Chapter 34 - A Mighty Big Hazing

"Sorry I missed your birthday, Misato," said Ritsuko before waving a hand at the window, or rather what was outside. "But as you can see, we've all been quite busy here."

The NERV facility at Matsushiro was not nearly as expansive as the Geofront. It was mostly surface buildings, spread out around a large hole in the earth. Its main purpose was to act as a secondary testing facility, for those things deemed too dangerous to experiment on within the main base. It even had its own set of supercomputers, with the astonishingly original designation of MAGI-02.

Since the announcement that they would be receiving Unit-03, the Matsushiro base had gone into overdrive preparing a suitable test area in the hole. Something similar to an Evangelion cage was being built in its centre, below the level of the facility. More than double the usual amount of Bakelite injectors had been installed; NERV was taking no chances after the tragedy in North America.

Misato gave a dismissive wave of her hand as she looked outside at the activity around the cage. "You can make it up to me by going out for drinks when we've got Unit-03 up and running. Deal?"

Ritsuko glanced at her and grinned. "Deal. After this I'll definitely need a break."

"I know the feeling." Misato sighed and rubbed her forehead. "We already had a close call with the transport carrying Unit-03. Almost clipped the second tanker it was refuelling from because someone didn't pay attention for a split second."

Ritsuko made a face. "Ugh. I have no desire to go fishing for an Eva because someone screwed up and dropped it in the ocean. What's its current ETA?"

"Tomorrow, just after midday. But there's a storm brewing in their path. Right now they're planning to just fly right through, but they might have to lose some time flying around if it gets any worse."

"More good news, huh?" Ritsuko raised her eyes skyward and gave a despairing shake of her head. "If I didn't know better I'd swear the universe doesn't want us to receive Unit-03."

Misato snorted. "Well the universe can piss off. We need all the power we can buy, beg, or steal to fend off the Angels. Will you be doing the activation test as soon as Unit-03 gets here?"

The look she received from Ritsuko made it seem like she'd just asked her to take her clothes off and dance on the Commander's desk. "Are you kidding?! Before we do anything I'll be going over it with a fine-toothed comb! While I don't want to insult our late colleagues at NERV-Nevada, the fact remains that somebody fouled up over there. For all we know Unit-03's systems are a buggy mess of code."

Misato gave a nod, conceding the point. "So how long will that take?"

"We'll have the test next Monday. At that point I should either be satisfied that the Eva isn't going to self-destruct, or I'll have fixed the spaghetti code that would make it blow up." Ritsuko glanced down at something on her monitor. "Anyway, have you decided who we should choose as the pilot for the test?"

"Hrm." Misato put a hand to her chin in thought. "What kind of risks would there be? Worst comes to worst the Bakelite gets triggered and we need to break Unit-03 out later."

"Or it manages to escape and go on a rampage," Ritsuko flatly said. "In which case the others would have to take it down, possibly even kill it."

Misato paled. "Shit, didn't even think of that. Are the Dummy Plugs finished yet? I really don't want to run the risk of one of those kids having to kill a friend. They'd be absolutely devastated."

Ritsuko patted the air with one hand. "That's a worst case scenario anyway," she replied in a reassuring tone. "For all we know the test goes perfectly. Anyway, despite the risks I'd like to have a human pilot in the hot seat. There will also be a Dummy Plug; we've managed to get one finished and Unit-03 will be having it installed. Hopefully between a computer pilot, a real one, and the Bakelite we can stop anything bad before it happens."

"Well... I reckon we should use Kensuke for the activation test. He would end up being its main pilot anyway so that Asuka can get Unit-02 back. Then while she and Shinji are in 02, Rei can use 01 instead of a crotchety prototype."

Misato saw a smidgen of hesitation in Ritsuko's expression for a split second before her friend recovered. "Works for me. Maybe tell him out of earshot of Asuka, or she might get upset she wasn't chosen."

"Oh trust me, she'll be upset once she finds out anyway. Nothing any of us can do about that. May as well tell everyone at once and get it over with."

"Try getting her boyfriend to distract her. Shinji's certainly done a wonderful job of smoothing the sharp edges off our irascible German pilot." Ritsuko pointed out the window. "If it weren't for the fact that we'd be risking halfour pilot corps, I would have gotten them both to do the test."

Misato sighed in disappointment. "Sadly they're still not an official couple yet."

"Oh." Ritsuko quirked an eyebrow. "Wait, really? They're still not together? Well... in that case it's only a matter of time."

"Asuka's past is holding her back. Do you really think she can move past that?"

"I'm an Eva scientist, not a mental health professional. But in my uneducated opinion, if anyone can break through her shell, it'll be Shinji. They're so similar I'm not surprised they gravitated towards each other.

"Yeah, their lives are so similar it's almost like somebody planned it that way."

Ritsuko didn't have a response to that.

XXX

After another round of sync testing and simulations, overseen by Lieutenant Ibuki instead of Doctor Akagi for some reason, Shinji and the other Children were called up to the observation room before they could head off and get changed. Misato was there when they walked in, looking slightly apprehensive.

"Good work on your sync tests," she began, looking each of them over. "Your scores continue to improve each time. Asuka and Shinji, I shouldn't be surprised but you two both rose five whole points from your last test." The two pilots in question stared at each other in amazement for a moment, before they both blushed and swiftly looked away. "Now then, I don't know how much attention you pay to NERV news, but we just received Unit-03 from America. It's currently undergoing preparations for an activation test scheduled for next Monday. Needless to say you'll all be excused from school for the whole day."

Kensuke's eyes lit up, as did Asuka's. "Who's gonna be piloting it?" they both asked almost at the same time, before looking at each other in surprise.

"I thought it was Shinji and Asuka that were the synchronisation experts," said Rei, drawing an amused snort from Misato.

"Sorry Asuka, but it's already been decided that Kensuke will be the activation pilot," said Ibuki. "If all goes well he'll become Unit-03's main pilot, after all."

"Yeah, besides, don't you want your Eva back?" Shinji pointedly asked.

Asuka gave him a look. "Well... yeah, I guess so," she sheepishly admitted. "But it's not like Unit-01's been as bad as I'd originally feared. Handles pretty well; you know, for a Test Type." From her tone of voice, Asuka was essentially comparing Unit-01 to a rusty old car. But she was smiling when she said it.

"After the test, you two will move to Unit-02 full time," said Misato. "As of yet we're unsure if Rei will stay in Unit-00 or move to Unit-01. Doctor Akagi shot that query up the chain of command but we've yet to hear anything back."

"Well I hope she does get to use Unit-01," said Shinji. "I mean, she almost died before the Third Angel because her Eva went berserk or something."

"I'd like that too Shinji," replied Misato. "Unfortunately there's nothing I can do. It all depends on Commander Ikari's decision. I think getting a Fifth Child is out of the question anyway, considering that Unit-01 has proven to be rather iffy when it comes to pilots that aren't you." She glanced at the two female pilots. "Or... Rei. And Asuka. Although in Asuka's case Doctor Akagi apparently predicted even less of a chance of the Eva activating than she gave you, Shinji."

"I'm just that damn good!" Asuka airily remarked, putting a hand on her hip as she cocked it like she was posing for a picture.

"Your sync ratio does dip while you two are piloting Unit-01," said Ibuki. "Even though Shinji gets a higher ratio than in 02, it's not enough to counteract the drop."

"Because it's a Test-Type," Shinji and Asuka said at the same time, drawing raised eyebrows from the two of them as they glanced at each other.

"Much better."

Rei's comment caused a ripple of laughter throughout the room. Once everybody settled down again, Misato dismissed the pilots, letting them finally wash off the stink of drying LCL and head home.

XXX

The day of Unit-03's test came quickly. Kensuke woke up just as early as if he were still going to school, running around the house as quietly as possible so as not to disturb his dad's sleep, to get ready in time. Right on time, he heard a car horn out the front of his house. Nervous anticipation building, he stepped outside to see Misato and her blue sports car waiting for him.

Kensuke held firmly onto the passenger side door handle as Misato raced to the Matsushiro Secondary Experiment Facility. Apparently the other pilots had to simply wait around at NERV HQ in case of an incident. Kensuke could already imagine Asuka groaning in boredom, but in his opinion boring was good. If things started getting interesting, it was either an Angel attack or a problem with the test. Ideally, the test would be successful, there might be some simulations, and then Unit-03 would be declared combat-ready and everyone could go home again.

Of course, this was reality. He hoped everything would go well; he expected that something would go wrong.

Soon enough he had the sight of the Matsushiro base to distract him from his musings. Research buildings scattered all around a large hole in the ground, with a certain piece of hilariously expensive military hardware directly in the middle of the hole surrounded by service structures as if it were a space shuttle. Four towers were set equidistant around the hole, curving towards the middle like claws.

The sports car pulled up to a tall building that sat practically on the edge of the hole, with a gantry connecting it to the service structures. Stepping out of the car, Kensuke was practically blasted in the face by a hot wind, and he immediately made for the cool safety of the building. Inside, with the exception of the windows, the place looked almost exactly like part of NERV HQ, gunmetal grey walls and all.

"Phew!" Misato entered, bringing with her a brief gust of heat before the door slid shut again. "Bit hot out there already, huh? Good thing you won't have to worry about that in the Eva."

"I'll still have to walk out there in a rubber suit though," replied Kensuke.

"Eh, you'll live."

"Speaking of which, should I get changed now?"

Misato checked her watch. "If you want, I suppose. The activation test's not due to start for another half hour."

"I'll wait a bit then."

The two of them headed upstairs, where a bunch of people were busying themselves with final checks; occasionally, one of them would look out the observation window at the Evangelion. Doctor Akagi was sitting at a computer by the window, and judging by the over-full ashtray next to her she had been there for quite a while.

"Good morning, Rits!" Misato called out. "How is everything looking?"

"Hell of a lot better than when we first received the Eva," Doctor Akagi replied, not looking away from her screen. "I'm now reasonably sure nothing will go wrong."

"That bad, huh?" said Kensuke. He hooked a thumb out the window at Unit-03. "In your opinion, is it safe for me to get in there?"

"In my opinion, yes." Doctor Akagi turned to look at him. "There's no S2 Engine in this Eva, so no chance of another Nevada crater. We have Bakelite injectors set up to flood the hole if it tries to go berserk, and we can even have the other Evas here in a couple minutes in case we need them. Honestly, even if something does go wrong you'd be in the safest spot in the world. It's entirely possible you'd survive this whole complex getting blown up." She tilted her head to look at him over her glasses. "Oh, and in the incredibly unlikely event that does happen, do us a favour and kick the ass of whatever caused it."

"Yes, ma'am!" Kensuke saluted, then headed over to stand by the window. He stared at the almost completely unadorned design of Unit-03's helmet, noting for the first time how wildly different each Eva's head was and wondering if there was a particular reason for the choices.

Time passed, and before long Kensuke was in his plugsuit and ready to head back outside. The wind had died down, but it was still uncomfortably warm as he made his way along the gantry. Two technicians by the entry plug saw him coming and manoeuvred a stepladder into position for him to safely get into the entry plug. He gave them both a salute before ascending, which they returned.

"Comm check," he said as he sat down in the pilot seat.

"Reading you loud and clear," came the response from Major Katsuragi. "Just sit back, relax, and we'll do our thing here."

XXX

"Initiating first stage connections."

"Transmitting pulse."

"Graph readout normal."

"Phase one contact is clear."

"Acknowledged," said Ritsuko, staring at the data scrolling past the screens. "Proceed to phase two."

"Full nerve link established."

"Harmonics are normal."

"Approaching absolute borderline."

On the largest screen, a readout showed the current stage's progress as a series of red bars that turned green as connections were made. The line of green continued without pause until it reached a bar labelled 'BORDERLINE', where it began to flicker wildly back and forth.

Misato raised an eyebrow. "Is this a problem?" she asked.

"Not just yet..." Ritsuko replied, a hand on her chin. "Aida, please concentrate. We can't quite reach activation. Is everything alright?"

"Feels kinda weird," said the boy. "Not like... bad, just... weird. Sorry I can't be more specific."

"It's fine, we'll see what we can do on our end." Ritsuko took her glasses off and ran a hand across her face. "Damn. If it was going to fail, it would have done so by now. Instead it's like it just can't decide if it wants to behave." She looked around the room. "Any interference? Anything at all that's not exactly how it should be?"

The technicians all checked their stations. None of them found anything out of the ordinary.

"Should we just shut down and try again?" Misato suggested.

Ritsuko sighed, rubbing at her temples in frustration. "I guess we can try. Not much else we-"

"Absolute borderline reached!"

The sudden announcement froze Ritsuko's hand, and she blinked several times in puzzlement.

"Unit-03 has been activated!"

"Wooo yeah!" came the exulted cry of the Fourth Child.

She finally dared to lower her hand to see for herself. Every nerve connection was active. All systems were green. The sync ratio was a little low, but that could be fixed in time. Unit-03 was fully operational and NERV now had another Evangelion to send against the Angels.

So why did she still feel so apprehensive?

XXX

"This is impossible!"

"Are you sure?"

"But the Dead Sea Scrolls said-"

"Enough."

One word from one man was all it took to quell the anger of twelve others. The monoliths fell silent.

"Ikari. You can confirm that the Thirteenth Angel did not manifest as it was supposed to?"

Gendo, seated at a desk lit only by a weak light bulb dangling above, stared at the monolith directly ahead of him. "Correct. No Angel manifested. Doctor Akagi spent several days checking the Evangelion and the only problems she found were those put there by the incompetence of the Nevada branch. Coding errors, structural faults, and the like. No sign of Angelic contamination, either before or after the activation test."

SEELE-01 was silent for a long time before speaking. "This is... unprecedented. The scrolls were very clear on what was to happen."

"The scrolls have been a bit inaccurate, however..." remarked SEELE-07.

"True. They never mentioned anything about the Second and Third Children and their... unique piloting ability," added SEELE-10.

"The scrolls are nothing more than a set of guidelines," Gendo countered. "What matters most here is our destination, not the minutia of the journey we take."

"...You have a point there, Ikari," said SEELE-01. "But the Angel will eventually make its presence known and attempt to fulfil its purpose. You must ensure it does not sneak past you."

"Of course," Gendo replied with a nod. "I will ensure that a close watch is maintained on Unit-03 at all times. However, it is possible that the Angel has simply chosen another method."

"You believe the Angel may attack in a manner completely unlike what the scrolls predicted?" asked SEELE-02.

"Well, considering how many other things have gone differently, I suppose it's possible," said SEELE-07 thoughtfully.

"Precisely." Gendo raised one hand to adjust his glasses. "High surveillance must be maintained both inside the Geofront and outside. There is no telling how, where, or when it may strike."

"Yes," said SEELE-01. "Funds will be arranged to improve reconnaissance and defense capabilities around Tokyo-3 in preparation for the remaining Angels. And that is all the money will be used for. Understood?"

"Understood," agreed Gendo. "Will there be anything else?"

"No, that is all. You are dismissed, Ikari."

"Very well. Until next time, gentlemen."

XXX

"Holy crap that thing handles like a dream!" Kensuke gushed as he met up with the other pilots after their latest simulation training session.

With Doctor Akagi giving Unit-03 a clean bill of health, it had been shifted to the Geofront. All three other teenagers had been tested for suitability with the new Evangelion, but while any one of them could pilot it Kensuke still got the best sync ratio, and was thus officially designated its primary pilot.

"It's a Production model just like my Eva," said Asuka. "Essentially, you've already been piloting it for a while and just gotten a new paint job."

"Yeah but... no offence Asuka, but Unit-02 felt a lot more... sluggish to me." Kensuke's eyes flicked back to Unit-03. "This one... it's like it was made for me."

"Maybe they took the data they got of you piloting Unit-02 and made some tweaks to Unit-03," suggested Shinji.

Rei nodded. "Each Eva does become somewhat... adjusted for its current pilot. During the cross sync tests we went through for Unit-03, they had to swap out harmonics data for each of us before beginning the tests to increase the chances of activation success and improve synchronisation."

"I have to say though," remarked Asuka, staring up at Unit-03's head. "This one doesn't really look like much compared to ours. It's so... drab."

"Says the girl who pilots a bright red robot," Shinji quipped. "Might be just a tad biased there, Asuka."

Asuka slowly turned her head around to face him, eyebrows raised as high as they would go. "You pilot the same bright red robot."

"Hey I never said it was a bad colour!"

"Neither did I. What are you getting at?"

Shinji wisely shut up.

Still looking up at Unit-03, Kensuke said, "Maybe they'll repaint it if I ask. Although saying that, now I find myself stumped as to what colour scheme would be good."

As one, Shinji and Asuka turned to him and said, "Army fatigues."

Kensuke's eyes widened for a moment, but then he frowned. "Good idea, but what type? Urban? Desert? Forest?"

As one, Shinji and Asuka threw their hands up in exasperation for a moment before letting them drop back to their sides. Asuka headed off towards the cage exit, sparing one last glance at Unit-03 as she got to the doorway, and freezing in her tracks.

"Oh damnit," she moaned, slapping a palm to her face. "Now I know what that freaking helmet reminds me of! Those pug dogs, the ones with the hideously crushed up faces!" The hand on her face shifted outward, forming a slope from her forehead out to a point level with her chin.

"Huh?" Kensuke took a few steps to the side of the Evangelion and then winced. "Ugh, now I can see it too!"

Shinji cringed as he recalled the faces of the poor dogs in question. While some were alright, there were also some with horribly bulgy eyes, snouts that looked like they'd run into walls far too many times, and apparently people had deliberately bred them that way despite the defects such a breed was notorious for.

"I'm... just... gonna go take a shower now," he weakly announced, no longer wanting to look at the newest Evangelion.

"...Maybe I can at least get them to change the helmet," Kensuke murmured as Shinji passed through the door.

Asuka called out behind them. "Hey Glasses! Now that you have your own Eva, Shinji and I are gonna have to give you a mighty big hazing!"

Kensuke paused, staring at Asuka for a moment, before shuddering and continuing on.

Out in the corridor, Shinji set off for the changing rooms, nodding at the occasional NERV employee that passed by. Once he reached the male room he went straight for the closest shower cubicle, shucking his plugsuit and A-10 clips and leaving them on a bench. He spent several minutes just standing under the shower, letting the hot water relax his body. He heard Kensuke come in and start his own shower, but remained silent simply due to a lack of anything to say.

Until the universe decided to give him a rather nasty conversation topic.

The sound of the alarm was so sudden and loud in the acoustic trap of the shower stall that Shinji had to momentarily clap his hands over his ears until the noise died down.

"...Well I guess Unit-03 will be getting its debut sooner than expected," Kensuke remarked. A moment later, Shinji's plugsuit came flying over the cubicle door.

Grateful that he wouldn't have to deal with any physical embarrassment, Shinji hastily suited up and left the cubicle, snatching up his A-10 clips and heading for the door. Out in the corridor, he just barely avoided Asuka barrelling into him as she stomped past, trying to fix her own clips back into her dishevelled hair.

Together, the four pilots quickly proceeded to the bridge. Misato and Doctor Akagi were already there, giving out orders.

"-rapidly approaching the first defensive line, no sign of an AT-Field yet," announced Hyuga.

"Let's see if we can change that," said Misato. "Fire a volley."

"Roger!"

On half of the large holographic screen, a top down view of the Tokyo-3 bay area could be seen, with a blip marking the incoming enemy. The other half looked to be a zoomed in shot from a camera looking out across the water. At such a long distance they couldn't make out much of the enemy besides a vague humanoid shape floating above the water, and a moment later it was swallowed up by explosions.

The Angel didn't even seem to notice, emerging from the cloud of smoke as if nothing had happened.

"Still no AT-Field," reported Hyuga.

"Any damage to the Angel itself?" asked Doctor Akagi.

"Doesn't look like it," replied Aoba.

"Hit it with everything in range then," Misato ordered, staring up at the screen with arms crossed.

Enough firepower to erase a division of tanks was hurled at the Angel, only for it to ignore everything as it reached the shore.

"Damnit, not even a scratch on the bastard!" Misato growled.

"May as well have been throwing spitwads," Kensuke commented, drawing the attention of Misato and the doctor.

"Looks like it's all up to you guys," said Misato, glancing at the screen. Now that the Angel was closer, more detail could be made out. It looked like a stocky black, white and orange-coloured human floating through the air, only with no obvious arms and some short stumpy legs. Suddenly there was a flash emanating from its face, and a cross-shaped explosion bloomed over the city.

Doctor Akagi bit back a curse. "It just breached eighteen layers of armour in a single shot!"

"What?!" cried three of the pilots at once.

"Change of plan!" Misato shouted. "Deploy the Evas in the Geofront! Get going, kids!"

As one, the teenagers all turned and ran from the room. Behind him, Shinji heard more explosions before the door closed. He didn't know much about the area between the surface and the Geofront, but he did know there was something like a couple dozen layers of steel plating, not to mention all the earth and rock. This Angel had essentially cut through two-thirds of that in one attack. Even the Fifth Angel had taken most of a day to tunnel through.

Could even an AT-Field repel firepower of that magnitude?

XXX

Mere minutes later, three Evangelions stood in a line in front of the NERV pyramid, weapons stuck into the ground all around them. The only thing missing from the armada was the Positron Cannon, and that was only because there was no time to set up even a rudimentary power source for it.

All three Evangelions raised their weapons to aim at the buildings hanging from the ceiling. A second later the ceiling exploded, obscuring the Angel's entry with a massive smoke cloud as several buildings fell to the ground below. The Angel followed a moment later, emerging from the smoke head first before reorienting itself as it floated downwards.

Everybody opened fire on the Angel, given the designation 'Zeruel' by the MAGI. As one weapon ran dry, another was picked up to replace it. Bullets, cannon shells and rockets filled the air between the Evangelions and Zeruel, accompanied by what little static defenses the Geofront had. All of it may as well have been bugs attacking a mountain for all the effect it had on Zeruel. It floated in place, taking everything thrown at it with not even a scratch to show for the defender's efforts. It seemed perfectly content to just sit there while NERV burned through their arsenal.

And it still wasn't bothering to raise its AT-Field, even as Unit-02 fired a rocket the size of a truck at it.

"What the hell is that thing made of?" Asuka angrily muttered, tossing the launcher aside. "Misato, this isn't working! Can we just move to melee already?"

"Negative, remain at range until you've exhausted all your ammunition," was the stoic response from the command centre.

Asuka huffed. "Artillery doesn't work, our own guns don't work, what are we even trying to do at this point besides waste time and money?"

"Less chatter."

Shinji sighed in sync with Asuka as Unit-02 hoisted a rocket launcher in each hand and continued firing.

"Almost out of guns myself," said Kensuke.

"Same here," added Rei.

"Once you're completely out, grab a melee weapon and hold position," Misato ordered. "Let it come to you then encircle it."

Half a minute later, the last gun hit the ground. Unit-02 picked up a Sonic Glaive, a long spear-like weapon with something similar to a Progressive Knife on the business end. Unit-03 chose some sort of large axe, while Unit-00 made do with a pair of Progressive Knives. Weapons in hand, the Evangelions stood and waited for Zeruel to approach.

Zeruel, for his part, stayed right where he was.

"...Uh, is he going to attack or what?" asked Shinji.

Asuka growled deep in her throat. "If he was a human I'd swear he was pretending to have fallen asleep."

Kensuke spoke up. "So what now? Do we stay or advance?"

"...Alright," replied Misato after a long silence. "Unit-02, advance first, and keep your AT-Field up. You've seen what it's capable of, but you're the one with the strongest defense. Rei and Kensuke, stay behind them until you get within melee range."

All four teenagers announced their confirmation of the order and Unit-02 began to walk towards Zeruel, Unit-00 and Unit-03 tucking themselves in right behind.

At the same time, Zeruel began to float towards them.

"Oh?" Asuka remarked with a raised eyebrow. "Now you're approaching us?"

"Good," said Kensuke. "Now we can beat the sh-... wait, what's going on?!"

Shinji glanced at the comm window. Something was happening in Kensuke's entry plug. A white device of some sort was lowering into view over the pilot seat.

"What the hell is this?!" Kensuke exclaimed in shock. "I'm being cut off from the Eva!"

Unit-02 looked over its shoulder to see that Unit-03 was slumped over, looking like it had lost power.

"Who activated the Dummy Plug?!" Doctor Akagi shouted. "Shut it down now!"

"It wasn't us! Something's in the system! The override code isn't getting through!"

"Pattern Orange detected! It's... it's inside Unit-03!"

"Did that Angel somehow infect the Eva?"

"Negative, no energy emissions were detected from it!"

Unit-03 began to jerk back to life, looking like a marionette that was missing some strings. Unit-00 turned to fully face the rogue Evangelion. "I will help Aida," said Rei. "Shinji, Asuka. You deal with the other one."

Looking forward, Shinji saw that Zeruel was still advancing. "Are you sure, Rei? If an Angel is in Unit-03 then-"

"Have faith in me. I will help Aida," Rei repeated. "Get going."

"...Fine, Wondergirl, but if you get in trouble I'm coming back there," said Asuka.

"Understood."

The two pilots of Unit-02 turned their attention on the approaching threat. "Well now," Asuka remarked. "Let's deal with this asshole quickly so we can help Wondergirl. Ready, Shinji?"

Shinji tightened his grip on his controls. "I'm right with you, Asuka."

Unit-02 surged forward, its two pilots easily falling into synchronisation with each other as well as Unit-02. As they advanced, something unfurled from the 'shoulders' of Zeruel to flop on the ground and trail behind it.

"...Paper arms?" Asuka wondered. "They look pretty damn weak."

"I doubt it," said Shinji. "Probably something clever up its sleeves."

"Har har."

The arms began to undulate before folding back up into Zeruel's body. A second later they shot forward, impacting so hard against Unit-02's AT-Field that the Evangelion was forced to a halt, even sliding backwards a few paces.

"Holy shit that was strong!" Asuka exclaimed.

"Asuka, look at those arms!" said Shinji, noticing what was happening to the trees and ground that the arms were now brushing against as they returned to Zeruel. Even the slightest touch was like a massive razor blade, cleanly slicing through wood, dirt, and even a road like they were made of tissue paper.

"Wanna bet that'll go right through our armour too?" Asuka murmured.

"I have a feeling there's nothing that would stop them besides our AT-Field," said Shinji. "And even then, all it would have to do is hit us a few times in a row to break through."

"Then we don't get hit."

Unit-02 rolled its shoulders, shifted its grip on the Sonic Glaive, then charged forward once again. Zeruel's arms flew towards them, but the Evangelion swerved to one side. By now they had almost reached Zeruel; its core was clearly exposed on its stomach, and Unit-02 angled the Glaive towards it.

"This is the-" Shinji began.

"- end for you-" Asuka continued.

"-you son of a bitch!" they finished together as they thrust the Glaive forwards.

Zeruel's AT-Field finally flared into life, but Unit-02's own barrier was like a blowtorch melting it away. The Glaive hit the core and-

Some sort of dome closed over the red sphere at the absolute last second, stopping the Glaive's momentum dead. The shaft snapped in two, unable to withstand the built up kinetic energy. A split second later, Unit-02's bulk slammed into Zeruel's body, sending it flying backwards as the quick-thinking pilots turned the aborted spear thrust into a tackle. Entangled, the two colossi slid across the ground for several hundred meters, kicking up tons of dirt.

Before they could even come to a stop, Unit-02 was laying into Zeruel, smashing red fists into its face over and over. One of Zeruel's arms shot out wildly, barely missing Unit-02's right arm but still slicing right through the side of the Evangelion's stomach.

Both pilots screamed in pain, clapping a hand over their sides as their high sync ratios came back to bite them. That moment's distraction was all Zeruel needed to wrap an arm around Unit-02's torso and hurl it away. The Evangelion tumbled gracelessly through the air before smashing into the wall of the Geofront and falling to the ground in an undignified heap.

Fighting through the pain, Shinji forced his eyes open to see Zeruel slowly advancing, its arms flailing about on either side, churning up the ground as the Angel roared. Beyond, he could just barely see the other two Evangelions fighting each other. Unit-03 had somehow grown two more arms and was sweeping them about, preventing Rei from being able getting close with Unit-00's knives. The best she could do was slice at the arms, which wasn't achieving much.

Their fight moved behind Zeruel, and Shinji turned his attention back to it. As much as he wished he could run over there and help Rei and Kensuke, there was a much more immediate threat to deal with.

"Misato," said Asuka, her voice low and deadly. "Disable the safeties. We need that extra sync now."

Shinji inhaled sharply in surprise. He had almost completely forgotten that their maximum sync ratio was being throttled for their own safety. Had they already reached what was normally their limit?

"...Are you sure?" Misato sounded worried; not something that generally happened on duty even in the midst of combat. "You know what that would do to you and Shinji."

"We can deal with that after this bastard is dead and buried. It has to die now; no telling how long Rei can fend off Unit-03."

"...Understood. Rits?"

"Already working on it. Dual entry plug safety systems disabled in three, two, one..."

Boiling ice assaulted Shinji's abdomen as he felt the full force of Unit-02's pain, but she set her jaw and refused to cry out. Already he could feel his mind begin to meld, two becoming one as they focused on one single goal: defeating the enemy. Unit-02 punched the ground and used that arm to lever themself back to their feet. A shoulder pylon opened up and the Progressive Knife within was retrieved.

Zeruel halted. Its arms folded up into its body and the Angel leaned forward slightly as it prepared for its next attack. Unit-02 crouched down slightly, shifting the knife to a reverse grip. They dug their feet into the ground, and then shot forward like a cannonball.

There was at least two kilometres separating them and their target. Unit-02 crossed that distance faster than they could blink. At the same time, Zeruel's arms flashed past on either side, and red warnings lit up the entry plug. The power cable was ejected without even a thought a split second later. They didn't need more than a minute now.

The Evangelion's fist met Zeruel's face just as its eyes flashed, and a cross-shaped explosion lit up the sky above them. The force of the strike sent Zeruel flying backwards end over end just as it had done to them a moment ago. Unit-02 skidded to a halt then leapt into the air, flying after their target with the knife now held in both hands. Zeruel hit the ground, carving another deep gash into the earth. Its arms returned to the Angel's body and it flung out again towards the flying Evangelion.

It missed.

The Progressive Knife buried itself up to the hilt in Zeruel's mask, and it was only then that Unit-02 noticed their left arm had disappeared.

...It had not missed.

They didn't feel a thing as they punched the knife deeper into Zeruel's face, the Angel thrashing about and shrieking as blood sprayed from the wound like a fountain. They stood up and stomped on the knife for good measure, and the mask cracked in half. As an afterthought, the other shoulder pylon opened up and they fired their entire stock of spikes into Zeruel's shattered face as well.

"Quick! Finish it off before it regenerates!"

The shout brought them back to their senses somewhat, and Unit-02 glanced at the core. The blade of the Sonic Glaive was still there, pinned by the domed hatches protecting the Angel's sole weak point. Their foot went up and down again, kicking the blade into the core, but it remained stuck. Frustrated, they stomped even harder, and the blade finally shifted. They raised their foot one more time...

And it stayed there as the lights went out in the entry plug.

"What the hell?!" they shouted. "That wasn't even close to a minute!"

"That... was only fourteen seconds," Doctor Akagi quietly said, as Unit-02 slowly toppled over backwards, landing spreadeagled on its back. "You burned through a full minute's worth of power in fourteen seconds without even using an AT-Field."

Only then did Shinji and Asuka begin to scream in pain, both of them clutching at their left ar-

At the stump of their left arms; the now-empty plugsuit sleeves flopping against their body.

Through the mind-numbing pain and their own screams, Shinji just barely heard somebody shout in horror.

And then somebody else cried out. "It's getting back up!"

With only emergency power, Shinji couldn't see outside. But sight wasn't needed as he heard the sound of screeching metal and felt Unit-02 get jerked about.

"Unit-02's core has been exposed!"

Trying to fight through the pain, Shinji reached for the controls with his remaining hand, desperately tugging on it as he tried to get the Evangelion to do something.

"Nein nein nein neinneinneinneinneinneinnein!"

Behind him, he could hear Asuka trying the same thing.

"Beweg dich, verflucht! Beweg dich, du verschissener Schrotthaufen! Ich werde nicht wegen einem scheiß Akku hier sterben!"

Something began to punch Unit-02, drawing cries of shock from the bridge. Even though he was disconnected, Shinji could feel something starting to crack.

"Bitte beweg dich!" Asuka was starting to beg now. "Beweg dich! Bitte! Wir werden hier sterben wenn du dich nicht rührst!"

Shinji suddenly felt a deep pulse throughout the entry plug, like a massive heartbeat. He turned in his seat to look at Asuka, opening his mouth to ask a question...

Only to see a look of shock on his co-pilots face a second before Asuka... simply disintegrated, her atoms seemingly melting away into the LCL, leaving only an empty plugsuit floating in place.

Before he could even begin to process what had just happened, static began to fill Shinji's head, building louder and louder like radio feedback and accompanied by a sharp, rising tone. As it built up higher and higher, he opened his mouth to scream.

"Gyahhhhhh!"

And found himself staring at a stark white hospital wall.

Shinji blinked slowly, the noise gone from his head like it had never been there. He brought up a hand to rub at his eyes, and jumped in shock as he realised it was his left hand.

That clinched it then; this was obviously a hallucination. The Angel was messing with his head. Looking around, Shinji saw that he appeared to be back in the Geofront hospital wing, dressed in a patient's gown. His right arm had an IV drip attached to it, and he pulled the needle out. As much as he could probably do with a break, he needed to get back to reality before Unit-02 was destroyed.

He also had to find Asuka.

Shinji got out of bed, stumbling hard the moment he put weight on his legs and just barely managing to avoid toppling, but he still ended up knocking a cart over as his arm flailed about. He took a deep breath, shifting his feet apart to help keep his balance, and looked up as the door slid open.

The nondescript woman in a nurse's outfit gasped in shock, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. Shinji huffed in bemusement. This hallucination wasn't even trying; the nurse looked so incredibly bland she would have had a hard time standing out in an empty room.

"You shouldn't be out of bed, Mister Ikari!" she said, stepping into the room and putting a hand on his upper arm.

Shinji shook it off. "I don't have time for this. Where's Asuka?" he demanded.

The nurse tilted her head in confusion. "Um... pardon? I don't know what you just said. Could you please return to your bed?" she asked, reaching for him again.

He batted aside the hand. "Hell with it, I'll find her myself," he muttered at the illusion as he stormed out of the room.

"Mister Ikari, wait!"

Shinji rolled his eyes. "No point, you're not even freakin' real."

He set off down the corridor, checking the plates on every door as he passed. While there were a few with names, none of them were the name he was looking for. So this dream was going to make him work to locate Asuka? Fine. No generic, faceless mook was about to stop him.

The two orderlies that turned the corner ahead of him, however, certainly looked like they were going to try. They split up slightly as they approached, covering both sides of the corridor. Shinji grinned slightly as he recalled the Angel he and Asuka had to dance to beat. While he didn't have a partner this time, these two weren't going to be hard to slip past.

He feinted one way then the other, then skipped backwards as one of them lunged at him. Shinji hopped over that one and continued along the corridor, sparing a look over his shoulder as the other orderly began to run at him. Shinji began running too, only to slam into a wall made of beef. Rebounding, he barely had time to notice the mountain dressed in green scrubs before he was bodily picked up and pushed against the wall.

"Let me go you asshole!" Shinji shouted, spittle flying from his mouth onto the mountain's face. "I need to find Asuka!"

"I don't speak kraut, so shut your mouth!" the mountain shouted right back as the boring nurse from before approached with a syringe. Try as he might, Shinji could not squirm out of the mountain's grip as the needle drew closer to his arm.

Something flashed past his vision, and the syringe went flying down the corridor to crack open on the ground. The mountain relaxed his grip for a moment in surprise, and that was all Shinji needed to get free and try to run.

"Shinji!"

Only to run face first into a pair of smaller, softer mountains. The owner wrapped their arms around him and held him close.

"Shinji, it's okay! It's me, Misato!"

"Huh?" Shinji blinked stupidly, forcing his eyes to focus. He looked up into a familiar face. "Oh, so now this Angel's brought you along as well, Misato," he said, causing this new illusion to raise their eyebrows. "Can you please just let me go? I need to find Asuka."

"Uh, Shinji? Why are you speaking German?" asked the puzzled figment of his imagination.

"German?" Shinji shook his head in confusion. "Whatever. I need to find Asuka and get out of this stupid, unrealistic hallucination!"

"Halluzination?" Misato stared at him for a moment, before sighing. "Oh, hallucination. I should have realised. Hold on, this won't hurt a bit."

Out of the corner of his eye, Shinji had only a moment to see a hand raise up before flying towards him. His cheek erupted into fire as his head jerked sideways from the impact of the slap. He fell on his ass, cradling his cheek with both hands. "Ow, goddamnit! What happened to 'won't hurt a bit'?" he shouted, hissing in pain.

"I think you'll find what I said was perfectly accurate," Misato stolidly remarked, grabbing him by his arm.

Too stunned to resist, Shinji let himself get hauled to his feet and dragged down the corridor. "Wait, this is all real?"

"Yep, as real as it gets I'm afraid," said Misato.

"Oh. Well. Um..." Shinji's face began to turn red, and not just from the wake-up slap. "In that case can you please let me go? I need to apologise to that nurse."

Misato stopped and stared at him for a moment, before releasing her iron grip. Shinji turned to the nurse, who was standing right behind him and jerked back slightly as she received his attention. "I'm sorry for how I acted. You were just so bland I thought you weren't real."

The nurse got a confused look on her face. "...Excuse me?"

Misato hastily stepped in. "He said he's sorry for how he acted. He thought he was hallucinating."

"Ooohh, okay." A sunny look dawned on the nurse's face. "It's alright, no harm done!"

"Now could you give us some privacy please?" Misato requested as they reached Shinji's hospital room. "I need to get him up to speed on what's happened."

The nurse nodded. "Alright, I'll let the doctors know that he's awake," she said before heading off.

Inside the room, Shinji slowly sat back down on the bed. "What happened?" he asked. "One second I'm in the entry plug staring at Asuka... disintegrating, the next I'm... here. With my arm back." He raised his left arm and checked it over. There seemed to be no sign it had ever disappeared. Every slight blemish he knew by heart was still there, even the long white scar from his unfortunate brush with one of his teacher's rose bushes.

"It's... going to take a little bit," Misato hesitantly began, pushing Shinji's legs up onto the bed. "Might as well get comfy."

"Whatever else happened can wait!" Shinji insisted. "First I wanna know where Asuka is!"

"Wow," Misato remarked, grinning slightly and quirking a rainbow. "You've really got a one track mind right now, haven't you?" Her expression turned serious as Shinji continued staring at her. "Alright, alright. Worst news first I guess.

"Shinji... Asuka was absorbed by Unit-02 during your fight with Zeruel. She's trapped within the Eva."