Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or any of its characters and concepts.
Author's Notes: So here's Chapter 5 of my 'The Angels Return' story. Hopefully it's up to the standard of my previous chapters. I tried to give some more depth to some of the characters and to fill in some of the gaps in the story. A note of warning, with this chapter this fic fully earns its M rating.
5. Changes and Revelations
(Nerv, Control Room)
Misato was frozen in shock. She stared at the scene that showed the figure floating in front of the Angel. The figure that had just referred to itself as Adam.
Gendo casually watched the screen. "Adam has finally awoken."
Ritsuko stepped up next to him. "But can we control him."
"That remains to be seen."
(Tokyo-3 Central District)
Shinji floated in front of the Angel. His face was perfectly calm. In fact he looked bored, like he was waiting for something.
The Angel was motionless for a moment, then it lifted its leg.
The boredom vanished from Shinji's face and his eyes narrowed. The air in front of him shimmered.
The Angel's leg was half raised when its entire body was hit head-on by Shinji's AT field. The Angel was knocked backwards by the blast and the surrounding buildings were levelled. The Angel's feet left long trenches in the ground as it tried to stop its backwards momentum, eventually coming to a stop when the attack ended abruptly.
Shinji raised his right arm and spread his hand, revealing the red circle on his palm. He pointed the circle at the Angel, which was just beginning to approach.
The Angel had almost reached Shinji when he fired. A black beam of energy shot out from the circle on his palm and spread out, vaporising the Angel's entire forward left leg and part of its side.
With the loss of its leg the Angel's forward momentum sent it crashing to the ground.
(Nerv, Control Room)
Ritsuko leaned over to talk to the commander. "He's winning."
Gendo nodded. "Yes, he is even stronger than we expected."
(Tokyo-3 Central District)
Shinji's wings folded to his back and he landed in front of the stricken Angel. "You cannot defeat me."
The Angel's leg and side slowly began to regenerate, starting with the bones. The bones spread down the leg and the muscles and skin began to grow around them.
Shinji watched as the Angel lifted itself on its partially reformed leg, the remaining muscle and skin regenerating even as it stood. He waited until it had lifted itself to its full height then he raised his left arm and fired. The Angel's forward right leg was incinerated by the blast along with a sizeable chunk of its side.
The Angel's still damaged leg was unable to support all the weight of its front half so the Angel collapsed once more. The bored expression returned to Shinji's face.
(Tokyo-3)
The recovery team leader watched as his men opened the blood spattered entry plug of Unit-15. The LCL flowed out and washed over the blood stained ground, soaking the recovery team leader's boots.
One of the recovery crew looked into the entry plug and then reached in with one arm. He turned to the recovery team leader. "He's breathing but he's unconscious."
(Tokyo-3 Central District)
Rei watched the Angel slowly regenerate. Her eyes moved to Shinji. He was alive but was he really Shinji. He'd called himself Adam. Tears welled up in Rei's eyes. She'd already lost him once; she couldn't bear to lose him again.
Rei felt something open, something that had been closed for far too long. Her link to Shinji. As the link opened an image of the old Shinji flashed in her mind. "I won't leave you." The voice faded as quickly as it had come. Rei smiled, he was still her Shin-chan.
Shinji smiled too but only for a second, then he went back to watching the Angel regenerate. He had folded his arms and was watching passively. "The only reason you are still alive is because you may yet prove useful to me."
The Angel shakily rose to its feet and stood in front of Shinji, towering over him. Its eyes narrowed to slits.
Shinji signed. "If we must." He concentrated his AT field.
The Angel took one step forward, then black cross-flares erupted under it and tore through its body. While its body was shredded by smaller cross-flares, four huge ones (like the one that had brought Shinji to the surface) erupted at each corner, completely destroying the Angel's legs.
When the light from the cross-flares finally faded there was a variety of bloody chunks spread along the ground where the Angel used to be.
Shinji spread his wings and took to the skies. He didn't actually use the wings to fly, instead using his AT field. The wings were only useful for manoeuvring.
Shinji eventually landed next to a particularly large chunk of the Angel. The difference with this chunk is that it was slowly reforming, spreading outwards and drawing other chunks to it.
Shinji clenched his right fist and a black glowing blade extended from his wrist. The blade was about a meter long and with it Shinji began to cut the chunk into pieces. As he did a giant red orb was revealed within the chunk. The Angel's S2 organ.
(Nerv, Control Room)
Fuyutsuki glanced at Ritsuko and Gendo. "It would appear Adam can manipulate his AT field to an unprecedented extent."
Gendo continued to watch the screen, which showed an increasingly blood-soaked Shinji continuing to carve up the chunk of Angel. "Yes, this is unexpected but it will not be a problem."
Ritsuko was also watching the screen. "I hope so." The blank look on Shinji's face scared her. How could he be so expressionless when he was being drenched in spurting blood?
(Tokyo-3 Central District)
Shinji had completely uncovered the Angel's S2 organ. He looked it over then placed his palm on it. The S2 organ glowed brighter than exploded in a fiery flash of light.
Shinji stepped back and surveyed the destruction around him. "It's over. At least for now." He remained where he was for moment then once again took to the skies and flew toward the three watching Evas.
He came to a stop in front of Unit-14, which opened its mouth and roared at him. "You're current state is no longer necessary. Release your daughter from your clutches." Shinji waited for the Eva to comply.
Unit-14 remained like it was for a moment then its mouth closed and its shoulders slumped, its eyes going dim. Inside the entry plug the unconscious form of Asuka formed out of the LCL. Her mother's soul returned to its dormancy, for now at least.
Units 16 & 17 were standing next to each other not far off. Shinji flew over to them. He stopped in front of them and looked at each in turn. "We should return to headquarters. We can talk there."
(5 Minutes Later, Nerv, Eva Bays)
The two three eyed Evas slumped as their entry plugs ejected and their pilots climbed out.
Rei hit the ground running. She ran to the winged figure that had landed in front of her Eva and jumped into its arms. "Shinji." She kissed him firmly on the lips. When the kiss broke off she began to cry tears of joy.
Shinji held Rei gentle in his arms. A simple task now that he was more than a head taller than her. "It's been a long time Rei. Too long."
Rei smiled through her tears. "It's only been a couple of days."
Shinji kissed the top of her head. "I'll never leave you again."
Nara stepped up behind them. "If you two are quite done. I think we have some explaining to do." He motioned along the catwalk in-front of the Evas to the quickly approaching figure of Misato.
Shinji put Rei down. "I do not believe that will be necessary." He motioned towards his father and the sub-commander, following Misato along the catwalk.
Misato stopped in front of Shinji. She looked into his eyes. "Shinji?"
Shinji shrugged. "More or less."
Gendo and Fuyutsuki arrived. Gendo pushed his glasses up his nose as he spoke. "You are Pilot Ikari correct."
Shinji nodded. "Yes."
"Hmm." Gendo turned back towards the door. "Pilot Ikari, follow me. Major you will accompany the 1st and 6th children to the changing rooms."
Misato opened her mouth to argue than closed it again and nodded in acceptance. She and the two Ayanamis headed for the change room.
(10 Minutes Later, Nerv, Commander's Office)
Gendo had finished his preliminary discussion with Shinji and they had now been joined by Rei, Nara, Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki.
Ritsuko looked Shinji up and down. "Just exactly what are you?"
Shinji thought for a moment. "I…am an Angel."
"Are you at all human?"
Shinji shrugged. "Genetically…yes. But I am essentially an Angel"
Ritsuko looked thoughtful and jotted something down on her notepad.
Shinji looked over at his father. "You may be interested in something I learnt from the 20th Angel."
The commander made eye contact with his son. "What have you learnt?"
"That Angel and the previous two were man made. They were created by Seele using DNA samples gathered from the real Angels and then used to attack us."
Gendo's eyebrows rose slightly. "Seele has gone farther than I expected. If they can create Angels than they are a greater threat than we expected."
Shinji nodded slightly. "There's more. The three Angels we have seen so far were prototypes. The 18th Angel is the only one that had a ranged attack. However its weakness in hand-to-hand combat and its slow regeneration speed proved to be its downfall. The 19th Angel was created to be the ultimate close-range attack Angel. Its variety of limbs made it deadly at close range and the multiple cores allowed it to survive powerful attacks at close range aimed at its cores. These things combined with its ability to rapidly regenerate and its size made the Angel almost invincible but its form of reckless attack and the instability of its AT field made it vulnerable to large scale attacks. The 20th Angel was designed to be able to survive any form of attack. Its incredible size, rapid regeneration speed and extremely powerful AT field all contributed to this end. Now that the three prototypes have been defeated Seele is going to make multiple clones of them and send them at us all at once."
Gendo nodded slightly and looked at Ritsuko. "What is the status of the Evas?"
Ritsuko flipped the page on her notepad. "Units 14, 16 & 17 have sustained severe structural damage and their S2 organs have been completely drained of their energy reserves. They'll recover but they won't be fully operational for awhile. Unit-18's S2 organ has been destroyed and although its body is relatively undamaged, without the S2 organ it can't regenerate. We'll have to build a completely new S2 organ and there's no knowing how long that will take. Unit-15 is the worst, its S2 organ has been destroyed and its body has been heavily damaged. Its head has been crushed and it's had its left arm severed. It's also suffered heavy damage to its chest. The damage will have to be repaired before we can attempt to install a new S2 organ. The repairs on Unit-19 are still ongoing, we've replaced most of the missing body parts and repaired the S2 organ but it will still be awhile before the Unit is operational. That's not including the time it will take to repair the internal dummy plug system."
Gendo crossed his hands before his face. "I want you to divert all resources to the repairs on Units 14, 16 and 17. The repairs to the other Evas can wait. The repairs to the city are unimportant." He paused for a moment in thought. "Order the evacuation of all civilians. What is the status of the other pilots?"
"Kensuke's fine. Asuka and Touji are both unconscious but are relatively unhurt and will probable recover soon."
Shinji looked over at Ritsuko. His red eyes intent. "Where is Unit-19 now?"
Ritsuko's expression turned quizzical. "In Terminal Dogma. Why?"
"I believe it is time to revive Unit-01."
Gendo's glasses glinted as he looked up. "You can restore Unit-01?"
Shinji nodded. "When Unit-01's body was destroyed. Its essence sought sanctuary within my S2 organ. Unit-19 is a clone of Unit-01 so I can transfer Unit-01's essence into Unit-19, since Unit-19 has no essence of its own."
"And what will happen then?"
"Unit-19 will become more powerful and change into Unit-01. I am unable to access its power anyway, so it will have no affect on me."
Gendo stood up. "Very well."
(10 Minutes Later, Nerv, Terminal Dogma)
Rei, Nara, Gendo, Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki stood on the gantry in front of Unit-19. Shinji floated in front of its face. The Eva's body was encased in bakelite, which was holding its broken body and limbs together. Its head and the top of its torso were above the bakelite.
Shinji reached out and touched Unit-19's horn. "It is time Unit-01."
For a moment nothing happened then Unit-19's horn began to glow and change colour, from silver and brown to purple and green. The change in colour spread across the Eva's head then down and over its body, until the entire Eva was purple and green. Below the bakelite's surface the Eva's body was regenerating, all its wounds healing and its body parts fusing together.
There was a moment of silence then the Eva's eyes blazed to life. It tore its arms free and began to tear chunks out of the surrounding bakelite, flinging them against the walls.
Several chunks angled towards the figures on the gantry but deflected harmlessly off Rei and Nara's AT fields.
Shinji didn't even blink as a large chunk exploded against his AT field. He fired a thin beam from his palm that missed the Eva's head my inches. The Eva turned to face him.
Shinji inclined his head slightly. "Welcome back Unit-01." He looked at the damage the huge behemoth had done to the room. "Together Unit-01, you and I are invincible but we do not have time for this now. Return to your dormancy, when the time comes I will come for you."
Unit-01 half reached for Shinji then let its arm drop. Its eyes went dim and it slumped.
Shinji floated down to the gantry and landed between Rei and Nara. "Unit-01 is ready."
Ritsuko was staring at the Eva. "What happened?"
Shinji shrugged. "I restored Unit-01 but in doing so I allowed it to become self-aware. Its initial instinct was to simply destroy everything." He made eye contact with Ritsuko. "I convinced it otherwise."
Fuyutsuki's brow furrowed. "I thought Unit-01 had no soul."
Shinji nodded. "It shouldn't but for some reason Unit-01 is different. I felt it the day I reactivated it. Unit-01 has a soul, one all of its own."
(Tokyo-3 Hospital, Private Ward)
Kensuke, Hikari and Misato were hovering over the two hospital beds occupied by Asuka and Touji. The two teens were still unconscious.
Hikari was panic stricken. "Do you think they'll be okay?"
Kensuke signed. "I've already told you Hikari, they're just unconscious. They'll be fine."
Misato didn't say anything. She was thinking of Shinji or whoever he was. What had happened, was he really back or had he been replaced by some Angel. She had to find out.
(Same Time, Seele Conference Room)
The stone obelisks were having another conference.
The obelisk marked 02 glowed brighter. "The reappearance of Ikari's son is an unexpected obstacle."
The obelisk marked 03 glowed brighter. "Yes, he could ruin all our plans."
The obelisk marked 05 glowed brighter. "He is only one. Nerv's Evas are crippled and even if they manage to repair them they are no match for our Angels. If we send an army of Angels we can overwhelm them and initiate Third Impact."
Several obelisks began to respond but all fell silent as the obelisk marked 01 glowed brighter. "An army of Angels may well be able to destroy Ikari's son but we should take extra precautions. We have come too far to fail now." There was a short pause. "Has the project been successful?"
The obelisk marked 08 glowed brighter. "Yes. Xera is complete and ready for combat."
"Good. We can use her to destroy Ikari's son." Another pause. "Begin the cloning of the Angels. Every moment that passes is time for Nerv to recuperate."
(1 Hour Later, Nerv, Commander's Office)
Nara, Rei and Shinji stood before the commander's desk. Shinji had retracted his wings into his back where they wouldn't get in the way.
Gendo looked up at them from behind his desk. "We have been unable to locate Seele's base, so it appears we'll have to wait for them to come to us. In the mean time I have jobs for you."
Shinji met his father's eyes. "What would you have us do?" He sounded only vaguely interested in his father's wishes.
"I need Rei and Nara to transfer the souls of Units 15 & 18 into their own Evas so they can be piloted by the 4th and 7th children. I also want them to assume their true forms."
Rei and Nara glanced at each other than back to the commander. "As you wish commander." They spoke in unison.
(20 Minutes Later, Nerv, Eva Bays)
Rei and Nara stood before their Evas. The commander and Shinji stood behind them.
Ritsuko looked down at them from an overhead catwalk. "We're beginning the soul transfer. I need you two to open the links to your Evas and make them accept the souls."
"Yes ma'am." The two teens stepped forward and raised their arms.
Rei and Nara strengthened their links to their Evas. Both could feel the slow assimilation of the new souls. They forced their Evas to accept the souls, to accept the pilots that the new souls were used to. It wasn't difficult, the Evas were bonded to them, they couldn't resist.
Soon it was done and the teens closed the links between them and the Evas but they didn't severe them, they would be useful later.
(Tokyo-3 Hospital, Private Ward)
Touji and Asuka had regained consciousness and Kensuke and Hikari had returned to the hospital to check on them. Misato had slept in one of the chairs.
Touji was sitting-up on his bed. "Thanks for coming guys. How long was I out?"
Misato smiled. "You've both been out for about 10 hours. And before you ask, yes the Evas and the Angel were defeated."
Asuka (who was also sitting-up on her bed) groaned. "What happened to me Misato? The last thing I remember is trying to connect to…my Eva."
Misato bit her lip. "You were…absorbed into your Eva."
Asuka blinked. "Ab…sorbed." She shuddered.
Hikari was crying. "I'm so glad you're both okay. I don't know if I could handle losing another friend." She stopped as she realised what she had just said.
The sudden silence was broken as Misato's cell-phone began to ring. She glanced at the caller ID and answered the call. "Yes Sir."
"…"
"What!"
"…"
"But…"
"…"
Asuka turned to Hikari. "Wonder what that's about?" She motioned at Misato.
Hikari shrugged. "Don't know." She looked around. "Heh, does anyone know where Rei and Nara are?"
Misato hung-up. She bowed her head and took a deep breath.
Asuka turned her attention to Misato. "What's wrong Misato?"
Misato wouldn't meet Asuka's eyes. "That was the commander. Rei and Nara are dead." She knew it wasn't true but she had been ordered to tell the teens that the two pilots were dead. Another thing she needed answers for.
Hikari's lower lip quivered. "De…dead. No! They can't be!"
Misato still refused to meet anyone's eyes. "I'm sorry."
Kensuke swallowed the tears that had crept into his mouth. "What happened?"
Misato continued to look at her feet. "They didn't survive the battle." She paused. "Their Evas are intact though. Since Units 14, 16 and 17 are the only operational Evas; the commander has ordered that you and Touji pilot Rei and Nara's Evas."
Touji almost jumped out of his bed. "What!! I can't pilot one of their Evas. It's not right."
Misato's temper flared. "That's too bad Touji! It's a direct order!"
(1 Hour Later, Eva Bays)
The entry plugs slid into Units 16 & 17.
Inside Unit-16 Touji felt sick. "This is Rei's Eva. I shouldn't be here."
Inside Unit-17 Kensuke was having a similar experience. "This feels wrong. It feels familiar but at the same time so foreign."
Inside the observation deck Ritsuko completely ignored them and spoke into the intercom. "Begin synchronisation."
Maya began typing on her keyboard. "Beginning synchronisation…Approaching border line…Touji has passed the borderline." For a second everyone held their breath, then. "Kensuke has passed the border line…Unit-16 synchronisation complete…Unit-17 synchronisation complete."
Ritsuko signed in relief. "What are their sync ratios?"
Maya brought up the relevant data on her screen. "Touji's sync ratio is 79. Kensuke's is 57."
Ritsuko nodded. "That will have to do for now. End the test." She headed for the elevator. It was time for Rei and Nara to assume their true forms.
(Terminal Dogma)
Rei screamed as her body began to reform. It felt as if every fibre of her body was being torn apart and then rebuilt. She fell to her hands and knees as her limbs and body began to elongate.
Her scream echoed inside Shinji's skull. He wished it would stop. Both because he hated seeing Rei in pain and because the scream and the pain that rushed into him along his link to Rei awoke a memory of a pain he himself felt not long ago. Of having his body ripped apart and vaporised into atoms and of being conscious the whole time, linked to every atom for the nanosecond it took for the pain to reach his consciousness. The seemingly endless pain that had almost destroyed him.
Beside Rei Nara had managed to stay on his feet, though his mouth was open in a scream. The same animalistic scream he had made when he first awoke. As his body transformed his hair changed colour, from greyish black to Kaoru's dull grey. His eyes became a darker shade of red.
Rei's hair lightened to an almost sky blue but her eyes became the same dark red as Shinji's and Nara's. A ripple spread across each of her palms as red circles appeared there, the same thing happened to Nara.
Rei arched her back as the skin on her back began to shift. Next to her Nara leant forward. Both screamed one last time as feathered wings exploded from their backs. Wings the same colour as their hair.
When the screams died off Rei remained on her hands and knees, breathing heavily. Nara fell to his knees and bowed his head as he caught his breath.
Shinji stepped forward and helped Rei to her feet. He turned to help Nara but he had already risen; his back to Rei and Shinji.
Rei put her arm around Shinji's neck and shuddered slightly as her wings retracted into her back. "Are you okay Nara?"
The boy slowly turned as his wings retracted. He looked directly at Shinji and Rei. "I, remember now. I am…Tabris?"
Shinji glanced at Rei then back at Nara. "Yes, you are Tabris. The 17th Angel."
Nara bowed his head and signed softly. "So who am I really?" He spoke too softly for anyone to hear him, barely above a whisper.
Ritsuko (who had been watching from just inside the door) stepped forward. "It's finished then?"
Rei nodded. "Yes, it is finished."
"Then put these on and follow me to the testing room." She held out two black body-suits to Rei and Nara, who promptly pulled them on.
Ritsuko led them to the training room and once again instructed them to expand their AT fields.
Each time one of the teens expanded their AT fields the entire room (and likely most of Nerv) shook.
Ritsuko and Maya (who had come down to assist Ritsuko) looked over the results.
Ritsuko turned to the three teens. "You've all gotten more powerful to a greater or lesser extent. Rei and Shinji have both more than doubled their power but Nara," she turned to the boy, "You've more than tripled it. You're now stronger than Rei."
Nara nodded slowly. "It makes sense. My transformation both fully unlocked Tabris' powers and those of the Angels Tabris absorbed. All my souls are now one."
Though she was a little annoyed that Nara had surpassed her Rei hid it perfectly. "We should test our new power."
Ritsuko nodded. "Yes of course, I've already made the necessary changes to the simulation room."
(Nerv, Eva Simulation Room)
Misato watched as Asuka, Touji and Kensuke stepped into the entry plugs marked 14, 16 & 17 respectively.
She keyed in their weapon selections and activated the simulation.
She activated the intercom system. "Okay guys, beginning simulation."
(Virtual Tokyo-3)
Unit-16 held its Longinus spear firmly as it ran down the empty street. Touji was getting more and more used to piloting the white Eva. Strangely, synching with it felt like synching with Unit-15, even though the first time he'd ever tried to sync with this Eva it hadn't even responded. The battle with Seele's Evas had proven the effectiveness of close range weapons, so Touji (as well as Kensuke) had decided to try using a Longinus spear.
Reaching the end of the street Touji turned left and saw his intended target. Sachiel.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Kensuke was already engaged with Shamshiel. Unit-17 jumped sideways to avoid one of Shamshiel's tentacles and brought its Longinus spear down in an overhead arc, severing the tentacle.
Without pausing Kensuke lunged towards Shamshiel with the Longinus spear outstretched. Lightning-fast Shamshiel's remaining tentacle whipped up and plunged through Unit-17's shoulder.
Though the tentacle strike stopped Unit-17's forward momentum it didn't stop Kensuke from throwing the Longinus spear at the Angel's S2 organ.
As the spear struck and penetrated its S2 organ, Shamshiel went limp and Kensuke pulled the tentacle from Unit-17's shoulder.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Stepping over the fallen form of Matariel, Unit-14 advanced on Israfel.
'It wasn't fair! Why did they have to die!?' Asuka blamed herself for the deaths of her friends. Shinji had saved her from the 19th Angel and then instead of staying to help when he was attacked she ran off with the others. She was right their, she should have known what he was planning. And then with Rei and Nara, she was ordered to back them up against the 20th Angel. She wasn't sure exactly what happened in that battle but Rei and Nara had wound up dead. She'd failed all three of them.
Tearing through Israfel's AT field and implanting one of her progressive axes in its head she proceeded to tear out its S2 organ with her now free hand. Crushing the S2 organ she retrieved her axe and moved on.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Pulling his Longinus spear from Sachiel's S2 organ Touji turned towards the floating form of Ramiel. "This time, I will destroy you." Unit-16 deployed its wings and took to the sky.
As soon as it had cleared the buildings Unit-16 was fired on by Ramiel but Touji skilfully dodged the attack. Veering to the right he landed on a tall skyscraper and retracted his Eva's wings but instantly jumped off it again as Ramiel fired, blowing off the top of the building. Jumping from building to building he closed in on the Angel.
Jumping from the final building just as it was hit by Ramiel's beam Touji once again spread his Eva's wings but this time Ramiel did not have time to fire. With his spear held out in-front of him, Touji broke through Ramiel's AT field and went straight through it and its S2 organ.
As the giant Angel began to fall Unit-16 spiralled towards the ground.
(Terminal Dogma, Eva Simulation Room)
Ritsuko watched the three teens step into their respective entry plugs and seal them. She keyed in the sequence to initiate the simulation.
This simulation would be different than the previous ones. The program would now create a virtual copy of the three pilots rather than the Evas. She just hoped the program could cope with the power of the combatants.
(Virtual Battlefield)
Shinji, Rei and Nara appeared on the edge of the same desolate wasteland that these simulation plugs had always created but they could already see that things were different. On the other side of the battlefield was a new selection of opponents.
Fifteen figures who appeared to be of similar shape and size to the three teens but with pitch black bodies and no faces stood facing the three teens. They began to march forwards and several of them unfolded pitch black wings and took to the sky.
Ritsuko's voice echoed across the battlefield. "This is your new training program. All fifteen of these Drones have similar power to you. You must destroy them all."
None of the teens bothered trying to respond they just raised their hands and fired black energy beams from their palms. The six beams zeroed in on the Drones but before they reached their targets the Drones raised their arms and fired back. Thirty beams of red energy collided with and tore through the approaching beams and continued through to race towards Shinji, Rei and Nara. The three teens spread their wings and took to the air just in time to dodge the attacks. Below them an entire section of the already destroyed city was vaporised.
Ritsuko's voice echoed across the battlefield once more. "Oh I forgot to mention, they can copy your moves."
(Virtual Tokyo-3)
Unit-17's head bent back as it looked to the sky. Above him, Kensuke could see the glowing ring that was Armisael. He wasn't sure how he should engage the Angel. Any attempt at an attack might cause Armisael to strike.
Deciding he couldn't stay put forever Kensuke deployed his Eva's wings. In response Armisael unfolded and one of its ends shot towards the Eva. Kensuke caught the glowing end just in front of his Eva's chest.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Asuka was still in turmoil. She could never make this right but she had to at least try. No one had really told her what was happening but Misato had mentioned something about a coming battle to Ritsuko within Asuka's hearing. Whatever the battle was Asuka would win it. Unit-14's hands tightened on the hilts of its progressive axes. She'd win for her dead friends.
Zeruel stood in front of her, its arms unfolded and ready to strike. With a shriek of rage Asuka ran towards the massive angel.
(Virtual Battlefield)
Shinji dived sideways to avoid a blast from one of the Drones and clenched his right fist. A glowing blade extended from his wrist and he rammed it into the Drone's chest, cutting the miniature S2 organ in two.
Another Drone dived towards Shinji, a glowing blade extending from its wrist.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Rei dived under the energy beams fired by one of the Drones and deflected another set with her AT field.
She fired back and blasted both Drones to the ground but they soon began to rise. Wrapping up on of the Drones with her AT field she crushed inwards and pulverised it.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Nara stopped with his hand mere inches from one of the Drone's faces and fired an energy beam. The blast obliterated the Drone's face and knocked its body to the ground. As it tried to rise, Nara rammed his blade through its chest.
Before he could retract his arm however another Drone brought its own blade down on it and severed it just above the elbow.
Suppressing a scream, Nara blasted the offending Drone back with his AT field. He gritted his teeth in pain as bone, muscle and skin flowed from the open wound and condensed into the form of his right arm. The blood splattered arm was an exact replica of the severed one lying on the ground below.
Nara swung a punch at the Drone with the new appendage. Feeling a strange tugging sensation as the limb extended beyond its usual length and slammed into the Drone's chest. He grabbed onto the bottom of the Drone's rib cage and yanked savagely, tearing out a round red object. The Drone's body instantly went limp and fell to the ground.
Retracting his arm back to its usual length, Nara examined the object he now held. An S2 organ, the core at the heart of all Angels. He placed his left hand on his chest at the bottom of his rib cage. "Just like my S2 organ, the mark of an Angel. The source of my AT field." He signed as a distant memory returned to him. "The light of my soul."
Nara stared at the S2 organ for a moment longer than clenched his fist and ground it into dust. "I'm not human. I never was." He opened his hand and let the remnants of the S2 organ fall to the ground.
(Virtual Tokyo-3)
Touji swooped down to where he could see Kensuke's Unit-17 engaged with Armisael. The black Eva was struggling to hold Armisael's glowing end at bay.
Landing on the closest building, Touji expanded Unit-16's AT field. In response, Armisael's other end launched towards him. Touji took to the skies again just in time to dodge the offending end.
Below, Armisael's other end was slipping through Unit-17's hands. With a final push it touched Unit-17's chest and began to seize control of the Eva. Screaming, Kensuke reached up and pulled his progressive knife from his Eva's shoulder baffle then jabbed it into Armisael. Blood from the wound spurted over Kensuke's Eva. "Touji, help me!"
Touji dodged another strike from Armisael then dived towards Unit-17. With an underhand swing of his Longinus spear he severed the end of Armisael that had attached itself to Kensuke's Eva. The end rebounded, soaking the nearby buildings in a river of blood.
Picking up his Longinus spear, Kensuke hurled it at the Angel. It went into the Angel's bloody end and came out roughly halfway down its body length.
The Angel's body collapsed to the ground, it twitched for a few moments before going limp.
Above the two Evas, a dark cloud began to descend.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Unit-14 caught one of Zeruel's arms in mid-flight and gave it a savage yank, pulling the Angel forwards.
As Zeruel reached her, Asuka viciously kneed the Angel's chest and followed up by punching it to the ground. She picked up one of her progressive axes and split Zeruel's face in two. The resulting spurt of blood hit Unit-14 in the face.
Zeruel attempted to retaliate with an eye-blast but due to the mutilation of its face the attack went wide. Any further attempts proved impossible as Unit-14 tore both halves of Zeruel's face off and threw them aside.
Asuka grabbed Zeruel's right arm and ripped it off before throwing it aside. Zeruel began to strike at Unit-14's chest with its remaining arm. Ignoring the repeated impacts Asuka began to pound at Zeruel's S2 organ with both fists. Zeruel's armour plate snapped into place but soon began to crack under Asuka's blows.
(Virtual Battlefield)
Rei and Shinji melded their AT fields together and blasted five of the remaining Drones to the ground, following up the attack with two massive cross-flares that incinerated two of the stricken drones. The other three took to the sky and joined another of their comrades before launching themselves towards Shinji and Rei.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Nara concentrated his AT field around himself to stop himself from being crushed by the AT field of a nearby Drone. When the Drones AT field tried to crush inwards he forced it back with his own, breaking it apart.
Before the Drone could reform its field he rammed his fist into its chest and tore out its S2 organ. He held it for a moment (briefly considering it as he had the previous one) then clenched his fist and pulverised it.
He turned around to where Shinji and Rei were battling the four remaining drones. He spread his wings and clenched both fists, (generating two blades) and took off towards the conflict.
(Virtual Tokyo-3)
Kensuke swore as he lost control of his Eva. He hadn't seen Bardiel until it was too late and by the time he'd noticed the descending cloud his damaged Eva had been unable to move fast enough. His possessed Eva was now running towards Touji's.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Touji jumped backwards to avoid the elongated arm of Unit-17 as it tried to strike his Eva. Spreading Unit-16's wings he took to the sky. Unit-17 roared, spread its own wings and took to the sky in pursuit.
Touji swung his Longinus spear in a wide arc at Unit-17's head. The possessed Eva didn't even try to block the attack and was neatly decapitated. It didn't stop however and both its arms shot out, one ramming its Longinus spear through Unit-16's chest, the other grabbing the Eva's neck and squeezing as hard as it could.
Touji screamed as the Longinus spear penetrated deep into his Eva's chest and dropped his own Longinus spear. As Unit-17's second hand tried to crush his Eva's neck he reached out and grabbed its body, pulling the headless Eva in close and making it almost impossible for it to take a second stab with the Longinus spear.
Inside Unit-16's cockpit Touji got up and reached behind his seat. "Let's end this." He pulled the handle that made both his Eva's core and S2 organ go critical.
For a heartbeat the two Eva's floated above the city then disappeared in a glowing ball of raw nuclear fury.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Asuka payed no attention to the explosion behind her as she calmly removed her progressive axes from Zeruel's now motionless corpse. She had taken great pleasure in torturing Zeruel's body even after the Angel was dead and had worked off most of her anger.
She activated her intercom. "How many left."
Misato's rather shaky voice responded. "Umm…just Sahaqiel."
"Touji and Kensuke?"
"They were both just blown up."
Asuka shrugged. "Guess I'll just have to do it myself then." Unit-14 began to swing its axes in circles. "Hurry up you son of a bitch." Far above, the speck that was Sahaqiel appeared.
Asuka swung the progressive axes faster and faster until they were almost a blur, watching Sahaqiel grow steadily closer. Sahaqiel gradually grew larger and larger until it was almost upon Tokyo-3.
Asuka let out a shriek of rage and hurled both progressive axes at the giant Angel. The two axes tore through the Angel's AT field and split its S2 organ into four parts. Causing the Angel to explode in a giant ball of destruction that stopped just clear of the cities skyscrapers.
(Virtual Battlefield)
Nara rapidly approached the remaining four Drones from behind. Preoccupied with fighting Rei and Shinji they didn't notice him until it was too late. He brought both his blades up and swung them at the two closest Drones. Extending his arms to increase his reach.
The left blade cut straight through a Drone's S2 organ while the right one tore through another Drone's AT field and decapitated it.
The headless Drone fell towards the ground and Nara gave chase.
Above them Shinji and Rei took advantage of the disruption to attack the two Drones who remained in front of them. They focused and lashed out with their AT fields, neutralising the AT fields of the Drones.
Both Drones generated a blade from their right wrists and dived at Rei and Shinji but the two teens generated their own blades and blocked the attack.
Pressing his hand into the chest of the Drone in-front of him, Shinji fired a black beam on energy at point blank range, completely destroying the Drones S2 organ. Beside him Rei kicked the opposing Drone back and then generated a second blade using it to split the Drone's entire body in-half with one stroke, splitting its S2 organ in the process.
(Meanwhile, Another Part of the Battlefield)
Nara followed the crazy descent of the headless Drone as it plummeted towards the ground. At first he thought the Drone had completely lost control but then he felt it concentrate its AT field.
Just before they reached the ground both the Drone and Nara were engulfed by a bright red cross flare, completely obscuring the two from sight.
When the cross-flare finally cleared it revealed Nara crouched on the ground, head bowed, wings spread wide. His body was cut and burnt in several places but the wounds were rapidly healing. Below him were the tattered remains of the Drone's body, its body had been almost completely shattered by Nara's fist which was embedded in the Drone's chest where its S2 organ use to be.
The virtual world began to disappear around him.
(Nerv, Eva Simulation Room)
Asuka stepped out of her entry plug and into the simulation room. She glanced around at the other occupants of the room. Touji, Kensuke and Misato were all looking at her strangely. "What?!"
Touji swallowed audible. "You got pretty strange in there Asuka."
Asuka glared at him, making him cringe. "If you'd caused the death of three of your best friends, then you'd act strange as well."
Misato stepped forward and moved to embrace Asuka. "Asuka it isn't…"
Asuka held up her hands to ward Misato off. "Shut it Misato, I don't care what you think. I've heard it all before."
Misato looked away from Asuka and back to the screen on the opposite wall, signing audibly. "Get back in the plugs, all of you. We're redoing the simulation."
Touji and Kensuke entered the plugs silently. Asuka chuckled slightly as she entered her entry plug, a maniacal chuckle.
(Terminal Dogma, Eva Simulation Room)
Rei, Shinji and Nara stepped out of their respective entry plugs and onto the cold floor of the terminal dogma simulation room.
Nara looked directly into Ritsuko's eyes. "You need to increase the number of Drones or increase their power. That was far too easy."
Ritsuko nodded slightly in agreement. "I'll reprogram it." She looked at each teen in turn, something akin to fear in her eyes. "You three are stronger than I thought."
(Seele Conference Room)
The stone obelisks were having another conference. The difference this time was that a tall humanoid figure stood in the middle of the ring formed by the obelisks.
The figure appeared to be a female human. It had pale skin and long silvery hair, at odds with its dark red eyes. From its back sprouted large silvery feathered wings that spread to each side of its body. Its head was bowed and its eyes downcast.
The obelisk marked 05 glowed brighter. "The cloning of the Angels is progressing on schedule. So far all problems have been successfully dealt with."
The obelisk marked 11 glowed brighter. "Provided there are no unexpected complications all Angels should be completed on schedule."
The obelisk marked 01 glowed brighter. "Xera, do you understand the task you have been given."
For the first time the figure, Xera, looked up. "I understand master. I am to destroy Shinji Ikari while the Angel army destroys Nerv."
The obelisk marked 03 glowed brighter. "Do not fail us Xera."
Xera continued to look at the obelisk marked 01. "I will not fail."
The obelisk marked 01 glowed brighter. "Then prepare yourself Xera, Ikari's son will not be an easy opponent to face."
(Nerv, Commander's Office)
Gendo sat behind his desk and considered, considered the events that had led to this day. Ever since he started Nerv he had had one aim. The Evas, fighting the Angels, the creation of Rei, all had been a means to an end, to the end, to the Third Impact.
It had taken many years but he'd eventually reached his aim. Third Impact had begun. And then…then his son Shinji and Rei (his own creation) had adverted it. They had betrayed him and stoped Third Impact from being completed. He had been so close to achieving his goal, he'd actually seen Yui, touched her. Even after Shinji had…(he clenched his fists) dismissed him, he'd still been with Yui.
Then it had all disappeared and he'd found himself floating in the LCL Chamber alongside the bodies of Rei, Shinji and a boy he would later learn was Nara. Gendo didn't know what had happened but he was nevertheless certain that Rei and Shinji were responsible.
Three days before Third Impact he'd been informed that the two teens had slept together in Rei's apartment and had confronted them the next day. He didn't know how but somehow his son had fallen in love with his creation and his creation had fallen in love with his son. At the time he had hoped this wouldn't affect his plans but had separated the teens just to be safe.
But it hadn't been enough. Third Impact had ended and he had been left with nothing. Nothing but the people who had betrayed him and the shattered remnants of Nerv. Still Gendo hadn't given into despair, he'd held onto the hope that maybe Third Impact could be initiated again. Maybe he could still be reunited with Yui.
He had spent the following months rebuilding Nerv. It hadn't been an easy task. First he had to convince the UN that Nerv was not their enemy and that Seele had lied to them. The fact that the world hadn't come to an end as Seele had predicted was his major argument in this matter. Playing on their fears of the 18th Angel, the last Angel predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls he had convinced them to continue founding Eva production. Unlike Gendo they didn't know that humans were the 18th Angel.
Gendo knew that the Angels had been an integral part of Third Impact but maybe he could use the Evas instead. He'd immediately ordered that Units 02 and 03 be reconstructed as Units 14 and 15 and had there remains shipped back to Germany and America, at the same time he'd prepared for Units 16 and 17 to be constructed at Nerv and commissioned Russia to begin construction on Unit-18. He'd had the non-responsive Unit-01 put into storage.
Ritsuko and Nerv's other scientists had learnt as much as they could from the destroyed mass-production Evas and had eventually figured out how to successfully integrate an S2 organ into an Eva's construction. This had allowed Units 14 through 18 (and later Unit 19) to be built with S2 organs, increasing their overall performance and doing away with the unreliability of power cables and internal batteries. They had also managed to salvage several Longinus spears.
Then had come the day when Rei, Shinji and Nara had finally become conscious. According to Shinji they had been recovering from the ordeal of the Third Impact and adjusting to the absorption of the Angels. That the three of them contained the souls of the Angels had surprised Gendo, though Ritsuko had earlier informed him that genetically at least they were in part Angel.
At the time Gendo had had no real direction, just an ultimate goal. Shinji had offered him a direction a path to his ultimate goal and Gendo had taken it. Since that day he had been preparing, tirelessly working towards his goal.
Originally he had only continued training the Eva pilots to keep up appearances but at the same time he had been worried about Seele, who had disappeared since the Third Impact. Since then there had been numerous complications. Assassins, new Angels and enemy Evas had all tried to put a stop to his plans but all had failed. Seele had failed. And they would continue to fail. No-one was going to stop him this time.
(Author's Notes: Warning, the following scene may not be suitable for some people. If you want you can just skip it.)
(Several Hours Later, Terminal Dogma)
Rei and Shinji stood facing each other in a dark cavernous room somewhere in the depths of Terminal Dogma. Ritsuko had brought them and Nara here as soon as they'd finished training. Nara had left soon after (seemingly deep in thought), leaving Rei and Shinji alone in the room.
Oddly Rei looked angry. "Why?"
For his part Shinji looked completely calm. "Because it was necessary."
"But why was it necessary?" A few tears rolled down Rei's cheeks and she looked down at her feet. "Why did you have to leave me?"
Shinji stepped forward and placed his right hand under Rei's jaw, tilting her head back up so she was looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry I left you Rei-chan but at the time I could think of no other course of action. The 19th had us beaten, if I hadn't destroyed it, it may have killed us all." He smiled a sad smile. "It may have killed you."
Rei continued to cry, looking into Shinji's eyes. "When I thought you were dead, I felt so empty. I…I didn't want to go on living without you. I…"
Shinji cut Rei off as he kissed her firmly on the lips. Rei seemed shocked for a moment but then willingly returned the kiss. When they finally parted she was smiling slightly and the flow of tears had stoped.
Shinji reached up and brushed some of the remaining tears away with the back of his hand. "Forget about it Rei-chan, it's all in the past. I'm back now and I promise I'll never leave you again."
Rei wrapped her arms around Shinji's neck and pulled him into another kiss. "I'll make sure of it." Her tongue licked at Shinji's lips and she was rewarded when he opened his mouth, allowing her tongue entry.
Shinji's hands made their way up Rei's back to the zipper at the base of her neck and with one swift movement he unzipped her body-suit all the way down to her waist. Slipping his hands inside the suit he slowly worked them up Rei's back to her shoulders. All the while holding the kiss and engaging Rei in a rather intense tongue war. At one point he was sure Rei actually managed to lick the back of his throat.
Slowly and carefully Shinji pulled Rei's body-suit from her shoulders, pausing as Rei momentarily unwrapped her arms from around his neck in order to pull them from the suit. As Shinji began to pull the suit down her torso she returned her arms to their previous position.
As Shinji slowly slid the suit down Rei's slender form he noticed that he wasn't running out of breath despite his current inability to breath. The only conclusion he could draw was that in his new form he didn't actually need to breath.
As Shinji pulled the suit down to Rei's waist he finally broke the kiss and looked down at Rei's naked torso, noticing appreciably that Rei's body had grown in more ways than one.
Knowing his mind Rei smiled and brought her head to rest on his shoulder, turning to whisper in his ear. "Assuming my true form did have its advantages, apart from the power boost."
Shinji smiled and extended the reach of his arms, enabling him to pull Rei's suit over her waist and down her legs. Rei stepped out of the suit and swept it away with her foot. Now completely naked she pressed her body up against Shinji's and kissed him once again, her hands searching for the zipper on his suit.
Shinji wrapped his arms around Rei's waist and smiled into the kiss as Rei finally managed to unzip his suit down to his waist. Focusing his AT field he caused both himself and Rei to levitate off the ground and several meters into the air.
As he released Rei's waist to pull his arms from the suit she suddenly became aware of their airborne status, breaking the kiss momentarily to glance at the ground below. She wasn't at all worried about being supported several meters off the ground by Shinji's AT field alone. She trusted him completely. Turning her attention back to Shinji's suit she pulled it down to his waist, admiring the final toned muscles of his new body.
Rei's line of thought was broken as Shinji's arms snaked around her waist once again and he pulled her body up against his. She revelled in the feeling of her flesh against his, moaning slightly as he kissed her once again.
The kiss became more passionate as Rei rubbed her body up against Shinji's, her hands running up and down his back. For his part Shinji moved his hands down so they were resting on Rei's posterior and squeezed slightly, eliciting another moan from Rei.
Not to be outdone Rei wrapped her legs around Shinji's waist and pressed herself firmly up against the bulge she could feel there, still covered by the lower half of his body-suit. She was rewarded when Shinji suddenly broke the kiss and groaned loudly. "That's not fair and you know it."
Rei smiled and rested her head on his shoulder again, nibbling slightly on his ear. "I never said I was going to be fair Shin-chan."
Shinji's smile widened. "Fine then, we'll play it your way." He removed his hands from Rei's posterior and brought them up between their two bodies. Bringing them to rest on Rei's breasts he squeezed.
Rei gasped loudly and began to moan as Shinji continued his administrations, beginning to knead her breasts with his hands. Without anything better to do she once again caught Shinji's lips in a passionate kiss, giving his mouth a thorough clean with her tongue. She brought her hands to the sides of his head to hold him in place.
Shinji was a little surprised when Rei managed to hook her feet into his body-suit and pull it down to his ankles, allowing him to kick it off his feet and send it falling to the ground. Now completely naked he was even more aware of Rei's attention to his lower half. Breaking the now extremely passionate kiss he trailed a line of kisses down Rei's neck and across her collar bone, working his way down to her right breast.
Rei's groaning increased dramatically as Shinji's lips caressed first her right, then her left breast. As his lips alternated between the two so did his hands, caressing whichever one the lips left unattended.
Shinji's wings extended out of his back and wrapped themselves around Rei, enclosing her in a warm and loving embrace. He stopped his administrations and let Rei regain her composure.
Sweating slightly from the shared body heat, Rei rested her head on Shinji's chest enjoying the softness of Shinji's wings on her back. Her own wings slipped out from under Shinji's and wrapped themselves around him.
Shinji groaned as Rei shifted her hips against him, rubbing up against his erect member. "You're tormenting me Rei-chan."
Rei raised her head from Shinji's chest and smiled alluringly up at him. "You know what I want Shin-chan. I'll stop tormenting you as soon as you give it to me."
Shinji chuckled slightly and lowered the two of them to the ground. As soon as their feet touched the ground Rei pushed him to the floor and lowered herself down on top of him. For a moment Shinji played with her, running his member around the edge of her flower before finally allowing himself to sink into her.
Rei groaned in pleasure as she lowered herself further, allowing Shinji to slide deeper into her. She quickly caught Shinji's lips with her own as his hands once again moved to her breasts. The kiss was even more passionate than its predecessors and Rei allowed herself to get lost in the feeling of it as she began to rock her hips back and forth.
The two continued to kiss, groaning into each other's throats. Their movements became more rapid and passionate as time went on, Shinji's hands releasing Rei's breasts and going around her waist, pulling her in closer.
(Elsewhere, Terminal Dogma)
Nara leant against a wall in a dark hallway somewhere in the depths of Terminal Dogma. He could vaguely hear the distant sounds of Rei and Shinji's love making but ignored them as an unimportant distraction.
All he wanted at this point was to figure out who he was. He had so many memories swimming around in his head. Memories of his time spent as Nara, Tabris' memories, the memories that Rei and Shinji had shared with him shortly after his awakening. Even the memories of the other Angels, foggy and incomplete as they were, were beginning to surface.
Always before Nara had thought of himself as a human but now just by looking at himself he knew that to be a lie. He could see the red circles on his palm, every time he caught sight of his reflection dark red eyes stared back at him, he could feel if not see the wings hidden in his back.
Nara signed and bowed his head. As Tabris he had been a puppet to Seele, was it any different know. The masters may have changed but was he not still a puppet. "Why can't I ever just be me?" He laughed hollowly. "I don't even know who I am."
(Next Day, Terminal Dogma)
Shinji slowly opened his eyes, noting that he didn't feel a hint of fatigue despite his all-night excursion with Rei. He glanced down at Rei's still sleeping form. She was sprawled across him. Some of her body supported by his right wing and arm the rest by his chest.
Shinji casually reached up with his left hand and brushed a lock of Rei's hair out of her eyes. As he did so Rei began to stir, she didn't yawn she just lifted her head from its position on Shinji's chest and smiled at him. Slowly she slid her way up his form and kissed him softly on the lips. Shinji returned the kiss gently.
"Not needing to breath is very useful isn't it?"
The two teens broke off the kiss and looked up at who had spoken. Nara stood over them, still dressed in his black body-suit.
Nara smiled down at them, though it was evident to his two companions that his heart wasn't really in it. "Since sleep is obviously not necessary for us perhaps we should engage in more training. It's not even dawn yet so we have time before Ritsuko will be down here wanting us to do more tests. That is unless you two have something better to do of course."
Rei frowned slightly as she rose to her feet. "Is something wrong Nara, you seem annoyed at something."
Shinji rose behind Rei. "You've been acting strangely ever since you and Rei assumed your true forms."
Nara's expression became slightly annoyed. "Nothing's wrong. Now unless you want to train naked I suggest you put on your suits."
Rei and Shinji didn't say anything further, instead opting to silently pull on their body-suits but both were deeply worried about Nara. Something was definitely wrong.
(Nerv, Eva Simulation Room)
Misato watched and monitored the battle taking place in the virtual Tokyo-3. Touji and Kensuke hadn't reported in yet and were likely still asleep but Asuka was already here. She had demanded to be allowed into the simulator by herself.
Fortunately Ritsuko had been here and had reprogrammed the simulation so that Asuka could do as she wished. Ramiel, Matariel, Sahaqiel and Bardiel had all been removed from the simulation and the 18th Angel had been added in.
So far Asuka had already destroyed Sachiel and Israfel and she showed no signs of slowly down, her Eva completely undamaged. Part of her success she owed to the new weapon Ritsuko had given her, having recently completed it in real life.
(Virtual Tokyo-3)
Asuka cut Shamshiel in two with a single swing of her new weapon, sending its upper half crashing to the ground. Jumping forward she landed directly on its chest, crushing its S2 organ with her feet.
Stepping away from the now dead Angel she admired the weapon Ritsuko had given to her. It was the perfect weapon for her. A weapon that needed both rage fuelled brute strength and superior skill to be wielded effectively.
The weapon consisted of a long smooth staff-like handle that was slightly taller than her Eva and had what Ritsuko described as a progressive double axe on each end. The progressive double axes were just what their name suggested, an axe head that had a blade on each side, making it look almost like a pair of wings. The huge weapon had as much reach as a Longinus spear and the length of the handle allowed Asuka to put a tremendous amount of force into her attacks. The four deadly blades could cut through an Angel's AT field and body like tissue paper. Ritsuko called it the progressive battle axe.
Asuka deployed her wings and took to the sky, searching for the three remaining Angels.
(Dawn, Tokyo-3 Outskirts)
Shinji floated above the mountain range on the edge of Tokyo-3. Wings extended he looked down at the jagged peaks. After a moment of thought he descended to the tallest of the peaks and stood on its apex. Slowly he lifted his arms and held them to either side, palms facing away from his body. The circles on his palms began to glow.
(Nerv, Control Room)
Maya was working at one of the consoles in the control room, a mug of coffee on the desk beside her. The other two bridge bunnies hadn't arrived yet and she was alone in the cavernous room.
Just as she began to reach for her coffee a massive tremor shook the base, her coffee mug smashing to the floor along within anything else in the room that wasn't nailed down.
Overcoming her temporary shock, Maya began typing furiously on her keyboard, bringing up an overhead view of Tokyo-3 on the screen. What she saw shocked her far more than the tremor. An entire section of the mountain range on the edge of the city (three mountains at least) had disappeared. All that was left was a jagged crater.
Just at that point Gendo strode into the room. "Report."
Maya gulped loudly. "I don't know what happed sir, the base shook and when I brought up Tokyo-3 on the screen the mountains were just gone." She suddenly noticed a small spec floating above the center of the crater. "What the?" She zoomed in on it.
Gendo smirked slightly when he saw who it was.
(Tokyo-3 Outskirts)
Shinji silently surveyed the damage around him, pleased with the results. That blast had only been a fraction of what that particular attack was capable of and it had still managed to level the mountains caught within its destructive radius. The Angel army wouldn't stand a chance against its full power.
(Virtual Tokyo-3)
Asuka swung her progressive battle axe in an overhead arc at the glowing end of Armisael. Before she could connect however, Armisael's other end whipped up and around, angling towards her Eva's back.
Changing the direction of her attack mid-swing Asuka swung the other end of the battle axe at the approaching end, neatly splitting it in two. Blood pouring from the damaged end, Armisael tried one last time to connect with its remaining intact end.
Asuka was too fast however and flew just above the attack. Striking downwards with one end of her battle axe she drove it straight through Armisael's body. She drove the Angel to the ground and landed on top of it, ripping the battle axe out of its body, tearing a huge hole in Armisael in the process.
The worm like Angel withered for a moment, soaking the nearby buildings with blood. Then it went still, blood still pouring from its wounds.
Asuka spread her wings wide only to have them sheered off by the tape-like arms of Zeruel. Looking up she saw both Zeruel and the 18th Angel standing at the end of the street. Zeruel's arms returning to their usual length.
Ignoring the pain from the severed wings, Asuka gritted her teeth and charged towards the two Angels. Bringing her battle axe around for another swing, she barely avoided cutting her own arm off, distracted as she was by her targets.
As Unit-14 closed the gap the 18th Angel raised its arms and fired, twin beams lancing towards Unit-14. At the same time Zeruel launched both arms towards the approaching Eva.
Asuka continued to charge forward despite the approaching attacks waiting until the very last moment to dodge. Just as she was about to charge headlong into both Angels' attacks she rolled to the left (barely avoiding the two beams) and reaching up, caught Zeruel's right arm with her left hand. As Zeruel's left arm penetrated deep into her Eva's side she pulled tightly on the captured arm and slammed the massive Angel into a nearby building. Zeruel's violent movement caused part of its left arm to be torn off and left behind in Unit-14's body.
Rising from the roll, Asuka swung her massive battle axe around with her right arm, severing both of the 18th Angel's legs at the knee and subsequently sending the Angel crashing to the ground. Pushing off from the ground with all the power in her Eva's legs, Asuka leapt high into the air.
Just as Asuka's jump reached its zenith Zeruel's right arm shot out of the building Asuka had thrown the Angel into. Whirling around in mid-air, Asuka swung her axe around and threw it at the approaching arm just as Zeruel stepped out of the building. The battle axe swung in a rapid circle, racing towards the approaching arm and the Angel below. Certain of her aim, Asuka turned her attention back to the 18th Angel, which had raised one of its arms and was preparing to attack.
As Unit-14 began to fall back towards the ground the 18th Angel extended its right arm and sent it racing towards the red Eva. The arm smashed into Unit-14's shoulder but Asuka simply spun with the impact and landed feet first on Unit-18's head, smashing it apart. At the same time her axe tore through Zeruel's arm, splitting it in half along almost its entire length. Continuing through the axe cut Zeruel neatly in half, bisecting the Angel's S2 organ before embedding itself in the ground.
Ripping the 18th Angel's right arm from its socket and stamping the other into the ground, Asuka brought her right fist down on the Angel's chest, smashing straight through it and crushing the Angel's S2 organ. Asuka was disconnected from the simulator.
(Nerv, Commander's Office)
As always Gendo sat behind his desk and Fuyutsuki stood beside him though Ritsuko was strangely absent this time, supposedly working on the repairs to Units 14, 16 and 17. Shinji, Rei and Nara stood in front of the commander's desk.
Gendo held Shinji's eyes with a steady gaze. "What happened out there Shinji?"
Shinji's gaze was just as steady as Gendo's. "A simple test. An Angel army will not be easy to destroy. I want to know the full extent of my powers before I have to confront one. Before today I wasn't sure of that particular attacks potential."
Gendo smirked. "And what attack is that."
Shinji smiled menacingly. "The same attack Seele planned to use during the Third Impact, an Anti-AT field. When an Anti-AT field and AT field are combined, the effects are…destructive."
Gendo nodded almost imperceptible. "Very well, return to your training, but no more… experiments."
(Three Days Later, Seele Conference Room)
The obelisk marked 03 glowed brighter. "Is everything in place?"
The obelisk marked 09 glowed brighter. "Yes, the Angel army is in position. We are ready to proceed with the attack."
The obelisk marked 08 glowed brighter. "Xera is ready to carry out her mission."
The obelisk marked 01 glowed brighter. "Then let us begin."
(5 Minutes Later, Nerv, Central Dogma)
Shinji marched down one of the many corridors of Nerv, Rei and Nara close behind him. He wasn't bothered by the loud sirens or the scurrying Nerv personnel who surrounded them. He headed resolutely towards his destination, Terminal Dogma and Unit-01.
As the three teens reached the central elevator a loud feminine voice boomed out across the loud speakers. "Warning, Tokyo-3 defences breached. Evas deployed to Geo-Front. All personnel retreat to the primary Geo-front bunkers. Warning, Tokyo-3 defences…" The voice droned out as the elevator doors closed.
None of the teens spoke as the elevator descended, they knew what was going on and they knew what they had to do. They'd been preparing for this for the last three days.
The elevator eventually stoped and the doors opened, the sound almost entirely masked by the sirens that blared even here.
Shinji stepped out of the elevator and began heading for the chamber in which Unit-01 was stored. His two companions followed silently.
They were halfway to the chamber when the roof above them suddenly exploded, showering the floor with debris and sending tremors along the walls. A shape fell through the resulting hole and landed in a crouch on the debris, its silvery wings spread wide.
The figure slowly rose, revealing a feminine face and long flowing silver hair. She looked directly at Shinji. "You are Shinji Ikari?"
Shinji nodded slightly.
The girl smiled menacingly. "Then prepare to die. My name is Xera and I was sent here to destroy you." Her eyes were as cold as ice.
Shinji didn't look remotely threatened. "You will find that a difficult feat to pull off." He spread his own wings but stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he found himself face-to-face with Nara.
Nara's face was expressionless. "Let me take care of this Shinji. You don't have the time to waste. You and Rei go take care of that army, I'll handle things here."
Xera cast her eyes over Nara and Rei. She looked slightly curious but nevertheless resolute in her goal. "I was sent here to destroy Shinji Ikari, you are meaningless to me."
Nara spread his grey wings. "If you want to fight Shinji, you have to defeat me first. If you can't do that you don't stand a chance against Shinji."
Shinji slowly retracted his wings. "Are you sure about this Nara?"
Nara nodded. "I'm sure, now go."
Rei touched Nara on the shoulder, a slightly worried expression on her face. "Take care of yourself Nara."
Nara smiled. "Don't worry." He clenched his fists. "I won't lose."
Xera didn't do anything for a moment, then nodded slowly. She still looked only vaguely interested in Nara. "Fine, if I need to go through you to get to him then so be it."
Shinji and Rei looked between the two then nodded simultaneously and walked down a side corridor. Shinji turned back just as they reached the end of the corridor. "Good look Nara."
Nara didn't take his eyes off Xera. "Thanks, same to you." His eyes were dark and shadowed.
(Terminal Dogma, Eva Bay)
Shinji and Rei floated up to the entry plug on Unit-01's back which immediately ejected to grant them access. Both teens climbed into the entry plug. Once they were both in the plug re-sealed and re-injected itself.
Inside, Shinji and Rei embraced each other as the walls of the plug flowed and reached out. The LCL darkened slightly and then the walls touched the plugs occupants. Shinji and Rei faded then disappeared, only their suits left floating in the plug.
For a moment nothing happened then Unit-01's eyes ignited, glowing blood red. It opened its mouth and roared, extending its AT field and shaking the foundations of Nerv. Glowing wings extending from its back, it tore free of its constraints and smashed through the ceiling, heading straight for the surface.
(Tokyo-3, Central District)
Tokyo-3 resembled a wasteland. All its remaining buildings had been levelled, leaving nothing but craters and rubble. The entire city was swarming with Angels, hundreds of them. Many where clones of the 18th Angel, others were clones of the 19th Angel, a few were clones of the 20th Angel. They were preparing to blast their way into the Geo-Front.
Suddenly the ground in the center of the city exploded outwards and a purple and green behemoth with glowing wings emerged, its eyes glowing a menacing blood red. All the Angels turned towards it and prepared to attack.
End Notes: Well that's it for another chapter. Chapter 6 promises to be interesting with Nara vs Xera and Unit-01 vs the Angel Army. It won't be up for awhile but I'll try to get it done as quickly as I can. As always please review.