The Angels Return

by Avengelith

Where do you draw the line between human and angel? Contains ShinjiRei.

10. Third Impact Revisited: Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Author's Notes: Here's part 2 of Chapter 9/10. I hope you enjoyed part 1 and that you enjoy this part just as much. This part will feature the conclusion of the battles started in part 1.

---

10. Third Impact Revisited: Part 2

(Unknown Location)

Looking around, Shinji saw that he had emerged into a dimension of infinite whiteness. Identical in appearance to the dimension that Leliel had transferred him to when he was absorbed by the 12th Angel.

Nara-2 floated before Shinji, his arms folded across his chest. "Welcome Adam, to my world." He slowly unfolded his arms and raised them up before him.

Shinji eyed the tan haired Nara warily. He did not know what Nara-2 had planned but he could guess it wasn't good. Half turning, he looked back at the portal behind him just in time to see Nara-1 emerge from it. The portal closed directly behind the orange haired teen, who once again wielded twin blades.

For almost a minute the three boys just floated in the whiteness, waiting to see who would make the first move.

Nara-1 lost his patience first. Propelling himself through the air, he charged Shinji, his blades held out before him.

Shinji blocked Nara-1's initial attack with his Lancea but was then forced to fly up in order to avoid a pair of energy beams fired by Nara-2. His bladed opponent followed his ascent and took a swing at his exposed legs. Lifting his legs, the black haired teen was just able to avoid the attack but in doing so was unable to completely avoid Nara-2's next beam, which left a long and painful wound across his back.

This continued for some time, with Nara-2 using beam attacks to assault Shinji and Nara-1 attacking with blade strikes. Though Shinji's left foot had entirely regenerated, his body was still damaged from the AT field bubble attack and he was not always able to move fast enough to entirely avoid the Naras' attacks. Several cuts and burn marks were testament to that.

As time passed though, Shinji's older injuries where rapidly healing and none of his knew wounds were serious enough to slow him down for long.

Using his Lancea to block both of Nara-1's blades, Shinji swung around and kicked the boy's noise with the heel of his right foot. He hit the protruding body part with such power that it was pushed back and up into the boy's brain, disorienting him enough to force the breaking off of his attack. This gave Shinji enough time to fire an energy beam at Nara-2 which not only knocked aside an energy beam fired by the blue eyed teen but blasted through the boy's right shoulder, leaving a painful and gaping hole.

Clutching at his damaged shoulder, Nara-2 opened a Sea of Dirac below him and quickly dropped into it. At the same Nara-1 returned to his senses, his nose having been pushed out of his brain and back to its original position. Growling, the red eyed Nara glared at Shinji. His eyes flashed.

A black cross-flare erupted below Shinji, rushing upwards and attempting to swallow the winged boy whole. Moving as fast as he could, Shinji just managed to dodge the attack, using his AT field to slow down the flare's approach. There was no floor so the cross-flare simply hung in midair.

Just when Shinji thought he was safe a Sea of Dirac opened near the tip of the cross-flare and a long glowing noodle-like object shot out, making a bee-line straight for him. Shinji dodged the attack but was then immediately forced to contend with a second, identical object. This time Shinji was not quite fast enough to dodge, and the glowing end of the white rope collided with his chest.

The skin around the glowing bud immediately began to mutate, veins standing out against the skin. Shinji reacted quickly and swung downwards with his black Lancea, severing the glowing object just short of his body. A torrent of blood spurted from the severed end and it rebounded back towards its source.

Following the rope's path with his eyes, Shinji noticed that Nara-2 had emerged from the Sea of Dirac while he was distracted and that the noodle-like appendages were actually the boy's arms. Even as Shinji watched, the damaged limb reformed into the tan haired teen's left arm.

Shinji did not have time to dwell on this new development as he was forced to dive downwards to avoid a sweep from Nara-2's right arm, which was still in its long, glowing form. As Shinji looked down however he discovered that Nara-1 was waiting for him, his blades held ready.

The two red eyed teens clashed in a shower of sparks, their weapons colliding again and again. It was clear by now that Shinji was the stronger of the two but Nara-1 was still powerful enough to put up a decent fight. Especially since he only had to hold Shinji off long enough for Nara-2 to make his move.

Shinji deflected one particularly vicious swing from Nara-1's right blade and prepared to counterattack. However, before he could do so, a Sea of Dirac opened a sort distance behind him and Nara-2's arms shot out in their glowing noodle-like form, followed by the tan haired teen himself. Spinning on the spot, the pale skinned boy jabbed the butt of his Lancea into Nara-1's chest and completed the spin to face the oncoming limbs.

Shinji was surprised when the arms didn't try to hit him, instead moving pass to either side of him. Knowing this was some form of trap he raised his Lancea and prepared to bring it down on one of the offending appendages.

Just as the black weapon was about to fall, the black haired boy caught sight of Nara-1 out of the corner of his eye. The orange haired teen's eyes flashed.

A cross-flare erupted below Shinji's feet and he realised too late that he had been boxed off. With the cross-flare below him, the two Naras too either side of him and Nara-2's arms in front and behind him, the only way to go was up. And that was exactly where the black cross was heading. Crossing his arms and closing his eyes, Shinji concentrated his AT field and prepared himself to take the hit.

As the giant black cross engulfed Shinji, the two Naras were already preparing their next move. Nara-2's arms had been severed by the cross-flare and he had retreated back into the safety of his Sea of Dirac to recover. Nara-1 on the other hand had both hands held out before him and was in the process of generating his favourite attack. An AT field bubble.

Eventually the cross-flare faded and disappeared, leaving Shinji once again floating in whiteness. The boy's concentrated AT field had provided him with sufficient protection against the energy-based attack and he appeared to be largely unscathed. The problem was that the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was an AT field bubble racing towards him.

This particular bubble was much larger than the previous two and was therefore more difficult to dodge. Shinji just barely managed to dive low enough to get under the glowing orb and was forced to perform the maneuver at such speeds that there was no way he could possible slow down in time to avoid the Sea of Dirac that opened before him. Annoyed at being outplayed once again, Shinji flew into the shadow.

The AT field bubble continued to fly off into the nothingness around it but no-one paid it any heed. Nara-1, the last sole occupant of the strange white dimension, disappeared into the Sea of Dirac, the portal promptly closing behind him.

On the other end of the portal Shinji emerged into a world of flames. Unlike the previous dimension, this one had structure. There was ground below Shinji's feet and a sky above. The strange thing was that everything seemed to be on fire. Burning flames rose from the ground and the sky itself was a baleful red, almost as if it itself was alight. To a normal person the heat would have been unbearable, cooking their insides in seconds. But Shinji was not a normal person, and neither were the Naras.

Before Shinji could dwell further on this strange place, Nara-2 emerged from the flames before him and fired an energy beam at his chest. Spreading his wings Shinji took to the sky, flying up and over the energy beam. As he looked down, he saw Nara-1 emerged from the closing Sea of Dirac, his orange hair and wings oddly fitting in this place.

As Nara-1 took to the sky in pursuit of Shinji, Nara-2 raised both arms up in front of him. Immediately the limbs began to elongate and mutate, forming into the rope-like appendages that had previously caused Shinji so much trouble. One of the glowing arms made an immediate bee-line for the black winged teen, heading straight for his chest.

Raising his Lancea, Shinji got ready to sever the approaching limb, painfully aware that he had allowed himself to become too focused on the tan haired Nara and had as a result lost track of his orange haired counterpart. As the tentacle resembling appendage closed in however it suddenly flattened out and took on a steely-grey hue. It rapidly changed course and bent around Shinji's Lancea, its razor sharp edge leaving a deep wound on the black haired teen's right cheek.

Shinji did not have time to pay any heed to his new injury as Nara-2's second arm sliced through the air towards him, having assumed the same shape as the other limb. This time the attack was aimed directly at his chest. As quick as he could Shinji raised his AT field and concentrated it between himself and the approaching razor blade.

The elongated appendage collided with the AT field at full speed, and came to a complete stop, unable to penetrate the powerful barrier. Shinji found though that maintaining the defensive field was by no means easy and knew that eventually he would have to find a way to lower the field without being hit.

Just as Shinji was about to make his move he suddenly felt some sort of presence. It only took him a second to figure out who it was. Nara-1 was back, and looking to impale his winged opponent on the end of his blades.

Thinking fast, Shinji performed a midair back flip, placing his hands on Nara-1's shoulders and pushing off, propelling himself high above the other boy. At the same time he retracted his AT field, releasing Nara-2's arm.

Nara-1 only had enough time to blink in surprise before the razor sharp limb was released upon him. Nara-2 didn't have enough time to adjust the trajectory of his arm and before either Nara knew what had happened, the bladed appendage had cleaved through the red eyed Nara's neck, sending his head flying from his shoulders to disappear into the flames below. The headless body, now without any sense of direction, fell slowly towards the ground.

For the first time in the battle Nara-2 looked shocked. He certainly hadn't intended for that to happen. He hadn't even considered it as a possible outcome of his attack. It was fortunate for the two Naras that Nara-1's S2 organ had remained undamaged. For despite having lost his head, the orange haired Nara was still very much alive.

In his shock Nara-2 allowed himself to become distracted and so Shinji was able to close the gap between them. The blue eyed Nara was not as gifted in close-range combat as his companion and opened a Sea of Dirac to retreat through. He attempted to close the shadowy portal behind him but his opponent moved faster than he had expected, managing to pass through the portal before it closed.

The portal finally vanished completely, taking Nara-2 and Shinji along with it. For a moment everything was still except for the flickering flames. Then Nara-1's body stepped out of the inferno, his severed head held in his arms. Slowly the pale skinned body lifted the head and held it to its severed neck. The teen twisted the head twice, once to either side, and then let go. As he raised his now reattached head, his dark red eyes stared at where the portal had once been. Knowing that he had no way to leave this dimension by himself he kneeled down on the rocky surface below him and began to concentrate.

(Tokyo-3 Surface)

Still engaged with the four white IDPS Evas, Asuka found that her Eva was now fighting on top of the corpse of Seele's Last Angel. After the last attack, Nerv had had nowhere near the amount of resources necessary to dispose of the gargantuan Angel's corpse. Now it made an interesting battlefield for the Evas.

Unit-B tried to take down Unit-14 with a dive attack from above but ended up smashing its way into the Last Angel's body when the red Eva jumped to its right. Realising that she'd have a better chance of defeating the enemy Eva within the confines of the Angel's rotting corpse, Asuka followed Unit-B through its entry hole.

The remaining three ex-Seele Evas relayed these events to the MAGI who ordered all three Units to remain outside the corpse. It was simply too dangerous to commit to a battle in such a confined space, against such a powerful opponent.

Upon entering the hole, Unit-14 came face-to-face with Unit-B. The ex-Seele Eva had been about to exit the Last Angel's body the same way it had entered but was stopped by the piloted Eva's sudden appearance.

Taking advantage of the white Eva's surprise Asuka kneed it hard in the face and then took off its left leg with the progressive battle axe. As Unit-B stumbled backwards the fiery redhead swung the other end of the progressive battle axe up and around, cleanly decapitating the enemy Eva, as well as splitting open a huge chunk of dead flesh. Half-dry blood flowed over the two Evas, soaking their entire bodies in the dark red goo.

Asuka ignored the blood, silently thankful that the Eva's environment systems did not allow the fetid stench of the rotting corpse to penetrate into the entry plug. Stepping forward she prepared to finish Unit-B. Its teammates had abandoned it, she had crippled it. And now it was time for it to die.

With a single powerful swing, Asuka buried one end of her progressive in the headless Eva's chest, smiling in satisfaction as she felt her enemy's S2 organ break apart under the force of her blow.

Turning around Unit-14 walked back to the hole it had entered through and jumped out, coming to land back on the corpse's outer skin.

It was an obvious move and the last three ex-Seele Evas had been waiting for it.

As soon as the blood soaked Eva emerged from the Last Angel it was set upon by all three of its opponents. They swooped down towards it, aware that since the red Eva had lost its own wings it would not be able to escape by flying away.

Asuka soon found herself having to contend with three simultaneous spear lunges, she knew that their was no way that she could counter them all but she figured she might as well stop as many as possible.

Unit-D had the head of its Longinus Spear cut off by Unit-14's battle axe, along with all of the fingers of its right hand.

Unit-C's attack route was blocked by the other end of the massive axe, which was beginning to swing around towards the Eva's arm. Still adjusting from the first attack however, the axe wasn't quite fast enough to totally stop the white Eva's attack. Instead Unit-C's Longinus Spear cut off one of the weapon's heads and continued through to sever Unit-14's left arm at the elbow. The defencive maneuver was only successful in that the spear did not pierce the red Eva's chest, as had been the attacking Eva's intention.

While Units D and C might have failed in their attacks Unit-A had no intention of doing the same. It approached from behind Unit-14 and fully intended to stab the red behemoth in the back. However, the four eyed Eva dropped to the ground at the last moment and the white Eva's Longinus Spear went over its head. Bringing up both feet Unit-14 kicked Unit-A in the chest with all the strength it had left. Asuka put so much power into the attack that the enemy Eva was sent flying, crashing through one of the Last Angel's arms and becoming buried in the torrent of dead tissue that poured out of the wound.

Bringing her Eva back to its feet, Asuka jumped backwards, attempting to put as much distance as she could between herself and Units D and C. She was all too aware that with only one useable arm and a now single-headed axe, her chances of winning this battle had just gone down considerably.

(Elsewhere, Tokyo-3 Surface)

Unit-20 spread its wings at the last moment, veering up to make a controlled landing in front of Unit-16. As soon as its feet had touched the ground, the silver and brown Eva hefted its Longinus Spear and charged towards Touji's Eva.

Fortunately for Touji he saw the attack coming and blocked it with his own Longinus Spear. He blocked the next attack as well, and the next, and the next. He counterattacked but Unit-20 blocked and attacked again. Touji blocked and then counterattacked.

For a whole minute the two Evas fought back and forth, neither of them able to gain the upper hand. There were injuries, a nasty cut along Unit-16 right forearm and a deep cut across the right side of Unit-20's chest an example of these.

Eventually Unit-20 knocked Unit-16's legs out from under it with a well time sweep kick, sending the white Eva falling towards the ground. This didn't mean Touji was defenseless though, as when the soulless Eva attempted to stab him from above with its Longinus Spear he rolled to the side, avoiding the attack. Flipping back onto its feet, Unit-16 brought its own Longinus Spear down on the enemy Eva's left shoulder, cutting off the Eva's left shoulder baffle and leaving a deep wound in its flesh.

Touji would have finished the Eva off there and then but it turned around with phenomenal speed and managed to deflect his next attack. The two behemoths went back to trading blows with their spears.

(Elsewhere, Tokyo-3 Surface)

Unit-21 did not bother using its wings to pull itself up. It slammed into the ground at full speed, pushing jagged rocks out of the ground in a wide circle around its landing place, and leaving a large depression in the ground. Pushing aside the debris, it rose to its full height and leaped from the crater it had made. Sailing over the jagged rocks, it landed in front of the black form of Unit-17.

Kensuke had retrieved Unit-18's Longinus Spear but he had not had the time to reattach his Eva's severed arm. As such he was less than confident in his ability to beat Unit-21. Unit-17 slowly began to back away from the silver and brown Eva.

Unbothered by its opponent's clear reluctance to fight, Unit-21 jumped to the attack. Leaping through the air it brought its Longinus Spear down in an overhead swing with the intention of splitting Unit-17 in two. Kensuke hurriedly raised his own spear to protect himself and the two weapons collided.

Wielding its Longinus Spear with only one hand and defending from an opponent attacking from above, Unit-17 was at a severe disadvantage. Unit-21 forced the black Eva to its knees and then somersaulted over its head. Before Kensuke could stop it, it had swiped its Longinus Spear across his Eva's back, leaving a large cut just below the tri-eyed Eva's entry plug and knocking it to the ground.

Kensuke tried to rise but it was already too late. Reaching into the cut it had made, Unit-21 grabbed onto Unit-17's entry plug and pulled. The skin and metal around the plug gave way with ease and the IDPS Eva tore it from the black Eva's back. It held onto the plug for only a second before crushing it in its armoured fist and violently throwing it to the ground.

In need of a new opponent, Unit-21 headed for the battle between Units 16 and 20.

(Meanwhile, Unknown Location)

Upon emerging from the Sea of Dirac Shinji saw Nara-2 standing directly in front of him. He immediately lunged forward with his Lancea but the weapon's two-pronged head struck a hard surface instead of flesh. The image of Nara-2 cracked and then shattered. Looking around, the winged boy realised why.

He was standing in some sort of frozen maze. Every surface, be it wall, ceiling or floor appeared to be made of pure crystalline ice. Corridors of ice headed off in every direction, some of them branching off to the side, others heading straight up or straight down, must of them doing something in-between. And, as Shinji had just discovered, the ice was as reflective as glass, meaning that the black haired boy was surrounding by images of himself and of Nara-2.

While Shinji tried to figure out his best course of action, the voice of Nara-2 suddenly echoed down the corridors. "I must admit Adam, I had not expected you to be fast enough to get through my portal before it closed. However you will find that following me here was a mistake."

Shinji kept his face expressionless as he tried to pinpoint his opponent's location. "I think you will find you are mistaken Nara. Without your other half here you don't stand a chance of defeating me."

The sound of a hideous laugh filled the corridor around Shinji. "I think you will find I have more than enough power to defeat you Adam. Besides, right now my other half has something else to attend to." On the walls around Shinji the Nara-2 images began to move but with the multitude of reflections it was impossible to tell in which direction the actual Nara-2 was moving.

Shinji decided that he wasn't going to get anywhere with all these reflections around and so he concentrated his AT field and then blasted it out in waves. The waves spread over the walls of the corridor and blasted them apart, shattering the mirror images of Nara-2. There was of course more ice behind the first layer but it was far less smooth and the images it reflected were fractured and incomplete.

With his reflections destroyed, Nara-2 was left standing out in the open, barely ten meters in front of his opponent. Knowing he had been uncovered, the tan haired teen immediately fired an energy beam from his right palm and transformed his left arm into its glowing form before sending it flying through the air towards Shinji.

Shinji knocked the energy beam aside with his miniature Lancea and jumped to the side in time to avoid the glowing appendage lunging for his chest. Bringing his black weapon up and down the red eyed teen severed the glowing limb halfway along its length.

Before Nara-2 could fully regenerate his arm, Shinji jumped to the attack, his Lancea held out before him.

(Nerv, Terminal Dogma)

Two Nerv agents flanked Gendo Ikari as he walked down one of the twisting corridors of Terminal Dogma. Neither man knew what exactly the commander had planned, and neither of them cared either. Their job was to protect him, not to ask questions.

Turning down a side corridor, the three men stopped before a large iron door. Gendo quickly swiped his key card through the door's lock, prompting the solid bulkhead to slide up into the wall above.

As soon as the door was out of the road the contents of the room beyond was revealed. It was a singular Eva bay, similar to the one in which Unit-19 had been constructed. Held within its restraints was the fully reconstructed form of Unit-04. All of its missing armour plates had been installed and its left arm had been fully completed.

Gendo smiled viciously as he stepped onto the gantry at the silver Eva's back and began walking towards its already ejected entry plug.

Before Gendo could reach the plug however, someone stepped out of the shadows at the edge of the gantry and leveled a gun at the commander's head. It didn't take long for Gendo to recognise his assailant as being none other than Doctor Ritsuko Akagi.

The two Nerv agents immediately leveled their own guns at Ritsuko's head but they knew that they would be unable to kill her without causing her to fire her own weapon, meaning that they were unable to attack.

Ritsuko looked down the barrel of her pistol at the commander's face, her expression cold. "Tell me one thing before I kill you Gendo. What were you hoping to achieve here? You know you cannot pilot the Eva."

Gendo did not seem at all bothered by the weapon pointed at his forehead, he maintained his vicious smile. "Ah, but that is where you are wrong doctor. I have changed you see. Now I can pilot the Eva, and so much more." An invisible force suddenly ripped the pistol from Ritsuko's hands and proceeded to crush it into dust.

Shocked by the loss of her weapon, Ritsuko took a step backwards. "Wha…how? How did you do that?"

Gendo continued to smile as he advanced towards the unfortunate doctor. "I have altered myself, using Seele's research into humanoid Angels. I have become an Angel. I am a god among men." By the tone of his voice it was abundantly clear that he had lost at least some portion of his sanity.

Trying to back up even further, Ritsuko tripped on a protruding grating and fell to the floor. "You think yourself a god? I think you are a demon."

Gendo opened his mouth to say something, but then he shook his head, appearing to partially return to his senses. The black haired man turned to his two guards and waved a dismissive hand at Ritsuko. "Kill her."

Ritsuko eyes widened slightly and she opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she had wanted to say, the words never left her lips. The doctor's body slumped to floor, two bullet holes marking her forehead.

Gendo meanwhile turned back to Unit-04 and walked resolutely towards the Eva's entry plug. Using Seele's research he had significantly increased the silver Eva's power and with his own newfound powers he would be able to control the Eva. Once under control he would use the powerful Eva to destroy Shinji once and for all. He evidently did not trust Nara to finish the job. Steeping up to the side of the ejected entry plug, the commander raised his foot to step inside.

The foot was retracted however as the Eva suddenly shook. The massive behemoth was beginning to move and yet no-one was in the entry plug, which hadn't even been ejected. Nevertheless the Eva was definitely moving, straining against its supports.

With a shriek of metal the silver Eva managed to tear its right arm free of its restraints and reaching up behind its back, closed its hand around the utterly shocked commander.

Bringing its hand back in front of its face, the red eyed Eva seemed almost to glare at the suit-clad man in its hand. Its still unrestrained mouth opened and then a hideous sound rose from its throat that was only barely recognisable as speech. "I do not remember this being part of the plan Gendo."

Clearly the Eva had never been intended to be able to speak. Its words were so horribly spoken that it took Gendo a moment to realise what it had said. Once he deciphered its speech though he quickly realised who it was he was talking to. The only person he knew who could possibly be remotely controlling the Eva. "Hello Nara."

A terribly distorted laugh rose from Unit-04's throat and for a moment an image of an orange haired version of Nara appeared in the commander's mind, also laughing. "Did you really think that altering this Eva would severe my link to it? When will you foolish Lilim learn that you cannot compete with the likes of me."

Despite his current predicament, Gendo smiled coldly. "Oh, but I am no longer one of the Lilim." Focusing his ill gained AT field around his body, he attempted to force Unit-04's fingers apart. The Eva's fingers however remained resolutely closed and for a moment a flash of panic crossed the commander's face. The panic though disappeared quickly and the commander tried once again to force the silver Eva to release him. When it did not work a second time the panic returned, and this time it stayed.

Another horrifying laugh rose from Unit-04's throat. "See Lilim, you are nothing compared to me." Its face twisted into a sickening smile. "You have served your purpose. I no longer have any use for you." Before Gendo could say anything else it clenched its right fist, crushing the commander to a pulp. Its own purpose served, the silver Eva slumped forward in its supports, Nara having already left its mind.

Left behind, the two Nerv agents could do little but stare, unable to fully comprehend what they had just witnessed. One thing though was certain. The commander was dead, and they were out of a job.

(Unknown Location)

Nara-2 was losing. It was abundantly apparent that he was simply too weak to defeat Shinji by himself. He was managing to survive but he was becoming increasingly injured. Cuts and bruises covered his body, appearing faster than he was able to regenerate.

As Shinji battered at the blue eyed Nara he truly realised for the first time in this battle that the individual Nara halves were not as strong as the original. Together they might be a powerful force but individually they were not so difficult. Turning slightly to avoid an energy beam from Nara-2's left hand, the black haired teen plunged his black Lancea into his opponent's abdomen. Leaving a gaping hole that passed right through the tan haired boy's body.

Crying out in pain and propelling himself backwards, Nara-2 ripped the Lancea head from his battered body. Turning he leaped into a corridor that headed straight down and flew down it as fast as he could. As he flew a Sea of Dirac began to form near the corridor's base.

Shinji followed Nara-2 down the passageway and saw the Sea of Dirac forming. He accelerated as fast as he could in an attempt to catch the winged teen but was unable to do so. As he watched his target vanished through the shadowy portal, which immediately began to shrink in on itself. The red eyed boy tried to reach the portal before it closed but he was not quite fast enough. It closed completely, leaving him stranded in the strange icy dimension.

(Tokyo-3 Surface)

Touji witnessed the death of his friend. He watched as Unit-21 crushed Unit-17's entry plug and threw it to the ground. Threw it to the ground like his friend's life had been nothing, like Kensuke's body was just trash. Hate burned in the boy's dark eyes.

Unit-20 tried to take advantage of its opponent's distraction and swung its spear at the white Eva's head. The attack was blocked though as spear met spear in a shower of sparks. Slowly Unit-16 turned to face the attacking Eva. The Eva's three eyes were emotionless as always, but its body stance made the anger of its pilot clear. A single kick to the IDPS Evas chest sent it flying backwards to land in a heap on the ground.

Touji didn't pay any attention to the fallen Eva, instead turning his attention to the approaching Unit-21. The American-designed Eva was closing in fast, evidently intending to destroy another of the piloted Evas.

The two Evas met with a thunderous crash, the impact between their spears sending out a wave of force that cracked the ground around them. Neither Eva seemed to be affected by the shockwave. They pushed against each other with all their might, trying to force the other one into a fatal stumble.

This standoff continued until Unit-20 made its reappearance, coming up from behind Touji's Eva and attempting to run it through with its spear. The teenage pilot however saw the attack coming and was able to dive out of its road. Unfortunately this action freed Unit-21's spear and the massive Eva brought it down on Unit-16's left leg, severing it at the knee.

Now unable to rise, the white Eva was forced to protect itself as the two soulless Evas rained down blows upon it. Touji was successful in guarding his Eva's S2 organ and head with his Longinus Spear but the behemoth's arms and remaining leg were stabbed multiple times. Several gashed in Unit-16's side were also made by the plunging Longinus Spears.

Stifling cries of agony, Touji once again raised his weapon to protect himself. Only to have it knocked away by a well placed swing from Unit-20. Unit-21 raised its spear to finish the job.

Touji knew that this was it, there was no way he could stop the coming blow. The silver and brown Eva's weapon was already falling and he had never been able to move his Eva as fast as Asuka could. He released the piloting handles.

Suddenly, Unit-16's right hand shot up and grabbed the falling spear. It pulled, and the attacking Eva lost its balance, stumbling forward and coming face-to-face with Touji's Eva. The white Eva's blood-filled mouth opened and it growled deeply at the enemy Eva.

For a moment Touji remained frozen in his seat, unable to comprehend what was happening. Then he realised the chance his partner was giving him.A chance to make these Evas pay for what they had done. Without hesitation he reached around behind his piloting seat and grabbed the handle situated there. A slight smirk crossed the boy's face. "Why don't we all go to hell then?" He did what he had done so many times in training. He pulled.

All three Evas vanished in a white fireball that outshone the sun with its brilliance, and obliterated everything in its path.

(Elsewhere, Tokyo-3 Surface)

Unit-14 was facing off against Units C and D. It had so far managed to hold the two enemy Evas at bay but it was clear that without its left forearm and wings the red Eva was completely outmatched. That Unit-D still lacked an arm and a fully functioning weapon was the only reason that she was still alive at all.

Although she was now pretty certain she was doomed, Asuka was prepared to fight to the very end. For all the time she had been training, she had known that this battle would probable be unwinnable. But rather than make her despair, all that realisation had done was make her train harder. After all, anyone could win a battle that was winnable. To win one that was unwinnable, now that would be an achievement. Even though she knew she had already lost, Asuka wasn't going to stop fighting until she was dead. Tightening her Eva's grip on her now one-headed progressive axe, Asuka prepared to charge.

And that was when Touji's Eva exploded.

Although she had seen Units 20 and 21 engage her friends in battle, Asuka had not seen Kensuke fall, wrapped up as she was in her own life-or-death struggle. She could not ignore Unit-16's self-destruction however. Although she did not see the explosions source she did see that the glowing fireball had engulfed the section of Tokyo-3's surface where her friends had once stood. And, when the light finally faded, she saw that her friends had disappeared.

That the IDPS Evas the two had been battling had disappeared as well didn't even register to Asuka, the enemy Evas were secondary to her friends. She didn't see Unit-A rise from the Last Angel's corpse. She didn't see it raise its spear. And she didn't see it throw.

The white Eva's Longinus Spear streaked through the air, zeroing in on its unmoving target. Before Asuka had even noticed its approach, the large spear had buried itself in Unit-14's back. The spear head emerging from the very center of Unit-14's chest.

The colossal Eva stumbled forward a step and looked as if it might fall, but then straightened. Slowly, the red behemoth looked down at the spear head sticking out of its chest. Inside the entry plug, Asuka quite literally twitched with anger, her entire body going rigid and then relaxing, only to repeat the same process over and over again. These Evas had killed Touji, killed Kensuke. And now they had tried to kill her as well. Letting go of all her restraints, Asuka gave into her rage, and let the walls of the entry plug claim her.

Slowly, Unit-14 turned to face its assailant, its eyes eventually falling on Unit-A. The armour on its face had opened slightly and the Eva's true eyes had been revealed. However, they did not glow yellow as was the norm, but instead were a deep and burning red.

Dropping what was left of its battle axe to the floor, Unit-14 reached behind its back with its right arm. Firmly gripping the haft of Unit-A's Longinus Spear, it pulled. With a sickening crunching sound the spear tore free of the red Eva's body.

As soon as the spear was free the Eva's wound began to bleed profusely, pouring blue gore down Unit-14's front and back. Through the hole, a section of the Eva's S2 organ could be seen, a large chip marking the Longinus Spear's course across it. Despite the damage to its S2 organ however, the red Eva clearly had no intention of stopping. It was still going to fight.

Ignoring the rivers of blue blood that ran down its form, Unit-14 held the stolen Longinus Spear out in front of it. Red energy began to flow along the weapon's length, emanating from the Eva's right hand. As the energy flowed, the weapon began to mutate.

The Longinus Spear's head flattened out and elongated, forming into a single razor-sharp blade. Along the entire length of the handle small blades began to emerge, some of them bending forwards, others bending back, many sticking out straight. The size and the length of the small blades varied, some of them no bigger than an Eva's fingers, others almost as big as the weapon's primary blade. As the weapon changed it began to pulse with a deep red light.

Throwing back its head and opening its gaping maw, Unit-14 released a roar that shook the earth and could be heard a hundred miles away. As it did so, six glowing red wings burst from its back, spreading out to either side and giving the rampant Eva a truly demonic appearance.

(Nerv, Control Room)

A deafening alarm went of within Nerv's central control room. Three of the massive view screens had come to life, each showing a different view of Unit-14, each a live feed from the eyes of an IDPS Eva. The alarm had gone off because the Eva at the center of the screens was no longer giving off the readings typical of an Eva. In fact it was no longer even registering as an Eva.

The MAGI couldn't comprehend this turn of events. The red Eva should not have been able to keep operating with the damage it had sustained to its S2 organ and yet not only had it continued to do so, it had also somehow managed to alter a Longinus Spear to suit its will.

The three supercomputers recognised the readings Unit-14 was giving off. They had detected such readings before. From the Eva sub-commander Fuyutsuki had called 'the Demon'. From Unit-01.

If the IDPS Evas had contained self-destruct mechanisms, then the MAGI would have activated them now, but such systems had been removed when the Evas were rebuilt, the commander deeming them 'unnecessary'. Without such a sacrificial tactic available to them, the MAGI ordered the three white Evas to attack.

(Meanwhile, Unknown Location)

Shinji floated within the icy confines of the frozen dimension he had been left in. With the Sea of Dirac gone, he had no way to make it back to the dimension he had come from. He had no way to make it back to Rei and Naoki.

Shinji's hands clenched at his side. No. He wasn't going to allow himself to be cut off from the one's he loved. He had promised Rei that everything would be okay and he wasn't going to break that promise, he would tear this dimension apart if it was necessary.

Focusing the full power of his AT field before him, Shinji probed for any remnant of Nara-2's Sea of Dirac.

At first he found nothing but then he pushed deeper. There, on the very edge of his enhanced perception, was a ripple in the fabric of this world.

Unlike Nara, Shinji had no real knowledge of how a Sea of Dirac worked. He had spent time in one but never made one of his own. He remembered though something that Ritsuko had told him once, she had said that a Sea of Dirac could only be generated by the use of an inverted AT field.

Though not entirely certain of what it meant to invert an AT field, Shinji tried his best to replicate one. To do so he was forced to draw heavily on Adam's knowledge and he could feel the Angel's presence grow within him.

Shoving Adam's presence to the back of his mind, Shinji put all his concentration to manipulating his AT field and opening a rift between the worlds. Slowly, he reversed the polarity of his field and began trying to meld it with the ripple he felt.

At first nothing happened, but then something caught. The inverted AT field and ripple began to meld together. The process was by no means smooth. Shinji pretty much had to force the union and he could tell that the mix was becoming unstable.

Regardless, shadows began to pulse near the corridors end. The shadows slowly started to solidify and spread out, though they still appeared unstable, like they would disappear at the slightest provocation.

Slowly, very slowly, a portal began to open. It was not the smooth circle that usually represented a Sea of Dirac, but instead appeared as a vertical slash. Twisting tendrils of shadow wreathed across its edges, licking at the walls that surrounded it. This was a rift between worlds formed by the application of brute force, as opposed to the subtlety used to open a proper Sea of Dirac.

Shinji stared at the tear he had created. He had opened it by using the lingering traces of Nara-2's Sea of Dirac and as such had no idea where it led. All he knew was that this was his one chance of getting back to his own dimension. Of getting back to his family. He flew through the rift.

Moving through this rift was not as smooth as moving through a Sea of Dirac. Between the two worlds was a short but hellish path through a dimension of pure darkness. Swirling shadows surrounded Shinji and tried to pull him into the surrounding abyss. The black haired boy resisted their pulls however and walked resolutely to the portal at the other end of the path. This time he passed through without hesitation.

As soon as Shinji stepped through the second portal he found himself surrounding by searing flames. It took him less than a heartbeat to realise this was the same dimension in which he had fought the Naras earlier. The same dimension in which the then headless Nara-1 had been left behind.

Nara-2 watched Shinji emerge from the dimensional tear. He watched as the strange portal closed behind the black haired teen. The portal may have been crude in comparison to a normal Sea of Dirac but evidentially it had still served its purpose. Just as the blue eyed boy had expected it would. He had known that Shinji would find a way to follow him, and had made sure to inform Nara-1 of that fact immediately upon his arrival.

Nara-1 had prepared himself adequately for Shinji's appearance. The winged teen had so far shown the ability to dodge all of the red eyed Nara's more powerful attacks, or else successfully defend himself from them. As such, the orange haired teen had decided to use a different attack this time. One that took time to prepare, but was undeniable effective.

In the time it had taken Shinji to break through from the icy dimension he had been abandoned in, Nara-1 had prepared his attack fully. His hands now glowed with a bright light and a similarly vivid light could be seen shining through his chest.

Shinji only had enough to look up and notice both his opponents floating above him before the light from Nara-1's hands flared and a massive beam of light came racing towards him.

The light beam was by no means solid. It was nothing but insubstantial light, transparent and faint. And yet the edges of the beam were sharply defined, the light within the beam somehow significantly brighter than the light outside. There was something hauntingly attractive about the approaching attack, something that made Shinji almost reluctant to move out of the way.

In the end it was that reluctance that cost him. He did try to move, but he had hesitated for a mere fraction of a second, and as a result was engulfed by the light.

The moment the light hit him, Shinji's mind exploded in pain. He felt as if some unknown entity was digging its fingers into his mind, digging through his memories and unearthing his deepest secrets. The miniature Lancea disappeared, its wielder unable to maintain the concentration necessary to maintain it.

Blinded by the pain and the light, Shinji saw thousands of images flash before his eyes. Images of his mother entering Unit-01, of her never coming out again. Images of his father abandoning him. Images of Rei as he had first seen her, lying on a stretcher, her body broken and battered. Images of the desolated body of Unit-03, the crushed entry plug in his Eva's hand. Images of Kaoru, of the boy's death at his hands. These same images repeated themselves over and over again in his mind, forcing him to relive every agonising moment.

But it didn't end there. New images began to surface, images that were not a part of Shinji's memories. Images of his friends being killed at the Naras' hands, blades and beams striking down everyone he cared about. Asuka, Misato, Touji, Kensuke, he saw all of them killed by the two teenage boys. That was not the worst however. The worst were the images of Rei and Naoki being killed. Of Rei being impaled on the end of Nara-1's blade, of having her chest blasted apart by a beam from Nara-2. Of Naoki being crushed under Nara-2's foot, of Nara-1 standing over the little girl's still body. Of Rei being ripped apart by a giant cross-flare, of a flexible, bladed limb plunging through her chest.

Real and imaginary, the images mixed together and pushed Shinji to the edge of sanity. He opened his mouth but no sound came out, he couldn't even find the strength to scream. Then another image came to him, one of Rei impaled on the end of a weapon, but this time the weapon was the miniature Lancea, and it wasn't Nara-1 who had impaled her…it was him. Shinji finally found the strength to scream.

The images continued to flash before Shinji's eyes, unaffected by the boy's scream. Memories and nightmares fused together until Shinji could no longer tell the difference. Death and destruction filled his mind.

Then another image came to him. One that was different from the others. It only appeared for a couple of seconds, but that was long enough for Shinji to take it all in. It was an image of Nara as he had appeared before his transformation, his grayish black hair concealing his eyes from view. Fourteen shadowy figures surrounded him, too indistinct to be made out. A single figure stood behind the boy, its pale hands resting on the teen's shoulders but the rest of its body as indistinct as the surrounding figures.

The surrounding figures permeated a feeling of foreboding and hatred that was almost tangible. Nara and the figure behind him permeated a feeling of hopelessness and sadness. Just before the image faded, Nara raised his head and looked Shinji directly in the eyes. His mouth moved, forming two simple words. "I'm sorry."

That one image was all it took for Shinji to break free of the nightmares that were attempting to consume him. It reminded him that most of the images he was seeing were not real, and that he was still in a battle. Why it reminded him of this, he was not sure. Only that he knew that the image must have come from the mind of one of the Naras, if not from both simultaneously. And that was what made him realise that many of the other images were also being created by the Naras.

His scream cutting off, Shinji's sight returned once more to the present. He saw Nara-2 diving towards him, his hand charging up for what he no doubt intended to be a point-blank range blast. He did not know why he had seen that image, whether or not it had been intentional or an accident. But he did know it had probable saved his life.

Shinji raised his arms to either side of him and prepared to unleash his ultimate attack against the two Naras. The circles on his palms began to glow and tendrils of energy began to wind their way along the length of his arms.

Nara-2 saw the attack coming and knew that even should he stop now he would still be close enough to take the full strength of the blast. Silently cursing himself for once again underestimating the winged boy, the tan haired teen fired an energy beam from his right hand, thinking that he might still have a chance to dispatch his opponent before he could unleash his attack. The beam though, never reached its target.

Flowing across his collar-bone, the energy tendrils from Shinji's hands reached out towards each other. They met, and then all hell broke lose.

A black sphere of pure, unrestrained destruction spread out from Shinji's body, stopping the approaching beam in its tracks and engulfing Nara-2 in a matter of seconds. The globe continued to spread unhindered and engulfed Nara-1 as well, the orange haired boy only just having enough time to raise his arms in a defensive position before he was consumed.

The sphere continued to spread out, engulfing ground, fire and air together. It only stopped its expansion when Shinji cut off the flow of energy that supported it. Drained as he was, the boy was unable to maintain the necessary power to fuel the attack.

Its power source cut off the black orb began to collapse in upon itself, shrinking in size and slowly beginning to fade from view. When it finally vanished completely, the damage it had caused to the two Naras was fully revealed.

A few meters above Shinji was a field of bloody debris. Pieces of flesh and globules of blood floated listlessly in the air, hovering over the flames below. Such was the devastation caused by the attack that the remains were not even identifiable as those of a human, but considering the debris field's location there could be little doubt that this was all that remained of Nara-2. The only remnants of the boy's S2 organ were a few slithers of red.

Unfortunately for Shinji, the assault had been far less affective against Nara-1. The orange winged boy had managed to raise his AT field before the attack hit him, and combined with his distance from the orb's center, the action had been enough to save him from destruction.

Had the attack continued for much longer Nara-1's AT field may very well have collapsed, but as it was it had just managed to stand up to the onslaught. As such his body had survived unscathed and his S2 organ was entirely untouched.

Raising his head, the red eyed Nara smiled maliciously at Shinji. "An Anti-AT field huh. Really, is that all you can do."

While he was irked that the teenage boy had managed to survive his attack, Shinji kept his face perfectly calm. "You may have survived. But without your other half to back you up, you won't last long. Face it, its over."

Nara-1's smile widened. "Oh I don't think so Adam. You see, you haven't weakened me nearly as much as you think." He raised both arms up before him and pointed them at Nara-2's remains. The flesh and blood immediately began to move, whizzing through the air towards the boy's arms.

Bit by bit, the pieces of flesh began to collide with Nara-1's arms and chests, quickly joined by the globules of blood. As the remains began to fuse into him, the orange haired teen's body began to glow with an iridescent light.

Shinji knew that whatever his opponent was doing, it was undeniably a threat. He regenerated the miniature Lancea and took off towards Nara-1.

Even as Shinji closed in, the last of Nara-2's remains fused into Nara-1's body and the glow began to dim. As the light fully faded, it revealed that the boy's left eye had turned blue and that his hair had changed from orange to grey. Nara had been restored.

Generating two blades, the grey haired boy caught the head of Shinji's Lancea between them, stopping its plunge towards his chest. He smiled viciously at his black haired opponent. "Now do you see Adam? All you have done is restore me to my full power. You can never defeat me."

No longer able to maintain the calmness of his expression, Shinji allowed a scowl to spread across his face. "You are nothing but parasites, controlling Nara's body through force. But I am the perfect amalgamation of two beings. Your power will fail you, and it is I who will be victorious."

The two combatants continued to hold each other in a stalemate. Although no-one would know it by looking at them, both were running low on energy and neither would be able to keep up the fight for much longer. That didn't mean they wouldn't fight however. Both of them knew that nothing short of death would end this battle.

(Tokyo-3 Surface)

Unit-C closed in on Unit-14, the damaged Unit-D following close behind. Both were charging along the ground, their powerful legs propelling them at phenomenal speeds towards the six-winged Eva that opposed them.

Unit-14 stood its ground stoically, staring silently at the two soulless Evas. No emotion showed in the Eva's glowing red eyes, but the tightening grip on its altered weapon was testament to the anger that burned within it.

Leaping high into the air, Unit-C drove its spear downwards towards the unmoving Eva, intending to finish off the four-eyed behemoth once and for all. Its opponent however was ready for the attack.

In a blink of an eye Unit-14 raised its mutated Longinus Spear and swung it around in a wide arc. Cleaving through armour and flesh alike, the bladed weapon cut the falling IDPS Eva in two. An explosive torrent of red blood flung the two pieces away from each other and sent them falling to the ground.

The two halves landed on the ground in front of Unit-D, stopping the white Eva in its tracks. The mauled Eva still lacked a left arm and the fingers on its right hand were only partially reformed, weakening the grip it had on the red pole that was all that remained of its Longinus Spear. The MAGI could easily calculate Unit-D's chances of beating the obviously increasingly powerful Unit-14 as being extremely low. As such they ordered the crippled Eva to retreat.

Receiving the order, Unit-D turned and began to run, putting as much distance as it could between itself and the demonic Eva behind it. Unit-14 though, had no attention of allowing the IDPS Eva to escape.

Bringing its arm back, the rampant Eva lined up its vicious weapon on the retreating Evas back. Red energy once again flowed along the length of the spear, twisting into a double-helix pattern that stretched all the way from the weapon's butt to the base of the blade at its head, meandering its way between the blades covering the spear's haft. As soon as the pattern was fully formed, Unit-14 let fly.

There was so much power behind the spear throw that it appeared as little more than a streak of light as it hurtled towards Unit-D's back. Such was the weapon's speed that the white Eva had no time to dodge it, or even to notice its approach. Less than a second after it had left Unit-14's hand, it had torn its way straight through the soulless Eva's abdomen, leaving a gaping hole where the behemoth's S2 organ had been.

Continuing on, the stray Longinus Spear ploughed into the ground, burying itself in the rocky earth. Its disappearance was as unnoticed as Unit-D's collapse to the ground, the last two remaining Eva's focused entirely on each other.

Unit-A had been charging across the battlefield towards Unit-14 when it witnessed the fall of its two allies. That both Evas had been taken down by the red Eva in a matter of seconds was completely unexpected. The MAGI had predicted that it would take far longer for Units C and D to be defeated, more than enough time for the last of the ex-Seele Evas to back them up. It would seem however that their predictions were off.

Now, Unit-A, the last of the IDPS Evas, found itself facing off against something that was no longer even an Eva. There had been nine IDPS Evas, and only three piloted Evas to oppose them. Yet it came down to this, a one-on-one battle between the last two survivors.

It wasn't all bad for Gendo's plan though. The MAGI had finally gotten some definitive readings on Unit-14 and had confirmed that the damage to the Eva's S2 organ had indeed destabilised its AT field. In fact as it currently stood, the winged Eva's protective field would be ineffective against almost all forms of attack. Add to that the fact that Unit-14 had only one arm and was currently disarmed, and it would seem that Unit-A might just stand a fighting chance. Such an assumption though, would be wrong.

Without even pausing to look at the two Evas it had just killed, the demonic Unit-14 turned to face its one remaining opponent. Two souls stared out of its glowing eyes, those of a young redhead and her mother. It was Asuka's soul that dominated the Eva's body. It was her anger that fueled its power.

With an earsplitting roar, Unit-14 charged towards Unit-A, its six red wings spreading even wider and the red light of its eyes growing in intensity.

Without a soul, Unit-A was incapable of feeling fear, and it had received no orders to retreat from the MAGI. As such, it lowered its Longinus Spear and charged forward, fully intending to meet its opponent half-way, and end this battle once and for all.

The distance between the two behemoths diminished rapidly as they charged towards each other, their blood-filled mouths hanging open. Neither so much as flinched as they closed in, both of them preparing to attack.

As soon as Unit-14 was within range, Unit-A struck out with its spear, aiming for the red Eva's partially exposed S2 organ. The attack proved ineffective however as the targeted Eva rolled to the side, avoiding the IDPS Eva's thrust and rising within striking distance.

As soon as it had regained its feet the blood-soaked Eva struck out with its right hand, spreading its fingers wide and pointing them forward. The hand shot through the air towards the enemy Eva's midsection.

Unable to bring its weapon back around in time to stop the attack, Unit-A instead opted to concentrate its AT field between itself and Unit-14's right hand. The field was of no help however and the hand tore right through it before burying itself in the white Eva's body.

Unit-14's fingers tore through the ex-Seele Eva's body, ripping their way through anything that stood in their road. Eventually the now gore-covered hand emerged from Unit-A's back, red splinters stuck in its palm testament to its path through the enemy Eva's S2 organ.

(Airspace over Tokyo-3)

The two large jets that had deployed Units 20 and 21 to the surface still circled above the battlefield. At this exact moment they were directly above Unit-14 and the dead body of Unit-A.

Having ejected their pilots, the MAGI were now in direct control of the aircrafts' systems. They had so far largely ignored the jets, focusing instead on coordinating the IDPS Evas on the surface, but with their ground attack failed the two aerial vehicles were the only offensive option they had left.

Sirens went off in the cockpits of both jets as the MAGI sent a new string of commands to their computer systems. A computer voice began to boom from the aircrafts' internal intercoms. "Warning, bomb bay doors opening. N2 mines moving into drop position. Mines armed and ready for detonation. Warning…"

The bomb bay doors of both craft slowly began to slide open, revealing the sizeable payloads hidden behind. Not entirely certain that his plan would work out perfectly, Gendo had decided to cover his bases, and had had the two jets assigned to carry Units 20 and 21 equipped with one N2 mine each.

At maximum strength, an Eva's AT field might be able to stand up to such a massive amount of destruction power. But Unit-14's AT field was far from being at maximum strength. In its current state it was barely operational.

As the bomb bay doors fully opened, the two N2 mines slid into place, held within the jets' bodies by simple clamps. A single command from the MAGI ordered those clamps to release.

(Tokyo-3 Surface)

Somehow Unit-14 could sense the mines falling towards it. Its only remaining arm was still stuck within Unit-A's limp body and it had so little energy left that it could barely move a muscle, but it did raise its head and look up.

The red Eva's eyes narrowed and its mouth opened. Then the N2 mines hit. The winged behemoth vanished within a maelstrom of destruction.

(Meanwhile, Unknown Location)

The battle between Shinji and Nara was in full swing. The two teens clashed again and again, blades striking Lancea in a rapid dance of death. The winged boys would clash and then drift apart, before clashing once again. Beams were fired in between clashes, beams that were either dodged, deflected by AT fields or countered by other beams.

As a particularly large distance opened between the two, Shinji slash downwards with his black Lancea, sending out his AT field in a bladed arc. Nara flew above the attack and made eye contact with Shinji. His eyes flashed.

Shinji was only just able to propel himself backwards fast enough to avoid the cross-flare that erupted below him. He was then forced to do so again and again as more and more cross-flares erupted from the ground.

As Shinji dodged yet another cross-flare he sensed that it was slightly weaker than the previous cross-flare, which he now realised had been slightly weaker than the one before it. When the next cross-flare erupted, the black haired boy let it hit him.

The black energy coursed over Shinji, engulfing his body whole. Yet it didn't injure him, damaging his AT field only slightly. It seemed that Nara was running out of power. Apparently doubling himself had taken a considerable amount of energy.

As the light of the cross-flare cleared, Shinji was confronted by Nara diving down towards him, both of his blades held out before him. The winged boy reacted quickly, swinging his Lancea and severing both of his opponent's hands at the wrist.

Nara recoiled quickly, hissing in pain as he saw his hands fall towards the ground. He glared at Shinji. "Damn you Adam. Why can't I defeat you?"

Shinji looked straight back at Nara, his Lancea still raised in a defensive position. "You are nothing like the Nara I knew. He was strong. You are weak. You are nothing!"

A low growl rose from Nara's throat. "You are a fool Adam. I am stronger than I have ever been. I will show you my power!" He concentrated and the skin on his wrists began to bulge, twisting and expanding until it had formed back into his two hands. As soon as the hands were regenerated he made a sweeping gesture with his right arm and a Sea of Dirac opened below the two boys. "Come Adam. Let us return to where this started." The grey haired teen dropped through the portal.

Shinji didn't hesitate in following. Wherever Nara was going he knew he had to follow. Allowing the pale skinned boy to run free would most likely prove a grave mistake.

Shinji was somewhat surprised when he emerged within the LCL Chamber of Terminal Dogma. So this was what Nara had meant about returning to where this started. They had returned to where Third Impact had been adverted, to where Nara had been born.

Before Shinji could dwell further on the choice of location, he was attacked once again by Nara. He only just managed to deflect both of the teen's black blades and immediately found himself attacked again. The battle continued from where it had left off.

(Terminal Dogma, Central Chamber)

Rei was aware of Shinji's presence the moment he emerged from the Sea of Dirac, the blue haired girl's bond to the boy allowing her to hone in on his exact location. That he had emerged in the LCL Chamber was not really a problem, as the winged teen could reach the chamber in seconds. The only real problem was that Naoki was still in the clutches of Xera.

Rei wanted desperately to go to Shinji. To make sure that he was okay, that he was safe. But to do so might endanger the life of her child, and that was something that Rei could not do. She could not abandon her baby.

Rei's problem was soon solved however. Xera's bond with Nara had alerted her to the boy's presence in the LCL Chamber and without even a glance at her companion she took off towards Heaven's Gate, Naoki still gripped in her arms.

With nothing to keep her where she was, and everything to make her follow Xera, Rei took off in pursuit.

Xera flew straight towards the massive gate that bared her path, her silver wings spread wide. Less than a second before colliding with the gate she concentrated her AT field in front of her, using it as a battering ram to knock a large chunk out of the ironclad gateway. She quickly flew through the resulting hole, Rei following close behind.

Upon emerging into the chamber both girls were immediately confronted by the large scale fight between Nara and Shinji. Seemingly unaware of the presence of all three females, the two boys continued to trade blows at lightning speed.

By now it was clearly apparent that Shinji had the upper hand. None of Nara's blows were falling upon Shinji's flesh, while his own injuries were beginning to add up, small gashes appearing all over his body faster than he could regenerate. Several larger wounds also marked the grey haired boy's form.

After Nara received a particularly vicious wound across his right shoulder, he propelled himself backwards, finally putting some distance between himself and Shinji. He didn't have to breathe so his breathing was not heavy, but it was clear that he was tired. The wounds that covered his body began to heal but the process was noticeably slower than it had previously been. He spat a wad of blood from his mouth. "Well Adam, it seems that I am outmatched." He allowed his blades to disperse and hung his shoulders in defeat. "Go ahead, finish it."

Shinji calmly raised his right hand and spread his fingers wide, pointing the red circle on his palm at Nara's chest. The glassy circle began to glow, drawing power from its owner's S2 organ.

Soon Shinji had gathered sufficient energy to finish Nara off, but he did not fire. He was not quite ready to kill the boy who had once been his friend. "I want to speak to Nara. The real Nara."

Nara laughed dryly, blood from his still damaged insides flowing out of his mouth. "Fuck you! Either kill me now or let me go, you have no other choice. The Nara you knew is dead!"

Shinji shook his head slightly. "No, I know he's still in there somewhere." Reaching out with his mind, the red eyed boy reached into Nara's consciousness, making no attempt to be gentle. "I will find him. You cannot stop me."

Feeling the force of the other boy's mind worming its way into his skull, Nara threw back his head and roared in agony. The roar was a hideous blending of several different and equally terrifying roars that shook the very foundations of Terminal Dogma. Bringing his head back down and stifling the roar, the winged teen stared defiantly at Shinji. He did not have the strength to speak but the stare accurately portrayed his hatred.

Despite Nara's attempts at resistance the contest of wills between the two combatants resulted in a predictable outcome. The barriers around the Heterochromia suffering boy's mind finally collapsed and Shinji's power reached out to the suppressed presence within. One last powerful roar escaped the injured boy's mouth before his head slumped forward, hiding his face from view. He remained like that for some time.

Slowly Nara raised his face and looked at Shinji. The change in his face was immediately noticeable. His eyes no longer burned with hatred. Instead they were filled with sadness. He looked like he might actually be on the verge of crying. When he spoke, his voice was filled with a sense of hopelessness. "Shinji…I'm sorry."

Shinji continued to point his palm at Nara's chest but the firmness of his expression disappeared, he adopted the same sad look as his one time friend. He may have managed to awaken the boy's true nature but he still had to forcefully suppress the Angels, and he knew he could not hold them back forever. If he wanted to talk, he'd have to make it fast. "What happened to you Nara?"

Nara continued to look straight at Shinji, ignoring the blood that still dripped from his mouth. "There were too many of them Shinji. I tried. I tried so hard. But you can't possibly know what it's like to have fourteen voices in the back of your head, telling you to kill, telling you to destroy. Ever since I transformed I have heard them. I cannot escape them, they are with me always. I tried to ignore them, to suppress them, but I…I…" He hung his head in defeat. "I failed Shinji. I'm so sorry."

Shinji signed sadly. "No Nara, I should be the one to apologise. I should have realised how hard this would be for you. I should have helped. I am truly sorry."

Nara looked up, once again meeting his companion's eyes. "If you truly wish to apologise Shinji, then do one thing for me." As he spoke the blood flow to his mouth finally dried up.

"Name it." Shinji didn't hesitate in his response.

A slight smile crossed Nara's face, temporarily vanishing the sadness of his expression. "Kill me."

Shinji could hardly believe what Nara had just said. Surely the pale skinned boy had not just asked for death. "Nara, you…you can't be serious."

Nara continued to smile slightly. "I'm completely serious Shinji. You know you won't be able to keep the Angels suppressed forever, sooner or later they will regain control of my body. That is why you must kill me." He paused temporarily. "Oh, and don't worry about Gendo, I already killed him. He won't be a problem any longer."

Shinji's outstretched arm began to shake slightly. "I…I can't." He ignored Nara's comment about his father's death, that wasn't important. If Gendo was dead than that was good but Nara was what mattered now.

If anything the smile on Nara's face only widened. "You must. You're going to have to kill me sooner or later, its best that you do it now."

"But…but…" Shinji struggled to find a reason to refuse Nara's request, but he could find nothing. Nara spoke the undeniable truth.

Nara continued to smile, the expression warm despite the struggle that continued to rage within his mind. "If it makes you feel any better Shinji, I would rather die at your hands than anyone else's."

That didn't make the winged teen feel any better, but at least it let him know that Nara really was serious about this. Reluctantly he began to focus more power into the circle on his right palm. "I'm sorry Nara. I wish this had turned out differently."

The grey haired teen nodded in response. "So do I."

A single tear trickled down Shinji's left cheek. "Goodbye, my friend." He fired.

The energy blast flew true, passing straight through Nara's unprotected chest. It incinerated the base of the boy's rib cage, taking his S2 along with it. With its power source gone, the teen's body ceased functioning and began to fall towards the ground, a smile still plastered on the dead face. The silence was eerie. It almost seemed to deny the death that had just occurred.

A tear trickled down Rei's cheek as well but she quickly turned her attention away from the falling body, her eyes moving to the silver haired girl beside her and the child held in her arms. She was worried that with Nara gone, Xera would have no reason not to kill Naoki. The blue haired teen was surprised by the expression she saw on her companion's face.

Xera's eyes were downcast, two locks of her hair half obscuring the dark red orbs from view. A stream of silent tears ran down each of the girl's cheeks, dripping down onto the baby still held in her arms. Naoki squirmed slightly as the salty tears landed on her head.

Xera's head suddenly shot up, revealing her eyes to be narrowed into angry slits. With a single violent thrust of her arm she threw Naoki to the side, sending the little girl careening straight into her mother's arms.

Rei caught Naoki and immediately cradled the child to her chest, silencing the baby's indignant squawk at Xera's violent treatment. The squawk was replaced with a happy squeal as the little girl realised who know held her.

With Rei sufficiently distracted by her daughter, Xera spread her wings wide and took off towards the chamber's center. The silver winged girl wasn't heading for Shinji though, instead flying straight to Nara's falling body.

Swooping underneath the dead body, Xera caught it less than a meter above the small lake of LCL that covered the chamber's floor, the shock of her expanded AT field causing a large ripple in the orange liquid below her. The pale skinned teen ignored the blood that flowed across her from the gaping wound in Nara's chest.

Shinji lowered himself down until he was at eye level with Xera, watching as the girl raised her head to glare angrily at him. "I'm sorry Xera, I know he was important to you."

Xera's head moved to the side slightly as she saw Rei fly up beside her, Naoki held gently in the other girl's arms. "I don't fully understand what he meant to me, even now. I do know however that I would have liked to stay with him for a little longer. If only to understand…what he meant to me." Her red eyes came to focus on Shinji. "I know that Nara wanted this Shinji but I cannot forgive you for killing him. I hate you for that."

Shinji signed quietly. "I know that Xera, and I understand. I warn you though, do not think to attack us. You cannot win."

Xera glanced sideways at Rei and then looked back to Shinji. "You are right I cannot." She looked down at the dead body still held in her arms. "But neither could he." Her hair began to rise slightly as she concentrated her AT field, the power quickly beginning to build.

Rei reached an imploring arm out towards Xera. "Please Xera, don't do this, there's been enough death already. I know you're not a bad person. If you were you would have hurt Naoki instead of returning her."

At first the silver haired teen seemed unaffected by Rei's pleas but then she signed deeply, her hair falling back down. "I have nothing left." She raised her head. "Shinji I…"

Xera never got a chance to finish her sentence. A loud gunshot rang out and a single bullet ripped its way straight through the girl's chest, blasting out the center of her S2 organ. The bullet continued through, missing Shinji by less than an inch.

The red eyed girl was dead before she even realised she had been shot, her eyes widening due only to a shock impulse fired by her brain. Without her AT field to support them, both her and Nara's bodies fell into the LCL below them, the orange liquid quickly becoming stained with blood.

Rei could do little but stare at the two corpses now lying at the bottom of the shallow lake, her view of them rapidly becoming obscured by the red stain spreading from the wounds in their chests. She quickly moved her left hand to cover Naoki's eyes, sparing the little girl from the sight of so much blood.

For his part, Shinji immediately looked for the source of the bullet. He knew it was vital he find the gunman before another shot could be fired. Though her attention had been elsewhere, Xera had nevertheless had her AT field expanded, which meant that whatever had been used to kill her could penetrate AT fields.

Shinji didn't have to look far, his eyes coming to focus on a figure standing on one of the arms of the cross that still dominated the LCL Chamber. The figure was standing on the arm where it joined the main body of the cross.

Upon further scrutiny, Shinji identified the figure to be a human male of roughly average proportions, his body covered almost entirely in black clothing. In the man's hands was a large rifle, covered with flashing lights and large pipes. A rifle which was currently aimed at the winged boy's chest.

Before the man had a chance to fire, Shinji yelled out to him. "Who are you!?"

The man hesitated slightly in pulling the trigger, he did not see what harm could come from answering the boy's question, especially considering he wasn't going to live much longer. "My name is Shadow. I am Gendo Ikari's personal assassin."

Rei had by now noticed the man as well and raised her voice to join Shinji's. "What are you doing!? She was on your side!"

Shadow smirked slightly. "Perhaps, but she failed in her assigned duty. The commander instructed me to eliminate you all should his two puppets fail."

Shinji mimicked Shadow's expression, knowing that he knew far more then the assassin. "Puppets? Odd, puppets don't usually kill their masters."

The assassin's eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you talking about?"

Shinji's smile widened, silently noting that his fusion with Adam had changed his personality more than he had previously thought. "Nara killed Gendo, your boss is dead."

Shadow paused for a moment. If the commander was really dead then he could pretty much kiss his pay check goodbye. He inwardly shrugged, deciding he didn't really care. Money wasn't the only reason he killed. "Even if that is true, it doesn't matter. I'm still going to enjoy watching you die." He lined up the rifle and fired.

This action wasn't a surprise to Shinji. He had expected such an attack from Shadow. If the assassin thought he was just going to allow himself to get hit though, then he was a fool. The nimble teen quickly turned sideways, dodging the high speed projectile.

Before Shadow had a chance to react Shinji raised his right arm and fired an energy beam, the attack zeroing in on the dark clothed man. The beam moved far too fast for the assassin to have even a chance of dodging. All he had time to do was consider that maybe it would have been a better idea to just run.

The blast of energy incinerated Shadow's head and flung the headless body off the cross, sending it careening towards the ground below.

Rei watched Shinji as he lowered his arm. "It's time then?" She ignored the sound of Shadow's body splashing into the LCL below.

Shinji turned to her and nodded. "Yes, it's time." They didn't have the opportunity to dwell on those who had died. The future of humanity was in their hands now.

(Tokyo-3 Surface)

As the light from the detonated N2 mines finally cleared they revealed the utter devastation left in their wake. The blast site was littered with Eva body parts, ripped apart organs and pieces of flesh mixing with puddles of blood. Rivers of red blood and blue blood flowed together towards the center of the shallow crater, winding their way past red and white armour plates alike.

A stiff breeze blew across the debris field, picking up some of the smaller pieces of flesh and sending then careening across the rocky landscape. One particular piece of flesh came to an abrupt halt as it collided with a long cylindrical object.

The cylinder was burnt and blackened, its rounded ends partially melted. There was a single loud hiss, which heralded several spurts of an orange liquid erupting from the capsule head.

The liquid flows eventually dried up and with a single click one section of the cylindrical capsule detached itself slightly from the main body and slid back with the aid of a set of hydraulic limbs. The hydraulic system was badly damaged so the lid moved away very slowly.

As the lid finally slid completely out of the road, two red clothed hands lifted up to grip the sides of the capsule. A figure slowly rose from the blackened cylinder, standing up and lifting its head to look at the sky.

Asuka's eyes narrowed as she stared at the drifting clouds above, ignoring the two circling planes. Silent tears streamed down her face. "Mother, don't leave me."

The redhead tried to reach out to her mother, tried to connect to her as she had within the Eva. She knew it was pointless however, Unit-14 was gone and her mother along with it.

Asuka had seem the falling N2 mines through the red Eva's eyes but before she could do anything she had found herself forcibly ejected from the Eva's body and returned to the entry plug. Seizing complete control of the Eva, the spirit of her mother had concentrated all the remaining power of Unit-14's AT field around the plug.

And so Asuka had survived. Her body and plug suit had been burnt by the superheated LCL that had surrounded her, but she was still very much alive. She had survived, while Unit-14 had been utterly destroyed. She had survived, while her mother had died.

Asuka's head slowly fell, her hair falling forward to hide the features of her face, her tears beginning to mingle with the LCL at her feet. "Why have I been left behind? I would have preferred to die." The redhead's shoulders began to heave as the sound of sobbing was heard. "I wanted to go with you!" She collapsed to her hands and knees, her entire body vibrating with the force of her sobs.

For the first time in ages Asuka had felt the warmth of her mother's love, only to have it stripped from her. Without that love she suddenly found herself feeling empty, a feeling that was not helped by the devastation that surrounded her. Yes, she was alive, but she truly wished she wasn't.

---

End Notes: Well, okay, that's it for Chapter 9/10. Not long to go now, two more chapters at the most and this fic will be finished. Please review if you anything to say, I would appreciate any constructive criticism you can give. It might take me awhile to do Chapter 11 but I will endeavor to get it done as soon as I get the chance.