Covenant Red
Chapter 8: Metal Coffin
Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.
/\/\/\/\
Of course the noodles were soggy. It was a disappointing end to a disappointing day.
The beef bowl stand proprietor was an old man with leathery skin, taking great pride in the elaborate open preparations of meals he peddled to the city's salarymen every work night. His toned, sleeveless arms would exaggerate the normal gestures of cooking with aplomb, drawing crowds in and letting the fresh aromas seal the deal. The production was lost on Kensuke who looked for the closest eatery outside the train station. He gnawed on a piece of overcooked meat in misery.
He assumed finally being formally integrated into WILLE's combat team by Misato would be a cause for cheer, at least among the Children. The Commander made a brief announcement after his latest training session crested the prerequisite benchmarks, and was done with it. Toji and Rei weren't even present, being informed via text. The other adults seemed more concerned about the extra paperwork he'd create. Asuka asked if she could stop training him now.
Kensuke forged ahead and asked her if she wanted to join him for a celebratory meal.
"What's there to celebrate?" she grumbled. "Now I have to worry about Nephilim and you screwing up on the battlefield."
He questioned the faith she had in her own training regimen. That proved not to be a good idea.
He rode out of the base alone, impressed with Asuka's verbal arsenal and willingness to humiliate him in front of others. That took wits and bravado. She didn't have any other plans, she just really, really did not want to be near him, and made sure he knew it with some colorful language and several shots at his intelligence, masculinity and right to exist.
Rei was confined to base. And she'd probably tell him partying was irrelevant. If he was lucky. He could just as easily picture her staring through him in silence until he wilted and left. The lieutenants were all busy accommodating his new position.
Kensuke liked to think he was a positive guy. He wasn't prone to moping or depression, or moping over things that should make him depressed. But the sense of invalidation he received from the day's events spilled over into his call from the train station to Toji. He needed some sort of encouragement that his life was not collapsing in around him.
"Give me a couple minutes," Toji said before he arrived, not even asking what was wrong.
They sat together on a public bench near the beef bowl stand, making room for the after work rush of customers. A street lamp spread a pool of light around them.
"Thanks for treating me," Toji said. He slurped up a mouthful of noodles.
"Sure," Kensuke sighed. "I felt buying a meal outside WILLE on their dime was appropriate. Like, I finally earned it."
"About all that. Welcome aboard, for real this time. Glad to have you." He clapped him on the back. "Be sure to clean up the frontline mess the next time Soryu and me mess up."
"When you put it like that, I'd prefer to stay on the noncom side of things. Was it this way when you joined up? It felt like everybody was in a rush not to celebrate anything."
Toji rubbed his chin. "It wasn't as if WILLE was party central back then, but yeah. I hear you." He noticed Kensuke's sudden interest. "It gets into stuff even I'm not entirely sure of. Hey, you're not the only person who gets to hear 'it's classified' when they start asking questions."
"Great. Blind leading the blind. For a seasoned vet you're not offering this rookie much help."
"I'm just here for the free food."
They ate.
"Maybe we should have hit WILLE's cafeteria," Kensuke reconsidered as he poked around his bowl. "At least that way Ayanami could have eaten with us."
"You've been talking a lot about her lately," Toji commented.
"Well, I, I mean I think it's only natural. Or is WILLE in the habit of stashing teenagers away in their underground labyrinth?"
"I'm not on trial here."
"But you admit the way everyone treats Ayanami is weird, right?"
"Ayanami is weird," Toji returned.
"That might be putting the cart before the horse. Is she weird because of the way she's treated, or is she treated that way because she's weird?"
"So you think she's weird, too."
"You're changing the subject." Kensuke frowned. "I've been training with her under Dr. Akagi's supervision whenever I'm not training with Soryu." He shifted. "It's been uncomfortable."
Asuka refused to instruct him near Ayanami. At least Kensuke could claim Soryu would stand to be in the same room as him without choking him. It felt like a victory. But accommodating two very different girls who apparently thought next to nothing of him was a depressing balancing act. He was stuck on the high wire between two buildings he was banned from entering.
While Asuka continued overseeing his sniping progress, Ritsuko informed him Ayanami would join him in a support posture during battle to aid him in detecting Nephilim. They ran through preliminary drills to try and establish a rapport. Calling it a working relationship was generous. Calling it a relationship of any kind was generous. He had a better feel for his rifle.
Success and failure were met uniformly by Rei, expressing neither satisfaction nor frustration. She simply accepted the result and awaited the next order. There was no individual drive. If she possessed any opinions on the exercises' efficiency she kept them to herself. Like at her introduction, Dr. Akagi treated her as a piece of machinery and Rei showed no displeasure. She acted on orders without fail.
Toji liked to remind him "orders are orders" but he wasn't a humorless tool methodically completing objectives while stuck on mute. He had hobbies and wants. He had a sense of self between orders. Ayanami didn't. Then again, Toji was allowed to live like a normal human being.
"Did you expect training with Ms. Roboto would be fun and games?"
"No," Kensuke answered, "but, I don't know. I expected her to show me something after spending time together. Some hint of understanding what human emotion is."
"Maybe you're just not her type," Toji said.
"Shut up. That's not what I meant."
"I don't know what you want me to say, man. I told you the job would suck sometimes. Sure, I don't have to interact with Soryu and Ayanami as much as you do, so you're at a higher level of suckage, but the principle still applies."
Kensuke waved that away. "Forget that. I want to know why it doesn't bother you. Everybody treats Ayanami like a monster on a leash, and you seem fine with that."
"Yeah, I am."
The night was deep, dark blue around their tiny circle of light. Toji ate with gusto, he always ate with gusto, despite any conversation or lack thereof. Kensuke picked at his bowl, skewering a chunk of meat and watching the broth seep inside. He glanced at his companion.
"Why?" he asked.
Toji sighed. "Just because she looks human doesn't mean she is. Hell, there are people out there that don't consider us human anymore because of our blood."
"And are you okay with that?"
He shrugged. "Screw 'em. I was born human and I'll die human. My blood skill doesn't change that. But Ayanami was never human, and never will be. Don't be suckered by appearances. The Commander knows what she's doing. I trust her. Don't you?"
"I guess."
"Well, you should. Back when we first brought you in, before you woke up, nobody knew what to do. For all we knew you could have been contaminated, or developed a skill that poisoned everyone, or blew up or something crazy. All options were on the table." Toji stared at him, letting that sink in.
Kensuke audibly swallowed.
"The Commander took charge like always. She told us WILLE exists to protect humans, and you were a human. So as long as WILLE existed, we'd protect you. That's our mission, and it's your mission, now, too. That means following the Commander's orders. No matter what."
He looked out over the city. Skyscrapers were electric beacons against the darkness. Traffic flowed beneath them in coordinated patterns of light and sound, propelled by oblivious people. To Kensuke's left a late salaryman in a rumpled suit ambled up to the beef bowl stand. The proprietor greeted him with a sharp, enthusiastic wave.
This was the city he was tasked to defend. This was the way of life he was tasked to uphold. Like Toji said, no matter what.
Kensuke sighed again. He supposed it was far too late to back out now.
Toji glanced up at a public clock. "It's late. I need to get going. You should too. Tomorrow's a school day."
"Yeah…"
"Thanks for the meal." He rose and tossed his empty bowl into a nearby trashcan. He paused. "I don't want to mess this up. I like hanging out with you. But there are some things you're better off not questioning when you're part of WILLE."
Kensuke watched him leave. Soon he was a street away, walking with confidence and looking straight ahead. The city swallowed him with a dozen others on the sidewalk as cars flashed by. Kensuke tried to latch onto the stable security he left in his wake.
/\/\/\/\
He felt better by the end of the week. As much as Kensuke tried not to, it was too tempting to think of Ayanami as just another odd part of WILLE. They lived underground, employed kids to fight monsters and had some weird work-release program going on with the enemy. Like Toji said, there were some things he was better off not questioning, especially when he wasn't getting any answers.
The school day was over. The students rose and departed. Except Kensuke, who was assigned cleanup duty. When he first transferred in he hoped WILLE would handwave any and all school-related responsibilities. That hope was short-lived. To the public, before all else, he was a normal high school student and had to fulfill the obligations expected of one. Logically, he knew it made sense. Special accommodations might tip people off. Privately, having to perform both academically and professionally sucked.
He was on duty with a thin girl whose name he never bothered to learn, and Horaki, who acted as overseer while also organizing files for the teacher. They worked in silent coordination, starting in the center row of desks and cleaning outwards. It was tedious but Kensuke's patience was finely honed from months of repetitive training exercises. He worked with calm mindfulness without rushing. He was only on the second row when the thin girl finished her side of the room.
Am I really that slow? he lamented. Soryu's frustrated impatience seemed more reasonable.
"See you, class rep," the girl got out before darting from the classroom.
"Bye, Aoi," Hikari replied. She glanced at Kensuke. "I'm almost done up here. I'll give you a hand in a sec."
"Thanks, but the guilt would kill me. Don't stay on my account."
"Nonsense. I'm here, so I might as well help out."
She started on the outside working in. They passed by each other and she failed to not check over his efforts.
"I'm impressed," Hikari said, genuinely surprised. "I thought you were just dragging your feet but you've done a really thorough job cleaning the desks. Normally the cleanup crew does the bare minimum."
Kensuke tried to be flattered. "I'm not a germaphobe or anything. I'm just used to getting scolded if I don't perform flawlessly. Which is to say, I'm used to getting scolded."
"Oh? Is Suzuhara a stern task master?"
"Ha. No. My boss, well, bosses, seem to thrive on chewing me out. Sometimes the job isn't worth the paycheck."
He complained without bothering to remember who he was speaking to. Horaki was, if nothing else, a strict status quo girl. She would definitely not approve of an employed student on her watch. He was too tired to backpedal an excuse and prepared for the onslaught.
Hikari surprised him by winking.
"Normally," she said with a conspiratorial grin, "I'd be against an underage classmate getting involved with an afterschool job. But I know how important they can be. Asuka's seems like a real source of stability for her."
"Soryu's job?" How much did Horaki know?
"Yeah. She's always been kind of vague on the specifics, but I know it's a big deal for her. It's got to be rough for someone like her, in this country without any family."
He did recall she appeared to live alone. It made sense to him. He couldn't comprehend what kind of parents managed to raise coolness of such magnitude. Soryu had to be immaculately created somehow, a cosmic focusing of hot awesomeness into an awesomely hot vessel. She acted like it, so he believed it. She acted like she didn't need anyone else, and he believed that, too. So why was her job a "big deal"?
Asuka did not, to put it lightly, enjoy the company of Misato, or anyone else at WILLE. Why was she loyal to it? Why continue to risk her life for people she didn't like?
The adult members of the organization existed in a different world of secret allegiances and hidden agendas, all wrapped up inside the mission to save the city. With Toji, he could easily imagine the deciding factors for his loyalty being financial incentives and his admiration of the Commander. But Soryu?
From school gossip he already knew she was an overseas exchange student from about a year ago, and now Hikari confirmed she was indeed here alone. Without parents or siblings she could have latched onto WILLE as a surrogate family.
But that didn't fit her MO, or her treatment of other WILLE members. Although popular, Asuka did not surround herself with lackeys or go out to party. Her fame was that of a golden idol, praised and admired but never interacted with directly. She appeared not to care either way, and that only contributed to her allure.
Kensuke saw firsthand how strained relations were between her and WILLE, to say nothing of how she treated him and Toji. She kept things, at best, professional. Hers was not the behavior of a lonely girl desperately seeking familial support.
So then, why? Asuka fought for WILLE, risking her life against inhuman abominations, for what? Not fame, not family, not a selfless desire to sacrifice herself for humanity's sake. What remained? Money? Pride? Neither rang true to Kensuke.
"Oh," Hikari said, suddenly embarrassed with his contemplative appearance. "Sorry."
"Huh? What for?"
"I just remembered you're here in this city all by yourself, too, right?"
"Oh, yeah," Kensuke said. He hadn't thought of his father in weeks. He shrugged Horaki's concerns off. "Don't worry about it. Being on my own is pretty cool."
"You don't get lonely?"
"I don't have time to be lonely," he joked. He paused. "Why? Does Soryu get lonely?"
"Um…" Hikari trailed off into discomfort. "I wouldn't say that. She's a very strong person. It's just sometimes it feels like she's waiting for someone." She cleared her throat. "I probably should stop talking now."
They finished cleaning the desks in a comfortable silence and walked out of the school, travelling together until the wide front steps.
"Thanks for the assist," Kensuke said as they parted ways.
"You're welcome," she replied. "And good luck with your job. Just make sure it doesn't interfere with your grades."
"Don't worry about that. I know where my priorities are."
"Good," Hikari said slowly, unsure as to his meaning. "See you tomorrow."
"See you."
He started home. Kensuke stretched and yawned as he walked.
Soryu's waiting for someone, he thought. It conjured images of a fairy tale damsel in distress, locked away in a high castle tower. She didn't seem the type. Asuka was no Sleeping Beauty, snoozing in patient anticipation. She'd find Prince Charming and beat him up for taking so long. And then make fun of his name.
Horaki must be wrong, Kensuke concluded. For a close acquaintance of Soryu, she sure had odd ideas about her. First dating Suzuhara, now this. Such a passive act as waiting for someone was beneath Asuka's dignity. She was too good for that.
He gazed out at the horizon, busy with clouds stained orange by a low sun. He hoped he could go to sleep early tonight.
/\/\/\/\
The emergency call came just before six pm. The evacuations completed under a setting sun. It was night by the time WILLE deployed in the city, led by Rei to where the next Nephilim would appear. They set up in the dense residential block, Kensuke atop a high apartment building, Rei on a grocery store below, Asuka perched on a split-level house and Toji on the street. Maneuverability was limited, but cover was abundant. VTOLs patrolled the night sky, providing light where needed.
They waited.
"Did we miss it?" Kensuke nervously joked.
"It has been longer than usual," Ritsuko commented from headquarters. "Normally we don't have time to spare between detection and contact. Ayanami, are you sure?"
"Yes," she said. "It is coming."
They waited.
"The fresh air must be messing with the doll's radar," Asuka said. "That's what you get for letting it outside."
Rei did not respond, calmly staring ahead. Toji was silent. The adults were otherwise occupied, or opted to ignore her. Kensuke frowned.
"Maybe this Nephilim can hide itself somehow," he suggested. "Like a camouflage or something."
A moment of affront drifted over the comm. channel. When Asuka spoke it was low with unwanted offense. "No one asked you, kid."
He knew the cusp of battle was not the place to pick a fight with a teammate. He knew that. "I didn't hear you offering anything constructive."
"What did you say?"
"Can we postpone couple's therapy?" Toji complained.
"Stow it, bootlicker. As for you, Third—"
"Stay focused, all of you," Ritsuko said. "Save the drama for after school."
"It is after school," Asuka muttered. She hugged herself against the night's chill. "We should have seen something by now. It just can't admit it made a mistake. What good is a broken doll?"
Kensuke took a breath for round two. Rei cut him off.
"It is here," she said.
The Nephilim appeared beyond the crisscrossing highway out of the city. It was a bulky mass of dull grey bands coiled around itself. It did not possess legs, but floated a good yard off the ground. They watched it cross the shore and glide over a wide waterway on the edge of the residential block.
"You seeing this?" Toji asked anyone.
"Flying-type is new to me," Asuka remarked.
"Uh," Kensuke began, peering through his scope, "it isn't exactly flying. It's propelling itself with its AT field." Flashes from the end of its body expanded to the water in measured bursts, so fast it appeared to have two hexagonal legs. "I've got a bad feeling."
"Don't wet your diaper." Asuka addressed the team: "I'll direct it into that school's parking lot to give us some space. Second, flank it's ugly butt. Third, get ready to snipe after we fall back." Her voice faltered only a moment, stepping over disgust to speak directly to Rei: "First, start weakening its field on my mark."
She and Toji moved into position. Kensuke found his target, feeling much calmer having a clear set of orders and a team of backup. The breathless panic of the last battle was a memory. He was sure it had been a fluke. They were together now, stronger than ever, bolstered by weeks of training.
He studied the Nephilim. Outwardly it resembled a limbless torso; there was no head and no visible eye. No way to glean an idea about its abilities or defenses. It moved without haste, and aside from its inhuman appearance looked no more threatening than a misshapen parade float. It fit his impression of his enemies thus far; they were reactionary, only attacking directly when provoked.
It certainly aided the Children as they prepared to strike. Asuka agilely crept over the tightly packed rooftops ahead of their target, stopping over a split-level bedroom balcony. She lined up a shot as the Nephilim passed by below, moving along the wide parking lot, empty except for a few cars.
"Second," she asked, "position?"
"I'm good," Toji said.
"First," Asuka ordered, "now."
Rei's eyes flashed and she held a hand towards the Nephilim. Kensuke watched the AT field waver as it "walked" only to be smothered by a brighter layer on the next step.
Multiple AT fields? he thought.
Asuka fired. Her volley impacted without effect. The Nephilim continued along the parking lot without hesitating or changing direction. Asuka's second attempt was no different.
"Don't ignore me," she growled. "Clear."
She strafed the rooftops, staying level with her target. She unclipped a grenade from her belt, waited for her blood skill to activate, pulled the pin and hurled it with expert precision at the Nephilim.
It exploded in its path. The side of a nearby home caved in. Asphalt shattered. The Nephilim floated onward.
"No luck?" Toji asked, running towards the battle. He scaled the parking lot fence and leapt off, diving at the Nephilim.
Kensuke watched the AT field flare wide to absorb Toji's punch. Several layers broke but were bolstered from underneath before expanding outward, sending Toji flying back into the fence. It snapped open under the force and he skidded across the ground.
"Ouch."
"First!" Asuka shouted at Rei. "Do your damn job!"
She was. This Nephilim was not like the other Kensuke saw. The previous AT field he witnessed behaved like a sheet of steel; a powerful defense but useless once penetrated. This field was projected at varying lengths in split-second intervals in a conical shape, creating depth and added protection.
Even now he could see as Rei weakened the outermost field layers, only to be replaced a moment later by a fresh one. The process was too fast for her ability to keep ahead. He relayed his findings.
"So it's useless after all," Asuka grumbled.
"Maybe not," Ritsuko said. "Aida, if you can see where the AT field is weakened, you might be able to break through with enough force."
The team repositioned, allowing the Nephilim deeper into the city as Toji and Asuka trailed after it. Kensuke was now targeting its rear, Rei was between them. Concentrating enough strength on a single point could overwhelm the AT field pattern and give him a window for a shot.
"Okay," Kensuke said as he watched the Nephilim glide through a public park. "Ready."
They attacked. Rei weakened the field from behind and Toji rushed in to strike. He fell back before retaliation and Asuka opened fire on the point of his attack, using the abundant park trees for cover.
Kensuke saw the compromised AT field waver and bend, trying to regain composition. He fired and pierced it at its weakest point. The round connected, and ricocheted harmlessly off the bands wrapping the Nephilim's body.
"It didn't work," he muttered in disbelief.
The AT field retracted close to the Nephilim to gather strength then burst outward like a battering ram, gouging the earth and uprooting entire trees on its way towards Asuka and Toji. He used his blood skill to mitigate damage and shielded her as they were flung across the park. They landed in a bruised heap. The Nephilim continued on.
"Now what?" Kensuke asked. He spied the train depot within sight of the park. Beyond laid WILLE.
"Now we try again," Asuka said, shoving Toji away as she stood. "We keep trying until we kill it."
"We cannot allow the Nephilim to invade headquarters," Misato spoke.
"Tell me something I don't know. Send down a new rifle and we'll restart."
"Negative. The UN is mobilizing. We're out of time."
VTOLs swept from the sky, bathing the park in light and sound.
"Regroup at base," Misato said. Through the static of the comm. and roar of an approaching VTOL Kensuke thought he heard a note of resignation in the Commander's determined voice. "We have no other choice."
"No!" Asuka shouted. "I can beat it!"
"You have your orders."
They fell back to WILLE's aboveground front, a large warehouse on a wide plot of fenced land outside the metropolis. Kensuke and Rei were dropped on the warehouse roof, Asuka and Toji jumped out of their VTOL onto the grass. Kensuke scrambled to reset his sniping position, aided by telemetry from Hyuga and Rei.
Before the warehouse was a long tarmac lined with what looked like manholes. Two opened and long poles extended upwards before unfolding into shields. Asuka and Toji took up defensive positions behind either. Another port opened to deliver a weapon restock to Asuka.
Kensuke watched her activate blood skill holding a sleek rifle. "I don't know how attacking it here will be any different than before," he said.
The Nephilim appeared on the black horizon, free from the city confines. It crossed into WILLE territory, its AT field bending and trampling the barbwire fence surrounding its façade. The Children held their positions. Kensuke lined up a shot, awaiting the order to fire.
"Ayanami?" Misato asked.
Her eyes flashed, attempting to weaken the AT field again. "It is no use. It is too strong."
The Nephilim approached. Kensuke felt sweat creep down his face.
"I'm authorizing use of 02," the Commander announced. The objections were quick and short-lived from Ritsuko. "Send him up."
Over the comm., Asuka swore in another language.
The warehouse's shuttered door opened. It was empty inside save for a heavy transport elevator. Klaxons sounded as the lift jolted into operation. It appeared hauling a thin metal capsule amid a tangle of wires and medical machinery.
Toji was able to lug the apparatus outside onto the middle of the tarmac. The capsule front slid open. Viscous orange liquid spilled out. Inside was a cocoon of pulsating wires and tubes. Connected to the network was a thin boy missing his right arm in patchwork body armor. His head was covered with a strange white mask.
Kensuke watched Toji pull the boy free. The medical web stretched and tore apart, trailing off the boy like ribbons. He hung limp.
Toji set the boy on the tarmac. He held his head, and forced the mask from his face. Toji sprinted away back to cover.
The atmosphere changed. The air was heavy with electric stress. A dense shimmer drew around the one-armed boy. Small, tentative bands of purple light sparked to life and crept from his body, reaching towards the clouds. The bands shivered as they widened and grew together, engulfing the boy completely. His body unrelaxed. He lurched to the side. He rose to a knee. Red eyes opened.
Kensuke felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He sweated. The stench of scorched ozone permeated the air. His ears ached from the roar of released power.
"Who is that?" Kensuke breathed.
The bands of energy converged and became a single shuddering force flowing without restraint. He was a lighted wick burning the sky.
"That's Shinji Ikari," Toji said. "The Second Nephilim."
/\/\/\/\
The tarmac shattered beneath his feet as he stood. The remnants of the capsule's medical netting burned away from him. The world around Shinji Ikari was erratic purple energy, a violent whirling maelstrom of thunderous pressure.
The Nephilim approached without pause, crossing onto the tarmac. Shinji launched himself at it and clawed through several layers of the AT field. The field gathered at the point of attack to repel Shinji, sending him tumbling backwards.
The bands wrapping the Nephilim loosened, then unfurled onto the ground into two long strips. Its body was stretched tight, dark except for a bone-white protuberance on its midsection that partially covered a red eye.
The strips snapped into rigidity and shot towards Shinji. He swatted one away, cutting his hand. The second gouged his side open. His blood burnt away before hitting the ground. The wound was cauterized and melted shut. The energy swell around him trembled and redoubled.
He grabbed one strip and bit into it, tearing it off. It bled and was consumed by purple fire. The other strip recoiled and made another attempt to attack. Shinji clawed the air and shredded it before contact. The Nephilim fell back and Shinji pounced.
He landed hard. The Nephilim's skin cracked and discolored. Shinji's proximity was enough to tear through the AT field now. He punched into muscle and bone and organ. He punched the bone-like cover on its midsection and pushed down, breaking it open to reveal the soft pulp of the red eye. The eye bulged and split apart. Blood streamed into the air. The ground cratered from the force. The Nephilim collapsed inward and abandoned any semblance of shape as it died and was torn asunder by a storm of power.
"Send me the AN tranq kit," Asuka said.
Another manhole opened on what remained of the tarmac and a tube rose from the ground. Its casing retracted to reveal a slim, delicate-looking rifle with a long barrel beside a metal box. Asuka attached the box to her belt, and lifted the rifle free. Her blood skill activated. She ducked towards the maelstrom engulfing Shinji.
Her initial volley of tranquilizer darts burnt away without touching him.
"First," Asuka addressed Rei, "direct the flow away from his torso." She lined up another shot. "Give me an opening."
Her voice was taut, wire-thin with controlled tension. Her movements were quick and exact, ducking in and out of range of the growing chaos around Shinji.
On the rooftop, Rei trembled and sank to a knee as she tried to siphon more power. The plume of energy around Shinji bent to her, but refused to be contained. A thin bead of blood rolled down her face from her left ear. She was unable to draw all the energy at once, and settled on a gradual approach, siphoning it in measured bursts.
It opened split-second opportunities for Asuka to attack. She only needed a moment to gauge the rhythm and exploit it with the tranquilizer rifle. Two of the heavily cased darts managed to make contact.
Shinji staggered in drowsy ineptitude. His power wavered. The ground skewed wildly under his feet.
He fell.
Asuka caught him, carefully lowering his body to the ground. She cradled his head on her lap. Her face was a warm softness. Purple tendrils of energy still crackled to life around them, singeing her hair and burning her armor.
She leisurely brushed his dark hair from his red eyes. From the box on her belt she removed a strange white mask. It opened; the inside was branded with unnatural lights, arranged in pulsating columns. She eased it over his head, smiling at his heavy eyes. Silence hung between them.
The mask slid shut. His body shuddered, and sagged, and was still. The energy flowing from him was a trickle.
Asuka abruptly rose and dropped Shinji. A curl of energy erupted as he struck the ground.
"Someone get this skinny idiot out of my sight."
She hobbled away in her charred armor over the shattered tarmac towards base. A recovery crew rose on the service elevator in hazmat suits. They rushed past Asuka, wheeling a new sealing capsule towards Shinji.
The crew gingerly loaded him into it. Rei was at the warehouse roof's edge, siphoning the last struggling wisps of energy from Shinji, holding a hand towards his unconscious form. She ignored the blood creeping from her ears and nose. The capsule front slid shut, sealing him away.
Kensuke watched Rei sag without relief. He glanced around the battlefield. The shields were melted slag. The tarmac was in ruins. Deep craters scored the earth around it, along with broad swathes of burnt grass and soil. Nothing remained of the enemy Nephilim. He looked on as the recovery crew wheeled the new capsule back towards the elevator. No part of Shinji was visible.
Kensuke threw his hands into the air.
How am I supposed to compete with that?
/\/\/\/\
End of chapter 8
Author notes: We're past the halfway mark. I planned thirteen chapters total.
Next chapter: I bloat this ballooning cast even more.