Chapter 45 - You Will Destroy Them
"Answer me, or I will be forced to eliminate you."
Asuka and Shinji stared at Rei. She was acting just like she had months ago, when Asuka had decided to introduce herself to her fellow pilot. Just like back then, Rei was suspicious from the start, saying strange things. This time though, she was also threatening violence. And, of course, there were her eyes, glowing red even through the bandage covering that side of her face, removing any possible lingering doubt in their minds about Rei not being fully human.
Rei raised her hand, palm out towards them. He suddenly remembered the hideous feeling of the Third Angel jamming its energy lance into his face over and over. She suddenly remembered the sensation of being blasted by the Fifth Angel's beam. They both remembered losing an arm to Zeruel. They knew very well what the Angels were capable of, and now their friend -former friend?- was threatening them with what could very well be the same kind of power.
"You will answer me now," Rei demanded. "I will not-"
"Calm down!" she said. "We're pilots, like you!"
Rei's hand dipped slightly. "...You two are Eva pilots as well?" She blinked, staring at her for several tense seconds. "Then you must be the Second Child, Pilot Soryu."
He took a careful step towards her. "Yeah. Don't you remember us? We're your friends."
Rei frowned. "I know of you, Pilot Soryu, but not you." She turned to glare at him. "What are you?"
She sighed and put a hand to her head. "Memory loss, on top of everything else. Just freaking great..."
"Memory loss?" Rei echoed. "But that would mean-"
Her head abruptly twitched sideways and she stumbled as if struck from behind, almost colliding with him. Rei quickly stood back up and stared at them, looking somewhat confused and almost accusatory, then swiftly clapped both hands on her head as she bent over and groaned in pain.
"Rei?!" they exclaimed together as their friend dropped to her knees. She quickly picked Rei up; he tried to help but his legs gave out almost immediately. All he could do was struggle his way to a chair while she gently laid Rei on the bed. Rei seemed to be completely unaware of them, curling up into a ball still clutching her head.
It took five long and nerve-wracking minutes before Rei slowly began to uncurl herself. She stared up at the ceiling, one hand on her forehead.
"I see..." she said. "I am now the third. It appears that my plan worked."
"Rei?" they said at the same time. "Are you alright now?"
Rei gave the question some thought. "It could be argued that I am now better than when you came into the room. Your presence assisted in triggering my dormant memories." Her eyes shifted between the two of them, and she frowned. "How much of... me... do you know about now?"
"Doctor Akagi told Misato and I everything," she replied. "Misato didn't believe the cover story, and I just sort of... sneaked after them. Afterwards, I told Shinji what I knew."
Rei turned her head to look properly at him. "So you know who I was made in the image of..."
He nodded, but his eyes darted to one side, unable to maintain eye contact. "Yes. You were created from my mother's DNA. I... don't know what that means for our relationship."
"...Are we no longer friends?" Rei almost sounded... upset.
"No!" he instantly exclaimed. "I just... are you my mother? A sister? Cousin? What does this mean?"
She slapped her forehead. He belatedly realised that their synchronisation was beginning to wear off. "Does it really matter that much?" Asuka groaned. "We were friends before, why would we not be friends now?"
"Because of... what I am," said Rei. "What I have been created for."
From opposite sides of the bed, Shinji and Asuka glanced at each other. Rei had been created to be an Evangelion pilot, hadn't she? Why would they be upset about that?
"It doesn't matter why you were created," said Asuka. "You're our friend, and we don't know anything that would change that."
A weight seemed to lift from Rei's shoulders. She sighed with relief. "Thank you," she murmured.
"It's fine, Rei," said Shinji. "But... surely there was a better way than sacrificing yourself like that. A way that didn't end with us thinking we'd lost you!"
Asuka didn't speak, but she did direct a disapproving glare at Rei.
Rei looked down at her body. "No, there was not. My body was falling apart and I did not have long to live. Nothing could have prevented it. Doctor Akagi would have had to transfer my consciousness to a new body one way or the other."
"So you went out in a blaze of glory, because Doctor Akagi could just claim you 'miraculously survived'," said Asuka, bringing her hands up to make air quotes.
"I apologise for the pain I caused the two of you, but it would have been impossible to quickly explain, and dangerous for you to know. That is why I spoke as if I were truly about to die."
Asuka ran a hand down her face. "Goddamnit. I'm not happy about that, but at the same time I'm glad you're safe. I just wish the same could be said for Glasses."
Rei began to nod her agreement, but then she suddenly stiffened. Both Asuka and Shinji immediately noticed. "Rei? What's the matter?"
"...You should go and visit Pilot Aida," said Rei.
"Kensuke? But-"
Rei cut Shinji off with a wave of a hand. "I do not wish to be rude, but right now I need to rest and get my memories properly seated. Normally I would have remained in isolation for a couple of days, to prevent what you saw from happening."
Shinji and Asuka looked at each other across the bed. It had been a while since they'd last checked in on their other fellow pilot. Asuka soon shrugged and stood up to head towards the door. Shinji also stood up... and would have fallen over had Asuka not quickly grabbed hold of him.
"This... might take a little while," he weakly remarked.
That didn't matter. If he still couldn't walk yet then she would help him until he could. Something for which he was deeply appreciative.
...He absolutely did not sense the blush on her face. Or else.
With some effort they began to make their way through NERV. It was slow going at first, but gradually his steps became just a little more steady. He still couldn't keep his balance on his own, but they were in no great rush. Numerous medical staff passed them by, but nobody seemed inclined to hinder them, merely stepping aside as he limped past guided by her steady hand.
XXX
"I regret everything. I regret everything I've ever done."
If anybody had been in the room with Misato, they would not have been in the least bit surprised at her first words upon regaining consciousness. As it was, the room was empty; no big-brained friend to tell her what was happening, no pair of teenagers being awkward around each other, not knowing what they could have if they just took one little step.
And no stupid, stupid, stupidunshaven man to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright.
All she had for company was yet another splitting headache. Thankfully it was not a hangover headache, indicating that she had fallen off the wagon and done something stupid while drunk. Misato began to dig around in her memory, trying to work out how she had come to be in this room and... strapped to the bed.
...Oh.
She had done something stupid. While not drunk. In a fit of stress and anger she had essentially broken every single gun safety law and destroyed a critical piece of equipment. Yeah, she probably wasn't going anywhere for a while. Especially considering the fact that she killed all of those-
Misato tried to put a hand over her mouth only for the straps to get in the way. The best she could do was keep her mouth tightly closed as vomit tried to escape. A bit still managed to dribble out, but she swallowed the rest down with a great force of effort. And with her hands cuffed, she couldn't reach the glass of water sitting next to her bed. She would have to deal with the hideous taste in her mouth until somebody bothered to show up.
The door completely failed to open, and somebody completely failed to walk in, despite Misato's hopes. She sighed, and tried to get some saliva into her mouth to swish it clean while she waited for something to happen.
XXX
Toji sighed as he flopped down on the floor in front of the television. The apartment building his family had managed to rent on such short notice was not exactly in top condition. The damn elevator was currently being repaired, and the new Suzuhara home was on the tenth floor. The Horaki family hadn't fared much better, being on the ninth floor, and Toji had of course helped them move in despite already being tired from shifting the Suzuhara family's belongings.
Some of which they'd had to leave behind, such as Toji's sports gear and Nozomi's toys and games. A car could only carry so much, after all, and it wasn't like they could risk going back for more.
Some of the people from Tokyo-3 weren't so lucky. The government hadn't been prepared for a sudden influx of what amounted to refugees in their own country and were scrambling to find places for them to live. Tokyo-2 residents were complaining, despite being close enough to Tokyo-3 to know that the city had suffered substantial damage in recent months.
Hikari's father had initially been hesitant about taking Misato's pet penguin with them, but between Nozomi, Kodama once she saw Pen-pen, and of course Hisae, it had been impossible to say no. They hadn't been able to fit Pen-pen's special refrigerator into their moving plans, but the little guy didn't seem all that concerned yet.
There was a knock at the door. Before Toji could haul himself back to his feet, Hisae was already rushing to the door. "Hey! No running!" he called out to her.
While NERV's doctors had said that she was able to move around under her own power now, they had insisted that she not do any strenuous activity until she had completed the last of her physical therapy at Tokyo-2's hospital. Despite her insistence that she felt as good as new, Toji and their father had been asked to make sure she didn't push herself too hard.
Hisae groaned loudly, pointedly glaring at Toji over her shoulder as she exaggeratedly took slower steps. She could complain all she liked, but if he had anything to say about it she wouldn't even so much as walk quickly until a doctor said so. The last thing he wanted was for her to have an accident and get put back in a hospital bed. Especially since it wouldn't be a NERV hospital.
"Hi Hisae. Hello Toji," said Hikari as Hisae let her in.
"Uh, hey Class Rep," Toji said, flushing slightly at the shy look she gave him.
"You probably shouldn't be calling me that anymore," said Hikari. "We're not even at school at the moment, and I most likely won't be a class representative when we get into school here."
"Er, sorry. Force o' habit, ya know?"
"What's wrong with using my name, anyway? Especially now that..."
Their blushes deepened as the conversation slammed to a halt. Hisae stared at the two of them for a second and then giggled, which really didn't help matters.
"So!" Toji exclaimed to drown out his sister. "Why, uh... what's up? Need me to move more stuff?"
"No no," said Hikari, waving her hands. "You've done more than enough. I was just popping in to see what your family's plans for dinner were, because I wanted to make something for all of us-"
"Yes!" interrupted Hisae, and began bouncing excitedly. "We're doing that tonight, Big Bro!"
Their father chose that moment to come out of the bathroom. "What are we doing tonight?" he asked.
"Hikari's gonna do dinner for us, dad!" said Hisae.
The two Suzuhara men glanced at each other. Both of them were still exhausted from having to go up and down ten flights of stairs multiple times. Hisae had helped as well, carrying smaller stuff, but she had needed to be told numerous times not to take two steps at a time and not to try and race up and down the stairs.
Someone else handling dinner sounded like a miracle.
"No arguments here," said Dad. "Will you be fine cooking for both families on your own, though?"
"Trust me, Dad, she'll be fine," said Toji. "Hell, she could have probably fit Ken in too if... well..."
Even Hisae's energy was dampened at the mention of Kensuke. He should have been here with them, if he was too injured to pilot anymore. But NERV refused to say what was actually wrong with him.
"...Akera actually came up to me before we left and asked where he was," said Hikari, thoughtfully. "You know, the girl who wanted him to take photos of her."
"Akera?" Toji quirked an eyebrow. "Why would she be asking about him? Their deal was done, wasn't it?"
"Maybe she wasn't done with him, in a way," said Hikari.
"Ya mean she might have... had a thing for Ken?" Toji stared off into space, struggling to fit that idea into his worldview.
Dad snorted. "This may come as a shock to you, son, but girls actually have varying tastes in prospective partners."
His words brought a little laughter to the room, but the mood soon turned sombre again.
"Damn, I hope Ken'll be alright," Toji sadly remarked. "Couldn't get anything out of Shin-man or Soryu, and now when I try calling them their numbers seem to be blocked by NERV."
"He'll be fine!" Hisae insisted with all the determination she could muster. "NERV looked after me and got my legs working again, they can fix whatever's wrong with Kensuke too!"
Toji looked at her, unsure of what to say. While she was right that NERV had stepped in to quite literally get her back on her feet, what Hisae didn't know was that Kensuke had needed to twist their arm to get them to do it. Of course, she was 'only' a civilian while Kensuke was a pilot, but Toji couldn't quite bring himself to trust them.
Then again, what choice did he have?
XXX
Technician Nagisa glanced up from his book at the readouts on the screen in front of him. All of the numbers and bars were exactly where they should be, and nothing was happening in the quarantine chamber, so he returned his attention to the book.
The Lilim were such fascinating creatures. Not content with the reality they lived in, many of them created their own universes inside their head and then put that universe on paper for others to read, or turned it into an audio-visual experience. Other Lilim would lap it up, and then some would even be inspired to make their own offshoots of those universes.
And what imaginations some creators had! The author whose book Kaworu was currently reading had created a series spanning almost a dozen novels about a world that sat on the back of a turtle in space. That had taken quite a while to wrap his head around. The author seemed more interested in the lives of the people on that world than explaining the existence of such a thing. Right now he was halfway through the story of a police officer who had been thrown back in time. Something about that concept poked at a part of Kaworu's mind, but for the life of him he couldn't work out why. There were so many other universes to explore, but he was just one person, and there was just not enough time.
And speaking of time...
Something else poked at his mind, this one much more immediate. Kaworu sighed and put the book down. He had been hoping to finish the story, to find out what happened, but fate had other plans.
He didn't know exactly what SEELE had done to be able to slip him into this fortress. Although judging by what he knew of them, it had likely involved at least one death so he could take the luckless Lilim's place. Thankfully nobody at NERV seemed to care about his appearance, which he had initially believed would be a red flag.
That could well be because of a certain other, like him but not, that had free reign of the place. Kaworu had not had the chance to meet her, despite his best efforts. The closest he had gotten had been when she had waited outside the quarantine room while her red-haired compatriot had come in to check on the unfortunate Pilot Aida.
He... may have focused the camera on her a bit longer than necessary.
If Kaworu could have had his way, he would just leave NERV and vanish. There was so much of this world he wanted to experience, not just the books and other media. But SEELE had a hold on him, and he could not ignore his progenitor's will forever either.
Returning his attention to the current situation, Kaworu's hands flashed over the keyboard for a minute, and when he was done... the numbers and bars looked exactly the same.
Exactly as they should be, for just long enough.
XXX
He opened his eyes. He was still in the metal coffin, still unsure of where exactly he was. There was nothing to hear, or even see through the tiny window in front of his eyes, blurry as his vision was. What little he could feel of his body was in pain, his limbs almost completely unresponsive. He couldn't even be sure of his last memory.
After either a minute or an eternity, a muffled sound finally reached his ears. He stared through the window, but it seemed like another eternity passed before something appeared on the other side.
"You're awake. How about that," remarked the white-haired man. He leaned away and did something, and there was a hiss of escaping air as the coffin opened up.
He tried to sit up, but only managed to raise his head slightly. His vision went sideways just as a hand came down on his chest, pushing him back down.
"Take it easy, you've been unconscious for quite a while," said the man, then began to busy himself out of sight. "Just relax, wait until you've fully woken up."
As sensation began to creep back into his limbs, he realised that the man was loosening thick straps around his body. When the last of them fell away, the man put an arm behind him and a hand on his shoulder and gently pulled him up to a sitting position.
"Can you at least remember your name right now?" the man asked, a hint of a smirk in his voice.
He looked down at his torso, slowly shifting his arms and legs as his body realised it was time to wake up and get moving. After a minute, he blinked slowly and turned his head towards the man.
"You know exactly who I am, Tabris."
"Of course I do," said Tabris, giving him a smug look that quickly faded. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"
"...Strange," Bardiel admitted, looking down again at the body he was inhabiting. "I can't see very well. Human bodies are so... different. And unfortunately-" He cut himself off with a scowl.
The plan had seemed perfect. Lay low inside the mockery of Father, hold back from attacking at the first opportunity, and instead wait for Zeruel to attack so that he could strike in the confusion. The false flesh had offered no resistance to Bardiel, primed as it was for one of His children to join with Him. The Lilim inside, on the other hand, had managed to get a warning out before he could be silenced, because Bardiel hadn't been able to immediately assimilate him too.
"Unfortunately, you can't do anything now," Tabris finished for him. "You've merged into that body, and thus can no longer join with Father."
"That was not exactly my intention. The plan, after my attack failed, was to quickly consume it, recover my energy, and escape. But somehow, it managed to resist me.
"The human body has a surprisingly resilient immune system," said Tabris. "At one point it seemed like it might actually consume you. To be honest, I'm shocked you didn't turn into a puddle of slurry."
Bardiel nodded grimly. "Yes. But now I am trapped, and I can feel that this body... the battle for supremacy has severely depleted it. I don't have much time left; it- I am losing energy fast. Like a cup of water with a hole in the bottom." He looked up at Tabris and sighed. "Take me to Father. I may not be able to join with him like this, but... I want to see him before I die."
Tabris stared sadly at him for a moment, before echoing the sigh. "Of course. Do you think you can manage walking?"
Bardiel snorted. "I will greet Father on my own two feet, not being carried like a mewling infant."
"Very well. Let us proceed then, before the Lilim discover us."
XXX
They were nearly there. He was doing well. It was even starting to seem like he was recovering somewhat. She didn't mind, since it wasn't like she had anywhere to be right now.
He was still thankful for her help. He did feel like he was getting some movement back. Perhaps by the time they got back to his room he wouldn't need her help.
Again, it wasn't like she minded or anything...
Slow as they were, it felt like it took hours for them to get from the hospital to the sector that contained the quarantine chamber. Of course, it had to be out of the way simply due to the purpose of the room, but that didn't make things any less irritating.
The airlock to the quarantine chamber was thankfully just ahead. One way or another, this was most likely going to be the last time they came down here anyway.
That was a sobering thought, considering NERV hadn't been able to do anything for Kensuke.
They shouldn't give up hope yet, since there was still-
The door opened. Technician Nagisa stepped out into the hallway, looking the opposite direction to them. He turned the other way, and jolted slightly upon seeing them standing there. Nagisa blinked a few times and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by someone else leaving the chamber.
"...Kensuke?" they called out together.
The young man peered at them. Not only was he not wearing glasses, but it was also impossible to miss the fact that his eyes were now the same bright red as Technician Nagisa.
"Whoever they are," he said, turning to Nagisa, "it looks like your plan is already starting to fail. Not even a minute has passed and we're already discovered."
"Whoever-" he began, puzzled.
"-we are?" she finished, angrily.
Judging by how familiar he was being with Nagisa, that was not their friend standing there. Nagisa grinned at them, as if he knew exactly what they were thinking, while Kensuke -or rather the Angel wearing his skin- stared at them.
"...Israfel?" he muttered.
"This has not altered the plan in the slightest," Nagisa interrupted, turning away from the pilots and proceeding down the corridor. "We have plenty of time to get down there."
The Angel stared at them a moment longer, then scoffed and began to follow him. "If you say so, Tabris."
Stunned, it took her a few seconds before her legs would move. She charged forward, intent on putting the Angel who had stolen her fellow pilot's body down for good this time. He crashed to the ground almost instantly as Asuka let him go, her sudden movement not helping Shinji's still-recovering legs. The sound of him hitting the floor brought Asuka up short, and her eyes darted between Shinji and the escaping Angels.
Considering the circumstances, it was clear where her priorities laid.
Asuka rushed back to Shinji, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him back to his feet. Before he could thank her she yanked his arm around her shoulder, grabbed him by the waist, and began dragging him back to the elevator. Thankfully, it was still waiting on their floor.
In the elevator, Asuka worked her phone out of her pocket with her free hand and opened it up. Her list of phone contacts was small, which made it easy to find the one she needed.
"Doctor, it's Pilot Soryu!" she said the moment the call connected. For Shinji's benefit, she activated the speaker setting. "The Angel took over Aida's body and left quarantine!"
"What?!" Doctor Akagi's shout filled the elevator car.There was some muffled movement and tapping of buttons. "The quarantine systems aren't showing anything out of the ordinary. Are you positive?"
"Shinji and I both saw it! Aida walked out of the airlock with that white-haired technician, and both of them had red eyes! They mentioned they had plenty of time to 'get down there', whatever that means, and then walked off."
"Get down... oh shit. Alright, I'm going to believe you because I can't think of a reason you'd lie about something like this. Get into your plugsuits and head to the cage as soon as possible. I'm prepping Unit-02 n-... Sir?"
Asuka heard what might have been Commander Ikari's voice, but couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Both of them? ... But what about ... I see. Very well, I'll give the order."
"Doctor?" said Shinji. "What's going on?"
"Slight change of plans. We're sending Unit-02 and Unit-01 down."
"Both?!" Asuka glanced at Shinji, disbelief written on both their faces.
"That's what the Commander ordered." There was more muffled talking. "Ah. Considering what your targets are, an AT-Field isn't going to be much of a factor. Still, you will need to cover Unit-01 if anything unexpected happens."
"Of course. Anything else?" Asuka glanced up at the display showing the elevator's ascent. It was going too goddamn slow.
There was a pause, and then Ritsuko continued with what sounded like trepidation in her voice. "Yes, there is one other thing... You two will be entering a very highly restricted area. Only three people are permitted down there, and none of them are you two, but we don't have a choice. Besides, you already know more than you should thanks to that little excursion we had. Do what it takes to neutralise the enemy and then immediately return. Is that clear?"
Asuka narrowed her eyes, and she could sense Shinji doing the same. They both knew what kind of skeletons NERV kept in their closet now. "...Crystal, Doctor."
After reaching the changing room and getting into their plugsuits -thankfully Shinji was able to handle that on his own- there was just the final run to the cages. Asuka breathed a sigh of relief once the door to the cages was in sight. In the first cage, containing Unit-01, she ran past the people rushing to finish preparations on the Evangelion, up the gantry steps, hopped into the entry plug and almost threw Shinji into his seat.
"Right, let's do this," she said. A sudden hand gripping her wrist halted her as she was about to leave. She turned to see Shinji staring intensely at her.
He seemed like he was about to say something, but then gave up with a shake of his head before yanking Asuka back towards him. Before she could react, he gently placed a kiss on her forehead. She stared at him, blinking rapidly, before remembering that they had a job to do. She spent the entire run to Unit-02 fighting down the blush.
A blush that he absolutely did not mimic.
There was no time for pre-start checks with Angels already in the base. The Evangelions quickly came to life, and he immediately felt a familiar and welcome presence in the back of his mind.
"What's happening, Shinji?" his mother asked.
He focused his thoughts on what had just happened while Unit-01 disengaged from the cage locks.
"Oh dear..."
Unit-01 strode out of the cage and headed for the elevator, nodding at Unit-02 as she joined him. Doctor Akagi's voice came through the comms. "We only have one elevator that goes down to Terminal Dogma, and there's no time to send you down safely. Both of you get on now, and we'll just pray the elevator can handle the weight for the trip down."
They decided they didn't want to know what would happen if the elevator broke. Unit-02, getting there first, locked itself into the elevator and then grabbed Unit-01's arms. The elevator shot downwards, and they both felt the blush returning at the close proximity, despite being in separate Evangelions.
Mum giggled in his mind's ear. "This may not be the right time, but I'm very happy for you two." Through their connection, he could sense her mother saying something similar.
Just as he was about to wonder if their mothers were able to communicate with each other, Doctor Akagi interrupted the moment. "The two Angels have reached Terminal Dogma's floor."
XXX
Tabris and Bardiel stared up at the giant doors blocking their path towards Father. The time was almost upon them. For Bardiel, now starting to sweat and pant, he could at least die under the gaze of the one who gave him life instead of hidden away in the Lilim's fortress. For Tabris, his duty was to join with Father to, somewhat regretfully, wipe the Lilim away and claim this planet for his own people.
Well, mostly regretfully. He would certainly shed no tears over ending the existence of the men who sent him here, thinking they could control him to bring about their scenario.
"Are we going to just smash our way in?" asked Bardiel. "I won't be able to help as I am now."
"No, there is no need for that," replied Tabris. Originally he had intended to commandeer one of the pieces of Father's flesh and bring it down here, since they supposedly had the codes to access this place, but during his 'employment' a much easier way had made itself known. "All we need to do is ask."
"Ask?"
"Yes. Like this." Tabris stepped towards the panel that he had no chance of guessing the code for. "Could you let us in?"
The panel had no apparent means of detecting a voice at all. Yet, somehow, the screen flashed green and the doors slowly began to groan open. Tabris turned to grin at Bardiel, who could only stare back in confusion.
"Is one of the Lilim a turncoat?" Bardiel guessed.
"No, not at all," replied Tabris, before turning back to the panel. "It's one of us. Right, Ireul?"
The panel flashed once more before going dark.
"And now, the MAGI is probably attempting to eradicate them for good," Tabris continued. "But they managed to perform one last act that... will..."
The doors were now open enough for them to see into the chamber. A giant white figure hung from a cross by bolts driven into its hands. A giant white figure that was absolutely not who Tabris was here for.
"What is this?" Bardiel hissed angrily. "Why is she here? Where is Father?!"
"I... don't know." For once in his life, Tabris was utterly baffled. How could this be? Had NERV somehow managed to trick every single Angel into coming here by using the Betrayer, not Father? Frowning, he stepped into the chamber and began to look around. Most of the floor was dominated by large trenches and holes, seemingly arranged in some sort of pattern. As he drew closer, he saw just what they contained.
Corpses. Old, rotten bodies similar to the false flesh sent against his brethren, but with only the barest fraction of an echo of Father. Tabris reached out, attempting to manipulate that echo, but the corpse piles did not so much as shudder. They had certainly been down here a very long time.
"Disgusting," Bardiel spat, his weary eyes taking everything in. "We would be doing them a favour if we merged with her, even if it would not continue our lineage."
"I am starting to consider it myself," Tabris replied, looking up at the Betrayer herself.
SEELE had to have known she was here, and yet they had claimed it was Father that was drawing in his brethren. That it was Father constantly tugging at his mind, even from deep inside SEELE's facility, urging him to do whatever it took to reach Him.
The sound of heavy footsteps drew their attention away from the macabre scene. Tabris and Bardiel turned around to see two giants heading right for them. Tabris held up a hand towards them and projected his barrier outward towards the doorway. The Evangelions smacked into it, causing the barrier to flare into visibility. Unit-01 began trying to punch its way through, while Unit-02 manifested its own barrier -barriers- to try and push through. Though he could feel some strain from the attack, Tabris had managed to buy some time to think about what to do.
"Are you going to fight them?" asked Bardiel. "I can't do a damn thing as I am."
Tabris stared at the behemoths for a moment, then sighed. "No, there is no point. We have failed at the last. Any attempt now would simply delay the inevitable. Besides..." He glanced up and to the right. "Strong as they are, with their light shining so brightly, they're still not the most dangerous enemy who has us in their sights."
Bardiel followed his gaze. Up on a platform, glaring down at them, was what looked like a blue-haired Lilim, but he could sense her aura as powerfully as if she were standing right next to them. And unlike the giant slumbering on the cross behind them, she looked all too ready and eager to erase them from existence.
"Well," he remarked, turning his attention back to the red and purple giants. "What now?"
"...We hope to die with some dignity," was the simple answer from Tabris, dropping his hand back to his side.
XXX
The AT-Field vanished, and the two Evangelions stumbled forward at the sudden lack of resistance. They quickly recovered and carefully approached the two Angels, Unit-01 staying slightly behind Unit-02 but keeping its weapon trained on them. Their mothers were urging caution as well.
He paused upon entering the room, slowly looking around. He... knew this place. The moment he noticed the giant on the cross was when it clicked. This was what he had seen during the disastrous attempt to dual sync with Rei. What she had almost begged him to stay quiet about. She had to remind him that now wasn't the time to worry about it. There was a much more immediate problem.
'Nagisa' slowly raised his hands above his head, indicating to whatever was puppeteering Kensuke's body to do the same. Despite the apparent display of surrender, they were still suspicious. Their targets were Angels, after all, even if they weren't showing hostility. 'Nagisa' had managed to put up an incredibly strong AT-Field that even she had not been able to do anything about. Before, the monsters they had destroyed had been just that: monsters. But what was in front of them now were two thinking, reasoning beings. They still looked like their friend and fellow pilot, and the friendly, approachable technician that had watched over him. Destroying an attacking creature was one thing, but killing a person that was now surrendering?
They both decided to kick the problem upstairs. "Command, this is Unit-02. The Angels are surrendering. What are our orders?"
The only response they got was a hissing radio. She tried repeating the request, and even adjusting the comm unit, but nothing worked. It looked like it was purely up to them to make a call on what to do. But here was where their opinions differed. She thought they had to be eliminated immediately, while he couldn't stand the thought of killing a friend, even if they had been taken over by an Angel.
But Kensuke was dead, she insisted. The Angel killed him when it took over his Evangelion, and now it was merely wearing his skin. NERV had tried everything they could to recover him without success.
Unit-01 surged forward. The other Angel barely had time to express shock before it was grabbed in a giant purple hand and brought up to the Evangelion's face. Deciding to just go with it, she did the same to 'Nagisa'.
"Is our friend still alive?" he demanded of the struggling Angel in his grip. It briefly halted, glaring back at him with bright red eyes, but did not answer.
"Yes, but also no," 'Nagisa' spoke instead, drawing the gaze of both Evangelions. He seemed almost relaxed in Unit-02's hand. "His soul may still remain in that body, but even if Bardiel were able to vacate it, your friend would not return to life."
"This body is also degrading quickly," said Bardiel. "Even if your friend were able to revive, he would not stay that way for long. There is only an hour or two at best before the body will expire, along with me." The hand holding Bardiel clenched slightly, drawing a groan of pain out of him.
Unit-02 glanced up at the giant on the cross. "Is that why you came down here?" she asked. "To merge with... that?"
"We could have," said 'Nagisa', "but the Betrayer is not truly why our brethren came here. She drew us in, under the mistaken belief that she was actually our Father." He stole a glance behind him at the giant and chuckled. "Unfortunately, it seems that the Lilim are just as capable of deceit as their progenitor. SEELE made me believe it was Father, and so I walked right into their trap."
"SEELE?" they both said together.
"A bunch of old men who believe they run the world," Tabris explained. "I was... created in one of their labs and prepared to infiltrate NERV to, as I thought, merge with Father when the opportunity presented itself. Had it been so, this planet would have been scythed clean of Lilim and our species would be reborn."
"But what does this SEELE want?" he asked. "Why would they raise you just to send you here to die?"
Tabris closed his eyes and sighed. "Because they want Third Impact on their terms. And as I now see, one of the last steps in that plan is ensuring I and all my brethren are dead so that we can't interfere."
"Huh. Well wouldn't it just be a nice 'fuck you' to SEELE if we kept you alive?" she mused.
"You could leave me alive, but the... urge is rooted deep in the mind. Even if it's the Betrayer that drew me in, I could no more resist than a Lilim could hold their breath."
"You will destroy them."
All eyes were drawn to the platform where Rei stood, still wearing her hospital gown. Even from this distance the pilots could see her glowing faintly.
He began to speak "...Rei? Are you-"
Rei interrupted him. "Destroy them," she angrily repeated, her voice filling the entire room, sounding like two people talking at once. "They cannot be allowed to survive."
They stared at her, confused at both the way she was speaking and what she was saying. He knew now that Rei and this being on the cross -Lilith- were connected. She had just recently learned that Rei had been partially created from Lilith's DNA. Rei had never acted like this before, even when fighting an Angel. There was also the fact that she was demanding that they kill two surrendering enemies, one that was, essentially, their friend.
"Will somebody hurry up and kill me?" Bardiel growled. "I refuse to die slowly, frail and wheezing! End it now!"
"It's alright," said Tabris. "My life was forfeit the moment I started on this path. SEELE tricked me, and so I give you what little information I can. You now know of their existence, and their plan. Presumably they will act soon, when they receive word of my demise."
He closed his eyes, hand trembling around the body it enclosed. They had not even had a chance to say goodbye to their friend. Through their link, he felt her own reluctance to so unceremoniously erase a life, but she understood it had to be done to keep everyone safe. They focused on their link and, as one...
Two giant hands clenched tight.
XXX
Unit-02 went up the elevator first. Despite its speedy ascent and return it still felt like hours before Shinji finally stepped out of the entry plug. Doctor Akagi was waiting on the gantry, but there were no technicians standing by for after-battle procedures. Only Asuka, walking in from her cage, and-
"Shinji."
His father, giving him the slightest of nods.
"We must debrief the two of you at once," said Doctor Akagi. "We lost contact while you were down there and we need to know what happened immediately. And of course... well, you know. You saw it down there."
Normally Asuka would have retorted with a complaint about drying LCL ruining her hair, but this time she remained silent and serious. She brushed past everyone and grabbed Shinji by the hand, pulling him towards the exit. They both ignored Doctor Akagi calling out to them.
Shinji didn't recall much of the next few minutes. When he finally began to notice things again, he was in one of the changing rooms. After a few blinks he realised he was sitting slumped over on a bench, with Asuka's arm around him holding tight. Her other hand was busy fidgeting with the necklace that she had put on over the plugsuit. His father was standing nearby, regal and imposing, with his hands behind his back. Unbeknownst to Shinji, the man's eyes, hidden behind his orange glasses, kept darting from him to the necklace.
Doctor Akagi was nowhere to be seen, but Rei was sitting on the bench next to Father, quietly observing Shinji and Asuka. Shinji half-expected her to make some sort of gesture that he should stay quiet about what happened, but her hands remained folded in her lap.
Shinji shook himself and sat up straight. "Sorry, Father," he murmured. "We just had to..."
Father nodded as he trailed off. "Clearly you have just gone through something more traumatic than usual. We will do the debriefing here.
"Now then, tell me everything."
