Chapter 18" Angel exterminatus."
Part 3 "The world in flames."
Asuka woke up again after having another long nightmare in her sleep. She having dreams where she the one who triggers the third impact or others where she was strangling Shinji and never stop. But in the end all those dreams were just wild fantasies of what would happen in things were reversed. What haunted her the most what she had already done to him. The pushing, the manipulation to like her at first, everything was piled up into a massive mountain of guilt and shame.She was carrying that mountain for a long time, until she found Shinji again.
Shinji was able to lighten up her weight but as they drifted away, the weight became heavy again and after the last encounter with the angel more and more painful memories keep coming back.
"Every time I wake up I feel more tired than before." She got up her bed and went to the bathroom to take a hot bath. As she passed through the window she couldn't help but notice her mess of a hair and her tired eyes.
"I want all this to end so badly. I wish Shinji was there. I feel so damm lonely right now" Said to her self as she was fixing her hair.
Then a second no less, her phone rang. She picked up to see the message. It said: " All pilits must attend to base." which indicate only one thing .
"I fucking hate this company." Said as she prepared to leave quickly.
When she arrived at Nerv and went to the change rooms she spotted a familiar face.
"Didn't expect you to see you so early. I came here as quick as possible." Said Asuka .
"I was near by so it didn't took me long." Answered Rei as she was changing to her suit.
Asuka just simply nodded and went to change as well.
"Is it true?" Asked Rei.
"What?"
"That you don't hate me anymore?"
Asuka took a moment to answer with a simple: "Yes."
"Why is that? Out of all the people I know you used to hate me the most. You should hate even now when you know my intentions and what I have done to you and Shinji."
" You are right I should hate you, in fact a part of my brain said to do so but every other part of my body does not."
"Why is that?"
Asuka took a long breath and exclaimed herself. "Because her words help me with my life and I owe her a little. Plus neither Shinji hate you and I can see why, she still see you as his sister and wants to help you out."
Rei chuckle at that statement.
"Even if I tried to kill you both ?"
"Hey, me and Shinji always have bigger things to worry about other than the end of the world and the fact that you tried to kill us."
"I guess you two are really made for each other."
Asuka smile at that comment. "Shinji is a great person it's just the Baka refuse to admit."
"Is that also anply to you ?"
Asuka's face darkened and tried to look away in shame. "He should find a better person than me but the idiot keeps coming back again and again." Said Asuka silently.
"You might be lucky today because there is possiblity to see him again."
Asuka's eyes lightened up with their old sparcs they had before her downfall. " What do you mean by that?"
"I heard the Commander saying something about deploying Shinji in this fight."
"And when you started spying on the Commander and telling his orders to me ?"
Said Asuka with a playful smirk.
"Maybe from the moment I decide to live."
Said Rei with a bit determination in her words.
Shinji was walking through the long corridors of Nerv. It didn't go unnoticed from anyone that was working there the face disgust which was projected in Shinji's face.
Even when he first arrived at this place he was feeling uneasy by the way Nerv was structured. Now it's only sickening more than before , with all those lies and schemes that each part of this place hides.
It didn't help that fact that he had two guards following him towards the cages. The setting was nerving and it became more nerving when someone else stepped in the scene.
"Leave the two of us alone." Said the man.
The gaurds obeyed his order without question and leave them starring at each other. They looked for a moment of pure silence until Shinji decided to break the thick level ice which was always between the two of them.
"Did you always had that presence of command on you ?" Asked Shinji.
"It was something which I needed to acquire over the years." Said Gendo with a more calm voice than his usual.
They both looking at each other and averting their glares. Without saying a word
they two of them walked into each other until they were close enough to speak without other people hearing them. They didn't look into each other like every other person will do in this situation, instead they tried to look in the distance that was bestowed upon them from their sides.
"What did you want?" Asked Shinji.
"I just wanted to talk to you,now that our intentions are crossing one another."
"I guess this what I needed to do in order to gain his attention back then." Said Shinji sarcastically to himself.
"It is true?"
"Didn't Agaki told you the full picture?"
"I want to hear from the person itself."
Shinji nodded to that response.
"If that makes you happy. Yes, I do come from alternate reality. But what if I lied to you? What if I said I was your real son that was ruining your plot? What would have done then?"
"I will have carried the plan out regardless."
Said Gendo in his cold voice.
"Aren't you kind." Thought Shinji.
"So what knowledge do you want me to give you if you want so badly to hear my words." He said sarcastically.
"How was it?" Asked Gendo.
The sarcasm and the irony Shinji had vanished and replaced with dread and seriousness.
"You can say that hell is a better place than that."
"Hmm." Gendo turned his head to the boy but it still refused to look back at him.
"Imagine if you saw the thought of every human being on the planet in one place,to see and feel their lives, their thoughts, their feelings, their dreams , their beliefs, their moment of happiness and sadnesses, their good and their bad side."
"Amusing."
"No, it's not, it's the most disgusting thing a human mind can imagine. I wouldn't have wish a punishment like this even to my worst enemy. Even you wouldn't have like it."
"It's a small price to pay for my intentions."
"You really don't change do you? After all I said and what you have learned from my experience you still going with your original plan?"
"I have dug to deep to simply get out, the only thing that remains to do is to keep going down until I find what want or die trying it. After all, a man should always follow his ambitions until the very end. You should do the same."
"I will,but not upon the bodies of others bastard." Said Shinji to himself.
"Soon this city will fall." Said Gendo. "It will either be throughout the Angels or the SEELE forces attacking us."
"You do have taken measures right?"
"I have fortified most of the outside forces and the inner forces will probably be done by tomorrow."
"In my place the real attack was probably from within but I can't guarantee that this will apply here."
"Nevertheless, I am prepared for the worst and I will go down with the ship if I have to. But true question is :where you will be when this time comes?"
"I..I don't know." Most of his confidence he had before crumble and revealed a confused teenager.
"So you are not so sure?"
"There is some stuff I need to clear with Asuka."
"If that's case then it will seems that you have your business to finish. This is might be the last time we two meet. If it is, then good luck with what you are doing, if it isn't... don't hesitate at stoping me because won't hesitate either." And with that Gendo exit the scene and let Shinji continue his way into the cages.
The three Eva entered the battle from three different places. None of them rushed to the white halo which was the angel, because the knew that this was a suicide move. Instead they slowly approaching it trying to find a hidden flaw that they missed the previous time.But as much as they could circle the angel finding that opening was futile.
They kinda knew that from the beginning but it was good to have some bit of hope in times such as this. There was this feeling of nervousness and dread, because this wasn't a battle but a sacrificial layer. None of them were ready to die yet but they knew that they come out of this with one less person.
"Processed regularly." Said Ritsuko in her cold voice.
The pilots realized that the sense of feeling that was in the area was also detected by the doctor as she was the commander of this operation. As captain Katsuragi was nowhere to be found or heard of.
Asuka was the first one to make contact with the enemy. She prepared to attack with her power sword but before she could swing it the angel immediately leap towards her.
The attack was so fast that the others didn't had time to react but Asuka managed to block the attack with her sword. The angel tried to merge with the sword as it tried to cover it with its white body and making its way into the Eva. But Asuka was able to keep of the corruption for now.
The others went to the rescue but the enemy wasn't blind to see their attacks and swipe an attack against them.
Shinji was quick enough to dodge it but Rei wasn't fast enough for the attack. The angel had managed to strike 00 and tried to spread it's tentacles inside the robot.
Rei screamed in agony as she felt the angel corruption going also inside her skin and body.
Shinji tried to attack another part of the angel but it didn't look to be bothered by his attacks.
As things couldn't get any worst, Asuka power's were failing at keeping the corruption at bay and it didn't help the fact that her sync rating was lower than normal. It took less than a minute for the angel to apply the same pressure to Asuka.
Shinji kept hitting the angel but it was still futile.
"God damnit, get out of them you fucking thing." Said Shinji as he was hitting relentlessly the angel. He didn't know what to do,he had chose who to save first, if he tries to save one the other one will die. "Not like this. Anything but this. I promise myself that I won't hesitate on my actions but I can't watch neither Asuka or Rei to die on my watch. I have to try harder." He said as he was trying to get the angel attention.
"Shinji. Go Asuka I will hold the angel until you are ready to attack." Said Rei while feeling enormous pain in her body.
"But..." Shinji knew that won't be a good idea but it was the only one that was available.
"Arhhhh." Asuka's screams awaken something in Shinji's body like a mechanism that was actived with the push of a button.
He rushed immediately to Asuka and with all the strength he was able to gather from his body and his Eva, he managed to pull Asuka out of the angel.
Shinji ingored all the yelling that were coming from Ritsuko , instead he proceeded into keep Asuka alive. It looked as if a demon possessed him and took the ability to speak and think something else outside Asuka's survival.
Within less than a minute he managed to open the cockpit which the pilot was inside of it and then he went in person to check on Asuka, like how he checked for Rei when they faced Ramiel that.
"Asuka , are you alright? Please answer to me." Said Shinji as he saw the unconscious body of her.
As she heard words calling for her she started gaining some consciousness back in her soul.
"Ahh. What happened Shinji? Did we win?" As she woke she started checking on her soundings to see in what sort of situation they are in.
"Thank goodness you are alive Asuka." Said Shinji in relief.
"Don't need to worry about me Baka I am tough shell to crack." But before she was going to hug him she realised that battle wasn't over. "Shinji we need to check on Rei."
Without a millisecond Shinji turned his attention to Rei who she was slowing trying to contain the angel within her Eva.
"Wait she going..." Before Shinji could finish his sentence a loud explosion was seen in the distance.
She always knew that she was going to die one way or the other. But not like this, she was destined to be the gateway which will allow Gendo to achieve his goals. She always wanted to have that honour the one thing that will make her happy for once, or at least this what she believed in the long run.
She couldn't think of happiness when she couldn't stand the abomination that was her self. Everyone had a flaw, her was the that she was a mistake, a wrong miscommunication.
At least lilins could say that they themselves at the end of day, she on the other hand was one of many clones contained in one big jar.
But they change that, despite trying to get away from their little group she always ignored the fact she was always welcomed with open arms.
She started remembering the conversation she had with Kensuke not to while ago. How much she felt alive at that moment.
She could hear Lililth saying: 'I told you so.' in her head but this voice is silent for a long time which make this scary.
She doesn't want to die now, when she realised that she wants to live but she had to accept her fate because they can't die now when things are about to get worse.
"Forgive for making the mistakes I made but I was blind to the see the truth. Had options to made my path but I realized tp late. Now the only thing which remains to do is choose how my death will be and if my death help you dealing with what coming then so be it. Save this world Shinji and Asuka save it before it's late. Because he is coming." And with that she activated the save switch for self destruct. Thus destroying the angel and everything within a radius.
After the recent events Ritsuko entered the lower levels of Geofront in where most of the secrets lay within. She was going to awaken the next one.
As she went to the room where they held up all the clones she was struck by a sight she never expected to see.
"You are shocked as I, right?" Said Gendo as he was looking at the scene without expressing any emotions.
The door was left wide open and the floor was full of LCL and broken glass, with everything that was inside the container missing.
"Who would have done this?" Asked Ritsuko in confusion.
"It might be what but as far as I know none who know in person. Me, Kōzō, you where together in the main desk. The captain and Kaji are missing but they didn't know anything about this location."
"What about the camera's footage?"
"Corrupt and no sign of indruder from outside, so this happened probably from the inside, you can even see the broken glass being over the ground."
" What are we doing now?"
"What about the other pilots ?"
"Missing. It is likely they escaped during the explosion our forces still searching for them."
"Alright then, we find Rei and pilots so we can proceed with the plan." As he said this Gendo exited the room as coldly as he could.
An angered expression formed in Ritsuko's face . "Rei this, Rei that all your life you only love her and that shit pag clone. I have done everything you order me to do and more and you still don't acknowledge me as your lover. I hate you Gendo, from the bottom of my heart but hate more myself for still loving you and still listening to your orders. The next time you will see me I won't be your ally." As she said those words to her self black tears were forming in her eyes.
A.N: Yeah it's been a while since the last chapter but when I am writing the story want to be in the mood and not get bored after two sentences. But I will probably finish the story before the end of this year ( There is probably three chapters left on how I pictured the story to go.).
