind was a roiling vortex of feelings and thoughts, surging through him and devastating his calm. So much had happened, and in less than a day. Everything had gone to hell. Rei was gone. He refused to think of her as dead, she was simply missing. There was more to her than a simple explosion could destroy, he was sure of it. Toji wasn't. Shinji had always been afraid of his abilities, a little scared of what he might do if he lost control of himself. One look at Central Dogma would show exactly what a teenage girl with the proportionate speed, agility, and strength of a spider and a teenage boy with the power to increase his personal gravitational pull could do.

Despite it all, though, they'd been forced to flee while Shinji and the others had been collared. He didn't know where they took Kensuke and the other student, if they were in similar cells or deeper in the bowels of the facility, in Nathaniel Essex' labs. Unable to concentrate, he got up and paced, folding his hands behind his back. The speaker withdrew and he was left in silence to walk the short length of the cell.

The one image in his mind he couldn't shake was Asuka standing between them, placed between Doom and Fuyutsuki and the technicians and the children, and the look when she without hesitation walked to stand at his side, primly standing at attention while the armored tyrant lectured them on their subservience to the will of Doom.

Even with the collar on, Shinji had his training. Steven Strange had been speaking with him in his dreams, grooming him and nurturing his affinity with energy into a talent for the arcane. Doom was as close to Strange's equal as Shinji could imagine, a burning star next to Shinji's sputtering candle. When he tried to draw on himself to form a spell, Doom simply flicked it out of his mind, crushed him utterly with a thought. His mastery of the occult arts was so total, he could form spells purely through mental discipline, not even needing to speak. Where Shinji was sloppy, needing help and direction, Doom was an artist. The fight was over so fast, no one but the two of them saw it happen.

She could have done something. All she had to do was touch him and let him draw on her fire, and nothing could stop him. He ran his fingers down the wall of his prison, curled them into a fist, and feebly struck the smooth metal. He had to do something, he had to get out. The image of Asuka's face floated in his mind again, the way her lips tightened and her eyes went hard when that clanking monstrosity entered the room. She had a cruelty in her he'd never seen before, hidden under layers of confusion and her peculiar, defensive arrogance. He leaned his head on the wall and wondered how he could be so stupid.

Pacing back to the cot, he sat down on it and closed his eyes. The speaker immediately dropped down and started blasting Britney Spears in his ears. He flicked his eyes open in annoyance and stared at it until it slid back up. He was so tired he probably could have slept. He just wanted to rip the damned thing out of the wall and smash it. If he could only use his powers, he could crush it with a gesture, barely a thought. He fell back on the bed.

The speaker dropped down again. He opened his eyes halfway, trying to tune out the music. That wasn't working, either. There had to be something he could do. He realized he needed to use the toilet and almost sat up but froze instead, his eyes lidded. It might work, if he was fast enough. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows in concentration. The volume increased.

He jumped for it. Pushing from the bed, he darted across the room, put one foot on the toilet, and reached up for the speaker. He slapped both hands on its sides, pushing them together as hard as he could. He grunted as he swung from it his legs dangling in the air. The motor couldn't be strong enough to lift him, too. He heard it grinding.

His body went rigid. He lost control of his muscles as the speaker housing sparked and buzzed. His teeth clicked closed so hard it hurt, and his legs quivered in the air. The speaker itself blew out. When it was over, he lost his grip and fell hard to the floor, stumbling onto the ground. His head hit the floor with a sharp crack and his vision swam.

The ruined speaker drew up into the ceiling. Another, identical one lowered in its place. This time, it was louder.


Rei's eyes fluttered open and the sickness was on her. She pressed her teeth closed and grimaced, trying desperately not to vomit into the LCL that surrounded her in the extraction cylinder. Half-lidded, her eyes flickered back and forth as the last few days flashed involuntarily by her eyes. The angel attack, Essex' capture of the students, breaking into Nerv. Toji shouting her name as the fire came, flash boiling away the inside of the entry plug, followed by her skin. She struggled in the tube, beating her fists against it, and felt it crack under her knuckles. The fluid drained, and cold air rushed over her. Someone laid a towel over her body, covering her as she curled into the fetal position.

"Is the procedure always this traumatic?"

She looked up and saw a man in a metal mask, towering over her. Doctor Akagi moved beside her. Her shoulders were pulled in and her wings hung around her, jutting through two holes torn in the back of her labcoat. She put an arm around Rei's shoulders and lifted her up, cradling the girl against her chest.

"I don't know. I've never done this before. Ikari handled it."

"I am alive," Rei whispered, drawing the towel around herself.

Shaking, she stood up, leaning on Akagi for support. Doom loomed over them impassively, his dark green cloak swathed around his armor. He turned to examine the clone tank and the spare bodies residing within, floating through chilled LCL with looks of dull anger on their faces, lips drawn back from razor fangs, red eyes wide. Rei turned away from them.

"How much do you remember?" said Akagi.

"I… I was to go dancing."

"Will she be able to pilot?" said Doom.

Akagi gave him the briefest flash of a hard look, then stared at the floor. "Yes… my Lord. She should be able to, but Unit One is… difficult."

"Irrelevant," said Doom. "See her to the infirmary and have her ready for a synchronization test in one hour."

The iron giant turned and stomped out of the room, disappearing into the elevator, leaving her alone with Akagi. Rei was able to stand now, and able to feel the cold stone floor sucking the heat out of the soles of her feet. She was hungry, and this close to Akagi, she could smell the older woman's fear and her blood, pumping through her veins. Her jugular was so close, she could-

"I almost wish you would," said Akagi.

Rei shuddered. She took a few steps more, and was able to walk on her own. Akagi guided her out of the lab and helped her sit down on an exam table and pulled a robe around her, and then put a cooler marked with a red cross on the table beside her. From inside, she drew a plastic bag full of chilled whole blood and held it out. Rei snatched it from her hand, put the foul tasting plastic in her mouth, and sunk her fangs into it. It was cold and tasted foul and rusty, but it spilled down her throat and over her chin and she fell onto her side, curling up into a ball as she drained it and let the empty bag slap onto the floor.

Akagi shied away from her.

"I am safe," said Rei.

Akagi touched her forehead. "You're cold."

"I am always cold. What is happening?"

"Terrible things," said Akagi. "The Commander is dead. Most of the command staff and the children are locked up in the brig. They have Shinji in solitary confinement. Doom took over Essex's labs. I haven't heard from Katsuragi."

Grunting, Rei sat up. She felt stronger now, more focused. "I am to pilot Unit One."

"Yes. Doom wanted to use the dummy system, but it isn't ready. You'll have to do."

"I am not sure that I can."

"There's only one way to find out."

"I want to see Shinji."

"I don't think that will be possible," Akagi sighed.

Rei wilted. "I see. Is Suzahara here?"

"Who… oh, that boy. No, he fled, along with some of the others. I don't know where he is. You probably don't want to ask," said Akagi, pointedly glancing at the clone tank. "It's best to cooperate."

"I see," said Rei, though her gaze did not rise from the floor.


She could kill them all, but she waited. It whispers in her head, daring her to give in to her urges, to feed, to pin poor Maya down and… it whispers in her head. Misato clung to the underside of the roof, wreathed in the creature's undulating, fibrous body. It was a simple matter to camouflage herself, to imitate the backdrop so seamless she disappeared into it. She crawled along with the patrol of Latverians, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as she tracked their movement. She was waiting for one of them to give her an opportunity.

At last, one of them peeled off from the rest, shouldering his automatic rifle. Misato crept down the wall, hanging invisible over his head. When he was out of sight of the others, she dropped down behind him and clamped her hand over his mouth, pulled him close, and raised her hand over her head, drawing her fingers into a fist. The symbiote fired a thin streamer of webbing at the corner of the roof overhead, and she drew herself up, carrying the Latverian with her.

She let the symbiote resume its normal color, and willed it to peel back from her face. She ran her tongue over the sharp points of her teeth, left behind even when it pulled back. Her hair, inundated with the fluid mass of the symbiot's body, lifted and coiled behind her head, like serpents on a gorgon. She picked up the Latverian's rifle, looked at it with contempt, and crumbled it in half with one hand before tossing it to the side. A quick shot of webbing pinned his hands to the ground, and she crouched over his chest, dangling her sharp talons over his face.

"Let's talk," she rasped, leaning close.

"What are you?"

"Where is Shinji Ikari?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying to us," she rasped, tracing the sharp edge of her talon down his cheek. "We hate liars."

"I don't know, I swear! I know nothing!"

Sneering with contempt, she touched the tips of her fingers to his throat, letting them dig in just enough for tiny spots of blood to well around them.

"Tell. Us."

"Misato!"

She looked over her shoulder.

Hikari. She was perched on the corner of the roof, squatting with her hands between her feet. Misato drew back and mimicked her, crouching over her prey. She flexed her fingers, the talons growing longer, and the symbiote drew up around her face, thin tendrils of it surrounding her eyes and mouth.

"Killing him won't help anybody."

She rounded on the soldier. "It'll make us feel better."

"Misato," Hikari snapped, edging closer. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Try us," Misato hissed, "you just want the Shinji for yourself! We're not stupid!"

Hikari put her hands up in a gesture of surrender and stood up. "Look, let's all stay calm here and try to hold off on the violence and the talking about ourselves in the second person plural, okay?"

Misato trembled. "I…" she croaked, "We want answers!"

"I have a family!" the soldier whined.

She closed her hands around his throat. "So did we, before you stole them from us!"

"Misato!" Hikari shouted, charging across the roof.

The Suzahara boy got to her first. He body-checked Misato off the pinned Latverian, rolled with her, and landed on top of her. She snarled and clawed furiously at his face, but it had no effect. He just closed his eyes and tightened his grip around her. When she got ahold of his wrists, pulling his arms apart was easy, he was no stronger than an ordinary person. When she was nearly free, he did something, squinting in concentration, and it was like a thousand weight fell on her chest, pinning her to the roof. He was only resting his hand on her stomach.

"Don't move," he said sharply. "I can turn it up."

She nodded.

Hikari squatted beside her. "How did you escape?"

Misato closed her eyes and breathed. She felt the creature retreat, and opened them again, looking up into the night sky. "I don't remember. When the old man surrendered, I tried to get to Shinji, but Doom… sonics, they used sonics on us. It hurt. I can't remember, I was outside and… there was blood. Oh God, I think I hurt someone."

Hikari sighed. "What did you see? Do you know where they're being held?"

She shook her head. "I had to flee, the sounds, the sounds, they hurt us."

Toji looked at Hikari. "She's bonkers."

Hikari gave him a sharp look. "Look, I don't like this, but we need your help. Can you… tone that down a little?"

She closed her eyes. It was a less a command than a negotiation, the creature's fury overwhelming her. It was so angry, so filled with hate, and Hikari, she smelled wrong. Misato closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she sat up in her uniform. It was mostly her uniform, at any rate. Her skirt was shorter and her sweater tighter and it bared some of her midriff, and her jacket clung to her sides. The Suzahara boy nervously looked away from her, blushing.

"Have you been working out?" said Hikari.

"Pilates," Misato rasped. She gave Suzahara a little shove as he relented and let her stand up.

"What do we do with this guy?" said Hikari, looking down at the Latverian.

"Kill him," said Misato.

"No!" said Suzahara, stepping between them. "You can't do that, he-"

"I'm not crazy," said Misato, fixing her gaze on him. "He's the enemy, he's an enemy soldier. This isn't a comic book, kid. He'd kill you if he could, if he got the chance. He might have put a gun to the head of someone you care about on his last shift. You should have let me finish him off."

"Is that you talking, or that thing?" said Hikari.

Misato glared at her. The symbiote squirmed against her skin, but with a deep breath she held it in check. "Fine, we'll let him live. We should leave. Quickly."

Suzahara put his arm around Hikari's neck as she jumped off the roof and swung from a web line. Misato followed, letting the symbiote relax into a more natural state, clinging to her skin, but she kept her face exposed. Hikari dropped down into an alleyway behind a set of dumpsters and lowered the boy to the ground Misato followed, landing in a crouch.

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing yet," said Hikari. "We need to break in, get past Doom, and get everybody out."

"Impossible," Misato snapped, standing.

"We already did it once."

"Essex was an idiot," said Misato. "Doom is Doom."

"I though you were supposed to be smart and stuff," said Suzahara, "aren't you in charge of all the battles and everything? You could help us come up with a plan."

Misato ran her fingers through her hair. Suzahara stared at her chest intently, until Hikari elbowed him.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "That thing is tight."

Misato narrowed her eyes at him, and shook her head.

"Boys," said Hikari.

Misato snorted.

"Well excuse me," said Suzahara.

"There must be something they wouldn't think of," said Hikari, pacing. "Some kind of access they'd miss when they secure the base, a way for us to sneak back in."

"We could free the prisoners in Essex's labs," said Misato. "They're dangerous enough that it would provide us with a diversion."

Hikari sighed, leaning on the brick wall. "What about the dinosaurs from that cargo ship? Are they still down there?"

"Probably," said Misato. "The T-Rex is still alive."

Hikari shuddered. "Great, so we get in, and we create a diversion."

"Who else is with us?"

Hikari looked at Misato, and at Suzahara.

"This is it?" said Misato. "Really?"

"Do you have any better ideas?"

She paced. "There might be someone else."


"I think this is a bad idea," said Toji.

"You think everything is a bad idea," said Hikari.

Misato looked over her shoulder at them, angrily. Toji winced. Hikari bit her lip and glared back, defiant. The three of them crept along the broad drive up the curving hill towards the Stark estate, overlooking the city. Misato raised her hand, but Toji bumped into Hikari before he noticed. The alien thing on Misato was very tight, on her legs and her chest and her lower back and that whole lower back butt type area, and-

Hikari smacked the side of his head. "Focus."

"Right," said Toji.

"Wait here," said Misato.

She took a few steps, and she turned invisible, just like that. The alien moved around her, wrapping around her face, and like a chameleon it shifted colors until it blended in with the scenery, and then the camouflage improved, until she was almost impossible to see. Toji could make out an outline if he squinted, until she moved far enough off, and her movements could have been a breeze or a bird in the bushes. Toji sat down near the gate, and Hikari joined him. She leaned her head back on the low stone wall and closed her eyes.

"I hope my sister is okay," said Toji.

"Same here," said Hikari. "I'm afraid if we call them…"

"It'll be traced or something," said Toji.

"Or put them in danger. We're on our own."

They were quiet for a while.

"Do you think there's any way Rei could have lived?" said Hikari.

"I don't know. She's tough. I saw her get hurt before, but… her Eva exploded."

"I'm sorry," said Hikari.

"It didn't have anything to do with you."

"I just…"

Toji grasped desperately for something to change the subject about. "What are you going to do about Shinji?"

"What about him?" Hikari snapped, leaning on her knees.

"Well, um," said Toji, "You were going out and stuff…"

"I ruined that with my big mouth," said Hikari. "My sister didn't like him, and I have a duty to my family."

"You didn't seem so hot on that when she wanted you to stay out of the fight."

Hikari shrugged. "That's different."

"Why?"

She sighed. "I don't know. Okay? It just is."

Misato dropped down into a crouch beside them. Toji nearly jumped out of his skin, grabbing Hikari for support. She pushed him off and stood up, and he followed. Misato peered around the corner, up at the house.

"Well?" said Hikari.

"There's no one here."

Hikari slumped and put her hand on her face. "That's just great. Now what do we do?"

"We might be able to sneak in."

Toji stood up, but Misato pushed him back down, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Not you. You're our big gun. You stay out here and watch our backs."

"I am?" said Toji, glancing at Hikari. "You're not going to eat her, are you?"

"No," Misato said drolly. "Come on, kid."

Toji watched them leave. He watched Misato leave, in particular. He stood up and wandered back down along the wide drive a bit, keeping to the hedges. He had a good view of the city from here. He put his foot on a rock and leaned forward, staring out into the collection of bright lights. It was full dark now, and Tokyo-3 was a pulsing dance of light bulbs and headlamps, moving with a steady, easy regularity. It would be hard to see that there was anything amiss.

He heard something coming and ducked behind a bush. A VTOL, one of the big, awkward flyers that Nerv used, was coming in, almost like it was limping. He could hear the engine sputtering, and when he looked closer, he realized there was some kind of robot holding it up, shouldering under the fuselage. It came in low and slow towards the estate and came down with a crunch right on the front yard, the landing gear folding under it. A moment later, the front hatch ground upwards, pushed from the inside. Limping, another robot stepped down out of it. He thought it was a robot, anyway.

It was a girl, he realized, carrying a helmet under her arm. He couldn't tell what she looked like under the armor -it looked rather masculine, actually- but she was pretty, walking in that funny way people do when they're missing their glasses, with long brown hair bound up behind her head. Following her was some guy in a halloween costume, a leather tunic and cape with some kind of big purse hanging around his neck. Toji didn't like the look of him, with his scruffy beard and ponytail. He had some kind of fright mask in one hand.

The robots, or maybe they were suits, too, steadied the downed aircraft and stepped away from it, following them towards the house. Toji stepped out, seizing up with panic. They'd find Hikari and Misato inside. He had to figure out some way to warn them. He scratched his head, looking at the big flyer. Maybe the landing got their attention, but he couldn't be sure. He started running up towards the house, panting. Why couldn't he have super speed, or strength? What the hell good did being able to protect himself do?

He made it to the gate, the open space in the rock wall, and ran through it. Nothing happened, so he kept on up the path. The house was big, low and modern, and had an even better view of Tokyo-3 than the driveway. Toji ran right up to the front door. The others must have gone inside some other way. It didn't have a knob, per se- there was some kind of reader or sensor next to the door, and he wasn't going to mess with that. He walked around the side, looking for a window.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Somewhere, he heard Hikari scream. He ran for the wall full tilt, them stumbled.

Something reached down out of the sky to the East. A beam of light so bright it lit the night sky sliced through the blue, and carved out a purple trail in his vision. He stumbled backwards and landed on his rear end, staring. He heard a commotion in the house and the door opened. The lady in the armor suit, the guy in the costume, Misato and Hikari all tumbled out. Hikari was grabbing her head like someone had punched her, and there was a fine trickle of blood from one of her nostrils. Toji grabbed her and daubed it away with the hem of his shirt.

She shook her head. "I'm okay. I've never felt anything like that before."

"What was it?"

"Spider-Sense," Misato hissed.

"I guess," said Hikari.

"Who the hell-" the lady in the armor started.

The thunder cut her off. It wasn't so much thunder as a blast of wind, a rolling flush of hot air that rolled over them. Toji put his hand on Hikari and the guy in the costume and used his power, rooting them to the spot. The sound drowned out everything, drowned out his own heartbeat, drowned out thought. Misato screamed and her suit-monster-thing went crazy, flopping around in every direction, and Toji let the others go and grabbed her to hold her up. Some dull part of his mind realized that it was dripping off her and she was half naked, but it was crushed down by the raw terror of what he saw on the horizon.

Somewhere in the east, far distant, a mushroom cloud was rising.


"Hurts," Misato groaned, "Hurts us,"

She slumped against Toji. The thunderclap must have hurt her friend, it was halfway off of her. Hikari rushed to her side, slipped her arms under Misato's shoulders and legs, and lifted her up. The guy in the leather cape gave her a weird look, and the Stark woman just blinked, rapidly adjusting. She stomped over to Hikari's side.

"I know her."

"Misato," said leather-cape-man.

"Who are you?" said Hikari.

"Kaji Ryoji," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Everybody inside," said Stark, nudging Hikari's shoulder with her big metal glove.

Hikari didn't need to be told twice. She rushed inside and spread Misato out on the couch. The thing was alive, and already pulling itself together around her. Hikari blinked. There was still an aftermark, a kind of purple scar, on her vision where she'd been looking out the window when whatever that thing was came down.

Stark walked out into the middle of the room. "Jarvis, bring everything up and tell me what the hell just happened."

A cheerful, English-accented voice replied, "At once, Miss Mari."

"Is the back door I installed at Nerv still active?"

"Indeed."

"Get me access, I want to know what's going on down there."

"I'll tell you what's going on," Hikari said, rounding on her. "Doom took over the city, put all of my friends in jail. The ones that are alive, anyway."

Kaji and Stark looked at each other.

"This is bad," said Kaji. "Look, there's the international fraternity of criminals, and then there's guys like Doom, or the Red Skull. He's out of my weight class."

"Jarvis, what do you have for me?"

"A great deal of information," said Jarvis. "Presently I am only able to operate at thirty-five percent capacity. A wide frequency jamming signal is disrupting my connection to the mainframe under the mansion in California."

"What kind of interference?" said Mari. "Where's it coming from?"

"Origin unknown, but unlikely to be terrestrial in origin."

"Some kind of satellite?"

"Unknown, but the projected point of origin is well outside even the highest standard orbits. My preliminary calculations indicate that it is somewhere between the Earth and lunar orbit, directly over the Pacific Ocean."

"Great," said Mari. "What the hell was that light in the sky?"

"I have not yet determined its precise origin," said Jarvis. "All communications, including civilian, military, and covert Nerv frequencies, originating from Beijing and the surrounding area have been cut off."

"God," Kaji gasped. "Was it a bomb?"

"Unable to determine. Insufficient data."

Stark paced the room. "Let's get down into the basement. I need to change into a heavier suit."

Groggily, Misato managed to stand up. She fixed her gaze on Mari. "Stark."

"Katsuragi. Look, you and me can work this out later… what the hell are you wearing, anyway?"

"We are Venom now," said Misato.

Kaji gave her a startled look, and edged away. "What?"

"You heard us. Me. Damn it."

A section of the floor lowered, smoothly hissing apart into a broad staircase. Stark lead the way, followed by the others. Hikari brought up the rear, edging close to Misato. She eyed Kaji warily. For some reason Hikari would probably never fathom, her suit or whatever it was rearranged itself. It hung loose from her legs, hanging down around her legs in a loose skirt that was slashed high, almost to her hip, and it withdrew from her shoulders. It looked like a black evening dress, with that weird white spider sigil twisting diagonally across her chest. Kaji looked over his shoulder at her and she turned her nose up at him, almost childishly.

"Hey," Hikari whispered, "What's with the evening gown?"

Misato looked down, and the suit quickly drew back up into its normal shape.

Once they arrived in the basement, Stark stepped up into a sort of ring, and mechanical arms reached for her, unclamping the metal plates that made up her suit and drawing them away from her. In a few moments, she was stripped down to a tight black undersuit. Hikari spotted Toji staring at her hips and elbowed him.

"Jarvis? Have anything for me yet?"

"International communications chatter does not indicate the origin of the explosion in China," said Jarvis. "Please wait."

"What?"

"New data available. Berlin, Doomstadt, Beijing, Las Vegas and New Washington have all been completely destroyed."

Stark stumbled, leaning on a work table. "What?"

"Chatter indicates that the working theory is meteor strikes."

"Like hell," said Misato, "That wasn't a meteor strike, that was some kind of laser or weapon."

"Jarvis," said Mari, "Get me Nick Fury, General Rhodes, anybody that will pick up."

"Connecting."

Stark paced the room. Hikari rubbed at her temples. The buzzing was coming back, what Misato had called the spider-sense.

"We can't stay here," said Hikari.

The adults ignored her. "They wiped out all the capitals. Why would they knock them all out? It makes no sense…" said Kaji.

"Millions of people," said Mari.

Misato cleared her throat. "If Hikari says we're in danger, we're in danger. Trust us. Me. Damn it."

Stark gave her a sharp look, then looked at Hikari. "Okay. Jarvis, what do you have for me?"

"Unable to process request. All communications jammed."

Stark took a deep breath.

"Okay. Load up every file you've got into the Mark X's computers and suit me up. Set everything to fry ten minutes after we're gone, and blow the house. I don't want Doom getting his hands on any of my father's tech."

"I have a final piece of relevant data," said Jarvis. "The origin of the orbital strikes is the same as the origin of the jamming signal. Before communications were cut off entirely, I intercepted a communique from Cheyenne Mountain. Before Norad was destroyed, the strategic radar grid detected large numbers of small objects entering the atmosphere."

Stark swallowed hard. "Meteors?"

"Unlikely. They were slowing down."


"I will speak to you now."

Shinji's eyes blinked open. He wondered, as he sat up, if some strange fit of madness had not fallen on him, for it was his own voice he heard, echoing in his tiny cell. He drew his legs up and leaned on his knees, blinking. He scrubbed at his eyes- the speaker had shut off some time during the night (or was it day?) and he'd just had what felt like the best night's sleep he'd ever had in his life. He yawned, turned around, and crept up against the wall. He was still unsure of his own sanity. There was someone in the cell with him after all.

He was Shinji's height, and, somehow, he knew, exactly his height. They could have been twins- the same pointed, almost feminine jaw, the same wide face and high cheekbones, but where Shinji's face could be said to be warm, welcoming, here there was only ice. The intruder's skin was pale, like white gold, and his eyes were dark crimson, the color of blood from a deep wound. He wore only a gleaming white cloth draped over his shoulder and wrapped around his waist, and the casual, easy way he folded his forearms together behind his back tightened the powerful muscles that framed his chest and shoulders. His hair was the color of polished steel, and hung past his neck.

"Who are you?" said Shinji.

The intruder's flat expression twisted slightly into a thin smirk. "I am all that you could be, if you embrace your true nature."

Shinji shook his head and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. "How did you get in here?"

"No door is closed to me," said the intruder. "No wall can stop me, no barrier can hold me, not even the light of the soul, the sacred space that no man may enter."

"I don't understand," said Shinji. "Who are you?" he repeated. He realized that though his collar was still on, the speaker was out of commission, and he was rested. Focus came to him quickly. The words were on the edge of his tongue.

The stranger stepped forward. "I was like you, once. Weak, confused. I thought silly things were the most important things, like my so-called relationship with my father. Like all men, I believed in my heart that human beings could understand one another."

He loomed closer, seeming taller now. Shinji fell back on the cot, looking up at him.

"Which one is it that torments you? I might be called lucky, perhaps. I had them all, even Misato. No, you're a one woman sort of Shinji. So, which one?"

He furrowed his brows. Shinji felt a prickling sensation, like something moving across his skin.

"Not Rei, no, you see her as a sister," he rolled his tongue in his mouth, as if sampling a flavor, "Asuka, I think, inflames you," he smirked at some secret joke, "but the desire is more physical, and I admit I can see why. No, you're not like most of us. You see the secret inner shape of things, you recognize true kindness when you see it… Hikari is the one you want."

Shinji sputtered. "I… I don't…"

"Yes," the stranger whispered, leaning close, "And she rejected you, turned you away. I can fix that. I can change that. I offer you all that you desire and more," he raised his hand and closed it into a fist, "anything you want."

"No," Shinji snapped, crawling along the wall, pushing himself away from the stranger. "No, I won't. You can't control people's minds, that's evil."

"Evil," the stranger said softly, "Is just a word, Shinji. I am the path to reality. I am the bridge between man, and what is beyond man. I am what you could be if you exercise the will to bring the world to your heel, to stop pretending you are so much less than you are."

He stood up. "Whatever you're selling, I don't want any. I don't know what you are, and I don't care. Get out."

"Admirable," said the intruder, "but ultimately futile. There might yet be a place for you. You're angrier than you allow yourself to believe." He turned, as if he meant to walk right through the door. "Farewell, Shinji. Perhaps when my victory is complete and your world is a barren cinder will you see the truth."

Shinji didn't speak. He marshalled his will, raised his hands in the ancient sign, and poured all his strength into his voice. "By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!"

Pure force swirled around the intruder. Linking tightly around him there formed bands of burnished metal, binding his legs and arms, squeezing him tightly. The metal hardened and fixed him in place, crushing him down as Shinji closed his hands.

"You're not going anywhere."

"I beg to differ," said the intruder, and flexed his arms. The bands strained, groaned with a whine of shrieking metal, and simply came apart, breaking into luminescent crimson shards. The force of his spell doubling back on him threw Shinji back into the wall and he yelped from the impact, then slid down to the floor.

"I see now that is where you belong," the intruder sneered. "What could have been freely given, I will simply take. Goodbye, Shinji."

He turned. The cell door unlocked with a heavy clang and drew back. Standing beyond it, framed by it, was the iron-masked visage of Victor von Doom, so immense the universe didn't seem to have room for him. He strode forward until the blocked the door entirely, the black grimace of his mask staring down at the intruder. He folded his huge arms over his chest, his armor making fine mechanical sounds, and stared down.

"This world belongs to Doom. Answer for yourself or taste oblivion."

"Bold words," said the intruder, "from a hoary fiction. Die."

The intruder didn't lift a finger, didn't even gesture. Despite the dull ache in the back of his head, Shinji felt only the swirling currents of the arcane around Doom as he prepared some spell, marshaling the hidden forces through thought alone. The intruder was only a cold void, an emptiness in the world that sung like a howling wind. Shinji saw Doom's eyes widen with uncharacteristic shock as the great mass of the metal giant lifted up, as though carried in a blasting gale, and sailed across the hallway. He crumpled the cell door behind him, pushing in the wall in a spiderweb of spreading cracks from the force of the impact.

"You clothe yourself in iron," said the intruder, striding forward, "but you don't know what it is."

Doom was on his feet in an instant, planing them wide. He glanced at Shinji, and the inhibitor collar fell open with a click. Shinji was on his feet, putting his hands out for balance. The Earth's electromagnetic field wreathed him in a comforting blanket, tugging at his mind. Doom's eyes met his, and there was a silent instant of understanding between them.

The cell doors, every one in the entire hallway, tore free of their moorings and sailed through the hall, slamming into the intruder like clapping hands. The metal folded around him, covering him, and Shinji pushed his hands together, feeling their resistance between them. He squeezed, hard, straining, clenching his teeth until the intruder was wreathed in a solid ball of white-painted metal, groaning and squeaking as it compressed.

The metal superheated in an instant. A wash of heat rolled back through the door, and Shinji coughed, grabbing at his throat. The crumpled cell doors unfolded, turning red hot, then white hot, and fell around the intruder in a sizzling pool on the floor. He gave Shinji a cursory, contemptuous glance, and turned back to Doom.

The warlord was already on his feet, one heavy gauntlet wreathed in spellfire while the other was raised in a fist. Shinji felt a nimbus of energy crackle into being around him, some sort of electromagnetic field. He stepped forward.

"Boy," he said firmly, "Contact Strange. Find my daughter. Go."


The faceplate of the Mark X armor dropped down over Mari's eyes, and the blurred world her glasses abandoned her in came to sharp clarity, the suit's HUD superimposed over it. She watched the spinning icons as Jarvis brought the system on line in autonomous mode. She was cut off from the mainframe in Redding and she could see why- there was a continuous radio transmission blasting on every frequency, with far more power than she'd ever seen before. It was coming from everywhere at once.

"The satellites," she said absently, "They've taken over all the communications satellites."

Katsuragi clenched her jaw, touching her chin in thought. Mari strode forward, towering over her in the armor. Kaji was tugging his mask on. It was better than nothing, she supposed. The kids were staring at her in awe.

"You two should go home to your families.

"No," the girl said flatly. What was her name? Hikari?

"No way," said the boy. "We're going."

"Cute," said Mari, "but this is a job for the adults. There's no kiddie table in a firefight."

The girl took two steps forward and shoved her. Mari grunted in surprise as she had to take a step backwards, the suit's internals whirring silently as it compensated to balance her. Without missing a beat, the girl flipped over Mari's head, pistoned her feet against the suit's shoulders, and jumped up to the ceiling. Her hands hit with a loud slap, and she hung there, tucked up against it.

"Okay then," said Mari. "Let's go."

She led the way, back out of the house. She walked up the lawn to where the hill began to slope steeply down towards the city. Kaji stepped up beside her, holding a remote control in his hand. He pushed a button with his gloved thumb and stuck the remote back in his satchel.

"Spare glider," he rasped, his fright mask altering his voice. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Katsuragi stood beside her.

"Plan?"

"We had an idea," said Hikari, "We-"

Mari gave her a look, not realizing she could only see the blank face plate of the armor. She nodded, her chin catching the internal switch, and the faceplate lifted up. "Kid, look, you can come along, but-"

"She broke into Nerv before," said Misato, folding her arms under her impressive chest.

"That's right!" the boy shouted. "Hikari got us in."

"This is different," said Mari. "This is Doctor Doom we're talking about here."

The evacuation alarm, the one they sounded when an angel was approaching, sounded. With all her signals jammed, Mari couldn't break into Nerv communications and get any details, and that made her nervous. She flexed her hands, mostly for the reassuring clink as the gauntlets closed.

"We need to move," said Katsuragi, "Quickly."

"Here's the plan," said the girl, cutting in sharply. "Stark, you and the Green Goblin-"

"Hobgoblin," Kaji corrected.

"Whatever. You and Leatherface here go smash in the front door. Toji, go with them. While they're distracted, me and Misato will sneak in through the access vents."

Mari looked at her. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

She sighed. "Fine, let's go."

Kaji's glider came circling around and rolled to a hover, the bat-faced front end tilting up slightly. It bobbed under his weight as he stepped onto it and latched his feet into the stirrups. The girl -Hikari- and Katsuragi both took a running start from the hillside, threw their arms out, and spun silvery webs into the night.

The boy looked at Mari, then at Kaji, and climbed on the back of the glider with him. He put his arms around Kaji's waist.

"So, uh, do I have to lean into turns?"

Kaji snorted. "Just be quiet."

Mari nodded and closed helmet. She kicked her heels down and started up her thrusters, and lifted off, motioning for Kaji to follow. As she lifted off, a warning appeared on her radar, the small display increasing in size on her display. She rolled in the air and looked up to see a number of streaking objects, trailing long streamers of smoke behind them, coming down in a rough circle around the city. As they slowed they disappeared from sight, followed by a series of hollow booms as they made impact.

Kaji pushed his glider hard to keep up with her. With their radios jammed, he had no way of talking to her, so he pointed instead. As he rolled, the boy held on for dear life, his screams torn away by the wind.

She saw something else coming in. The way it flew reminded her more of the old Space Shuttle than a plane- it tilted heavily back, using the underbelly of its square body to undermine its own momentum, and it looked like the underside was heat shielded. It was enormous, as big as a wide-bodied jumbo jet, and oddly square, with stubby wings. The readout on her HUD indicated some kind of antigrav tech was involved in keeping it aloft. It was heading towards the center of the city.

It leveled off, and fired a salvo of missiles from pods under its wings, directing them at the perimeter of one of the open areas left over from the angel attacks, flattering the construction rigs that had been set up around the rubble. Something tickled the back of Mari's mind.

She knew a hot landing zone being cleared when she saw one.


Asuka ran. There was one place she hadn't been yet, one place she hadn't yet dared visit. She slowed, her boots clicking on the sidewalk as she approached the apartment complex she'd come to call home, before everything went to hell on her. She slowed as she moved up the steps. The door had been barred, a heavy metal plate bolted down over the glass entrance. She raised her hand and focused, and fire wreathed her fingers, superheated plasma spinning into being at her will. She held her hand out and concentrated, and a beam of raw heat slammed into the plate, It bowed inwards and melted like so much cheese, left out in the sun. She stepped under it, untouched by the heat rising off the slag as she stepped inside.

The building had been cleared and the elevator wasn't working, so she took the stairs. When she found the apartment, the front door was smashed open. She stepped inside, and winced. The place was a wreck. Misato's door was smashed in, and the place had been pretty clearly ransacked, by her father's men as well as Essex's. The table and sofa in the living room were overturned, and the entire contents of the kitchen cabinets were lying out on the table. The refrigerators were empty. There was a cold finality to it all, a sepulchral air.

She pushed her own door open. He things were untouched. She lifted her finger and a dancing flame appeared over its tip, illuminating the room. She walked in a slow circle, turning around the undersized room and appraising her sparse collection of things. She didn't know why she came here. There was nothing for her.

Her closet was halfway open. She slid it open fully. Something stood out to her. The jacket she'd worn on the flight from Latveria was hanging in the back of the closer. She touched the sleeve, and something tickled her mind. She turned the lapel aside, and slipped her fingers into the inside pocket. Within there was a simple index card, on which was written a telephone number. A shiver ran down her spine.

She pulled out her cell phone, thought better of it, and tossed it aside. Misato's phone was dead, silent when she touched the cradle to her ear. She ran from the apartment, darting down the steps, and ducked through the melted metal plate. She ran full force until she saw a pay phone tucked under an alcove and almost ran into it, skidding to a stop on the slick heels of her boots. She looked around, saw that she was alone, took a breath.

She picked up the headset and realized she'd have to be quick. No doubt von Doom had the city's communications grid under surveillance. As soon as she spoke, she'd be detected and her conversation recorded. Her fingers were shaking. She almost touched the first button to dial, but pulled back, biting her lip. She closed her eyes to will away the sting of tears. She very nearly put the headset down, hovering it over the cradle, then touched it to her ear.

Very slowly, very deliberately, she dialed the number. It rang twice, and there was an answer.

"Hello, Asuka."

"Captain Rogers," she whispered, as if it would matter. "Please. I need help."

"We're on our way."

Her stomach seized, turning to ice inside her. She trembled, the sudden realization of what she'd just done settling on her shoulders.

Traitor.

"Wait."

She froze. "Hold on. I have someone here who wants to talk to you."

"Asuka?" a strange, eerily familiar voice said, almost in a whisper. "I'm coming."

"Who is this?"

"You don't know me. We met at the airport, I…" he choked up, "I… I'm your father."

Her mouth worked silently. She pressed her eyes tightly shut as the world blurred, and leaned on the phone kiosk.

"Father," she whispered.

A harsh mechanical voice cut her off. "A state of emergency has been declared. All lines are currently busy. Please hold while-"

She dropped the phone. She stumbled two steps back, and turned just in time to the East, where someone stabbed the sky with a pillar of light and set the night on fire.


Shinji ran, ran for his life. Alarms were going off everywhere, and he could feel reality itself screaming, a thousand white-hot shrieks piercing his mind. There was no stillness anywhere. The evacuation alarm blended with another set of blaring shrieks and a loud, artificial voice booming Alpha Labs Containment Breach over and over again. He came to a stop at the end of the corridor just in time for a rippling boom to nearly knock him off his feet. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Victor von Doom surrounded in a nimbus of light, hurling roiling masses of fire with one hand while directing open beams of concussive force from the other. The silver-haired intruder strode forward through it, leaning the devastating blasts as a man leans into a stiff wind.

Shinji bolted, pushed through a set of doors, and found himself in a stairwell. He looked up and down, seeing only identical, gray steps, and decided up was the best option. When he was far enough away from what was going on below, he stopped, panting, to catch his breath. He fell against the wall, closed his eyes, and reached for himself, feeling his spirit press against the bonds of his body.

He didn't so much arrive on the Astral Plane as he was pulled there, sucked in so strongly he nearly lost his concentration and fell back into the material universe. He found himself on all fours, staring down into a brick path. The stones were cracked and warped, and a searing heat radiated up from between them. When Shinji looked up, he blinked and shook his head. There were colors, colors eveywhere, somewhere between smoke and liquid and fire, swirling in every direction, colors for which mortal man knew no name.

"Don't look!"

He turned around. The bubble of sanity in which he stood was ever shrinking. Stephen Strange stood at its center, arms raised up, his head bowed in deep concentration. He dispensed with the illusions of the mind and spoke to Shinji directly, without moving his lips or even looking at him. Shinji turned in a slow circle. The mental landscape they shared was collapsing, devoured by a raging torrent of colors. It pushed in again, and he saw shapes moving within it, formless many-limbed things and laughing faces. He saw the wings of a great bird unfolding, saw a raging torrent of blood tumble from on high and flood around them as lightning crashed and whispered, half-heard secrets tickled his mind and a wave of malignant, bilious stench rolled over him. He stumbled back, nearly colliding with Strange.

"What's happening?"

Strange barely acknowledged him. "A gateway has been opened, and something is trying to come through. I am holding it back."

"Let me lend you my strength, together, we-"

"No," said Strange, "This is not your fight."

Just like that, he fell back into his body. His eyes flicked open, he drew in a deep breath, and ran. His bare feet slapped on the concrete steps and he pumped his arms furiously, as if he could throw himself forward and gain speed. He started taking the steps two at a time, then three at a time, jumping from step to step with ease. When he kicked out his foot for purchase he hit nothing but air and he felt it, he felt the magnetic field under him. He no longer needed to walk. Like pushing the opposing pole of two magnets together, he simply lifted himself, and gasped as he rocketed up, barely missing the underside of the next flight of stairs. He weaved from side to side until he hit the top and brought himself to a skidding, stumbling stop. Breathing hard, he was coated in a thin layer of cold sweat. He looked back down and felt a moment of vertigo when he realized what he'd just done.

There was a door in front of him. He raised his hands and with a gesture tore it right out of the wall and hurled it behind him. There was a rippling boom from below, and he felt the floor itself shaking under his feet. He ran through the door and found himself face first with a pack of Latverian guards in black-and-red uniforms. They raised their rifles and planted them squarely at his head.

"I," he gasped, "don't like guns."

He clapped his hands together. The guards stumbled as the weapons came free of their hands and slammed together, grinding and squealing as they twisted into a solid ball and clattered together on the floor. The guards righted themselves and moved to grab him, and he took hold of their sidearms, still holstered at their hips, and used them to pull them off their feet and drag them by their belts out of his way.

"Stay down," he snapped, and walked past them.

There were more guards. He felt something surging within him. His fists clenched and he bit down hard, grinding his teeth. He could feel the blood in their veins, the tiny particles of iron binding their lives together. He…

He stopped, looked at his hands, and kept walking. The guards didn't trouble him. He pushed through the next door and finally spotted an elevator. He pushed the button, thought better of it, and with force of will ripped the doors out, spreading them apart around him. He looked up into the elevator shaft, reached up with his hands, and curled his fingers, closing his magnetic might around the elevator car itself. He yanked it free, brought it slowly down, and stepped inside. He tilted his gaze up slightly and willed it upwards, his knees buckling a little from the force of his ascent. He didn't know where to go, what to do. When the elevator reached its highest level he pushed out with his hands and shoved away the outer doors, and stepped out. The car lurched behind him, caught on the safety racks.

He had to stop, figure out where he was. He remembered this place, this was part of Essex's labs. His chest was heaving, every breath burned. He was pushing himself too hard, too fast. He stumbled through the corridor, trying to remember the route to the surface. He had to go through the labs, find his way to the other prisoners. He leaned on his knees, and took a breath. This was going to be slow, just too slow. The walls around him were all reinforced concrete. Reinforced with re-bar. Iron re-bar.

He stood up. He took a breath. He folded currents of magnetic force around the strands of ferromagnetic material in the wall in front of him, and pulled. He grimaced as he upped the forced until the concrete cracked into shards and powder and spilled out. The metal bars groaned and twisted open a new door, and he stepped through it. He turned to one side and saw the door to the lab where Essex had strapped Asuka into the machine, and knew where he was.

The others were being in kept in simple barred cells. He pushed through the doors and ran down the cell block. He felt a sting on his lip, brushed away a thin trickle of hot blood from his nose, and breathed in.

Kensuke rushed to the cell nearest him. "Shinji!"

He turned. "Hold on, I'll get everybody out."

He looked around. He could pull the bars out if he wanted to, but he was getting tired. There had to be…

Calm down. Think.

There was a master lever at the end of each row of cells. He took a breath, and with a flick of his hand, lifted them. The doors clanged open, and the children pushed their way out. The cell at the end held Fuyusuki; he looked none the worse for wear, save for a few day's worth of stately beard growing over his chin. He pushed through the throng to Shinji.

"What's happening?" he shouted over the alarms.

"I have no idea," Shinji shouted back, "but it's bad. We need to go. Now!"

Fuyutsuki nodded, waving his arms around. Shinji pushed passed him, and the group began to follow him. The doors that sealed off Essex' section of the lab were easy enough to shove open, but he felt a little stab of pain in his forehead when he did. The more familiar corridors of headquarters proper were a welcome sight. He leaned on the wall.

Fuyutsuki grabbed his shoulder. "You're bleeding."

Shinji touched his upper lip. He scrubbed the edge of his hand under it, drawing away a streamer of thin, runny red blood. He took a breath.

"I'll be fine."

"You don't look-"

"I said I'll be fine!" he snapped, standing up. "Let's go."

He led the way. He felt better now, and was breathing a little more easily. He stopped at the elevators.

"Get everyone out. If there's an angel, I have to get to the cages…" he trailed off, and scrubbed his hands through his hair.

"What?" said Fuyutsuki.

"Asuka."

The old man's eyes hardened.

"I know," said Shinji, "but we need her to pilot, and… I have to make sure she's safe. I don't know why. I think I'm supposed to."

"I'll see what I can do," said Fuyutsuki, "but the Latverians are still holding Central Dogma."

Shinji leaned on his knees. "I don't know what to do."

"I can hack into a terminal," said Kensuke, appearing beside the old man. "I can't do anything about the guards, but I can lock them out if there's some place else with some computers I can use."

Shinji looked from him to Fuyutsuki. The old man nodded. "I know such a place. The labs, adjacent to the cages. We'll keep the children with us. The surface may not be safe."

The elevator doors opened at last. Shinji crowded inside while the rest of the school students pushed into the other elevators. There was barely enough room for half of them. Fuyutsuki stood outside Shinji's elevator.

"Everyone, wait for me. I'm not coming up until everyone is out."

Shinji nodded, and Fuyutsuki returned it as the doors closed. Shinji fell against the back wall, and scrubbed his hand under his nose once again. The bleeding appeared to have stopped, but he still felt lightheaded, like his lungs were full of cotton. Kensuke edged close to him.

"Hey, man, you alright?"

"Fine," Shinji nodded. "Just leave me be."

When the doors opened, he pushed through the throng. He knew his way from here. He ran down the corridor to the wide doors that opened out onto the cage, and skidded to a stop. Standing in the middle of the wide metal bridge that ran in front of the Evas was Doctor Akagi, her wings folded behind her. Standing beside her in her white plugsuit was Rei.

Shinji's jaw dropped. He ran at full speed and nearly bowled her over, throwing his arms around her. Rei furtively hugged him back, resting her head against his. He choked back a sob, feeling a sudden weakness in his knees.

"You're alive," he said triumphantly, turning her in his arms. She blinked in surprise.

"I am alive," she agreed.

"What are you doing in that suit? Your Eva was destroyed."

"I am to pilot Unit One."

Shinji looked at Akagi. "Can she?"

"Yes," said Akagi, "I think so. We were just finishing up a test when the alarms went off. I think we could…"

A stabbing pain in his forehead made him double over. Shinji fell against the rail and Rei grabbed him, pulling him back. He saw the LCL swirling below and the world started spinning. Holding him up, Rei slid her arm under his legs and picked him bodily up from the floor. His vision fuzzed.

"What's wrong?" Akagi said sharply, drawing to his side.

"I don't know," he croaked. "It hurts."

Shinji shook his head. Rei lowered his feet to the floor, sliding herself under his shoulder to hold him up. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared. There was a rolling boom, and the bridge swayed.

"Get her out of here," Shinji said, "Find Asuka and Misato, get everybody somewhere safe."

"No," said Rei. "You will not pilot in this condition."

She turned, leaving him to lean on Ritsuko's shoulder, and headed up the gantry to the entry plug.

"I will execute a remote start. Find a safe place."

"Yeah," said Shinji, "a safe place."

"What's happening?" said Ritsuko.

Shinji shook his head. As Rei climbed into the plug, he followed her back out of the cage, where the students were gathering. As the last of the set of elevators opened, Fuyutsuki emerged with a final cluster of them.

"We're going to your labs," said Fuyutsuki.

"Not a bad idea," said Ritsuko. "Maya should be down there already. Come on."

"I'm not going," said Shinji.

Fuyutsuki rounded on him. "What?"

"I have to find out what's going on. Stay here. I'm going up."


Toji didn't like flying. Clinging to this Kaji guy's waist for dear life, he was staring down at the pitching, rolling city of Tokyo-3, desperately afraid he would fall even though it posed no particular threat to him. What concerned him more was the way Kaji was bobbing and weaving, and the air show going on overhead. More of those things were streaking down out of the sky. They landed at the edge of the city at first, but were starting to come down in between, or through, some of the buildings. Looking down, he could see shapes moving between the buildings, and the lights were starting to go out. Kaji made a frantic motion for them to land.

Toji screamed. The sound was lost in the blasting wind. He ducked over and rolled hard as a jet fighter came streaking in, banking hard. For a brief moment he though that the cavalry was coming in, that they weren't going to be alone. That was until the jet started shooting at them. It made an impossible turn, spinning in the air, and a blast of light crackled past his head. He panicked, Kaji turned, and his concentration slipped.

He was holding on to Kaji by his belt, dragging him off the glider. They turned wildly in the air. Stark moved closer but she couldn't get a hold of them, clawing at the air. Toji did the only thing he could do. He looked down, said a silent prayer, and let go. He fell through the air and Kaji ducked after him, leaning hard on his glider, but it was no use. He skimmed up over a rooftop and Toji kept on going, closing his eyes as the ground rushed up to meet him.

He figured he'd bounce, but he was wrong. When he hit the pavement it folded up around him like a flower with a mighty crack. He rolled onto his feet, looked up, and thought Kaji saw him, but the two were busy. The first jet had been joined by two more, making impossible, gut-twistingly tight turns in an attempt to bring their weapons to bear on Kaji and Stark. They had no choice but to retreat, or at least, Kaji did; he kicked down on his glider and headed for ground level, and vanished behind the rooftops. Toji got up, dusted himself off, and caught a missile in the face.

He didn't even see it coming. The shell moved so fast it got there before the heavy, thumping bang that should have preceded it, and his world went white. He felt the shards of metal and the burst of heat play across his skin and shred his shirt as they rolled him over and bowled him into the wall. He yelped, rubbing at his eye. There was a piece of shrapnel stuck under his eyelid until he managed to rub it away and it tink-tinked on the ground.

There were five of them. The leader must have been the one who shot them- he aimed a heavy pistol, the bore as big as a big man's fist. All five of them had on funny, bird-snout masks and wore huge suits of armor that hissed and clanked as they moved. They looked oddly unbalanced with huge packs on their backs that looked like a pair of jet engines lashed together. Toji blinked. They were enormous, twice as tall as he was, easily. Their armor was purple with green highlights, and on their shoulders they wore the emblem of a white angel with red wings. The leader's icon was made of fine ivory and the wings picked out in rubies.

He stepped in front of the others and lifted a sword. They all had some kind of hand weapon- big axes with teeth, like a chainsaw, or swords that were the same, but the leaders was different, it looked like an ordinary blade, but huge. He thumbed a switch just under the handguard, and with a hissing crackle the blade leapt to life, wrapped in a nimbus of blue light. Moving forward, he swung it side to side, slowly.

He aimed his weapon at Toji again. This time, he was ready. When the big pistol fired, the bolt hit him square in the chest, but he anchored himself to the ground and it simply burst around him. Toji charged, folding his arms in front of his face. The leader took a wide swing with his blade, but Toji skidded to a stop at the last second and anchored himself with all his might, drew himself into the ground so hard it cracked the pavement. The force of the blow shifted him slightly, but the blade folded around his arm. The energy field screamed, opened up over his chest, and blinded him.

Then, the sword exploded. The armored giant stumbled backwards, spewing guttural curses, as shards of glowing metal flew around him, scouring the blue from his armor. He fired his big gun wildly, the shots blowing chunks out of the street. Toji ran forward, jumped, and only managed to get his arms about the giant's waist, and then he couldn't reach all the way around. It didn't matter. The armored figure stumbled to the side, and Toji clenched his teeth and focused on hitting the ground with all his might.

They went down together. The armored giant was pinned underneath him. There was a rippling crack as the side of his armor dented in from Toji's suddenly multiplied weight. One of the others took a swing at him with a clattering, snarling chainsaw-sword, but the teeth just played over his skin and bounced off. He raised his arm up, and though he was no stronger, he made it as heavy as he could, until his vision, blurred, and brought it down. The beaked helmet cracked, and the monster inside made a guttural, gurgling noise.

Toji rolled off. His attacker had dropped the pistol, and Toji went for it In his hands, it was blocky and ridiculously oversized. He coudln't get his hand around the grip, so he couched it in the crook of his shoulder, pointed it at one of the monsters, and pushed the trigger in with his hand. It went off with a thunderclap, danced up out of his grasp, and slapped him in the face as it tumbled over his shoulder, but the shot went into one of their legs and burst, blowing out the side of the armor. Toji looked away from the wound, suddely sickened, as the giant went down on one knee.

They raised their pistols and opened fire. Toji covered his face with his arms as the shells burst across his head and chest, pummeling him, but he felt nothing. He cried out in a rage as a tiny, sad little voice whispered in the back of his head.

I would have liked to go dancing with you.

He turned his face up to the heavens and weeping, he screamed. Gravity was his plaything, mass his toy. The field surrounding his body rippled out along the ground, spreading cracks and fissures in the earth with it. One of the armored giants pushed a button on his chest, and fire burst out from his enormous backpack. He lifted skyward for a bare second, then turned, his center of gravity pulling him down backwards, and when the pack cracked against the ground, it exploded. The world went white, and Toji remembered what pain was as the sound washed over him.

When he stood up, he was unharmed, though he was covered in soot and bare from the waist up, his pants mostly hanging around him in shreds.

He didn't look at the bodies. Instead, he ran, ran without knowing a reason. The world was going insane. There were fires in the city now, tongues of flame licking up into the night sky, and he heard the sound of screaming and the roaring, snarling clatter of the invaders chainsaw weapons. More of the pod-things were streaking in, and he saw small clusters of armored giants like the ones he'd fought leaping out of boxy purple-and-green aircraft that passed rumbling overhead, firing their big jet packs to slow their descent as they came down in the city.

Another one of them came down in front of him, a loner this time. His armor was streaked with red, and it wasn't paint. He was carrying something wet in his hand, his pistol lost. He'd torn his helmet off; Toji could see bits of it attached to a ring around his neck. He was bald, his face scarred, and his face had a bizarre, equine proportion to it, human but not human. He threw whatever it was he carried aside with a wet slap and charged Toji, raising his sword high, snarling with it. He managed a guttural roar as he brought it down on Toji's upraised arm.

"Blood!" he screamed in a lunatic froth, "Blood!"

Toji didn't think of a clever reply. He brought his foot up, then down. The ground rolled beneath them, the pavement lifting in a series of almost perfectly rectangular sections as it slid under the armored giant. The monster rolled, and Toji scrambled on top of him. Still screaming madly, the invader swung his sword, bashing the now unmoving teeth futilely against Toji's neck. He glanced over at the object the crazy bastard had discarded, and made a horrified, guttural sound, his face twisting into a rictus of disgust and anguish.

He reached down and put both his hands on the attacker's face. He opened his huge mouth and spat something on Toji, something that sizzled and hissed on his shoulder, but Toji felt nothing. He rested both hands on the armored giant's forehead, closed his eyes, and made himself very heavy.

When he stood up, he stumbled against the building nearest, and burst out weeping. He sat there on the ground for a few minutes, sobbing his eyes out. He heard a scream in the distance and his jaw set. He got up, swiped the sizzling pad of frothing liquid off his shoulder onto the ground, where it began to eat into the pavement, and stumbled away from the dead giant.

He took a deep breath, breathing in the salt of his own tears, and steadied himself. There were other people out there, running screaming through the night with these monsters chasing them, and they weren't indestructible. He ran towards the sounds, any semblance of a plan forgotten. Hikari and the others were going to be on their own.


Asuka was running. She was surrounded, the unknown enemy on all sides. Their assault was swift, brutal, precise, almost mechanical in its execution. The pod-landers were coming down like rain now. She recognized the tactics being employed immediately. The ring of pods that came down around the city deployed the invaders in a cordon, preventing any escape as the second and third waves landed in the buildings themselves, supported by the aircraft blasting overhead. This was no pitched battle, it was an ambush on grand scale, a massacre. Years of reading dusty books from Doom's private library came to life.

Hell was raining from the sky, and it meant to kill them all.

She ducked as a jet passed overhead, skimming suicidally low over the rooftops. It banked right, then sharply left, executing a turn so tight it had to roll through it, coming around so hard the pilot's brain must have been jellied. She half expected it to crash into the ground in front of her, and for a bare second she thought it was coming apart under the stress as it crumpled, the wings drawing up as the nose and cockpit tumbled forward. It continued to roll until it landed, stood up, and aimed a heavy gun, bolted to its fist, at her.

"Don't," it said in a high-pitched, scratchy voice, "Move."

Asuka raised her hands.

"I said don't move."

"I won't," she sneered.

Fire lanced out from her palms, in a tight beam, and washed over the mechanical monstrosity, bowling him backwards. Sputtering, he wildly fired his weapon, missing her by a wide margin. It hit the corner of an apartment block and blew out chunks of charred concrete. When it moved towards her again, it seemed unharmed, but for the scorching. She bolted, not waiting to give it a chance to line up a second shot. She glanced over her shoulder as it ponderously turned and lurched after her, picking up speed with every lengthy stride.

She spotted an alleyway between two three story storefronts and darted between them. The robot slammed into the facades, knocking loose a torrent of bricks, and feebly waved its arm after her. She glanced back, looked forward, and melted a smoking hole through a chain link fence. She had to get back to headquarters, and in a hurry.

"This is Starscream! I have her! Decepticons, converge on my position!'

Running into the street, Asuka skidded to a stop on her heels and nearly fell as a mechanical thing lunged at her, some sort of mechanical panther. It leapt over her, turned, and snarled like an animal, head held low, is claws scraping long furrows in the pavement. She backed away from it, only to be confronted by another giant, taller than the other, with a glassy structure in its chest that resembled nothing less than the door on the front of an old tape deck. She was quickly surrounded- five of them, stomping green things festooned with an array of parts from construction equipment, ran down the street and leveled a set of bizarre weapons at her.

The jet, apparently the leader, raised its fist and spoke into it. She blinked, and some secret part of her mind wondered, unbidden, why a machine would have such a crud means of communication.

"I have her."

She edged towards a running start, but the cyber-cat paced closer to her, hissing.

She clenched her teeth.

"Get out of my way."

"Or what?" the leader snapped, petulantly.

"This."

She clenched her fists, rolled her shoulders, and burned. The oxygen around her went out with a mighty whump, and the glow made her close her eyes. Wreathed in flame, she raised her hands and swept them at the most likely means of escape, the cat-thing. The blast rolled it over, sending it tumbling end over end into a car. She upped the intensity, gritting her teeth, and the car itself went red hot, the tank caught, and it exploded, going up with a crunching whump.

The creature got up, unharmed. Asuka bolted into a run, trailing blazing heat behind her. The pavemented melted under her feet as her shoes turned to cinders and peeled away in the wind, black dust in the air. Her uniform with its special, fireproof weave, held. The tape-deck robot reached up, pushed a button on its chest, and started launching rectangular blocks of metal shapes and gears. They unfolded in mid-air, landed, and chased after her.

She didn't even know where she was going anymore, she was just running. The leader planted his fists on his hips, as if he found all of this very amusing. He was smirking at her.

This was not acceptable.

She turned around. She threw her arms out, and she screamed. All her rage roiled through her, all her fury. She'd lost everything and thrown way what few shreds she had with a phonecall, and now these things meant to mock her. The heat washed from her, an expanding sphere of superheated plasma that melted the pavement under her feet and burst the surrounding buildings into flames. She wasn't even touching the ground anymore.

She opened her eyes. A single thought bubbled through her mind.

I can fly.

It was like leaping into water and discovering she could tread water. She rose up without quite meaning to, carried on a shimmering column of heat. Her attackers retreated, snapping and snarling. She did not have time for these idiots. She needed to get to headquarters, and she needed to get there now. She raised her arms and plunged them down, and set the earth beneath her to burn. Molten rock and running, white-hot metal jetted up around her as she dove, burning her way down through the layers of soil and rock and armor plating. She screamed as she pushed the fire hotter, drew herself into it, became fire. Her entire body was wreathed in flames; her hair stood on end, licking up from her scalp as a roaring conflagration. She plunged through the roof of the Geofront, the glass of the mirror system dripping around her like rain as she melted through it.

Hovering was easy. She just had to think it. She put her hands out and hung in the air, her own light washing out over the mirrors and illuminating the rolling fields and cultivar forest below. She should have been truiumphant, exultant, heady with glory. Her moment of triumph had come, she had mastered her gift.

Yet for all the heat, she was cold.

She put her hands to her sides and rocketed downwards, pushed by a blast of heat projected from her feet. In a somersault she landed, her bare feet turning the soft soil of the Geofront to dirty glass as they sank into them. She took a few steps forward, swept out her arms, and the flames winked out, leaving her now wild mane of unkempt hair to pool around her shoulders.

The world below was calm. Whoever these invaders were, they had not breached the cavern itself, at least not yet. She put one foot in front of the other and ran down the garden path, towards the gleaming pyramid. A ripple of fear flowed through her- there seemed to be no activity from within. She stumbled to a stop as she heard the first of the rippling booms.

She looked up. The mirrors lined the underside of the city like a pool of liquid gold, suspended high overhead. With each thundering impact, they rippled, and she heard the tinkling sound of breaking glass, a whole chorus of shatterings. The impacts increased in intensity and speed, and a rolling wave of cracks ran across the mirror system, from one side of the Geofront to the other. She threw her hands up as the first great shards of glass began to fall, vainly shielding her face. A plate of gleaming mirror came down on a hill before her, folding as it hit the ground, and threw up a cloud of dust.

She had to get out of the open. She bolted, her lungs burning from exertion. She was beginning to tire, and the pyramid was still far off, gradually looming closer with every step. Close, now. With a mighty tearing sound, a whole section of the mirrors fell free, slid slowly down to earth, and crashed into the side of the pyramid. It sent out a shower of sparks and crumpled down the side. She pumped her legs as hard as she could, dying to slow, knowing if she stopped she would never start again. It was too far.

She saw a tiny figure running towards her. It was Shinji.

He was clutching his side, panting hard as he stumbled to a stop. He looked up as another pale sheet of mirror glass came tumbling through the air. Throughout the earthen interior of the domed cavern roof, cracks were spreading. With a titanic groan, the entire underside of the city shifted. A rain of gears came crashing down, followed a moment later by one of the armored skyscrapers, moving with a strange grace as it descended, struck the earth in a cloud of dust and a rising ring of mud, and folded on itself with a tearing, cracking roar.

Shinji looked at her.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted, her words lost in the roar.

"Your father sent me to find you," he shouted, dumbly. He took a stumbling step towards her.

"What's going on?" she shouted back. "I was attacked."

"I don't know," he bellowed, cupping his hands around his mouth over the roar. "We have to get inside, the-"

He looked up. His big blue eyes opened wide in shock and terror. A sound of cracking concrete and groaning steel rippled through the Geofront, and the roof began to bow. Slowly, inexorably, the foundations of the city were sinking, pounded from above by a thunderous, continuous vibration, now doubled on itself and increasing in intensity and frequency. Asuka could feel it in her skull, feel her eardrums vibrate so hard they were itching.

Shinji didn't blink. He didn't speak. He threw up his hands and trembled, going pale as a sheet. His fingers stretched out against some invisible force, and a fine trickle of blood ran down his upper lip and dripped on his chin. She saw red lines forming in his eyes as his capillaries inflated, and she understood.

She flexed her fingers, reached up, and touched her palms to his cheeks. He stared up, his mouth hanging open, and she wasn't sure if he even realized she was there. The fires came to her unbidden, the roiling plasma wreathing around her body for a moment before, with a tight whump, it swirled down her arms and her wrists and flowed into him, melding with his body. He stood straighter, and the color came back to his face. He clenched his teeth.

His eyes met hers, and together they held up the sky.

Panic surged through her as a shadow fell over them. A dinosaur was walking up to the pair, slowly, deliberately. She thought it was a tyrannosaur, perhaps the one that escaped from the cargo ship during the angel attack, but it was to small, the gaze of its beady-eyes too keen, and it was smirking.

It roared, and its body unfolded. It took a lunging step forward, spreading itself as it turned sideways, and a mechanical being unfurled from within, locking together with the clattering of metal and grinding of gears. It held the tyrannosaur head out, opened it, and a strange glow grew within, humming with power.

"Oh," it said, "You Shinjis do love to sacrifice yourselves, don't you?"


The weapons fire from the ground was like a hailstorm falling up, or embers rising from a roiling flame. Mari leaned in the suit and rolled to the side. This was the first time she had truly tested the Mark X, and the clinical part of her mind noted the ease with which it maneuvered, seeming to fit better than the others, even. That part of her mind kept her ground and sane as fist-sized mass reactive shells streaked past her. She'd already taken one in the leg and there were red lines through the main structural members. She could raise her repulsor field to full, but she wouldn't be able to fly at the same time.

The invaders were everywhere at once, storming through the city on foot, making short leaps with jump packs on their backs. They moved in tight, ordered packs in some places, while in others they broke ranks and chased after groups of civilians, raising their hand to hand weapons and screaming. Mari clenched her teeth and came in for a hard, rolling landing, her stomach lurching as she rolled over on her back and up onto her feet. The terrified crowd behind her spared a look and kept running as the armored giants bore down on her, seemingly forgetting their pistols as they raised bizarre weaponized chainsaws.

She squared herself up, ducked under a too-fast swing, and hit her attacker with two repulsor blasts in chest. The stylized eagle on his breastplate cracked from the impact but he pushed through it and on the backswing, caught her with the non-lethal edge of his blade. She fixed herself in place and pushed, managing to wrench it out of his hand, only for his other to come around in a massive fist and crack her right in the face. Her vision spun as she was knocked backwards, the faceplate bumping her nose, barely absorbing the impact. The other stood around and cheered, challenging the frothing madman to take her on.

Bareheaded, he was inhuman, both too big and too oddly proportioned. He was bald and there were metal studs embedded on his forehead, and when he opened his mouth to scream, she saw his teeth were filed to sharp points and his tongue was too short, as if he'd bitten it off. He charged at her as if he meant to strangle her. She kicked down in her boots, popped up on a quick blast of her boot thrusters, and came down hard, hitting him in the face with a savage right cross. She felt bone crunch under the blow, but her opponent was none the worse for wear. He stomped past her turned, and smeared the blood from his broken jaw on his gauntlet.

Then, very deliberately, he licked it off.

Gagging, Mari backed off. The others remembered they had ranged weapons and opened fire on her. The shells touched off as the struck her, tossing her around like a rag doll. Another squad was coming up, more heavily armored, with larger packs on their backs. One of them had a belt fed weapon of some kind, and one of them had some sort of cannon connected to the power plant on his back. She decided she wasn't going to find out what happened when they fired that thing. The civilians were clear, and she took off, throwing her arms to her sides. Once she was airborne dodging the incoming fire was easy, but she'd already taken some damage. She turned hard, spun, and ducked under the level of the surrounding buildings for cover.

She heard a rippling boom, followed quickly by another and another. Dust was rising up from two spots in the city. She headed towards it, skimming low between the buildings. She hadn't seen Kaji. Some part of her prayed silently he was still alive while she peeled off, made a sharp turn using her hand repulsors to correct, and sped towards the rising dust columns. The pounding sound grew louder and faster, and on the latest, loudest impact, every pane of glass in the area shattered all at once, falling in a sheet to the street below, and the street lamps were swaying. She rounded the corner and came to a hover, gaping.

Robots. They were all sizes, most of them twenty feet tall or larger, though there were some smaller ones mixed in with the others. One of them, barely taller than a person, was standing in the middle of the square. Both of its arms were massive pile drivers, and it was they that were pounding into the city. Mari realized what it was doing- somehow, despite its diminutive size, it was shaking the entire foundation of the city- which was the roof of the biggest cafe in the world. She had to put a stop to that.

Or she would have. One of the bigger ones spun around when it noticed her. Tall and silvery, it had a face, a cruel face, and some kind of icon hanging around its neck on a chain. It level a massive gun bolted to its arm, took aim, and fire. She just barely dodged, a streak of energy lancing past her with a massive ker-whump.

"Destroy that!" it shouted over the pounding, and the others turned on her. She spun frantically in the air to avoid their blasts, and had no choice but to turn and spiral up.

She looked back over her shoulder. Three of them peeled off, jumped, and unfolded in their air. Their bodies rearranged, and suddenly there were three F-16's following her, a mostly red and white leader and his two wingmen, both darker colored. They opened fire on her not with missiles or with gunfire but with lasers. She turned too sharply and one of their shots hit her shoulder, and red lines ran through her HUD. Biting her lip, she punched on the thrusters, trying to outmaneuver them, but they spun in the air as no human pilot could, turning and twisting with ease, just barely missing her.

The world beneath her groaned and she thought she was falling, but she wasn't. The whole city lurched, and she saw part of the street beneath her crack, tilt, and sink down a good ten feet, though it still held. The pounding was so loud now she could barely hear anything else. To her horror, she realized that the others, the giants in armor suits, were pulling back to their perimeter, running and taking short flight-hops with their jet packs. Even the robots were retreating- they could all fly, apparently, as they raised their arms and took off into the air.

She rolled over onto her back and blinked on the targeting reticle. The rocket launchers in her shoulders locked on, and though the let was stuck, the right unfolded. The leader of the three jets peeled off easily, but she was on target and the cloud of micromunitions she fired split into two clusters of spiraling contrails and slammed home wit a rippling series of booms, hurling her attackers off target. One of them reformed into a robot before it hit the ground, the other simply dove in to the city. The red one came after her even faster, kicking on its afterburners. She relied on the suit to compensate and went into a steep dive, heading straight for the ground, and the red jet followed her in a deadly game of chicken.

She pulled up. She felt the blood draining from her face, and the world darkened, streaked with black and red. Her mouth fell open and she felt like vomiting, barely able to suppress the urge. She was pushing the limit on the g-forces the suit could take, as a friendly warning on her HUD informed her. She didn't quite make it. She bounced once, rolled onto her side, and got up.

"Damage report!"

She saw in detail that she was hurting. She was out of shoulder-fired missiles, and one of the launchers was totally jammed. She was only running at 60% capacity on her arc reactor and there were red lines all through her left side where she'd taken the hits from the shells before putting up the force field when she landed. She was also very dizzy, and she had to go to the bathroom.

The jet didn't crash. It flipped in the air, unfolded, and landed in a crouch.

"Not bad," it said in a high-pitched sing-song, "but pointless."

She dodged the first shot. The second hit her and pushed the field to its limit, rolling her. She got up and fired with her repulsors, but she may as well have been spitting on it for all the good it did. Smoke poured from the spots where she hit, but it didn't seem to do any damage. It kept firing lazily at her. She had to end this now and get back in the fight, do something about that pile-driver thing.

"Amusing," said the robot, "but I'm finished playing with you now."

It raised its other arm and fired a shot, but this one was wide, a sort of warping field of energy that expended out in front of it. It hit her shields and merged with them, attuning itself to the repulsor signature, and flowed into her armor. A spark bit into her cheek and she smelled the magic blue smoke, and the armor went dead around her. She sank to her knees, staring at the world through the holes of her face plate. The armor feebly crackled to life, the autorepair sequence enganging. She had a HUD, but she couldn't move.

It was all in time to see the robot jet bring his foot up and crush it down onto her chest. The armor crumpled, and the air went out of her lungs. She sputtered, and saw another craft pass overhead. Great, the others were going to gloat. A tag popped up in her HUD.

It couldn't be. It was a Quintjet.

A missile streaked in and struck her attacker in the chest. This one must have been enough to hurt him, because he stumbled backwards, shielding his face with his arms. The self repair routine was working, she'd have enough power to get up in a minute. The Quintjet came around, swiveling its engines into VTOL, and landed behind her.

A tall woman in an overcoat walked out. The robot was still clutching the burn mark on his chest -nothing seemed to do more than scorch the finish on the damned thing- and looked at her with a sort of contempt. Mari could almost getup, a few more seconds. Whoever she was, she didn't look to be armed- just a pair of pants and a sweater under her overcoat, her silver-streaked blonde hair drawn up behind her head in a ponytail. She stood over Mari and spared her a glance, then fixed her gaze on the towering machine.

"You really want to leave."

"We'll see about that!" it sneered. It raised its arm-weapon and fired.

The shot bounce back and struck it in the chest, staggering it. A wave of invisible force swept down the street, lifting the machine from its feet, and slammed it into the building behind it. It got up, staggering, only to be struck again. The woman in the overcoat stepped over Mari and advanced, raising her hand. Invisible blows hammered the machine, shoving it backwards. It finally turned, transformed in a swirl of unfolding metal plates, and took off.

Mari sat up. When her helmet refused to open, she had to push it up.

"Uh," she said, "Hi, and you are-"

Mari squinted. She did look familiar. Wasn't she at her father's funeral?

The woman offered her hand, looked at Mari's metal gauntlet, and thought better of it. "You probably don't remember me. Susan Storm."

The ground shook again, rolling under their feet.

"We have to-"

A thin man in a leather jacket ran down the ramp from the Quintjet. "Sue! Get back in the jet!"

Whatever was holding up the world let go.

"Peter!" she shouted, "Get everyone close to me! This is going to be bad!"


Hikari ran. There was nothing for her to find purchase on in the Geofront, no high surfaces to climb. She had to reach them, had to stop this. There was a monster out of her nightmares bearing down on Shinji and Asuka, aiming the head of a dinosaur at them, and within it flared death as fire within the dragon's mouth. Misato ran beside her, taking long, leaping strides, the tendrils of her costume streaming out behind her, edging ahead, screaming incoherently. Shinji and Asuka were locked together in some kind of trance, her hands on his face while he reached for the sky, stretching his fingers.

The mechanical monster spotted them, turned, and fired. Hikari knew it was coming and twisted out of the way, flipping onto her hands. In midair she undid her backpack and let it fall on the ground, cartwheeled, and when she was on her feet, leapt. The monster swung at her with a lizard's tail folded into a claw, but she slapped her hands on it, stuck there, and spun her whole body around, crossing its face with her feet. It sputtered and tried to shake her loose. It fired another burst at Misato as she came shrieking in, but missed, and they were both on it.

"Help me, you fools!"

"Yes, my Queen! Defend the Royalty!"

Hikari turned. It was a robot or an ant or a robot ant as big as a horse, charging across the fields of the Geofront floor. It rolled, unfolded with a clattering of metal, and stood up. She had to duck as a sphere of fire rocketed past her head, fired from an enormous gun. Misato panicked, rushing back as the creature brought its gun around at her, laughing like a maniac, firing pounding shots.

Hikari flattered herself on the tyrannosaur-thing's back and ducked as a wasp as big as a person ducked over her head. She barely missed being gored by its stinger. It did a backlip in the air, unfolded into a freaking robot, and came at her. In a fury she jumped at it, grabbed its legs, and fired a web at the ground. She looped it through her fingers and pulled, bring them both down. She landed on all fours and the wasp-bot hit hard, rolling end over end with a loud clattering of bending metal.

She barely got out of the way from another blast by the leader. Hikari leapt over him and charged the ant-thing, leaping at the last second to avoid another blast from its gun. She planted both feet in its face, knocking it backwards, backflipped onto the ground, and ducked between its legs as it swung its weapon at her, trying to bash her with the barrel.

"Misato!" Hikari shouted, "Switch dance partners!"

Misato nodded and charged the dinosaur monster, scrabbling over the ground on all fours. It swung its dino-head-arm around and clamped down on her. A look of feral joy twisted her features as she forced the mouth-claw apart with her hands. The thing stumbled backwards, grunting in annoyance, and Misato spun around and landed a savage kick on its chest, denting in the metal plate. She jumped over a swing from its other weapon, landed on its shoulder, and began tugging at its head. The costume had flowed up around her face and a second jaw hung from her chin, riddled with sharp teeth and a lolling tongue.

Hikari was too busy to be freaked out. The ant and the wasp were both after her, now. She dodged shot after shot, flipping and cartwheeling, but without any walls to climb there were only so many places to go. She had to think quickly, on her feet. She turned and fired a quick burst of web into the ant's eyes. It cried out, roaring in confusion as it scrubbed at its face, scratching metal claws over metal. Hikari turned, grabbed the wasp by the leg, and dragged him in front of her as the ant fired wildly. The blast hit the wasp-thing and the force of it knocked her off her feet. The scorched wasp robot rolled over her and landed in a heap, and she jumped to her feet and was free.

The leader roared in fury, seized Misato, and smashed her into the ground, rared up, and stomped his foot down on her. Hikari screamed and ran at him. She dodged his first shot, but this time he fired a continuous beam, and she could only dodge so quickly. It hit her like a freight train, and pain exploded through her midsection. She landed in a heap, rolling over, clutching her side. She could feel the ribs moving under her skin, broken by the impact.

Misato snarled and pushed up, toppling the monstrosity over, and crawled on top of him, pounding wildly with her fists. Hikari limped to her feet and turned in time to see a pair of launch rails rocket out of the ground, half a kilometer away from the pyramid. They were followed in short order by Shinji's Eva, Unit One. It rose up, bounced into place, and then surged forward, hands at its sides. She didn't know who was piloting, but she had to get their attention. She threw up her arm and waved, but when she tried to cry out, she managed only a feeble rasp. Her side hurt too much.

The ant robot scraped the webbing from its face and rounded on her. Grasping her side, she dodged out of the way of his shots, more clumsily this time, feeling the heat as they passed. The rumbling of the city foundations overhead was growing louder, and she saw sections of it start to sink in. Shinji made a pained cry, and blood trickled down his lip and over his chin, spattering over his chest. Asuka, not seeing Hikari or anything that was going on, leaned closed to him and kissed him on the lips. He seemed to grow stronger, and the shifting of the Geofront roof lessened.

The pain in Hikari's chest wasn't from her ribs.

She charged the ant-thing, jumped over its head, planted her feet on it shoulders, and sommersaulted. As she turned in the air, she used her free hand to fire a webline onto its back, landed, and ran. She anchored it to the ground, jumped, and fired another one. It hit the big gun, and she yanked it out of its hand. The thing raised its claws and charged her and she hit it again, wrapping a web around its leg. It stumbled forward and she attached one to its face and danced all around it, webbing it to the spot. She had to help Misato.

The fight was turning against her. The dinosaur monster rammed the end of its tail-claw into her stomach, lifting her bodily from the ground, and then turned and bashed her with the side of its other arm, knocking her end over end, then quickly brought its weapon to bear and fired. The symbiote slithered and thrashed from the impact, and Misato fell limp onto the ground. The thing casually walked over to her, picked her up in its jaws, and stared crushing her midsection.

Hikari let go of her side and ran. She dodged a wild swing, jumped over it, and webbed up the robot's eyes. It didn't panic as the others did, but raised its arms into a guard, dropping Misato. She grunted as she rolled, shook her head, and got up. Hikari landed on all fours, slid a little in the mud, and ran back under a swing of the big red-head. It had to have a weak spot, something she could do to slow it down. Her blows did nothing but hurt her fists, and she realized she was just screaming and beating on it while it stood there and took it.

It grinned at her with perfectly square, too white teeth. "I think not. No."

It backhanded her with its big claw. She tried to get out of the way but when she moved, pain lanced through her side, making her curl up on herself, and her leap was half-hearted, over before it began. The blow hit her other side and she heard something crunch, maybe her arm. The ant robot was getting back up. Misato leapt at the leader, and he battered her to the side, brought the jaw of his great claw around, and closed them around her head. She flailed as he lifted her up and brought her down, swinging her around by the neck.

The ant reached for Hikari, opening scissor claws on the end of its arm. She dodged, but barely, and the sharp curve of one claw slid across her shoulder, opening her up. Heat pooled at the top of her arm. She grabbed the ant-bot's arm, bent it over her shoulder, and pulled. It howled in pain as the joint bent backwards over her shoulder and she cried out in savage fury, turning to plant her foot in its chest. Sparks flew from the ruined joint, and she turned on it, meaning to finish the job, but she suddenly felt lightheaded.

Unit One was stomping across the Geofront, every step shaking the world beneath her. The pilot may have noticed them, she wasn't sure, but it was moving. A sense of relief washed over her as she turned and pushed off from the ant robot, leaping at the leader. She shoulder-checked into it, staggering it, and Misato broke free, snarling like an animal. They attacked together, pummeling the robot with their blows as Shinji and Asuka stood behind them, locked in place, their foreheads touching. Tears were streaming down Asuka's face.

Her temples pounded, and the world swirled. Danger, terrible danger, no direction. It came from everywhere at once, turning stronger every way she turned. There was a crack of pulsing thunder and air washed over her a as a half-sphere of light formed not twenty feet away. The backwash pushed her onto her back and she had to roll to void a sweeping blow. She saw a group of figures standing in the light and when it receded, they were fully there. Five of them, well over ten feet tall, in hulking, snouted armor that clanged and clattered when the moved. The leader… the leader was Toji. His head was too big and the scars, but it was him, she'd know that face anywhere, and… and…

There was another with the giants, who was to them as they were to Hikari. He stood chest and shoulders over them in armor as red as blood, fringed with beaten brass. The pelt of a huge wolf was draped down his back, and in one hand he carried a sword of red crystal, as long as a man was tall. He waved it overhead and motioned forward as there were more cracks of thunder and more of the giant started appearing on the battlefield. Unit One took notice and swung around.

Hikari's jaw dropped. The giant was a mirror image of Shinji. Older, scarred, hair that flowed over the breastplate of his enormous armor, but it was him. He stepped onto empty air as fire of a thousand alien colors wreathed him, lighting the Geofront with a strange glow. The red crystal sword in his hand leapt to life as he swung it, wreathed in flames. A curling crescent of fire formed in front of him and raced across the field and when it hit Unit One, the Eva actually staggered, the blast of energy crashing into its AT-Field, manifesting in the visible spectrum as it deflected the hit. The giant seemed to grow in size, swinging its blade, hurling raw force at the Eva.

Hikari turned around. Her head felt like it was full of air, and her shoulder was a red mass and burning. Her side ached, and her legs were like springs, compressed too long until they could no longer extend. She turned and ran for Shinji and Asuka even as Misato saw the, disengaged from the robot, and joined her. They were too late. The Toji monster stepped up behind them, raising a massive five fingered claw. With the bank of its hand it brushed Asuka away, sending her rolling across the ground. With its other hand, it ran Shinji through, putting two long claws through his belly and out the other side.

Asuka screamed. Hikari stumbled.

The sky fell.


Pain lanced up Asuka's side as she fell, but it was nothing, a feather floating in the wind. A sudden, crippling, sickening feeling of utter defeat flowed through her as the armored monster stepped up to Shinji and ran him through. The sound of the blades punching through his gut crunched in her ears and she cried out. She was supposed to defend him. Protect him. It was what she was for. She had failed. The world was falling apart. A giant was hurling waves of fire at Unit One. Hikari was dying. Katsuragi was being beaten to a pulp.

She failed.

She was on her feet. The fire came. She was fire. She raised her arms and curled her hands fists and it lanced out, washing over the armored beast that bore the Suzahara boy's face. Flames poured over him, blackening his armor, searing his flesh, broiling him in his suit. She screamed and screamed, and her mouth could only form the word burn, turned into a long, gurgling streak of anguish. She threw her arms over head and whipped them forward, rolling another gout of flame over him. Screaming, the armored monster stepped backwards, covered in white hot fire.

The sky was falling. The cavern of the Geofront cracked and fell, folding in like a melting cheese. She didn't care. She rushed to Shinji's side, pulling him to her, smearing her uniform with his blood. He grunted, pressing his hand to his wound, and she put his head on her shoulder. He smiled softly at her, his eyes glazing as he looked past her face to the collapsing roof. She saw the failure in his eyes and cursed herself. He was dying in her arms.

She looked down. The blood was flowing back into his wound, soaking from his clothes into the twin gashes, flowing in reverse. He curled against her and coughed.

"There's iron," he rasped, "in your blood."

She held him close and used her fire to keep him warm. It flowed into him, draining from her. Tears turned to steam on her cheeks, lost before they were born. She closed her eyes and touched her lips to his forehead, touching as much of him as she could to share her gift with him.

Unit One raised its arms, and she saw the AT-Field unfurl, deflecting the falling chunks of concrete, earth, and steel. The greater part of the underside of the city crumbled against it, pushing it down, and the Eva tilted to the side, buckling under the pressure. The rumbling crash of the collapsing city filled her ears, and the Evangelion lurched to the side as multicolored flame licked its flank, burning away the armor. A giant of light strode through the heavens, bearing a flaming sword like the avenging angel of the Old Testament. Though tiny before the Eva, it battered the great machine, pounding it back.

More chunks of masonry fell. The city was slowly rolling down into the cavern. The ground shook as the falling debris came to rest on the Geofront floor, and from above, the armored giants rained down from the sky, falling on columns of flame from their backs. They swarmed the exposed Geofront.

The Toji-thing stood up, brushing the flame from its face. Half of its skull was charred, covered in black burns, but still it laughed, rasping out coughing chunk of phlegm as it came on her. She pulled Shinji close to her and pressed her eyes shut. At least she could go with him.

"Stop."

She knew that voice. She whipped her head around. A wave of fear rolled through her. For a moment, she thought Shinji was already dead, and his ghost had come from the grave to punish her for her failure. The apparition was his twin, wreathed in light, clad only in a loose cloth that rolled around him in the air. He strode up to her and the clawed beast had the presence of mind to stop in its tracks and obey. It edged away from him snarling wordlessly.

"He could have prevented this, you know. I offered him the chance to join me."

"He'd never join you," she screamed, "he's good!"

He, or it, smirked. He dropped something on the ground, a blackened, charred hunk of metal, still steaming. She knew a mask when she saw it.

She screamed.

"Ah, that I could have that sound to lull me to sleep each night."

"This one is mine."

The leader of the giants strode across the field. He too wore Shinji's face, old and scarred, his hateful eyes framed by a mane of black hair that hung around his shoulders. He towered even over the monstrosities he commanded, bearing the great red sword over his shoulder.

"You said you would deal with the Eva."

The gleaming phantom turned, sighed, and stepped. As he walked, he doubled in size with each stride. Asuka blinked, her mind reeling as she attempted to comprehend and failed. Within his light she saw alien geometries, cascading unfoldings of meaning that left her speechless, unable to tear her gaze away. He was as tall as the Eva and seized it by the neck, lifting it bodily from the ground. He reached around behind it, curled his glowing fingers around the umbilical cable, and snapped it.

"You're attached to him," the giant said. "I am Iquarius, the Primarch of the Crimson Vengeance. At least by my hand, his death will be swift."

Asuka screamed. She raised her hand and hurled a torrent of flame at him, but he waved it aside as if it were nothing. His huge hand shot out, clamped around her throat, and dragged her up, lifting her off her feet. She grabbed at his wrist, gasping for air.

The Primarch looked up. Something was falling out of the sky.


Hikari rolled over. Her right arm wouldn't move, and her left leg was a cold, dull mass. Every breath tattooed a new roadmap of pain across her side and her chest. She tried to sit up, and failed. The monsters were winning. The monster picked Asuka up by her neck and left Shinji curled around the wound in his belly, trying to force his own blood back in with his powers. She raised her hand, curled her two fingers in, and fired a thin streamer of web. It missed the monster's leg by a good foot. It looked down at her, contempt written on Shinji's features. It stole his face. She hated it.

Its huge foot came down on her arm. She felt the bones pop. It was academic, really. Cold tendrils curled around her vision, and the world was becoming a dark tunnel. Unbidden, images flooded her mind. Shinji's beautiful face filling her sight as she kissed him. Kodama and Nozomi, smiling. She saw her mother, a distant glimpse of a forgotten kindness, a blurred remembrance of a kind face and a soft voice and warm arms.

It can't end like this, she thought, please, somebody help us.

She lifted her arm.

Or else, it was lifted.

Something filled her hand. Her fingers curled around it.

She saw a distant city hidden in shadow, made of gold and dreams. She saw two figures standing astride a rainbow, watching her. The one spoke to the other.

"Is there nothing we can do for them?"

"This world is closed to us, my son."

"And yet there must be some aid we can grant them."

"Of course. Am I not the Allfather? Behold."

She heard an old man's kindly whisper, full of quiet strength and ancient wisdom.

"Whosoever lifts this hammer, if she be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."

The alarms woke Mana. A red light flashed in her cell, and the door drifted open. She slid onto her feet and walked very slowly to it, struggling to bear her own weight, breathing hard. The collar around her neck sapped all her strength, made it impossible to do much more than lie on her cot and breathe. She pulled feebly at it barely able to lift her own arm. She nearly fell on her way to the door. It was like her skeleton was too heavy to move. She supposed it was.

There was a rippling boom, and the door swung inward. She fell against the wall, grunting. The impact hurt, a ripple of pain rolling through her arm as the weight of her bones compressed her flesh against it. She whimpered and nearly sank to her knees, but managed to struggle onto her feet. If she fell down, it was over. She looked at her shoulder. It was a massive bruise, and it wasn't going away like it should. She couldn't remember much, only fading bits and pieces, the sight of a mushroom cloud and shadows in the shape of a familiar presence, forever etched onto a wall in some place she'd long forgotten. She remember Shinji, though, entering her mind and driving the evil out. She had to help him somehow.

She didn't have a choice. She put her hand up to her chin, lifting the collar up on her knuckles. She had to pray it worked. If it didn't, she'd be in even worse shape. She took a breath, one, two, three, and then clenched the muscles in her arms. She cried out and sank down as the thin slivers of metal erupted from between her knuckles and lanced up under the collar. A hot wash of blood flowed down over her hand, she'd cut her throat open. The world started to go dark.

She was lucky. The claw went under the collar. She pulled down, letting gravity do most of the work. The metal parted as easily as butter and it clanged onto the floor. She felt renewed, retracted her claws, and watched as the skin closed around them. She ran her hand over the wound on her neck, and drew away blood, but felt no cut. It was easy to stand up now, and though blood stained her white jumpsuit, she was none the worse for wear. She kicked out of the thin shoes she'd been given and walked barefoot into the hall, sniffing.

Doctor Doom came through the wall.

She barely got out of the way in time. A flash of light filled her eyes even as she pressed them shut, and she rolled away, hitting the wall hard. A pile of rubble and dust and broken rebar slid across the floor as the mass of Doom's armored form plowed through it, landing on his back. He rolled over with surprising deftness and was on his feet with stunning quickness, moving too fast for the mass he carried. Mana got up and reflexively popped her claws, ignoring the pain. He foot-claws tapped on the floor as she walked forward, arms out to strike.

Doom looked at her. "Run," he said.

The thing that came through the wall was like a statue of Shinji carved from marble. He stepped lightly over the rubble, and gave her a cursory glance.

"Mana Kirishima. Really," his eyes narrowed, "and you have metal on your bones. I suppose someone thought that was funny."

Doom fired a blast from his gauntlet with a loud crack. Shinji didn't even turn. The energy rippled against an orange hexagon and dissipated harmlessly into the air.

Not-Shinji looked at him. "Victor, please, we've been through this."

Doom roared in fury and the air bent around him. Mana could feel the strange currents around her, tugging at her mind. In front of the armored tyrant a wave of energy formed and rolled forward. This one broke the orange light and pushed the Shinji-thing back, forcing him to raise his hand. Mana blinked. She smelled charred flesh, and she saw something spinning and glowing in his midsection, a red sphere.

"Go now, girl," Doom roared, redoubling his attack. "Run."

Mana didn't need to be told twice. She ran. The corridor took a sharp right ahead, and she nearly crashed into the wall, sliding on the slick floor in her bare feet. There was a large door halfway down to the next junction, hanging open. She stopped in front of it and looked inside. The door itself reminded her of a bank vault, and it was lined with what looked like mines- she could smell the chemical tang of explosives. The entire room was lined with packs of explosives, floor and ceiling and walls. In the center was a gurney and an intravenous drip, and directly above it, a gun aimed at where the occupant's head would be, fixed to the wall.

She smelled someone, and turned around in a hurry, flashing her claws.

A rather meek looking bald Westerner greeted her, raising his hands. "It's okay. I won't hurt you."

She gestured at him with her claws. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," he said quickly. "We need to get out of here before this place collapses."

There was another boom, and the lights flickered. She heard Doom's furious roar, and a cloud of dust rolled down the hallway towards them. She saw cracks spreading in the walls.

"Now," the man repeated.

"Stay behind me," Mana snapped, jogging ahead of him.

She stopped at the next corner, and turned around. There was an elevator here. The guards were dead. Someone had… done something to them. Sicked, she nudged the elevator with her finger, but the button wouldn't light.

"It probably isn't working," said the man.

She rounded on him. "What are you? A killer? A monster? A mutant, like me?"

"I'm a doctor."

"Whatever. Let's go."

Further ahead was an stairwell. Whoever killed the guards at the elevator had been here, too. She pushed the door open and edged inside. The stink of blood overwhelmed her, but she pressed on, covering her nose with her hand. She jogged up the stairs, waiting for the doctor to follow. He came up behind her, panting. She gave him another questioning look and went on, flight after flight. The stairs seemed to go on forever, until they reached the top. The blood trail went through the doors. She pushed them open and went out low, almost on all fours, sniffing the air.

"Come on," she said.

She knew this place. It was Essex' lab. Akagi's labs weren't far from here, up the service tunnel, and from there it wasn't that much further to the surface. She picked up her pace, no longer caring if the doctor kept up with her. She heard him jogging along behind.

Akagi's lab was off from the Eva cages. The door was locked, but she could smell people inside. She went to stick her claw through the gap and cut the lock, but the doctor caught her wrist.

"Why don't we try knocking?"

He rapped on the door with his knuckles.

It opened slightly. Akagi saw her, her eyes widened, and the door slammed shut.

Mana sighed and retracted her claws, and knocked on the door again.

"What do you want?"

"We need to get out of here," Mana shouted through the door. "Doom and… something are going to collapse the prison level."

The door opened. Akagi looked immensely tired. "We're better off in here. The Geofront is collapsing."

"Can we come inside?"

Akagi gave him a look. She pulled a pistol out of her pocket.

"You won't need that."

She opened the door.

The little lab was packed with people, mostly students from the school. They recognized Mana and edged away from her, and she felt a pang of regret. The doctor edged inside and closed the door.

"Akagi?" he said.

"Yes?"

He stared at the wings growing from her back. "You're not Naoko."

"Ritsuko. I'm her daugher."

"Daughter? But you look like you're in your thirties."

"I'm twenty-nine," Akagi snapped. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"It's not important. What's happening upstairs?"

Akagi looked from the doctor to Mana to her assistant and back. "I don't know. We're under attack. Communications are all down, there's no satellite uplinks, but we heard something about Beijing being wiped out before the comms went down. We can't get ahold of anyone on the surface, the land lines have all been cut."

"It may be for the best to stay here," the old man, Fuyutsuki said, pushing through the students. "The structure of the cages provides reinforcement, and-"

"Everyone be quiet," Mana snapped, crouching.

She heard, and she smelled. Footsteps, big footsteps, were moving through the hall. She edged closer to the door and flicked out her claws, sniffing the air. The footsteps grew nearer and nearer, shaking the floor. The door bent, twisted, folded in and then yanked back out. On the other side was a walking nightmare. Ten feet tall, it hefted a heavy sword wreathed in crackling blue light. Flaps of what had to be skin hung from its massive shoulder pauldrons, and it grinned at her with teeth filed to sharp points.

The doctor stepped in front of her.

"You should leave," he said.

The monster edged forward, ducking under the door frame. There were two others behind him. He had to twist sideways to fit through.

"Or what?"

"You'll make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."


Rei stumbled. Pain lanced through her midsection as a wave of heat and force rippled across Unit One's torso, driving her back. The world above her was tilting lazily, the foundations of the city resting on her AT-Field while something striding across the air was hurling blasts at her, driving her back. She felt as harp stabbing pain in her belly and twisted, and lost her concentration. The AT-Field flickered. Her connection to Unit One felt like she was wading through mud, the Eva's movements barely registering in her mind. The optics cracked, and suddenly she was half blind, her vision split into a spiderweb of fragments.

She tried to manifest her field once again, but her synch ratio was dropping. The connection was unstable. The foundations of the city came down on her head. A long, flat slab hit her arm, and she clutched her shoulder as the sympathetic pain shuddered through her, making her clench her teeth. The Eva twisted lazily, its massive feet slipping on the soft Geofront floor, and streams of gunfire erupted towards her from the surface. She tried to concentrate, to still herself and let the synchronization grow, but there was a sudden, sharp splinter in her mind.

Images filled her. She saw torrents of blood swirling on open fields, waves of gore lapping at a mountain of skulls treading high into an ochre sky lanced by lightning made of pain. A sudden sick twisting in her stomach made her lurch as her bile rose, her nostrils filled with a ghastly, unimaginable stench. She was suddenly aware of the heavy LCL in her lungs and every inch of the plugsuit squeezing her body, driving her mad. She lost all concentration, and the Eva sank.

She saw him. Shinji's face filled her view, his skin as white as snow, a giant's eyes boring into her own. A hand clamped down over her throat, crushing her windpipe with invisible force, and the timer began counting down to zero. Her umbilical was gone. The gleaming white giant reared back and plunged his hand into the Eva's belly, cutting through the armor and enhanced flesh with ease, reaching for the core. She vomited into the LCL, choking and sputtering.

Her hand found the ejector lever. She pulled.

The world went dark and the sudden cutoff from synchronization fell on her like a blade. She held on for dear life as the entry plug spiraled out of the Eva, rocketed back by the ejection jets. A sudden weightlessness overcame her as the plug lost its momentum and plummeted skyward. She pushed into the seat and waited.

The impact nearly rocked her out of the seat. One of the butterfly controls came off in her hand. She thrashed to the side as the plug rolled, and finally lost her grip. She hit the inner wall hard, pressed against it by the rolling momentum of the plug. It came to a stop with a heavy crunch, rolling over onto the hatch.

Rei stood up, ducking under the curved wall, breathing heavy. Her mouth felt full, and her tongue touched her fangs. She pushed at the side of the plug, trying to turn it, only for it to rock back into place. Her hands curled into fists. She grabbed her gloves and pulled, and the gloves of her plugsuit tore free.

She lifted the rotating handle on the plug hatch and twisted it until it unlocked, grunting with effort. She bore down on it with all her weight, but it refused to budge. Panting, breathing in the rapidly coooling LCL, she ran to one side, then the other, turning the plug with her momentum. It began to roll, and the sloshing of the liquid pushed the hatch open. It flooded out, yanking her off her feet. The plug started to roll over, threatening to crush her between the door and the plug itself, but she wriggled free, sliding in the mud.

She looked up in time to see Unit One die.

The giant of light raised the limp Eva overhead, and tendrils of his flesh merged with it, seeping under the armor plates, spreading across it. The Eva's outer carapace fell like rain, crashing down around him in great splashes of mud. She saw the creature itself, Unit One's true being, as it writhed and screamed silently in protest as its flesh was drawn into that of the giant and they folded together in a writhing mass that stood, folded, and began to shrink. Her mouth fell open.

There was a light. Something came down from the sky, not falling but flying downwards. It split the cloud cover overhead, opening an ring of open sky full of stars. A bolt of lightning followed it, casting an eerie light across the battlefield. A peal of thunder rolled over her, so loud it made her ear drums hurt, ringing for a moment after.

Hikari Horaki rose up, resplendent. A shining white cloak of spun silver flowed behind her, covering a suit of gleaming white armor. A winged helm was on her head, and in her hand she raised a hammer, lifting it high for all to see. Her voice rolled across the battlefield like a thunderclap.

"Destroyer of hopes, usurper of dreams! You stand not unopposed, for this world defends itself! Face now the might of Asgard, villains! Thou stand against THOR!"

"Inspiring."

Rei spun around. At first, she thought it was von Doom, but it couldn't be. The girl facing her was taller, older, dressed in an airy, diaphanous gown, and she radiated a strange power that set Rei's teeth on edge. Two others walked with her, one she did not know, yet looked familiar, an older girl in twintails and glasses… and Horaki.

Rei blinked.

"I'm sorry," the older Asuka said playfully, "but there's only going to be one queen of the vampires in this multiverse. You're going to die now."

Rei balled her hands into fists. "Let's go."


The Primarch faced that which could not exist. From the moment he was taken in by the Emperor he embraced the Imperial Truth. He had seen a world dying in the grip of hateful xenos masquerading as divinities, heard the pathetic prayers of men who saw godhood in that which was merely the workings of alien life, no more divine or holy than the works of men. He denied God and Gods and rooted himself in a secular universe where even the strangeness of his own existence could be explained by science and reasoning. The religions of old Terra were lies. There were no gods.

Yet now he faced a chooser of the slain, bearing down on him with the hammer of Thor.

The girl was girl no longer. She swept the hammer in an arc over her head, whirling it by a lanyard strap fixed to the haft, and hurled it. The head sought him like a missle and with a crack of ceramite he was hurled backwards, cast down into the mud. He grabbed the hammer, releasing his own blade, twisting his psychic might about it, and yet it refused to budge. In his hand he felt leather and wood and steel, and yet when the girl raised her hand, it tore from his grasp and returned to hers, called. She was no longer afraid of him. He saw contempt.

"Now, learn the difference between the mighty works of man and the arts of Asgard."

The Primarch roared in challenge and took up his mighty sword, forged from the very core of Unit One, the betraying monster that corrupted his mind and stole the life he should have led. He poured his will into it, setting the air around him ablaze, and bore down on the Valkyrie with all his fury. The stroke of his sword crashed against the head of the hammer and she batted it away, spun the bulk of the hammer around, and smashed it into his face.

Pain, alien in its intensity, flickered through him. He felt his jaw crack, a tooth fly free. He fell again, landing hard on his side. His wolf cloak was thick with mud, his resplendent armor bent and broken, the chest plate bearing the wing angel with a body of rubies and wings of alabaster cracked in half, the holy icon broken and chipped.

He rose to his knees and brought his sword around. The Valkyrie didnt wait. She caught the blade in one hand, grunting from the force of his swing, and raised her hammer high. Thunder rippled overhead, and the hammer fell. The blade of his sword shattered, cracked in half, and he fell backwards, holding the hilt and the broken remnants of the blade in his hand.

He howled in fury, and rose to the attack, seizing her with his bare hands. He had broken the neck of a greenskin warboss one handed. He had weather the witchfire of an eldar xenos sorcerer to crush the filthy alien's skull between his fingers. He had unmade the monstrous abomination that imitated his mother, broken the Nagisa-thing and driven it in the dust. He would not fail so easily.

The next blow of the hammer nearly knocked him unconscious. The world went dark for a bare second, and he stumbled. Suzahara

Toji

Lay on the ground, a charred ruin, his armor melted. The Valkyrie

Hikari

Was bringing her hammer around again. She drove it into his midsection, under his breastplate, and the breath went out of him. Where was the Other, the one who brought him on this mad quest? Consuming the Eva, as he always did.

He saw something emerge from the glass pyramid, tear loose with a pair of his Astartes in its hands. It brought the battle brothers together in a great clash, then tossed them aside as if they were nothing. Immense and hulking, he first identified it as a greenskin, but there were none of their feral kind in the other universe he had seen. This one was too large, too well built, too human.

The abomination roared "Hulk SMASH!" and charged across the field.

She broke his sword.

The Primarch screamed. The world around him shook with his fury. HIs hands wreathed in witchfire, he seized the Valkyrie and spun her around, raising her and slamming her into the mud, where old gods belonged. Whatever device had granted her these gifts, it was some deception, some untruth. He hammered her with his fists in turn, pounding her into the dust.

He turned and cried out to his Legion. "Bring me the girl alive! Kill the rest! Kill them all!"

The Valkyrie flashed out from under him, whirling the hammer over her head. He managed to dodge her swing, caught her arm on the return, and brought his armored fist into her face. Her head snapped backwards with a rewarding thump. Still holding her arm, he brought his knee up into her midsection, lifting her feet from the ground.

Lightning raced down from the sky. Searing heat ran through his body, and he smelled his own flesh charring. The thunderclap came a moment later, and he reeled onto his back, sliding in the muck. The Valkyrie stood over him, raised her hammer high, and brought the haft down on his chest. Lightning, white hot, lanced down out of the sky, through the head of the hammer and into the Primarch.

Time slowed. He remembered standing on the slopes of Asama, the volcanic soil crumbling beneath his feet. How long ago had that been? How long had he warred across the stars? A century? More? How many human lifetimes had he spent on the Great Crusade, how many generations of mortal men lived and died while he slaved to an uncaring father and Asuka, his Asuka, the real Asuka remained silent as a grave, an everliving reminder of his failure? Had it not seemed impossible then, too? Was she not doomed to die in the volcano?

Yes, a tiny voice whispered, if not for me.

He shook his head. He grabbed the Valkyrie's legs and pushed her to the side, rolling out of the mud onto his feet. He threw the shattered sword aside. He no longer required it. No matter how she presented herself, it was still a trick, the hammer some technological toy, a deception meant to overawe him.

He caught her next swing, grasping her forearms, and turned it, pouring all his strength into brushing her aside. He turned her, pushed into her with his shoulder, and knocked her flat, then planted his foot on her chest.

"Brothers!" he roared, "Blood and death! Slay them to the last, let none survive!"

The Valkyrie looked up from under his foot.

"I give you one chance, villain. Surrender now, or face the full might of Thor."

Iquarius laughed at her.

With a savage cry, the Valkyrie swung the hammer up and brought the heady head square into his knee. His armor crumpled and his leg folded to the side. He howled in agony, and he felt the tenor of the battle change around him. The Berserkers turned and headed for their stricken warlord, bearing down on them as one. As he fell, through the pain he saw victory.

Until the strike. A wall of invisible force formed between the Primarch and his sons, stopping them cold. A woman in armor raised gauntlet-weapons at him, and another in a long coat gestured, shoving his sons back with an invisible force field. A thing covered in heavy lumps of rocky armor charged across the field, raising his arms high.

The Valkyrie spun the hammer and hurled it. It clapped him across the chin and snapped his head back, and he stumbled. His wounded leg folded under him and he fell back, splashing in the mud.

If not for me.

Time slowed. The ancient voice whispered in his mind.

I saved her.

Iquarius glanced over his ruined chestplate and saw the girl, the imitation of his shining star, the sun that lit his heavens. That was all any of them were, imitations, ghosts, copies. His Asuka was real, the others were nothing. He was not cruel to them. He only wanted to bring her back.

I can help you.

The Valkyrie was on her feet, hefting her hammer, testing its weight in her hand. She scowled at him.

"Call off your minions, brigand. I'll not warn you again."

They have a god. Why don't you?

He tried to sit up, but his leg protested. He felt the weight of his years settle on his shoulders, felt old. How long had it been. Was anyone on his world still alive? How old would they be now? What else had the years stolen from him?

You only wished to be what she wanted you to be. We can save her together.

He looked past the Valkyrie. His prize was so close, so close. She would be like him, perfect, eternal. He would never be lonely again. What was the Emperor, but no more his father than Gendo? For all his gifts, he was ever alone, apart, but for her.

We can save her.

"I'll do anything," he whispered.

His leg still hurt, but the pain was different, now, like the same song in a different key. Pain was his friend, his ally. He resolved himself to it. It simply meant he was injured, no more. He stood up, as light as a feather. His head swam, his eyes filling with stars as he stood, but he felt renewed. The sudden weight on his chest and the itchy feeling of oil in his hair was a comfort, like a settling blanket. The Valkyrie hesitated.

"What have you done?"

Iquarius sneered. He reached for his psychic gift, drawing on his pain as a focus. He curled up his rage and despair and the creeping knowledge that one day, even in the stasis field, she would draw her last breath. He hurled it before him in a wave of anguish that took physical form as green witchfire and rolled over his adversary, pushing her back. She raised her hammer to shield herself, but the flames broke around her like water on rocks. The field opened before him.

The woman in the overcoat screamed, and her field collapsed. The rock-thing stood between her and the onrushing horde, battering the Crimson Vengeance aside, but he was one and they were many.

His doppleganger feebly lifted his hand. "Asuka," he croaked.

A pang of terrible anguish rolled through the Primarch. He embraced it, and made it his own. They were only copies, an illusion. The God-child had promised him so. That was the answer to the Riddle of Steel.

The girl took his hand. The boy lifted his head.

"There's so much metal here," he said.

Iquarius did not know fear, but he knew reason. When he saw a battle-brother's back reactor unfold, tearing apart, he knew. He threw his arms up to shield himself from the blast. The boy raised his hand and grunted, and shoved the Primarch back. The Valkyrie was on him again, shouting a wordless battle cry and whirling her hammer. The blows rained on his arms and chest, cracking the ceramite, jarring his body. Each one brought a new world of pain and he embraced it all, for he was real and the rest was illusion.

The tenor of the battle changed. Others appeared, a shaggy man with metal claws, a warrior with a star-marked shield. The fighting became intense, close, hand to hand. Chainsword swung, bolters barked, everywhere there were explosions. Iquarius slammed his fist into the Valkyrie's face, again and again. Let her protest, let her brag, let her chide him. His victory was inevitable, inevitable as death and decay.

Somehow, it all slowed. Everyone was looking up. Even the Emperor's own son, perfect in his power, gaze skyward. The air folded, and just like that, a starship appeared in the heavens, blotting out the Milky Way far overhead, and was wreathed in fire as it fell, like the mythological phoenix. A panic settled in over the fighting. Bolts and blasts from the Decepticon's weapons lanced up at it, disappearing into the flames.

Borne in the belly of a flaming warship, heroes rained from the heavens.


Rei ducked. Thunder rolled through the Geofront, followed by flashes of light. The trio of vampires encroaching on her gave the source of the sound a cursory glance. They seemed to move in tune with their leader, the Soryu-thing, almost like puppets. Rei crouched and edged away from them, spreading her weight on her hands and feet. She didn't want to slip in the mud.

The others stopped, and Asuka moved closer to her. Too tall and too thin, she wore white robes that were untouched by the dirt and mud, even where they should have dragged through the puddle of muck where the LCL had drained from the plug. She smelled wrong, and she was cold, like a statue. Her skin was as pale as Rei's own, and her pupils had darkened into a deep purple, almost black, while the whites were unblemished.

"What are you?" Rei hissed, edging further away.

"I said, I am the Queen of the Vampires. I don't know what you are. Some abomination, some insult to my kingdom. I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now."

She moved so fast, Rei could barely see her. Iron hard fingers clenched on Rei's throat and lifted her from the ground, her feet kicking under her. The Soryu-thing stared into her eyes, tilting her head as Rei clawed at her arm, desperately trying to scrabble free.

"You're alive," the creature murmured, "not one of my children at all. A counterfeit. A copy. Die."

Her arm twisted and Rei felt a choking pressure on her throat, and heard her vertebrae grinding. She wasn't going to give in this easily. She hissed, her fingernails extended, and she raked them down the Soryu-thing's arm, drawing long, bloodless wounds in her pale flesh. The thing screamed and recoiled, clutching her arm.

"She hurt me! She hurt! Me! Kill her!"

The other two charged. Rei ducked a clumsy swing, bringing her first into the Horaki creature's chest. She felt bones pop from the impact. Her hunger snarled within her and her jaws fell open wide, her incisors extending. She gnashed her teeth at the air as she grabbed the Horaki creature, dragged her around, and shoved her into the other one. She ran for the Soryu-thing, snarling and snorting in fury.

It was stronger than the others. It turned Rei's advance, grabbing her wrists, and they rolled in the mud. Rei ducked to the side, avoiding a punch that buried the vampire's arm in the mud to the elbow. Rei slid out from under and tried to force her down into the mud, but she was too strong. With every hearbeat, Rei's hunger grew more intense. She felt the creature's fingers sink into her, stabbing pains from her abdomen rolling through her body. She ignored it, opened her mouth so wide she could feel her bones grinding together, and clamped down on the thing's shoulder.

It screamed. Rei drank deep, sucking until her cheeks hollowed. The Soryu-thing rolled, spun, screamed, trying to to pry her off. Finally, she battered Rei's head with her fists, and clamped down on her head, pulling her away. Rei struggled to hold on, cold, dark blood flowing over her chin. She snarled as she was pushed back.

"Get her off!"

The others grabbed her. Rei's head was pounding. She felt stronger now. The pain in her belly was gone, and the others tugging at her were nothing. She spun them around and slammed them into the entry plug and ducked down on all fours. Clutching her wounded shoulder, the Soryu-thing spun, and a mist rose around her, swirling to match the movement of her pristine white gown. Rei dashed into it but hit only empty air. She sniffed the air, but a cloying, sticky sweetness filled her nostrils.

She sensed something in the distance, a familiar scent, and ran towards it. There was a roaring void in her belly, a hunger like she'd never known before. She was charging through the mud on all fours, caked in mud, dark gore caked on her chin.

"Rei?" a soft voice said.

She looked up. Familiar voice, familiar scent.

"Rei, it's me," said Toji. "How…"

She bolted at him, threw her arms around him in a crushing embrace, and rolled him to the ground. She bit down on his neck full force, not even trying to bite in but to tear it out. He threw his arms around her in return and rolled. In the slick, grass-riddled mud, they slid, covering each other in muck. He rolled on top of her and his crushing weight pinned her down. He struggled to pull his neck out of her jaws but her grip was too tight.

"Rei," he croaked, "You're choking me."

Her jaw went slack. He lifted up, resting one hand on her head. He still had her pinned down.

"Rei," he pleaded, staring int her eyes. "Rei, please. Don't be like this."

All she could see was the veins pulsing in his throat. She was hungry.

"Kill me," she hissed, "Something's… something's wrong…"

He didn't do anything of the sort. He kissed her.

She bit down on his tongue. He screamed and tried to pull away. Her teeth wouldn't go through it. Shaking from the pain, he closed his eyes and gave in to her, pressing his lips to hers even as she chewed on the muscle. Something familiar flickered in her. She released him and her tongue slid over his, and her hand moved up his back, resting on the side of his head. Her heartbeat slowed from a rapid fire pounding and her breaths drew out as she relaxed, collapsing into the mud. He finally pulled away from her, gasping.

"I can't breathe," he panted, collapsing on her.

She blinked. His clothes were torn and scorched and he was covered in cement dust and mud and bits of metal and dried blood. He was Toji. She put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she gasped.

He got up on his knees. She slipped in the mud and held her up. She was so tired, suddenly. Everything was happening at once. The world was a mad chaos, the pair of them in a tiny bubble around which the battle raged. In every direction there was the loud, thumping blasts of the invader's weapons and jets were flying over head raining down fire from energy weapons. She looked over Toji's shoulder and saw five green robots joining together, clanging and slamming into one mass as they rose up as a larger titan of a machine that stomped out across the field, roaring incoherently.

"You're going to be okay," said Toji.

"Yes," said Rei.

Toji broke down. His tears carved little channels in the muck on his face. "I don't know what's going on. They were killing everyone. I couldn't find my sister, and then everything started falling…"

Rei felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She looked up, and blinked her eyes shut as there was a flash. A titanic vessel just appeared in the sky, filling a space that before had been only empty air. It immediately plummeted earthward, wreathed in the plasmic flame of reentry.

Toji sucked in a breath.

"What is that? Are they here to kill us, too?"

"I don't think so," said Rei. "They're shooting at the invaders."

Objects were tumbling out of the side of the ship. They made no sense. She saw a red cab-over tractor and trailer, a tiny yellow car, a garishly red tank, a minivan. A small vessel hurtled from the other side, trailing a long contrail behind it. Just as it appeared, the ship vanished, leaving a howling void that filled itself in with a rush of air and a sudden, hollow boom.

The falling vehicles changed shape in mid-air and attacked the other robots.

"Let's go," said Rei, standing up.

"Are you sure?"

"We must fight," said Rei, "or we will die."


Mari's mind was rolling a mile a minute, her internal dialogue a blender of various thoughts. Thoughts such as they're shooting at me and Captain America is right next to me. She had her helmet off -the HUD and eyepieces were out commission- and was eyeballing the shots from her hand repulsors. It didn't matter. She was in a target rich environment. She had a simple task: Keep them off the kids.

She'd never dreamed of anything like this. Cap was graceful, like water. Nothing could touch him. The armored giant's enormous shells burst on his shield and he just shrugged them off, then hurled at them, knocking their weapons out of their hands, cracking their skulls. Sue Storm gestured and invisible tides of force swept across the battlefield, cramming the monsters together in invisible boxes.

Hikari Horaki had become a god.

She was locked in a titanic struggle with the leader of the giants. They hammered each other with blows that shook the Earth. She had to focus, tear her eyes away from it. Ben Grimm, fast and agile for all his ponderous bulk, stepped behind her and blocked an exploding shell.

"Watch it, kid!" he shouted, and then he was gone, charging an oncoming rush of monsters.

There was something in the sky, and allies were falling out of it. It lit the night like a second sun, and cars and tanks and airplanes were pouring out and turning into robots on the ground. They turned on the others. There was a big red one that was a truck a second ago fighting another one with a cannon on his arm. That damned red jet rocketed over her head.

She didn't need the suit's files to identify the people around her anymore. Logan was tearing into the armored giants. She watched him take blows that would fell a normal man a dozen times over, get back up, and join the attack.

Somebody in an Iron Man suit landed next to her, crunching in the mud. His suit was heavier and taller than hers with a heavy back pack and sculpted shoulders, and it looked like it had been modeled on Unit One, the Eva. She rounded on him, aiming her repulsors.

"Who the hell are you and where did you get Stark tech?"

The helmet opened. The guy inside looked really familiar. For a second she thought it was Kaji, but the chin was wrong and his eyes weren't the right color. He had the stubble, though. She kept her weapons aimed, shouting.

"Answer me!"

He raised his hands, keeping his palms turned away from her. "It's complicated. We're on your side."

"Then who are you?"

"We're the democratic response."

Something, an artillery shell or a mortar, came screaming in and blew not twenty yards away, throwing up a thick corona of mud. The new guy rocketed past her, blocking the shrapnel with an orange force field.

"You should be wearing a helmet! Where's your power plant?"

She tapped her chest. "Right here."

"Wow, that's a lot smaller than- get down!"

He stomped forward and lifted her up, spun her around, and turned the blow of a snarling chainsaw sword on his arm, sending hot sparks sizzling into the mud. They both turned and opened up on the beast with their hand repulsors.

"I'd really like to trade notes, but we have to stop these things."

"What the hell are they after?"

"The worst thing you can think of."

His head snapped to the left as he saw something over his shoulder.

"No! Get away from them!"

Iqarius stumbled backwards, his tongue licking over the gap in his jaw where a tooth had been thrown loose by the jolting impact of the hammer head. He refused to acknowledge that it was what it presented itself as. There was no Thor, only a little girl with a powerful toy. The bones ground in his leg, and yet he was on his feet, battering her with wichfire. The comm bead in his ear crackled.

"My Lord," Aida said sharply.

The Primarch snarled. He had no time for his subordinates now. If they failed him he would grind them all to dust with his bare hands.

"My Lord, we must retreat."

"Never!" he roared, "What are the words of our Legion?"

"We're losing. Commanders report intense resistance around the planet. We are being thrown back. There is more, My Lord, I-"

His words were lost in a furious roar as Iqarius seized the hammer head and wrenched it, trying to tear it out of the girl's grip. She swung it one handed, dragging him with it, and it slipped out of his fingers. She whirled it over her head and hurled it into his chest. Shards of cracked ceramite tumbled free, exposing the mechanics within. He felt the impact in his chest as his ribless torso punched inwards. He hacked a mass of bloody phlegm and spat it to the ground, wiping at his lip with his gauntlet.

"Communications are being restored, and the Libararians tell me they sense… entities turning their attention towards us."

Iqarius spat again. "Fools, all of you."

"No."

He snapped his head. The God-child was there, and was the only thing in the world that was clean. He brushed Iquarius aside and stopped a blow of the hammer with the palm of his hand. His dark crimson gaze fixed on the girl.

"You have something that belongs to me."

His hand slid down the hammer head and he grasped the shaft.

"We shall see," said the Valkyrie, and let go.

The God-child struggled to hold the hammer aloft, his body shaking. The red nimbus of his core formed in his belly as it grew red hot, dumping its limitless power into his flesh. Quivering, he took the hammer with both hands, grunting with exertion. Slowly, inexorably, it buried itself head-first in the muck.

The Valkyrie raised her hand and the hammer sought her palm as if it were part of her, and jammed the hammer head into the God-child's chest. It knocked him square off his feet, and he slid in the mud, eyes wide.

"I know what you are, and you are not welcome here."

He scrambled to his feet, recoiling from her. "Impossible. Iquarius, distract her. I will gather our prizes. We are leaving."

"NO!" the Primarch roared. "They must all die! Kill them all!"

The God-child ignored him. He turned to the Valkyrie, marshalling his will. He was met with the block head of the hammer to the side of his skull. The blow turned him. He swung his hands around but he was fast, clumsy. She was under his swing and inside it. She swung the hammer around and brought it up under his elbow. It crunched through the ceramite and plasteel and he felt his arm shatter, a lance of pain running to his shoulder. He laughed, welcoming it. Was not pain his greatest ally?

His arm hung as he reached for her throat. She whirled the hammer over her head and leapt, turning like an acrobat in the air, and landed behind him. She landed a two handed blow in the small of his back, crashing through his armor into his spine. On the recovery she spun and knocked his other leg out from under him, shattering his femur. The Primarch crumpled, landing hard in the mud.

Suzahara was on his feet. Half of his face was a smoldering ruin, the other a slack mask of hate. What was left of his mouth hung open in a toothless rictus of fury, his single eye was full of rage. One arm hung limp at his side, but the other he raised and raked his power claw across the Valkyrie's back. She turned, raised the hammer, and hesitated.

Her voice was soft, familiar. "Toji? What they do to-"

Iquarius called on all the hate in his heart, gathered up all the sorrow he felt, the cold anguish as his light and life lay limp in his arms, her life and her soul stolen by monsters from beyond the stars. He raised up a litany of fury and cast it forth from his mind as a bolt of pure energy. The Valkyrie turned, the hammer taking some of the force, but it rolled her along the ground in a trail of psychic hoarfrost.

Suzahara leaned by his side, resting his power claw on the ruins of the Primarch's chest.

"Kill them," he rasped, "Kill them all."

"Bluh…" Toji said, the ruin of his face distorting his words. "Bluh for the bluh gauh…"

The God-child's voice rang out in his mind. Brace yourself.

Asuka drew back, pulling Shinji with her. He was barely awake, breathing hard, concentrating now on holding his own blood in. She could feel it through her touch. He hurt so much, the pain was beyond anything she'd ever felt. She didn't know how he wasn't screaming. She leaned back against a rock and pulled him close.

A statue approached her. He looked like he'd been carved out of white stone. He had an eerie way about him, as though the rest of the world couldn't touch him. He loomed over them, staring through her with crimson eyes. He looked at Shinji.

"Look at me."

Shinji opened his eyes.

"You're coming with me."

"Like hell," Asuka snarled. She held Shinji close.

"Wake up. We can take him."

"You can delay me. That is enough. I'll cut to the chase."

He reached into his chest with both arms. Asuka recoiled as she watched his hands part his own flesh and slide inside. He drew out his fists, held them out, and opened his hands, palms up. Over each floated tiny red points, flickering red orbs of fire like children's sparklers. Asuka fixed her attention on the one on the left.

A tiny voice whispered, Run.

"Momma," she breathed.

Shinji's eyes flickered open. "Mother? How…"

The thing pushed his hands back inside himself, and drew them out empty.

"I took them from their containers during all of the tussle. I suppose you didn't know. I have your mother's souls. You're coming with me, or… let's just say I can be very inventive."

Asuka was shaking. She raised her fist, and fire sprung from her skin. "Get away from us."

He seethed. The red sphere in his gut went white hot, and she could see his bones through his skin, like blackened cinders hidden in white jelly. His voice became a sharp rasp.

"It wasn't a request."

Hikari came up behind him, swinging her hammer around. She loose Mjolnir only for him to grunt as it stopped dead, held by an AT-Field. He turned and looked at her with empty eye sockets full of smoldering coals.

"I'm tired of you."

Asuka closed her eyes. Hikari sailed backwards, catching the brunt of a blast that rippled out across the Geofront floor. She tumbled end over end, the hammer falling out of her hand. She rolled onto her side and grabbed it as she landed, but it was too late. The God-Shinji closed his white hot fingers around Asuka's throat and yanked her away from Shinji. He went limp and cold as soon as her touch slipped from him and he toppled to the side, moaning. The God-Shinji reached down and took him by the hair.

The world slowed. She saw a man running towards her and he was on fire. She looked into his eyes.

"Father!"

Hikari whirled the hammer over her head by the heavy strap, spinning it to loose, screaming Shinji's name. It left her hand and the world went white.

The grip around her neck released and she rolled across cold metal. She saw Shinji drop beside her, and was sure that he was dead.

Hikari hurled the hammer of Thor and it passed through empty air. The sudden blast of wind made her stumble until she raised her hand again and the haft slapped home in her palm. It was as if she'd always held it. When it touched her skin she was full of understanding.

There was an explosion. The beast that wore Shinji's face vanished and took Asuka and Shinji, her Shinji, with him. A single flash of light rolled across the battlefield and the monsters, their giant leader, the robots, all of them were gone, replaced by a tangy stink of ozone and the wind whipping as it filled the voids they left behind them. She looked around and sank to her knees in the mud. The hammer fell at her side.

Hikari wept.

After a time, she looked up. She could the tension in the air. There were machines -other machines- surrounding her. There were more Shinjis. One of them had on armor like that Stark wore, only much larger. She slowly rose to her feet, amazed that the gleaming armor that framed her legs was still so clean. It was as if dirt refused to touch her. She saw others on the field, her friends, and allies, and knew them instantly, as if the hammer would whisper their names.

They were all aiming weapons at each other.

The Avengers -some of them, anyway- were there. Wolverine was there. Peter Parker was there and Susan Storm and Mari Stark wearing her father's armor, battered as it was, and Ben Grimm was there with them and Steve Rogers. She grasped the hammer tightly and looked around. The others she knew as though they were old friends. Optimus Prime and Ironhide, Ratchet and Warpath and Bumblebee. She heard an old man's voice, a distant whisper carried by a howling wind, barely heard at all.

They are the knights of the imagination, and you have been chosen to join them.

She raised the hammer over her head and spoke in the voice of Thor Odinson.

"Lower your weapons!"

No one moved. She called the thunders to emphasize her point.

"Lower your weapons!"

The tension eased. They put up their weapons. She fixed her eyes on the armored stranger.

"You. Who are you?"

"Shinji Ikari," he said. "It's complicated."


You have been reading

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

Chapter Three: Blood and Thunder

...and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.


"My Lord?"

Iqarius groaned. Pain lanced though his entire body, up both legs and down his arm. Every breath was a labored effort, grinding the shattered bones of his seamless ribcage against one another. Still, with every rise and fall of his chest, he felt like laughing. The pain was new to him, like a half heard song carried on the wind.

"My Lord?" Aida repeated.

"Speak to me of my legion, my son."

"The Third Company suffered the greatest losses, followed by the Berserkers. Of our deployed force, perhaps three quarters returned to the ships when our… ally teleported us off the planet. Those were not the only losses."

"Continue."

"Some of our number were caught in a battle frenzy and turned on the others. Some we managed to contain. Others were slain in self defense. I had no choice, my Lord. I assumed command in your stead and ordered the fleet to break for warp translation. There were… things taking notice of us. The Librarians speak of an eater of worlds."

"What is the disposition of my Legion," Iqarius rasped.

"Tenuous," said Aida. "There are rumors that you have been slain. I fear we may turn on one another again at any moment. We-"

He sat up. His body was a flaring litany of pain, a tapestry of agony. He swung his legs over the side of the gurney and sat up, towering over his son. Aida backed away, covering his hand with his mouth.

"My Lord, you must recouperate, your wounds-"

"Are nothing," he rasped.

He had a choice, and he took it. He felt the bones knit at odd angles, his torn muscles pull together. He breathed out and the shattered bones of his ribless torso ground together into a rigid shape. He took a few steps, staring at the figure that loomed in the polished wall beside him. He was a twisted, hobbled mocker of himself, pale and gaunt. He gave his reflection a gap-toothed grin.

"I feel fine. Where is Suzahara? Did he survive?"

"After a fashion," said Aida.

If he could have paled any further, he would have. "He was interred in a sarcophagus? He will join the ranks of those who serve in death?"

"No, my Lord. It is… more complex than that. Follow me."

Aida turned. The Primarch strode after him, ignoring the lancing pain in his joints. He grew to seek comfort in it, even welcome it. Pain reminded him that he was real. Suffering gave him meaning. He saw this now.

At the far end of the apothecarium was a shadowed cell. Chains rattled as the Primarch approached.

"Not too close, my Lord. He-"

"Silence," Iquarius rasped.

Toji sat in the corner of the cell. Some of his armor was intact, but heavily damaged. The rest… the rest had fused with growths or sores in his flesh, livid and red. His left hand was a mockery of a lightning claw, forged in bone and meat. The left half of his face was a massive open sore, his mouth drawn open in a mocker of a grin. Where his lips twisted open, there were long fangs growing inside. Slick drool ran down his chin.

He looked up at Iquarius. "My lorthhh…" he rasped, "I haff bee blethhht".

"Free him," said Iquarius. "There is nothing wrong with him."

God-Shinji looked away from the others, his hands folded behind his back. The others milled around behind him, surrounding the oaken table. Iqarius brooded over them all. He was changed. His face was a sweaty mask of hidden suffering, drawn and pale, his cheeks hollowed, his eyes tinged with an unhealthy yellow pallor. His armor was still cracked and broken, a stitched together mockery of itself.

The others shied away from him.

"We have failed," he rasped, his voice like a chill wind in a boneyard.

"Failed?" said God-Shinji. "How have we failed? I have consumed another Eva. I never had the strength to teleport everyone at once before. You have your prize, and I see you stronger now than ever, coming into the fullness of your power."

"My sons died for your pyhhric victory."

He looked over his shoulder. "You told me you would do anything."

"What now?"

"Now, the Kryptonian."

Megatron slammed his fist into the table. "Where is the infinite energy source I was promised?"

"It will be yours, when I am finished with her," Iquarius rasped, "and not before. The Good Doctor will attend to her soon."

Dr. Ikari touched the blade of his knife. "Indeed."

"We must advance quickly, before our enemies devise some means to strike at us," said Iquarius. "They will believe themselves strong enough now, and crushing them would slow us down."

"You sound so sure," said God-Shinji.

"My victory is as inevitable as death. I am the end of all things."

"I am glad you have opened yourself up to new… possibilities. Your friends in the Empyrean may be of use to us in the coming conflict. The Kryptonian is the true threat, and he is powerless against sorcery. I have devised a two pronged strategy. We will neutralize him, and call on a powerful ally."

"What manner of ally?" said Iquarius.

"One suited to your Legion's proclivities, my Lord," said God-Shinji, noting that the hint of sarcasm in his voice went unnoticed. "It has so many names. High Handed Slayer. War Given Form. Bloodthirster."


Shinji opened his eyes and saw himself. He watched his counterpart as he took stock of his situation. Asuka was gone. He couldn't move. Bandages were layered around his midsection, but the wounds in his stomach blazed, and he felt feverish and sluggish. There was a heavy metal collar resting around his neck. He feebly reached for his magic and found nothing. The magnetic field was only a distant haze, unreachable. The disconnection wrought by the thing that sat on his neck was even more severe than Sinister's collar. He could feel the thing itself, oily and hateful, radiating fury. It seemed like it was, itself, alive. He turned his head.

Asuka was there, but she wasn't his Asuka. She was dressed in a flowing white down that hung down over one shoulder. His counterpart, taller and older and dressed in a doctor's whites, was stitching up her wound.

"It should heal," she said, her voice dripping with worry. "Why won't it heal?"

The doctor shrugged.

"I'm frightened."

She leaned towards him, her eyes lidded. Shinji blinked. The doctor caught her chin and almost roughly pushed her face away.

"I'm not hungry."

She looked hurt. The doctor left her, humming something to himself. The tune was familiar to Shinji. Beethoven, maybe.

Not-Asuka looked at him. She slid to her bare feet and pulled her gown over her shoulder and slunk away, hanging her head.

"Wait," Shinji rasped.

She froze.

"I can heal you."

Her head turned. "What did you say?"

"Not," he coughed. His gut was on fire. "Not your arm. There's…" he winced as a shooting pain ran up his side. "There's something in you and it, it's bad. I can make it go away."

She ran away from him, wide-eyed with horror. The world fuzzed.


Asuka woke up. The first thing she reached for was the fire, but no fire would come. There was something around her neck. It felt like oily metal, but coiled like a snake, hanging there like a living thing. Kensuke was staring down at her, but he wasn't Kensuke. He was a giant, and in place of his eyes, clicking, whirring lenses were sutured straight into his skull. He gazed at her through bars.

"A fascinating specimen, you are," he mused, touching his chin with enormous fingers. "You're not a mutant at all, did you know that? Wherever that fire comes from, it isn't coming from you."

She opened her mouth, and closed it again. He turned and left her. She moved to the edge of her cell, afraid to touch the bars. The others weren't. They clustered at the edges of their cells. They were all slightly different, all taller or shorter or older or younger, their hair a thousand shades of the same color, their eyes as many blues as there were waves in the ocean, and they were all her.

Only one cell was empty. The one directly across from hers, filled with a strange, red light.