Blood Red
Episode 3
Bloodlust Crusaders
A/N: Hey there, just wanted to let you know that soon I'll have my stories on Archive of our own too.
I'll still update both sites, don't worry. That's all, have a good read, and leave a review if you feel like it.
Chapter 17: The Old World
Over the sky of Eastern Europe
"Come on, just one more Shinji. There you go, that's it!" Samuel said as Shinji took his first steps after getting off the hospital bed.
The boy was struggling as the exoskeleton constantly made adjustments to keep him stable while walking, but he was starting to get the hang of it. His legs were feeling stronger with each step too, thanks to the Argent energy giving him back his muscles, even if slowly.
Eventually the boy reached the Slayer on the other side of the room, who prevented him from falling down and set him up to go back to Samuel.
Once that was done, the robot said:
"Alright, we'll try turning off the exoskeleton now, are you ready?"
Shinji looked up at him for a moment before replying with a semi-confident nod, so VEGA shut down the power of the legs, but made sure that it didn't cause any sudden weight changes.
Samuel let him go after a couple of seconds, trying to see if he could walk normally.
But, when Shinji completed a third of the distance, his legs started to tremble and quickly gave out, making him fall face first.
The only thing that prevented him from hitting his nose on the hard concrete however were the Slayer's hands, since he had dashed to catch him mid-fall.
VEGA reactivated the exoskeleton, allowing Shinji to stand up again, so Samuel said:
"Looks like we still have a bit of work to do in that area… How do your arms feel?"
"Like sticks. A bit sturdier sticks, but still sticks."
"I see…" Samuel said, but before he could continue, VEGA told them:
"We are required to the deck, Akagi wants to talk to us."
Hearing this, the Slayer began carrying Shinji on his back and they soon reached the main deck of the Fortress. There VEGA opened a call with Ritsuko who wasted no time and said:
'I'm calling you to let you know that we are currently low on food and water, so we are going to stop at a WILLE base nearby, the crew has to rest too. We'll be there in thirty minutes.'
"Alright, we'll stop too then. Any news on Katsuragi's condition?" Samuel asked and Ritsuko replied:
'She has gotten better, soon she'll be able to fulfill her role again.'
With this Ritsuko abruptly closed the call, not letting him ask more questions. And as Samuel turned around from the screen he said:
"Well, that was rude. Anyway, you should go rest a bit, Shinji and gather up some energy so that we can bring you outside later. Fresh air is going to help you."
"Okay." The boy replied from on top of the Slayer as he was carried away, barely hearing VEGA talk about something important he had to do.
When they reached his bed, it felt to him like an instant had passed due to his eyes starting to close on their own.
The Slayer placed him in the bed and gave him a small nod before leaving. Shinji slowly got under the covers and pressed the button to turn off the lights.
As soon as the light was gone, he felt a spear of dread cut his chest in half as all of his senses told him to run, because he was not alone in there.
Unable to control his body, Shinji smashed his hand into the light switch, banishing the darkness and revealing… Nothing.
He frantically moved his eyes all over the room, but alas, he was alone. No other presence besides him. It was just him, his bed, and an empty room.
He waited for a moment for his heart to slow down before he moved his hand over the light switch again, applying tiny, but ever increasing amounts of pressure on the small plastic surface.
The lights went out once again, and he wasn't alone anymore.
A large dark figure was standing in the corner of the room, looking at him even if it didn't have any eyes. Motionless and silent, it observed the frightened boy who couldn't help but scream and try to turn the light back on.
The darkness disappeared again and Shinji was about to call for help when the lights over him suddenly started flickering.
All of them went out except for a distant one, which partially illuminated the figure's body, showing that it was indeed made of flesh. And it was also covered in blood.
Shinji screamed again, but, due to his weak state, couldn't do anything as the lights acted on their own again, making the creature reappear closer than before when they turned back on.
Now that Shinji could make out more details, he finally recognized it. It was the same shadow that he had seen fighting demons in hell, and now it was after him.
He ducked under the covers and pressed his legs against his chest, trying to become as small as possible to somehow avoid the frightening entity.
His heart felt like it was exploding with each step that he heard the figure take towards him. One by one, until it stopped right next to the bed.
Shinji heard nothing for a good thirty seconds, but that was because his heart was beating so loudly that he could hear it clearly in his ears.
Tears started falling on his face as he tried to make sense of the situation, but even his brain stopped working when he felt the mattress sink slightly behind him.
He closed his eyes and waited for his death, covering his ears with his hands too. Despite this, he was still able to hear a voice calling out his name from in front of him, while a warm feeling spread across his face.
Feeling like he had nothing else to lose, he opened his eyes, finding Kaworu hidden under the bed with him. He was about to say something when the angel brought a finger to his mouth and then said:
"Shhh. It's okay, you are safe with me Shinji."
The angel then suddenly moved in to hug him, making it impossible to see that the shadow above them was copying Kaworu's every move, as if it was tied to strings.
Shinji himself did not have the energy to stop the physical contact, so he just remained still and let the warmth wash over him.
"Shinji."
"Yes? W-what is it?" The boy said as he heard his name being called.
"Shinji?"
"Uhm, yes? Is there something wrong, Kaworu?"
"Shinji! Shinji! Shinji! Shin-"
Back in the real world
Shinji jolted awake from his bed and almost fell over, but the Slayer and Samuel caught him as he started making sense of where he was.
Then the robot said:
"Finally we got you back, we heard you screaming like a maniac a moment before. It even looked like you weren't going to wake up at all."
"W-wait, what happened?" Shinji asked, but as soon as he moved his eyes to the Slayer, his body automatically launched towards the back of the bed while his heartbeats became frantic.
"It looks like you had a nightmare… Involving the Slayer. It's probably because of your contact earlier with the crucible. I'm sorry, I should have never let you so close to it."
As Samuel said this he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder to try and calm him down, but since his body lacked any human warmth it didn't help much.
Then he asked:
"Do you perhaps remember anything from the nightmare?"
Shinji tried to find that information inside his head, but it felt to him like it had been erased just in the few seconds that he had been awake. He declined, so Samuel got up again and said:
"I see. Can you get up? We've almost arrived at our destination."
"Where are we going anyway?" The boy asked.
"It's full of clouds right now, so we don't know for sure, but it's in eastern Europe. Poland possibly?" Samuel said, when suddenly VEGA's voice entered the room as he said:
'We are not too far away from a large body of water, so I believe that we are in the north of Europe. Oh wait, I've just received a communication from the Wunder, they're saying that we can start our approach.'
So the trio got out of the room and reached the deck, with the Slayer trying to keep at least fifteen meters between him and Shinji.
They all looked in front of them as the Fortress broke under the clouds with the Wunder next to it, speeding over the outskirts of a very large city.
VEGA maneuvered the Fortress to follow the Wunder, and as they reached the city centre, a large monument presented itself to them.
So VEGA said:
'Huh, that's the Brandenburg Gate. Welcome to Berlin everyone.'
Then Samuel said:
"Why are we here though? Didn't they finish recapturing Paris while we were stuck in the village?"
"I-I think I heard Asuka mention something about NERV Europe once… And she's from Germany, so maybe there's a base here?" Shinji said and Samuel replied:
"It could be. Let's hope that they don't fire at us as soon as-. Nevermind, we already have five missiles after us.
Well to be fair they never liked having foreigners enter Berlin did they?"
The Slayer snickered for a moment before VEGA moved the ship to lose the missiles.
A second volley was about to be fired, but then the Wunder moved a wing in front of the Fortress, making the missile batteries deactivate. The two ships then reached the city centre, where a large area had already been cleaned out for the Wunder to land.
The problem was that the other ship was so big, that they didn't bother with creating enough space for the Fortress too, so it just stood there flying.
VEGA activated the portal on the main deck and said:
"Have a safe trip."
"Thank you VEGA. Don't get too bored up here." Shinji said as he left the room with the other two and the AI let out a short laugh before going back to the Demonic Crucible.
At the exit ramp of the Wunder
Ritsuko and the rest of her crew started walking down as the commander of NERV Berlin and his subordinates approached him.
"You have come back Akagi." The tall man said.
"We need some supplies to reach Bruxelles, you don't mind if we stop by right?"
"Right… Only after you tell us what that thing is!" The commander shouted as he pointed at the Fortress of doom which was hovering above them with the sun behind it, casting its shadow on them.
Ritsuko couldn't respond in time when a blue portal opened under it, out of which the Slayer, Samuel and Shinji walked out.
The commander looked back at her with a vein almost exploding over his left eye, but one of his colleagues calmed him down before he exploded. Then Maya said:
"We'll explain everything if you let us talk."
The man adjusted his blonde hair and, after letting out a long sigh, he said:
"Fine. Come inside, we'll talk there."
The group began walking towards the nearest building and Shinji followed while holding Samuel's hand, holding his scarf with the other due to the rigid air.
His eyes moved towards Asuka, who was walking next to Mari with both of her hands inside her red jacket, while the light wind tried to push the cap off of her head.
She looked like a lost animal, who had been left on the road by their owner; and her unfocused eye brought a frown to Shinji's face, who was used to stare at her bright blue even when she was angry at him.
He moved his eyes back down to her hands inside the pockets, noticing how one was a bit bigger than the other and something red was poking out of it.
So he thought:
"Shouldn't she be happier about being in the place where she grew up? She seemed so happy to announce it to everyone back when I first met her… Maybe her relationship with this place is like the one I have with Tokyo 3?
No. It's impossible, this is the place where she earned her title as a pilot, how can she hate it? She's probably just tired."
On the opposite end of the road, Mari moved an arm over Asuka's shoulders, but she kept walking forward as if it hadn't even happened, making Mari nervous for her emotional state.
She tried again to get Asuka's attention, but it was as if she was just holding an empty body, due to how cold Asuka's skin felt. Suddenly however, she noticed that her left arm, which was holding the piece of red cloth, was extremely tense. When Mari realized what it meant, she thought:
"Ah, you're worried that the puppy is here, right? Well I can't blame you, given what this place means for you, Asuka."
A moment later they finally reached the entrance of the building, where the commander stopped and turned around, then cleared his throat and said:
"Of course, how could I forget. Welcome to WILLE Berlin everyone, ex NERV installation!"
As he said this his eyes shined and a bright, almost creepy smile appeared on his face, seemingly turning him into another man.
Everyone tried to ignore it as they entered, with the Slayer tightening his grip on the super shotgun he had pulled out.
Once the doors closed, the soldiers that had been left behind turned around to look at the Fortress again.
"So, is the weather like this all the time around here?" VEGA suddenly asked, making all of the soldiers jump from the shock and point their guns at him again.
"Alright then, I guess that I'll just go back to Molly." VEGA thought as he set the engines to idle and moved to the center of the ship.
Inside the demonic crucible
As VEGA appeared inside the empty white realm, he was pleased to see that the Wraiths were not trying to kill Molly again.
Instead, they were sitting in front of her, talking about something.
And as he got closer, he started to hear more and more details about the conversation.
"-So that's why a turtle can win every race, because they can just close themselves into their shell and start spinning around thanks to the flat surface." Molly said and the Wraiths replied:
"Wouldn't the surface have to be inclined for that to work?"
"Not if you give them a really strong kick at the start!" She replied while giggling for a moment,when suddenly she noticed VEGA's bright blue orb form floating next to her.
"Dad!" She said while getting up and hugging him, then she added:
"Your friends are awesome, they're so funny to hang out with!"
"I'm glad you four are getting along. Sorry if I come only now, but I had to drive the ship to Berlin to follow the Wunder."
"Berlin? Is that like a drink or something?" Molly added, making VEGA snicker.
He was about to reply when suddenly the Wraiths said:
"Molly, there's something we would like to tell… Your father, privately, do you mind leaving us for a moment?"
"Not at all! Plus if I were to hear you don't have to worry, I'm great at keeping secrets!"
As she said this she walked away, and the three Wraiths got closer to VEGA's floating orb. They then asked:
"Tell us, how were you able to find such a creature?"
"W-what do you mean?" VEGA replied and they said:
"In our multi million year long life we have never seen a creature with more energy, passion, optimism. She could move a mountain by smiling at it hard enough. We wouldn't have believed that someone like her could have existed without meeting her."
"Hah. Well, she's a clone, the first in her long series who has been truly free of the commands from its owner. It's like she was born in a new world just a few days ago."
"Oh. Well that's good to hear… But why did you adopt her?" As they said this the Maykrs noticed VEGA's orb suddenly shift colors for a moment, surprising them and making them nervous.
And after a few moments of silence VEGA said:
"She's my second chance."
"...A second chance for what?"
"Everything I've ever done in my life."
"Does that have to do with the wave of energy that went through you when we left Urdak?" The Maykrs said, making VEGA confused as he didn't recall anything like that happening. So he said:
"What do you mean? I didn't feel any wave of energy in Urdak. Perhaps it was just the data I downloaded?"
"No no, we're sure of it. Something happened to you when we left Urdak."
"Strange, I don't feel any different… I'll go stay with Molly a bit right now, but thanks for letting me know."
The Wraiths didn't reply as he approached the girl and began launching her high into the air.
WILLE Berlin, cafeteria
"Aaaaaah! Beer is the best! Don't you agree?" The commander said after slamming on the table his third empty mug,then continued:
"Sorry for sounding so cold out there, but it's all for the official stuff. As you can see, a couple of drinks and I become your best friend!"
Ritsuko stared at the man sitting in front of her at the table while her own coffee was left there to get colder.
Irritated by the man's hyperactivity, Ritsuko said:
"Sir please if we could start talking about-
"You wanted some of our supplies right? No problem! Angela, go organize the transfer, I have a serious talk to conduct here."
The woman nodded as she left the room, almost looking relieved that she could get away from him.
"This is not a good sign." Samuel thought as the door was slammed shut.
In that exact moment, the man's expression turned completely serious, almost as if he had instantly removed the alcohol from his body.
"Now. Tell me robot. What are you doing in our world? And be reasonable. I have a report to send to Bruxelles later."
Samuel suppressed a sigh as he started telling their story, while the Slayer used this opportunity to go and explore the base, noticing how Asuka was missing.
He scared away the guard that was standing in front of the exit door and soon searched for a map of the place. When he found one, he had to force himself to believe that it was a map and not some psycho's drawing considering how complex it looked.
And so he thought:
"Dammit, searching for Asuka like this is going to take ages."
So he pressed a button on his helmet and said:
"VEGA, can you give me Asuka's angelic signature?"
And after hearing Molly laughing, the AI said:
'Oh sure, give me a moment.'
A marker soon appeared on his HUD, showing him that Asuka was one kilometer underneath his position.
"The hell? This place must be much bigger than I thought. Why is Asuka down there in the first place anyway?"
He resumed his walk towards the girl, not noticing how three people stopped silently following him from very far away.
Back in the cafeteria
"And that's basically everything that there is to know, or at least that I'm willing to share." Samuel said as he finished telling the commander about the three of them.
So the man said:
"Understood. I will make sure to update the higher ups to avoid confusion. I have one more request for you.
Our weather team has predicted that a strong blizzard will arrive in our area. In those conditions avoiding a possible enemy attack would be difficult. So I believe that it would be in your interest to stay here until it passes.
We have accommodations for everyone, after all this base was built for a much larger workforce."
Ritsuko looked at her crew and, given how much they had worked ever since they left the village, she said:
"Sure. It seems like a good idea. What do you think Hayden?"
"I guess that it won't be a problem. By the way, I'm going back to our ship. Shinji isn't feeling too well with this cold." The robot said after noticing that Shinji was practically hanging onto him.
As soon as he said this Ritsuko bit back by saying:
"When are you going to bring him back to us? He's still our prisoner."
"When he's in a capable state of health. Not a moment sooner."
He left the area before they could add anything else, and as he held Shinji's hand while walking towards the Fortress he thought:
"Yeah, pfft. They'll tear him apart the moment he sets foot in there. Shinji will have to learn to defend himself if he wants to stay in the Wunder…
I guess that we can start tomorrow, teaching him the mindset while he keeps recovering."
His sight then moved to the open entrance ramp to the Wunder, which was inviting him like the richest of treasures did to a pirate.
"Misato is up there by herself… Maybe I should go check on her. She's probably all alone in her room and if her conditions worsen she might need hel-.
Dammit. Stupid feelings of mine.
But maybe if no one sees me…"
A while later, Misato's room.
"Ugh, I never liked northern Europe, the air feels so heavy here… Couldn't we have stopped in Italy? The weather's nice at this time of the year…" Misato thought as she sat on the edge of her bed, looking outside at the grey landscape.
She got up, struggling to find balance for a moment due to her prolonged stay in bed, but she was eventually able to walk outside her bedroom, happy that the medicines were having the desired effect.
She found her clothes on the sofa at the other edge of the living room, like Sakura had told her, but there was also a pair of fluffy pink ear covers, with a note next to it.
She got closer to it and grabbed the note, which read:
'Dear captain, it's going to be freezing cold out here, so I left a pair of these for you. You'll look so cute with them, trust me!'
At the end of the note a cat's face had been drawn with a pink pen, making it easy to understand who it was from.
Misato rolled her eyes as she tossed away the piece of paper, then she grabbed the ear covers and finally noticed the cartoonish penguin knitted on either side.
A warm sensation immediately invaded her chest, so she quickly approached the exit door and took a peek outside, finding the corridor leading to it to be empty.
So she closed the door and went back inside, unable to see Samuel appear just in that moment.
Back inside her apartment, a devilish smile formed on Misato's face as she put the ear cover on and grabbed her phone from the table in front of the sofa, putting on some music as she turned on the heaters.
Play:[Misato] Neon Genesis Evangelion OST
She hummed along with the notes and approached the fridge, grabbing a couple of energy bars she kept in there now that it was no longer occupied by the beer.
She ate the snacks while moving around, trying to wake up the rest of her body, but this made her feel hot much quicker than anticipated, so she decided to remove her pants first and then the shirt.
However Misato was in such a good mood that she didn't want to remove her ear cover, so she was trying her best to make sure it didn't fall off. And after a few tries, she thought to have finally found the right angle.
In that exact moment, Samuel opened the door to her room, watching as her hair was thrown backwards while her almost naked body presented itself to him as the shirt fell to the ground along with the ear covers.
They stared at each other for around a second before the robot nearly broke the door due to how fast he slammed it shut.
On the other side Misato's face had become redder than a tomato as she hurried to stop the music and dress herself up in her formal attire.
Half a minute later
The captain of the Wunder emerged, finding Samuel leaning nearby on the opposite wall. And once he saw her he said:
"I-In my defense, I called you several times."
With her face still on fire Misato replied:
"Oh. I uhm… I'm sorry for not noticing."
"... It's okay."
As Samuel said this a tense silence formed once again between the two, and with the sight from moments earlier still in control of Samuel's mind, he wasn't able to think of any way to start a meaningful conversation.
So he said:
"I just wanted to check if you were alright… I'll go back to Shinji now."
"Y-yes. Is he alright?" Misato said and he replied:
"He's getting better, but this cold climate is not helping. Plus there's going to be a blizzard later, they offered us to sleep at this base."
"Oh. Okay… I-" Misato tried to say something, but her heart nearly stopped beating because of how hard she was resisting it, so instead the thought:
"Say hi to Shinji for me."
"I'll see you later then." She added a moment later and Samuel said:
"Yes, see you later." Then he started walking away, unaware of how angry Misato was with herself for not being able to say what she wanted about Shinji.
Deep down in WILLE Berlin
The Slayer walked around the unlit hallway as he kept getting closer to Asuka's angelic signal, noticing how thick layers of dust covered every centimeter of the area.
"Don't tell me I'm inside Leliel again! Heh." He thought as he pushed away a fallen chair.
Near it, he could clearly see some footprints, so he started following those as the air around him got colder, meaning that he was getting closer to an open area.
Eventually he reached a large open metallic door, which was thick enough to probably resist a direct tank shot.
He pushed it further aside as he thought:
"What the hell is Asuka doing down here anyway? VEGA's locator has never malfunctioned before, so I don't see why it would now…"
As he crossed the short hallway on the other side of the giant door, he found himself in an enormous dark room, with Asuka's signal nearby.
"Wait, why did the signal suddenly split in two? There's probably strong interference down here…"
He walked towards the closest one, noticing how the floor was full of circular metallic pads and broken glass. And as he shattered one of these pieces of glass while walking, he saw Asuka's signal suddenly move away while faint running sounds came from that direction.
He chased after her, quickly catching up since she had no place to hide in the open room. He was about to tell her to stop, when suddenly she tripped on one of the pads and fell face first.
He grabbed her in an instant, saving her from smashing her face into the shards of glass.
And as she recognized the hands holding her, Asuka said:
"Slayer? What the hell are you doing here?! Couldn't you have said something!?"
He moved a hand behind his head to apologize as he helped her up to her feet, noticing that her hair was all messed up and she was tightly holding the piece of red cloth in her hand.
Her single eye constantly looked away from him, making it obvious that she was waiting for him to ask a question.
And so he said:
"What were you doing down here?"
She waited for a couple of seconds to reply before letting out a sigh and saying:
"Are you alone?"
He nodded, so she added:
"Then I guess that there's no point in hiding it…"
He followed her back to the entrance of the room as they walked in total darkness, making him think:
"She must know this place like the palm of her hand to be able to navigate it like this… How many times has she been down here?"
Eventually they reached the wall, where she found a lever and pulled it, bringing the lights of the room back to life.
This revealed a large console on one side of the room, while the area itself was full of LCL and those metallic pads connected by cables with each other.
There was also a large writing on the wall over the console which read:
'Shikinami Test Facility'
After reading this the Slayer turned around to look at her as she said:
"That's right… I-... I'm…
I'm a clone… I was born and raised down here… In NERV Berlin."
They started walking towards the console as she continued:
"It-... It was a project started by SEELE to create the best evangelion pilot possible. Starting with my original, they made several hundreds of us…"
The girl suddenly stopped as the Slayer noticed her right leg starting to tremble, so he placed a hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it away nervously as her eye lit up with a bright blue.
"They had us go through rigorous tests everyday since we were born… Studying, exercising, piloting. We were less than human to them, so nothing to play with or any other way to pass the time except to wait in our cells. Some of the others were abused too, they could always make more of us anyway… Thankfully some of the higher-ups weren't total assholes, so it stopped quite soon."
Another pause. This time her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. The Slayer wanted to stop her, but he knew that she wasn't doing this just for him, so he waited next to her.
And after a while she said:
"But the worst days were always the end of the month… When we were evaluated…" Asuka pulled on the front of her jacket as if gasping for air that wasn't there, then lowered to the ground and said:
"They'd put us in these tanks, fill them up with LCL. And… Whoever hadn't passed the test was melted alive in front of all of us."
She heard the Slayer's fist tighten slightly behind her as she brought the piece of cloth closer to her chest.
"I'm the only one left, except for the original… Clone number 357 out of one thousand. Winning against my last opponent by shooting her with a revolver while she was being held down…"
She was about to continue, when she suddenly felt a light pressure being applied to her head, this time however a simple movement of her hand wasn't enough to send it away.
This time she used both of her arms however, and also moved away as she said:
"I don't need you to comfort me."
"Then why did you come down here in the first place?" The Slayer asked and she said:
"Every time we visit this place, I hear their screams, I see them going through training again, I see them get melted off. And they're always looking at me.
This… is the only place where it doesn't happen… Probably because it's the only place I can actually call home. Not that shitty flat Kaji brought me in, or Misato's now destroyed apartment…
I was born here Slayer, it's the only place where I can maybe close my eyes and sleep well enough.
I've only ever told Mari about it, since she's the only one who treats me better than the subhuman project I am.
I mean all I ever did for my entire life was centered around the evangelion. I don't know anything else if not on a very basic level… I don't know what being an actual person means because I've always been used as a weapon."
Those last few words made a nerve tickle in the Slayer's hand.
He looked at her for a moment before approaching the console and allowing VEGA, who had listened to the conversation, to download what was left of her project's data. He then got close to her again and extended an arm out to her, but she rejected it as she said:
"I… I want to stay here a couple more minutes. Oh and don't you ever mention this to anyone else."
He looked at her for a moment as she closed her eye and brought her legs on her chest, so he pulled out the rocket launcher and fired a rocket into one of the support beams.
The explosion startled Asuka as she immediately got up and said:
"What the fuck are you doing now?! Do you want to bury me alive!?"
He turned around to look at her and their eyes locked, one bright blue and the other flaming red, as a second rocket was loaded into the firing chamber.
"No! Stop!" Asuka shouted as she jumped on him and tried to move the rocket launcher away from his hands, but he dashed away and then said:
"Don't you understand Asuka? This place is a plague for you!"
"What?! How can you say that!?"
"Everything about this place has only brought you pain ever since you were born. I don't care if there's a million of you or you are the last one.
I care about the fact that you are using this place as an escape from your life, from who you are!"
As the man shouted at her, a part of his rage slipped through, scaring the girl to her core for a moment before he fired a second rocket into another support beam.
Pieces of concrete started falling from the ceiling as the dust settled while the noise echoed away into the darkness.
Asuka after a while calmed down a bit, so she was able to respond:
"It's… I understand what you are saying… It's just that…" The words died in her mouth as she thought:
"I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do that."
The Slayer looked back at her and then back at his weapon. He removed it from his hands and placed it on the ground right in front of her.
He then looked back up at the surprised girl and said:
"I can't make this decision for you. You're the one who has to leave this place behind."
"But where would I go if I were to leave it!? This… Is the only place I can actually call home."
"A home isn't made by walls, but by the people who love you." As the Slayer said this he thought:
"I won't let you do my same mistake Asuka. I won't let you go through this alone. Mari, Shinji, the three of us and even Misato probably… We're all here for you."
Meanwhile near him, Asuka was having her own internal war as she thought:
"D-Do I do it? Can I do it? To leave them behind, to try to forget all of their suffering…
No wait. That's not what he meant. He said that it's this place that is making me feel like this, that it's the one bringing up those memories.
M-maybe he's right? He doesn't talk often so he really meant what he said, but how can he expect me to abandon a place that is so dear to me so easily… And then what just, find a new home? Everyone hates me, they just see me as a tool, so it's a miracle already that I have that place in the Wunder…"
That's when images started flashing before her eyes, memories of what had happened at the village…Memories of Shinji holding her while her lungs recovered, their time together, always staying at a distance from one another, trying to hide the fact that they were both stealing looks at the other.
And the shrine that had been built for him on top of a hill, where she had spent almost an entire day thinking about him.
The same shrine that the Slayer had destroyed before. And that's when something clicked in her head.
"Wait it's…
It's the same situation. He wants to destroy something that I am attached to… B-because… Because…
Shinji has come back! He was alive so I didn't need the shrine to think about him anymore! Now that he was there that shrine only made me remember the sad times I spent in there! And it's the same here!"
As if she was hit by a bullet, her head experienced tremendous pain as she remembered all the screams, all the crying and all the physical torture she had been put through in this hellish facility.
And yet, she remained standing, eventually walking forward and placing her hands on the rocket launcher.
The Slayer's words rang in her head as she brought it up to her shoulders, struggling due to its heavy weight.
And as she pointed it at the last remaining support beam, she thought:
" 'I care about the fact that you are using this place as an escape from your life, from who you are!'
Well, Slayer, you want to see the real Asuka? Fine, I'll start everything over then. I don't need my past anymore, nor the fact that I am a clone. I outlived everything and everyone that was thrown at me. So now it's time for the real Asuka Shikinami to shine through, to make everyone who cares about me see how great I am!"
She pressed the trigger and the rocket's engine was ignited, sending it flying into the last support pillar and nearly breaking the wall in half.
The crack got larger and larger, until it suddenly stopped and reversed its expansion, so a shocked Asuka said:
"Wait what the hell?!"
The entire room began shaking as the Slayer quickly grabbed his weapon again and tried to protect her from the potential debris. That's when he noticed the second signature in his HUD start moving towards them, so he thought:
"The second signal from before… It's the same as Asuka's, but how is that possibl-... Don't tell me that the clones being dissolved in LCL wasn't just a torture method…"
A sudden roar echoed through the area, making both of them head for the exit, but the following shake made the large door collapse, locking them inside.
"Shit." The Slayer thought as the wall at the opposite end of the room cracked open and a gigantic worm appeared from the dust. But this was no ordinary monster.
Its round clear skin was covered in cuts and burn marks, along with flocks of orange hair scattered around various parts of the bodies. As it opened its enormous teeth-filled mouth to roar again, arms and legs could be seen further back, where its intestines started. The Slayer then thought:
"Are those for digesting its prey?... Well I really don't want to find out."
The giant worm moved the rest of its body out of the wall, allowing the Slayer to notice an additional layer of thick dry skin which acted as armor for the bottom of the tail and other parts of its body.
He didn't have time to analyze the beast any further as it shot towards him and Asuka, so he immediately fired its super shotgun into the top of its head.
It was enough to stop the charge and reveal some skin, but no brain could be seen. The giant worm's tail whipped around its body to hit them, but the Slayer was able to block it just in time.
The sheer exchange of forces was strong enough to open up a fracture in the door, so the Slayer said:
"Get out of here! Quick!"
Asuka followed his instructions given that she could only be a problem to him in this fight. As she snuck inside the hole however, the beast chased after her with its mouth open, but was soon pulled back by the Slayer as his arms dug into its skin.
The ground beneath them cracked as the Slayer launched the worm into the wall it had come from, stunning it for a moment as he began shooting at it with rockets, plasma and bullets.
They all did surface damage to the beast, but seemed unable to pierce its skin.
A sudden green hue appeared in the worm's mouth, but before the Slayer could understand what was going on, a huge bubble of gastric acids was spat out towards him, making him dodge to the side while more followed in quick succession.
Soon, the entire floor had been covered in green acid, which burned the Slayer's feet until he grabbed onto a wall.
From there he jumped towards the beast, aiming directly for its mouth as he launched a rocket and two grenades inside of it. The worm let out a deafening cry of pain, but soon chased after the Slayer as he kept dodging around while moving from surface to surface.
Seeing how it was unable to catch the Slayer while he kept unloading his weapons into its already damaged skin, the worm slammed its head into the floor and used the acid to dig towards Asuka.
Once again however, the Slayer was able to catch its tail and pull it back into the fight, noticing how he felt a strange beating in the back of its body.
"Are the organs in there? It could justify the additional armor…"
Suddenly the worm's tail began vibrating as it freed itself while the head emerged from one of the walls, aiming right for the Slayer, who dashed to the side and evaded it.
This however lifted his attention from the tail, as it charged up with electricity from all the shaking armor parts and hit him in the chest, discharging that energy and sending him right through the exit and down the corridor where Asuka was hiding.
A large area of smoke was created when the Slayer slammed into the wall at the end of the hallway, while the worm chased lunged towards him.
Asuka, who was watching from the side, got extremely tense as the Slayer remained still, only seeing one of his eyes shine like a blinding red light before the worm hit the wall with its mouth open.
The shock sent Asuka to the ground as she immediately crawled backwards, but soon a piece of rock blocked her path, just as the monster started coming out of the smoke.
And it was in such a hopeless situation that all of her senses stopped working for a moment, sending her into complete darkness.
And her words from earlier echoed in her head:
"So now it's time for the real Asuka Shikinami to shine through, to make everyone who cares about me see how great I am!"
A red tear of blood fell into a red sea, sending ripples all throughout her body as all of her nerves were activated at once.
Her heart beating at impossibly high speeds while her veins nearly doubled in size and her bloodshot eye immediately located a broken tube of metal to use as a weapon. With more adrenaline than blood inside her body, she looked at the giant beast in front of her and took a defensive position, ready to fight until her last breath like no other human on Earth.
Except for one.
Just as the worm started moving forward, it stopped, and began to move randomly instead while crying in pain.
From the smoke, a red blade of energy appeared coming through its skin.
The large sword of Argent with a pickaxe-like tip began to slice up the beast, starting from the tail.
The Slayer ran inside the worm's intestine while cutting it up into pieces like a master chef, eventually reaching the tail where he made quick work of its vital organs.
He then ran back up the body, with the blade of energy letting out red lighting with each new millimeter of flesh it split apart and burned.
Eventually the Slayer jumped out of the head with a spin, masterfully cutting the beast into two circles. The worm dropped dead behind him, leaking blue blood everywhere as he landed in front of an enraged Asuka.
They stared at each other for a moment before the girl nearly fainted, getting caught by the Slayer as she fell.
He got her back to her feet, then got on one knee and pulled something out of one of his pockets.
It was a used bullet, covered in the same blue blood that littered the floor behind them. Then he gave it to Asuka and said:
"I found it embedded in its brain… I don't use that caliber Asuka."
"Wait what? But how could it have ended up in there if-"
The Slayer then pulled out a flock of air from its skin and presented it to Asuka. It looked exactly like hers.
"The only one that wasn't dissolved." He said as it finally clicked in her head.
And after backing up a bit, Asuka said:
"No no no. You're kidding right? There's no way that thing was one of my clones. There's no way!"
He remained silent, as a frown appeared on her face when she realized the truth.
Meanwhile, the Slayer thought:
"The cellular structure must have changed without the constant LCL… I guess that this means that Asuka is not going to die from a bullet to the head. But if that's so, what was keeping it alive?"
He couldn't answer that question as Asuka slammed her hands on her face and began screaming.
A while later, in the Fortress of doom
The transparent tube closed around Asuka as it was soon filled with Argent energy, while a sedative put her to sleep.
The Slayer placed the piece of flesh from the worm inside a compartment of the machine, which then closed to let VEGA analyze it.
He looked behind the tube, noticing that Shinji was still asleep, so he thought:
"Asuka was still screaming at the top of her lungs when we came in here, he must be really tired to not be disturbed by it."
The Slayer then left the room, not noticing that Shinji's forehead was dripping with sweat as he thought:
"Don't look at Asuka's naked body. Don't look at Asuka's naked body. Don't look at Asuka's naked body. Don't look at-"
He went on like that for various minutes before the fatigue overtook him, and he really fell to sleep.
Later that night, at the base's dormitory
"Captain!" Hyuga said as Misato entered the hallway where their rooms had been prepared for them, not expecting her to come.
"Back so soon Captain? Are you alright?" Ritsuko asked and Misato replied:
"Yeah, yeah. If I remained in my room a moment longer I would have jumped off the Wunder's wings."
"Did you come here by yourself? The snowstorm is raging out there."
"No, actually I was helped b-"
Just as Misato was talking, Samuel kicked the door open, since he was carrying Misato's luggage.
"This is the last time I'll be your delivery man Katsuragi." Samuel said as he looked down at the others, who were already a bit weirded out by him.
"What?" He asked, and Maya said:
"How did you know Misato needed help?"
"I- uhh." Samuel tried to say something, but was suddenly interrupted by Misato who said:
"I called him, I saw him taking Shinji back so I thought he could give me a hand."
"Yes, yes exactly that." The robot replied as they started making their way to their rooms.
Once there, Samuel ducked to enter the room they had assigned to Misato, and after checking it out he said:
"This is a room? Looks more like a prison cell to me."
Suddenly he was approached by one of the guards who told him:
"It was the only space that we managed to set up quickly enough, sorry."
So Misato said:
"Ah don't worry. It's going to be just for tonight right? Plus I need a place to refresh, my room on the Wunder had gotten so hot."
In that moment a ray of moonlight sneaked into the room, showing both men how tightly Misato's clothes were attached to her skin due to the sweat.
Both of them, even if Samuel could not show it, got as red as a tomato and swiftly exited the room after saluting her.
The robot looked down at the young man who was starting to turn around, so he moved his head next to him and said:
"Don't even think about it buddy."
The guard decided that it was best to leave to ensure his survival.
After a while he returned to his post near the main entrance, when suddenly he saw that his squadmate was missing. As he got closer and turned around the corner to search for him, a pair of arms suddenly grabbed him from behind as a knife sliced his throat open.
He fell dead to the floor and his body was dragged away by his masked attacker.
Later that night, in the base's command room
"The area is clear, I took out the rest of the guards."
A masked individual said as he approached his superior and made a military salute.
"Alright, what about the base commander and other personnel?" The leader said and another soldier next to him replied:
"The Gamma team took care of that, the base is ours. However, we still have a problem."
"What do you mean?"
"The unexpected guests, especially the green man. He's been patrolling the cells we trapped the WILLE bastards in. Plus, their ship is still operational, if he were to give the alarm it would spell our doom."
"Dammit. We have planned this operation for so long… Ah screw it! I won't let us be fooled by some random people.
Delta and Alpha teams, you two try to distract the green man, engage only if victory is assured.
Meanwhile, Roh and Tau teams, you go inspect the ship, try to figure out a way to limit it or board it. The Alpha team and I will remain here to control the base and provide support, am I understood?"
"Sir yes Sir!" The soldiers around him said at the same time, so he added:
"Good, now go, we don't have much time. For the glory of the scenario."
"For the glory of the scenario." They repeated before leaving with their squads.
And as the other soldiers got control of the base's systems, he moved his eyes towards the surveillance system, focusing on the screen where the Slayer could be seen walking down a corridor.
"What kind of soldier are you, green man?"
He thought as the Slayer left the frame. The man then looked at the clock on the wall, which showed that it was 2am in the morning.
"Reinforcements will be here soon… Let's hope that we won't need them."
Asuka and Mari's cell, a bit later
Asuka was in her bed looking at the game on her console, trying everything to calm herself down. But, as her hand compressed the plastic, she gave up and thought:
"Ah who am I kidding, there's no way I'll be able to be calm until VEGA has finished his analysis… I mean what if I was to turn into a monster like that. Would I even be able to think anymore? Did that worm still have my mind inside of it? Did it recognize me? God… My head is starting to hurt-"
"Heyyy princess, what are you doing?" Mari said as she peeked at Asuka from her bed.
She stopped playing for a moment and looked towards Mari, then said:
"Just a random game, how else am I going to spend the entire night without going insane from boredom?
Actually, you never do anything during the night, why is that?"
A small smile appeared on Mari's face as she replied:
"Oh you know, I just think about stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Nothing much, just how many people I'll have to invite to your and Shinji's wedding."
Asuka immediately launched a pillow into her face, knocking her down as her hand slipped and made her glasses drop to the ground.
"Ah! That wasn't nice princess! Dammit, now it's going to be a pain to find them."
Asuka looked at Mari again, letting out a sigh as she thanked her internally for distracting her from her thoughts. So she got off the bed and grabbed her red glasses, handing them to her.
Mari put them back on and after her eyes refocused she said:
"Okay, how do I look?"
The Slayer burst through the wall next to them in that exact moment, stopping to look at both the girls while holding two assault rifles in one hand.
He gave them to Asuka and Mari, who were confused until Samuel entered their room too and said:
"A military group has taken over the base, most of the WILLE crew is already on the Wunder and is starting it up.
Take all your possessions and then I'll escort you there, the Slayer is going to keep the rest of the enemies busy. We have to be quick, VEGA has detected reinforcements coming our way.
Any questions?"
Mari raised her hand as she looked at the Slayer and said:
"How can I learn to make entrances as cool as yours?"
The Slayer rolled his eyes as he busted down the main door and went looking for more enemies. A moment later Samuel left with the other two girls.
They ran up the stairs full of bullet holes as the cyborg crushed the dead bodies that had been left there by the previous fight. They eventually reached the main hall, when suddenly a group of soldiers took them by surprise.
Samuel was able to bring Mari and Asuka back to cover as his body deflected some bullets, but not before Mari was hit to the stomach, causing her to start bleeding out. So he shouted:
"Stay here Asuka, I'll deal with them!"
"How? You are unarmed! And your hands are too big for my rifle!"
That's when she saw pieces of his body shift around as his back arched forward, lowering his posture. Then two blades came out of each one of his palms and they began to emit light as they vibrated at very high frequencies.
Samuel got closer to the exit and after making a couple of calculations in his head, his feet cracked the floor as he suddenly jumped into the wall, surprising the soldiers as they fired at him.
But as he kept quickly shifting from wall to wall and bullets ricocheted off his body, he eventually got close enough to slice a soldier's head off, and then immediately do the same for the next one.
He spun around and sliced open the rest of them, but just as the remaining ones started to escape, he grabbed one of the grenades from the dead bodies and sliced the pin off,then threw it at incredible speeds towards them.
The resulting explosion turned their bodies into puddles of flesh and blood, finishing the short fight as Samuel deactivated his combat mode.
Just as he did so however, he heard a shotgun being cocked behind him, as one of the soldiers had survived the spinning attack. A gunshot was heard, but instead of finding his body full of lead, Samuel saw the soldier's brain scattered everywhere and Asuka at the end of the hallway with her rifle in hand.
He quickly ran back to her and grabbed Mari. They then left the building and headed to the runway, where the other WILLE crew was waiting for them as the roars of the giant engines mounted on the approaching flying evangelions became closer and closer.
A sudden flurry of bullets flew past them, making Asuka turn on the spot and return fire, nailing a soldier in the chest.
In that moment a rocket obliterated the rest of the enemies, and the Slayer appeared from the smoke, carrying a wounded Maya with him.
At this point the three flying evangelions with their rifles were in striking distance and began to dive towards them, but VEGA was able to shoot down two of them as the Wunder took out the third.
They all crashed behind the Slayer, causing a huge explosion behind him as he jumped up to avoid the floor cracking under him.
He reached the top of the ramp a moment later, and since they were the last ones left, Misato shouted at her crew to get them back into the air.
The engines of the Wunder came to life while the S2 engine's power started lifting the ship.
The fortress followed swiftly, providing covering fire against the pursuing evangelion drones.
Once they were safe again, Misato called the Fortress of doom as Samuel and the Slayer had already gotten back on it.
And after a short sigh she said:
"What do we do now? We have the supplies, but we need to rest. And I don't know if we can afford the sleep we need if we keep the ship going."
"Why don't you just land it here in a field? We can protect you." VEGA said and Misato rubbed her eyes before looking over at Ritsuko, who nodded.
So she said:
"A-alright fine… We'll land over there, in that small lake."
The Wunder slowly came to a halt as it landed in the water, finally allowing the crew to sleep semi-peacefully, given that most of them still held feelings of mistrust against them.
But, as the bridge bunnies went to sleep, there was one outlier among them.
Maya couldn't close her eyes despite how hard she tried. It wasn't because of the gunshot wound either, but a feeling whcih had spread throughout her entire body.
"I… How is it possible that… I didn't feel this cold in me for all these years…
Did… Did the Slayer do something to me?"
TO BE CONTINUED