Neon Genesis Evangelion, Hideaki Anno, Gainax, you know the story by now...

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Guardians of the Black Moon

Act 4: Of Decisions and Friends

"Haahhh..." She stretched as she got back to the apartment. Hearing a giggle behind her, Yuria turned to see an amused Misato.

"What? These last 3 days have been tiring, y'know..." She moaned dejectedly as she went to the fridge to heat up the dinner for two she had left premade in the morning. After the first day of pilot training she decided that no, she would not cook after getting home, thank you very much.

"Just that you remind me of myself when I got into the army. The start is always the roughest part, kid, don't worry." Misato ruffled her friend's hair as she passed by, getting a single beer from the fridge before sitting down at the table, patiently waiting for the Third Child to reheat the meals in the microwave.

Smirking, Yuria shot back as the food plate turned under the radiation. "You call me kid again and I'll shoot you, Misato. I'm just 8 years younger than you." Despite the threat, both women knew the black haired girl would never do something like that if her life depended on it, although she did have her own sidearm in a thigh holster at all times now.

"You try that and I'll shoot you first. You know I'm faster. And then I'll shoot you again for forcing me to shoot you. And I'll still call you kid, because it's cute." Misato smiled like a cat, beer can open but still nearly full as the contents sloshed around. She had to admit, since Yuria came to the apartment, her daily routine had gotten so much more... pleasant. It was so nice to have a friend at your side even with all the shit that had happened and was yet to come.

"Unfair, you're too good." the pilot-in-training of Unit 01 replied, handing her purple haired friend her warm plate of food as she started heating her own. It was true, after all. In the first day of training, Yuria had taken the lessons of the shooting instructor, a nerdy-looking guy with a massive love of weapons, at heart, and despite the lack of practice did manage to get most rounds in a grouping in the targets. Only for Misato to come into the range and (under the completely bedazzled look of Kensuke Aida who had a crush on her since he became NERV's weapon range instructor) pick up her P99 Walther, and proceed to empty the entire clip at a target 30 meters away with a 2-inch grouping.

Misato thanked for her food before digging in between answers. "It's just practice, you'll get the hang of it. Honestly, for never having shot a real gun before, you're pretty good." Noticing the bruise on Yuria's elbow, the NERV operations director winced. "Ouch. Suzuhara not going easy on you, eh?" Lost in her own thoughts, the tired girl quickly snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, right, Touji. Yeah, that guy is funny but godsdamn he packs a punch. Even with the training protectors I can still feel it. Still, hand to hand training is fun. I can feel the difference in my body already."

Misato smiled, remembering how in the first day every time she checked up on Yuria she was in the ground in one way or another. Poor girl was tenacious, but just didn't know how to dodge.

As the brunette sat down with her plate, the Major's eyes suddenly snapped open. "Holy crap!" At that, Yuria looked at her surprised. "Wha? What happened?" Misato's eyes were almost shining as she looked at the food and swallowed the bite she had taken. "This sauce. This sauce is delicious. Where were you hiding this from me?" At that, the younger woman couldn't help but roll her eyes comically. "I've been chatting with Hikari, y'know, Touji's wife? NERV cantina chef? We've been exchanging tips and recipes and came up with this sauce together yesterday. "

"Heh. Each one of you is a chef to be reckoned with already, with you two together I think NERV should open some restaurants for extra funds." Chuckling, Yuria answered as she enjoyed her food. "What, the action figures and mangas and pillows and all the extra guff we sell not enough? And when do I get my action figure, anyway? I look awesome in that plug suit." In fact, she hadn't liked the plug suit at first. Had too much white in it. But it had grown on her quite quickly, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it perfectly clung to her body and accentuated her curves, and she'd deny it to her dying breath.

"Oh! Now that you mention it-" Misato pulled out her phone, thumbing to a picture folder. Handing it over to Yuria, she explained. "Here, the manufacturers sent me these pictures of the pre-production model this afternoon. What do you think?"

To a scream of "My plugsuit DOES NOT HAVE A BOOB WINDOW!", another night came to pass at the Katsuragi residence.

'Insert the clip, rock the slide, switch off the safety, point to mouth, shoot. Insert the clip, rock the slide, switch off the safety, point t-' She got out of the daze, looking around the walls of the entry plug. This was the second harmonics testing she's done since becoming a pilot and she already knew this sucked. She had to keep her mind clear and focus on syncing with the Eva. Whenever her mind was clear, bad thoughts came.

"Her sync ratio just came back to normal, ma'am. That was a 7 point dive for a minute, just like the last few times. I don't understand, pilot Ayanami's sync ratio was constant, if slightly lower. Nothing like this." Maya Ibuki, personal assistant (and lover) of the blonde doctor overseeing the harmonics test, reported. "And yet, during yesterday's virtual combat training, her sync was just fine. I think I've seen this before..."

Letting her assistant watch over the hours-long test, Ritsuko started browsing through the harmonics files from NERV-Berlin. And just as she thought...

'Mari Illustrious Sohryu Makinami, Fourth Child. Severe short ratio drops during early harmonics tests. Attributed to suicidal thoughts. History of abuse and parental neglect combined with traumatic experiences thought to be the cause. Use of antidepressants coupled with music of the Child's choice during Harmonics tests achieved good results. Leftover variations disappeared after extended contact with Second Child.'

"Hmm..." Unbeknownst to her, almost an hour had passed as she contemplated the implications of the similarities. Together with the fact that the Third alread carried a sidearm. She did notice how after the first Harmonics test Yuria seemed a lot more depressed than when she went in. This could prove to be problematic...

Nodding to herself, she finally spoke with her assistant. "Let's cut the test here for today, Maya. We have quite a bit of data already." She saw how the drops were becoming more frequent as the test went on. If she lost the pilot of Unit-01, Gendo would kill her. And probably Maya as well, out of sheer spite. Since she had rejected his advances in favor of her protege, the man was even more intractable than before.

"Yuria? Ritsuko here. You can come out, the test is done for today. Thank you for your cooperation. Could you come to the control room after you change out of your plugsuit? There's something I wish to ask."

Looking for all like she had just been a robot turned back on, the Third Child blinked into awareness, looking at the blonde scientist in her intercom. "Ah, yes. I'll be on my way as soon as I can, Doctor Akagi." Now, what time was it again? Oh, right... she should probably go pick up Rei with Misato soon, hopefully this talk won't take too long, she wondered, as she coughed out the remnants of LCL in her lungs and made her way to the dressing rooms for a well deserved bath to take the smell of blood off.

As the wet-haired woman got into the control room, Maya and Ritsuko stopped chatting to turn to her. "Sorry for calling you here Yuria, but as I'm also your doctor I need to ask you something. Do you have suicidal thoughts often?" At Akagi's sudden question, the taller (not by much) brunette in the room did a double take.

Ritsuko Akagi had many talents. Tact wasn't one of them.

Scratching her hair, Yuria looked off to the side. This was awkward. "Uhmm... not... normally, no, maybe a few times every few days? I try to keep my mind busy to avoid them... are they interfering with my piloting?" She asked, somewhat worried. These thoughts were something that, as much as she tried, always popped back up, like a cancer.

"Not in combat situations, no, but in Harmonics tests it seems so. It's not critical, but it would help if we could somehow avoid the drops in ratio that they seem to bring. You say you keep them at bay by keeping your mind occupied, yes?" At that, the pilot nodded. "Would playing music during the tests help?" At that, she pondered for a few seconds. It just might, and if she can avoid these thoughts, all the better. Resisting them took considerable energy now that she had the means to end it all at any moment.

"It's worth a shot, yeah. Uhmm.. I'm sorry about causing you trouble, Doctor. I didn't mean to. I'm fucked pretty badly in the head." At that, she somehow smiled and tapped her forehead. Dark Humor was something she was always good at. "If you don't mind me asking though... how did you guess?" She was curious, when Akagi asked it was more of a statement than anything else.

Smiling forlornly, the blonde in the white coat turned off her electronic cigarette.

"We work in a secret underground base with giant cyborgs to fight giant aliens. Trust me, most people here are off their rockers, me included. Not to mention the Fourth Child, current pilot of Unit-08 in Germany, had extremely similar occurrences in her initial tests. Her name's Mari Sohryu Makinami."

At Yuria's surprised expression, Ritsuko continued. "I'll send her contact info to your email. But don't even think about flirting with her, she's married to Asuka, the pilot of Unit-02." "Wha? But I didn't even say anything!" She countered, blushing. "No, but I've seen the looks you throw at Misato when she's not looking, and the way you talk to Ayanami. You're on the prowl, kid, and it seems those two are already in your fingers. Fair warning though: This one is taken." At that, she wrapped her arm around Maya's shoulders, pulling her close and smiling, to the infinite embarrassment of the assistant which was blushing brighter than an Angel energy beam at this point.

Cocking her head to the side, Yuria was also blushing at what the doctor had implied, but the scene before her was too cute to bear. "Aww... I'm happy for you two." Smiling genuinely, her mind recovered from the cute. "But I'm NOT 'on the prowl', Doc! Geez... Misato and Ayanami are just friends, is all..." She said unconvincingly even to herself, eyes adverted to the side. It was true, they were just friends, but she was getting closer to both women at a very rapid pace.

"Right... for now anyway. You can call me Ritsuko, Yuria. Thank you for being honest with me. Make sure to bring a selection of musics you enjoy to the next Harmonics text after tomorrow, alright? And remember to come to me when you run out of antidepressants." Extending her hand amiably, the blonde gently shook her lover with her arm, bringing her back to reality. "Oh! Right. You can call me just Maya as well, Yuria-san. I'm sorry if Senpai made you uncomfortable, she's very... direct." After shaking the doctor's hand, Yuria laughed and shook Maya's as well.

"It's alright, I don't mind at all. But only if you drop the -san, Maya."

As she watched the two brunettes, her lover and the very friendly pilot chatting for a bit, both smiling, Ritsuko reminded herself that yes, she most definitely had made the right choice.

She raised her .38 revolver to aim at the man standing near the table with her back to her. She may be no marksman, but at this distance even she wouldn't miss.

Rioji Kaji, official inspector and unofficial spy and triple agent extraordinaire, calmly raised his hands and turned to his old affair.

"Hey, Ritz. Working late as always, huh?" He smiled, completely void of worries despite the gun aimed at his head. He was unarmed, and she could see it.

"You're supposed to be dead." The blonde countered, aim unwavering as she slowly put down her purse with her free hand, slowly circling the man that had gotten inside her house and had a big folder in the table near him.

"Aha, but you see, I was only mostly dead. Gendo's assassins really should've confirmed the body. But anyway-" Stretching as he let out a big yawn, he took seat at the chair nearest to him and motioned towards the folder. "-I got some material for you. You may not believe some things I'll tell you, but the proof is all here. Long story short? You have a choice, Ritz. And if I know you well, and I do, you're not so far gone to make the wrong one."

The next 4 hours were some of the most turbulent that ever crossed the mind of Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. The implications, the situations this supposedly dead man was describing were... absurd. But he had the proof, and she had seen that no matter how absurd, the proof was there. There was another path.

As he was about to make his exit, Ritsuko stopped him. "Wait, Kaji. Does Misato know any of this?" At that, he looked genuinely sad. "No. It's too soon. We'll bring her in when the time is right, but for now she needs to stay in the dark. She's too nice for her own good." Akagi grimaced. "She still thinks you are dead. Did you not know just how much she suffered when she figured you were dead last year, Rioji?"

The not-so-dead spy looked guiltily to the side as he answered. "I know... I saw her. The sight of her crying looking at her phone will never go away from my mind. It was agony not being able to tell her the truth, and to be honest, it still is. But we only have once chance, Ritz. If we fuck this up.." He left the rest of the phrase in the air, but the doctor knew what he meant. If she were to accept, she'd be trying to disrupt a two thousand years old plan for the end of humanity. She'd be betraying the man she worked for since she was a teenager. She'd need to thread very carefully.

Out of things to say, Rioji Kaji took his leave. It was up to her, and her alone, to decide.

Running up to the now repaired Alpine A310 V6, Yuria nearly threw herself in the passenger seat. Gasping for breath, she looked apologetically at Misato. "Hahh.. sorry... I'm late...hahh...Ritsuko wanted to ... phew... talk with me about the test..." Looking at her friend surprised, the Major asked. "Did you just run all the way from the test room to the parking lot?" At the Third Child's sheepish nod, she could only chuckle. This girl was rock-hard crazy, and she enjoyed it.

"Well, strap in, we're not late to go get Rei in the hospital yet." It was a good thing that Yuria had just about caught her breath, because she needed it to scream as Misato threw the very much not stock sports car into traffic with maniacal precision and speed.

As they reached a parking space, the brunette looked back, for she thought the paint of the car was probably still arriving. But no, it was all there. She didn't know how much money Misato spent on tires every month, but she'd guess a lot. Thanking all the gods she knew by name that the thing had racing harnesses, she undid hers and wobbly made her way to the elevator with an inhumanly relaxed Katsuragi.

Thankfully, by the time they arrived at the reception, her blood had time to come back to her face. Rei was patiently waiting, sitting in a chair with her eyes glued to her Ember, completely oblivious to the world. Yuria was happy that she got the gift right, the bluenette was nearly inseparable from the device through her stay in the hospital. And looking a lot less bored, which was an almost perceptible difference if you had a microscope.

Or had the Third Child's uncanny skill at reading people. In the few days since she had met Rei, she had come to understand her expressions and mannerisms. Ayanami was very reserved, but she was also very expressive in her own way, and apparently incapable of lying. A lot of what she said was via her eyes and her very small body movements, conveying the feelings that she wasn't able to with just her voice yet.

Then again, as Misato discovered to her befuddlement, Yuria could have a minutes-long conversation with PenPen without saying a single word. The penguin had taken quite a liking to the girl since she arrived at the Katsuragi residence, which was unusual to him. According to her, it was because she liked cats so she knew how to communicate without words. According to Misato, she was just crazy.

The truth probably laid somewhere in the middle. Probably.

When the trio arrived at what Yuria had unofficially named "The Lair of the Hot Eva Babes", the darker-haired pair asked Rei to close her eyes as they approached the Katsuragi apartment. They decided to use it for this occasion since both it was bigger, and Ayanami herself tended to spend more of her free time here before the accident than in her own home.

"Welcome Back Rei!" Several voices called out happily when she opened her eyes, widening them to very un-Ayanami dimensions when she saw just how many people were welcoming her back.

Touji, the fitness instructor at NERV, and his wife and cafeteria chef, Hikari, were there. A cake made both by her and Yuria was sitting on the table. Touji, as usual, was being very expressive in his cheering. Then the range instructor, Kensuke, was also there smiling widely with a suspiciously shotgun-sized present in his hands.

But what surprised her the most were the last 2, the 'bridge bunny' Maya and Ritsuko Akagi, the former cold doctor who used to barely tolerate her, but had warmed up considerable in private after she was brought into the conspiracy. As she gave Rei a warm nod, as if confirming that yes, she was actually here, the bluenette found out that she had way more friends than she imagined.

Which is when the flash of Aida's camera nearly blinded her, him shouting something about her actually smiling. He was silly, she smiled often. But the picture, of her visibly smiling, both Yuria Ikari and Misato Katsuragi hugging her with one arm and cheering, would become one of her most prized possessions.

Which is when all their phones started ringing... together with the Angel Attack Siren.

As the Suzuhara couple ran to a nearby shelter, all 5 critical NERV employees bundled into Misato's car, Maya asking why was there a nitrous oxide tank under the back seat just before Katsuragi virtually catapulted them towards the HQ.

As the rose in the elevator towards the Eva cages and Control Center, Rei noticed everyone was tense at having to fight another angel when they thought they'd be celebrating. She'd read that comedy was a good way to help ease tension. "Some say the X66 Evangelion Fast Deployment System was adopted by NERV-Berlin after they saw the Major drive. They were never able to reproduce the results, however."

At first, it was just a suppressed giggle from Maya and Yuria as the older women were stunned into silence. And then Misato started howling and slapping the wall trying to catch her breath. Truly, things had become even weirder in their little slice of heaven-topped hell. Only much later would they realize that Rei spent most time in the hospital not only reading books in her Ember, but also watching Top Gear episodes.

As both pilots made their way to the dressing room, Yuria finally realized that yes, Rei was also going to the dressing room. As she hurriedly put on her plugsuit, she turned to see Rei doing her best to do the same with her still stiff arm. Even with the emergency situation, she noticed that gods, Ayanami was hot. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she gently held the bluenette's recently broken arm that she was trying to slide into the suit.

"Rei, no! You still haven't healed properly! Hell, Unit Null arrived just this afternoon, we haven't even tested it yet! We don't even know if it'll activate!" The concern on her voice was plain to see. She did not want to have this girl get into a fight for her life the day she left the hospital. She did not want to see her friend in danger.

Red eyes met brown ones, and where one was filled with concern, the other was filled with determination. "Yuria. If you had a chance, however small, of helping protect the ones you care about, would you take it?" At that the brunette looked down, fighting herself. After a few tense seconds, she helped Ayanami put on her suit. "You make me regret this, I swear I'll make a very bad cake for your second welcome home party." "Deal. You get yourself in the hospital, I won't save a piece of the first cake for you." The bluenette countered, making Yuria smile. "Deal. Let's go kick this thing's ass and get back to your party, First Child."

"OH FOR FUCK'S SA- YOU'RE JUST CHEATING NOW!" The pilot of Unit-01 shouted as she worked hard to deflect the Angel's energy whips with her AT Field, having to change it's angle as they tried to harm her from every single direction, apparently able to change length at will. She was able to score a few glancing hits when the thing was only using energy blasts, her new training being put to good use, but apparently that pissed it off and now she was firmly in the defensive, two DMRs and one Pallet Rifle laying destroyed between the purple behemoth and the Angel in the early night.

The city was already fairly damaged, the being's limbs tearing through buildings as if they were paper. That, coupled with the energy blasts, meant more and more horrible mountains of paperwork Misato would have to go through, provided they survive.

"Misato! Kinda need a new strategy here! This thing is angry at me!" As she dodged another swipe, Yuria managed to will her machine of destruction to grab one of the thing's glowing whips, ignoring the painful feedback in her hands as she unsheathed a Progressive Knife and brought it down on the wiggling offender, cutting part of the tentacle off.

Only to see the Angel easily regrow said part and restart the attack. Tonight was going to be a sucky night. Which is when she heard Misato shouting something about Unit Null Launch, and the creature's back exploding as High Explosive, Armour Piercing Incendiary 600mm rounds made their way towards it, letting Unit-01 get some distance from her attacker... and for Yuria to notice just what in the hell was Unit Null.

Armour far more aggressive than Unit-01, no visible eyes, 3 pylons on it's shoulders instead of only one, and painted in a mix of greys and faded asphalt with thin orange highlights, the thing looked downright murderous. The fact that it was continuously pelting the angel with a hail of pistol fire one-handed probably contributed to that. As the being shifted it's attention to the new threat, the Third Child saw an opening as Misato was relaying her the plans – and immediately grabbed a Progressive Glaive she sent, slicing the weapon into the Angel's unprotected side and managing to nick the Core.

A satisfying howl echoed in the air as Shamshel, ruler of the Fourth Heaven, felt it's receptacle of the soul being attacked by the shadows of the father. This would not stand.

Grabbing the offending object with it's arm, it could feel as the weapon was broken in half, now useless in the arms of it's enemy. And then it howled in pain again as the shadow closest to it brought it's other hateful weapon, a dagger, to bear on it's Core, scoring another nick.

Enough was enough, the being decided, as it wrapped one of it's whips around the shadow's leg, bringing it swinging overhead to smash it into the ground, the impact shaking the very earth that he did not touch, only to repeat the attack again and again until the insult against Father was unresponsive, finally sending it flying towards the warped shadow in the distance, waiting as it fell, and fell.. The warped shadow was moving to catch it, but it was for naught as Shamshel once more pulled his fake head back, his true face sending a massive blast of energy to finally end the existence of these affronts to Father and finally be able to reunite with Him.

Both Evas were hit by the beam, the already battered Unit-01 bouncing back as it landed directly on it, and Unit Null sent tumbling back by the sheer force, AT-Field or not.

"Yuria, come in! Rei, come in!" Misato barked, the sensors in the Control Room unable to properly analyze what was happening because of the energy output of the Angel.

Coughing, the First Child responded. "Unit Null here, me and 01 are in a ditch out of the beam's way." Another cough. "I have a plan."

As the angel stopped it's attack, unable to sense the Shadows anymore, it turned once more to it's objective, when several gun batteries in the mountains started to light up it's AT Field, their bullets not able to penetrate, but very much able to annoy it.

As the angel was busy showing it's annoyance via energy beams, Unit Null was able to shook Unit-01 awake. "Uugh... did anyone get the license plate of that Angel" At that, Rei smiled. Yuria could make her smile even in the middle of a life or death battle. Truly, she was a friend worth protecting.

"Yuria, listen. Misato and me came up with a plan. While it's distracted with the gun batteries, we will both rush it single file. I'll have my AT Field at max to make it focus on me. When it does, I'll dodge, and then you bring your AT Field to max as well and hit it when it's distracted with me. Got it?" Rei asked, her face completely serious. Yuria wanted to argue, she really did, but the look on Ayanami's face was just too determined.

"Here, take my Progressive Daggers. I'm just the decoy. We'll likely get one chance at this. Ready?" Taking the weapons from the pylons in Unit Null's elbows, Yuria turned them on, the humming feeling reassuring in her hand. Nodding to her friend inside the grey and asphalt monstrosity, they both broke into a run, Unit Null in front with her AT Field at full power, and Unit 01 behind her, AT Field at minimum until the last moment.

Shamshel felt the abomination in shadow form approaching it from behind, it's light of the soul shining brightly. Apparently the fully powered beam was not enough to extinguish it. No matter, one was already dealt with, and this one would fall as well. Bringing it's energy arms to bear, he waited until the shadow was close enough so it couldn't dodge, and sent both of them hurtling it's way, intent on piercing instead of slashing.

Rei saw the energy whips coming as she ran towards the Angel. Truth be told, with her sync ratio in Unit Null at a steady 79%, she could probably dodge them, but that was not the plan. The one to her left was caught easily by her Eva's arm, the pain of holding it annoying but bearable... the one to her right, however, was moving too fast, and her own stiff right arm meant that the movement of her Eva was also stiff.. and too slow, as the whip of light impaled her shoulder, making her cry out. Of course, this was the part of the plan she did not tell either Misato or Yuria, which were both crying out her name in worry.

However, now she did have a good grip on both energy whips. Throwing all her energy into her Eva's legs, she willed her war machine to jump over the Angel, forcing it to become temporarily defenseless... against the now very angry pilot of Unit 01 and her 60 meter tall companion, which was at that very moment in the middle of a jump that would get all her energy from the run plus her weight to make impact with the Angel's Core through the Progressive Daggers it was holding in a reverse grip.

Shamshel couldn't, indeed, block or react in time as the Daggers pierced it's receptacle of the soul, sparks flowing everywhere like water. The wail that cut through the night was nothing short of horrific as the being felt it's very sense of self ebb away. However, it would not die quietly, and it would not die alone. Pulling back it's fake head once more, it's actual face shot everything it had left against the shadow of the father that was wounding it so.

"Aaahh...ghhhh..." Yuria had to concentrate with all her might to keep the blades in against the torrent of energy that was assaulting her Eva. She could hear the many warnings the automated systems were giving her, one of them about armor plates melting if she heard correctly through the feedback pain. Why would this thing not die already!? She was starting to lose her grip. No. Not like this. She wouldn't fail Misato and Rei like this...

"If I'm correct, making the owner of the party do all the work is very rude..." They all heard Ayanami say all of a sudden, a sick squelching sound accompanying her pained scream as she pulled out the energy whip that had impaled her Eva's shoulder, letting go of the whips and using her war machine's weight to push the blades deeper with her feet as she fell. Finally, with a resounding cracking sound, the Core shattered, the Angel slumping to the ground, it's once glowing whips disappearing into embers.

In the airspace above Tokyo-3, Eiael smiled as she saw the corpse of the hated betrayer fall dead. The military jet that brought her here, a SU30 BM, was circling over the fight since the start. She'd have a lot of compliments for the two Lilim that brought the beast down, and now that she had her role as IPEA's Tokyo-3 ambassador, she would have free access to NERV and the Children. She sighed, finally safe to take off her helmet and let her now long, dark hair flow freely

She was to go straight into the Den of Sin, and she would bring it down.

This is it folks, Act 4! I'm sorry this took so long, real life brought me down with a bad case of the depressions, but a playthrough of Saya no Uta cured it!

I also didn't feel like forcing this chapter out if I thought it'd end up sub par. Quality versus Quantity, people! Please review if you wish, and follow if you want to be notified when the next chapter drops!

Ciao!