Shinji was frozen in abject terror as the hulking, black, vaguely humanoid mass turned to face him. Like a trip to the past, to that day that made his whole life change, before him stood was what could only be described as Sachiel: the Third Angel.
"I-impossible! That can't be real!" yelled Shinji from a cockpit that now felt quite vulnerable. "You're already dead!"
As if it could feel Shinji's disbelief, the Angel rushed forward with unbelievable speed; much faster than the similar Angel Shinji had faced fourteen years ago. With its three long, black claws the alien creature lifted Unit 01 off the ground as if it weighed nothing. A glowing spike shot out from its elbow and sped back in.
"Oh fuck no!" Shinji roared yanking hard on the controls. Very much like a stop sign, a huge octagonal field of rippling yellow energy burst from the Evangelion, sending the Angel flying backwards and breaking its arm in the process. Immediately the Angel stood up on its long thin legs, and with a sickening slosh regenerated its arm. Not exactly a new trick for these enigmatic beings, but Shinji distinctly remembered being on the other side of the equation last time he was fighting this specific monster. Sachiel threw itself at Shinji with renewed vigor. With a thought, the Evangelion halted the attack and held the monster back in a way that would have been quite reminiscent of sumo wrestlers, had both beings been several tons fatter.
"Dammit! I really need a weapon" though Shinji as the flexible behemoth wrapped its arms about the Evangelion. And if this Sachiel had the same abilities, but on steroids, the megaton explosion would not be something he could live through, especially considering the condition of his bio-mech. Like some sort of demonic python, the Angel tightened its python grip around the Evangelion, pinning the armored arms to its side. As Shinji heard the metal on the outside of the Unit creak, he realized that he was about to die. Like all of the times before, he was filled with a mixture of disbelief and fear. He furiously yanked at the controls, but unsurprisingly, it was to no avail. As Shinji felt his doom was drawing nigh, he heard a strange, yet familiar sound. Maybe it was luck, or perhaps it was fate, but as Shinji turned to locate the sound, he saw the left shoulder compartment of Evangelion Unit 01 burst open and Shinji found himself staring right at the progressive knife. With a roar, the Evangelion burst through the Angels arms, and whipped out the progressive knife. With a revolting sound, the black severed arms flopped on the ground, and Shinji sliced wildly with the knife. Because the Angel was quickly shuffling backwards Shinji was several yards short with each slash, for some reason, it appeared as if they were having some effect. Lacerations started appearing across the Angel's body, and a crimson tide started flowing from these wounds. Encouraged by his seemingly unstoppable assault, Shinji let out a primitive yell, and the Evangelion followed suit, albeit with a massive burst of an AT field that knocked the Angel off its feet. With the adrenaline pumping, and his heart racing, Shinji was unaware of the crackling yellow energy that was moving down both his own arm, and the arm of the Evangelion. As he made the unit crouch down and grip the blade firmly, he was equally unaware as the energy made its way from the arm of the Eva, down to the blade itself. The purple and green monstrosity, carnal beast barely tamed, rushed for the Angel, holding a now glowing knife, that for all intents and purposes appeared to be growing in length. Shinji charged headlong into the half-erect monster and plunged the blade deep into its vulnerable core. The angel let out an unearthly squeal as it struggled violently, trying unsuccessfully to remove the glowing metal sheet. Inside the entry plug, a couple of beads of sweat floated off of Shinji's whiskered jaw as he silently pushed forward on the controls as he squeezed his eyes shut. Had his eyes been open, he would have seen the once frightening Angel, now pitifully writhing its last, and finally dying, sliding off the progressive knife and into a pool of its own blood. However, Shinji did not see any of this. In fact, it was a full minute before he opened his eyes again; he then realized that he had been holding his breath. The Evangelion slowly shuffled away from the carnage and headed towards the base of the nearest mountain. As the mech half-collapsed, Shinji noticed the greenery around him for the first time. While all of Japan, and indeed even the Asian continent was a barren wasteland, there was a surprisingly high amount of living foliage. Granted, it was no forest, but the amount of life filled Shinji with disbelief. So much disbelief, in fact, that he stared in shock for what had to have been an hour. For the first time in thirteen years: life. Life. That simple four-letter word sparked a thought that made Shinji through the Evangelion into a feverish run: there may be survivors in this oasis of flora. First he ran to the top of the short mountain and scanned the horizon for signs of life. Seeing none, he ran down, as fast as the S2 engine could make the mech go, and blazed through the forest. The hours slipped by like minutes, the minutes like seconds and before he knew it, the blazing red orb in the sky had disappeared from sight. We he noticed this, the Evangelion dropped to the ground, face first, in an unmistakably human expression of total despair. Inside the cockpit, manly tears flowed silently down a grizzled face. Images of death and destruction flashed through Shinji's fragile mind as he desperately tried to fight his urges to give up right then and there and simply end his own life.
"Thirteen years…thirteen long-ass-mother-fucking YEARS!" he howled in a tone rent by immeasurable emotional pain.
Without thinking, Shinji slowly pulled his knife from its pocket. It slipped silently from his hand and spun in slow summersaults in front of his face and opened its deceptively beautiful polished blade that shone in the soft orange of LCL lit by moonlight. As if in a trance, his fingers grasped the worn handle, and found its worn grooves. With only a small upset in the LCL, the blade was brought to rest in the crux of Shinji's elbow. Surreally, the razor-like edge split the skin smoothly, leaving behind, at first, nothing, followed later only by a thin, deep red line that oozed a deep red dye. The split continued all the way up to his slender wrists, and by that time, the LCL not only smelled of blood, but was also quite nearly blood colored as well. The light was slowly fading from Shinji's eyes, and his life was slowly ending as his grip on the controls slacked and his body drooped forward.
Perhaps it was due to loss of blood to the brain, or maybe it was something deeper, even spiritual, but Shinji had the strangest feeling that he was traveling down a warm, dark long tunnel. At the end, there was a small slit of light, and in it he could see a woman who could only be his mother, Yui. She smiled lovingly at him, as her short brown hair started to grow. Red streaks, much like fire, sprouted from her head, as her body shrunk her breasts became smaller and her demeanor soured. Shinji tried desperately to yell and stop this horror, but as he had no physical body, he was unable. The light faded and now all f Shinji's universe consisted of was a loose consciousness completely enveloped by the woman he had both loved…and murdered: Asuka Langley Soryu .
"Dear God…I'm in hell…"