Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.
Chapter Eighteen
"Hi, Mom," Hikari said softly.
The pig-tailed girl kneeled down before her mother's headstone and slowly began to dig a small hole for the flowers she'd brought. Aside from the sound of her small spade pushing into the ground and pulling up dirt, the cemetery was as silent as, well, death.
Hikari and her sisters made a point of visiting their mother's grave every year on the anniversary of her death, but that date was still months away. Hikari had just felt compelled to make the extra trip because of her experience with the previous Angel. It had made the pain of losing her mother fresh again, and inspired a renewed longing in Hikari for her.
Finished digging, Hikari removed the small plant from its flower pot and put it inside the hole she'd made.
"I really wish you were here right now, Mom, and not just because I wouldn't have to do all the cooking and cleaning around the house if you were," Hikari said with a wry, sad smile as she packed soil around the flowers she'd planted. "I wonder what you would have said about the crazy things that have happened to me and the crazy things I've been doing. Would you have freaked out like Kodama did? Would you have believed that gaining such powers gave me the responsibility to use them for good? Would you have realized that when I first started being Spirit, it was mostly because I got a kick out of it?"
The headstone, of course, didn't answer. Hikari remained there for a few minutes longer, kneeling silently in front of her mother's grave. Part of her was tempted to spill out the story of exactly what had happened to her since the wings had burst out of her back for the first time, not the censured version of the story she gave to her sisters. She eventually decided against it, however. She might be there for hours if she told the entire tale, and her mother could offer her no words of comfort or advice.
"There really doesn't seem to be anything else to say," Hikari mused aloud, standing up. "I guess that's a good thing. Means nothing was left unsaid between us."
Hikari kissed her fingers and then pressed them to her mother's name before she walked off, heading home.
Misato eyed the tiny microchip that she held between her thumb and forefinger with a critical gaze as Kaji's final message played in the background. It was such a small thing, she mused, to alleviate so much of her pain.
"The phone that doesn't ring doesn't hurt as much," Misato said softly. "Not since you gave me your soul."
And that was what it was, wasn't it? The quest for the truth behind NERV and Second Impact had been everything to Ryoji Kaji, even when it had become suicidal. He had died for it.
"Why did you have to do it, you crazy idiot?" she wondered aloud, not for the first time.
Shaking her head to clear it, Misato turned back to her personal computer. She would uncover the secrets Kaji had died in the pursuit of, and when she had the knowledge in her hands, she would then deal out justice accordingly. This she had sworn to herself many times over.
Now if only I could figure out the secret that I wanted to uncover, Misato thought, again trying to recall the details of her date with Kaji to the Blue Crystal.
Unfortunately, the only additional fact that she'd been able to make her brain produce about that evening was that they had been celebrating something. She didn't even know what.
In truth, Misato didn't even know exactly what she would do if Kaji's ghost were to appear right at that moment and tell her who Spirit was. At the time she'd asked him about her, Misato hadn't had much of a plan beyond trying to help the girl stay one step ahead of NERV's attempts at capturing her and thanking her for her help.
Now, however, that seemed far too small a thing to do with such knowledge. After all, the clue was effectively Kaji's final gift to her. The chip was the proverbial torch that he was passing to her, while the clue about Spirit's identity was something he had given her just because she had asked.
Could she enlist the help of the girl in her quest? Would Spirit even consider trusting a member of NERV like her?
Don't worry about problems you're no where near to having to deal with, Katsuragi, she chided herself. Especially when you've got so many on your plate already…
Emergency sessions were becoming the norm in the technically nonexistent meeting chamber of the SEELE council.
"The Lance of Longinus has been lost," SEELE-03 announced into the shadowy room. "It surpassed escape velocity after Ikari ordered it used against the Fifteenth Angel and is now on the surface of the moon."
"This will have grave consequences to the scenario," SEELE-11 said softly.
"I knew we should have replaced Ikari long ago!" SEELE-09 bellowed.
"Up until now the only charge we could level against him was incompetence, and perhaps some fairly mild deceptions," SEELE-08 pointed out. "Using the Lance without the authority of this body, however, is borderline treachery."
"But what are we to do about it?" SEELE-04 asked. "Though we cannot tolerate Ikari disposing of items essential to our scenario, our options are still limited. With the Mass Produced Evangelions still incomplete…"
"The time of Ikari's reckoning is drawing near," SEELE-01 spoke up. "Only two Angels remain. Once the Seventeenth is dead, then it will be time for us to strike. We need only remain vigilant until the appointed time arrives."
"However, should the opportunity arise, we must remind Ikari who is in control here," SEELE-09 said, taking a calculated risk in speaking after Keel had said his piece.
"Of course," SEELE-01 agreed in an annoyed tone. "Now, this meeting is adjourned."
Recognizing the dangerous finality in their leader's tone, the other members of SEELE left the virtual room, their monoliths vanishing and leaving SEELE-01 alone.
"Ikari, are you going to betray us?" Keel wondered aloud.
It was well into the evening when someone knocked on the door to the Horaki home, and Hikari frowned in confusion when she heard the sound.
Who could that be? She wondered as she went to answer it.
She briefly hoped that it was her father, perhaps knocking on his own door because he'd forgotten his keys or something. However, she quickly discounted this possibility. Dad rarely if ever lost little things like that, and in any case, she couldn't see any reason why he'd be home. Really, the Horaki girls had barely seen him since the Twelfth Angel's death; nearly all of NERV had been working double duty since a large section of the city had been destroyed by nuclear fire and much of the rest had been painted red with the Angel's blood.
Placing thoughts of her father aside, Hikari reached the door and opened it. She blinked in surprise at who she found there.
"Hello, Hikari," Asuka said softly. "I know it's late, and I know we haven't been on the best of terms lately, but…could I please stay here tonight?"
Hikari stood there silently for a few seconds, struck dumb with surprise. Asuka almost sounded like she was begging her, which just felt terrifically wrong. Asuka didn't beg. Asuka demanded. Asuka convinced you that you wanted to do something for her. Asuka even just asked on occasion. But beg? No, never.
Or so Hikari had thought.
"Uh, sure," Hikari stammered out. "Come in, Asuka."
"Arigato," Asuka said softly as she entered.
It was at this point that Kodama appeared, having come to see who their evening visitor was. She looked about as surprised to see Asuka as Hikari felt at first, then a myriad of other emotions passed through her eyes in an instant.
Kodama knew of the rather bizarre double relationship her sister had with the German: friends in one life and more-or-less enemies in another. Hikari had done her best to leave out the details of how much Asuka loathed her alter ego and how close Unit Two had come to capturing her, but Kodama had still heard enough to form a rather negative opinion of the Second Child.
Fortunately, Asuka didn't seem to notice Kodama's expression and the eldest of the Horaki girls was quickly able to compose herself.
"Oh, good evening," Kodama greeted. "You must be Asuka, right? I've heard a lot about you from Hikari."
Asuka nodded, blissfully oblivious to the full meaning of Kodama's words. "Yes," she said softly. "Hikari's invited me to stay the night."
Kodama quirked an eyebrow, though whether it was at how much quieter Asuka was than she might have expected or the fact that it was pretty obvious the redhead had actually invited herself over, Hikari didn't know.
"I see," Kodama said. "Well, have fun then, and please don't wake up Nozomi. She just went to bed."
Asuka and Hikari nodded and then headed up to Hikari's room.
"Asuka," Hikari spoke softly as they climbed the stairs, "not that I mind having you sleep over, but why are you here?"
"I just couldn't stay in that apartment tonight," Asuka replied. "Not with them."
Hikari quirked an eyebrow but didn't ask why she felt that way. The pig-tailed girl slid open the door to her room and the pair entered.
"Oh, you have a Sega?" Asuka said, noticing the video game console sitting on Hikari's floor.
"Uh, yeah," Hikari answered, even though the Second Child was already switching the Sega on.
Two hours of watching Asuka play Wing Annihilator later, and the Second Child was finally read to go to bed. Relieved, Hikari turned off the light and the two girls climbed into their futon.
"I'm sorry about imposing on you like this," Asuka said softly, not facing her friend in the dark.
"It's okay," Hikari responded.
"I couldn't succeed with EVA," Asuka said softly. "I tried so hard and sacrificed so much, and in the end I was beaten by the winged wonder. Even Shinji did better with EVA than I did. That's why I couldn't stay at Misato's apartment. Every time I look at him, I see how he's beaten me, how I've failed. They're going to replace me as soon as they find the Fifth Child, I just know it. I'm useless. I hate myself."
Feeling vaguely nauseous but determined not to show it, lest Asuka wonder why, Hikari replied, "You tried your best. You should be proud of yourself."
Asuka didn't say anything in response. Instead, the redhead curled up into a small ball and began to sob quietly.
Hikari's eyes slid shut, feeling anguish well up within her. The irony was sharp enough to be painful. Asuka, desperate to escape the reminder of her failures she saw in Shinji, had run straight to…Spirit.
Knowing that any comfort she gave her friend now would turn into pain and outrage should the Second Child ever found out who she was, Hikari just stared up at the ceiling as Asuka sobbed.
Did I do this? Hikari wondered as she listened to Asuka cry. If I had stayed out of more of the battles, maybe Asuka would've killed more Angels and wouldn't be like this now. Did I do too much? I was only trying to help…
Hikari sighed, knowing that this night would be far longer than any she had yet endured.
Life had lost its luster for Ritsuko Akagi, and yet she plodded along anyway. Being as scientific minded as she was, the faux blonde tended to think that her actions were the product of a kind of inertia, which somehow made it easier for her to keep going.
Such coping mechanisms were becoming more and more necessary for her, and the news her grandmother was delivering to her wasn't helping.
"I see," she said into the phone, "so that cat is dead. Well, thank you for taking care of it for me, grandmother."
"You really should come visit soon," her grandmother chided. "It's been too long, and you haven't been to your mother's grave in forever."
"It has been three years," Ritsuko agreed tiredly. "I'll come as soon as I can get away from here for a while."
"That's good to hear," her grandmother replied. "Now, if you can just be the one to reach out more often…"
"I'll call you next time, grandmother," Ritsuko promised.
It was a vow she had no real intention of keeping, not that she ever expected to face any kind of consequences for it, not even a lecture. Writing blank checks was an easy thing to do with the end of the world drawing near, Ritsuko had discovered.
She bid her mother good-bye and hung up, sighing as she did so.
"So even cats can die," Ritsuko muttered.
This can't go on, she thought. Inertia can only propel an object on Earth for so long before other factors bring it to a halt. But how can I stop?
"What a mess," Hikari mused aloud as she walked through a small public park.
Everything had just seemed to be going downhill since the Thirteenth Angel. From her shooting herself in the foot with Toji, to Shinji getting punished every time he helped Spirit, to Asuka going berserk and then falling into depression, it just was all bad. The situation with Asuka in particular was starting to look very grim; the Second Child hadn't gone to school that morning, instead just remaining in Hikari's room and playing video games. It was like she had just given up.
The relentless urge to seek out Adam wasn't helping, either, nor was the fact that she woke up every morning grappling fiercely with it.
So she'd gone out on a walk that evening, hoping to clear her head. She knew what she really needed to do to achieve that end was to go for a flight, to bask in the feeling of pure freedom that came with soaring through the sky, with no objective other than enjoying the experience. Venturing far enough away from the city so that she couldn't hear the call of Adam for a while wouldn't have hurt, either. But flying carried a greater risk than she was willing to take, so she walked instead.
"Are you all right?"
Hikari turned suddenly and spied a petite woman with short, dark hair sitting on a nearby park bench. Judging by the pads she wore and the roller blades on her feet, it was obvious what she was doing in the park.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Hikari answered politely.
"You just looked a bit lost," the woman commented.
"No, not really lost, just…lost in thought," Hikari replied.
"Want to talk about it?" the woman asked with a small smile.
Hikari heard her mother's old warnings about talking to strangers echoing in her head, but she shrugged them off. The women on the bench certainly didn't look dangerous, and even if she did have bad intentions, it wasn't as though Hikari had any real reason to worry.
"I have a lot of problems right now, that's all," Hikari said, sitting down on the bench. "Boy problems, problems with friends, and…other problems. Weird problems."
The other woman smiled. "I know about weird problems."
"Not like these," Hikari said tiredly.
"I wouldn't be so sure," the woman responded. "I'm Maya, by the way."
"Hikari," she introduced herself with a small bow. She looked out at the city. "Lately I've found myself having to do things I never even thought about a few months ago. It's becoming…more complicated than I ever expected."
"Ah," Maya replied. "Well, I know a thing or two about having responsibility that I never asked for thrust upon me. It can feel really unfair, can't it?"
"Yeah," Hikari replied softly.
Maya nodded. "But sometimes you just have to," she said, seeming to be speaking to herself as much as Hikari. "Because some things just have to be done, for the good of everyone, so you have to do it because there's no one else who can or will."
Hikari nodded, unable to deny the truth of Maya's words. The fact that her love life was still nonexistent and that her best friend was in a less than cheerful state didn't change the fact that Spirit had done real good. People were alive who wouldn't be if Hikari had never become Spirit, and there was no guarantee than Shinji and Asuka would be doing better without her interference than they were. In fact, for all she knew, things could be much worse.
The relentless pressure of resisting the call of Adam had caused her to forget that, but the fact was, aside from the blunders she couldn't have known to avoid at the time, she wouldn't do anything different if she had it do over again.
She smiled. "You're right," she said. "Arigato, Maya-san."
"You're welcome," Maya replied.
Feeling a good bit better than she had when she'd arrived in the park, Hikari got up from the bench, bid Maya good-bye, and walked home.
When NERV detected the Sixteenth Angel just as it was passing the defensive line at Goura, they found it to be one of the strangest ones they'd encountered yet. An enormous, spinning ring made from a glowing double helix, it was impossible to guess anything about the newest threat to humanity other than that it doubtlessly had some kind of nasty surprise up its nonexistent sleeves.
The strangeness and unpredictability of the glowing halo might have added to the tension everyone in the command center felt as they watched the Angel advance. Of course, the current absence of the Operations Director wasn't helping matters any, either. With Misato still en route, the task of preparing for the coming battle fell to Makoto more or less by default, and the bespectacled tech performed the task as adequately as he able.
"Units Zero and One are to move to the intercept position via gates five and six, respectively," Makoto ordered. "Unit Three will head through gate 12 and provide backup. Unit Two, await at your present position."
"No," Gendo ordered. "Sortie Unit Two through gate number eight. It can act as a decoy if nothing else."
"Uh, yes, sir," Makoto said, clearly unsure about this order but having no other choice but to comply.
"I'm still connected to this thing," Asuka said softly to herself as Unit Two rocketed upwards. "I can still do this."
She had the red titan clench and unclench its hand, as if to prove the truth of her words to herself. The connection between the Second Child and Evangelion Unit Two was indeed still present, though it was faint. Fainter than it had been in many years.
But so long as the connection existed and the Fifth Child remained unfound, Asuka still had a chance. She could redeem herself. She could be the Great Asuka Langley Soryu again.
"This is your last chance, Asuka," she told herself as Unit Two reached the surface. "Make it count."
Misato suddenly burst into the command center. Ritsuko turned and regarded the Ops Director with a scowl. "You're late."
"Sorry, no excuse," Misato said curtly. "Status report?"
"The Angel's pattern keeps cycling from blue to orange," Makoto replied immediately.
"What does that mean?" Misato asked.
"Unknown. The MAGI don't have sufficient data to reach any conclusions," Maya answered.
"But I'm positive that shape isn't fixed," Ritsuko added.
"I'm detecting a red/blue pattern!" Maya suddenly reported.
"Confirmed! Spirit's heading toward the Angel's position," Aoba added.
Commander Ikari mercifully did not issue any new orders in response to this development, something Misato was very grateful for.
"We can't attack this thing first," Misato declared. "Shinji, Rei, we'll just observe it for a while. Hopefully Spirit will decide to just watch and wait, too."
"Uh, Misato…" Shinji began.
"It's coming," Rei said.
The Angel ceased its spinning, and the twin threads merged until it formed a single rope of blue light. The ring broke, the Angel transforming from a halo to a serpent, and one end of it lashed out…
Spirit gasped as she watched the Angel strike, heading straight toward Unit One with speed that should have been impossible for something as large as it was. Shinji was apparently just as shocked, because Unit One didn't move.
Unit Zero, on the other hand, did.
The blue giant shoved Unit One hard, sending the purple and green colossus sprawling out of the path of the Angel. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time left for Rei to get her own EVA out of the way, and the end of the Sixteenth Angel plunged into Unit Zero's abdomen rather than that of its chosen target.
"Rei!" Spirit cried as she witnessed vein-like bulges starting to appear on Unit Zero's body.
She flew forward, intent of showing the Angel the business end of a few cross-blasts, but she wasn't fast enough to beat Asuka.
Unit Two suddenly charged forward, Asuka screaming a battle cry as she advanced on the enemy. The effortless grace that the Second Child had once commanded the first production model Evangelion with was gone; Unit Two almost looked drunk as it ran, barely going in a straight line and staggering awkwardly, but it was trying to attack the Angel anyway, progressive knife in hand.
For a moment, everyone observing really did believe that Asuka would save the day. The command center of NERV was dead silent as they watched the insane and yet somehow glorious charge of Unit Two. Spirit, Shinji, and Toji all stopped, waiting dumbly to see what Asuka would do.
Then the Second Child made the understandable but terrible mistake of raising her AT field. The air shimmered around Unit Two, and the Angel immediately pounced, the free end striking like a snake. Seeing it coming, Asuka tried to stop, to dodge, but her sync ratio had fallen too far and she didn't have enough control over her EVA to pull it off. All she succeeded in doing was stumbling, and the end of the Angel plunged into Unit Two's torso, the veins spreading beneath the EVA's armor.
"No!" Asuka screamed. "Not again! Not again! Stay out of my mind!"
The three other combatants were immediately jolted back into action by this cry. Units One and Three immediately began firing at the Angel with their pallet rifles, while Spirit again began to fly toward the Angel as quickly as she could, readying a cross blast.
It soon became clear that the massive shells from the pallet rifles were failing to do anything to the Angel, and Unit One dropped its gun, the left shoulder pylon opening and revealing its progressive knife. The purple behemoth drew the weapon and stabbed part of the Angel, evicting a massive spurt of blood from the Angel…and a pair of screams from Asuka and Rei.
Shinji immediately ceased his attack, and Spirit allowed the ball of light that was forming in her palm to die. Toji even stopped firing his pallet rifle, useless though it was.
The same thought went through the minds of the winged girl and two male EVA pilots: What am I going to do?!
Spirit was the only one who came up with an answer to that question, and she grimaced the moment she did so.
"I'm going to regret this," she muttered to herself.
The winged girl began to pour as much power as she could into her AT field, trying to make herself as tempting a target for the Angel as possible, hoping it would abandon its hold on Units Zero and Two for her.
At first, there was no change in the Angel's behavior.
"Come on, you monster. Come on," Spirit said, starting to pant as she put every ounce of energy she had into her AT field. Then, without evening thinking about, she added, "I am of Adam. I possess the Fruit of Life. I'm the one you really want."
As though it had heard her, the Angel slowly withdrew from Unit Zero, the veins vanishing from the EVA as the Angel pulled out of it. Unit Zero slumped down to the ground once it was freed, Rei's soft groans carrying to most of Tokyo-3 over the EVA's external speakers.
Once out of Unit Zero, the newly freed end of the Angel flashed out toward Spirit.
"And here's the part where I regret doing that!" Spirit exclaimed, turning and flying away from the pursuing Angel as quickly as she could.
In nearly all of her battles, Spirit had been able to use her relatively tiny size and great speed to her advantage, but this Angel was so fast that it was taking everything she had just to keep the end of the glowing rope from slamming into her like some kind of phosphorescent battering ram. She knew that she couldn't start Third Impact without wanting to, but she still had no desire to find out what would happen to her if the Angel collided with her.
And she couldn't attack the Angel until it had relinquished its hold upon Unit Two as well.
"Come on, chase me!" Spirit taunted the Angel, even as she struggled to keep it from gaining on her.
Time seemed to elongate as Spirit put every bit of strength that she had into flying as fast as she could, the wind rushing past her so quickly that she had to squint against it and the city blurring beneath her. Later on, she wouldn't be able to say how long she had tried to get the Angel to release Unit Two. It couldn't have been for more than a few seconds, but it felt like several minutes passed to her.
Then the Angel abruptly slowed down, and time returned to its normal flow. Frowning as she realized she was putting distance between herself and the Angel, Spirit dared to look back…and groaned loudly at what she saw.
Rather than letting go of Unit Two like it had Unit Zero, the Angel was actually dragging the red giant along with it as it tried to continue its pursuit of the winged wonder, Unit Two stumbling along clumsily as it was pulled.
"Oh, come on! You've got to be kidding me!" Spirit exclaimed in frustration.
While Spirit was wondering what she could possibly do now, Unit One appeared on the scene, rushing to catch up with Unit Two. Shinji grabbed Asuka's EVA in a full nelson, and then looked up at Spirit expectantly.
The free end of the Angel twisted, pointing toward Unit One, before coming back around to point at Spirit, looking for all the world like some kind of improbable snake trying to decide which potential prey would make the better meal.
Spirit strengthened her AT field as much as she was able once more, and that made up the Angel's mind. It again surged forward, only to snap taut a moment later as Shinji kept Unit Two from being pulled any further.
Asuka screamed as her EVA became involved in a bizarre tug of war, the Angel apparently unwilling to release Unit Two even as it struggled toward Spirit.
Then, with a final shriek from Asuka, the end of the Angel abruptly slid out of Unit Two, leaving the EVA looking totally undamaged. Judging from the way it slumped in Unit One's grip, however, it was apparent that Asuka wasn't ready to return to battle.
Not that Spirit had very much time to observe what was going on with Unit Two, as she had to fly as quickly as she possibly could to avoid the Angel.
Finally, I can attack you without hurting my friends! Spirit thought, relieved. She fired a cross blast from her hand directly behind herself, right at the Angel.
And the Angel dodged, twisting its body about to neatly evade the blast of white energy while barely slowing down. It had had all of a half second to react, and it hadn't even been touched by the attack.
Uh-oh!
She unleashed another cross blast, only to have the Angel dodge just as nimbly as it had before.
Okay, fine! Spirit thought, gritting her teeth. Let's see if you can avoid a double!
Two spheres of white light formed, one in each of her hands. Spirit took careful aim, quickly figuring out how she could cover the greatest area with the double attack. Then, with a roar that she couldn't even hear over the intense roar of the wind, Spirit fired the pair of cross blasts.
The Angel instantly twisted itself into a crazy, seemingly impossible shape, somehow managing to avoid the twin energy attacks. And to add insult to injury, it barely had to slow to down as it did so, allowing Spirit to put little or no extra distance between herself and it.
Crap!
At a loss for any other ideas to destroy the Angel, Spirit was reduced to circling the city at top speed, a hummingbird fleeing from a flying snake as she just tried to keep herself from being killed.
Come on, Spirit! You have to think of something or you'll tire out eventually and the Angel will get you! She urged herself after what she was fairly sure was her sixth circuit around the circumference of Tokyo-3. Either that or hope that NERV figures out something…
At that very moment, two huge balls of light suddenly soared through the sky, missing both herself and the Angel by a wide margin. Spirit looked down to see Unit Three holding the same huge, high-tech gun that Asuka had tried to use against the Fourteenth Angel in the Geofront.
I appreciate the effort, Toji-kun, but you'll never manage to shoot this thing, she thought. It's too fast, too agile, and too thin. If only I could make it an easier target to…
And that was when it hit her. It was so simple that Spirit wondered why she hadn't figured it out earlier. She grinned wickedly.
All right, Angel. You want me? Come and get me!
The winged girl altered her flight pattern, totally abandoning the simple laps she was making around the city and replacing them with a crazed series of aerial acrobatics which seemed to have neither rhyme nor reason. She did loop-de-loops, cartwheels, figure eights, barrel rolls, and abrupt U-turns. She doubled back, performed sharp ninety degree turns, and sudden twists. And all the while she just managed to keep going fast enough to prevent the end of the Angel from catching up to her.
Then, she suddenly stopped and turned around, hovering in midair high above the city. The end of the Angel rushed toward her, closing the gap between them to a mere arm's length in under a second.
And then it stopped, unable to advance any further. Spirit laughed as she looked at her foe. Thanks to her crazed flight path, its single minded pursuit of her, and its unique body shape, the Angel had become hopelessly tangled in itself. The glowing blue monster that had looked so frightening a moment before now seemed almost comical as it struggled to free itself, only pulling the various knots it had gotten itself into tighter in the process.
Spirit raised a hand, almost as if she were waving good-bye to the Angel. White light formed in front of it, and a cross blast slammed into the Angel, hitting it easily. The still tangled beast went careening toward the Earth, where it slammed into one of the weapons blocks, smashing it to rubble before it landed on the ground.
She was about to head down to finish it, but Unit Three was closer. Toji showed the Angel the business end of the positron rifle he was carrying and pumped the trigger three times, firing from near point-blank range.
The Sixteenth Angel exploded spectacularly, a massive ball of flame blooming where it had been as the positrons annihilated much of it in a matter-antimatter reaction, causing the core to go critical and adding to the light show. Unit Three was soon engulfed in the fireball, but it was unscathed when the flames dissipated, having been protected by its AT field. There was nothing left of the Sixteenth Angel.
Spirit sighed in relief, then grinned. Laughing as the tension of the last few minutes drained away in a rush, the winged heroine descended until she was roughly eye to eye with Unit Three and blew a kiss at the pilot, remembering fondly how she'd saved him and Kensuke during the Fourth Angel's attack.
Unit Three, somehow managing to look just a tad awkward despite the fact that it was a seventy meter tall weapon of mass destruction, slowly waved back at her.
Giggling, Spirit took off, heading for home now that her job was done. Feels almost like old times, she thought.
She wouldn't have been nearly so cheerful had she known what had been lost in the battle.
The pale blue light that bathed everything within NERV Medical was meant to instill calm and tranquility in both patients and visitors. However, given the kinds of things that happened in the ward, the kinds of news that the doctors sometimes had to convey, the blue light was often simply outmatched. This was one of those times.
"A near catatonic state?" Misato asked fearfully.
"I'm afraid so," Dr. Yoshimora said sympathetically. "We've already performed an MRI scan and a slew of other tests. There's no physical cause we can detect. It seems as though the problem is within her mind."
Silence fell within the hospital room for several moments, broken only by the regular beeping of the heart monitor. Shinji and Rei, who flanked Misato, gazed down sadly at the figure in the medical bed.
Asuka was laying on her back, clothed in a hospital gown. Her omnipresent A-10 connectors were absent, which made her look more un-Asuka-like than anything else could…anything else, save for the totally empty look in her unfocused blue eyes, which gazed up at the ceiling without seeing it.
"Do you have any idea when she'll wake up?" Misato spoke into the heavy silence.
"None, unfortunately," Dr. Yoshimora said. "Maladies of the mind are always far more unpredictable than those of the body. And as unresponsive as she is, treatment will be nearly impossible. She'll need to find her own way back to the light."
"I see," Misato said. "Please, inform me if there's any change."
"Of course," Dr. Yoshimora agreed.
Misato bowed slightly to the doctor and then walked out, followed by Shinji and Rei. None of them said anything as they entered an elevator which began to descend, the counter clicking as they passed floors.
"I guess it's not a huge surprise," Misato finally spoke up in a strained voice. "Asuka obviously wasn't very stable after the Fifteenth Angel. The way she disregarded my orders to hold position and did that wild charge proves it. I suppose this was just too much for her…"
"Why did my father have to order Unit Two into combat?" Shinji asked. "We had three other Evangelions."
Misato wasn't sure whether he was posing his question to her or the world in general, but she answered anyway. "Only your father knows why he did that," she said bitterly. "Though personally I'm inclined toward taking him at face value, at least on this. Hyuga told me that he said she could be used as a decoy."
Silence fell for another long moment. This time, it was Shinji who finally broke it. "Rei?" he asked. "Did you…I don't know…when the Angel was inside Unit Zero…did you…?"
He trailed off, unsure how to phrase the question. Rei soon deduced what he wanted to know, however, and answered him. "Yes," she said softly. "The Angel took on my form and spoke to me. It tried to convince me to become one with it, and made me feel loneliness and the fear of death in an attempt to persuade me. It was…not a pleasant experience."
The tremble in her voice as she finished was slight, but Shinji and Misato both caught it. They traded a quick glance. If the experience could shake the unflappable Ayanami, then it really must have been bad.
The doors to the elevator finally slid open as they reached the parking deck. Misato offered Rei a ride back to her apartment, which the First Child accepted. It was a very quiet car trip.
To say that they had been on good terms with the German girl would have been a lie, but the three of them had still cared for her in some fashion or another. All of them had witnessed and been the object of the occasional acts of kindness from Asuka, seeing hints of the girl that lay beneath the Second Child's often belligerent facade. To see her laying limp in that hospital bed, her mind overwhelmed by the horrors of the war, had been nothing short of heart wrenching.
They soon arrived at Rei's dilapidated apartment building and climbed out of the car. Rei gave them both a small, polite bow. "I will see you later," she said.
"Wait a moment, Rei," Shinji spoke up, just as Rei was about to turn and head inside.
She eyed him curiously.
"In the future, I'd prefer it if you didn't throw yourself into harm's way like you did today," he said. "But all the same, thank you very much for pushing my EVA out of the Angel's path, Rei."
He bowed, and Rei's cheeks turned a delicate pink. "You are…welcome," she replied, then retreated into her apartment building more quickly than was strictly necessary.
In more auspicious times, Misato would have spent the drive to their own apartment teasing Shinji mercilessly about making the normally impassive First Child blush. But with Kaji dead and Asuka in the state she was currently in, his purple haired guardian couldn't summons the energy for it.
"So, how are you doing, Shinji-kun?" she asked him instead.
"Huh?"
"I asked how you're doing," Misato repeated. "I know you got off pretty easy this time, but you've been fighting the Angels longer than any of the other pilots. I want to know how you're holding up."
Shinji almost responded that he was fine without thinking about it but checked himself at the last moment. "I'm…tired," he answered instead.
Misato couldn't blame him. Having the weight of the world's on one's shoulders like the EVA pilots did would quickly leave even a professional soldier emotionally fatigued, let alone a fourteen-year-old boy who'd never asked for the job to begin with. Not for the first time, Misato wished with all her might that she didn't have to send children out to combat the Angels.
"I don't know how much longer I can keep going, keep piloting EVA," Shinji confessed. "Misato…does that make me a coward?"
"No!" Misato exclaimed. "No, it doesn't, Shinji-kun. You've been on the front lines of this war for a long time. It's no surprise you feel that way."
Poor Shinji-kun. He just wasn't made for war, Misato thought, mentally echoing a sentiment expressed by countless people both at NERV and Shinji's school. Still, he's done pretty damn well at it for someone so gentle.
"I don't think there are many more Angels, Shinji-kun," she said as reassuringly as she was able.
"I hope not," Shinji replied.
Up in her apartment, Rei Ayanami lay on her bed, lost in thought. She thought about Asuka, laying helpless in that hospital bed. She thought about the disapproving glare Commander Ikari had given her after the battle, as he noted that she hadn't been ordered to push Unit One out of the Angel's path. She thought about Shinji's words of thanks.
Would the third have pushed Unit One out of the way? She mused, wondering what would have happened if Commander Ikari had replaced her after the battle against the Fourteenth Angel as she'd expected him to.
It was irrelevant, since she hadn't been harmed, and Shinji wouldn't have been either, she assumed. Yet, the idea that Rei III probably would have let the Angel attack Unit One disturbed her. After all, should the Commander bring the next incarnation of her on-line, there was little doubt he would do so with an old memory scan of hers, possibly even from before the Third had arrived.
While the Angel had been in her mind, it had taunted her about how deplorable living life in constant fear of death was. She had to admit that it had had a point.
Now Rei found she had another reason to want to keep living. She didn't want to be replaced and leave her allies with a more apathetic version of herself at their sides.
The First Child got off her bed and picked up the Commander's glasses, which had lain on her dresser for months. A thin coat of dust had built up on them, but Rei paid it no heed as she examined the damaged spectacles.
Reaching a decision, Rei released her hold on the glasses. They fell to the apartment's hard floor, the already damaged lenses shattering upon impact.
"The SEELE council isn't pleased with this latest turn of events," Fuyutski said. "The fact that the Angel made contact with two of the pilots, and that it left the Second Child in her current state…"
"There is little the council can do at this stage," Gendo said. "And by the time they feel that they are in a position of strength, they will discover that there is nothing they can do to prevent my scenario from reaching completion."
Fuyutski arched an eyebrow at this. His former student's actions had been puzzling of late, and Gendo had regained his old confidence for no reason that the former professor could see.
What are you planning, Ikari? He wondered.
"What are you going to do about their demand to see Rei? They've said that they wish to question her about what she experienced when the Angel made first level contact with her," Fuyutski said.
The demand seemed reasonable on the face of it, but both Commanders knew better. If SEELE was really that interested about what went on inside the minds of the Angels, they would have asked to speak to the Second Child after her encounter with the Fifteenth Angel, brief though it had been. No, SEELE wanted to speak to Rei because she was an important part of Gendo's scenario.
Not that Gendo would ever allow the First Child into the virtual meeting room, especially not with how uncontrollable Rei had become of late.
"That will not be a problem," Gendo said. "I have given them something else to consider."
Ritsuko hated everything as she stood before the SEELE monoliths, as naked as the day she was born.
"We wish to proceed peacefully," SEELE-01 one said, the lecherousness that was detectable even in spite of the voice distortion putting the lie to his words. "We don't wish for you to suffer needless embarrassment."
"I'm not embarrassed," Ritsuko lied defiantly.
"A strong tempered woman," SEELE-03 said with a barely repressed chortle. "It's natural that Ikari wants to keep her by his side."
"However, it is none other than Ikari who presented you to us," SEELE-09 said.
"Indeed," SEELE-01 agreed. "He was quite insistent that we not interrogate the pilot of Unit Zero, despite the fact that she may have communicated with an Angel. He presented you as her replacement, Doctor."
I'm Rei's replacement?
Shinji responded at once to the sound of the phone ringing in the kitchen, foolishly hoping that it was NERV Medical calling to tell them that Asuka was awake.
"Hello?"
"Listen very closely," said a familiar voice. "For the next twenty minutes, you'll be completely free of Section Two surveillance. You can go immediately. Meet me at the number two Geofront access point."
"Ritsuko?" Shinji asked in confusion.
She regarded them silently, the dozens upon dozens of clones, all floating aimlessly through the amber LCL. On an intellectual level she knew, of course, that they weren't really alive in all senses of the word. Lacking minds and souls, the clones were really just breathing pieces of meat, empty receptacles waiting to be filled with the knowledge and the that spark of life that would make them truly human.
But that didn't make the idea of what she planned to do to the things as they giggled emptily at her seem any less wrong.
The door to the Dummy Plug core production plant suddenly opened with a soft whooshing sound, and she turned quickly, her heart hammering, certain that it was the Commander.
"Rei?" a bewildered Dr. Akagi asked as she entered the chamber.
Before Rei could even attempt to make any kind of response, Shinji and Misato appeared behind the faux blonde, their eyes widening as they took in the clones.
"What the hell is all this?" Misato asked.
The question had been directed at Akagi, but Rei spoke up before the scientist could. "They are exact genetic clones of myself," she explained. "In the event I should die or become unstable, Commander Ikari is capable of transferring my soul and a copy of my memories to any one of them. They also serve as the cores of the Dummy System."
"But…but why did NERV need Shinji and Asuka and Toji to pilot if the Commander can just make Rei's?" Misato asked slowly, clearly still overwhelmed.
"A soul is needed to animate the bodies, and there were no more to be had. The Chamber of Gauf was empty," a very confused Ritsuko explained. "Rei, what are you doing here? It's not time for your upload."
"I believe that it is safe to say that I have become unstable in Commander Ikari's eyes. However, I find that I do not wish to die, even though I will be reincarnated," Rei explained. "Therefore, I have come to make myself irreplaceable."
She pushed a button on a small remote control that she was holding…and the clones began to fall apart within the tank of LCL, staining the amber liquid crimson as they bled. Their grins never wavered as they dissolved.
"My god," Misato breathed.
"I hope you will not think less of me for having seen this," Rei said softly, looking down at the floor.
"N-no, of course not," Shinji stammered, obviously still trying to wrap his mind around what he had just witnessed. "It's only right…that you should want to survive, I mean. This isn't your fault. My father forced you into this position, didn't he?"
"Yes," Rei answered. "You could say that."
Before either Shinji or Misato could make any kind of further comment, Ritsuko began to snicker.
"What the hell are you laughing at?!" Misato demanded, appalled.
"I'm sorry," Ritsuko said, even as her snickering grew into loud chuckles. "But it's just…too funny! Rei's got Ikari in the ultimate catch-22! After an offense of this magnitude, he practically has to replace her! But because of this offense, he can't! It's just…it's just…!"
The bottle blonde never did tell them what it just was, because she was consumed by a hysterical fit of laughter. Misato, Shinji, and Rei all slowly backed away from the cackling scientist.
"Come on," Misato said to the pilots. "Let's get out of this place. We're done here."
"What about Ritsuko?" Shinji asked quietly.
"Leave her to her triumph," Misato answered grimly.
Author's Notes: And another chapter down. Now only one Angel remains before we move into EoE territory. Anyway, Gendo appears to be totally screwed at this point, but is he really? You'll just have to wait and see.
On another note, I've received a few questions about what I'm going to do in regards to pairing Shinji in this fic. Originally I had planned to ignore this matter completely, since this isn't supposed to be Shinji's story. However, I realized that it would just be plain lazy on my part to never show a glimmer of attraction between him and any of the female characters. After all, in the series, Rei died for him at this point. I felt I had to do something to reflect the display of her feelings for him in the episode, hence Rei pushing Unit One out of the way and the scene outside her apartment. Anyway, the Third Child will probably experience one or two more moments of awkward attraction before this over. But I have no plans to firmly pair him with anyone by the end of this, so don't get your hopes up on that front.
To those of you that were hoping to see Asuka climb out of her pit of despair without hitting rock bottom in this manner, I'm sorry, but I pretty much needed her in this state for the EoE part of this fic.
In case anyone's interested, the scene where Hikari bumps into Maya at the park was the one I'd originally written for last chapter. It just seemed to work better after Asuka tearfully poured out her troubles to Hikari, since our heroine would be more likely to need help deciding to keep at it after that.
NefCanuck, Fuyutski's meeting with SEELE had pretty much the same implications as they did in the series. Namely, Kaji has to rescue him and gets killed in retaliation for it. If it seemed mysterious and ominous, it's just because I cut out the parts where he was having flashbacks (i.e. almost all of it).
Zoro50, I admit I haven't been consistent on the matter of whether or not this Rei is the Silver Surfer and should have thought the matter through more. She obviously was the Surfer when she saved Spirit from the Ghost Rider a few chapters back, but I realized I need her to not be now. So…she's not. Call the Surfer's appearance a one shot cameo and the little hints just tributes to "Lilith's Herald," call them bad writing, but that's how it is.
Reform Joms, canon Shinji was working on a spine in the middle of the series, but starting at around the Twelfth Angel or so, he just kept getting ruined every episode and unsurprisingly regressed. Since that hasn't happened here, and because he's given up his futile quest for daddy's love, he's developing much further. Also, the Dummy Plug cancellation isn't meant to be a nod to "Treacherous Web." It's just Gendo being Gendo and tossing away something that's useless to him, despite the fact that it's Ritsuko's masterwork.
Damn, that was a long note. Okay, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers. Now let's have some fun!
Omakes
The Untroubled Sleep of the Innocent…
"Something about this place just doesn't feel right," Magical Girl Nozomi whispered to her companion.
"Oh, and what do you suppose that is? Maybe the fact that it's a giant, shadowy fortress of evil?" Spirit replied sarcastically, obviously on edge.
"No," Magical Girl Nozomi replied. "I think it's all the absurdly out of place kiddie decorations here…"
Indeed, the walls were covered with pictures of shooting stars with smiling faces, cuddly animals, and other adornments that would have looked perfectly normal in an infant's room. In the dark halls of the imposing fortress, however, they looked nothing short of bizarre.
"Well, we need to keep moving," Spirit said. "Suzuhara-kun is in here somewhere and…"
She trailed off as a nearby door slowly slid open, the sound of gears grinding filling the hallway. Out of the door emerged…
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Spirit said.
A giant robotic bear faced them. It stood on its hind legs and in the place of its front paws were a pair of Gatling guns. The words "Bertrand Jr." were written in red on its chest.
"Spirit…is something wrong with my vision, or does that thing have giant buttons for eyes?" Magical Girl Nozomi asked.
"There's nothing wrong with your vision," Spirit replied, sweat dropping.
The bear robot suddenly opened fire with both of its guns, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off Spirit's AT field. The winged girl shot a cross blast out at the robot, destroying it instantly.
"Well," she said, dusting off her hands. "That was lame. Now, I wonder—"
Spirit was rudely interrupted by a beam of light hitting her, causing her to freeze in place. Magical Girl Nozomi gasped and turned in the direction the beam had come from. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded a toddler in red overalls and a yellow shirt, standing there holding some kind of crazy looking gun.
"Griffin," Magical Girl Nozomi said.
"Why hello there," Stewie greeted sardonically. "I see that your friend was able to defeat Bertrand Jr. Pity she didn't notice me and my paralysis ray!"
"Let her go!" Magical Girl Nozomi demanded.
"Oh, and who's going to make me?" Stewie asked. "You? Please, don't make me laugh!"
He fired his ray gun at her, only to have Magical Girl Nozomi dodge nimbly. He kept firing, but the sidekick went into a series of acrobatic flips, avoiding the beams with ease.
"What the deuce?!" Stewie exclaimed as he kept firing fruitlessly.
With a cry, Magical Girl Nozomi leapt down the hallway with an utterly impossible jump, easily kicking the gun from Stewie's grasp and knocking him down. The young, would-be overlord released a cry of consternation.
"Blast you!" he exclaimed.
"Now tell me where you're keeping Suzuhara-kun and how to unfreeze my sister!" Magical Girl Nozomi demanded.
"Fine," Stewie grumbled. "If you want to save them, all you need do is—"
Nozomi suddenly jolted awake.
"Awesome," the little girl breathed. "I need to watch Family Guy and kung-fu movies before I go to bed more often!"
Oopsie…
"Oh, what a night," a very hung over Misato groaned. "Did I really pretend I was you?"
"Yeah," Asuka replied, an amused smirk on her face. "You found this red wig that belongs to Shinji and starting calling yourself the 'Second Babe.'"
At the mention of the red wig, Misato's face paled suddenly. "Asuka, you can't tell anyone about Shinji's habits, understand?" she ordered sternly.
"Huh?" Asuka frowned, not understanding why the fact that Shinji went cosplaying should be a huge secret.
"The Commander ordered me to end Shinji's cross dressing tendencies even if I had to beat them out of him," Misato continued, not having noticed Asuka's confusion, "but I never had the heart. So Shinji's just been keeping it quiet. If you spread this around, both Shinji and me are in for a whole world of trouble."
"Shinji's a cross dresser!" Asuka exclaimed, looking like she'd just been told Christmas was coming early. "The baka told me that wig went with a Kenshin costume!"
Misato's eyes widened as she realized her blunder. "Uh, yeah, it is. I was just kidding about the cross dressing," she forced a chuckle. "Funny joke, huh?"
But it was no use. Asuka was already headed for Shinji's room. "Oh, Shinko!" she called out in a loud, singsong voice.