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 this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: I do not own DC comics or anything associated with it and am making no profit off this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.


Chapter Fifteen: Those Who Worship Evil's Might

Darkness filled the room, leaving it a complete abyss. Considering that the chamber was virtual and did not truly even exist when it was not in use, that could be considered only appropriate. It also could've been considered a fitting representation for the men who used the place and their goals.

Then, there was light.

The island of illumination in the sea of blackness revealed a single dark monolith with the words "SEELE 01" emblazoned upon it in glowing red characters.

"The Angels have all be dealt with," Chairman Keel announced from behind the safety of his holographic avatar, his voice heavily distorted.

One by one, the other members of the SEELE council appeared, other monoliths standing in for them.

"All the Angels are dead save for Adam and Lilith, the seeds of creation necessary to remake the world," SEELE 02 added.

"The time for the conclusion of our great plan is finally at hand," SEELE 03 put in.

"The death and rebirth of the human species is imminent," SEELE 04 said.

"As is our immortality," SEELE 05 added.

"But one obstacle remains before our transcendence to glory," SEELE 06 warned. "The road is ending, but difficulties yet remain."

"Ikari," SEELE 07 growled.

"He has lied to us and attempted to deceive us for years," SEELE 08 hissed.

"Of late, he has barely even bothered to hide his treachery," SEELE 09 agreed.

"He has his own agenda, his own plans for the end," SEELE 10 said.

"He controls both Adam and Lilith, as well as his own nephilim," SEELE 11 said. "He must not be allowed to use them."

"Decisive action on our part is required, and soon," SEELE 12 concluded.

"Tomorrow," SEELE 01 said, making the decision that he knew his colleagues all wanted, but were too timid to propose themselves. "We will give Ikari one final chance to return to the fold. If he does not, I am prepared to unleash the dogs of war upon NERV Central. We have kept them as vulnerable to a conventional assault as possible, and I am ready to deal with their Evangelions. It is within our capability to take what we need from Ikari, all the essential pieces needed to invoke a Third Impact of our design."

"And what if Tokyo-3's more…colorful denizens object to a military attack on their home city?" SEELE 03 asked, offering the council's leader a rare challenge.

"If the so-called superwomen choose to intervene, I expect they will find that the EVA Series is too much for them to handle," SEELE 01 said.

It was the best answer he could give; though the council had long been concerned with the superwomen who had started appearing in Tokyo-3 during the Angel War, they had largely delegated the task of dealing with them to Gendo Ikari. The members of SEELE had not truly expected to find them all still alive and active at this critical, climactic moment, but Gendo's lack of success at neutralizing them meant that that was exactly the situation they were faced with.

Yet Keel was confident in the power of the Mass Produced Evangelions. Boasting S2 organs and the most advanced version of the Dummy System to date, they were each an order of magnitude more powerful than anything NERV Central had ever fielded.

"Tomorrow our conflict with Ikari will end, one way another," he said. "The world as humanity now knows it will see only one more sunrise."


Meanwhile, deep within NERV headquarters, Misato Katsuragi was hard at work, blissfully unaware of the hammer that was due to fall upon Tokyo-3 in less than 24 hours' time.

Of course, the former Operations Director was not in her small office, filling out the paperwork that was now ultimately Kaji's responsibility. Instead, she was sequestered within the bowels of the MAGI, her red jacket wrapped around her in an attempt to ward off the chill. The supercomputer's hardware needed a serious cooling system to keep it working at maximum performance and to prevent overheating.

Normally, the cold probably would've quickly driven her away, but Misato was far too absorbed in what she was doing to let it bother her much. The chip that Kaji had given her had quickly become her new favorite object; it was giving her far more access to NERV's dirty laundry than she had ever had before.

"So, NERV did sabotage the Jet Alone," she said, scanning the contents of yet another restricted file.

That just confirmed what she already knew, of course, but the part that did surprise her was that Ritsuko had played a major role in the sabotage, writing the new commands that would make the nuclear powered robot go berserk and then almost meltdown before abruptly stopping at the last moment.

Of course, she really should've suspected that Ritsuko had had a hand in that. After all, there weren't many people at NERV who could've pulled off such a feat, and there were fewer still who could've been considered a part of the Commander's inner circle.

Still, she had never really thought her friend would do something like that.

Even though the damn thing was programmed to insert the shut down rods into the reactor before it exploded, I could've died trying to get into it, Misato thought, thinking back to her hold bold attempt to get into the robot and directly input the commands needed to stop it. And she just let me go.

Not only that, but with this new knowledge, Ritsuko's drunken ramblings from their last outing together were starting to take on even more disturbing implications than they'd already had.

"I thought he loved me. I did…horrible things for him because I thought he loved me."

When Ritsuko had let out her woes spill out like that, Misato hadn't known who "he" was, since the bottle blonde had made a point of keeping that secret to herself. Honestly, Misato didn't even feel like she could make a guess; Ritsuko was always so wedded to her that work that the purple-haired woman couldn't figure where the scientist would've found the time for a long tryst.

But if it was an "office romance" with someone at NERV, say the Commander…

Misato made a face. It was hard to think of Gendo Ikari as a man who had needs, and who some women might find desirable. The first time she'd ever seen him actually commanding anything had been when she had brought Shinji to NERV headquarters, and that whole episode had sealed him in her mind as a cold excuse for a father and quite the jerk, if admittedly also a leader who wouldn't hesitate to do what he felt needed to be done. She supposed Ritsuko would've had much more time to get to know him, though.

The purple-haired woman shook her head. It was all just speculation at this point; she needed to know more, but she couldn't search through NERV's secret files too quickly. The chip that Kaji had given her was incredible, but decrypting the secret files in the MAGI still took time.

Carefully selecting another file, Misato started the process, shivering in the super computer's cold innards as she waited for it to be ready. After what felt like an endless period of time, her laptop released a quiet chime, signaling that it was done, and that she could delve deeper into the rabbit hole, as Kaji had put it. Misato opened the file and started to examine the contents.

She let out a small gasp, her breath turning to steam in the frigid air around her.

NERV was keeping an Angel down in Terminal Dogma. It was apparently the bait that Central was using the lure in the other Angels. Misato had long ago figured that something was drawing them to Tokyo-3, but Ritsuko had just spoken techno-babble to her for a good twenty minutes when Misato had asked about it, so she had eventually abandoned the question.

That NERV was hiding such a thing would've been disturbing by itself, but what made matters far worse was that Commander Ikari seemed to have some kind of plan to use it for…something. The contents of the file didn't spell it out, but they did mention the First Child.

"Pretty soon, he'll go down there and get what he wants. And what do I get? I get to be alone," Ritsuko again whispered from her memory.

If "he" was the Commander, and "down there" was Terminal Dogma…Misato didn't even want to think about what might happen. After all, the last time man had played around with one of the Angels, Second Impact had been the result.

But how is Rei involved? She wondered.

She was about to delve further into the whole morass of secrets, but her wristwatch happened to beep at just that moment. Looking at it, Misato was surprised to see that it was nearing the end of her workday. It hadn't felt like she'd been down in the guts of the supercomputer nearly that long.

Misato was very tempted to stay and keep working anyway. She wanted—needed—to know what was really happening at NERV.

However…

Shinji was still having difficulty coping with what had happened, and Misato wanted to be around for him.

She sighed, sending another cloud of steam into the air. "Well," she muttered to herself as she went to the task of concealing her riffling through NERV's electronic files, "These secrets have stayed buried this long without the world ending. I guess this can wait another couple of days."


While Misato Katsuragi was leaving NERV headquarters and heading for home, Rei Ayanami was already in the apartment where she had lived for the past several years. Sitting on her old, creaky bed, the First Child held the broken glasses that Gendo Ikari had given her. They were the ones he'd been wearing when her activation test in Unit Zero had gone horribly wrong, and he had opened her superheated entry plug with his bare hands to get her out of there.

Ever since then, the glasses had been an important keepsake to Rei, the only item in the world that she considered precious. Just looking at them had made her think about how much the Commander cared for her.

But things were…different now.

He threatened me.

This was the thought that had been ringing through Rei's head ever since he had so meaningfully reminded her that she could be replaced.

That had shaken the First Child to her very core. Commander Ikari was the one who had always been there for her for as long as she could remember. The Commander had given her everything she had. She only existed because of the Commander.

For the vast majority of her life, she had had absolute faith in him.

Yet he had threatened to replace her with the third, and because of things which had been out of her control, at that.

Just remembering the way he had glared at her chilled the First Child to the bone.

What am I to do?

She had known, for a long time, that she would eventually have to make a decision. A decision about what—and who—was most important to her. She had dithered and put it off, however, because she didn't want to choose.

Because the thought of choosing scared her.

Now there was no more time for postponement. A decision had to be made.

Rei sighed softly, looking down at the broken spectacles in her hands. It was going to be a very long night, she realized.


The scream that sounded though the Katsuragi apartment that night doubtlessly would've garnered complaints from the neighbors, if any of the building's other residences were occupied.

Shinji Ikari, the one who had released said scream, sat bolt upright in his bed, covered in a cold sweat. The Third Child belatedly clamped a hand over his mouth, even though he knew the damage had already been done. Turning his head to look at his bedside clock, he winced when he saw that it was just after two in the morning.

A second later, the door to his small bedroom slid open, and Misato walked inside, clad in a large yellow T-shirt that hung down to about mid-thigh on her.

Immediately, Shinji started trying to stammer out apologies.

Only to be stopped when Misato put a finger to his lips. "Shh," she said softly. "It's okay. I'm not mad…though you're pretty lucky Asuka decided to spend the night at Hikari's place. You know how she gets when someone interrupts her beauty sleep."

Though this was an obvious attempt at brevity on her part, Shinji couldn't help but wince. He knew that he was the reason Asuka was spending the night at her friend's home; this was not the first time a nightmare had made him cry out loud enough to wake the other residents of the apartment.

"So, the same nightmare again?" Misato asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Shinji nodded, struggling not to go to pieces right there. It seemed like every time he went to sleep, he relived the battle against the last Angel, against Kaworu. The feel of crushing the tiny figure in Unit One's armored fist, of Kaworu's body just…coming apart like wet clay in "his" grip remained completely fresh in his memory thanks to the damn nightmares.

"When do they stop, Misato?" he asked miserably, hoping she would know. "When do I stop going back to that moment every time I try to rest?"

His guardian sighed, taking his hand in hers. Her hand was dry and pleasantly warm, unlike his own, which he was knew damp and clammy.

"I wish I could tell you that, Shinji, but I can't," she said. "I think it's different for everybody."

"I'm afraid to go to sleep these days," he said quietly, embarrassed to make the admission but feeling like he needed to tell somebody, if only to get it out. "I don't want to, but of course I have to. I feel like it's driving me crazy. I would…I would do almost anything just for one good night's sleep."

He had almost said that he would kill for a good night's sleep, but had stopped himself from using the common phrase at the last moment, realizing how darkly ironic that would have been.

Misato gave him a small, rather sad smile. Then, to his great surprise, she lifted up his blanket and climbed into the bed, getting behind him.

"Uh, Misato? What are you doing?" he asked as she encircled his waist and slowly guided his head back down to the pillow.

"Hopefully something that'll let you sleep a little more peacefully tonight," she replied. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"Of course not," he agreed at once.

He could only imagine Asuka's reaction if she learned about this.

And it was very nice. Shinji could actually feel the way Misato's warm embrace was soothing his raw nerves.

"I'm sorry I'm so weak that I keep waking you up like this," he spoke softly into the darkness.

"You are not weak, Shinji," she replied, her voice quiet but firm. "Anyone in your position would be having nightmares like this. You're a lot braver and stronger than you think, than you're ever thought. I know you won't believe this, but there aren't many people who could've done everything that you have in this damn war. Even if they had the benefit of things you didn't, like training before your first battle."

"Mmm," Shinji just made a little noise of acknowledgement. She was right; he didn't believe it, but he didn't want to argue over it, either.

"I'm serious," she said. "If I had to go into a battle in hell, I don't think there's anyone I'd rather have at my side than you, Shinji."

He blinked. "Thank you, Misato," he said.

They lapsed into silence after that, and the Third Child felt himself starting to drift off again, faster than he would've thought possible after another recurrence of his new nightmare.

"Shinji?" Misato whispered softly into the quiet darkness, clearly not sure if he was asleep yet or not.

"Yes?" he asked.

"What am I to you?" she asked.

"What?"

"I mean, what…role do you see me as having to you?" she asked. She seemed like she was struggling to figure out how to best phrase the question.

He frowned, confused. Then he remembered the conversation they'd had after the disaster that the battle against the Thirteenth Angel turned in, when he'd thought that Misato was going to say he was like a son to her, or something.

Now understanding the question, Shinji paused as he considered it. The way she had come in to comfort him that evening, and on a few occasions in the past, was almost motherly. There had been a few times when he knew he would've broken without her support.

Yet it was hard to think of Misato that way; she was so playful and so prone to teasing him (and perhaps just a bit too immature at times) that she didn't seem old enough to be anyone's mother, let alone his. An older sister, maybe, but not a mother.

Besides, half the time it almost seemed like he was taking care of her as much as was caring for him. He was the one capable of keeping the apartment presentable. He did most of the cooking, along with the bulk of the other household chores like the laundry.

Also…well, there was no denying that the feel of her soft bust pressed against his back, their skin separated by only a couple of layers of cotton, evoked feelings in him that a person definitely wasn't supposed to have for family members.

He really couldn't put a label on her, he realized.

"You're my Misato," he finally said, aware that his answer mirrored the one she had given him back in that holding cell during his darkest hour.

She chuckled, obviously remembering as well, and tightened her hold on his waist slightly, snuggling into him. "Good night, Shinji," she whispered. "Sleep well."


Morning in Tokyo-3 dawned bright and sunny, with not a single cloud in the crystal blue sky. It was nothing short of postcard of pretty.

In the virtual meeting chamber where the SEELE council met with Gendo Ikari, however, it was always dark and grim.

Gendo sat at his desk in the dim chamber, silent as the twelve monoliths representing the old men appeared around him, accompanied by the sound of a soft whoosh of air.

The noise was completely artificial, of course. The holograms made nary a whisper by themselves when they materialized, but someone had decided that some sort of sound effect was necessary.

Gendo had always hated that pointless little addition. He was glad that this was the last time he'd be dealing with it.

"So, here we are again, Ikari," Keel remarked. His avatar and the voice distortion made him anonymous only to anyone who might've been eavesdropping on the extremely secure meeting somehow, but everyone present knew who SEELE 01 was, of course.

"Indeed," Gendo agreed.

"But it is not like all the times we have met in the past, is it?" Keel asked. "The stage is set for the final act. The only question is, which part will you play in it?"

"There is no need for us to fight, here at the end," SEELE 02 added. "Do what you agreed you would when we first appointed you Commander of NERV, and all your previous sins will be forgiven. You will be allowed to take your place at our side in the new world we are about to create."

The Commander's usual poker face gave way to just a tiny sneer. "No, I don't think I'll be doing that."

The facade of reasonableness the council was trying to project quickly broke. "You will regret this, Ikari," Keel warned. "We are—"

"You are a bunch of frightened old men," Gendo cut him off, abruptly rising to his feet. "And deep down, you know it. That's why you made me the Commander of NERV Central. None of you had the strength for the job."

"Regardless of whether that's true or not, what relevance does that have to this situation?" SEELE 02 demanded, not even bothering to try and mask his fury. "We still have ample resources of our own. Things you are ill prepared to deal with."

"You have no idea what I am prepared to deal with," Gendo said, glowering at the monoliths. "I have Adam, I have Lilith, I have three battle tested Evangelions, and I have removed the Lance from the equation. I have assets you could barely dream of," he paused. "If you want to take what you need from me, you are welcome to try, but don't say I didn't warn you when I break the lot of you."

"So be it, Ikari."


Meanwhile, back at the Katsuragi apartment, a much more placid scene was playing out. The lady of the apartment's eyes were slowly fluttering open as sleep gently left her.

Where am I? Was her first, groggy thought as she released a small yawn. She could tell right away from the lack of sunlight streaming into the room that this wasn't her room, but she couldn't immediately figure out her location.

Then she felt movement beneath her, and she abruptly realized that she wasn't alone in bed.

Looking up, she saw the face of the still sleeping Shinji Ikari, and the memories of last night came back to her.

Amazingly, despite the small size of Shinji's bed, which really wasn't large enough for two people, she discovered that they were in a completely different position than the one they'd gone to sleep in. Misato found that her head was laying on his chest, and his arm was around her shoulders. She couldn't imagine how that could've happened.

That didn't mean she was upset about it, though. Just the opposite, in fact.

She had almost forgotten how nice it was to wake up in a man's arms. She hadn't had a serious relationship since Kaji. There had been a few one-night stands here and there, but Misato had found the other side of the bed empty after every single one of those.

Of course, the whole situation raised an interesting question, namely if she wanted to wake up next to Shinji on a more regular basis. Part of her wanted to reject the idea immediately; the significant age gap between them was a big issue, to put it mildly.

Yet another part of her started to seriously consider it. She had, after all, already decided that he was an indispensable part of her life, so it wasn't a question of whether she wanted him to be with her, it was just a matter of what capacity she wanted him around in.

They had never quite had a real guardian/child relationship, despite her clumsy efforts in the beginning at being a parent to him. Also, if she was being totally honest with herself, she would have to admit that a big part of the reason that she had never quite been able to see him as a surrogate son was because she had certain feelings for him that she had never dared to confess to anyone.

He's a cute kid, she mused, looking at his face. In a few years, he would probably be a very handsome man.

She supposed she could wait for him. After all, she wasn't as old as she used to be.

But still…

Shinji chose that moment to stir, his eyes opening. He gave Misato a bleary-eyed, vaguely confused look, clearly not fully awake yet.

"So," the purple-haired woman breathed, "was it as good for you as it was for me?"

"Wha?!" Shinji exclaimed, his face instantly going crimson.

"Just kidding," Misato giggled as she sat up and stretched widely. "We didn't do that last night, Shinji."

"Oh…"

"Believe me, if we had, you would've remembered it," Misato added with a wink.

Shinji just groaned, looking exasperated.

"So, how did you sleep?" she asked him, becoming somewhat more serious.

"Good," he said, sounding both relieved and a little surprised. "Much better than I have since…you know, the last battle."

"I'm glad," Misato said. "Now what's for breakfast, Shinji?"


NERV Central had a massive bull's-eye painted on it. It had never been announced, of course, but those individuals who were in a position to see the signs could easily tell as much.

General Katsuro of the JSSDF was one such individual. For weeks, he had watched as equipment and personnel were quietly transferred from all across the country to the area around Tokyo-3. It was the largest gathering of Japanese martial might in one place since the Impact Wars had thrown the world into chaos over a decade ago.

Then, just recently, news had been coming in about how Gendo Ikari had had an agent of the Human Instrumentality Committee—and thus an agent of the UN—killed to protect his secrets and his control of NERV.

Most of the men and women in the JSSDF were inclined to believe that. The regular military had always had a very low opinion of NERV, not only because the paramilitary group had embarrassed them by defeating the Third Angel when they could not, but also because the organization used child soldiers and was disturbingly fond of secrecy.

Under other circumstances, Katsuro might've been only too happy to swallow the story himself, and damn the lack of hard evidence being presented, but as it was, he knew better. Someone had set up for an attack on NERV first and was coming up with a justification for it second.

He was less than shocked when the phone on his desk rang early that morning.

"Katsuro here," he answered.

"Good morning, General," the Prime Minister's voice responded. "I have new orders for you."

"Of course," Katsuro replied, trying not to sigh.

"Minutes ago, the government ordered NERV Central to stand down. They refused," the Prime Minister said. "You are to attack the complex with overwhelming force. No quarter given."

"Sir, I feel I should remind you that these are Japanese citizens you're ordering me to assault," Katsuro said. "I beg you to consider a more peaceful solution to—"

"No," the Prime Minister cut him off. "I have reason to believe that Ikari intends to use the Evangelions against the government and the UN. He must be stopped before he can act. I want NERV headquarters wiped off the face of the Earth. Make sure anyone who wants to utilize Evangelion technology will have to develop it from scratch."

"I understand, sir," Katsuro said.

"Good," the Prime Minister replied coldly, ending the call.

It didn't take the general long to issue the orders that would bring hell upon Tokyo-3 and NERV. At this point, everyone was just waiting for someone to give the word.

Once he was done, he leaned back in his chair with a sigh and massaged his temple.

"God forgive me," he muttered.


Back in Tokyo-3, Shinji and Misato were just finishing up breakfast, completely oblivious to what was coming their way. The Third Child was still in his pajamas, though the former Ops Director had used the time he'd spent cooking their meal to dress and pull herself together.

"So when is Asuka supposed to be coming back to—?"

Shinji's question was cut off as a series of very familiar sirens started to sound across the city. The EVA pilot and the officer traded a look. Another Angel?

Then Misato's cell phone went off. Shinji watched as the purple-haired woman answered it with fumbling hands. "Katsuragi here," she said.

There was a moment of silence as Misato listened to whoever was on the other end of the call. Then her brown eyes widened.

"What?!" she screeched, causing Shinji to jump in surprise.

Misato listened for a moment. "What about Asuka? Is she…? Okay good," she said. "Yes, I understand. I'm on my way."

"What's going on?" Shinji demanded, even before Misato had quite finished.

It was a good thing, too, because his guardian was in motion the second she hung up the phone. "The JSSDF is moving toward the city. They're going to attack NERV," she answered as she headed toward her room.

"Wh-What?! But why?" Shinji asked, following her.

"Damned if I know," she answered as she slid open the door to her cluttered living space. "That's not important, anyway. We have to get you to NERV. They'll be looking for the pilots. I'm sure they know you live here."

"What about Asuka and Rei?" Shinji asked, feeling his heartbeat accelerate.

"Asuka had a training session in the EVA simulator scheduled for this morning and is already there," Misato answered, throwing open the door to her closet with so much force that it generated a loud bang as it hit the frame. "So is Rei, for whatever reason."

That calmed Shinji down a little bit, but not much. "But this is insane! All we've done is protect Japan from the Angels! They shouldn't be attacking us!"

"Damn it, where is it?" Misato muttered to herself, throwing clothes all over the place as she dug through the mess in her closet. Then she turned back to the Third Child. "Shinji, there's no time now. I'm going to head out for NERV in a second and do everything I can to help. You need to get dressed as quickly as you can. There's a Section Two detail waiting outside with a car to take you to headquarters."

"But—"

"Move!" she ordered.

Shinji obeyed automatically. Giving Misato a quick nod, the Third Child rushed to his bedroom, where he frantically started throwing on one of his school uniforms.

He was just fastening his belt when he heard the familiar screeching of tires that meant Misato was peeling away in her beloved Renault.

Which was exactly when it finally clicked.

He had wondered what Misato was looking for in her closet. He knew she wasn't searching for her service pistol; for all her slovenly behavior, she was very responsible when it came to the weapon, and she would never lose it in there. Yet he hadn't been able to figure out what else she'd stop to search for in such a situation. It hadn't really seemed all that important, though, with everything else that was going on. Now he realized, though.

She had been searching for that lantern made of the otherworldly green metal, the one that emitted light but no heat.

Misato had had so much trouble finding it because after Shinji had gone snooping and discovered the thing, he'd hidden it again as far back in the closet as he could.

Oh no…

Pieces clicked together in the Third Child's head as his frantic mind whirled. Misato obviously intended to go and combat the JSSDF as the Green Lantern. That was why she had left before him; she didn't want to reveal the secret he'd already found out about.

Did she need that lantern thing she'd had hidden to use her superpowers? He didn't understand why she would, but it had to be important if she'd spent precious seconds turning her closet inside out in pursuit of the object.

Had she found it?

Shinji bolted out of his room and back into Misato's at top speed, nearly crashing right into a wall in his haste. Opening the closet again, he quickly reached toward the back and started to shift aside the clothes piled there.

His heart sank as he pulled the emerald green lantern from the mess.

"Oh God…" he muttered to himself.

Misato needed this thing. He didn't know precisely why, or what the consequences of her not having it would be, exactly, but he knew she needed it. He also knew she didn't have it because of him.

I have to get it to her! He thought.

Reaching up to a high shelf inside the closet, Shinji pulled down a large hat box. Opening it and carelessly tossing aside the hat contained within, he put the lantern in its place, finding that it just fit inside. Jamming the lid back on, he dashed out of the apartment, running down the several flights of stairs to reach the ground floor at top speed.

The Section Two agents waiting outside by a black sedan frowned as he approached.

"What's with the box, kid?" one of them asked.

"Never mind that!" Shinji panted as he practically leaped into the back seat of the vehicle. "We have to go!"


"Okay…done," Ritsuko proclaimed, typing in a final command and pressing the enter key before vacating Maya's seat on the command center. "That should keep them from beating us by simply hacking the MAGI."

"Amazing," Maya breathed as she reclaimed her chair and started to check out what her mentor had done. "I never would have imagined that a firewall that powerful could exist."

"Thanks, Rits," Kaji said to the bottle blonde softly.

Ritsuko didn't seem very appreciative of his gratitude. "I barely even know why I bothered doing this," she grumbled. "I should've just let this place collapse around the Commander's ears. That would've served the bastard right. Besides, we both know I only delayed the inevitable."

Kaji quirked an eyebrow. "You know, I'm hardly Ikari's biggest fan, but I understand that he did prevent you from having a meeting with the Committee that probably would've been pretty unpleasant," he said. "Heard that he wasn't exactly diplomatic about it, either."

Ritsuko snorted, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing a single, rather battered looking cigarette. Her hands were shaking badly as she went to light it, he noted.

Of course, smoking on the command center wasn't allowed, but with everything else that was going on, nobody cared about enforcing such a minor rule.

"Ikari hasn't exactly been diplomatic to anyone lately, including me, so you'll forgive me if I'm not more grateful to him," she grumped. "I guess with the endgame so near he decided to drop all the facades a little early."

Kaji frowned, wondering just what the hell Ikari had done to his old friend. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to contemplate the question. He had to try and do Misato's job now.

"Uh, sir," Makoto spoke up, "there are some very large bombers approaching the city…"


"What the hell was that?" Asuka demanded as she felt Unit Two shudder around her as it was moved to one of the EVA lifts.

"The JSSDF used an N2 mine to destroy the plate above the Geofront," Kaji answered her. Even in the small window projected on her HUD, Asuka could see how perturbed the usually calm and collected man was.

"You've got to be kidding!" Asuka shrilled, horrified. "What about all the civilians in the city?" She asked, thinking about Hikari and her other classmates.

"They should be all right, assuming they got to a shelter. None of them are in the plate," Kaji said. "Now, focus. You're the only pilot who's here right now, so we need you at the top of your game."

"Right," Asuka said, gripping her control yolks.

She had always wanted a chance to prove what she could do in her Unit Two when neither Shinji nor Rei was around, but this wasn't the sort of situation she ever would have wished for.

A dull thud was sent reverberating through her Unit Two as it finally reached the proper place on the electromagnetic catapult.

"Unit Two, launch!" she shouted.

With a crackling burst of electricity, the red colossus was sent rocketing toward the surface. Asuka grit her teeth as the force of acceleration pressed down on her, the sensation familiar but still pleasant.

The ride was shorter than usual. Just like when NERV had faced the Fourteenth Angel, Asuka found herself and her Evangelion being deployed directly into the Geofront.

It was none too soon. Dozens upon dozens of VTOLs were descending into the massive hole that had once been the Geofront roof, and Asuka could see what looked like hundreds of parachutes as infantry were dropped from other planes. A line of heavy tanks had broken through one of the tunnels to the Geofront and was thundering toward the pyramid near the center.

"I never wanted to kill people," the redhead whispered to herself, drawing the pallet rifle that was slung over her Unit Two's shoulder. "But you idiots aren't giving me a choice here. If you want a war, you get a war."

The scarlet Evangelion pointed its rifle upwards and pressed the trigger. The relatively narrow confines of the Geofront gave the VTOLs very little room to maneuver, especially when they were just passing through the still smoking hole that the nuke had left in the plate. Asuka watched as they exploded in rapid succession, becoming short lived flecks of radiance in the distance before they were nothing more than charred debris. Yet still they kept coming, as though there was no end to them.

The line of VTOLs still hadn't abated when the pallet rifle clicked empty.

"Damn," the Second Child swore, tossing away the now useless firearm contemptuously. She would have to wait until the rest of the planes got a bit closer to the ground before she could attack them now.

The tanks, on the other hand, were another story entirely.

Unit Two took off at a sprint for the approaching armor unit, the giant's footsteps making the ground in the massive cave tremble. The crews of the approaching heavy tanks no doubt saw it coming—a person would have to be blind to missing seeing that—but there was nothing they could do about it. Their vehicles were nowhere near as quick or as maneuverable as an Evangelion.

The crimson giant's massive feet came slamming down upon one multi-billion yen piece of military hardware after another, crushing them like empty soda cans.

"This what you get when you attack a place that's protected by the Great Asuka Langley Soryu!" she roared.

Above her, several of the surviving VTOLs unleashed a barrage of missiles aimed squarely at Unit Two's back. The ordnance could never hope to get through the Evangelion's armor, let alone its AT field. However, the missiles did succeed in severing the thick power cord connected to the massive war machine.

Inside her entry plug, Asuka scowled as she ejected the now useless plug from her EVA's back with a mental command, her eyes flicking over to the timer as it activated and started to tick down from five minutes.

"Plenty of time!" she proclaimed.


"That loathsome Evangelion."

"Ikari has actually done it," SEELE 02 said, as the members of the secretive cabal watched a live feed of the final battle for Tokyo-3. "He has deployed an Evangelion against our forces. The ultimate act of defiance."

"He does have little to lose at this point," SEELE 04 remarked sardonically. "In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say."

"Fortunately, we are prepared to deal with everything Ikari can throw at us," SEELE 01 responded.


Circling in the sky over Tokyo-3, high above of even the city's most sophisticated anti-air batteries, nine massive aircraft circled the now devastated urban center in formation. They had appeared shortly after the JSSDF had ensured complete and total air superiority in the air, but they hadn't done anything since.

They were waiting for further orders, which Chairman Keel had just given.

Massive doors on the underbellies of the planes swung open, but the aircraft didn't drop bombs. They dropped giants.

The lanky forms of the Mass Produced EVA Series plummeted toward the ground, their crimson Dummy Plugs sliding into the cavities in their backs as they fell. The white Evangelions jerked as they were brought to life, their huge mitts gripping the massive bladed weapons they held tightly as their grotesque mouths formed wide grins.

Massive wings sprouted from their backs, and they soared down into the Geofront in perfect formation. Though they all decelerated greatly as they came in for a landing, their armored boots still left deep, deep footprints in the unpaved earth they touched down upon.

Nearby, NERV's lone defender, the EVA Series' crimson older sibling, spotted them and quickly shifted into an attack stance.


Misato drove about halfway to one of the tunnels that led into Geofront before she brought her Renault Alpine to a screeching halt and got out of her vehicle.

It was hard to judge when she could safely assume that she was no longer being watched. With everything on high alert, NERV would be keeping a much closer watch on its key personnel than normal. Misato technically hadn't fit into that category since she'd left the Ops Director post, but as the guardian to two of the pilots, she had no doubt that Gendo Ikari kept a loose eye on her anyway.

Regardless, she didn't have the time to err on the side of caution.

Slamming the door as she got out, the purple-haired woman said a brief prayer that the god of motor vehicles would keep her ride safe. Then she clenched her fist, feeling the smooth metal of the currently invisible power ring on her finger.

Emerald light flared around Misato Katsuragi, and when it had dimmed somewhat, Green Lantern stood in her place.

"Ring, power check."

"Power levels at 68 percent," it answered in its perpetually flat voice.

She couldn't help but wince at that; she really wished she could've recharged before she left, but of course she'd managed to misplace the thing that fueled her superpowers, slob that she was.

Which meant 68 percent would just have to do.

Taking to the air, the luminous superwoman continued on her previous course, moving far faster than even her powerful vehicle could ever hope to go. In seconds, she was streaking through the tunnel that led down into the massive cave below Tokyo-3, her bright aura painting the drab walls around her green as she passed by.

Okay, she thought, as she tried to get a handle on her whirling thoughts and panicked emotions, I probably have some time, at least. It'll take a while to get a significant taskforce down into the Geofront, and NERV is no doubt going to make it as difficult as possible for them. There's no way they're making a big enough hole through the plate to send a lot of forces, though, even with—

BOOM!

The tunnel shuddered violently, and pieces of the ceiling and walls started to collapse. Green Lantern reflexively projected a force bubble around herself to stop an avalanche of debris that mercifully never came. She had no doubt that she would've been thrown off her feet if she'd been standing.

"Ring, what the hell was that?!" she demanded.

"An N2 device was deployed upon this city," it answered.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed, running a gloved hand through her long dark hair.

The ring remained obnoxiously silent, which was a pretty good indication that it had been as serious as it usually was.

Even though she was already going at speeds that could be considered reckless at best, Green Lantern accelerated. In only seconds, she was approaching the end of the tunnel, but she quickly found that she wasn't alone. A long line of tanks and Humvees were rumbling toward the Geofront ahead of her.

This is probably the tunnel Section Two will use to take Shinji to NERV…

Green Lantern concentrated, and a beam of light burst forth from her ring, quickly taking on the shape of an improbably large bulldozer; the construct was two lanes wide and almost too large to move the tunnel.

"Coming through!" she yelled.

If the soldiers driving the tanks and other vehicles saw what was approaching them from behind, they never had a chance to react. Green Lantern's construct slammed into them, pushing them forwards like they were toys, making several of the multi-ton armor units tumble end over end as they went. She never even had to slow down.

A moment later the emerald superwoman burst out into the open air of the Geofront, still pushing the group of military vehicles. She came to an abrupt halt, her construct morphing into a large sphere that captured what remained of the unfortunate armor group she had ambushed within it. Green Lantern wound up like a major league pitcher, then sent her captives flying.

She didn't bother to watch them sail though the air and eventually land in the middle of the lake. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the much larger battle playing out inside the massive cave.

Unit Two was doing battle with nine Evangelions she had never seen before, all of them clad in white armor and all of them perfectly identical. The other branches of NERV had completed the EVA Series, and she'd never had any idea.

She could also see a multitude of tanks and other heavy combat gear rumbling out of the other tunnels that led into the Geofront. The air was filled with more combat VTOLs than she would've believed the cavern could possibly hold.

It was a damned full scale war, and powerful though she was, even Green Lantern was just one woman.

"Priorities," she muttered to herself. "Shinji should be on his way here, and Asuka's obviously in Unit Two there. Ring, locate Rei Ayanami."

A jade hologram of NERV headquarters appeared before her, and a dot started to blink at the very bottom section. "Rei Ayanami is currently located in Terminal Dogma."

Green Lantern's eyes widened. That was where Ikari was keeping his pet Angel hidden, and though she hadn't discovered exactly what he planned to do, she still knew that having it and Rei in the same place was a bad thing. She had to go and stop him from executing whatever scheme he had in mind, but she didn't want to just abandon Asuka to fight the EVA Series alone.

Even though she's kicking ass right now, Green Lantern thought as she saw Unit Two raise one of the white Evangelions above its head and rip the other giant in two with its bare hands, causing blood to cascade down upon the already red EVA.

Of course, regardless of Asuka's piloting skills, the odds were still against her; she was outnumbered, and she'd lost her power cord before Green Lantern had arrived.

Reaching a snap decision, the luminous superwoman surged forward, leaving a short-lived trail of emerald light in her wake. As she drew closer to the battle, a massive green hand emerged from her ring, scooping up the ship sitting in the lake.

"Eat this!" Green Lantern roared, hurling the thing straight at the nearest MP EVA.

The ship proved too large for even the white giant to swallow. Instead, the impromptu missile ended up completely taking its head off in a shower of blood. The decapitated EVA wavered on its feet, then collapsed to the ground, crushing dozens of trees beneath its bulk. The ship went careening off into an unoccupied corner of the Geofront, falling apart as it went.

With that done, the luminous superwoman sent forth another ray of green light from her ring, the end of which quickly took on the same of the plug at the end of an EVA umbilical cable. The construct deftly maneuvered itself into the empty socket in Unit Two's back.

"What the hell is going on?" Asuka wondered aloud as the world around her Evangelion turned green. Even her instruments were going, haywire, she noted. The countdown clock was especially crazy; it actually looked like it was going up.

The Second Child was just starting to get concerned about her inability to see a damned thing around her when the light departed as quickly as it had come.

"Whoa," she said.

So far as she could tell from her position, her Unit Two's armor had gone from fire engine red to dark green. More importantly, the timer, which never should've gone above five minutes, was now stating that she had a full ten minutes of operating time left.

Also, it appeared that her EVA had received a few upgrades, she noted, looking appreciatively at Unit Two's new progressive claws.

Out of the corner of her eye, the Second Child spotted Green Lantern flying away from the scene of the battle, but she bore the jade superwoman no ill will for heading elsewhere.

"You know, usually, green really isn't my color," Asuka remarked.

One of the white Evangelions approached her, raising the bulky melee weapon it held high, ready to strike her. Unit Two lashed out at the other titan, easily severing one of its arms from the rest of its body with one stroke. The blade it held, which was huge even by Evangelion standards, fell down onto it, sending it sprawling. Capitalizing on its moment of weakness, Unit Two tore into its abdomen, unleashing a shower of gore as its internal organs were sent tumbling out.

"In this case, though, I'll make an exception!" Asuka shouted.

"There, hopefully that will let Asuka hold on until Shinji can get here and into Unit One," Green Lantern said to herself as she headed for the pyramid.

"Power levels now down to—"

"Ring, I don't want to know!" the superwoman barked, cutting it off.

"Engaging silent mode."

That wasn't what she'd asked it to do, but she figured it was good enough. She had a feeling that everything would only get worse before it got better, anyway, so maybe she didn't want status reports.

"Ring, point me the way to Terminal Dogma," she ordered.

A single spark of green light burst forth from her power ring and started to lead the way. Green Lantern flew after it, barreling past the group of shocked looking NERV security personnel standing guard by one of the main doors. She noted grimly how ill-prepared they were to deal with the kind of assault that the JSSDF had mounted but kept going, knowing everything might be for naught if she didn't get to the deepest part of NERV as soon as possible.

Maintaining her absurd pace and simply blowing past everyone she encountered in the halls, Green Lantern followed her little spark (which she decided had to be the best GPS in the known universe). In only moments, she found herself standing before the elevator that led down to Terminal Dogma.

Finally allowing her feet to touch the ground, Green Lantern stabbed the button to call the elevator.

"Insert ID card, please."

"Sure, I have it right here," Green Lantern said, projecting a long, paper-thin beam of light between the elevator doors.

The beam of light then abruptly grew as wide as the frame for the elevator doors, causing them to instantly crumple. Unsurprisingly, the elevator car wasn't there, so Green Lantern found herself looking down at the shaft and the cables. Taking a deep breath, she started to descend into the hidden depths of NERV headquarters.


Meanwhile, down in Lilith's chamber, or the LCL Production Plant as it was euphemistically named, things were a lot quieter than were up above ground. Up on her massive red cross, the Second Angel continued to slowly bleed her life fluids down in the chamber, and on the concrete island where the cross stood, Gendo Ikari waited.

Considering how he spent more than a decade building toward this moment and had pinned all of his hopes upon it, he looked remarkably calm.

Then the door to the chamber opened, and Rei Ayanami came walking in, wearing her school uniform and a blank expression, as usual.

"So, you came," Gendo smiled. "A wise decision."

Rei said nothing, merely walking up to him silently. The Commander didn't seem perturbed in the least, however.

"I knew you would come and allow me to complete my Scenario," he said, removing his right glove and revealing the embryonic form on the First Angel grafted to his palm. "Now, with you guiding the forces unleashed by the forbidden union of Adam and Lilith, my dreams will finally be realized."

He reached toward her.

Only to have Rei abruptly grab hold of his wrist with an iron grip before he could so much as touch her.

"I did not come to serve my part in your Scenario," she said, her crimson eyes cold and hard.

"Then why?" he demanded.

"I came to tell you that I am not your doll…and that an Amazon does not take kindly to threats," she added, using her free hand to pull open her shirt and reveal the top of the red, blue, and bronze leotard she wore underneath it.

Gendo Ikari responded to revelation that she was Wonder Girl in the last way Rei ever would have expected. He started to chuckle.

It was an unpleasant sound, devoid of warmth or any true mirth. Indeed, the First Child found it so unnerving that she released her hold on him and took a step back, wondering if the knowledge that he wouldn't get what he'd wanted for so long and with such intensity had driven him mad.

Silently, she reminded herself an Amazon never showed fear to the enemy, and that, regardless of his mental state, he was no match for her superhuman strength.

"You truly believed that I didn't know," he said.

It was not a question, so Rei didn't bother answer. She merely got into a defensive stance, readying herself for an attack.

"I've known for some time," Gendo informed her. "But I'm willing to bet that you didn't know about this."

He raised his fist, almost as though he was about to try to punch her, but there was too much distance between them. Rei blinked, confused as to what he was doing.

Then a gold ring appeared on his middle finger.

"Ahhh!" Rei cried out in pain and surprise as yellow light erupted from the ring, washing over her. Though her leotard survived the assault without so much as a tear, the school uniform she'd worn over it was instantly reduced to burnt shreds.

The First Child herself was sent staggering backwards, barely regaining her footing before she went falling into the lake of LCL behind her.

Seizing upon the few seconds it took her to recover, Gendo sent a beam of golden light snaking down to the very bottom of the lake. A moment later it had carried up the Amazon's own unbreakable lasso; Rei was sure she'd had it in her apartment just the previous night, but Gendo must have taken it from her home since then. Before the stunned superwoman could react, she found her own lasso wrapping itself around her body, binding her tightly.

"No!" she gasped as she struggled fiercely, but it was no use. Against the enchanted rope, even the might of the Wonder Girl was useless.

"You should have gone alone with the Scenario, Rei, because I never make empty threats," Gendo said, projecting a sphere of yellow light around her. "But if you will not play your part, then I will have new Rei that will."


"Okay, kid, here we are," the lead Section Two agent said as the black sedan pulled into a spot in one of the NERV base's parking garages.

It had been a surprisingly uneventful drive, considering that chaos that was rapidly unfolding outside, but Shinji didn't think his nerves could've been more frayed if the detail of black suits with him had had to fight through a squad of JSSDF infantry to get him here.

Jumping out of the car and still clutching the hat box close to him, Shinji ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the entrance to the base proper, followed by the Section Two agents. A pair of extremely nervous looking guards wearing red berets were stationed by the door.

"Excuse me," Shinji said, stopping short in front of them, "do you know where Mi…where Green Lantern is?"

The two guards traded a surprised look before one of them answered. "Yeah, according to reports she burst in a few minutes ago and then barged down into Terminal Dogma. How did you know—?"

"Terminal Dogma! Got it! Thanks!" Shinji said, pushing past the two of them and rushing into the base before they could react.

"Hey!" one of the Section Two guards shouted. "Get back here, kid! You need to get to the cages!"

Shinji ignored them. The two agents gave chase, but their broader frames ensured that they had a more difficult time of pushing past the pair of confused NERV Security guards, giving the Third Child a precious few extra seconds.

It was a good thing, too, because he was most definitely going to need them. The agents had longer legs than the EVA pilot, and seemed to be in better shape than he was, too. The distance between them rapidly started to shrink once the two men in the black suits had finally succeeded in bulling their way through the door.

Reaching an elevator, Shinji jammed the button to call the car, and to his immense relief, the doors immediately swung open. Getting inside, he slapped the button for the lowest floor in Central Dogma, then started repeatedly pressing the door close button.

"Come on! Come on!" he hissed as he watched the two agents rushing toward him while the elevator doors swung closed again at a torturously slow pace. It would only take them a few more seconds to reach him, and then the game would be up.

One of the agents leaped toward him…

And slammed right into the elevator doors, face first. They had sealed just a heartbeat before he'd reached them.

Shinji couldn't help but wince in sympathy. That had to have hurt.

The counter inside the elevator started to tick down the floors. Clutching the hat box to his chest, Shinji leaned against the elevator wall and panted heavily, more from terror than from exertion.

Belatedly, it occurred to him that it would probably be child's play for one of the techs in the command center to stop the elevator so Section Two could come and collect them at his leisure. He supposed he could press the emergency stop button and get out now, but he didn't like his chances of making it to Terminal Dogma, that sub-sub-basement of NERV that he'd only ever heard about before, if he attempted to take the stairs. Someone would probably intercept him. He would just have to hope that everyone in the command center was too occupied by everything else that was happening to get to it in time.

Of course, Shinji knew why Section Two wanted to take him to the EVA cages; it didn't exactly take a genius to figure out that they wanted him to sortie against the attacking forces.

And I will…eventually, Shinji thought guiltily.

He knew he should be up there, getting into Unit One so he could help Asuka, but he wouldn't—he couldn't —just abandon Misato, not when it was his fault that she was rushing off with some kind of handicap on her powers. Besides, he trusted her; if she was ignoring the forces attacking NERV to bolt down to Terminal Dogma, then he assumed that something extremely important was happening down there.

He trusted Asuka, too. He believed that she could hold out until he could deliver the lantern to Misato and get into Unit One.

"Please hang on, Asuka," he whispered. "I'll be there soon, I promise."


"God, who did they get to design this place? Count Dracula?" Green Lantern wondered aloud as she flew through the dim, dreary halls of Terminal Dogma.

She had expected the place to be even more sparsely decorated and utilitarian than the rest of NERV headquarters (which was very sparsely decorated and utilitarian indeed). She hadn't expected it to look like someone had deliberately made it as creepy as possible.

She also hadn't expected it to be so damn huge, either.

It would just figure if the world came to an end because I freaking got lost, Green Lantern thought with irritation. At least Ritsuko would get to die laughing her ass off.

"Perhaps drowning?"

Green Lantern came to a halt upon hearing another person's words echoing through the cavernous section of the base. Holding her breath, the jade superwoman pricked her ears and fervently hoped that someone spoke again.

"It would take far longer than you expect."

That was Rei, Green Lantern realized, moving in the direction that the voice had come from.

A second later she burst into a huge room that looked like a laboratory with a dash of torture chamber thrown in to give it that mad scientist feel. The standard scientific equipment was strewn around, but there was an examination table near the center of the floor where a blue-haired girl was both tied up with a long golden rope and strapped down by a trio of heavy leather restraints. Next to the table was a whole variety of instruments that Green Lantern was quite sure didn't belong in any lab where science was practiced in an ethical manner.

"How do you kill a girl who can withstand—?" Gendo Ikari abruptly stopped speaking as he realized that he and his captive were not alone.

Green Lantern almost didn't notice him at first, too shocked by what she was seeing. At first she'd thought that the girl bound to the table was Rei. Then she had thought that the prisoner was Wonder Girl.

Finally, she realized that she was both.

Rei is Wonder Girl?! How the hell did I never figure that out?! Green Lantern wondered.

Then long-ago training finally kicked in, and the emerald superwoman ceased to focus on the blue-haired girl at the exclusion of everything else in the room. She instantly spotted Commander Ikari standing nearby, looking vaguely annoyed.

Green Lantern raised her fist, pointing her ring at him. "I don't know what exactly you're doing here, you bastard," she said. "But it ends right now. Surrender peacefully and I promise not to hit you too hard."

Even as she said these words, Green Lantern was already thinking three steps ahead. She could easily restrain Gendo and leave him here until she had the time to figure out what she was ultimately going to do with him. Once that chore was done, freeing Rei would be simplicity in itself, and the two of them could head topside to help NERV deal with the threat of the JSSDF. If Rei was sufficient to help Units One and Two deal with the EVA Series, then she shouldn't have too much difficulty routing the more conventional forces, and—

"I will never surrender to you," Gendo said coldly, "especially not when I'm so close to my goal."

Green Lantern frowned. Though part of her was incredulous, she reminded herself to be wary. Ikari had somehow managed to make Wonder Girl his prisoner, after all.

"I wasn't giving you an option, Commander," she said. "Surrender, or else—"

"Or else what?"

Before she could answer, golden light flared around the Commander. A halo of light came into being around him as yellow flames washed over his form, transforming his NERV uniform. In a second the familiar garment was gone, replaced by a black and yellow number that was similar and yet very, very different to the one Green Lantern herself wore.

The jade superwoman's eyes widened. Gendo Ikari had a lantern power ring. Gendo Ikari had a yellow lantern power ring.

This just gotten a lot more complicated.


Author's Notes: So here we are at last, we've reached the point where it all goes down. Next up, the fight I'm sure you all knew was coming eventually: Green Lantern Misato versus Sinestro Corpsman Gendo. Place your bets, people.

In case anyone's wondering, the idea for Unit Two's upgrade came from an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, where Guy and a pre-rogue Sinestro turn Batman's usual duds into a green armor/space suit. Of course, said new outfit acted just like a GL ring for Batman, which struck me as more than a little odd, since they made it for him because they refused to let him use a GL ring himself. So I altered that bit of it.

Anyway, as always, thanks to my readers and reviewers, and to my beta reader as well. Come back next time for the dramatic conclusion.


Omake

False Hopes

"What's going on?" Shinji demanded, even before Misato had quite finished.

It was a good thing, too, because his guardian was in motion the second she hung up the phone. "The JSSDF is moving toward the city. They're going to attack NERV," she answered as she headed toward her room.

"Wh-What?! But why?" Shinji asked, following her.

"Damned if I know, but this looks like a job for Green Lantern!" Misato proclaimed, as emerald light flared around her, transforming her into the luminous superwoman.

"…did you know that I knew you were Green Lantern?" Shinji asked. He was a little surprised that she'd just revealed that to him, to put it mildly.

Green Lantern shrugged. "I just assumed that you'd figured out that me and Asuka are superwomen by now," she said. "I mean, you'd have to be pretty dense to miss that!" she chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess so," Shinji said with a smile. Then he hesitated. "Wait, Asuka is—?"

"But I'm not sure even I can do this alone," Green Lantern mused aloud. "Oh! Maybe I could use a deputy!"

"Oh, how about me?" Shinji asked eagerly. "I'd do it. It would be great if I get superpowers just once without some horrible or humiliating side effect! Oh, please, Misato, just this once? In this omake near the end of the story?"

"Hmm…"

Green light streamed out of the emerald superwoman's ring, coalescing around Shinji and granting the Third Child his own Green Lantern outfit.

"Cool!" he exclaimed, levitating about a foot off the floor.

"Nah, making a deputy is just silly," Misato decided. Instantly, Shinji returned to normal, collapsing to the floor. "You do look cute in that getup, though."

"You people all suck, you know that?" Shinji grumbled.